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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

[BenRG]

The various housing crises of the various characters in Questionable Content have created some pretty weird room-mate situations with people whom you can't imagine being compatible... or even able to resist killing each other for a few minutes at a time. So, who do you think is the strangest pair of house-mates in the comic?

After thinking about it, I've decided upon Marigold and Momo. They may be contracted companions but you couldn't imagine two personalities less compatible and less likely to even like each other if they were to meet casually. I think that it is a tribute to Momo's essentially saintly personality that she's stuck with Marigold for so long and has done her so much good even though, at times, Marigold has been a shitty friend to her.

On the subject of this week's strips, I have only one prediction. A few weeks back, Jeph Tweeted that he was drawing a strip about a sexy female robot. My understanding of his posting schedule isn't so good but I suspect that we'll see that strip this week and I can only think of one thing that his message could mean - we're going to see Bubbles out of her armour at last (wearing street clothes, of course, you dirty-minded people)!

[osaka]

Definitely punchbot.

[TinPenguin]

Are you sure drawing sexy robots isn't just something Jeph does in his downtime?

[Kugai]

Bubbles and Faye

[Oenone]

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

[jwhouk]

Marigold and Momo are THE definition of "The Odd Couple."

Marigold = Oscar, Momo = Felix.

[Zebediah]

Comic!

And Jeph has answered the poll. 

[Tova]

Marigold and Momo are THE definition of "The Odd Couple."

Marigold = Oscar, Momo = Felix.

This is the first time I've ever read a thread and realised that my poll choice was wrong.

[SubaruStephen]

I wish I had a massive armored battle droid to hug.

[Method of Madness]

I think we all wish that.

[Neko_Ali]

Funny, adorable and a little sad all at once. There is a small detail that I find interesting that could easily just slip by though. Before the sudden hug by Faye, Bubbles was styling her hair, giving it a part. That's something we haven't seen her do before. Up until now it's just been straight bangs. Simple, easy to deal with. Yet, here Bubs is paying more attention to her appearance. That's another good sign that she's pulling herself out of her self-imposed exile. When you spend all your time avoiding other people, you tend not to care about your personal appearance. Especially when suffering from depression. I love that Jeph can inform us about his characters emotional state in such quiet, subtle ways.

[Tova]

I think we all wish that.

That leads to a common problem, though, doesn't it? Do you love me for me, or do you only love me for my massive ... battle armour?

[BenRG]

Jeph seems to have slightly remodelled Bubbles's face for today's strip as well as show her redoing her hair. Meanwhile, Faye needs to be reminded that Bubbles' armour is kind of... hard. That said, I think her first thoughts upon seeing Bubbles probably weren't of that practical mien.

Poor Bubbles though! I think that she needs to get used to blushing when Faye is around her!

There is a small detail that I find interesting that could easily just slip by though. Before the sudden hug by Faye, Bubbles was styling her hair, giving it a part.

It's subtle but significant. Possibly for the first time since she was demobilised, Bubbles finds she has a reason to care about her personal appearance beyond 'hygienic'.

[oeoek]

While I have no trouble with Bubbles re-inventing herself and changing hair styles every now and again, I still feel it is not a job for avarage hair styling tools. Steel chisel, hammer and angle grinder, yes. Comb or brush, no. Today's 'DONK' only strengthens my belief.

[MrNumbers]

"I was not programmed for this."

"Don't AI mostly program themselves though?"

"Yes."

[BenRG]

On reflection, two things jump out to me about today's strip

Firstly, in the previous strip, Faye was joking and punning with Marten and Claire. Yet, today, presumably when she gets into work on the same day, she's down again; down enough that she needs a hug from Bubbles, no matter how much that hurts. This suggests to me that she's got very, very good faking being in a happy mood to keep Marten from worrying about her. That's more than a little worrying because people who get good at lying about their feelings are the ones who store them up for destructive outbursts of one sort or another.

Secondly, Bubbles's reaction to the hug is simply adorable! She's so rigid and unresponsive; she literally doesn't have the first clue how to respond! I'm anticipating the next move to be an awkward pat on the back that is totally devoid of any natural smoothness or personal warmth because, quite frankly, Bubbles really isn't sure how one goes about doing those things even when she wants to!

Now, the question is this: Does Bubbles also have anaesthetic boobies?

[Case]

The Donk! of love ...

[oddtail]

On reflection, two things jump out to me about today's strip

Firstly, in the previous strip, Faye was joking and punning with Marten and Claire. Yet, today, presumably when she gets into work on the same day, she's down again; down enough that she needs a hug from Bubbles, no matter how much that hurts. This suggests to me that she's got very, very good faking being in a happy mood to keep Marten from worrying about her. That's more than a little worrying because people who get good at lying about their feelings are the ones who store them up for destructive outbursts of one sort or another.

I'm not sure I agree with this interpretation, yet. Faye is clearly going through a difficult time, but I think she might not be faking being happy, she just doesn't need that sort of interaction with Marten. Bubbles understands her the way Marten doesn't, and she needs support from Bubbles and is ready to show affection for what Bubbles has done for her.

Not going to a given person with your difficult stuff and opening up to another person is not necessarily a sign of hiding one's true feelings or faking anything. You just don't interact the same way with everyone, I find.

On a related note - today's strip is one of the most adorable and heart-warming things I've ever seen in QC, and the comic has had many well-done, emotional moments, too!

[swapna]

There is a small detail that I find interesting that could easily just slip by though. Before the sudden hug by Faye, Bubbles was styling her hair, giving it a part.

It's subtle but significant. Possibly for the first time since she was demobilised, Bubbles finds she has a reason to care about her personal appearance beyond 'hygienic'.

The first time we do see her style her hair is the morning after the infamous party Faye invited her to. So, it's still heartwarming that she's getting more adventurous but it's been a long road

[brasca]

There is a small detail that I find interesting that could easily just slip by though. Before the sudden hug by Faye, Bubbles was styling her hair, giving it a part.

It's subtle but significant. Possibly for the first time since she was demobilised, Bubbles finds she has a reason to care about her personal appearance beyond 'hygienic'.

The first time we do see her style her hair is the morning after the infamous party Faye invited her to. So, it's still heartwarming that she's getting more adventurous but it's been a long road

Up until that point I thought she had literal helmet hair.  Perhaps she has special hairs that can fuse together to form a helmet as a reflex and then relax it so it can be combed later. 

[Carl-E]

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.

[MooskiNet]

On reflection, two things jump out to me about today's strip

Firstly, in the previous strip, Faye was joking and punning with Marten and Claire. Yet, today, presumably when she gets into work on the same day, she's down again; down enough that she needs a hug from Bubbles, no matter how much that hurts.

I don't think Faye is down; as a matter of fact, I think she's way, way up.  The hug is the hug you give to a person you're seeing for the first time after they they pulled you out of the water when you were drowning.

Also, I think the donk is less a matter of Faye discovering something she would have already known than Faye giving Bubbles and emotional 'out' of the situation.  She blushes when the hug comes, and she's still blushing as she wryly gives her apologies for wearing armor plate.

Faye is not only in a good mood, she's being considerate.

[BenRG]

People... You did notice how sad Faye looks in panel 2, didn't you?

[MooskiNet]

People... You did notice how sad Faye looks in panel 2, didn't you?

I don't see "sad" there, I see "I don't know how to show you how much what you did means to me."

[blt]

Gotta appreciate whoever took the time to apparently hand write the "all employees must wash hands" sign.

[Tova]

Firstly, in the previous strip, Faye was joking and punning with Marten and Claire. Yet, today, presumably when she gets into work on the same day, she's down again; down enough that she needs a hug from Bubbles, no matter how much that hurts. This suggests to me that she's got very, very good faking being in a happy mood to keep Marten from worrying about her. That's more than a little worrying because people who get good at lying about their feelings are the ones who store them up for destructive outbursts of one sort or another.

I'm with other posters in disagreeing with this interpretation. For two reasons.

Firstly, as others have noted, she's not down here. Merely emotional. 'Tis a different thing.

Secondly, even if she were down in this scene, you're drawing a long bow in concluding that her happy mood must therefore have been faked. Have you not heard of mood swings? When I've been in a bad patch in the past, my mood was up and down like the Assyrian Empire. I don't think that my experience was in any way unusual.

Edit: looking back at panel two as suggested, first point is debatable. Second point still stands.

[SeaWoodStage]

I love this strip, mainly because it shows Faye getting outside of her own head, and aligning her emotions with someone else's behaviour in a healthy way. Not only did she hold off drinking during a very emotional mess for her, but she woke up the next day and dealt with last nights happenings by relating to other people: With Marten by being honest but "light", with Claire by being a darn sight more polite than she (Faye) would've been a while ago, and with Bubbles by truly expressing gratitude.

I've always been a bit of a cheerleader for Faye in my own head, for reasons I can't pinpoint (Faye's almost nothing like me IRL), but it's often very difficult to keep liking her due to her needless aggression, general rudeness, and sometime selfishness to the point where she can't see past her own nose. This strip makes me happy because it shows Faye as someone who's not only capable of battling demons, but someone who genuinely understands the part that her friend played in her battle. And rather than marching in, stoic and cold, she's actually expressing directly to that friend that she's grateful. I think it's a huge step forward for her.

Obviously it's not going to be sunshine and roses from here, but I feel like the latest comic shows that Faye is truly getting somewhere.

[Akima]

What sort of hazardous waste do they have round the robot fight-club, I wonder? Leakage from damaged batteries? Cadmium is nasty stuff, for example, if any of the fighters still use NiCd batteries.

[SeaWoodStage]

Firstly, in the previous strip, Faye was joking and punning with Marten and Claire. Yet, today, presumably when she gets into work on the same day, she's down again; down enough that she needs a hug from Bubbles, no matter how much that hurts. This suggests to me that she's got very, very good faking being in a happy mood to keep Marten from worrying about her. That's more than a little worrying because people who get good at lying about their feelings are the ones who store them up for destructive outbursts of one sort or another.

I'm with other posters in disagreeing with this interpretation. For two reasons.

Firstly, as others have noted, she's not down here. Merely emotional. 'Tis a different thing.

Secondly, even if she were down in this scene, you're drawing a long bow in concluding that her happy mood must therefore have been faked. Have you not heard of mood swings? When I've been in a bad patch in the past, my mood was up and down like the Assyrian Empire. I don't think that my experience was in any way unusual.

Edit: looking back at panel two as suggested, first point is debatable. Second point still stands.

To partly agree with Tova, I saw the scene with Marten (and then Claire) as Faye being mature enough to realise that a) Marten isn't necessarily her best confidante anymore, and b) even if he was, that she (Faye) shouldn't attempt to monopolise Marten's emotional support at this point. I think both Faye and Marten are holding back a bit, flying casual as it were. I get a lot of tension from that strip, but I think it's good tension, because they both know that they can't be each others final port of call, as it were. It would hold both of them back.

[TheBiscuit]

What sort of hazardous waste do they have round the robot fight-club, I wonder? Leakage from damaged batteries? Cadmium is nasty stuff, for example, if any of the fighters still use NiCd batteries.

Hardly anything today uses NiCd batteries anymore. Many devices now use Lithium based batteries, or NiMH, which contains no Cadmium. All this happened largely because of concerns such as the one you've expressed.  I'm sure that not all modern batteries are entirely environmentally sound but they're a lot less hazardous than in the bad old days of Cadmium.

[retrosteve]

Why am I not surprised that today's punchline is a trope?  BoobsOfSteel

[Radium_Coyote]

That Faye is thankful to someone who helped her is not unexpected.

What may be unexpected is what becomes of Bubbles shortly.

[Kugai]

BoobBonk




*Walks away whistling innocently*

[chaospersonified]

This is weird, but I'm not surprised that Faye would make the mistake of thinking boobs to be comforting. Little surprised she forgot said boobs were metal and painful.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

When in doubt, apologize.
That buys you time to figure out why you needed to.

[Morituri]

Yeah, I'm seeing glad-to-see-you gratitude-and-thanks-for-sticking-with-me hugs there, not down-and-need-comforting hugs.

On the topic of power supplies...  NiMH, due to disposal, lifetime, and manufacturing issues, still isn't as environmentally-friendly as internal-combustion engines running on Alcohol. Which we don't usually do for vehicles because for the moment anyway, petroleum is cheaper and we prefer to use the arable land for crops rather than fuel. But if you want to be green, alcohol-converting your vehicle is as valid an approach as getting an electric, and a heck of a lot cheaper.  But fuel will be more expensive rather than less.  On the other hand NiMH batteries just plain die.  They spoil like rotten fruit after a few years and you have to replace them no matter what. Not true of alcohol generators.

You find alcohol-fueled internal combustion engines at monster-truck rallies where you have 300HP motors on multiple vehicles running indoors in colosseums etc.  They suck up a lot of oxygen, but you don't get people falling over from carbon monoxide and other poisons in the  exhaust. 

Anyway....  it could happen that some of the combat robots use alcohol motors.  It wouldn't seem likely, but it could happen; it's good power density and a viable choice for a combat chassis. 

But it would sort of suck to be a recovering alcoholic working in a place where half your coworkers run on vodka. 

[Romanticide]

I am betting Bubbles wants to blow a unicorn out of that glass

[Lioness]

I like the half-human/half-robot speech bubble.

Looks like a slice of bread.

[chaospersonified]

Looking forward to what Bubbles makes of the destroyed liquor bottle.

[SpanielBear]

What Bubbles has is a very particular set of skills. Skills she has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make her a nightmare for objects like that bottle. If it had let Faye go at the start of the evening, that would have been the end of it. She would not have looked for it, she would not have pursued it. But instead...

What now? Let me tell you what now. She'll call a coupla fine, Glass-blowin' robots, who'll go to work on the bottle here with a sand-blaster and a blast furnace. You hear her talkin', Whiskey boy? She ain't through with you by a damn sight!

She's gonna get *Venetian* on your glass!!!

[Thrudd]

That pun was pane-ful

[chaospersonified]

That pun was pane-ful

The fact you have such an issue gives me a window into who you are as a person*

*it likely does not, but dude. Puns.

[Method of Madness]

Whoa, Faye can change fonts? Impressive.

Edit: Wait, and change the shape of her speech bubbles*?

*heh

[BenRG]

Okay, that's... worrying. It's pretty clear that Bubbles has few enough friends that she takes any threat to their happiness and well-being more than a little personally. Maybe this is something she needs, though. It has been speculated before that her problems revolve around a sense that she failed her dead comrades-at-arms so maybe she needs to do something now to reassure herself that she's destroying Faye's enemy. I mean, look at panel 2! She's pretty much on her own, remembering a fight!

I did like how Jeph portrayed Faye imitating Bubbles's voice. I think that this is the first time we've had it confirmed that the squared speech bubbles isn't just an aesthetic indicator but that Synthetics have a particular timbre to their voice.

So, anyway, I'm predicting that Faye will take Bubbles out after tonight's shift just because it's obvious that, firstly, she has too much time on her hands and, secondly, really, really needs something to distract her from her darker thoughts!

[gopher]

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

I still suspect Faye set the fire deliberately.

[BenRG]

I was going to say that I didn't think that was in-character for Faye, even in the early realty-deficient strips. At least, I don't think that she would have done it just to have an excuse to move in with Marten.

That said, I suspect that Faye's low self-esteem has gone the way of serious self-harm in the past. Could it have gone so far as her to set fire to her apartment and she just stood there, looking at the spreading flames for a few minutes before her self-preservation instincts kicked in?

[brasca]

It's good to see Bubbles being creative as well as environmentally creative with symbolic destruction.

[jheartney]

This strip is a reminder that if Bubbles ever went postal, you would not want to be around. Luckily for QCland, she seems to be benign, just like their AI singularity.

[Is it cold in here?]

Get her angry enough, though, and brick walls explode in shards next to people's heads.

Eric Greiten's book _Resilience_ talks about how veterans can feel set adrift by not having a meaningful job. "Meaningful", for people on the sharp end, included protecting the lives of friends from one day to the next. Dr.(*) Greitens's answer was to create a non-profit hooking up veterans with community service opportunities, called "The Mission Continues".

(*) Ph.D., not M.D. Plus passing SEAL training. People like that make me feel lazy.

[Zebediah]

PhD and a SEAL? I mean, SEAL training is basically a PhD in badassery, but still, that's some serious commitment there.