Topic: WCDT Strips 3341 to 3345 (31st October to 4th November 2016) (Read 44664 times)

BenRG · « **on:** 30 Oct 2016, 12:34 »

Okay, thought I'd do a real Opinion Poll here. Now, I know that this is an awfully subjective and, arguably, divisive question. However, I'm not really interested in an objective framework about what defines 'cute'. So many people have so many different ideas that there is little chance of anyone agreeing on one anyway.

Just answer the question: You, personally: Which of the QC ladies best fits your own personal definition of 'cute'?

This is actually a harder question to answer for me than I initially thought when I had the idea for the poll. I'm torn between Hanners (who has this whole waif-like innocence and purity) and Emily (whose personality, although alarming at times, screams 'nice' on a very fundamental level). I guess I could toss a coin but, in the end, I chose Emily, mostly because literally everything she says makes me smile.

So, as to the strip, I'm expecting more of Bubbles and Faye at the apartment this week. I suspect that Jeph has chosen to use the plot device of the Reindeer's Revenge on Pintsize to get her to the apartment for some kind of major character interaction with Marten and Claire (characters that we don't see much of these days and with whom we've seen Bubbles interact least out of all the main characters).

Will this lead to anything substantive? Well, that remains to be seen but the preview art Jeph put on Twitter certainly suggests that something will happen to make Claire say 'Squee!' Not that this is particularly hard, romantic that she is!

Kugai · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 12:38 »

I think it has a tendency to change as time goes on.

Tova · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 13:14 »

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 14:59 »

Neither mu nor not-mu.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 15:51 »

Claire for me definitely. Floofy red hair. A book geek and seems a bit of a sci-fi nerd. And the puns. Oh the puns...

hedgie · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 16:09 »

For me, it's the puns that actually make her cuteness[1] decrease. Granted she *has* had a few good ones, but most are really painful. I'd say all in all for me, out of only named characters, and excluding AIs, I'd have to say Hanners. Damn, I cant multitask.

[1]How does even quantify cuteness anyhow? And for units, do we use "kawaii"?

Tova · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 16:21 »

So many missing characters...

wlewisiii · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 16:34 »

Quote from: hedgie on 30 Oct 2016, 16:09

For me, it's the puns that actually make her cuteness[1] decrease. Granted she *has* had a few good ones, but most are really painful. I'd say all in all for me, out of only named characters, and excluding AIs, I'd have to avoid AIs.

[1]How does even quantify cuteness anyhow? And for units, do we use "kawaii"?

Oh, but puns must be painful. Punishment after all. I suppose if that's too much, then perhaps I could suggest quietly chanting Ohm Sweet Ohm, but resistance is sometimes futile.

Tova · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 16:42 »

Not everyone has the same capacity for tolerating puns.

Mr. Skawronska · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 18:15 »

Quote from: Tova on 30 Oct 2016, 16:42

Not everyone has the same capacity for tolerating puns.

Especially when they're not very punny.

They can even be punishing.

To the point where no one is having any pun anymore.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #10 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 18:19 »

Penelope and Cosette were missing!

hedgie · « **Reply #11 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 18:30 »

Much like from the comic itself.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #12 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 18:55 »

I fixed that with "all of them"

AliceGroove · « **Reply #13 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 19:16 »

Gotta go with Claire. She's basically my internet-vector antidepressant. Who doesn't love a horrendous pun delivered with childlike glee?

Tova · « **Reply #14 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 19:32 »

COMIC

QC is starting to get a bit meta.

P.S. I just noticed that the comic number range in the thread title is a bit out. 3341 to 3345?

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 20:24 »

Well, Claire, it's also consistent with a free and easy friendship.

jheartney · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 20:35 »

Bubbles' batteries are low? Both walking back to the rink? Maybe Lilac will choose this moment to take revenge, when Bubbles is vulnerable.

Tova · « **Reply #17 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 20:42 »

On a tangential note, I just read the section on Harry Potter fandom in the wikipedia article on shipping, and it is strangely hilarious.

Quote

Rowling's attitude towards the shipping phenomenon has varied between amused and bewildered to frustrated.

I can relate to that, and I'm not even an author.

MrNumbers · « **Reply #18 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 21:27 »

I don't know whether this vindicates or mocks my ship.

sitnspin · « **Reply #19 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 21:34 »

Quote from: Tova on 30 Oct 2016, 20:42

On a tangential note, I just read the section on Harry Potter fandom in the wikipedia article on shipping, and it is strangely hilarious.

Quote
Rowling's attitude towards the shipping phenomenon has varied between amused and bewildered to frustrated.

I can relate to that, and I'm not even an author.

That is pretty much my attitude about humanity in general.

FlutterRaeg · « **Reply #20 on:** 30 Oct 2016, 23:56 »

Claire Augustus is my spirit animal.

BenRG · « **Reply #21 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 00:39 »

This isn't the first time that Jeph has put the words of the forum into a character's mouth. I'm not sure if it is a form of meta satire or just confirmation that we aren't suffering from a mass hallucination!

Meanwhile, Claire = shipper is confirmed. That said, one should be wary of fanmade crossover ships, especially if there is a ssignificant time-period difference. I do find myself wondering how much time Claire spends on reading shipper fics though? Is that her secret addiction?

neurocase · « **Reply #22 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 01:22 »

My archive-fu is failing me; have Claire and Penelope ever met? I feel like their shared taste in books might make for an interesting character exchange.

Storel · « **Reply #23 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 01:44 »

Quote from: jheartney on 30 Oct 2016, 20:35

Bubbles' batteries are low? Both walking back to the rink? Maybe Lilac will choose this moment to take revenge, when Bubbles is vulnerable.

Somehow I doubt Bubbles' batteries are really low; besides having room to fit a lot of military-class batteries in a chassis that size, she strikes me as the sort who always recharges before there's any chance of them running low. I think that was probably a polite way to excuse herself to go home before it gets too late.

Quote from: BenRG on 31 Oct 2016, 00:39

Meanwhile, Claire = shipper is confirmed. That said, one should be wary of fanmade crossover ships, especially if there is a ssignificant time-period difference.

Is there a significant time-period difference between Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Darcy? I believe they were both in the 19th Century, but perhaps at different ends of it. Sherlock flourished in the 1880s and '90s. What period was Mr. Darcy in?

BenRG · « **Reply #24 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 02:27 »

Quote from: Storel on 31 Oct 2016, 01:44

Quote from: BenRG on 31 Oct 2016, 00:39
Meanwhile, Claire = shipper is confirmed. That said, one should be wary of fanmade crossover ships, especially if there is a ssignificant time-period difference.

Is there a significant time-period difference between Sherlock Holmes and Mr. Darcy? I believe they were both in the 19th Century, but perhaps at different ends of it. Sherlock flourished in the 1880s and '90s. What period was Mr. Darcy in?

Claire specifically called him 'Sherlock', which is the 21st Century AU recently made by Steven Moffat for BBC TV. Most people would refer to the original 19th Century character as 'Holmes'.

IIRC, Pride and Prejudice is set about 50 years before the original 19th Century Holmes (the latter set in the 1870s, the former traditionally considered to be set between 1810 and 1820).

heyjames4 · « **Reply #25 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 03:56 »

well that was interesting.
Claire being confirmed as a shipper is new, but consistent with her character.
And I'll take the meta- as a reminder to lay off the shipping in the forum.

TinPenguin · « **Reply #26 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 04:51 »

ben did you write a guest comic.

Akima · « **Reply #27 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 05:46 »

"Pride and Prejudice" is supposed to be set in 1811-12, and Mr. Darcy's in his late 20s-30 or thereabouts, so it would be "Death in Venice" creepy to ship him with Sherlock Holmes, who was canonically born in 1854. The events described in "A Study in Scarlet" take place around 1881 (Watson recounts how he was invalided home "many months" after being wounded at the Battle of Maiwand, which was fought on 27 July 1880). And on the subject of contemporary adaptations, apparently...

Case · « **Reply #28 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 06:02 »

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 30 Oct 2016, 14:59

Neither mu nor not-mu.

|<psi|mu|psi>|^2 + |<psi|1-mu|psi>|^2 != 1 ?

brasca · « **Reply #29 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 06:24 »

Quote from: BenRG on 31 Oct 2016, 00:39

This isn't the first time that Jeph has put the words of the forum into a character's mouth. I'm not sure if it is a form of meta satire or just confirmation that we aren't suffering from a mass hallucination!

Meanwhile, Claire = shipper is confirmed. That said, one should be wary of fanmade crossover ships, especially if there is a ssignificant time-period difference. I do find myself wondering how much time Claire spends on reading shipper fics though? Is that her secret addiction?

Considering what connoisseurs Marigold and Tai are they'd be the most likely sources.

Speaking of why weren't they included in the poll?

Case · « **Reply #30 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 07:24 »

Now I'm wondering about that Holmes/Darcy slashfic of Claire's

"Pride and infinitesimal Calculus"

"Wuthering Pipes"

"Sense and more sense"

"The poodle of Mansfield Park"

BenRG · « **Reply #31 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 07:35 »

Quote from: TinPenguin on 31 Oct 2016, 04:51

ben did you write a guest comic.

Not knowingly but if Jeph read one of my comments and decided to run with it then he's got my blessing.

That said, the realistic interpretation is that Jeph was always planning something like this towards one end or another (FWIW, Faye and Bubbles feeling a certain pressure towards a relationship but deciding not to do so because they prefer platonic friendship is an entirely valid outcome). I just picked up the signals he put in the plot and characterisation, no more.

USS Martenclaire · « **Reply #32 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 11:27 »

<---points at user name

I fail to see the necessity for further aquatic vessels.

Kugai · « **Reply #33 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 13:14 »

It's always good to have a heavy warship in your fleet.

And I just wonder if it has been heading in this direction or Jeph is Trolling us again.

Tova · « **Reply #34 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 13:34 »

Well, you know, it's not as though Jeph is blissfully unaware of what his readers are talking about, I'm sure. So, draw your own conclusions.

Akima · « **Reply #35 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 14:58 »

Quote from: Case on 31 Oct 2016, 07:24

"Wuthering Pipes"

Very good! That would be a Holmes/Heathcliff ship, I guess. It would be even more creepy than a Darcy/Holmes ship, since Heathcliff is 30-40 years old in 1801.

There is a suburb of Sydney named "Bronte". Sadly, the inhabitants don't wear 19th century fashions or talk in Northern English accents, but since it was actually named after a place in Italy, I guess that's OK.

Edit: Initially, I muddled up Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff. You could say that I Eyred.

vforvancouver · « **Reply #36 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 15:15 »

Question: Is it established that Marten and Claire are living together now, or it is just that they spend much of their free time at Marten and Faye's apartment?

It seems odd to me that Claire promised Bubbles to brew a better cup of tea next time she visits. I reckon that she was with Marten during Pintsize's shenanigans, and so had time to (poorly) brew tea, but there may not be a next time if she doesn't spend much of her time at the apartment.

And somehow I want Claire to have moved with Marten...

TinPenguin · « **Reply #37 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 15:33 »

It seems they are in the preceding period to moving in together; that is, the "you basically live here anyway" period.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #38 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 15:34 »

She probably spends most nights there, but probably still officially "lives" at home. So yeah, what the penguin said.

Tova · « **Reply #39 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 15:41 »

Quote from: BenRG on 31 Oct 2016, 07:35

(FWIW, Faye and Bubbles feeling a certain pressure towards a relationship but deciding not to do so because they prefer platonic friendship is an entirely valid outcome).

BTW, Faye and Bubbles feeling no pressure towards any relationship whatsoever, and also remaining close-knit friends would also be an entirely valid outcome.

I've decided that I might as well plant my flag and declare my new status as "friendshipper."

Case · « **Reply #40 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 15:59 »

Quote from: Tova on 31 Oct 2016, 15:41

...
I've decided that I might as well plant my flag and declare my new status as "friendshipper."

Tova · « **Reply #41 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 16:20 »

If I squint, I can pretend that says "Tova's Friendship."

And for a moment, I thought you were going to find a way to post the Norwegian Dream again.

Case · « **Reply #42 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 16:21 »

Quote from: Tova on 31 Oct 2016, 16:20

If I squint, I can pretend that says "Tova's Friendship."

And for a moment, I thought you were going to find a way to post the Norwegian Dream again.

Found one now ...

Tova · « **Reply #43 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 16:31 »

You're welcome.

Akima · « **Reply #44 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 19:01 »

Quote from: Tova on 31 Oct 2016, 16:20

If I squint, I can pretend that says "Tova's Friendship."

The hanzi on the ship's bow read 運誼二號 (yúnyíérháo or roughly "ooin-ee-are-how"*). An accurate translation would be Transport Friendship II, but presumably they wanted to economise on white paint, and it wouldn't be as funny.

*Edit: This is an experiment in letting people listen to Chinese, instead of my typing some not-very-accurate phonetics.

Gyrre · « **Reply #45 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 20:23 »

Quote from: hedgie on 30 Oct 2016, 16:09

For me, it's the puns that actually make her cuteness[1] decrease. Granted she *has* had a few good ones, but most are really painful. I'd say all in all for me, out of only named characters, and excluding AIs, I'd have to say Hanners. Damn, I cant multitask.

[1]How does even quantify cuteness anyhow? And for units, do we use "kawaii"?

Well, it is a matter of taste, and "umami" is a flavor type. So, I'd say 'yes' to using 'kawaii' as the unit name.

Case · « **Reply #46 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 20:55 »

Whelp, the superlative is a bit weird:
The comparative and superlative of the male/female form of the adjective "dunkel" (dark) would be:

"dunkel/dunkele (m/f)" (dark) -> "dunkler(e)" (darker) -> "dunkelst(e)" (darkest)

while the neuter form is:

"dunkeles (Bräu)" (dark brew) -> "dunkleres Bräu (darker brew)" -> "dunkelstes (Bräu) (darkest brew)"

German is fun!

"Wormfather Skull-birthday Dark Brew" is something that should definitely exist (Yes, I've said above that "dark brew" is "dunkeles Bräu", but that sounds stupid, so it's called "Dunkelbräu", or "Dunkelbrau"). And a stone-cask ("stein") is mandatory.

The runes glow because of isotope decay, obviously (Means: "You should maybe consider screaming & running away"). If not, then it's Cherenkov-radiation resulting from a divergence in the local Calabi-Yau manifold, which indicates that an eldritch horror from a parallel dimension will emerge momentarily and devour your brain (Means: "Don't bother wiz ze screaming and running avay")

Tova · « **Reply #47 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 21:03 »

A stein with a skull motif and a cuckoo clock. Someone's a happy camper.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #48 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 21:18 »

Elliot, is there some other way you think the eldritch runes ought to glow?

Carl-E · « **Reply #49 on:** 31 Oct 2016, 21:26 »

Quote from: Case on 31 Oct 2016, 20:55

...which indicates that an eldritch horror from a parallel dimension will emerge momentarily and devour your brain (Means: "Don't bother wiz ze screaming and running avay")

Ah, so it's that kind of beer...

Is the cuckoo a warning, then?

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Poll

The SQUEEEE Poll - Who is cutest?

Author Topic: WCDT Strips 3341 to 3345 (31st October to 4th November 2016) (Read 44664 times)