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Poll

Purely from an aesthetic standpoint, who of the following is the cutest?

Pintsize
Hannelore
Winslow (tablet chassis)
Tai
Momo (chibi chassis)
Emily Azuma
Gabby
Claire
Elliot
Momo (current chassis)
Sam Bean
Lydia
May
Melon
Winslow (current chassis)
Tilly
Harriet a.k.a. "Sweet tits"

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Author Topic: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)  (Read 45328 times)

pwhodges

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #100 on: 30 Nov 2017, 03:27 »

Note, there's now a thread in Discuss! in which discussion of gender in language is happening.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #101 on: 30 Nov 2017, 05:09 »

I honestly feel like Jeph made Tilly non-binary in an attempt to make them less vulnerable to hate. Like, I'm going to make them a giant asshole but then I'm going to add in this part as their hook and ignore the fact that this character is just amazingly grating.

Then over time, the character will become more likable. But not so much because we know them more but because they have stopped the bad behavior. Idk, meh.

And I do not find them cute. Maybe in the first introduction but then they kept talking lol.
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BenRG

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #102 on: 30 Nov 2017, 05:22 »

I honestly feel like Jeph made Tilly non-binary in an attempt to make them less vulnerable to hate. Like, I'm going to make them a giant asshole but then I'm going to add in this part as their hook and ignore the fact that this character is just amazingly grating.

That was my concern at first but, looking back on this arc, there has been hints in the character design from the outset that they're non-binary and several forum members both here and on the Subreddit picked up on this at the time. The real problem here is that Jeph chose to introduce them and their self-identification in a very clumsy way at a time and place when it feels like an attempt to slap a band-aid on an unpopular character, even though it actually isn't.

This may be a controversial position but, in my opinion, giving Tilly a free pass for all their mis-steps and outright agency-denials with Hannelore just because they're from a minority gender identity would be just as great a disservice than hating them for no other reason than said identity.
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TheEvilDog

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #103 on: 30 Nov 2017, 05:55 »

Tilly could have been an interesting character, with a story that could have worked well in the QC-verse.

Unfortunately, first impressions linger far longer than we would like and Tilly's was less than stellar. Her introduction was somewhat clumsy and got rather tired rather quickly. Not only that, but it presented a long established character in a rather out of character manner for much of the arc. Add in the fact that this story has gone on for the best part of a month and I think this might be an arc we'll all try to pretend never happened, both for the reaction of the forum and the arc itself.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #104 on: 30 Nov 2017, 06:09 »

That's exactly how I feel about it, as well, though perhaps more for the reaction than the arc itself.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #105 on: 30 Nov 2017, 06:15 »

Yeah... a singular would be a great addition to the language.
Y'see, I find this They/Them thing VERY difficult to take on, because for 50+ years I've been raised to think that calling someone THEY or THEM was unspeakably rude.

AFAIK, "they"/"them" as singular gender-neutral animate pronouns is actually the safest one to use when gender is unknown or the subject is non-binary. Note that there are some constructs like "ze"/"zir" - newly-coined singular gender-neutral animate pronouns - that some non-binary people prefer, though, but I don't think I've personally seen a single case where such a person found "they"/"them" to be unacceptable.

It's "it"/"its" that are rude, because those pronouns, while actually singular and gender-neutral, are inanimate.

(Would make ordering Pizza MUCH easier though!)

Remember that Hannelore has the power to summon orbital pizza bombardment at the push of a button.

IT / Its is certainly worse...
But you should probably be aware that, in the far-flung wilds of Scotland, even using he or she can be viewed as rude if you know the person's name.
(More often than not the feminine side)
Hence the impenetrable phrase "SHE'S the cat's mother!" when talking about someone (female) and calling them "she"...

(No - I dunno where it comes from either!)
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #106 on: 30 Nov 2017, 08:17 »

It's getting worse. Now people are abandoning either "Tilly" or "Taffy" and calling Tilly "them" instead. I always have to read it a second time to be sure that "them" do not refer to more than one person. I used to like English because it's less dubious then my native language...

Anyway, here in Brasil, the few non-binary people I know pick a pronoum of their preference or just don't care if they're called "he" or "she". As far as I know, there is no spoken new pronoum for them, altough there were a few atempts in print (none of them really catch up).
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Nepiophage

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #107 on: 30 Nov 2017, 09:24 »

Don't get me started on pizza and pineapple

There used to be a  Pizza place opposite our main maternity hospital. They did an "Expectant Mothers' Special" -- tuna and pineapple pizza.
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pwhodges

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #108 on: 30 Nov 2017, 10:26 »

I've moved the unambiguously pronoun-centred posts to the thread I pointed at earlier, since the two threads are having much the same discussion.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #109 on: 30 Nov 2017, 12:18 »

That's exactly how I feel about it, as well, though perhaps more for the reaction than the arc itself.

I fully admit that this is my own personal bias/pet peeve. So in the spirit of the forums, I'll call it my head canon.

I reckon Jeoh has done this in an attempt to make you all think about the folly of leaping from an initial impression to instant character judgement.
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ChipNoir

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #110 on: 30 Nov 2017, 12:50 »

I still stand by the sentiment that comedy is pain, and now that Tilly is showing they're not quite as invulnerable as they initially seemed, I feel like I can grow to like them. Up till the last couple, the comedy has been that Tilly is the source of pain, and now we're seeing that they're capable of fear, mistakes (However rare) and are in general, well, human with the best intentions gone entirely to hell so far.

And no, I didn't want Winslow to go this route. Winslow is evolving into a character I actually like, and to have him backslide into annoying illintentioned twee-mode would make me hate him far more than I'd ever hate Tilly, simply because he's made so much progress.

No, I wanna see where Tilly goes with this stuff. And I wanna see Hannelore live up to what she was talking about: She has a LOT of privilege as the defacto heir to two insane legacies. Her parents are no spring chickens, especially not her dad. Within 10-15 years, either or both the company and the space station would fall under her responsibility. And if she can't handle one problematic PA, she'd better make sure her parents leave their legacy in more capable hands, or step up to the plate like she's already made allusions towards doing.
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Is it cold in here?

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #111 on: 30 Nov 2017, 13:17 »

I'm amused by the way so many  posters on this forum were deliberately calling Tilly Taffy while knowing that wasn't their correct name, but have uniformly jumped into line when told to use gender-neutral pronouns.
Is that more important than getting somebody's name right?

I'll leave that question to the gender-variant people here but I'm prepared to believe a "yes" answer.

Think about the relative abjectness of the apologies you make when you misgender someone versus getting their name wrong.
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ChipNoir

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #112 on: 30 Nov 2017, 13:36 »

I'm amused by the way so many  posters on this forum were deliberately calling Tilly Taffy while knowing that wasn't their correct name, but have uniformly jumped into line when told to use gender-neutral pronouns.
Is that more important than getting somebody's name right?

I'll leave that question to the gender-variant people here but I'm prepared to believe a "yes" answer.

Think about the relative abjectness of the apologies you make when you misgender someone versus getting their name wrong.

Names don't have connotation, at least not first names. It's apart of the identity, but you can't look at a Tilly and project anything from that except perhaps maybe that their parents really liked 1980-1990's NYC type names. And even that doesn't tell you about the person.

Gender projects A LOT. I don't think I need to go into it, but there's a reason transgender and non binary people exist. We project a lot into other and ourselves based on the pronoun used. People prefer to have as few wrong things assumed about them within that brief first impression as is possible.
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DesiArxxy

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #113 on: 30 Nov 2017, 15:22 »

We already knew that Beatrice didn't know that much about Hanners, that she smoked, drank or had her ears repeated pierced.

But really, its a sign of how out of touch that Beatrice is with her own daughter, given that the dossier is out of date and possesses the wrong information.

There's no evidence at all that Beatrice was involved in creating the dossier, as opposed to Little Creepazoid Stalker being sloppy at "research".

Quote
But its also a sign of how desperate Tilly is to make a good first impression that she's based her enter strategy around wrong information. Which is kinda depressing...and a little pathetic...

I think it's more giving us further evidence that Tilly is overall incompetent at their purported job. So far, the only thing they've shown themselves competent at is 1) obeying unethical orders without hesitation and 2) bullying customer service reps into a bad deal. The actual PA functions? Zero for three.
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Tova

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #114 on: 30 Nov 2017, 16:43 »

Negotiation is a PA function, surely.

The bullying idea, while not out of the question, is conjecture.
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

TheEvilDog

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #115 on: 30 Nov 2017, 16:50 »

We already knew that Beatrice didn't know that much about Hanners, that she smoked, drank or had her ears repeated pierced.

But really, its a sign of how out of touch that Beatrice is with her own daughter, given that the dossier is out of date and possesses the wrong information.

There's no evidence at all that Beatrice was involved in creating the dossier, as opposed to Little Creepazoid Stalker being sloppy at "research".

1. You don't send a new employee to compile a dossier on their new supervisor, that's just asking for problems.
2. Beatrice is the kind of woman who would have a dossier for everyone she could see as someone she can use.
3. Beatrice still doesn't know that much about her daughter, just look at the last time she appeared in the comic. Par for the course if you ask me.
4. Name calling? Seriously? Look, we get the fact you don't like Tilly, I'm certainly not their biggest fan, but come on, their a fictional character, name calling isn't going to do anything to them, but it will make you look foolish.

Quote
But its also a sign of how desperate Tilly is to make a good first impression that she's based her enter strategy around wrong information. Which is kinda depressing...and a little pathetic...

I think it's more giving us further evidence that Tilly is overall incompetent at their purported job. So far, the only thing they've shown themselves competent at is 1) obeying unethical orders without hesitation and 2) bullying customer service reps into a bad deal. The actual PA functions? Zero for three.

Yes, Tilly has been a rather poor PA, but then again the entire profile they were working with was quite inaccurate.
1. Tilly is in something of a Catch 22 situation, damned if they do, damned if they don't. Their employer is Beatrice Ellicott-Chatham, a woman whose management style reads like a villain from a James Bond film, who doesn't like failure. And Tilly failing here would certainly ruin her job prospects with the company.
2. We have seen no evidence that Tilly bullied any service rep. I have never heard of a rep giving someone $500 over the phone. If anything, Tilly probably dropped Hanners name, or her mother's and used that to get to talk to a manager or supervisor in order to get that money authorised. In the sense of getting Hanners a new phone, Tilly was surprisingly successful and saved their boss the hassle of getting a new phone, so in that regard score one for Tilly.

Look, you don't like Tilly, I certainly don't like them. But at the same time, is there really any need to be foaming at the mouth and chomping at the bit to show your dislike? At the end of the day, the storyline was an attempt to introduce a new character and there is some debate as to whether or not that introduction was successful. Some believed it fell flat, others believe that Tilly has proven to be interesting. That's really all that should matter. We can't judge this whole arc from a day to day basis, but only on the whole when it is completed. And it does seem that the arc might be winding down. Let's just see what happens before someone breaks out the torches and pitchforks.
« Last Edit: 30 Nov 2017, 17:04 by Castlerook »
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ChipNoir

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #116 on: 30 Nov 2017, 16:54 »

The problem is that they had totally accurate information on Winslow.  So there's some logic issues here. How is the Hannelore profile so off point, but Tilly has Winslow's schedule down to a T, especially with the latter info being so much more obscure than knowing Hanner's favorite color?   

And no, this doesn't say they're bad at their job, so much as they are only good as the tools they work with. Having spent no time with their 'boss' she of course won't have their preferences figured out. I don't think Tilly picked out this information themselves. Someone at the company screwed up.

(Oh lordy is non-binary a workout on my writing. I've never had a non-binary friend so this is taking some getting used to in correcting)
« Last Edit: 30 Nov 2017, 17:01 by ChipNoir »
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Perfectly Reasonable

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #117 on: 30 Nov 2017, 17:19 »

It's "it"/"its" that are rude, because those pronouns, while actually singular and gender-neutral, are inanimate.

Didn't stop E. Nesbit from using them for people. I suspect that other authors of the 1890's may have done the same.
When I meet a they/them character in a book, I cannot help visualizing a set of conjoined twins.

-----

And now I need to know what the deal is with Hannelore and tapirs. (Me, I can take them or leave them alone.)
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Welu

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #118 on: 30 Nov 2017, 17:32 »

The way Tilly talks about the dossier, "Oh. Yes. Right. That was in the dossier." And "... The dossier led me to believe." Strongly suggests they did not write it. So when they say they've done the research, they probably mean that they read the document someone else compiled and told them to read.

Moderator Comment Also as a nonbinary person who also happens to be one of the mods of this forum, on a personal and mod level I really appreciate everyone's quick transition to respectfully using they/them pronouns as appropriate to our new character. Some have mentioned this is new and will take getting used to for them and I sincerely appreciate the effort.

Smallest

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #119 on: 30 Nov 2017, 19:22 »

I honestly feel like Jeph made Tilly non-binary in an attempt to make them less vulnerable to hate. Like, I'm going to make them a giant asshole but then I'm going to add in this part as their hook and ignore the fact that this character is just amazingly grating.

Then over time, the character will become more likable. But not so much because we know them more but because they have stopped the bad behavior. Idk, meh.

And I do not find them cute. Maybe in the first introduction but then they kept talking lol.

I think Jeph knows better than to do that. Especially since people, including people who accept binary trans people like Claire, fucking hate non binary people* (and those identified as other similar terms eg genderqueer), so it would be a useless idea even if it wasn't a creepy and weird way to treat Tilly's gender.

Also, people have been guessing Tilly was NB from the beginning. It's not surprising that they actually are NB. Also, there have been a ton of tweets and whatnot where Jeph specifically does not gender Tilly leading up to this, instead using their name, even in places where it sounds a little clunky. There might be exceptions (that is, I don't feel like scouring Jeph's twitter right now), but this has been pretty visibly coming since Tilly was introduced.

*speaking from observation as a non binary trans man
« Last Edit: 30 Nov 2017, 19:28 by Smallest »
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Shjade

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #120 on: 30 Nov 2017, 20:13 »

Tilly could have been an interesting character, with a story that could have worked well in the QC-verse.

Unfortunately, first impressions linger far longer than we would like and Tilly's was less than stellar. Her introduction was somewhat clumsy and got rather tired rather quickly. Not only that, but it presented a long established character in a rather out of character manner for much of the arc. Add in the fact that this story has gone on for the best part of a month and I think this might be an arc we'll all try to pretend never happened, both for the reaction of the forum and the arc itself.

If I stuck with my first impression of Questionable Content, I wouldn't be reading it now.

That people tend to remember first impressions so strongly doesn't mean holding on to them is something you should strive to do.
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TheEvilDog

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #121 on: 30 Nov 2017, 20:33 »

Of course, but the fact remains that those first impressions can and do linger, sometimes colouring our view of a character long after they were introduced.

Even before Tilly's revelation about themself, they were disliked by a number of people for being somewhat pushy, didn't listen to their new boss and placed themself in Hanners' life without discussing the situation beforehand. Even when realising they was working with incorrect information, Tilly is still somewhat intrusive. It just feels as though Tilly is superfluous to the needs of the comic, especially considering that there were other characters that could have fitted in the role and perhaps been a better fit for the story; such as Winslow (to pay back Hanners for the new chassis), May (to serve as PA/Bodyguard for Hanners. I mean, just imagine May in a situation like this or Marigold or even Brun.

I said before that Tilly could have, and could still be, an interesting character, but their introduction has fallen flat. The story also feels a lot like a wasted opportunity and I think its going to haunt the character for a while. Its like telling a joke, you trip up at the beginning and you've lost the humour.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #122 on: 30 Nov 2017, 21:26 »

Hopefully later on, Jeph can roll an author saving throw on this one, but should sideline Tilly for a while.  They are *really* annoying in this current arc, but there is still a chance of redemption.  Hells, I still didn't like Claire even for some while after she came out, and I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the only one.  She evolved beyond irritating girl-Clin-ton, so I think that there's hope for Tilly as well.
« Last Edit: 30 Nov 2017, 23:09 by hedgie »
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #123 on: 30 Nov 2017, 21:47 »

Of course, but the fact remains that those first impressions can and do linger, sometimes colouring our view of a character long after they were introduced.

Even before Tilly's revelation about themself, they were disliked by a number of people for being somewhat pushy, didn't listen to their new boss and placed themself in Hanners' life without discussing the situation beforehand. Even when realising they was working with incorrect information, Tilly is still somewhat intrusive. It just feels as though Tilly is superfluous to the needs of the comic, especially considering that there were other characters that could have fitted in the role and perhaps been a better fit for the story; such as Winslow (to pay back Hanners for the new chassis), May (to serve as PA/Bodyguard for Hanners. I mean, just imagine May in a situation like this or Marigold or even Brun.

I said before that Tilly could have, and could still be, an interesting character, but their introduction has fallen flat. The story also feels a lot like a wasted opportunity and I think its going to haunt the character for a while. Its like telling a joke, you trip up at the beginning and you've lost the humour.

Winslow could've asked Hannelore about being more use to her as personal assistant, but she would've told him that she's still trying to push herself to handle mundane tasks and that would've been that.  He wouldn't have pushed it.  Hannelore doesn't really need a bodyguard and if she did Bubbles would be at the of the list.
 Moreover, May lacks a lot of the diplomatic skills a good personal assistant has.  As intrusive as Tilly has been I'd prefer her company over May's any day of the week. 

I'm interested in seeing where this story is going and perhaps Tilly is the catalyst for Hannelore doing something with her life.  She's come a long way, but the only reason she works at Coffee of Doom is to improve her interaction with people and everyday life.  If she somehow gained control over her mother's company it could definitely be a force for good with her at the helm, but she has to be mentally prepared for such a task. 
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #124 on: 30 Nov 2017, 21:48 »

Anyway, here in Brasil, the few non-binary people I know pick a pronoum of their preference or just don't care if they're called "he" or "she". As far as I know, there is no spoken new pronoum for them, altough there were a few atempts in print (none of them really catch up).

There aren't really any neutral pronouns in my native French either (so it's much like it is in Portuguese I guess) and I'm not fond of being called they/them in English.  Yes, it is technically a singular form when you are ignorant of gender but it doesn't feel right to me as a single known individual.  Makes me want to crack jokes about being a collective entity (cue Star Trek Borg jokes).  I'm am totally cool with using it for someone else if that's their comfort zone but it isn't my own pronoun preference. 

I prefer either he/him or she/her equally in both languages, so long as they're said politely.  No pronoun sounds comfortable if said mockingly.  Most folks tend to label me based on my sex since I don't have a naturally androgynous physique and I'm kind of blasé about it.  My gender identity is kind of a personal matter to me and not something I get political about. I get why misgendering would hurt but pronouns don't affect me much unless there's malice behind them.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #125 on: 30 Nov 2017, 22:07 »

To be honest, I think Beatrice is being a lot more deliberate about this than most people think. This could be a sort of trial by fire for both Hannelore and Tilly. Can Hannelore handle having responsibility over someone without freaking out and retreating to her room (like she used to when she was a teenager)? Can Tilly cope with being thrown head-first into a situation with inaccurate information and no way to back out of it without severe loss of face?

On the dossier's accuracy, I'm somewhere between "it was compiled from old and incomplete information" and "it was made wrong deliberately as a test". I assume Hannelore's mom remembered them, and called them "Taffy" deliberately.

As for the reason? Well, I assume she has a favored right-hand minion who can be trusted with both dirty work and (some) secrets, so she wants her daughter to have a minion as well. Plus, it's good practice for when Hannelore eventually has to take over for her mom. Plus, Tilly's cheeriness probably grates on her nerves and she feels Hanners and her friends can handle them better.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #126 on: 30 Nov 2017, 22:09 »

I'm amused by the way so many  posters on this forum were deliberately calling Tilly Taffy while knowing that wasn't their correct name, but have uniformly jumped into line when told to use gender-neutral pronouns.
Is that more important than getting somebody's name right?

I'll leave that question to the gender-variant people here but I'm prepared to believe a "yes" answer.

Think about the relative abjectness of the apologies you make when you misgender someone versus getting their name wrong.

Names don't have connotation, at least not first names. It's apart of the identity, but you can't look at a Tilly and project anything from that except perhaps maybe that their parents really liked 1980-1990's NYC type names. And even that doesn't tell you about the person.

Gender projects A LOT. I don't think I need to go into it, but there's a reason transgender and non binary people exist. We project a lot into other and ourselves based on the pronoun used. People prefer to have as few wrong things assumed about them within that brief first impression as is possible.

I think I'm probably an NB outlier but I am constantly being driven up the wall by people getting my name wrong (because they bizarrely assume it must be a different name because of my ethnicity... Even when I spell it out they write it down wrong...  Think about the Simpsons in Australia episode with "coffee" and "beer").  My name is gender neutral in English but an alternate spelling of it in English is the exact same (but pronounced totally different) as a clearly male name in French... So people call me by that different male name all the time, assuming I'm using some backwards logic translated pronunciation.  Names do carry connotations because they reflect cultural and ethic identity and in my case, that's what people screw up and dismiss all the time.

Meanwhile, I am indifferent about my gendered pronouns mostly.  He or she, tomayto/tomahto.  Not keen on they because of the more common plural meaning.  Just one of me.  Probably because of my own flexible pronoun preferences, I don't happen to get rubbed the wrong way about it like I do with the name thing.  Never had anyone be a jerk about it before.
« Last Edit: 30 Nov 2017, 22:28 by Bleeds_Daylight »
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Tova

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #127 on: 30 Nov 2017, 22:49 »

I have a name with an unusual spelling, so it is prone to misspelling.

I also have a high voice, so people sometimes mistake me as female over the phone (which can be a real problem when trying to establish that you are who you say you are).

I find the latter more annoying, but maybe because that is rarer.

On a different topic: is a comic with an annoying character a bad comic?

Bonus points for including Star Trek in your answer. ;)
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #128 on: 30 Nov 2017, 22:53 »

New comic. Tilly still trying to be helpful. Oh god, they're so hilarious, I love them.
And even if I'm the only one here who thinks so, I'm so grateful Jeph introduced them. This arc is the most fun I had with QC in a long time. This is comedy gold!  :laugh:

In a good mood:
Timemaster

EDIT:
Trying to get used to the "them". Feels weird first, languagewise, but is easier than I thought. I'll try to stick to it.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #129 on: 30 Nov 2017, 23:19 »

All I can say is that, after all he has been through, Marten really, really ought to know better than to enable someone like Tilly. I mean, they're cute in their eagerness to succeed in this job but there has to be a line and Marten should be intuitive enough to have picked up on Hannelore's view of the situation.

Personally, I'd be more than a little worried about anyone who gets joy out of being someone's petty servant but maybe that's me.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #130 on: 30 Nov 2017, 23:32 »

Don't get me started on pizza and pineapple

CLEARLY an abomination to life and all matters culinary.

*rolls eyes*

You have to add jalapeños or habaneros. It ties it all together quite nicely.

EDIT: Also, bell peppers help.
« Last Edit: 02 Dec 2017, 06:02 by Gyrre »
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #131 on: 30 Nov 2017, 23:48 »

I find it hard to understand to understand the dislike for Tilly.


They seem nice.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #132 on: 01 Dec 2017, 00:03 »

Tilly knows how to sell themselves if nothing else.
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #133 on: 01 Dec 2017, 00:09 »

I think it's more giving us further evidence that Tilly is overall incompetent at their purported job.

How good would you say you normally are at a new job on your first day doing it? Personally (and I've done an awful lot of quite different jobs) it always takes me a little while to bed down and find my feet. Typically when a job has a trial period its a week or a month simply because its difficult to judge how someone is going to shape up after 4 hours.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #134 on: 01 Dec 2017, 00:27 »

In the sense of getting Hanners a new phone, Tilly was surprisingly successful and saved their boss the hassle of getting a new phone, so in that regard score one for Tilly.

OTOH, just recall why Hanners required a new phone at all.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #135 on: 01 Dec 2017, 00:35 »

All I can say is that, after all he has been through, Marten really, really ought to know better than to enable someone like Tilly. I mean, they're cute in their eagerness to succeed in this job but there has to be a line and Marten should be intuitive enough to have picked up on Hannelore's view of the situation.

As much as a lot of my dislike for Tilly is probably rooted in defensiveness towards Hannelore, it is apparent that Hannelore, being a Good Person, is now making an effort to be nice to them, even going out of her way to memorise their name. She's also got used to their presence by now, even if it is still unwanted. And while Tilly is still being obsessively earnest, it is not currently at the creepily intrusive level that warrants fetching the sword.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #136 on: 01 Dec 2017, 00:55 »

In the sense of getting Hanners a new phone, Tilly was surprisingly successful and saved their boss the hassle of getting a new phone, so in that regard score one for Tilly.

OTOH, just recall why Hanners required a new phone at all.

Nothing to do with Tilly...
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #137 on: 01 Dec 2017, 00:56 »

Don't get me started on pizza and pineapple

CLEARLY an abomination to life and all matters culinary.

*rolls eyes*

You have to add jalapeños or habaneros. It ties it all together quite nicely.

I had a rug once which tied my living room together quite nicely, too.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #138 on: 01 Dec 2017, 01:20 »

OTOH, just recall why Hanners required a new phone at all.

Nothing to do with Tilly...

Not personally, I suppose - but still because Beatrice foisted them on her.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #139 on: 01 Dec 2017, 01:33 »

Yes. What I should have said is that it doesn't reflect on Tilly's ability as a PA.

I agree with Timemaster, btw. I'm enjoying this arc. It has all been played for laughs (see sig).
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #140 on: 01 Dec 2017, 01:37 »

Please, please put Tilly on the bus to Mandyville to live with Raven, Gabbie and Angus.
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #141 on: 01 Dec 2017, 02:14 »

That's exactly how I feel about it, as well, though perhaps more for the reaction than the arc itself.

I fully admit that this is my own personal bias/pet peeve. So in the spirit of the forums, I'll call it my head canon.

I reckon Jeoh has done this in an attempt to make you all think about the folly of leaping from an initial impression to instant character judgement.

Depends on what you mean by "character".
Because whether male, female or insert-appropriate-descriptor-here - Tilly's still an annoying bugger.

Today's strip has not helped. The character is being presented as both a hive of useless Hanners Trivia, with some apparent insane genius level negotiation skills... but also acts like a three year old... (Climbing over counter, standing on head.)

So, what's next?
"Oh Tilly's ON THE SPECTRUM! So you can't be annoyed at ...them...."

(I'm sorry that just SCREAMS grammatical curses at me.)
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #142 on: 01 Dec 2017, 02:26 »

Don't get me started on pizza and pineapple

CLEARLY an abomination to life and all matters culinary.

NO! I will have my Hawaii pizza!
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #143 on: 01 Dec 2017, 02:31 »

I live in Sweden and I'm glad that we are starting to pick up a neutral pronoun "hen" (in contrast to han = he, and hon = she).***
I guess that's why the term they/them in singular confuses the hell out of me (on a purely linguistical way, mind you) because we already got a non-binary pronoun and leave the they/them for plurals only. :P




*** = Feel free to make any poultry jokes you like, cuz I can't come up with a single one.

Yeah... a singular would be a great addition to the language.
Y'see, I find this They/Them thing VERY difficult to take on, because for 50+ years I've been raised to think that calling someone THEY or THEM was unspeakably rude.
<snip>

Finnish is handy in that, we only have one singular 3rd person pronoun, "Hän". Altho' the colloquial use of "Se", which originally means "It", is sadly getting more approval.
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JoeCovenant

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #144 on: 01 Dec 2017, 02:34 »

Don't get me started on pizza and pineapple

CLEARLY an abomination to life and all matters culinary.

NO! I will have my Hawaii pizza!

(click to show/hide)

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Timemaster

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #145 on: 01 Dec 2017, 02:43 »

I agree with Timemaster, btw. I'm enjoying this arc. It has all been played for laughs (see sig).

Yay, this makes us two already. Let‘s do a Tilly fanclub. Anyone else want‘s to join?  :-D

And Pizza with Tuna and Pineapple is fine with me. And it gets me a table for myself, whenever I order it.

Swimming against the stream:
Timemaster
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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #146 on: 01 Dec 2017, 02:55 »

I would not order such a thing myself, but your conviction has won my admiration. :D
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Yet the lies of Melkor, the mighty and the accursed, Morgoth Bauglir, the Power of Terror and of Hate, sowed in the hearts of Elves and Men are a seed that does not die and cannot be destroyed; and ever and anon it sprouts anew, and will bear dark fruit even unto the latest days. (Silmarillion 255)

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #147 on: 01 Dec 2017, 03:02 »

You know what does not make me want to be gracious about respecting someone’s wishes when it comes to personal pronouns?

When the very first thing that person does by way of introduction is pointedly disregard someone else’s personal wishes (and on a matter arguably more substantial than pronoun usage).

This arc feels to me like being lectured at, as if not liking Taffy, much less not using Taffy’s desired pronoun, would be crimethink.

Perhaps I don’t “get the joke” of this arc because I have low tolerance for “practical joke” alleged-humor, especially when it is extended (short slapstick sequences are more endurable for me when they are short/when the perpetrator suffers an ironic rejoinder).  This sequence feels to me painfully overextended, uninteresting, and as if I’m being forceably “playfully” elbowed to the effect of “this wacky new character sure is loveable for such an unwanted annoyance right RIGHT especially because TOLERANCE right RIGHT?!?!”
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Welu

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #148 on: 01 Dec 2017, 03:27 »

Would you ever consider not respecting a cis person's pronouns because you didn't like them? That tends to be something only even thought of for nonbinary and trans people.

You're not obligated to like anyone, not even if they have a minority status. However it is not okay to hold that status over their head as something only worthy of respecting if they behave the right way.

Disagree. Call out shitty behaviour. Don't put up with someone disrespecting you. However you should not invalidate or threaten to invalidate anyone's identity and personhood in the process.

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Re: WCDT 3621 to 3625 (27th November to 1st December 2017)
« Reply #149 on: 01 Dec 2017, 03:42 »

I have a name with an unusual spelling, so it is prone to misspelling.

I also have a high voice, so people sometimes mistake me as female over the phone (which can be a real problem when trying to establish that you are who you say you are).


Both for me. Try to spell your name over the phone with a unusual variant of the first name, plus a last name with two phonemes unexistant in my language, while being called "ma'm" all the time in spite of said first name being obsviously masculine. Ad that most phone companies' people just don't get my southern accent...

Man I hate phone companies. Tilly would be of help to get even with them.
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