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Titan/Bubbles - Military training, hardware and a dislike for exploiters!

23 (14.6%)

Cutting Edge/May - A martial artist and melee weapons fan who has had enough of petty crime!

5 (3.2%)

Skullmaster/Sam Bean - The plucky sword-weilding sidekick!

17 (10.8%)

The Java Witch/Dora Bianchi - It turns out all that wiccan stuff is for realsies!

10 (6.4%)

Pizza Girl - Might as well have a veteran on the team!

19 (12.1%)

Steve - Because a super-spy never retires!

14 (8.9%)

Pink Lightning/Momo - It turns out those tasers are a LOT more adaptable than you'd think!

13 (8.3%)

Spookybot/Yay Newfriend - A puppet-master changing the world in the battlefield of cyberspace!

12 (7.6%)

Vigilance/Roko Basilisk - There are lots of surprises in that chassis and lots of wrongs done under colour of law!

15 (9.6%)

Captain Liberty/Abbie Potter - She took an oath to protect and serve, after all!

2 (1.3%)

Ms Gadget/Emily Azuma - She's upgraded a lot of stuff in her time; she was first!

24 (15.3%)

Other (please specify in the comments)

3 (1.9%)

Total Members Voted: 34

[BenRG]

Something tells me that this entire interaction is rapidly getting away from Renee. Yes, she's attracted to Dan; that's why she made a mess of the opening message in yesterday's strip. She's that sort of comedic romantic protagonist who can't help being insulting because she's so nervous at the strength of her reaction to the other. However, interestingly, she's aware of this at least to the degree where she's aware of the possibility of her behaviour.

Brun, the trophy is all around you: It's Renee's essential loneliness and dissatisfaction with her life.

And school faculty have had to deal with generation after generation of terrible parents who think their hellspawn are perfect little angels.

They're easier to deal with that the ones who actively encourage their children to be bullies and to be violent because they believe that being aggressively and abusively dominant is a desirable trait.

[snubnose]

Quite frankly the best day of public school was when it ended. *shrug*

Thankfully I didnt go to public school during all my childhood, but switched to Waldorf in between. They're much better. They arent complete heaven on earth either, especially since difficult pupils are sent to them, but overall much more social.

I heard good things about Montessori, too.

[hedgie]

I was bullied, teased and an outcast in Catholic school as much as in public school.

Catholic school in the '90s was pretty much my idea of purgatory at best.  From what friends of mine who went to the local public high school (and either dropped-out or went on to some form of Independent Study) told me, that would have been hell.

[jesslc]

I love Renee's eyebrows in this comic, they're very expressive. Hopefully Renee manages to keep her feet out of her mouth during the coffee date (can we call it a date?).

Yeah, me too. We don't need to see Renee's actual sms conversation with Dan because Jeph's done such a great job of telling the story through Renee's facial expressions. It's a great shift from (presumably) "apologizing for her earlier foot in mouth moment and offering to buy him a coffee to make up for it" through to "pleasant surprise that he's happy to meet her for coffee" and then back to "feeling insecure about her likely inability to keep her foot out of her mouth tomorrow"

Well for Renee's sake, I hope that Dan turns out to be compatible with someone who might frequently stuff her foot in her mouth but she also recognizes this fault and is trying to work on it. Cause she's almost certainly not going to manage to stop it overnight. 

[BenRG]

So, anyone want to predict how Renee and Dan's little catch-up coffee morning will go? I'm expecting chaotic shenanigans including Elliot being a well-meaning but ultimately unwelcome 'big brother', Clinton misunderstanding and getting jealous of an entirely-illusiory Elliot/Renee romantic relationship and Renee continually blundering with her tongue and ending up virtually in tears because she thinks she's ruined the whole thing. This will lead to either:

• Dan deciding he's best off not being involved in this slow-motion train wreck of a social circle OR
• "You know, Renee, I always liked your dry, sarcastic ways! I look forward to finding out a bit about the lady underneath the spikes!"

What are your predictions and ideas?

[N.N. Marf]

I think it could be interesting to see S!#$$y Renee play out indirectly, to infer what happens from background details without actually seeing anything directly, and being revealed to other characters only when the relationship is stable. With Brun uncharacteristically better-understanding of the state of that relationship?

[Thrudd]

I found the trophy


Sorry the first pic is kinda grainy.

Officially I would nominate the first but the bucket on a stick is kinda fun and would need explaining every time someone would see it.

[Gnabberwocky]

So, anyone want to predict how Renee and Dan's little catch-up coffee morning will go? I'm expecting chaotic shenanigans including Elliot being a well-meaning but ultimately unwelcome 'big brother', Clinton misunderstanding and getting jealous of an entirely-illusiory Elliot/Renee romantic relationship and Renee continually blundering with her tongue and ending up virtually in tears because she thinks she's ruined the whole thing. This will lead to either:

• Dan deciding he's best off not being involved in this slow-motion train wreck of a social circle OR
• "You know, Renee, I always liked your dry, sarcastic ways! I look forward to finding out a bit about the lady underneath the spikes!"

What are your predictions and ideas?

I honestly don't think that it can go any way except well. That first text was pretty much rock bottom. If he's still down for coffee, he must be willing to take a lot of abuse.

[Thrillho]

I was bullied, teased and an outcast in Catholic school as much as in public school.

Catholic school in the '90s was pretty much my idea of purgatory at best.  From what friends of mine who went to the local public high school (and either dropped-out or went on to some form of Independent Study) told me, that would have been hell.

I work in education and so I am always interested in discussing it, but I think we need to accept that there are countless different forms of education all of which come with their own drawbacks.

Boarding schools, or socially acceptable child neglect - ignoring how easy that system is to exploit for abusive purposes.

Religious schools, which can refuse to teach facts, choose to teach falsities and end up in the pocket of local officials.

Grammar schools, which claim meritocracy and instead help perpetuate already existing racist and patriarchal systems.

Single-sex scools, why the fuck do they still exist at all?

And that's just scratching the surface.

Anyway, if Shitty Dan was at all comfortable with the nickname of Shitty Dan, then he may take Renee's particular brand of flirty abrasiveness in good humour.

[hedgie]

Thankfully, aside from the mandatory religion classes, actual instruction was focused in facts.  The one I went to was also big in to community work, and surprisingly, there was a rainbow flag up in one Spanish teacher's classroom.  It still sucked, though.  Teens are monsters.

As far as single-sex schools go, I have seen some studies that show them as being beneficial for girls.

[Thrillho]

I've also read that mixing is better for the boys, so someone is being excluded either way - which kinda suggests to me that the problems with the mixed-gender classes may be on a grander scale than simply cutting them off from each other. Education is in dire need of reform.

[Gnabberwocky]

Teens are monsters.

Is there an implied "most?"

[Is it cold in here?]

Public schools and bullying 
Grade school, beatings and some name calling 
Middle school, psychological warfare is in its infancy and physical interactions simmer down to intimidation with the occasional shoving 
High school, psychological and social warfare become the modes operand and is refined during this period.  Physical violence was almost nonexistent due to proximity to a law enforcement hub.

Conclusion: Public schools suck

I was bullied, teased and an outcast in Catholic school as much as in public school.

I wish your experience had been as good as my wife's. She transferred to a Catholic school and once there she no longer had to recruit a team of three to go to the restroom safely.

[St.Clair]

Teens are monsters.

Is there an implied "most?"

Some are merely impulsive, hormonal idiots.

[Gnabberwocky]

Teens are monsters.

Is there an implied "most?"

Some are merely impulsive, hormonal idiots.

Definitely. I would agree that most teens are horrible. But it's an unfair generalization to say we all are. I do my best not to be like that, and I have plenty of kind friends who aren't like that.

[Gyrre]

Thankfully, aside from the mandatory religion classes, actual instruction was focused in facts.  The one I went to was also big in to community work, and surprisingly, there was a rainbow flag up in one Spanish teacher's classroom.  It still sucked, though.  Teens are monsters.

As far as single-sex schools go, I have seen some studies that show them as being beneficial for girls.

I spent my freshman year of college at SNU. Chapel was not only mandatory, but if you missed more than 3, you actually got put on academic probation. Did I mention  being 10+ minutes late w/o a note from a faculty member counted as being absent?
Needless to say I found a nice ju-co closer to home for sophmore year to knock out my gen-eds.

Teens are monsters.

Is there an implied "most?"

Some are merely impulsive, hormonal idiots.

Definitely. I would agree that most teens are horrible. But it's an unfair generalization to say we all are. I do my best not to be like that, and I have plenty of kind friends who aren't like that.

Just remember; "Broad strokes hurt folks."

It's something I've been trying to keep in mind more the past few years.

[hedgie]

Definitely. I would agree that most teens are horrible. But it's an unfair generalization to say we all are. I do my best not to be like that, and I have plenty of kind friends who aren't like that.

Between years spent working in the service industry, and even longer following politics, it's safe to say that by now I'm a misanthrope with a very low view of humanity in general.

[N.N. Marf]

Definitely. I would agree that most teens are horrible. But it's an unfair generalization to say we all are. I do my best not to be like that, and I have plenty of kind friends who aren't like that.

Between years spent working in the service industry, and even longer following politics, it's safe to say that by now I'm a misanthrope with a very low view of humanity in general.

It's a general rule of mine that, because most persons are terrible, I should seek out only the ones that aren't (or are the least) terrible. I've met only one person of the thousands I've ever met that maybe isn't terrible.

[Is it cold in here?]

There is a risk of self-fulfilling prophecy there, though we're completely on the same page about being careful who we associate with.

[N.N. Marf]

(click to show/hide)

There is a risk of self-fulfilling prophecy there, though we're completely on the same page about being careful who we associate with.

I mean, I have principles about what I consider a terrible person, and there's a scale of how terrible. It's not simply to reject a terrible person, but about being always on the lookout for less-terrible persons, and about guiding terrible persons towards being less terrible. It is, of course, important to stick to convincing (using reason, letting them come to their conclusions), not persuading (e.g. emotional manipulation), so that if I'm wrong about something, I won't be trying to `infect' someone with my own terribleness.

[Gnabberwocky]

Definitely. I would agree that most teens are horrible. But it's an unfair generalization to say we all are. I do my best not to be like that, and I have plenty of kind friends who aren't like that.

Between years spent working in the service industry, and even longer following politics, it's safe to say that by now I'm a misanthrope with a very low view of humanity in general.

All is forgiven. Following politics is a startlingly efficient method of losing faith in humanity.

[jesslc]

All is forgiven. Following politics is a startlingly efficient method of losing faith in humanity.

So true!  *sigh*


As for Renee & Dan, I'm predicting that things will go well in the short term - Dan will be neither just boring nor actively shitty (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4197) and Renee will get to feel that spark of connection with someone (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4346). However, I'm also thinking that it's likely there will end up being some reason that means they don't work out in the longer term.

Admittedly that last part is really more of a meta prediction based on thinking about where Jeph might take the comic in the long term. Eg. The existing couples seem mostly very stable to me therefore I think it's likely that the majority of future relationship conflict will come from the potential relationships being explored recently - Renee & Dan / wherever Jeph ends up taking Elliot, Clinton, Brun & Millefeuille / May & Sven / Roko's desire for connection & bread, and also the people who possibly have crushes on her / etc

[Gyrre]

Definitely. I would agree that most teens are horrible. But it's an unfair generalization to say we all are. I do my best not to be like that, and I have plenty of kind friends who aren't like that.

Between years spent working in the service industry, and even longer following politics, it's safe to say that by now I'm a misanthrope with a very low view of humanity in general.

All is forgiven. Following politics is a startlingly efficient method of losing faith in humanity.

Especially when crap like what surrounded the publication of the Panama Papers happens.

[BenRG]

Poll Results Post
There was an idea... Northampton's own superhero team!

1. Ms Gadget/Emily Azuma - She's upgraded a lot of stuff in her time; she was first! - 23 (15.3%)
2. Titan/Bubbles - Military training, hardware and a dislike for exploiters! - 22 (14.7%)
3. Pizza Girl - Might as well have a veteran on the team! - 18 (12%)
4. Skullmaster/Sam Bean - The plucky sword-weilding sidekick! - 17 (11.3%)
5. Vigilance/Roko Basilisk - There are lots of surprises in that chassis and lots of wrongs done under colour of law! - 14 (9.3%)
6. Steve - Because a super-spy never retires! - 13 (8.7%)
=7. Pink Lightning/Momo - It turns out those tasers are a LOT more adaptable than you'd think! - 12 (8%)
=7. Spookybot/Yay Newfriend - A puppet-master changing the world in the battlefield of cyberspace! - 12 (8%)
9. The Java Witch/Dora Bianchi - It turns out all that wiccan stuff is for realsies! - 9 (6%)
10. Cutting Edge/May - A martial artist and melee weapons fan who has had enough of petty crime! - 5 (3.3%)
11. Other (please specify in the comments) - 3 (2%)
12. Captain Liberty/Abbie Potter - She took an oath to protect and serve, after all! - 2 (1.3%)


Interesting results all told. I am genuinely surprised that Pizza Girl scored as highly as she did and the same with Sam/Skullmaster. Obviously there is a hunger in  the forums for a plucky comedy sidekick to help the 'serious' heroes!

I'm leaving the poll open because I think that more might vote after they've had a chance to think about the scenario.