Questionable Content XVII: "My Brain Is Trash And I Live On The Internet"

[VoxRationis]

This development was always kind of inevitable (as others have pointed out, shameless sexual harassment and malicious pranks are much less funny when they come from a position of relative parity in strength), but I'm somewhat surprised it's being addressed explicitly.

[Wraith]

I mean, May is a humanoid AI that is vulgar to everyone she meets - pretty much the second thing she ever said to Marigold after "hello, I promise I won't steal Dale from you" was along the lines of "hey, nice boobs!" and she's said worse since then.

So I can see why Pintsize needs to evolve into something different to that, otherwise we just have two funny-coloured people being rude to everyone which is at least one too many.

But this just doesn't sound like Pintsize. Why didn't he just swear, or demand something like "DAMN YOU CLAIRE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BRAIN!?!", or something quirky and outrageous-but-not-sexist? That's more in line of what he's done before even without being crude, and this "being hyper-aware of his situation and explaining it at length" thing is at odds both with his quirky personality and the confused, slightly anxious and emotionally fragile state that he was established to be experiencing not half an hour ago in the park.

Sure, change him from being the guy who talks about butts and boobs all the time; that's not the same as immediately being able to articulate all of the emerging emotions that he hasn't previously experienced or acknowledged.

[EDIT] Also, regarding yesterday's comic.... Why isn't anyone at work? Marten got out of bed and met googly-eyed Pintsize, who immediately went for a job interview. About... what, an hour has passed since then? Making it something like 10 or 11am? And Marten, Bubbles and Beepatrice are all sat at home or wandering around with nothing to do. GO TO WORK, YOU LAZY BUMS!

[Keltest]

I mean, May is a humanoid AI that is vulgar to everyone she meets - pretty much the second thing she ever said to Marigold after "hello, I promise I won't steal Dale from you" was along the lines of "hey, nice boobs!" and she's said worse since then.

So I can see why Pintsize needs to evolve into something different to that, otherwise we just have two funny-coloured people being rude to everyone which is at least one too many.

But this just doesn't sound like Pintsize. Why didn't he just swear, or demand something like "DAMN YOU CLAIRE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BRAIN!?!", or something quirky and outrageous-but-not-sexist? That's more in line of what he's done before even without being crude, and this "being hyper-aware of his situation and explaining it at length" thing is at odds both with his quirky personality and the confused, slightly anxious and emotionally fragile state that he was established to be experiencing not half an hour ago in the park.

Sure, change him from being the guy who talks about butts and boobs all the time; that's not the same as immediately being able to articulate all of the emerging emotions that he hasn't previously experienced or acknowledged.

[EDIT] Also, regarding yesterday's comic.... Why isn't anyone at work? Marten got out of bed and met googly-eyed Pintsize, who immediately went for a job interview. About... what, an hour has passed since then? Making it something like 10 or 11am? And Marten, Bubbles and Beepatrice are all sat at home or wandering around with nothing to do. GO TO WORK, YOU LAZY BUMS!

It could be Sunday in the comic.

[Willie the Duck]

Also, regarding yesterday's comic.... Why isn't anyone at work? Marten got out of bed and met googly-eyed Pintsize, who immediately went for a job interview. About... what, an hour has passed since then? Making it something like 10 or 11am? And Marten, Bubbles and Beepatrice are all sat at home or wandering around with nothing to do. GO TO WORK, YOU LAZY BUMS!

It could be Sunday in the comic.

The other two work at a fast food restaurant. Differing shift times compared to someone who receives appointments would not be unusual.
Also, Wraith, an hour after Marten got out of bed is 10 or 11? Am I missing something?
Regardless, it was previously established that personal shopper lady (blanking on the individual names of these three) just rolled out of bed for this appointment, so who knows maybe it's 7:00 or 7:30 right now. Regardless of that Regardless, I'm surprised that Pintsize's fashion appointment lasted longer than the dildo factory tour.

That's more in line of what he's done before even without being crude, and this "being hyper-aware of his situation and explaining it at length" thing is at odds both with his quirky personality and the confused, slightly anxious and emotionally fragile state that he was established to be experiencing not half an hour ago in the park.

Sure, change him from being the guy who talks about butts and boobs all the time; that's not the same as immediately being able to articulate all of the emerging emotions that he hasn't previously experienced or acknowledged.

I'm not sure what I think of his emotional journey, but I definitely think both this and the park conversation feel unlike his voice. This is the author/comic itself doing an exposition dump because the concepts being conveyed don't flow naturally from conversation in a gag-a-day strip. This is the same issue as Schlock Mercenary had in the later years. I wish Jeph had taken more time to figure out a way to tell this story without these OOC infodumps.

[Traab]

I mean, May is a humanoid AI that is vulgar to everyone she meets - pretty much the second thing she ever said to Marigold after "hello, I promise I won't steal Dale from you" was along the lines of "hey, nice boobs!" and she's said worse since then.

So I can see why Pintsize needs to evolve into something different to that, otherwise we just have two funny-coloured people being rude to everyone which is at least one too many.

But this just doesn't sound like Pintsize. Why didn't he just swear, or demand something like "DAMN YOU CLAIRE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BRAIN!?!", or something quirky and outrageous-but-not-sexist? That's more in line of what he's done before even without being crude, and this "being hyper-aware of his situation and explaining it at length" thing is at odds both with his quirky personality and the confused, slightly anxious and emotionally fragile state that he was established to be experiencing not half an hour ago in the park.

Sure, change him from being the guy who talks about butts and boobs all the time; that's not the same as immediately being able to articulate all of the emerging emotions that he hasn't previously experienced or acknowledged.

[EDIT] Also, regarding yesterday's comic.... Why isn't anyone at work? Marten got out of bed and met googly-eyed Pintsize, who immediately went for a job interview. About... what, an hour has passed since then? Making it something like 10 or 11am? And Marten, Bubbles and Beepatrice are all sat at home or wandering around with nothing to do. GO TO WORK, YOU LAZY BUMS!

Double standards in humor for genders is the answer. May gets away with it because female. If a woman goes, "WOAH NICE JUGS!" Its considered less ofensive than if a guy went "WOAH! NICE JUGS!" Its like the difference in a man hitting a woman and a woman hitting a man. There shouldnt be a difference in reaction as hitting is bad, but there is. "You cheated on me?" /SMACK Picture a man doing the slapping, then picture a woman, you know deep down which is going to get the bigger negative reaction from viewers. But yeah, may can make these inappropriate comments and get away with it more or less, but pintsize in adult male body comes off as a super creep pervert and not funny at all.

[Ionathus]

I came here to say something similar: this doesn't feel like the horrible little bastard I know and love/tolerate.

Momo & Winslow both successfully made the transition to human-like bodies, but Pintsize's characterization seems to be struggling. Maybe it's because he's been a fixture of the comic since day 1, maybe it's because his antics are so much weirder coming from a human-shaped body with actual facial expressions, maybe it's because he's literally no longer "pint-sized."

The introspection feels so out of character, and it's giving me some strong regression towards the mean vibes. I know "self-obsessed twentysomethings" has always been the core cast of this comic, but now even the wacky robot sidekick is talking like every other character. Same topics, same facial expressions, same delivery. I want the lovable & horrible little robot bastard back.

[Wraith]

It could be Sunday in the comic.

What kind of maniac schedules a job interview on a Sunday? And why wouldn't an R&D technician like Beepatrice work standard office hours instead of being paid weekend premiums?

Also, Wraith, an hour after Marten got out of bed is 10 or 11? Am I missing something?
Regardless, it was previously established that personal shopper lady (blanking on the individual names of these three) just rolled out of bed for this appointment, so who knows maybe it's 7:00 or 7:30 right now.

Fair enough; I'm only guessing it's a normal business time in the morning, seeing as Clinton has had enough time to get out of bed (apparently on his day off, since he's not had to rush to work or anything either) walk to the Bakery, chat with Elliot for a while, then walk around town and bump into Claire.

The implication being that everything that has happened in the last 20ish strips - Pintsize showing off his new body, walking to the factory, the talk with Claire, Claire's tour of the factory, meeting Clinton and then the walk back home - has all occurred in the space between Marten getting out of bed, getting dressed and going to work. And bear in mind, that was at least the second interview since someone else already came in and was offered to job.

So... What kind of maniac schedules a job interview for ~7am? Even people applying for a job on third shift typically aren't expected to turn up before dawn to hand over their resume!

[Willie the Duck]

I forget what Clinton's job actually is. I the fandom wiki suggests he's still in school, with research for the AI companion project perhaps being a student job. I'm going to say that since he was willing to crash at Mom's in the first place, he probably knew he had a light morning.

The dildo factory hiring someone before Fashion lady's first interview is odd, so maybe we line it up at 8:00, her being a late riser, and the factory starting their interviews at 7:00 or 7:30. Or, I suppose, the interview was last night, but the boss came in and made a hiring decision at 7:00.

I don't know. I get to work before 6:00, so I probably have a pretty skewed perspective on normal, timing-wise.

[Rodin]

I came here to say something similar: this doesn't feel like the horrible little bastard I know and love/tolerate.

Momo & Winslow both successfully made the transition to human-like bodies, but Pintsize's characterization seems to be struggling. Maybe it's because he's been a fixture of the comic since day 1, maybe it's because his antics are so much weirder coming from a human-shaped body with actual facial expressions, maybe it's because he's literally no longer "pint-sized."

The introspection feels so out of character, and it's giving me some strong regression towards the mean vibes. I know "self-obsessed twentysomethings" has always been the core cast of this comic, but now even the wacky robot sidekick is talking like every other character. Same topics, same facial expressions, same delivery. I want the lovable & horrible little robot bastard back.

Momo's transition was handled smoothly, but if you look at her before and after there is a marked difference in character. AnthroPC Momo was a bit ditzy and wacky to keep up with the antics of the other AnthroPCs. There's enough of her original personality in there to see it, but overall I still consider AnthroPC!Momo and Android!Momo to be fundamentally different people. To be clear - I don't have a major problem with this one. It was handled well and it's believable that Momo would shift in personality a bit with her new body.

Winslow was the same, only handled less smoothly. Other than being a worrywart I really can't see Winslow's original character in the boy that replaced him. There are a few basic elements that made it across but the mannerisms and overall outlook belong to a different person.

Pintsize is just jarring. There was no attempt to smoothly transition him to a new body and the resulting character is not Pintsize in any way, shape, or form. It's a male May who can't do May things because of the aforementioned double standards.

[Keltest]

I think my last hope at this point is that Pintsize genuinely decides that he cant live like this and goes back to being his small obnoxious self, because he is fundamentally incapable of interacting with people in the way that his new body now requires him to.

[georgie_leech]

I think my last hope at this point is that Pintsize genuinely decides that he cant live like this and goes back to being his small obnoxious self, because he is fundamentally incapable of interacting with people in the way that his new body now requires him to.

Hm. New Chassis actually causing personality changes would certainly add a wrinkle to things. A rather dystopic one, if the changes are deliberate and not accidental.

[Max_Killjoy]

Hm. New Chassis actually causing personality changes would certainly add a wrinkle to things. A rather dystopic one, if the changes are deliberate and not accidental.

Under that hypothesis, Roku's dismorphia could be a sign of her mind rejecting those changes.

[Thufir]

Either way, we mourn you, old Pintsize. You appear to have been killed off screen and replaced by a poorly-mimic'd doppelganger that doesn't really have your personality down.

Can we not do this? Can we not refer to a still living character as dead just because they started acting a little differently? This is way too similar to the stupid transphobic rhetoric where bigots treat a trans person coming out as 'the person I knew is dead and this is someone else now'. Old Pintsize became new Pintsize. If you don't like how he's changed, that's your prerogative, but he's not dead.

Re: chassis affecting personality, of course it does. People act differently based on wearing different clothes, getting a new haircut, having a shower, etc. Changing your whole body is obviously going to have a much bigger effect.

[Traab]

Can we not do this? Can we not refer to a still living character as dead just because they started acting a little differently? This is way too similar to the stupid transphobic rhetoric where bigots treat a trans person coming out as 'the person I knew is dead and this is someone else now'. Old Pintsize became new Pintsize. If you don't like how he's changed, that's your prerogative, but he's not dead.

Re: chassis affecting personality, of course it does. People act differently based on wearing different clothes, getting a new haircut, having a shower, etc. Changing your whole body is obviously going to have a much bigger effect.

Im sorry but I have to disagree. This isnt like someone who is trans, no matter how hard jeph was playing on the allegory with roko, this is about a comic character completely altering his appearance and personality and doing so with no justification or character arc for doing so. This would be as if tony stark started wearing supermans outfit and no armor, talking about truth justice and the american way firing heat beams out of his eyes and flying without any gear. Thats not the same character anymore. Its a bizarre change with no justification in universe. And if permanent its fair to say that tony stark is dead, because now he is clark kent in all but name. Everything that made tony stark who he is as a character is gone.

[halfeye]

Hm. New Chassis actually causing personality changes would certainly add a wrinkle to things. A rather dystopic one, if the changes are deliberate and not accidental.

Yeah, a new body censoring the output of the mind that's occupying it would be really bad. Not that I think that would be a change to the personality, the personality is surely the mind? Roko being unable to hit the wall was bad, but this is worse.

[Thufir]

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. This isn't like someone who is trans, no matter how hard Jeph was playing on the allegory with Roko, this is about a comic character completely altering his appearance and personality and doing so with no justification or character arc for doing so. This would be as if Tony Stark started wearing Superman's outfit and no armor, talking about truth justice and the American way firing heat beams out of his eyes and flying without any gear. Thats not the same character any more. It's a bizarre change with no justification in universe. And if permanent it's fair to say that Tony Stark is dead, because now he is Clark Kent in all but name. Everything that made Tony Stark who he is as a character is gone.

No, it's pretty much exactly like the trans person example. "I don't like what this person has become, so I will instead act as if they have died." Sometimes people can go through some pretty big changes without you noticing, and it is deeply offensive to liken those changes to them dying.

It's also similar to the trans person example in that people are whining about how Pintsize is different in every single way, completely ignoring that he's been clearly shown to be still the same in multiple ways. A completely different character wouldn't have created the portmanteau "Tijubas," because they wouldn't have started towards the crass comment in the first place. A completely different character wouldn't have laughed ominously about the prospect of buying a new wardrobe, objected to the suggestion his clothes should be 'non-upsetting', asked for a wardrobe toeing the line between "hilarious and irrevent," and "literally a clown," or probably worn that pink tie and hotpants in the first place. Or implicitly accepted the description of 'door-to-door pervert,' or grinned hugely at Iris telling Yemisi to eat her/Willow's ass, or planned on applying for a job at a sex toy factory as a joke/to get free dildos. A completely different character probably wouldn't have bought their new chassis from Internet Jerry. Aside from a little introspection about his personality (which was not entirely unheard of even before now), I'm struggling to see anything that's not entirely consistent with Pintsize's previous characterisation.

But, looping back around to my original point, even if he *was* completely different now (which he's not, but you don't have to agree with me about that), the comparison to real life trans people or even just cis people who go through major life changes would make it offensive to refer to him as dead. I'm not saying you can't complain about the new characterisation or say that New Pintsize sucks and you preferred Old Pintsize - I am simply drawing the line specifically at people describing him as *dead* because he had a personality shift.

[georgie_leech]

No, it's pretty much exactly like the trans person example. "I don't like what this person has become, so I will instead act as if they have died." Sometimes people can go through some pretty big changes without you noticing, and it is deeply offensive to liken those changes to them dying.

It's also similar to the trans person example in that people are whining about how Pintsize is different in every single way, completely ignoring that he's been clearly shown to be still the same in multiple ways. A completely different character wouldn't have created the portmanteau "Tijubas," because they wouldn't have started towards the crass comment in the first place. A completely different character wouldn't have laughed ominously about the prospect of buying a new wardrobe, objected to the suggestion his clothes should be 'non-upsetting', asked for a wardrobe toeing the line between "hilarious and irrevent," and "literally a clown," or probably worn that pink tie and hotpants in the first place. Or implicitly accepted the description of 'door-to-door pervert,' or grinned hugely at Iris telling Yemisi to eat her/Willow's ass, or planned on applying for a job at a sex toy factory as a joke/to get free dildos. A completely different character probably wouldn't have bought their new chassis from Internet Jerry. Aside from a little introspection about his personality (which was not entirely unheard of even before now), I'm struggling to see anything that's not entirely consistent with Pintsize's previous characterisation.

But, looping back around to my original point, even if he *was* completely different now (which he's not, but you don't have to agree with me about that), the comparison to real life trans people or even just cis people who go through major life changes would make it offensive to refer to him as dead. I'm not saying you can't complain about the new characterisation or say that New Pintsize sucks and you preferred Old Pintsize - I am simply drawing the line specifically at people describing him as *dead* because he had a personality shift.

I meant it as a joke about him being replaced off-screen; I don't literally think the old character is dead. If it was insensitive, I apologize for that.

Incidentally, it was Willow that came up with the portmanteau, out of Pintsize's failures at a crude joke

[Rodin]

I meant it as a joke about him being replaced off-screen; I don't literally think the old character is dead. If it was insensitive, I apologize for that.

Incidentally, it was Willow that came up with the portmanteau, out of Pintsize's failures at a crude joke

Ditto. I never considered it as being offensive to trans people both because I've never heard that particular insult and because it doesn't apply to the trans people I've known pre and post transition. It was actually easier to adapt to the transition because their personality hadn't changed - I just started swapping pronouns and that was that. Nonetheless, if that joke can be offensive I won't use it. Simple as that.

I will say I disagree with most of the examples cited as being "Pintsize-like". You can get there if you squint, but the style of humor is off. AnthroPC!Pintsize used clothing as a prop, not just a "I'm gonna dress weird because I'm so wacky!" In fact, I think that the describes Android!Pintsize to a T - he's wacky, being weird for the hell of it. AnthroPC!Pintsize was always doing it in furtherance of a prank or deliberately crafting a persona (like his British guy impersonation). New Pintsize is a lot more "in your face" and I don't like that shift.

[Wraith]

Today's comic:

"Marten, even though your best friend of many years has made a life-altering decision and you feel upset because you thought you had a close relationship yet weren't brought into their confidence, and you now have to share a 2-bedroom apartment with a 5th person who has no obvious means of paying rent on zero notice, AND you have to buy a new PC because your old one just resigned, you're not allowed to be annoyed! Robots are people with agency and you should be supportive of Pintsize for wanting to discover and express his emotions, which you may not."

Also today's comic:

"Hehe! The funny robot person is a toy to be used for my amusement!"

No wonder Marten is reaching for what looks like a beer at what might not yet be 10am.

[Windscion]

Also today's comic:

"Hehe! The funny robot person is a toy to be used for my amusement!"

Eh, Beeps is a bit of a doormat, and Faye will steamroll her until she protests. Picking her up might be rude, but Faye is a robo-surgeon and is probably desensitized to invading robo-bodies "personal space".

I'm not saying Faye is right here -- she is being very rude. I am saying I can see it being in character.

[Mordokai]

Also today's comic:

"Hehe! The funny robot person is a toy to be used for my amusement!"

I am firmly convinced this is how that whole Skynet gig started

[Rakaydos]

I am firmly convinced this is how that whole Skynet gig started

Only if they pull that on Yay.

[Wraith]

I am firmly convinced this is how that whole Skynet gig started

I have been known to apologise to my car when running through a particularly big pothole, or apologising to my computer when I've spilled tea on the keyboard.

I wouldn't want them to hold grudges, y'know? Just in case.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Ah, now we get to the bit where Pintsize pays for his new body. Probably in more ways than one. Evidently Faye agrees with me about "back of the lorry" purchases.

[Vinyadan]

Ah, now we get to the bit where Pintsize pays for his new body. Probably in more ways than one. Evidently Faye agrees with me about "back of the lorry" purchases.

Or the time he sets his eyes upon the giant wang he paid for years ago.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Or the time he sets his eyes upon the giant wang he paid for years ago.

Thank you. That's a mental image I shall treasure for AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHlways.

[Ionathus]

My money's on Pintsize not actually getting any, uh, attachments. I expect he'd find it funnier to be "like a Ken doll down there," to paraphrase May from her first appearance.

[geoduck]

Ah, now we get to the bit where Pintsize pays for his new body. Probably in more ways than one. Evidently Faye agrees with me about "back of the lorry" purchases.

I would not be surprised if this ended with him back in his old body.

[The Glyphstone]

Didn't they say earlier that he had a USB port 'down there'?

[Max_Killjoy]

Yay... Yay... for all your faults, we know you're smarter than that.