Questionable Content XVIII: "That's only sort of good news"

[Wraith]

I still argue that it was a ridiculously bizarre choice of food to suggest that Brun hadn't eaten, especially since the part of the world her parents are from uses raisins in A LOT of recipes, and immigrants tend to try to replicate recipes from home affordably.

It was a ridiculous point to be made by Jeph, and at the same time it did highlight how homogenous the experiences of the reader-base could be. A number of theories were put forward to explain why it could be true - maybe she was home-schooled, maybe she had abusive (or at least neglectful) parents, maybe she didn't grow up abroad (one of her parents is Lebanese but its never said how distantly), maybe she went to a school that was just plain weird like Sam's.... Any reason could have worked, but we had to write it for ourselves because the comic's official stance was "it just is, shut up!".

How'd you know? Have you been to my office?

I tried, but I couldn't get in. The door seemed to be jammed by what looked like an enormous drift of tiny red boxes.....

Foreal. Eating healthy is expensive! Eating cheapass junk food is terrible for you, but at least moderately affordable.

As per the above; one suggestion given was that if you were forced to eat cheap and unhealthy junk food, which would you probably choose, especially as a child or young teen - dried fruit, or potato chips and chocolate?

It *can* be made to make sense, if you're not aware of all the other things that are probably likely to happen instead.

[Willie the Duck]

That sounds about right. Someone claimed that it was virtually impossible to grow up without eating raisins at some point as they are the cheapest and easiest-to-acquire of snack foods, and various people pointed out that there's a point where you can be so poor that you don't get snack foods. At all.

I think I recall that something similar also happened when Brun was finally specified as being on the Autism spectrum (rather than just being generically implied to have an unnamed social disorder), and then again when Clinton and Elliot finally hooked up, with a few forum-safe anecdotes about sex and hooking up, too. Nothing crude, but several forum goers seemed eager to highlight their own situations and use it to point out how badly handled the comic was - pretty much ANYTHING but focusing on meeting yet another random AI annoyance/character.

My google-fu is failing right now, but this brought to mind a bunch of comics regarding which I am so glad the fanbase didn't decide to all share personal anecdotes (Dora commenting how she'd never seen a skid mark in Marten's underwear, Momo battling a squirrel, anything involving Melon).

[Wraith]

...Momo battling a squirrel...

In fairness, that one hardly needs discussing. There's only so many ways it can go down, we've all been through the lot of them so many times now...

[Rodin]

What, have I never told you about my days in the 5th Regimental Anti-Squirrel Battallion?

Well, gather round kids. In those days, most humans were slaves in the nut mines, but there was this one group that...

[halfeye]

It would be at least a little funny if that was the last QC comic.

[Keltest]

It would be at least a little funny if that was the last QC comic.

I think it would be a lot funny. If Jeph doesnt take an unannounced vacation here for a week, it will be a serious missed opportunity.

[VoxRationis]

There's a pessimistic aspect of my being that worries that upgrading Melon's coolant system will only result in her being full of live insects...

[theangelJean]

What's Melons job? Have we been told?

[eee]

What's Melons job? Have we been told?

She lets bugs crawl all over her. And apparently inside her, too.

[Wraith]

Until today I was 99% sure that Melon's job was a metaphor for customer service.

Apparently, it is very literal.

[Vinyadan]

She lets bugs crawl all over her. And apparently inside her, too.

Suddenly, this made me very unconfortable about this job and whoever is paying her for it.

[Delicious Taffy]

Suddenly, this made me very unconfortable about this job and whoever is paying her for it.

Girl's gotta make a buck somehow.

[Mechalich]

Faye, if the goop is 'incredibly toxic' you should be wearing gloves.

[Keltest]

Faye, if the goop is 'incredibly toxic' you should be wearing gloves.

Lets be fair, there are lots of things that are toxic if ingested that is perfectly fine to touch as long as you wash afterwards. I dont wear gloves when I handle a tide pod for the dishes, for example.

[Mechalich]

Lets be fair, there are lots of things that are toxic if ingested that is perfectly fine to touch as long as you wash afterwards. I dont wear gloves when I handle a tide pod for the dishes, for example.

A Tide pod is a sealed packet, the active ingredients are isolated by a polyvinyl film that dissolves in water. Faye is handling an open tub of the 'goop.' If you pour an entire container of Tide into a bucket and carry it around you should be wearing gloves (and probably safety glasses). Also, Tide, in the grand scheme of things isn't especially toxic (it's mostly alcohols, salts, and propylene glycol), which is why the small amount you might absorb through the skin or mucus membranes can be ignored (the main reasons why consuming Tide Pods is so dangerous is how concentrated the mixture is). if you're working with actual hazardous chemicals - as in the kind that require placarded transport and special storage cabinets - PPE is essential.

[Wraith]

Why have they flayed Melon from the neck down, and left only her partially-melted face intact? It's ONLY her head that has melted, and she clearly has a seam around her neck.

Unless she's keeping the monstrously deformed face and just wanted new body-skin. That's very much a Melon 'thing' to do, I suppose....

Faye, if the goop is 'incredibly toxic' you should be wearing gloves.

Also, why shouldn't Melon taste it, if it would make her happy? What's it going to do, poison the robot who doesn't have a digestive system?

Possibly it should read 'corrosive' instead of toxic? In which case, more pastel AI twerps should gorge themselves upon it.

[hungrycrow]

Possibly it should read 'corrosive' instead of toxic? In which case, more pastel AI twerps should gorge themselves upon it.

If it were corrosive Faye's lack of PPE would be even more bizarre.

[Wraith]

If it were corrosive Faye's lack of PPE would be even more bizarre.

Bizarre; yes. Given that she regularly welds or uses an angle-grinder while wearing that same white, sleeveless tank-top; not out of character.

[VoxRationis]

Why have they flayed Melon from the neck down, and left only her partially-melted face intact? It's ONLY her head that has melted, and she clearly has a seam around her neck.

Unless she's keeping the monstrously deformed face and just wanted new body-skin. That's very much a Melon 'thing' to do, I suppose....

If this sealant is meant to connect her skin, which now needs to be replaced everywhere, why apply it by having Melon haphazardly jam her hand into a tub of it?

[Keltest]

If this sealant is meant to connect her skin, which now needs to be replaced everywhere, why apply it by having Melon haphazardly jam her hand into a tub of it?

One might assume that that the chassis is designed to absorb and distribute it through the hand, which is why having her stick her face in it (and get it all in her systems) would be sub-ideal.

[Wraith]

If this sealant is meant to connect her skin, which now needs to be replaced everywhere, why apply it by having Melon haphazardly jam her hand into a tub of it?

Perhaps she is being invited to lather herself in it, like she were soaping herself in the shower? That would kind of make sense, if Faye can't touch her because its toxic, Bubbles wouldn't want to in case it messes up her own dermis, and Union Robotics doesn't have an upright shower/tanning booth-style applicator. I'm having to make this up on the spot, but tomorrow's strip could be a excuse for Melon-based cheesecake... assuming you're into the "slimy but skinless" thing.

[Traab]

I see a few ways this could go, either she has to have her entire dermal layer replaced so it will all match, hence her flayed body, or the hand goops goes on under the skin layer for some reason to aid in signal transmission and her meat suit is hanging on a rack nearby to be replaced when they are done.

[Wraith]

Bubbles is entirely correct, and her restraint in the face of Faye's unprofessional pig-headedness is undeserved.

I kind of hope that tomorrow's strip features Faye going to Martin, complaining that Bubbles is being a bitch to her, and then Marten goes, "Wait, back up - you saw that one of your clients had the equivalent of a fractured skull* and thought it wasn't a big deal? The hell is wrong with you?"

* Or whatever.

[VoxRationis]

To be fair, a fractured maxilla means a lot less for a being that will never have to exert significant force on that structure than it will for your average human.

[Radar]

To be fair, a fractured maxilla means a lot less for a being that will never have to exert significant force on that structure than it will for your average human.

Still, it is more about being throughout is part of well... doing your job. You want to have clients, you do your job well and in a timely manner.

Let's also not forget that Faye and Bubbles are on their own and do not have savings to fall back on - this certainly adds to the stress expressed by Bubbles.

[hungrycrow]

On the other hand, their clientele seem to prefer unprofessional jerks.

Maybe catching this problem late adds a lot to the cost? They already wasted a bunch of goop.

[Keltest]

Bubbles is entirely correct, and her restraint in the face of Faye's unprofessional pig-headedness is undeserved.

I kind of hope that tomorrow's strip features Faye going to Martin, complaining that Bubbles is being a bitch to her, and then Marten goes, "Wait, back up - you saw that one of your clients had the equivalent of a fractured skull* and thought it wasn't a big deal? The hell is wrong with you?"

* Or whatever.

I disagree. Faye made an honest mistake and now Bubbles is picking a fight over it by painting a false dichotomy between the quality of their work and her snarly attitude. Faye is not stupid and is aware that there is a problem, having Bubbles harp on it is not helpful once that understanding was reached.

[Willie the Duck]

It depends entirely on what Jeph wants it to be. Either 1) Faye diligently looked at the damage and genuinely did not know that it was anything more than superficial (in which case Bubbles is forgetting that everyone doesn't know what she knows and this should be a learning experience for everyone), or 2) Faye was slacking off/playing fast and loose/whatever and ought to have caught the problem but didn't (in which case, once again she takes her job less than seriously, to the detriment of those about whom she supposedly cares). I'm guessing that Jeph is going to play out the story of the later because 'Faye screws things up' is a favorite story beat. Either way, neither of them are handling it well, but at least that's character-consistent, as opposed to everyone grabbing the idiot-ball so drama can happen.

[Cikomyr2]

This is basically the event foreshadowed by the "never get in business with someone you are sexually involved with" that Dora had.

Fact is, Bubble is right on a professional level to point out a serious oversight and be critical of her business partner.

Fact is, Faye is right that her personal life partner should be more curteous when criticizing her, because you allow yourself to be extremely vulnerable with these people, so any negative feedback can be felt much more profoundly than with a causal work acquaintance or even work friend.

They need to reasses the parameters of the work/relationship dual track they are on. They have been able to make it work until now by not being aware of the problem. They can still make it work as long as they establish proper boundaries when it comes to work.

[Traab]

Im picturing this being the start of a discussion/argument about how faye is treating this repair job as if she is restoring a table or something, meanwhile to bubbles this is basically plastic surgery and thus not to be half as&^%. You know, thing versus person style arguments.