Questionable Content XIX: Give Jeph Just A *Little* Credit, Here

[Rodin]

In summary: The past is an illusion, remembering things that happened is a crime, do not assume anything has to make sense. There are only pastel people and boobies, anything else is irrelevant.

Remember: The computer is your friend with benefits.

[Cikomyr2]

Tank you for the joke

[DavidSh]

The final comment about "cat-like tread" -- I always associate with Gilbert & Sullivan pirates singing at the top of their lungs about sneaking around, not tank treads, but that works too.

[Mechalich]

So...does anyone else feel that repeatedly cutting back and forth between Cubetown and Northampton only highlights how much better the Northampton-set portion of the comic is?

[Wraith]

At one point I was thinking the same thing, and then we had to watch Faye and Bubbles bum around in their empty shop AGAIN, so it's not like I'm optimistic about going back again.

The best thing I can say is that Emmett is just dull (no matter how hard Jeph insists they have 'lore' or a remarkable backstory) and Northampton is just spinning its wheels; whereas Cubetown has new things being revealed but Liz and the other characters are actively annoying and repellent. Honestly, each side feels more like a race to the bottom.

[Ionathus]

I also still don't understand why or how Emmett is supposedly this agent of chaos. It's kind of funny for this very withdrawn kid to be supposedly a real troublemaker, but if I never see them getting into trouble, then it's all just tell-don't-show. Which I particularly don't understand when it comes to shenanigans, because shenanigans are fun to write and illustrate! Why are we only getting Emmett's supposed wild streak secondhand?

Emmett, Bubbles, and Faye are pretty much inoffensive for me. Even entertaining. I would prefer we focus on Northampton, but barring that, I wish we could stick with each of these scenes and see it through to the end instead of switching back mid-scene repeatedly -- the storylines don't really go together all that much, and it's jarring to get just two strips in and then cut away.

At this point I'm only interested in Cubetown for the ways it can go fantastically pear-shaped. The current scene with Evan completely changing body shape and then rushing in to accost the Goblin Scientist was confusing but in a way that was fun to be confused about. Cutting away from the dumpster fire just as it reaches a milk carton full of crude oil is deeply unsatisfying.

[Rodin]

I will say that today's comic is the first to give me a good laugh in a while. The Leopard tank joke is quality, as is the cat-like treads comment.

Does Coffee of Doom feel empty to anyone else? It seems like the only person ever on duty there these days is Hannelore, with even Dora rarely making an appearance at her own shop.

In the past CoD usually had a full staff of 3-4 people, along with whoever happened to be visiting at the time (usually Marten). The extra people would be throwing in witty asides or just contributing to the conversation. Now it's just Hannelore, who is rarely seen outside the shop herself.

[Keltest]

I will say that today's comic is the first to give me a good laugh in a while. The Leopard tank joke is quality, as is the cat-like treads comment.

Does Coffee of Doom feel empty to anyone else? It seems like the only person ever on duty there these days is Hannelore, with even Dora rarely making an appearance at her own shop.

In the past CoD usually had a full staff of 3-4 people, along with whoever happened to be visiting at the time (usually Marten). The extra people would be throwing in witty asides or just contributing to the conversation. Now it's just Hannelore, who is rarely seen outside the shop herself.

There would also be, you know, customers there. Any coffee shop where people can just hang out all day is a failing coffee shop.

[Gwynfrid]

I will say that today's comic is the first to give me a good laugh in a while. The Leopard tank joke is quality, as is the cat-like treads comment.

This comes to show how varied reactions to humor can be. To me, the Leopard joke fell completely flat. I also found it to be in very poor taste, looking at how deadly serious that term is, in the current IRL context.

In contrast, and contrary to the vast majority on this thread, I find the Cubetown shenanigans mostly amusing, in a goofy-to-bonkers fashion (very much on brand for Jeph, that).

To each their own, I guess. Not the most original takeaway.

[Delicious Taffy]

Crass remarks about breats, detaching limbs, stuck in a small room for an extended period of time? I'm getting echoes of recently-embodied May, before the wasted design change. (Seriously, what's she done in her new body, aside from act vaguely more responsible? I want more Giant May.)

[Vinyadan]

I currently prefer AI Island. It's a cruel, mean place full of dislikeable people where the author's pet gets to be treated like royalty, but there also constantly are new things popping up. Plus, it's interesting to me to see the chasm between what I assume Jeph means to write and what I end up reading.

I've never been a fan of Union Robotics, and I can't understand why Faye and Bubbles should keep attracting young teens. Not only that, I don't like the interactions they have with them: I think they are very stiff. I think Emmet worked better in a more normal setting, at home with family or with Sam. Also, in general, I think QC works a lot better when describing situations with more than two people, like people hanging out in the evening, with dialogues between just two people better reserved for "setting things straight", like asking for advice or telling each other personal stuff.

More importantly, I don't think Northampton has anything going on story-wise (hard to tell, though, with all the line-jumps). What I think was the best QC era (around Marigold dealing with Angus dealing with Faye) actually had a story, with many different love stories intersecating and reaching a resolution. AI Island at least has potential.

[Traab]

So, just to try and comprehend, the current issue is securi-bot heard the goblin child was out in the open and apparently decided this was an emergency she had to rush out and handle right away, and she seems to be totally unaware of the fact that she is the one causing a scene here. Well, goblin girl is apparently kinda horny for the lady bots, as one is. Did it never occur to her that it isnt her job to try and police random members of the island into not scaring off new hires? Also, why is she so panicked at the idea of claire deciding to reject the job after meeting this rude little girl?

[KillianHawkeye]

Did it never occur to her that it isnt her job to try and police random members of the island into not scaring off new hires?

Considering how her character was introduced, no, I don't think it occurred to her. Then again, her job duties seem to be largely undefined.

What worries me more is that this is apparently the first time she's being told about her half-awake sleepwalking escapades, and she's been thinking they're just weird dreams for however long it's been going on.

[Vinyadan]

In a way, her being scared Claire won't take the job explains her behaviour when she first met her, offering her a meeting with Big Tentacle.

Why would she be that scared? Because AI Island is hell.

Actually, one could make a game out of this: a giant facility in the sea, free of all constrains cast by belonging to a State, where everyone is free to do as he wants and science to advance unhindered. Maybe with some body horror elements from modifications...

Oh, and we can make a sequel with Claire: where a woman comes to this place and tries to create a new order of things, but refusing the unrestrained capitalism, while relying on images like family and such!

[Keltest]

You know, I could be mistaken, but I think Evan's arms have gotten half again as thick compared to their first appearance.

[theangelJean]

You know, I could be mistaken, but I think Evan's arms have gotten half again as thick compared to their first appearance.

Jeph's three-character differentiation at work again. Evan is big, Liz is little, and the blue one is curvy. Oh, and they're all different colours.

[halfeye]

You know, I could be mistaken, but I think Evan's arms have gotten half again as thick compared to their first appearance.

You don't mind Liz's arm joints sliding up and down her arms like yoyos?

[Ionathus]

I’ve got no idea who I’m supposed to root for, care about, or agree with in this scene.

Failing that, I’m defaulting to “Claire is being obnoxious for being a new hire, yet bossing around multiple people she’s known for less than a day.”

Obviously somebody had to say something to Goblin Scientist about her harassment of Evan. It’s just weird that that person turned out to be Claire, and it’s weird that Claire chose to go about it in the way she did. And then immediately turned around and scolded Evan too?

Cubetown continues to play absolute havoc with Claire’s characterization.

[Keltest]

I’ve got no idea who I’m supposed to root for, care about, or agree with in this scene.

Failing that, I’m defaulting to “Claire is being obnoxious for being a new hire, yet bossing around multiple people she’s known for less than a day.”

Obviously somebody had to say something to Goblin Scientist about her harassment of Evan. It’s just weird that that person turned out to be Claire, and it’s weird that Claire chose to go about it in the way she did. And then immediately turned around and scolded Evan too?

Cubetown continues to play absolute havoc with Claire’s characterization.

Claire is reacting negatively to people being rude. I don't think that's particularly inconsistent. Why, exactly, people look up to Claire in a way that lets her chastise them is a mystery to me, but it is at least something they have done from the start. Especially Evan.

[Traab]

I really dont get it myself. Like, WE know claire is basically going to Luna her way through cubetown being oh so great at everything, but the residents seem to be treating claire as if she already has lunaed her way through a dozen scenarios and become famous for it. As for this comic, meh, calling out someone for being unacceptably rude/mean spirited is fine. Its an odd confluence of cultural events that causes confusion. Because most people "dont want to make a scene" or consider it rude to call out people for their own rudeness, but at the same time, we acknowledge that certain behavior isnt right and wish someone would put a stop to it. So I get a sort of uneasy reaction to claire calling goblina out. I also feel like goblinas behavior fits her established character. She is a social shut in who has gotten drunk probably for the first time and thus lost control of her behavior, whatever amount she had. Then she gets verbally thwacked and with her lack of social interaction experience resolves the embarrassment the only way she can, by fleeing from it. Funny thing is, marten is absolutely right, if he doesnt go after her to try and talk things out, she absolutely would have stewed over things, then gone back into cave troll mode and hidden from the world, this time because she "knows" how bad it is out there.

[Ionathus]

I really dont get it myself. Like, WE know claire is basically going to Luna her way through cubetown being oh so great at everything, but the residents seem to be treating claire as if she already has lunaed her way through a dozen scenarios and become famous for it. As for this comic, meh, calling out someone for being unacceptably rude/mean spirited is fine. Its an odd confluence of cultural events that causes confusion. Because most people "dont want to make a scene" or consider it rude to call out people for their own rudeness, but at the same time, we acknowledge that certain behavior isnt right and wish someone would put a stop to it. So I get a sort of uneasy reaction to claire calling goblina out. I also feel like goblinas behavior fits her established character. She is a social shut in who has gotten drunk probably for the first time and thus lost control of her behavior, whatever amount she had. Then she gets verbally thwacked and with her lack of social interaction experience resolves the embarrassment the only way she can, by fleeing from it. Funny thing is, marten is absolutely right, if he doesnt go after her to try and talk things out, she absolutely would have stewed over things, then gone back into cave troll mode and hidden from the world, this time because she "knows" how bad it is out there.

Yep, I agree with most of this. It's good that somebody called it out, and I didn't expect Liz to handle it in a mature way. But it's still just weird seeing Bossy Claire. Wasn't this the same person who had to get an entire coaching session from her previous boss for how to stand up for herself and prioritize her own needs, because she was nervous about the possibility that MAYBE her boyfriend (a wet noodle of a human with zero ambition) might not be instantly 100% stoked about moving to Cubetown (if she even got the job she hadn't even interviewed for yet)?

Claire used to be an absolute dork who worshiped libraries a comical amount, struggled to assert herself, and needed to be psyched up to pierce her ears. She loved to make fun of her brother and tried to sneakily influence his love life, but that was the full extent of her assertiveness. And that was all part of her identity and it worked for me. I'm not sure how much Jeph intended to explore her growing self-confidence as a trans woman, but that could've worked really well if he'd developed this a little more gradually and examined how that can shake out for people in her situation.

I just can't wrap my head around her being the newly designated Team Mom in the space of like 2 strips. This doesn't feel like character development, it just feels like skipping all the middle steps and re-inventing a character to tell the story you wanted to tell. You just flip a switch and now your meek people-pleaser becomes a bossy know-it-all who's going to solve the world's problems.

[Willie the Duck]

Cubetown continues to play absolute havoc with Claire’s characterization.

Claire is reacting negatively to people being rude. I don't think that's particularly inconsistent. Why, exactly, people look up to Claire in a way that lets her chastise them is a mystery to me, but it is at least something they have done from the start. Especially Evan.

I really dont get it myself. Like, WE know claire is basically going to Luna her way through cubetown being oh so great at everything, but the residents seem to be treating claire as if she already has lunaed her way through a dozen scenarios and become famous for it.

I'm certainly not going to defend the quality of this happening, but the rest of the characterizations flow through pretty consistently if you accept that Claire has gone through a cosmic retcon from normal library masters student known mostly for her insecurity into some straight-shooter who calls it like they sees it, and that the five-dimensional-chess jellyfishbot (whom all of Cubetown believes doesn't make mistakes) believes she's going to be the one to save their project. Aside from effectively replacing the Claire we knew instead of introducing someone new, it's not completely unlike Harry Potter or the like. There'd be a lot more usable tension if there were some people in Cubetown who were saying things like, 'Chosen one? Heh! I don't buy it. Let her show us that she's all she's talked up to be' or the like. Or maybe like the Poochy Simpsons episode where Lisa's idea and Homer's voice acting are going to save Itchy and Scratchy, but it all goes horribly wrong.

[BRC]

The whole thing with Cubetown seems to be, basically, a kindergarten full of unsupervised children. The closest thing to an authority figure is Moray as head of HR/ the Voice of the Director, and she's both too incompetent and too much of a people pleaser to do anything.


The point here is to set up a situation where Jeph can says "Here's the Problem", and Claire can force the wacky characters to do the Sensible Thing by being a Reasonable Adult in a world of Wacky Children.


The weird bit isn't Claire filling this role (While she's had her insecurities in the past, She's had a consistent trait of taking things seriously in the face of wackiness), it's how all of Cubetown seems to have aligned on the idea that hiring a librarian means that the Anarchy is Over and She Will Be In Charge Now.

[Vinyadan]

Luna had to be cursed, captured, killed, buried underground, and kill herself twice before she ascended to the state of Savage Messiah and Egg-Giver. She also had to manifest her powers, and make it in an unquestionable way, which put her in danger of retaliation by the most powerful Orcs (which did come). Claire instead was just randomly bestowed the title of Saviour by the boss, and everyone went along with it; she didn't gain it, if not by not running away when she was offered it, for which she is being copiously rewarded ("very good terms").

Second, I've long had the impression that Claire isn't much of a character per se. I mean, she kinda was before becoming Marten's girlfried -- very nerdy, and a rather insecure, dedicated "straight man" that was trying to hop on the socialisation train. Afterwards, however, she generally struck me as being meant to be either admirable and in the right or adorable and supercute. There wasn't much room for a character at that point.

For me, the weird here is that Evanescence is being scolded for something she said, and not for the assault she committed. I guess it's how comedy works?

[BRC]

Luna had to be cursed, captured, killed, buried underground, and kill herself twice before she ascended to the state of Savage Messiah and Egg-Giver. She also had to manifest her powers, and make it in an unquestionable way, which put her in danger of retaliation by the most powerful Orcs (which did come). Claire instead was just randomly bestowed the title of Saviour by the boss, and everyone went along with it; she didn't gain it, if not by not running away when she was offered it, for which she is being copiously rewarded ("very good terms").

Second, I've long had the impression that Claire isn't much of a character per se. I mean, she kinda was before becoming Marten's girlfried -- very nerdy, and a rather insecure, dedicated "straight man" that was trying to hop on the socialisation train. Afterwards, however, she generally struck me as being meant to be either admirable and in the right or adorable and supercute. There wasn't much room for a character at that point.

For me, the weird here is that Evanescence is being scolded for something she said, and not for the assault she committed. I guess it's how comedy works?

I think this could all work for me if The Director had spat out a Moray that said "Things are too crazy here, we will hire...A LIBRARIAN! AND THEY WILL BE THE RESPONSIBLE ADULT THAT FIXES EVERYTHING!"

Which, that would be goofy and dumb, but Cubetown is already a bit Culty, and it would fit within the realm of comedy for why everybody is acting this way towards Claire because the big jellyfish decided that A Librarian is what is needed to fix Cubetown's dysfunction.

[Vinyadan]

I think it would be pretty funny if people in CubeTown went uncomfortably all-out Cult of Claire, with hooded robes and everything. Maybe it would be more Sluggy Freelance than QC, but funny nonetheless. But it would require some self-awareness about how this place looks, and I'm not sure Jeph is there, or maybe he's self-aware in another way (something like "nothing is serious anyway in this comic, except when it is, so you're waisting your time trying to understand it in a realistic or coherent fashion").

[KillianHawkeye]

Who the hell is Luna?

[Shadow of the Sun]

Who the hell is Luna?

Dominic Deegan reference. Infamous webcomic Mary Sue.

[Vinyadan]

Who the hell is Luna?

You know not of Luna, the Glorious Wife of the Lord Dominus?

There's even a band about her, Cult of Luna!

OK, not really, although the band does exist.

The story made short: Dominic started out as a nerdy misanthrope who worked as an oracle for the idiotic inhabitants of his village. He was cursed by an old noblewoman who couldn't take his predictions. To get a cure, he infiltrated the noblewoman's castle, to find out that she was trying to have her daughter Luna kill herself to cash in her life insurance. A local knight killed the noblewoman, but Luna found out she had been disinherited and threw herself from a bridge. She was found by Dominic, who took her home, and they became a couple.

Then it turned out that this poor bastard Dominic was actually the son of an immensely powerful Archmage, Miranda, and an immensely popular bard. His brothers both were big-shot wizards. Dominic saved the world a few times and became the centre of the universe. Also, his mom gave him and Luna teaching and researching jobs at her awesome magic university.

Anyway, the author tried very hard to drive home the point that Luna was so awesome. And so brave. And stuff. Which started to get a bit weird when Dominic and Luna turned from a pair of barely employed misfits in their twenties into a somewhat judgmental couple of powerhouse wizards that were part of a powerful dynasty somehow involved in all important stuff in the multiverse -- even the King of Hell used to be a family friend.

Anyway, Luna was so awesome that the elements chose her to be the white, blonde saviour of the tribal Orcs of the Maltak Wasteland. It really wasn't a cakewalk, but, in the end, she became the Watercaller and something close to a Holy Mommy of the Orcs. She also became sterile in the process, but she was special-infertile, and donated all viable eggs to other women. Then, a dragon gave her his heart so she could save the world by beam-spamming. The end. Luna was always an ancillary figure to Dominic, the moon to his sun, but still of cosmic importance.

[Mechalich]

The weird bit isn't Claire filling this role (While she's had her insecurities in the past, She's had a consistent trait of taking things seriously in the face of wackiness), it's how all of Cubetown seems to have aligned on the idea that hiring a librarian means that the Anarchy is Over and She Will Be In Charge Now.

There's a difference between 'taking things seriously' and 'being a boss b****,' which is what Claire has transitioned into doing more or less immediately upon arrival in Cubetown. And out of all the major characters in QC, I'd put Claire pretty far down the list of people for whom taking the necessary - but brutal, thankless, and miserable - role of office dragon is a choice they'd make instead of simply running away in sheer terror at Cubetown's monstrous incompetence. I'd put her behind: Dora, Faye, Tai, Clinton, Dale, Renee, Bubbles, Steve, Roko, and her own mother. That last one matters, since the only even close to reasonable explanation behind Claire's personality change is that she's gone into 'Aurelia Mode' since arriving in Cubetown. That's actually more plausible than most explanations for such a drastic shift in behavior, but the comic, through Marten, needs to call it out.