Questionable Content 14: "I Deserve A Fancy Butt Emblem."

[Kish]

There are other points in which I think there was such an implicit answer, like here: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3882 from my point of view, Martin is admitting that watching the girls smoking pot was quite boring, which was also said by readers, which I assume is why an unusual dog abruptly appeared out of nowhere -- to solve a boring standstill.

Parsing that out of Marten (not Martin) saying that getting high gets boring after a while strikes me as an example of confirmation bias: grabbing something from the comic that can possibly be read as Jeph addressing audience complaints, and assuming that it's nothing more nor less than that.

[Shadow of the Sun]

RIP Moses, you were a beloved character of QC, possibly even the most beloved.

[Vinyadan]

Parsing that out of Marten (not Martin) saying that getting high gets boring after a while strikes me as an example of confirmation bias: grabbing something from the comic that can possibly be read as Jeph addressing audience complaints, and assuming that it's nothing more nor less than that.

I don't really get the reasoning of "assuming that something is what it could be read as is confirmation bias" . Especially since it's not something I wrote in a vacuum. Maybe you could elaborate on why you think it is?

If you want more context, it isn't rare for webcomics to have characters making a point external to the story. Once in a while you get refrences to rl time vs story time (like "wow, it's been a week, but feels like years" ); in OotS there was Elan wounding his wrist off-panel and Roy saying that it would have been faster if someone hadn't get hurt, a reference to the Giant hurting himself and slowing down operations; also in OotS Julio exposes "it made for a better story" as a reason for his actions, something that has been in the faq explanations for who knows how long. In Goblins, the characters comment on how contrived the plot is, and there is a call out to the "I'm sad" meme/parody of the comic. Least I Could Do had Rayne explaining his niece why people were mean to him after the comic got a bad review.

I also didn't say that it means exclusively that. We know that Marten doesn't smoke from strip 465. We now know the reason why. We know that Brun makes deadpan jokes. We now get an explanation of Renee's thinking, compared and contrasted to that of Elliot. In today's comic, we see Renee eschew her better wisdom and go for a rash decision based on a momentary feeling, which does explain something about certain things she did in the past (having Elliot take off his shirt and the Internet hookup), but also serves plot concerns -- not boring the reader with more apartment visits than necessary (well, unless it turns out that they don't really get the apartment...).

In the OotS examples, we get an explanation for the behavior of a character that would have otherwise made no sense (Julio) and a visibly incapacitated Elan, which strengthens the helplessness of the Order when they face Miko.

The Goblins examples, however, always felt out of place to me.

LICD is, well, LICD. It has no consistency, what matters is that Rayne is either lovable or right, and people who don't like him are insane strawmen.

The now sadly unreachable Out at Home had a character literally scraping the bottom of the barrel, and, while it was used as an obvious parody of cliché jokes (the punchline was something like "I'm bored" ), not much later, the author explained that he had run out of things to say for that comic and he was starting a new project.

[truemane]

Speaking as someone living in an area in the middle of a bone fide housing crisis, the idea of taking your time and thinking about whether or not you feel like maybe renting an apartment (instead of waiting in line with a bribe attached to your rental application, hoping and praying that the seven people in line ahead of you didn't come with better bribes) seems almost quaint.

[Kish]

I don't really get the reasoning of "assuming that something is what it could be read as is confirmation bias" .

Somehow, your rephrasing of what I wrote looks a whole lot more like installing the conclusion in the premise. Perhaps I was unclear about the likelihood here.

This isn't "assuming that something is what it could be read as." This is, rather, "Assuming that Marten recognizing that what he was writing was boring must be somewhere in the comic, and grabbing the statement that comes closest to that, of all the statements none of which come particularly close," or, "looking for a peg to fit a round hole of a collection of square pegs, and declaring that the square peg which comes closest to having rounded sides is a perfect fit."

If Jeph had wanted to put in a reference to "watching people high is boring," why wouldn't it have been actually that--"it's boring to be around people when they're high and you're not"? It would have been as easy to write as what he did write. And it would have fit the only one of your references that actually seems anything like what you're claiming--the "it would have gone faster if someone hadn't sprained his wrist" reference.

[Rodin]

On the apartment-seeking experiences, mine have been pretty much like is displayed in the comic. I jumped at the first place that seemed reasonable coming out of college, and wound up regretting it as it was basically "on the wrong side of the tracks", or in this case "wrong side of the Interstate". I began looking again pretty much immediately, and had my choice of places to move to. When I found the one I liked it was after being shown around a dozen different places, and they were competing for me rather than me having to grab a place as soon as one was available.

I big part of this I think is that I was looking for a one-bedroom apartment, which seem to be easy to come by. My parents had the opposite experience because they were looking for a three-bedroom, and those were exceedingly difficult to find.

[Vinyadan]

Somehow, your rephrasing of what I wrote looks a whole lot more like installing the conclusion in the premise. Perhaps I was unclear about the likelihood here.

This isn't "assuming that something is what it could be read as." This is, rather, "Assuming that Marten recognizing that what he was writing was boring must be somewhere in the comic, and grabbing the statement that comes closest to that, of all the statements none of which come particularly close," or, "looking for a peg to fit a round hole of a collection of square pegs, and declaring that the square peg which comes closest to having rounded sides is a perfect fit."

If Jeph had wanted to put in a reference to "watching people high is boring," why wouldn't it have been actually that--"it's boring to be around people when they're high and you're not"? It would have been as easy to write as what he did write. And it would have fit the only one of your references that actually seems anything like what you're claiming--the "it would have gone faster if someone hadn't sprained his wrist" reference.

Well, this at least I can understand. But, of course, the mistake is this: "Assuming that Marten recognizing that what he was writing was boring must be somewhere in the comic, and grabbing the statement that comes closest to that, of all the statements none of which come particularly close". I don't expect this sort of thing; I don't assume that it must be somewhere in the comic. I mean, it isn't like QC readers only rarely have negative reactions, and I constantly see answers. That's more like Dobson, who writes in first person, and writes a serious lot of answers to criticism in his comic. Also the guy at Zen pencils, he became pretty famous for his great (in size) "ART" answer to trolls and critics. It struck me when I read Marten's balloon that he could be referring both to himself smoking pot and to the previous plot. There had been a rather sudden shift after an odd and boring plot, and the plot itself didn't deal with any non-negotiable values. I'm OK with being told "you're seeing too much in it", but my reasoning didn't match the portrayal you made.

The other examples I made were times in which considerations external to the comic world's internal logic found expression or got a call-out within it.

[Kato]

Okay, I know I have said this before but Roko's behavior feels very gross to me. I mean, I would feel worse if she was human but 'it's okay because she's an android' seems like a poor excuse.
Just... Don't perv on food you mean to sell.

[Lethologica]

Okay, I know I have said this before but Roko's behavior feels very gross to me. I mean, I would feel worse if she was human but 'it's okay because she's an android' seems like a poor excuse.
Just... Don't perv on food you mean to sell.

I'm confused. Are you under the impression that Roko is selling bread?

[SaintRidley]

I am glad that Roko's bread fetish not only seem to be intact, but perhaps enhanced. You do you, you bread-loving weirdo.

[Iruka]

I'm confused. Are you under the impression that Roko is selling bread?

That's why she went to that bakery, where she got an apprentice position.

[Lethologica]

That's why she went to that bakery, where she got an apprentice position.

She asked about an apprenticeship but never actually got a 'yes' IIRC. I suppose that falls under the umbrella of 'meaning to sell', though.

[Iruka]

She asked about an apprenticeship but never actually got a 'yes' IIRC. I suppose that falls under the umbrella of 'meaning to sell', though.

You are right, she got no confirmation yet. I misremembered how Eliot's talk with his Boss turned out.

[eee]

I think this merits an "Yay!", yes.

[Traab]

Okay, I know I have said this before but Roko's behavior feels very gross to me. I mean, I would feel worse if she was human but 'it's okay because she's an android' seems like a poor excuse.
Just... Don't perv on food you mean to sell.

What exactly do you think she will do with the food? Its very much so different because she is an android as various human reactions along those lines would actually be very disgusting and worrisome from a human. In her case its releasing steam from an overheating processor or something. Also, this is like a case of sudden hypersensitivity, not her normal reaction. I dont get the feeling more than a few seconds passed before she sprinted out of there. Sort of like, "Oh my god, bread. OH MY GOD BREAD!" Then sprint for the door

[Wraith]

What exactly do you think she will do with the food? Its very much so different because she is an android as various human reactions along those lines would actually be very disgusting and worrisome from a human. In her case its releasing steam from an overheating processor or something.

I agree with you, Traab. Unless Roko is constantly handling, nuzzling, caressing and otherwise interfering with the bread, damaging it and contaminating it (if she's walked down the street, then she's covered in germs just like any human after all), then simply thinking erotic thoughts about bread really isn't a big deal. So she might really, really enjoy baking it, taking pleasure in it's aroma and texture; That's fine by me, she hasn't done anything *to* the bread and it's not going to harm me if I eat it.

If nothing else, I know that bread is baked in an oven and thus am confident in the purifying power of fire.

I can appreciate that the idea of someone lusting after something that I might want to eat might cause a certain amount of squeamishness, but thanks to the internet I unfortunately know that the list of things that DON'T cause lust in SOMEONE is infinitesimally small. Therefore the only sensible survival tactic is to try and ignore it, otherwise you're probably going to starve.

[Vinyadan]

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2908

[Keltest]

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2908

Ah, back when all the humans had unique faces. Good times.

[Wraith]

So.... Yes?

Renee x Elliot
Elliot x Brun
Elliot x Clinton
Clinton x Brun
Clinton x Roko
Elliot x Roko
Roko x the produce

What if Roko finds out that Brun keeps croissants in her bra sometimes? Should I add Roko x Brun's Bra just in case? Have I missed any? Christ, I'm going to start needing a flow-chart or something.

[Rodin]

So.... Yes?

Renee x Elliot
Elliot x Brun
Elliot x Clinton
Clinton x Brun
Clinton x Roko
Elliot x Roko
Roko x the produce

What if Roko finds out that Brun keeps croissants in her bra sometimes? Should I add Roko x Brun's Bra just in case? Have I missed any? Christ, I'm going to start needing a flow-chart or something.

Oh Lord, I'm getting flashbacks to School Rumble. Including one of the members of the Love Dodecahedron being in love with food.

[Kato]

Ah, she got flustered just from entering the shop, I assumed she was already working / the time skip was bigger.

So I guess she is aware something might happen that could be embarrassing. But she's still all in because the power of robo boners (?)

[Iruka]

Ah, she got flustered just from entering the shop, I assumed she was already working / the time skip was bigger.

So I guess she is aware something might happen that could be embarrassing. But she's still all in because the power of robo boners (?)

Also because she needs a job. She was also anxious if her bread fetish would still be there in the new body.

[Morquard]

Also because she needs a job. She was also anxious if her bread fetish would still be there in the new body.

She's not getting paid though.

[Keltest]

Regardless of what else I may think of this plot, I have respect for Elliot here. Not kinkshaming somebody is one thing, but I at least would find it hard to work directly with somebody if I knew a non-trivial part of them was getting off on what I was doing.

[SaintRidley]

"We do not kinkshame in this kitchen" is a good potential thread title for thread 15.

[Shadow of the Sun]

I think Roko is getting flirty.

[georgie_leech]

Yeah, yeah, bread fetishist. Maybe I'm just tired, but I can't stop giggling at reasoning behind calling it Brad

[Kato]

Wait, what time is it? Is it early morning? Do you let your dough rise 24h? I usually only give it a couple of hours at best, but I'm neither a professional nor using sourdough.
I'm not complaining, just asking. Did Jeph do his homework on this or is he talking out of his... As a bread enthusiast (not in the Roko way) I'm genuinely curious.
(also I think I would have gone with a different name for my yeast, just to be more fancy and because it's yeast and not bread)

[Lethologica]

Wait, what time is it? Is it early morning? Do you let your dough rise 24h? I usually only give it a couple of hours at best, but I'm neither a professional nor using sourdough.
I'm not complaining, just asking. Did Jeph do his homework on this or is he talking out of his... As a bread enthusiast (not in the Roko way) I'm genuinely curious.
(also I think I would have gone with a different name for my yeast, just to be more fancy and because it's yeast and not bread)

That looks like temperature-controlled storage. Yeast activity can be controlled by temperature modulation. So overnight bread is quite plausible. The technical term for it is 'retarding' the dough, and you can read about it.

[Vinyadan]

I wonder if this will end up killing her bread fetish, at least while on the job. I've heard that, e.g., taking photos of nude models end up being a rather cold profession after a while. You aren't really there to savour the moment, you are there to set poses and take pictures. I mean, you may also be there in the hope that the model will put up later, but that's another story.