Questionable Content XV: I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS! I Told You This Thread Was Weird

[John Cribati]

I agree with that assessment.

[georgie_leech]

If this doesn't stop I'm gonna start hiring assassins...

[Cikomyr]

I feel there's starting to be a crack in your momentum guys

[Willie the Duck]

We interrupt our regularly scheduled butt jokes for relationship insecurity.

[Dexam]

We interrupt our regularly scheduled butt jokes for relationship insecurity.

Can we ensure that the previous posts are preserved for posteriority?

[georgie_leech]

Can we ensure that the previous posts are preserved for posteriority?

Hindsight suggest it would be better to back this up sooner than later.

[Cikomyr]

Guys, if you keep pulling this bit it'll leave strechmarks.

[Mith]

Guys, if you keep pulling this bit it'll leave strechmarks.

Indeed, let's not be too cheeky here.

As for current comic, it's good to see a balance as far as talking through things goes. Jeph is usually good at this, but it's always nice to see.

[Morquard]

Easy to forget sometimes that Pintsize's original function/job is as a companion AI. He's usually a little ****, but when it counts, he's there for his people.

[Wraith]

Clare conveniently fails to mention that Marten wasn't talking about an interest in instrument repair; she asked him a vague hypothetical and then sprung into action of her own accord just like her brother had previously asked her not to.

I don't dislike Claire, she's a great character in her own right and a good foil for Marten. It does, however, feel slightly dishonest of her to say that "they were talking career stuff". *She* was talking career stuff, but Marten was unaware of it and now, in a small way, paints him as the bad guy for wanting to go out drinking because Claire 'responded in a conversation'.

"Dumb insecure brain" indeed; I don't hold that against anyone, but she did kinda spring it on him and very slightly freak him out before things were clarified. And it *is* healthy to have emotional outlets who aren't your romantic partner.

Easy to forget sometimes that Pintsize's original function/job is as a companion AI. He's usually a little ****, but when it counts, he's there for his people.

He feel fulfilled - he's actually doing the thing that he was designed for, and hasn't been asked for in... what, like 10 IRL years or something? I'm happy for the little guy.

[John Cribati]

I figured it was because his head was up against her chest.

[Ornithologist]

I figured it was because his head was up against her chest.

Its likely both that and doing his actual job. He just looks so serene, its kind of creepy in its own way.

[Morquard]

I figured it was because his head was up against her chest.

Well I'm sure once she's better he'll make that joke, and claim that's all it was.

[Mith]

I figured it was because his head was up against her chest.

I thought it was the thorough wipe down.

[Iruka]

haha, boats disease.
lol boats

[Wraith]

I like row-boats and I cannot lie....

[Traab]

Freaking hipsters and their BOATS. "No, im only fishing IRONICALLY!"

[Ibrinar]

HA I am immune, I don't care about fishing, I don't like beer and I prefer mountains over the sea. Though I guess I wouldn't mind hanging out on a boat with friends.

[Eldan]

Freaking hipsters and their BOATS. "No, im only fishing IRONICALLY!"

Yeah. Millennials killed not having boats.

[Wraith]

Damn them! Damn those Hipsters and their short-sightedness, and their ridiculous facial hair, and their little plastic wheels, and their engorged cheek-pouches....

...Wait. Hamsters. Not Hipsters.

[DavidSh]

And if he had a pony, he could ride it on his boat.

[Radar]

I would say that today's comics is spot-on. If you have a friend or family member that could really use a change (look for a better job, start dating again, put more attention to their looks) but you know that confronting them on it would not help, you pretty much drop the issue. When someone gets them to actually try, there is this finally! reaction. I know that well, since it happened to me, when I got together with my wife and she went through my wardrobe.

[Keltest]

I would say that today's comics is spot-on. If you have a friend or family member that could really use a change (look for a better job, start dating again, put more attention to their looks) but you know that confronting them on it would not help, you pretty much drop the issue. When someone gets them to actually try, there is this finally! reaction. I know that well, since it happened to me, when I got together with my wife and she went through my wardrobe.

I don't know how fair it is of them to be judging Martin for it though. Dora is doing the exact same thing she was at the start of the comic, and Faye had to literally be fired to get her to move on.

[Traab]

I don't know how fair it is of them to be judging Martin for it though. Dora is doing the exact same thing she was at the start of the comic, and Faye had to literally be fired to get her to move on.

But Dora is a successful business woman, not someone unwilling to make an effort to improve her life. Iirc her thing was learning to delegate which i believe she finally figured out how to do. As for Faye? yeah, glass houses and all that. Though she hasnt actually said or done anything hypocritical thus far on that front. Merely tried to help calm claire down who realized she may have pushed too hard even if she didnt cross over the line.

[Radar]

I don't know how fair it is of them to be judging Martin for it though. Dora is doing the exact same thing she was at the start of the comic, and Faye had to literally be fired to get her to move on.

And yet, Dora is active in her life and commited to her choices - you cannot run a buissness without serious dedication. Marten is generaly coasting along whatever happens.

[Mechalich]

And yet, Dora is active in her life and commited to her choices - you cannot run a buissness without serious dedication. Marten is generaly coasting along whatever happens.

It's probably important to note that Marten's coasting in a direction that potentially leads to a shipwreck later in life. His position at the Smif Library probably pays a barely living wage at best, which, even choosing to live with roommates and thereby split the rent, doesn't leave him with the ability to accumulate any significant savings or retirement money. Case in point, Marten's accumulated savings were such that he was able to blow pretty much the entirety of it on an 8-string guitar bought from a retail music store, meaning probably around 2k max. He almost certainly doesn't have enough money to survive any sort of significant emergency expense, replace a car without going into debt, or even - somewhat relevant to current comic events - move without facing serious cash-flow constraints. In order to hold any sort of wedding ceremony should he and Clare get married, they'd probably have to borrow money.

Now instrument repair isn't exactly a lucrative field, but you definitely can command a decent amount of money doing it if you can find regular work. It's the sort of field that commands a high hourly wage but struggles to fill up a 40 hour work week, which is quite common in music-related work generally (teaching lessons or playing in support of theatrical productions has similar constraints). Still, if you're good at it and live in a region with the right client base you can certainly make more than you would as a library tech. Massachusetts is actually a good state for this sort of thing because of the high concentration of elite college students and preppy high schools, though the Eastern half of the state is much more concentrated and more populous.

As for Faye? yeah, glass houses and all that. Though she hasnt actually said or done anything hypocritical thus far on that front.

Faye was and is embroiled in a struggle with alcoholism that stems at least partly from what probably should be considered PTSD. She has real barriers to overcome and was lucky she was able to maintain her barista job as long as she did, mostly due to Dora's friendship. Faye's actually made great strides, and she could be on a path to great success if Jeph had wanted that to be the case - since the relative viability of a robot repair shop is based around world-building decisions that are completely author generated. He apparently did not, which is defensible because character stability is the drama killer, but it makes Faye and Bubbles appear overly optimistic and short-sighted in launching Union Robotics.


A larger question linked to all this is that I wonder if Jeph is actually trying to gear up to allow a major character to actually move out of Northampton. Specifically, the opportunities for both Clare as a librarian and Marten as an instrument repairman are much greater in a major metro area. The Springfield Metro Area (which contains Northampton) contains only 700k people and is quite spread out. The Greater Boston metro, which begins only sixty miles east in Worcester, contains over ten times as many people. It would not be difficult for Marten and Clare to move two or three hours drive east and still participate in the comic semi-regularly. If not, I feel like keeping the characters specifically in Northampton at this point will require some kind of dubious contrivance.

[Morquard]

Ok, first off, 700k people is not just an "only".

Are there bigger cities? Sure.
Is a single repairman able to service 700k people? Hell no.

So why need 10 times as many, just to be a viable place to even consider just a job?

If the market in Northhampton is saturated with music repairmen (which is possible), then its just as equally likely that the market in Boston is equally saturated. Or even more so, because everyone thinks "Let's go there!"

[Mechalich]

Ok, first off, 700k people is not just an "only".

It's the 92nd largest metro in the US. 1/3 of the US population lives in the top 15 metros, and another third in metros 15-90. So no, it's not a heavily populated metro area.

Are there bigger cities? Sure.
Is a single repairman able to service 700k people? Hell no.

So why need 10 times as many, just to be a viable place to even consider just a job?

There's a big difference between city and metro area. The actual city of Northampton, MA meaning the incorporated area it controls, has a population of only 30,000. The key difference is density. A niche service tends to struggle in an area of low density, because it's not convenient to a large customer base. The Greater Boston metro has a much higher population density than Western Mass (also it's more prosperous per capita). There are many businesses that are only viable once you reach a certain density threshold (and due to competition with online services this group grows larger all the time). This includes libraries, since towns below a certain size just don't have any.

If the market in Northhampton is saturated with music repairmen (which is possible), then its just as equally likely that the market in Boston is equally saturated. Or even more so, because everyone thinks "Let's go there!"

Mathematically, this is simply not true. The greater the density, the lower the marginal impact of each additional operator. There's simply more likely to be an opening due to natural fluctuations as a result.

[Traab]

Also keep in mind that northhampton isnt living in a bubble, people CAN come there as well. All it takes is establishing that marten is working for a guy that is well known in the instrument circuit and people will come from other STATES to get him to repair their stuff, let alone cities. And just because it isnt the most populated doesnt mean its a deserted hellscape either. You dont need to setup shop in la to have enough people around you to make a business possible. Heck, my dad ran a car stereo shop in my home town of 110k people back in the day and it practically exploded into profitability through word of mouth. It lasted a couple decades before his drug issues caused it to shut down. Now you can argue that the ratios are different as not everyone plays an instrument but virtually everyone wanted a car stereo, but his bread and butter were the car show stereo systems that serious competitors would gut their vehicles to install. So professional customers and not dabblers.

[Cazero]

Dammit. Who showed fanfics to Steve? Now we'll have to crush his hopes and dreams. Again.