A Marked Improvement In Relations
Added 2025-01-09 01:23:53 +0000 UTCIris is such a sweetie pie :)
Comments
If I sent this comic and the next 3 to my family they'd Oh yeah that's Opa and then go. "Oh wait Opa is a 69 yr old fat white dude" and scratch their heads
Steve Prowse
2025-01-15 00:08:41 +0000 UTCI came here to say this and I’m glad I’m not alone!
Wink O'Connell
2025-01-14 10:42:32 +0000 UTC@enchatedsleeper: that is an excellent idea!
Zak Reichle
2025-01-14 00:21:51 +0000 UTCI mean, I know that was her flimsy justification, but let's be real, it was never even close to being her actual motivation; the sole driving factor was a chance to be awful to Ayo. Regardless, I think you misunderstand me slightly; I'm fully aware it's not meant to be analogous to real life - in fact that's sort of the point I was getting at myself: That *because* the humor of Iris's misanthropy isn't landing with me, her comments/actions aren't being read through the comic lens in my brain, and that's why they come off as actually unpleasant. It's not a criticism of the comic, I should say! Simply an observation/analysis of my own thoughts and feelings - which, it would seem, might actually be fairly in line with the intended audience reaction. I'm excited to see where we're headed!
Daniel Blom Paulsen
2025-01-13 01:36:23 +0000 UTCIn seriousness, I would LOVE a reveal that Yay is known to Steve somehow (or vice versa) because of his history associating with Cubetown.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-12 09:25:19 +0000 UTCThe alarm clock thing wasn't a prank, is the thing. That was Iris trying to make sure that Ayo got up for her shift in time. In an obnoxious and terrible way, but it wasn't a prank. I broadly agree with the perception that Iris often crosses a line that makes her more unbearable than amusingly snarky. And I think for everyone, that line sits in a slightly different place. But it's also important to remember that this is a humour webcomic. Characters will do things that no reasonable person should, because it's designed to be humorous. You can totally find it unfunny, but it's not meant to be analogous to how someone would be expected to behave in reality, is what I mean. In reality, Pintsize would have been arrested a loooong time ago or at least given a restraining order against pretty much everyone he's interacted with.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-12 09:18:47 +0000 UTCSome great analysis there, Sarah! I'm realizing Iris doesn't read as snarky to me. There's no charm or humor, just blunt unpleasantness. This is probably a product of my own autism, but when Iris says something like in this strip, it's so devoid of charisma that it just reads as sincere to me. Coupled with her treatment of Ayo (her "alarm clock prank" would've been a fucking heinous thing to do to someone with anxiety - I'm relieved it failed), Iris just ... seems to enjoy being deeply unpleasant to others? She doesn't seem to lack the social awareness - she KNOWS she's being awful, in fact it seems to be her prime motivating factor. I'm glad Willow called her out in the new strip, and I really hope we get to see some more depth and development from her.
Daniel Blom Paulsen
2025-01-12 08:22:26 +0000 UTCThose floppy ears *are* like satin, except when they've been dipped in the food/water bowl!
Wicketbird
2025-01-12 01:55:21 +0000 UTCIt's becoming a Blue World, Max!
Captain Button
2025-01-11 21:34:37 +0000 UTCIris social skills really are next level.
legobil
2025-01-11 16:40:11 +0000 UTCThe very BEST blue! BLUE MEANIE BLUE!
Joseph Bonnar
2025-01-11 01:00:45 +0000 UTCshe IS a sweetie pie, just half baked...
Ronald Burdick
2025-01-10 23:29:25 +0000 UTCBlue-ish?
Donna Flint
2025-01-10 22:53:14 +0000 UTCSarah: Clearly, in the QC universe, to borrow a TV Tropes tag, AI is a Crapshoot. It seems impossible to predict what'll fall out of the generation process (though hopefully they have some kind of filter for outright murderous psychopathy), and the diversity is at least as great as for human beings. Greater, really: Melon is socially quasi-functional while being Melon. Though I wouldn't over-analyse this. It's an intersection of a joke about new technologies and the wackiness of comedy sitcom/comic strip characters,
Philip Masters
2025-01-10 19:15:44 +0000 UTCIt looks to me, by their positions with respect to the background, that neither of them has moved at all. It appears that Hanners has moved slightly closer to Iris in panel 5 and has just the slightest frown on her face.
alphanor
2025-01-10 16:22:20 +0000 UTCI think Hannelore's "I appreciate the effort, if not the sincerity," suggests that she knows Iris insincerely self-corrected for a reason. As in, Iris watched Hannelore's reaction, her brain went, "Huh, I said another shitty thing," and even though she didn't FEEL like correcting herself, she did. Being able to self-correct insincerely is important for people who can't or don't empathize with others' feelings.
The Queer Art Pagan
2025-01-10 13:23:28 +0000 UTCI have always had the impression she likes at least that part of herself
Melissa Wilson
2025-01-10 12:28:48 +0000 UTCWillow wants that, too, Doc!
Melissa Wilson
2025-01-10 12:23:56 +0000 UTCThey’re fully & properly FOUL. It’s a spectacular turn of phrase but too evocative of nausea for me to want to steal.
Melissa Wilson
2025-01-10 12:20:11 +0000 UTCI like that Hannelore has slightly moved away from Iris in panel 4, very sightly otherwise holding the surprise in her eyes
jimbo
2025-01-10 12:03:49 +0000 UTC@Sarah That sounds like Iris alright.
Clifton Royston
2025-01-10 09:40:24 +0000 UTCIris is a horrible person, and I love her.
Clifton Royston
2025-01-10 09:31:47 +0000 UTCYay and Steve fight over the last box of cereal. Steve wins. Yay is utterly confused.
Carl Fink
2025-01-10 02:46:54 +0000 UTCYou forgot Clinton, the most obvious cyborg in history, already?
Carl Fink
2025-01-10 02:45:54 +0000 UTCImaginary? In love with an oblivious person?
Carl Fink
2025-01-10 02:45:02 +0000 UTCYay returns in a one-off special episode of DORD as one of the satellites.
David Durant
2025-01-10 02:16:24 +0000 UTCMy first proper LOL from @BookBeard of 2025
David Durant
2025-01-10 02:14:15 +0000 UTCNo don’t give FartCaptor any ideas of Iris wearing a nurse outfit!
Miyaa
2025-01-10 01:55:22 +0000 UTCLove you too, Iris.
AlexKorobeiniki
2025-01-09 23:52:43 +0000 UTCIt looks like Hanner’s profile is a little Doonesbury-ish. (Not a bad thing for this particular strip!)
Nathaniel Tagg
2025-01-09 23:43:33 +0000 UTC@Philip Masters Oh jeez, they made a robot with ASD. Actually, now I'm imagining the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes) existing in the QC universe, and Iris was made by them as one of the AI with mental disorders like Marvin was. Terrifying.
Sarah Valentine
2025-01-09 22:16:52 +0000 UTCI completely understand the feeling, but at least to me it feels like Iris is sorta continuing the older QC legacy of "walking the line between snarkiness and outright hostility". Jeph has leaned mostly away from that kinda thing with most characters (like how Dora mentioned in the "hiring Ayo" arc that being rude to customers used to be Coffee of Doom's entire schtick, or the mild de-gremlin-ification of Pintsize) but as someone who's been with the comic for over a decade, part of me kinda likes there being at least a little bit of that edge (for lack of a better term). Even then, Jeph has teased Iris having hidden depths (as Daniel mentioned in a previous comment with Liz at the party) and I kinda imagine that he intends to soften her out a bit, but just hasn't gotten to that storyline yet and/or has been busy with the current arcs he's got planned. Also possible that he's just going with an extremely slow drip, because we *have* at least seen that she genuinely cares for some of the cast (even outside her crush on Willow). Even if it's been in a rude/blunt way, she has been really helpful to Ayo, and in more than a "you're staying here and/or your sister is mildly tolerable to me" kinda way. Setting alarms and giving up her charging spot next to Willow for a night to make sure Ayo didn't miss her first day of work, and even here making sure she showered. Maybe was a bit too blunt, but it also feels like Ayo's character is one that needs that kind of bluntness, or that the others aren't direct enough to make sure stuff like that gets done (although maybe I'm just projecting there). Oh jeez this got longer than I intended, uh tl;dr I disagree with your opinion but completely understand where you're coming from and don't think it's incorrect in any way, but wanted to share my thoughts on the matter.
Sarah Valentine
2025-01-09 22:11:53 +0000 UTCThat was Steve actually. Meena the coroner had the live-in ex she left Steve to be with. I think that kicked off his Hero Of Another Story arc.
Clarence the Liar
2025-01-09 21:53:20 +0000 UTCI'm not sure if that's true, though you might have to remind me of the context. But I don't take much that Iris says seriously xD
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 21:23:32 +0000 UTCSince Jeph confirmed that Yay definitely has more plot left in them (in his "dripping with juice" comment xD) I feel more able to just look forward to Yay's return, but I'm also curious as to how long it'll be.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 21:19:23 +0000 UTCYeah, I think it normally takes more than seconds to take effect xD
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 21:10:09 +0000 UTCYou know, now I like to imagine that she can't, and just said that to get Ayo to shower, and nobody has had the realization of "wait, you can't smell" yet.
Sarah Valentine
2025-01-09 21:02:54 +0000 UTC@Bookbeard to be fair, that time was helped by the tanning lotion, even though Jeph's addendum/comment thing did say "[Hanners has] some extremely active melanocytes".
Sarah Valentine
2025-01-09 21:01:38 +0000 UTCI think the numbering is off. Should be 5481!
Ka Man Chan
2025-01-09 19:58:49 +0000 UTCThis whole "AIs training to be RNs for humans" needs a bit of workshopping, Iris.
ValdVin
2025-01-09 17:37:04 +0000 UTCTBH I'm glad Hannelore is back to normal. The tan was a bit unsettling.
Michael Opinante
2025-01-09 16:53:18 +0000 UTCHowever, Pintsize is capable of adaptation, and has some self-awareness. He understood that his behaviour looked more creepy than eccentric once he was installed in a more humanoid body, and dialled it back a bit. Iris, by contrast, seems permanently stuck in grumpy misery mode, and to be incapable of reflection. (She’s said she literally doesn’t know how to have fun, though poking Hanners with a stick apparently came close.)
Philip Masters
2025-01-09 15:21:19 +0000 UTCI don’t entirely disagree, but my read on Iris is that she’s running seriously defective personality software. This is how she is, and complaining about her may achieve about as much as complaining about an autistic human’s social skills.
Philip Masters
2025-01-09 15:17:29 +0000 UTC@BookBeard • I think you are off by a few comics.
Miyaa
2025-01-09 14:22:37 +0000 UTCDidn’t Marten once date a coroner?
Miyaa
2025-01-09 14:18:59 +0000 UTCWait… is that why I hear music from the 1969 Scooby-doo cartoon series when I saw Hannelore in the first frame?
Miyaa
2025-01-09 14:16:41 +0000 UTCI had this feeling that Elliot is not quite human. Maybe he’s an elf like that reindeer lady.
Miyaa
2025-01-09 14:12:52 +0000 UTCI love the Emily's Lake House Party arc 🥺 I hope they're still taking good care of her since the adoption https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2298
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 14:02:47 +0000 UTCAlthough now that you mention it, the two cyborgs we know of are Liz and Clinton and they both have trouble interacting with humans...
BookBeard
2025-01-09 13:39:32 +0000 UTCWe've been mishearing her the whole time. She actually said "release the Iris"
BookBeard
2025-01-09 13:37:30 +0000 UTCWouldn't have to be a very long trip. She tans *very* quickly. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2300
BookBeard
2025-01-09 13:35:17 +0000 UTCAlas, releasing the virus won't impact Iris. Wait - unless all this time it's been a computer virus!
David Durant
2025-01-09 13:28:44 +0000 UTCOooh. Maybe she went back to visit the yaks!
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 13:27:42 +0000 UTCThere’s been another time jump since the wedding. Perhaps Hanners took another trip?
That Blair Guy
2025-01-09 13:22:57 +0000 UTCHannelore is just inspiring jealousy left and right, huh... xD
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 12:56:29 +0000 UTCShe is, indeed, an A-hole xD We've seen copious evidence of this.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 12:54:35 +0000 UTCWait, how long did that tan last for?? Because we saw it fade before and then it seemed to come back, which implied that Hannelore had got tan again via a different means. Is Jeph really going with "it was the same tan this whole time" 😅 Further playing into QC's weird passage of time...
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-09 12:54:02 +0000 UTCIn one ear and out the other :)
Stephen Wells
2025-01-09 12:37:31 +0000 UTCHannelore, the Forbidden Snack :)
Stephen Wells
2025-01-09 10:32:18 +0000 UTCRIP Tannelore
Alias Fakename
2025-01-09 10:23:24 +0000 UTCNah, I'm with you, Iris has been crossing over into "genuinely unpleasant" territory for me in her more recent appearances. When she was more of a side character, she just seemed comically grumpy - an exaggerated personality, as you say - but as we've gotten to know her character more ... she's actually just awful? And she's not really being called out on it? Liz started scratching the surface, and I do hope we get to see some more redeeming qualities deep down ... but it seems like we're gonna a bigger shovel.
Daniel Blom Paulsen
2025-01-09 10:17:42 +0000 UTCTanalorr is MINE! (This joke won't make any sense to you if you haven't played Jedi: Survivor.)
Daniel Blom Paulsen
2025-01-09 09:43:02 +0000 UTCAh thanks for that, I was wondering the same but couldn't remember
fx_in_mind
2025-01-09 09:12:19 +0000 UTCThe framed picture of Iris in panel one is so funny. I imagine it was Willow's idea to have it up and Iris looks like she thinks the idea is completely pointless (ie about as dour as usual).
Jessica Kotarski
2025-01-09 09:06:55 +0000 UTCI'm sure Iris is just lamenting the loss of Hannelore's tan, and definitely not expressing disappointment at Hannelore's continued existence. Because that would make Iris an A-hole.
Creeperkry
2025-01-09 08:09:31 +0000 UTCNot required, just some aperture with a sensor and a small fan to pull air across it.
Opus the Poet
2025-01-09 07:24:18 +0000 UTCI want to be like Iris when I grow up.
Joseph Bonnar
2025-01-09 06:32:16 +0000 UTCI'd say ascots and/or cravats are more necktie than scarf. Certainly they're scarf-like, but they occupy the same niche as ties.
Diptych
2025-01-09 06:22:30 +0000 UTCI'm pretty sure they're programmed to evaluate scents much as the meat-humans they live with would. It would not be good to not recognize the odor from that stuff you stepped in as a signal to clean it off your feet or tracks or tires or whatever, especially prior to entering human-occupied spaces.
OldGoat
2025-01-09 06:22:07 +0000 UTCi believe ascots are a subset of scarves.
OldGoat
2025-01-09 06:17:18 +0000 UTCHow does Iris smell anything without a nose?
M. Lampi
2025-01-09 06:13:32 +0000 UTCno more tanalor
James Lomele
2025-01-09 04:56:53 +0000 UTCShe's the big cranky blueberry of my dreams! 🥰
William Cole
2025-01-09 04:45:15 +0000 UTCLikewise!
William Cole
2025-01-09 04:40:03 +0000 UTCProbably still not many cyborgs around, and I don't see that they would have any problems with humans, at least not more than the non-cyborg humans. Now human-AI relations might need the occasional patching up.
Opus the Poet
2025-01-09 04:31:49 +0000 UTCCareful, Iris. You don't want to provoke Hanelore.
Bagge
2025-01-09 04:24:19 +0000 UTCIris definitely should not get a job in human-cyborg relations.
Sean Kinlin
2025-01-09 04:12:39 +0000 UTCI would do anything for Hannelore
Aerin Moriarty
2025-01-09 04:07:57 +0000 UTCThe poking stick has a 100% accuracy record on death predictions (as long as you poke hard enough)
David Jackson
2025-01-09 04:04:31 +0000 UTCIris, enigmatic overlord of dark humor..love it!
Darthopper
2025-01-09 03:51:29 +0000 UTCI genuinely think Iris has too many people put up with her without challenging her attitude or what she says to people, and has not had the motivation to change because of this. This could also be an exaggerated personality for a web-comic just like Pintsize and I'm thinking about it too much.
Dan Curtis
2025-01-09 03:38:59 +0000 UTCI will always miss Hanner's tan. And I find myself suddenly disliking Iris.
Yelling Bird
2025-01-09 03:32:19 +0000 UTCBut where’s YAY?
Claudia D.
2025-01-09 03:22:40 +0000 UTCI'm agreeing with this. Digital smellin' means digital copies to share with each other on web forums of legit and illicit nature. :)
Michael Steamweed
2025-01-09 03:14:58 +0000 UTCIris should tell Hannelore to wait a second while she gets her poking stick. To help determine if Hanners is dying or not.
Michael Steamweed
2025-01-09 03:12:41 +0000 UTCThose two should never team up on anything. They would piss off everyone around them in short order.
Michael Steamweed
2025-01-09 03:11:06 +0000 UTCGuess we could use Iris... cover her with papyrus?
Doc Gumby
2025-01-09 02:54:49 +0000 UTCI am going to reply as though I took great offence as an attempt at humour, give me the grace that said auspice would grant while I excoriate you with my sharp wit. So, sorry if this cuts you to your core with how deep and incisive this barb is. I still think highly of you as a person: NUH-UH!
Thomas Baxter
2025-01-09 02:52:54 +0000 UTCIris?
Rob Vary
2025-01-09 02:51:13 +0000 UTCI am getting a feeling that Iris's personality matrix(or what ever it is called in their universe) was developed in the same creche as Pintsize.
Mark Nach
2025-01-09 02:51:03 +0000 UTCNo FC, do not mess up Iris’s sensor array.
Miyaa
2025-01-09 02:47:40 +0000 UTCIf those videos about tourists visiting Antarctica have taught me anything, the seal and penguin areas smell nasty despite the frozen grounds. It’s partly why Antarctica cruises require tourists to clean off their rubber boots before fully entering their cruise ship after an excursion.
Miyaa
2025-01-09 02:46:30 +0000 UTCMore piercings. Nice!
Andrea Andrew
2025-01-09 02:44:21 +0000 UTCRIP Tannelore 😭
Miyaa
2025-01-09 02:43:12 +0000 UTCThe tannelore has faded? Not again!
Ashbury Haight
2025-01-09 02:27:05 +0000 UTC@Atramors YDIRC https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3755
BookBeard
2025-01-09 02:22:17 +0000 UTCProbably still grumpy that Willow cleaned her room for Hanners but not for her. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5134 (link fixed)
BookBeard
2025-01-09 02:18:55 +0000 UTCIris continues to live up to the title "big cranky blueberry". https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5317
BookBeard
2025-01-09 02:15:20 +0000 UTCI want to use Willow As my hug pillow.
Doc Gumby
2025-01-09 02:14:03 +0000 UTCI think that's just a scarf.
BookBeard
2025-01-09 02:13:11 +0000 UTCHanners is part of the set of sentient life that is not Willow
Magic Chopstick Games
2025-01-09 02:11:45 +0000 UTCI could make Iris worse 😍
Fart Captor
2025-01-09 02:10:51 +0000 UTCDoes Iris have some beef with Hanners that I've forgotten about? I'm confused.
David Durant
2025-01-09 02:08:47 +0000 UTCI was not prepare for business-preppy-ascot-wearing Hannelore. I am still not prepared.
Thomas Baxter
2025-01-09 02:04:14 +0000 UTCPfp checks out
Brian
2025-01-09 01:59:06 +0000 UTCAnd the short ponytail is new?
FreeReedz
2025-01-09 01:50:51 +0000 UTCShe had it during Dora's wedding
eilonwylovegood
2025-01-09 01:49:52 +0000 UTCI'm stealing "smells like a seal colony".
Michael Boettger
2025-01-09 01:45:38 +0000 UTCSince robots sense odours, but are digital persons, I imagine they can send the digitized smells to each other, or access a database of smells. Hey, this means one of them could activate a bloodhound chassis and find missing persons! Suggestion: keep the floppy ears, they’re like satin.
Holly Nelson
2025-01-09 01:41:26 +0000 UTCIris is back, baby!
JMK
2025-01-09 01:36:40 +0000 UTCextremely.
Sleepy John
2025-01-09 01:34:52 +0000 UTC"You should have sen me when I was on the space station."
Sleepy John
2025-01-09 01:34:18 +0000 UTCYou mean Iris? Because I really can't see Hannelore hanging out with/near corpses.
Opus the Poet
2025-01-09 01:34:05 +0000 UTCI miss Tannalore
Joel Bateman
2025-01-09 01:32:36 +0000 UTCI'm guessing "Medical School Specialty Supplies".
ValdVin
2025-01-09 01:32:22 +0000 UTCThat picture of Iris in the background though... 💜
DVW
2025-01-09 01:32:02 +0000 UTCShe's expressing a preference for something than just negative. Feels like progress!
Randall Norman Pick
2025-01-09 01:31:36 +0000 UTCIIRC, she got it during her travels?
Atramors
2025-01-09 01:28:51 +0000 UTCDoes Iris know what a seal colony smells like and humans don't care for it, or did she just look it up to make the point? (I'm voting latter.)
ValdVin
2025-01-09 01:28:37 +0000 UTCAw man, I'm gonna miss Tannelore. Unf.
Everett Bradshaw
2025-01-09 01:28:27 +0000 UTCOh iris, you wonderful grump.
Tannerbot
2025-01-09 01:28:12 +0000 UTCNew piercing looks good
Nicholas Lopez
2025-01-09 01:27:51 +0000 UTCLove Hannelore's outfit. Very snazzy
PatronTurtle
2025-01-09 01:27:34 +0000 UTCLove Iris _so_ much ❤️
PixelThis
2025-01-09 01:27:24 +0000 UTCApparently someone needs her hair brushed again!
Melissa Wilson
2025-01-09 01:27:20 +0000 UTCI'm looking sideways at some of these AI's,...
Darnel D Cooper
2025-01-09 01:27:20 +0000 UTCLuckily Hanners has lots of experience with surly buddies.
Tabetha Rosenberg
2025-01-09 01:26:43 +0000 UTCI remember Hanners having all the earrings, but I don't remember the nose stud...
Jamieson
2025-01-09 01:26:31 +0000 UTCshe's... she's trying
Dave, Duke of Fridges
2025-01-09 01:26:30 +0000 UTCIs she moonlighting as an undertaker?
Jose Alfredo Villalobos
2025-01-09 01:26:21 +0000 UTCTannelore was kind of a peak design for her.
Crawler00
2025-01-09 01:26:13 +0000 UTC
