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[[caption-width:300:[[AIIsACrapshoot Luddites may have been right after all.]]]]

Marten Reed, an indie-rock fan living in Northampton, Massachusetts with an [[RobotBuddy adorably sociopathic little robot]], runs into a girl at a bar, Faye Whitaker, a barista who's just moved from Savannah and needs a friend, but adamantly [[JustFriends no more than a friend]]. She then accidentally burns down her apartment building while making toast and needs a place to live - namely, Marten's couch. Before long, he meets Faye's coworker Sara, who [[BrotherChuck falls just out of panel]] just in time to be replaced by her sultry, gothy boss Dora Bianchi.

Then, beginning at strip 500, [[WhamEpisode everything changes]].

Can be found [[http://questionablecontent.net/ here]]. A print collection is coming, featuring re-lettered and sometimes re-drawn versions of the first arcs.
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'''This series provides examples of: '''

* AIIsACrapshoot: Presumably at some point in the BackStory, Marten paid good money for Pintsize...
* {{Animesque}}: Some of the characters' expressions and other little things. One particular little thing: Momo, pictured [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1440 here]], [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1366 here]], and [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1485 here]].
** In the [[WordOfGod authors comments]], Jeph explains that Anime-style anthro-PCs have a supply of opaque, viscous goo they can excrete for the express purpose of emulating cute anime sweat drops.
** Another example is Marigold's adorable little :3 smile in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1495 this comic]].
* ArtEvolution: "If you don't like the art, wait two weeks!"
* ArtShift: The flashbacks from Faye's past.
* AuthorAppeal: The once-constant and still numerous indie rock references. Also "[[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1471 Will I ever get tired of drawing my characters in Victorian-era-esque clothing? All sources point to "no"]]."
** Also the term "schadenfreude" and made-up derivatives thereof.
* BeardOfSorrow: Steve, after a break-up.
* BenevolentBoss: Scott, Dora, Tai.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Hannelore is [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome NOT TAKING YOUR SHIT ANYMORE]].
** As of [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1460 strip 1460]], Momo. No, really.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=666 666th]] strip. Also, [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=646 the "hell ass balls" couch]]. To a lesser degree, [[http://questionablecontent.net./view.php?comic=1135 strip 1135]] features Dora, Tai, and Marten with random mustaches that go away in the next strip, though they were hiding from the naked old people fucking each other...
** The mustaches were for Cinco de Mayo. The annoying part is that Jeph only alluded to it on Twitter and forgot to mention it in the daily commentary...
* BiTheWay: Yes, Dora is attracted to women. Yes, she's in a monogamous relationship with a man.
** In a [[{{Squick}} funny coincidence]], [[spoiler: Marten's MOTHER is the one who made her realize [[LesYay she likes girls]]...]]
* BodyHorror: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1496 Pop!]]
* BrainBleach: What Marten needs after he finds out how Dora discovered she was [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1047 bi]]...
* BreakoutCharacter: Hannelore has recently won a poll by a ''landslide'' naming her as the most popular character, shocking the author. Quite a ways for what was a supporting one-note character added to an already sizeable cast.
* BrotherChuck: Sara; see above- it became a long-running gag, but no characters would ever mention her after the first 100 strips except in one or two {{Mythology Gag}}s.
* BurgerFool: Notably avoided; Dora did threaten Faye with having to wear an apron again but since they were discarded in the first place to better show off TheMerch...
** And by that we mean the '''T-shirts'''. Get your mind out of the gutter!
* CargoShip: Momo-tan x anatomically-correct-Sousuke-doll [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1533 4eva!]]
* CerebusSyndrome: The strip started as a boy and his robot, but in no time moved to sarcasm and joking about music and music fans, while developing the relationships between the characters before taking a turn for the dramatic about #500: retaining the joke-a-day format..
** Jeph lampshades this in the commentary/news for [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1481 strip #1481.]]
* CharacterBlog: Marten, briefly; every major character recently got a Twitter feed.
* ClingyJealousGirl: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1323 Dora drifts into this at times]].
** But [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1467 she's trying to get better about it]].
* CloudCuckoolander: WordOfGod has explicitly compared Hannelore to [[AzumangaDaioh Osaka]].
* CouchGag: The specials board.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1485 "Let's Finish This..."]]
** Don't forget Martin's [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=697 revenge on the monk.]]
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Several; [[SeanTucker this troper]] puts forth [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1349 strip 1349.]]
**I have a soft spot for [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1403 Hannelore messing with her friends]].
* CuteBruiser: Faye, literally.
* DarkSkinnedRedhead: Ellen in older strips: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=318 exhibit A]].; now that the other characters aren't so pale, Ellen's skin is not significantly darker: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=788 exhibit B]]., and Tai.
* DeadpanSnarker: Especially Faye and Dora, sometimes Marten.
* {{Defictionalization}}: Most of the T-shirts sold in the store were first worn by members of the cast.
* DeusAngstMachina: Parodied in one strip, and it involves bears, aliens, and the Illuminati.
* TheDitz: Raven is not the sharpest of minds, but shows [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=444 hints]] of being [[ObfuscatingStupidity brighter than she seems...]]
** Sometimes [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1129 more than just hints...]]
* DoggedNiceGuy: Angus
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: The coffee shop at the center of the series is called Coffee Of Doom.
** And the sign on its bathroom door says "Restroom of Doom!": exclamation theirs. Though they once lovingly referred to it as "The Cave Of 40 Asses"
** There's also the news post for [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1108 this strip.]]
*DreamSequence: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1168 Here]], [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1169 here]], [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1170 and here]]. To quote Deathmole Jacques, "I could do one of these dream-comics for every single character and I STILL wouldn't be tired of the conceit. I am so weird."
* DysfunctionJunction:
** Faye: [[spoiler: Her father's suicide and her subsequent nervous breakdown.]]
** Hannelore: Raised on a space station by a mad scientist.
*** And so obsessive-compulsive she makes Adrian {{Monk}} look normal.
** All of the other characters have more-or-less normal backgrounds (at least as far as we know). And yes, this is counting Marten's mother's job, as that doesn't seem to have caused Marten any trauma.
* {{Eagleland}}: Pintsize at one point claims his destructive, belligerent and annoying behavior comes from his American locale settings.
** He does become very civil and even kind when switched to British English language settings. The characters speculate as to how much of that is real personality change and how much is Pintsize being Pintsize.
** Also frequently invoked by the characters, with more than a bit of Western-Mass "alternative" condescension.
*EmbarrassingFirstName: Raven goes by her middle name because she despises her Welsh first name, Blodwyn.
* {{Expy}}: Jeph mentioned in a recent forum post that he designed Marigold to be essentially "an Anglicized version of Konata from LuckyStar."
* {{Flanderization}}: A few members of the cast, but Hannelore is the strongest. Although YourMileageMayVary, and this could come off as completely hilarious...CharacterizationMarchesOn - the circumstances under which [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=515 she was introduced]] would be out of character for her now: Marten too, probably...
** Referenced later on when Dora asks Hanners, "If you have OCD, how come you have, like, ten earrings and you smoke?". Hannelore [[HandWave handwaves]] an answer by saying, "Well, a girl has to have ''some'' glaring inconsistencies in her life."
*** The piercings are better-explained [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1404 here]], and anyone who works at a tattoo & piercing shop can vouch for the truth in Hannelore's statements: i.e. they're the most sterile places imaginable. She also explicitly says she was on "powerful anti-anxiety meds" that made her "[[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1046 not herself]]". A LampshadeHanging, really.
**Pintsize wasn't always /b/ personified. He used to just be kinda silly.
** Faye herself points out that she used to be a "bitch with issues", but now that she's in counseling and getting to the root of her issues, she's "just a bitch".
* GenericCuteness: Most of the cast is quite young: early to mid-20s., and the parental characters are somewhat unconvincing. For instance, Marten's mom has facial characteristics similar to the core cast, but with a single wrinkle and an older-woman's hairstyle. Dora's father only manages to look his age because he's portly and bald.
* GorgeousPeriodDress: For rent at a local theme bar.
** Also the reason Wil got hired at said bar.
* GrandmaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave: Acknowledged in-universe with Marten's father.
**And his mother, for that matter.
* GroinAttack: A couple.
** In one strip, a drunk and passed-out Faye accidentally headbutts Marten in the crotch just prior to vomiting.
** In [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=746 this strip]] - "Metal foot...to...mantenna array! Pain level...[[LargeHam Shatnerian]]...in intensity!"
* HeadTiltinglyKinky
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: ''[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1496 "MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!!!!"]]''
* HollywoodPudgy: Faye.
** Arguably ''[[PlayingWithaTrope Averted]]'': she's regarded as a very attractive woman in-universe. Faye herself is a bit self-conscious about her weight, but many ''[[RealLife real]]'' people have the same hangups, so it's a kind of deconstruction of the trope.
**Marigold seems to fit the trope, though.
* HotShounenMom: Of course Marten's mom is hot - she's a BDSM porn model.
* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Veronica warning Faye, Faye warning Dora, Dora warning Sven...
* ImagineSpot: the last panel of [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1425 this]], but that's a subversion, the next comic reveals that it's not imagined at all, the comic's world simply is that bizarre.
** Played straight [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1478 here.]]
* InformedAbility: Not an "ability" per se, but Faye has always supposed to have been quite curvy and big-bottomed. The first hundred or so strips utterly failed to show this, with no discernible difference between her and Dora. Currently she actually fits: made more notable by the fact that the rest of the main cast are built like bulimics (or at least your average indie concert-goer), with the exception of Marigold.
** Also, for as notorious as Pintsize is about wreaking havoc, he almost never seems to do anything more than be a nuisance while on-screen.
* InsaneTrollLogic: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1411 "Shall I make you a tinfoil hat?"]].
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Faye uses virtually these very words to Marten in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=567 strip 567.]]
* JumpingTheShark: Pintsize lampshades and parodies this: by name, even. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=951 here]]. Common opinion seems to disagree with him...
* TheKrusty: Sven doesn't exactly fit the trope because he's a. young, and b. a writer, not a performer; but he has the ''mindset'' of writing music for MoneyDearBoy..
* LesYay: Faye and Dora - before [[CharacterDevelopment Characterization Ensued]]. Hannelore and Marigold currently, despite - and possibly in spite of - [[WordOfGod Jeph himself]] saying that said pairing is not, was not and never will be happening. Then again, when has {{Canon}} ever stopped the shippers?
* LethalChef: [[InvertedTrope Inverted,]] Faye's cooking is fine, she's more of a danger to herself when she is in the kitchen.
* LocalHangout: The coffee shop.
* LongRunner: About seven years old now.
* LysistrataGambit: Natasha threatens to withhold sex from Amir for a month if he doesn't agree to name the band Deathmole.
* MamaBear: Marten's Mom warns Faye off of hurting him.
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage: Faye to Marten.
* MatchmakerCrush: In the earlier strips, Faye was telling Marten how Dora liked him and Dora was giving Marten advice on Faye.
* MemeticOutfit: Marten's "TEH" shirt and Faye's bearmonster shirt.
* TheMerch: Characters will sport a new funny slogan or t-shirt in a few strips, then Jeph will talk about it in his Info post, then it will show up in the Merchandise section. Doing a massive Archive Crawl, you could see this six or seven times in a short span. It ain't called the "Questionable T-Shirt Factory" for nothing.
* MilhollandRelationshipMoment: Dora/Faye after Dora got together with Marten two days after Faye told him "Not now." Also numerous others, including just about any time someone confesses something to Marten.
* MisaimedFandom: Us. That's right, this very page. Based on Jeph's twitter (Sep 4th, 2009) and news posts on the comic main page, he was so upset that we have Hannelore and Marigold listed under LesYay that he addressed how stupid he thinks that is in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1492 this]] comic. Of course, he also stated that this page is like "every idiotic comment in his forums on one page". Does that mean we're going to change this article out of respect for his wishes? According to recent edits, [[strike:yes]] nope.
* ModestyTowel: Sven wears one in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1081 strip #1081]].
* {{Moe}}: This is part of the reason for Hannelore's popularity with male fans.
* MoralEventHorizon: If [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=670 this]] [[hottip: spoiler: Read after the arc starting at strip 500!]] GuestStrip were {{Canon}}, Pintsize ''would'' have crossed it.
** Same with [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=936 this]]: also non-canon.
*** A guest strip by [[SomethingPositive Randy Milholland]]. What did you expect, [[EverythingsCuterWithKittens kittens?]]
* MundaneFantastic: There are ''little robots'' everywhere, Hannelore was born on a ''space station''.
* MundaneUtility: One of [[BurgerFool two possible explanations]] for caped superheroes who deliver food.
* NaughtyTentacles: Inverted by Pintsize's doujinshi, "[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1524 Butt Castle]]," which is eighty pages of tentacle monsters being raped by schoolgirls.
* NiceHat: The Worry Hat.
* NightmareFuel: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1293 Tapirs.]].
** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1374 Hanners is onto them.]]
** For the love of God stay off of Pintsize's Twitter.
** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1437 Number 1437.]] Just... Number 1437. Rainbows are scary in the right context.
* NoodleIncident: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=402 Number 402]].
* {{Nosebleed}}: Female example [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1528 here.]]
* NotGoodWithPeople: Marigold and Hannelore, type 1. To a ''much'' lesser extent, Dora and Faye, type 2.
*ObfuscatingStupidity: Many fans suspect [[TheDitz ditzy]] Raven is doing just this, especially since she returned to school to get a degree in Physics.
* OpenTheIris: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by Dora in strips [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1323 #1323]] and [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1343 #1343]], and Faye in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1450 #1450]].
* OutOfFocus: Steve; once a major character, he'd all but disappeared for a year, leading many readers to e-mail Jacques asking about his whereabouts, leading in turn to a LampshadeHanging strip and a request from the cartoonist to stop asking. The worry was he's been PutOnABus.
** It wasn't the first time, either; early in the strip he disappeared for nearly a hundred pages. Then again, it is WebcomicTime... SoYeah. He returned a few months after a LampshadeHanging, having had some rather interesting adventures while he was gone.
** The above-mentioned Angus [=McPhee=] also qualifies, though this is arguably justified by [[spoiler: Faye's and Sven's frenemies-with-benefits relationship]]. He's since reappeared as a semi-regular again.
** [[YourMileageMayVary Unfortunately,]] Raven has fallen into this as well, as she has not appeared in quite some time. Strip 1306 was the last she was seen, if memory serves correctly.
** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1509 It's official.]].
* PaintingTheFourthWall: In [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1445 this strip]] Faye's "'''[[UnsoundEffect SCORN!]]'''" ''takes physical form'' to propel Angus out of the door of the coffee shop.
* PerkyGoth: Formerly Dora, although Dora and Raven each abandoned the goth look a long time ago now.
* PetHomosexual: Scott, Tai, and probably any future bosses Marten will have.
* PluckyComicRelief: The robots in general and Pintsize in particular.
* PrecisionFStrike: Although they curse a lot, seeing it come from [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1108 Hannelore]] was just awesome.
* PutOnABus: Often believed to be the case with many supporting characters who someday return, but Steve's exes Ellen & Meena, and Amir's girlfriend Natasha were basically excised from the cast once the relationships were over.
** Natasha has a perfectly good reason for disappearing. She is introduced as Ellen's roommate, then drags Marten into the band. When she breaks up with Amir and leaves Deathmole, none of the characters have any reason to talk to her anymore, and she's been a {{Jerkass}} for a while by that point.
* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: Pintsize behaves like this when Marten changes his locale to British.
* RaisedByWolves: Hannelore, raised by a [[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder clinically Mad Scientist]] and a BadBoss ''on a space station''.
* TheRant: Sometimes rather long and detailed, frequently an indecipherable drawl.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: [[spoiler: Faye issuing a death mandate to Pintsize against Sven's latest hook-up.]]
* RefugeInAudacity: Executed in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=982 982]], somewhat [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=989 989]].
** An unintentional example can be found in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1115 1115]].
* RobotBuddy: the [=AnthroPCs=].
* RuleOfFunny: Most of the crazy stuff that happens, but Hannelore's obsessive-compulsive disorder deserves special mention since, as an OCD sufferer himself, Jacques can hardly be said to have [[DidNotDoTheResearch not done the research]]..
* SarcasticConfession: Of sorts. [[spoiler: Hannelore's first meeting with Marten.]].
* ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder: Hannelore's father.
* SeinfeldianConversation: Constantly.
* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Marten lapses into this when drunk..
* ShipSinking: Complete with LampshadeHanging (and TakeThat) [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1492 here.]].
* ShowWithinAShow: The manga/anime ''Magical Love Gentleman''; Marigold is a '''serious''' fan, and introduced Hannelore to it.
* ShownTheirWork: one troper from the Northampton area is continually impressed by the backgrounds of the city, since anyone familiar with the real Northampton can recognize the slightly-changed version of real places.
*ShrinkingViolet: Marigold.
* SmokingHotSex: ''Pintsize''.
** Also Faye's snarkgasm of '''SCORN!''': see UnsoundEffect below.. "Phew! I need a cigarette!"
* SorkinRelationshipMoment: partial trope namer.
* SpitTake: A double one - [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=47 Et voila]]..
* SpockSpeak: Faye, at first, justified as she wanted to hide her [[AmericanAccents Southern accent]]..
* SpySpeak: ''No, mother, the peaches are NOT ripe!''
* {{Squick}}: Pintsize's [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1498 thumb-toes]].
** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1533 Do we even want to know?]]
*** [[FetishFuel Yes. Yes, we do.]]
* TimeSkip: Between 1310 and 1311.
* TookALevelInBadass: At first, it was assumed that Steve's 'bus trip' was the result of a drunken stupor. Then he was more or less validated with [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1406 this.]]
*TooMuchInformation: Angus and Marigold are roommates. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1534 It's bound to happen]].
* TrashOfTheTitans: Marigold's epically messy apartment, until Hannelore got to it.
* {{Tsundere}}: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1525 Faye.]]
** "[[LampshadeHanging I bought this shirt for Faye but I'm not sure she'll get it]]."
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Mentioned by Faye when she issued a death warrant to Pintsize at someone.
-->'''Pintsize''': [[AvertedTrope Actually, we put that on indefinite hiatus.]]
-->'''Faye''': Damn. Okay, okay, how about if you ever lose your morality programming and go berserk, she's the first one you kill?
-->'''Pintsize''': I think I can do that.
* UnsoundEffect: '''''ASS-GRAB!'''''.
** [[MustHaveCaffeine CAFFEINE!]]
**''''[[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=676 SOMERSAULT!]]''''
** '''[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1444 SCORN!]]''': moved back so people clicking on the link get the whole joke not just the punchline.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Faye and Dora and many others.
* WebcomicTime: Some stretches of ''years'' can be nailed down to a few days thanks to a particularly long stretch of 'later that day' or 'the next morning'-type events; problematized further by up-to-the-minute music references. When creator Jeph Jacques was asked about this on the comic's forum, he replied "You know how glass isn't actually a solid, but an extremely viscous liquid? [[SoYeah Yeah]].".
* WellIntentionedExtremist: The [=VespAvenger=], arguably.
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: In [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1081 strip #1081]], after [[spoiler: Faye wakes up after having hooked up with Sven between [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1079 #1079]] and [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1080 #1080]].]].
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1416 "My name is Hannelore Ellicott-Chatham. I end messes"]] - go on, tell me you don’t hear a cheesy action movie intro score there.
** Or the Terminator theme. Dun-dun-dun-da-dum!
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: Marten quotes this, and Hannelore turns it on its head.
-->'''Hannelore''': It actually doesn't. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive My mom]] never woulda gotten where she is if she thought she was responsible for her actions.
* TheWoobie: HANNELORE. You just want to hug her, except that would only distress her more.
** As of [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1483 #1483]], Momo. ''"S-SQUIRREL!"''
**Marigold too. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1528 So moe]].
* YaoiFangirl: Marigold, if her "YAOI ZONE" shirt is any indicator.
** And now, Hanners. To quote Deathmole Jacques, "This cannot be good."
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