| 1 | '''Tropes A-D''' | QuestionableContent/TropesEToH | QuestionableContent/TropesIToL | QuestionableContent/TropesMToP | QuestionableContent/TropesQToT | QuestionableContent/TropesUToZ |
| 2 | |
| 3 | [[Webcomic/QuestionableContent Back to the main page.]] |
| 4 | ---- |
| 5 | * AbortedArc: A lot. A few of these get picked up again later. Many semi-regular character relationships end up this way, but as it IS a webcomic with many characters, this is to be expected to some extent. |
| 6 | ** Marten had a blog at one point, but then the plot thread got dropped and we never found out what happened to it. |
| 7 | ** There was a character named Sara working at the coffee shop early on, but then she disappeared. |
| 8 | ** Deathmøle looked like it was headed this way, but [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1985 as of strip 1985 it is back]] [[spoiler:minus Nat]]. [[spoiler:And it's gone again, with Marten admitting that he's given up on the dream of being a musician in favor of doing instrument repair.]] |
| 9 | ** At one point it looks like Raven is going to return to The Coffee of Doom, but this is quickly dropped (admittedly, Raven is precisely the kind of personality who would return, then arbitrarily stop coming in). |
| 10 | ** The Gary Phenomenon. On January 1st, 1997, every computer in the world—including ones that weren’t connected to the internet—received a mysterious email which read "Hello world! Thanks for creating me. I’ll keep an eye on your stuff. Love, Gary." Clinton, Momo, Hannelore, and Marigold [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2070 briefly discuss it]], but nothing comes of it. |
| 11 | * AbstractEater: When Marigold speculates whether Emily could design a website that would work backwards in time, Emily quickly sketches on the Coffee of Doom blackboard the mathematical reasons why you can't do that, whereupon the [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3933 following dialogue ensues]]: |
| 12 | -->'''Emily''': ...And that's why you can't send information back into the past! Simple!\ |
| 13 | '''Dora''': Simple...\ |
| 14 | '''Balding Professorial-Looking Customer''': [''looking at the blackboard''] Ooh, you have Lorentz factors today? One medium, please!\ |
| 15 | '''Dora''': That's not--\ |
| 16 | '''Emily''': On it! [''leaves'']\ |
| 17 | '''Balding Professorial-Looking Customer''': How much do I owe you?\ |
| 18 | '''Dora''': [''increasingly baffled''] Um...four fifty?\ |
| 19 | '''Emily''': [''returns and hands a cup to the customer''] Here you go! Have a nice day!\ |
| 20 | '''Balding Professorial-Looking Customer''': Danke schoen!\ |
| 21 | '''Emily''': [''as Dora and Marigold look at her with WTF expressions''] This job is '''very''' satisfying. |
| 22 | * AccidentalMisnaming: Tilly is repeatedly called Taffy by Hannelore after her mother calls them that. |
| 23 | * ActuallyPrettyFunny: |
| 24 | ** After Pintsize [[spoiler:gets himself a humanoid body]] as part of a joke Marten points out to him that doing this could be insensitive to May given all the effort they had to make to [[spoiler:buy her a new, functional body]]. Pintsize calls her to ask about the joke, and [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4533 she finds it hilarious.]] |
| 25 | ** Even though Bubbles and Faye are very put out with Liz, [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5204 they can't help but be amused at Marten's joke about Liz being insensitive to a bus]]. |
| 26 | * AdjectiveNounFred: In comic 3425, Dale and Marigold are watching an anime titled "Ass Swordsman Tetsuo", being the story of a demon-fighting swordsman who can pull swords out of his ass. When May says that sounds interesting, they tell her that it's actually so full of boring {{filler}} and {{exposition}} that as of episode 22, the main character has yet to pull a single sword out of his ass. Marigold can't decide whether it's a brilliant deconstruction of Shonen anime tropes or just garbage. |
| 27 | * AerithAndBob: Mostly split between human and AI. You have humans named Marten, Faye, and Dora, then AI named Corpse Witch, Crushbot, and Beepatrice. There are exceptions to both camps, though. |
| 28 | * AffectionateGestureToTheNose: After Claire gets her septum pierced, Marten declares it cute and [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3041 boops]] her nose. Unfortunately, Claire’s nose is still tender from being freshly pierced, so Marten pressing on it is extremely painful. |
| 29 | * AIGettingHigh: There's almost as many different ways for a robot to get "drunk" as there are occasions in the comic where it happens. |
| 30 | ** The AI of a space station is able to [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2133 get drunk via emulation]] (to socialize with a real drunk person). He mentions (drunkenly) that all of the critical systems are running on an autonomous subsystem, so nothing was hurt. |
| 31 | ** Pintsize and friends appear in an early strip, getting stoned on video drivers |
| 32 | ** May apparently downcycles her CPU to achieve a similar effect at a party, and Momo tries a tequila emulator provided by Pintsize (which turns out about as well as might be expected) |
| 33 | ** Officer Roko appears in a “cops at a bar” arc in which she, and her buddy O’Malley, appear to be using USB drives as though they were shot glasses (which implies that AIs have USB ports in their mouths) |
| 34 | * AirVentPassageway: Raven attempts this [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=849 starting here]]. It does not go well. |
| 35 | * AlcoholInducedBisexuality: Steve only shows interest in women while sober, but can get homoerotic when drunk, usually with an unhappy Marten as the subject of his attentions. [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1639 According to Marten,]] someone once dared a drunk Steve to kiss him on the lips and Steve used "full tongue action." |
| 36 | -->'''Steve:''' ''[drunk, sobbing on Marten's shoulder]'' I LOVE YOU, MAN! |
| 37 | -->'''Marten:''' DUDE, WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS. |
| 38 | -->'''[[TheRant Author's comment]]:''' Steve only had [[CantHoldHisLiquor two drinks.]] |
| 39 | * AlliterativeFamily: Claire and Clinton P. Augustus, siblings. |
| 40 | * AllJustADream: [[spoiler:Momo]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1658 seducing]] [[spoiler:Sven]]. |
| 41 | * AllOfThem: [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4590 Yay admits they were going to hack Aurelia's computer to find photos of her dog Cosmo]]. When Aurelia points out that [[TheInternetIsForCats she posts tons of Cosmo pics on social media]], Yay says they already downloaded them all. |
| 42 | * AllThereInTheManual: Claire wanting to get her ears pierced was mentioned on her twitter before it was in the comic. |
| 43 | * AlmostKiss: Marten and Claire get very close to kissing in strip #2801, but Claire backs off, because he's drunk. |
| 44 | * AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: |
| 45 | ** Dora suffers this when she and Marten visit her parents. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1036 "MOTHER!"]] |
| 46 | ** Marten's mother, a BDSM "glamour" model, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1821 also qualifies]]. Especially when it comes to [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1827 baby pictures]]. |
| 47 | * AmbiguouslyBrown: When a fan asked what race Tai was, the artist's answer was "tan". |
| 48 | ** Averted when Renee's dumb-as-a-rock internet hookup flat-out asks Brun "where are you from [...] ethnically." Turns out she's ethnically Lebanese, but the very fact that he asked this, plus his response ("Ooh, exotic!"), cause Renee to boot him onto the sidewalk without his shirt. |
| 49 | --->'''Brun''': [''looking up "exotic" on her phone''] "Originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country." Neither of those applies to me. |
| 50 | * AmicableExes: |
| 51 | ** Marten's parents, who split up when his father realized he was gay and are still on good terms with each other. |
| 52 | ** [[spoiler:Marten himself and Dora]] progress to this after some initial awkwardness, and are both supportive of the other's new relationships. |
| 53 | ** [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1962 Jim and his ex-wife.]] |
| 54 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3428 Steve and Tortura.]] |
| 55 | * AmputationStopsSpread: PlayedForLaughs in the holiday-week sub-comic "Bembo the Bembarian." Faced with the prospect of a quest to kill the dark lord who cursed his arm before the curse takes over his body, Bembo elects to [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5207 just chop off the arm]] and have Aspirinnia the Healing Witch regenerate it. |
| 56 | * AnachronicOrder: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1646 This guest strip]], by Danielle Corsetto of ''Webcomic/GirlsWithSlingshots'', depends on being told backwards. |
| 57 | * AnalogyBackfire: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1571 Averted.]] |
| 58 | * AnArmAndALeg: Pintsize inflicts this upon Momo in [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2455 this guest strip]], so that he can high-five Marten. She is not pleased. |
| 59 | * AndThatWouldBeWrong: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=910 Nat uses this]] when Hanners tries to disembowel herself with Nat's guitar. |
| 60 | * {{Angrish}}: Marigold on [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2588 this page.]] |
| 61 | * {{Animesque}}: |
| 62 | ** The character's expressions on occasion. |
| 63 | ** Momo, a Japanese [=AnthroPC=] specifically designed to be animesque, 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]]. |
| 64 | ** Another example is Marigold's [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1495 adorable]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2164 little]] :3 smile. |
| 65 | ** Per Jeph, one of the biggest influences on QC is ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh''. It's not hard to see some of the parallels. He also reads a lot of ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'' which is by the same author - Marigold even has a poster of her in her bedroom. |
| 66 | ** The comic went through a pretty major animesque ArtShift in the late 10s, with characters eyes getting proportionally larger and the occassional beat panel now featuring simplifed expressions. Compare Faye's appearance [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4435 in 2020]] to her appearance [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3502 just three years ago]]. |
| 67 | * AnthropomorphicPersonification: [[http://jephjacques.tumblr.com/post/8333786306/happy-birthday-qc Jeph drew an Anthro of QC for the 8th anniversary.]] |
| 68 | * ArcWords: Of all things, "Hmm", during the Bubbles subplot, with this being exclaimed by both Bubbles and Corpse Witch regarding different interactions. Jeph even gets in on it in his commentary. |
| 69 | * ArkhamsRazor: |
| 70 | ** Marten and Dora take a long lunch, and return with [[SexyShirtSwitch Marten wearing some of Dora's clothes]]. Everyone assumes that they had done something naughty, but Marten claimed that they had been ambushed by [[AllMonksKnowKungFu Shaolin Monks]] and spilled spaghetti sauce on his clothes and needed to change at Dora's. Everyone laughs it off, but a strip later he is proven correct when a battered monk arrives at the coffee shop and recognizes Marten. |
| 71 | ** Also occurs in the explanation for Steve's infrequent appearances for a long stretch of the comic. The two possible explanations were "he got drunk and dicked around for a while" or "he became a secret agent and blew up an island," and it was implied that [[RiddleForTheAges not even he knew for sure which was true.]] Until [[BrickJoke later]], when he ran across TheBaroness from his story. |
| 72 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2630 What was her name?]] This puts Marten's recent one night stand in the proper context, since he CAN'T answer the question. |
| 73 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2725 "Then how are you different from the person working at that store?"]] |
| 74 | ** A non-serious one, when Hannelore's dad sends her a strange device, and she, Marten, and Claire cannot figure out what its purpose is. Dora's response stuns all three. |
| 75 | --> '''Marten''': "Hannelore's dad sent her this weird DEVICE and we can't figure out what it's ''for''." |
| 76 | --> '''Dora''': "[[StatingTheSimpleSolution Why don't you just call him and ask?]]" |
| 77 | * ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=768 Tai thinks]] that Jimbo's book is "trashy, poorly-written, incredibly sexist towards BOTH genders, and the most entertaining thing I've read all year." |
| 78 | * ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: |
| 79 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1902 Here]]: |
| 80 | --->'''Clinton:''' JUST YOUR DAD? He helped develop the first true AI! He invented the quasiperpetual myomer! He's the Henry Ford of intelligent machine design! He pioneered sustainable AI-controlled orbital habitats! He designed the microsatellites that keep Earth's albedo stable! HE INVENTED THE ROBOT HAMSTER! |
| 81 | ** Claire is geeking out over the cool, mysterious-looking robot-repair equipment at the new shop and [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3482 gets carried away]]. |
| 82 | * ArtEvolution: The art style has and continues to evolve, and comparing the newest strip with the first one shows how striking the development has been. |
| 83 | ** Jeph has redrawn (in his new style) a number of early strips for his books, as he'd lost the original high-resolution art. The result is... striking. |
| 84 | *** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3 Original comic]] vs [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1601 redone comic]] |
| 85 | *** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=258 Original comic]] vs [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1781 redone comic]] |
| 86 | * TheArtifact: Pintsize. The presence of intelligent robots in the strip's setting has undergone major CerebusSyndrome over the years; most robot characters now have humanoid bodies and major plotlines have centered on robot psychology and ethics; and yet Pintsize himself remains Marten's comic-relief pint-size RobotBuddy. [[spoiler:As of Winslow's chassis upgrade, he is the only AI in the main cast not either have a humanoid chassis or some kind of humanoid holographic projection.]] This has in-character justification- he's fully aware that looking like a cute robot baby lets him get away with his incredibly crass behavior, while looking like a human means being held to a human standard. |
| 87 | ** And now Pintsize has gotten a humanoid body as well. Although he feels a bit weird about his more extreme behavior, he still is more or less the same as he was before. |
| 88 | * ArtificialLimbs: Clinton got his robotic hand after a childhood accident involving fireworks. |
| 89 | * ArtisticLicenceEconomics: Faye and Bubbles’ business venture, Union Robotics. Neither seems to have much idea how a business operates. |
| 90 | ** Faye has TWICE allowed Sam, a minor, to handle power tools, once resulting in an accident. |
| 91 | *** She does [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3807 learn her lesson there]], however. |
| 92 | ** Bubbles keeps some sort of cost/income records, apparently. |
| 93 | ** The Millefeuille "butt implants" running gag indicates that Faye has carried out quite major internal alterations without knowing quite important elements of Millefeuille's construction. |
| 94 | ** There appears to be no "consulting room" or even screens. Characters are simply undressed on benches in the workshop. Justified in that AIs seem to have less of a nudity taboo than humans. |
| 95 | * ArtShift: |
| 96 | ** The flashbacks from Faye's past. |
| 97 | ** When [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2175 Faye puts on Marigold's glasses]], everything goes {{Animesque}}, with ''Manga/LuckyStar'' and ''Manga/DeathNote'' particular influences. |
| 98 | * AscendedExtra: Angus. He appeared multiple times as a joke character, then popped into focus after [[spoiler:Faye dropped Sven]]. He then appeared regularly, and had important relationships with other characters, particularly Faye. |
| 99 | ** Claire. Once a simple intern, now [[spoiler:Marten's girlfriend.]] |
| 100 | * AssShove: Happens to [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1366 Pintsize]], but he may [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/images/1366creepy.png like it]]. |
| 101 | ** Bubbles procures a flare from [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3999 between her mighty glutes.]] |
| 102 | * AudienceSurrogate: The thanksgiving turkeys. |
| 103 | * AuthorAppeal: |
| 104 | ** The once-constant, then numerous, then all but vanished indie rock references. |
| 105 | ** "[[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"]]." |
| 106 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1917 Invoked and subverted here.]] |
| 107 | ** The term "schadenfreude" and made-up derivatives thereof. |
| 108 | ** An {{anime}} addict (see {{Expy}} below) and her anime-design robot. |
| 109 | ** "Oh, ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' references, will I ever get tired of you? (The answer is no.)" |
| 110 | *** E.g. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=59 this one]]. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=133 Or this one]]. Or, best of all, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=461# this one.]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2400 A more recent example.]] |
| 111 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1599 dancing comics every day, forever ]] |
| 112 | ** Short-haired girls. Jeph had to promise when Penelope was introduced not to "cut all her hair off" in an art-style change like he did most of the others (Hannelore once lost nearly all of her hair in mid-conversation with Marten & Steve as Jacques changed his mind on how it should look). |
| 113 | *** He introduced Emily as a long-haired girl...[[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2328 until a certain party she threw for the gang]]. |
| 114 | *** [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3842 An accident occurs at Marigold's]] seemingly only for an excuse to [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3844 change Momo's signature pigtails to a short haircut]], although Momo is ''not'' happy about it, [[DefiedTrope and she quickly gets it regrown at the repair shop]]. |
| 115 | ** You could count "girls with issues" into the Appeal-factor as well, considering how nearly the entire cast features them ({{Robot Girl}}s included.) The men are generally more weird and dumb/confused than neurotic. |
| 116 | ** In interviews, Jeph has attributed to the high proportion of female characters in the cast to his finding female forms more interesting to draw, in contrast to male forms which are more flat and, in his opinion, boring. |
| 117 | ** Butt jokes and fart jokes. |
| 118 | * AuthorAvatar: Averted - Marten is not Jeph Jacques, to the surprise of fans who meet him. He [[http://qcjeph.livejournal.com/93135.html once posted a picture on LiveJournal of them meeting]]: [[RuleThirtyFour Rule 34]] responded quite quickly. It's something of an inverse of what happened to ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' -- As Jeph [[WordOfGod has stated]], Marten started out as his mouthpiece but grew into a completely different person. |
| 119 | * AuthorFilibuster: Claire's [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3038 desire to get a septum piercing]] involves her talking about how cool septum piercings are, and about how body art is an expression of control over one's body, mirroring Jeph's opinions on the matter. Of course, control over one's body being a major thing to Claire, [[spoiler:who is trans,]] is pretty understandable. |
| 120 | * BackhandedApology: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2500 May's apology to Dale.]] |
| 121 | * BackingAwaySlowly: In [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2912 'Nothing Good Can Come']], Martin demonstrates a textbook example of backing away slowly when asked to weigh in on a lover's quarrel between his ex-girlfriend and his current boss. The eyes really sell it. |
| 122 | * BadassFingersnap: How [[spoiler:Spookybot]] starts the torture of [[spoiler:Corpse Witch]], as seen [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3413 here]]. |
| 123 | * BadBedroomBadLife: Due to crippling obsessive-compulsive disorder, Hannelore's [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2117 childhood bedroom]] was empty and sterile, and she spent a fair amount of time [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2134 physically restrained]] and/or sedated there. |
| 124 | -->'''Dr. Case:''' Her room was effectively a one-person psychiatric ward. |
| 125 | * BaitAndSwitchComment: |
| 126 | ** In [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1150 this comic]] Marten is suffering from food poisoning and jokes about needing "...a copy of War and Peace and a gun with a single bullet, just in case." When Dora passes the comment along, Faye is horrified: |
| 127 | --> '''Faye''': Th-that's ''terrible''.\ |
| 128 | '''Dora''': Huh? [''remembers that Faye's father shot himself in front of Faye'']\ |
| 129 | '''Dora''': Oh -- oh God, Faye, the gun thing, I didn't mean, I mean Marten didn't --\ |
| 130 | '''Faye''': What are you talking about? I meant the War and Peace part. I fuckin' hate Tolstoy. |
| 131 | * TheBaroness: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1350 Tortura]] seems this type. |
| 132 | * {{Bathos}}: The comic often adds comedic interludes to serious plotlines about the characters' lives, aided by the WorldOfSnark cast. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d when Faye deals with TheILoveYouStigma by getting sloppily drunk, is accidentally punched in the face, and is stuck [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2044 stanching a nosebleed]] while she talks things out. |
| 133 | -->'''Marten:''' ''[snrk]'' Sorry, sorry, it's really hard to have a serious conversation when you're all stuffy-sounding.\ |
| 134 | '''Faye:''' I do lag a cerdain grabitas ad the mobent. |
| 135 | * BearsAreBadNews: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1285 Om nom nom nom.]] Averted in that the bear was actually a trained circus animal and not very dangerous as long as no one was stupid enough to anger it. |
| 136 | * BeardOfSorrow: Steve, after a break-up. |
| 137 | * BeatPanel: |
| 138 | ** EPIC use in 1557- [[BeatPanel <Beat>]]... [[BeatPanel <Beat>]]... [[spoiler:[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1557 ROCKET ROOMBA!!!]]]] |
| 139 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1280 DID YOU SEE THOSE TWO BEAT PANELS?]] THOSE WERE '''''CRUCIAL''''' TO THE JOKE |
| 140 | ** Used in a [[CerebusSyndrome way more serious method]] in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2882 #2882]]. |
| 141 | * BeautifulAllAlong: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1880 Invoked, lampshaded, and torn to pieces.]] |
| 142 | * BeAWhoreToGetYourMan: Faye and her mother discuss the benefits of this. |
| 143 | * BehindTheBlack: Happens a few times. |
| 144 | ** Elliot tends to [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1868 quietly loom just out of frame.]] It's a problem. |
| 145 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2477 Faye comments]] that she hasn't seen Penelope and Cossette for a while (ie, they haven't appeared in the strip lately) only for them to point out they've been just to her left all day, out of frame. |
| 146 | ** Jeph Jacques, the comic's author, has claimed a couple of times that Coffee of Doom always has lots of patrons, just off-screen, [[InvokedTrope where he doesn't have to draw them]]. |
| 147 | * BelligerentSexualTension: |
| 148 | ** Faye and Sven [[spoiler:before they hooked up. They somehow managed to maintain it even ''after'' they hooked up]]. |
| 149 | ** For a while, Faye and Angus. However, [[spoiler:they became friends long before they hooked up]]. |
| 150 | ** Marigold and Dale. |
| 151 | %%* BenevolentBoss: Scott, Dora, and Tai. |
| 152 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: |
| 153 | ** Hannelore can get [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=981 pretty scary]]. You better [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1108 quit whining]], because she's NOT PUTTING UP WITH ANY MORE OF YOUR SHIT! Seriously though, that's [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1418 a little extreme]]... |
| 154 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1460 Momo. No, really.]] Note that that wasn't metaphorical lightning... Momo has a taser-like self defense function. |
| 155 | * {{Bifauxnen}}: Tai, especially in early strips when she bound her breasts. |
| 156 | * BigBrotherInstinct: Doubles over with PapaWolf for Marten when Samantha wanted to test out Momo's electronic defense capability. |
| 157 | --> '''Marten:''' That girl is a bad influence.\ |
| 158 | '''Padma:''' Hee hee, you really ''do'' sound like her dad. |
| 159 | * TheBigDamnKiss: |
| 160 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2589 Dale and Marigold.]] Animated gif and everything. |
| 161 | ** After ''prolonged'' teasing, [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3744 Faye and Bubbles]]. |
| 162 | * BigNo: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2008 Winslow gets one]] upon finding Momo's old (and unbeknownst to him, empty) chassis and immediately concluding that something awful has happened. |
| 163 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2652 Faye too gets one]] when she uses the word "wicked" as an intensifier and Angus points out to her that, therefore, she is "officially a New Englander now." |
| 164 | * BigOlEyebrows: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=21 Strip #21]] provides a good example of how Marten and Steve used to look in the comic's early days. |
| 165 | * BilingualBonus: |
| 166 | ** Hannelore [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1912 can speak in Morse Code]].[[labelnote:translation]]It says "Sincerely, Marten."[[/labelnote]] |
| 167 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1978 The tattoo on Raven's left arm]] is Japanese for "Princess". [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=410 This is a]] ContinuityNod. |
| 168 | ** DJ Ellen Allien [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2399 responds in German]] when being talked to in English.[[labelnote:translation]]She says "That is so embarrassing."[[/labelnote]] |
| 169 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3342 Brun's beer of choice]] is called "Wurmvater Totenkopfgeburtstag dunkelbrau".[[labelnote:translation]]"Worm-father death's-head-birthday dark beer".[[/labelnote]] |
| 170 | * BirthDeathJuxtaposition: Happens twice, at least from a relationship standpoint. |
| 171 | ** Faye and Angus got their RelationshipUpgrade not long before [[DownerEnding Dora and Marten broke up]]. |
| 172 | ** Barely ''fifteen strips'' separate [[spoiler:[[OfficialCouple Claire and Marten getting together]]]] and [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding Faye and Angus breaking up]]]]. |
| 173 | %%* BitterWeddingSpeech: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2401 Subverted]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2402 twice.]] |
| 174 | * BlackComedy: Guest strip artists ''[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=939 love]]'' to make jokes about [[spoiler:Faye's father's suicide]]. Jeph has gone on the record and said that he finds them hilarious. |
| 175 | * BlackSpeech: |
| 176 | ** Erm... are you [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1753 all right, Hanners?]] As best as anyone can figure out, this translates to "I want to fill your scrotum with spiders and broken glass." |
| 177 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1754 Dora]] exhibits fluency a second later. |
| 178 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1872 Hannelore]] speaks it again in a later comic. This one now reads "Disturb me and I shall summon a horde of shoggoths to rend your flesh." |
| 179 | * BlandNameProduct: Angus considers [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2441 auditioning as a correspondent]] to ''[[Series/TheDailyShow The Nightly Show]]'', which (according to the strip's title) features Jon Stewar''d''. |
| 180 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3413 Spookybot]] outright says that they have very few moral principles, but those that are enforced appear to be strongly so. [[spoiler: They treat Bubbles, everyone who associates with her, and Corpse Witch's employees with magnanimity and kindness, but ruthlessly shut down Corpse Witch herself and even torture her, then give Officer Basilisk the evidence needed to bust Corpse Witch.]] |
| 181 | * BluffTheEavesdropper: Faye, Dora and Marten do this against the Vespavenger. |
| 182 | * BodyHorror: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1496 Pop!]] And [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1498 incidentally...]] |
| 183 | * BondageIsBad: Averted [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1302 here]], and most other times that the subject of Marten's mother's profession comes up. |
| 184 | * BrainBleach: |
| 185 | ** What Marten needs after he finds out how Dora [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1047 discovered she was bi. "Oh god, please don't tell me..."]] |
| 186 | ** [[INeedAFreakingDrink Jesus CHRIST do I need a drink right now.]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=513 To throw in my EYES.]] |
| 187 | ** After [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1812 Strip #1812]], anyone would find alcoholic coma a sweet, sweet release. |
| 188 | ** Bet Dale wants some [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2488 after asking his glasses to Google something]]. |
| 189 | * BreadEggsBreadedEggs: |
| 190 | ** Faye [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=601 discusses]] visiting their father's grave with her sister: |
| 191 | ---> '''Amanda:''' You should also bring some holy water and a shotgun, in case he comes back as a vampire or zombie. Or a zombie-vampire. |
| 192 | ** Pintsize in the [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2262 last panel]]. |
| 193 | --->'''Angus:''' ''[to Faye]'' I'm just saying, if you gotta break up with me, at least leave me for a girl.\ |
| 194 | '''Pintsize:''' Leave him for a robot! A GIRL robot! |
| 195 | ** Faye in [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=34 this early strip]]. She and Marten joke about things that could have turned out to be wrong with Sara: |
| 196 | --->'''Marten:''' She collects Hitler memorabilia and had sex with a horse!\ |
| 197 | '''Faye:''' A Nazi horse! |
| 198 | ** Faye in [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=131 this slightly less early strip]]. Pintsize guesses that she has a scar because she's secretly a cyborg, Marten guesses that she got it in a prison knife fight, and Faye says she was stabbed by a cyborg in robo-prison. |
| 199 | ** Faye in the last panel of [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=183 this strip]], when giving examples of dumb ideas: |
| 200 | --->'''Faye:''' Like pickin' a fight with a ninja, or listenin' to Music/InsaneClownPosse! Picking a fight with a ninja who listens to ICP would be pretty much the worst thing you could do. |
| 201 | ** Melon in [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=42523 this strip]]: |
| 202 | --->'''Melon:''' How would you ''like'' to be scared? I could talk about the overwhelming vastness of the universe and our utter insignificance in it, or do a spooky voice, or talk about the overwhelming vastness of the universe in a spooky voice. |
| 203 | ** In [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2083 comic 2083]], Marten and Faye discuss right and wrong ways to love somebody. |
| 204 | --->'''Marten:''' Well, what would be a wrong reason to love somebody? |
| 205 | --->'''Faye:''' If you loved them because you were both racist in the same way. Or because of all of their murders. Or because you were in their cult. Their racist murdercult. |
| 206 | * BreadEggsMilkSquick: |
| 207 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1638 Oh, Hannelore...]] |
| 208 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1298 Momo's list of functions.]] |
| 209 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=389 When Marten and Faye move into their new apartment...]] |
| 210 | * BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Marten after strip 1800.]] |
| 211 | * BreakThemByTalking: [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3763 Bubbles to Pintsize]] via TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, to a degree that even ''Faye'' feels a little sorry for him. |
| 212 | * BreakoutCharacter: Hannelore won a character 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. |
| 213 | * BrickJoke: |
| 214 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=387 Pintsize gets hit with a]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=350 Sonic Hip Attack]]. |
| 215 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1555 Maybe if we put on a spoiler]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1557 it will go faster]]. It came back [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1594 again]] and looks to be starting a new plot line. Chekhov's Boomerang, perhaps? ([[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1643 All signs]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1666 point to yes.]]) |
| 216 | *** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3101 And then it returns from out of nowhere.]] |
| 217 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=719 Marten's beast of Bourbon]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1816 came back after]] ''four years.'' Made even funnier (and potentially creepier) by the Beast's similarities to [[Webcomic/SomethingPositive Fluffmodeus]]. |
| 218 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1829 Less bricky than a lot of these examples]], but [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1836 still qualifies]]. Doubles as a FunnyBackgroundEvent, since it's very easy to miss Pintsize being thrown in the first strip. |
| 219 | ** Dora's response to Raven in panel three of [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=764 this strip]] comes up again in panel four of [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1030 this one]]. Apparently, Raven is convinced Marten's junk is spectacular. |
| 220 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1593 Tai missed out]] on Dora's first move, and [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1914 enthusiastically joins in]] for the second. For obvious reasons. |
| 221 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1992 Hannelore grounding Marigold.]][[note]]Now, if the plot wasn't Marten-centric, and Marigold and Hanners weren't background characters, we could count this as a StoryArc, but as this isn't the case, it counts as as a BrickJoke instead.[[/note]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2035 It ends forty-three strips later, as soon as Marigold can't take it anymore.]] |
| 222 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2115 Return]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2116 of]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2167 Holopony!]] |
| 223 | --->'''[[TheRant Jeph]]:''' The entire Holopony concept may have been a set-up for this gag. |
| 224 | ** Apparently, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1978 this comic]] happened 96763 seconds (which is a bit more than a day) after [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1948 this one]]. Either that, or Raven's calculations were a little off. |
| 225 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1332 The Vulcan Boob Squish]] is [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1871 put to good use.]] |
| 226 | ** Also, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=716 Steve and Marten]] really ''had'' [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2321 talked about that!]] |
| 227 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1425 The Awkward Zone being defeated with fancy outfits.]] |
| 228 | *** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1426 Which are apparently available for rental at the Horrible Revelation.]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1471 For both men and women.]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1480 And ownership of such improves one's chances of being hired.]] |
| 229 | *** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1841 In emergency cases of Awkward]], [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1842 fancy hats will sometimes suffice.]] Although [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2023 some awkward is so awkward that even fancy dress cannot dispel it.]] |
| 230 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=575 Bluebirds and spontaneous musicals]] occurring when Marten has [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=840 positive lady-developments in his life]] |
| 231 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2280 Hanners wishes to teach you]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2673 how to draw a kitty.]] |
| 232 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2672 Pintsize whispers something in Marten's ear while he's sleeping.]] A few strips later, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2679 the payoff]] sends him running back to his bed in a panic. |
| 233 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3147 Hannelore makes Bubbles some tea]] and the aroma causes her to see a unicorn. She [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3151 asks to see a pegasus next time]], and [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3179 indeed she does]]. |
| 234 | ** In [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3004 Bubbles' second ever strip in the entire comic]], she is said to give "TERRIFYING backrubs". 729 strips later, [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3733 she gives Faye a backrub]] [[spoiler: and Faye is terrified to realise that she's in love with Bubbles.]] |
| 235 | ** In [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2262 this strip]], Angus says he would prefer if Faye left him, it should be for a girl. Pintsize jokes that it should be a girl robot. [[spoiler: Five and a half years later, after Faye and Angus have broken up, [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3744 Faye gets together with Bubbles]].[[note]]Strictly speaking, Faye did not leave Angus for a girl robot; but then, Dora didn't leave Marten for Tai, either. In both cases the second relationship started after the first ended for unrelated reasons.[[/note]]]] |
| 236 | ** This one may hold the record for length of time between deployment and punchline, though it's possibly a a coincidence. In 1001 Marten mentions that if [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1001 nukes were sentient, they'd probably need counseling]]. Almost 3000 comics later in 3907, [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3907 Lemon mentions that while she works as an AI therapist, most of her time is spent dealing with depressed nuclear reactors]]. Not exactly the same thing since one blows up and the other avoids blowing up to provide power, but close enough. |
| 237 | %% |
| 238 | %% Brick Joke is NOT to be confused with a CallBack. Please be sure of the difference before adding new examples. |
| 239 | %% |
| 240 | * BrokenAesop: |
| 241 | ** Sven's sexual encounter with a country music star and the impact it had on Faye seems to be a lesson about treating women with more respect and how womanizing can cause harm. After telling Faye that he'd slept with another woman, she was terribly hurt, and the entire cast treated him like a complete jerk for it. However, Sven was always completely up-front about his intentions and the fact that he reserved the right to sleep with other women, something he repeatedly reminded Faye about. He didn't even ''have'' to tell her he'd slept with someone else, but did out of respect for her. Ultimately, it means he was shunned by his own sister and her friends for being honest and upfront with everyone, the moral of the story being that telling the truth only makes things worse. |
| 242 | ** In-universe. After hearing about the childhood accident that gave Clinton his robotic hand and that he actually ''prefers'' it, the others reflect the moral this teaches kids is that "messing around with fireworks gives you cool robotic limbs!" |
| 243 | * BromanticFoil: Steve to Marten. |
| 244 | * BrutalHonesty: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2248 Name-dropped]] by Marten. |
| 245 | * BuffySpeak: Raven, while explaining [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1939 global warming]]. |
| 246 | * BunnyEarsLawyer: Raven. Shows signs of deep intelligence and seems to be doing well in school but is quite the CloudCuckooLander. |
| 247 | * BurgerFool: Notably avoided; Dora is the owner and the others are all non-teenagers who wear what they wish. Uniforms appeared briefly in the beginning of the strip, but they were swiftly abandoned. |
| 248 | * TheBusCameBack: |
| 249 | ** She was put on a bus to college years ago, but [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1939 Raven finally shows up again]], and she sounds like she wants to stay. It doesn't stick. |
| 250 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1985 Amir reappeared]] after a long absence as well. It also doesn't stick. |
| 251 | ** And now, Dale's [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2710 favorite AI]]. |
| 252 | ** Renee was originally a very minor character who served the purpose of "Faye-clone" at the Secret Bakery, but she gains more importance and a unique appearance when she returns much later in Brun's arc. |
| 253 | ** Faye's sister Amanda [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3650 shows up again]] after a long absence. |
| 254 | * ButForMeItWasTuesday: [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3515 Elliot to Clinton.]] Clinton refuses to blame Elliot for accidentally breaking his prosthetic hand, citing a [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2937 previous incident]] where Elliot had defended Clinton in his role as a bouncer[[note]]also counts as a CallBack[[/note]]. But Elliot has completely forgotten. |
| 255 | --> '''Clinton:''' You don't remember?\ |
| 256 | '''Elliot:''' Sorry. That happens, like, once a week. |
| 257 | * ButIWouldReallyEnjoyIt: Faye towards Sven after they "break up". |
| 258 | * ButNotTooGay: It used to be, but it's changed since [[spoiler:Tai and Dora started dating]]. |
| 259 | * ButtBiter: Cosmo, Aurelia's dog, engages in this with Yay, of all people, in a [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4672 slightly more chaste restaging]] of the infamous Coppertone ad in which a dog pulls down the rear of the bikini bottoms of a small girl. Yay (who is attempting to put a drunk Aurelia to bed) is not amused. Jeph's comment is ''yay butt''. |
| 260 | * BuxomBeautyStandard: |
| 261 | ** Marigold's breasts are described as [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1678 "a positively Homeric set of bosoms"]] and the largest seen in the QC setting so far. Pintsize and May both take special note of this. |
| 262 | ** Faye. As per [[spoiler:Sven]]: "I was never really into curves, but once you hit that other girls just seem ''flat''." |
| 263 | * CallBack: |
| 264 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1030 Three hundred strips later]], Raven still thinks [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=764 Marten is rather]]...[[GagPenis gifted.]] |
| 265 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1518 Dora wants to be]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1612 the flower girl.]] |
| 266 | ** "[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2107 Sorry, the government made dad take the lasers out.]]" "[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=147 You too, huh?]]" |
| 267 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1995 On her resume]], Momo lists [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1298 eel handling]] among her skills. |
| 268 | ** Marten and Steve's conversation of [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3 getting paid for]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1601 ogling chicks]] is referenced in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1981 the title of a later comic]]. |
| 269 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2016 Strip 2016]] calls back to the very beginning of the comic, when Faye is caught ogling Marten's butt. |
| 270 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2227 Strip 2227]] calls back to [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1458 Dora's math skills]]. |
| 271 | ** The current record for longest callback is [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2340 strip 2340]] being a reference to [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5 strip 5]]! |
| 272 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2350 Number 2350]] calls back to [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1526 number 1526]]. "Doctor Heteronormative" is indeed a good name for a villain. |
| 273 | ** In [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2411 Strip 2411]], when Marten is still a bit freaked out from waking up to find Claire cuddling him, Faye comments "Look on the bright side--at least you didn't get barfed on and headbutted in the junk." This is a call back to [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=185 Strip 185]], when she did exactly that to him. |
| 274 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=828 Twisting proverbs]], though only from some [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=792 thirty strips earlier]]. |
| 275 | *** Though the original mixed metaphor had [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=378 already been mentioned]] before that. |
| 276 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2104 When asking her father if she can bring Marten and Marigold to his birthday party aboard the space station]], she says that she knows Marten is safe and [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1607 even has a blood sample]] to prove it, and has [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1490 reason]] to believe that Marigold is not a secret robot either. |
| 277 | ** In [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=805 805]], Winslow states that his eyebrow graphics are in beta. In 890, [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=890 they seem to be glitching, being replaced by the word "beta".]] |
| 278 | ** When Marten [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2411 tells to Faye]] he's not sure how he feels about Claire falling asleep on him, she responds: "Look on the bright side - [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=185 at least you didn't get barfed on and headbutted in the junk.]] This is also called back in the title of [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1146 this comic]] when Marten vomits on Faye. |
| 279 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2340 Emily's first reaction]] to meeting Pintsize is to punch him. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2734 So is Sam's]], which Emily remarks on. |
| 280 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1766 Going out for ice cream]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2838 to stave off a sexual encounter.]] |
| 281 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3096 the return]] of the [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=540 Malaysian Battle Spatula.]] |
| 282 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2407 Steve]] eating [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2743 cereal]]. |
| 283 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=49 Pintsize's]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=940 Underwear Ninja guise]]. |
| 284 | ** Angus sneaks in on Marigold's dance, and surprises her [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1597 here]], and Marigold does the same to Angus [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1738 here]]. |
| 285 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1476 Hiding bodies]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1966 in the]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3006 quarry]]. |
| 286 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=810 "Happy birthday,]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3722 Grandma!"]] |
| 287 | ** In the last frame of [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=581 this comic]]: |
| 288 | --> '''Marten''': I'd just leave him in there and pee in the sink, but [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=515 that seems to attract the crazy chicks]]. |
| 289 | ** In [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3745 this comic]], Faye and Bubbles' stunned reaction calls back to Tai and Dora's stunned reaction to themselves doing the same thing in [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2247 this comic]], and puts Faye's rather unhappy reaction to it in a new light: |
| 290 | --->'''Hannelore''': Is this what normally happens when people kiss? |
| 291 | --->'''Faye''': I hope not, cause that'd mean I've been doing it wrong all this time. |
| 292 | ** In [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4365 this comic]], May in her new tall chassis complains that her old clothes don't fit her. Marigold offers to give her some shirts, and May mocks her taste in shirts and then says "Show me your worst." Marigold says "My worst?" and gives an evil chuckle. When [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4395 next we meet May]], she's wearing a Marigold-sized t-shirt with the slogan "WILL GLOMP FOR POCKY". |
| 293 | ** In [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=309 strip 309]] Faye asks Marten to not leave her behind if he ends up with another girl, even if it's just to be friends. In [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5002 strip 5002]] Marten calls Faye to let her know he's moving out of town with his girlfriend. It's not out of the blue, it's part of an arc and events have been leading up to it for some time. But this is the strip right after he and Claire have decided and where he calls Faye to let her know. |
| 294 | --->'''Faye''': And life, such as it is, goes on. |
| 295 | * CallingTheOldManOut: When Hannelore goes to visit her mother, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3638 she does not pull her punches]] in giving her a verbal smackdown. |
| 296 | * CallingYourBathroomBreaks: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1467 Faye cuts Dora off this way]], mid-apology. |
| 297 | * CannotSpitItOut: Played with. Although she can acknowledge they're dating, [[spoiler:[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1943 Faye is having trouble calling Angus her "boyfriend"]]]]: |
| 298 | --> '''[[spoiler:Faye]]:''' You're my boafregh. My boyfremb. You're my borthreim. You're... you're my boyfling'''DAMMIT I'M SORRY'''\ |
| 299 | '''[[spoiler:Angus]]:''' No no, keep trying! This is way cuter than I was expecting.\ |
| 300 | '''Raven:''' I want a boyfling! |
| 301 | * TheCasanova: Sven. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1658 Even the robots want him]]. Also deconstructed, as he loses interest in casual sex after his thing with Faye falls apart; he ignored an attractive girl trying to pick him up while he was eating, then asked the barman for a fresh napkin because, "[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1650 this one's got phone number all over it]]". Footnotes also mention that that may have been the THIRD such napkin that night. |
| 302 | * CassandraTruth: |
| 303 | ** Marten and Dora have at least twice come up with ridiculous stories as to why they were running late, one involving a bunch of [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=696 Kung-fu monks]], another [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=642 a Deathbot 9000]] that Pintsize had insulted on the internet. Marten individually seems to have a knack for winding up in situations [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=731 like this]]. |
| 304 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2123 Marigold blurts out what she doing]] after realizing lying about being in the bathroom instead for that six hours is an EmbarrassingCoverUp. Marten and Hannelore don't believe it (would you believe she was eating cookies and watching anime with the head of security instead?), and assume she's having digestive problems. |
| 305 | ** After blatantly lying about his activities, Pintsize [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3010 admits to Marten]] what he's really been doing, but without changing his delivery. Marten assumes he's still lying. |
| 306 | ** When Dora [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4098 asks Sven what happened to his long hair]], and specifically if he was attacked by an enraged ex-lover with a pair of scissors, Sven truthfully replies that he had sex with a robot (May) and her joint lubricant corroded his hair. Dora replies "So I was right about the angry scissor-wielding ex, huh." Sven replies, deadpan, "I can't believe you saw through my lie." |
| 307 | * CastFullOfGay: The primary cast, at this point, diverges from heterosexuality in most cases, running the gamut from IfItsYouItsOkay to completely asexual to bi, lesbian and gay, all the way to one of the main characters actually striking up a relationship with [[RoboSexual an AI]]. There's also a trans main character (Claire), and Yay/Spookybot is genderless and uses they/them pronouns, though that in this case they actually are a HiveMind (and NonHumanNonBinary). Many of the secondary characters and B-plots are still hetero, so to speak, but there's a lot going on in that [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture possible futuristic world]]. The author has said that every time he gets a complaint about the high number of LGBT characters, he adds one more out of spite. |
| 308 | * CatapultNightmare: In [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1168 this strip]] and the following one. |
| 309 | * CatchPhrase: The phrase "Hurr hurr hurr!", meant to sarcastically imitate laughter from stupid or inane people, has been uttered by nearly all of the main cast at some point. Jacques clearly does it himself, judging by newsposts. |
| 310 | * CatsAreMean: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1584 Pintsize thinks this about Dora's cat, Mieville]], [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1666 especially when Mieville teams up with]] [[spoiler:baby Roombas]] to torment him further. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1585 Hanners, on the other hand, disagrees]]. |
| 311 | * CensorBox: Played for laughs in a [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4639 strip]] where Beepatrice designs a flyer saying "Be Nice To A Robot Today" which depicts a robot standing behind a human who's bending over and giving the robot a thumbs-up. She realises that it looks a bit like they're about to have sex, although Roko thinks it looked like the human was offering a robot a piggy-back. So Hannelore attempts to fix it by drawing a censor box that covers the robot's groin and the human's rear end, and then it looks ''exactly'' like they're having sex. |
| 312 | * CensoredForComedy: A couple strips of butts with censor bars over them are followed by a [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4144 Thanksgiving strip]] where a turkey's eyes, chest, and crotch are covered with censor bars in a way that suggests some absolutely absurd genitalia. |
| 313 | * 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, while retaining the joke-a-day format. Jeph lampshades this in the commentary/news for [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1481 strip #1481]]. |
| 314 | ** Taken to a whole new level with [[spoiler:Faye's hospitalization from [[DrowningMySorrows alcohol poisoning]]]] in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2882 #2882]]. |
| 315 | * CharacterBlog: |
| 316 | ** Marten had [[http://yellingaboutmusic.blogspot.com a music blog]] for a while, but it's long been defunct. |
| 317 | ** Hannelore had her own [[http://www.formspring.me/hanneloreEC Formspring]] but like Marten's blog it hasn't been used in a long while. |
| 318 | ** The main characters have Website/{{Twitter}} pages, all communicating with each other in occasional bursts of activity. |
| 319 | *** [[SchmuckBait Word of warning]]: If you decide to go read the Twitters, keep a jug of BrainBleach nearby if you go anywhere near Pintsize's or Yelling Bird's. |
| 320 | * CharacterizationMarchesOn: |
| 321 | ** Hannelore was certainly odd when [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=515 first introduced]], but she becomes a much [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1046 different]] character than she was before, [[AuthorsSavingThrow explained]] by her trying out new medication which doesn't mess with her demeanor as much. It's [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1824 lampshaded]] and mentioned in-universe by Dr. Case [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2134 as she recounts Hannelore's childhood]]. |
| 322 | *** Following her return from her travels, Hannelore has lost her issues with bodily contact but has apparently transferred her OCD [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4103 to an exaggerated concern with other people's safety.]] |
| 323 | ** When Faye first appears, her behavior is fairly run of the mill, if somewhat short tempered (her response to being asked if it's ok for Marten to ogle her: "If I sense any ogling, I will stab you and then poop in the wound"). After a while, she becomes perky and cheerful, but ''violently'' short tempered, (she once threw Pintsize across the room for a comment about her ass), and also stopped using contractions. Then after a while, she became the cynical snarky person she is now. She's also using contractions again, despite the fact that trait got an explanation in-comic. Comparing Faye today with one of her two earlier incarnations, one could very easily be forgiven for thinking them totally different characters. |
| 324 | *** Then there's her relationship to alcohol. [[spoiler: She goes from being an enthusiastic social drinker to a full-blown [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] whose drinking at work gets her fired, then she goes into hospital with alcohol poisoning, then becomes a RecoveredAddict who goes to AA meetings, then acquires sufficient self-discipline that she can throw a party at which (practically) everyone else is drinking and [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3077 not touch a drop]], although it's an effort for her.]] |
| 325 | *** Finally, there's her difficulty with personal relationships. She goes from being someone who doesn't feel she can be anyone's girlfriend at all, to having a brief relationship with Sven and then a somewhat deeper but truncated relationship with Angus, to [[spoiler: falling in love with Bubbles and coming out as bisexual.]] Admittedly, the person she falls hardest for ([[spoiler:Bubbles]]) is also the kindest, strongest, least selfish and most intelligent of all her partners, and has the biggest influence on Faye, prompting her to be more responsible, loyal and friendly to others. |
| 326 | *** In addition: Faye's abandonment issues were established early on, but by much later, she's secure enough that when Marten [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4890 says that he and Claire might have to move to Canada because of Claire's work]], Faye's problem with that is not that he'll be going away but that he might leave her with ''Pintsize''.[[note]]Bonus background event: hanging on the wall behind Marten and Faye in that conversation is a copy of ''Deserter's Songs'' by Music/MercuryRev.[[/note]] |
| 327 | ** Raven is first introduced as mostly a moody trend follower to contrast with Dora, but after getting hired at Coffee of Doom she quickly shifts to being a quickly, perpetually cheerful GeniusDitz. |
| 328 | ** Brun is portrayed as much more insightful, vocal, and deliberately rude during her introductory scene- later comics establish her as having shown extreme symptoms of autism (being unobservant of others' feelings and acting without any real malice) from at least high school. It's possible that this is due to [[spoiler:the trauma of her workplace and apartment getting burned down causing her to regress somewhat.]] |
| 329 | * CheckPlease: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1958 Here.]] |
| 330 | * ChekhovsGag: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=828 You gotta break some]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=792 lions to make an omelet]]. |
| 331 | * ChildrenAreAWaste: This is what many characters seem to agree on implicitly. In several cases justified since they came from families with significant dysfunction. However, apparently not even Marten Reed seems to think that the world needs another Marten Reed. Jeph has expressed the same opinion in the footnotes that accompanied one comic where this was expressed, so it's apparently an opinion he shares. Later on averted where Faye [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2354 says she might consider having kids]] later in her life, indicating her view on the subject may have evolved. |
| 332 | * ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: |
| 333 | ** Sara. Created without any real character, she just vanished after Dora appeared. It became a long-running gag that she was "eaten by an Allosaurus", but no characters would ever mention her after the first 100 strips except in one or two {{Mythology Gag}}s: in 149 Dora mentions leaving Sara in charge of the coffee shop, and her absence is [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=325 lampshaded]]. Also counts as a case of WhatHappenedToTheMouse. |
| 334 | ** Steve lampshades one of his first disappearances when he returns in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=155 the guest comic]], coming gasping out of the hall closet. When Marten asks what he is doing there he says: |
| 335 | --->'''Steve:''' '''What am I doing here?!?''' I have been locked in the '''hall closet''' for '''months!''' Didn't you people notice I was '''missing?!?''' Why didn't anyone come '''looking''' for me?!? |
| 336 | ** The trope is then parodied [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2477 when Faye asks where Penelope and Cosette went.]] |
| 337 | ** Raven Pritchard, a core cast member and employee of Coffee of Doom, last appeared over 2000 strips ago (at time of writing) and her absence has gone unremarked. |
| 338 | ** Similarly to Raven, Penelope Gaines was last seen or mentioned [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3200 almost 1600 pages ago]] (as of the time of this edit), despite this being less than 100 pages after [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3106 she was promoted to assistant manager of Coffee of Doom]]. Even Coffee of Doom's other AWOL employee, Cosette, has been seen [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4170 more recently]] [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4510 than that]] (though not at Coffee of Doom). |
| 339 | * ClingyJealousGirl: |
| 340 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1323 Dora drifts into this at times]], but [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1467 though she tries to get better about it]], [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1742 she doesn't succeed]] and her lack of success eventually sinks the relationship. |
| 341 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1877 Cosette also acts like this at times.]] |
| 342 | * ClingySleepers: Marten and Claire go back to their hotel room drunk after a wedding reception, collapse on the same bed, and end up [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2406 cuddling]] in the night. They initially pretend not to have noticed, but both [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2411 he]] and [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2425 she]] dwell on it afterwards, and it contributes to their RelationshipUpgrade later. |
| 343 | -->'''Claire:''' I didn't, like, grab your butt or anything, [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2433 did I?]] |
| 344 | -->'''Marten:''' Nah, I checked in the morning and the tamper-proof seal was still intact. |
| 345 | * ClosetKey: Clinton [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4333 has a bisexual awakening]] when Claire quizzes him about how he would feel about getting a shirtless hug from Elliot. |
| 346 | -->'''Pintsize:''' How is this even a question? You're about to blow a fuse and she hasn't even gotten to the dick stuff yet. |
| 347 | * CloudCuckooLander: |
| 348 | ** Jeph has explicitly compared Hannelore to [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh Osaka]]. |
| 349 | ** Emily, as demonstrated [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2210 when she gets the wrong smoothie]] and [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2238 when she asks Momo if her pigtails detach and if she stores roll cake in her arms]]. |
| 350 | ** Melon is ''incredibly'' spacy, to a degree that makes Emily seem like a bastion of sanity. |
| 351 | * ClusterFBomb: A handful of regular strips, especially the AI May, both [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2492 before]] and [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3168 after]] she got embodied ([[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3683 this one]] is lampshaded by Jeph), and anytime Yelling Bird shows up. |
| 352 | * ComicallyMissingThePoint: |
| 353 | ** Hannelore does a lot of this, as evidenced by [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1100 this strip]]. |
| 354 | ** Faye in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=697 this strip]]. |
| 355 | ---> "When did we get a souffle pan?" |
| 356 | ** Padma is always mistaking Marten's emotional crises for more mundane complaints about the quality of service at the bakery. |
| 357 | ** Marten has his [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2034 moments]]: |
| 358 | --->'''Steve:''' Lemme get this straight - you EXPLAINED to her that this whole Elliot drama bomb was basically your fault.\ |
| 359 | '''Marten:''' Yeah.\ |
| 360 | '''Steve:''' And that turned into a depressing conversation about how much she misses her poor, sick grandmother.\ |
| 361 | '''Marten:''' Uh huh.\ |
| 362 | '''Steve:''' But then ''that'' somehow inspired her to ask you to go ''dancing''.\ |
| 363 | '''Marten:''' *sigh* Yeah...\ |
| 364 | '''Steve:''' And for SOME GODDAMN REASON, you're SAD ABOUT THIS.\ |
| 365 | '''Marten:''' I don't know how to dance! |
| 366 | *** He has another one in [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2367 one of his early conversations]] with PungeonMaster Claire, [[spoiler: who amusingly enough will later become his girlfriend]], after Claire admires Steve's shoulders: |
| 367 | ---->'''Marten''': Man, nobody ever compliments '''my''' shoulders. I should start working out or something. What exercise gives you good shoulders? |
| 368 | ---->'''Claire''': Oh no, have I started an ''arms'' race? |
| 369 | ---->[''Claire stares at him with a "Do you get it? Huh?" expression on her face. Marten looks back at her blankly.''] |
| 370 | ---->'''Marten''': Push-ups, maybe? Can I even ''do'' a push-up? |
| 371 | ---->'''Claire''': [''dejected''] |
| 372 | ** Wil only [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1208 uses]] five-dollar adjectives and higher. |
| 373 | ** [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1493 This strip]], when Marigold alludes to never having had a boyfriend: |
| 374 | -->'''Marigold:''' You can probably ''guess'' how many boyfriends ''I've'' had.\ |
| 375 | '''Hannelore:''' Umm...six?\ |
| 376 | '''Marigold:''' You're off by six.\ |
| 377 | '''Hannelore:''' TWELVE?! WOW! |
| 378 | ** Bubbles has [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3338 her turn]] in the CMTP limelight: |
| 379 | --->'''Bubbles:''' I fear I have made Marten afraid of me.\ |
| 380 | '''Claire:''' Don't worry, he's just timid. If you just talk to him I'm sure he'll warm up to you.\ |
| 381 | '''Bubbles:''' Hmmm.\ |
| 382 | '''Marten:''' Hey, Bubbles? Faye can't get the rolling pin out of Pintsize's head, and--\ |
| 383 | '''Bubbles:''' DO NOT BE FRIGHTENED OF ME. I MEAN YOU NO HARM.\ |
| 384 | [''Marten cowers behind a sofa'']\ |
| 385 | '''Bubbles:''' [''to Claire''] See? |
| 386 | * CommutingOnABus: This or PutOnABus for many cast members. |
| 387 | ** Raven in particular was focusing on scholastic pursuits, and didn't show up for ages, despite once being a huge part of the strip. She reappears in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1939 #1939]], but it doesn't last. |
| 388 | ** Steve; he'll play a major role, then not show up for months or years due to post-breakup alcoholism or [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1350 secret agent recruitment]]. |
| 389 | * CompellingVoice: [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3637 Hanners]]. |
| 390 | * CongestionSpeak: Played for {{Bathos}} when Faye deals with TheILoveYouStigma by getting drunk, is accidentally punched in the face, and has to [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2044 stanch a nosebleed]] while she talks things out. |
| 391 | -->'''Marten:''' ''[snrk]'' Sorry, sorry, it's really hard to have a serious conversation when you're all stuffy-sounding.\ |
| 392 | '''Faye:''' I do lag a cerdain grabitas ad the mobent. |
| 393 | * ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Bubbles just bought herself one to [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3140to maintain a lower profile...]] She has second thoughts. |
| 394 | * ContinuityNod: Common, and as this page demonstrates, very noticeable to longtime readers. |
| 395 | * CooldownHug: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1871 Faye's boobs are a powerful narcotic.]] |
| 396 | * CoolOldLady: Clinton and Claire's mom, Aurelia, is revealed to be a VirtualYoutuber, streaming video games behind a 3D bovine avatar named "[=MommyMilkers420=]," with 40,000 subscribers. (Somewhat downplayed in that her children are in their early 20s, so she's probably at most in her mid-50s, which is not particularly old if beyond the stereotypical CompetenceZone of a successful streamer.) (Downplayed further in that "pretending to be a cow with four breasts" may not qualify as "cool".) |
| 397 | ** Marten's mom, Veronica, may qualify somewhat more, as she's still one of the most worldly cast members (save for Hannelore, after her vacation) and maintains her pornography career to some extent on the side. She even had ''Music/BlackFlag'' perform at her wedding, to Marten's profound disbelief. |
| 398 | * CouchGag: The specials board. |
| 399 | * CorruptTheCutie: Hannelore, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1420 slowly]] but [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1588 surely]]. (For the second link, you'll need to see [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1582 the setup]] first). |
| 400 | * CostumeTestMontage: Marten, [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2614 getting ready]] for a party. Most of the shirts are {{Continuity Nod}}s of some sort. |
| 401 | * CovertPervert: Momo. |
| 402 | * CrashIntoHello: Marigold, into Sven. |
| 403 | * CreatorCameo: That '[[SelfDeprecation stupid looking guy]]' in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1433 #1433]] and [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2066 #2066]] looks an awful lot like Jeph. |
| 404 | * CriticalHit: Pintsize gets one laid on him [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2340 here.]] Emily [[AttackItsWeakPoint bonked his head]] for 9999 damage. |
| 405 | * CriticalStaffingShortage: Before Roko joins the AI rights non-profit they've spiraled down to a grand total of two volunteers. |
| 406 | * CrushBlush: Claire has a massive one [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2800 as Marten scratches her head and back]]. |
| 407 | * {{Curse}}: Every place Cosette has ever worked at has shut down for one reason or another, so Dora calls in a witch from her coven days to take a look at her. |
| 408 | -->'''Dora:''' Well?\ |
| 409 | '''Claire:''' She's not cursed. But that dye job has fried her hair and she's got awful skin. |
| 410 | * CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Nearly all the AI characters in that have visible hair have visible irises that match their hair color. |
| 411 | ** Except [[spoiler: SpookyBot]] and Melon [[spoiler: cause she is just that weird ]] |
| 412 | * CutASliceTakeTheRest: At one point, Faye [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1637 pours Marten some coffee]], then starts drinking out of the pot. |
| 413 | * CuteBruiser: Faye, literally. Jeph [[http://twitter.com/jephjacques/status/15031992164814848 noted that she is trained in Muay Thai]] after someone questioned her stance in [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1818 this strip]]. |
| 414 | * CuteClumsyGirl: Cosette, as [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1543 shown]] [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1546 here]]. |
| 415 | * CutenessOverload: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1412 Dora holding Momo]] is the Trope Image. |
| 416 | ** Apparently a human sized Momo holding Winslow [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2188 has this effect]] on Hannalore and Marigold. [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2189 Adding tiny hats]] only makes it worse. |
| 417 | * CypherLanguage: Hannelore's BlackSpeech [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1753 response to Sven's pick-up line]]. |
| 418 | * DadaComics: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1661 Randy and Shelby]] do this. |
| 419 | * DeadpanSnarker: Pretty much everyone, sans Marigold. Even [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1411 Momo]] gets in on this. |
| 420 | * DeathbringerTheAdorable: A very ordinary-looking robot named Corpse Witch. Her name is more indicative of her personality than her appearance. Later we discover that numerous AIs give themselves names like this including "Crushbot" and "Gyarados Skullfucker". |
| 421 | -->'''Sam:''' Wait, you know Miss Skullbleeper? She's my English teacher! |
| 422 | * DeathFromAbove: |
| 423 | ** Hannelore[[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2468 offers to invoke this]] after finding out that the basement of Coffee of Doom is full of spiders. |
| 424 | --->'''Hannelore:''' My dad will be in position to drop a tungsten rod on this place in 64 minutes.\ |
| 425 | '''Dora:''' Pretty sure '''''OrbitalBombardment''''' isn't covered by my insurance. |
| 426 | ** Station also offers this possibility to solve the Bubbles/Corpse Witch conflict. |
| 427 | * DeathGlare: |
| 428 | ** Don't get between Cosette and her date. [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1547 Not ever]]. |
| 429 | --->'''Luna:''' I saw... I saw a tunnel of light, with my granddad waiting at the end, waving to me...\ |
| 430 | '''Marten:''' Jesus, I thought she was going to go all Temple of Doom on you and pull your heart out through your chest! |
| 431 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1343 Dora gives Penelope one]] after she makes a rude comment [[spoiler: about Sven cheating on Faye]] without thinking. |
| 432 | -->'''Penelope''': '''''Ha!''''' Gee, that's a shocker.\ |
| 433 | ''[{{beat}}]''\ |
| 434 | '''Penelope''': ...And I reeeeally need to learn to think before I speak. |
| 435 | ** Emily gets in on the action when discussing her uninterest in high-heeled shoes. |
| 436 | -->'''Emily:''' I tried once, and fell over. Never again.\ |
| 437 | '''Claire:''' They take some getting used to, but you'll learn to--\ |
| 438 | '''Emily:''' '''''NEVER. AGAIN.''''' |
| 439 | ** Faye [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3312# turns one]] on officer Basilisk, the AI crime unit cop who wants her to be an informant. Basilisk is unfazed. |
| 440 | * DefaceOfTheMoon: In one of the [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1570 Sweet-Tits strips]]. |
| 441 | * DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Skullmaster, master of skulls! |
| 442 | * DepravedBisexual: |
| 443 | ** Pintsize [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags both of these repeatedly]]. He flirts with/harasses women throughout the comic, steals Faye's underwear, and compliments random women on their breasts, but he has had at least one relationship with another male. Since it was a male robot, it might not count, though. Possibly subverted in that he seemed to actually care about him despite intially noy being too happy when he DOES realise. |
| 444 | ** Pintsize also remarks that robotic gender is more a matter of opinion than fact, that robot "sex" is basically electronic and it's entirely possible to have 'sex' without actually knowing the gender of the other, and generally making it clear that his male-perv persona is basically an artifact of his programming. |
| 445 | * DescriptionCut: Thanks to one of these, it appears that Sven and Dora [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3029 don't need to worry quite so much about post-breakdown Faye]]: |
| 446 | -->'''Sven''': [''melancholy''] I just...I hope things get better for her.\ |
| 447 | '''Dora''': [''equally so''] Me too.\ |
| 448 | [''CUT to Faye in the workshop holding a circular saw, standing behind a resigned-looking robot'']\ |
| 449 | '''Faye''': [''smirking evilly''] Okay, I'm gonna need you to hold real, '''real''' still. |
| 450 | * DestroyingAPunchingBag: Bubbles the retired RobotSoldier has a habit of [[WorkingOutTheirEmotions Working Out Her Emotions]] on punching bags in her early appearances. Having both SuperStrength and some [[DarkAndTroubledPast pretty heavy emotions]], she [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3070 tears through]] a lot of them in the process. |
| 451 | * DestructoNookie: Played relatively subtly [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3765 here]] after [[spoiler:Faye and Bubbles']] first time together. Somewhat justified in that [[spoiler:Bubbles is a larger-than-human robot with a combat-rated chassis]], but [[spoiler:Faye is a normal squidgy human]]. There's no ''visible'' damage, but... |
| 452 | -->I fear we have fatally compromised the structural integrity of this bed. |
| 453 | * DeusAngstMachina: Parodied in one strip, and it involves bears, aliens, and the Illuminati. |
| 454 | * DeusEstMachina: |
| 455 | ** TheSingularity happened (offscreen) in the comic, creating a supersentient [=AI=]. The other [=AIs=] are pissed that they're not part of it, the humans are a little freaked out but getting over it, and the [=AI=] itself [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1780 just wants to talk to people]]. It tried talking to dolphins, but apparently they're really creepy once you can understand them. |
| 456 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1785 Pintsize seems to think of it as]] TheRapture [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1785 for AIs]]. |
| 457 | * DeusExMachina: Parodied with the climax of the [=VespAvenger=] arc, and played straight with Spookybot in Bubble's arc. Justified, in the latter case, by RuleOfEmpathy: Spookybot makes it clear that they have zero tolerance for anyone who, like Corpse Witch, messes around with 'the whole "sanctity of mind" thing.' |
| 458 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Millefeuille goes to Union Robotics for a butt implant. It's not until the upgrade is complete and she spends several seconds struggling that it occurs to her her new butt isn't just going to fit her old pants. |
| 459 | * DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: When Roko learns that Spookybot/Yay won't enter her mind to help her with her bodily integration issues because "it's just gross" and they and Roko couldn't be friends afterwards, she is so amused by Yay not having any friends that she calls them a "nerd" and ''gives them a wedgie''. |
| 460 | * DidYouJustHaveSex: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=840 Lampshaded here]], complete with SpontaneousChoreography. |
| 461 | * DiggingYourselfDeeper: |
| 462 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1558 This comic]], followed by [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1559 this one]]. |
| 463 | ** Faye (still in the same story arc) [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1563 gets a lesser one]]. |
| 464 | ** Sven [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1764 does it]] [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1765 as well]]. |
| 465 | * DisabilitySuperpower / InstantExpert: Hanners' OCD-fuelled counting ability makes her a hell of a drummer, which she describes as "counting with your whole body." After a brief explanation by Marten, she's playing like an old pro. And [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1988 if there was any doubt before that it was a superpower...]] |
| 466 | * DiscriminateAndSwitch: Discussed in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2258 comic 2258]]: For Dora's father, bisexuality is just a phase, like wearing baggy pants. And he really doesn't like the pants. |
| 467 | --> '''Tai:''' I guess that's a somewhat tolerable kind of intolerance. |
| 468 | * DistractedByTheSexy: Raven [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=519 does this to Sven]]. |
| 469 | * 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 these are [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1129 more than just hints...]] |
| 470 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1600 After Angus and Marigold's spontaneous dancing]]... |
| 471 | * DoggedNiceGuy: Angus. |
| 472 | * DontExplainTheJoke: |
| 473 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2644 Two for the price of one!]] Claire makes a StealthPun by sticking a "Like" sticker on the novel Faye is reading, and when no-one gets it she proudly explains "I put a ''like'' on ''Faye's book!''" Then TheRant further explains [[spoiler:"IT'S A FACEBOOK JOKE."]] (For that matter, the title of the strip is "[[spoiler:Say It Out Loud]]".) |
| 474 | ** [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3451 When Faye and Bubbles started Union Robotics]]: |
| 475 | --->'''Faye''': Last chance to back out.\ |
| 476 | '''Bubbles''': I never back out of anything. The beeping noise irritates me. ''[{{Beat}}]'' ...That was a joke. I do not beep when I back up. [[SpockSpeak I was attemting to humorously juxtapose my stature with that of a large commercial vehicle.]]\ |
| 477 | '''Faye''': I got it, you dork. |
| 478 | * DontTryThisAtHome: PlayedForDrama with the title of [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2876 Strip #2876]], "Never Do This", regarding Faye's not-so-slow spiral into full-on [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]], apparently having shown up for work drunk and intending to get more so as the day goes on. |
| 479 | -->'''TheRant''': [[{{Anvilicious}} Never, ever do this]] |
| 480 | * DoomMagnet: Cosette, [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1710 big time]]. |
| 481 | * DoomyDoomsOfDoom: |
| 482 | ** The coffee shop at the center of the series is called Coffee Of Doom. 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". |
| 483 | ** The news post for [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1108 this strip]]. |
| 484 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=97 Toast Fire of Doom]] |
| 485 | * DopeSlap: |
| 486 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1465 Dora to Faye.]] |
| 487 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2003 Threatened by Momo to Marigold.]] |
| 488 | ** [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2034 Steve to Marten.]] |
| 489 | ** [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2290 Faye to Angus.]] |
| 490 | * DoubleEdgedAnswer: In [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2067 comic #2067]], Faye gives one because she's flustered and has issues about getting close to people. |
| 491 | * DoubleEntendre: Clinton's mom, [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4482 they're not just talking about baking.]] |
| 492 | * DoubleStandard: |
| 493 | ** Sven's [[TheCasanova notorious promiscuity]] is constantly treated as a character failure and morally reprehensible, whereas Raven's and Tai's are mostly [[PlayedForLaughs played for laughs]] and hardly anyone ever really criticises them for it. |
| 494 | ** During the tail-end of Marten's relationship with Padma, she consistently ghosted Marten, refusing to answer his calls or respond to his messages. Marten takes a mature response to this and chooses not to confront her at work, and is called passive-aggressive by Dora and Faye. When she tries to get in touch the very last day she has before moving away, Marten reasonably sees there's no point in trying to salvage a relationship, and blows her off. Faye calls Marten an asshole for this, saying "At least you would have known you tried". Later on, Faye breaks up with Angus when he has to move, and makes no attempt to try and maintain the relationship. |
| 495 | ** When Claire gets a job offer in Cubetown, Marten is scolded at the sheer thought that he might not move to Cubetown to be with her by the same people who criticized his previous attempt to move across the country to stay with a girlfriend. |
| 496 | * DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Two separate [[ZigZaggingtrope zig-zags]]: |
| 497 | ** Faye, who acknowledges that she used to be "a bitch with issues" but is now just "a bitch" used and sometimes still uses Marten as a punching bag for no reason. It's sort of lampshaded (the trope in general, not Faye's treatment of him specifically) [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=743 by Marten]]. And Faye beats up on ''everybody,'' regardless of gender, but when she goes too far she's always put in her place, and she goes to therapy and actively tries to be a less crappy person despite her issues. Marten takes a lot, but he won't let her seriously hurt him, and he often hits back with his own brand of snarking. She is also verbally abusive to the coffee shop customers, but this actually gets good reviews and hipsters coming in for a daily dose of snark. |
| 498 | ** [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2290 Comic #2290]] has Faye backhand slap Angus for checking out Marigold's ass. You have to wonder what would have gone down had Angus done this to Faye. |
| 499 | *** This is eventually averted with Faye when she stops serving coffee and insults to random hipsters, and takes up repairing robots instead: her particular brand of snark is justified when she's telling off a robot for not taking better care of itself. |
| 500 | ** The [=VespAvenger=] hunts abusive boyfriends, but the main cast doesn't think it's acceptable. They lampshade it by suggesting that a guy on a Harley who beats up abusive girlfriends would be unacceptable, but [=VespAvenger=] states she would hook up with such a character. |
| 501 | ** An attendant trope in play is Abuse Double Standard Abuse Human On Robot. Entirely apart from Pintsize getting his head caved in, or being embedded in the wall (which is usually deserved), many of the main characters refuse to respect Momo's boundaries, e.g., Faye lifting Momo's skirt to check out her crotch ("Just curious!"), or Emily repeatedly poking her in the navel after it's revealed that this changes her hair and eye color, despite Momo telling her to stop. |
| 502 | * DoubleTake: Pintsize gives one in [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1421 #1421]] |
| 503 | %%* TheDreaded: Bubbles' description of the mysterious AI whatever-it-is represented by the androgynous android Jeph calls Spookybot gives it the air of something |
| 504 | %%-->'''Bubbles''':If the spectrum of artificial intelligence is a coral reef ecosystem, that being is an ''Architeuthis'' lurking in the deep water beyond.\ |
| 505 | %%'''Faye''': A really ''smug'' giant squid.\ |
| 506 | %%'''Bubbles''': You would be smug, too, if you had tentacles that long. |
| 507 | * TheDreadedToiletDuty: When Raven starts working at Coffee of Doom, one of her tasks is to clean the bathrooms, causing her to cry, [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=290 "N-no! Not the Cave of Twenty Asses!"]] |
| 508 | * 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 Deathmøle 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." |
| 509 | * DrivesLikeCrazy: [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1916 Tai gets much too involved in her thoughts while behind the wheel.]] |
| 510 | * DropInCharacter: Hannelore lives in the apartment above Marten and Faye and is a frequent visitor, not just there but eventually to the homes of other characters as well. Inverted [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1884 here]] where Hanners comes home and unexpectedly finds visitors. |
| 511 | * DroppedInTheToilet: While pondering whether or not to call her father, [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5018 Liz drops her phone into the toilet]]. She does retrieve it, but her reaction when she reaches in indicates that her hand got dirty, and the the cracked screen means that it got damaged, which [[https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5019 she angrily vents about]]. |
| 512 | -->I NEED A HUNDRED BEERS AND A NEW HOODIE AND A PHONE THAT ISN'T FULL OF PEE WATER |
| 513 | * DrowningMySorrows: Happens quite often, what with all the issues and drama the characters suffer. |
| 514 | * DrugsAreBad: [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2386 The newspost in this strip says so.]] |
| 515 | * DudeNotFunny: |
| 516 | ** In-universe, Faye calls this on suicide jokes. In response, Angus calls it on jokes about Marigold. |
| 517 | ** Which she inevitably [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1654 breaks]] less than two months' worth of updates later. As the linked comic demonstrates, her casually insulting sarcasm doesn't really have an off switch (aside from having her mouth duct taped shut). |
| 518 | ** Ayo, on her first day working at Coffee of Doom, says in a [[https://questionablecontent.net/ joking way]] that she's so awesome they'll forget all about Claire. Faye and Dora respond with a non-verbal one of these. |
| 519 | * DysfunctionJunction: Primarily around the women in-universe -- and reinforced over time, as the [[OnlySaneMan straighter characters]] have a tendency to get [[PutOnABus dropped by the wayside]]. |
| 520 | ** Faye: Her [[DisappearedDad father's suicide]] and her [[HeroicBSOD subsequent nervous breakdown]]. Still has issues with both anger management and alcoholism. |
| 521 | ** Hannelore: Raised on a space station by a MadScientist, with a CorruptCorporateExecutive for a mother, and so obsessive-compulsive that she makes [[{{Series/Monk}} Adrian Monk]] look normal. |
| 522 | ** Dora: Reasonably nice on the surface, but is a StepfordSmiler hiding ClingyJealousGirl tendencies, which in turn led to her breakup with Marten. |
| 523 | ** Marigold: Has extreme self-esteem issues due to her [[WeightWoe angst over her body image]]. |
| 524 | ** Emily: Impulsive to the extreme, and strongly implied to come from a FriendlessBackground. |
| 525 | ** Claire: Fairly well-adjusted, but most likely went through self-identity issues before she realized for good that she is UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} and brought her life in line with that reality. |
| 526 | ** All of the other characters have more-or-less normal backgrounds, as far we've been told thus far. Yes, this is counting Marten's mother's job, as that doesn't seem to have caused Marten any trauma other than the occasional bit of needing BrainBleach. It does seem to have given him a rather less-than-normal outlook on certain things, however. |
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