# I don't quite get today's "Questionable Content" strip **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [April 13, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967 "2010-04-13T17:48:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 119
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2362 "2020-01-31T15:06:14Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I don’t think there’d be any transphobia from Faye. I’m literally just talking about an argument about sharing information, the nature of the information is irrelevant. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Naah. That information could just as easily be anything. The nature of the information is absolutely key. Do you really think that if Faye found out that Bubbles knew something minor like ‘Claire thinks penguins are cute’ but didn’t think it was worth passing on, that it would spark the same conflict as if Bubbles had a big secret like ‘Claire is actually an experimental Cyborg’? > [@](#): > > Note Faye’s first question. I bet her big issue isn’t going to be “why didn’t you tell me?”, it’s going to be “why didn’t you ask if you _could_ tell me?”. If he do go that route, it’d explicitly be about the relationship dynamic itself, not the stimulus. And it will indicate that Faye is completely off of her rocker if she asks “Why didn’t you ask someone if you could share a secret with me before we were even dating?”. Even the most codependent couples don’t expect their partner to have forseen the relationship before it happened. > [@](#): > > I’ma stop you there with an important question: > > Which _QC_ wecomic have _you_ been reading? I’ma stop you there with an important statement: I didn’t assert that any or all relationships in QC were healthy, and you’re clearly trying to imply that I did. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2363 "2020-01-31T16:09:41Z")
Looks like we’re back to the goddam robots, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2364 "2020-01-31T18:16:58Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > The nature of the information is absolutely key. Do you really think that if Faye found out that Bubbles knew something minor like ‘Claire thinks penguins are cute’ but didn’t think it was worth passing on, that it would spark the same conflict as if Bubbles had a big secret like ‘Claire is actually an experimental Cyborg’? Not that. But any secret - say Dora told Bubbles she was planning a surprise honeymoon for Tai, and Faye only finds out when Dora announces it at the wedding reception, while making it clear Bubbles was in on it. That could spark the same kind of convo, even though it’s not remotely the same kind of info. > [@](#): > > And it will indicate that Faye is completely off of her rocker if she asks “Why didn’t you ask someone if you could share a secret with me before we were even dating?”. Even the most codependent couples don’t expect their partner to have forseen the relationship before it happened. Naah, the expectation would be that once they started dating, Bubbles would have asked Claire for permission to tell _then_. No prescience required. > [@](#): > > I’ma stop you there with an important statement: I didn’t assert that any or all relationships in QC were healthy, and you’re clearly trying to imply that I did. I’m implying you seem to think\* Faye’s\* were. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2365 "2020-01-31T18:27:59Z")
In the **QC** world, a “surprise honeymoon” would be a long weekend in Worcester. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2366 "2020-01-31T18:35:47Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Naah, the expectation would be that once they started dating, Bubbles would have asked Claire for permission to tell _then_. No prescience required. Like I said, this is absurdly over the top demanding, controlling, and overbearing even for Faye if she considers it minor information. And if Faye considers it major information, then like Miller said it indicates she has issues with transgender people, which is contrary to the previous direction the strip has taken. > [@](#): > > I’m implying you seem to think\* Faye’s\* were. And I’m directly stating that what you are implying is completely incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2367 "2020-01-31T18:46:09Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Like I said, this is absurdly over the top demanding, controlling, and overbearing even for Faye if she considers it minor information. And if Faye considers it major information, then like Miller said it indicates she has issues with transgender people, which is contrary to the previous direction the strip has taken. Well, while we the readers know when Claire told Bubbles (strip [3337](https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3337), sometime in 2016, well before Bubbles & Faye started dating, and, in fact, before the entire memory encryption/deletion plot line), there’s no indication that Faye does. So given her rather poor impulse control and decision making skills, it’s at least possible she’ll assume it happened after they started dating, and wonder why Bubbles didn’t ask if she could share the info. Since, for the umpteenth time, [Faye’s immediate reaction was to ask if she could share the info with Bubbles](https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4188). > [@](#): > > And I’m directly stating that what you are implying is completely incorrect. So why bring up your opinion of what people in healthy relationships do, if you’re freely admitting Faye doesn’t have a history of healthy relationships? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2368 "2020-01-31T18:49:39Z")
Has Faye had that many messed up relationships? Before she hooked up with Bubbles, the only relationship I remember seeing her in was with Sven, and while that didn’t work out in the end, I don’t remember it being all that terrible, until Sven fucked it up. Am I forgetting some other major relationship drama featuring Faye? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2369 "2020-01-31T18:54:53Z")
There was Angus. They dated for a few years (real time), he got a job as a writer on Conan or Letterman or something, and was going to have to move to NYC. He asked her to move with him. Instead of agreeing, or trying long distance, or anything, she broke up with him on the spot. And started drinking a lot. On the job. Leading to her firing from Coffee of Doom. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2370 "2020-01-31T18:55:49Z")
Ah, right, I’d forgotten about Angus. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2371 "2020-01-31T19:19:46Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Like I said, this is absurdly over the top demanding, controlling, and overbearing even for Faye We have very different views of Faye’s personality, then. And I’d class her earlier (non)relationship with Marten as fucked up too. And her relationship with the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2372 "2020-01-31T19:37:57Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Well, while we the readers know when Claire told Bubbles (strip [3337](https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3337), sometime in 2016, well before Bubbles & Faye started dating, and, in fact, before the entire memory encryption/deletion plot line), there’s no indication that Faye does. So given her rather poor impulse control and decision making skills, it’s at least possible she’ll assume it happened after they started dating, and wonder why Bubbles didn’t ask if she could share the info. “Why didn’t you ask if you could share this?” “It was before we were together” “Oh, lol” at best makes a one-off throwaway comic, and certainly doesn’t sustain a “Faye-Bubbles fight because bubbles knew and didn’t tell Faye”. I don’t see any route to an actual fight in there, just a brief discussion. > [@](#): > > Since, for the umpteenth time, No one is disputing that, so unnecessarily repeating it over and over while complaining that you’re repeating it seems a bit silly. > [@](#): > > So why bring up your opinion of what people in healthy relationships do, if you’re freely admitting Faye doesn’t have a history of healthy relationships? I brought it up because it was information that I wished to convey in the context of the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2373 "2020-01-31T20:01:48Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > A noble goal, and too bad he’s trying it with Claire who is so amazingly boring that being trans is literally the only half-interesting thing about her. He’s not so much trying it with Claire so much as having been doing it with Claire since he revealed she was trans. The way Marten reacted, the way he responded when he saw her naked, the way no one makes a big deal out of it, the way even the asshole characters like Pintsize consider it something not to talk about. Hell, even the part where he’s said he’ll never say what her genital situation is because it’s no one’s business. BTW, I also find it funny to see you call Claire boring. I’m used to the old subreddit where they HATE her, saying she’s controlling (of Marten), a busybody who butts into other people’s business, has boundary issues, is selfish with her anxiety, and needs to face some sort of comeuppance rather than always having everything going her way. The new subreddit is made up of the people who defend her, or like her because they see themselves in her. But I’ve never encountered anyone calling her boring before. I don’t agree (I’m in the identify with her camp), but it’s kinda refreshing. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2374 "2020-01-31T20:07:47Z")
And I don’t agree that Faye’s relationship with Sven wasn’t “all that terrible”. It started with a drunken hookup with her best friend’s sleazy womanizing brother who she loathed. Followed by morning panic, then a sober hookup. Then a trip to her therapist. Followed by a few more hookups, Sven treating Faye poorly and her continuing to come back because, in her words: [“I’m a bitch to deal with too, so it’s OK. We deserve each other.”](https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1309), and Faye stating she’s only in it for the sex. Then being completely freaked out and shocked when Sven slept with another woman. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2375 "2020-01-31T20:27:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But I’ve never encountered anyone calling her boring before. As far as I can tell, her whole personality is “Tee-hee, I’m such a dork” and that’s about it. I have no actual issue with how Jeph handles the trans thing, I was just saying that (from my perspective) if it were part of a more interesting character then you could say “This character did this and that and this other thing and does this… also, she’s trans” but, with Claire, it feels (again, to me) like you might as well talk about her being trans because there’s only so much mileage to be gotten out of “likes stupid puns and was once she was worried about a test.” Even the stuff you mention seems to be about her interacting with others and not really anything interesting about Claire herself. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2376 "2020-01-31T20:33:13Z")
Hmm. Likely not foreshadowing, but amusing in context. [https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1300](https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1300) ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2377 "2020-02-03T15:35:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > BTW, I also find it funny to see you call Claire boring. I’m used to the old subreddit where they HATE her, saying she’s controlling (of Marten), a busybody who butts into other people’s business, has boundary issues, is selfish with her anxiety, and needs to face some sort of comeuppance rather than always having everything going her way. > > The new subreddit is made up of the people who defend her, or like her because they see themselves in her. But I’ve never encountered anyone calling her boring before. I also find her pretty boring. I agree that she is a selfish busybody who is controlling about Marten and butts into other people’s business, but it’s just not that interesting. It doesn’t help a lot of the women in the strip are pushy and selfish (especially when it comes to Marten), it really seems to be about the author’s life experience, so these traits don’t even stand out that much. I find the puns amusing, but they don’t need her to happen, and beyond that she’s just kind of bland, and I know the author isn’t going to have her do anything especially bad or have anything especially bad happen to her (at least for more than a single strip). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2378 "2020-02-03T15:39:56Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > It doesn’t help a lot of the women in the strip are pushy and selfish (especially when it comes to Marten) Yeah, I guess I never found her especially pushy but probably because 95% of her interactions are with Marten and every woman in Marten’s life walks all over him anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2379 "2020-02-04T18:46:33Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Hmm. > > Likely not foreshadowing, but amusing in context. > > [Questionable Content](https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1300) Somewhere in the archives there’s an early strip talking about Faye dating a robot. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2380 "2020-02-04T20:57:06Z")
Aaand we’re back to a Brun sequence. I had hoped Jeph would take a hint and not bring her back, but no such luck. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967/2381 "2020-02-05T03:57:46Z")
He seems to be pretty dead set on getting a triad relationship into the mix, so expect more Brun, Clinton and Eliot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967.md?page=118) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-quite-get-todays-questionable-content-strip/535967.md?page=120)