So Much Luggage
Added 2025-01-20 02:02:11 +0000 UTCit's got kitties on it!
Comments
It's not about approval; I'm pointing out that she didn't exactly schedule it in. But it's neither here nor there since I'm pretty sure none of us are arguing that Beatrice is a *good* parent. I also realised that we all completely missed the potential for a "spacey" pun re: Hanners' dad.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-21 17:29:47 +0000 UTCThat's in the comic Mark linked upthread, yep. And while it's true that Ayo isn't really a friend of Faye's, iirc the recommendation for Dr. Corrine came from Hanners, who is super besties with Ayo xD So that would be a no-go.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-21 17:24:04 +0000 UTCGood friends can be more therapeutic than actual therapy.
awgiedawgie
2025-01-21 17:15:22 +0000 UTCStore it in the freezer. Then you don't need rocks to serve it cold.
awgiedawgie
2025-01-21 17:13:10 +0000 UTCIIRC Doctor Corrine said she wouldn't take any new patients from within their friend circle.
awgiedawgie
2025-01-21 17:11:16 +0000 UTCI agree that it's not that he's written it out of the comic, but we also don't see new AIs introduced this way any more. All of the in-comic companion AIs that we know of (Pintsize, Winslow, Momo) started out as cute mini "AnthroPCs" back when those were the in-world norm. I don't think we've had a new companion AI introduced since then; other AIs who live with humans are just in a roommate situation. So it would be interesting to see Ayo go through the process of applying and being assigned a companion with the new worldbuilding attached. But I'm not sure if it's likely. (Least of all because there'd be nowhere for Ayo's new companion to live considering the flat is at capacity already xD)
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-21 11:06:04 +0000 UTCSchrödinger's baggage is when you begin looking at it and find the library of Alexandria is as big as a mote of sand in comparison.
Carrie
2025-01-21 10:11:06 +0000 UTC> control-freak Ah those. But they're ***all*** high-flying and would never admit being at fault. > hike They have planes in that universe, possibly faster than ours > Moral... Apt acronym: MEH
Robert Heinig
2025-01-21 06:16:24 +0000 UTCNo those two disasters totally wanna kiss each other
Fart Captor
2025-01-21 05:58:26 +0000 UTCI have heard that college and university Psychology departments largely assume that most of their applicants will be applying *because* they have so many issues and messed up background. Their challenge is to weed out the ones who have so many problems that they'll never be a good therapist. I've heard some stories...
Clifton Royston
2025-01-21 00:45:23 +0000 UTCBut isn't evil, like revenge, best served cold?
Ursus Ridens
2025-01-21 00:42:58 +0000 UTCThat is a _creepy_ picture -- which is about right.
Ursus Ridens
2025-01-21 00:41:53 +0000 UTCGall durnit all to heck, you’re really making it hard not to pine for a Hanners equivalent in my own life…
A-Ron Mozilla
2025-01-21 00:28:38 +0000 UTCBeatrice (Hanners' mom) hit her Moral Event Horizon at the link below. Before that, Beatrice had her bad moments and her good ones. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3606 & some 40+ entries.
ValdVin
2025-01-20 23:56:35 +0000 UTCseems like from central Mass to off the coast of Nova Scotia might be a bit of a hike just to get your morning latte. & yes, we've met her. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=915 for the first ref.
Joe
2025-01-20 23:26:56 +0000 UTCWe did. She's a high-flying control-freak business executive type who never, ever admits when she's wrong.
Ack
2025-01-20 23:25:22 +0000 UTCDo they have so much time to chat because business is slow because all the regulars defected to Cafe Mooᗡ? Also - forgot - did we meet Hanners' mom in some story arc?
Robert Heinig
2025-01-20 23:18:39 +0000 UTCThe shops didn't sell books and paper simply because they were non-moving. No, it was quite the opposite. Shops that sold primarily books and paper were non-moving *because* they sold primarily books and paper, which were too heavy for the shop to constantly move from one location to another. They tended to be located near churches or universities because those were the places most likely to purchase the books and paper. The shops were called "stations" because they were "stationary" (as opposed to traveling) shops. The people who ran the shops were called "stationers" because the shops were called "stations". The products they sold were called "stationery" because the people who sold them were called "stationers".
awgiedawgie
2025-01-20 20:16:25 +0000 UTCPaying other people to do stuff is a perfectly legitimate way of getting that stuff done. We might not always approve of it with regard to childcare, but Hanners's mother doesn't care about our approval.
Philip Masters
2025-01-20 19:39:31 +0000 UTCAyo's baggage is bigger on the inside.
Hugh Eckert
2025-01-20 18:34:28 +0000 UTCBut it's really the Normans' fault. Norman French (a Norse influenced dialect of a Germanic descendant of Vulgate Latin) is arguably the first bad influence on Old English (a thoroughly Germanic language with some Latin and Norse loanwords).
Hugh Eckert
2025-01-20 18:32:07 +0000 UTCIt's unclear if therapy in the QC verse is prohibitively expensive considering that Faye was able to afford it on a coffee shop salary. And while she hasn't been seen there in ages, we haven't been told that it's due to cost issues.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 17:49:40 +0000 UTCHe hasn't abandoned the concept, just retconned it from an "ownership" model to being a sort of job or calling for the AI. Momo gives an excellent explanation of it to Emily: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2284
BookBeard
2025-01-20 17:30:55 +0000 UTCSung to the tune of the Grinch song from the tv special?
Opus the Poet
2025-01-20 16:27:22 +0000 UTC@Miyaa Shortly after the Norman Conquest there are Normans commenting that the English really seem to drink a lot, so, yes, historically that's been a thing.
Stephen Wells
2025-01-20 16:25:22 +0000 UTCI'm not sure any of these people have enough disposable income for therapy. Which I guess is another reason why Pintsize is getting quite a following :)
Stephen Wells
2025-01-20 16:23:10 +0000 UTCOr Joyce Brown.
Opus the Poet
2025-01-20 16:21:09 +0000 UTCPackrat's Law, the time between throwing something away and needing it again is inversely proportional to the cost and/or difficulty in replacing it.
Opus the Poet
2025-01-20 16:17:57 +0000 UTCFrom my experience (& I’m formerly a licensed therapist, myself), the best counselors seem to be the ones that started off the most effed up & have the benefit of experience, working some of their own stuff out.
Melissa Wilson
2025-01-20 15:49:57 +0000 UTCI think Jeph's whole attitude to "companion AIs" has significantly changed over time. At the start of the strip almost all AIs were attached to a human (Pintsize to Marten, Winslow to Hanners, Momo to Marbear, etc). The change kinda started with May who wasn't a companion AI to Dale but was still sort-of assigned to him. Later, as we got characters like Bubs, Roko and Yay Jeph seems to have completely moved on from the whole companion AI thing to every AI being their own self-sufficient individual.
David Durant
2025-01-20 15:39:20 +0000 UTC(OK, fine, I realize neither Roko or - presumably - the tugboat are humans. Still, I don't think attraction to others is a problem for an AI companion)
Bagge
2025-01-20 14:47:08 +0000 UTCActually, I take it back in the case of Winslow. After all the dude went through on Hannelore's Wanderjahre, he deserves every praise he can get for his professionalism.
Bagge
2025-01-20 14:46:00 +0000 UTCIsn't that pretty much the norm for the companion AIs we have seen (Momo with Sven, Winslow with Roko, Pintsize with the tugboat...)? I think it would help keeping things professional (granted, neither of those disasters are exactly professional, but that's not because of having a thing for other humans)
Bagge
2025-01-20 14:45:14 +0000 UTCHanners' mother also had a nanny to handle childcare, though.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 13:38:35 +0000 UTCWhy is that awkward? Momo has a thing for Sven, but it doesn't affect anything about her companionship with Marigold.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 13:36:00 +0000 UTCYeaaah, I'm also on bad-mom-team.
Amós Batista
2025-01-20 13:20:58 +0000 UTCOh God, it'd be just an infinite loop of realizations 😅😅😅
Aditya Rameshan
2025-01-20 13:20:03 +0000 UTCWe haven't seen anything of Doctor Corrine lately. Given that she apparently hasn't had much to do with Faye (if she has, she's been doing a really _bad_ job) maybe she'd take on Ayo, who is barely connected to Faye anyway. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1782
Mark
2025-01-20 12:58:55 +0000 UTCKinda awkward for an AI companion to have a thing about a human other than the one they're supposed to be with.
Mark
2025-01-20 12:52:32 +0000 UTCAye, but it's on the Prices board! No reason it can't be advice AND a price.
James Stephenson
2025-01-20 12:21:21 +0000 UTCHanners's mother may not care about much about anything outside herself, but she is highly organised, which can include scheduling paying attention to her daughter, because that's necessary. Her father may care, but is such an absent-minded mad scientist stereotype that he could quite easily forget his daughter in the heat of the moment. There's some kind of moral here about what society needs and who gets stuff done, but it's complicated.
Philip Masters
2025-01-20 12:20:39 +0000 UTCHonestly I think the "69" IS the good advice, not the price :)
Stephen Wells
2025-01-20 12:20:38 +0000 UTCIt took me a while to grasp that the kitties are on Hanner's stationery, not on Ayo's emotional baggage. Probably?
Stephen Wells
2025-01-20 11:52:53 +0000 UTCAyo facing a hefty bill for all of this Good Advice Hanners is giving her!
James Stephenson
2025-01-20 11:44:24 +0000 UTCStill the best badass motto.
Miyaa
2025-01-20 11:00:59 +0000 UTCWith a rainbow of glitter roller pens that you could only get from Japan or at a college town store.
Miyaa
2025-01-20 10:59:00 +0000 UTCI forgot that Clinton had to actually get a tattoo and not have done off-scene.
Miyaa
2025-01-20 10:57:51 +0000 UTCI’m convinced that English was developed while drunk.
Miyaa
2025-01-20 10:55:42 +0000 UTCJapan is like the land of stationary and really cute and sophisticated stationary stamps!
Miyaa
2025-01-20 10:54:15 +0000 UTCIt brings literal meaning to "eat your problems away": https://wiki.lspace.org/images/9/97/Luggage.jpg
David Paul
2025-01-20 10:31:58 +0000 UTCA bit of a twisted route, to be clear. Station related to someone who sold items from one location. Which is notable because most items were sold by traveling peddlers. Stationary stores dealt in what? Well, many things related to churches and universities; Books and writing material. So, stationary is being in one place, and stationery is what the specific items were called - eventually. An interesting path, one cannot forget when these words came into being, most people were not educated. Often one had to go to church, or the university to have letters written, and/or read. Times have changed, yet Stationery has survived for a few centuries.
dcy665 .
2025-01-20 10:08:41 +0000 UTCbig believer in lists here. let's enumerate those feelings!!
Boots McGoot
2025-01-20 10:02:50 +0000 UTCI really, really want for Ayo to get an AI companion. Granted, Iris kinda edges into the role, but I doubt she will ever admit it
Bagge
2025-01-20 09:35:47 +0000 UTCAs a parent to 3 over a total of 3 years, parenting is "hard as Hell". We had problems with birth control, which is how we did it. Also had problems with recognizing when labor was underway, which is why the first and last two were home births. Thank [$DIETY] I had extensive training in field medicine in NJROTC. Our last girl was a compound breach birth, at home. Those are risky in a hospital. I managed to not pass out until the nurses at the hospital told me how close I came to losing my wife AND my daughter.
Opus the Poet
2025-01-20 09:25:11 +0000 UTCbecause books and paper were the only things sold at non-moving shops? It's incredibly vague, the root "station" does not imply anything about these products. It's like calling apples, and only apples, "marketry" because they are sold at markets.
Nulgar
2025-01-20 08:55:59 +0000 UTCThe ice is frozen tears.
Dean Reilly
2025-01-20 08:55:32 +0000 UTCAyo has so much to unpack, she may never get completely moved into her own head.
Opus the Poet
2025-01-20 08:53:33 +0000 UTCI seem to remember Claire only charging her mum $5 for advice/offloading, so was she giving her a family discount? Or was it not *good* advice?
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 08:30:38 +0000 UTCIt's good that Ayo and Yemisi still have a close relationship in spite of this, though. I mean, just based on what we've seen so far. It could easily have gone another way. If Ayo does get therapy and start to unpack this properly, hopefully it won't disrupt that, just help them to support each other even more.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 08:27:39 +0000 UTCAyo should go hang out with Liz in Cubetown; they can repress things together. Although they mirror each other so well that it might lead to more realisations.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 08:22:46 +0000 UTCWhat's interesting is that Hanners mentioned her dad neglecting her on the space station (in an early strip before he was introduced properly), but he seemed more caring when he appeared in the comic in person. I wonder if he finds it easier to interact with an adult Hanners.
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 08:20:44 +0000 UTCShe will need actual therapy, though, so this is more like pre-therapy xD
enchantedsleeper
2025-01-20 08:16:26 +0000 UTCOh god that panel 5 comment. Such an off hand mention into, ”wait I was barely even aware of this”
legobil
2025-01-20 08:00:51 +0000 UTCHonestly, you don't need to unpack /everything/. Some stuff just needs to stay where it is.
PixelThis
2025-01-20 07:33:37 +0000 UTCNot when you drink in two swallows, bing, bang done. What water?
dcy665 .
2025-01-20 07:20:30 +0000 UTCI might *need* that box of ... stuff
SpookyPenguin
2025-01-20 07:15:28 +0000 UTCShe has actual frozen rocks for that.
Stephen Wells
2025-01-20 07:08:39 +0000 UTCBring your own bucket for takeaway
Stephen Wells
2025-01-20 07:07:56 +0000 UTCYou may be mixing up your own luggage with Ayo's.
William Cole
2025-01-20 06:55:15 +0000 UTCLuggage... Now I gotta go read Pratchett. Oh, RINCEWIND!!!
Joseph Bonnar
2025-01-20 06:39:06 +0000 UTCWe stopped at two - because you should not have more children than you have hands. One bloke that I worked with back in the '60s claimed to have three children, one of each.
Charles Hirst
2025-01-20 06:33:25 +0000 UTCThat girl's got some groceries
Brian Yaras
2025-01-20 06:13:25 +0000 UTCWow, based on those prices, the WTF sounds legit WTF.
Graydon Armstrong
2025-01-20 06:02:37 +0000 UTC"Stationery" (not to be confused with "stationary") comes from the root word "stationer" - "a seller of books and paper". And these sellers of books and paper were called "stationers" because they operated from a "station" - a non-moving shop (as opposed to roving peddlers who were never in the same place twice).
awgiedawgie
2025-01-20 05:33:59 +0000 UTCI don't know what the customer ordered, but she got some tea to go with it.
Sleepy John
2025-01-20 05:25:29 +0000 UTCAyo needs to stop being so relatable, or I'm gonna start thinking I might need therapy.
Darius Jenai
2025-01-20 05:19:08 +0000 UTCNo, not on the rocks. That just waters down the evil.
awgiedawgie
2025-01-20 05:19:05 +0000 UTCSurprisingly, Hanners might make a great therapist.
Yelling Bird
2025-01-20 04:21:35 +0000 UTCHannelore's mom does evil straight up and on the rocks.
Sean Kinlin
2025-01-20 04:19:24 +0000 UTCUnpacking luggage? No, no; us seasoned travelers (read: lazy ass and scared ass neurotic-diverse) never unpack. We live outta our suitcases and rack up ALL the frequent freakout miles.
Michael Steamweed
2025-01-20 04:12:53 +0000 UTCIn my experience, it's the neurotypical folks who just stuff everything into the back room and pretend to forget about it. The neurodiverse folks I know obsess about everything constantly!
Paul Zagieboylo
2025-01-20 04:07:25 +0000 UTCAyo: still everyone's favorite disaster teen!
Paul Zagieboylo
2025-01-20 04:06:16 +0000 UTCMandelbrot Set, you're a Rorschach Test on fire You're a day-glo pterodactyl You're a heart-shaped box of springs and wire You're one badass fucking fractal
ValdVin
2025-01-20 03:58:22 +0000 UTCI'm trying to think now if there are any clues to guess the etymology of "stationary" without looking it up.
Bill Silvia
2025-01-20 03:55:17 +0000 UTCAs one does.
Claudia D.
2025-01-20 03:41:34 +0000 UTCWelp, welcome to the list of my favorite Hanners expressions, "I've been waiting for this day" Hanners.
Xionwalker
2025-01-20 03:41:01 +0000 UTCOh, I know this tune. I had my therapy, NOW YOU GET YOURS!
BobC
2025-01-20 03:40:59 +0000 UTC"I'm afraid you've got Mandelbrots, but not the kind you dip in coffee. Probably best not to try dealing with things depth-first."
Ursus Ridens
2025-01-20 03:39:39 +0000 UTCUnfortunately Hanners can only count up to 501,422, so there's no way she could enumerate all of Ayo's issues. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5025
BookBeard
2025-01-20 03:09:49 +0000 UTCThe whole English language is a merrily crackling dumpster fire of misunderstandings and contradictions and I wouldn't have it any other way.
BookBeard
2025-01-20 03:07:49 +0000 UTCit's on my list of "BS English idioms" along with "timepiece"
SpookyPenguin
2025-01-20 03:03:04 +0000 UTCThese last couple of comics have hit me in the chest, which is rare. I'm also not sure how to unpack this other than I love Ayo.
Mr. Ifrit
2025-01-20 03:02:11 +0000 UTCjoin the list of neurodiverse who don't unpack the stuff filling the back room of their minds because effort
SpookyPenguin
2025-01-20 03:00:49 +0000 UTC"stationery" is one of those English words I dislike immensely, as someone who's not a native speaker. Even looking up the etymology, it makes little sense, it should mean "something generic related to a station, or to the person operating the station", not "writing supplies". One of those words where it feels like a very vague (or in some cases misleading or wrong) description somehow became the "canon" term.
Nulgar
2025-01-20 02:40:48 +0000 UTCHanners doing a great job of being a listener it seems.
Hawkeye
2025-01-20 02:37:55 +0000 UTCCheaper than the advice at some other restaurants. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3499
BookBeard
2025-01-20 02:30:56 +0000 UTCHannalore is saving her hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in therapy bills today.
Elberik
2025-01-20 02:26:18 +0000 UTCDon't worry Ayo, you can just deal with this like you deal with all your luggage, by leaving it on a bus! https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5137
BookBeard
2025-01-20 02:25:07 +0000 UTCUs little siblings brim with resentment.
Sparky
2025-01-20 02:24:12 +0000 UTCHere in Cambridge MA, we have a cafe that for most things does not post prices. Yes, the nickname is “Hi-Price”. But they have great food.
Randall Smith
2025-01-20 02:23:15 +0000 UTCHere's her first appearance. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=913 And here's the beginning of the Tilly arc which culminated in the aforementioned disowning incident. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3606
BookBeard
2025-01-20 02:22:46 +0000 UTC"Also I miss Liz and wish she would come back and kiss my face, platonically- wait, DAMN IT"
Fart Captor
2025-01-20 02:22:32 +0000 UTCIt's "Affagato"
Matt Donaldson
2025-01-20 02:22:05 +0000 UTCWhen vampires travel in groups, it is wise to give them a discount.
Captain Button
2025-01-20 02:21:10 +0000 UTCPlease, never let Hanners and Dorothy end up in the same room.
Bridgette Ryan
2025-01-20 02:20:37 +0000 UTCClassic Hanners, always ready to enumerate her friend's issues!
Doc Gumby
2025-01-20 02:18:59 +0000 UTCWe solved the problem by stopping at one 😆
Magic Chopstick Games
2025-01-20 02:17:53 +0000 UTCI can’t make out the item with the price of NO. Also, standardized prices for “advice” 😂
Corvus Cardia
2025-01-20 02:17:34 +0000 UTCHere I'm trying to figure out why there are only 13 comments, but it's only been 13 minutes lol
Drazi
2025-01-20 02:17:00 +0000 UTCThanks! I’m married to someone whose Mother was, if anything, worse, so this is exceptionally helpful.
Randall Smith
2025-01-20 02:15:21 +0000 UTCI think, because of this comic, I realized my little sister may resent me...
Michael Wells
2025-01-20 02:14:17 +0000 UTCAnd you know Hanners has a valise packed with various stationary, writing implements and decorative stickers.
Michael Boettger
2025-01-20 02:14:01 +0000 UTCLiterally me in therapy the other day. I suddenly had like four separate "oh godammit this will need to be unpacked and worked through" realizations If my therapist had kids I'd probably be putting them through college
Ashbury Haight
2025-01-20 02:13:16 +0000 UTChttps://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3638 is when Hanners disowned her mother, for example
Keith Steiger
2025-01-20 02:11:09 +0000 UTCCall Hannelore a porter cause she's just unloading the baggage train here.
Randall Norman Pick
2025-01-20 02:09:02 +0000 UTCIt is too easy for parents to focus one over the other child. Man, parenting must be hard as hell.
Tannerbot
2025-01-20 02:08:48 +0000 UTCCute stationary is a must!
Carrie
2025-01-20 02:08:26 +0000 UTCCurious about blood pack pricing
Gary Levine
2025-01-20 02:07:56 +0000 UTCI admit, now I want links to relevant earlier posts. I can’t remember her Mother, although I know her Father is caring if a bit spacey.
Randall Smith
2025-01-20 02:07:17 +0000 UTCShe needs a WinZip purse
Danielle Butler
2025-01-20 02:07:15 +0000 UTCAs good as it is that ayo is learning all these things, maybe she needs a break from hanners so she doesn't get overwhelmed with all the new things she's learning
Aditya Rameshan
2025-01-20 02:06:36 +0000 UTCAfter all, "My name is Hannelore Ellicott-Chatham. I end messes!" https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1416
ValdVin
2025-01-20 02:06:00 +0000 UTCFractal Unpacking
Captain Button
2025-01-20 02:05:30 +0000 UTC
