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So Much Luggage

🕑 Added 2025-01-20 02:02:11 +0000 UTC

Comments

enchantedsleeper

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

That'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.

awgiedawgie

Good friends can be more therapeutic than actual therapy.

awgiedawgie

Store it in the freezer. Then you don't need rocks to serve it cold.

awgiedawgie

IIRC Doctor Corrine said she wouldn't take any new patients from within their friend circle.

enchantedsleeper

I 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)

Carrie

Schrödinger'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.

Robert Heinig

> 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

Fart Captor

No those two disasters totally wanna kiss each other

Clifton Royston

I 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...

Ursus Ridens

But isn't evil, like revenge, best served cold?

Ursus Ridens

That is a _creepy_ picture -- which is about right.

A-Ron Mozilla

Gall durnit all to heck, you’re really making it hard not to pine for a Hanners equivalent in my own life…

ValdVin

Beatrice (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.

Joe

seems 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.

Ack

We did. She's a high-flying control-freak business executive type who never, ever admits when she's wrong.

Robert Heinig

Do 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?

awgiedawgie

The 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".

Philip Masters

Paying 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.

Hugh Eckert

Ayo's baggage is bigger on the inside.

Hugh Eckert

But 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).

enchantedsleeper

It'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.

BookBeard

He 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

Opus the Poet

Sung to the tune of the Grinch song from the tv special?

Stephen Wells

@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

I'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 :)

Opus the Poet

Or Joyce Brown.

Opus the Poet

Packrat's Law, the time between throwing something away and needing it again is inversely proportional to the cost and/or difficulty in replacing it.

Melissa Wilson

From 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.

David Durant

I 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.

Bagge

(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

Actually, 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

Isn'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)

enchantedsleeper

Hanners' mother also had a nanny to handle childcare, though.

enchantedsleeper

Why is that awkward? Momo has a thing for Sven, but it doesn't affect anything about her companionship with Marigold.

Amós Batista

Yeaaah, I'm also on bad-mom-team.

Aditya Rameshan

Oh God, it'd be just an infinite loop of realizations 😅😅😅

Mark

We 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

Kinda awkward for an AI companion to have a thing about a human other than the one they're supposed to be with.

James Stephenson

Aye, but it's on the Prices board! No reason it can't be advice AND a price.

Philip Masters

Hanners'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.

Stephen Wells

Honestly I think the "69" IS the good advice, not the price :)

Stephen Wells

It took me a while to grasp that the kitties are on Hanner's stationery, not on Ayo's emotional baggage. Probably?

James Stephenson

Ayo facing a hefty bill for all of this Good Advice Hanners is giving her!

Miyaa

Still the best badass motto.

Miyaa

With a rainbow of glitter roller pens that you could only get from Japan or at a college town store.

Miyaa

I forgot that Clinton had to actually get a tattoo and not have done off-scene.

Miyaa

I’m convinced that English was developed while drunk.

Miyaa

Japan is like the land of stationary and really cute and sophisticated stationary stamps!

David Paul

It brings literal meaning to "eat your problems away": https://wiki.lspace.org/images/9/97/Luggage.jpg

dcy665 .

A 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.

Boots McGoot

big believer in lists here. let's enumerate those feelings!!

Bagge

I 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

Opus the Poet

As 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.

Nulgar

because 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.

Dean Reilly

The ice is frozen tears.

Opus the Poet

Ayo has so much to unpack, she may never get completely moved into her own head.

enchantedsleeper

I 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

It'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

Ayo 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

What'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

She will need actual therapy, though, so this is more like pre-therapy xD

legobil

Oh god that panel 5 comment. Such an off hand mention into, ”wait I was barely even aware of this”

PixelThis

Honestly, you don't need to unpack /everything/. Some stuff just needs to stay where it is.

dcy665 .

Not when you drink in two swallows, bing, bang done. What water?

SpookyPenguin

I might *need* that box of ... stuff

Stephen Wells

She has actual frozen rocks for that.

Stephen Wells

Bring your own bucket for takeaway

William Cole

You may be mixing up your own luggage with Ayo's.

Joseph Bonnar

Luggage... Now I gotta go read Pratchett. Oh, RINCEWIND!!!

Charles Hirst

We 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.

Brian Yaras

That girl's got some groceries

Graydon Armstrong

Wow, based on those prices, the WTF sounds legit WTF.

awgiedawgie

"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).

Sleepy John

I don't know what the customer ordered, but she got some tea to go with it.

Darius Jenai

Ayo needs to stop being so relatable, or I'm gonna start thinking I might need therapy.

awgiedawgie

No, not on the rocks. That just waters down the evil.

Yelling Bird

Surprisingly, Hanners might make a great therapist.

Sean Kinlin

Hannelore's mom does evil straight up and on the rocks.

Michael Steamweed

Unpacking 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.

Paul Zagieboylo

In 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

Ayo: still everyone's favorite disaster teen!

ValdVin

Mandelbrot 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

Bill Silvia

I'm trying to think now if there are any clues to guess the etymology of "stationary" without looking it up.

Claudia D.

As one does.

Xionwalker

Welp, welcome to the list of my favorite Hanners expressions, "I've been waiting for this day" Hanners.

BobC

Oh, I know this tune. I had my therapy, NOW YOU GET YOURS!

Ursus Ridens

"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."

BookBeard

Unfortunately 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

The whole English language is a merrily crackling dumpster fire of misunderstandings and contradictions and I wouldn't have it any other way.

SpookyPenguin

it's on my list of "BS English idioms" along with "timepiece"

Mr. Ifrit

These 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.

SpookyPenguin

join the list of neurodiverse who don't unpack the stuff filling the back room of their minds because effort

Nulgar

"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.

Hawkeye

Hanners doing a great job of being a listener it seems.

BookBeard

Cheaper than the advice at some other restaurants. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3499

Elberik

Hannalore is saving her hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in therapy bills today.

BookBeard

Don'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

Sparky

Us little siblings brim with resentment.

Randall Smith

Here 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.

BookBeard

Here'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

Fart Captor

"Also I miss Liz and wish she would come back and kiss my face, platonically- wait, DAMN IT"

Matt Donaldson

It's "Affagato"

Captain Button

When vampires travel in groups, it is wise to give them a discount.

Bridgette Ryan

Please, never let Hanners and Dorothy end up in the same room.

Doc Gumby

Classic Hanners, always ready to enumerate her friend's issues!

Magic Chopstick Games

We solved the problem by stopping at one 😆

Corvus Cardia

I can’t make out the item with the price of NO. Also, standardized prices for “advice” 😂

Drazi

Here I'm trying to figure out why there are only 13 comments, but it's only been 13 minutes lol

Randall Smith

Thanks! I’m married to someone whose Mother was, if anything, worse, so this is exceptionally helpful.

Michael Wells

I think, because of this comic, I realized my little sister may resent me...

Michael Boettger

And you know Hanners has a valise packed with various stationary, writing implements and decorative stickers.

Ashbury Haight

Literally 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

Keith Steiger

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3638 is when Hanners disowned her mother, for example

Randall Norman Pick

Call Hannelore a porter cause she's just unloading the baggage train here.

Tannerbot

It is too easy for parents to focus one over the other child. Man, parenting must be hard as hell.

Carrie

Cute stationary is a must!

Gary Levine

Curious about blood pack pricing

Randall Smith

I 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.

Danielle Butler

She needs a WinZip purse

Aditya Rameshan

As 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