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Peer Reviewed Romance

🕑 Added 2024-10-08 01:03:10 +0000 UTC

Comments

Leak

No P-hacking the bodies!

Leak

Rigor more this...

Opus the Poet

No I had access from a wreck.

Leak

Did they cut you up to count your rings too? (cf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npcGql9Ir6Y)

Leak

I mean, Willow is short, but calling her "so down to earth" is a bit much...

enchantedsleeper

It's funny that Faye wasn't actually right about how Sven would "woo" Hanners (given that Sven talked about going to a sketchy hole in the wall if this were a real date), but she *was* spot on about how Hanners would like to be wooed :D

will davison

You definitely could have made the last clause in Hannelore’s bubble “Double-blind date!”

Clifton Royston

You mean you weren't talking about the AI?

Adarsh Nednur

And she just said she would waive the height requirement!!!

Opus the Poet

I spent the last 20 years as a professional lab rat, I was probably in at least one dating trial...

Opus the Poet

Similar pronunciation, different spelling: rigor.

Opus the Poet

I'm sending this thread to Food Network for a barkeep challenge.

Pejo

Chat got my back as always. Thanks all! Also, interestingly, Hannelore's been on about Sven's height w.r.t. dating since the beginning: https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1760

Todd Ellner

Momo? A delicious little dumpling. Not spicy enough for Sven. Oh. You were talking about the AI?

ValdVin

♫ Peer-reviewed romance Low-P rendezvous ♫

Joe

don't even know where to start here. @Daryl/jonesnori & yet there are any number of couples out there doing just fine when he paid for extensive plastic surgery. not buying it. @Pejo May is exceptionally kind, patient, & good at communicating in her role as Marigold's business manager. again. not buying.

Ursus Ridens

Alas. I have long clung to the illusion that all comics are hand-lettered.

Ursus Ridens

"wait, who's funding this research anyway?" The, um. Coffee of Doom Foundation, "...helping sentients dree their weird since 2003".

Timothy Roller

Spellcheck is important.

Carol Metzger

Clinical trial. So apt.

alphanor

I can see where it is, I don't know what it's supposed to mean in this context.

prettydragoon

"What, never?" "Well, hardly ever."

Hugh Eckert

Tai can probably get them funding: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3752

CaseyAEC

Good luck buddy. that's a mad rough time.

Anya Lienau

Also how about Momo??

Matt Pedone

What's it called when you have a flashback, except it's to something you're currently going through? Because Hanners talking about "preliminary screening leading to interviews etc" is way too similar to my current job search, and I find myself hoping she doesn't actually put anyone through that.

Stephen Wells

Hanners and Anh having an illicit hookup together is one of the weirder possibilities :)

Stephen Wells

I think Hanners is suggesting that she'll start evaluating Anh now for future reference.

Timothy Roller

Last panel.

alphanor

Lightning rough?? Am I missing something? Or it just an auto-correct error?

alphanor

That's an obvious outcome, especially given their previous 'practice' dating experience.

Randall Norman Pick

Well bulldozing past 'some other time' drops Hanners from the 'good at communicating' requirement.

alphanor

That's been pretty obvious since the conversation began.

Timothy Roller

Lightning rough.

Mark

But, despite yak-based desensitization, is she up to smooching yet, or will she ever be? https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4048

Carl Cravens

This is where my mind is going...

Holly Nelson

Oh gods yes. The Greek and Roman (and most other) gods seemed to specialize in being enormous jerks. As Lord Vetinari famously said, if we really believe in the gods it should be our aim to be their moral superior*. I mean was there anything, anything at all, they did which was thoughtful, fair, or kindly? If people were rewarded or compensated at all for their sufferings, generally they just got turned into constellations. "Here you go, you can be cold, bright and distant for a few billion years, just what a mortal human would wish for." No wonder there are so many stars - it’s the fault of the pagan gods. — * about halfway thru Unseen Academicals, IIRC.

Stephen Wells

Argument ends with Anh yelling "If you like him so much why don't you date him yourself" and the light bulb goes on :)

David Paul

Their date was one of, if not the cutest thing ever done.

Stephen Wells

According to Vonnegut's classic "Galapagos", you do not in fact want to see that.

David Paul

She sent Tilly to be her dad's assistant alongside Station: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3647 https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3929

David Paul

Nope. That test is indeed rough *Hanners wheels out mobile Tesla coil*

William Burns

AHA! This is exactly how Dick Cheney was selected to be George W. Bush's Vice President choice - by Dick Cheney!

Boots McGoot

hey i know someone like that!!

enchantedsleeper

Yeah, I wouldn't go to "he basically bought it", that's not really fair

enchantedsleeper

Hanners, plz... Respect Sven's agency on this one 😅

enchantedsleeper

Hanners also acted as Sven's confidante on the May thing (chipping in to support her new body) and gave him advice, which was a pretty big deal. He couldn't/didn't tell Dora about that one.

Stephen Wells

Somehow this ends up with Sven getting Hanners, Momo and May in a harem, and they're all very confused.

Devinity

FYI panel 4 has a typo, the "lightning rough" should presumably be "the lightning round"

Darnel D Cooper

(((Shudder))) Doesn't she have a handler?

Opus the Poet

Go for it Hanners!

joe velsher

DEFINITELY don’t want to be in the control arm for that date…..

Todd Ellner

Although I expect it involves full body latex, disinfectant, and a "No Tapirs* button

Todd Ellner

I think Hanners is Hanners and is content not to make decisions about which label to wear. She has enough on her scrupulously clean plate

Todd Ellner

That embarrassing radio lab moment when what you thought was a strong falsetto turns out to be a soprano. Or vice versa

Todd Ellner

I wondered why she always called me "Sugar"

Donald R Woods

Would that be scientific rigor mortis?

Anya Lienau

Hannelore meets those criteria...

Carrie

At the right party it's a great way to meet someone and see how they treat you when shibari is being displayed on you.

Carrie

😂🤣😂🤣 👩‍🔬⚗️🧪is important to Hanners!

Uniquitous

It's a race to see who gets to bonetown first: Hanners or Joyce?

Yelling Bird

You know, there are several points in my life where I could have used Hannelore's matchmaking skills. I'm great now though.

Miyaa

I bet the sticking point will be whether to use Turbian style (Chicago with extra footnotes) or APA (avoids footnotes like it’s an STD).

Miyaa

Second date: Mongolia. Let Hanners teach Sven how to hand milk a yak.

adrian koren

XKCD: Oh look, it's 6 of the guys from control group B!

Miyaa

Iris would have exploded and now Iris will need a new sexier robot model.

Miyaa

14 years ago. That would explain why I was automatically given an AARP membership when I rechecked the capitalism box last February.

JCfromNC

I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be lightning round, but you never know with Jeph.

Jake Robb

Willow would totally be open to a thruple, but Iris would NEVER.

Trip Space-Parasite

SMBC?

Dean Reilly

Maybe wear a bell with the blindfold. 😁

legobil

“Sorry hun. Turns out you are just the placebo.”

legobil

What is a new relationship, if not, a randomized controlled trial.

legobil

Wait. Was that an honest reply? I just don’t know…!

legobil

Oh boy. Is Hannelore gonna interact with the sourly heiress, Anh? I can see this go at least a couple of different ways. Looking forward to it!

Adarsh Nednur

I tracked down the strip starting the fake date arc! Posted only 14 short years ago. https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1752

Diptych

If you like placebo coladas / and getting caught in a solution that may or may not be rain...

Diptych

I typed this bolndfolded too and it turned out OK. Eyy, only one letter off! Blondfolded could be having my hair over my eyes except I haven't been blonde for years and years.

Holly Nelson

And it was one of the sweetest dates I’ve ever heard of. - chef kiss -

jonesnori

Well, he contributed a good chunk, anyway. Enough to make it awkward.

Diptych

Tai experimented with poly relationships but they didn't really suit her, and we didn't get to know her partners. Also Clinton tested the waters on Clinton/Elliot/Brun and discovered that, while Brun liked the idea of Clinton/Elliot, she didn't want to be personally involved.

Diptych

Also they've just generally hung out! Hanners has crashed at Sven's place and such.

erutan

Typo on lighting “rough”, assume that should be round.

William Cole

I think the obvious answer to "who's funding this" is Cubetown, setting up a justification for moving much of the cast there.

William Cole

Hanners has also kind of championed Sven to others, notably persuading Dora to reconcile with him when she'd cut off contact with him.

Carl Fink

Hannelore is also tall.

Carl Fink

Ace people can have sex. I was very pointedly corrected on that point in a QC comment thread.

William Cole

May is good at communicating SOME things—like her lovd of scat porn.

That Blair Guy

'Course, the next few days of Hanners talking with Anh has all sorts of potential for dramatic tension. (Is there a pool for one or both of them to get knocked into?)

That Blair Guy

Y'know, with Hanners' lines in the first two frames .... I kinda wonder if she's deliberately describing herself. I'm still not sure how I feel about a "Svanners" (or would that be "Hannen"?) pairing, though I do have to admit, he's been on the right track so far, treating her as a friend rather than a potential conquest.

Doc Gumby

Although... Sven and Willow AND Iris? Have we had a relationship threesome in QC yet?

A Big Guy

Sven took Hanners on a “fake” date back in the day so she could experience what that was like

Taigan

I did steal it from a comic but not XKCD.

Pejo

Could someone remind me how Sven & Hannelore know each other so well? They seem a lot more familiar than just "they run around in the same circles & have some common friends/coworkers/siblings."

Pejo

May is neither kind, nor patient, nor good at communicating lol

Pejo

Rigger? He doesn't even KNOW 'er! (yet)

Mad Marie

Scientific rigor when matchmaking is ok...unless the science in question is forensic pathology. (unless that's what you're into, I suppose)

Mad Marie

I tpyed this bilnfdnodled andit snot akwar data ll

Mad Marie

The problem with dating when you're a down to earth person is that it's too easy for someone to walk all over you.

Mad Marie

^ favorite method of Zeus. (thank gods I don't live in mythological times)

Doc Gumby

Damn, forgot about Iris. You're right.

Mad Marie

Eh. Control boyfriends get super jealous when they find out they're not the only ones in the study.

Mad Marie

That's the version of the reality show that's only on the radio.

Alcaria Swain

But she's already in a relationship (that she doesn't know about yet)

Joseph McGrath

I want to see those babies

Mad Marie

"Hi! Do you consider yourself to be an honest person?" "Never."

Mad Marie

One time I ordered several pina coladas in a row. Got stupid silly drunk. It was only later that I realized I had mistakenly ordered the "placebo colada" off the mocktails menu. Chalk it up to further evidence that I have control issues.

Bridgette Ryan

Double blind date is how I figured out I was doing kink wrong.

Daryl Sawyer

They broke that off because he basically bought her body for her.

Daryl Sawyer

When was Hannelore ever confirmed to be asexual? She has suffered from issues with cleanliness and the associated touch issues, but that's not the same as being ace.

Todd Ellner

Should have been titled "Love is Double-Blind"

Daryl Sawyer

Basically the plot to "Science Fell In Love So They Tried To Prove It".

Todd Ellner

Lifted from XKCD if memory serves

Doc Gumby

If they're waiving the height requirement I nominate Willow. She's so down to earth, some of it would have to rub off on Sven.

SingingTurtles

Double blind date is excellent :p

Alacrity Fitzhugh

Kinda awkward if you both are blindfolded.

Todd Ellner

Jeph said his long term plan is "Everyone has sex, and I retire."

Taigan

Dating a scientist: “the sex was good, but we should perform more trials to be sure.” Also dating a scientist: “the sex was good, but I should try it with a control boyfriend to be sure.”

Daniel S

The lightning rough, Sven’s version of the lightning round. It involves rough sex and actual lightning

Daryk Zirkle

I note Hanners' hand is the same altitude as Sven's... ;)

Neil Moore

Well, I was going to say to some commenters: "Hannalore is canonically asexual, so what you hope for is never going to happen". But, given the last few episodes, even I have to think "They gon' fuck".

Doc Gumby

Hannelore is rigorous.

David Durant

I mean, kind, patient and good at communicating sure sounds like Momo... It also sounds like Marten but I don't think Claire would like to share.

Shawn K. Younkin

You don't get to act surprised by this Sven, you know how Hanners is.

Andrew

Step 43: maroon them on the Galapagos for several generations

ValdVin

Little did Hanners recognize the Amazing Rhythm Aces as the wedding band. "Third Rate Romance" was going to throw off all their meticulous scientific findings.

Diptych

I went to a scientific method speed dating event. I thought I was getting on really well with one of the subjects, but they turned out to be in the control group so it was just the placebo effect. :(