One Steps Out, Two Step In
Added 2025-04-16 01:13:20 +0000 UTChello Violence, hello Regret
Comments
Make some kind of generative AI sing it!
legobil
2025-04-17 10:44:27 +0000 UTCMy very sincere condolences, Carl.
Joseph Bonnar
2025-04-17 10:41:42 +0000 UTCAll four, Valdvin.'
Joseph Bonnar
2025-04-17 10:39:03 +0000 UTCIt's the coffee equivalent of a second hand bookshop, in which Marten is attempting to enjoy a comfortable retirement disguised as a career.
Stephen Wells
2025-04-17 10:27:13 +0000 UTCWe rode that ride at least twice on our honeymoon, 53 years ago. We would have reached our fiftieth, if Covid had not happened.
Carl G Knoblock
2025-04-17 07:34:51 +0000 UTCViolence rides on the shoulders of Regret. Or is it the other way around?
SilverbackRon
2025-04-17 04:10:44 +0000 UTCThe two things who stepped in!
legobil
2025-04-17 04:07:35 +0000 UTC"I like the sound of that: Marten Reed, Suuuper Genius!"
Sean Kinlin
2025-04-17 02:10:27 +0000 UTCUm, I'm a little lost here: Liz & Moray or Violence & Regret?
ValdVin
2025-04-17 00:07:33 +0000 UTCBookBeard I'd pay to watch it.
Joe
2025-04-16 23:23:17 +0000 UTCI'm picturing an exchange between Marten and Sy (the AI sign) resembling the exchange between Wile E. Coyote and the sheepdog in the old cartoons ...
Joe
2025-04-16 23:22:07 +0000 UTCUgh, you're right but that made me go back and factor 2047 (23 x 89) as well as 2049 (3 x 683, easier because of the sum-of-digits rule.)
Clifton Royston
2025-04-16 19:31:38 +0000 UTCMoray's love language.
Clifton Royston
2025-04-16 19:23:09 +0000 UTCPERFECT for the Wacky Hijinks Department!
Joseph Bonnar
2025-04-16 17:47:50 +0000 UTCYou know the law.
Hugh Eckert
2025-04-16 17:20:17 +0000 UTC"You know the law: Two men enter, one man leaves. "
Hugh Eckert
2025-04-16 17:18:26 +0000 UTCMarten doesn't actually want customers. He just wants a place to make coffee and chill.
M. Lampi
2025-04-16 17:07:04 +0000 UTCI always like the gag that Yay is _plural_ they/them.
Aaron Burt
2025-04-16 15:28:46 +0000 UTCAhw, he called them 'goofy'! That's practically term of endearment!
Raymond Dannelly
2025-04-16 15:19:37 +0000 UTCReminds me of : - A: "How many Performance Poets does it take to change a light-bulb? B: "I don't know." A: "Neither do I. - I had to leave after 4 hours!"
Charles Hirst
2025-04-16 15:18:05 +0000 UTCGiven the scale of Alpha Ralpha Boulevard, that would require some Tardis-level dimensional engineering.
Phil_M
2025-04-16 15:07:31 +0000 UTC🎼 "And so, there’s no Moray."
Claudia D.
2025-04-16 14:51:20 +0000 UTCToo many syllables. Hello violence, hi/hey/and regret would work.
Joshua
2025-04-16 14:44:28 +0000 UTCI'm imagining it as a sort of "Yakko Warner sings all the words in the English language"-style montage where I make it all the way to hour ten then finally collapse on the final verse. "Th-That's... A... Mor*faceplant*"
BookBeard
2025-04-16 14:30:09 +0000 UTCThere are days where that life seems appealing. So long as i could somehow perceive the drama in the shop.
CaseyAEC
2025-04-16 14:23:39 +0000 UTCI wonder if there is an AI somewhere that would enjoy the quiet life of a coffee shop open/closed sign. It's only duty would be to flip to the correct side depending on the status of the shop.
Summer
2025-04-16 13:45:10 +0000 UTCPlot twist: both sides say "closed".
Cullam
2025-04-16 12:19:09 +0000 UTCYou mean like when the Doom music kicks in episode of the Simpsons?
Opus the Poet
2025-04-16 11:51:48 +0000 UTCI've never been to Disneyland and I've still heard that song too many times.
Opus the Poet
2025-04-16 11:49:22 +0000 UTCNext official QC merch: The Sign 💰
Richard Frangiamore
2025-04-16 11:39:39 +0000 UTC"Some languages borrow words from other languages. English follows them down dark alleys and mugs them!" [anon - always acknowledge your sources (I used to write Library Systems).] {apparently it is a paraphrase of a remark in a Usenet article <1990May15.155309.8892@watdragon.waterloo.edu> (1990), updated in Usenet article (2003) Found in https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Nicoll } Also - https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mug
Charles Hirst
2025-04-16 11:14:37 +0000 UTCNor is + the correct sign of 1 for a Mersenne prime.
Rich Holmes
2025-04-16 10:49:31 +0000 UTCI LOVE running gags. The flipping the sign thing just keeps giving
Bagge
2025-04-16 10:47:09 +0000 UTCCould somebody map Cubetown? I think Alpha Ralpha Boulevard is there.
Joseph Bonnar
2025-04-16 07:48:57 +0000 UTCLiz sure does know how to sweet-talk a goo gal xD
enchantedsleeper
2025-04-16 07:33:45 +0000 UTCIt will take 10 hours to perform in full
enchantedsleeper
2025-04-16 07:29:31 +0000 UTCOooppss! Thanks for that, well spotted. 🤣🤣
Shannon Woodbury
2025-04-16 06:09:02 +0000 UTCSo far, we really haven't seen much of it. Not a complaint, but perhaps some posters? Something along the lines of xkcd #730 for the clientele to ponder?
Ursus Ridens
2025-04-16 05:18:38 +0000 UTC2049? ERROR_OUT_OF_COFFEE.
Ursus Ridens
2025-04-16 05:13:05 +0000 UTCAlas, 11 is not the correct power for a Mersenne prime.
Clifton Royston
2025-04-16 04:57:39 +0000 UTCI would rather see violent regret to be honest.
legobil
2025-04-16 04:53:13 +0000 UTCUnless they are now friends: yes or no
legobil
2025-04-16 04:52:26 +0000 UTCOh, these two nerds!
legobil
2025-04-16 04:48:42 +0000 UTC.... I suppose it's better than It's A Small World...
Am Queue
2025-04-16 04:35:30 +0000 UTCI can totally commit violence without regret. Oh wait, that's BDSM.
Am Queue
2025-04-16 04:34:07 +0000 UTCI'm waiting for the payoff where Regret doesn't show up.
Kith penDragon
2025-04-16 04:26:42 +0000 UTCIf so the third act is coming...about 2040 at the earliest, assuming that the first act ends soon and that the second act is about the same length.
Alex Rahr
2025-04-16 03:49:35 +0000 UTCI saw the sign, and it opened up my mind…
Sarah
2025-04-16 03:46:23 +0000 UTCIf marten drinks coffee whenever he is not busy, that could lead to a bit of excess.
Paul Johnson
2025-04-16 03:37:26 +0000 UTCPlease tell me you’ve been capturing all these stanzas and will weave them into a whole song!
Nessi505
2025-04-16 03:16:30 +0000 UTCWell, he IS the Prime Consort for The Librarian. The effort of keeping Marten adjacent to one or more AIs (besides the Moray units, which are highly suspect for all the obvious reasons) is totally worth having to constantly update the communal spreadsheet.
Michael Steamweed
2025-04-16 03:15:02 +0000 UTCGiven that this is Cubetown, yeah, I totally buy the "closed on both sides" AND "mobius sign" aspects.
Michael Steamweed
2025-04-16 03:13:31 +0000 UTCWe have yet to see them in action. I'm-a get the popcorn ready.
Michael Steamweed
2025-04-16 03:05:01 +0000 UTCTo be fair, were Yay to in fact be hiding in Cubetown, no one would think to look for them there. Pretty much the last place anyone would consider. The one kink in this logic: The Director. Methinks Yay might _not_ want to be that close.
Michael Steamweed
2025-04-16 03:04:16 +0000 UTCReplying to Rich: Brilliant!
Claudia D.
2025-04-16 02:37:10 +0000 UTCYep, they appeared briefly in 5118. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5118
BookBeard
2025-04-16 02:30:30 +0000 UTCSoon there will be a menu item called The Master Blaster.
Sean Kinlin
2025-04-16 02:28:58 +0000 UTCIt's a Möbius sign. It only has one side.
Rich Holmes
2025-04-16 02:27:25 +0000 UTCThere are some important problems involving 2^p + 1.
Sean Kinlin
2025-04-16 02:27:04 +0000 UTCValdVin is correct actually. Lemon said she had 2048 sisters which would make a total of 2049. Truly maddening for a computer nerd, but in fairness "just a little bit off" is pretty on-brand for the Melon family. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3906
BookBeard
2025-04-16 02:24:20 +0000 UTCFair enough.
Yelling Bird
2025-04-16 02:23:43 +0000 UTCI dunno, I think the race between Northampton and Cubetown for "most AI shenanigans" is still a toss up. I mean, Melon alone surely has to be equivalent to the entire Wacky Hijinks Research Group.
BookBeard
2025-04-16 02:20:23 +0000 UTCI love Violence and Regret! And also these two robots. 🥁
William Cole
2025-04-16 02:18:41 +0000 UTCYou assume we aren't still in the first act.
William Cole
2025-04-16 02:16:39 +0000 UTCI was thinking more to the tune of The Sound of Silence when I read "Hello Violence, Hello Regret" :-D
Simon Green
2025-04-16 02:14:46 +0000 UTCIndeed they did. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5118
BookBeard
2025-04-16 02:11:30 +0000 UTCWhen a girl made of gel Has a sushi bar smell That's A Moray!
BookBeard
2025-04-16 02:09:32 +0000 UTC^^ We’re diligently learning another language and our grammar is getting fubar’d in English (which is a ridiculous language anyway).
Ailadi
2025-04-16 02:06:37 +0000 UTCThey also showed up when Martin and Liz were out looking for a location to be a coffee shop.
alphanor
2025-04-16 02:05:28 +0000 UTCWe've come to you for coffee get
Simon Green
2025-04-16 01:58:03 +0000 UTCThe sign says closed on both sides.
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:57:47 +0000 UTC2046
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:57:00 +0000 UTCAlso miss Yay (who goes by 'they')
Sean Kinlin
2025-04-16 01:54:07 +0000 UTCDon't Lemon and Melon have 2047 other sisters? Because that's where this math is going.
ValdVin
2025-04-16 01:53:00 +0000 UTCWhen Elliot and Clinton comes to Cubetown to start their bakery and Texas Roadhouse style bbq joint, they will hire an AI unit named BookBread… who becomes Roko’s new friend.
Miyaa
2025-04-16 01:48:59 +0000 UTCMy current theory: Yay is hiding out in Alice Grove.
Rich Holmes
2025-04-16 01:47:38 +0000 UTCSo… Double Dare 2000?
Miyaa
2025-04-16 01:45:18 +0000 UTCIf this keeps up, martin is going to risk either straining something or else loosing his unflappable cool (death by goof). On the plus side, we are also starting to realize what Yay was on about with this place, and we can be 1000% sure Cubeworld is *not* where she (oops... They! Sorry Yay 😂) are currently hiding out - Yay trying to live in this kind of environment would be downright apoplectic in 5 minutes (see aforementioned death by goof). I miss Yay 😟
Shannon Woodbury
2025-04-16 01:41:25 +0000 UTCThe truth: there is no sign to flip. Liz just tells him he didn't flip it to mess with him.
Joseph Houk
2025-04-16 01:39:24 +0000 UTCI think he's nostalgic for only having to deal with one extremely goofy AI.
Daryl Sawyer
2025-04-16 01:38:24 +0000 UTCThese two are just teases. I am yet to see enough regretful violence #chekovsbrutality
MikeT
2025-04-16 01:35:41 +0000 UTCThe real trouble happens when these two leave, and four more come in. Then when they leave, another eight arrive, and then...
Sean Kinlin
2025-04-16 01:35:25 +0000 UTCAnd 28 whole seconds without checking his phone
Rich Holmes
2025-04-16 01:35:14 +0000 UTCThe Watchmen used the song.
Joseph Bonnar
2025-04-16 01:34:43 +0000 UTCGreetings!
Vilinda
2025-04-16 01:33:56 +0000 UTCYou know, if Marten is bothered by the shenanigans of goofy AI's he couldn't have picked a worse place to move to.
Yelling Bird
2025-04-16 01:32:39 +0000 UTCYou can't commit Violence without Regret. Even in an asylum, they're a matched set.
Amelia Lewis
2025-04-16 01:32:20 +0000 UTCIn a trenchcoat
Jack Foy
2025-04-16 01:32:04 +0000 UTCHave we seen them since 5035? Which was [checks notes] TWO YEARS AGO? (They aren't in QC Extensions.)
Rich Holmes
2025-04-16 01:30:45 +0000 UTCPanel 2: Moray amore
Sean Kinlin
2025-04-16 01:29:46 +0000 UTCInert Explosives Festival might be a good name for a band...
Captain Button
2025-04-16 01:29:38 +0000 UTCI seriously doubt Liz has actually been in a sushi bar. Unless that bar is right along the Atlantic coast next to the Dildo Newfoundland battery manufacturing facilities.
Miyaa
2025-04-16 01:29:08 +0000 UTCWhen is Marten gonna flip that damn sign? Also I want to poke Moray's stomach for science 🧐
Wooly50
2025-04-16 01:29:02 +0000 UTCThat checks out
Shinymelon Fearnow
2025-04-16 01:27:22 +0000 UTCVarious AIs work together to make sure there's always at least one near Marten. The 30 seconds was the time it took for Moray to tag these two in.
Sean Kinlin
2025-04-16 01:27:13 +0000 UTCIs there a film scene with heavy violence to that track? Something rings a bell about that...
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:27:02 +0000 UTCAnother appearance of theirs: https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5035
Keith Steiger
2025-04-16 01:26:24 +0000 UTCShe did try once, but the sign wasn't flipped to open.
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:25:43 +0000 UTCIn an alternate universe, Faye inflicted violence on Anh, who them regretted her actions, and something inexplicably started beeping in Marten's shop.
Bill Silvia
2025-04-16 01:25:01 +0000 UTCYeah my brain keeps toggling that too.
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:25:01 +0000 UTCReconciliation also goes by the nickname "Dare"
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:24:16 +0000 UTCBookBeard: the QC librarian
djellafine
2025-04-16 01:23:22 +0000 UTChttps://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5009
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:22:20 +0000 UTCI'm sure we've seen them before. This is a job for... BOOKBEARD!
Joseph Bonnar
2025-04-16 01:21:46 +0000 UTCJeph, you gave me an earworm dating back to 1971! Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery Breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that Can't you read the sign? FIve man electrical band.
Joseph Bonnar
2025-04-16 01:21:10 +0000 UTChttps://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5009 They show up several times later too. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5035
alphanor
2025-04-16 01:20:53 +0000 UTCI want Dora to visit Marten and see the coffee shop that he's made.
Scott Haley
2025-04-16 01:20:08 +0000 UTCIris's cousins
SpookyPenguin
2025-04-16 01:20:02 +0000 UTCMy only regret is that I haven't committed enough violence!
Shawn K. Younkin
2025-04-16 01:18:31 +0000 UTCLater, Regret: "I just looked it up..."
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:18:23 +0000 UTCOne steps out, two step in vs One step out, two steps in 😁
Stephen B.
2025-04-16 01:18:20 +0000 UTC♫Hello Violence my old friend...♫
ValdVin
2025-04-16 01:18:14 +0000 UTCI like these two! I hope they come bringing new shenanigans into Marten's life.
SilverbackRon
2025-04-16 01:18:08 +0000 UTCTheir other twins are Truth and Reconciliation.
Simpin4Holo
2025-04-16 01:18:04 +0000 UTCThey have been around for a while. They appeared the day Claire decided to take the Librarian position. Book Beard will be along shortly with the link to their first appearance.
SilverbackRon
2025-04-16 01:17:20 +0000 UTC"Can the two of us share a single cup? Someone told us that was a meme, but we haven't bothered to look it up."
Mad Marie
2025-04-16 01:17:11 +0000 UTCYes, they are Violence and Regret, we have seen them before in the comic Bookbeard will be linking momentarily.
Captain Button
2025-04-16 01:16:56 +0000 UTCIt canonically is !
Etienne M.J. Dubourg
2025-04-16 01:16:41 +0000 UTCSo are violence and regret like Pintsize’s older twin sisters?
Miyaa
2025-04-16 01:16:30 +0000 UTCBut which came first, Violence or Regret?
Captain Button
2025-04-16 01:15:57 +0000 UTCMmmmm. Sushi!
J.C. Hewitt
2025-04-16 01:15:27 +0000 UTCI hope those are their names.
Tannerbot
2025-04-16 01:15:22 +0000 UTCmood coffee is the new thunderdome
Brendan Luster
2025-04-16 01:15:21 +0000 UTCDo we know these cuties? Cause I don't remember these cuties
Alcaria Swain
2025-04-16 01:15:15 +0000 UTC
