Post "A Lengthy Dynasty" by "jephjacques" from patreon

Watson

Psychosomatic.

Rhyon Ingalls

But they didn't say that was a thing that bothered them most about americans, they said it was a thing that really bothered them minimizing it by saying there are worse things is not giving perspective, it's being rude. Use that knowledge as you will

Diptych

Milk! And rectangles.

Spartan Windrider

What does that mean??

Ursus Ridens

Hanners and Sven are sitting on his bed. I sense an oncoming orgy -- of over-analysis. (Here, and possibly there.)

Ursus Ridens

Goes for us, too. Most of our cells die and are replaced every so often. (Not, I'm told, brain neurons.) Or at least that's what the guy who started typing this comment thought.

Todd Ellner

I use the XKCD scheme where allowed.

ValdVin

Cool wayback callback.

alphanor

But does that make any difference? There are no labels identifying belly vs. butt bricks. To say they are different is getting into very sticky and ambiguous philosophical territory. As long as they match the original shape and color, they should be interchangeable for Richard. Perhaps there is deeper meaning here that I am missing completely? (Perhaps Sven has identified each block separately - but that would mean that each block would always be placed in its' correct position upon reassembly). We need more data!

Eric Lusby

Ahh, but as many Lego bricks are interchangeable (especially as he's pretty monochrome) it's distinctly possible Richard 14's belly was Richard 8's butt!

Kurt Larson

That Johnny Cash comment could mean anything... :D

Opus the Poet

Frontier psychiatrist (crazy song, check out the YouTube video).

Rapto

Richard of Theseus.

will davison

I’m standing by for the weekend cliffhanger panel when Hannelore kisses Sven. Real twist/growth will be Dora not being pissed off at all. That’s on my bingo card. We’re locked in. Edit: oops, I’m seeing there was a “read more” button on your comment. Your expectations are more wholesome than mine, but I’m here either or neither.

Hugh Eckert

Just like Mr. Soft Owl!

David Boyd

'inbrications'

Mae.Bee

Omg that whole exchange was adorable.

alphanor

I see this relationship ( Hanners and Sven) having the potential to be the perfect opportunity for Hanners to become more accustomed to more normal human contact. (Hanners has stated in the comic that she would like to be more normal, but she doesn't really expect the situation to change). If Sven makes it perfectly clear that he does not see Hanners as a sexual object, they could explore getting Hanners used to simple contact. They could start with hand holding, perhaps progress to an arm across her shoulders and then maybe a hug. (She has been able to hug people in very specific situations, but she is generally averse to it). If there is no pressure on Hanners to progress at a set schedule, I think that she could handle it. It would probably take a goodly amount of time, but if there were no expectations or scheduled goals, and if Sven (and Hanners) were very patient, I think good things could result.

alphanor

I don't think this is a classic Ship of Theseus situation. In the original story, the ship was slowly, over time, replaced piece by piece, leading to the question of whether it was still the same ship. With regard to Richard, he has apparently been reconstituted numerous times, presumably following accidents where he fell, breaking into his constituent parts. He was then reassembled with the same pieces into the same configuration. This is a temporal issue, since he is identical to his original condition, but he has been disassembled several times. But he is unquestionably still the Richard Sven started with, unless changes were made in his various, if you will excuse the term, incarnations.

Sydney J Freedberg

DON'T TELL HER THAT

Leak

Two solid platonics?

Leak

...off to Theseus?

Leak

"correct horse battery staple"

Jono Hayward

OGLES

Leak

Lesgo!

Ross

Simultaneously?

Ross

Oh great, now I'm going to have "What if Cash & Glass collaborated" in my head all week.

Edward Clayton Andrew

Fairway Rage?

alphanor

Same.

allanfranta

@bookbeard: High school classmate said he changed his first name to (of all things) Bodeen, but he'll always be a Dick to me!

allanfranta

I tried to re-establish a platonic relationship after 50-ish years, it did not go well.

Bagge

Also, while Hannelore as usual is perfectly sincere, Sven is just along for the bit in the last two panels (and Hannelore gets it and engages with the bit in the last panel, which makes her smile such a thing of wonder)

allanfranta

@bookbeard: Heinlein wrote Friday that had a poly serial marriage that would be a ship of Theseus, so it's doable for fictional characters, I don't think most humans would last long in it.

Jane the Inscrutable

I know I've heard that one but it's been a while, I'll give it another listen today, thanks

allanfranta

Languages morph, the language of Shakespeare is not the language we use today. Dammit.

Diptych

Faraday cage?

Diptych

That toy needs therapy!

allanfranta

BookBeard is giving you a perspective; use it as you will.

Daryl Sawyer

I was unaware not saying "Legos" was even a thing until this thread.

Lord Travis Lance the 3rd Matheson esq

I’m just going on what the Community outreach told all of the LEGO Fan clubs a few years I had the told that it was LEGO and in all those communicators we receive it is written at LEGO So we AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO). Have embraced this

Stephen Wells

Maybe Hanners will be the sensible person that can tell Sven to stop being an idiot and talk to May again :)

Philip Masters

Note that nothing is necessarily replaced when Richard reinstantiates. The mere process of disassembly and reassembly apparently destroys his identity. (Which is a bit strong, really; when someone has an extremity chopped off and surgically reattached, are they not the same person.) So this isn't quite a Ship of Theseus analogy.

Philip Masters

But would he leave his focus mechanism permanently at his parents' place, rather than keeping it around to, you know, use for focusing? I think that Sven is simply showing his vulnerable side here. He generally presents as a cynic (especially about his own work) and was previously an habitual womaniser, but hey, underneath all that, he has a sentimental attachment to memories of his childhood, and Richard clearly loomed large in that. Richard is a symbol more than a tool.

Philip Masters

I'm guessing that the door is about to hurtle open, followed by an "Oh, sorry" from the couple responsible. Bonus points if somebody else asks "Why did you stop?" and gets the reply "Sven and Hanners are in there", and then somebody's brain melts.

Melissa Wilson

Much obliged! Clearly I am due for an end-to-end reread.

Geoff Keating

They are talking past each other a little bit, Hanners probably means putting the same blocks back in the exact same place, and Sven is probably thinking of just making the same design.

Stephen Wells

This strip reads equally well as "these guys are the best platonic friends and are really good for each other's personal growth" or as "Hanners is about to mount him like a thoroughbred" depending on audience horniness level :) they do make very good pals.

Graham McGill

Same

David Paul

The story ends with orbital bombardment, courtesy of Station.

Boots McGoot

pals! pals! pals! *bangs clipboard*

Pejo

idk how much overlap Jeph's musical tastes & mine have but this one is 100% correct (also Joanna Newsom not being for me, & Jeph saying "not for me" instead of saying something sucks or the like)

Charles Hirst

It can also be a curseword in bare feet in the dark!

legobil

Who says platonic friendship can’t evolve into romantics, asexual or not? I’m pretty sure Sven is quite aware of Hanners intimacy issues, and frankly doesn’t seem to have many carnal desires at all right now. After all he did thank Hanners for stepping in when dear Anh was smarming all over him.

Cas Wanden

Why on earth would you think that's my biggest problem with Americans?

BookBeard

If that's the biggest problem you have with Americans then you haven't been paying attention, and for that I envy you.

Opus the Poet

Richard has seen some shit. Probably needs therapy 😕

R L

Now there is one

Leak

Kinda like the "Lord Of The Ringos"? https://happytoast.co.uk/drawings/#lordringos

legobil

Panel 1, Sven DID open, he is just choosing to board it up before Hanners see their scandalous acts.

Clifton Royston

It hasn't yet occurred to her. When it does, she might go into shock. Or not, she has broken through a lot of her anxieties.

BookBeard

Indeed, Richard possesses these titles of nobility, and a great many others, but among his friends he prefers to be known simply as Bricky Dick.

Cas Wanden

THANK YOU LEARNING THAT AMERICANS SAY "LEGOS" WAS AN UNCOMFORTABLE MOMENT IN MY LIFE THAT I HAVE YET TO FULLY MOVE ON FROM

BookBeard

Unless your pet is named Herb. Those herbivores are vicious.

Steve DeGroof

What, no "The Richard of Theseus" gag?

Sierra G

Big Joyce and Joe energy from dumbing of age

Steve Prowse

It's a shame Lego still has to be in the closet in this day and age

Matthew Van Gangelen

Meet cute?

Bagge

The topic of the self as a composite of building blocks that none in itself contains the selfness

djellafine

...now I also understand the closet jokes!

djellafine

Oh I see! I missed a comic!

William Cole

Amazing! It leads a charmed life.

djellafine

I legit thought Richard was the name of the bed until now

djellafine

The topic of...Legos?

legobil

Yeah, if they take it slow enough to adapt to Hanners and Sven is willing to put in (heh) that effort, and wait, I don’t see why this platonic friendship could not eventually develop into romance. But yeah, I think it’s gonna take time. I mean, Hanners is in a wildly different place than early in the comic.

Pete

Also, the other couple is under the bed

Pete

Panel 1, Sven is deciding not to open the cupboard after hearing a muffled giggle.

legobil

Are we missing the last panel? Where Marten & Claire and/or Tai & Dora storms in to have furious sex on that bed.

BookBeard

It's a wide, wide spectrum.

Uniquitous

I really want these two to get together. Carnally.

SilverbackRon

I am expecting Marten and Claire to come bursting into the room as it has been designated as the hookup room. They see Hanners and Sven together on the bed .... to what conclusions will they jump?! Probably none since this is Questionable Content and not Three's Company.

Halloween Jack

I'm a big fan of Brandi Carlile in general, but her version of that song is superlative.

Miyaa

Better Cat puke than Steve’s um milk?

SilverbackRon

I think he is just checking to see how badly that door is broken.

Chris Warren

Hannelore says "Legos" -- I think I'm in love.

SilverbackRon

That is the real question here!

A Dark Planet, Lit By No Sun

100% I say this as a guy who falls in love at the drop of a hat, but not every relationships needs to be romantic.

Jasper

I love this moment, it's so tender

BookBeard

That is how it was explained to me by a friend and avid lego nerd. If I was misinformed I am fully prepared to retract my pedantry (I mean, in this specific instance. I'll continue to be insufferable know-it-all in general)

Jane the Inscrutable

If I had to choose one artist's complete discography to be stuck on a desert island with, I'd be fine with just Kris's rough demos for the rest of my life.

Diptych

Like many of Kris's compositions, it benefits from a minimalist presentation.

Not that Patrick Foltz

@Melissa Wilson @Populuxe I'm a certified rules lawyer, I LOVE technically correct!

Bagge

This sounds like it could be a potentially disturbing topic of conversation for Hannelore. I love that she's still comfortable talking about this with Sven

Maurice Kessler

Shh! Don't jinx it!!

Shey

Sensory seeking autistic can be very slutty don't ask me how I know lol

Maurice Kessler

Put this on my list of charming conversations I never expected to see happen.

Shey

I really dig their friendship

Rabbit

I still ship these two and refuse to stop.

jonesnori

Ooh, good question!

Thomas N Wyndham

No, but if people want to be correct, they had better be.

Jane the Inscrutable

The original studio version of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" needs to lose the horn section tbh. Several live versions are superior.

BookBeard

Also 1077. As far as I can recall those are her only three appearances. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1077

Captain Button

Hey! They're using up prime make-out territory!

Constantine Hannaher

Are you sure? I couldn't find a single mixed-case instance on this page https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/lego-group/the-lego-brand

Edward Clayton Andrew

Luke Cage?

Mad Marie

Johnny Cage?

Mad Marie

Triceratops, that's above board. However, if a carnivore asks for the name of a pet or loved one, don't give it to them...it's a trap.

A Dark Planet, Lit By No Sun

They're so cute! They make great platonic buddies.

Carl Fink

Prescriptive grammarian, then?

Graydon Armstrong

Legso.

Graydon Armstrong

Svannelore is happening?!

Drazi

I thought the plural of Lego bricks was "ouch!"

ValdVin

Princess is in a few strips, including https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=877 https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1189

Melissa Wilson

Have we met Sven’s cat? If so, what hole in my brain did it fall through?!? I have zero memory of it & somehow cat ownership seems incongruent with my understanding of him…

Xionwalker

Honestly, the lead up to this situation has me concerned despite logic. Surely not, right..? Guys?

Brian

I am an autistic (former) slut. Just because you’re autistic doesn’t mean you’re not good at getting into people’s pants.

The World Famous Chocomerican

He used to be a slut, so I don't know if he could be that and autistic. He hasn't shown any other spectrum tendencies AFAIK.

Thomas N Wyndham

Strictly speaking the word ‘Lego’ should be used as an adjective; a Lego set, a Lego brick, a Lego Minifig.

Alias Fakename

Same tbh. It's odd to consider Hanners actually going for such a thing, but considering the progress she's made just in general, this feels closer to the realm of possibility than it would have in years past.

Monica Gaudio

I ship Hanners with both Ann and Sven. :) I hope something comes

Melissa Wilson

It’s also the kind of correct, which, from my own personal experience, is most likely to get one called a pedant, a know-it-all, or a pedantic-know-it-all-{insert the expletive/slur of your choice here}, yet it remains the objective best, as well as my personal favorite, kind of correct. ✅

Melissa Wilson

Thanks, once again, dear BookBeard, for the required perspective to put my head aright!

Chris

i still say legos i don’t care

Hrafn Raudi

I ship them in a queerplatonic relationship.

KiTA

... I ship them.

Amelia Lewis

Huh. I always thought that the pedantically correct form was "frozen waffles," but it has too many syllables for most people, and the 'l' is at the wrong end.

Populuxe

You are technically correct., the best kind of correct.

PixelThis

Hanners and Sven sitting on his old bed... the possibilities are not quite, albeit asymptotically close to, zero

Ashley Thomas

how is she handling sitting on that DNA riddled bed right now? at least two couples have hooked up on it just today.

Eric Sieck

Does that mean it's pronounced the German way?

Eric Sieck

Probably!

Eric Sieck

Chicken in Black is his most underrated though

Ash

I don’t think it’s *overrated* but I do like the NiN version. Johnny Cash was clearly working through some shit there, though, and that gives it a hell of a punch.

Tamara Macadam

awww

BookBeard

"If you ship six characters in a polycule, and one of them gets eaten by an allosaurus and you replace them with a new character, and this happens again and again until the original characters are all gone, is it any longer the same ship?"

Ash

His cover of The Mercy Seat isn’t as good as the version on Live Seeds because Nick Cave is ridiculously better live idk…

Not that Patrick Foltz

The bed lives!

Miyaa

So I have to ask, is Sven autistic? Some autistic people will use an object or two as a focus mechanism (in private) even as adults. I use two pens for that purpose at times. Richard might be Sven’s focus which is why he is good enough to be a multimillionaire ad jingle song writer.

ValdVin

Away with the music of Broadway! Be off with your Irving Berlin Oh, I'd give no quarter To Kern or Cole Porter And Gershwin keeps pounding on tin!

BookBeard

Actually that's just how it's stylized in the logo. The product name, as used in the company name and their various trademarks, only capitalizes the first letter.

Kenneth Harris

I cannot!!

Kenneth Harris

Not sure I was around the commenting community for that one. It should be noted that I'm making most comments in jest. This comic has some of the most realistic and healthy responses to most emotional, social, and sexual situations. I clutch my pearls only as a joke.

Adarsh Nednur

I'm shipping it and you can't stop me!!

Green

Hot damn there have been so many extremely cute comics during this storyline

Todd Ellner

Mine wants "conversation talk chat chitchat colloquy" as a passphrase. She is a Thesaurus

BookBeard

Although he did go through a phase where he was trying to connect with his Lego heritage and would only listen to traditional Danish folk music.

Lord Travis Lance the 3rd Matheson esq

Love that Jeph knows that the plural of LEGO is LEGO, but if you want to be technical about it, it is LEGO, not Lego. But hey, got the important language issue sorted.

Nikki

Agreed Sean, it's not a bad cover but it does not hit me in the heart in the same way as Reznor's original did when I was in high school.

Diptych

Scenes from a porn parody of The Italian Job.

Sean Kinlin

I like it okay, but it's not as good as the original. Also the cover by Unwoman is better than the Cash version.

Rhyon Ingalls

Them being platonic confidants is all established, though? Hell, Jeph trolled people shipping them awhile back

BookBeard

They skipped past the montage of Hanners meticulously removing the old sheets, putting on new bedding, arranging the pillows, calling the hazmat disposal team she keeps on speed dial...

Andrea Andrew

So there’s Sven with Hanners, probably not hooking up.

Diptych

Watching Highwaymen videos after Kris's passing and, man, those guys were clearly close but there was also quite the vibes disparity between them. Johnny's respecting the flag, no matter how badly it's been tarnished, while Kris isn't openly calling for a global revolution, he's just saying it would be a good idea.

MikeT

You said 'cover', therefore you pass the test

Ed Marshall

The Shipping of Theseus, a Questionable Content Comment Section Light Novel

Doc Gumby

Which dinosaur is one of YOUR security questions? The triceratops at my bank wants the name of my first pet...

Nikki

I'm gonna be that person who says his cover of "Hurt" is way overrated.

Diptych

But neither of these characters are asexual, as far as we're aware, and we're specifically discussing platonic relationships and not romantic ones?

BookBeard

That's the real reason Richard won't talk to him. Playing guitar in front of a creature with such short arms is just cruel.

David Durant

Nope. One or more asexual people can have a romantic relationship and go on dates just like the rest of us.

Dallas Hicks

I dunno... The cover band I'm in plays "Jackson" and I (the keyboard player) just kinda go to my Happy Place while trundling through that one while the yahoos two-step themselves silly. That one might qualify as overrated. 😜

Sean Kinlin

Richard only listens to Wagner and Strauss.

Edward Clayton Andrew

And then he claim he was just playing his favourite Jon Cage song...

BookBeard

The correct plural is "Legtopi"

Travis Young

One of the things I've always liked about Sven is that, while he's (or was) a bit of a player, he's pretty good about boundaries (clueless a couple of times, see talking to Faye about still being in love with her). And as such, with Hanners' being clearly defined, it's his (perhaps only) lady friend who he can't be attracted to, which means that he can have this kind, wholesome conversation while they're sitting on the bed set aside for sexy times and it not be weird.

Kenneth Harris

I know where those lead to!! Heathens, the lot of you!

Sean Kinlin

He might be putting the doors back on.

Errol Cavit

I have a hard time believing that she thinks it is safe to sit on without collapsing!

Joseph Bonnar

I'm wondering about Momo now.

Jono Hayward

Jeph, I have never loved you more than I did after reading this. Far too many people say “legos”

Bridgette Ryan

Hanners: Is that...? Sven: WD-40 stains. Hanners: how...? Sven: don't ask.

BookBeard

What, have an entirely wholesome and innocent conversation with a friend?

Diptych

I think that's just called 'hanging out'.

BookBeard

I like how the first thing Sven does is check the closet. He learned his lesson. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5423

Kenneth Harris

Hanners deserves better, do not do this!

Michael Boettger

So this is the "ship of Theseus" version of a lego dinosaur?

Bridgette Ryan

Actually, it was Richard the 14th that broke away from the Anglican church over differences in music tastes. The Archbishop was super into the Beatles, and Richard was having none of that! Also, he wanted to divorce his husband.