The Older, Wiser Sister
Comments (63)
There's a cosmic difference between being ace and being so terrified of physical contact that you cannot even think about sexual intimacy.
tbf, the implication has long been that both apply separately in Hanners' case.
Gentle reminder to everyone that gender identity and sexual orientation are separate things.
fun fact: I started reading this comic because an asexuality podcast were discussing if Hanners was ace, this was of the era where Winslow was an iPod and Marigold was new. my guess is it was 2011 or 12 or thereabouts
Damn, now I want to know what podcast that was and whether it's still listenable! (Though I think Marigold was introduced as a character sometime in the mid-late 00s; she's been around a while).
Ayo, if jumping to conclusions was an Olympic sport, you'd get the gold medal and a world record.
They have separate scores for distance and speed, Ayo wins both :)
Has anyone claimed Spectrum of Aceness as a band name?
Ace of Base is the closest to it I think
I can't wait to see where all this goes, I cannot begin to predict a thing
What a topic to bring up to your sister though Ayo. “Since I don’t think you jack off…..” 🤣
But it would be completely like Ayo.
TIL that the QC community has a vibrant Aro/Ace following. Which honestly doesn't even sightly surprise me now that I think about it considering how exceptional a character Hannalore actually is. Hello fellow people on the spectrum, nice to meet y'all.
Purely speaking for myself, I started reading QC long before I had any inkling that I was ace (or queer at all) and before it had any particular ace rep. I've kept reading it because it's an extremely good webcomic with funny, lovable characters who are relatable and often queer, but I wasn't trying to seek out ace rep here. I've often thought of QC as a comic pretty lacking in ace rep (while I think Hanners may be ace, it's not been a focus of her character exactly and apart from Hanners, before Yemisi, we pretty much had... Brun?) but it didn't bother me too much because I felt like Jeph was interested in writing about sexual (and also romantic) connections. I was low-key hoping for more ace cast members to make it into QC, but only low-key. All of which is to say that I'm not really here because of a specific character or characters or looking for ace depictions. Though the strong found family themes and vibes in QC *are* a big draw.
as someone with OCD on the ace spectrum this brings me great joy. and I can confirm many of us do still jack off and have sex lol
I've been waiting for this conversation?!! I love Yemisi and I was really hoping asexuality as a topic would find it's way to Hannelore! I can't describe how excited I am to see such awesome acespec rep in my favorite media 😭
Opened me up like a can-opener. As my over-commenting today may indicate. Ace is an interesting place, both in QC and in me, and I'm eager for both arcs. Jeph brings in so much, then does so much with it. I think he may have a stealth PhD in psych. Or he could simply be going where his characters drag him, hanging on for dear life, along with the rest of us. I've written two fan-fic novels (in the ST:TNG universe) where the characters totally took over, and I became the secretary for their dictation (an amanuensis, to be precise). So friggin' weird. Heh. My second novel came after I intentionally killed the protagonist at the end of the first novel. When he snuck into my dreams and said, "I'm not dead yet! Write the story to make it so." And I did. I really wonder who writes QC. Jeph certainly draws it, but I'm certain he's not always in charge of the story.
wait sorry Hanners *just* talked about fapping it to sexy firemen. OK, that's not exactly what she said, but she talked about finding firemen sexy. I'm not saying it's impossible Hanners is ace -- only Hanners can tell us! -- but I feel like Ayo made a big jump from "you're not into Sven" to "you must be ace"
Somehow, I can't hold the words "fap" and "Hanners" in my mind at the same time. Perhaps "rub" instead? Yes, much better.
It's annoying how often Ace is described as sex-repulsed.
Yeah, I really appreciate that they're acknowledging the spectrum here. Hannelore absolutely experiences attraction, just with very distinct asterisks. "Sex sounds cool but fluids are gross" isn't that far off from how I feel sometimes.
I'm always exhausted every time I read a strip with Ayo talking. It's like I've just read a 50-page graphic novel with each panel 3/4 full of speech bubbles, all from one character. Or, how's this, when you're at a party and there's this one person who is talking to you non-stop and you don't really want them to but you're too polite to walk away so you endure because you like them. But to be clear, I really like Ayo and the energy she brings to QC.
As a person who talks a lot, I'm pretty relieved to see that "But to be clear, I really like Ayo" in the end ^^;
I guess we all see some of ourselves in Ayo. One knows she cares
Not me! Jesus. Like, let things breathe a second, and use your noodle more than your MOUTH.
I’m sure I could come around to liking Ayo but I am *not* there right now. Yikes
She really just has no filter, does she? I find her fun to watch from a distance, but I don't know how well I'd do with actually having to interact with her.
Next Week: Steve is in Italy to oversee the finishing touches for the 2026 Winter Olympics and the fact that his towering Sfogliatella has collapsed is not a good omen for completing the hockey arena on time.
Yes, a fallen Sfogliatella is just a cannoli, amirite?
Being ace isn't just one thing. For some, it's having no interest in anything sexual, specifically including orgasms. For others, it may be the lack of desire to have sex or physical intimacy with others, while having a flourishing solitary sex life. Or anything and everything in-between. I once had a gay ace friend (yup, ace folks can have orientations too) who could enjoy simultaneous masturbation with someone without any physical contact. She called it the best 3D porn ever. I struggled to understand how someone could be that horny and not want to touch someone else who was also that horny. Took me a little while to really feel just how OK and happy she was, as she was. I wonder where Ayo's sister and Hanners would fall on that spectrum. I suspect on opposite ends, but enquiring minds want to know! I'm now thinking ace-shipping can be a thing. And the QC version will be epic!
I've been finding it interesting that the only real "criteria" is lack of sexual attraction, but most of the discourse about it I've seen lately has been more about lack of interest in sex whatsoever and the assumption that all aces are the same way.
Maybe its sexist of me, but I call it jilling when women do it 😅
That's what my lesbian friends have called it. Right when they start rubbing their jeans in public when something sweet walks by. Yes, most of my lesbian friends are butch as hell. Which just got me thinking. Cis women who like to hang out with gay men have been called "fag hags". What is the term for cis men who like to hang out with butch lesbians? Is there even a word for it? Strange, after all these years, I haven't thought about that until just now.
I'm glad she's just a fictional character because people who take it upon themselves to "diagnose" everyone else with everything, not to mention trying to force a connection based on "understanding" them, are very frustrating to deal with. Which is to say, great writing, Jeph
She has discovered new boxes and wishes to put people into those boxes in order to make all new sudden leaps of understanding about the world. It's a start, at least.
Hannelore seems to be channeling Marten's reaction to Gordon: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2335
Wow, what a callback. I vividly remember that arc. Robot spider on the head freaked me out. A little. Pintsize freaked me out way, way more.
poor hanners but i will admit as an asexual myself ive always just kinda thrown hanners under that umbrella in my head so its cool to see it addressed
She could be like me. I've been diagnosed with OCD, Depression, BPD, anxiety disorder (and one I always forget but it's a different one almost every time) and I'm an adult survivor of child sexual abuse. Mt response sexually is so effed up I'm functionally ace even if it's not in my head space.
Following up "I get it if you don't want to talk about it" with "I dunno if she jacks off at all" is definitely... a choice
I don't think she's choosing much. Mostly I think her brain is on autopilot, doing its own thing.
Ayo is a wreeeeckinggg balllll
Ayo has a very… special… mind.
Dear Ayo, you are so mercifully free of the ravages of intelligence.
Hahaha, you win
Ayo, buddy, this lesson doesn't seem to have sunk in. When your sister refused to answer that question it wasn't an invitation to loudly speculate about it in public. The answer was, is, and will continue to be, none of your business. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5152
Also, Iris exists in a state of constantly orgasmic experience.
i gotta admit, it's always a little tiresome checking my favorite webcomic, foolishly opening the comments, and seeing 3 or 4 people bemoaning how annoying (insert character here) is. was it always like this? y'all remember how socially inept faye was at the start? marigold? pintsize, for chrissakes? has this comic not always been about people gradually learning to do better? some of y'all are impatient
she’s also very young. I’m 34 now and it took me so long to understand what boundaries truly are, particularly as an ND person. I’m still learning all the time. I think she understands that boundaries are a thing but I don’t think she knows she’s consistently crossing them in many different ways
I mean, it's not like losing one's precious bodily essence reduces one's faculties ... does it?
Re her OCD, In Hanners' case could it be about getting bodily fluids (anyone's, mind you) on her epidermis?
I'd join in on this conversation, but I can't talk about my masturbation habits in public. Court order.
Same, buddy! *raises hand for a high-five, then reconsiders*
I also don't know if my sibling masturbates but I'm pretty sure that's because growing up, our bedrooms never shared a wall
Dammit. Same here. And not until this moment have I ever thought about that. Thanks, Fart Captor!
“Ayo’s just trying to help” “Ayo’s just trying to help” “Ayo’s just trying to help” Just keep saying that to yourself, Hanners.
This takes me back round to the idea that Ayo and Anh really need to find an apartment together. Aside from all the practical problems it’d solve, Anh is one person who’d find Ayo *less* stressful than the social life she’s used to, and could just enjoy herself sarcastically steering Ayo in the right direction.
This one got me. 🤣 Ayo, you sweet summer child. At least you're trying.
Very, very trying.
Jacking off makes you smarter except when it doesn't. Then it's a sport
Or until it gets you friction burns, a rash, and an infection.
Oh Ayo... She doesn't see that Hanners just wants her to shut up.
Hanners isn’t alone.