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boom boom tssh, boom boom tssh
Comments (104)
Hey Jeph, I reread this page and I was just appreciating the blur that you put on Roko's coloring. It's so subtle from a technical standpoint but it really drives the feeling home!
I like the reversal of the normal phrasing of "is that a [blank] in your pocket or are you just happy to see me." Probably is an indicator of character or something, I dunno
I mean I'm pretty sure it's referencing Roko's bread fetish - she'd be more excited about a surprise baguette than any "happy to see you"!
As a trans person, this comic hits reaaalllly hard. I couldn't stand mirror or being photographed for the longest time.
So flipping through the archives, I relearned that Beeps at some point in the past moved from her original body to a second one—and that her frequent (or possibly continual) dissociative episodes never truly abated, thus she shifted again into a third body (the current one) which seems to have allowed her to stabilize. The narrative never goes into what prompted the original switch. (3952) Also, Roko asked Yay if they would be open to helping her stabilize, much in the way that Yay helped Bubbles with her locked away memories. Yay smugly acknowledged that they could do pretty much anything, but that helping Bubbles was already a deep stretch to their ethical core and that helping Roko in such a way would be at least a bridge too far. (3922-3923)
I misread what you had written at first, and was thinking you'd said Roko had switched to a 3rd body at some point, but you're right. Beeps did say that she herself was on her 3rd body because she could never adapt to her 2nd body, and it was never explained why she had to change bodies in the first place. I wonder if we'll learn a little more about that at this point, if Beeps can just stop trying to rap. (Ugh. I've experienced people doing those kind of horrid attempts at rapping, while expecting everyone around them to pretend they're good at it. It's not pretty.)
So my impression of the image in the mirror sent me on a bit of a chase through the archives last night, and I really think what she's seeing in the mirror is her self-image based on her old body. That's why this hit her so hard and abruptly. I think everyone noticed the hair color is different and the skin color is different, but I think the features are also subtly different - more angular than she's drawn now - and closer to how she looked before the accident. (Or perhaps how she thought she looked before.) It's hard to be sure because Roko's hair style and way of carrying herself has changed since she quit the police force, and Jeph's drawing style has changed a lot since the earlier days, but compare the panel 3 appearance of Roko in the mirror, and Roko now in the other panels, to her old self in: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3415 I think the mirror image is considerably closer to her old look. I speculate that's because it's how she still thinks of herself and so that's what she sees momentarily. Mirrors are strange and people usually project a lot about their own self image when they look into them.
This makes a lot of sense - I was trying to figure out panel three, and I think you hit it on the head.
I just saw a posting that "Body dysmorphia is so weird because you can hook up with someone who is HOT and they think you're hot too but you're still awww this is sweet of them to be doing community service"
Is that a picture of an adolescent Beepatrice in the background?
I think that is just a picture of Beeps. ~<3
Um, nice top, Roku. (¿¿There's an actual _dress_ somewhere??)
I believe the rest of that dress was devoured by its cannabalistic sisters.
By the way, just to mention it... That dress IS abridged!
Ever so slightly forward Roko.
Poor Roko. Also, daaaaannng. But mainly, poor Roko.
Boop's raps are getting better tho
Silver linings
Oh yeah I forgot she's got a bit of a bread kink
Roko may be a mess, but she's a HOT mess! 😎 [gets violently yanked off stage] Terrible (in both morality and quality) jokes aside, I really hope something good happens for Roko soon, my heart aches for her. 😞
Dawww. (But, yeah)
Oof, poor Roko. Not to nitpick, but the mirror image looks a bit odd here. Ie Roko’s “zigzag fringe” (not sure of the correct name!) is on the wrong side of her face. The current art looks as if Roko has been rotated rather than reflected.
Unless, of course, it's a smart mirror...
I'm going to start using 'my registration is off' whenever I have a (mild compared to Roko) dissociative episode
I feel like it has been a long while since Roko last had a dissociative episode. Sad to see it happen, I hope she can ride it through!
As someone that has both dysphoria and dissociative issues; yeah, it's pretty awful and hits you right when you wish I wouldn't.
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Hang in there, Roko buddy :( I don't know the first thing about this but, um, you can, bite my arm, if it helps?
I hope this isn't insensitive for real-world folks with dysphoria issues but I keep wondering for Roko whether if her problem is caused by being in a different body to the one she had pre-Crushbot then isn't the solution to sell the one she's got and buy one of those? Go back to her "real" body.
According to Lemon, they don't make that model anymore. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3910
oof. Dysphoria is a bitch. good luck Roko.
Would Roko prefer a baguette?
I mean… either would be nice depending on the mood
I have a theory that she would feel better if all the nice robot ladies cuddled her. Form an orderly queue.
Also call Yay and have some Yays form an orderly queue.
Jeff hypes us up like crazy on Roko in meet little black dress, then in a span of 30 seconds me gives it to us and then immediately murders the robo-boner with the bad feels... Amazingly done, Jeff
Roko’s sensorium is out of harmonics with her CPU. (Unlike humans, sadly) AI chassis dysmorphia can be retuned pretty easily! Roko I know the salespeople weren’t very knowledgeable but please ask other with knowledge, you don’t have to live like this.
But whatever chassis she gets won't be her original body, which she very much identified with, and that seems to be the main problem she has with it.
love the dress, Sad at the episode, Feeling guilty.
Feeling conflicted. Roko is rocking the dress and I am sad for her.
: (
I can't bring myself to "like" this page. Yes, it's brilliantly done, but my heart is breaking for Roko.
JEPH YOU TAUNT US THEN GIVE US THE SAD >:( WHYYYYYY
First time.jpg?
Does Beepatrice know about Roko’s episodes? I don’t recall if she’s privy to this side of Roko.
Yes, she was there when Roko had an episode at the Body Hub place (after May got her new body). Hopefully, she held onto that vial of horrible fluid that Lemon used to help talk Roko down then.
1) Poor Roko 2) Interesting change in the art when the dysphoria kicked in.
Dysphoria is so shitty, IS SO SHIIITY!! (say/sing that to Toxity SOAD)
Good goal! I hope you get to where you'll really feel like you.
I do love the effect you use to portray the disassociation.
Beeps is helping!!
Beeps, please
Jeph, I want you to know that if I DO go to hell, it will be for liking this page too much.
Jeph, really? We ask for the dress, and you are like, "sure, but I'll make sure you regret it"
was just thinking it's been a while since Roko had an episode
Roko's dissociation sounds like an angry Enderman in my head.
Oh, Roko, noooo! 😢
Also, poor Roko :(
What's going on with her eyes in the first panel? Can she change it willingly, or is it simply miscolored?
It’s the angle — if you look at a person in direct profile, you’re not looking AT their irises, but looking THROUGH their corneas (sideways). I find it particularly obvious with my cats.
She should have said "... and I *swear* I won't stare at your derrière"
And it's "boom boom tush, boom boom tush"
called it :(
A baguette? She has some interesting views on size. Like is she intending to be hit on by sentient horses?
Except she’s literally asking if “her date” brought bread to the party.
I have friends who suffer from dysphoria like this. I’ve personally witnessed it ranging from mild disgust with their appearance, to a full blown mental break down. One of them constantly changes their presentation (gender fluid, much like Yay). And, occasionally, even goes as far as changing their legal name (I’ve known them by three different names since meeting them). I can only offer my love and support in times like this. Could you imagine looking in a mirror, and seeing someone else? That’d be a horrifying experience. I’m grateful I don’t experience this. My heart goes out to all of those who do.
I love how real Roko's problem feels -- even though it's an invented disease, it's a great metaphor for human mental health challenges. You get coping strategies, you get treatment, you work on it, you backslide, you get better... but it never really fully goes away.
It's not a made up condition unfortunately, just the circumstances around it are.
Firstly, i need to unload this: DAAAAAAAAAANGG now that being said Roko NOOOOOOOOOOO you were doing so well
Crud. I was just wondering about how her body disassociation was going.
I'd imagine there are AI psychologists in the QCverse. Do they not have robo-meds to handle AI mental illnesses?
Yay is able to put an individual, AI or human, into a sleep like state. Beyond that there is also Lemon who is a counselor and is sister to Melon so should be able to help
I have to say, the visual way the dissociative episode is cued feels profoundly spot-on. And it makes me really wish I could help her.
Roko looking good in that LBD, really sucks it triggered a dissociative episode.
For real
[Friday day-umn.gif]
Dammit I spoke too soon.
Oh no, it was both daaaaang and dang. :(
Jeph, are you teasing fans with potential Roko pinup, then giving it to them in a way they don't feel comfortable enjoying? Yes, you are.
Lemurs?
Every time her dissociative episodes are brought up, I have to look up what exactly those are, & I am endlessly grateful for that.
Beeps is a great friend.
Nooooo. Poor Roko.
welcome to the future, where even the robots have anxiety
That’s how we know they’re sentient.
baguette or happiness-both are good things
Oh I know that feeling
But what if Beeps comes up with a rap that totally cures Roko's dissociative issues? It could happen! This is the QC universe, after all. There is literally a cloaked emu out there somewhere. Anything could happen.
Gonna need a link to Beeps' soundcloud
Hey jeph just wanted to say great fuckin job on this storyline
1. You'll get through this, Roko, be strong girl. 2. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn she fine.
oh noooo
Hopefully Yay or someone can swoop in and bring her back to ground.
Can't just have Yay solve all problems tho
Roko is vibrating hard. But dang girl, she's rocking that dress
If I was having a dissociative episode and heard Beeps rapping, my consciousness would climb the rest of the way out of my body
"ight Imma head out"
Daaaaaaamn and daaaaaaaamn
In very different tones of voice.
Poor Roko. But that dress does look good.
On one hand, I like that dress. On the other, Roko no! Please hang in there!
Noooo
Roko nooooo
Oh nooo