Bloop
RIP phone
Comments (78)
This is not unlike my experience at grad school. In fact, I'd go so far to say that every grad student feels these feels.
Grad school was OK, but man, did it come on strong as a postdoc
The horror of this is that Liz has convinced herself that she's a failure when in fact she has been failed.
I don't know that she thinks she's a failure. She just has no idea what it is she's supposed to be succeeding at. Without a target, it's hard to know which way to shoot.
It's the red scribbles "STUPID" at the bottom of the whiteboard which get to me. Sometimes we make our own hell. (I'm a lot better at not doing that, these days, but I still do.)
A shower and clean clothing would do her wonders.
So did CubeTown dye the black cubes white at some point between panels 1 and 2? Or is that a lighting mistake?
It's Cubetown. Although, it *could* be a mistake, I think Jeph can just as easily blame "rogue science experiment(s)" and have it be believable here.
I love how Liz's eyes go all lizardy when she's showing negative emotions!
Cubetown needs to invest in a therapist.
Yes, definitely
Truly exceptional goblining tho
I really, really hope that in the background, Claire is explaining to Moray that this particular gap in her organisational flowchart really needs to be filled by a stealthy feral science goblin.
Well, she doesn't now.
I assume this is how comics are made.
More or less
HONEY! <3
I think we're still missing a few steps between this and "now", that's the hint of the comic strip numbers. She hasn't found a goal yet but I'm a little worried by the whiteboard which suggests she eventually makes up her own goal.
Are we interpreting this a Elizabeth telling Marten about all of this? I mean, I can see it. Marten is totally the listening in kind of person who one might confide in.
I mean... It seems very unlikely that someone like that would suddenly open up emotionally about all the problems they've been having for the last two years to a complete stranger...
I can just picture how this conversation is going in real time: "I've been staring at a blank screen with no sense of purpose or direction for the last two years. I'm frustrated with myself because I haven't accomplished anything noteworthy in this time and have too much pride to ask for help. I've made no friends and have been actively avoiding my family like the plague because I'm secretly ashamed of myself for not living up to their expectations. I have two PhD's, but neither have helped me learn how to adult. I keep hoping that one day I'll make or discover something innovative and exciting, but so far that day has yet to come. The only reason I keep going is because I have zero accountability for my time and productivity. I am but a lowly goblin and do not wish this existence on anyone else. That is why Claire should turn down this job!"
I have a feeling that you missed the last point. I don't think she doesn't want Claire to experience what she did. She doesn't want Claire to uncover that she's beed doing nothing for so long. She's afraid of being discovered as a "fraud" and not a genius
Oh, poor Dr. Goblin!
I've been Liz. Not exactly, of course. (Cubetown didn't exist in the 1970s.) I was a bright teen who dug myself a big hole after early (high school) graduation, though.
A strip rich in emotion and detail :)
IQ of 300, EQ of 10. Poor poor baby.
Speaking as a gifted, homeschooled person, I can relate.
Well clearly this place needs a mental health department if she’s been left in isolation with no direction and has clearly gone feral.
I e been managing people for over a decade now and this strip is pushing me dangerously close to hypertension territory 😠
Ayup, I hear you.
Now it all makes perfect sense. Somebody give this child a goal indicative of her degrees and a hug
Ok… Couple of takes on this. Not sure why exactly Liz wants Claire to not take the job, could be warning in case the same thing happens to Claire (unlikely, Claire has a goal), could be because she doesn’t want to be caught out (I think she’d be relived if she was), could be because she knows how much shit goes on and is concerned for Claire’s wellbeing (doesn’t seem that considerate of other people). Either way, I think Claire would raise to the occasion.
Marten may wish to talk to as many other humans as possible, to compare their take on Cubetown and if they know any other people like Elizabeth. Just to try to get a handle on what Claire in getting into.
As Duke Ellison once said, “Don’t give me more time, give me a deadline.” Or something like that.
Oh… Elizabeth… ☹️
Yikes. I think she wants Claire to leave because Cubetown is all just layers on layers of this stuff and she's going to get sucked into it and go nuts if she tries to fix everything.
I'm not sure Dr. Goblin the necessary empathy for that to be the motivation, but IS one hundred percent true.
Well, okay, now this is a story about emotional neglect of a child.
I feel this. Give me a blank sheet of paper and say “draw whatever you want” and that paper’s staying blank for an uncomfortably long time. Give me a blank sheet of paper and even the tiniest prompt like “draw a dog” and I’ll create a whole scene around that dog.
I recall a trick for writer's block where you just start typing stuff. Lists of dog breeds, holidays, rock types, whatever. Sooner or later you find you've started a story just from boredom.
At least she got a bigger screen. I mean, it's not very big, but it's bigger.
I can see why she tried "Just trust me on this" on Marten. She's grown comfortable in the hole that she's dug herself into, but actually saying that would make her acknowledge just how unhealthy her situation is. Claire taking the job would mean that scariest-of-all-things: change.
See, shit like this is why I retired.
This is all on the first day. Yes, it says "six months", but maybe she came here directly after finals, skipping the graduation ceremony.
"Can't accept a diploma from someone stupider than me." . . . I'll go away now.
What's on Liz's arms? If it was one side I'd assume insulin pump or something but idk what that's about and I'm curious!
There's one on each arm, maybe tattoos?
Kids shouldn't have jobs.
It's not exactly crystal clear how old she is in this strip, the start of the flashback she was referred to as "a child prodigy" and she tells everyone that she's not a child anymore, which is a little odd if she's not child age or at least much much younger/has less job experience than her colleagues
Skin color in panels 1 and 3 is different
Not sure what you're looking at, but I even pulled it up in an image editor, and there's no difference.
"Appleboom"? Her name even hints at a cell phone exploding.
This is clearly commentary about how gifted kids take these things upon themselves because they never have peers to work/socialize with. After a while they think that being by themselves is "normal".
Homeschooled, no doubt.
The "I work alone and have nobody to bounce ideas off of" feeling sucks and I feel like she'd benefit from having literally anybody to talk to.
There are tons of people to talk to if she just would though. This ain't Cubetown's fault.
Wow. This is shouting "Mental/emotional health crisis" and "seriously messed up place to work" if she was just given an office and no guidance/boss/someone who is actually responsible enough to check in on her. It's hard to see Cubetown for all the red flag.
Moray is the boss checking on her who would probably try to provide guidance if she wasn't banished immediately in every conversation
So goblins fear change. I thought we knew that though
Huge case of Gifted Child Syndrome
Ah yes, Elizabeth's slow but inevitable descent into madness.
... and to an office in the basement.
Yeah so far it seems like Liz desperately needs Claire.
RIP phone. Cell service for the dead. Very low rates.
Wow. She really deteriorated. I hope Liz will be okay.
Moray's aural memory of "phone against a wall" implies a lot about Cubetown.
What's... been going on with the comic numbers over the past couple days? I feel like I'm shifting back and forth in time.
Two theories: they either have to do with when these events happened in relation to Marten and Claire’s journey to Cubetown, or they’re to help denote the order in which the events of Liz’s story are being related to Marten. Either way can’t wait to hear why Claire can NOT become the Librarian of Cubetown
I’ve been in work positions like this before, where they don’t give you any guidance, then want updates on projects you didn’t even know were part of your job. The stress is immense, and might have something to do with why sociopaths are so good at business.
This, all over. One such place I worked, I got the gist of "free" working and took the mantle of some necessary looking stuff. What I didn't realise was that there were a lot of fires that needed putting out as well, so I would spend 75% of my days putting fires out, and 25% on project work. Then was penalised for working on "low value work", things better left to people on a lower pay grade. But they worked on other things, and things would just stop working. I resigned when I found myself fighting such fires on Dec 26th and worked out this wasn't a sustainable job. Slightly over a decade later, still makes me really angry.
Liz, sweetie, you can ask for help! You really don't need to do everything on your own!
"What? Ask for help from people stupider than me?" . . . "Go away!"
Oh no. Cubetown doesn't have a therapist on the island, does it?
I wouldn't trust a therapist in the Lord of the Flies research island!
Seems like this kid is exactly the sort of "problem" Claire is being brought in to solve.
And THAT is why she can’t take the job. (No, I don’t know what that means, but it sounded appropriate.)
They need hugs
"I'm supposed to tolerate hugs from people stupider than me?" . . . "GO AWAY!"