james_nicoll

That friggin' Lovecraft reference came out of nowhere. I wonder if that punchline gets any funnier if we change mythologies.

"It sounded like a swan, crashing a sorority party."
"It sounded like a red-painted arrow, crashing a sorority party."

Wait, I got it.

"It sounded like a bunch of Benjamites, crashing a Levite sorority party."

She's been wearing that shirt for several strips now.

If she hadn't, I'd call a continuity error.

There was a rash of suicides in the NYU - Bobst Library earlier this decade. They had to fence in the upper floors' galleries that surround the central entry court. Too many students had thrown themselves over the banisters.

It was longer ago than that, wasn't it? I remember hearing about it when I was a student there ('96-'99). It became a verb: "What happened to Jim?" "He bobsted." "Oh, bummer."

The library's tile floor is designed so that from above you get the optical illusion of spikes pointing up, to discourage jumpers.

There was another rash of suicides more recently that that, starting in 2004 - 005 - 2006, and more you didn't hear about, as they managed to keep the terrible events from the newsies. But spending as much time in Bobst as I do -- and it's right here -- we got first-hand reports. It was as awful for the staff as it was for the students and students' families.

I didn't think that you were being flippant, really.

After all -- student humor, like that of the military and medical world, is like that. And this isn't intended to be flippant either. For students in so many ways, particularly these days, and at school that are as competitive and expensive as NYU, these are matters of life and death, particularly as perceived via lives not yet mature and still so much in flux.

I was interviewing the head librarian and acting director the morning after the second one in this group, which took place on a holiday weekend. She was literally shaking. She was trying so hard not to talk about it, but she told me she saw the shattered body.

Love, C.

And people reckon it's a nice quiet job. Believe me, it isn't. I've never had anything that bad happen in the libraries I've worked in, but I've had a few bad experiences. Friends have had worse.

Until you pointed it out, I hadn't noticed the shirt either.

I had noticed her shirt a few days ago, and then wondered how old she was in 2009. Then I wondered what year it is, since QC comic time is much slower than real time.

Later, I wondered whether Readercon sells t-shirts. I know Boskone and Arisia do, but Readercon is sometimes not like the others.

Then I wondered how much time I need to spend wondering about comic strip consistency.

A quick google turns up the 2009 program but no picture of what their t-shirt looked like, or if they had one. I note that the shirt in the comic is quite plain, without art or even the logo. That's not necessarily a bad thing; I don't think you could wear the ReaderCon logo on a collage campus without opening yourself to goatse jokes.

QC seems to be like most comics, it's set in the "continuous present." Time passes slower, but the background conditions always represent the current year, give or take say 6 months like this strip, which is set in the Summer. I think Claire would have been 18 in 2009 if you assume this is either Summer 2012 or Summer 2013, since I think she's supposed to be 22.

Even if our Readercon doesn't sell t-shirts, the one on Earth-QC might.

Readercon staff is now excitedly discussing the comic strip, and tshirts. No promises, though. ;)