Will Wil and Penelope's relationship last?

[Is it cold in here?]

I'm kind of worried that they got physical too fast. That can be bad for a relationship. Wil is idealizing Pennelope instead of relating to her as a person. He's mostly OK on her checklist from #1242, but fails the "starving artist" filter.

[SigPig]

I'm going with something unexpected.  I've given up on speculating on these things.

[Aegir]

I chose "Gallivanting gadolinium gagfest". I don't know what gadolinium is, but it sounds funny.

[Zingoleb]

I think it'll be fine because I think Jeph would rather showcase drama elsewhere than on these two fairly secondary characters.

[Is it cold in here?]

Good point: those four or five panels a day strictly limit how much digression Jeph can do.

OTOH maybe it's Pennelope's turn to get more attention.

(Would anyone believe me if I said that "gadolinium" was a medieval stringed instrument, or would they look it up on Wikipedia and discover I was lying?)

[Zingoleb]

It's one of the elements, isn't it?

I swear it's in the song.

[celticgeek]

Yes, I knew it was an element.  Yes, it is in the song.  Yes, I looked it up on wikipedia to prove you wrong.

Gadolinium

The song.

[friend]

yes i am sure it wil. there love is meant to be

[ponderch3rry]

Bah... Penelope was a complete jerk to him in todays comic.

[maddness]

Right now it's looking like she's going to rip his heart out and stomp it in the dirt. 

[BillyxRansom]

I chose "Gallivanting gadolinium gagfest". I don't know what gadolinium is, but it sounds funny.

This.

[LeeC]

Right now it's looking like she's going to rip his heart out and stomp it in the dirt. 

the thought of a succubus highlander shouting "There can only be one!" ripping out a dudes heart and holding it up into the air with bloody letters above her head and a low creepy voice saying "Fatality!" comes to mind

but based off todays comic I think your right. 

[SigPig]

I always wondered what he did for a living.  Apparently nothing.

[Aegir]

Before today's comic, I would've said "yes, they'll last." Now I'm not so sure.

[blitz]

Penelope kinda over-reacted there a bit... 

[Is it cold in here?]

Well, she IS crazy, remember?

Which I thought was unfair at the time, and having a lover turn into a moocher is grounds for getting upset.

[maddness]

Getting upset? Yes, definitely normal in this situation. Calling him a "total fucking loser" with a you-disgust-me look on her face? Not so much.

[Is it cold in here?]

Which implies that it's limerance, not love. If I were thinking straight I'd never say something like what Pennelope said to someone I cared about. That's not even "tough love", it's abuse.

[friend]

penelope is abusive woman, i want to punch her in the liver

[Surgoshan]

You're a good friend.

[TheSkyMovesSideways]

I'm kind of worried that they got physical too fast. That can be bad for a relationship.

Wait, what? 6 months or more is "too fast"?

Seeing how this is my first post, maybe I should skip commenting on that second sentence. Suffice to say that the phrase "puritanical nonsense" would have been used.

[Is it cold in here?]

Two dates, and not knowing where he lived?

[Surgoshan]

Well... to be fair, she did know that he was unemployed.

And a writer.

[djcuddlefish]

OH... I am...  ready for this to be a 'too early for anti-Wil' pragmatisms. but still... I think that penelope needs a stronger man than Wil. Wil makes me want to choke myself on my toothbrush. Wil makes me want to strangle myself with my bath-towel. Wil makes me want to accidentally slip on a bathmat and brain myself on my own fucking toilet.  as a MAN... as a fucking MAN...  Wil makes me want to beat myself into insensibility with the nearest hard or blunt object handy. I love the witing of QC and the characters that have come into play. but I have to speak myself out... speak out against Wil... Wil makes me want to die as a man. not only the little deaths. but all of the big deaths as well. maybe Wil represents a small faction of us... but maybe he represents the faction of your loyal readers that we just don't want to give any weight to. I know that we've all been there. I know that as a reader we've all, (as men) been that man right there. but Wil destroys my soul. I guess that is all that I have to say. I am anti-Wil.

[plethora]

What do you have against bathroom products?

[kitty_Ari]

I dont think Penelope was too hard on him. I cant remember if he ever said he was unemployed but maybe wrong. Though having to borrow money off of Sven to take her out should have told me it was so - And yes, I have spoken like Penelope did, because lets face it, he is as wishy-washey as they come. He needs to Man up, get a job to support himself while writing instead of living off everyones coat-tails...

**known too many people like him, and he makes me mad......

[BryanP]

Bah... Penelope was a complete jerk to him in todays comic.

Meh.  He's an adult with no job and not even making an attempt.  That's his choice to make, (and not bad if you can get away with it) but if that's not the kind of person she wants then she deserves to know. 

[dcnblues]

...And yes, I have spoken like Penelope did, because lets face it, he is as wishy-washey as they come. He needs to Man up, get a job to support himself while writing instead of living off everyones coat-tails...

Bah.  We live in an ignorant, puritanical culture.  I'm with Will, and don't think he deserves what he's getting.  To my mind, there's nothing more ignorant than the belief that having to work to support oneself doesn't (usually) cripple one's creativity.  I'm with Aristotle:

All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind. -Nicomachean Ethics

[quix0te]

I honestly didn't even register the last strip as abuse because Wil is already a punchline.  I think that abuse would be much more warranted NOW, because "I don't have a job and live with my parents" is a very different statement than "I haven't had a job in SIX YEARS".  In the second case, unless he has undeniable sex appeal or other purely physical reasons to stay with him, I'd show his ass the airlock.  Even if the physical side was REALLY good, I don't know what kind of future there is with a guy who lacks the ambition, or even shame, to support himself.

[Is it cold in here?]

I think living off other people when you're able-bodied degrades the soul.

A writer should have life experience in order to write about humans. Jobs are life experience.

On the other hand Maddness was on solid ground pointing out the difference between "I choose not to date people who've chosen the path of the unemployed artist" and saying "You're a total fucking loser!".

[Zingoleb]

OH... I am...  ready for this to be a 'too early for anti-Wil' pragmatisms. but still... I think that penelope needs a stronger man than Wil. Wil makes me want to choke myself on my toothbrush. Wil makes me want to strangle myself with my bath-towel. Wil makes me want to accidentally slip on a bathmat and brain myself on my own fucking toilet.  as a MAN... as a fucking MAN...  Wil makes me want to beat myself into insensibility with the nearest hard or blunt object handy. I love the witing of QC and the characters that have come into play. but I have to speak myself out... speak out against Wil... Wil makes me want to die as a man. not only the little deaths. but all of the big deaths as well. maybe Wil represents a small faction of us... but maybe he represents the faction of your loyal readers that we just don't want to give any weight to. I know that we've all been there. I know that as a reader we've all, (as men) been that man right there. but Wil destroys my soul. I guess that is all that I have to say. I am anti-Wil.

Glad to see that all men must conform to your standards before you accept them.

[djcuddlefish]

OH... I am...  ready for this to be a 'too early for anti-Wil' pragmatisms. but still... I think that penelope needs a stronger man than Wil. Wil makes me want to choke myself on my toothbrush. Wil makes me want to strangle myself with my bath-towel. Wil makes me want to accidentally slip on a bathmat and brain myself on my own fucking toilet.  as a MAN... as a fucking MAN...  Wil makes me want to beat myself into insensibility with the nearest hard or blunt object handy. I love the witing of QC and the characters that have come into play. but I have to speak myself out... speak out against Wil... Wil makes me want to die as a man. not only the little deaths. but all of the big deaths as well. maybe Wil represents a small faction of us... but maybe he represents the faction of your loyal readers that we just don't want to give any weight to. I know that we've all been there. I know that as a reader we've all, (as men) been that man right there. but Wil destroys my soul. I guess that is all that I have to say. I am anti-Wil.

Glad to see that all men must conform to your standards before you accept them.

meh... being a man in the first place is a base standard to work with. Wil doesn't really fit the bill. to throw a reasonable comparison out there, Marten wasn't exactly the strongest of us all either. but he can still support himself as he needs to while still persuing avenues for his creativity (the band and his music blog) and can stand up for himself without mewling and sniveling and begging people not to leave him.  which is fine really. if the character needs to be there for the storyliine than the character needs to be there. that's up to Jeph. doesn't mean I have to like the character at all. basically the character of Wil consistently makes me gag. which could well be the entire point.

[Is it cold in here?]

If Wil isn't a man, what is he?

"Boy" is a supportable answer. He's not meeting the mainstream culture's definition of adult responsibility, which includes self-support.

I don't know whether I'd go for that interpretation, but he wouldn't be the only character who has some childlike characteristics.

[Zingoleb]

Name one character that doesn't show childlike qualities. Just one.

[Is it cold in here?]

Jeph said once that none of them could be considered mature, but Veronica Reed seems pretty together.

[maddness]

I don't know ... this is the woman that sent her son a pink "I AM THE PRETTIEST PRINCESS" t-shirt.

[Random832]

Jeph said once that none of them could be considered mature, but Veronica Reed seems pretty together.

He might have just meant the main cast, rather than including their parents.

[shatterednoises]

Ah, the man-boy Penelope's trying to fix.  And this will work because?

[Is it cold in here?]

Good point. If it winds up working better than the usual attempt to change a partner, it will be because Wil is honest about his limitations and doesn't take Pennelope for granted.

[nichidani]

i'm not sure if it'll work or not, honestly. penelope can take a fair amount of shit before she breaks down or even says anything about it... such as abuse from her fellow co-workers when she started at CoD (however, i don't see how anyone around faye could NOT take a fair amount of shit), so i don't think this alone will be enough to sabotage their relationship. besides, it isn't as though he shows no initiative toward getting a job. i suppose we'll just have to see!

[BinDerSmokDat]

I think that Penelope will get pregnant! think about it, a preggers Penny wandering around the O' Doom, the preggers jokes, the artistic stretch (marks?) of creating a  pregnant character, 'splainin childbirth to Hanners, (please do a strip mentioning episiotomies). The material it would generate is endless, then Penny and Will stuck with a kid, dealing with life, I mean c'mon someone in this group needs to grow up and settle down at some point so why not some secondary characters? Everyone else coudl still rut like minxes with no consequences, but Will and Penny could be the hipster cautionary tale of what happens when you have kids and get banished to suburbia.

I will take full credit for this story line, let me know if you need more gags Jeph!

[Zingoleb]

Well, you are pretty good at making me gag. Writing gags, I mean. My bad.

What makes you think that Jeph needs your help in where the story goes?

[Is it cold in here?]

I just noticed something. Back in 1259, Sven told Wil that it was just infatuation.

[nichidani]

He's mostly OK on her checklist from #1242, but fails the "starving artist" filter.

the messed up thing about girls is a lot of them say they will never do something, and go right on and do it anyway. that especially relates to relationships.

[BinDerSmokDat]

Well, you are pretty good at making me gag. Writing gags, I mean. My bad.

What makes you think that Jeph needs your help in where the story goes?

Because he obviously hasn't had the brilliant idea of a pregnant character storyline yet, so therefore he will need my help. Better yet Penelope gets pregnant, settles down with Will and when the baby is born he looks like...GASP! Pintsize! It turns out Pintsize has nanites capable of carrying a technology based DNA for replication. Being a military chassis PC, the original Pentagon plan was for the anthro PC's to be able to replicate behind enemy lines.

This stuff is genius! Why WOULDN'T Jeph come begging for plot help?

[pwhodges]

when the baby is born he looks like...GASP! Pintsize!

That's already been done, in a guest strip; also here; there's also been pregnant Dora.  Do keep up.

[shatterednoises]

If we want to stay somewhat within the bonds of plausibility, a preggers Penelope storyline would end in heartbreak.  Not only does Wil not want to succumb to the "mundane" and "grownup" world, he's also not ever had to actually supply for his own needs.  At least Marten never mooched off others even when he made choices that were likely to pauperize him.  So he's most certainly fail at fatherhood.  The pressures of a family would prove too much for him and he'd probably bail.

[Aegir]

OH... I am...  ready for this to be a 'too early for anti-Wil' pragmatisms. but still... I think that penelope needs a stronger man than Wil. Wil makes me want to choke myself on my toothbrush. Wil makes me want to strangle myself with my bath-towel. Wil makes me want to accidentally slip on a bathmat and brain myself on my own fucking toilet.  as a MAN... as a fucking MAN...  Wil makes me want to beat myself into insensibility with the nearest hard or blunt object handy. I love the witing of QC and the characters that have come into play. but I have to speak myself out... speak out against Wil... Wil makes me want to die as a man. not only the little deaths. but all of the big deaths as well. maybe Wil represents a small faction of us... but maybe he represents the faction of your loyal readers that we just don't want to give any weight to. I know that we've all been there. I know that as a reader we've all, (as men) been that man right there. but Wil destroys my soul. I guess that is all that I have to say. I am anti-Wil.

People like you are why I hate having a penis.

[BinDerSmokDat]

when the baby is born he looks like...GASP! Pintsize!

That's already been done, in a guest strip; also here; there's also been pregnant Dora.  Do keep up.

That wasn't canon. It was a guest strip and a day dream. OK, pintsize as the father is a stretch, I'll admit I was going gonzo in order to make Penny pregnant with Will's baby sound more palatable BUT I think a pregnant Penny is a good storyline. Heck, at the pace of life in QC, she'd be pregnant for a good 2 years.

[danman]

Why exactly ? The previous poster is right i would say. Will has no job, no reasonable plans to get one - he is searching only because Penny (implicitly) ordered him to. He has some idea about writing poetry, but there are two problems - a) it is difficult to make a living doing anything like that, b) If he will not work, deal with problems of common people, whatever he will write will be unappealing to most of us, since he will be far from the important issues - art should serve a social function, trying to improve society.

As it was pointed out already, Penny is probably searching for somebody much more reliable and stable. It is still possible that Will will () improve under her influence, and become a 'proper man' but otherwise, she will most likely get too fed up with his ineptness.
(Also this means that except for some very weird accident , she will be unlikely to get pregnant (therefore in QC-verse it just might happen))

Also , saying these things is not merely reflecting an idea within our society - not being able to take care of yourself is a biological putoff, just like being a cripple (not saying that people with disabilities are necessarily  unworthy in this respect, just pointing out that that particular trait is obviously one of the negatives about any such afflicted person) since such person is unlikely to ensure a good future for the common offspring Imagine a caveman who sucked at hunting and lived from others' scraps instead - would any cavewoman be interested in getting involved with him?
If Will lived somehow on his own, this would be less problematic even if the source of his living was social security, but currently he seems to leech his family, and is likely to be a similar burden on Penny if they lived together.