Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Marigold and Dale's relationship developments!

14 (16.1%)

Marten and Claire's friendship development!

27 (31%)

Marten's Two Dads!

0 (0%)

Marten's Mom and her mid-life crisis

1 (1.1%)

Steve eating cereal! (If you forgot: strip 2407)

5 (5.7%)

Marten's 8-string guitar

2 (2.3%)

Forgotten characters! (The fairy, Mieville, Roger, Amir, Penelope, Cosette)

2 (2.3%)

Clinton reveals non-consensual snuggles!

0 (0%)

Give peas a chance!

2 (2.3%)

Angus' "Nightly Show" audition dreams (and Faye's issues over it)

3 (3.4%)

Deathmole (the "real" band and the Kickstarter)

4 (4.6%)

Friendship Initiation Paddlings!

1 (1.1%)

The SPIDER ZONE!

1 (1.1%)

Momo plays matchmaker!

3 (3.4%)

Dale's adventures with May the AI with 'tude

5 (5.7%)

Faye is PROMOTED!

1 (1.1%)

Dale is hired at COD!

2 (2.3%)

Claire gets a piercing!

1 (1.1%)

Claire tells Emily her "secret"

0 (0%)

Dora and Tai's relationship developments

3 (3.4%)

The Woodrow!

1 (1.1%)

Momo walks out on Marigold!

1 (1.1%)

New Format!

7 (8%)

Meme Time! (Waffles, Spathe Ham, etc.)

0 (0%)

As always: "You forgot..."

1 (1.1%)

Total Members Voted: 81

[Mlle Germain]

Actually, he needs someone to really want to be in a relationship and to do all the work to start it, like Dora and Faye had.

In my opinion, he needs the opposite... With Dora and Marten, it was exactly this way and just led to Dora always wondering whether Marten was just with her because it's convenient. I think (as has been pointed out several times in the comic as well) that Marten is way too passive about his life in general, so just tumbling into a new relationship because the other person pushes him into it (ok, this sounds more negative and forceful than I mean it; of course Marten would need to go along willingly) would continue the pattern of him not taking the initiative and just being pushed along by life.
I'm not saying that he should reject anyone pursuing him just to try and be in control and I'm also not saying he should run around and try to conquer any girl he meets, but I do think it would be good for him to have to play an active part in forming his next relationship - whenever that happens. No harm in being without a relationship for a while, whatever Dora and Faye may say.

Edit: Loki was faster. Sure, Marten and Dora had a great relationship for a long time and it's good that Dora took the initiative when she did - I think Marten needed that at the time.

Edit: Right now I'm wondering if that post by Method I'm quoting was maybe supposed to be ironic? I'm sorry, I might be bad at recognising such things; at least when written.

[themacnut]

The problem with Marten trying to be more proactive in forming a relationship is that he seems to be rather bad at it - see his early attempts to chat up Padma and his crash-and-burn with the Space Lieutenant. He'd need some practice both to chat up a girl properly and to recognize when she might welcome being chatted up - and part of the learning curve would involve him dealing with a fair amount of rejection along the way.

The question becomes whether he'd learn to accept rejection as part of the "game" so to speak, or whether he'd give up and go back to being passive. In other words, he'd need to develop a thick skin and I wonder whether he's able to.

[freeman]

Didn't he just break up with Padma 3 months ago in QC time?

Maybe it's time Jeph started drawing autumn backgrounds.

Hey, how do you know how long has it been in QC-time?

Concerning time: I think around the time when Marten was with Padma, roughly a year of QC-time had passed, because they went a discussion something like this:

"I wish I had met you a year earlier."
"You probably would not have liked me a year ago, I was way whinier back then."

Old news?

[jwhouk]

Fast Away The Old Year Passes... Biggest QC development in 2013?

Marigold and Dale's relationship developments!    14 (18.2%)
Marten and Claire's friendship development!    24 (31.2%) <=== Winner
Marten's Two Dads!    0 (0%)
Marten's Mom and her mid-life crisis    1 (1.3%)
Steve eating cereal! (If you forgot: strip 2407)    5 (6.5%)
Marten's 8-string guitar    2 (2.6%)
Forgotten characters! (The fairy, Mieville, Roger, Amir, Penelope, Cosette)    1 (1.3%)
Clinton reveals non-consensual snuggles!    0 (0%)
Give peas a chance!    1 (1.3%)
Angus' "Nightly Show" audition dreams (and Faye's issues over it)    3 (3.9%)
Deathmole (the "real" band and the Kickstarter)    3 (3.9%)
Friendship Initiation Paddlings!    1 (1.3%)
The SPIDER ZONE!    1 (1.3%)
Momo plays matchmaker!    2 (2.6%)
Dale's adventures with May the AI with 'tude    5 (6.5%)
Faye is PROMOTED!    1 (1.3%)
Dale is hired at COD!    1 (1.3%)
Claire gets a piercing!    1 (1.3%)
Claire tells Emily her "secret"    0 (0%)
Dora and Tai's relationship developments    3 (3.9%)
The Woodrow!    1 (1.3%)
Momo walks out on Marigold!    0 (0%)
New Format!    6 (7.8%)
Meme Time! (Waffles, Spathe Ham, etc.)    0 (0%)
As always: "You forgot..."    1 (1.3%)

Total Members Voted: 77

[JRDelirio]

Marten really needs to stop listening to any relationship advice given by Dora and Faye - they blundered into the relationships they're in, and more due to the actions of their partners than anything they did.

Quoted for Great Truth

Also, I normally like Dora, but her comment in the last panel made me want to punch her in the face.

The panel before indicated that maybe, just maybe, there was a realization that their efforts were counterproductive...and then BAM, next panel they've doubled down on stupid.

They were confronted with a "do what I say, not what I do" scenario and their implied defense is that they never expected  him to take it literally.

Thing is, to them it was "fun" to have blundered.   And they could be justifiably thinking of a learn-as-you-go scenario: in Faye's case, for instance, the stumbling into the doomed relationship with Sven was A part of the still-ongoing process of figuring herself out.  So they could have been thinking "yes, he needs to figure it out what he wants but he really should be dating while he does so, everyone goes through a series of shoot-down fails, doomed relationships, and casual hookups never meant to lead anywhere, before they get anywhere good" (now, if that had a "so why should you be any different?" appended or implied appended, it would be odious, but that's not in evidence here).

But instead we get Dora saying that taking her advice to "first figure out what you want, and then go for it" seriously "would be BORING" (with the inferred intonational emphasis of the capitals).  Which means she could not quickly think of the reasonable explanation (Worse, someone could infer that she feels a "fun" relationship life should be filled with pittfalls).

BTW like Mlle Germain said, there's no harm in going on a hiatus from the relationship league.  I meet too many people who seem to believe there's something utterly wrong with anyone who does, like somehow you'll freak out if you do without for a couple of months or a year.

[Indicible]

I meet too many people who seem to believe there's something utterly wrong with anyone who does, like somehow you'll freak out if you do without for a couple of months or a year.

Freak out, no, but lose your touch. Especially if you're not particularly confident in said domain in the first place.
The longer the break, the harder the restart.

[Scruffy]

This last comic gave me pause.  Marten pushes away Faye like he's tired of being toyed with by girls who want nothing to do with him, seems distant, looks sincerely like he took their advice and frankly annoyed at the end when they claim it was, "but you should have known better"
 advice.   

I can't help but think Marten wants to move on.  I mean, the comic makes it clear that the world continues and Marten is just standing around putting on a brave face. 

I suppose it could be me.  I identified with Marten and really, the story has hydra'd out of control.  In a good way, but diverging away from imo the main character's story.  I kinda miss the Adventures of Marten and Pintsized.

[toffee-skye]

given the  "coulda-woulda-shoulda" situation he had with Faye and the "you need to stop beating yourself and notice the girl right in front of you" relationship with Dora, i really don't think EITHER of them should be commenting on his love life.

i, personally, would be properly riled if one of my exes told me to "get back in the game" or that my current situation was "boring". Marten's right. if he needs time to sort himself out and find some direction, he should take all the time in the world, and not be swayed by Dora and Faye wanting something to gossip about.

this comic struck a chord, and God i could slap the pair of them.

[McFace]

Y'know, I knew this comic was coming. I KNEW. I mentally prepared myself. But damn if it didn't piss me off just as much anyway.

Faye and Dora are just infuriating here. What would have happened if Marten didn't follow their advice and just blundered into a series of hook-ups and short relationships?

They wouldn't have said "Oh well it's good you did that because our advice was boring!". Nope. They would have been all superior about it when he eventually got hurt again for not taking their words literally.

I hesitate to say they need to take off their rose-tinted glasses because I don't think they are viewing their entire world like that, but damn if they don't have some distorted view of what's going on with Marten right now.

/rant

[Storel]

I dunno if it's all that deep and meaningful. To me, the last two panels read as Faye and Dora realizing that Marten's caught them contradicting their own advice, so they try to turn it into a joke to hide their embarrassment. Marten's eye-roll seems like an appropriate level of response to that; he's not really mad, just slightly annoyed.

[McFace]

I dunno if it's all that deep and meaningful. To me, the last two panels read as Faye and Dora realizing that Marten's caught them contradicting their own advice, so they try to turn it into a joke to hide their embarrassment. Marten's eye-roll seems like an appropriate level of response to that; he's not really mad, just slightly annoyed.

Possibly.

But I think we've seen this before where Jeph will end a comic in this manner and then the next one will be the escalation in the argument/discussion/duel.

[Method of Madness]

Potential arguments between Marten and Dora remind me of Dora looking at Marten's porn, which I still don't get because who downloads porn? Streaming and incognito mode exist.

[Kugai]

I think all THREE are hoisted by their own petards.

[FunkyTuba]

Marten's look in panel 3 killed me. I think this strip is going to be seen as a turning point for him...

..in a couple of thousand strips

[Kugai]

So, Christmas 2014 then?

[starkruzr]

Seeing Marten sort of push Faye away eye-rollingly when she pretends to get all up on him reminds me: Where's Angus been?

[LookingIn]

Potential arguments between Marten and Dora remind me of Dora looking at Marten's porn, which I still don't get because who downloads porn? Streaming and incognito mode exist.

Maybe she was checking out his browser history or favorites folder...

[FunkyTuba]

He and Faye were teasing marigold for dancin after anime night, which wasn't that long ago in-comic

[GarandMarine]

Potential arguments between Marten and Dora remind me of Dora looking at Marten's porn, which I still don't get because who downloads porn? Streaming and incognito mode exist.

Uh... I do for one.

[PthariensFlame]

I don't enjoy motile porn that takes longer than the average GIF, so I'm officially exempting myself from having any relevance to the present conversation. 

[Method of Madness]

I don't get it.

[Jazzmaster]

Actually, he needs someone to really want to be in a relationship and to do all the work to start it, like Dora and Faye had.

"That awkward moment when" you realize that Dora, Faye and Marten all stumbled into their relationships because one party was extremely forward and persistent, and the only relationship where both parties realized they needed to take charge and ask the other person out was...Mar-bear and Dale.

Of course, I'm not sure it matters.  Some people had to "work" for their relationships, .others got "lucky".

I suppose the issue though, as was stated above, is when one person gets 'dragged' into a relationship because the other person really wanted it.  The difference in what gets put into the relationship becomes too great, and it separates people.  I suppose the solution would be for an extremely forward person not to establish themselves too, too much and try to subtly teach the other person how to take a little initiative themselves to try to close the gap.  Maybe.  I don't really know.

[Akima]

And someone with actual drawing ability should fan-art Mari in a plug-suit.

Will this do?

Very nicely! And Zwammy's drawing is excellent too!

[Pilchard123]

*slaps the Staples "That Was Easy" button for Marigold*

I have one of those. I took it into a maths class and intended to tap it with my foot when I finished an exercise.

Unfortunately, the teacher found it after the first time I used it, confiscated it, and then spent the rest of the lesson pushing it after explaining each question.

This is the first time we see the backside of the counter, innit?

The backside of the counter? **BUTTS**

[Zwammy]

Potential arguments between Marten and Dora remind me of Dora looking at Marten's porn, which I still don't get because who downloads porn? Streaming and incognito mode exist.

I got the impression it was more looking at his browser history, like Faye did here, although Pintsize IS porn - Marigold did copy the hentai file he had when she fixed him for the first time. So I guess Pintsize does if nobody else.

[Is it cold in here?]

Maybe it's a folder Marten created back in the days when people downloaded porn.

[Zwammy]

Maybe it's a folder Marten created back in the days when people downloaded porn.

Marten swears it wasn't his, but you never know.

[Is it cold in here?]

The one stored on Pintsize, I believe was Pintsize's. The one Dora was looking at, Marten acknowledged to be his.

[Storel]

Did Jeph skip a day this week? I notice this thread's title includes #2612, but the week ended at #2611.

Not that I'm objecting -- if Jeph took New Year's Day off, good for him!

[Loki]

Yes, he did indeed skip New Year's.

[purple.platypus]

This strip is exactly what I hate about people nagging me about getting a girlfriend (they're the same people who would previously tell me I should "take a break", or otherwise appear supportive of my decision to not want to date anybody for a while).

Yeah, Jeph really nails the condescending and insensitive "helpfulness" non-single people frequently show single ones. One of his most true-to-life strips, unfortunately.

[jwhouk]

Fast Away The Old Year Passes... Biggest QC development in 2013?

Marigold and Dale's relationship developments!    14 (16.5%)
Marten and Claire's friendship development!    26 (30.6%)
Marten's Mom and her mid-life crisis    1 (1.2%)
Steve eating cereal! (If you forgot: strip 2407)    5 (5.9%)
Marten's 8-string guitar    2 (2.4%)
Forgotten characters! (The fairy, Mieville, Roger, Amir, Penelope, Cosette)    2 (2.4%)
Give peas a chance!    2 (2.4%)
Angus' "Nightly Show" audition dreams (and Faye's issues over it)    3 (3.5%)
Deathmole (the "real" band and the Kickstarter)    4 (4.7%)
Friendship Initiation Paddlings!    1 (1.2%)
The SPIDER ZONE!    1 (1.2%)
Momo plays matchmaker!    3 (3.5%)
Dale's adventures with May the AI with 'tude    5 (5.9%)
Faye is PROMOTED!    1 (1.2%)
Dale is hired at COD!    1 (1.2%)
Claire gets a piercing!    1 (1.2%)
Dora and Tai's relationship developments    3 (3.5%)
The Woodrow!    1 (1.2%)
Momo walks out on Marigold!    1 (1.2%)
New Format!    7 (8.2%)
As always: "You forgot..."    1 (1.2%)

Marten's Two Dads!    0 (0%)
Clinton reveals non-consensual snuggles!    0 (0%)
Claire tells Emily her "secret"    0 (0%)
Meme Time! (Waffles, Spathe Ham, etc.)    0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 85

[ZoeB]

I still think that Claire could do worse than with Marten. And Marten could do worse than with Claire.
Still, you never know who will be at parties.

[GarandMarine]

Maybe it's a folder Marten created back in the days when people downloaded porn.

Yesterday?

Or right now as we speak? 

 

I still think that Claire could do worse than with Marten. And Marten could do worse than with Claire.
Still, you never know who will be at parties.

Loose the tops and royals! Haul at the spanker and let's catch the wind!

[Rghfrgl]

 Mistakingly posting in last weeks thread? Most likely. But I like to think it's to throw the mods off, docking the ship in a secret pirate cove.

[pwhodges]

You cannot hide from the mods!

[Kugai]

You could head for the town of Shipwreck at Shipwreck Cove on the Island of Shipwreck.