Maybe someone will get shot.
Ugh. That would suck from my point of view. Too much like work.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the plotlines, but I like the jokes more.
To be honest, I come for the plot, but I look FORWARD to the jokes.
I miss the QC of yore that (and I've mentioned it before in another thread) had some of the most quotable lines I'd ever seen. It was fresh, it was edgy, and it was biting.
And it was almost all Faye, Marten and Steve delivering the lines.
I don't know exactly what happened.
It can't be easy thinking up new stuff every week to keep a bunch of people entertained who have come to expect a certain level of canon while maintaining fresh ideas.
I mean, seriously, the more you write a story, the more boxed in you become...too many instances of "they wouldn't do that, based upon what they've already done."
No wonder poor Jeph keeps adding characters. He's created molds for his existing ones that don't fit some of his humor.
And as a fellow writer and an outside observer, I've got absolutely NO IDEA how to help. No advice. No clue.
So no, you're not a bad person for wanting the breakup of Marten and Faye...you just would like to see some fresh turmoil that Jeph can put his talent to work making funny.
Plot lines AND jokes. that's what makes this comic go around.
*sigh* And you said it before me. And without all that verbose clutter up there, too.
I think if Dora and Marten broke up she'd go back to Goth Dora from the sadness/emtional instability and I really, really hated Goth Dora so there is no way I want them to break up.
Ya know, I never thought of it that way...but I think you're right. Goth Dora wasn't really my favorite person, either. It was her attraction to Marten that made her A"Dora"ble as a character.
*rimshot*
*wince* Yes, yes. I'm humor-impaired. Thank goodness I'm not Jeph or QC would be hosed.
It's natural to want a little drama in your life.
Keyword: LITTLE.
For those of us with an overabundance of drama in real life, we like a little humor so we can laugh instead of screaming.
I really do find it hard to relate to folks who actively seek out and desire drama. It is my opinion that they should go to school and work in Emergency Medicine -- they'll get all the drama they can stand.
For instance, what if Dora had troubles keeping DoC afloat, and started selling bootleg mix CDs under the counter? What if she included the first decent song Marten wrote, and he didn't find out until she handed him a check for his cut of the profits, with similar checks for the other band members? (Okay, so $12.50 isn't much for the first month, but ...). We can blow up the whole intellectual property rights thing in about ten panels spread over a week or so, and let the world polarize.
Damn. That's actually a pretty decent idea. Hope Jeph is paying attention. That arc could be a goldmine...especially if Jeph finds a real indie band he'd like to promote and have a musical tie-in for QC...
I've been waiting for a front-line breakup, myself: not like Ellen existing only to be the first girl to do the Booty Boogie, but one where both characters keep shivering in place, raising the anxiety levels of at least half the QC cast. Imagine a break-up in which Faye continues to console (and abuse) both sides, Steve sides with Dora, and Penelope becomes the staunchest supporter of Marten's position. Not just "it didn't work out", but Dora and Marten had to make an ethical decision, and went in opposite, incompatible directions.
Are you SURE you don't know my second wife??
Wow, norcekri. Make your own webcomic. I'd read it.
I was thinking along those lines, too.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I do write some, but my drawing skills are somewhat less than the typical fare at xkcd. If you want to see these ideas in readable form, convince Jeph to use them; I won't get there in this decade.
Kinda what I was thinking..."behind closed doors" skull sessions between the author and his hand-picked, most-creative readership for story arc ideas.
I don't think Jeph's quite at that stage yet. Nor may he ever be.
As most writers can tell you, ideas are a dime a dozen, now that the dollar has fallen on international markets. Treatments are part of the grind-it-out process, and execution is where the talent is. I'm saving a few things, and working on more, for potential publication (probably self-publication, which bears a similar relationship to other things that begin with "self-"), but the day job and family have to come first.
You demonstrate a working knowledge of the process. Should you choose to self-publish, I have an old friend who runs an online vanity press should you decide to go that route.
I'm too proud to use it; I'm shopping my 2005 NaNo novel around to see if an agent will pick it up...preferably without rubber gloves.
is because I've known people like Dora in real life, and the ensuing dysfunctional relationships that follow.
WHERE do you people end up meeting my Exes? I GOTTA KNOW!!!
I personally hope that it is Marten, not Faye, who calls Dora on said bullshit. We've seen Marten grow a spine before, and I would like to see more of it.
Marten with a spine? Well, wonders never cease.
That actually might be interesting.
And has all kinds of potential for funny as he tries out his newly grown spine in all kinds of hilariously inappropriate ways.
Along with all the other obvious "What have you done with Marten?" gags.
I don't know about y'all, but I feel fine waiting for the one strip where Faye tells MArtin that she loves him, that Sven is a buffer fuck, and Dora to walk in just as Martin kisses Faye.
See, that's where I'd like to have Marten grow a spine and NOT kiss Faye, while making a comment about "sloppy Sven Seconds" while actively pushing her away and THEN Dora walks in.
That could have lots of hilarious possibilities.
When was the last time your own life didn't have a lot of unfinished plots?
*Checks watch* What time is it now?
But everyone would forget to tell Hannelore, and after some heavy drinking they'd end up in bed together. She'd wake up next to Marten, thinking the worst, start hyperventilating, and Pintsize will tell her to hold that expression while he activates camera mode.
Wow. I just laughed out loud at that.
The trouble is the permanence of that story line pretty much destroys the cohesive nature of the cast. There'd be so MUCH drama fallout from it, I think it would screw things up to the point where there really wouldn't be much of a QC anymore.
But damn...Marten and Hanners doing the nasty...and her waking up next to Marten...naked...all covered in man-scent...
That would drive the poor girl into fits that most of the readership, I am certain, would find hilarious.
And poor Marten...how do you apologize to someone for sleeping with them? Especially since (and we can only assume Jeph will be tasteful about it) it was a good time had by all?
"I'm so sorry we made passionate drunken love and ended up staining your sheets like that."
"I really didn't mean to get you all messy, Hanners..it just...happened?"
"Hanners, I don't want to know what you're doing in there but I am concerned about the bottle brush you took in with you."
"If I told you it was all a bad dream, would you believe me?"
"I wouldn't believe me if I told ME it was all a bad dream...because bad dreams don't usually make me feel this good."
Or some such.
Wow.
I don't think I'd want to see Dora and Marten break up, even considering the entertainment value.
Suppose it's just I've never really liked Faye.
I feel exactly the same way.
However, the whole Marten/Hanners thing just absolutely screams "QC Hilarity"
If only it wouldn't destroy the fabric of the QC universe, I would SO go for it.
Maybe a dream/nightmare sequence? Kinda like the kind Jeph did earlier last year?
Despite the fact that I wish Hannelore would stay naive and innocent, that would be an absolutely fantastic story arc.
Agreed. Especially the pintsize part.
S