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Drift

13 (12.6%)

Build a healthy relationship

13 (12.6%)

Try and fail to build a healthy relationship

18 (17.5%)

Pursue art in addition to money

11 (10.7%)

Pursue art instead of money

6 (5.8%)

Join Deathmole

8 (7.8%)

Become songwriter for Gina Riversmith

4 (3.9%)

Start therapy like everyone else

5 (4.9%)

Something unexpected

13 (12.6%)

Become a crazy old man with too many cats

8 (7.8%)

Sober sodium sojourner

4 (3.9%)

Total Members Voted: 28

[Is it cold in here?]

We haven't seen much of Sven, and he's realized with some dismay that he doesn't have any experience with real relationships. Lydia tried to jolt him out of complacency, and may have planted the seeds of change. Personal change is one of the recurring themes of the comic.

My best guess is "drift", unless there's some event even more significant than Faye to jolt him out of his rut.

[Carl-E]

I think he'll be stumbling into a relationship.  May or may not be healthy, may or may not fail, but I think the next one's gonna take him by surprise, because it's going to start as a friendship and then develop into something more, rahter then starting with the sex that all his old "relationships" have started with in the past. 

He actually connected a bit with Hanners (no, I know, that can't really go anywhere), and he acted decently to Dora (as well as any sibling can).  He's encountered Marigold, and if his WoW proclivities can help her in her Dale rivalry, they may actually bond without even knowing it (and perhaps already have?). 

But it's probably going to be someone completely out of the blue. 

Or maybe Renee from tSB will remind him of Faye... oh well, so much for healthy! 

[Kugai]

He's gone to Wudan

[Tergon]

Dora's recent troubles have activated his Big Brother alarms.  He's been there for her, he's honestly done his best to help Marten and Dora stay together, and he gave Dora a place to stay without hesitating when the relationship ended.  Plus, from what I can see, he's generally been a decent and caring human being around her for the duration (aside from a couple of inappropriate remarks about Ms. Reed.)
Aside from that he was actually a gentleman to Hannelore on their quasi-date, and aside from some mild teasing he was actually pretty nice to Marigold.  Plus the whole character arc he's on was kickstarted by Faye causing him to, y'know, grow a conscience.

I've said in other threads that I've always seen Sven as a foil for Marten.  Both skinny Indie-rock nerds, they dress alike, they share many interests, they both had the strong connection to Dora and to Faye... but where Marten was quiet and polite and nice, Sven was assertive and womanizing and flippant.  He slept with women Marten wouldn't have approached.  He's a fairly wealthy musician while Marten's band barely exists.  His looks draw attention while Marten blends in with the wallpaper.  He's the Anti-Marten, like him in so many ways, but his polar opposite in so many others.

Now, I believe that the path Marten's on is leading him to become more assertive.  He's willing to approach people, to try new things.  He actually shows emotion rather than just passively reacting to what happens to him.  He's developing more of a sense of humour and fleshing out a little more of the world around him.  There's many examples of that in the comic ever since he first hooked up with Dora, and even since they've split up.
Sven, I believe, is taking the other path.  As Marten becomes more assertive and confident, Sven's becoming more humble.  He's paying more attention to the people around him, trying to be less of an asshat, wanting to be a good person instead of the callous dick that ruined his relationship with Faye, had Dora half-hating him for years, and stopped him from making any real meaningful connections in his life.

I don't know if we'll see Sven's entire journey, or where it ends up.  But I think that his path mirrors Marten's in a lot of ways, and eventually they'll both find middle ground like this.

[Carl-E]

And when that journey's over, they'll finally be ready...

for each other. 


My apologies, Tergon.  Despite your (as ever) thoughtful analysis, it really needed a punchline. 

[Is it cold in here?]

Is Sven starting to mend fences with Dora?

[Carl-E]

Sure seems that way.  And, with the therapy bringing these issues to the front of Dora's mind, there may be some healing going on after all. 

I like hw she was rolling up the Blood Tree book/magazine/whatever.  Renminded me of this. 

Clearly, the history between these two is pretty painful.  'sabout time they started to grow up! 

[questionablecontentfan]

I know, that can't really go anywhere

If Hannelore didn't have the issues she did, would it still be weird because she's friends with Dora? Is that more what you mean, or do you mean Hannelore's issues?

I'd like to see her get over her issues and have a relationship. I think it would make her really happy. I don't know that Sven is the right one, but hey, he could change...

Maybe I'm crazy (and this is sorta off topic) but I thought Marigold kinda had something going on/starting with Dale? Maybe it'll just be friendship, but who knows. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Is it cold in here?]

Hannelore's issues. If a normal relationship is in her future at all, it's over the horizon from where we are now.

[Carl-E]

More like over the rainbow! 

I meant her issues would prevent a "normal" relationship.  Although I could see her developing a friendship with Sven.  He could use a friend. 

[iduguphergrave]

Is Sven starting to mend fences with Dora?

You've got that backwards; Dora needs to mend fences with Sven. I'm pretty sure Sven is fairly oblivious to the extent of negative influence he's had on Dora's life. The last couple times he's waxed nostalgic, Dora's had to remind him that the particular memory wasn't so good for her. The odd thing about Dora and Sven's relationship is that even though Dora obviously resents him to a degree, she maintains a fairly good (or at least cordial) relationship with him; so it would make sense that he's in the dark about how she really feels.

I was actually a little disappointed this past week; it started out with Dora and Sven but then veered away; I would have liked to see what Dora did after getting Princess Spookyspell back; I half expected tuesday's comic to be Dora throwing the doll in Sven's face and yelling at him. I mean, if I were her at that moment, I'd be feeling a lot of different, confusing emotions. I'm sure she has something new to talk to her therapist about.

I like hw she was rolling up the Blood Tree book/magazine/whatever.  Renminded me of this.   

I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught that! I can only imagine where Dora wanted to stuff that magazine.

[Is it cold in here?]

Sven could definitely use a female justafriend. He's said he misses having had that with the Pugnacious Peach, and for all we know she was his first. One like Hannelore, for whom sex is out of the question, might be the best sort.

[akronnick]

Wasn't sex out of the question for Faye before she started hanging out with Sven?

And wasn't it Hannelore pushing the boundries of her issues what inspired Faye to <insert tastless euphemism here> with Sven?

[questionablecontentfan]

Let's not forget that Hannelore's friendship with Marigold allowed her to get over her gross out issues and clean up her puke and deal with a puking Marigold (which was sooo sweet by the way). Think about it: that's a huge deal, coming from a woman who could barely deal with someone sneezing in her direction. If she can get over that because of feelings of friendship, who knows what she could do if she fell in love (with the right man, of course). I'd like to see it happen.

Sorry, I know this thread is supposed to be about Sven. I don't think Sven is the right one (especially with the potential for drama with him being Dora's brother), but who knows.

[Mr_Rose]

Wasn't sex out of the question for Faye before she started hanging out with Sven?

No, not really.
Faye considered a romantic relationship to be impossible due to her mental state and neglected sex outside a romantic relationship as a possibility until her therapist reminded her it was possible.
The net result may appear similar but the route there is totally different.

[gprimr1]

I would agree that Dora needs to work out her issues with Sven in order to address her trust issues that lead to her loosing Marten.