Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT: 2781-2785 (1-5 September 2014) Weekly Comic Discussion Thread
Zwammy:
--- Quote from: SomeCanadianWeirdo on 04 Sep 2014, 21:01 ---I'd wonder if Claire hadn't been raiding Hannelore's closet at some point, as Hanners has worn a similar dress in the past.
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Nah, all the girls in the comic except Dora purchased a copy of the dress because they all thought it was cute, and coordination is done to make sure none of them wear it at the same time. Dora thought the dress sucked like Toto.
Smallest:
--- Quote from: TheBiscuit on 05 Sep 2014, 08:49 ---
--- Quote from: TheCallMeFez on 05 Sep 2014, 08:45 ---Yea I thought she was blushing too, but if you look closely it is actually freckles
--- End quote ---
You're probably right. She's still making cute eyes at him though.
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It could be both.
Vincent Adultman:
--- Quote from: GarandMarine on 05 Sep 2014, 10:20 ---You know I really wish I had Marten's problems. I really do. He's got a fucking EASY job on a women's college campus where half the work seems to be chasing amorous staff and students out of the stacks while paying more then enough for a nice three story walk up that's walking distance from work, food, bars and everything else you would want, lots of friends, an active social life, a band, and let's be real here, even ignoring Emily and Her Redheadness Claire plenty of romantic prospects. I mean it's a fucking city. There's lots of girls in cities. Some of them even like skinny indy rock dorks who play guitar.
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Yeah, seriously. It makes it kind of hard to take his mopey woe-is-me attitude seriously. He's not whiny, but for someone who has it pretty good he never seems very happy. Seems lately nobody has any "real" problems so they have to resort to making their insecurities and minor social slights a Big Freaking Deal.
Also, all this relationship drama is getting old. You could change the backgrounds into a high school at this point.
TheEvilDog:
That's the thing though, Marten doesn't really "have it good". At best, he's settled for what he has, as he's always done. Right now, he's in a decent enough job with a decent place and quite a few friends. The problem is, Marten has never really shown the initiative to go out and get those elements of his life, it's always been someone else's actions - he got fired from the office job, Faye wanted to go to a large apartment, Faye went up and spoke to him and Steve in the bar.
Everything in Marten's life has been a reaction to what others have wanted or done. And everything will remain the same for him unless he can become that bit more confident and determined. I'm not saying Marten is a coward, far from it, it takes a lot of guts to move across a country for a girl (not a lot of brains, but that's a different story), but the guy has no drive to take chances for himself.
That is Marten's real problem and it is a big deal because the guy will never be truly happy because he just keeps settling for whatever.
That is Marten's central conflict.
GarandMarine:
Self actualization vs. Being in a pretty solid living condition are very different things. Marten's got a good gig. A lot of people settle. It's a normal part of the human condition in much of the world. Shit job for survivable pay, doing something you enjoy on your own time when you have energy. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Let's go to Maslow's shall we?
When we're talking about living conditions we're talking about tiers one and two. Marten friend's pretty solid there. Tier 3 as well, not one but TWO dads, a mom who is very loving... in her own special way, lots of friends. No current romantic partner, but Marten's done okay when he's actually been in the saddle even if he is a bit shy about getting on the horse. Or ends up facing the wrong end on occasion. Marten's issues are solidly spread across four and five. His confidence is no where to be found, and while he has friends we've noted in this very forum on many occasions that Marten gets maligned by said friends fairly often. Now I personally think those friends respect him, but it might not feel that way to Marten.
What Marten is reaching for in his life is meaning. Purpose. He has his passions and desires, but just can't seem to run with them. Understandably so. Risks are fucking scary. It's even harder to take risks when you don't even have the semblance of a game plan. I'm not going to bother and dig it up, but during the unemployment ark Dora asked him what he wanted to do his answer was "Something with music I guess". Hardly something to aspire to. Rock god? Okay there's a way to plan for that. Music professor at SMIF? Very plannable (step 1: gather more black mail on the faculty... uh... get music graduate degree *cough*). Music blogger/journalist? Well maybe not, we saw how long that blog project lasted.
So I'd say Marten's issue isn't so much his ability to take chances. As we've noticed he can be brave when he needs to be. However where Marten runs into trouble is the same place many of us do. Setting a course so we know what chances to take. How many people do you know who are doing there jobs because that's their dream job? How many people do you know who, as childhood fades can even tell you what their dream job is?
All the wind in all the sails in the world won't help you if you don't know where your destination is. "All I ask for is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by" we all have the metaphorical ship. Some in better condition then others fair, but the star. Ah the star. Without that a ship may as well be beached.
So when I say I wish I had Marten's problems, it's sensible to feel that way when you're struggling or having issues with work, food and shelter, rebuilding a social circle and being lonely, the more base of the needs on Maslow's... it can be appealing to have those base needs taken care of and struggle instead with the more ethereal.
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