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Too much cake-mix

May got too excited with Pintsize

May had a nasty meet-up with Yelling Bird

SOMEONE had to clean up Dale's bed!

The obligatory reference to synthetic ham

MAY IS MELTING FROM ALL THE SQUEE

May found Marigolds stache of sexy dude pictures

butts

[Aziraphale]

Marten overanalyzes everything related to the ladies.  Look at how the Emily kiss on the cheek caused him all of this angst that he needed to talk about with multiple people.  Emily is probably the only woman in the entire series that has shown an interest he doesn't seem to want to consider dating, but he still can't shut up about it.  If it's girl-related drama, Marten is sure to ask Steve, Faye, Tai, and possibly 1-2 other people their opinions, regardless of if he has the hots for her or not. 

Edit:  Which is another reason this kinda seems odd.  If he did like Claire before that night, he would have discussed it with someone else within the confines of the strip.  Marten does not keep drama to himself ever.

True, but as was pointed out above, this might've just been something percolating in his subconscious up to this point. I'm sure we'll see plenty of discussion in the days ahead (this is QC, after all), but the already-existing friendship and level of comfort we've seen between them both going back to the lake house arc, and the lack of complications relative to practically every other relationship we've seen him in make things a bit different this time around.

I do agree with your other point (the part about "liquid courage"). I've always believed that alcohol doesn't change personality or behavior; it amplifies it. Someone who's unpleasant when they're sober isn't suddenly going to become better to be around because they've had a few, for instance. That's why I think we're starting to see a genuine shift in Marten's outlook and personality.

[FunkyTuba]

Marten does not keep drama to himself ever. 

[citation needed]
Beg to disagree... even if you're counting Claire's status as "drama" (you shouldn't) he's kept it to himself quite nicely.

[zmeiat_joro]

Hm, off-topic, but I've been binging on the archives again, and do these imply a Charlie Stross expy is one of Marten's "uncles"?

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2392
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2394
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2684

EDIT: I've been reading QC for more than a decade now, and next month it will have been a decade since I've been posting here. That's the longest I've been at least sporadically active at a internet forum. That's a weird thought.

[SteveCostello]

I thought panel 6 in You Should Have Seen It foreshadowed the possibility of something becoming more interesting between Marten and Claire. I've been hoping since then that something like last week would occur. And I am rather glad it did. Of course, both had the drunk bubbles, and this latest interaction involved Marten with some of them. Should be interesting to see what happens when no boozification is involved.

Amazing how wrapped up into freaking WEB COMIC CHARACTERS we are. It's kinda silly, when you step back and look at it. But... yay anyway!

Us awkward types have very occasional moments of pure smooth genius. They are far, and incredible few between... but they do happen. Hell... I somehow figured out a way to get my wife to marry me. There's hope for awkward types yet!

Actually, thinking back to my college days, I had an interaction very much like Marten, minus the alcohol, but add extreme levels of tiredness from a long day of galavanting around, which resulted in a nice late night (or... incredibly early morning), and nothing serious happened... but there were interactions like we saw last week and feelings were there. (Distance prevented anything from really happening.)

 

[DSL]

Awful lot of people here don't seem to want to admit someone might grow as a person or become more comfortable around certain other persons. Are you this unforgiving with the actual people in your lives?

[RyanW1019]

Marten does not keep drama to himself ever. 

[citation needed]
Beg to disagree... even if you're counting Claire's status as "drama" (you shouldn't) he's kept it to himself quite nicely.

I think he may have been referring to his own drama. He nearly always confides in someone else when he's having interesting relationship things going on. There's really no outside pressure to NOT tell anybody else about that sort of stuff. By contrast, Claire specifically asked him to not tell anyone else, and even if she hadn't said it Marten likely wouldn't have felt comfortable revealing someone's personal secret like that. Apples and oranges if you ask me.

[FunkyTuba]

Awful lot of people here don't seem to want to admit someone might grow as a person or become more comfortable around certain other persons. Are you this unforgiving with the actual people in your lives?

^---this

I know I'm not supposed to do this.

[DSL]

... and then there's Comic 2802.

[cesium133]

Where is May working now?

[RyanW1019]

Well then. Guess we're waiting until Wednesday.

[MooskiNet]

Why do I get the feeling a whole bunch of addicts got told their dealer was out until next week?

Heh.

[ZoeB]

Amazing how wrapped up into freaking WEB COMIC CHARACTERS we are. It's kinda silly, when you step back and look at it. But... yay anyway!

Jeph's good, isn't he? Yes, I forget that this is a web comic sometimes too.

[mawile]

nice shirt, may

actually, momo too

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

That's not likely to endear her to her new friend. Nor is it likely to be sanitary.

Could be a few strips before we get back around to Marten, especially since we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Dora cutting Sven off. Much as I liked the squeefest, that seems to be the bigger story going on right now, and it's all tangled up in Angus's callback. The winds of change, they are a blowin'.

[zmeiat_joro]

In my view things went about as well as they possibly could have. The fact that today's comic was not about Marten and Claire, to me, means that there's not any drama, quite the opposite.

[Orkboy]

Dramabomb: defused via wacky robo-antics.  Is that melted chassis, or just goo that happens to be a similar shade? 

[Smashwidget]

fluffy fluffy fluffy

All hail our fluffy haired queen

God save the fluff-queen, leader of the pun-train

[CUBErt]

Today on Questionable Content, Jeph pulls another cereal gambit.

[Aziraphale]

fluffy fluffy fluffy

All hail our fluffy haired queen

God save the fluff-queen, leader of the pun-train

God save Mrs. Ethel Shroake.

(you're welcome, two people )

[Is it cold in here?]

If I were Momo I'd probably say "Shower?! What do you mean?" while shoving May into the dishwasher. Or at least I'd be tempted. If I were Momo I'd have the self control to resist.

[HES]

EDIT: I've been reading QC for more than a decade now, and next month it will have been a decade since I've been posting here.

You have an impressively reserved post rate.

I can't decide if a midweek interlude is worse than an extended weekend.

[T]

If I were Momo I'd probably say "Shower?! What do you mean?" while shoving May into the dishwasher. Or at least I'd be tempted. If I were Momo I'd have the self control to resist.

Why Momo would be a jerk?

[Zebediah]

Well, it appears that May's sociopathic tendencies haven't been completely eliminated after all.

[Rghfrgl]

Could be a few strips before we get back around to Marten, especially since we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Dora cutting Sven off. Much as I liked the squeefest, that seems to be the bigger story going on right now, and it's all tangled up in Angus's callback.

A breather strip here and there is fine, but I think it'd really hurt the other storylines if you switch back and forth between them right now since people are so into the one. You don't want people going '*Sigh* a Angus strip...', you want them to care about that. And I think to do that you have to give some resolution to what's happening or not happening between Claire and Marten.

[CaptainFish]

fluffy fluffy fluffy

All hail our fluffy haired queen

God save the fluff-queen, leader of the pun-train

PUNS FOR THE PUN GOD
FLUFF FOR THE FLUFF THRONE

[Thedrd0nna]

So, I know we've been warned not to interpolate Claire as a stand-in for all trans people anywhere. And I know that we are dealing with Trollmaster Jeph. But, I've been thinking about this for a few days and thought I'd share:

Portrayals of trans characters in the media has, until recently, been absolutely awful. We're shown as jokes, as predators, as unbalanced, and most definitely as oddities. This is slowly changing, with the addition of a very limited number of sympathetic trans characters finding their way into the average American's household; the most notable examples are Sophia Burset in Orange is the New Black and Maura Pfefferman. Even those are through online providers, and only Maura is positioned as a "main" character. As far as I can remember, there have been no portrayals of a trans person as a legitimate romantic interest in any widely-consumed media. (I'm excluding LGBT-focused media here, because for-us-by-us media plays by its own rules.)
So, in that sense, Claire is a groundbreaking character. She's trans, but that's not her defining characteristic. It certainly looks as though she's got a shot with Marten, which already makes her a basically-unprecedented depiction of a trans person who is not just here and (moderately) well-adjusted, but actually desirable and able to desire. Jeph has obviously gone to such great lengths to put together a believable, realistic, and sympathetic character that I feel he couldn't possibly be unaware of this context. I think even by his standards, to put this out there and then yank it away might qualify as one troll too far. I could be wrong, but I really really hope I'm not. So, think of all this as one more reason why, potentially, this ship isn't sunk quite yet.

[mustang6172]

I wonder if this shower will lead to something more...

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

Could be a few strips before we get back around to Marten, especially since we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop with Dora cutting Sven off. Much as I liked the squeefest, that seems to be the bigger story going on right now, and it's all tangled up in Angus's callback.

A breather strip here and there is fine, but I think it'd really hurt the other storylines if you switch back and forth between them right now since people are so into the one. You don't want people going '*Sigh* a Angus strip...', you want them to care about that. And I think to do that you have to give some resolution to what's happening or not happening between Claire and Marten.

"Could", not "will". A chat between them could very well be the first thing that happens in the morning (in QC-time) if Claire decides not to head home and instead someone sleeps on the couch. It's just that Dora already stated her plans for the morning (Call parents; tell them Sven is persona non grata) and that is likely to happen first chronologically if Claire heads home.

Though, realistically, we'll probably see people going to bed before then, and that'll settle which is more likely. And before that, we'll probably see either "good bye and good night" or just "good night".

So maybe we stick with Marten and Claire until Friday. Maybe not. That's all I can say with confidence... which means I'm hardly saying anything at all. This is not the post you're looking for.

I wonder if this shower will lead to something more...

I'd schooner see Pintsize take over the world.

[Nyithra]

Does her workplace not have a working sink?

[DSL]

I wonder if this shower will lead to something more...

That looks awful big for a bathtub toy.

[Rghfrgl]

 I think Momo would do her best to prevent May from putting her consciousness in a boat.

[Aziraphale]

I think Momo would do her best to prevent May from putting her consciousness in a boat.

Especially since May would probably choose a guided missile cruiser.

[Smashwidget]

fluffy fluffy fluffy

All hail our fluffy haired queen

God save the fluff-queen, leader of the pun-train

PUNS FOR THE PUN GOD
FLUFF FOR THE FLUFF THRONE

Warhammer reference.
Just as planned.

[eschaton]

I had an idea for a "gag" guest strip a few months back...provided I actually could draw.  It's dark, and you just see eyes and text bubbles.  One goes "Oh Marten!"  Then Martin starts saying things like "I can't believe I waited so long to try this...it feels different, but it's really not bad at all."

The lights get turned on by Pintsize, and Marten is actually in bed with May. 

Seriously though, I'd like it if May actually had some romantic developments with a human eventually.  It would help the strip break new frontiers to have a well-rounded android character in a loving relationship with a human.

[Method of Madness]

It would help the strip break new frontiers to have a well-rounded android character in a loving relationship with a human.

You know what you've done, right? Now everyone's going to link to this strip.

[mustang6172]

Robosexuality is an abomination unto the singularity!

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

I love May's smile in panel 3.  Some of her best looking panels are when she's smiling.

[Smashwidget]

Robosexuality is an abomination unto the singularity!

this feels like it should be a joke 
hits too close to home I guess

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Does her workplace not have a working sink?

Apparently May has been slimed, and needs more than a sink to get the job done.

That aside, I'd like to see May and Momo really become friends.

[Is it cold in here?]

If I were Momo I'd probably say "Shower?! What do you mean?" while shoving May into the dishwasher. Or at least I'd be tempted. If I were Momo I'd have the self control to resist.

Why Momo would be a jerk?

It's someone she deeply disapproves of getting goop on her.

[Aziraphale]

I had an idea for a "gag" guest strip a few months back...provided I actually could draw.  It's dark, and you just see eyes and text bubbles.  One goes "Oh Marten!"  Then Martin starts saying things like "I can't believe I waited so long to try this...it feels different, but it's really not bad at all."

The lights get turned on by Pintsize, and Marten is actually in bed with May. 

Seriously though, I'd like it if May actually had some romantic developments with a human eventually.  It would help the strip break new frontiers to have a well-rounded android character in a loving relationship with a human.

I don't have the same reflexive dislike for May that a lot of people on here seem to have for her. With that said, if there's going to be a human/AI pairing, I get the feeling it's far likelier to involve Momo than May.

[Rghfrgl]

Hannelore rejected the idea of a robot boyfriend, so the struggle continues.

[vforvancouver]

And here I am, after a quick swim at the Sacred Archives of QC, thinking to myself. «Boy, surely Claire has changed a lot since her first appearance... http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1716» 

[Aziraphale]

Hannelore rejected the idea of a robot boyfriend, so the struggle continues.

Wasn't it because he was a little too Uncanny Valley for her tastes? Besides which, all she got was the chassis/body, with Winslow's AI providing the personality. She just might not have been into Winslow.

[DrClef]

My thoughts when:

> ASASKJFDHASDKLJFHASLKJFHSADK! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN JEPH WOULDN'T CONTINUE THE CLAIRE/MARTEN THING!

> JEPH, YOU GODDAMN TROLL!

> Oh wait, it's a May comic! Heh heh, May. . .

> . . . oh wait, it's a May and Momo comic! Heh heh, Momo. . .

> Come to think of it, shouldn't May be in a chibi chassis or something?

[Orkboy]

> Come to think of it, shouldn't May be in a chibi chassis or something?

Did you miss the whole thing where she got a new chassis?  Cuz that's not new. 

[Kugai]

I shudder to think what that IS on May's hand

Shower?  Howabout a Waterblaster??


And I wonder if Momo is dating Ed Straker now with that outfit.

[Lubricus]

Hannelore rejected the idea of a robot boyfriend, so the struggle continues.

Sure, but she hasn't rejected the idea of a robot girlfriend, has she? 

[Is it cold in here?]

This is May's first chassis that we've seen. Prior to this she was on a hard drive in Robot Jail. It was Momo who had the chibi body, which she was eager to get out of.

[KOK]

It would help the strip break new frontiers to have a well-rounded android character in a loving relationship with a human.

You know what you've done, right? Now everyone's going to link to this strip.

Or this http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1812

edit: typo