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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

[bhtooefr]

And it's bad enough for Claire to run into Marten in her PJ's without the hair thing too.  Sooooo not cool of her mom.

You know, that is an excellent point, now that I think about it, especially given Claire's anxiety issues...

And now I'm trying to come at how this happened. Chance encounter at the diner? (Why?) Explicitly calling Claire and getting Clairemom instead? (Could be a sign of Clairemom being rather meddling...) Clairemom taking initiative and contacting Marten (after Claire got home and talked about it with her)? (Possibly a sign of her being even MORE meddling, given that Claire was taken by surprise.)

I really don't think Marten swung by Claire's place to invite her to pancakes - for one thing, that contradicts Clairemom's statement that he was having the diner pancakes.

[Lubricus]

Is noone else thinking that this could just be a dream? It seems unlikely enough, for sure.

[Kugai]

[bhtooefr]

That's not usually Jeph's style, and if he is doing that, that is bad and he should feel bad. (Needs a :zoidberg:.)

[Rghfrgl]

Also, Claire looks totally unrealistic. With hair that fluffy, I'm thinking she'd have epic bedhead.

Maybe it's not that she doesn't have bedhead. Maybe she ALWAYS has bedhead.

[GarandMarine]

I think HiFranc has it right. I'm sure Claire has mentioned Marten-friend to her mother, especially if she's still living at home.

Also PJs Claire is super cute :3

[mvdwege]

And now I'm trying to come at how this happened. Chance encounter at the diner? (Why?)

Maybe there's a stupid simple solution: Claire's mother works at the diner. Which also explains why she is so sure her homemade pancakes are better.

Also: Hi everyone.

[bhtooefr]

Also PJs Claire is super cute :3

Fixed that for you.

Maybe there's a stupid simple solution: Claire's mother works at the diner. Which also explains why she is so sure her homemade pancakes are better.

Which would mean that... Marten got up super-early, and she was at the end of her shift? Hrm.

[ElsaStegosaurus]

That's not usually Jeph's style, and if he is doing that, that is bad and he should feel bad. (Needs a :zoidberg:.)

Got you covered.

Also: what.  Just... what.

[neurocase]

I think the abrupt shift is intentional, and I recall it happening before (Though no specific instances come to mind) in the strip. I'm reasonably sure that we'll backtrack at some point, or get a more detailed explanation from Marten or Clairemom. In the meantime, I'm trusting Jeph to tell the story sensibly, as he does 99% of the time.

[Lubricus]

Also PJs Claire is super cute :3

Fixed that for you.

Maybe there's a stupid simple solution: Claire's mother works at the diner. Which also explains why she is so sure her homemade pancakes are better.

Which would mean that... Marten got up super-early, and she was at the end of her shift? Hrm.

Or she blew off work to make pancakes for her daughter's friend? 

[Is it cold in here?]

Welcome mvdwege!

[bryntheskits]

15 pages already HYPE TRAIN

        _____                           
   _ _| |     ______     ______     ______
  (             |     |        |     |        |     |         |
  /-()----()() ~ ()-----() ~ ()-----() ~ ()-----()

[neurocase]

15 pages already HYPE TRAIN

        _____                           
   _ _| |     ______     ______     ______
  (             |     |        |     |        |     |         |
  /-()----()() ~ ()-----() ~ ()-----() ~ ()-----()

The best thing I've seen today: This.

[anahata]

Maybe Marten came over to Claire's house to invite her to pancakes, and her mother said in a very sweet but stern voice: "No, Marten, you are not eating greasy diner food. Come in, I will make pancakes.

Plausible, but doesn't quite fit Marten's explanation: "Your mom invited me over".

Claire's mother obviously knows about Marten - Claire couldn't possibly have stayed away for a night at Marten's dad's wedding without her knowing about it, and very likely met Marten before or after that trip. I guess she knew who Claire was with the previous night too.

[bhtooefr]

Also, one bad sign for the long-term future of the ship, even if it makes it out of port...

Claire's still living at home. Odds are, she's never lived on her own before, and never quite had the responsibility that comes with that.

That mismatch in life experience can cause serious issues down the road.

[ZoeB]

Yeah, this kind of blindsided me as well. But you know, I think it's a good thing. They can now talk about what happened last night with each other in a more sober light. Without a lot of waffling back and forth on what they think, or getting ham-handed advice from friends.

Pancaking, not waffling. Spathe Ham optional. No syrup - May had an accident with it.

[Lubricus]

Maybe Marten came over to Claire's house to invite her to pancakes, and her mother said in a very sweet but stern voice: "No, Marten, you are not eating greasy diner food. Come in, I will make pancakes.

Plausible, but doesn't quite fit Marten's explanation: "Your mom invited me over".

Claire's mother obviously knows about Marten - Claire couldn't possibly have stayed away for a night at Marten's dad's wedding without her knowing about it, and very likely met Marten before or after that trip. I guess she knew who Claire was with the previous night too.

That makes sense. Knowing Jeph, it might be the only sensible explanation we get, so I'll buy it!

[TheCollector]

Part of me wonders if a small part of Marten's needing to process the events of the night have to do with a certain sentiment he expressed in the past. I know Jeph's matured as both a writer and a person since all that time ago, but Marten's had considerably less in-comic time to reach the same level of maturity.

Gods, I forgot how long winded this comic used to be. I was honestly getting tired reading all that, lol

[Rghfrgl]

JJ said this afternoon tonights strip was a narrative stretch, but liked it too much not to do it. Worried me a bit, and it certainly IS a stretch. But it had good shock value and we just skipped a week of Marten contemplating things.

The ship train moves forward! Choo choo!

[ZoeB]

Claire's still living at home. Odds are, she's never lived on her own before, and never quite had the responsibility that comes with that.

That mismatch in life experience can cause serious issues down the road.

While one can't automatically assume that what's true in this universe is true in the QC one... do you realise how outrageously rare having supportive parents is for girls like her? (Hint : average age of homeless trans children is 12 1/2, many, many get kicked out)

That she has family support (parents, brother ) possibly accounts for her relatively good mental health. Though I see an anxiety attack looming... if one doesn't happen now, I'd say they're gone.

If I was that age, woke up without having a chance to clean up, came downstairs to see Mum and prospective first boyfriend ever chatting it up after a night when I ended up in his arms.... anxious doesn't even begin to describe it. We're talking fullblown PANIC here.

I didn't see this coming. Jeph, you magnificent bastard.

[bhtooefr]

While one can't automatically assume that what's true in this universe is true in the QC one... do you realise how outrageously rare having supportive parents is for girls like her? (Hint : average age of homeless trans children is 12 1/2, many, many get kicked out)

That she has family support (parents, brother  possibly accounts for her relatively good mental health.

Oh, I don't think her having family support is a bad thing at all, but I'm saying that her still living at home at 24 may present future problems in a relationship. (Of course, her not having relationship experience at all before will almost certainly present future problems...) I've known couples that have had problems with that, where one partner went straight from living with their parents to living with their partner. That's independent of Claire's family support structure (which, with the probable exception of her father, looks healthy... well, mostly, anyway, her mother probably should've known better than to send her to DEFCON 1 with that stunt).

Though I see an anxiety attack looming... if one doesn't happen now, I'd say they're gone.

If I was that age, woke up without having a chance to clean up, came downstairs to see Mum and prospective first boyfriend ever chatting it up after a night when I ended up in his arms.... anxious doesn't even begin to describe it. We're talking fullblown PANIC here.

I'm pretty sure we're already seeing that starting as her brain slowly processes it.

[Thrillho]

Is noone else thinking that this could just be a dream? It seems unlikely enough, for sure.

Has Jeph EVER done this?

Dream sequences are incredibly hacky.

[EvilDuckyBec]

This can only mean good things, in my mind. If Marten was willing to take Claire's mom up on the invitation, that means he wasn't completely freaked out about the happenings the night before. Otherwise, he would either not be there at all, or would look uncomfortable as hell. But buddy is smiling and genuine and sober and this can only lead to GOOD THINGS *clutches at face*

I dunno.  If Marten realized he really had strong feelings for Claire, wouldn't he be all nervous to see her again so soon, particularly with her mother around?

Looking at his eyebrows, he does look kind of nervous to me, and (particularly in the third panel) kind of anxious-to-please. Not super-uncomfortable, certainly, but definitely slightly nervous/awkward-feeling. Or, of course, I could be reading way too much into this. Probably the latter.

Also, did Claire get a haircut between panels, or is it a perspective thing? Her hair looks like it's down to her waist in panel two, then it's only elbow-length in panel 3.

*ducks back into lurking*

[NilsO]

Or he fell in love with Claire's mom... ...pancakes!

Ah. Oedipus again. Please note the similarity to #1047. While I don't think Marten is in love with Claire's mom (and her pancakes), the theory cannot be ruled out. Stranger things have happened.

We already know that Claire's parents are divorced (#2371). In today's strip, it becomes clear that Claire lives with her mother. Marten's presence is a bit of a mystery, but several plausible theories have already been presented. What is strange, is how cool he appears. Obviously, he has thought things through, and knows how to handle the situation.

Is it possible that Clinton also lives with his mom? Are they part of an extended red-haired clone family? If so, there will be drama when he awakes. Marten might have to fight his robot hand.

[slydon]

Wait, is Claire's mom the hairdresser?
I can't recall the exact comic.
Maybe Claire's hair in panel 2 is just from crawling though the hair tube, which, at this point, lost all effect on her since she goes thru it daily j/k

[Loki]

Is noone else thinking that this could just be a dream? It seems unlikely enough, for sure.

Has Jeph EVER done this?

Never longer that for one strip at a time. Off the top of my mind, there was the one where Marten dreamed he woke up as Dora, the imagination bit where Hanners murders the construction workers, the evil Hanners clone, and the one mith moose-Dora.

[pwhodges]

Wasn't the one where witch-Dora turns Marten and Faye into rabbits part of a series?

[bhtooefr]

The same series with Marten dreaming he woke up as Dora, and the moose-Dora (which actually were the same strip, I thought), IIRC.

And it wasn't Faye, it was a random redhead.

[Honkytonk]

Is noone else thinking that this could just be a dream? It seems unlikely enough, for sure.

Has Jeph EVER done this?

Never longer that for one strip at a time. Off the top of my mind, there was the one where Marten dreamed he woke up as Dora, the imagination bit where Hanners murders the construction workers, the evil Hanners clone, and the one mith moose-Dora.

Yeah, if Jeph does do dreams, they are obviously there for comic relief as opposed to dramatic effect.

As for how Marten met/knows Claire's mother, there's doubtless a half-decent reason, and frankly whatever 'narrative stretch' Jeph alludes to is worth it because this is NOT what I expected to see this morning.

Claire says it best.

What

[Aimless]

The lip thing woulda been cool but seeing as how Hanners & Marigold often don't have lips either I think it might be more a face/style thing rather than foreshadowing.

Also  kiss damn you! The tension is unbearable!

[Detachable Felix]

Wait, is Claire's mom the hairdresser?
I can't recall the exact comic.

You mean this hairdresser?
Looks different, but that's who I immediately thought she was, too 

(Either that or she's actually Ms Frizzle)


Warning: While you were replying, 5 new replies have been posted. You may want to fix your shitty internet connection.

[gorocz]

Regarding the whole intern thing - I think it could be possible that Marten had subconcious feelings for Claire before and he rationalized him not wanting to start anything with Emily by the intern thing.

At least that's what my subconcious would most likely do...

Also - lurker no more.

Yay!

[Case]

Claire's still living at home. Odds are, she's never lived on her own before, and never quite had the responsibility that comes with that.

That mismatch in life experience can cause serious issues down the road.

While one can't automatically assume that what's true in this universe is true in the QC one... do you realise how outrageously rare having supportive parents is for girls like her? (Hint : average age of homeless trans children is 12 1/2, many, many get kicked out)

That she has family support (parents, brother ) possibly accounts for her relatively good mental health. Though I see an anxiety attack looming... if one doesn't happen now, I'd say they're gone.

If I was that age, woke up without having a chance to clean up, came downstairs to see Mum and prospective first boyfriend ever chatting it up after a night when I ended up in his arms.... anxious doesn't even begin to describe it. We're talking fullblown PANIC here.

I didn't see this coming. Jeph, you magnificent bastard.

The life experience ... that comes with overcoming challenges, adapting to changing circumstances, and changing and growing in the process ?
The life experience that a young transitioning graduate student is not supposed to have?

Nope, can't really see that one being much of a problem ...
(Having been both a grad student and late bird out of the nest myself - I don't think either compares to transitioning)

[bhtooefr]

I should also clarify ( ify? I'm sorry...) that I'm not saying that Claire has less life experience, but rather that hers is different. However, in the independent living sense, she does have less experience than Marten, and that could cause issues. She and Marten may well be able to work through them just fine (and she'll have quite a lot of experience coping with other major changes, as you pointed out), but there could be some conflict set up by that.

That's all I was saying.

[NilsO]

Clairemom must have been meddling quite a bit behind the scenes, but that is what mothers do. I do not believe she met Marten by chance at the diner this morning. She must have seen him before, either in pictures, or perhaps if she visited Claire at the library sometime. Moreover, Claire must have confessed to her what happened, when she returned home the previous evening. Clairemom, wishing the best for her daughter, decides it is time to take action, and invites Marten for breakfast. Obviously, Clairemom and Marten must also have had a long conversation before waking Claire, or Marten would not be so relaxed.

[Barmymoo]

I have a friend who lives with his parents right now at the age of... 30? and lived with them until a couple of years ago as well, for financial reasons. Once he moved back in from university, it was more like living with housemates who happened to be a generation older than him. That's not quite the same as Claire's experience if she was living there during her degree too, but it's perfectly possible to live like an adult while sharing your parents' home.

[ZoeB]

I should also clarify ( ify? I'm sorry...)

You win the thread.

Probably 20 hours till the next comic. Then no more for 72 hours. And we still don't know the nature of May's sticky situation.

[MegaBarrakuda]

What if Clairemom have stalked Marten for a long time without anybody noticing? And what if she was the one who pushed Claire on Marten?

[hedgie]

One thing I just thought of is that Claire might not be sure *what* she's seeing right now, or if her eyes are just playing tricks on her.  Given how thick her specs are, just from people I know, she'd be seeing Marten as a fuzzy blob right about now, unless she slept with her contacts in, or put them in off-panel (which if I was rushing down the stairs, I'd be unlikely to do)

[NilsO]

What if Clairemom have stalked Marten for a long time without anybody noticing? And what if she was the one who pushed Claire on Marten?

Not unless she was the reason Marten got a job at the library, and anticipating Claire would have her internship there. As far as we know, Tai was alone in her decision to give Marten his job. Claire's interest in librarianing is genuine.

[bhtooefr]

If we're going into insane troll logic, with the whole Clairemom stalking Marten thing... here's my insane troll hypothesis:

We know Clairedad cheated on Clairemom, and that's why they got a divorce.

This may be fairly recent, given how sore Claire still is about it.

We know the Augustus family is decently well off - they've paid for a robot hand for Clinton (even if it was a cheaper brand than Ellicott-Chatham), and they've paid for transition costs, a new car (granted, it's a DE-platform Mazda2, Mazda hands keys and a title for those out in cracker jack boxes if you ask nicely enough (they get mediocre fuel economy for what they are, so they can barely give them away), but still), and even educational costs up through grad school for Claire.

There's going to be a Meeting of the Meddling Mothers if this goes on long enough. I mean, both Veronica and now apparently Clairemom ship this.

Veronica has been known to make business trips to Northampton. We also know what her business is. Her hourly rate is high, but...

What if Clairedad was cheating with Veronica? That sure would make the MMM awkward. (And, Claire wouldn't have to know who it was with...)

All of this is damn unlikely, but then again, so is Clairemom stalking Marten and getting him a library job just to hook him up with her daughter a year later.

[Aimless]

Don't worry, she heard the voice that makes her heart flutter

[Barmymoo]

How do we know that Claire's parents are paying for everything? I expect she is getting some help, sure, but it's not a given that they're paying the costs of grad school. I'm in my sixth year of university now and my parents haven't paid anything toward it; they occasionally help out (my dad bought my bed, for instance - it was second hand and a very good deal but it was still over Ł200) but the general view is that I'm an adult and I should be able to support myself. Which is why I have four jobs!

[TomOBedlam]

Another lurker unmasking   

I am thoroughly captivated by recent events on QC!  I'm also kinda amazed at how much I have invested in the Claire/Marten story, however it ultimately plays out.

The narrative jump was a splendid manoeuvre – skipping over several weeks worth of Marten-esque exposition (potentially at least) and landing on a moment with so many possibilities for humour/drama/growth.  Well played sir!

[bhtooefr]

Which is why I have four jobs!

Well, we don't know of any other jobs that Claire does outside of interning in the library (which may even be unpaid, because unpaid internships are a thing in the US) and grad student-related duties. Basically, I don't think she has the income sources to pay for herself.

(I also suspect that everything's being paid for by her father, but that they're otherwise estranged. Claire is literally violently opposed to anything like what he did.)

But, yes, I don't seriously believe what I've postulated in my previous post.

[hedgie]

She could easily have a fellowship, or various other forms of professional student income.  But if she gets along with her mum, and it saves money, why the hell not?  (totally OT).  I once knew a professor who originally came from Mexico.  He was actually heartbroken when his son moved out at 18, since he figured that the kid would stay until he was 25 or so.  But since his son came up in American culture, he followed the US cultural "norm" of leaving around the age of majority.

[Barmymoo]

I wish I got on well enough with my parents to live with them still; I frequently desperately miss my mum and I think I'd benefit from having them around more, especially when like today I'm not feeling well. Unfortunately this is outweighed by how much I need to live alone - not just away from my family but away from anyone. I haven't tried living with them since I started on my sanity pills; it might make a difference but at this point I can't see myself moving back in. That doesn't mean that I'm any more ready for a serious relationship than I would be if I were at home, though! Basically I don't think the two are necessarily linked.

[Mr. Doctor]

I dont get why some are talking about logic and how they ended up there. Hmmm... I think someone already commented the theory that he simply made a call and got her mom instead and he's there eating the pancakes.

In any case, I'm very curious to how things turn out. I'm actually indifferent if some romance happens or not. Neither scenario makes me giggle or be sad or anything... It's the road that seems cool and interesting! 

[marbledmurrelet]

I imagined a scenario like Clairemom walking past the diner and seeing Marten through the window, thinking "Hey, looks like that Marten kid that Claire is so fond of and showed me pictures of - this is my chance!"

To me, Marten's look is even warmer than during the drunk hair/cuddle incident, plus a little shy and insecure. I hope Claire won't freak out as much as she seems about to in panel 4. Not really nice to put her into this situation, but quite a Mom thing to do...

EDIT: Disclaimer: I have trouble interpreting facial expressions IRL, so don't listen to me.