Going to be blunt...I'm just revolted in this way of thinking. Marten was not "looking for a hole to fill". That's not what happened here, and this an inhumane interpretation. It's not about being "completed" or about "decisiveness"
Life throws you things, whether you're ready or not. For the past few years in the comic, Marten has been learning to deal with those curveballs, and more and more, he's been the one his friends have been coming to when they've got something going on. If you haven't noticed that change, that's unfortunate, because it's one of the best things of the comic these days. Claire's reveal of her feelings for Marten was the latest thing, probably the most important thing, and he reacted in a way that's far more grownup and mature than any of the other characters have shown so far in similar situations.
Yeah, Marten still hasn't figured out what to do with his life. Got news for you....the vast majority of people never do. How many people actually use their college degree? How many people actually manage to achieve whatever life plan they concoct when they're in their mid-20s? Most drift from job to job finding something we enjoy doing that pays the bills and buys a little freedom. It's what we actually do in the time we have and with the people we're given that makes our life and leaves our memory. You paint Marten as a near-worthless, listless man, yet you never consider the value of his life to Faye, Nora, Tai, and Hanners. The man is better than you're painting, and so is his life.
I honestly don't think I've seen the same level of development in Marten as much of the cast. I mean as I said, Faye kept true to herself but dealt with her trust issues and fucked-uppedness quite well. Hell, up until Jeph decided to make him into a dick again, I loved where Sven was going in terms of development - his redemption arc seemed like a real thing, and his (platonic) date with Hanners was so cute.
What's helped Marten over time to become the person who people go to with problems is that he developed friends he had no romantic interest in (besides Steve). In the early comics there was really no one for him to talk to but Faye and Dora. Then he got Hanners, and then Tai. Tai especially was important, because she was for a long time (like Steve) the only one who was mainly a friend of Marten, and not a friend of "the gang" with Marten as a part of it.
I've been assuming that Claire's mom is roughly twice Claire's age, which would make her 48, more or less. And incidentally the same age as my wife.
I dunno, 24 seems young to have kids these days. Hell, it even seems a little young for someone college educated (which I'm guessing Claire's mom is) to have kids at in 1990.
[1] Without going into too much speculation, Marigold and Dale might have a problem there. If watching anime, playing WoW and having sex is all they do, that may yield a strong emotional bond, but not an intellectual one. A longterm relationship needs both, with the latter becoming more important the longer the relationship lasts.
Honestly, I think Marigold is an awful character with no redeeming qualities. She's self-absorbed, not funny, and oddly stupid for someone who knows a lot about computers. Dale is way too good for her.
I forsee the relationship drama to happen with Faye and Angus though. I'll bet Angus gets the job in NYC. Faye says it's okay for him to go. But then one of two things happen.
1. She preemptively breaks up with him
2. She gets lonely and somehow ends up screwing Sven when drunk. Which really makes her hate herself.
Have you never had a friend that suddenly became a romantic interest? It's happened a couple of times to me. Sometimes it's cause the friendship to fall apart, (I hope that's not what's going to happen here.) and sometimes it's just been a thing that runs it's natural course and then we ended it as friends. These things happen, and in reading back to the wedding arc, that's what I see here. You have two people that are friends and are comfortable around each other. Marten getting a little tipsy and playing with Claire's hair is something I could see myself doing to a friend, and when I woke up the next morning, if I remembered there being a spark of something there from the other person, I'd evaluate my feelings.
Back when I was in high school and college, I had plenty of friendships which over a period of weeks to months, turned into infatuations. Arguably I was in love with some of them. Tha said, none of them ever loved me back, and in each case I pissed away most of a year pining away for them only to get shot down. By the time I was 23, and still a virgin, I decided to try dating instead of hoping my female friends would love me back. Lost the V quick, and in a few more years of casual dating/fucking around/short term relationships I finally found someone to marry. Someone who I loved with all my heart based upon the trust and respect that grew between us, but for whom I never felt that butterflies in stomach crap.
So yeah, nothing about this sort of scenario makes me squee. There's nothing about it I could relate to. Not like the Martin/Faye dynamic back in the day, which really spoke to me, because that's pretty much what my experience with women was like a few years before the comic started.
Maybe romance is't for suckers, but I certainly saw no reason to believe in it in life personally. Real love is a lot of hard work.
Me neither. Probably has to do with the fact that I don't really like Claire and it's, to be honest, hard for me to gather why everybody loves her so much. Can't see where Marten has got his feelings from, just can't. But we're very alone, so I think we just missed something and/or have a very different perception, so I'm just going to see myself out until this arc pauses
I honestly wonder if Claire would have gotten the same reaction as a cis character. I mean, her personality is basically Penelope with some neuroses added, and I don't remember Penelope being very popular ever.