Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2887-2891 (2-6 February 2015)
cesium133:
--- Quote from: explicit on 07 Feb 2015, 14:50 ---For my next order of business I will now deviously insult you all.
Man this thread sure is smelly, what with all the smelly people here.
--- End quote ---
This thread has no nose!
ReindeerFlotilla:
--- Quote from: HannahRose on 07 Feb 2015, 13:08 ---The last few pages of this thread are why I stayed away from the forums for so long. Apparently, at least according to many of the people commenting here, a story can't be good unless everything is blowing up in everyone's faces all the damn time.
--- End quote ---
A story can't be good unless something blows up. No plot = no story. Plot = character + conflict. No conflict = no plot = no story.
Everything, OTOH, doesn't have to blow up. Conflict doesn't have to signal the dissolution of the relationship. Mad About You did this well. There is a certain point where tension becomes melodrama. This point is best avoided (unless you are writing for CSI or Law and Order).
Claire showed Marten something. What that thing was doesn't matter. What matters is the showing was emotionally difficult. Claure felt something was at risk.
Claire = character.
Claire's desire to go "any further" + Claire's perception that going further was a risk = conflict.
Claire + Claire's desire/risk = plot.
The problem I'm hearing is that the plot did not grow into a deeper conflict. It could have. Marten could have said something well meaning but using poorly chosen words for example. Instead, the plot had a happy ending.
This is not CSI.
Jeph had 4 drama balls in the air. He just put a very dramatic one down. There's a potentially dramatic one still spinning. The other two are both romantic. One has the potential for absurd hijinks. Logically, injecting more absurd into the remaining one is probably a bit much. There's no need for overt conflict at this point. (Keep in mind that in laying the Faye's drinking issue down, Jeph created a new drama ball he hasn't picked up yet. And nothing says he's resolved this one. It's not in the air at the moment.)
Given that QC isn't really about overt conflict, that seems about right.
hedgie:
--- Quote from: Aziraphale on 07 Feb 2015, 15:07 ---I imagine that there's exactly one transporter device on Dr. Ellicott-Chatham's space station, and it's probably set aside for Hanners' personal use.
--- End quote ---
"Station, beam $waste directly from me and into the sun.
DrClef:
I don't want things to blow up all the time. I want Marten to act like Marten. I want him to be a little snarky and playful. I want him to make dumb jokes and goof around a bit. I want the Marten who decided to scritch Claire's hair and back and make her go all *_*. You know. Not necessarily Marten at his worst. Marten at his best.
Strip 2808 comes to mind. Like 2891, Marten is LITERALLY reading off of the "how a guy dating a trans woman is supposed to act" handbook. Hell, 2808 is even structured like a, "POP QUIZ, MARTEN! YOUR NEW TRANS GIRLFRIEND ASKED YOU HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT DATING A TRANS LADY! DO YOU PICK. . ." 2891 feels like just another test to see if Marten passes the "AM I THE PERFECT BOYFRIEND FOR CLAIRE" test.
Which is a shame because there's no reason why Marten couldn't be just as open and understanding about the relationship while still being Martenish. Instead, the author seems to devoted to making sure that Marten haandles this perfectly that he's filed off all the interesting bits from his main character and ended up with a perfect reflective sphere that does nothing but bounce back the audience's hopes and wishes.
But the end result doesn't feel heartwarming or cute for me. It feels fake. And that's sad.
Reaver:
I was not expecting so much discussion of Hannerpoop :-P
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