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Whatever happened to Pintsize?

41 (37.6%)

Faye's story v.2.0.?

21 (19.3%)

Student, Girlfriend, Librarian or some combination of all three? Claire's Dilemma?

11 (10.1%)

How do you come back from firing your best friend?

20 (18.3%)

Something completely new (give your idea in a comment, plz)?

0 (0%)

"Marten, how would you feel about having three dads?"

16 (14.7%)

Total Members Voted: 99

Voting closed: 04 Feb 2015, 06:23

[Zalder]

Welp. They're frick fracking.

Kinda wish they weren't. Marten's not in a good headspace to be banging right now.

You know people handle stuff differently.  Just because Marten is ready to pursue sexy times with Claire doesn't mean he's not thinking about the shit storm that just happened, it just means that he's not letting that dominate his thoughts right now.  I think there was a time when a mopey Marten would have had no interest in make outs at this point, but he's come a long way. 

[ManateeGag]

Long time reader, first time poster, etc...

I would not have expected anything less from Marten.  Claire is really nervous about being accepted and she found the right person to do that.  I'm just glad her brother didn't screw things up for her.

[Aziraphale]

Thoughts at random:

• Not that I'd have expected this to be played for laughs, I'm glad that Jeph sqeeeeee -- ahem, squeezed -- some emotional heft into this one, between Claire's vulnerability and trust, and Marten's bleary-eyed acceptance.
• Speaking of XKCD, if the last panel had been Marten's room as a ball pit, that would've been just about perfect.
• What's up with Marten's face in a couple of those panels? Those are faces Marty Feldman would look at and go, "What the fuck?"
• I'll say it again: Claire is simply adorable.

You forgot this one:

M: Damn, you are really freckly!

After Marten's "modification" of Dora's tattoo, I wonder if he might try something similar with Claire's freckles. I can just picture Monday's strip showing the two of them talking at the library... Emily walks over and wonders why Claire has Orion on one shoulder and Ursa Major on the other. 

Warning: While you were typing, eleventy billion new posts were posted. You may wish to... oh, never mind.

[hedgie]

It's "connect the dots".  Then again, Claire has a *lot* of being mottled.

[DrClef]

Welp. They're frick fracking.

Kinda wish they weren't. Marten's not in a good headspace to be banging right now.

You know people handle stuff differently.  Just because Marten is ready to pursue sexy times with Claire doesn't mean he's not thinking about the shit storm that just happened, it just means that he's not letting that dominate his thoughts right now.  I think there was a time when a mopey Marten would have had no interest in make outs at this point, but he's come a long way.

That does kinda bug me too. I mean, Marten has done a complete turnaround of personality from mopey, somewhat self-centered, and socially awkward to this suave guy who knows exactly what to say and do in his new relationship to make her swoon and feel comfortable, and the only real change seems to be that he's now dating Claire. As happy as I was to see Marten and Claire get together, at this point this is less feeling like a genuine relationship between the two characters, and more like something I would have seen on fanfiction.net.

I mean, the reason why I wanted to see Marten and Claire date was for the happy chuckles I could get out of seeing the perpetual foot-in-mouther Marten stumble his way towards happiness with the pun queen herself. This is way too smooth. Has no roughness or character to it.

But that's just my opinion.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

Fascinating.

Has no one noticed that the date arc was effectively filler? Perhaps filler is the wrong word. Let's call it padding.

Jeph established the romance. He then disestablished Faye and Angus. He then established Faye's depression. Then hinted that she was drinking too much. Each jump to Marten and Claire spaced out the progression from Sad panda to plastered panda.

I don't mean to suggest that the date arc was meaningless. I suspect things that happened will be important in hindsight. But it is in keeping with the way Jeph always done the comic. The issue isn't that Marten and Claire have no foundation for a relationship. It's not that they are unjustifiably happy. The issue is the Jeph is doing the opposite of too many words.

I think he's effectively communicated the feel of the relationship. I would like more details. But I don't assume that Jeph not providing those details means those details don't exist. Jeph's asking us to infer a lot. This comic being a prime example. All other things being equal, I suspect most of it will always be inference.

If you gotta complain, I figure complain about the way he's drawing Marten's eye's lately. Just round the damn things off! He's getting positively creepy. I mean, he rounds them off today, except the last panel. And the last is trip to the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley is worse than LA.

[Undrneath]

Thoughts at random:

• Not that I'd have expected this to be played for laughs, I'm glad that Jeph sqeeeeee -- ahem, squeezed -- some emotional heft into this one, between Claire's vulnerability and trust, and Marten's bleary-eyed acceptance.
• Speaking of XKCD, if the last panel had been Marten's room as a ball pit, that would've been just about perfect.
• What's up with Marten's face in a couple of those panels? Those are faces Marty Feldman would look at and go, "What the fuck?"
• I'll say it again: Claire is simply adorable.

You forgot this one:

M: Damn, you are really freckly!

After Marten's "modification" of Dora's tattoo, I wonder if he might try something similar with Claire's freckles. I can just picture Monday's strip showing the two of them talking at the library... Emily walks over and wonders why Claire has Orion on one shoulder and Ursa Major on the other. 

Warning: While you were typing, eleventy billion new posts were posted. You may wish to... oh, never mind.

As a "Damn, you are really freckly!" ginger myself I'm sure a lot of people of the freckly persuasion have played connect the dots I know I have.

[Zalder]

QUESTION:  What mood music (assuming he'd put on some mood music) would Marten choose for this encounter?  Some older indie that might help Claire get at ease I'm thinking.  Cat Power?

[Is it cold in here?]

Emily walks over and wonders why Claire has Orion on one shoulder and Ursa Major on the other.

Ursa Major would be because Claire needed a bear too.

[BrusselSprouts]

Looks like Marten's tamper proof seal is about to be broken

[Is it cold in here?]

That strip was one of several examples of Marten being awkward around Claire. If things seem to have gone un-Martenesquely smoothly, that may be because he's finally dating someone compatible.

[jheartney]

Told you Claire would not be needing her glasses.

[Indicible]

Oh well... I'm gonna be like this all day long...

It's adorable. No other word.

[Undrneath]

She is even freckly in my favorite spot on a woman, the indent above the bottom below the back.

[valkygrrl]

QUESTION:  What mood music (assuming he'd put on some mood music) would Marten choose for this encounter?  Some older indie that might help Claire get at ease I'm thinking.  Cat Power?

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

[Omega Entity]

Fascinating.

Has no one noticed that the date arc was effectively filler? Perhaps filler is the wrong word. Let's call it padding.

Jeph established the romance. He then disestablished Faye and Angus. He then established Faye's depression. Then hinted that she was drinking too much. Each jump to Marten and Claire spaced out the progression from Sad panda to plastered panda.

To be fair, it's been hinted - most of the time, outright commented on - that Faye drinks to much, probably a dozen times or more throughout the comic's run. Unless you're only referring to the breakup in general?

[SugarSparkle]

Trigger-warning, just in case.

Just wanted to say I'm a trans-chick and I think the pace could be realistic. I personally was quick to have sex after transitioning, because I felt I had been 'deprived' for so long, not being previously comfortable with my body. Making up for lost time I suppose would be fairly accurate. I was 27 though, and Claire seems quite a bit younger, but I can still understand there being some urgency there. And on top of that, having someone to be comfortable with like Claire is comfortable with Marten could be a big confidence booster. It all seems rather believable to me. Just hope she doesn't shack up with Marten just as quickly. I jumped into my first relationship with a guy waaay too quickly, and sure learned my lesson...

[Aziraphale]

QUESTION:  What mood music (assuming he'd put on some mood music) would Marten choose for this encounter?  Some older indie that might help Claire get at ease I'm thinking.  Cat Power?

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy

This could easily be its own thread (with a spinoff thread of what was playing for various forumites' first times).

[ZoeB]

I am NOT going to cry.

OK, I lied.

This probably belongs on DISCUSSIONS - TRANS - but this is the way things are supposed to happen.

Not the "4th Trans woman murdered this week" of reality.

Things like this do happen in reality though, it's just, well, rare.

[maxh]

I was 27 though, and Claire seems quite a bit younger

She's 24.

[SugarSparkle]

I was 27 though, and Claire seems quite a bit younger

She's 24.

Ah, thanks. I just get the impression she's a few years younger, like 21 or 22. But that sort of reaffirms my point. There's just a lot of pressure to have sex when you're young. Now that she may feel more comfortable with her body, it's understandable she'd want to at least show it off. And I shouldn't assume they're going to have sex right now since we don't know yet, but whatever she's doing still seems like it could be appropriately paced to me. 

[Is it cold in here?]

Welcome, new person!

[USS Martenclaire]

On the one hand, I'm a little disappointed that Jeph didn't decide to keep us all guessing about what was going on. On the hand, Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee <3

[ibanix]

We're rapidly getting close to comic 2900, and comics divided by 100 seem to often have some major plot development....

[Lubricus]

This was really beautifully done, and quite a bit more revealing than I would have expected. Great job, Jeph!

[Kingy_who]

We're rapidly getting close to comic 2900, and comics divided by 100 seem to often have some major plot development....

Like we haven't had enough of those recently.

[Natswash]

A: Go Marten!
B:Thank you Jeph for actually confirming what happens (while it's still kinda a letdown to actually know and all)
C: Now THIS is probably the most risque thing he's ever drawn

Initiating squee in T-minus...

[Loki]

Meh.
It may be because I read the comic right after waking up and am thus a bit cranky, but I don't really like it.
Like, I can totally see where Jeph was going with this, but to me the comic seems to focus on an issue which I feel would better be solved by the "fade to black" so famously discussed on the forum yesterday amd by the two appearing obviously happy in the morning.
That said, apparently the trans folks are happy, so who am I to judge :3

[efrumttr]

I don't know. On the one hand, squeeeeeeeeeeeee! On the other hand, I just don't find today's panel realistic at all. Yeah sure, it's every transwoman's (mine included) dream scenario where you find someone you have feelings for and they can instantly accept you physically, but this scene? I mean, maybe Claire doesn't have dysphoria to the extent that I do, but I can never ever ever ever ever (x47^8) picture myself doing what Claire did here, no matter how much I trusted the person I was with. "This is me?" I just think it's cringey. So far I've loved Clarten because it's had the sweetness factor but with that necessary dose of realism, where Claire's insecurities (do we need to talk about this, this, and this?) and Martin's enthusiasm have been a nice blend.  But this strip is a little too sunshine and rainbows for me to swallow.

[AprilArcus]

I think I like this?

Marten's shirt is off in panel 1, and Claire is still fully dressed. Did she undress him? His facial expression is unreadable. Blinding lust? Is he pulling her into bed while she pushes him away? Was he trying to escalate? Or is it spiritual exhaustion? Is she pushing him into bed while he prevaricates about escalating?

And then this totally, intensely awkward record-scratch where she stops the flow of foreplay and suddenly they are having a completely different conversation entirely. Why does she choose to undress herself in this kind of prosaic, unsexy way instead of inviting him to undress her?

It is fascinating that Marten makes her feel confident enough to do something this bold, but not so confident that she feels like she doesn't have to. Weird, tender, shaky-new-relationship excitement and terror. His face is agog in panel 5; "She just stripped in front of me?" And then panel 6, those bags under his eyes, it's like he is so tired and barely dealing with any of this.

It's so strange and awkward and unsexy. It feels like it could be true for a 24 year old virgin, but it feels so far from my experience I barely know how to relate to any of it.

[Dark Matter]

This is definitely more risque than I was expecting Jeph to go, but personally I think that's a good thing. After all, he's shown plenty of other characters in similarly revealing situations, so it would send kind of a weird message if Marten and Claire's relationship was always this chaste, behind closed doors thing. This way, he puts it on an equal footing with any of the other relationships that he's shown while at the same time maintaining the position that Claire's private parts should remain private. Basically, this is about as well as I could imagine it being handled. As far as realism, I don't really have the personal experiences to be able to say, but it seems to me that Claire is pretty in character here as far as being both nervous and uncertain but also brave, which is one of the things that I like about her as a character.

[SugarSparkle]

I don't know. On the one hand, squeeeeeeeeeeeee! On the other hand, I just don't find today's panel realistic at all. Yeah sure, it's every transwoman's (mine included) dream scenario where you find someone you have feelings for and they can instantly accept you physically, but this scene? I mean, maybe Claire doesn't have dysphoria to the extent that I do, but I can never ever ever ever ever (x47^8) picture myself doing what Claire did here, no matter how much I trusted the person I was with. "This is me?" I just think it's cringey. So far I've loved Clarten because it's had the sweetness factor but with that necessary dose of realism, where Claire's insecurities (do we need to talk about this, this, and this?) and Martin's enthusiasm have been a nice blend.  But this strip is a little too sunshine and rainbows for me to swallow.

Marten is clearly a very accepting and caring person. And Claire is very passable. She may not be very dysphoric, it's entirely possible. In my experience, the trans-community doesn't focus on smooth transitions and happy endings very much. I think some sunshine and rainbows are a welcome thing. Since when are optimism and hope bad or unrealistic? I welcome any positive portrayals of trans-people over all the negative or depressing stories, or comedic stereotypes. I find Claire and her situation to be more relatable to me than not.

[Dragonsreach]

This is just what I needed today, a simple 'loving' end to a week.
Thanks Jeph!
Totally appropriate.

[Undrneath]

Awkward and unsexy kind of epitomizes Claire at that moment, but in a baring my soul leaving myself vulnerable kind of way. It seems to me that she is saying "here I am" emotionally even more than she is saying it physically. And as Marten says in that moment even being awkward and unsexy she is beautiful.

[Oenone]

The feel when Claire and Marten are the perfect OTP.

 

[Lubricus]

Awkward and unsexy? Are we reading the same comic? She seems wonderfully confident, considering her background, and she carries herself very well, IMO. And this particular comic isn't really about "sexy" anyway.

[BenRG]

It's hard to overstate just how much courage that Claire needed to do this. No matter what her feelings, it's been clear since the lake party that her body is a source of embarrassment for her and something about which she is very defensive. To basically surrender herself to Marten's judgement like that? It's an enormous step in her own journey.

Marten's response was perfect all the more for its clear sincerity. I think that this is the significance of his being tired: He's too tired to lie, dissemble or even just be tactful. In his eyes, she's beautiful; that's his gut reaction the first moment that he could get his voice working.

Congratulations to Jeph for handling this so well. The workmanlike way Claire stripped and her body language in panel 4 well communicated her nervousness and fear. Marten's wonderful reaction sweeps away any doubt that he sees Claire as completely natural. Finally, by making Claire look so normal, rather than excessively perfect or different, he answers the prurient without sacrificing her privacy or dignity.

I would argue that this goes in his top ten strips.

[Loki]

Nah, I am a bit of being with AprilArcus on this one.

What is she doing at panel 2? Unmaking her hair and her bra one-handedly, at the same time?
If so, mad props to her for her coordination - I know I couldn't do this without an extensive amount of training.

[Is it cold in here?]

And then this totally, intensely awkward record-scratch where she stops the flow of foreplay and suddenly they are having a completely different conversation entirely. Why does she choose to undress herself in this kind of prosaic, unsexy way instead of inviting him to undress her?

It's consistent with Claire being still afraid of rejection, and taking charge of the situation so that if she was rejected at least it would be on her own terms. I'm not explaining this well.

[snubnose]

IMHO, as usual, a lot of people are overanalyzing this.

Have a nice weekend, everybody !

[Omega Entity]

What is she doing at panel 2? Unmaking her hair and her bra one-handedly, at the same time?
If so, mad props to her for her coordination - I know I couldn't do this without an extensive amount of training.

Some women undo bra straps that way. I prefer to do the hands-around-the-sides method. -I- can't personally pull of that move, but then again, I've got some bigger boobs going on (inevitably leading to the clasp being farther down my back), and I'm not as flexible as I used to be.

[Dark Matter]

It's consistent with Claire being still afraid of rejection, and taking charge of the situation so that if she was rejected at least it would be on her own terms. I'm not explaining this well.

For what its worth, I think this is a great explanation.

[Is it cold in here?]

I don't care if people overanalyze things. I mean, I think it's stupid, and they're wrong 99% of the time, but that's kind of what forums are FOR.

[AprilArcus]

This way, he puts it on an equal footing with any of the other relationships that he's shown while at the same time maintaining the position that Claire's private parts should remain private.

Jeph never shows private parts when he shows characters having sex. I don't think this is really a sex scene at all. It like, deliberately pivots out of sexy mode before showing us nudity. It's not one of these:








It's one of these:

[explicit]

Am I the only one that thinks a girl (or anyone I guess, I just happen to like girls) acting like that is kinda sexy? Am I the weird one? Everyone seems to be saying that it's not, however cute they think it is.

[valkygrrl]

It's consistent with Claire being still afraid of rejection, and taking charge of the situation so that if she was rejected at least it would be on her own terms. I'm not explaining this well.

Yes you are.  This is perfectly consistent with having body issues. 

Being undressed by someone else is shameful.  Like the phantom having his mask ripped off.

Undressing herself, assuring herself at each step that it was her own choice is different.  In the last moment she's still _naked_ rather than nude but every step up to that point was hers alone.

[Dark Matter]

Jeph never shows private parts when he shows characters having sex. I don't think this is really a sex scene at all. It like, deliberately pivots out of sexy mode before showing us nudity.

I didn't say that Jeph was reaffirming that private parts are not an issue because I thought that he had shown private parts at other times. It's because Marten's reaction  to that issue is no longer a mystery, and so people can no longer use the excuse that "I'm not asking about Claire's private parts because I'm curious about her private parts, I'm just asking because I want to know what Marten thinks." We now know exactly what Marten thinks. I'm also not sure how this can be interpreted as anything other than a sex scene, although if you find it unsexy that's a valid opinion.

[bartman]

That does kinda bug me too. I mean, Marten has done a complete turnaround of personality from mopey, somewhat self-centered, and socially awkward to this suave guy who knows exactly what to say and do in his new relationship to make her swoon and feel comfortable, and the only real change seems to be that he's now dating Claire.

It may be a little bit saccharine, to re-use a word used earlier in this thread, but it can happen that a relationship with one particular person brings the best out of you. It may be that having pursued more assertive women in the past, Marten realises he needs to take a bit more control this time round to help a very nervous Claire.

Just wanted to say I'm a trans-chick and I think the pace could be realistic. I personally was quick to have sex after transitioning, because I felt I had been 'deprived' for so long, not being previously comfortable with my body. Making up for lost time I suppose would be fairly accurate.

Well this is the thing with the "it's too soon" theory - there isn't a book somewhere with a timetable you have to stick to. When it feels right to both people in a relationship to do something it probably is right. And I say that as someone who usually prefers "slow and steady wins the race" in their own relationships.

[Orkboy]

You know, you could say that it's a kind of equality that Jeph handles Claire sexytimes the same way he handles everyone else's sexytimes. 

Also, we need a word that combines squee and daaaaaaaaang, but I can't figure out a portmanteau that doesn't sound really weird.   

[Lubricus]

Am I the only one that thinks a girl (or anyone I guess, I just happen to like girls) acting like that is kinda sexy? Am I the weird one? Everyone seems to be saying that it's not, however cute they think it is.

I agree, so if you are weird, I'm weird as well.