Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2897 - 2901 (16-20 February 2015)
swapna:
--- Quote from: eschaton on 18 Feb 2015, 08:35 ---I'm immune to Marten/Claire squee, but I can't even see what's squee worthy in this strip. It's frankly the lamest I've seen in months.
--- End quote ---
Yup, me too. I'm not a fan of trashy romance novels, and I'm not a fan of this 'oh-they-are-soo-perfect-with-each-other-stuff' *squee*. I think it's fine that there are couples that are good with each other, but you don't need to show every boring step.
TheEvilDog:
TBH, I don't really ship characters and I'm not one for squeeing, but I will offer this one piece of advice - if something seems to be too good to be true, then it probably is.
Make that how you will.
eschaton:
--- Quote from: swapna on 18 Feb 2015, 10:16 ---Yup, me too. I'm not a fan of trashy romance novels, and I'm not a fan of this 'oh-they-are-soo-perfect-with-each-other-stuff' *squee*. I think it's fine that there are couples that are good with each other, but you don't need to show every boring step.
--- End quote ---
Just to be clear, from a human dynamic standpoint, what Marten said to Claire is 100% defensible. From a strip/story standpoint, however, it didn't need to be said, because we already inferred as much already from how Marten was acting around Claire. Each update should ideally do something to advance one of the core plot elements in the series, or let you know more about the person. Throwaway humorous strips are fine as well, since they are entertaining. I find the "squee" strips (particularly ice cream kisses) nauseating, but I can understand why some people like them. But again this isn't a squee strip - this is supposed to be a discussion about feelings - and it comes across as a nothingburger.
Unless...as Isyrion intimated, the real purpose of the strip is to highlight that Claire is insecure, and to foreshadow her insecurity eventually causing conflict. That could end up interesting...eventually. Although it would be a retread of sorts, given Dora was damn insecure herself.
CaptainFish:
--- Quote from: eschaton on 18 Feb 2015, 08:35 ---Once again, I guess I had a totally different reaction to this comic than most people. I found it basically a worthless throwaway that doesn't advance plot or characterization.
It's odd, because Jeph said he was moving away from dialogue-heavy strips. Marten gets a ton of dialogue in this strip. But it's basically just a long-winded way of saying "I'm really into you." The strip does not seriously have exposition about Marten's feelings more broadly. He could have said he was exposed to a lot of trans people through his mother as a child, and he never thought about it seriously - until he met Claire and it all changed. Because he sees her as a person first - a person he's crazy about. Instead he talks mush.
This just feels like a retread of their first talk. Claire asks if he's okay, Marten reassures her, and she is beaming at the end. I'm immune to Marten/Claire squee, but I can't even see what's squee worthy in this strip. It's frankly the lamest I've seen in months.
--- End quote ---
I kinda feel similarly. Marten has seemed pretty actively attracted to Claire all along. The only part where he seemed a little more passive is during the afterglow when he responded to Claire's exclamation that it was amazing with a simple, "yeah." But like every thing he's done since the scritchening has shown a lot of physical attraction and initiative while their scenes together have shown a lot of great chemistry. So maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, or it's just Claire asking for uh... elucidation of something that was pretty :claireface: all along.
Cyril:
My reaction to this strip was more or less the same as to the post on Jeph's tumblr... "wow, he must have been getting an absolute deluge of questions on this topic." The amount of exposure to the variety of (everything) that one gets even with just regular exposure to webcomics in this vein and occasional forum perusals is drastically different than someone who is only immersed in mass market media, similar to how someone whose radio is turned to a politically active (or even aware) station or who follows even a single political blog will have a view of the world completely different from someone who is only exposed to the bare minimum and mostly follows pop culture.
The creator of a work like QC is going to be immersed in questions and discussions (and demands, rants) that can overwhelm the perspective of a reader who is fairly blasé about the issues and is more interested in the funny, conflict, or storytelling. This feels more like an exorcism of the response he's getting so as to be able to cleanly cut to a new story than anything required for the story itself.
Of course, I could be wrong and all of this could just be an extended setup for a dramatic freakout the next time he's alone and not being confronted by a catastrophe. While unnecessary, it wouldn't strain credulity to see that become a vector for internal conflict; it might be too low-hanging a fruit, though, since that particular SL from setup to resolution (positive, so as not to turn readers away from Marten as a person) practically writes itself with the existing cast.
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