Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2897 - 2901 (16-20 February 2015)
Half Empty Coffee Cup:
Hm. The lack of verbal sparring is actually uncharacteristic of the strip enough to make me wonder... What will happen when it does show up? Will it serve to set off those alluded to anxieties? Maybe this change of tone is more significant than I thought from a plotting standpoint.
bhtooefr:
The other thing is, I wonder if Claire might get sick of being coddled, worried that Marten doesn't see her as an equal, because she's not as experienced as his past partners.
TheEvilDog:
Look at it this way, we're seeing the relationship in the "Lovey-dovey" stage, where it's all cutesy and happy and everything about the other person is new and fresh. That stage doesn't last forever and when it ends, both people start seeing the flaws in the other (and sometimes themselves). It's when a relationship gets to that stage that it's really decided if it can continue or not.
There's no conflict now, but that doesn't mean there won't be any in the future.
eschaton:
--- Quote from: TheEvilDog on 19 Feb 2015, 06:48 ---Look at it this way, we're seeing the relationship in the "Lovey-dovey" stage, where it's all cutesy and happy and everything about the other person is new and fresh. That stage doesn't last forever and when it ends, both people start seeing the flaws in the other (and sometimes themselves). It's when a relationship gets to that stage that it's really decided if it can continue or not.
There's no conflict now, but that doesn't mean there won't be any in the future.
--- End quote ---
This would be defensible if they were beginning to date as strangers. But they were friends for months before hooking up, and arguably were becoming besties. They've seen each other in pretty bad lights already, and of course they accept one another despite this. But you don't just magically change how you interact with someone because you start boning. You just add the boning to the initial dynamic.
dexeron:
I understand people's complaints, but I have a hard time caring because smiling Claire is BestClaire.
More seriously, though, what I'm seeing in some of these complaints boils down to a demand that this relationship play out exactly like every other relationship has in the story. Why would we want that? Variety is the fuel for a more interesting story. I'm also seeing demands for "complicated, intelligent depictions of relationships," but I'd argue that what we're seeing here is every bit as "real" of a relationship* as one founded with the help of a robot and a hologram. Just because this one has less "drama" doesn't make it devoid of narrative content, or character growth (which is also of importance in a story.) Just because it's a happier, more optimistic start doesn't make it any less "intelligent," nor less "complicated."
A couple examples:
* The fact that this is going so well highlights Marten's character development. This has been hinted at for quite some time (with regards to job dissatisfaction and guitar stuff.) I see his successes here potentially spurring him on to make more bold decisions in other areas of his life, which could lead to some really interesting story material.
* What we've seen over the last couple of weeks is a really far cry from the insane levels of saccharine during the first date (Ice Cream Kisses OMGDEAD.) I'm not reading this as pure fluff at all. What we're seeing here is some pretty honest exploration of first relationship feelings. It doesn't have to be nail-biting drama to be compelling, and Claire's insecurities can be an interesting avenue to explore without those insecurities having to be a ticking time bomb that everyone's expecting to go off in Marten's face at any moment.
* This is almost certainly planting the seeds for further plot developments later (and I don't think that involves any mega-drama between Claire and Marten; we've got enough drama going on with the various Faye storylines right now) that will give the "deeper" things some people are asking for. Once we've established their relationship dynamic fully, the "newer" iterations of Marten and Claire (and Claireten) can be set against the various desired story events for narrative purpose.
* Also, it's nice to have squee strips to break up the OMGdrama strips.
Also, I have already seen that last panel turned into peoples' Facebook avatars, and it is GLORIOUS.
*I've had relationships that were every bit as "holy crap, everything just fell into place with us" as Marten and Claire's. Often, after the first few day's glow begins to wear off, there's some discussion, and yeah, sometimes it's the same tone of discussion as we're seeing here. That's not "bad fan-fiction." It actually happens, sometimes.
Warning - while you were typing 5 new replies have been posted. You may wish to not try boring everyone to death with gigantic walls-of-text next time.
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