Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT 2897 - 2901 (16-20 February 2015)
CaptainFish:
--- Quote from: eschaton on 19 Feb 2015, 06:18 ---Agreed. But then again, Claire's character has had much less of a lobotomy after they started dating than Marten. To me the most interesting thing she said was that she had never opened up about her issues to a cis guy. This implies she has transwomen (or perhaps cis-women) friends which have not been seen in the comic. More characters ahoy?
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Perhaps we'll see the support group members she alluded to.
anahata:
--- Quote from: no one special on 19 Feb 2015, 05:24 ---Yeah, this is pretty much where I am. I find it hard to believe that marten has no further questions, concerns, issues at this point. I mean, okay, maybe today there aren't any questions because afterglow, but to imply (as has been implied) that there aren't any at all...? Like DrClef said - it's not that Marten isn't understanding, easygoing, all that jazz. But when starting a trans/cis relationship, there will be issues.
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It's been suggested before that Marten's early exposure to all the stuff his mother did means he genuinely has no hangups about it. He's seen it all before, and knows too well that there are no limits or rules about what people should or shouldn't or might want do to have sexy fun together. All that matters to him is people's personalities and characters.
Claire, in contrast, has had to tread a hard and lonely path (even if well supported by family) where she was the one that was "different", and is naturally still anxious about whether she's doing things right. It will take a while for Marten to convince her that there's no right and wrong, and whatever she's comfortable with is OK. She's lucky to have fallen on her feet, and got into a relationship that she wanted but wasn't even sure would be possible. "Can't believe it's true" must be how she sees it.
--- Quote from: bhtooefr on 19 Feb 2015, 06:42 ---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.
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Hopefully when Claire relaxes a bit, Marten will stop coddling her so much. It's early days yet - give them time!
TRVA123:
--- Quote from: dexeron on 19 Feb 2015, 06:57 ---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."
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Honestly, I don't think anyone who is complaining about the overdose of VERY SIMILAR Marten/Claire strips is really asking for more drama. At least, I'm not. There is pleanty of drama currently set up in other characters. Characters we aren't seeing. Characters we will see for one strip, then we have at least two, usually more strips of Marten and Claire doing the exact same things they have been doing.
I think the people asking for more complexity are asking for it because... well... if we are going to be forced to focus on Marten/Claire at least give us something interesting to focus on. Anything! Hell, reveal that Claire is PizzaGirl! I don't care how outlandish it is at this point, as long as it is something besides "OOH! Claire and Marten are SOOOOOO Cute! How Cute? Let me show you again with my next strip! And again and again and again!!!11!"
I think at this point we have more than enough proof that Marten and Claire have a strong foundation for a happy relationship. Now show us other things, and let us assume that they are happy and making out or whatever.
For those encouraging patientce, yeah, I get that this is a comic where the plotlines are often a slow burn. But I've been reading this comic for more than five years now, and I've never been so frustrated that one plotline is being stalled in cuteness while another 5 potential plotlines are not being addressed at all.
AprilArcus:
--- Quote from: anahata on 19 Feb 2015, 07:12 ---It's been suggested before that Marten's early exposure to all the stuff his mother did means he genuinely has no hangups about it. He's seen it all before, and knows too well that there are no limits or rules about what people should or shouldn't or might want do to have sexy fun together. All that matters to him is people's personalities and characters.
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I don't buy it that he escaped home with zero hang-ups about trans people. We saw him work through a bit of that with Tai and Dora, but he was still daunted about starting a relationship with Claire as recently as strip 2803. It isn't until 2804 that confidant, smooth, ideal husbando Marten fully takes over.
Neko_Ali:
--- Quote from: kent_eh on 19 Feb 2015, 06:29 ---
--- Quote ---...with a cis guy
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Excuse me for being clueless about such things, but can someone define the term "cis" for me?
I assume from the context that it has something to do with having a traditional gender identity, or something like that.
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It is simply an outgrowth of the usage of the prefix trans- which means 'across from' or 'on the other side of'. Cis- means 'on this side of'. It refers to people who do not experience any significant disconnect with their sex assigned at birth and their identified gender. Basically, in short it means 'someone who is not trans-*'.
Some people assume it is an insult because it's not hugely common yet. And being cis is seen as 'normal' where trans is seen as 'abnormal' so they feel attaching a specific word to being what they see as 'normal' as insulting. For the record, both cis and trans people are perfectly normal and natural. It's just one is a lot more common than the other. The word itself is not in any way an insult. Like any word though, tone, inflection and timing can turn it into an insult. Heck you could use 'puppy' as an insult and that's about the cutest thing I can think of.
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