Just wanted to add that my call for next week is Faye at the support group, possibly mixed with some fall-out - maybe Dora visiting Marten to pour our her heart to him or something similar. Jeph wouldn't have posted such an emotionally striking strip as he had today if he didn't want there to be fall-out amongst the characters.
Wait, so you're
not calling for a time-jump? But aren't you always calling for a time-jump? What's going on? You disappoint me, sir!
This be a perfect spot for a time-jump. I'll be surprised if there was one, but it'd work so well.
Aha, there it is.
I was thinking the same thing earlier today. Honestly, this comic does feel like a bit of An Ending, and it wouldn't hurt if Monday's strip opened up several weeks later, with Faye attending her third or fourth group session, filling in the other attendees on what progress (or lack thereof) she's been making lately, especially on the art and job fronts. It would save the whole dull getting-to-know-you bit we would otherwise see from her first group session--and really, why would we need to see that, when we already know what Faye has gone through? A time-jump would advance the story a heck of a lot better. Or not. Just a thought.
(And it'll get us past the look-how-cute-they-are stage of Marten and Claire's relationship. Everyone's a winner!)
Future Plot I'd Like to See
It's a long weekend and Marten invites Claire to stay over for those three nights and four days. Will Faye be able to handle it? Will Pintsize be able to handle it?
I still think at some point Pintsize should confront Claire over whatever secret Marten's keeping from him ("Is it donkey porn? Were you in donkey porn?
AM I GOING TO HAVE TO DELETE THESE FILES?!"), then, on finding out the truth, end up getting pissed at Marten for not trusting him to have certain boundaries about what he mocks people for. Because I still think Pintsize knows what he can and can't dish out, and doesn't need Marten to tell him that Claire's trans status is off-limits--and I think Claire can hold her own, anyway. It would be fun to see them actually interacting without the threat of Marten looming over the picture.
Or, y'know, Pintsize can just stay in the background and never develop further as a character. It's all good.