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Claire

Dora

Tai

Faye

Hannelore

Veronica

Emily

Momo

Marigold

Cosette

[rfrank dodelijk]

if only david hockney drew qc, that first panel would have been beautiful.

[Thrillho]

What I find the most disturbing is that Faye starts drinking again not because of a crisis or uncomfortable situation. She starts because she´s actually feeling good, because she has accomplished something positive, something she could be proud of. Something good she has done while she was sober. I´m not the addictive type, so it is hard for me to find a connection here, to empathize with her. I´m very careful with alcohol myself because of my daughter (and my uncle...).

It's alarming, but not all that uncommon. When you're addicted to something and trying to quit it and it's a struggle, you will find any excuse to reward yourself. Even if you're rewarding yourself by saying 'I haven't had a drink all morning, I deserve a drink with lunch!'

[ReindeerFlotilla]

From past experience, Marten isn't doing anything right here, except disposing of the alcohol. I suppose it's better than  being fully hostile.

OTOH, Martin doesn't have the experience to know any better.

[Is it cold in here?]

Marten's mom could probably give him superb advice if he were willing to approach her about it. To have reached the top of her profession she must be an intuitive psychologist, and she must have known people with substance abuse problems.

[chaospersonified]

From now on, 'intuitive psychologist' is the job title I'm applying to strippers, models and the like. Thank you for that, IICIH, you've made my day that much brighter.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

It's time for Faye to realize that booze is not the solution to her problems. Chocolate is much better...

[Kugai]

Hmmmmm

I thought she was now hooked on Coffee.

[Method of Madness]

I don't think I noticed it last night, but in panel 2 Marten's face has no anger or annoyance, just pure concern. It's nice to see.

[Welu]

Jeph's experimenting with the art lately and I'm not sure how I feel yet.

[Method of Madness]

Wait, really? What's changed?

[ReindeerFlotilla]

If Jeph ever stops experimenting with the art, it's a sign that he's been kidnapped.

[cesium133]

New comic...

...and the people who predicted the situation with Faye causing problems between Marten and Claire were right.

[Gladstone]

Yeah, that doesn't feel contrived or anything.


 

[chaospersonified]

Trouble in paradise. Interested to see how the conflict plays out.

Definitely seems like a rushed response from Claire. She's never seemed the type to hang up like that, mid-sentence

[chaospersonified]

Yeah, that doesn't feel contrived or anything.


 

That is it. That's the word I was looking for.

Teensy bit contrived.

[Method of Madness]

Unless she's coming over because despite what he says, she knows he needs her. That's the only reason I can imagine Claire just suddenly hanging up like that.

[bhtooefr]

Mind you, she does have a jealousy streak, and pretty severe anxiety issues, and she knows that Marten and Faye were almost a thing... I'd be a little surprised if she didn't come to the worst conclusions.

[Omega Entity]

Unless she's coming over because despite what he says, she knows he needs her. That's the only reason I can imagine Claire just suddenly hanging up like that.

Unless she -thinks- he needs her. Or she comes over anyway because her imagination has gone into overload, and she thinks Marten and Faye are doing things they shouldn't - don't forget that she's been informed of Marten and Faye's history. He did have some hesitant responses - likely trying to word things carefully so as not to reveal Faye's relapse to outside parties. That hesitation could have indicated to Claire that he's trying to hide something. Which he is, but not what she might be thinking.

Mind you, she does have a jealousy streak, and pretty severe anxiety issues...

And people in their first relationship often tend to be overly clingy, and sometimes prone to overreaction when something comes up with their new beau.

[Zalder]

Claire has been understanding as hell but everyone has a limit.  I don't think her hanging up on Marten was an "eff you" hang up, more of a frustrated, I don't know if this is going to work because of your weird relationship with Faye hang up.  I wanna be mad at Faye, I know she has a problem and people make mistakes and it was a moment of weakness but damn, this better not be a recurring thing.  I'm 100% team Claire, and for as much as I wish her success I won't be able to forgive Faye of her alcoholism ruins that relationship.

[Welu]

Wait, really? What's changed?

To me they look a little squished and widened, especially the heads and faces in Tuesday's strip.

[mustang6172]

Claire has been understanding as hell but everyone has a limit.  I don't think her hanging up on Marten was an "eff you" hang up, more of a frustrated, I don't know if this is going to work because of your weird relationship with Faye hang up.  I wanna be mad at Faye, I know she has a problem and people make mistakes and it was a moment of weakness but damn, this better not be a recurring thing.  I'm 100% team Claire, and for as much as I wish her success I won't be able to forgive Faye of her alcoholism ruins that relationship.

Seriously?  Faye doesn't like Claire that much.  Kicking Claire out is for her own good.

[Zalder]

Claire has been understanding as hell but everyone has a limit.  I don't think her hanging up on Marten was an "eff you" hang up, more of a frustrated, I don't know if this is going to work because of your weird relationship with Faye hang up.  I wanna be mad at Faye, I know she has a problem and people make mistakes and it was a moment of weakness but damn, this better not be a recurring thing.  I'm 100% team Claire, and for as much as I wish her success I won't be able to forgive Faye of her alcoholism ruins that relationship.

Seriously?  Faye doesn't like Claire that much.  Kicking Claire out is for her own good.

It might be, but all Claire is going to think is that Marten will always have an attachment to Faye she might not be able to compete with, or want to for that matter. 

[McFace]

Claire has been understanding as hell but everyone has a limit.  I don't think her hanging up on Marten was an "eff you" hang up, more of a frustrated, I don't know if this is going to work because of your weird relationship with Faye hang up.  I wanna be mad at Faye, I know she has a problem and people make mistakes and it was a moment of weakness but damn, this better not be a recurring thing.  I'm 100% team Claire, and for as much as I wish her success I won't be able to forgive Faye of her alcoholism ruins that relationship.

Seriously?  Faye doesn't like Claire that much.  Kicking Claire out is for her own good.

Possibly, but we have the benefit of being a (semi) impartial audience  so we can make judgments like that with a clearer head.

I think the big thing people aren't touching on here is that Marten told a white lie as to why he didn't feel comfortable leaving the apartment and thus a potential misunderstanding is formed. I don't necessarily think he should just come out and say she had a relapse......but because he didn't it creates a problem.

[Method of Madness]

It might be, but all Claire is going to think is that Marten will always have an attachment to Faye she might not be able to compete with, or want to for that matter.

Do you think that little of Claire? Or for that matter, do you think Jeph would have Marten lose another relationship for that exact reason?

[mustang6172]

It might be, but all Claire is going to think is that Marten will always have an attachment to Faye she might not be able to compete with, or want to for that matter.

Do you think that little of Claire? Or for that matter, do you think Jeph would have Marten lose another relationship for that exact reason?

^Here here!

Claire has never shown jealousy.  That's Dora's thing.

[Zalder]

It might be, but all Claire is going to think is that Marten will always have an attachment to Faye she might not be able to compete with, or want to for that matter.

Do you think that little of Claire? Or for that matter, do you think Jeph would have Marten lose another relationship for that exact reason?

I'm not thinking little of her at all, she's been super understanding up to now.  Any person in that situation I think would have to start wondering if their significant other's attachment to an incredibly needy friend will be a hurdle in allowing the relationship to grow.  If anything Claire has been way more understanding than some people would in that situation, I just don't think she knew she would be competing with Faye (who has been kind of rude to her) for Marten's attention and time. 

[chaospersonified]

I don't see that as being a reason Claire would dump Marten. It might put stress on the relationship, but I see it as being a factor in the end, not the root cause, whatever that may be, if it exists.

I mean, if for no other reason, Jeph probably wouldn't do that because it's how Marten and Dora ended. Jeph's never struck me as an especially repetitive writer...

[Zalder]

I don't think she would dump Marten over it, but it might start her wondering if the relationship can work.  She's the type that would begin to doubt herself and whether she's good enough, unlike Dora who's insecurities manifested as anger.  I don't want to see Claire doubting herself all cause Drunky McFaye can't control herself (kidding, kidding).

[LeeC]

Somehow I saw this coming.

[grez]

I don't see that as being a reason Claire would dump Marten. It might put stress on the relationship, but I see it as being a factor in the end, not the root cause, whatever that may be, if it exists.

I mean, if for no other reason, Jeph probably wouldn't do that because it's how Marten and Dora ended. Jeph's never struck me as an especially repetitive writer...

Maybe breaking repetition will come with Marten reacting differently to a familiar situation. That might be a good way to show some growth

[ASB84]

The thing is, repetition isn't necessarily a bad thing, here. We all have traits, and we tend to repeat our mistakes a few times before we really learn from them (if at all). Just as Faye has yet overcome her dependence on alcohol, Marten has yet to overcome his tendency to put her well-being ahead of everyone else's, including the lady he's actually in a relationship with. I'd argue that it would be worse writing, almost bordering on bad fanfiction, if he magically got over that trait and was the perfect boyfriend to Claire. It's way too soon to be talking a break up for those two, but as far as presenting itself as a speed bump in the relationship, it's logical and consistent with Marten's past behaviour.

Incidentally, I think that's all it is, just a speed bump. If anything, the issue resurfacing provides an opportunity for character development, for Marten to be aware of what he's doing here. Perhaps it might even give him greater perspective on what happened with Dora. Not that Dora doesn't share responsibility for that, her own issues caused...well, issues, but Marten's attachment to Faye was a factor too. And so, it remains to be seen if he learns his lesson in the long run.

[Is it cold in here?]

This was actually foreshadowed when Marten broke a date with Claire in favor of the hospital trip.

Claire is bright and can generalize to a line given two points.

[cesium133]

So I'm thinking this will probably just be a speed-bump and not the end of Claireten... but if it were, that might be the thing that finally pushes Marten over the edge into spine-having in dealing with Faye.

[Omega Entity]

But a Faye-first focus wasn't the only thing wrong in the Marten/Dora relationship. Dora's constant need to be in control (a lack of even allowing the other bodily autonomy - Marten got flak for getting a haircut without Dora's permission, as well as was blackmailed into not trying to grow facial hair, to name a couple), and a lack of boundaries were the main issues, imo.

People are claiming that Marten always put Faye first in regards to the relationship with Dora, but could someone please link an example? Faye didn't really have any crises that necessitated the kind of attention that warranted the dropping of plans with other people, or not like this, anyway.

Dora's problem with Faye was that she was insecure about her being Marten's 'second choice', since Faye was emotionally unavailable, but I don't recall Marten ever giving her any reason to think that that was true. If anything, Dora was responsible for her own issues, since she decided to go after him right after Faye turned him down. if she'd given everything a cooling-off period, then Faye would probably not have been a major factor, if not a complete non-issue.

[plusorminus]

Incidentally, I think that's all it is, just a speed bump. If anything, the issue resurfacing provides an opportunity for character development, for Marten to be aware of what he's doing here. Perhaps it might even give him greater perspective on what happened with Dora. Not that Dora doesn't share responsibility for that, her own issues caused...well, issues, but Marten's attachment to Faye was a factor too. And so, it remains to be seen if he learns his lesson in the long run.

While this would be nice, something like that would make all the Dora-haters who seem to have no problem throwing her under the bus in this situation even though she hasn't been in the damn comic for months self-destruct or something.

Not a Faye fan, but I actually am not laying this on her doorstep. Addiction to anything is hard to kick, and at least this time there was no vomiting or drunken punching going on. Claire is aware that Faye was in a horrible way not very long ago and that she and Marten are tight. For the time being, Faye comes with the Marten package. It is what it is. It's possible Claire might be reassessing if that works for her, and that's fine. Or she could be on her way over. But this isn't on Faye, and I don't think it's on Marten, either. It's not like he just sprung his friendship with Faye or her addiction issues on Claire out of the blue.

I do wonder why he feels it does need to be "just him," though. Faye's not very fond of Claire, I guess, but she is aware that she is Marten's girlfriend, and, as such, will be around a lot. It could be, though, that Marten doesn't want Claire to see or know Faye backslid.

[Omega Entity]

I'd say it being 'just him' is Marten being respectful to Faye's privacy. It'd also rather rude to invite a friend - any friend - over, even if they were aware of Faye's current issue, especially with something like this. If anything, Faye should be in control of who is invited in while she's going through this, and I'd imagine that a woman who's overstepped her boundaries before by snarking Faye despite not knowing her all that well would not be welcome company at the moment.

[Zalder]

I don't think it would have been rude to ask Claire to come over. She knows the situation, keeping her at bay is only making her feel less important to Marten.  If Faye is a "part of the package" then Claire should be Marten needs to accommodate Claire accordingly, not lie to her. 

[Oenone]

It might be, but all Claire is going to think is that Marten will always have an attachment to Faye she might not be able to compete with, or want to for that matter.

Do you think that little of Claire? Or for that matter, do you think Jeph would have Marten lose another relationship for that exact reason?

^Here here!

Claire has never shown jealousy.  That's Dora's thing.

Dora might have a problem with jealousy but that doesn't mean Faye and Marten aren't codependent. One of the dynamics addicts and the people who love them have to confront is the way the addict's addiction can be like a black hole that sucks away at the lives of everyone around them.

I have no idea what I'd do in Marten's shoes. But I do know that if I were his friend is suggest he join a group for the friends and families of addicts, like Al Anon.

[Zalder]

^ Super codependent. 

[chaospersonified]

This was actually foreshadowed when Marten broke a date with Claire in favor of the hospital trip.

Claire is bright and can generalize to a line given two points.

I mean fuck. If my best friend was potentially dying, hell even a casual acquaintance, and I was there at that time, with the option to act, I could be going on a date with my ultimate woman and I'd pass.

I mean fuck. It's human life versus a goddamn date. The date becomes irrelevant when life is in the fucking balance.

If Claire would hold that against Marten, I'd immediately stop liking and respecting her. That's a bullshit attitude.

This would be, from this perspective, the first non-emergency cancellation.

What would you have said if, instead of taking Faye to the hospital, he let her die so he could go out with Claire? Well, Claire would likely have a similar opinion. She doesn't seem such a sociopath, to put date night above the life of another human being.

[TRVA123]

I don't think it would have been rude to ask Claire to come over. She knows the situation, keeping her at bay is only making her feel less important to Marten.  If Faye is a "part of the package" then Claire should be Marten needs to accommodate Claire accordingly, not lie to her.

Sometimes a friendship needs to get back to its roots. Having a third person there, however important they may be, ruins that dynamic.

Also, Marten and Claire have been pretty much joined at the hip. It isn't healthy for a relationship.

Just because you are in a relationship, however awesome that relationship may be, it doesn't mean that you throw any other friendships out the window, or that you can expect your friends to always want your significant other to be around regardless of propriety or context.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

The roots of Marten and Faye's relationship is frustrated mutual sexual attraction.

I'm thinking that may not be the answer here.

[Oenone]

I'm more interested in whether Marten will be able to practice "detachment with love," as Al Anon describes. Right now, he and Faye have a long established relationship dynamic where he gets to be the rescuer. He's also never known Faye outside of her addiction. Her achieving and maintaining sobriety is going to really change their relationship.

I'm not sure Marten realizes what an enabler he's been for Faye.

[twixieshores]

I'd say it being 'just him' is Marten being respectful to Faye's privacy. It'd also rather rude to invite a friend - any friend - over, even if they were aware of Faye's current issue, especially with something like this. If anything, Faye should be in control of who is invited in while she's going through this, and I'd imagine that a woman who's overstepped her boundaries before by snarking Faye despite not knowing her all that well would not be welcome company at the moment.

As someone who's been in both Faye's and Claire's position, I completely agree.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

To be fair: A) Everyone is the hero of their own story, and B) Marten asking "What caused this," reasoning at it shows he hasn't got his head around what Faye's problem is. Together, those things make it unlike for him to recoginze the part he's playing in the problem.

[Timemaster]

Good morning,

It´s 7:30am over here in Europe and I´m not quite awake yet. So could someone please explain to me what Martens expression "I think I´m gonna need a rain check on tonight" means? I think I can imagine, but there might be implicated meanings that escape me.

Claire is openly jealous, but in my oppinion Martens behavior is absolutely correct here. She knows about Fayes addiction and Martens "Faye´s not, uh, feeling too good" should be explanation enough for her, if she isn´t completely dumb (which she isn´t). And having her come over would be contraproductive keeping in mind that Claire and Faye had their troubles on their last encounter we know of.
So what should Marten do in this situation, standing in the middle between friendship and relationship? Of cause he should choose the former. Relationships come and go, but friendships last. This doesn´t mean that he terminates his relationship right here and now. And if Claire doesn´t understand that, it´s her problem and not his. Pressing a gun on the chest of someone you love is never a good idea.
If my girlfriend would demand of me to choose between her and a friend in need, the choice would be simple. The only thing I would take over friendship is family.
Marten is loyal. And loyalty is more important than love.

But we do not know enough of the situation right now to come to further conclusions. Maybe Claire is angry because they had originally planned something special for tonight. She doesn´t strike me as the overly jealuos type, so we should be more careful and avoid overinterpreting this incindent. Maybe tomorrow we will now more about what is really going on here.

TM

[BenRG]

Marten, old son? Better order some flowers to give to a certain someone tomorrow. You'd also better start drafting an apology!

I don't think that anyone who has more than a passing familiarity with the characters will be surprised by this. Naturally, Claire feels insecure in a new relationship and feels threatened by Marten's need to care for his surrogate sister. Give that the two women don't like eachother very much, Marten is probably right to ask Claire not to come over, mostly to prevent unpredictable conflict between them. However, this won't stop Claire feeling upset and even betrayed.

What I find interesting is to consider whether Faye works out what is happening and feels guilty for causing Marten problems.

FWIW, this, to me, is another step towards Faye getting a full-time minder.

[CasAttack]

I sort of saw this coming a mile away

For starters, I think people should lay off of Claire a bit here. While she knows the situation with Faye, sure, she doesn't know Faye's history or personal life AT ALL. In fact, because Faye has made their relationship rather frosty and hostile (boy did seeing that irritate me), Claire has reason to worry about their personal relationship. Faye did that awful "we're on another level than you so keep a distance" thing to her, and while yeah Faye and Marten DO have a very close, nearly familial relationship at this point that's exactly not how you treat your friend's new girlfriend. Claire's got some insecurities that Marten is really helping her through, she's already a shy and introverted personality in comparison to Marten's crowd and this is her first relationship. Claire reminds me a lot of myself in personality, and I know for me it is hard to place trust in new things, situations, and people. Faye's a little hard to trust for folks like us, and also immensely intimidating. I trust that this isn't going to be some major break-up, but rather will become a learning moment for them in their relationship and a "my bad" moment for Claire.

But I will say, Faye's in no shape I feel to be living with Marten. I applaud any friend who is supportive on this level to shoulder someone else's substance abuse problem AND tolerate what's probably not a great financial situation (Faye being unemployed, Marten not making bank and both of them with bills). That being said, this is not something I feel Marten or anyone is equipped to handle. Faye needs perhaps full time professional help. This will also allow Marten and others to be supportive friends but not literally crutches holding Faye up.

[Penquin47]

Good morning,

It´s 7:30am over here in Europe and I´m not quite awake yet. So could someone please explain to me what Martens expression "I think I´m gonna need a rain check on tonight" means? I think I can imagine, but there might be implicated meanings that escape me.

Basically, it means "due to unforeseen complications, we need to cancel our plans and reschedule".  I *think* it comes from baseball: since the games are played outdoors, if a game was rained out,  the club would offer "rain checks" to people who'd bought tickets for that game that they could use to come back some other day without having to buy another ticket.

[Tova]

New comic...

...and the people who predicted the situation with Faye causing problems between Marten and Claire were right.

To be honest, I had found those opinions to be ridiculous. I'm kind of disappointed they have been validated even to this small degree.

I'm hoping this turns out to be really nothing, and that Claire apologizes for her reaction next time they get together. The hanging up part, that is - understandable that she would be a bit bummed.