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Steampunk (c.f. Girl Genius)

8 (9%)

Slice-of-Life College Kids (like 'Dumbing of Age')

6 (6.7%)

Non-continuity social and political commentary (like 'Doonsbury' or 'Dilbert')

1 (1.1%)

Mainstream superheroes (Roko as Northampton's answer to the Punisher?)

4 (4.5%)

Period Comedy (Think 'Downton Abbey' or 'Pride and Prejudice' with jokes)

8 (9%)

Cyberpunk (Basically what it is now but darker, grittier and with more augmented humans)

11 (12.4%)

Fighting Fantasy (Marigold the Orc?)

7 (7.9%)

Magical Girl manga (Because we all want to see Claire and Emily with superpowers)

13 (14.6%)

Space Opera (Coffee of Doom as a 'Star Wars'-style spaceport cantina!)

14 (15.7%)

High-concept Sci-Fi ('Alice Grove' universe or something similar?)

7 (7.9%)

Anthropomorphic Animals (because the end of 'My Little Pony' leaves a gap in the market!)

6 (6.7%)

Political drama/comedy with no fantasy elements (think of 'The West Wing')

2 (2.2%)

Other (please specify in the comments)

2 (2.2%)

Total Members Voted: 34

[BenRG]

This one came to me in a flash this afternoon. Imagine Jeph decided that he wanted to 'soft reboot' Questionable Content - To restart the story with the characters in a new situation and a new universe, much as David Willis did with the characters of the Walkyverse when he started writing Dumbing of Age. Which options do you think would work the best?

My own suggestions would be

• Space Opera - Jeph likes sci-fi and a strip based in a spaceport city might enable the characters to have similar lives but in a radically different way;
• Fighting Fantasy - I love the idea of the main characters being Dungeons and Dragons-style player and non-player characters; Emily as an elf, Marigold as and Orc and Pintsize as a Hobbit - It just works so well in my head!
• Period Comedy - Somehow, the characters as living in the Pirates of the Caribbean era and location intrigues me.

Of course, this is just my opinion. You have three options for your favourite three choices so make your votes!

[pwhodges]

Explore the unknown parts of Marten and Steve's earlier relationship in a new BL/Yaoi manga!

[shanejayell]

New strip up.

Also, Jeph is in airport hell. Thoughts and prayers...

[BenRG]

Given Faye's expression in panel 4, I suspect that she's just realised that 'relaxing life-style' and 'self-employed' are two totally incompatible concepts. From the expression on Bubbles' face, her 'girlfriend in distress' warning is pinging. I suspect that a session with the sedative boobs may be incoming!

Sam is going to be good for both of them, I think. Plenty of honest friendship and innocent enthusiasm to stop the adults from getting overwhelmed.

You know, I guess that's the last we're gonna see of Millifeulle, which is kind of a shame...

[DaiJB]

"Other":
Marten wakes up one day and finds it's all been a dream ...

[Gyrre]

Space Opera, fighting fantasy, or steampunk.

Keep in mind that clockworks, constructs, golems, and Warforged are all things in fantasy. And the first three can be 'awakened' (fully sentient) or possessed by various means.

EDIT: Of course, Faye and Bubbles would have a much easier time getting business in a space opera or a cyberpunk setting.

[Marco]

"Other":
Marten wakes up one day and finds it's all been a dream ...

Too sudden. I would prefer to get small clues that it's all a dream, which accumulate over time till he doesn't know what is real anymore (yes, I've been reading lots of Phillip K. Dick lately). In the end, Marten finds out that:

a) he's been alone in the appartment with a PC all this time - all his friends are imaginary

or

b) he's part of a simulated reality run by
(i) The Station - plot twist: everybody are imaginary friends created to entertain Hanners;
(ii) Pintsize - plot twist: Marten is Pintsize's imaginary friend;
(iii) May - plot twist: she's still in Robot Jail and creates a world as a pastime
(iv) The Praeses (I knew QC and Alice Grove were in the same Universe!)

[Wingy]

You know, I guess that's the last we're gonna see of Millifeulle, which is kind of a shame...

That depends entirely on what other upgrades she'll want to attract/keep his attention - she's already proved she's willing to change her chassis/configuration to get attention.  Her boobage isn't anywhere close to Faye's size, so there's at least one other set of implants, maybe more if she steps up in sizes instead of going for "dayum" all at once.  Then, depending on what his fetish(s) is/are, there could be more.  She doesn't have real lips, since her face is a screen.  Does that mean a head transplant?  And can UR do one? 

OTOH, she's a researcher, possibly even a grad student.  So maybe this was the wad shot and if she doesn't get him, we'll see her moping around...

[JimC]

b) he's part of a simulated reality run by

The Spookybots, and Yay et al are "merely the protrusions into our dimension of vast, hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings"

[cybersmurf]

In German "self employed" is called "selbstständig". Denn man arbeitet selbst, und ständig. [Rough translation: you do the work yourself, and all the time. Since the work doesn't stop, you work for 70 hour weeks for a 35 hour salary]

[Zebediah]

Comic’s up.

Claire’s attempt to subtly nudge Marten in a certain direction isn’t very subtle, is it?

[St.Clair]

Claire has never, in her life, been subtle.  IMO.

[Tova]

There was no attempt

[shanejayell]

Marten does tend to kinda 'coast along' really.

[Sorflakne]

Tbh a piano repairman in the right locale can make close to six figures.  Doesn't even require college (but a lot of experience).

[Gyrre]

There was no attempt

She tried. She just wasn't super good at it.

You know, I guess that's the last we're gonna see of Millifeulle, which is kind of a shame...

That depends entirely on what other upgrades she'll want to attract/keep his attention - she's already proved she's willing to change her chassis/configuration to get attention.  Her boobage isn't anywhere close to Faye's size, so there's at least one other set of implants, maybe more if she steps up in sizes instead of going for "dayum" all at once.  Then, depending on what his fetish(s) is/are, there could be more.  She doesn't have real lips, since her face is a screen.  Does that mean a head transplant?  And can UR do one? 

OTOH, she's a researcher, possibly even a grad student.  So maybe this was the wad shot and if she doesn't get him, we'll see her moping around...

But what if Jones (I think) or the emu need a robotic prosthetic?

[Tova]

There was no attempt

She tried.

What makes you think so?

[BenRG]

So, this is interesting. Long-term forumites might share my thoughts here: When talking about 'what else can Jeph do with the character of Marten', the discussion always becomes hypothetical when we talk about 'what does he want to do'. We have only a few ideas about what Marten really likes above all other things. What Jeph has done here is actually set where Marten's real interest lies, his 'if I could do anything, I'd do this'.

I've long felt that Marten is in many ways Jeph's self-insert in terms of the issues he's had with his life in terms of direction and personal relationships. Because of this, it always made sense to me that Jeph might ultimately take the character in the direction his own life went: Dropping everything (including a relatively comfortable job) in favour of a much riskier life strategy that he believes he would find more satisfying. Now, 'guitar repair guy' is a bit of a specialist field but that doesn't mean it isn't achievable!

She tried.

What makes you think so?

She at least made the effort to initially couch this in a hypothetical way rather than be more direct. She could just as easily say: "Right, I'm going to get you into your dream career. Step one: Tell me what you want to do more than anything else and I'm not talking about your passive life-dreams here!"

[Killspree]

Oh look, Claire's attempts to manipulate someone's life again.

[Tova]

Oh look, Claire's attempts to manipulate someone's life again.

This is a more apt response.

Ben maybe you do think that Claire’s opening gambit is a hypothetical question.  I can see how it might be interpreted that way.

But having had direct career counseling recently, and having had the counsellor ask precisely that question, I don’t think that she was trying to pretend it was hypothetical any more than my counsellor was.

[jesslc]

Well it looks like we're up for another discussion about whether or not Marten's coasting along is a issue or not... 

Am I the only one who likes that Marten is happy not pursuing his dream job? A reality of a lot of people's lives is that they work in a job that isn't their passion/dream job to pay the bills. But in fiction it's always about "pursuing your dream job" and non dream jobs are "holding you back" or always completely awful, instead of a perfectly decent way to get your bills paid.

A job you like well enough, with colleagues you get along with, with work that stays at work (leaving your evenings and weekends free for hobbies or friends) - this is seriously undervalued in my opinion.

With that all said, I was once in a relationship with significantly mismatched levels of ambition and yeah if we hadn't broken up for other reasons, I feel like it would probably have become a problem at some point... I hope Claire and Marten can work this out and I hope Marten calls out her approach as manipulative. It could have been a completely hypothetical question but the way she immediately jumps to "let's look up courses" shows that it wasn't actually hypothetical. If Claire has been feeling bothered by Marten's lack of ambition, then there are more mature (and construtive) ways to bring it up.

[bhtooefr]

TBH, I've been waiting for this storyline literally since they started dating - the mismatched ambition levels were there from the very start.

[Tova]

I'm not holding my breath, TBH. We've repeatedly seen hints of this storyline surface, only for Jeph to return to his favourite character(s) du jour.

[Ghanima Atreides]

Am I the only one who likes that Marten is happy not pursuing his dream job? A reality of a lot of people's lives is that they work in a job that isn't their passion/dream job to pay the bills. But in fiction it's always about "pursuing your dream job" and non dream jobs are "holding you back" or always completely awful, instead of a perfectly decent way to get your bills paid.

In addition to that, what fiction/some people often disregard is the fact that some folks simply don't HAVE a "dream job". I am one of them. I've been asked the same question Claire asked Marten since high school, and the best answer I can give is still "Umm...something I don't hate...and pays the bills? I guess?" I have various interests that could relate to different jobs but nothing that stands out as "Yes, THIS is what I want to do above all else!" And it's not for lack of thought, because of course I've thought about it plenty, this Dream Job just...doesn't exist as such. Whenever I tell people that they tend look at me funny, and yes, like Claire, some have tried to take it upon themselves to find the answer that has eluded me for so long.

Not saying Marten is necessarily the same, perhaps he really does just need to find his way, although Claire didn't stop to discuss it and instead immediately went into "OK let's fix this because you obviously have a problem" mode. I know it's been asked before, but...does he? He makes money, he seems content...it's more than many people can say.

[cybersmurf]

TBH, I've been waiting for this storyline literally since they started dating - the mismatched ambition levels were there from the very start.

Admittedly, IMHO Claire's ambition sometimes might border zeal...
I do realise she does mean well, but some people advance through their lives a tad more... gently? Coupled with Marten basically just swimming along the stream idly, there's a lot of possible friction. Friction that might get Marten going, and slow Claire down.

[jwhouk]

I guess I'm too long-term of a reader to not immediately think of 1795.

[JoeCovenant]

I'm not holding my breath, TBH. We've repeatedly seen hints of this storyline surface, only for Jeph to return to his favourite character(s) du jour.

Aye... TBH, I'm more hoping that eventually one of these teased 'frictions' will rid of us of Claire.
I just never warmed to her at all.

[Tai Fanboi]

*Queue next panel of Clinton walking into frame with a spray bottle, spritzing Claire while repeatedly saying "No, bad girl, we've been through this already"*

[cybersmurf]

I guess I'm too long-term of a reader to not immediately think of 1795.

I started reading QC a few months of our time after this, and I think it's a different situation. So no, my mind didn't jump there, since the dynamic is different.

[BenRG]

Yeah, Jeph once had no issues with the girls treating Marten as if he had no agency whatsoever. If anything, that was considered 'mainstream comedy'.

FWIW, this is relevant because I really get the impression that Jeph supports what Claire is doing. I might be wrong but the way he's writing this seems to say to me that:

• Marten needs to be forced out of his current free-drift lifestyle;
• Claire is using the only viable means to do so;
• Marten will ultimately look back on this as a Good Thing.

Take that as you will; this is just my feeling.

[Marco]

I guess I'm too long-term of a reader to not immediately think of 1795.

If it leads to 1812, I'm OK with it.

[Wingy]

Take that as you will; this is just my feeling.

My immediate reaction was: "So long Marten and Claire."  I infer she's got a job offer somewhere, hasn't told Marten yet, and is looking for a good way to tell him to get ready to pack up, 'cause she's going.  If Marten gets excited about going to school for instrument repair or whatever, and there's a school near Claire's new job, then it's *his* idea to move and Claire isn't in the position of saying "move if you want to be with me.". 

If Marten goes along with Claire, then the storyline can split in two with visits back and forth ala' Faye going home or Hanners and Station.
If he doesn't go along with Claire, then it's Padma all over again, freeing Marten to bring in some new characters.

[pwhodges]

Without something changing, Marten - the strip's original character - will continue to slide into background irrelevance.  Jeph may feel he doesn't want to let that happen.

[Technetium]

Yeah, I saw this coming a long time ago. They have never really been a good match as far as ambition and life plans are concerned. There are actually two conflicts that are coming up here. The first, which everyone has caught on to, is that Claire is ambitious about what she wants to do for a career, and she doesn't understand that Marten isn't. The second conflict is that Claire believes higher education is essential to pursuing career goals, because it was for her. I think, in Marten's case, even if he were to pursue becoming a repairman of musical instruments, he would balk at going to school for it.

I had a similar conflict with an ex years ago, and I think it was a part of why we broke up. She had a master's degree. I had only a 2-year degree. She used to tell me that I "have to" go back to college, it was not acceptable for me not to have a better degree.

[MrNumbers]

Marten's only happy with his life when he doesn't look down. This is a good development and good for him.

[MrCorvin]

This comic really hit me in the PTSD, mostly because my ex pulled the same stunt on me. This is not how you do it.

[Thrudd]

Better Degree aka a longer, more expensive, higher education degree that will put you into debt longer and not actually produce a lucrative career compared to a trade where you are not only not in debt but have those multi letter graduates work for you.
Ugh - rant off

Anyhow, a dream job is just that, a dream.
The actual job never actually turns out the way you think it would be, that is if you could ever got the chance in the first place.

(click to show/hide)

A story about Me.
Just skip because it isnt all that interesting except for the morbidly curious.

I would have loved to go into high energy physics.
I gave up on that, little thanks to the politics and butt smooching involved.
I fail at both so I absolutely suck at sales. I may have also intimidated some of my professors at the time - not a good thing

I fell into teaching night school when I went back to school to get a trade and discovered I loved teaching at the post secondary level.
Unfortunately unions and the amount of available work hours made that not viable in the long run.
My trade tanked due to a major implosion in that part of the industry at the time.

As a note of warning based on my career at the moment - contract service sucks

[Wingy]

Well, if Marten wants to be a luthier, there's Becker & Cumpiano Instruments in Noho and 5 other shops within 10 klicks.

[cybersmurf]

Yeah, I saw this coming a long time ago. They have never really been a good match as far as ambition and life plans are concerned. There are actually two conflicts that are coming up here. The first, which everyone has caught on to, is that Claire is ambitious about what she wants to do for a career, and she doesn't understand that Marten isn't. The second conflict is that Claire believes higher education is essential to pursuing career goals, because it was for her. I think, in Marten's case, even if he were to pursue becoming a repairman of musical instruments, he would balk at going to school for it.

I had a similar conflict with an ex years ago, and I think it was a part of why we broke up. She had a master's degree. I had only a 2-year degree. She used to tell me that I "have to" go back to college, it was not acceptable for me not to have a better degree.

I never did, anf probably never will understand the "unless you're an academic, you ain't worth shit" attitude ("slightly" exaggerated from your argument).
The way I see it, Marten may - kind of - appreciate Claire trying to push him forward, on general terms. The details of how that's going to happen is something different entirely. Maybe he'll learn to rein her ambitions in, as far as he's concerned.

This comic really hit me in the PTSD, mostly because my ex pulled the same stunt on me. This is not how you do it.

Crappy move on their part then. Hope it's not too bad for you.

[MrCorvin]

This comic really hit me in the PTSD, mostly because my ex pulled the same stunt on me. This is not how you do it.

Crappy move on their part then. Hope it's not too bad for you.

Just like the other person you quoted, similar circumstances. She had a Masters degree and felt that I could "do more" with an advanced degree (I have no degree). I felt if I could work, pay bills, put a small bit away in savings, I really didn't need it. It was a red flag that I ignored because she was smart and hot and claimed to love me for who I was. It's the doom trio when the last part isn't true.

[MrNumbers]

What's the over-under Claire just wants his job but doesn't want to feel guilty for taking it?

[immortalfrieza]

First time I've ever felt compelled to actually post about these comics, though I love them.

Apparently (and I'm hoping somebody in the cast comes along and reminds Marten of this) Marten has forgotten his actual dream job. You know, the part where he's in a band and actually makes and plays music. No surprise considering the comic hasn't brought up Deathmole or anything else related to the one actual ambition Marten has ever possessed for years now.

I personally would love to see Marten go on down that path for real for once. Marten doesn't have to become some super rockstar, just a local musician doing the occasional gig here and there. It would also be a good excuse to get Marten and the rest of the cast out of Northampton every so often.

Also, I agree with nearly everybody else here that this is definitely Claire being her usual manipulative self and pushing people into things that she shouldn't, whether she has her own ulterior motives for it or not. I like all of the cast and would be sad to see any of them leave, Claire included, but they all have their little annoying behaviors (Okay, maybe not Hanners) and this one is Claire's.

[MrNumbers]

Re: "Claire being her usual manipulative self"

I mean okay but Marten is cripplingly passive to the degree that he has become a background character in his own comic. Marten's working a job he's ridiculously underqualified for, that he lucked into, that he doesn't feel super strongly about. But because he doesn't hate it, odds are high he wouldn't do anything to change that situation until he began to hate it, or he was fired.

Wild to me the pushback she's getting in here from just... the absolute most basic kind of future planning for someone she's committed to. I stan Claire.

[snufflebottoms]

Marten can be perfectly happy working at the library. Not everyone needs to turn what they think is fun into a career.

Edit: If Claire doesn't want to date someone who lacks strong career ambitions maybe Marten isn't for her tho. I mean doesn't make either of the wrong.

[Is it cold in here?]

Welcome, new person!

I was expecting Marten to mention Deathmole when Claire asked her question. The drummer is back in town, Sven could be vocalist, and it would fulfill him.

I wonder if he doesn't think of it as likely to produce enough income to be an answer to a question about a "job".

[Sorflakne]

Without something changing, Marten - the strip's original character - will continue to slide into background irrelevance.

Marten has been irrelevant for a long time.  Pretty much the only time we see him now is from Claire's POV.

Tbh, with the exception of Faye, all the original main characters have faded into the background or have vanished completely (anyone remember Jimbo? or Sara?); Hanners is at least understandable given her storyline.

Apparently (and I'm hoping somebody in the cast comes along and reminds Marten of this) Marten has forgotten his actual dream job. You know, the part where he's in a band and actually makes and plays music.

And writing a music blog.  Come to think of it, when was the last time we saw Marten even hold a guitar?

[Mordhaus]

1. This comic stopped being Marten focused a loooooong time ago
2. Anyone with a brain will clearly see that this is Claire basically saying, in code, "Wouldn't it be great if you had a better job so we could get a house instead of a shared apartment and get married?"
3. WTF is wrong with working in a University library. My wife works in a admin position at a Uni that pays her close to 60k a year and she is automatically enrolled in the teacher's retirement system. She has great insurance and can retire at 55 with full benefits, while keeping that insurance for the rest of her life paid for by the Uni. She can even go back to work there PT or find a different FT job and make a salary on top of her benefits. I don't know if that scales to match other states, but that is a VERY good income for Texas and for a job that only initially required a HS Diploma and some experience in an admin type position.

I understand that Claire is a driven person, but I hope she doesn't allow that to sour her towards someone who clearly loves her a lot.

[Gyrre]

Welcome, new person!

I was expecting Marten to mention Deathmole when Claire asked her question. The drummer is back in town, Sven could be vocalist, and it would fulfill him.

I wonder if he doesn't think of it as likely to produce enough income to be an answer to a question about a "job".

Sadly, that's just how it is for many bands and musicians.

MxPx is still together, but they all work day jobs to keep the lights on. And that's an all-too common story.

[Gyrre]

There was no attempt

She tried.

What makes you think so?

She phrased in a way that could be taken as a hypothetical question.

[SeattleCrochetWoman]

Well it looks like we're up for another discussion about whether or not Marten's coasting along is a issue or not... 

Am I the only one who likes that Marten is happy not pursuing his dream job? A reality of a lot of people's lives is that they work in a job that isn't their passion/dream job to pay the bills. But in fiction it's always about "pursuing your dream job" and non dream jobs are "holding you back" or always completely awful, instead of a perfectly decent way to get your bills paid.

A job you like well enough, with colleagues you get along with, with work that stays at work (leaving your evenings and weekends free for hobbies or friends) - this is seriously undervalued in my opinion.

I agree with you. It bothers me that Marten, who has a job, an apartment and pays his bills, is seen as somehow not an adult.