THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: TheTrojanVabbit on 14 Oct 2011, 00:16
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I signed up just to call this one. It's totally obvious. Padma has already intimated that her move to LA might not be permanant; she might move back once her grandmother dies. They'll go for the long-distance relationship, which I can tell you from experience is a terrible idea. To have but not to have is absolute torture. This will allow Martin to have a girlfriend (because it's about bloody time) but still be miserable (because that's what drives the comic).
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Naw, no way.
20 bucks says itīs no gonna happen!
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So far all Padma did was accepting Marten as a friend.
She has not shown any interest into him as a boyfriend.
She is probably completely oblivious to Marten just as she was to Elliot.
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Marten's had a girlfriend for most of the strip so it's not really "about bloody time". He's getting there but still not totally over his last relationship.
I'd guess they might stay in contact online or phone if Padma needs someone to talk to about her grandma, but she has tSB crew for that if she needs it. She's shown to hang out with Renee if she feels she can't talk to Elliot. Although if she's moving to take care of her very sick grandma, then I doubt a new serious friendship, nevermind a romantic relationship and moving away from her family, would be on her mind, especially after her grandma dies which could be weeks, months, years away.
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Personally I think Jeph's setting Marten up to hope for something to happen between the two of them, just to have the rug pulled out from under him when she turns to Elliot during a time of crisis.
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Eh, it's not like Marten is in love with her, as far as the comic implies. He's just attracted to her, because why not? She's a friendly, pretty lady. But she's moving away. Bummer. Too bad.
I think the lesson Marten learned from chasing someone across the country would probably also apply to his willingness to embrace a long-distance relationship.
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Personally I think Jeph's setting Marten up to hope for something to happen between the two of them, just to have the rug pulled out from under him when she turns to Elliot during a time of crisis.
Gaaah, you're really living up to your name...
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They'll go for the long-distance relationship, which I can tell you from experience is a terrible idea. To have but not to have is absolute torture.
And I can tell you from experience that it is an awesome idea if you handle it with care and ease. It was the most comfortable relationship I've ever had.
This will allow Martin to have a girlfriend (because it's about bloody time) but still be miserable (because that's what drives the comic).
Woah, if Marten were real, he'd bleed from his eyesockets after reading this one. Harsh truth, man, harsh truth.
@Paranoid:
Nah, that'd be too cheezy for Jeph. Padma would surely turn toward Rene or Faye...
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Personally I think Jeph's setting Marten up to hope for something to happen between the two of them, just to have the rug pulled out from under him when she turns to Elliot during a time of crisis.
Gaaah, you're really living up to your name...
To be fair to Paranoid, Jeph wrote in his tumblr thingy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod) that he has written out any possibility of Marten's happiness (http://jephjacques.com/post/11265563239/qa-dump-09). Of course, the possibility exists he is not being [ur=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LyingCreatorl]truthful[/url], or may just be teasing us (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TeasingCreator).
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Personally I think Jeph's setting Marten up to hope for something to happen between the two of them, just to have the rug pulled out from under him when she turns to Elliot during a time of crisis.
Gaaah, you're really living up to your name...
Why thank you. :evil:
To be fair to Paranoid, Jeph wrote in his tumblr thingy (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WordOfGod) that he has written out any possibility of Marten's happiness (http://jephjacques.com/post/11265563239/qa-dump-09). Of course, the possibility exists he is not being truthful (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LyingCreator), or may just be teasing us (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TeasingCreator).
Yeah, pretty much my thoughts. While I expect Jeph was kidding (slightly!) about his comment, I also can't help but notice that if ever there was a perfect example of the woobie (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWoobie) in Questionable Content, Marten would be it.
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Marten will end his days as a single, lonely, crotchety old grouch sitting on the porch and yelling at the kids to get off his lawn.
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Or Faye could finally go Five Fingers of Death (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=379) on him.
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Nah, Marten will end up with Tortura. (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1406) They will have lots of wild sex and many children.
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Nah, Marten will end up with Tortura. (http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1406) They will have lots of wild sex and many children.
But he will never be truly happy knowing that Steve "got there first."
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OR, Marten could be stuck forever in his 20s, along with the rest of the main cast, like Family Circus or The Simpsons or Garfield, etc. It's hard for me to tell if any of the characters have aged, 'cause the art changes so much.
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The QC Circus? I can see Pintsize doing the dotted -line path through mayhem and Hannelore having two invisible clones, Not Me and Ida Know.
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Hah! I totally want this to be drawn now. It's too bad I have no skills of an artist.
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I can say from experience that long-distance relationships don't have to be miserable in the least. It might make Marten miserable though. :-(
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You're right, they don't have to be. But speaking from my experience, long-distance relationships do pretty much suck when neither partner has much in the way of money. And a librarian and bakery worker probably aren't exactly rolling in it. Combine that with the fact Padma will be busy looking after Grandma, and it's not going to work out well.
In general, they also work best when the couple have been together (or at least known each other) for a while. If you're just starting out getting to know someone, trying to keep a relationship together over long-distance is difficult.
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Yeah, but it will probably turn out that Padma's Grandma is actually a wealthy socialite who lives on Russian Hill and has more money than God and Padma is her favorite relative and leaves half her fortune to her along with the private jet.
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Maybe if Sven was interested in Padma, but this is Marten we're talking about.
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Jeff probably is trying to bridge the gap so that both we and Martin can feel over Dora and Martin and not to actually start a new relationship. Really don't think I love the thought of Padma and Martin. I don't know why but I think that they would work better as friends.
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Just occurred to me that one portmanteau of their names could be "Parten", which is fitting, since partin' is what they'll be doing.
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So, would either "Madman" or "Madmen" be a possibility here as well?
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Jeff probably is trying to bridge the gap so that both we and Martin can [...]
We like to have names spelt correctly here, please. Marten, not being real, might not care; but Jeph is real, and does like his name spelt right.
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Nah, there will be no girlfriend for Marten anytime soon, long distance or otherwise. Marten has had lousy luck with romantic prospects all through the comic and Padma's no exception, what with her overall obliviousness, his "rivalry" with Elliot, and her impending move.
Dora's no exception either; sure it started well, but ended badly.
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Nah, there will be no girlfriend for Marten anytime soon, long distance or otherwise.
Not sure if this comic can keep its readers if Jeph decides to keep Marten out of romantic trouble/drama for a longer time...
Also not sure if this Marten can keep its composition if Jeph decides to keep it out of oggling material and/or hopeless romantic trouble/drama for a longer time...
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Aw come on. They're going DANCING. You know what means, right? Right?
...
BUTTSEKS
Or yeah, no. No. Beh.
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...
BUTTSEKS
Or yeah, no. No. Beh.
Ladies and (especially) gentlemen: The butts disease has started spreading. Lock up your pets and children!
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OH GOD DAMN THIS DISEASE
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SOMEONE NOTIFY CDC!
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Just: Turn the other cheek.
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Just: Turn the other cheek.
You don't mean buttcheek, do you? :-P
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Really? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DontExplainTheJoke?from=Main.ptitle0t9r68ih)
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Nah, there will be no girlfriend for Marten anytime soon, long distance or otherwise.
Not sure if this comic can keep its readers if Jeph decides to keep Marten out of romantic trouble/drama for a longer time...
Also not sure if this Marten can keep its composition if Jeph decides to keep it out of oggling material and/or hopeless romantic trouble/drama for a longer time...
While I'm guessing you're just joking Marten starting a new relationship hits a rather large logistical snag. It involves adding another female member to the cast. That in and of itself isn't a bad thing but it leads to an inevitable problem, if the relationship lasts for any given period then said character will begin to form bonds with other people in the cast and also become liked by at least some of the forum. If the relationship fails then Jeph has added another new character that he has to write for and plot for. Marten is, at least in theory, the main character of the strip (though these days it seems that it's more ensemble with Marten and the characters directly linked to him primarily receding a bit IE Steve) and while drama in his life can make a good story it can also create frustration on the part of the readers. The closest I've come to giving up on the comic where when Martens mother came to visit him after the breakup, in fact that arc caused me to pretty much come to the conclusion that personal esteem and ambition were pretty much shouted and humiliated out of Marten at a young age.
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The logistics of adding new characters didn't stop Jeph from adding an entirely new setting (The Secret Bakery) with several characters who have featured heavily in several story lines. I doubt he'd let it stop him from introducing more characters if the story demanded.
PS. Marten's romantic trouble was introduced as a theme in #3. It has pretty consistently been a theme ever since. I would be surprised if Jeph decided from this point on that this comic just wasn't about that.
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Oh I never said Marten would never have any more romantic troubles or drama. It's just that his romantic troubles and drama would mainly be about his inability to get another girlfriend. He'll come so close, only to have the possibility snatched away at the last second like Lucy with Charlie Brown's football.
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I'm guessing that's where the current arc is going. Because of the Dave thing, Marten won't make a move on Padme before she leaves. She seems impulsive enough to make a move on him, but (a) she would probably only want something casual, since she's leaving and just looking to have some fun in the meantime and (b) if she does make a move, Marten may be too flustered to say yes.
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Dave?? Do you mean Elliot? (and it's Padma.)
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.... He'll come so close, only to lose his nerve and watch the opportunity fade away like Cleveland Browns football.
FYP.
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Marten wasn't directly "in" on the Dave thing. That was Steve and Meena.
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I mean Elliot. I just took a Hebrew midterm. Every proper name looks like either David, Moshe, or Avraham to me.
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Elliot is more like Goliath to me.
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Except without the potty-mouth, long beard and bad attitude.
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Elliot is more like Goliath to me.
I thought he looked more Human than Gargoyle
*Sticks hands in pockets and wanders off whistling innocently*
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Going back to Marten for a second:
I don't think it'll lead to a long-distance relationship. At least I hope it doesn't. I know Marten's pain is one of the main driving points of the comic but if anything, this should be a valuable and growing experience for him...hopefully. He'll definitely have romantic troubles and drama but I don't think he'll be jumping on the relationship band wagon anytime soon.
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I'm sad to say your references (?) are completely lost on me. :|
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In real world time it's probably only been a couple months since he split with Dora... So I can't imagine him ready to get in another relationship yet, long distance or otherwise. But I certainly hope Jeph was joking about Marten's happiness.
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Before he wrote The Talk, Jeph had a plan for the future and ending of the comic, in which The Talk cleared the way for Faye and Marten to get together. The Talk, and the realisation that he now wanted to keep the comic running as it was now his main source of income, changed all that, so that he now lets the story develop as it seems to want to (in his mind); this is explained in the Afterword of Volume 2.
I suspect that the remark about there being no chance of happiness for Marten was more that he couldn't see it coming from the way things stand, with a memory of the feeling that if Marten did get finally settled that comic would have to end. In fact this is no longer true, of course, as there are now so many other characters; the comic could quite naturally shift to developing their stories instead, maybe with a happy Marten dispensing wisdom in the background.
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Hmmmm
Marten as the wise old sage of the QCverse - An interesting thought
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I'm not sure that would be a character Jeph would want to draw on a regular basis. (I almost said "or could" there, but I don't think that'd be the case.)
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If they do start a long distance relationship I can't see Marten being able to handle it for too long.
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I suspect that the remark about there being no chance of happiness for Marten was more that he couldn't see it coming from the way things stand, with a memory of the feeling that if Marten did get finally settled that comic would have to end. In fact this is no longer true, of course, as there are now so many other characters; the comic could quite naturally shift to developing their stories instead, maybe with a happy Marten dispensing wisdom in the background.
I agree that he could move away from that element and keep the story going, but it can be a frightening thing to resolve the first major plot element you introduce. My guess is Jeph will hold on to Marten's unhappiness for a while longer at any rate.
That doesn't necessarily mean keeping him single, however. As the Fay and Angus storyline reminds us this week, being in a relationship, even one that is going well, can be its own source of tension and unhappiness. If Jeph is clever about it, he'll place Marten in a variety of situations that could end in happiness but don't. If the next several years are just Marten whining that he doesn't have a girlfriend, many of us will no doubt lose interest. Taking the example of Padma: this arc could resolve with Padma leaving for California, leaving Marten to wonder what might have been. It could end with them having a long distance relationship that falls apart after a while. It could end with a pretty good long term relationship, with a longer arc that climaxes when she asks him to move out to California to be with her, and him deciding against it because he's unwilling to move for another girlfriend. All of these would maintain Marten's general unhappiness.
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It's happening! :psyduck:
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It's happening! :psyduck:
No it's not. Marty's not gonna reverse everything he's got just to chase Padma back to Cali.
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LOVE the drunken love bubbles
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I don't get how it's "about time" for him to have a girlfriend. He broke up with Dora only a short time ago. Meanwhile, there are characters in the comic who are chronically single with no end to that in sight. It's about time for THEM to have relationships, jeez.
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I'm actually hoping Marten's storyline doesn't become all about Padma. After two love dramas in a row, his personality's kinda turned into a blank slate. I'm really enjoying him single! It makes me excited for all the possibilities.
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An LDR LTR?
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An LDR most likely ending with a "Dear Marten"-letter (or a call)? :psyduck: Anything can happen, of course, but I somehow think that neither Marten nor Padma is looking for something lasting at this time. The inevitability of (at least temporary) parting is fueling them now.
I don't get how it's "about time" for him to have a girlfriend. He broke up with Dora only a short time ago. Meanwhile, there are characters in the comic who are chronically single with no end to that in sight. It's about time for THEM to have relationships, jeez.
Agree with you about "about time" (edit: re: Marten). No schedules for him.
Indeed, most of our friends are single now. They are, of course, all entitled to pursue romantic happiness when they want. That includes Hannelore, when/if she ever feels ready. But I'm not seeing any of them doing that at the moment? Unless you count the Calvinesque advances by Dale, or Elliot's confession? Even Sven has been uncharacteristically inactive (at least on camera).
Also: the cast has expanded since the early years. Jeph probably (hopefully?) doesn't want QC to consist entirely of romantic arcs, so it will take a while for the non-major characters to get their turn. Let's just wait!
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So long as she doesn't become his
Canadian Californian girlfriend (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GirlfriendInCanada).
Oh, wait, she's real...
Seriously, though - if he stays in Mass and she goes back, the LDR would feel just like a Canadian GF (CGF?) at the pace the strip moves. One or the other would visit every... 5 or 6 years real time?
I'm hoping they celebrate what they've got, and let it go like the mature adults they are. :roll: :-D
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Who says it has to be an LDR, an LTR or an R at all? As of 2056, it's "hey, free kisses" on the couch (overdue for burning, I agree) with the comic relief trapped in the kitchen. As long as Marten keeps his head, it can be "We both agreed that was fun and nice, now have a nice life at your end of the country" with maybe "we'll be glad to see each other approaching on the sidewalk someday" in the future.
Oh, "comic relief" is unkind, I suppose. At least as far as Hanners, the one character in the comic who unfailingly and (almost) unflinchingly demonstrates she gives a damn about the other person in any of her interactions.
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True, but here I think it's more of a vicarious thrill.
You don't blush like that from giving a damn.
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It's the secret wine peeking, Hanners is just what it's channeling through.
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So far all Padma did was accepting Marten as a friend.
She has not shown any interest into him as a boyfriend.
She is probably completely oblivious to Marten just as she was to Elliot.
To point out the obvious: I've been wrong.
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The good news is, we all have been, at one time or another.