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Dating

2 (2.3%)

Circling each other warily

24 (27.9%)

Destined to get married and raise kids

6 (7%)

Doomed to failure

8 (9.3%)

Sane and healthy adults agreeing to take a risk

18 (20.9%)

Going to make Sven jealous

16 (18.6%)

42

7 (8.1%)

Lethargic lithium lion

5 (5.8%)

Total Members Voted: 71

[no one special]

Of course, everyone has the hots for Faye, because she's really warm.

Plus, as we all know, Dora is a warmth-vampire.

[no one special]

'Caution, enter at your own peril'. 

Sounds like Faye needs some custom underwear - safety-cone-orange panties with that message on a yellow sign! 

(printed on the front and back, just in case  )

[no one special]

1) I read the punchline, and I LQTM'd, but it didn't really hit me until I went back and read the title of the comic.  SO... WRONG.  (but also hilarious)
<snip>

...Do ya know how long it took me to figure that out?

"Pease Porridge hot, Pease Porridge cold, Pease Porridge in the pot nine days old!"

Even worse: I just realized that the title could refer not only to his geographic location, but also to the color of his porridge.  If it starts looking Manhattan, he'd better see a doctor PRONTO.   

[raoullefere]

yes, she's trying to protect him, but that's not all she's doing since she's [Faye] also being a belligerent chickenshit about getting involved, but that's Faye.  Also, at no point did I say Faye being protective was justifiable, but it's better than withholding information.  He asked what she thought, and she told him, warts and all.  I think Angus knew things will be difficult with Faye (they have been so far) when he when he broached the 'do I have a shot with you' conversation, but he's willing to try, perhaps Don Quixote-style.  Like I said, they may go down in flames, but at least they're starting off with their eyes open.

I'm not sure if she's protecting Angus or just herself. I do like "belligerent chickenshit": Faye needs a T-shirt with that on it at times. Or perhaps a magic caption that starts flashing above her head when she goes into this mode. Because it's not always; Faye can be both generous and brave; to an extent she was the latter in this shorter 'talk' than with Marten. I also have to admit I admired her ability to self-efface when he and Dora got together—that took both generosity and courage.

But I'm fairly confident that, simply because he will take it, Faye's going to push Angus until he finally has enough—his 'enough' is apparently fairly capacious, but I feel confident Faye will fill it, sooner or later. My main hope is that she doesn't immediately find someone to engage in another crash 'n burn relationship with right afterward. Angus seems a decent, maybe more than decent guy, and just like Marten, he doesn't deserve that. I'm still astounded Marten doesn't carry around resentment for that one. (Then again, he has 'Dorable Dora—I know I'd take her, insecurities and all, over Faye any day, and I think Marten feels the same, even though loyalty keeps him from saying it. Poor Dora's problem is she's too insecure to realize this; that's one reason for her blow-up when she discovered Faye'd laid Sven—it would have been easy for Faye to use the resentment that could have generated in Marten to break him and Dora up).

On the other hand, if Faye could bestir her chicken-ass and make an effort to do something besides the "oh noes, you don't want to be involved with horrible me" bit, she'd learn something, maybe grow a bit, even if it didn't work. Instead, she really does seem to have made the chance of a relationship a challenge for Angus, and the cynical side of me wonders if she did that just to keep him 'on the hook.' It's flattering, after all, to have that kind of attention without doing anything for it. I can only hope she's honest enough to repeat this exchange as verbatim as possible to her doctor, who will likely call her on it.

This is why I really detest Sven. He was doing so well with Faye, actually helping her, but as soon as sex came into the picture (and I wonder if she unconsciously did that to sabotage her progress: Faye has a gift for this) there was no 'friends with benefits'; Sven simply  stopped being her friend and became her paramour, when he certainly didn't need a sexual outlet, and it would have done Faye ten tons of good for him to say, "Stop. We both know you're not ready for this." He had every excuse in the world to do so (he could even blame his sister, for chrissakes), and only the good old 'brains in the dick' reason not to. And lest anyone say it was a 'heat of the moment' event, I'll note that Sven did it again when Faye called him while feeling lonely—'no, don't want to see a movie, already ate, but we can fuck!' All you Angus detractors, take heed: when he got put in a similar position, Angus did what was best for his friend, not his penis. Sven hasn't gotten half the kicking around he deserves for that one. (And yes, it's the precise 'root' of all Sven's problems and failings. Bah-Doom-Boom)

End of book. I have to stop—I keep wanting to add more, and I'm afraid I'll break the tube if this post gets much bigger.

1. For comic #1665, panels 1-2, Dora's weakness for adorability is adorable in of itself.

Yes, Dora has been pretty 'dorable lately. ducks overripe fruits, shoes, and assorted other missiles
You missed!

[Wiregeek]

This can only be solved through trepanation

[Is it cold in here?]

For that matter, why isn't Faye going out and meeting people? Look how few address book entries she had on her phone in 1377. She dodged Hanners's question about why she wasn't doing that in strip 1144. She has Raven's black book, for crying out loud. She knows how to introduce herself, even if she was pushing herself in strip 4.

[Blackjoker]

For that matter, why isn't Faye going out and meeting people? Look how few address book entries she had on her phone in 1377. She dodged Hanners's question about why she wasn't doing that in strip 1144. She has Raven's black book, for crying out loud. She knows how to introduce herself, even if she was pushing herself in strip 4.

Some of that has to do with personal comfort zones. Some of it might also just be practicality, Faye might actually be thinking of a real relationship and in that case Ravens book, while fun, might not be all that useful. She also has enough baggage that she might figure it's better to work through that than to meet new people. Plus, Marten seems to attract new people to him, she might just figure that if she hangs around with him she will eventually meet the whole town.

[Carl-E]

For that matter, why isn't Faye going out and meeting people? Look how few address book entries she had on her phone in 1377. She dodged Hanners's question about why she wasn't doing that in strip 1144. She has Raven's black book, for crying out loud. She knows how to introduce herself, even if she was pushing herself in strip 4.

Some of that has to do with personal comfort zones. Some of it might also just be practicality, Faye might actually be thinking of a real relationship and in that case Ravens book, while fun, might not be all that useful. She also has enough baggage that she might figure it's better to work through that than to meet new people. Plus, Marten seems to attract new people to him, she might just figure that if she hangs around with him she will eventually meet the whole town.

Point 2, I think.  The baggage thing.  Why start new relationships with the "old" you?  Faye strikes me as really wanting to get better before she inflicts tries another relationship.  Hece all the warnings, blinkenlights, and caution tape.  I mean, the Sven thing went soooo well.  And while Sven was a dick, as a lot of people pointed out, Faye's incapable emotional state also caused a lot of the problem.  FOB just was not going to work with her. 

She may push Angus too far.  She may also find that his not-so-quiet determination and generally high threshhold for her form of crazy will help her get through another stage or two of growth (let's see, there's larval, pupal, ... what's next?). 

So, no commitment.  But she and Angus are both willing to feel their way through the minefield that any relation with Faye would be.  And if they come out whole on the other side, great. 

'Tain't likely, but they seem to think it's worth a shot.  Who am I to disagree? 

[Mad Cat]

[Faye] is basically telling Angus 'Caution, enter at your own peril'. 

More like "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." amirite?

[westrim]

Holy crap this is long.

I've gotten a little too... involved before, shall we say, in all the arguing over "Sven, jerk! bad jerk bad!" vs. "Sven, Sven! (actually, not sure what to put in caveman talk here- maybe...) why expect different?", but when people start hauling out essays it's starting to get a little scary.

But I guess I'll dive back in a little bit. I think we all agree that both Sven AND Faye are at fault for circumstances of the end of their relationship/ getting into a physical one in the first place. But I still don't get why people are so angry at Sven for acting exactly as he had been characterized the entire freaking time- in fact, the first bit of character development he got at all was realizing he had messed up as he fucked whatshername (Gsomething Riversomething)? I may be annoyed and depressed at the dog peeing on the carpet yet again, but getting angry would be pretty silly. Yes, he screwed up, we all know that- but what I think people are forgetting is that, for the first time, he knew it too. And has been trying to fix it (yet treated as though he wasn't, like the incident with Marigold) and mature ever since. Oh, this is getting longish too. Stopping now.

[raoullefere]

Oh, come now—essay? it's only 600 or so words. Ah heh. Ah hah. AhahahahahaHAhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha






Aheh. Ahhhh. You're probably right. Thing is, someone linked to Sven swatting Faye with the magazine to cure self-pity, and I remembered why I thought he was so good for her, being such a good friend, and going to help Faye turn around, get herself out of this pit trap of self-loathing she keeps sitting in. I kept reading, only to see him, as you say, revert to type. And he did it so completely, too. I had such hopes for the guy (the first time around—I'm not quite that daft). I remembered thinking "he's not as bad as Dora says he is." I was right, of course: he's worse.

If he was a dog, of course, I wouldn't be angry—a dog is a dog, and even extensive training doesn't make it anything else. But Sven is a (albeit fictional) human being, which means, supposedly, he can overcome his baser nature. It's our greatest gift that we can do that, sometimes, and our second greatest curse that we sometimes cannot. I hate the curse part.

[Is it cold in here?]

"Trap" is a good word. Faye may be preemptively sabotaging herself as opposed to displaying an honest caution label.

[Heliphyneau]

Carl Notappearinginthiscomic: "Dude, I was in line for coffee today, and the two girls behind the counter totally started snuggling.  It was so hot."

Where did you find my last name?

Oh, YOU know how.





What?  All the Carls meet on a biweekly basis to discuss Carl-related things.  I only know because I married one.  But don't worry, I don't know the secret handshake!

[westrim]

"Trap" is a good word. Faye may be preemptively sabotaging herself as opposed to displaying an honest caution label.

trap

I... cannot resist... the Dark Side!
IT'S A TRAP

Aheh. Ahhhh. You're probably right. Thing is, someone linked to Sven swatting Faye with the magazine to cure self-pity, and I remembered why I thought he was so good for her, being such a good friend, and going to help Faye turn around, get herself out of this pit trap of self-loathing she keeps sitting in. I kept reading, only to see him, as you say, revert to type. And he did it so completely, too. I had such hopes for the guy (the first time around—I'm not quite that daft). I remembered thinking "he's not as bad as Dora says he is." I was right, of course: he's worse.

If he was a dog, of course, I wouldn't be angry—a dog is a dog, and even extensive training doesn't make it anything else. But Sven is a (albeit fictional) human being, which means, supposedly, he can overcome his baser nature. It's our greatest gift that we can do that, sometimes, and our second greatest curse that we sometimes cannot. I hate the curse part.

That is true. They were pretty good friends before doing the horizontal samba. If only Faye hadn't kissed him out of the blue... just like Marigold did to Angus... Oh Jeph, you bastard.

Though that does support the point. Angus and Sven are fundamentally different people leading fundamentally different lives. If Angus banged Marigold for a couple months (assuming in this scenario that sex was all they both wanted, as Faye said was the case) then fucked a one night stand, that would be horrifying. But that was par for the course for Sven, up until he lost Faye. If a candy bar threw itself in his face, he was gonna chow down.

And I guess a nonsentient being was a bad example. How about a guy who's a shoplifter, lifting candy and such just because it it's so easy for him, it tastes good and it's over quick- then one day a clerk takes a shine to him and gives him a gobstopper every day for, I dunno, walking her dog. Acouple months later the guy filches a Butterfinger from the shop and eats it, but feels bad for eating it for the first time. He fesses up to the clerk, who gets really sad and bars him from that checkout aisle, and starts changing his thieving ways. But every time from then on, all the clerks give him a hard time and check his pockets, even though he has a whole cart of groceries and books on the Crusades to buy, damnit! On his way to checkout the Reese's display fell right in front of him, but he walked around it!

See what I mean? I may have stretched it a little, but that's mostly my perspective on Sven and the way he's been treated by the characters and some of the fanbase (but not by Jeph, methinks) since he and Faye ended things.

...That's a bit long. Oh well, I had an analogy to make.

[jwhouk]

[Faye] is basically telling Angus 'Caution, enter at your own peril'. 

More like "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." amirite?

No, that's "Mawwage! Twue Wuv!"

[Border Reiver]

[So, no commitment.  But she and Angus are both willing to feel their way through the minefield that any relation with Faye would be.  And if they come out whole on the other side, great. 

I'll make sure that Angus still has his cleaning rod and foot powder. 

[raoullefere]

And I guess a nonsentient being was a bad example. How about a guy who's a shoplifter, lifting candy and such just because it it's so easy for him, it tastes good and it's over quick- then one day a clerk takes a shine to him and gives him a gobstopper every day for, I dunno, walking her dog. A couple months later the guy filches a Butterfinger from the shop and eats it, but feels bad for eating it for the first time. He fesses up to the clerk, who gets really sad and bars him from that checkout aisle, and starts changing his thieving ways. But every time from then on, all the clerks give him a hard time and check his pockets, even though he has a whole cart of groceries and books on the Crusades to buy, damnit! On his way to checkout the Reese's display fell right in front of him, but he walked around it!

To make this work for Sven, you have to include that one of the clerks already knew he was a thief, but kept having to pay for the loss caused by his stealing because no one paid any attention to her—she was a psycho, right? So it's not just the one incident—that's merely the icing on the cake.

The dude is going to have to go around more than one collapsed Reese's display to re-establish trust, because he's vindicated the view that one clerk, the person who used to receive the grief he didn't for his actions, held all along, and everyone believes her now. To me, that's kharma (or reaping what you sow, or whatever you want to call it).

...That's a bit long. Oh well, I had an analogy to make.

Nothing wrong with long, despite what the proponents of instant-gratification-isn't-fast-enough and TL;DR may spew. Means you're expressing your thoughts fully. Besides, it's the end of the week, no one cares—have you not seen the ridiculous stuff posted at the end of previous WTC's?

Which reminds me:

What?  All the Carls meet on a biweekly basis to discuss Carl-related things.  I only know because I married one.  But don't worry, I don't know the secret handshake!

Heliphyneau, I think the secret handshake is right-handed with two clockwise turns of the wrist, followed by putting your left hand on your right wrist and subtly beating out the rhythm from the 'galloping' part of William Tell Overture with ascending (towards the thumb) motions of your first three fingers—no pinky. But the battery of the transmitter I implanted in the Carl I used to know died a couple years back, or else he took to wearing foil on his noggin. It's not terribly likely, but they may have altered it a little.

[BobtheDancingFlea]

Until yesterday's comic, I seriously thought that Angus was Sven. This week's comics make significantly more sense now.
Why do the two dudes after Faye have to look so similar!!

[Tuitsuro]

I've had that problem between Angus and Wil, too.  Doesn't help that they dress almost exactly the same, either.  

[Is it cold in here?]

Let's have all future polls include "porridge".

[akronnick]

Porridge is the new Pancakes!

[Carl-E]

Carl Notappearinginthiscomic: "Dude, I was in line for coffee today, and the two girls behind the counter totally started snuggling.  It was so hot."

Where did you find my last name?

Oh, YOU know how.





What?  All the Carls meet on a biweekly basis to discuss Carl-related things.  I only know because I married one.  But don't worry, I don't know the secret handshake!

Well, it's not like we keep the meetings a secret.  But the handshake... well, who says it involves hands?  I don't think I'm saying too much there. 

Heliphyneau, I think the secret handshake is right-handed with two clockwise turns of the wrist, followed by putting your left hand on your right wrist and subtly beating out the rhythm from the 'galloping' part of William Tell Overture with ascending (towards the thumb) motions of your first three fingers—no pinky. But the battery of the transmitter I implanted in the Carl I used to know died a couple years back, or else he took to wearing foil on his noggin. It's not terribly likely, but they may have altered it a little.

We found the transmitter.  The whole "William Tell" thing was worked up specifically for your (and our) entertainment. 

[raoullefere]

Porridge is the new Pancakes!

I can't help but wonder if you timed this post to sync up with your post's number and the number's assigned moniker (Don't know any other way to express that). Anyway, Urban dictionary gives this word so many meanings it will keep people guessing, if nothing else (because no one on the internets actually means what they write, and we're all secks fiends, or so I've been told). And when we tire of it, we can move on to biscuits. Or maybe muffins.

We found the transmitter.  The whole "William Tell" thing was worked up specifically for your (and our) entertainment.  

The fact that you use 'we' makes this believable.

[Carl-E]

Hey, you planted the thing. 

Carl-A was pretty upset, but we talked him out of anything more drastic than just messing with you. 

[Is it cold in here?]

Apparently not a test tube baby:

Hanners Mother Pregnancy

Aha!  I don't know quite where I got the idea that she was, but thank you for linking to proof that Hanners grew in a womb rather than a tube.  ^_^

That's how she was incubated, but that strip leaves plenty of room for wondering how she was conceived. In fact her mom had trouble figuring out how it could have been done the normal way. Maybe Hannerdad cooked up Hannerembryo in his lab and secretly implanted it into his wife. There may be a reason Hannelore believes that kind of thing is possible (strip 1119).

[Tuitsuro]

Gestated.  Unless she was concieved in an egg, which granted, would have made the pregnancy that much weirder.