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4 panels of embarrassed silence

18 (20.7%)

Running away for ever

1 (1.1%)

Bitter recriminations

2 (2.3%)

Hugs for closure and acceptance

25 (28.7%)

Make-up makeout!

4 (4.6%)

Rest of cast jump out shouting "Surprise!"

3 (3.4%)

We see something happening in the party

4 (4.6%)

Tai rushes out and shoves Marten aside

8 (9.2%)

AnthroPCs

9 (10.3%)

Jeph has his first day off for years, & no guest strip either

13 (14.9%)

Total Members Voted: 76

[Jedit]

Life is full of anti-climaxes.  

"You're so bad in bed, when you f***ed me I had an anti-climax!" 

I am very glad this comic was not posted on a Friday.  It removes the need for me to hunt down Jeph and trepan him with a pizza cutter.

[questionablecontentfan]

Life is full of anti-climaxes.  

"You're so bad in bed, when you f***ed me I had an anti-climax!" 

I am very glad this comic was not posted on a Friday.  It removes the need for me to hunt down Jeph and trepan him with a pizza cutter.

What would that even feel like? Just, the worst feeling ever? lol.

[Somebody]

Preview of tomorrow's strip!

[NotAwesomeAnymore]

Oh man... Is Marten wearing jeggings?

[wrwight]

Oh man... Is Marten wearing jeggings?

ugh, that has to be the worst made up word ever.

[lepetitfromage]

Oh man... Is Marten wearing jeggings?

ugh, that has to be the worst made up word ever.

which is perfect for the worst article of clothing ever.

[Blyss]

 

This is slightly better than the drunken ex calling you up at 3 in the morning, to tell you that she was wrong for what she thought about you; that she was wrong for breaking up with you, and that she's so sorry, and you know she still loves you...

ONLY slightly, and I still stand by my feelings on this, Marten didn't deserve the breakup, and now what?  She feels better, so it's okay to approach him, after she's been out on a date of course.

 

My brain is literally thumping in my head right now.  I'm convinced it's because Jeph is digging around in there for more story ideas.

Stupid comic characters mimicking my life anyway...

[annietiger]

Oh my, what a cliffhanger. I'm so glad it's Thursday.

My prediction: Marten will inquire about the date, Dora will say something about needing to work out her issues, the two will hug &thenrunawayandgetmarried and it will be kind of awkward.

[Black Sword]

Preview of tomorrow's strip!

You know what the greatest troll would be? Jeph walking into the forum right now, glancing at this, making a .GIF that runs for about 20 seconds with this image on top, THEN switching to real comic. I figure it takes about 5 seconds to read the comic, 10 seconds of shock, then 5 seconds to go "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-"

and then the real comic appears.

..am I that bad a person that I really hope Jeph does that?

[steveb]

Why do people keep acting like exes have to reconcile and become friends after breaking up?

Why can't they have an "Our relationship was doomed to start with, we weren't compatible, but it was fun while it lasted until shit hit the fan" moment and move on with their lives?

Because everyone is thinking about this in terms of Marten/Dora and I don't think either of those two can just move on like that. Also they were friends before going out and both seem the kind of people who would want to remain friends if they could.

[cabbagehut]

...and I still stand by my feelings on this, Marten didn't deserve the breakup, and now what?  She feels better, so it's okay to approach him, after she's been out on a date of course.

I feel bad for Marten here.  I know Dora probably means well, and she wants to talk to him in a kind way, but there was no warning for him to prepare himself, and face-to-face is pretty intense.  Marten took the breakup hard, whereas Dora was sad, but appeared to be dealing with it better.  She was far more ready to move on than he was   I feel like her showing up (what appears to be) immediately after the unsuccessful date is an awkward way to handle things - I'm not really sure WHY I feel that way, though.

[michael28]

@Tiogyr
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things, thank you for that bit of info. a very nice strip

[pwhodges]

OK, so I made a poll for the end of the week.

[Kazukagii]

So I haven't had my coffee and am thus not awake enough to scrub through the entire thread, but did anybody else enjoy the subtle artwork of Marten crushing/crumpling the can in surprise? I like it when Jeph throws in those little artistic easter eggs.

Beyond that... I'm glad to see Dora and Marten are finally going to be able to talk again. Even if they're not going out, I missed their chemistry on-panel, and the lack of it was a sad series of events. I think it's time they tentatively made up so that they can join in on regular shenanigans together.

[Emperor Norton]

On the western theme, Faye is def Marten's Doc Holiday, down to them both being from Georgia and I"m sure she is watching from inside...

but in this case, since neither of them did anything wrong really (there was no physical abuse or cheating or verbal abuse, etc), it's better to let him talk to her alone than to gang up on Dora. They have things they need to work out, and to do that they need to be open as much as possible. With Faye and Angus and Hanners and Marigold all there, Dora could easily go crazy defensive and any chance of them putting this behind them and becoming friends again could die.

Why do people keep acting like exes have to reconcile and become friends after breaking up?

Why can't they have an "Our relationship was doomed to start with, we weren't compatible, but it was fun while it lasted until shit hit the fan" moment and move on with their lives?

All I've really noticed is that you have a thing against exes BEING friends. It wasn't like they weren't friends before they dated, and they were pretty good friends. Someone being bad for you in a relationship DOESN'T mean that they are bad for you as a friend. On top of that, the person you quoted didn't even SAY they had to be friends. Just that they needed to talk. Maybe what they need to talk about is "Our relationship was doomed to start with, we weren't compatible, but it was fun while it lasted until shit hit the fan".

Honestly, I've, never dated someone I WASN'T friends with first. I can't understand WHY you would want to date someone that you wouldn't be friends with otherwise. So even if things don't work out, there is nothing wrong with being friends with them afterwords. We get along, just, not in a relationship. Doesn't mean I HAVE to be friends with them, but it does mean that it is an option.

Every post you make about it, just seems like you think it should NEVER be an option. How does incompatibility in a relationship prevent two people from being friends?

As for the "Ninja" Dora. Marten has been drinking, he was looking at the ground, and at a CROWDED party, someone was approaching the front door. I know that I don't look up at every person coming up to the door of a large party, even if they are clicking all the way up the driveway in their heels.

[westrim]

Why do people keep acting like exes have to reconcile and become friends after breaking up?

Why can't they have an "Our relationship was doomed to start with, we weren't compatible, but it was fun while it lasted until shit hit the fan" moment and move on with their lives?

Why do you act like reconciliation is a bad thing?

Why can't two people who allegedly liked each other to begin stay friends even though things didn't work out romantically, since they're still roughly the same decent people they were in the beginning?

I'd say more, but it'd disrupt the symmetry.

OK, so I made a poll for the end of the week.

And I was the first to vote in it! I voted the 3rd from the bottom (we see the party), because I'm imagining it like when Marigold first went to the bar. We get three panels of commentary and then it cuts back to Marten replying "hey..."

[cesariojpn]

 I'm convinced it's because Jeph is digging around in there for more story ideas.

If he runs out of ideas, he could just come to these forums and find some shipping ideas people have thrown out......

Also, did anyone seem to think of the lyrics to Safety Dance in the dialogue between Hanners and Marigold?

[Tiogyr]

A volatile breakup should automatically take post-breakup friendship off the table, I'm sorry.

[Stephen]

I think it probably would have been better for Dora to show up before his lunchbreak with a cup of coffee and baked goods to help diffuse the shock that was pretty much inevitable.

[Kazukagii]

A volatile breakup should automatically take post-breakup friendship off the table, I'm sorry.

For the record, my most volatile break-up (a three year relationship that went south for all the wrong reasons, I won't bore you) went from "we will never speak with each other again" to "I think you're really interesting, so let's stay friends" in the span of a few weeks. Once people have some time to cool off and objectively look at things, they can make rational decisions after the most irrational events.

We're not talking about Dora or Marten cheating, or abusing one another, or something irreconcilable like that; we're talking about two friends who got together, but then the relationship fell apart due to Dora's trust issues. Yeah the breakup was messy at the time, but they've had plenty of time to cool off, can talk about their relationship rationally, and decide to be just friends again. Will it be awkward at first? Most likely, it usually is when dealing with an ex-lover. But things will get better.

[Emperor Norton]

A volatile breakup should automatically take post-breakup friendship off the table, I'm sorry.

But why? I had, one breakup, that, ended with, a gigantic, completely screwed up fight. We didn't talk for a couple of months. Then we realised that, WE STILL CARED ABOUT EACH OTHER, we just couldn't be together because we aren't compatible romantically.

We still make great friends, and, talk all the time. Of course, I'm sure, your anecdotal evidence will show me why my anecdotal evidence DOESN'T EXIST. Because no one can be friends after a bad break up.

[TRVA123]

A volatile breakup should automatically take post-breakup friendship off the table, I'm sorry.

not necessarily. If one of them had really screwed the relationship over, i.e. Marten conns Dora out of all of her money and leaves town, or Dora messes with birth control to have Marten's baby without his consent....

something of that magnitude would take post-breakup friendship off the table. Marten and Dora realizing that they were fighting way too much and that Dora wanted to break off the relationship to work on her issues? not of that magnitude.

Maybe if they were still in highschool, but they're adults. They have the same friend circle and genuinely enjoy hanging out with each other. While they might need some space for a while, there is no reason why they shouldn't be good friends or just regular friends at some point in the future.

[westrim]

A volatile breakup should automatically take post-breakup friendship off the table, I'm sorry.

In relationships, nothing should take anything off the table automatically, because people are people, and people are weird. Aside from her insecurity and paranoia, there were no major problems with their relationship. Remove her triggers for that (in this case, being romantically involved with him) and they should be able to get along just fine after some cooling off and honest talk. Or they could spaz at each other, he moves back home, and we get QC: Kalifornia Edition. Yes, the K is necessary.

[dragontart]

I'm not sure if "staying friends" works well or is a good idea if only one partner dumped the other one. Since said other one most probably still has completely different feelings for them. I mean, Marten wouldn't have ended that relationship, would he? But then again, he might be more happy about at least being friends with Dora than nothing. But actually, I have no idea what Marten thinks about the relationship and the break up by now.

[Tiogyr]

I'm not sure if "staying friends" works well or is a good idea if only one partner dumped the other one. Since said other one most probably still has completely different feelings for them. I mean, Marten wouldn't have ended that relationship, would he? But then again, he might be more happy about at least being friends with Dora than nothing. But actually, I have no idea what Marten thinks about the relationship and the break up by now.

This in particular is also why I don't think they should try to be friends. If Dora were to say she wanted to get back together, Marten would jump at the chance and that is why they need to not be friends until Marten makes some progress of his own with regard to moving on (or at least stops moping and sighing about it).

[steveb]

...and I still stand by my feelings on this, Marten didn't deserve the breakup, and now what?  She feels better, so it's okay to approach him, after she's been out on a date of course.

I feel bad for Marten here.  I know Dora probably means well, and she wants to talk to him in a kind way, but there was no warning for him to prepare himself, and face-to-face is pretty intense.  Marten took the breakup hard, whereas Dora was sad, but appeared to be dealing with it better.  She was far more ready to move on than he was   I feel like her showing up (what appears to be) immediately after the unsuccessful date is an awkward way to handle things - I'm not really sure WHY I feel that way, though.

I can see where you are coming from here but on balance I think sooner rather than later is better. Marten already tried to return to COD so he has prepared himself for the meeting at least once. He also knew Dora was on a date and is sitting outside at a party, probably brooding about the whole thing. Better to have things unexpectedly move forward for real than spend all evening getting drunker wondering how the date is going.

[pwhodges]

A volatile breakup should automatically take post-breakup friendship off the table, I'm sorry.

No.  You don't get to define how the world works; and plenty of people can show that much of the time it doesn't work the way you appear to believe.

If Dora were to say she wanted to get back together, Marten would jump at the chance and that is why they need to not be friends until Marten makes some progress of his own with regard to moving on (or at least stops moping and sighing about it).

Your words are confusing the issue again - "getting back together" and "being friends" have very different implications.  Also, being friends starts with not being enemies - not an unreasonable thing to try, as I have found.

[Blood-Tree]

I'm not sure if "staying friends" works well or is a good idea if only one partner dumped the other one. Since said other one most probably still has completely different feelings for them. I mean, Marten wouldn't have ended that relationship, would he? But then again, he might be more happy about at least being friends with Dora than nothing. But actually, I have no idea what Marten thinks about the relationship and the break up by now.

I think that, as Marten is Mr Passive, he would simply prefer to ignore the whole thing and pretend like he doesn't care.

I'm willing to make a prediction that although tomorrow's strip could be a moment of high drama (my initial reaction to today's final panel was: "whoah, it just got real") it will probably just be a total anti-climax; Marten will say 'Hi', Dora will ask how the party is going (or some other innocuous question), Marten will give a vague non-committal reply and then Dora will walk up the steps and into the house. Maybe next week, there will be a strip where Marten discusses this with Steve, or maybe Faye, and Dora complains about something to someone.

Nothing happens quickly in QC, case in point, the breakup was months ago and Marten and Dora are only now having their first meeting as exes.

[Tiogyr]

A volatile breakup should automatically take post-breakup friendship off the table, I'm sorry.

No.  You don't get to define how the world works;

I'm not defining how the world works, I was responding to a bunch of people essentially arguing that there was no reason whatsoever for Dora and Marten not to be friends after their shitty relationship came to a shitty breakup.

and plenty of people can show that much of the time it doesn't work the way you appear to believe.

And I'll just let leahneedsanap's agreement post speak for me here, because they're saying essentially the same thing I am.

Why do people keep acting like exes have to reconcile and become friends after breaking up?

Why can't they have an "Our relationship was doomed to start with, we weren't compatible, but it was fun while it lasted until shit hit the fan" moment and move on with their lives?

I am with you on this one...  I have found that I NEED that sharp cutoff in order to really move on, and once I have, there's not a gap in my social circle that needs to be filled by someone who (at least with my exes) isn't a particularly good or interesting person.  Every time I've tried to "be friends" I've used that relationship as an emotional crutch to keep myself from moving on or dealing with my pain.  Then again, I have mostly dated people who weren't core members of my friend group, so I'm sure that would be different.

Still, I can see why grudges or walls of silence are pretty unworkable in a comic when the relationship is between two major characters, unless you are going to write one of them out.  And given that Marten is arguably the main character and Dora is Jeph's favorite character, that seems pretty unlikely.  If they are just totally not interacting it means you have to have these major demarcations in your storylines where certain characters can't be, or can't be in the same place, or someone has to reiterate what the other one said.  When you share friends you generally have to get at least to a place where you're not putting your friends through this "I'm having a party but if I invite him I can't invite HER, and I can't invite HIM cause now she's dating him and that would be uncomfortable" thing.

Your words are confusing the issue again - "getting back together" and "being friends" have very different implications.  Also, being friends starts with not being enemies - not an unreasonable thing to try, as I have found.

The point I'm trying to make (and that leah got) is that they can't be friends until after Marten gets over the breakup himself.

Which isn't going to happen as long as he's moping around about it.

[pwhodges]

I'll just let leahneedsanap's agreement post speak for me here, because they're saying essentially the same thing I am.

Leah's experience is as valid as mine, and different.  You can't just choose one of us and say "they're right (because they agree with me), and they're wrong".  You have to allow for uncertainty and variability.

The point I'm trying to make (and that leah got) is that they can't be friends until after Marten gets over the breakup himself.

Up to a point.  There are respects in which I have never got over the breakup of my marriage twenty years ago.  But I am friends of a sort with my ex.  My present wife and I sometimes have her to dinner, and sometimes go there, and we meet at concerts and so on - but we don't hang out more than that.  You may simply be calling that state "not friends", whereas I am calling it "friends - up to a point".  And the point is that we got together enough to learn to be civil to each other again, and to express our care for how the other is doing - because that is still there, even though we couldn't live together any more.  When I had a heart attack, she visited me; when she had a hip replacement I visited her.

Which isn't going to happen as long as he's moping around about it.

And now he has a chance to move out of that state.

[pendrake]

For comic #1964...

1. Pretty well done strip on Jeph's part for an un-scripted strip, I thought.

2. Is Marigold blushing at the thought of dancing with Marten and Hanners, or just having to dance again?  It is difficult to tell with the wide-shot, so it is hard to see her eyes' angle, whether she is eyeing Hanners &/or Marten.  Though I like Marigold's stance in the wide-shot.   Also, has Marigold's hair gotten longer...?

3. I find it interesting (and cute, of course ) that Hannelore is comfortable enough to ask Marten to dance with her and Marigold.  I would have thought dancing be something that would set off her kind of OCD (though really Hanners' problem in that area has been greatly reduced in the 1500+ strips since her Marten-stalker introduction).

4. It took me a while to figure out that Marigold's cut-off remark was in-tandem with the dust trail of the rest of the gang fleeing the perceived drama-bomb blast radius.  However, Dora's face and posture makes me think this will be a positive mending conversation between Dora & Marten.  Likewise, both of them are at the emotional point to be able to talk to each other now.

5. I was amused by Marten's shocked reaction of crushing his beer can at the surprise sight of Dora .  Still, we the audience generally know that Marten is ready to talk to Dora again, he has been for a while now.

6. For Andy147... Number 1839: Question is Complete is what you wanted, I believe.  And as I have stated before: If you have a strong &/or solid sense of relief from breaking up, then it probably means you made the correct, if not "right," decision regardless of any guilt &/or emotional hurt.

7. I will wait for Friday's strip #1965 before placing any thread bets, myself .

[Near Lurker]

It just occurred to me - why are there no students/other townies on the porch?  Little weird that it's just them.

[Heliphyneau]

Ninja probably didn't wear cocktail dresses, either.

Maybe they should have.  

So I haven't had my coffee and am thus not awake enough to scrub through the entire thread, but did anybody else enjoy the subtle artwork of Marten crushing/crumpling the can in surprise? I like it when Jeph throws in those little artistic easter eggs.

Agreed -- I liked that too.  Plus the panel four dustcloud as the gang disappears through the door.    And the backgrounds and groupshot in panel one all look great.  We rarely see the cast from that distance, and the group's dynamics are very well represented in their body postures and spacing.  It's almost a left-to-right sad-to-happy rainbow as well.

This in particular is also why I don't think they should try to be friends. If Dora were to say she wanted to get back together, Marten would jump at the chance and that is why they need to not be friends until Marten makes some progress of his own with regard to moving on (or at least stops moping and sighing about it).

Bolding mine.  It's good to see you concede that there can be exceptions to the 'exes can't be friends' gospel you've been preaching -- different things work for different people.  Being able to be friends with an ex depends on how the break-up happened, but it also depends on the maturity levels of those breaking up (chronological age isn't always a good indicator of emotional maturity).  Not all break-ups HAVE to end with both parties becoming friends, but not all break-ups HAVE to end with both parties NOT being friends.  There's a whole spectrum of possibilities.  About your specific hypothetical scenario above, I'm not sure Marten would jump at the chance.  He may not have initiated or wanted the break-up, but if Dora tried to move a renewed friendship back to a romantic involvement, I doubt he would see her behavior as anything but desperation for affection and would gently turn her down.  Might be a different story if he was drunk, but people make all sorts of stupid decisions then anyway.

Not sure why caterwauling has been predicted for the forums, but I guess it doesn't take much, and we still have tomorrow's comic to go.  (Cue Marten and Dora waking up together.   )

Dora's face and posture makes me think this will be a positive mending conversation between Dora & Marten.  Likewise, both of them are at the emotional point to be able to talk to each other now.

I agree.  Despite Marten's surprise at seeing her, I think they should be able to talk some things out.  We'll see, though.

[iduguphergrave]

Agreed -- I liked that too.  Plus the panel four dustcloud as the gang disappears through the door.   

When I saw that I imagined hearing that bullet-ricochet-y sound effect from old cartoons when a character sprints off suddenly.

[pwhodges]

Not sure why caterwauling has been predicted for the forums, but I guess it doesn't take much, and we still have tomorrow's comic to go.

Presumably Jeph simply doesn't trust the forum to behave better in times of drama than it has at various times over the last few years.

[O8h7w]

And that may be why this occurred on a Thursday as opposed to a Friday...

[michael28]

I think there are 3 possible outcomings (and views in the forum) in the long run.
1. both should work on their issued and try it again later (~20-30%)
2. both shouldn't meet ever again (~5-10%)
3. both should stop to act like angstfilled emo-teenagers and start talking to each other again, returning to a at least acquiantance like status again (60-75%)
with some grey areas between.

Me, It's a tie between 1 and 3 with a little bit more to the 1. (yeah to much romantic for that cruel world^^)

Isn't there a small difference between breakup because of fading romantic feelings (which didn't occur. If that were the case, at least one of them should be better by now?) and personal problems that couldn't be solved while the trigger for that problems still around.

On the one side Doras trust issues AND total ignorance to the wishes of others? On the other side Martens manatee like approach to life and total unawareness of some social behaviours not normal outside of a social circle of pro-pron and fetish models. Maybe he managed to ignore the implications when you hug someone almost nude to the waist down (in that case BOTH of em). Maybe, just maybe.  Outside the californian porn business that's not a normal friendly behaviour^^. Yeah prude, I know.

And Martens "problems" could be solved more easily. Go back to california to that "actresses" (right spelled?) or some motivation and social behaviour classes.
instructor: ok, see outside you little hippie state on the western coast that is not something a girlfriend has to understand, sonny.
Marten: oh now i see: women doing it is ok (even if one got the hots for the other), while men doing the same is badbad.)

Doras problems... maybe seeing a shrink is for the best. If she couldn't learn since emo-teenager stage that not everyone is out there to take advantage of her (boyfriends) or get her to fix them up with her brother (female friends, and grils she got the hots for, bisexuallity doesn't look like double the fun, more like quadruble the drama). The date with Jim seemed to give her the kick in the right direction.

Still thinking that Jim dodged a bullet there.

Come to think, doesn't the regime of Martens mother over him, show that he'll need someone to give him that special kind of kick to grow or to act?
There are some guys around who are gifted in one way or another but cannot achieve something without someone standing behind them. Supporting, encouranging and to some point, yeah kicking their butts. NOT that nagging bitch kind, where the man just works to be out of the house, hate to work with those guys.

@Heliphyneau
apart from that makeout dances some of the girls did there wasn't much touching in the last in door strip. maybe she got past of some of her ocd triggers

[Border Reiver]

Mr. Presley would like to have a word with you.

Would that be "Thank you,  thank you very much."?

Alright, Zombie King is probably going to kick my butt for that, just so long as Mr. Hooker doesn't get mad if I try to play "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer" on the harp.

[ChibiSoma]

<whole post containing direct insults to Jeph removed by moderator>

[Skaltura]

So how about that weather ... I mean one day it's warmer than the day before, what's up with that ... also, magnets, how do they work?

Concerning Elvis, I'm more of a Johnny Cash man myself.

And to contribute something to the comic: Major funny when everyone except Marty just up and bolted when they saw Dora approaching.

[michael28]

So how about that weather ... I mean one day it's warmer than the day before, what's up with that ... also, magnets, how do they work?

Concerning Elvis, I'm more of a Johnny Cash man myself.

And to contribute something to the comic: Major funny when everyone except Marty just up and bolted when they saw Dora approaching.

those bitches need some smashing (some friends they are). mr cash and mr presley would approve!

@ChibiSoma
limp-dick Marten: bad one, someone on the ground, still needs a kick in the groin, eh?
Bitch From Beyond Time : good one

It's not like the book of drama holds so much. Simple math problem, you got a fixed number of scenarious to start, some key points in the plot (maybe 5 stages) where every one unfolds a treee of another 5 stages and so on. and a fixed number of endings to the story line. In the thousands of years of humanity Every possible way of that plan has been processed several times (and since the introduction of crappy romance porn for housewives even more).
And guess what, those with the happy ending get more readers than those ending with the lovers killing each other (ok romeo & juliette and othello put aside ^^)

It's nice to know that even romantic writers could use help from a process analyist these days ^^.

Personally I don't think that there are more than maybe 5k possible combinations of plotpoints.

nowadays it seems not to be an art to unfold a storyline but to make it appear special and original despite beeing combination #2335. It's the same with music, one of the most liked (not indy or hipster worthy) songs in the last year in Germany was Hurtz -  Wonderful life. How many time has this scenario been used in music? or that whiny crap about how someone could be glad to have that one special person who is to good form him (yeah him, thats a musical concept normally written only from a male perspective^^)
I don't accuse every artist as an ripp-off, it's just pure statistic.

huh? wtf does Emoticontraindication mean anyways?

[SirDudley]

@ChibiSoma: You are the exact reason I stayed away from the forums for the last couple of days. I knew at least one person would be upset with how things were going on and would put me in a bad enough mood to say something stupid and get banned for it. Now I understand why Jeph avoids the forums like a bad disease; people like you would drive me insane if I was in Jeph's position.

@michael28: Don't bother reading too much into forum titles. It makes your head hurt less.

[jwhouk]

What? The thread will get locked because you did a poll? Because people will disagree about a silly, speculative game? The moderators would seriously close the weekly discussion thread over such a thing? Has this happened before?

YES.

[pwhodges]

Eh?  When?  Not on my watch, surely?

[SirDudley]

@michael28: Don't bother reading too much into forum titles. It makes your head hurt less.

Just what a Furry Furrier would say!

Wait, there's a style of speaking you have to follow when you reach a certain title? Why was I not informed about this?

[Border Reiver]

those bitches need some smashing (some friends they are). mr cash and mr presley would approve!

I doubt that, but the internet is so rarely a place for reasoned debate.

[SirDudley]

those bitches need some smashing (some friends they are). mr cash and mr presley would approve!

I doubt that, but the internet is so rarely a place for reasoned debate.

Can we officially declare the day the Internet becomes a place for a reasoned debate to be a sign of one of the Four Horsemen?

[cabbagehut]

I can see where you are coming from here but on balance I think sooner rather than later is better. Marten already tried to return to COD so he has prepared himself for the meeting at least once. He also knew Dora was on a date and is sitting outside at a party, probably brooding about the whole thing. Better to have things unexpectedly move forward for real than spend all evening getting drunker wondering how the date is going.

That's a good point.  I suppose there's no actual GOOD way for Dora to approach Marten.  Whatever she does is likely to be sudden and difficult, because Marten's emotions are still pretty raw.

I was thinking about it, and I think the reason it bothers me is that it almost seems insensitive - "I was out on a date, and I stopped by to see how you're doing after I left you,", and it sort of rubs in the whole I'm-over-you feeling?  Not that Dora is totally responsible for Marten's feelings or anything like that - if he never moves on, it's not like she should never date or never let him know that she's moved on.  It's sort of an amorphous uncomfortableness with it, but overall, like you said, he might have been focusing on how the date was anyway, and it's good for them to talk.

[michael28]

I can see where you are coming from here but on balance I think sooner rather than later is better. Marten already tried to return to COD so he has prepared himself for the meeting at least once. He also knew Dora was on a date and is sitting outside at a party, probably brooding about the whole thing. Better to have things unexpectedly move forward for real than spend all evening getting drunker wondering how the date is going.

That's a good point.  I suppose there's no actual GOOD way for Dora to approach Marten.  Whatever she does is likely to be sudden and difficult, because Marten's emotions are still pretty raw.

I was thinking about it, and I think the reason it bothers me is that it almost seems insensitive - "I was out on a date, and I stopped by to see how you're doing after I left you,", and it sort of rubs in the whole I'm-over-you feeling?  Not that Dora is totally responsible for Marten's feelings or anything like that - if he never moves on, it's not like she should never date or never let him know that she's moved on.  It's sort of an amorphous uncomfortableness with it, but overall, like you said, he might have been focusing on how the date was anyway, and it's good for them to talk.

would be if the date wasn't a dasaster, date-wise.
 emotional-wise, and cluebat-wise, it was something like a artillery barriage.

man, i can't wait to see how that story unfolds.

[foolsguinea]

Make-up makeout Monday?