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...are over for good.

6 (7.2%)

...until someone explains that Hannelore doesn't do puns.

13 (15.7%)

...has an obsession with peas.

0 (0%)

...and Q's.

3 (3.6%)

...has tried so hard to be the "good" child in her family.

6 (7.2%)

...are not over! No puns, no peas!

16 (19.3%)

...Oh, no, not again.

13 (15.7%)

...Waffles? (Wait, that's not a pun.)

9 (10.8%)

...needs to be given a second chance at peas.

17 (20.5%)

Total Members Voted: 75

[bhtooefr]

This isn't a pineapple under the sea, it's a coffee shop under an iron fist.

[Kugai]

And the difference is?


Nothing like a bit of exposition to move a plot along.

[FunkyTuba]

Since this comic was actually mostly about Faye I think it's useful to go a little deeper there. Her life as she has reconstructed it in Northhampton is way better than it was before in Savannah (dad dying, etc.) so having a stable life that she likes is a pretty major accomplishment for her. She wanted to make her life better and she did it and she has seen little but stagnation from Marten.

What she doesn't see, however, is whatever's going on in the rehearsal space with the 8-string, Whatever went on at his dad's wedding with Claire, the leadership he showed at work... So she might not be privy to the underlying changes that we all see as progress.

Were they being catty? Sure, a little, not much more than his mom was being when she visited. That's all why I think something big-ish is coming up.

Edit: Spelling was hard on small device in a h urry

[Throg]

Yeah, I do agree with FunkyTuba about Faye's "progress" being all about reconstructing her psyche and life. If she was having blackout suicidal attempts, and moved onto having tenuous (sex-driven) relationships, and moved onto a more stable relationship, then she's definitely had her journey.

But yeah, Marten is still directionless. It is NOT ENOUGH to be the nice, empowering-to-your-friends, generally good guy that doesn't lift a finger about moving on himself. What is cool at his age (late 20's?) is going to be, existentially, fucking ridiculous in his mid-40's. Wearing ironic t-shirts and the guy behind the desk at the college library? really?

[sitnspin]

I don't really understand the difference between Faye's contentedness and Marten's. 

One major difference is that Marten is NOT content. He has hinted many times and even stated straight out a few times dissatisfaction with where his life is. He has talked about what he would like to do with his life (something involving music) but doesn't do anything to achieve that, not does he seem to have anything particular in mind beyond.

But the point of the conversation in the comic seems to be that Faye's complacency is NOT okay, or at least not ideal. Dora isn't saying that what Faye is doing is good, nor is she saying that what Marten is doing is worse, just that it doesn't work either so don't imitate it. If Faye has any level of self-awareness, which we know she does, she'll know she is in the same boat and will end up exactly the way she said Marten would. Pointing out that someone else's methodologies are flawed does not imply that yours are not.

[Method of Madness]

@Throg - That's a rather big assumption that just because he's been doing this the past couple years means he'll be doing it in 15.

[jwhouk]

Obviously, when they're not performing for the comic, the characters ship various members of the forum. Some of the pairings they come up with are horrific.

I agree. I mean, me and ChaoSera? REALLY?

[Method of Madness]

I wonder who I got paired with.

[GarandMarine]

@Throg what's wrong with being a librarian? A lot of people really like that career.

[Method of Madness]

Well he's not a librarian.

[Smallest]

@Throg what's wrong with being a librarian? A lot of people really like that career.

He's not a librarian though, he's just a library employee. I don't think even Tai's a librarian. He probably gets a bit above minimum wage for stocking shelves and showing people around (that's what it's like for public library pages, at least).

[Latias]

Regarding Marten not being content, is that still the case? I know it was something that was expressed a lot in earlier strips, but has it been a sentiment he's expressed recently? I can't seem to recall him saying anything of the sort in a long time, but my memory isn't the greatest.

But yeah, Marten is still directionless. It is NOT ENOUGH to be the nice, empowering-to-your-friends, generally good guy that doesn't lift a finger about moving on himself. What is cool at his age (late 20's?) is going to be, existentially, fucking ridiculous in his mid-40's. Wearing ironic t-shirts and the guy behind the desk at the college library? really?

Marten's life is more than t-shirts and being a library clerk. It's also quite a jump to assume he'll be doing that in his 40s, but if he is, who are you to judge him? If he's happy with his life, what gives you the right to say that's ridiculous and that he should spend his life someway else? Just because that might not be your type of lifestyle does not make it ridiculous. It really doesn't. You don't decide what is "enough" for someone.

[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]

Ok, so this is going way overboard, but I looked at the real Smith College library staff page, and there are definitely positions Marten could apply for with a 4 year degree in Music and circ desk experience (and a secret Naked Trustee bonus to all job application rolls).
http://www.smith.edu/libraries/info/staff/az

So he COULD try for a future at the library and maybe even make it work, he'd just have to do the bare minimum, which is fill out an application and BCC the trustees.
That's basically how I got my decent IT career started (minus blackmail), I worked as a student in a work study job, learned stuff working and applied for a staff position, and so on.  I'm not passionate about it but I do love the place and the people I work with, so it's fine.

[westrim]

Being a librarian requires a masters degree, (the lowest paid masters degree profession). Tai and Marten are just employees, not librarians, who are spoken of as slightly mythical creatures and rarely if ever appear in the strip (I believe those were board members that Marten caught boning).

[Method of Madness]

(minus blackmail)

Blackmail is such an ugly word! I prefer "extortion"...the "x" makes it sound cool.

[GarandMarine]

Another possibility is Marten could use his degree to lecture. Spend enough time working for the college, make the right connections and if you know your shit (Marten does in fact know his shit about music as we've previously observed) and you can weasel into a lecturer position with a BA. Which sounds a lot like Marten's ideal actually. He wants to hang out and talk about music.

[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]

Not every permanent, non student position in a university library is filled by a "Librarian".  There's a lot of lower level support staff that would only need a bachelors or maybe even a high school diploma for some of the billing/clerk positions.  Those are definitely in Marten's reach if he actually applied.  But yeah, that's as high as he gets in the Library org chart without years of experience and/or getting tuition remittance to get a library science degree part time.  I know people who have made it work but Marten's probably not one of those people.

And it's not like Jeph would ever have Marten do this because its really boring and out of character (or developing his character in a boring way). 

[Carl-E]

Unfortunately, hanging out and talking about a topic isn't what being a lecturer is all about. 

There are these things called students that you're accountable for - grades, course content, syllabi... it's actually a fair amount of work, despite the pittance you're paid for it (he's probably better off at the library...)

~~~~~

My baby brother, who just turned 41, is a musician (bass player).  He's had a few different bands, they get gigs, one actually put out an album before they disbanded (and some Irish group took their name, so I can't find anything online about them anymore).  He works at Trader Joe's as a "day job" for the insurance, and helps a cabinetmaker through the winter when the gigs are few and far between, but he lives for the music.  He's currently in a jazz trio and a reformed group from the one that put out the album.  Occasionally he gets out the string bass and plays with a chamber orchestra. 

Will he ever hit the big time?  Hell no.  Does he make a living off his music?  Nope, again.  Does he have goals? 


Well, hard to tell. 


Is he happy?  He gets to play his music, and his life's pretty stable.  He has friends and lovers.  Yeah, he's happy.  Marten could do far worse. 


Edit:  After some concerted searching, I find that their CD is available through Amazon for 29.99. 

Better hurry, only one left...



Yeah, edited out the name.  Privacy and all that... the cat's either Morrie or Artie, one of my parent's twin cats.  They got named by tormenting the dog, Sherlock...

[Xthform]

I personally think this comic is far to harsh on a guy who is far better off then the two people ragging on him. Faye is more or less in the same position Marten is in but way less mentally sound, Dora while better off then Marten from a professional level is leagues behind him in both emotional and mental health. Faye nor Dora has any right to rag on Marten for what hes decided to do with his life. He is far more emotionally and mentally sound then both of them put together and he has a job that hes content with and pays the bills.
(moderator: the next sentence was immoderate)

(click to show/hide)

As far as I'm concerned both Faye and Dora are certified CUNTS for what they've said in this comic.

[Loki]

This isn't a pineapple under the sea, it's a coffee shop under an iron fist.

And the difference is?


Nothing like a bit of exposition to move a plot along.

Hello there, glad to meet you!
Welcome to the worlds of Bikini Bottom and Questionable Content. My name is Loki. People affectionately refer to me as "that weird guy with a degree in comics and cartoons".
Those worlds are inhabited far and wide by creatures we call "characters".
For some people, characters are a source of entertainment.
Others use them for projecting everything they feel onto them and over-analyzing their behavior.
As for myself... I used to waste time consuming both.
You may wonder about the differences between the two worlds.
In one, creatures do pointless things and occasionally have some drama. In the other.... well, wait. There is no difference.

Now tell me. Are you a boy? Or a girl?

[KOK]

So at least one character has a five year plan. Good to see.

[Loki]

NO! That means that we will see it executed in 25 real-life years, at its earliest!

[KOK]

a.  How threadbare is the "TEH" tshirt by now;
b.  Are we going to get a real shift in the life of one of the characters in the next few weeks;
c.  Can the posters in this forum stop overanalyzing the strip;
d.  Will I have enough time to get a decent dinner before I have to report for duty this evening;
e.  Is there enough space ham; and
f.  Who's shipping who?

a. Not at all
b. Yes, unless we don't
c. In principle yes, but they never will
d. No
e. Impossible
f. Somebody is shipping everybody

[Truec]

Hannelore had best get on the ball if she wants to get from coffee shop employee to supervillain with a virus in five years.

[Is it cold in here?]

Faye nor Dora has any right to rag on Marten for what hes decided to do with his life.

They have a point, in that he's not acting on a conscious decision. He's still got all the problems he mentioned in comics 3 and 11. He's drifting, not deciding.

EDIT: Maybe Hannermom will want someone to take over the family business in the next five years? Or at least let her only child get a toe in the water by starting out as a junior executive? She said she's been feeling less fulfillment in her villainy, so maybe she'll want to spend more time with her new pool boy.

[Latias]

They have a point, in that he's not acting on a conscious decision. He's still got all the problems he mentioned in comics 3 and 11. He's drifting, not deciding.

"All the problems"? He only really mentioned one in those comics - his discontent with his job. That he no longer has. He quit that job and is doing something he seems to be a lot more content with.

[Is it cold in here?]

It's still fetch and carry work. Tai had to drop a piano on him to get him to progress professionally.

[Loki]

Dropping a piano on people never hurt anyone, as evidenced by Looney Toons.

[Is it cold in here?]

He told the Bianchi parents that what he really wants is to do music full time.

[Storel]

Dropping a piano on people never hurt anyone, as evidenced by Looney Toons.

You don't think being squashed up like an accordion hurts? Sure, it's only temporary, but a severe temporary pain is still a severe pain. And, as I believe Daffy Duck once pointed out, "pain hurts."

[pwhodges]

what gives you the right to say that's ridiculous and that he should spend his life someway else?

I know I shouldn't introduce politics (bad Paul!), but last night on the radio I heard a government spokesman talking about ways to limit immigration, and saying that they only wanted immigrants who would do good jobs, and not those who would take low-paid jobs.  I heard this as meaning "we need to keep the low-paid jobs available for our own people who haven't the ambition to do anything else".

Not every permanent, non student position in a university library is filled by a "Librarian".

My wife is second in charge of a university library, without having any previous connections or experience as a librarian!

[Is it cold in here?]

The library job is also something he got quasi-accidentally rather than to suit his needs and decisions.

[pwhodges]

Dropping a piano on people never hurt anyone, as evidenced by Looney Toons.

What key do you get if you drop a piano down a mineshaft?

(click to show/hide)

A flat minor (miner)

[Loki]

The library job is also something he got quasi-accidentally rather than to suit his needs and decisions.

Well, he had qualifications.

@Paul:

(_)

[mtmerrick]

New strip up.

Oh Hanners.

[Loki]

I am absolutely in love with the floor.

I want to marry it and have sweet adamantine children.

[Akima]

Hanners looks disturbingly convincing as a Bond-villain mother's daughter. But the final panel suggests not so much a five-year-plan, so much as... a vision of the future? Is she a precog? Or is it her mother's five year plan for her to take over as head of Evilco?

[rschill]

I think Hanners  has a supervillain somewhere in a part of her brain that she's no allowed access to right now.   When the time is right it''ll show itself.   Like Zaphod  stealing the Heart of Gold or that guy in Total Recall. 

Is Hannermom capable of pulling that off?  I think so.  Would Station find a way to foil her plans?  Possibly...  Or possibly he'd let all the humans die because he's jealous of her new life?

Nah, I think Station is a good guy.   

[Moanerette]

What a terrific comic. Beautifully set up by the serious strips prior. Kudos to Jeph for this one.

[DSL]

I thought the comic was leading up to a reintro of Beatrice. And for a brief instant, I thought it was her, there in the third tier. Now I am going to entertain the thought, until the comic proves otherwise, that the bald minion is a brain-altered Marten, kind of like what happened to Uncle Duke for a while in "Doonesbury."

[Sidhekin]

Hanners looks disturbingly convincing as a Bond-villain mother's daughter. But the final panel suggests not so much a five-year-plan, so much as... a vision of the future? Is she a precog?

Yes.

[TinPenguin]

Now I am going to entertain the thought, until the comic proves otherwise, that the bald minion is a brain-altered Marten,

At first I thought it was Mr. Clean.

[rschill]

Now I am going to entertain the thought, until the comic proves otherwise, that the bald minion is a brain-altered Marten,

At first I thought it was Mr. Clean.

Me too!

[GarandMarine]

Yikes. Hanners is her mother's daughter after all!

"Join me Hannelore, and we shall rule the Galaxy Mother and Daughter!"

[judemorrigan]

Man, those cybernetic implants of Hanners really do have their downsides, don't they?

[KOK]

I just stumbled on Marten's wishes for the future

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2055

[Method of Madness]

Well, he had qualifications.

Ha, I just noticed that what Tai said after he Marten passed was almost in iambic pentameter. (Although I think I remember someone here telling me a while ago I was wrong about "hired" being two syllables, something I still disagree with.)

[Smallest]

At first (before chairspin) I thought we were on a random hannermom comic. I guess I was half right.

[Carl-E]

Well, he had qualifications.

Ha, I just noticed that what Tai said after he Marten passed was almost in iambic pentameter. (Although I think I remember someone here telling me a while ago I was wrong about "hired" being two syllables, something I still disagree with.)

It's only one syllable south of the Mason-Dixon line.   

As in, "Man, I'm Tired" (Man, I'm TAHR'D). 

"You're hired" (Yer HAHR'D) (not to be confused with, "You're hard!")

Even so, there can be a trailing syllable in iambic pentameter, since it's not a full iamb (keeping it short of a hexameter).  There are several examples throughout the bard's works. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hanners really has a hard time keeping those unpleasant thoughts at bay, doesn't she? 

"Kill all the witnesses"

"Kill 'em with a knife"

I'd link, but who has time?  I shouldn't even be in here...

[Smallest]

I think it's "Kill your friends, kill them with a knife"