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[Is it cold in here?]

I might be forgetting something, but what problems does Claire have?

Claire seems to have some un-healed injuries from her parents's nasty divorce. http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2371 and the one before.

[jwhouk]

And, well, there's that other thing, too.

[Kugai]

Yes, Clinton can be a bit of a pest at times.

[Loki]

I love you guys <3

[cesariojpn]

Tai and Faye have earlier discussed the possibility of Marten hooking up with one of the interns, where Marten dismissed the idea.

Veronica also explored the possibility of Claire hooking up with Marten.....thought it's unclear if she was serious or it was part of her emotional breakdown that was brought on by the wedding.

[bhtooefr]

Considering that the original version of that strip involved Veronica wanting grandkids (Jeph having gone back and edited that out, because of the whole issue that there's no way Claire and Marten could have kids other than adopting)...

[Barmymoo]

Not yet; we are working on that technology.

[Zebediah]

I think Marten would be wise to keep quiet about this

Which is exactly why he won't be quiet about it.

[KOK]

Claire must have serious problems. We have seen her take Ativan. From the Wikipedia description, this is seriously nasty stuff which would not be prescribed unless she has real problems.

[Aziraphale]

She's just balls to the walls weird. But in a good way. In a sort of, she could be an axe-murderer, an alien, a weird vampire, or a anime character come to life.

Or an AI.

Maybe she is an experiment with an AI that doesn't know she is an AI or even an AI in a biological body.

I had a similar thought recently. What if her AI-related ignorance is part of some kind of double-blind? I can't put my finger on why, exactly, but I keep having the sneaking suspicion that she's an AI in a highly-realistic chassis. Jeph's AIs are as neurotic as everybody else in-comic, so it's not like she sticks out THAT much. Would also explain the spoken "smooch" with the kiss.

Speaking of the kiss: I'm betting it had no romantic intent whatsoever, in which case Marten will have spent the next several strips (and the awkward conversation with Emily that follows) agonizing over nothing, much as he had in the post-wedding situation with Claire.

[Neko_Ali]

To be fair, Veronica's also tried to set Marten up with a random waitress at dinner before. She just seems to want Marten dating someone, anyone. Probably largely because of the grandkids thing...

[Barmymoo]

Hm, I like the AI theory but I don't think it's very probable. It would involve her parents being in on the hoax, as well as some clever photography manipulation for the childhood pictures. What would be the point of all that effort?

[NilsO]

Emily is asian??

Furthermore, her surname (Azuma) is taken from the name of the Japanese author of the manga (and anime) Azumanga Daioh, of which Jeph is a particular fan.

Probably some mixed ancestry though, Emily is unusually tall for a Japanese. We have seen her parents, her mother looks Asian/Japanese, while her father may have partly European ancestry.

[retrosteve]

Speaking of interns, what ever happened to Gabby? I think it's nearly a year since we've seen her in the comic. I mean, I know that's about 2 days in QC time, but...

I think the lack of interest in this question, is the answer. She's somewhat less interesting than Sara, who at least tasted good to some allosaurus.

But to be fair, Jeph just hasn't had any storylines for her yet. If she gets some, she may resurface. Otherwise, there's a hungry allosaurus out there.

[Barmymoo]

But... Gabby is only not very interesting because Jeph never gives her any screen time.

[Loki]

Of course he doesn't, she is not very interesting

[Masterpiece]

[T]

Ahhh, I really do love Emily's character.

But then...I have a thing for the Asian ladies. 

Emily is asian??

(clicks back to the comic...)

How did I never notice that?

The same way I never noticed Padma is Indian.

Padma is Indian?

[Detachable Felix]

 

[Zebediah]

And Claire is a redhead. Just in case you missed it.

[T]

Hm, I like the AI theory but I don't think it's very probable. It would involve her parents being in on the hoax, as well as some clever photography manipulation for the childhood pictures. What would be the point of all that effort?

Her parents could also be Robots, photography could be computer generated or just use photos from the girl she was modeled from.

Maybe the real Emily died and the parents found a way to immortalize her with a robotic copy.

[Aziraphale]

But... Gabby is only not very interesting because Jeph never gives her any screen time.

Exactly. If someone hasn't had the chance to express themselves, how can you say one way or another whether or not they're interesting?

[Rghfrgl]

Claire must have serious problems. We have seen her take Ativan. From the Wikipedia description, this is seriously nasty stuff which would not be prescribed unless she has real problems.

I think Jeph uses it, I wonder if it's thrown in too liberally because of it.

Though regardless I see it as less Claire has 'problems' and more that being transgender must come with a ton of justifiable stress.

[Flowers4Hordak]

See, this is where my head went with the last frame:

[T]

And Claire is a redhead. Just in case you missed it.

Now you are gonna tell me that marten is black!

[Jazzmaster]

Ahhh, I really do love Emily's character.

But then...I have a thing for the Asian ladies. 

Emily is asian??

(clicks back to the comic...)

How did I never notice that?

The same way I never noticed Padma is Indian.

Padma is Indian?

Honestly, I thought she was African-American.

[Zwammy]

As well as horrible taste in puns.

I wonder why you'd consider that a problem. 
Please explain; it's just not claire to me.

Groan.

[Method of Madness]

a Japanese

Is this ok to say? Like, it shouldn't be different than saying "a German" or "an American", but for some reason using "Japanese" as a noun instead of an adjective seems...off. Maybe it just sounds weird because of the word ending? Putting "a" in front of a word that ends in "ese".

[Masterpiece]

It sounds as if you had said "a Turkish" instead of "a Turk", I agree.

[Method of Madness]

Yeah, but there's no equivalent of Turk for Japanese, is there? I mean, besides "Japanese person" which is probably what I'd use.

[bhtooefr]

-ese is typically only proper as an adjective. So, "Japanese" is the adjective form of the demonym for a resident of Japan, and "Japanese person" the noun form.

[bhtooefr]

OK, Tai, why the hell were you trying to hook them up if it's so unethical?

[Method of Madness]

What a weirdly unTai statement followed by a very Tai statement. She must've realized she'd sobered up and fixed the situation.

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

I wonder where Tai and Marten are sitting.  My first thought was on the roof of the library, as you'd think she'd be a little less casual about toking up if it's an easily accessible place.

[Neko_Ali]

Yup.. called at least part of it. I mean who else can Marten go to for relationship advice? Steve's track record for advice has not been good. But then neither has Tai's....

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

On the "Is Emily an AI?" issue one point against it is that she works with Momo, and Momo is apparently able to detect the presence of AIs, as seen by her initial encounter with May. 

[T]

Emily would be an AI disconnected from the internet. Probably she is not aware of being and AI.

[Aziraphale]

On the "Is Emily an AI?" issue one point against it is that she works with Momo, and Momo is apparently able to detect the presence of AIs, as seen by her initial encounter with May.

Hadn't thought of that.

[Jazzmaster]

Maybe it's best that Marten avoids dating people inside of his social circle - which only represents a very small fraction of available ladies - and starts to seek romance elsewhere. 

Almost all of the women he's surrounded himself with have "issues" of some variety because he is much more tolerant and not very judgmental.  He keeps himself surrounded with women like this, locked into platonic frustration and having to deal with all these awkward situations.  I mean, sure, they get along fine as friends, but I cannot see Marten dating anybody in his current social circle. 

[T]

Are you saying that there are women without issues outside his circles? Maybe there is someone somewhere without any issues but the chance to find that person is absurdly tiny.

[Method of Madness]

I think more that whatever her issues are, all of his friends won't know about all of them.

[Estron]

I wonder where Tai and Marten are sitting.  My first thought was on the roof of the library, as you'd think she'd be a little less casual about toking up if it's an easily accessible place.

Is this the first depicted instance of weed in the comic?

[T]

Tai smoked in a party before, not sure if it was shown her smoking it but we did see her red eyed.

[Aziraphale]

Tai smoked in a party before, not sure if it was shown her smoking it but we did see her red eyed.

That was with some kinda vaporizer thingy.* Her smoking's been alluded to several times, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time it's been shown. The only other smoking I can think of is Hanners, but those were store-bought.

*There went my drug cred. Not like I particularly give a shit.

[Jazzmaster]

Are you saying that there are women without issues outside his circles? Maybe there is someone somewhere without any issues but the chance to find that person is absurdly tiny.

Well it's not just them having issues that's the problem.  It's that those issues have been prohibitive to a relationship, either specifically with Marten or with anybody in general.

Dora is very insecure due to her childhood, and while with Marten her insecurities about his "near-miss" with Faye is what ultimately caused them to break up.  And speaking of Faye, she couldn't date anybody for a long while because of her father killing himself.  She has a very big problem with fear of abandonment, and that's what kept her from dating Marten even when she thought that she wanted to.  She's with Angus now, and they have fantastic chemistry largely because he's provided a strong "Secure Base" that addresses Faye's fear of being abandoned.  If he moves away to the big city, it might become a problem yet again.

Hannelore is so afraid of physical contact that a relationship for her at all is still pretty much out of the question, although it seems she has been making some very slow progress on that front.

Claire is trans, and we haven't really gotten an idea about how she wants to handle her romantic life.  But regardless of that, when I see Marten and Claire interact they just seem so much like brother and sister to me.  Anything could happen, sure, but right now I'm not really seeing those two as a couple.

So yeah.  Maybe "issues" is not the right word.  Maybe incompatibility is what keeps him from being with any of his current lady friends (in my mind).  And yes, I know that most people have some sort of "issues".  I wasn't trying to imply otherwise, although I do think it's any given individual's responsibility to bring the issues down enough that they can maintain a romantic relationship, if it's something that they desire (such as Faye and Dora did with counseling).

Marten stands nothing to lose and a lot to gain by seeking romantic partnership outside of his current immediate circle.   One benefit to meeting women outside of school/work/friend circles is you get to explore far, far more options than you have if you only date inside of those circles.  You also have no worries about dating a certain person being "unethical" because you work with them or something.

The biggest benefit I see for him is taking some initiative, which seems to have been his biggest problem since the comic started - a lack of real direction or drive.  He doesn't need to become a full blown PUA, but right now (as has been said on the forums countless times), he's doing a ton of things for everybody else but nothing much for himself.

[Aziraphale]

Are you saying that there are women without issues outside his circles? Maybe there is someone somewhere without any issues but the chance to find that person is absurdly tiny.

Well it's not just them having issues that's the problem.  It's that those issues have been prohibitive to a relationship, either specifically with Marten or with anybody in general.

<snip>
Claire is trans, and we haven't really gotten an idea about how she wants to handle her romantic life.  But regardless of that, when I see Marten and Claire interact they just seem so much like brother and sister to me.  Anything could happen, sure, but right now I'm not really seeing those two as a couple.

So yeah.  Maybe "issues" is not the right word.  Maybe incompatibility is what keeps him from being with any of his current lady friends (in my mind).  And yes, I know that most people have some sort of "issues".  I wasn't trying to imply otherwise, although I do think it's any given individual's responsibility to bring the issues down enough that they can maintain a romantic relationship, if it's something that they desire (such as Faye and Dora did with counseling).

Marten stands nothing to lose and a lot to gain by seeking romantic partnership outside of his current immediate circle.   The biggest benefit I see for him is taking some initiative, which seems to have been his biggest problem since the comic started - a lack of real direction or drive.  He doesn't need to become a full blown PUA, but right now (as has been said on the forums countless times), he's doing a ton of things for everybody else but nothing much for himself.

Maybe I'm reading Marten and Claire's interaction wrong, but I've seen that -- especially in the time since she came out to him -- more as a matter of respecting her boundaries than of treating her like a sister. I won't speculate as to any romantic interest on her part or his (for obvious reasons, though I have my suspicions), I just don't think that particular dynamic is because of his general pushover-ness.

To your latter points, A: I wonder if Marten might also benefit from therapy (or just a good, swift kick in the ass). B: Absent him finding that direction or drive, and without the will to do for himself what he's done for his friends, I think it's pretty much immaterial whether he's looking in his usual circle or outside it.

He has shown flashes of self-awareness and initiative, even if the former doesn't always take flight and the latter sometimes (as with the snakebite episode) comically backfires. What we haven't seen yet is both of those things together. Who knows? Maybe the current arc finds him learning and progressing a bit more. Everybody else's progressed to one degree or another... maybe it's finally his turn.

[Jazzmaster]

Maybe I'm reading Marten and Claire's interaction wrong, but I've seen that -- especially in the time since she came out to him -- more as a matter of respecting her boundaries than of treating her like a sister. I won't speculate as to any romantic interest on her part or his (for obvious reasons, though I have my suspicions), I just don't think that particular dynamic is because of his general pushover-ness.

That is also a possibility, and you make a great point about the respect of boundaries he's displayed.  And I've also considered that if Claire were to be with anybody it'd probably be either with Marten or somebody like him.

To your latter points, A: I wonder if Marten might also benefit from therapy (or just a good, swift kick in the ass).

He might just benefit from both.   I had a few sessions recently and to be honest it was about half "how does that make you feel?" and half swift kicks to the posterior (not literally of course).  I think they were helpful because I feel as though I've been more active in taking charge of my own happiness and the results are noticeable.

B: Absent him finding that direction or drive, and without the will to do for himself what he's done for his friends, I think it's pretty much immaterial whether he's looking in his usual circle or outside it.

Very true.

He has shown flashes of self-awareness and initiative, even if the former doesn't always take flight and the latter sometimes (as with the snakebite episode) comically backfires.

Indeed.  Unfortunately, with any initiative there is often a risk involved.  It's far easier to allow things to "fall into place" than it is to put yourself out there, because life is crazy, scary and tiring enough as it is.

What we haven't seen yet is both of those things together. Who knows? Maybe the current arc finds him learning and progressing a bit more. Everybody else's progressed to one degree or another... maybe it's finally his turn.

I wonder that too, and I think him possibly having Sam as a step-sister is a sign that his life is about to take a new, positive turn.

[Loki]

I wonder where Tai and Marten are sitting.  My first thought was on the roof of the library, as you'd think she'd be a little less casual about toking up if it's an easily accessible place.

Is this the first depicted instance of weed in the comic?

The earliest I can recall is Dora's mother smoking.

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1041

[GarandMarine]

Tai's friend, the professor from Hampshire lights up a bowl too.

[NilsO]

Maybe it's best that Marten avoids dating people inside of his social circle - which only represents a very small fraction of available ladies - and starts to seek romance elsewhere. 

Well, I had some hopes when Tai dragged Marten to a party with her friends. The Delilah affair was not exactly a success, I doubt he will try again soon.