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This week on QC...

Now departing the USS MartenClaire *bell rings*
- 122 (56.7%)
Jephizba trolls us all, hallowed be the trollmaster's name.
- 32 (14.9%)
Spatheham and Clairemom Pancakes
- 7 (3.3%)
A solid week of Steve eating cereal
- 9 (4.2%)
Martenmom and Clairemom team up and fight crime/meddle in their children's personal lives
- 45 (20.9%)

Total Members Voted: 195

Voting closed: 09 Oct 2014, 22:04


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Author Topic: WCDT: 2806-2810 (6th - 10th October 2014) Weekly Comic Discussion Thread  (Read 312661 times)

HES

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C'mon people. He went to her house the very next morning. This isn't a just friends thing.
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Marten blivving out (*) is terrifyingly plausible.

(*) Phrase courtesy of Akima.
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You're not the first person to bring up the handshake angle :roll:
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I am fascinated by the vague yet prominent parallel universe senses between QC and Alice Grove; i am not sure it will be ongoing, but just that it has existed for any amount of time is very awesome.   :-)   
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zioninavision

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All of this has seemingly happened before Marten has met with Emily again   :psyduck: :psyduck:
What will happen?
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The fact that Marten's shown as much growth as he has, and finally seems to know what he wants (based on the evidence thus far) leaves me waiting for the other shoe to drop, and thinking it's going to be Claire's footwear hitting the floor rather than Marten's. I hasten to add, I'd love to be wrong on this point.
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Rghfrgl

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Also...who handshakes a friend?

'Claire, about last night. I think we should just be professional acquaintances'
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BenRG

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All of this has seemingly happened before Marten has met with Emily again   :psyduck: :psyduck:
What will happen?

I got the impression that Marten had decided to leave the ball in Emily's court with that one. He'd do the "professional boundaries" thing if and when she made another move.

But, yeah, if he plans to do anything with Claire, he'll have to rewrite the speech or he'll be a blazing hypocrite.

That said, am I the only one that thinks Emily is borderline asexual? She just doesn't seem to have responded in that way to anyone! It just doesn't seem to be something that is in her mind.
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MooskiNet

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I can definitely see Claire being cautious (i.e., the question of what they do with one another may not be resolved in the next week or longer), but I don't think she will actively backpedal, either.  The impression I get is that the only reason she didn't apply smooches to Marten the night before is because he was drunk, so I think she's pretty clear on what she wants as well.
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brew

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That said, am I the only one that thinks Emily is borderline asexual? She just doesn't seem to have responded in that way to anyone! It just doesn't seem to be something that is in her mind.

She said she liked seeing Marten shirtless.
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FunkyTuba

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You're not the first person to bring up the handshake angle :roll:

Ah. So noted. I thought I was about to disrupt an uninterrupted chain of squee and I was trying to be cute about it.

'Claire, about last night. I think we should just be professional acquaintances'

Given that they work together, a handshake used this way would be a (probably sadly) memorable way to shift things (away from where I hope this is going). I don't think it's so far-fetched that Jeph would inflict that upon us.  :evil:

That said, am I the only one that thinks Emily is borderline asexual?
She said she liked seeing Marten shirtless.

She paid to grab Steve's butt. Edit: Dammit I should read more carefully before I post.
« Last Edit: 06 Oct 2014, 10:08 by FunkyTuba »
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Cochise

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Quote
That said, am I the only one that thinks Emily is borderline asexual? She just doesn't seem to have responded in that way to anyone! It just doesn't seem to be something that is in her mind.

Asexuality is the last problem with Emily. She have some serious mental issues, including a alarming (and potentially dangerous) lack of sense of consequence.

And if she not made a move, I cant see she thinking sex is a boring thing. A relationship otherwise... She can't manage one being so carefree. As she discover fuckbuddies her sex life tend to be much active.
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Method of Madness

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She have some serious mental issues, including a alarming (and potentially dangerous) lack of sense of consequence.
Wait, what?
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Zebediah

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That said, am I the only one that thinks Emily is borderline asexual?
She said she liked seeing Marten shirtless.

She paid to grab Steve's butt.

No, that was Claire.

Emily was rather flirty with Marten when she was drunk at the lake house, though.
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Zebediah: Doh. I should read more carefully. *drinks more coffee*
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Smallest

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I'm really scared it's going to be just holding hands for reassurance, and a 'you're great but let's forget about that' type thing.
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Mr_Rose

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The next comic cuts to marten floating about the library all squeeface'd for three panels while Tai looks on in mock horror.
Then the last panel is an emergency ambulance rushing past a street sign for "Elm Street"

The comic title is "Dun dun DUUUNNN"
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st08

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Like others have pointed out, the fact that Marten is being so unbelievably zen and that he accepted Clairemom's invitation to come over for breakfast leads me to believe he is not about to say "let's just be friends." My guess is he'll say something along the lines of indicating that he's open to the possibility of something between them but not wanting to rush/pressure Claire if she needs time to figure out what's best for her.
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Border Reiver

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The next three weeks (minimum) the issue is left hanging for us.  Claire and Marten are shown going about their usual business with perfectly normal expressions on their faces.  They interact pretty much as they did prior to this night out.  None of the other characters comment on any changes there as there are other things occupying their minds (the Winslow/Pintsize/Momo/May .mp4 that is suddenly making the rounds, or the return of the Vespavenger).

Only after that will the aftermath be revealed.

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Leveton

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That said, am I the only one that thinks Emily is borderline asexual? She just doesn't seem to have responded in that way to anyone! It just doesn't seem to be something that is in her mind.

Even if she is asexual, asexual is not the same as aromantic. I still don't think she meant anything by it, though.
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FunkyTuba

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The next three weeks (minimum) the issue is left hanging for us.
...
Only after that will the aftermath be revealed.


We find out tomorrow that it's not Marten and Claire's hands being shown in that panel...

(click to show/hide)

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BrusselSprouts

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Related to Emily, I freaking love the idea of her being asexual.  My best friend is an ace so I'm all about ace representation.  I think her saying she likes Marten without a shirt was more to gross out Sam than anything.

Even if not,  aesthetic attraction is a thing.
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Rubick

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God, this little story plot has been really well done. Too much squeeing, indeed.

I think most likely, Marten will admit to feelings he has for Claire and will say that if she's nervous or trepidatious, he can give her time until she's ready to make that step. To which Claire will interrupt him mid-sentence with a kiss.

AND THEN WE ALL DIE FROM THE HAPPINESS/  :claireface:
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McFace

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I'm not sure where people are getting this whole "shaking her hand" think from, or that his hand grasp is in no way an intimate gesture.

If Marten was actually trying to tell her that he wasn't interested, or something of that nature, wouldn't he not want to touch her and physically distance himself? Seems to be the exact opposite of what is happening.
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Miaboop

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The only reasonable explanation is that Marten wants this to go forward, but wants to talk it over with Claire

If he is doing all of this, smiling like a moron, going to her home, taking her hand etc, he is an oblivious moron. More than he has ever been before. And given the amount of character growth we have seen, I doubt that is what is going on. The best solution is that he wants to talk, but he also wants it to move forward. If he agreed to go home to her, talk to her mom, talk to Claire in her sleeping wear and all this only to shut her down, Marten reed is a moron.

Also, have we discussed what Marten and Clairemom might have talked about before Claire got up? She said that Claire talks about Marten all the time and Martens smile might indicate that Clairemom basically gave her approval or gave marten the confidence he needs to move forward.
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Neko_Ali

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I'm not sure the world could take that much squeeing at once. The crust of the earth would crack, and we would be sent into 1000 years of darkness.
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MooskiNet

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Quote
I think most likely, Marten will admit to feelings he has for Claire and will say that if she's nervous or trepidatious, he can give her time until she's ready to make that step. To which Claire will interrupt him mid-sentence with a kiss.

If this happens, I will buy you ten of whatever you're drinking/eating.
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McFace

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Also, have we discussed what Marten and Clairemom might have talked about before Claire got up? She said that Claire talks about Marten all the time and Martens smile might indicate that Clairemom basically gave her approval or gave marten the confidence he needs to move forward.

An interesting thought. Maybe we will find out if things go well?
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NilsO

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I find myself wondering what Claire's other arm is up to.

This is Questionable Content, can her hand really be anywhere but on his butt?
In strip #2736, I had a theory that Emily grabbed Marten's butt :mrgreen:

Method of Madness

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Her reach was similar to Delilah's :roll:
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Cochise

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In strip #2736, I had a theory that Emily grabbed Marten's butt
I can see booth arms in #2736. If Emily grabbed something that was not the butt.
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BenRG

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My theory is that Emily didn't actually make skin-to-skin contact with Marten; she just put her lips close to his face and whispered: "Smooch!" That breath across his cheek would have felt weird, which would explain Marten's pole-axed expression. A kiss would have made him react in surprise but not create a processor lock like that!

It just strikes me that Emily would have created her idea of how to kiss from cartoons and comic books. So, saying 'smooch' as an alliterative sound-effect would actually be the right way to do it in her mind.
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I think she kissed him and then said "smooch".
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Does anybody really know what time it is?
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Method of Madness

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Oh right, she wasn't reaching from the side. Oh well.
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Does anybody really know what time it is?
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aphanisis81

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I'm probably not the first to note this, but in response to a lot of posts about the recurring Pancakes = Happy Romance Times motif, don't forget about this:

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1082

Incidentally, the lead up to this, in which Hanners writes a note to Sven (Comic #1080) is one of my all-time favorite QC strips.
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Whilst I hope that they do start dating, my prediction is that Marten stresses that he likes her company whatever happens and asks Claire out.  She indicates that she feels uncomfortable with that at the moment.  Marten reminds her that he's OK being friendds and then they come to an agreement that Marten will wait until she is comfortable with it.
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Francisco

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Whilst I hope that they do start dating, my prediction is that Marten stresses that he likes her company whatever happens and asks Claire out.  She indicates that she feels uncomfortable with that at the moment.  Marten reminds her that he's OK being friendds and then they come to an agreement that Marten will wait until she is comfortable with it.

In other words, re-using the arrangement that Marten had with Faye.
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FunkyTuba

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I'm not sure where people are getting this whole "shaking her hand" think from, or that his hand grasp is in no way an intimate gesture.

If you look at a google image search for 'handshake' then you might see the same similarities that I do.

Sure...it's still intimate, but two hands by themselves in that orientation serve as sort of a rorschach when isolated. There's a delightful ambiguity.

I'm just saying the situation could go a lot of different ways and Jeph has given us a Monday cliffhanger. (that I'm enjoying!!!)
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HiFranc

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Whilst I hope that they do start dating, my prediction is that Marten stresses that he likes her company whatever happens and asks Claire out.  She indicates that she feels uncomfortable with that at the moment.  Marten reminds her that he's OK being friendds and then they come to an agreement that Marten will wait until she is comfortable with it.

In other words, re-using the arrangement that Marten had with Faye.

Not quite, Faye asked Marten not to wait for her.
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Francisco

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 :laugh:

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAW  :-)
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After this gros plan,  it will be cruel (especially for Claire, let alone... us) if they don't end up k-i-s-s-i-n-g.
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BenRG

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Re.: The 'handshake'. We'll have to wait and see but my gut feeling was that Marten was taking Claire's hand to lead her over to the couch or something so they could sit and talk. However, I think he knew how nervous she was (because he is too) and he was using that old human instinct of physical contact to offer reassurance.
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Cochise

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Only one thing:
What are the signs of Claire isn't "not ready"? This is a very wild guess because she is trans in my opinion. In our last physical interaction there is only "you are drunk and will regret this" ant I think anyone would freak out a little with this sudden breakfast as well.
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Seriously, if the next comic isn't just Marten saying, "Let's do this," then kissing her so hard the windows and doors blow out, I'm gonna be pretty disappointed.
Since when are you supposed to kiss HARD ?  :?

I didn't mean physically. Buncha literalists around here :P

I meant like kiss and there's an anime-style squee-splosion that drops the roof in a neighboring county. I think it's a fairly simple request.
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HES

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A boring handshake doesn't deserve a dramatic final panel and an " :o " from Jeph.
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MooskiNet

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Eh, last thing then Imma shut up 'cause I'm posting too much.  I don't care if they kiss, hug, snuggle or play hopscotch - what I really, really want to see is Claire floating three feet above the ground in exactly the way a brick does not, because she's loved and in love.

I got hopes for Marty too, but my soft spot is for Claire.
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Only one thing:
What are the signs of Claire isn't "not ready"? This is a very wild guess because she is trans in my opinion. In our last physical interaction there is only "you are drunk and will regret this" ant I think anyone would freak out a little with this sudden breakfast as well.

The look of utter panic on her face in the penultimate panel, the fact that she told Faye that a relationship would be wrong due to their close working relationship and, from what everyone else says, this would be her first relationship.

The fact that she pointed out that he was drunk means that she can be assertive and level headed.  The fact that she's freaking out now is informative in that regard.

I suspect that she needs time to get used to the idea that someone she likes reciprocates those feelings.

{edited: corrected grammar}
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Francisco

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My prediction:

Marten clasps Claire's hands together.

Marten: "Look, I'm sorry I was acting like a drunk idiot last night. I took some liberties I shouldn't have, and I know that in our current working situation, it wouldn't be morally proper. But I really think you're an awesome person and I hope that after your internship ends, we can start dating then."

Claire: "That's really reasonable."

Marten: "You were a good influence."

<beat panel>

GIANT KISSES AND MAKEOUTS IMMEDIATELY ENSUE.

Claire <disheveled and grinning>: "Screw being reasonable."

Marten <disheveled and panting>: "Y-yes ma'am!"
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Method of Madness

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With her mom in the next room?
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They call me Mr. Madness.

Quote from: Polonius
Though this be madness, yet there is method in't.
MR ARCHIVE-FU MADNESS
Does anybody really know what time it is?
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
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