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[T]

The problem with trying to use RL events as a guide is that Jeph has said before (don't have a link to where he said it, but I remember it) that QC takes place in "comic book time" - the characters keep pace with RL events even though not enough time has passed in-comic to justify it.

Considering Jeph tastes it is more like Yotauba&!

As for print stuff, I read a lot of manga, my favorites being Yotsuba&! and Vagabond. The only “mainstream” comic I read is Hellboy/BPRD.

http://www.newsarama.com/7671-jeph-jacques-brings-questionable-content-to-webcomics.html

[Masterpiece]

Masterpiece, your icon straight up gave me the willies. 

Good job.

I am merely noticing my toxic hangover farts

[AprilArcus]

726 Tai: "There was SO much drama on my dorm floor last night".

So this must be the spring semester of Tai's final year.

I'm now fully persuaded by the long timeline hypothesis. 48 is autumn, Amanda's visit in 164-185 happens over winter break, and Ellen is back in class by 247, with 1302/1311 time-skipping from early october into mid-January.

[Storel]

That timeline is an amazing work of analysis, April; thank you for all your hard work! You know, you've probably put a lot more thought into this timeline than Jeph ever did... 

With amazingly good, surprisingly consistent results, though. So maybe Jeph has thought it out more thoroughly than I suspected.

[Masterpiece]

Why don't you send it to him?

[AprilArcus]

I have, of course.

[AprilArcus]

Charted out 1602-1951 / Late March, April, Early May by using Dora's dialogue in 1645 to place it six weeks prior to 1978 (which takes place the day after Tai's graduation party). Another surprisingly tight fit, yet free of internal contradictions. I think Jeph must be working from a document similar to the one we're reconstructing here.

Faye and Angus dated for just shy of five months.

[Thrudd]

Well Tolkien used it and My first big time world builder still uses it [Ed Greenwood].
Heck, my favourite Horror-Mystery Campaign directors use it just so nobody has an aneurysm or a heart attack [Fellowship of the White Star] even with all the timey-whimey oddities for the players at the tables.

Looking at this I can wager that there is a whiteboard with story arcs mapped out and some plot points nailed down [relatively]

[marsman57]

726 Tai: "There was SO much drama on my dorm floor last night".

So this must be the spring semester of Tai's final year.

I'm now fully persuaded by the long timeline hypothesis. 48 is autumn, Amanda's visit in 164-185 happens over winter break, and Ellen is back in class by 247, with 1302/1311 time-skipping from early october into mid-January.

I felt pretty strongly I was right. I'm glad you found some corroborating evidence. It is also a reminder that you really do need to read every strip as you're never sure where a reference will fall. Basically, you rock. I've unfortunately been far too busy to make any more progress from the front-end of the comic.

[Method of Madness]

It could be her junior year, if two years have passed since then.

[jwhouk]

I go by the Hodgson's Law theory of time passage, personally.

[AprilArcus]

Fleshing out my notes from the the 1400-1600 period. We should probably remove all possible gaps between 1430 and 1546 to place Cosette's receipt of Steve's photo, fall, hospitalization and discharge in as short a time frame as possible.

I surmise this chunk to take place no later than mid-february, since Cosette would have spent 4-10 weeks in her cast, Wil would have needed 6-12 weeks to grow a handlebar mustache, and on the basis of Dora's guess that an Espressosaurus takes about six weeks to make. This period includes the last snowfall of the season, and it only sticks for one day (1396-1429) before the streets are clear.

• 1383-1395 Sledding party.
• 1396-1429 The day after sledding. Tai and Jill break up (1398). Tai and Dora flirt (1400, 1402). Tortura bids Steve farewell (1406). Steve gives Marten a photo to give to Cosette (1409). Pintsize crashes, Marigold fixes him, and Hanners cleans her room (1411-1421). Angus takes Hannelore out for drinks with Dora, Marten and Faye. Angus and Marten get fancy (1425-1429). First appearance: Marigold. Last day snow is visible in background scenes (1397, 1406, 1408, 1423)
• Jump? But 1431 takes place soon after drinks with Angus.
• 1430-1436 Cosette asked Marten out (1322) "a while ago". He gives her the photo Steve (1430). Wil returns from his walkabout (1432). Marten retires his hoodie (1436). Snow is now gone from background scenes (1432).
• 1437-1438 Penny is afterglowy. Sven has a sad.
• 1439-1441 Sven has a sad. Dora gives Faye a commission for Espressosaurus I. Hanners, Marigold and Angus watch Magical Love Gentleman. Continuity note: possible jump between 1439 and 1440.
• 1442-1472 The day after Anime night (1444). Wil applies for jobs. Marigold gets drinks with the gang.
• 1473-1505 Faye talks to Angus in the wee hours (1476). Wil gets hired at the Revelation (1480). Sven tries to patch things up with Faye (1481). Angus tells Marigold that she's pretty (1495). Continuity glitch: In 1501 Marigold wakes up in a new outfit, asking Angus if he meant what he said "the other day" (1495), but in 1503 Dora, Faye and Marten are still in their outfits from 1477-1500 watching a movie they started in 1500, and in 1504 Marigold is back in her outfit from 1483-1496.
• Jump?
• 1506–1514 takes place on a Wednesday, since Marten's dad has made plans to visit "on Friday" and Dora complains that his family never schedules anything "more than a couple days in advance". In 1509, Faye hasn't seen Raven "in forever". Presumably she started her physics training in the Five Colleges area at the beginning of the current (spring) semester.
• Jump. Thursday.
• 1515–1521 Friday. Henry and Maurice's visit. Dora has died her hair black again.
• 1521–1536 Saturday, the Smif Nerd con. Continuity note: Wil's last appearance without a mustache (1529).
• Jump?
• 1537–1554 Cosette has just gotten out of the hospital after falling down a flight of stairs, which happened while oggling the photo of Steve she received in 1430. She runs into Steve, they get dinner and hook up, and she ends up back in the hospital.
• 1555-1556 The next day.

[AprilArcus]

And here's the 1300s. This period has a very loose continuity. Where do folks think it should be placed? 1311 suggests the coldest part of winter, i.e. mid-January. 1322 appears to take place during or just prior to the first week of classes, so late January. Luna's dialogue in 1550 states that Cosette "was obsessing over [whether to ask Marten out] for WEEKS", suggesting mid-February, unless Marten worked through winter break (probably) and Cosette stayed on campus (maybe).

• 1311-1320 Midwinter. Penny reads a letter from Wil. Hannelore has the flu. Sven hits on Penny and takes Faye home. Lydia and Sven invite Faye to the Gina Riversmith concert on Saturday.
• Jump?
• 1321-1328 Hanners feels better. Cosette asks Marten out, Dora and Marten have a fight about it.
• 1329 The next day? Marten and Tai talk about the fight.
• Jump? Same day? We can't see under what Marten is wearing under his hoodie in 1329, and we don't see Tai again in 1330-1334.
• 1330-1334 Saturday. Drinkin' Scrabble at Marten and Faye's. Sven hooks up with Gina Riversmith after her show.
• 1335-1349 The next day. Marten tells Hanners about his hopes and dreams. Sven confesses to Faye. Dora assaults Sven.
• Jump? The fight from 1325-1326 is not fresh in Marten's memory by 1351.
• 1350-1351 Marten catches up with Steve. Marten: blue crew neck.
• Jump. Marten is hanging out with Steve in both 1351 and 1355, but he's wearing a blue shirt in 1351 and a black "dystynt höllërin" shirt in 1355.
• 1352-1359 Faye talks to Dr. Corrinne about Sven. Deathmøle haven't practiced in a while.
• Jump?
• 1360-1376 Band practice. Angus broke up with Renee yesterday. Pintsize gives Winslow a tentacle to give to Momo. Jimbo is working on a new book. Sven's sad continues. Hannelore goes to the zoo. Continuity note: Hanners' shirt changes from to 1360 (red) to 1367 (yellow, tic tac toe) to 1374 (blue crew neck) to 1376 (white tee), but Dora is in her teal crew neck from 1360-1376, Marten is in his TEH shirt in 1367-1376, and Faye is in her Blood Party shirt from 1363-1373.
• Jump?
• 1377-1382 Faye stays up thinking about Sven. Dora takes her out to "Oh, Wow" to buy a vibrator.
  

[osaka]

The problem with trying to use RL events as a guide is that Jeph has said before (don't have a link to where he said it, but I remember it) that QC takes place in "comic book time" - the characters keep pace with RL events even though not enough time has passed in-comic to justify it.

I think that Jeff did mention in a Q&A that the QCverse exists in a quantum state in which it's perpetually and simultaneously 2006 and the present day.

[AprilArcus]

[tweet]326054764414652416[/tweet]

Yeah, makes sense to me. Claire starting her transition in 2000 vs. 2006 changes the way I read her character in kind of a huge way, though. It would mean a lot more gatekeeping, a lot less freedom to experiment, a much tinier community, and that she'd need to be a lot more sure of herself at a time when it was a lot harder to be sure of yourself.

[osaka]

I do one intervention. One single intervention in the time thread. Right off the top of my head. AND I FUCK EVERYTHING UP. WELL DONE OSAKA.

Wait. That second part of your post wasn't there when I wrote what is now striked thru April. How u do dis.

[AprilArcus]

What? I did a quick edit after I posted because another thought occurred to me and I didn't want to double-post. Did I mess something up?

ETA: Another late-breaking thought: If Claire transitioned in 2000 and wasn't strongly engaged with an age-appropriate community of trans friends while she did so, her stealth presentation and lack of radical politics make way more sense.

[Is it cold in here?]

I have been out-nerded.

* Is it cold in here? makes humble obeisance

[osaka]

At some point it's stopped showing timestamps for edits. Maybe it happens when the edits are made in the same minute the reply is posted. But it was weird not seeing it.

[valkygrrl]

What? I did a quick edit after I posted because another thought occurred to me and I didn't want to double-post. Did I mess something up?

ETA: Another late-breaking thought: If Claire transitioned in 2000 and wasn't strongly engaged with an age-appropriate community of trans friends while she did so, her stealth presentation and lack of radical politics make way more sense.

Why wouldn't they make sense? Living her life the way she sees herself would be much harder if she was screaming about the topic to anyone she could make listen at all times. Her average day would be like the forums here where it comes up in every conversation about her, overshadowing the rest of her _character_. You know, all that stuff that makes her a pretty neat person instead of just a prop for other people to use for their radical agendas.

[AprilArcus]

I do one intervention. One single intervention in the time thread. Right off the top of my head. AND I FUCK EVERYTHING UP. WELL DONE OSAKA.

I still don't understand what you fucked up, though.

Why wouldn't they make sense? Living her life the way she sees herself would be much harder if she was screaming about the topic to anyone she could make listen at all times. Her average day would be like the forums here where it comes up in every conversation about her, overshadowing the rest of her _character_. You know, all that stuff that makes her a pretty neat person instead of just a prop for other people to use for their radical agendas.

It's not so much a matter of screaming about it for the sake of screaming about it. Being in a community of trans people (and well educated cis allies) means that it can become a topic of non-stigmatizing casual conversation, and makes activism feel safer and more rewarding — the sort of thing you can afford to do in little bits here and there, knowing that you have a strong support network to come home to at the end of the day.

Claire is a loud person, but her loudness does not extend to her demographic situation in a way that I'd expect it to if she felt like being loud was a safe thing to do.

[osaka]

I do one intervention. One single intervention in the time thread. Right off the top of my head. AND I FUCK EVERYTHING UP. WELL DONE OSAKA.

I still don't understand what you fucked up, though.

Don't mind me too much. I always think that when someone mentions a change of opinion without stating to which side, they're going to the negative. That's why I thought I fucked up. But I actually didn't.

[Carl-E]

At some point it's stopped showing timestamps for edits. Maybe it happens when the edits are made in the same minute the reply is posted. But it was weird not seeing it.

I've done that several times.  If you edit before another person posts, it treats it as "amending" the original post, no timestamp.  Sometimes you need to be quick about it, other times not-so-much.  Depends on the thread. 

[Method of Madness]

Regarding Jeph's Q&As...those never take precedence over actual canon (comic). I guess they're the next best thing, though?

[AprilArcus]

Her average day would be like the forums here where it comes up in every conversation about her, overshadowing the rest of her _character_.

It wouldn't, in a community like Tai's, whence the somewhat confusing dissonance.

[valkygrrl]

Her average day would be like the forums here where it comes up in every conversation about her, overshadowing the rest of her _character_.

It wouldn't, in a community like Tai's, whence the somewhat confusing dissonance.

Really? Who brought up her transition?

It's not so much a matter of screaming about it for the sake of screaming about it. Being in a community of trans people (and well educated cis allies)

By well-educated non-trans--I won't use THAT word--allies. You mean those who believe that gender is something that's innate rather than something that's imposed by the patriarchy.

Edit: fixed a typo

[Method of Madness]

non-trans--I won't use THAT word

You mean the word that specifically means "non-trans"?

[Carl-E]

Yeah, that one.  I hear it's gaining a stigma all its own! 

[valkygrrl]

non-trans--I won't use THAT word

You mean the word that specifically means "non-trans"?

The word isn't really consistent with a gender critical world view.

http://liberationcollective.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/a-feminist-critique-of-cisgender/

[AprilArcus]

Really? Who brought up her transition?

What I'm trying to say is that in a community of free-loving liberal arts queers like Tai's, Claire's gender history would not be a big deal and that she could be as out as she cared to be without it being likely to change the way anybody viewed her. She could basically assume that everyone would be as chill about it as Marten has been, because the community would be vigilant about educating or ejecting the exceptions before she encountered them, and would circle the wagons around her if push came to shove.

This is what being at a small liberal arts school in 2014 is like. It's not quite what being at a small liberal arts school in 2006 was like. Claire acts more like it's 2006 than 2014, which Jeph's comment makes sense of.

[AprilArcus]

The word isn't really consistent with a gender critical world view.

http://liberationcollective.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/a-feminist-critique-of-cisgender/

If you want to keep talking about the timeline, that's fine, but if you want to pick bones with my vocabulary, please do it by PM or start a thread in Discuss.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

Technically, "cis" means "on the {same} side" where "trans" means "on the other side."

"Trans" in transgender comes from the other meaning of the prefix trans--in between (Transition vs transverse).

Cisgender, as a word, is a bit off but only in the sense that the prefix doesn't mean what it is used to mean. The word actually means exactly what you think. So while cisgender is the same as non-trans, cis isn't...at least enough that I can understand some people being uncomfortable with it.

For ex: maybe a person feels that both cis and cisgender reinforce the idea that man/woman is a natural duality (The sides). Where Trans is then, something else. Maybe said person objects to this on the basis that gender is a construct. Using language that seems to suggest that gender is fundamental might be upsetting to that person.

Edit: I know that cis can be read as "gender on the same side as sex." I'm just saying that some people might see it like that, or many other povs. As long as one person is saying "I don't use that word" vs. "You stop using that word" it seems logical to just respect it.

If you want to keep talking about the timeline, that's fine, but if you want to pick bones with my vocabulary, please do it by PM or start a thread in Discuss.

I'm not sure this constitutes bone picking. Just a stated preference that was challenged by a mod.

[AprilArcus]

This is a fine conversation to have in another thread, please.

[valkygrrl]

This is a fine conversation to have in another thread, please.

You're the one who introduced politics into the thread but if that is your last word on the subject--for now. It will be my last word--for now.

[snarkyone]

Penis....    that is all...

[AprilArcus]

Well now that we have a year... I found some old academic calendars for Smith College! Might be useful for something maybe? Maybe not. Anyway, here it is.

Fall 2004 (c. 1-164)
Tue, Sept 7: Classes begin
Sat, Oct. 9 - Tue, Oct. 12: Fall break
Weds, Nov. 24 - Sun, Nov. 28: Thanksgiving break
Tue, Dec. 14: Classes end
Sat, Dec. 18 - Tue, Dec. 21: Finals

Spring 2005 (c. 247-1131)
Mon, Jan. 24: Classes begin
Sat, Mar. 12 - Sun, Mar. 20: Spring break
Fri, Apr 29: Classes end
Tue, May 3 - Fri, May 6: Finals

Fall 2005 (c. 1245-1310)
Thu, Sept. 8: Classes begin
Sat, Oct. 8 - Tue, Oct. 11: Fall break
Weds, Nov. 23 - Sun, Nov. 27: Thanksgiving break
Thu, Dec. 15: Classes end
Mon, Dec. 19 - Thu, Dec. 22: Finals

Spring 2006 (c. 1322-1970)
Mon, Jan. 30: Classes begin
Sat, Mar. 18 - Sun, Mar. 26: Spring break
Fri, May 5: Classes end
Tue, May 9 - Fri, May 12: Finals week

Fall 2006:
Thu, Sep. 7: Classes begin
Sat, Oct 7 - Tue, Oct 10: Fall break
Wed, Nov 22 - Sun, Nov 26: Thanksgiving break
Wed, Dec 13: Classes end

[pwhodges]

At some point it's stopped showing timestamps for edits. Maybe it happens when the edits are made in the same minute the reply is posted. But it was weird not seeing it.

Edits are not marked until after five minutes.  It's not dependent on whether there's been another post (unlike some forum software).

[Method of Madness]

I never was sure exactly how long it was.

On another forum I used to be on long, long ago, when you edited a post there was an automatically checked box that you could uncheck that determined whether or not the "edited by" text was there. Generally you would leave it checked if you were changing something substantially but not if you were just fixing a typo.

[FunkyTuba]

Regarding Jeph's Q&As...those never take precedence over actual canon (comic). I guess they're the next best thing, though?

I asked Jeph about the character twitter accounts (in an old Q&A) and asked if they're canon. His reply was that they are canon only to the extent that they are not contradicted by the comic itself. In other words, take them (and, I would imagine, his Q&As) as next-to-canon, but the comic itself (as you stated) can always override anything else.

[BenRG]

I think that today's strip (#2821) is set Monday morning immediately after Marten and Claire decided to be a couple. I base this on the fact that this seems to be the first morning Marten and Claire have been at work. This means that the timeline for the strips since #2785 goes like this:

Saturday - Claire's day off; Marten quizzes Tai about her status at the library; Marten invites Claire to the 'night off from thinking' he's arranged for Faye; The Couch Scritch Incident;
Sunday - Marten eats pancakes & tells Claire she feels natural; Faye starts work at 5pm; Angus comes back from NY - The FAngupocalypse;
Monday - Marten and Claire's first day at work as a couple.

[AprilArcus]

That's hard to make work. Marten's date with Delilah was on a Saturday. We'd need a week of time skip between 2780 and 2781 to make that line up, which would put us definitively into the Fall semester, but we haven't seen any reference to classes being in session yet.

[AprilArcus]

Making this a little more explicit:

2613: Delilah's party is "this weekend".
2614-1627: Day 0. Delilah's party. Marten: "TEH" shirt.
2628-2631: Day 1. The next morning. Delilah has work. Marten is still in yesterday's clothes.
2632-2636: Day 0. Time skip backwards to the previous night. Dale: dress shirt & tie.
2637-2640: Day 1. And back to the current day.
2641: Day 1. Dale floats in to CoD. We are now clearly synchronized - Marten in yesterday's "TEH" shirt and Dale in his disheveled dress shirt.
2642-2651: Rest of day 1.
2652-2667: Day 2. Marten: Gray tee shirt.
2668-2673: Day 3, early morning. Marten is really drunk.
2674-2689: Day 3. Marten wakes up late due to his hangover, in day 2's gray shirt. 2689: Veronica and Jim's date is "tomorrow". Angus makes a day trip to New York (2674-2682).
2690-2710: Day 4. Veronica and Jim's date. Marten: "TEH". (2691 is out of continuity).
2711-2717: Day 4, evening. May shows up at Dale's apartment.
2718-2737: Day 5. Veronica shows up at CoD looking refreshed. Marten: Teal shirt until 2734, then "Godspeed" tee shirt. Faye: powder blue camisole. Emily: Khakis
2738-2771: Day 6. Faye: red boat neck. 2752: Steve "just finished with Marten" (off-panel, in re: Emily, referenced again in 2757) 2757: Marten still in the "Godspeed" shirt he changed in to halfway through day 5. Emily has changed into a pencil skirt. 2767: Crisis wine.
2772-2780: Day 7. Crisis wine hangover. Marten: Blue tee shirt.
Jump X days?
2781-2801: Day 7+X. Marten: Green tee shirt. Angus leaves for his audition (2781). Claire scritches.
2802-2820: Day 7+X+1. Marten: Gray tee shirt. Pancakes. Angus returns from his audition (2811).
2821- Day 7+X+2.

So our requirements are:

• Day 0 / 2614 should be on a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday to justify 2613's comment that Delilah's party is on the "weekend".
• Day 1 / 2628 should be on a weekday to justify Delilah dressing for work.
• Day 2 / 2653 should be on a weekday to justify Claire' greeting Marten at work.
• X should be 0 days since we haven't yet seen signs of fall-semester academic life.
• Day 7+X+1+Y / 2821 should be on a Monday to satisfy BenRG's point.

We can't satisfy all of them:

• Option 1: Day 0 is on a Friday, X=0. Satisfies 1, 4, 5. Violates 2 (Delilah dresses for work on a Saturday), 3 (Claire greets Marten at work on a Sunday).
• Option 2: Day 0 is on a Saturday, X=0. Satisfies 1, 3, 4. Violates 2 (Delilah dresses for work on a Sunday), 5 (Claire and Marten kiss in front of the library on a Tuesday)
• Option 3: Day 0 is on a Saturday, X=6. Satisfies 1, 3, 5. Violates 2, 4.
• Option 4: Day 0 is on a Sunday, X=0. Satisfies 1, 2, 3, 4. Violates 5 (Claire and Marten kiss in front of the library on a Wednesday)
• Option 5: Day 0 is on a Sunday, X=5. Satisfies 1, 2, 3, 5. Violates 4.

Ranking these constraints in order of importance:

• 1 is mandatory, since there is direct evidence from on-panel dialogue.
• 4 is very important, since without it the whole premise of naturalistic time progression through summer and into early autumn is disrupted, and then there is no point in making these timelines.
• 3 is somewhat important, since the IRL Smith libraries are closed on weekends -- but Smif is not Smith, and if the fall Semester has started behind our backs, then it's a non-issue.
• 5 is somewhat important, since it makes reasonable logical sense.
• 2 is unimportant, since we don't know anything about what Delilah's job is.

So on that basis, I somewhat arbitrarily picked option 2 as the least bad, since having a drinking party on a Sunday seems a little weird. But disagreement is reasonable.

[AprilArcus]

Also, Marten says he had a "weird weekend" in 2653, meaning Day 2 must be a Monday, so only options 2 and 3 are left.

Either the current strips on a Tuesday, or there is a six-day gap between 2780 and 2781 — which means there is also a six-day gap between 2776 ("I finally realized my brother is a toxic person and I'm cutting him out of my life as entirely as I possibly can!") and 2784 ("I was holding in a fart"), which doesn't feel right to me.

[MooskiNet]

Is it possible the strip is on a Tuesday, because the Monday was a holiday?

[AprilArcus]

Is it possible the strip is on a Tuesday, because the Monday was a holiday?

Very possible! I tried superimposing my summer timeline onto the Smith College 2006 academic calendar, and found that if we set Tai's party (1952-1970) to the Friday of finals week (May 12), the current strips (2821-present) fall on Tuesday, August 28 — about a week earlier than I thought! (It would also place 2201-2227 on July 3rd, which considering 2223 is ~almost perfect~! ).

This means we could insert an extra week in early July to fully rationalize Henry Reed's statement in 2373 that the wedding is "two weeks from now" — the current calendar only puts 11 days between this statement and the ceremony. This is biggest piece of dialogue evidence that my current analysis doesn't fully accommodate, and the place I've been most wanting to stretch out if I found another week of calendar to work with.

That would in turn bump 2802-2820 to Labor Day (Monday), with classes due to start on Thursday.

Or: we could hang on to that 11 days ≈ 2 weeks bit of handwaveyness, and Jeph could write another ~150 strips of summer lovin' before the absence of students from the library or any reference to Claire/Emily/Gabby's academic status becomes completely egregious.

[MooskiNet]

I think I like option 1, especially since this is Tuesday afternoon, and I don't doubt Jeph's ability to stretch Wednesday out for at least 50 strips, what with the multiple threads he's got going and Claire and Marten's first date just getting started.

Actually, that should read more like

CLAIRE AND MARTEN'S FIRST DATE

Heh.

[Orkboy]

If you guys ever get the QC timeline figured out, maybe you can explain the Legend of Zelda chronology and divergent timelines next.   

[Storel]

If you guys ever get the QC timeline figured out, maybe you can explain the Legend of Zelda chronology and divergent timelines next.   

There are things that Humanity is Just Not Meant to Know.

[A Duck]

Not sure if it's been mentioned already, but I found this comi http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2366, which implies Marten has worked at the library for at least one year before this specific comic, possibly more.

If you guys ever get the QC timeline figured out, maybe you can explain the Legend of Zelda chronology and divergent timelines next.   

But that was completely explained in a (Nintendo official) book a few years ago! Check out "Hyrule Historia".

[AprilArcus]

I think that fits. My read is that Marten started working at the library some time in the middle of Spring semester of academic '04-'05 (691), so by 2366 he's been there for three finals weeks, one and a half summer breaks, and "two semesters ago" would refer to Fall of academic '05-'06, which is mostly during the time skip.