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What's next on our agenda?

Angus and Faye: The Quickening
- 46 (33.3%)
Dora Tells Her Parents (To Predictable Results)
- 10 (7.2%)
The Library Implosion: Emily Finds Out!
- 19 (13.8%)
Moms Meet!
- 8 (5.8%)
Momo and May - The Odd Couple Revisited!
- 12 (8.7%)
Hanners FREAKS OUT!
- 7 (5.1%)
Pintsize!
- 7 (5.1%)
Love and Pancakes!
- 7 (5.1%)
Waffles and Spathe Ham!
- 1 (0.7%)
...Wait, who IS that blue guy lying on the ground?
- 11 (8%)
CLINTONSPOLSION!
- 10 (7.2%)

Total Members Voted: 127


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Author Topic: WCDT: 2811-2815 (13-17 October 2014) Weekly Comic Discussion Thread  (Read 159316 times)

aliensporebomb

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I think Dora will get in 1.3 seconds what's happening.  That's all I can surmise.  Whether she sends Faye home or keeps her around to keep an eye on her (and maybe make her do light duties in the back so her red watery eyes don't scare customers) is up to her.
« Last Edit: 18 Oct 2014, 07:35 by aliensporebomb »
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BenRG

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I think Dora will get in 1.3 seconds what's happening.  That's all I can surmise.  Whether she sends Faye home or keeps her around to keep an eye on her (and maybe make her do light duties in the back so her red watery eyes don't scare customers) is up to her.

I can see her locking Faye in the back, calling Angus back and locking him in the same room after telling them that, staying together or breaking up, they need to make sure that there is no bitterness going forwards. She was lucky that, after her issues killed her relationship with Marten, he was willing to continue as friends and she wants Faye and Angus to have that too.
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AprilArcus

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I'm not sure how serious that is meant to be. However, it is a fact that Marten is sexually quite experienced (in practice due to at least three different long-rerm partners and in theory thanks to Veronica's profession) whilst it's a good bet that Claire is a virgin. He'll have to go slow and gentle to avoid overwhelming her. He's already come close to that with the head-scratching that turned to a sort of erotic massage.

I'll see your "virgin" and raise you "24 years of pent-up sexual frustration". Claire has kept herself (kind of adorably ineptly) buttoned down because of the trans thing, but now that that seems to be increasingly less of an issue... well, if anyone's going to be overwhelmed, my money is on Marten.

Well, different scope of ambitions.  Nobody studies Library Science to become an astronaut, and Marten seems largely content to follow the path of least-resistance (although not at a destructive level like Sven).  Of course, if Deathmĝle does become a touring band, Claire might not be content to be a "Rock and Roll Widow".

I think one thing Marten could learn from Claire is that there is nothing wrong with the target of his ambition, he just needs to attack it with more fervor. How far could Marten's music career go if he worked as hard at it as Claire does at what she cares about? Of course, Dora's hyper-motivated go-getter personality totally failed to rub off on him in his last relationship, so maybe that's a false hope.
« Last Edit: 18 Oct 2014, 09:35 by AprilArcus »
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Rghfrgl

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All I'm here to say is that  I am not at all unhappy that Faye and Angus broke up. Worst couple in QC history. Angus just doesn't have a character.

I think Angus has some character, but we haven't seen much of it in a long time. Everything's been building up to this probably-breakup so we haven't seen much else. Little to no Marigold interaction, slap fights with Marten or games of duck duck boobs. Just impending doom.
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MooskiNet

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well, if anyone's going to be overwhelmed, my money is on Marten.

Yeah, I think he may end up walking into CoD with no pants on a lot more often for a little while.

I think one thing Marten could learn from Claire is that there is nothing wrong with the target of his ambition, he just needs to attack it with more fervor. How far could Marten's music career go if he worked as hard at it as Claire does at what she cares about? Of course, Dora's hyper-motivated go-getter personality totally failed to rub off on him in his last relationship, so maybe that's a false hope.

I dunno.  I get the sense that Marten respects Claire's opinion a little more than he did Dora's - at least he seems more sheepish when talking about things he knows she may disapprove of.
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kerky

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Yeah, add to that the fact that Claire does have anxiety issues; she needs as much gentle handling as Dora did!
Possibly even more than Dora, who has normally been quite outspoken about sexuality. I think Marten may go back to his usual relatively passive self and adjust to Claire's comfort zone, letting her taking the lead here...

Then, on the other hand, Claire seems quite the ambitious type when it comes to her career. The proverbial and figurative "kick in the butt" for Marten to focus more on his goals in life and get his act together might well come from her, hopefully to some success. It´ll do him some good, and would possibly at the same time solve the issue with both working at the library.
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Alphawolf55

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To whoever said Faye and Angus were the worse couple I think you mean Tai and Dora. So many things wrong, then again I might be blinded by my complete dislike of Tai.
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kerky

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How is Fay a terrible person?
She is no angel either, but the current situation is tailored-to-fit to bring out her anxiety and abandonment issues again. The fact that someone who has been through what Faye has been is able to function in society for a more or less extended span of time does not mean they are healed, and Angus is really not helping and understanding here.

If i had to pick sides here, I´d be on Faye's.
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kerky

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I can see her locking Faye in the back, calling Angus back and locking him in the same room after telling them that, staying together or breaking up, they need to make sure that there is no bitterness going forwards. She was lucky that, after her issues killed her relationship with Marten, he was willing to continue as friends and she wants Faye and Angus to have that too.
Ah, Dora and Marten continuing as friends was not instantaneous... He avoided Coffee of Doom for while, finding the Secret Bakery (and meeting Padma in the process) and it took Dora the sort of failed date with Jim and both a college party to be able to talk to each other again...
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KOK

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Then, on the other hand, Claire seems quite the ambitious type when it comes to her career. The proverbial and figurative "kick in the butt" for Marten to focus more on his goals in life and get his act together might well come from her, hopefully to some success. It´ll do him some good, and would possibly at the same time solve the issue with both working at the library.

Even in the best case scenario, Marten's music would not generate significant income until long after Claire's summer internship is over.
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BenRG

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Even in the best case scenario, Marten's music would not generate significant income until long after Claire's summer internship is over.

Oddly enough, I wonder if Marten's real unexpected talent might be in his music blog. Maybe Claire shows it to the ladies doing the advanced Journalism course at Smif and, through them, he comes to the attention of the editor of Northampton's main local newspaper?

Marten's degree was in the arts and science of music, IIRC; he's shown a talent for understanding the artistic underpinning of various works. Maybe he can top up the kitty by being the paper's popular music reviewer? I can imagine Marten being the sort of guy who would regard being paid to listen to, deconstruct and then report on popular music a sort of dream job! It would at least fund trying to get Deathmole moving at least as a performance group!
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AprilArcus

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To whoever said Faye and Angus were the worse couple I think you mean Tai and Dora. So many things wrong, then again I might be blinded by my complete dislike of Tai.

I don't like the relationship either, but mostly because it is so free of conflict as to be utterly boring. What do you dislike about Tai? I confess I have a big soft spot for her - of the main cast, she feels the most like a person I might be friends with IRL.

Warning - while you were typing BenRG totally scooped you.

Even in the best case scenario, Marten's music would not generate significant income until long after Claire's summer internship is over.

He could get a job in music writing. If his character's short-lived music blog is still canon, it shows he has an aptitude for it.

hedgie

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To whoever said Faye and Angus were the worse couple I think you mean Tai and Dora. So many things wrong, then again I might be blinded by my complete dislike of Tai.

I don't like the relationship either, but mostly because it is so free of conflict as to be utterly boring. What do you dislike about Tai? I confess I have a big soft spot for her - of the main cast, she feels the most like a person I might be friends with IRL.

Given the amount of time they have been together, they still may be in the "honeymoon" period of the relationship, which will end some day.  Dora is already hiding her sevnectomy from Tai, and she may start hiding other things, if she hasn't already.  I like Tai as well, much better than Angus, probably because Jeph has given more insight and development into her character.  There are a *lot* of characters in this comic that I wasn't a fan of immediately, but through either growth, or at least getting to know them, I changed my opinion.  Off the top of my head, that list includes Claire, Marigold, Emily, May, Sven, and Dale.  I was pretty neutral about Momo until after her "upgrade", and she stopped being so much a gag character like the rest of the AIs, and grew.
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BenRG

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Once you set aside her self-advertised (and, I suspect, massively self-exaggerated) 'wild and crazy' past, Tai is probably one of the nicer and more mature characters. She has, on several occasions, forced Marten to confront his sometimes infantalised approach to life and his future. She is capable of a certain degree of cunning (I, for one, doubt that she 'forgot' to mention her graduation). However, I do think that she has some very real human fears and uncertainties, such as her doubts over her relationship with Dora and Dora's feelings for her.
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AprilArcus

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Northampton's main local newspaper?

Well I was with you until there. There's no year you could pick between 2003 and 2014 where working for a print publication would be an upwardly mobile career move. Maybe a job with whatever the QCverse's versions of the A.V. Club or Pitchfork, though, especially since he wouldn't have to move to write for an Internet publication.

Rghfrgl

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Even in the best case scenario, Marten's music would not generate significant income until long after Claire's summer internship is over.

Everyone likes money of course, but I don't think either character measures success on income. If they did they'd pick something besides librarian and hopeful indie metal god.
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AprilArcus

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Once you set aside her self-advertised (and, I suspect, massively self-exaggerated) 'wild and crazy' past

Which is what, exactly, lots of hookups and psychedelics? I went to liberal arts school too. She's just plain relatable.

MooskiNet

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Not sure there's a lot of exaggeration to her wild and crazy past - when Steve and Marten went to Tai's looking for Cosette, she had a physics teacher in her bed.  Mind you, that's not crazy, but she was so damn nonchalant about it, I got the impression that was her baseline normal.

In other news ('cause I have to mix nice things with the gloom, it's what I do), I'd love to see Claire walk up to Emily on Monday, smile, and say "One," then walk off grinning.  Chances are something close to zero, but... yeah.
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kerky

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I'd love to see Claire walk up to Emily on Monday, smile, and say "One," then walk off grinning.  Chances are something close to zero, but... yeah.
I´m not getting the meaning of this "One", sorry, I'm not a native English speaker. Does anyone volunteer to enlighten me?  (I hope it´s not in the line of "One down, soandso many to go...")
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cesium133

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I'd love to see Claire walk up to Emily on Monday, smile, and say "One," then walk off grinning.  Chances are something close to zero, but... yeah.
I´m not getting the meaning of this "One", sorry, I'm not a native English speaker. Does anyone volunteer to enlighten me?  (I hope it´s not in the line of "One down, soandso many to go...")
Earlier, Emily asked her how many boys she had kissed, and the answer was zero. It's now one.
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ReindeerFlotilla

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Once you set aside her self-advertised (and, I suspect, massively self-exaggerated) 'wild and crazy' past, Tai is probably one of the nicer and more mature characters. She has, on several occasions, forced Marten to confront his sometimes infantalised approach to life and his future. She is capable of a certain degree of cunning (I, for one, doubt that she 'forgot' to mention her graduation). However, I do think that she has some very real human fears and uncertainties, such as her doubts over her relationship with Dora and Dora's feelings for her.

I'm pretty sure Tai is WYSIWYG. Theres no cunning involved in much of what she does, even if the results appear that way. Tai is comfortable in her self. Artifice isn't necessary for her.

She also isn't clueless. She's just easy going. She doesn't sweat the small stuff. The closest she got to keeping secrets about her intentions was not making a move on Dora. Which she didn't do because she's friends with Marten. If she generates a surprise, it's not so much something she's hiding as it is something that she hadn't got round to talking about (see not bringing her A game to bed). When those things come up, she gets right to it.

Tai is basically unflappable. Almost in a super heroic way. Within that metaphor, Dora is her kryptonite. Kinda. Dora is the only thing that really put Tai off balance. She quickly adjusted.

I don't think there's anything to get past about Tai. I don't think she's exaggerating. She's an intelligent, effective, capable, pothead with an active and varied sex life, a thing for tall dark haired girls, and a passion for writing erotica.

Carl-E

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I'd love to see Claire walk up to Emily on Monday, smile, and say "One," then walk off grinning.  Chances are something close to zero, but... yeah.
I´m not getting the meaning of this "One", sorry, I'm not a native English speaker. Does anyone volunteer to enlighten me?  (I hope it´s not in the line of "One down, soandso many to go...")
Earlier, Emily asked her how many boys she had kissed, and the answer was zero. It's now one.

D'aawwwww, I forgot about that.  It would be adorkable. 
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ReindeerFlotilla

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Northampton's main local newspaper?

Well I was with you until there. There's no year you could pick between 2003 and 2014 where working for a print publication would be an upwardly mobile career move. Maybe a job with whatever the QCverse's versions of the A.V. Club or Pitchfork, though, especially since he wouldn't have to move to write for an Internet publication.

Gotta be careful injecting reality into QC. It's a place where Claire is batting a thousand on people being beyond comfortable finding out she's trans, AI is here, people have been living full time in space for at least 23 years, Smif is a fairly permissive institution when it comes to the definition of woman, and Thom Yorke is a good idea. This is not our world.

AprilArcus

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Gotta be careful injecting reality into QC. It's a place where Claire is batting a thousand on people being beyond comfortable finding out she's trans, AI is here, people have been living full time in space for at least 23 years, Smif is a fairly permissive institution when it comes to the definition of woman, and Thom Yorke is a good idea. This is not our world.

Well Claire's only batting 1000 that we know of, with a sample size of two very carefully selected friends, and she and Clinton sure act like it's been a problem in the past. Also, Smith's grad program is co-ed, so Smif's probably is too.

Anyway I stand by my statement that Marten working for a print newspaper would be way silly.

kerky

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Dibs on Porthos!! :)   Or would that be Portha?   
In "The Man in the Iron Mask" Gerard Depardieu at times looks rather like too much Port Wine to me...
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kerky

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Earlier, Emily asked her how many boys she had kissed, and the answer was zero. It's now one.
Aaaaaaaahw (relief!) Thanks a lot. (Facepalm)
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snarkyone

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In "The Man in the Iron Mask" Gerard Depardieu at times looks rather like too much Port Wine to me...

*hic*.... so?   *hic*
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HauntingPoem

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Speaking of Deathmole earlier, is what is released irl cannonical with what they are doing in the comic?
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ReindeerFlotilla

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Gotta be careful injecting reality into QC. It's a place where Claire is batting a thousand on people being beyond comfortable finding out she's trans, AI is here, people have been living full time in space for at least 23 years, Smif is a fairly permissive institution when it comes to the definition of woman, and Thom Yorke is a good idea. This is not our world.

Well Claire's only batting 1000 that we know of, with a sample size of two very carefully selected friends, and she and Clinton sure act like it's been a problem in the past. Also, Smith's grad program is co-ed, so Smif's probably is too.

Anyway I stand by my statement that Marten working for a print newspaper would be way silly.

I didn't mention the high relativistic velocity that reality is moving at. It's still 2004, there.

Okay, obviously not. Except kinda. Veronica still treats the events of her marriage as occurring in the mid/late seventies.

Marten working for the Smif library is also kinda silly. Not impossible, but he got the job on the strength of being able to rapidly spot iambic pentameter. Judging by intern training day, it's not actually a relevant skill.

Angus's job as a professional strawman is kinda silly, too. But allowing for the fact that it is his job, the idea that he didn't have a good chance at becoming a correspondent on the Daily Nightly Show (with John Stuart?) is kinda weak.

It's supremely unlikely that Marten Reed would go from a guy who had so few friends he had to get one from a service to a guy who has collected, in no particular order, The daughter of the god of AI and one of the world most powerful/ruthless CEOs, at least two savants (though one is more idiot and more savant than the other), a living engine of destruction/roommate, a secret agent buddy (though, these days, he drives a desk), a professional strawman, the master of casual country music creation (and casual sex), etc into his social circle in less that 2 years.

Way silly is literally what QC is about. If a job at the local newspaper would be funny, or inject fun to write about complications to the plot, it will happen. If not, not.

I'm not arguing that said job is at all likely. I'm just saying: realism isn't a good yardstick for judging possibilities. Only "what makes sense for the character" and "what would drive the story."

Rghfrgl

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Anyway I stand by my statement that Marten working for a print newspaper would be way silly.

I need pictures! Pictures of Pizza Girl!
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BenRG

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I'm not arguing that said job is at all likely. I'm just saying: realism isn't a good yardstick for judging possibilities. Only "what makes sense for the character" and "what would drive the story."

Agreed; within limits (i.e. not destroying suspension of disbelief) the plot is god. As only Jeph knows where he is really going with this, we can only guess at what the plot demands.
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ZoeB

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I'll see your "virgin" and raise you "24 years of pent-up sexual frustration". Claire has kept herself (kind of adorably ineptly) buttoned down because of the trans thing, but now that that seems to be increasingly less of an issue... well, if anyone's going to be overwhelmed, my money is on Marten.

6 possibilities:
1) Claire and Marten may have issues regarding anatomy. They may need to overcome them, which may take time, if it ever happens.
2) Claire may have issues, but Marten doesn't.
3) Marten may have issues, but Claire doesn't. (Very Unlikely IMHO)
4) Claire may be anatomically usual now, but have "scared virgin syndrome".
5) Claire may be anatomically usual now, in which case Marten is, um, likely to be overwhelmed, as you put it.
6) Neither Claire nor Marten have issues with unusual anatomy. In which case, indistinguishable from the usual state of affairs.

Anyway, anatomical questions are their affair (so to speak). I won't speculate.

In the past, I was so much case 2) that case 1) could never be tested.

Afterwards - somewhere between cases 4) and 5). Special situation - I never had anything like usual male anatomy, I avoided locker rooms, so my knowledge of male genitalia was limited. I only realised just how different my own anatomy was from the usual when I started researching the literature as part of transition. I thought Michaelangelo's "David" was a case of artistic license, grossly exaggerated in size. When a friend showed me her box of dilators, I freaked. After reconstruction to a female norm though... I'd better take the 5th at this point.

If I consider such matters private for myself, I'd certainly consider them even more so for Claire and Marten.

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AprilArcus

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I know you're trans too, Zoe, and speaking from your heart on this. But Claire's anatomy really doesn't matter.

She might be pre-op and find genital sex a dysphoria trigger. She might be post-op and have nerve damage. She might be non-op and have no issues at all. She might be post-op and have no issues. Marten might be fine with or terrified of any of these possibilities. Because knowing the details of Claire's situation fails to constrain the range of narrative possibilities, it is pointless to speculate about.

I know body dysmorphia is real and some people need to have to addressed in order to be functional in the world. I went through that, and I don't want to erase that experience with what I'm about to say by any means. But:

I hate the idea that PIV sex is somehow the "real"-est kind of sex that of course any couple would aspire to have. That is just incredibly narrow-minded and crass. There are a hundred other ways to make love to somebody, and PIV is only distinguished by being the most commonplace and boring. Do you think Dora and Tai or Henry and Maurice would spend even half a brain cell worrying about this kind of thing? I think it laughable to even suggest they should care about it, and if/once Claire and Marten get to a comfortable place with each other, they would find it laughable too.

I've linked it before, but I want to quote Gabe Moses' poem "How to Make Love to a Trans Person" now. These are words that matter.

Quote
Forget the images you've learned to attach
To words like cock and clit,
Chest and breasts.
Break those words open
Like a paramedic cracking ribs
To pump blood through a failing heart.
Push your hands inside.
Get them messy.
Scratch new definitions on the bones.

Get rid of the old words altogether.
Make up new words.
Call it a click or a ditto.
Call it the sound he makes
When you brush your hand against it through his jeans,
When you can hear his heart knocking on the back of his teeth
And every cell in his body is breathing.
Make the arch of her back a language
Name the hollows of each of her vertebrae
When they catch pools of sweat
Like rainwater in a row of paper cups
Align your teeth with this alphabet of her spine
So every word is weighted with the salt of her.

When you peel layers of clothing from his skin
Do not act as though you are changing dressings on a trauma patient
Even though it's highly likely that you are.
Do not ask if she's "had the surgery."
Do not tell him that the needlepoint bruises on his thighs look like they hurt
If you are being offered a body
That has already been laid upon an altar of surgical steel
A sacrifice to whatever gods govern bodies
That come with some assembly required
Whatever you do,
Do not say that the carefully sculpted landscape
Bordered by rocky ridges of scar tissue
Looks almost natural.

If she offers you breastbone
Aching to carve soft fruit from its branches
Though there may be more tissue in the lining of her bra
Than the flesh that rises to meet itLet her ripen in your hands.
Imagine if she'd lost those swells to cancer,
Diabetes,
A car accident instead of an accident of genetics
Would you think of her as less a woman then?
Then think of her as no less one now.

If he offers you a thumb-sized sprout of muscle
Reaching toward you when you kiss him
Like it wants to go deep enough inside you
To scratch his name on the bottom of your heart
Hold it as if it can-
In your hand, in your mouth
Inside the nest of your pelvic bones.
Though his skin may hardly do more than brush yours,
You will feel him deeper than you think.

Realize that bodies are only a fraction of who we are
They're just oddly-shaped vessels for hearts
And honestly, they can barely contain us
We strain at their seams with every breath we take
We are all pulse and sweat,
Tissue and nerve ending
We are programmed to grope and fumble until we get it right.
Bodies have been learning each other forever.
It's what bodies do.
They are grab bags of parts
And half the fun is figuring out
All the different ways we can fit them together;
All the different uses for hipbones and hands,
Tongues and teeth;
All the ways to car-crash our bodies beautiful.
But we could never forget how to use our hearts
Even if we tried.
That's the important part.
Don't worry about the bodies.
They've got this.

Half Empty Coffee Cup

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I'm with April on this. As long as Marten can still give unearthly headscratches and backrubs, they'll be juuuuust fine. An orgasm is a fleeting thing. Short, acute, it doesn't linger. It's nice, but I don't consider it fulfilling. Rub elsewhere and let the feeling persist. If you care about having a full experience: let your partner know the feeling well enough that the complete memory of it can be called up on its own and very nearly felt anew, the way I can do for a kiss.
« Last Edit: 18 Oct 2014, 16:46 by Half Empty Coffee Cup »
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Aimless

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The only thing those two'll be overwhelmed by (temporarily) are teh feels
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Aziraphale

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I've been saying that since I think Faye helped get them together that she wouldn't get jealous, BUT realizing that could be what resolves the jealousy rather than something that prevents it altogether.

Yeah, but we've been there, too (with the Dale/Marigold/May triangle*), so I'm not sure if that's how that would play out.

*Come to think of it, we could have a temporary character named Bermuda, for obvious reasons.  :claireface:

I'm not sure how serious that is meant to be. However, it is a fact that Marten is sexually quite experienced (in practice due to at least three different long-rerm partners and in theory thanks to Veronica's profession) whilst it's a good bet that Claire is a virgin. He'll have to go slow and gentle to avoid overwhelming her. He's already come close to that with the head-scratching that turned to a sort of erotic massage.

I'll see your "virgin" and raise you "24 years of pent-up sexual frustration". Claire has kept herself (kind of adorably ineptly) buttoned down because of the trans thing, but now that that seems to be increasingly less of an issue... well, if anyone's going to be overwhelmed, my money is on Marten.

Experience is (in some ways) overrated, though. I mean, sure, it helps, but at the same time, I've generally found it useful to approach each relationship as a blank slate, because what works for one person might leave another totally cold. Going in with more questions than answers and being able to actually talk about what works or doesn't (and not just sexually) is a huge help. They'll be fine, though if April's right, Marten won't know what hit him. :)

To whoever said Faye and Angus were the worse couple I think you mean Tai and Dora. So many things wrong, then again I might be blinded by my complete dislike of Tai.

I don't like the relationship either, but mostly because it is so free of conflict as to be utterly boring. What do you dislike about Tai? I confess I have a big soft spot for her - of the main cast, she feels the most like a person I might be friends with IRL.


I like Tai, probably because I've known a few variations on her and gotten along great with them. Her relationship with Dora is something else altogether. I'm hoping it's just the honeymoon phase, because there's just way too much dysfunction percolating just beneath the surface. Recall the strip where Dora's looking at a porn site and Mieville shows up; Dora slams the lid shut and looks guilty. Given that Marten's collection was a bone of contention (pun only partly intended), and the guilt (even if it was played for laughs), plus leaving Tai in the dark about the Svenectomy, it ain't all sunshine and roses. I'm not big on conflict for the sake of it, but A: zero conflict means something's wrong in a relationship (even the best ones, IRL, have some areas of contention and disagreement, even if it's over something stupid about how you fold the towels versus how your SO does it), and B: I'm starting to wonder if the fallout from the Dora/Sven situation is part of where the cracks start to show with Dora and Tai.

Yeah, add to that the fact that Claire does have anxiety issues; she needs as much gentle handling as Dora did!
Possibly even more than Dora, who has normally been quite outspoken about sexuality. I think Marten may go back to his usual relatively passive self and adjust to Claire's comfort zone, letting her taking the lead here...

I think Claire's got a better handle on the anxiety than she's given credit for, and I don't think it's just the Ativan doing it. Claire's approach is different; even if/when the anxiety's there, like it was when she got her ears pierced, or before/during "the talk" with Marten, it's a speed bump, not a wall. It doesn't stop her dead in her tracks. She finds a way through it, whereas Dora seems to stuff it down and pretend the problem's solved. I think it's reasonable to expect more anxiety, but whatever else he may do with her as a writer, Claire's one of two character (the other, I think, being Hanners) that Jeph's kept on a forward trajectory since she was introduced.

I'm with April on this. As long as Marten can still give unearthly headscratches and backrubs, they'll be juuuuust fine. An orgasm is a fleeting thing. Short, acute, it doesn't linger. It's nice, but I don't consider it fulfilling. Rub elsewhere and let the feeling persist. If you care about having a full experience: let your partner know the feeling well enough that the complete memory of it can be called up on its own and very nearly felt anew, the way I can do for a kiss.

I think if there's going to be a stumbling block between them, it's not going to be sexual; not to say those issues may not come up, but I don't see them as being the biggest issue. It's more likely to stem from ambition... one person's goals and the drive to reach them versus the other's let-it-happen attitude.
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TheBiscuit

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I think Angus has some character, but we haven't seen much of it in a long time. Everything's been building up to this probably-breakup so we haven't seen much else. Little to no Marigold interaction, slap fights with Marten or games of duck duck boobs. Just impending doom.
What you say is probably more accurate than what I said. I just see Angus as a missed opportunity. He seems like a guy I'd be easily able to like as a character if he was only given any development. I really feel like he hasn't had any in a long while. I guess maybe that will just happen when you  have such a large cast of characters, but he's dating one of the first two main characters. Admittedly Steve did appear before Faye did, but he has never been more than a supporting character, IMO.

I would be delighted with Faye's relationship with Angus, and sorry for it to end, if he had been developed just a bit more.

To whoever said Faye and Angus were the worse couple I think you mean Tai and Dora. So many things wrong, then again I might be blinded by my complete dislike of Tai.
That was me. I don't dislike Tai, so I can't agree with you. I was starting to dislike Dora a little at one point, but she's settled comfortably into the role of "character I don't really care about" just lately.

I'm wondering whether now that Faye is single, Claire will start getting jealous of her, as Dora did back in the day.  It could be worse for Claire, since unlike Dora, she only knows Faye through Marten.
If you're expecting Faye to be jealous of Claire, or to otherwise express romantic interest in Marten then I think you're probably going to be disappointed. That 'ship' sailed a couple thousand strips ago, and it shows no signs of returning to these waters.
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MooskiNet

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Awesome words, folks.

I should probably note that my opinion on Claire 'overwhelming' Marten has less to do with the details of sex than with finally having someone with whom she can share physical intimacy.  I get the sense that, having had a taste of it, she may find she has quite the appetite.

...and Marten may not get much sleep.
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94ssd

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Am I the only one who thought it would've been perfect if this is when the break-up strip was?

Side note I just thought of after hitting "random comic." Where the hell is Penelope? I know Steve is super-busy eating cereal, but what's Penny been up to?
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cesium133

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Am I the only one who thought it would've been perfect if this is when the break-up strip was?

Side note I just thought of after hitting "random comic." Where the hell is Penelope? I know Steve is super-busy eating cereal, but what's Penny been up to?
Delivering pizzas. The second job keeps her busy.
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bhtooefr

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Mind you, Jeph's done the whole "virgin getting with someone and overwhelming her partner" thing, with Ellen and Steve, too: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=296
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Am I the only one who thought it would've been perfect if this is when the break-up strip was?

Side note I just thought of after hitting "random comic." Where the hell is Penelope? I know Steve is super-busy eating cereal, but what's Penny been up to?
Delivering pizzas. The second job keeps her busy.

Nah. I think the day Pen2 had a pizza delivery from PizzagirlI think Jeph should do a strip really happened with some of the the support cast running into Penelope on the street, dropping TMI level information on her and moving on.

The last panel being "Penelope" saying, "who the hell were those people?"

Gladstone

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Mind you, Jeph's done the whole "virgin getting with someone and overwhelming her partner" thing, with Ellen and Steve, too: http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=296

Quote from: Jeph
Wow! This strip is certainly the most risque thing I have done so far. That is not necessarily saying much, mind you, but still. Rawr!

2005 Jeph, meet 2011 Jeph.  I'm sure you'll have a lot to talk about.
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Gladstone

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...Also, I went on a bit of an archive binge after #296 and eventually got to #345.  Notice anything interesting about panel #3?  The scene gets mirrored later on, in panel #2 of #1659.  Intentional?  Accidental?  I thought it was cool either way.
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Half Empty Coffee Cup

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More than a few of the early strips' scenes have been mirrored later on. -9999 crit to Pintsize's head, the start of Angus's and Faye's relationship mirroring scenes with Marten, etc... It's always fun to notice the subtler ones.
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Also comments regarding the blueness of the apartments Faye and Marten have lived in.
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Staff_Inflection

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I wish I had more to say with my first post, but I am completely impressed with Jeph's ability to create completely un-likeable characters. It given the strip an entirely new charm for me. I realized its why I've eagerly tuned in for a new cartoon since I discovered the cartoon over 4 years ago: how can Jeph make me hate them today

I didnt think it was possible to top the ending (beginning/) of the Marten/Claire saga, which reeked of terrible fanfiction but Faye managing to set the bar for being a terrible person even higher (lower) impressed me

How is Fay a terrible person?

She's a bully and a hypocrite. Did she not chastise Marten for not even trying to make it work with Padma in a similar circumstance?
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Aziraphale

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I wish I had more to say with my first post, but I am completely impressed with Jeph's ability to create completely un-likeable characters. It given the strip an entirely new charm for me. I realized its why I've eagerly tuned in for a new cartoon since I discovered the cartoon over 4 years ago: how can Jeph make me hate them today

I didnt think it was possible to top the ending (beginning/) of the Marten/Claire saga, which reeked of terrible fanfiction but Faye managing to set the bar for being a terrible person even higher (lower) impressed me


How is Fay a terrible person?

She's a bully and a hypocrite. Did she not chastise Marten for not even trying to make it work with Padma in a similar circumstance?

Except that it wasn't a similar circumstance; Padma was leaving to take care of her grandmother, for one thing; for another, far from chastising him, Faye freaked out at the possibility that Marten would pull up stakes and go with Padma. Calling her hypocritical for that is a stretch. And the bullying behavior has been dialed back significantly since strip 500, which took the strip (and, needless to say, its characters, especially Faye) in a totally different direction. I get that you don't like her, but you're kinda grasping at straws here.
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de_la_Nae

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Faye spent a long part of the strip being kind of awful. Not *always* awful, and she had motivations that more-or-less made sense, but awful nonetheless.

Someone upthread mentioned something about disliking how Angus is, as well as the relationship between him and Faye. And they didn't like that.

I'd argue that it's not a big deal. For one I'd say that no, Angus has fine characterization.

But more importantly to the overall structure of the comic, I'd say the role that Angus and his part of the story has played so far does not necessitate more time spent with the characters.

As I believe has been discussed some already in this thread (and probably quite often in others), a sizable theme within the body of work we're examining is.... I don't think I have entirely the right words, but I will call it 'maturing', and the search for healing and redemption that comes with that.

Mostly it's centered on Marten, but Faye has been a considerable portion of it from strip number three. And talking about a character needing healing and redemption....

Anyway, it has been pointed out (I'm sure) that Faye receded from the forefront of a lot of the dramatic elements of the comic once we reached 'Africa', if you'll pardon the expression.

And good: the character deserved some rest and general good things going for them for a bit, and the audience and writer deserved to move on for a while to other things.

I think it may be apt to compare the Faye-Angus thing somewhat to Odysseus-Circe in Homer's The Odyssey. A portion of the story is devoted to the challenges faced by Odysseus and his crew on her island (what with being piggified and captured), then most of the troubles are conquered and our cast get to spend a much-needed and glossed-over year of recuperation before moving on to the next struggles.

Obviously it's not a one-to-one sort of analogy, but you get what I'm trying to communicate, right? We didn't need Homer to tell us a lot about what went on for people on Circe's island, and we didn't need Jeph to talk too much about Faye and Angus. Of course, Homer didn't go on to spend time on, say, what Polyphemus is up to. Then again, Homer probably couldn't have relied on a daily distribution network.

plusorminus

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To whoever said Faye and Angus were the worse couple I think you mean Tai and Dora. So many things wrong, then again I might be blinded by my complete dislike of Tai.

I don't dislike Tai and I love Dora, but I have to agree with the boringness. I think Dora likes that Tai is so head over heels for her, but I don't get the sense she's in love. Which sort of sucks for Tai. :/ I think that Tai will eventually move out of town and the relationship will just peter out that way.

I don't think Faye and Angus were a bad couple. It started off a little weird, but I think Angus genuinely loves her and vice versa. The timing was just brutal. Just as Padma wished she'd met Marten a year earlier. Possibly if Marten hadn't dated Dora, they would have met a year earlier and who knows? I could see Marten giving serious consideration to moving back to California. Timing is everything sometimes.
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