Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

Bread

Apples

Uh...very small rocks

Cider

Gravy

Churches

Lead! Lead!

A Duck! *gasps*

[BenRG]

Not Hanners. Marten already told her earlier, so she has no reason to do the "omg text" reaction, since she already did it. http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2819

Two things to remember:

• Tai doesn't know Marten told Hanners anything;
• The previous text had only been about Faye mentioning the possibility; this message is probably something along the lines of: "Clairten Confirmed WOO!!!"

Meanwhile, on a confidential message wall, the planning for the party has begun. What starts as a relatively quiet and simple gathering for Marten and his close circle to welcome Claire into the group will rapidly turn into something a lot larger and a lot more chaotic, IMO. Especially after Veronica hears about it; she's fancied Claire as a future daughter-in-law since the wedding, I think.

[osaka]

Claire on panel 3: "What do you mean you aren't telling anyone else? You don't seem to be one for sappy lines and you aren't fumbling your way through one either."
Claire on panel 4: "Bruh."

[bhtooefr]

Especially after Veronica hears about it; she's fancied Claire as a future daughter-in-law since the wedding, I think.

Although Veronica got a very wrong read on Claire's personality.

Claire doesn't exactly do calm or collected, that's Marten's job!

[MooskiNet]

Meanwhile, on a confidential message wall, the planning for the party has begun. What starts as a relatively quiet and simple gathering for Marten and his close circle to welcome Claire into the group will rapidly turn into something a lot larger and a lot more chaotic, IMO. Especially after Veronica hears about it; she's fancied Claire as a future daughter-in-law since the wedding, I think.

Something like.. this?

[Lubricus]

Especially after Veronica hears about it; she's fancied Claire as a future daughter-in-law since the wedding, I think.

Although Veronica got a very wrong read on Claire's personality.

Claire doesn't exactly do calm or collected, that's Marten's job!

I think she probably will be quite calm and collected, once she is in a functioning relationship, surrounded by friends she can trust. Her anxiety seems to be linked to her trans status, and fears about the reactions of people around her. I might be wrong, though.

[St.Clair]

Guess the people getting all upset about Marten not respecting Claire's boundaries should have waited a day or so, huh?

... or waited two more. 

Not cool, Marten.

[bhtooefr]

The real question about Ms. Augustus is, is her middle name Annette?

New headcanon: The rabbit hole of puns goes deeper than this.

What is a clarinet? It's a reed instrument.

What was Marten's first concert? A clarinet concert. When Claire finds that out... say, Claire Annette Reed has a nice sound to it, doesn't it? (And, let's face it, if they ever got married, Claire is ridiculously traditional when it comes to marriage, I'd be surprised if she didn't take her partner's name.)

However, a clarinet only has a single reed. Prediction: Claire admits after a few years of marriage that she was first interested in Marten purely because of the pun. Marten immediately files for divorce, and Claire decides not to change her name back, because the pun is just too good.

[MooskiNet]

However, a clarinet only has a single reed.

Para-clarinets? 

[GarandMarine]

Oooh. That's right. Veronica IS in North Hampton now. Move over Tai, the chief shipper is on her way!

[valkygrrl]

The real question about Ms. Augustus is, is her middle name Annette?

New headcanon: The rabbit hole of puns goes deeper than this.

What is a clarinet? It's a reed instrument.

What was Marten's first concert? A clarinet concert. When Claire finds that out... say, Claire Annette Reed has a nice sound to it, doesn't it?

You're an awful person who will come to a bad end.

Let's be friends!

[BenRG]

The real question about Ms. Augustus is, is her middle name Annette?

I've just got the feeling that her first name is Clarice. Veronica knew her once (on a personal rather than professional level) and Claire looks so much like her that in her scotch-lubricated state, Veronica thought Claire was her mother.

[valkygrrl]

The real question about Ms. Augustus is, is her middle name Annette?

I've just got the feeling that her first name is Clarice. Veronica knew her once (on a personal rather than professional level) and Claire looks so much like her that in her scotch-lubricated state, Veronica thought Claire was her mother.

If you could choose your name would you name yourself after a parent or pick something cool like Claire or FighterJet?

[BenRG]

If you could choose your name would you name yourself after a parent or pick something cool like Claire or FighterJet?

I've got a funny feeling that there is a tradition of some sort in that family that all first names should start with a 'cl' sound. Yes, that's weird but I've heard weirder.

[ankhtahr]

Fun fact: in the maternal branch of my family all the female names start with "An" (Antje, Anja, Anke, …). Even the name of my uncle's wife. 

[Neko_Ali]

Family naming traditions can be weird. I can see Claire wanting to stick to a family tradition. When I had my name changed, I took my mother's maiden name. It would be a bit strange and probably confusing to change her first name to one so close to her mother's.

[bhtooefr]

The real question about Ms. Augustus is, is her middle name Annette?

I've just got the feeling that her first name is Clarice.

ReindeerFlotilla was talking about the younger Ms. Augustus, the one we know as Claire, I thought.

[cesium133]

Fun fact: in the maternal branch of my family all the female names start with "An" (Antje, Anja, Anke, …). Even the name of my uncle's wife. 

All my siblings have names starting with the letter T. The tradition was ended with me after my mom vetoed my dad's suggestion of "Terry".

[osaka]

Fun fact: in the maternal branch of my family all the female names start with "An" (Antje, Anja, Anke, …). Even the name of my uncle's wife. 

I was named after my grandparent. So is my dad after his. And his dad... So we're all a long line of "José / Jose" (Depending on middle name we write it one way or the other)

[Aziraphale]

Guess the people getting all upset about Marten not respecting Claire's boundaries should have waited a day or so, huh?

... or waited two more. 

Not cool, Marten.

Why "not cool"? Tai's Marten and Claire's boss. He had to have the discussion with her. It's also likely that he asked her to keep it quiet, per Claire's wishes, but also suspected she wouldn't (hence what he says in the last panel, and a facial expression that reads as equal parts amused and bemused.

[MooskiNet]

It's also likely that he asked her to keep it quiet, per Claire's wishes, but also suspected she wouldn't (hence what he says in the last panel, and a facial expression that reads as equal parts amused and bemused.

I didn't get the sense that Claire wanted their relationship kept secret at the office so much as she wanted to make sure Marten understood that she planned to be completely professional about it, and wanted him to do the same.

[Fig]

On the tangent of names:  I have no idea where my name (Jeffrey) came from.  No one in my family, that I can recall, has it but I do have my mother's middle name. (Lynn, which I was teased about endlessly as a kid.)  I think since I was an unexpected child (my mom was 16 when she had me, and my parents are still married after 28 years.) they just came up with the name.  Coincidentally, my mom and I have the same initials. 

On comic topic:

Tai going and telling the 'circle' was pretty much what I expected to happen when she found out.  My guesses for the texts:  Dora, Faye, Steve, and one off-panel text from Pintsize.

[BenRG]

Why "not cool"? Tai's Marten and Claire's boss. He had to have the discussion with her. It's also likely that he asked her to keep it quiet, per Claire's wishes, but also suspected she wouldn't (hence what he says in the last panel, and a facial expression that reads as equal parts amused and bemused.

FWIW, I have seen nothing to suggest that Claire wants it kept quiet. What she wanted was for Marten to behave professionally whilst they were at work. Panel 2 shows that Claire fully expected Marten to tell other people so she was surprised when Marten came back with 'No need'.

[osaka]

Tai going and telling the 'circle' was pretty much what I expected to happen when she found out.  My guesses for the texts:  Dora, Faye, Steve, and one off-panel text from Pintsize.

There's 6 listed dings in there, although I agree it's kinda hard to get more texts than those 4 at this point in time.

[BenRG]

Tai going and telling the 'circle' was pretty much what I expected to happen when she found out.  My guesses for the texts:  Dora, Faye, Steve, and one off-panel text from Pintsize.

There's 6 listed dings in there, although I agree it's kinda hard to get more texts than those 4 at this point in time.

Yeah, it's in the Signal now; there's no controlling the news or stopping anyone who might just be watching someone further down the chain's Facebook wall from finding out about it. Yes, I'm pretty sure this is how Clinton finds out; he's stalking Hannelore in a passive-aggressive way by watching her wall and hoping against hope that she'll mention him one day.

[MooskiNet]

You know you may be a bit too emotionally invested in a webcomic when you've noted with concern that Claire hasn't smiled at all in the last two strips.

...and you know the storyteller is a troll when you wonder if you should say anything about it, 'cause you might get this or this as a response.

[Fig]

I think Hannelore's smile is far more horrifying than Mieviille's.  Cats are already evil bastards bent on taking over the world with purrs, fuzzy bellies, and chin scratchies.  Hanner's just makes me feel like she's one unfortunate trip into a vat of chemicals away from terrorizing Noho with ridiculously themed crimes and a Cesar Romero moustache.

[Zebediah]

There is a terrifying symmetry in those two strips.

[Blackbird]

Tai going and telling the 'circle' was pretty much what I expected to happen when she found out.  My guesses for the texts:  Dora, Faye, Steve, and one off-panel text from Pintsize.

There's 6 listed dings in there, although I agree it's kinda hard to get more texts than those 4 at this point in time.

It's actually six texts suddenly declaring their undying love for Marten (from Faye, Dora, Padma, Delilah, that girl Marten moved here with from California, and Steve).

[osaka]

Damn blackbird that's cold. And completely plausible.

[Neko_Ali]

It would have been impossible to keep their relationship secret from work, unless they kept it a secret from everyone. Emily and especially Tai are in Marten and Claire's (mostly Marten's) circle of friends. Even if they didn't come clean at work it would take a day, maybe two at most till it got back to Tai from Dora. Besides, Claire didn't want to keep it secret, she wanted to keep it professional. No kissy faces in the stacks. No special treatment because they are dating. Basically acting more professional about it than everyone else in the library.

[Aziraphale]

It would have been impossible to keep their relationship secret from work, unless they kept it a secret from everyone. Emily and especially Tai are in Marten and Claire's (mostly Marten's) circle of friends. Even if they didn't come clean at work it would take a day, maybe two at most till it got back to Tai from Dora. Besides, Claire didn't want to keep it secret, she wanted to keep it professional. No kissy faces in the stacks. No special treatment because they are dating. Basically acting more professional about it than everyone else in the library.

Poor choice of words on my part. I don't mean "secret," so much as just "Can we please have this not be a big thing at work?" I agree with you (and others) that it's more about professionalism, but I can see where it didn't quite come off that way.

[NemoX]

Workplace relationships are difficult. That's a fact. And you know what? depending on the job, I could agree with it being against the rules. Most of the time tho, not really. They are only an issue if people make it an issue...and THAT'S the issue.

People can't be trusted most of the time to keep personal separate from work. Same with being friends with your boss. A lot of people can't understand work is work and its not personal if they are reprimanded. Obviously with this bunch it shouldn't be an issue. Claire is too invested in this job as a career and Marten wouldn't act without considering Claire's feelings about it (teasing her like he did is not big enough a thing to invalidate this statement). So I think they will be fine.

But yeah, it's a delicate thing to balance. Good thing Marten, should he choose to use it, has blackmail material on two of the board members if they found out or cared enough. Then again, one of them pretends to be a janitor so....don't think he would lol

(will edit the referenced strip links later, can't archive search at the moment)

[ReindeerFlotilla]

The real question about Ms. Augustus is, is her middle name Annette?

I've just got the feeling that her first name is Clarice.

ReindeerFlotilla was talking about the younger Ms. Augustus, the one we know as Claire, I thought.

Indeed, I was. I was writing a subtle pun. It wouldn't do to put the words "Claire" and "Annette" in there together.

[Neko_Ali]

And Claire is the only one who really takes work at the library seriously. And probably Momo. Tai and Marten pal around all the time. Tai gets stoned at work. Emily is... Emily. Trustees are having sex in the back rooms. Nobody knows how Gabby acts since she's been pretty much written out of the story. She may not even be working there anymore. Work clearly gets done well enough, but it's a very relaxed atmosphere to work in. Claire and Marten are being a lot more responsible than a lot of people would be in that job, but as said, being a librarian and working in the Smif Library is important to Claire. So it's good that Marten respects that.

[BenRG]

I do wonder what happened to Gabby. One of the last conversations between her and Marten was basically her making very cynical comments about what his 'angle' was in not making a fuss about Tai dating Dora. If she does still work at the library (and, frankly, I can't see why not), it wouldn't surprise me if she's one of those co-workers who is strictly on a professional communication basis simply because she doesn't get on with the others on a personal level. In other words, she's not part of the Marten Reed extended social circle.

Could she cause trouble if she found out about Marten and Claire's relationship? Possibly but I get the feeling that there isn't actually a rule that they're breaking. Unless it suited the trustees or the Dean's supervisory board to make trouble, it probably wouldn't go further than them being asked to verbally assure upper management that they'll not let their personal lives leak into their professional lives.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

Grabby was eaten by a brontosaur.

The allosaur was busy.

(Yes, I am aware that brontosaurus was never a real living thing.)

[hakko504]

Grabby was eaten by a brontosaur.

(Yes, I am aware that brontosaurus was never a real living thing.)

There are a lot of nice theories about the Brontosaurus. Just ask Anne Elk (Miss).


Anyway, back on-topic: The summer must surely be over soon, right? According to the other thread we're now far into August, which means that it can't be that many weeks left on the summer internship. At which point the work relation between Marten and Claire ends and they're free to do whatever they want without any complications from work. Though I could see the trustee all of a sudden coming and saying that Tai is leaving (because she's graduated) and Claire will take over her position, as she's the only one qualified to take over that position.

[Aziraphale]

Grabby was eaten by a brontosaur.

(Yes, I am aware that brontosaurus was never a real living thing.)

There are a lot of nice theories about the Brontosaurus. Just ask Anne Elk (Miss).


Anyway, back on-topic: The summer must surely be over soon, right? According to the other thread we're now far into August, which means that it can't be that many weeks left on the summer internship. At which point the work relation between Marten and Claire ends and they're free to do whatever they want without any complications from work. Though I could see the trustee all of a sudden coming and saying that Tai is leaving (because she's graduated) and Claire will take over her position, as she's the only one qualified to take over that position.

That's not how the hiring process typically goes at a college or university, though. Even for lower-level management positions, it's a long, drawn-out process. Claire would have to apply alongside several other applicants, go through a couple of rounds of interviews, et cetera (which sounds suspiciously like Angus's storyline, come to think of it), and that's not to mention several layers of bureaucracy and office politics. It's likely she's well qualified (probably more so than Tai), but that doesn't necessarily mean she'd be a shoo-in for the job.

[bhtooefr]

The other thing is, they're stressing the whole "employees" thing.

Did Claire possibly get hired as a regular employee?

[BenRG]

This is the guess on my part but, because Claire is an MLS student, she may continue to work at the Library (although on a far more part-time basis, maybe 2-3 days per week) as part of her course. However, Emily and Gabby's internships may end and what happens after that depends strongly on what they're doing.

Emily is evidently studying to be an IT/AI engineer (shockingly enough), so she may still be in college because she's studying for a MEng. It might be interesting if she does work experience at the AI shop, leading to more contact with May, Momo, Pintsize and Winslow.

[NemoX]

The other thing is, they're stressing the whole "employees" thing.

Did Claire possibly get hired as a regular employee?

official employees or not, the issue is that Marten is her direct superior and whom she reports to.

[Is it cold in here?]

We only have a guess about the source of Claire's anxiety. Being a driven graduate student creates many opportunities to develop an anxiety disorder.

[cesium133]

We only have a guess about the source of Claire's anxiety. Being a driven graduate student creates many opportunities to develop an anxiety disorder.

No, graduate students are the calmest people in the world.

(please ignore the pile of chewed-up pencils on the table)

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

We only have a guess about the source of Claire's anxiety. Being a driven graduate student creates many opportunities to develop an anxiety disorder.

No, graduate students are the calmest people in the world.

(please ignore the pile of chewed-up pencils on the table)

(please also ignore the dark circles under my eyes)

[Estron]

You know you may be a bit too emotionally invested in a webcomic when you've noted with concern that Claire hasn't smiled at all in the last two strips.

I was about to post my concern that, actually, Claire didn't smile at all during the whole encounter at her house, except for the "nuzzling" smile at the end of # 2808, and hasn't smiled in response to Marten since.  How invested am I? 

[jwhouk]

If you could choose your name would you name yourself after a parent or pick something cool like Claire or FighterJet?

I've got a funny feeling that there is a tradition of some sort in that family that all first names should start with a 'cl' sound. Yes, that's weird but I've heard weirder.

My one aunt's family has all names that start with a K. With a last name that starts with a Q... well.

[MooskiNet]

You know you may be a bit too emotionally invested in a webcomic when you've noted with concern that Claire hasn't smiled at all in the last two strips.

I was about to post my concern that, actually, Claire didn't smile at all during the whole encounter at her house, except for the "nuzzling" smile at the end of # 2808, and hasn't smiled in response to Marten since.  How invested am I? 

Yeah, 'bout the same as me, I guess.   

My wife tells me I've pretty much lost the right to snort derisively at how emotional she gets about Big Brother.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

Has Claire had a reason to smile?

I mean, we've seen her in two strips since her last smile. In the first, she had something serious to say and didn't get a serious reply, on screen.

In the second, she's concerned about how her boss is going to react, and how her new thing is going to go over socially. At the end of both, she's reacting with some flavor of surprise.

The door is still open about Marten responding to her serious statement with something less than serious. On balance, I would guess that isn't going to be an issue. It could have been. It might still be. (Seriously. People--especially men--undermining their SOs and calling it playful is a thing. Claire probably doesn't have the experience romantically to see that side of it. Otoh, men "playfully" undermining women as a form of social dominance is also a thing, and it's logical to assume Claire should be familiar with that. She was a man four years ago, regardless of how she identified. She has direct experience with the different ways men and boys are treated and undermined in social contexts. It's like the FTM scientist who overheard peers discussing how much better his work was than his "sister's." People react with unconscious bias.) If Claire does have a problem with Marten's behavior, we'll find out. But, at the moment, it seems she doesn't.

It's just too early to be looking for patterns, IMO. If something happens, it makes sense to wonder "what now?" But if something isn't followed by something else, it's just another data point.

If Claire had reason to smile in the short time we've seen, I might think something was up. As it is, l don't think she's had a reason.

Keep in mind, we've seen a few seconds of at least several minutes. We don't know what we've missed.

[Tova]

I feel like I'm reading a different comic to everyone else right now.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

I feel like I'm reading a different comic to everyone else right now.

You are, from a subjective point of view. Since all points of view are subjective...