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Marten proposes to Claire

Dora proposes to Tai

CLAIRE proposes to MARTEN (because she's a modern, liberated woman)

Emily asks Faye and Bubbles if this is their first date; stuttering ensues

Pintsize - The AnthroPC Who Stole Valentine's Day

Jeph reveals a half-dozen new ships in a matter of a few strips as if we should have known about them already

Mr Burny the Espresso Machine announces his love for the cash register

Sven writes a sugary love ballad and invites his sister to work out who its about

[BenRG]

Okay, I'm not one normally to mark Hallmark Holidays but I thought, what the hell? Why not consider whether this Sunday's date will affect Jeph's writing? Personally, if he does, I'm sure it will be in some quirky way.

I'm genuinely hoping that Monday's strip will have some kind of Bubbles reaction to being Emily'd. Will she crack a smile? Will she even laugh? It would be nice to wonder if Emily did what she did in an attempt to provoke a positive response. It's possible, I suppose but who really knows what's going through her head most days?

FWIW, I'm still expecting more of the regular cast to 'drop in' to CoD and we'll see more of how Bubbles reacts to them and their interactions.

[drmike]

I don't.  My guess is below in the spoiler tag:

(click to show/hide)

I'm expecting to heart to heart between Faye and Dora with Pintsize secretly listening in and jumping out on Friday to make some comment about the 2 of them being off together.

[cesium133]

My brain must be defective, because I read the last option as "Sven writes a surgery love ballad..." and thought it would be about the medical care after Faye beats him half to death. 

[Kugai]

I can totally see that fourth option happening.

This is Emily we're talking about after all.

[Method of Madness]

Mr. Burny!

[chaospersonified]

I'm counting on Mr. Burny to see Bubbles in the shop, unveil himself (re-veil? Holy shit, is this the etymology of reveal?) as Hank the Dismemberer, and propose to the woman who has fixed him up between matches, at least enough that he functions as a coffee machine. It would be a heated love, a dark, bitter romance that really wakes a person up.

[Method of Madness]

Keeping the happiness going

[Mad Cat]

Wait until Bubbles starts huffing VOCs. She'll be seeing more than alicorns.

Bot be trippin' ball bearings, yo.

[Is it cold in here?]

The CoD crew should hire Bubbles full time to do combat first aid.

[Tova]

Bubbles: I'll be back. 

[BenRG]

Okay, this is either a coincidence or Jeph is reading my posts and doing this just to play with my head! I mean... what if Bubbles did press the 'self test' button?

Seriously, I'm finding the sisterhood between Dora and Faye cute and warm. They really do like each other a lot but they both have all these prickly defences around them. Nonetheless, the affection leaks out all the time.

As for Hanners? I wonder how long before Bubbles word-of-mouth spreads the word that she sells trips that are out of this world and she becomes the first drugs kingpin of the AI world? Not very likely, I know, but funny to contemplate nonetheless.

[Timemaster]

Todays comic is a nice end for the Faye/Dora-reunion-thingy. A beautiful counterpoint to the hilarious strip from friday. I laughed my butt off the whole weekend, by the way.

Bubbles seems to have some medical skill, which makes sense for a combat AI. And Emily is quite cheerful for someone with a supposed large bump on the head. I hope she will still be as cheerful when the black´n blue mark appears.

TM

[St.Clair]

I suspect that Bubbles has detailed files on human anatomy mostly diagnostic information, and enough first aid to maybe keep a squaddie from bleeding out before the actual medic can get there.

[Method of Madness]

Bubbles seems to have some medical skill

Thank you, Bubbles. I am satisfied with my care.

[comicalArchitect]

Uh, there are two extremely long-standing, committed couples for whom a wedding would be FAR more feasible than Marten/Claire or Dora/Tai. UNLESS... what if Jeph pulls an ironic Valentine's gesture and reveals that Steve and Cosette or Wil and Penelope broke up over the timeskip?

[Rincewind]

...
As for Hanners? I wonder how long before Bubbles word-of-mouth spreads the word that she sells trips that are out of this world and she becomes the first drugs kingpin of the AI world? Not very likely, I know, but funny to contemplate nonetheless.

It would be even funnier if she became the unknowing drug kingpin of the AI world!   

[hedgie]

She could find out when Hannermom congratulates her on her new status.  Or alternatively when May barely averts an attempt by Pintsize to get rid of the competition.

[USS Martenclaire]

I dunno if this whole tea for AIs thing is a good idea. It starts out with a Ceylon and you're only a letter away from a Cylon....

[DSL]

I dunno if this whole tea for AIs thing is a good idea. It starts out with a Ceylon and you're only letter away from a Cylon....

ARRRRRRGH ... in other words, good one.

[drmike]

*sniff* No hug....

So how does one see a Pegasus?

[BenRG]

So how does one see a Pegasus?

Sniff the tea and look up; you might see one napping on a cloud!

[Kugai]

*sniff* No hug....

So how does one see a Pegasus?

One joins FT&T and then gets hold of their special blend Tea 

Global Moderator Comment

Incidentally drmike, don't worry about the Editing thing in your Post, I accidentally hit the Modify button instead of the Quote button when I went to quote your Post

[DSL]

*sniff* No hug....

So how does one see a Pegasus?

Watch the "Living Legend" episode of the original "Battlestar Galactica." They just put a different decal on the model.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Okay, I'm not one normally to mark Hallmark Holidays ...

Let's not forget that this is a Leap Year..

[hedgie]

I'm guessing that Jeph must have fallen asleep or something.  The comic has been up on Patreon for at least seven hours now.

[DonInKansas]

*sniff* No hug....

So how does one see a Pegasus?

Tea.  Earl Grey.  Hot.

[BenRG]

Okay, there are clearly two key things to learn today:

• Marten has lived in Massachusetts long enough for it and not dear ol' California to be 'home';
• Claire is clearly a relative of Pinkie Pie, given the storage capacity of her mane hair!

We also see that Claire is a tea drinker and that she's got the 'librarian' look more-or-less down now.

[Penquin47]

They don't teach necromancy at Hogwarts, but there's transfiguration and charms, both of which could conceivably end up with Claire grading animated frogs.

[hedgie]

Claire is clearly a relative of Pinkie Pie, given the storage capacity of her mane hair!

I hadn't even noticed the "Hair of Holding" until you mentioned it.  I was kinda fixated on Marten looking like a cross between Daniel Radcliffe and Gollum.

They don't teach necromancy at Hogwarts, but there's transfiguration and charms, both of which could conceivably end up with Claire grading animated frogs.

Claire was thinking Hogwarts, Marten must have been thinking Miskatonic University.

[oeoek]

Bubbles sniffs a unicorn in tea, Marten and Claire de-mugglify over fresh mugs of tea... I know 'shipping' is frowned on in this forum, but the latest shipment of tea into this area seems rather iffy, I would say.

[Storel]

They don't teach necromancy at Hogwarts, but there's transfiguration and charms, both of which could conceivably end up with Claire grading animated frogs.

Claire was thinking Hogwarts, Marten must have been thinking Miskatonic University.

Clearly. He mentioned Lovecraft, after all.

[Akima]

Do they drink whisky tonic at Miskatonic? I do hope Marten isn't going to turn into a fish-person.

[BenRG]

I was in a bit of a rush when I made my previous comment so it only has my initial impressions. I just thought I'd post again and make a few more points now I've had a chance to think about the strip.

Back in the autumn of last year, when there was a lot of discussion about whether Jeph would write in a time skip, one of the points I raised was that, as Claire's studies approached her finals for her MLS degree, the workload and her stress would increase greatly. We can see this is coming true: Claire is finding out just what burdens there are on educators and the degree to which it impacts on your home and social life! Is she having some second thoughts? It might be interesting to know. I think it's lovely that Marten is trying to support her and help her relax but I'm not sure how much help he can be!

Marten is a surprisingly good-natured house-husband. Then again, being the key support structure for a career woman is sort of a role for which he has a natural aptitude, isn't it? In the end, I think it's all about the relationship - Claire is special enough to him that he wants to be there for her and to help her reach her life goals. I wonder if they've used the 'L' word yet?

Finally, I suspect that we're the next day from when Claire and Marten ran into Sam and later Marigold. The fact that Claire is again coming to the apartment direct from college makes me increasingly sure she's moved in to the apartment over the time skip. It's an interesting call on Jeph's part - He's chosen to skip over the drama and to-and-fro, should I or shouldn't I dilemmas; does he think that he's already addressed that adequately with other characters or did he want to jump over the cookie-cutter soap script on the subject and get onto writing about how Claire and Marten function as a next-stage couple?

[osaka]

Now I'm intrigued. What does THE RITUAL consist of?

The good thing about a school of wizardry is that she'd have a recording feather so she'd just have to read the exam and talk to it. The bad thing is reanimated frogs.

[Rimwolf]

Now I'm intrigued. What does THE RITUAL consist of?

Part of it is driving past the Stop & Shop with the radio on. It's wicked awesome.

(click to show/hide)

[Zebediah]

The most critical part of The Ritual takes place at Dunkin Donuts. I can reveal no more.

[Skewbrow]

Finally, I suspect that we're the next day from when Claire and Marten ran into Sam and later Marigold. The fact that Claire is again coming to the apartment direct from college makes me increasingly sure she's moved in to the apartment over the time skip.

This is the impression I got, too. Marten also knows how she wants her tea. Not saying that cohabitating would be necessary for that.

[DSL]

The difficult thing about the reanimated frog exam is convincing the professor your frog really does put on a top hat and sing "Ragtime Gal."

[osaka]

The difficult thing about the reanimated frog exam is convincing the professor your frog really does put on a top hat and sing "Ragtime Gal."

Specially when, even if it actually does, the professor for some reason loathes that song.

[SubaruStephen]

Now I'm intrigued. What does THE RITUAL consist of?

Where do you think the Initiation Paddle came from?

[Zebediah]

One of the more public aspects of The Ritual is the Shoveling of the Snow. Which reminds me... *grabs snow shovel*

[Mad Cat]

They don't teach necromancy at Hogwarts, but there's transfiguration and charms, both of which could conceivably end up with Claire grading animated frogs.

Claire was thinking Hogwarts, Marten must have been thinking Miskatonic University.

Could be Brakebills.

[TieDyeKat]

Okay, Hammerspace hair is cool for Claire, but for heaven's sake, a grad asst. wouldn't be grading papers with a BLACK sharpie. 

Not even after THE RITUAL.

Red or dead.

[Jakk Frost]

So on a completely irrelevant point, Jeph almost coined a new word to add to the "there/their/they're" list.

"She keeps an entire stationery set in there" could have been "She keeps an entire stationery set in thair" (the hair).

[cesium133]

I've never been through the Massachusetts Ritual (in fact, I've never been to Massachusetts), but I can confirm that the Wisconsin Ritual is not particularly suited for the lactose-intolerant. 

[Mad Cat]

Eat cheese until your head turns into a wheel thereof? The origin of the term "cheese head".

[Zebediah]

I've never been through the Massachusetts Ritual (in fact, I've never been to Massachusetts), but I can confirm that the Wisconsin Ritual is not particularly suited for the lactose-intolerant. 

Nor the alcohol-intolerant, and especially not the bratwurst-intolerant.

[Platypodes]

As a fellow fluffy-head, I've been waiting for ages for Jeph to realize the storage possibilities.  I keep pens and pencils in my hair all the time.  Now and then on a camping trip, I'll stick some odd little thing in there for safekeeping and find it three days later when I return to a place with mirrors and showers.

[comicalArchitect]

Finally, I suspect that we're the next day from when Claire and Marten ran into Sam and later Marigold. The fact that Claire is again coming to the apartment direct from college makes me increasingly sure she's moved in to the apartment over the time skip.

This is the impression I got, too. Marten also knows how she wants her tea. Not saying that cohabitating would be necessary for that.

Jeph could be planning a huge surprise and revealing that Faye does NOT live there anymore.

[Rghfrgl]

She just sticks her hand in there and a friendly chipmunk brings her what she asks for.