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Poll

What's coming up this week?

Sam becomes Faye's assistant
- 13 (17.6%)
Faye gets a clue and realizes Bubbles likes her
- 16 (21.6%)
Marten and Claire fluff
- 15 (20.3%)
Unexpected character returns!
- 16 (21.6%)
Coffee of DOOM stuff happens!
- 9 (12.2%)
Add your own idea in a post!
- 5 (6.8%)

Total Members Voted: 34

Voting closed: 12 Nov 2017, 21:38


Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5   Go Down

Author Topic: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)  (Read 42449 times)

shanejayell

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New comic up!

Nice to see Marten and such again. And yeah, I COULD see Faye tying Sam to a drill press...

zisraelsen

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #1 on: 29 Oct 2017, 22:47 »

Lots of answers in today's comic. Sam wasn't lying about playing hookie, it actually was taco night! Faye didn't take the tip that mohawk-bot left Sam! It was a drill press that Sam jump-tackled earlier! Marten and Claire still exist!
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brasca

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #2 on: 29 Oct 2017, 23:25 »

So that settles one argument as to whether Sam was playing hoodie. 

I’d like to suppose the previous storyline segues into a story about Jim and Veronica’s domestic life.
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BenRG

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #3 on: 30 Oct 2017, 00:12 »

The Bean/Reed Family Dinner - Proof that, in the QCverse, there ain't no such beast as 'normal'! Poor Jim must despair as he increasingly realises that there is absolutely no prospect of his life fitting into quick and easy categories anymore; he's just got involved with too many completely unique and hard-to-categorise personalities!

Seriously, I find myself wondering if this week is the time when Veronica helps Jim realise that Sam isn't just 'having fun'. Rather, she's seeking out experiences that she feels that she needs because the ones presented to her so far all seem lacking in some way. I think that she's one of those personalities who really, really don't fit into 'average' boxes. As much as she needs a general education, her mind-set and aspirations are most unlikely to lead her to a 'normal' degree or job. She's a unique spirit with a unique perspective on the world and I think that she's heading for a unique outcome.

On an artistic level, It's pretty clear that Jeph struggled with the opening panel and I can see why. You've got five characters at a relatively difficult angle all at different points from the 'camera' AND which need to be fit around scenery in the right way. FWIW, he managed quite well although I think that the table's legs are too short.

So that settles one argument as to whether Sam was playing hoodie. 

It's 'hooky', not 'hoodie'. 'Hoodie' is what Marten is wearing.


[EDIT]
Another possibility for this week's strips is that we're going to have a little Veronica-Claire and Veronica-Marten interaction. Not only will this let Jeph catch up with what Veronica's been doing recently, she's the obvious 'narrative poke' to get Marten and Claire talking about the next step in their relationship.
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SubaruStephen

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #4 on: 30 Oct 2017, 00:39 »

A drill press is a horrible thing to tie someone to.... a metal chair is much more secure.
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Mr_Rose

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #5 on: 30 Oct 2017, 00:45 »

A drill press is a horrible thing to tie someone to.... a metal chair is much more secure.
Eh, I’ve seen some freestanding presses where, apart from the drive, the major component is a 3" dia. steel column bolted to the floor. It’d be about the same as tying someone to a lamp post or telephone pole.
A chair is much less likely to be fixed to the floor, for one.
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Akima

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #6 on: 30 Oct 2017, 01:34 »

Yes, in a commercial shop, I'd expect to see drill-presses bolted down, so one would make a pretty secure hitching post.

The grey streaks are multiplying in Veronica's hair. By contrast Claire seems to have age-regressed suddenly. Claire and Sam seem to be drinking the same, as do Marten and Jim, Veronica stays classy with a glass of red wine. I hope they're at least going to have a salad with their tacos, and otherwise the table looks awfully bare. It's a pretty big table too, an eight-seater. Did Jim and his ex entertain a lot, I wonder, or does Veronica plan to?

FWIW, he managed quite well although I think that the table's legs are too short.
I'm not sure that the table-legs are too short, but perhaps they look as if they are because they are so massively thick. The dining plates look barely twice as wide, so I'd put the legs at over 100mm square. By contrast, the legs of the chairs look too thin and rickety. It looks slightly odd too that the glasses in front of Sam and Jim look larger than those in front of Marten and Claire, despite their being closer to the "camera". Still, it's a bold and effective establishing shot.
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BenRG

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #7 on: 30 Oct 2017, 02:24 »

The grey streaks are multiplying in Veronica's hair. By contrast Claire seems to have age-regressed suddenly. Claire and Sam seem to be drinking the same, as do Marten and Jim, Veronica stays classy with a glass of red wine. I hope they're at least going to have a salad with their tacos, and otherwise the table looks awfully bare. It's a pretty big table too, an eight-seater. Did Jim and his ex entertain a lot, I wonder, or does Veronica plan to?

These are all excellent questions.

Regarding Veronica, she is in her mid- to late-50s, I think and I suspect that, with her conscious move of career to home-maker and surrogate mother for Sam, she's less reluctant to let her age show, something positive, IMO at least. However, she's still Mom and, consequently, I could imagine that she would offer the 'children' (Marten and Claire included) soda first!

As for the tacos, squinting at them, it looks like there may be vegetables in the filling. Being a middle-class Californian woman, I can't see Veronica not making every meal at the house healthy!

Finally, with respect to the dining room table: it's big but not unusually so. It was likely selected simply for its utility and how well it fit into the dining room space more than any specific purpose in mind. That said, with the size of Veronica's surrogate family (she could easily have Faye and possibly Mrs Bean around for a sufficiently large family gathering such as Sam's birthday or Thanksgiving) then extra space would be useful, even though Sam and her school-friends would be more likely to be sitting on the couch, spilling juice and getting cake crumbs on the upholstery!
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Pennepasta

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #8 on: 30 Oct 2017, 02:37 »

As for tacos, there is such a thing as Californian tacos, it seems, which are dripping in fat and fried, so whilst they contain lettuce, they may well not be healthy in the slightest. Took a while for my partner to realise that her stepmom hadn't produced regular tacos, as neither of us are American!
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lawoot

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #9 on: 30 Oct 2017, 03:31 »

Apparently, Veronica scarfed down her tacos right quick. She's already wiping her mouth with her napkin, and has an empty plate, before the others are halfway through. :)
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Zebediah

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #10 on: 30 Oct 2017, 03:53 »

One possible explanation for Veronica finishing her meal first: It's entirely possible that she had less on her plate than the others to start with. She'd rather have that glass of wine than another taco - and she's at an age where she needs to choose one or the other if she's not going to gain weight. I'm about the same age as her and I've had to cut back on the amount I eat also.
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Akima

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #11 on: 30 Oct 2017, 04:24 »

Beat me to it, Zebediah.

Maybe the table looks large to me, because I'm used to family meals where all the dishes, and the bucket of rice, are placed in the middle of the table, and the diners help themselves.
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dutchrvl

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #12 on: 30 Oct 2017, 04:55 »

Beat me to it, Zebediah.

Maybe the table looks large to me, because I'm used to family meals where all the dishes, and the bucket of rice, are placed in the middle of the table, and the diners help themselves.

So the tip was $2 and she got it directly from punkbot, interesting that Jeph chose to clear that up.
I agree with the above posters that the first panel seems somewhat off, but to me it's more the overall 'look' of the place. Wondering if those floors are meant to be hardwood? Overall it all appears very minimal, almost industrial...

Btw, for some reason it did not occur to me earlier that Veronica is about 14-15 years older than Jim, yay for her!
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TheEvilDog

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #13 on: 30 Oct 2017, 05:02 »

One possible explanation for Veronica finishing her meal first: It's entirely possible that she had less on her plate than the others to start with. She'd rather have that glass of wine than another taco - and she's at an age where she needs to choose one or the other if she's not going to gain weight. I'm about the same age as her and I've had to cut back on the amount I eat also.

It could also be a case that because she was/still is a world famous dominatrix, Veronica had to maintain a certain weight, especially if her gear was custom fitted for her. So it could be that over the years because of her work and her diet, Veronica simply has less of an appetite than everyone else.

Addendum - this isn't a criticism, but there really isn't much point in having a poll and letting people pick all the options. It kinda defeats the point of the poll...
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michaelbirks

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #14 on: 30 Oct 2017, 05:48 »

Somehow I also got the vibe that Veronica might have been sipping the wine to avoid a natural inclination to hold forth on the relative virtues of tying someone to a chair versus tying them to heavy machinery.

(edit: nature -> natural)
« Last Edit: 30 Oct 2017, 05:54 by michaelbirks »
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michaelbirks

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #15 on: 30 Oct 2017, 05:53 »


So the tip was $2 and she got it directly from punkbot, interesting that Jeph chose to clear that up.

The $2 was from the earlier strip (3594, These things happen), where Sam said she had $2 for a robot arm.
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Marco

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #16 on: 30 Oct 2017, 06:06 »

On an artistic level, It's pretty clear that Jeph struggled with the opening panel and I can see why. You've got five characters at a relatively difficult angle all at different points from the 'camera' AND which need to be fit around scenery in the right way. FWIW, he managed quite well although I think that the table's legs are too short.

Don't push too hard on Jeph for that panel. A genius like Da Vinci, facing a similar issue, put all the characters in the same side of the table!
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Welu

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #17 on: 30 Oct 2017, 06:09 »

Another Veronica empty plate theory. Everyone else seems to be chatting so maybe they're eating a lot slower. Sam's plate is the fullest and she's just finishing telling the story of her day.

When I first looked at today's strip, I was so confused about why Marten and Claire would be having dinner with Sam and Jim. Took me a few seconds to even see Veronica and remember the connection.

dutchrvl

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #18 on: 30 Oct 2017, 06:36 »


So the tip was $2 and she got it directly from punkbot, interesting that Jeph chose to clear that up.

The $2 was from the earlier strip (3594, These things happen), where Sam said she had $2 for a robot arm.

Ah that's also an option, you're right. I guess it's unclear whether Sam meant that the 17 is what she now has in total, or if that was the total she made from doing the spray. Given the coincidence in amount, you're probably right in how it was intended though.
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #19 on: 30 Oct 2017, 07:30 »

Welcome, new people!
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theMarc

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #20 on: 30 Oct 2017, 07:46 »

Ah, the innocent young age where you consider $17 dollars to be a small fortune...
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dutchrvl

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #21 on: 30 Oct 2017, 08:17 »

Ah, the innocent young age where you consider $17 dollars to be a small fortune...


Nowadays 14-yr olds are really not impressed with $17...I think it's part of the fact that Jeph's is still new with writing a non-adult character, and as such sometimes gets the typical behavior not quite right. For example, the skullmaster-stuff with Sam (the playing skullmaster and jumping on Faye's bed, not the mask itself) I would normally not expect above age 11 or so. In fact, most of the time Sam to me comes across as 10-11 year old instead of 14. Same with considering $17 a nice amount of money.

Of course there are always latebloomers who display more childlike behavior until well in their teens (or later!), so in that sense Sam is not THAT unusual.

Alternatively Jim did well teaching Sam the value of money, and she isn't jaded yet by these small-ish sums. I like that one actually.
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Dave H

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #22 on: 30 Oct 2017, 08:29 »

My take was that Sam was excited at the idea that not only would someone pay for her scribbles, but that someone would tip her for them too. The amount of money involved isn't nearly as important as the respect it implies. (I know I was walking for clouds for a week after the first time I saw my own writing in print.)
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #23 on: 30 Oct 2017, 08:54 »

Another Veronica empty plate theory. Everyone else seems to be chatting so maybe they're eating a lot slower. Sam's plate is the fullest and she's just finishing telling the story of her day.

When I first looked at today's strip, I was so confused about why Marten and Claire would be having dinner with Sam and Jim. Took me a few seconds to even see Veronica and remember the connection.

Another possibility is that Veronica is one of those who tend to have a few at a time. My brother and mother are like that with tacos, would rather make one or two before going back, while others get a plate full, and still others heap it up.

As for what's on the Tacos, judging by the table, it seems that the fixings are in the kitchen rather than on the table...
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OldGoat

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #24 on: 30 Oct 2017, 09:30 »

Somehow I also got the vibe that Veronica might have been sipping the wine to avoid a natural inclination to hold forth on the relative virtues of tying someone to a chair versus tying them to heavy machinery.
Agreed.  Veronica is the only one at the table professionally qualified to comment on various methods of bondage, and she's very intentionally not going to say a damn thing. 

Also, Sam is a woods and pond kid, not a mall girl.  This will influence her attitudes toward money.
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #25 on: 30 Oct 2017, 11:27 »

I'm not fond of the way Jim is talking to his daughter. It reminds me too much of my mother, always assuming the worst when it comes to my and my sibling's interactions with other people outside the family. "They're not going to like that." "I don't want you getting in their way." "No, they don't want you to be over there." Even in situations where the other party has made it perfectly clear that they don't mind or they're happy to have us over, it's always "no, no, no, they're going to hate it." Always seeing the worst in their own kid! I feel the need to go into that strip and give him a piece of my mind!! :x

...Sorry... Apparently helicopter parenting is a trigger of mine...
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Zebediah

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #26 on: 30 Oct 2017, 12:06 »

Ah, the innocent young age where you consider $17 dollars to be a small fortune...


Nowadays 14-yr olds are really not impressed with $17...I think it's part of the fact that Jeph's is still new with writing a non-adult character, and as such sometimes gets the typical behavior not quite right. For example, the skullmaster-stuff with Sam (the playing skullmaster and jumping on Faye's bed, not the mask itself) I would normally not expect above age 11 or so. In fact, most of the time Sam to me comes across as 10-11 year old instead of 14. Same with considering $17 a nice amount of money.

Of course there are always latebloomers who display more childlike behavior until well in their teens (or later!), so in that sense Sam is not THAT unusual.

Alternatively Jim did well teaching Sam the value of money, and she isn't jaded yet by these small-ish sums. I like that one actually.

Sam reminds me a lot of my son. He's wholly immersed in his own imaginary world half the time, and enthusiastic about whatever he's into at the moment. (For example, about ten minutes ago he got home from school and immediately launched into a five-minute monologue about the robot horror story he's dreamed up for novel writing month.) And socially he's probably about two years behind the normal curve for kids his age, much like Sam. (I was too. Still am.)  So I don't find Sam the least bit implausible. If Sam was a real person she'd be my son's best friend.
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #27 on: 30 Oct 2017, 14:35 »

"This is a drill. This is ONLY a drill. If it were a torture device you'd be in a LOT more trouble..."
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #28 on: 30 Oct 2017, 14:41 »

As for the tacos, squinting at them, it looks like there may be vegetables in the filling. Being a middle-class Californian woman, I can't see Veronica not making every meal at the house healthy!

While likely true for when she cooks - Taco Night has been a thing Sam did with her dad since before he met Veronica.  I can see Veronica taking over most of the cooking, but Taco Night is Jim's night to cook because it's a thing with his daughter, and Veronica wouldn't interfere with that.
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #29 on: 30 Oct 2017, 20:56 »

New comic up!

Kinda want to pinch Martin's nose or flick his ear. Just vaguely annoyed with his attitude. Again, because I absolutely know where he's coming from, and it IS really kind of an immature/insecure way to think about the situation.

My dad's a hopeless bachelor, but not for lack of trying, and that's meant inviting a lot of women into his life for a couple years at a time, and a few of these have involved single moms.

As a late generation nest leaver of 23-24 at the time, having two children enter the family and having a dynamic with my dad I never did was kind of unnerving to me. The older of the two boys was very sporty, and very keen to play catch, wrestle, all the things that the much more shut-off, physically disabled and shy shut-in child I was at his age refused to do. I did feel jealous, and I wasn't the best role model at first at the time because of the resentment. It took some serious growing up to not be selfish about it, and let my dad have that new relationship, and be a good brother for the short period that we were a family unit.

So I hope Martin steps up. The hike was good, but I could see him being an avoider over this, if only because I know I sure as hell was.

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #30 on: 30 Oct 2017, 21:07 »

Dare I hope the comic will tackle the central conflict set up way back in comics 1-3?

Probably easier to flick back to the Faye/Bubbles storyline.
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #31 on: 30 Oct 2017, 21:18 »

I'm overanalyzing authorial intent, obviously, but "Whiny Baby" "Marten is kind of a fuckboi sometimes" and "Marten..." being the author comments for it really, really rubs me the exact wrong way.

Marten is a super chill character because where others see a rut, Marten has dug a trench. He can be a really solid place of emotional support for others because of it, but is super bad at handling shit that would force him to overextend his position. It's largely the whole character right there.

So the conversation goes, as I interpret it; "I am feeling uncomfortable in a way I find it hard to deal with even though I acknowledge it is very silly" "Here is a mature adult way to fix it" "I am joking about my obvious shortcomings because I want comfort rather than solutions right now" then Claire gets grumpy and lets go of his arm and gets very pouty and you get those author notes.

I kind of resent calling him a fuckboy over it. You're attacking a characters' source of emotional security, and they get emotional validation from healthy sexual relationships. He's treating familial angst with romantic validation. That's... that's not being a fuckboy, or what a fuckboy is. He's not treating his anxiety by sabotaging his relationships, flirting with other women, sleeping around. He couldn't even find satisfaction in hookup sex when he was single. He's trying to find validation in his otherwise healthy, committed relationship.

I'm not disagreeing that it's a bad thing if he keeps doing it, or it keeps being a problem for him. It's also good conflict for the character! This will probably be a really enjoyable storyline and bit of character growth. I just find the author commentary extremely offputting.
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TheEvilDog

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #32 on: 30 Oct 2017, 21:18 »

You can kind of see where Marten is coming from though.

He never had the conventional childhood. Parents divorced when he was kid because his dad realised he was gay. Mother is a world famous dominatrix and though Veronica tried to shield him from the more.... esoteric, shall we say, aspects of her career, it did leak through.

Now he's watching his mother begin to become a part of a new family and of course he's going to feel a little left out. It probably doesn't help that he's watching his mother try to be a more "normal" kind of parent than she was with him. I'm not saying Veronica was ever a bad parent, but it seems like she's taking a different tact with Sam than she did with Marten. And yeah, Marten might resent that. Especially when there hasn't been that much interaction between Jim's family and Marten, which might heighten the feelings of alienation. How many times has Jim spent time with Marten?

This definitely feels like its going to become a problem later on.
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #33 on: 30 Oct 2017, 21:22 »

How many times has Jim spent time with Marten?

What about those times he ran into him dating his ex?
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TheEvilDog

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #34 on: 30 Oct 2017, 21:26 »

How many times has Jim spent time with Marten?

What about those times he ran into him dating his ex?

I can only imagine how that conversation might go now.
Jim: "Hey there Martenerino, how you doing there kiddo?"
Marten: "Oh fine. Did my mom send you over or were you looking to talk to my ex? Because she's over in Amherst with her girlfriend."
Jim: "....Well this has just turned awkward...."
Marten: "Just?"

(And yes, I am aware that's overly blunt for Marten, but it seems appropriate)
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ChipNoir

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #35 on: 30 Oct 2017, 21:26 »

You can kind of see where Marten is coming from though.

He never had the conventional childhood. Parents divorced when he was kid because his dad realised he was gay. Mother is a world famous dominatrix and though Veronica tried to shield him from the more.... esoteric, shall we say, aspects of her career, it did leak through.

Now he's watching his mother begin to become a part of a new family and of course he's going to feel a little left out. It probably doesn't help that he's watching his mother try to be a more "normal" kind of parent than she was with him. I'm not saying Veronica was ever a bad parent, but it seems like she's taking a different tact with Sam than she did with Marten. And yeah, Marten might resent that. Especially when there hasn't been that much interaction between Jim's family and Marten, which might heighten the feelings of alienation. How many times has Jim spent time with Marten?

This definitely feels like its going to become a problem later on.

I really would like to see Marten be proactive, and bond with Sam and Jim. Kind of a vicarious "I fucked up, I wanna see this person do better than I did," kinda feeling. Marten has a way of sliding past problems that don't have immediate problems till someone finally calls him out on it, and he's forced into a resolution, for better or worse. Engaging in a relationship with Claire was the first time he's ever proactively made a choice to really change something he felt unhappy with, but it was also extremely spur of the moment. He should be doing a little bit more.

I like where Bubbles/Faye are at right now. I'd love to see Marten take center stage again and really address some of these issues. Practically EVERYONE else is in therapy or support for their issues in this cast, but Marten hasn't remotely considered his own issues could use more help than charming himself into think he can just muddle through stuff. He really does have a problem with trying too hard for the homeostasis that comes easiest to him.
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TheEvilDog

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #36 on: 30 Oct 2017, 21:33 »

Lets not forget that November begins tomorrow, which traditionally means the Thanksgiving Turkeys are going to have a relationship to react to.

So lets hope that its going to be something positive for the last Thursday in November.
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brasca

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #37 on: 30 Oct 2017, 22:06 »

Well let's keep in mind there's more effort involved in this than you might think.  Marten knows what Veronica used to do so stories about his childhood will require some editing especially when Sam's around. 
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Shaitan051

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #38 on: 30 Oct 2017, 22:49 »

"It's so attractive when a man dodge emotional labour"
I know, right? Almost as attractive as when a woman belittles a man for the emotional stuntedness caused by society's, which includes her, expectations of him.

Yeah, that street goes both ways lady. :grumpypuss:
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Dr. ROFLPWN

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #39 on: 30 Oct 2017, 22:55 »

"Marten is kind of a fuckboy sometimes"

NOOOOOO, REALLY???

Just SOMETIMES?????

I would NEVER HAVE GUESSED



TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY by this SHOCKING REVELATION

Seriously though, is this the Marten + Consequences plot arc? I'm here for that.
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BenRG

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #40 on: 31 Oct 2017, 00:18 »

Like MrNumbers and Castlerook I do understand where Marten is coming from here; his relationship with Veronica has never been as good as he would like and his childhood never as normal or, frankly, as healthy as it should have been. Might he even feel a little upset that Sam is getting what he didn't?

That said, Claire isn't entirely in the wrong. One of Marten's biggest flaws (something that left him climbing a personal and emotional mountain when he decided to start a relationship with Claire) is that he doesn't like emotional effort. He is, as Faye once put it, very passive in many ways and prefers to deal reactively with problems. He wants others to take the initiative, not him. Or, failing that, hope that his problems just go away.

Do you remember what he asked the doctor after Faye tried to drink herself to death? "She's going to be okay, right?" He wasn't talking about Faye's physical condition or even her mental condition; he was asking if she was going to 'go back to normal'. It is to his credit that he's handled the fact that the answer was 'no' but it is still very difficult for him and this is a flaw that he's going to have to learn to confront.
« Last Edit: 31 Oct 2017, 00:56 by BenRG »
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Storel

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #41 on: 31 Oct 2017, 00:37 »

I thought it was quite clear that Marten was joking around in panel 3, and Claire's responses in both 3 and 4 seemed like overreactions to me. However, it's possible that previous interactions between them that have not been shown in-comic have caused her both to notice Marten's tendencies in this area and to start getting tired of them...
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oeoek

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #42 on: 31 Oct 2017, 02:09 »

Somehow I also got the vibe that Veronica might have been sipping the wine to avoid a natural inclination to hold forth on the relative virtues of tying someone to a chair versus tying them to heavy machinery.

I had a similar thought, although I pictured her thinking about other equipment in a workshop that might be better suited for such a purpose.

As for the uncluttered dining room and table, I must admit I know people who tend to live in rooms like that. No special hobbies or other activities at home other then TV, eating and napping. A well filled but unread book case appears the be the standard solution. Or a house big enough to have a dining room that is just that. I decided years ago not to move to anything bigger than my present apartment for opposite reasons; I have a certain horror vacui that tends to fill my space with pretty much everything I do. Bigger house just equals more mess...

(and of course there are the economics of drawing; remember Jeff's remark on drawing a fully fleshed out secret bakery?)
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pwhodges

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #43 on: 31 Oct 2017, 02:27 »

I thought it was quite clear that Marten was joking around in panel 3, and Claire's responses in both 3 and 4 seemed like overreactions to me. However, it's possible that previous interactions between them that have not been shown in-comic have caused her both to notice Marten's tendencies in this area and to start getting tired of them...

Indeed.  And there's no reason to suppose there might not be a period of dramatic tension in their relationship, even if it is the one that finally lasts for him after that's resolved.
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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #44 on: 31 Oct 2017, 02:42 »

Marten's inability to deal with emotional conflict is a huge aspect of his character.

Claire's overreactions to anything that upsets her world perspective are also part of her character.

Talk to each other, children.
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BenRG

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #45 on: 31 Oct 2017, 03:07 »

I've often said that the remaining character arc for Marten is for him to learn to be proactive about his future and I'm wondering if this is what Jeph is starting rolling now.

Maybe Marten and Claire will have a "frank discussion" that will leave Marten realising (probably after Faye rubbing his face in the fact that Claire is correct) that he has to start plotting a path forwards. This could take a long while to bear fruit but this may be the starting point. I'm hoping for at least one strip where Marten is agonising over it and one of his friends points out to him the irony that he is procrastinating about handling his tendency to procrastinate.

FWIW, I think that it will be an emotional trial for Marten to really move forwards and it will test Claire's own personality and her relationship with him to deal with this constructively.
« Last Edit: 31 Oct 2017, 03:18 by BenRG »
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dutchrvl

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #46 on: 31 Oct 2017, 05:07 »

Somehow I also got the vibe that Veronica might have been sipping the wine to avoid a natural inclination to hold forth on the relative virtues of tying someone to a chair versus tying them to heavy machinery.

I had a similar thought, although I pictured her thinking about other equipment in a workshop that might be better suited for such a purpose.

As for the uncluttered dining room and table, I must admit I know people who tend to live in rooms like that. No special hobbies or other activities at home other then TV, eating and napping. A well filled but unread book case appears the be the standard solution. Or a house big enough to have a dining room that is just that. I decided years ago not to move to anything bigger than my present apartment for opposite reasons; I have a certain horror vacui that tends to fill my space with pretty much everything I do. Bigger house just equals more mess...

(and of course there are the economics of drawing; remember Jeff's remark on drawing a fully fleshed out secret bakery?)

Yeah you're probably right in your reasoning, makes sense not to want to draw too much unless necessary.
By the way, in the comic you linked, I just realized that that guy in the first panel is probably meant to be the initial version of Jim?
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snufflebottoms

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #47 on: 31 Oct 2017, 05:35 »

I thought Claire was a bit harsh. I mean, Marten was just making conversation that it was bothering him, he was't like lamenting about it. And while yeah his sarcastic comment about being emo might be annoying that's his personality so like don't date him if you don't like it?

But I'm wondering if this set up is leading us to learn something about Claire's personal life.

She really reminds me of a friend of mine. Except my friend's Dad isn't missing and her brother is younger and she isn't trans. But like the bro/sis relationship, the piercings, how she jokes and laughs and how she treats men in a relationship?  SPOT ON for the bad and the good.
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RMc

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #48 on: 31 Oct 2017, 06:54 »

Ah, "emotional labor"...just one more reason Why Men Suck.
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shanejayell

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Re: WCDT Strips 3601-3605 (30rd October - 3rd November 2017)
« Reply #49 on: 31 Oct 2017, 07:03 »

Ah, Marten. It has to be said that of the whole cast, he's probably changed the least.

Good and bad.
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