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Claire gets job, Marten love cube, focus shifts to CubeTown and new cast of all robots

4 (11.8%)

Claire gets job, immediately Angus’d, Marten goes to rehab and gets leeches on his junk

3 (8.8%)

Claire gets job, Marten and Claire disappear into cube, new focus: all vtubers all the time

13 (38.2%)

Lmao you thought Jeph’d fuck with the status quo that’s cute

8 (23.5%)

Claire gets job, Marten goes to cube but hates it!! Dark prophecy fulfilled, Marten gets rehab leeches on junk

3 (8.8%)

Claire gets job, Marten and Claire happy cube, FAYE MELTS DOWN LIKE WHISKEY CHERNOBYL YOU LOVE TO SEE IT

3 (8.8%)

Total Members Voted: 34

[Dr. ROFLPWN]

Place your bets, trucksluts

[pwhodges]

Last time Marten upped sticks and followed a girl, it didn't work out for their relationship, but he got a whole new life which we've been reading about for many years now.  Maybe this will become a way to refocus on Marten's life...

[shanejayell]

Or they get written out and the new focus is pretty much ROBOTS ROBOTS ROBOTS.

[gprimr1]

I'm actually looking forward to this arc, though I do hope it isn't just a build up to "whatever you want to do, i'll support and follow you."

[sitnspin]

That's the most likely outcome because it would be consistent with his character. Anything else would feel really manufactured.

[Jimor]

It's not like he wouldn't be aware that Claire needed to cast a wider and wider net to get a job in the field she trained for. The internal conflict for Marten would be more in the line of "OK, when we move, what direction do I want to take my own life in since it's all in transition anyway."

[Elder Sign]

Whatever the outcome of this arc, it's probably going to involve the following things:

1) Everybody goes through a rough patch but their relationships come out reaffirmed and stronger than before

2) Increased focus on everything robots and AI

3) Someone gets shorter hair

[shanejayell]

4) EVERYBODY is now a vtuber.

[Dr. ROFLPWN]

while we can’t change our votes I thought it was important to add the true dream option to the poll

whiskey Chernobyl please JJ my body is ready

[dutchrvl]

Whatever the outcome of this arc, it's probably going to involve the following things:

1) Everybody goes through a rough patch but their relationships come out reaffirmed and stronger than before

2) Increased focus on everything robots and AI

3) Someone gets shorter hair

This seems the most likely, since QC's focus for quite a while has been almost exclusively on the AIs. ALthough come to think of it, it has been a long time since I've seen Momo make an appearance.

But some of the flesh characters, like Tai, Sven, or Marten have barely been mentioned for a long time, as well as Brun, Emily, and a lot of others that have virtually disappeared.
Might as well have some move out of town.

[Elder Sign]

This seems the most likely, since QC's focus for quite a while has been almost exclusively on the AIs. ALthough come to think of it, it has been a long time since I've seen Momo make an appearance.

But some of the flesh characters, like Tai, Sven, or Marten have barely been mentioned for a long time, as well as Brun, Emily, and a lot of others that have virtually disappeared.
Might as well have some move out of town.

Yeah, Jeph seems to have firmly decided "bored now" with basically the entire human part of the cast.  Which is unfortunate, because they originally made the strip relateable with the whole slice-of-life bit that seems almost quaint now.  The overriding focus on all things AI all the time is, I feel, making QC harder to relate to because it's only increasingly diverged from the real current world.

Don't get me wrong, sci-fi is all well and good, but I get this feeling of "this isn't what drew me here anymore and I don't really care about whatever cutesy-new-AI-of-the-week".

[blah blah] true dream option

whiskey Chernobyl please JJ [blah blah]

Oh, right, you're that guy furiously cheering for Faye to self-destruct into an alcoholic meltdown because ... reasons I guess.

[Tova]

I think it's been clear for some time that Jeph wants his comic to be comfort food, not real world.

[dutchrvl]

I think it's been clear for some time that Jeph wants his comic to be comfort food, not real world.

Maybe. To me the mostly mundane slice of life issues the flesh characters were dealing with, was what made it comfort food. The addition of AIs and their specific input and ai- specific issues added to that.

But hey, it’s his comic, he should do what he wants with it. It does feel like the changes in the world in the past 5-6 years have heavily influenced his comics direction

[Tova]

In story terms, the differences between AI and human characters are non-existent (a point that's come up as a complaint before), so I wonder how it would be different actually.

[Scarlet Manuka]

In story terms, the differences between AI and human characters are non-existent (a point that's come up as a complaint before), so I wonder how it would be different actually.

That may be a bit strong; we've seen body swaps work out in different ways for Winslow, Momo, Pintsize, May (technically twice, since she was not embodied when we first encountered her), and Roko. Yes, you can draw a correspondence to various human conditions, but it would be harder to tell those stories with human characters.

I'd like to see an AI that doesn't like the human form and/or embodiment in general. So far all the AIs have preferred the direction of getting closer to human embodiment.

[sitnspin]

Gary is still a spider and seems to like it. That toaster also seemed pretty happy.

[hedgie]

Hopefully, it's not this toaster:

[Tova]

In story terms, the differences between AI and human characters are non-existent (a point that's come up as a complaint before), so I wonder how it would be different actually.

That may be a bit strong; we've seen body swaps work out in different ways for Winslow, Momo, Pintsize, May (technically twice, since she was not embodied when we first encountered her), and Roko. Yes, you can draw a correspondence to various human conditions, but it would be harder to tell those stories with human characters.

Hmmm, I have my doubts about that. But tell me, would it be harder to tell the human stories with AIs?

[dutchrvl]

Gary is still a spider and seems to like it. That toaster also seemed pretty happy.

True, but we don't know if they ever tried a humanoid chassis. Pintsize was also fairly happy (as far as we know) in his former form, and it was only after trying the humanoid chassis more or less as a joke that he discovered how much he liked it. Or am I misremebering? (very possible!)

I have to say that I would also be interested in an arc about one of the AIs not liking the humanoid chassis/form at all, e.g. finding it limiting or otherwise having issues with it. With so far any who tries those chassis wanting to keep it, it makes it feel a little too much as if the human form is the superior/optimal form that all would naturally strive for. Us humans already have issues with feeling superior to any other being, after all

[dutchrvl]

In story terms, the differences between AI and human characters are non-existent (a point that's come up as a complaint before), so I wonder how it would be different actually.

I largely agree. Which to some extent makes the fact that we're looking at AIs instead of flesh characters not always relevant. I guess I am missing the distinct character of the comic with the AIs being real characters but very different from the flesh ones. With most (all, at this point?) AIs looking like humans and having storylines that could've been for humans, to me the comic has become less special. Still enjoyable enough for me to keep reading, obviously, but less special nonetheless.

[Tova]

Yeah, I can agree with that.

[Marco]

Gary is still a spider and seems to like it. That toaster also seemed pretty happy.

True, but we don't know if they ever tried a humanoid chassis. Pintsize was also fairly happy (as far as we know) in his former form, and it was only after trying the humanoid chassis more or less as a joke that he discovered how much he liked it. Or am I misremebering? (very possible!)

I have to say that I would also be interested in an arc about one of the AIs not liking the humanoid chassis/form at all, e.g. finding it limiting or otherwise having issues with it. With so far any who tries those chassis wanting to keep it, it makes it feel a little too much as if the human form is the superior/optimal form that all would naturally strive for. Us humans already have issues with feeling superior to any other being, after all

I guess we may have some bias here. All the AIs that we know are happy with the humanoid form are those who like to interact with humans. Those not interested in human interaction would not appear at all, being occupied with busy with "more important" things to do (e.g. controling industrial facilities, managing bank accounts, dropping bombs in foreign countries).

[hedgie]

Don't know about that last part.  Starting the robot apocalypse is the sort of way I'd prefer to interact with humans some days.

[Storel]

I'm thinking it's going to go:  Claire gets the job, but has to work remotely from home because there's nowhere for humans to live in Cubetown, so they get to stay in Northhampton.

Edit: OR, they want to offer her the job, but cancel the offer when they find out she's human instead of AI.

[dutchrvl]

I'm thinking it's going to go:  Claire gets the job, but has to work remotely from home because there's nowhere for humans to live in Cubetown, so they get to stay in Northhampton.

Edit: OR, they want to offer her the job, but cancel the offer when they find out she's human instead of AI.

I imagine the latter would run afoul of anti discrimination laws.

[Tova]

I'm thinking it's going to go:  Claire gets the job, but has to work remotely from home because there's nowhere for humans to live in Cubetown, so they get to stay in Northhampton.

Edit: OR, they want to offer her the job, but cancel the offer when they find out she's human instead of AI.

Once again, in either case, I feel that would have mentioned it the job advertisement if they were offering remote work or if they required an AI.

[Mr_Rose]

I'm thinking it's going to go:  Claire gets the job, but has to work remotely from home because there's nowhere for humans to live in Cubetown, so they get to stay in Northhampton.

Edit: OR, they want to offer her the job, but cancel the offer when they find out she's human instead of AI.

Once again, in either case, I feel that would have mentioned it the job advertisement if they were offering remote work or if they required an AI.

That assumes she read the application properly (she’s been awful vague on it so far), remembers it correctly (see prev.), or actually applied in the first place rather than being headhunted or one of her friends (Tai, maybe?) putting her forward…

[Tova]

Just to remind you, we're talking about Claire.

[dutchrvl]

I suppose in many ways Marten moving to NS would kinda make sense. He was of course the initial main character, and in many ways I felt he might be the closest approximation of JJ himself in terms of parallel character/interests. JJ obviously has evolved over the years, interests have changed, perhaps he has less of a need to insert aspects of his own personality/life into the comic. Heck, perhaps the increasing stability in work/relationship and lack of drama in Marten's life reflect JJ's, who knows (I am not trying, nor want to, speculate about JJ's life as it's none of my business).

If indeed Marten was JJ's way of inserting his own life experiences/outlook/interests into the comic, then having him feature less and even move him to NS would make a lot of sense (to me, at least), actually.

[derris_kharlan]

What Id like to see:  Claire gets the job, she and Marten break up.  Claire is never seen again.  Comic focuses more on Marten/Faye/Dora/Hannelore again.  No more Claire.  Bubbles can definitely stay though. Bubbles is great.

What will actually happen: Not that

[Wingy]

... Claire is never seen again.  Comic focuses more on Marten/Faye/Dora/Hannelore again. ...

Of those 4, only Marten and Hanners aren't attached.  I tried to imagine Marten and Hanners attached (Mannalore?) and my imaginer spewed fire/toasted bits and stalked off in a huff.  So yeah, not that.

If anything, I can see Hanners returning to orbit and making a play for Station long before trying to land Marten or any male of her species.  If men are of her species.  Marten and Willow now has a large possibility of hilarity as they try to untangle their past relationships enough to get it on. 

But it's JJs story, and he'll tell it the way he'll tell it.

[dutchrvl]

... Claire is never seen again.  Comic focuses more on Marten/Faye/Dora/Hannelore again. ...

Of those 4, only Marten and Hanners aren't attached.  I tried to imagine Marten and Hanners attached (Mannalore?) and my imaginer spewed fire/toasted bits and stalked off in a huff.  So yeah, not that.

If anything, I can see Hanners returning to orbit and making a play for Station long before trying to land Marten or any male of her species.  If men are of her species.  Marten and Willow now has a large possibility of hilarity as they try to untangle their past relationships enough to get it on. 

But it's JJs story, and he'll tell it the way he'll tell it.

I seriously don't follow at all. WHat do you mean by 'attached'? Romantically? Only Hanners is not romantically attached at the moment. In other ways? I don't see how Marten is less attached to Hanners as he is to Faye.

ALso, why speculating on Marten w either Hanners or Willow? He has been in a stable relationship with Claire for a long time, so I don't really get what the poin of your post is here.(?)

[dutchrvl]

What Id like to see:  Claire gets the job, she and Marten break up.  Claire is never seen again.  Comic focuses more on Marten/Faye/Dora/Hannelore again.  No more Claire.  Bubbles can definitely stay though. Bubbles is great.

What will actually happen: Not that

So you want to go back to about 10 years ago? got it 

[cesium133]

... Claire is never seen again.  Comic focuses more on Marten/Faye/Dora/Hannelore again. ...

Of those 4, only Marten and Hanners aren't attached.  I tried to imagine Marten and Hanners attached (Mannalore?) and my imaginer spewed fire/toasted bits and stalked off in a huff.  So yeah, not that.

If anything, I can see Hanners returning to orbit and making a play for Station long before trying to land Marten or any male of her species.  If men are of her species.  Marten and Willow now has a large possibility of hilarity as they try to untangle their past relationships enough to get it on. 

But it's JJs story, and he'll tell it the way he'll tell it.

I seriously don't follow at all. WHat do you mean by 'attached'? Romantically? Only Hanners is not romantically attached at the moment. In other ways? I don't see how Marten is less attached to Hanners as he is to Faye.

ALso, why speculating on Marten w either Hanners or Willow? He has been in a stable relationship with Claire for a long time, so I don't really get what the poin of your post is here.(?)

The post that Wingy responded to was hoping that Claire and Marten would break up. If that were the case, then Marten would be unattached.

[traroth]

Nobody pointed out the paradox we are facing: if Marten is willing to follow Claire wherever she goes, which means leaving his job, why wouldn't he leave his job TO HER so they don't have to move?

[sitnspin]

First, she wants to earn her job, not just be given it. And, two, she doesn't want Martins job, she wants to be a librarian, he's just a shelf stocker.

[Penquin47]

Also, there's a profound difference between "I am choosing my relationship over my job because my girlfriend is moving well beyond commuting range and we don't want to do long-distance" and "meh, instead of me being in a stable job that I enjoy and my girlfriend looking to find a job in her field while she works at the coffee shop to pay the bills, maybe I should give her my job that's not even what she's looking for and look for work to pay the bills."  One is priorities.  The other is just... ridiculous.

[derris_kharlan]

What Id like to see:  Claire gets the job, she and Marten break up.  Claire is never seen again.  Comic focuses more on Marten/Faye/Dora/Hannelore again.  No more Claire.  Bubbles can definitely stay though. Bubbles is great.

What will actually happen: Not that

So you want to go back to about 10 years ago? got it 

Not go back so much as refocus back on those characters and their stories and interactions with each other.  I realize it’s a hope in vain, Jeph has clearly decided he prefers to move on and focus on other characters, but I just don’t enjoy them as much (except Bubbles. Bubbles is awesome)

[dutchrvl]

First, she wants to earn her job, not just be given it. And, two, she doesn't want Martins job, she wants to be a librarian, he's just a shelf stocker.

^This. Let's not forget that the job Claire wants and has studied hard for, is very very different from the job Marten has. I think this may have to do with a general misperception as to what a librarian is/does. Many (including myself until not that many years ago) think of a librarian as the nice lady at our local small-town library who helps me find books and does the checking in/out and reshelving, but actual librarians (with degrees) do a lot more than that.

[DreDotJs]

I'm thinking it's going to go:  Claire gets the job, but has to work remotely from home because there's nowhere for humans to live in Cubetown, so they get to stay in Northhampton.

Edit: OR, they want to offer her the job, but cancel the offer when they find out she's human instead of AI.

Once again, in either case, I feel that would have mentioned it the job advertisement if they were offering remote work or if they required an AI.

I mean, Claire did say it was super vague and they're just allowing her to come up with her job on the spot, apparently. I can't imagine that they'd fight her being remote too hard, maybe assign her a coworker AI in the building to be her hands in the cube and her doing the directorial work from afar, perhaps commuting every once in a blue to check up on things.

But also honestly, even before this it felt like Jeph just wants Martin and Claire be less of a focus in favor of Faye and Bubs, Yay and Basilisk, the Vtubers and Co, etc; honestly I'm exhausted of most of the human's inane melancholia, Marten has not gotten any less directionless and boring, and I'm kind of in love with the whole new wave so the new focus personally is not a problem for me (except I love Claire's Type A, I relate so hard, so I'll miss her).

My guess is that Claire and Marten will move, and we'll have an arc or two focusing on them getting settled and into hijinks with the other AIs before another one pops up in about 3-4 arcs from now.

I'm kinda hoping that by the time Martin and Claire visit:
- The AI repair shop will at least be profitable, if not thriving
- The VTubers have to do at least one con (bonus points if members of the gang not in the know go to the Con to see them and hilarity ensues)
- Basilisk and Beeps will have gotten at least one case off the ground successfully (maybe they'll need to enlist Cubetown for fundraising?)
- Yay gets to spend more time with Aurelia (too gd wholesome for that to have been a one-off moment)
- Clinton and Elliott are thinking move-in (so Claire will need to be the big sister again, as much as they bicker it's too gd wholesome when they're supportive of each other)
- Winslow and Momo get to do... literally anything

That's my hope, anyway

[traroth]

First, she wants to earn her job, not just be given it.

That's my whole point: She doesn't just want a job, she wants to find it heself. So they have to move and lose all their friends in order to humor her.

And, two, she doesn't want Martins job, she wants to be a librarian, he's just a shelf stocker.

Please enlight me, what's the difference?

[BenRG]

And, two, she doesn't want Martins job, she wants to be a librarian, he's just a shelf stocker.

Please enlight me, what's the difference?

I was quite surprised when I learned this. An actual college-qualified Librarian is also trained in doing things like research based on documents in the library, working out how to index items and the care of antique books.

I suspect that one of the reasons Cubetown wants a librarian as they would be expected to be able to keep information organised and properly categorised rather than just stacked correctly.

[Tova]

I mean, the fact that Claire has recently completed comprehensive exams alone should hopefully tip you off that there may be more to it than stacking shelves, no?

[traroth]

That just means that Marten is not really qualified for his job. But I think that was a given from the start.

[Mr_Rose]

That just means that Marten is not really qualified for his job. But I think that was a given from the start.

Nah, he’s qualified to be a shelf-stacker … but that’s about it. Does he even do the issues and returns?

[BenRG]

People miss this a lot but Marten is not employed as a Librarian. As far as I can tell, he's an administrator (functionally the deputy manager) who reports to Tai. Everything else is just a "while you're here, why don't you...?" extra chore.

[Storel]

And, two, she doesn't want Martins job, she wants to be a librarian, he's just a shelf stocker.

Please enlight me, what's the difference?

I was quite surprised when I learned this. An actual college-qualified Librarian is also trained in doing things like research based on documents in the library, working out how to index items and the care of antique books.

My mother worked for many years as a medical librarian at some major hospitals/medical centers. Their libraries consist of medical textbooks, reference books, medical journals (of which there are hundreds), and probably lots more that I don't recall/never knew. Back issues of the journals have to be sent to a bookbinder to be bound into hardback volumes, and books with damaged covers sometimes have to be rebound as well. Doctors request database searches on various medical topics, often for patients with unusual/rare diagnoses, and the librarian has to perform those searches which then come up with references to books, and articles from medical journals, that the library may not have on hand and will have to request through interlibrary loan from various sources. (Mom took several courses on searching databases in Library School, and these databases are not Google-searchable; many of them have been around since long before the Internet existed, much less Google.)

And of course, the head librarian is also a department manager and has to do managerial stuff like managing a good-sized staff, doing performance reviews, hiring and firing, and making out annual budget requests.

[traroth]

That just means that Marten is not really qualified for his job. But I think that was a given from the start.

Nah, he’s qualified to be a shelf-stacker … but that’s about it. Does he even do the issues and returns?

I don't think "shelf-stacker" is really a job.

[St.Clair]

That just means that Marten is not really qualified for his job. But I think that was a given from the start.

Nah, he’s qualified to be a shelf-stacker … but that’s about it. Does he even do the issues and returns?

I don't think "shelf-stacker" is really a job.

It is in retail.

[immortalfrieza]

My guess is that Claire and Marten will move, and we'll have an arc or two focusing on them getting settled and into hijinks with the other AIs before another one pops up in about 3-4 arcs from now.

I'm kinda hoping that by the time Martin and Claire visit:
- The AI repair shop will at least be profitable, if not thriving
- The VTubers have to do at least one con (bonus points if members of the gang not in the know go to the Con to see them and hilarity ensues)
- Basilisk and Beeps will have gotten at least one case off the ground successfully (maybe they'll need to enlist Cubetown for fundraising?)
- Yay gets to spend more time with Aurelia (too gd wholesome for that to have been a one-off moment)
- Clinton and Elliott are thinking move-in (so Claire will need to be the big sister again, as much as they bicker it's too gd wholesome when they're supportive of each other)

That's my hope, anyway

Honestly I could see this being the best idea. Marten has gotten more time in this current arc just up to now than he has in years. There was a time when Marten leaving or really doing anything with his life would've pretty much ripped the whole comic asunder because of how central he was to everybody, but that time has long since passed. It's gotten to the point that the last and only "arc" for a long time he has had was about Marten giving up on his hopes and dreams completely and thinking of getting some job that's barely even related to it (and that Marten has never shown any aptitude or training for) that he also hasn't mentioned since.  Clarie's involvement in the comic has been pretty minimal too, with her rare moments around either being about becoming a librarian or occasionally butting into her brother Clinton's relationships. Neither of them even really show up to be part of an occasional joke anymore.

Now, Jeph has been known to take characters out of focus for long periods of time before, but it's obvious he's lost any interest in Marten in particular and his interest in Marten had been waning for a long time before that. I'm not surprised by this though. Deathmole was the only attempt to give Marten something to try to do with his life other than his romantic relationships. Deathmole hasn't even been referred to in over a decade and once Marten got together with Claire and thus got an actually healthy relationship that well dried up. Thus, having Marten and Clarie move away, get up to things in Cubetown for a bit and then disappear from the comic completely except for when they decide to drop by North Hampton for a visit every so often wouldn't really be any different from how things are now. Like how Hanners basically dropped out of the comic after her confrontation with her mother for a long time before coming back except for them it's on a drop in/drop out basis.

- Winslow and Momo get to do... literally anything

On that note, as much as the A.I.s have shifted to be the focus more and more over the years I'd say only Bubbles has been allowed to have any arc or life except maybe Roko with the nonprofit. In fact, Bubbles and Roko have had much more involved arcs than any other A.I. character in the comic so far. Momo and Winslow have in general done very little that isn't involving their human companions... pretty much their entire existence. Pintsize has always been a gag character and continues to be even after getting a humanlike body. The A.I.s in general need some driving motivation in their lives beyond being one off gags and hanging out with their humans.

As for the human characters in general... it seems like Jeph has been moving them into healthy relationships in recent years and then they become less and less focused after it happens. My guess is now that they don't have relationship drama to deal with anymore the humans lack anything interesting to do with them. I think the comic has been shifting over to the A.I.s because Jeph is unable or unwilling to come up with some long term driving motivation for the humans outside of their romantic relationships while the A.I.s have much more room for development. Ironically because Jeph as been focusing on the human characters over the A.I.s (which he has admitted before) so much while the A.I.s have been one off gags most of the time and thus never got that much development before.