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Claire In A Nutshell (Patreon)

Published:
2023-02-19 02:16:57
Edited:
2023-02-19 13:41:32
Imported:
2026-06

Content

that's Claire!

Files

Comments

Joel Bateman

Just curious, how old is the science goblin?

Daniel S

“She’s a librarian. That’s what they *do.*”

TwoRavens

Yeah, Claire can channel Aurelia's mom energy. And she does not temper it with weed. Don't run, child. You'll only die tired.

LH

is that Marten tipping the "coffee" down the sink in panel 1

Byron Wright

Unreasonably stopped force will soon meet a very moving object.

Captain Button

Two years older than a child prodigy who got two PhDs, so late teens to 20 at the highest I'd think.

Tannerbot

You cannot escape our help. We will walk into your life and improve it and you cannot stop us.

Joseph Bonnar

Oh dear god. This, Jeph, THIS is why I joined your patreon. THIS!

Andrew

I’ll be back. With a binder, and post-its.

Thisguy

"If you wanted to hide your failure from the new librarian, you kind of shouldn't have told her boyfriend"

Michael Boettger

Claire meets her, the two bond, and they transform Cubetown.

Tinwhisker

Please, I need that to happen. I NEED Claire to start running Cube town, starting with her.

Sero

This is possibly the most amazing response Marten could have dished out. I love it (and hopefully it works for this goblin!) Never is there shame in getting help ❤

Bill Silvia

She's not a kid anymore, she's just small.

Peter McDevitt

No; this is Claire in a nutshell: "Help, Help- I'm in a nutshell! PINTSIZE! GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!"

Bill Silvia

I don't think transitioning her gender presentation will solve her - Oh, you meant the other type of binder, didn't you?

Todd Ellner

Marten will be an excellent Dad

Likeablejerk

I'd say she was probably 18 at hiring (since she made a point to say "I'm an adult!" during her introduction speech) and she's been there two years, so 20 is probably a safe bet.

Bill Silvia

Marten is so happy to be giving therapy advice to someone who won't punch him.

Matt Grayson

I had an office mate who went to college at 12, grad school at 16, so even he’d have been 20 getting his PhD. Poor guy was miserable. Don’t EVER let a child prodigy go quickly through school. Let them develop fusion reactors at home, learn a dozen languages, but for god’s sake, don’t let them be four years younger than their classmates.

Joseph Bonnar

Yes, the rumors ARE true. Claire can juggle TANKS!

Orion Rhine

Getting help was one of the best things I ever did. Admitting that I could not do it on my own was, and still is, one of the worst things I ever faced.

Joel Bateman

I just think science goblin is neat.

Colin McBride

This is absolutely Peridot's voice, especially the last panel.

Chris Gropp

As predictable as it is delightful to witness.

ValdVin

So, did the flashback in present-time take so long that the unfinished coffee is stale? Marten is pouring (legally defined as-) coffee down the sink. I will also accept the idea that the coffee was so bad that most of it's down the sink now.

Kaleb

“Relentless and unstoppable” - I love it!

Clifton Royston

He sacrificed his palate for the sake of communication, but he doesn't want anybody else to suffer because of this coffee.

James Redekop

I went back and looked, and you're right. And now every one of her word balloons sounds like Peridot. She's like an angry little slice of pie.

Greg Matyola

And that’s why she’ll take the job, Marten!

Bill Silvia

I'm wondering if he finished a cup, is about to leave, and feared that if he didn't clean up after himself, Cubetown would eventually develop a new fungal-based resident

Clifton Royston

Thank you so much, Jeph, for bringing in Claire as a force of Good. This story line is a delight, and I can't wait to see what happens next. (Also, I really was not expecting to meet so many former child-prodigies in the comments.)

Adam

That big ol' dork loves and respects Claire so much. Very cute.

Clifton Royston

Yes, that's been my prediction too. I hope we are correct.

Mad Marie

Binders full of women?

Drazi

I don't like that I got old and stupid. Smart brain should last longer. As least long enough for the upload to finish.

Michael Boettger

And perhaps Claire gets a little sister type.

Bill Silvia

I don't consider myself a prodigy, but apparently my elementary school wanted me to skip a grade or two while my mother wanted to hold me back a grade (because I had Liz's social skills) and they compromised by doing nothing.

Jeremy J Nickurak

Come with me if you want to be grow as a self-actualized human.

Mad Marie

“Come with me, whether you want to live, or not.”

Andrew

Um yeah, just the ring binder kind, whoops slightly ambiguous there.

BobC

Plus, Claire doesn't even need to be TOLD! She's Claire-voyant!

Katrina Urmson

Bahahahahaha! Marten’s face in panel 6.

KapsLocked

Marten (and probably Claire later on) taking down the embodiment of imposter syndrome.... classic XD

D

Somebody's about to get adopted!

jimbo

hafta say, Jeph does precocious young kids really well and with a lot of empathy!!!

Rémi Beaulieu-Dubé

if we're to believe Moray's speech. Currently she is a "child genius" + 2 years.

Anton

This is SO satisfying.

Miyaa

GDI Bob. Two minutes in the pun-alty box! (This is Canada after all.)

Miyaa

Being designated as “gifted” when you’re just autistic, have ADHD, some other kind of neurodivergent weirdness, or a combination of all three is just the worst.

Captain Button

I skipped 9th grade* and could have skipped 12th but decided not to. * I took 9th grade English in 10th and Algebra from a tutor. I'm not sure what else you learn in 9th grade, but I've never missed it.

Miyaa

First action: fill goblin genius’s room with balls so she can experience the joy of a ball pit.

BobC

Woah. Is Yay here too?

Czarzhan

"That Librarian is out there. She can be bargained with. She can even be reasoned with. But she absolutely will not stop. EVER. Until you are in a good place."

Paul Veselovsky

Martin was never seen or heard from again. She ran the simulations and it was the only way.

Serene

She does need a Claire in her life right now, to be fair. She can relate to being... "different", than others, though in a different way.

Andrew

And in the archives file them.

Matthew Van Gangelen

You fool. You foolish, foolish, fool. There is no escape now.

Sean Kinlin

But it's perfectly normal social skills to think that Marten will be more willing to go along with what Liz wants that to be up front with his partner.

Doug DeJulio

I am not sure I have ever respected him more.

GodsInTheCogs

At least we know Claire will take the job offer for no other reason than the sake of this lil goblin

Sean Kinlin

You know she can't, she won't, and she don't STOP. Elizabeth is getting rocked by the Claire shot.

Joseph Bonnar

Same here, Orion. Getting help kept me from comitting suicide, but asking for it was almost impossibly difficult. Just... You aren't alone.

YsabetJustYsabet

CLAIRE: "Shut up, you freakishly intelligent goblin child, and let me love you and make your world better!" Also: Nobody can be an *active* genius without a project to work on. Trying to think in a vacuum leads to building Goldsbergian devices which only exist to write "I AM AN IDIOT" a thousand times on a blackboard in fifteen seconds flat.

Likeablejerk

a one ring binder would be terrible for holding papers neatly. You really need at least two, but three is better.

Likeablejerk

Nah, too risky. If she thought Claire was dangerous before, she's not ready for her John Wick era.

Yelling Bird

They wouldn't let me do stuff like that when I was a librarian. I mean, there was a LOOOOOOONG list of things I wasn't allowed to do, but 'helping people work through psychological trauma against their will' was in there.

William Cole

100% to all of the above. The stigma our culture attaches to "getting help" is an atrocity.

Tudza

"Come with me if you want to be productive."

William Cole

Marten has an uncanny ability to say the right thing to people who are in crisis. Which is a good thing since he attracts them everywhere he goes.

MikeT

Marten works with what he has and is also not afraid to wield Claire as a weapon

Andrew Mitchell

OK, I'm not to cool to admit I giggle-snorted.

wargrunt42

Last comic: Martin pours himself a cup of coffee This comic: dumps entire pot down the sink Must have somehow managed to be even worse than Denny's coffee, which is quite an impressive feat! I swear they go out each morning, scrape up some fresh road tar, boil it in acid for eight hours and call it close enough.

Finvaara

Bwahahaha! Resistance is futile! You will be assisted.

Joseph Bonnar

Alive or dead, you are coming with me.

SpookyPenguin

that face he makes in the last frame, a ninja making the last stroke of the secret technique

Bagge

THE INTROVERT'S WORST NIGHTMARE - A BUSYBODY!

Marc Pengryffyn

As someone who actually has a cognitive impairment due to chronic illness, I really don't like this snotty little girl. Someone who thinks they're smarter than everyone, and whose go-to response to any challenge is to insult the others' intelligence? That's Elon Musk in a female child's body. Insulting to people like me, who despite our cognitive struggles treat other people decently. A nasty character, I hope she disappears soon. And don't come at me about fiction and character-development - I've been abused and insulted too much over my sixty years to care. Pity, I was enjoying this story arc until she appeared, and now I'll have to avoid the whole thing. Added later: Actually, fuck it. My disability is not a punchline, I'm done supporting this comic. Sorry Jeph, it's been fun until now, but I can't support anything that punches down on people like me.

legobil

Yessssssssss.

legobil

Double PhD at 18 is truly impressive. It would totally explain why she has no social or real life skills. But I also have a hard time understanding how she got double PhD that young, it would most likely require some kind of work inside a team or group , and she doesn’t seem very good at that.

legobil

The can did say, “legally coffee” and One Dollar Beans.

legobil

Elizabeth is the biggest opponent to the Ballpit Caucas. Her lab and office is the entire fourth quadrant. It makes sense.

legobil

In my head canon Cube Town drains lead to some facility where a monster eats sewage and poops out ocean nutrients. Even if this legally was coffee, that monster is now getting super caffeinated.

Wednesday

You’re probably never going to see this, for which I’m sorry. I sympathize, I truly do — no one who says “am I having a stroke” expects me to do a FAST eval, check their working memory, or ask about their headaches — but *academia is rife with people who behave this way* to some extent or another. Teeming. If you’re not brilliant, you’re not a *person* to them. I’ve met so many of them. I don’t believe Jeph would be doing this environment justice if there wasn’t at least one self-hating, ableist “genius” crumbling under the pressure to perform and publish. We often hate what we fear. She fears not being what she’s hyped up to be, and cognitive impairment is the opposite of her hype. And it sucks to come up against that, because QC’s Northampton is such a welcoming, warm bubble and Cubetown is… not. I truly don’t believe this kid is punching down on people like us in a way we’re supposed to view as funny or relatable. It hurts to see stuff like that, but some stories need unpleasant edges to be told right. Or at least well. You don’t have to agree with me, but I wanted you to know (again, if this ever crosses your radar) that someone saw this who knows how much it can hurt when these things come up, even if they have meaning and weight required by the story.

Andrew

Sauron had a 19-ring binder to keep them all organised.

PixelThis

and they never ever found Marten's body...

ellafine

Uhm did she somehow think he would *not* tell Claire? I guess this is where it would be useful to have a little more experience with...people

ellafine

I wasn't super comfortable with that line either, even if it was delivered by an unlikable character

Marc Pengryffyn

Thank you. I appreciate your kindness. If she were a real person, it might be different, but she's a fiction. Jeph has made a choice to write her like this, to write her saying these things which are unbelievably hurtful to people with impairments. He's chosen to make our disability his punchline. I don't care about whatever story he's trying to tell if that's the way he's going about it. If hurting people who are already marginalized is the only way to tell a story, should that story be told? It's like comedians who's only way to make humour is to insult marginalized people - take Chris Rock publicly shaming Jada Pinkett Smith for her alopecia, for the sake of a joke. The community at large has determined that bullying of a person with an illness for laughs is fine, while defending a person being bullied is not. No joke is funny if it punches down. No story is worth telling if it punches down.

ellafine

I really don't like Elizabeth, and if she's gonna be a regular character she needs some serious attitude adjustments. I can't even begin to unpack all the problems with her side of this conversation, between the self-loathing, ableism, arrogance, and presumption about what Marten will do with this information

ellafine

Idk, I'm not feeling much empathy for her right now; I think the insults and arrogance went a little too far.

Minzoku Bokumetsu

had one story from a doctor who said grad school doesn't make one smarter, it just keeps people from getting real-world experience sooner; he then went on to describe calling the police/campus security to help him with the fact his keys were locked in his car, so the officer reached through the OPEN WINDOW to retrieve them

ellafine

You make good points, Marc. To reply to what Wednesday said, I'm not sure this panel does enough of a job conveying the inappropriateness or the "weight" as you said of Elizabeth's comments. Towards the end it tilts up again towards the humorous, with Marten taunting her about Claire and her exaggerated "OH GOD THE RUMORS ARE TRUE." I don't feel like her attitude is addressed in a way that makes it clear we're not supposed to approve. Marten didn't say anything about it directly, for example. If characters can be used to relay heavy and painful topics, then other characters are needed to give the perspective and context. Jeph does a decent job on this kind of balancing act, I think, most of the time but I think this is a fail.

Marc Pengryffyn

Thank you for the support - really I'm expecting to get royally dumped on by all the able-ists for not being able to take a joke. I've discontinued my support for this comic, but it looks like I'm still getting notifications, probably until the end of the month.

ellafine

Marc, TBH I hope Jeph sees our comments and takes them into consideration for the future

ellafine

One more observation: she seems to want respect (being seen as an adult, being called by her full name) but has literally no clue how to show respect to other people.

Marc Pengryffyn

I hope he sees them, responds in real time and withdraws and rewrites the offensive story-line. That would be the action of an ally, not an enemy. I'll be very, very surprised he does.

Dean Reilly

Likeablejerk: my thought is that someone who's an adult doesn't make such a point of saying so at the first opportunity. She might be an emancipated minor, but I doubt she's 18 yet. Which is why it's important that Marten is being the adult here.

darklion

Just rub it in why don't ya

Amy Gilroy

I think deep down Elizabeth knew that this was going to happen. She just doesn't want to admit it to herself.

Kyle

your simulations have failed, small baby child

Czarzhan

Not to diminish what you're going through, but her saying that line is not "making it his punchline". Sometimes you have to write a bad (or an insensitive) guy doing (or saying) bad (or insensitive) things to show they are that way. She's already shown she's young and a nerd and a bit of a jerk. That's the kind of thing a nerdy jerk would say. Knowing Jeph, she will be called on this in a future comic. But you can't have character growth without having a place to grow from.

Czarzhan

Like I said in the other reply chain, you can't have character growth without a place to grow from.

Marc Pengryffyn

I'm copying-and-pasting this from a previous reply, because I can't be bothred typing the same thing twice - Jeph has made a choice to write her like this, to write her saying these things which are unbelievably hurtful to people with impairments. He's chosen to make our disability his punchline. I don't care about whatever story he's trying to tell if that's the way he's going about it. If hurting people who are already marginalized is the only way to tell a story, should that story be told? It's like comedians who's only way to make humour is to insult marginalized people - take Chris Rock publicly shaming Jada Pinkett Smith for her alopecia, for the sake of a joke. The community at large has determined that bullying of a person with an illness for laughs is fine, while defending a person being bullied is not. No joke is funny if it punches down. No story is worth telling if it punches down. - So, it's on Jeph what kind of story he wants to tell and how he tells it. If he's going to include something that punches down, no matter who says it or what his story goals are, he has to make it clear immediately that it's unacceptable, otherwise it's just a punchline. Doing it in the future is too late, the damage is already done.

Ralf Paul

"Jeph Jacqueron's The Librarinator"

Arto Rantala

Nah, this idea of a writer being as bad as the worst character they create is ruining literature today. It takes creativity and mastery in being able to relate to something you're not, to come up with a character that expresses things in ways one doesn't personally approve of. The only question you should be asking is: "Are there people in the real world, who would use this expression?" If the answer is yes, then it is perfectly alright to include such a character in a story, even if it makes some people uncomfortable. Not every story is a sweet bedtime story filled with nothing but cozy affirmation that the world is a beautiful place with no flaws or assholes. If you personally are offended by characters in stories behaving offensively, then you are well within your rights to not read or support such stories. But to paint the author of such a story as offensive, for including an offensively behaving person in a story, is antithetical to the entire concept of creativity. You might just as well condemn any author of a murder mystery for creating a character who kills another person in a story. Is such an author a murderer in your mind? I want to read a story with assholes behaving like assholes in it. Not because I enjoy that, but because when they're well written, it can show what ends up happening to those assholes when they are assholes around other people. That teaches me to not be an asshole, lest the same happens to me. To Jeph I want to say: Thank you for filling your stories with good people, bad people, ambiguous people, and most of all people who learn from their mistakes. We all sorely need more examples of that.

ValdVin

Upvoted, as I'm always up for a creative twist on the trope of "empty awful drink into potted plant, which dies in seconds".

Marc Pengryffyn

And the author has only one way to portray that assholery? They have no choice but to portray it in a way that will do actual harm to some vulnerable readers?And they have no responsibility to the people they hurt in the telling of their story? I'm sorry, I profoundly disagree with your vision of the heroic author with a responsibility only to 'truth'.

Andrew Armstrong

I agree with Wednesday. This ongoing story is not a critique of people like us who have chronic illnesses - in my case ME which causes brain fog, a bunch of stuff that causes pain (distracting at best) plus, for a while, "chemo brain". No, it is a story about characters who are believable and fit, in the science-fictional situation they are in. Some people are like that, and it is fair to portray them in fiction.

Emmu Lah

“I’m fine” and “I’m desperate” in the same argument. Gods, I relate so much.

Sehrys

i really don't like her, which is unfortunate because i relate to parts of her character a lot. i think it's an interesting arc though and i'm very curious to see where Jeph is going to take it. i personally like having unlikable characters in a story, and i also don't think every side character has to grow and change and become likeable. there are lots of other things you can do with characters that don't include them becoming better people EDIT: reading other people's comments i do believe it would be helpful for him to explicitly communicate his own stance on ableism though. no matter his intentions, if what he writes and puts out on a super popular platform hurts and harms marginalised people (in this case people with cognitive disabilities), i think he should address it. of course it's his choice what he wants to write and how he wants to interact with his audience. i do believe it could be very helpful though

enchantedsleeper

This is where my predictions fell apart, because I thought for sure there was more to this than "make her give up the job so I won't be found out". I guess I credited Elizabeth with too much logic xD

Emmu Lah

I’m autistic, and I had a severe brain injury about a decade ago that I’m still struggling with. That line hit me pretty hard too. But I don’t think that line was meant to be delivered as comedic. I think Elizabeth is just someone who is immature and has Child Prodigy expectations and has likely never had to think compassionately about other people before. Faye was a character who also started out as quite mean and unreliable, and she grew quite a bit. I don’t think you’re wrong for having the reaction you’re having, and I know what it’s like to have my trauma triggered by stuff like this. I used to be someone quite like Elizabeth until my injury, and I’ve spent a long time trying to pick up the prices and figure out who I am. I want to see where Jeph is taking this.

Emmu Lah

If it hurts you enough that the first time a character acts unpleasantly like this it makes you want to drop the comic and leave the Patreon, I think you should do that to protect yourself. But as for Jeph, he’s shown himself to be open to criticism many times before and for me, that makes it worth waiting for him to hear comments like this and do something about it.

Unkn0wabl3

The goblin must see the light!

Jeph Jacques

It was meant to be a shitty thing to say, but not to the point that it actually made readers feel hurt. Will change it to “are you stupid” or something a little less down-punchy.

Marc Pengryffyn

Thank You for your kindness. I'm still receiving reply notifications, at least for now, and probably will until the end of the month. It's not the 'unpleasantness' of the character that bothers me. I'm fine with character development. Bubbles wasn't exactly a sympathetic character at first either. It's the unchecked use of an ableist insult. Wouldn't it be different if the insult she used was racial, sexual or religious? Wouldn't that be considered an unacceptable thing to include in the comic? Why is insulting the cognitively impaired not as bad as insulting people for their race, orientation or religion? Why should a writer get a pass for that and not for the others? You're right that Jeph may be open to criticism, and I may alter my decision to leave the Patreon if he does the right thing

Marc Pengryffyn

Thank You. I appreciate it. I'll consider my further support for the comic once the shaking stops.

Mad Marie

Who’s the best DJ?

Gillian Brown

Can definitely see why he loves her.

Marc Pengryffyn

One thing I'll add, since Jeph has seen this and is taking action, I was taught as a child that if you inadvertently hurt someone, it's common courtesy to apologize. This might seem petty, but for people who spend their whole life not being seen, being treated with simple courtesy is important.

Mad Marie

A Clairemore sword.

Mad Marie

@Jeph: perhaps “Are you even listening to me?!”

Marc Pengryffyn

I'm sorry I don't understand what you mean.

Mark

With an emotional age of 12.

Mark

One to two years younger than my classmates was bad enough for me. The effect of kipping 1st grade was exacerbated by me being born late in the year, so I was only just 5 when I started school anyway.

Marc Pengryffyn

Thank You. Apology accepted, on my behalf at least.

Thisguy

To this day, in the depths of the basement, late at night, you can hear the sounds of indy music, but no source...

Jeph Jacques

no problem! Thanks for the helpful feedback.

Matt Grayson

On the other hand, she’s a perfect representation of a child prodigy. Music and math - I’ve known too many. Very few escape with any kind of personality development. Most are stuck at whatever age their “genius” was discovered, which means around 4 years old. The crisis comes when their age no longer matters. So you’re 22 instead of 26. No one cares. No one likes you. They frequently just dissolve.

Mrpink

Marten's smug(gy) face in the last panel :p

Miyaa

Marie NO

Miyaa

I actually like that I’m stupid now. It’s like getting drunk but without the alcohol. Getting old is a different matter.

Miyaa

Clinton & Elliot move to Cubetown. Clinton meets Elizabeth. He immediately apologizes to Claire realizing how much of a jerk he’s been all his life.

Miyaa

The Trapper Keeper® of Doom™

Phil A

Honestly, I'm tired of her already. I know Jeff's going somewhere with this, but there are so many interesting characters already that the few panels we get to see each day don't feel like enough to keep up with everyone I already know and care about.

Orion Rhine

I think she needs to be a little taller to be considered a Clairemore,

Jon Guyer

Did it start as a long list?

Miyaa

I feel Jeph will resolves this by essentially splitting QC into two comics or subcomics. There’s the Northampton MA USA branch, and then the Cubetown, PEI, Canada version. Maybe if he distributes our attention and time right, maybe we will get more of the characters we feel need more of a spotlight.

Miyaa

Hannerlore, obviously

ellafine

Yeah I'm getting really tired of Cube town and I'd like to focus on Dora and Kai's wedding or something. Or Clinton and Eliot.

ellafine

Good points, thank you

Todd Ellner

Marten in panel 3 is straight-up Veronica

ellafine

That's sad. I wish Jeph had made her a little less *mean* though. It's hard to feel sympathy. I mean, someone pointed out elsewhere on this thread not all characters need to be likeable, but at this point we've spent so much time on her character development that I don't think she only has a singular purpose (e.g. "show how weird/dysfunctional Cubetown is") It would have been nice if Marten had called her on the "cognitively impaired" insult. But then there probably wasn't room for that in the dialogue, since he had to deliver the next plot twist. (And since it was important that he deliver that, we know that there is more development of that plot point ahead...) We'll see where this goes, but I hope her nastiness gets addressed somehow in a way that shows *why* it was particularly nasty. She places a lot of stock in intelligence, to the point where any perceived lack means that person is beneath her and the idea of not being able to use her "genius brain" is a fate worse than death, so to speak. She's desperate, as she said herself, because she identifies 100% with this inflated genius brain and has no idea who she is without it, and that's terrifying.

Jax

Or what kind of cereal is Steve eating.

Matt Grayson

Neil Gaiman has the best impostor syndrome anecdote EVER. I won't spoil it, but look it up. You won't be sorry, and you may never suffer from it again.

ellafine

Agree, it does kinda feel like she set herself up.

Fart Captor

Oh thank God, this is EXACTLY what the gremlin needs. Actual guidance and feedback

Harry Adams

@arto What was the original? I'm guessing it's been changed because doesn't seem to be any issue.

BobC

You got that right. After the first episode, this entire comic BECAME a cerealization!

BobC

Young geniuses and old idiots can be very similar. The first knows it all, and the second has seen/done it all. Each can result in bizarre pronouncements and extreme self-expectations. I used to be the former (to a lesser degree than Liz) and I'm now the latter. I'm not really sure what I was during the between-time. Probably an ass-hat all the way through.

Jake Cotter

Cubetown is off the coast of Nova Scotia, not PEI

David Durant

Thanks Bob. Now I'm in my 50s I want some succinct way to put that on a t-shirt...

BobC

I'm thinking a tattoo, so I don't lose it in the laundry.

Joseph Bonnar

Looked it up, wasn't sorry. Thanks, Matt.

NinjaZaku

Liz could never have predicted HEALTHY COMMUNICATION

Diptych

Yeah, I'm just now realising that I've read this entire thread without knowing what the objectionable language actually was.

Brooks Moses

It does seem to correlate with liking QC, though.

Pejo

Marten's facial expressions are all win this strip. It's only fair since Elizabeth has had all the good expressions since her introduction.

Clifton Royston

Getting old is weird because I still feel basically like I'm a teenage weirdo, only now I'm an old teenage weirdo.

BobC

OK. This inversion of the norm totally rocks. I am greatly ashamed I didn't think of it first.

BobC

I don't know if it is truly relevant or not, but I've had one experience with a child prodigy about a decade later. She was so unhappy. She felt she had wasted her potential and was merely "getting by" in life. I'm smart, but I'm no genius or prodigy. I really didn't understand her "lived experience". So I engaged her in games, puzzles, and quandries. Stuff that had no closed numerical solutions. She responded with mild interest, as if surprised a dim bulb like me could illuminate her world. But I fed her hunger, asking her "obvious" questions that had no simple answers. Then she friggin' jumped my bones. I was shocked to get such a reaction, but being a former sailor, I was totally down with it. She needed to merge her intellect with the "real world". I was that conduit. She left me three months later. She had totally outgrown what I could offer, and I was kinda OK with that. Some of us advance in leaps, rather than gradually. My rule in life is merely to be useful. For now, if not forever. I'm totally OK with being left behind. After all, the launch pad never makes it to orbit, right?

BobC

Shit. I just read my own comment. I didn't mean to share so much. I was going to delete it, or edit it to something safer. But no. I'm amazed that I have had anything to offer to people so much smarter than me. The thing is, we all have a place. And that place changes. That place may define us, or it may define others. Or we may meet in the middle. I'm not in any way religious. But I deeply identify with the concept of being blessed, and being a blessing to others. So many folks have helped me to be more than I could ever be on my own. And I know I have helped others. So. Never look down on others, for they may be your trampoline to greatness. Or you may be their trampoline to their greatness. Either way works, right?

BobC

STFU. I now want flannels and axes.

BobC

@Wednesday. First, thanks for your cogent observations. (EDIT. This comment was originally much longer, but it somehow got chopped, and I'm kinda OK with that.)

Clifton Royston

Marten uses HEALTHY COMMUNICATION. It's Super Effective!

Wednesday

You’re welcome!

Arto Rantala

@Harry, @Diptych, For the context you ask, in the original, Elizabeth used "cognitively impaired" as a pejorative, instead of "stupid," which inarguably is a very asshole thing to do.

Robert L

Speaking of apologizing for inadvertently hurting people, you *did* say about Jeph that you'd be "very, very surprised" if he chose to take "the action of an ally, not an enemy".

Marc Pengryffyn

That's not an insult to anybody, that's just a an assessment of probability based on my life experience. I am very surprised - and pleasantly so. I've communicated that to Jeph and I'm sure if he feels I owe him anything he'll tell me. Which leaves me wondering about your motivations. I've encountered many, many supposedly healthy people who can't seem to stand a marginalized person getting a win. Why do you feel it necessary to undermine a rare experience of feeling seen and respected? Again, I wonder about your motivation.

Ruth Merriam

And this is why Marten and Claire are the Ultimate Power Couple.

Diptych

I don't think it's about anyone not wanting to see you succeed. It's just that saying something like "I'll be very surprised if Jeph does the right thing" doesn't come across as "I've calculated the probabilities and this is what the majority of respondents would do in a given situation" - it comes across as "Jeph is a prick who always does the wrong thing". If that's not what you meant then, OK, fair enough, I'm not the tone police. But, it is how it came across to me, and clearly to others too, so I don't think they need an ulterior motive to wonder if you were going say anything about what looked like a direct attack on Jeph's character.

Ursus Ridens

You have to realize that however brainy Elizabeth is, she's still an extremely nerdy teenager. The world of actual people is very, very, anxiety-provoking.