A Big False Alarm
whew!!!!!
Comments (76)
Now I want some bonus art what a Sludge Hermit looks like...
Sad Marten is just. I want to wrap him in a blanket...
I really like the wall's color change in panel 2. It's like the darkness just set in, y'know?
The wall didn't change color in panel 2. It was just some friendly neighborhood darkness that happened to be passing by right then.
At least now I know becoming a sludge hermit is an option.
I imagine the sewers are sparkling clean due to sludgebot and its team of friendly ratbots.
The love insecurity is real. This made me both sad and happy in the most healthily codependent way possible.
That is a weird use of the term "codependent". There's no indication either of them is addicted to alcohol or other drugs.
omg marten’s face in panel 2 🥺
Gave me worried Hanners vibes there.
There's a hole community down there. That's a pun, not an oxymoron.
Those sewer diseases are no joke.
(checks to see if there's a sludge hermit discord server)
Please post link if you find one.
i don't know how to deal with this strip; sobbing 😭 i guess
To reuse a metaphor from Faye, their relationship is a ship full of high explosives moving slowly through the harbor. If it blows up, boy will it be dramatic. (Watch out for the Imo).
i understood that reference, and i APPLAUD you for making it
The expression on the second Panel is heart wrenching
you beat me to it. poor Marten. so distraught.
Panel 3 should have been Marten: Is it… the hair…?
He could be friends with Barry and Jerry Internet
Ok, but she still hasn't said the bit that could lead to them breaking up, so...
Speaks volumes for Marty's confidence in any relationship. I mean, no offence, but thanks Dora...
Marten has more relationship issues than just what happened with Dora. The guy's got really bad luck.
Oh man. *I* need a hug now. Poor Marty.
oh man do I know that expression in panel 2
Also if the sewers are going to be anything like NYC then marten might discover a cesspit full of dead branch Covid-19 viruses like up in NYC's system.
I mean wow. Start that kind of news with "I got some news that is mostly good, might be great, or might be slightly bad. I'm not breaking up with you though so calm down."
Based on Claire's reaction in Panel 3, I'm pretty sure it did not occur to her that Martin would take it this way. She's been so busy freaking out about how he'll react to her actual news that she's probably built it up in her head as much bigger of a negative than anyone else sees it. So she wouldn't naturally be thinking "ok this is scary but what would be 10 times scarier?" I think Martin's request in Panel 4 is totally valid, but I can also fully sympathize with how Claire ended up opening the conversation this way.
So does a sewer disease also turn you into an asshole or just come from one? 🧐
Marten's going to be dealing with the aftershocks of that thought for a while
Panel 2 nearly broke my heart.
Ironically, sludge hermits are actually very gregarious and highly supportive of other sludge hermits. Living in a sewer, they’re very diseased physically, but they really know how to take care of their mental health.
Marten the C.H.U.D.?
On one hand, doing what is best for your career is important. But doing what's best for your heart is even important.
Are you really a hermit if there are many around you?
Definitely possible. Isolation amongst others is a very real phenomenon. Related: “Why are they called ‘apartments’ if they’re all stuck together?”
i think that second panel is one of the most genuinely upsetting visuals in the entire run of the comic
yeah I'm right there with you. right up there with David Willis's "Act with integrity. No regrets."
As a former sludge hermit I can relate. Its not glamorous and the pay is shite.
*Angry Upvote*
Starting a conversation with somebody new at the tail end of the conversation you had with somebody else is a recipe for confusion at best. I have experience in this field that i wish i didn't have, and i keep getting more somehow.
It's because you tend to spend time around people who are around other people, and they talk. I would recommend always going everywhere in a herd, but bathrooms and beds tend to make this difficult. Also, people tend to react negatively when you try to follow them literally everywhere.
My boss always starts things out with "We need to talk". Everybody I work with reacts with the assumption that it's something bad.
I'd worry more if they said "Good news everybody"- Professor Farnsworth
gosh i love these doofuses
If he had ended up crawling into the sewer, then the natural progression of Marten’s hairstyle would be to sprout a little lightbulb on that front lick of hair, like those deep-sea fish who live in the dark trenches.
Hanklerfish :-)
I'm with Marten. I had to ask my wife a number of times about her way of opening or redirecting a conversation. She had an MSW. She also didn't know how to start an informative statement except with "I have something to tell you", in the same tone of voice, whether she'd gotten a promotion or torn the bumper off the car. ETA: I wouldn't mind if Marten and Claire stay together as long as my wife and I.
Microsoft Word? Master of Social Work? Municipal Sewage Worker? Machine Status Word? Maximum Surface Wind? Memory Stick Walkman? Manual Shift to Working? Mission Science Workshop? Acronyms tend to seem pretty specific to the people who use them, and fairly specific to people in proximity to them. But there's only 17576 TLAs and about a gazillion things we want to say with them. For those of us who aren't in the loop, or are in proximity to several different expansions for the same acronym, they're really not clear. I'll admit I had to look up some of those, but I started with a list of more than one off the top of my head. I'll also admit that there are fewer acronym expansions for that one than most, probably because w words aren't as common.
And why did Marten "go there" so quickly?
Who *wouldn't* go there?
Okay, now that Claire has reassured him, frame the rest as positively as possible.
Now I want to see fan art of Marten as a sludge hermit.
He's been worrying all weekend!
Do sludge hermits lose all their pigment?
Yes, but in return they take on a tarry green-black-mauve tone that acts as visual camouflage and fools the chemical senses of the carnivorous slime molds which haunt the sewers
Geez, something very similar happened to me once. Just remembering that moment of miscommunication still gives me a fright. It also taught me to look, listen and ask questions before reacting. Especially when an extreme reaction "appears" appropriate.
It's possible something similar happened to me once. However, I took the extreme reaction so I don't really know if it did or not.
I would've been so depressed if Claire actually broke up with Marten
Flashbacks, Jeph! I'm getting flashbacks!
First of all, Claire, girl, never start a conversation like that. Second of all, oh my God, Marten looked SO heartbroken there. He loves her with everything he has 🥰
Claire means more to him than Dora ever did. And that's important for him to know.
Marten looks so sad.
Panel 2 Marten is the 3rd saddest thing I've seen today.
What were the other two?
Damn, Marten does very powerful puppy dog eyes. Also, heh, sludge hermit.
Well, garbage can grouch is already taken.
Inb4: Marten is now constantly worried she's gonna dump him
Oh, Martin...! He looked so sad when he thought she was breaking up with him!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Marten
Think there's any chance Pizza Girl delivers to the sewers?
Martin didn't react how I thought he would, he's usually more moppy
He's grown up a lot from "Mopey and passive" to "Chill and supportive"
God, I just want to give Marten a hug in panel 2.
Sad Marten in 2nd panel is very sad.