Claire In A Nutshell
that's Claire!
Comments (113)
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.
And this is why Marten and Claire are the Ultimate Power Couple.
Marten's facial expressions are all win this strip. It's only fair since Elizabeth has had all the good expressions since her introduction.
Liz could never have predicted HEALTHY COMMUNICATION
Marten uses HEALTHY COMMUNICATION. It's Super Effective!
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.
Thanks Bob. Now I'm in my 50s I want some succinct way to put that on a t-shirt...
Oh thank God, this is EXACTLY what the gremlin needs. Actual guidance and feedback
Marten in panel 3 is straight-up Veronica
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.
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.
Marten's smug(gy) face in the last panel :p
Good for Martin.
Can definitely see why he loves her.
Further proof that Claire is the the best MC in the story.
Who’s the best DJ?
The goblin must see the light!
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
Good points, thank you
“I’m fine” and “I’m desperate” in the same argument. Gods, I relate so much.
your simulations have failed, small baby child
I think deep down Elizabeth knew that this was going to happen. She just doesn't want to admit it to herself.
Agree, it does kinda feel like she set herself up.
Just rub it in why don't ya
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.
Like I said in the other reply chain, you can't have character growth without a place to grow from.
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
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.
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
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
and they never ever found Marten's body...
To this day, in the depths of the basement, late at night, you can hear the sounds of indy music, but no source...
Yessssssssss.
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.
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.
THE INTROVERT'S WORST NIGHTMARE - A BUSYBODY!
that face he makes in the last frame, a ninja making the last stroke of the secret technique
Bwahahaha! Resistance is futile! You will be assisted.
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.
The can did say, “legally coffee” and One Dollar Beans.
Marten works with what he has and is also not afraid to wield Claire as a weapon
A Clairemore sword.
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.
"Come with me if you want to be productive."
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.
Did it start as a long list?
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.
Cruel, Marten.
I love this.
You know she can't, she won't, and she don't STOP. Elizabeth is getting rocked by the Claire shot.
At least we know Claire will take the job offer for no other reason than the sake of this lil goblin
I am not sure I have ever respected him more.
You fool. You foolish, foolish, fool. There is no escape now.
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.
Martin was never seen or heard from again. She ran the simulations and it was the only way.
Nah, too risky. If she thought Claire was dangerous before, she's not ready for her John Wick era.
"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."
Oook!
First action: fill goblin genius’s room with balls so she can experience the joy of a ball pit.
Elizabeth is the biggest opponent to the Ballpit Caucas. Her lab and office is the entire fourth quadrant. It makes sense.
This is SO satisfying.
Hard agree
hafta say, Jeph does precocious young kids really well and with a lot of empathy!!!
Idk, I'm not feeling much empathy for her right now; I think the insults and arrogance went a little too far.
Somebody's about to get adopted!
"Oh lord, we've adopted another one." https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2298
Marten (and probably Claire later on) taking down the embodiment of imposter syndrome.... classic XD
https://xkcd.com/1954/
Bahahahahaha! Marten’s face in panel 6.
Plus, Claire doesn't even need to be TOLD! She's Claire-voyant!
Nicely done
“Come with me, whether you want to live, or not.”
Alive or dead, you are coming with me.
Come with me if you want to be grow as a self-actualized human.
I don't like that I got old and stupid. Smart brain should last longer. As least long enough for the upload to finish.
I actually like that I’m stupid now. It’s like getting drunk but without the alcohol. Getting old is a different matter.
That big ol' dork loves and respects Claire so much. Very cute.
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.)
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.
And that’s why she’ll take the job, Marten!
“Relentless and unstoppable” - I love it!
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.
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
As predictable as it is delightful to witness.
This is absolutely Peridot's voice, especially the last panel.
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.
Yes, the rumors ARE true. Claire can juggle TANKS!
Marten will be an excellent Dad
No; this is Claire in a nutshell: "Help, Help- I'm in a nutshell! PINTSIZE! GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!"
OK, I'm not to cool to admit I giggle-snorted.
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 ❤
Marten is so happy to be giving therapy advice to someone who won't punch him.
Please, I need that to happen. I NEED Claire to start running Cube town, starting with her.
Claire meets her, the two bond, and they transform Cubetown.
Yes, that's been my prediction too. I hope we are correct.
"If you wanted to hide your failure from the new librarian, you kind of shouldn't have told her boyfriend"
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.
I’ll be back. With a binder, and post-its.
I don't think transitioning her gender presentation will solve her - Oh, you meant the other type of binder, didn't you?
Oh dear god. This, Jeph, THIS is why I joined your patreon. THIS!
You cannot escape our help. We will walk into your life and improve it and you cannot stop us.
Woah. Is Yay here too?
Two years older than a child prodigy who got two PhDs, so late teens to 20 at the highest I'd think.
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.
Unreasonably stopped force will soon meet a very moving object.
OK. This inversion of the norm totally rocks. I am greatly ashamed I didn't think of it first.
Some excellent faces
is that Marten tipping the "coffee" down the sink in panel 1
Yes. Yes, he is.
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.
“She’s a librarian. That’s what they *do.*”
Just curious, how old is the science goblin?
My guess is 18.