Decision Made
who could have seen this coming (me, I wrote it) ((but also the whole Liz thing was a surprise even to me)) (((writing is weird)))
Comments (137)
As a librarian myself, I'm just angry that I never thought of calling any of my partners "Librarian Consort." Freaking sounds awesome AND its gender neutral.
All of my arty friends are becoming therapists in their late 30's, pretty sure Marten is on the path.
Every artist who has gotten to know and care about you has gone to study therapy? Does this say something about you?
Panel 1 is as close as we're ever going to get to Clair Augustus as Kate Winslet.
Angry Claireface.
Considering Marten's original title was "office bitch", and the length of time he spent working in a position of authority in a library, do you think he'd be qualified to do HR?
...not to mention non-H R.
@Jeph. Been following since shortly after issue 1 when we first meet Marten an Pintsize. I think it’s been an amazing 5,000 issue journey for you and the characters and can’t wait to see where the future brings them. Congrats and thank you for a great strip.
Frontal nostrils are weird.
that's just how I was born :(
Marten Reed, Media Resources Assistant II
Her business cards have a hole at the bottom centre and begin with “Librarian, The”
At least *she* didn't have to be turned into an orangutan to get her job...
Although I would read the shit out of that rip-off
yes. I agree that writing is weird.
Faye's been here, smiling to divert with: "I'm not a therapist!" "See a mental health professional!" "Imagine how much better an actual professional would be then!" https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4624
I don't know about the rest of you, but I think Panel 2 Claire may be among the most beautiful things I've seen.
Panel 4 is extremely awesome as well!
“Thank you!” says the Director. “May… I… hug you?” “Oh no, that’s harassment and I am well averse in Cthulhu Wars to know how that ends!” angrily replies Claire. Meanwhile, Marten Reed is imagining the kick ass top hat the Director could wear. Could the Director wear a monocle?
The Director would probably extrude a new Moray just for the purpose of hugging Claire. Claire will probably allow it, as long as it is not Moray-69.
Yes! I started this story arc not wanting them to leave but now I need to find out what happens when Claire kicks Cubetown's arse into line.
Wait, did we just find out what Marten is gonna be when he grows up?
Marten Sr., Esquire?
The Confidant.
Marten should start a coffee shop. The coffee is just a pretence for the 'come and chill'. He would perform an important community service, as already shown
Coffee of Doom franchise.
I think you can do it too, Claire.
Omg Marten should totally become a therapist
Coffee bartender
This makes me happy, go Claire!! What a journey to this point. We stand in the doorway.
Ben Aaronovitch has written THE occult police series, Rivers of London. Nobody has done it nearly as well. It's mostly novels, but there are some comic books as well. In one of those graphic series, "Detective Comics", the main character Peter Grant is being interviewed for promotion to Detective Constable and gets asked "Why did you join the police?" "You know when something terrible happens? And everyone runs around demanding that somebody do something..... but they don't have the faintest idea who that somebody is? I don't have that problem." Claire, meet Peter. Peter, meet Claire. You have a lot in common.
My favourite current series.
Is this the part where Claire becomes the official protagonist of QC?
If anything, Faye becomes the official protagonist. Marten’s been demoted for quite some time.
Writing is definitely weird. Even if you're someone who plans out how the entire plot will go, sometimes in the moment your characters will surprise you and you'll be like "no, this other thing is definitely what they would do".
Marten might actually be a good therapist... with the right training ofc.
Jeph I just want you to know that Panel 4 Claire is the coolest anybody has ever been, 10/10 well done
I love them both in that panel! The little smiles, their hair blowing in the wind, Marten tucking his behind one ear...
The gang will go through the arduous process of accepting this huge change, only to find out that someone in Cubetown has invented teleportation and they can commute there and back instantaneously.
Not gonna lie, it's unrealistic but now I'm kinda hoping for this
I mean, his mom is basically a therapist, she could give him advice. (this is a joke, do not use your dom as a therapist, most of them are also just barely holding it together)
If Claire is “‘the Librarian' with a capital L” then clearly Marten is “‘the Guardian’ with a capital G”. I assume Judson and Charlene are onboard with this. By now, Flynn Carson has likely adjusted to the existence of other Librarians. But man…. I suspect Colonel Baird is gonna have a conniption about Marten…..
That was my first thought after the "Librarian with a capital L" comment. This is the crossover I didn't know I wanted and now can't live without.
That first panel is just fantastic.
Marten Reed, AI-Frontier Psychiatrist
The best kind of therapist
I knew it. Jeph made so many characters that he filled the last town and had to move to a new one.
And space, twice.
I am stealing "Librarian Consort" for my D&D campaign and you can't stop me.
As a very giid friend of mine once said, for some writers, they are "less their character's omnipotent gods, and more a panicked biographer chasing after them with pen in hand". 😁😅😋
I agree with two folks upstream. I can see Marten creating the anti-Coffee of Doom, where the baristas are sympathetic and chill and the atmosphere is soothing. Except the Secret Bakery is already the doppelganger of Coffee of Doom, so ....
The Secret Bakery is CoD's doppelgänger but they still have more than their share of snark xD
Honesstly? The Librarian, with a capital T, is actually a pretty cool title
Goes well with "The Director" jellyfish AI. It's a buddy cop situation.
Hoping "Decisions are made" doesn't become "Mistakes were made".
“Mistakes were Made” is tomorrow’s episode where Faye used Pintsize as a test subject for her robot bidet. Even though she know someone else beat them to it.
Honestly, the Librarian feels like the shadowy secret final boss of the place
Tunic
ok that last line made me laugh out loud for real.
Thank you!
#hairgoals
Could Cubetown (or Yay or the Space Station) create some kind of transporter between Massachusetts and Cubetown? If not, Martin needs to open a coffee shop/bakery.
‘Questionable Content, The Motion Picture’ Starring Jason Statham as Ol’ Boaty
This is the way.
TBF- Marten probably would make a GREAT therapist.
I think so, too. I can't remember if he finished an undergrad degree?
How long before Claire and Marten start developing Canadian accents, starts adding “u” in words like “flavor”, and starts developing a penchons for Montréal style bagels? I give it a year.
A year in-universe time? That'll likely be sometime in 2030 our time, amiright?
Can't believe it is almost 5000 comics!!! Amazing
I am surprised he didn't save Decision Made for 5000
In a slice of life comic every decision greater than choosing coffee or breakfast is indeed jumping the shark. So you go ahead and keep boldly jumping sharks.
…or Orcas…
Cubetown moves to cause Claire and Marten less stress. Because Yay wants it that way.
I was hoping she'd take it. Now we can have aaaaaaaaall the drama about leaving Massachusetts.
Yes those first two panels really made me smile.
Claire's hair in the wind is awesome!
That is what I came here to say. Claire's hair + wind = Awesome
It's nice to feel needed, as long as you don't end up feeling kneaded.
*Roko enters the chat.*
Now I can tell friends to read this comic and say it's about The Librarian and the Librarian Consort.😁😁
Does this makes Aurelia the Mother Librarian?
maybe Marten can become the CubeTown Makeout Hobo.
no. just... no.
Thats the problem, by the time in life you realise you may be well suited to a specific job which requires years of schooling, its almost too late to go back to school. Yes, some people do, but in this case, school would probably cause Marten to lose his chill.
My SIL trained as a therapist in her 40’s. It was fine, and she’s really good at it. Given that Marten is in his 20’s, he’s way far from “too late”. And he’s been actively considering getting training in something. Some people retrain for one career after retiring from their first career. But geez louise, the boy’s not 30 yet.
Now to find an excuse to move the rest of the gang up there, open a coffee shop, a garage, and some sort of counting service...
We all knew they'd stay or Jeph wouldn't have devoted that much time to this place, but I keep forgetting that this wasn't such a given for Marten and Claire. To them, the decision wasn't made until it was actually made.
Going back through the log to see just how much time has been spent here. My first observation is that we haven't seen Clintiott since the start of the trip to Cubetown, despite their major subplot in the previous IU day.
It would be hilarious if everyone got super accepting of the move only for Cubetown to plops down in Massachusetts for almost no reason.
I love it when a story surprises you in the creation. :)
Didn't Jeph say something like "this is a big change but I'm not ending the comic" when the Cubetown arc was starting?
He did! & he's not. :)
Cubetown def. needs a new coffee joint...with a special tea sniffing zone so the gross coffee smells don't drown out the sweet floral scents. 😉
Jeph made his biggest decision back in #300. If he didn't end the strip then, he won't now.
Either you mean 500, or you feel very strongly about booty dances. :)
I mean… Marten does have a lot of innate therapy skills. I dunno what he’d want to do about that though. Sometimes being a good listener and pointing out objective realities gets lost when you do actual study (or that was my experience with crossover classmates taking psychology when I was in school). I think it’s nice she pointed out he should do something in his own right. Be interesting to see how that chat continues to evolve. Also yay decision made! With clarity and self honesty! You go, Claire!
Yeah, that dovetails with Pintsize & Faye's concerns.
If she's anything like another red-haired capital-L Librarian, it's probably best to avoid the "m" word around her.
Ook. *hands you a banana*
how does Jeph keep making Claire hotter
The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind. Both in the figurative and literal sense.
Unlicensed underground therapist is another way of saying "bartender"
ooh & there'd be more legitimate uses for a harpoon here!
Marten Reed: Chief Busker of Cubetown
Busking in Canada requires an audition. You need to be approved to busk
(((parentheses))}
{(((())))} ({((()))}) (({(())})) ((({()}))) (((({}))))
Jeph, you're doing amazing!
Amazingly?
Now that's you've established cubetown as a windy place, I'm looking forward to seeing more billowing hair. 😉
I think she has a shot, but whether Claire can pull it off without wrecking her own mental health in the process is going to be interesting. Also whether Marten is finally going to find some sort of passion or direction.
These may end up being related, even!
Writing is weird. <3
Yeah this seems like Claire, also wonder if this is the comic on approach to an ending or not
It is not. Jeph said it wasn't, before the time skip that kicked off this story.
YAAAAAAAY WE GET TO KEEP THE GREMLIN
We need to protect her adorable long messy hair from Jeph and his scissors😤
Is Jeff possibly trying to end the series? Or is this just a big status quo change like Fae being fired from CoD? Im enjoying the series, and I totally get if Jeff wants to end it after 20 years, but I could also see QC running for another 20.
Yes. Definitely an attempt to end it so he can finally explore the spin-off project: Adventures of Steve.
Wait hold on, I just thought about it, what about Steve? No one's told him about what's going on and he has no clue. Steve was Martens OG friend and one of the first characters we were ever introduced to, shouldn't he know too? :(
Steve probably will learn all about it through whatever secret organization(s) he belongs to.
Writing is an emergent process.
Well, Marten is librarian adjacent, so maybe he can get a job too?
Or maybe an auxiliary librarian!
Maybe Marten could look into becoming a LICENSED therapist. It might fit him.
I think that takes a lot of schooling and certificates and stuff.
Martin Reed - Ombudsman
Claire - Chief Librarian and Avatar of Cosmic Order Marten - Capybara Shaman
If he doesn't want to go to grad school to become a therapist he could open KopiKava - Coffee for them as need pepping up, Kava for them as need chilling out.
Go Claire! And Librarian Consort is the coolest title ever.
Translate into some language so it sounds cooler.
Inb4 ppl complaining that nooooooo how can she accept, Jeph doesn't know his own characters argle bargle
Don't @ me, I've been on the subreddit
Windy.
It fuckin WIMDY…
Writing is so weird, and this is a hopeful development. These are both hopeful developments, actually — Marten’s attitude here is so refreshing.
Characters gonna character . o O (Or so I, a non-writer, have heard.)