Questionable Content XIX: Give Jeph Just A *Little* Credit, Here

[Wraith]

So, what should Marten aim for, given he already has mental stability, a job, personal interests, friends, and a girlfriend? Money? Since when does anyone in this comic care about that? A socially prestigious position? Again, who cares?.

A thread on Reddit has pointed out something that aligns with this that sort-of explains it; For some reason, a lot of the QC cast have suddenly picked up "grind culture".

The idea that at all times you should be monetizing what you're doing, whether that is slaving away to progress in a career for 70 hours per week or otherwise doing something productive, like turning your hobbies into a side-hustle that you sell on etsy. Always working, all the time, gotta get that bread! And Marten isn't doing that, so it opens him up to criticism.

....Except that no one in the comic has previously shown that mentality. Characters like Fay are the antithesis of it, finding a niche where she can get paid $5000 for a sculpture and suddenly deciding 'nah, don't wanna' because 'reasons', but apparently 'owning a small business where she wanders out for coffee every 20 minutes' qualifies so it absolves her, or something.

The truth is, Marten taking a back-seat to support Claire's ambition *is* a worthwhile goal. He's been her rock and biggest supporter for years, why shouldn't he continue to do so until she's up and running in her career before he picks up something active for himself? Generations of our parents did the same thing, (usually) Dad working full-time while Mom worked part-time or stayed home with the kids. It's a bit old-fashioned to think of nowadays, but why not update it with a gender-flipped relationship in Marten and Claire? In fact, that's probably the only way one COULD do it nowadays; just imagine the backlash if a male protagonist started a high-flying career and his female partner immediately took on a passive support role? It'd be decried as archaic and sexist, and rightfully so.

"I want to help the person I love get to where they want to be" really shouldn't be devalued or seen as 'lesser'.