#but other relationships/dynamics too whether theyre positive or negative

[clockworkcheetah]

i feel like being seen is an important theme in dghda

[tumblunni]

Hottest and worst take I have ever seen: "asking people to tag their nsfw is denying people's fundamental agency as a human"

????

"Antis don't see children as fully human, they don't give them the choice to make their own decisions"

That's exactly what YOU are doing when you don't tag your shit! This is taking things to a ridiculous extreme where nothing is allowed to be regulated or even goddamn organized like a library because "free will somehow"...

If a thing is tagged nsfw and put away on an nsfw site and a kid clicks on it, then it's not the writer/artist's fault that it happened. There is no way to physically stop children from making mistakes.

But if you post extreme gory porn kink stuff out there in the open in a children's fandom and do nothing to keep it restricted to its target audience and not kids, then HEY YES ITS YOUR FAULT

And if you make this weird attitude of encouraging kids to want to be more adult, encouraging them to look at this stuff, and telling them they are wrong and toxic if they don't like it, then that's predatory and gross.

I feel like this discourse has gone to nonsensical extremes!

People are called horrible prudes who want to ban all non pure content if they just say "don't show child porn to children". And people act like the only solution is to do nothing at all to keep child porn away from children.

And then you have people who act like having any form of kink whatsoever is the same as making child porn, or even just writing "problematic" stuff like sympathising with a villain or whatever. And the solution is to ban everything just like tumblr's stupid attempt that failed entirely at making the site safer and only made it worse for perfectly non-harmful n/s/f/w artists....

AND THEN you have people assuming that all "antis" are like that, thus it's a justification to go back to the first extreme and say no safety precautions whatsoever because all safety precautions are oppressive and everyone who ever asks for them must have the motivation of hating LGBT people or something...

And you also have people jumping to this conclusion about any criticism of any content whatsoever. Someone merely says that a ship dynamic is abusive and you get the screeching "this means you totally support CENSORSHIP and want NOBODY TO CREATE ANY ART EVER AGAIN".

Like sometimes people just mean "because this ship is abusive and is not being aknowledged as abusive by the writer or tagged as darkfic, it could have a negative effect on an audience who's led to believe this is a desirable goal for a relationship". And it's just.. words criticizing it. People are allowed to not like it. Not every "I dislike it" is "it should be censored". The only time anyone should actually be talking about censoring stuff is if it's happening in a mainstream publication not a fandom space. Like there is legit conversation to be had about how the mainstream female-aimed romance genre has a lot of abusive sexist stuff normalized as desirable. If Twilight was actually marketed as some sort of darkfic that's intended to appeal to dark kinks, it wouldn't have been such a big problem.

Basically just.. put things in the right box.

That's my entire "anti" stance.

Put the thing where it's not so easy for kids to see it, give it the same degree of rules and regulations as any other fic that's potentially extreme. It's just like slapping warnings on a game box, yknow? If a kid tries to illegally buy an M-rated game then the makers of the game shouldn't be punished for something they took every measure to prevent. And if a parent buys an M-rated game for their young kid then they're being negligent and the responsibility is all on them. But also it's still messed up that there's a culture in children's friend groups to be all "do the grownup thing you don't like that might traumatise you, to be cool like us". And it's worth looking into whether adults have in any way contributed to this and how we can maybe help kids navigate this stage of their life more safely. Like is it possible that just calling stuff bad and not explaining WHY could be making it seem appealing and harmless? Like the tendancy to be a prude about giving kids proper sex education can lead to them being frustrated and seeking out stuff that's way too extreme for them because they don't know it's too extreme. Especially the complete absence of any education or positivity for LGBT kids in particular, theyre way more vulnerable to falling in with abuser's and manipulators because they don't have a parent to talk to about healthy relationships and puberty frustrations without fearing they'd be ostracized for their sexuality. And also honestly there are sometimes just really irresponsible/stupid/even abusive older siblings who will link young kids to stuff like goatse "as a joke"....

SO YEAH

ITS ALL FUCKIN COMPLICATED

And Tumblr is awful cos every goddamn argument turns into some weird war of two exaggerated extremes that no sane person would actually believe, with the original argument completely forgotten.

I just think that the fact that it's complicated as fuck should mean hey maybe we should help kids with it being complicated as fuck, not go "it's somehow denying kids their personhood to think they need the slightest bit of extra help navigating something even adults find complicated"

Also seriously TAG YOUR SHIT

And if someone is tagging their shit, then they're not part of the problem.

If someone with a super dark kink is tagging their shit, keeping their shit away from kids,and acknowledging that their shit is super dark and potentially traumatizing and giving 100% of all possible warnings, then they're not part of the problem.

Doesn't mean I'm gonna like that stuff, but me personally being squicked out doesn't mean that person is some sort of latent serial murderer just for having weird turn-ons.

If thing is not harming children = not bad

If thing is harming children = remove from children

People who should be in charge of keeping stuff safe from children = adults

If children choose to view a forbidden thing anyway despite all your best efforts = not your fault, you did all you could do

Doesn't prove the evilness of having a kink, or whatever. But also "nobody is allowed to ever criticize anything about kinks" is also wrong. Like.. having a kink isn't wrong but how you keep it tagged can be wrong.

It's very goddamn simple and I wish we could all just agree to it, why is this whole damn discourse SO EXAGGERATED AND RIDICULOUS NOWADAYS

Put the thing in the box for the thing, THATS IT! That should be the beginning and end of the conversation.

Fuckin "putting tags on things is somehow limiting kids's free will", Jesus Christ...

[xuune]

some thoughts on s7

this ended up me kind of rambling about my thoughts and feelings on s7 that are all over the place, so please bear with me if these thoughts don’t seem too well organized or anything: 

now, before i even actually saw the season, i was just snooping around here on tumblr to see what ppl’s reactions were, and i kind of let it get to the better of me. some people were just over dramatizing what was happening in s7, and their negativity on the season made me believe that i would wholeheartedly dislike the season. i saw all the posts with people going on about how if youre still watching the show, you should immediately drop it (and it was mainly centered around few central complaints going around right now, pretty sure you can figure that out on your own on what that was). it was understandable on where the frustration was stemming from. i only got 3 hours of sleep because of what people were saying despite not even seeing the season for myself and seeing how events would ultimately play out. but like they would always say, you shouldn’t let other people’s judgement affect you, and it really shouldn’t be the determining factor on how you view things or how your opinions are formed. 

when i watched the season, my general reaction to it was that its “ok”, i didn’t think it was entirely and absolutely terrible. i already know how a lot of us didn’t like the way a few characters got treated. i mainly thought that the animation looked nicer and improved in some of the action scenes. the writing was kind of “meh” for me when it came to whatever certain plot points that got introduced or continued. watching it on my own actually removed any thoughts of me disliking/hating the season entirely. 

even though i say this, the things i mention here are mainly about some issues that kept being brought up by people and circled around ever since s7 got released. 

in terms of character development? besides what we’ve been given for hunk, which has been awesome so far (i dont really feel like i have much to go in depth with for this, its already self explanatory in the season itself), i guess its going somewhere. i’ve got some hope, but it’s not on the level where its overwhelmingly high and optimistic. everyone’s been talking about the lack of actual lance development, how he’s constantly being reduced to being the “dumb” one, but we actually see him take initiative when needed. lance has been shown to stepping up and taking his role into account when handed the opportunity to do so, and it was multiple times when lance was given the re-established position of keith’s right-hand man. despite whatever remarks keith made on lance, whether or not they were supposed to come off as teasing/joking for the audience, keith does still seem to believe in lance’s capabilities. if he didn’t, keith wouldn’t have trusted lance the task on leading their team on their mission(s). lance actually got scenes where he could shine off as being portrayed more than what he’s constantly being insulted as. there are still some scenes of them showing mutual trust and respect for each other, especially with lance voting for keith during “the feud” and the reasoning he gave. but yeah, some parts it did seem like keith was kind of ooc in certain episodes when comparing his personality back to s3. who knows why keith gave the reasoning he did when he voted for lance. EDIT: acoolemocucumber’s post makes a good note on pointing out how during the voting section, keith is actually the first one to start writing. it’s later revealed that he chose lance on first pick. lance was the second to finish. even though he was peeking over at hunk and pidge to see who they chose, he instead decides to choose keith. keith choosing lance as a first choice without pure hesitance is amazing to see, and it really shows he trusts and respects lance a lot despite the reasoning he gave. then again, actions speak louder than words and countless times keith has shown to be that kind of guy by relaying a lot of important tasks to lance throughout this season. 

i’ll do say that i enjoyed most of the scenes they shared when they had to take a leading initiative with each other though. that was pretty nice to see again, and it felt like a decade since i ever saw that kind of dynamic from those two. 

there were a lot of action packed scenes, and i watched through those entirely to see if there’s any important plot detail to know, or make note of, while watching the ep to make sure i wouldnt be lost with whats happening so far. some people found it boring, some people found the fight scenes amazing and stunning. certain scenes had me really amazed on how well it was animated, some other scenes not so much in terms of repetition, and thats kind of bound to happen if we’re provided an arc where its continuing to keep the tense vibes on the recurring events with the current situation of the season. 

this is just merely my take on it, (my memory’s not the best with how much information im recalling from those 13 episodes) but it kind of felt lackluster with how the paladins barely got any kind of break where they could seriously spend one episode on unwinding, having in-depth conversations one on one, and not be so worried about the galra all the time. sure, there’s a few scenes like that in a few episodes, but it didn’t seem enough to make it feel like it balanced out whatever conflicts or character issues were newly or constantly introduced. 

ive read posts already about how some people had liked the season a lot, loved the actions scenes and all. but to me, some conflicts that took place seemed out of place or just didn’t really align well (idk how else to phrase it) especially with adam’s death, and i had minor mixed feelings about ep “the journey within”. 

about adam, it just seemed out of place and rushed for them to introduce shiro’s s/o only for them to take him away. we don’t get to see how fleshed out adam could’ve been, and i’ve already seen the frustration/rage people had with adam being killed off when considering how the creators told the viewers that they were gonna get to see adam, but weren’t told how long we’ll see him (plus the entire thing abt lgbt rep that was promised?). the thing with adam left me on a weird note, mainly because if you were just given no other info besides the info from the season, you wouldn’t even be given too explicit information about the relationship shiro had with adam. from there, it felt like there was no point in adding adam into the story if the viewers aren’t given clear information on what kind of bond shiro and adam had besides adam saying that they’ve been through a lot together (or whatever he said, idr it too much) and the “how important am i to you” line for lgbt rep points. its just pretty vague “””representation””” thats just leaving the audience to make the most out of what they’re given. we’re only given confirmation that they used to be fiancés from what they said in panels/interviews, but never in the show. im not sure what to really think about that, my mind’s just kind of in the void when i think about it. but this part i structured kind of badly and i apologize for that, but hopefully those of you can get what im saying. 

as for “the journey within”, it was reasonable for the way characters acted; theyre all tired, frustrated, and losing hope and were floating in space waiting for nothing but at least something to happen. keith snaps, gets irritated at everyone, lance is also the one to lash back out at keith saying keith ran away, giving the audience a big sign that lance was hurt by keith’s disappearance/leave from the team. but for keith to quickly later on go take everything back in just a few minutes seemed really awkward for me. its a kids show and all, but i just kind of didn’t like how that one section of that episode was written ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ just a feeling i had with it. however, i did love how hunk took a lot of the initiative during the episode, it’s showing his growth of actually him continuing to fully accept his role as a paladin and determined to not back down regardless of his own cowardice that could prevent him from doing so at any time.  

and there’s the thing about k/acx: ive already seen a bunch of people going somewhere along the lines of disbelief, anger, frustration on how keith is getting het endgame but when i saw the episodes, his interactions with acxa didn’t even seem borderline romantic to me at all? to me, i merely saw 2 characters actually getting on better terms with each other and returning the favor. the two no longer see each other as enemies but allies now. keith only went back to save acxa because it seemed like he believed that he felt in debt to acxa for trying to save his team. ezor and zethrid merely poked fun at acxa, but if you consider previous seasons where acxa and keith interacted, the two just continued to return the favor of owing whatever debt they had for each other. it didn’t seem like there was any romantic tension intended in any of the scenes where they interacted. we already know acxa betrayed ezor and zethrid by switching sides, and if you were betrayed you’re bound to make at least a  remark on whoever betrayed you either way. in this case, ezor and zethrid found it reasonable to make a comment on acxa’s alliance with keith, hence how they teased acxa possibly crushing on keith (whether or not thats actually confirmed, its just left ambiguous and up for interpretation at that point). there’s the parallel with how they animated the shot between keith and acxa talking to each other, but neither did that one seem romantic to me? i hope im not the only one who thought that? the other scene people talked about was when acxa is in the same scene where keith was present when he visits his dad’s grave with krolia. i dont get why some people were upset about that either. even though its at the last ep of s7, there’s nothing to imply that keith invited acxa to go visit his dad’s grave with him or anything if you consider their placement in the scene. if keith did care about acxa’s presence being there when he visited the grave, wouldn’t he at least acknowledge acxa’s presence by showing obvious attention to her, or have her close to where him and krolia were? she remains distant but respectful of keith in the scene. i dont see where these scenes would imply keith automatically finds a romantic interest in acxa. acxa to keith? maybe, we don’t entirely know. keith to acxa? i dont see it being implied anywhere at all. not to mention keith’s “can’t we just fight” statement right after ezor and zethrid teased acxa about having a romantic interest in keith. again, its just my take on what’s being presented and my own thoughts on how people are viewing it. 

and with a/l, it leaves me on a bad note with how its progressing if its really getting the sealed deal endgame. like most people have been saying, it would be good for them to be endgame if they were only written better. am i entirely convinced theyre endgame? not really because there’s that small chance where vld pulls a 180 and the show creators stay true to their words on lance not being a rebound, lance being someone’s first choice, lance getting what he needs, not what he wants. what’s being given/presented so far is just bad writing with how allura suddenly reciprocates feelings for lance out of nowhere despite showing consistent disinterest in lance’s advances in previous seasons. s4 and onward we see her seeing lance more than just an annoying flirt, and the two become better friends who could genuinely talk to each other without having allura annoyed with lance’s flirtatious antics, and without lance being reduced to a constant flirt. during allura’s interest in lotor, we’re yet again presented how allura doesn’t return feelings for lance, especially during the scene when the mice told her about lance’s feelings for her back in s6. she seems rather disappointed, pitiful, or uncomfortable with knowing how lance genuinely liked her when she liked lotor during that time. later on, allura’s been out of her previous love interest with lotor, and hasn’t shown returned much of the same interest in lance. sure, she hugged lance and he returned the hug, but that only seemed necessary in the moment for when allura had felt betrayed by someone she wholeheartedly trusted and fell in love with. she needed comfort from someone and the person she spoke to was lance who was able to lend her some comforting words. but that was about it. i’d like to say that considering that this is a kids show, it does give a bad incentive for children to develop on believing that if they continue to force their feelings onto someone else, the person they’re interested in will eventually like them back out of the blue, which is the worst course of action to take despite being rejected countless times (and its kind of being shown with what a/l has right now). to take this kind of scenario and to fix/put it with good writing would to just properly depict lance accepting rejection and allura staying true to her previous feelings on not reciprocating his feelings. in a general sense, we all know that we can’t always get what we want, and that’s an important moral that always gets taught over and over again even if youre a child or an adult. rejection and acceptance of the rejection is something that can be taught here through the romantic subplot they’ve been having. just deciding that they should become endgame out of nowhere would leave the writing very dull. having allura get out of her previous love interest with lotor only to quickly move onto lance just doesn’t leave off on a good note. it just reduces lance to a rebound and that’s about it. 

the writing for me wasn’t really that breathtaking, overwhelming, or emotional or anything when it came to new plot points being presented (you know, all the fight scenes, galaxy garrison, that stuff). again, a lot of things seemed pretty rushed, i had mixed feelings for some but not all episodes. it was nice to see mostly everyone united back with their families and characters developing new motives for what they believe in doing. yet, the writing kind of just wasn’t on the level of where it actually gets me really interested and invested into the storyline like how it had back in s1 to early s3. i’ll still mention how the writing did it’s part in presenting development for hunk, though. i enjoyed that a lot.  

some parts of the writing were questionable, some parts of the season were enjoyable, but it wasn’t entirely overwhelmingly disappointing for me. the season was on the bare minimum on having the writing go “decent”, but again it felt pretty “meh” and this is just my own feelings on it. people have their own opinions, frustrations, concerns, questions, some people loved it, some people severely hated it or just felt extremely disappointed. 

the season has its peaks and lows, some pros and cons, but whatever you take from it is what you believe. 

i’ll still keep watching the show to see how it ends, that’s for sure. 

[larksinging]

okay and now your turn, talk a little about laurel and dolores' dynamic and what you like about it or what you want to see from it development-wise!

i feel like, if im gonna tackle one last one tonight, i should do this one

laurel and dolores is one of those rare dynamics which arose... completely organically that just got pushed along a little bit once it became clear it was kind of a thing. and thats really nice and interesting? as you said, a lot of it is just natural chemistry. and not to knock other dynamics i have, but things like this that spring up a bit unexpectedly between characters from other canons is basically the reason panfandoms exist, so 

for her part, laurel isn’t as confused about dolores as vice versa, i think. they’re both very guarded and cagey and can flip flop between aggressive and kind, but (accidentally) dolores has revealed to laurel a bit more... context as to why she’s so guarded. and even without the full context, or even the ability to full comprehend how must the hosts went though - how could anyone, really - it’s something she... can’t help but feel sympathetic for. she’s laurel, after all, she can’t help but feel for another women who’s been mistreated. plus she’s been used as a weapon and basically an e-1 look-alike puppet, and given reason to feel... “not real” in a way, so she at least sort of gets it. she has a hard time not feeling sympathetic for dolores, which is saying a lot 

with their tendency to just have intense interactions, whether negatively or positively (which is more common, lately), theyre just... always going to be weirdly entangled together, and each time they interact they manage to get more and more weirdly entangled? after the wyatt incident i think that’d be even more true, that’s the kind of thing they can’t just ignore or avoid each other about, ever. especially if it prompts them to actually have to acknowledge their... weird relationship

also, i think laurel likes the... familiarity, but also detachment, that dolores unintentionally offers. at this point, they’re familiar enough that dolores expects laurel’s weird defensiveness or prickliness without making too much of a big deal, or laurel picks up on the implications of some things dolores says without having to press for details. laurel doesn’t feel she has to have any pretenses around dolores (which is different from not lying or being open about everything, but, we’re getting there). but also, dolores is separate from everything else laurel does. trish sort of is too, but she has this weird relationship with nyssa, and her world’s pretty similar, and despite being from a different universe feels very e-1 to laurel. dolores briefly knows amaya, though laurel doesn’t know that, but otherwise dolores is someone who laurel... has to herself, in a weird way. or that she can go to in order to get away from all the other stuff when she needs to, since dolores is from such a different world and wrapped up in so many different things. and well, that they’re kind of outcasts in weirdly similar ways, even if their contexts are so different

though there’s a part of laurel that’s a bit afraid of dolores, and probably always will be. dolores is, uh, pretty strong, and aggressive when she needs to be, which poses an objective threat to laurel. and she’s very aware of dolores’ hatred of humanity, and that laurel herself is not exactly a shining example, so. it doesn’t help that zoom sort of posed himself as a dolores-like figure while really just being in it for his own motivations, so she’s not sure how to mentally untangle a real violent revolutionary from someone using that image to control people.  the whole wyatt thing is... definitely not going to help with this, given laurel’s previous history with being betrayed. how much depends on what exactly happens. though that’s something i imagine they could reconcile, given the circumstances 

we’ve also talked briefly about the possibility of the ship, and while thats one of things that would need to develop organically like the rest of their weird and twisting relationship, i can see it more and more? i can’t even put my finger on what it is about them. maybe because they are both so guarded and sort of lost that it makes sense they’d open up like that to each other. though they’d both need to work past each of their complicated feelings on love (for her part, laurel would worry even more about risking that with someone from another world, how can you commit when they might disappear) but. a possibility!

overall its not a dynamic i expected at all and born out of both of them just being pretty high muse at the same time, but accidentally working well together. they have enough similarities to click, but not so similar that they just run parallel constantly. and i think its nice that... while they temper each other on occasion, they can have someone who is understanding of some of their “darker” behavior. 

fun fact: i once tried to figure out a way to combine their names as a shorthand to write down when i had some icc plans, but it just ended up a mess of L sounds. this wouldn’t happen if you ACTUALLY went by dinah, laurel

[loverholicrobotronic]

idk anything about astrology, so i'll just have to ask you instead: sun and venus in leo, moon in libra and libra rising, too.

Its so naruto-metaphoric of you to have all this airxfire energy though i do not know much about libras... and a leo sun is definitely not helping since no solar leo resembles another from my experience however they do get along among each other and they all have this restrained attitude in their relationships with others. They usually pick up on the complexity of links and dynamics with those around them and work around them accordingly and even their (few) confrontations are muted and quiet if you want so to me theyre very much The earth-passing fire sign out of all 3. Hhhhhb please this isnt me saying youre boring but from your chart or like what i know of it no matter what age you are youre almost whole you know who you are and what you like and dislike and theres a pattern in how you interact with situations or things even if you do grow out of certain behaviours over the time what i mean by all this is youre already your own person youre not interested in looking for who you want to be this doesnt mean that youre not afraid of the future and it doesnt mean that you know what youre going to do or whatever but i feel like you understood what im trying to say by now. To others you probably come off as cold and that impression lasts for some time especially since you do not open up to anybody and entertain superficial relationships with most people and have a certain circle of friends that lasts for years like you enjoy a lot of consistency a little bit of spice occasionally. Leo venus makes your love life never in your favour and perhaps you gave up on finding somebody for now but not on the long run and i think its 100 percent the wise thing to do. Generally i dont have much advice to tell you... id say youre one of those people who are always a little above average consistently but the fact that youre hardly ever among the top best and so the spotlight is never on you makes you feel unvalidated. Authority or parental figures end up pressuring you to do better because they see you have the potential to but realistically itll only make you tip off of your stable output so you have to explain clearly that youre satisfied with your own pace in life and work, force them to aknowledge youre different and whatever worked with others is only burdening you. You notice small things whether positive or negative and talking about them with your close ones (even if theyre not the concerned ones) will make them understand you better as an individual without having to actually have a serious heavy conversation. Again my very best dear friend is a leo so this has all been a lot of very specific projecting a little bit of my libra knowledge i apologize if that was the case what can i do... for a song i think youd love the Saint Seiya openings and endings (see: Soldier Dream, Pegasus fantasy, Blue Dream) but if youre not too into it check out Wonder Tender by Frederic ☆

[comicteaparty]

December 24th-December 30th, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from December 24th, 2018 to December 30th, 2018.  The chat focused on Cat-Person by P.Lo.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Cat-Person by P.Lo~! (https://catpersoncomic.tumblr.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 30th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. Why do you think Neko refuses to go outside and has, in general, a grumpy attitude? Do you believe this is something she’ll eventually overcome at the current rate?

QUESTION 4. Will Neko and Eleanor be able to overcome the tension in their relationship? If so, how? Do you feel Neko’s attitude towards Eleanor is justified or vice versa? Will Neko ultimately ruin her dad’s relationship with Eleanor?

Delphina

(Content warning for anybody who needs it: Suicidal thoughts/attempts are a central theme in this comic)

So the creator describes this as a "serialized psychological-thriller". Neko is our viewpoint character, she's clearly got some unaddressed mental health issues that nobody around her is qualified to deal with, and as such becomes the most sympathetic. But it's clear that everyone starts from a deeply flawed baseline, and the creator is using things like porn addiction, alcoholism, and vegan diets to paint everyone in those "shades of grey".

From the about page:

“When a last-minute business trip forces DAD to leave home for a week, he enlists his eager girlfriend ELEANOR to take care of his reclusive daughter NEKO, which leads to jealousy, passive-aggressiveness, and… Bloodshed.”

So based on the tension, and clues being dropped around with Neko pocketing the key, and how controlling Eleanor is getting, I'm not expecting this to be a gentle healing story where everyone comes to understand one another. Things are going to go WAY south, perhaps physically and psychologically violent between Neko and Eleanor.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Do you think Neko’s dad will be able to get a grip on his own problems, such as his drinking? How might his problems affect his relationship with Neko and Eleanor as the story continues?

keii4ii

I must say, I'm super impressed with how the art style and the repetitive format contribute to the storytelling. The clean style, the pretty but understated colors, the calm repetition of the three panel format... All of it contrasts against the turbulence and the ugliness of what's happening under the surface, and it's extremely effective.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. In what ways do you believe Neko’s life is reflected in the story she’s writing, especially given she mentioned taking aspects form it? What could that mean for the current state of Neko’s life?

RebelVampire

1) i really enjoy the first lunch scene when its just eleanor and neko because i find it to be a hard slap of truth in how communication can quickly go awry. eleanor is clearly well-meaning, but because of her personal insecurities about her position with neko and her own personal life beliefs, she winds up being pushy. but on the otherhand, neko is kind of a brat in general, even if i empathize with her more in that scene. but inevitably i really enjoyed the character dynamics in this particular scene cause they felt all too real and made my heart hurt. because neither character involved is awful, they just arent on the same page of communication. and that fact i think is really poignant for the darker tones of the story. 2) favorite character is probably neko's dad. because despite his own issues, he is an honest soul trying to balance helping neko while having his own life. he woefully underqualified to help neko, obviously, but hes trying at least.

3) i go back and forth on neko's decision to not leave the house. on the one hand, it could be hinting she might have extreme social anxiety or a form of agoraphobia. but on the otherhand, as someone who doesnt like to go outside, it could be she just doesnt like to go outside. not everyone gets a kick out of what the outside has to offer (often cause a lot of the more interesting things to do also cost zounds of money). so in a sense, i kind of feel it might be a mix? in that in general she just doesnt enjoy it, but that she does have some anxiety issues that doubly encourage her not to go out either. as for overcoming it, fff, it's not looking likely. as others have mentioned, she's really in need of some professional help, and atm she is not getting that. but as for the going outside thing, i dont think she necessary needs to overcome it. ppl can live healthy lives while staying mostly indoors. its mroe about whether it's hurting her quality of life. but i like the fact its not entirely clear in this regard, cause it makes neko more sympathetic in regards to her reactions to eleanor

4) I feel both character's attitudes is both justified and unjustified. as i mentioned with favorite scene, they both have their positive and negative sides. neko has issues but is also kind of a brat. eleanor is well-meaning but extremely pushy and inconsiderate. but in the end i dont think it matters who is more justified. theyre both right and both at fault, which is great because in general this is the gray situations we often face in real life. as for overcoming the tension in their relationship, eh, probably not. but in all honesty i dont think the dad and eleanor's relationship is gonna work out. i think at the end it's the dad's own unaddressed issues that are going to sabotage the relationship, nothing that neko does. but i do think neko is gonna feel like it's her fault and i think shes gonna feel guiliter about it then she suspects she will despite her general dislike of eleanor

5) as said in the end of 4, i think his own issues are what's actually going to ruin the relationship with eleanor. alcohol addiction leads to bad places and makes ppl not themselves. so i can only see it going badly. as for neko, i kind of think the same thing is gonna happen, more because he's not going to get neko the help she needs. inevitably, this story is on a downward spiral because everyone is sad and nobody seems to dealing with their issues in a healthy manner as of yet.

RebelVampire

6) before i speculate, i just want to say i love that the story flat out tells out neko's life is being reflected in her own story. because this is an element that would be left to reader speculation on simile and metaphor and stuff. but since this story is upfront about it, i actually think it makes room for a lot of tension building. since the story neko is writing is revealed in bits and pieces, this allows us to get the occassional view into neko's psyche. as the story she's writing gets darker, we get a window side view into neko's inner turmoil. and the more turmoil, the more worried you get since it's clear her mental situation atm might not be the most stable. now speculation, while i dont think neko is some secret killer of those around her through supernatural means, i do think shes reflecting the fact that she feels like a burden on those around her. which is somewhat interesting and also very sad. the extreme manifestation shown in her story makes me think neko has a very distorted self image. but on the otherhand, at the current moment its hard to say she isnt bit of a burden, though mostly in regards to her being a bit of brat just cause her dad wants to dad. but in a way, she kind of self fulfills the prophecy. and inevitably its just this cycle that leads her down a dark road that is overall very depressing but still interesting to see portrayed in this way.

Delphina

I was curious how old she was/what their financial situation is. She's of legal age to drink I guess, so she's an adult. Nothing like getting a job or her ever living independently has come up, so I assume the dad has that covered or is at the very least not mentioning that out of consideration of her mental health. But they can't afford more than one laptop for him to take on his business trip and her to write on?

And surely giving your shut-in daughter internet access would make life somewhat less isolating for her? Especially since internet communication has been established as something the dad does for support, it feels like a particularly odd situation. C'mon man, get your girl an iPad and let her do NaNoWriMo or something.(edited)

keii4ii

Was she actually legal to drink? I was under the impression that it was a special occasion only thing. (which isn't too uncommon IRL even if it's not legal?)

Delphina

I guess, but damn, that makes him an even WORSE dad.

They don't mention school or anything either, so I'm a little unclear.

keii4ii

Yeah...

Delphina

Regarding her writing, I think the dog/cat dichotomy that comes up in Neko's story that she's writing is a big theme (and well, the comic's called Cat-person, and she's named "neko" which means "cat" in Japanese). I'm assuming the parallel here is Neko is not actually the guy in her writing, but the cat. She's aloof, hard for anyone to read, stays away from people, gets violent. Eleanor's possibly the pushy, happy and over-attentive dog?

RebelVampire

i was super confused how old shes supposed to be, but i eventually settled on late teen based on 1) her general appearance and stature looks more teen/young adult to me and 2) a lot of the other stuff you mentioned. like shes very much being treated like a kid and not capable of being someone being independent. but to be fair, id ballpark maybe 17 or 18. so someone who is kind of an adult but not ready to be an adult by a long shot, which isnt uncommon for that age. i got the same impression as keii did about the drinking. that it was just a special occassion thing. neko just goes overboard and the dad doesnt punish her. which tbf to him, im sure hes worried about setting her off or something like that.

as for the laptop thing, i actually assumed that had nothing to do with their financial situation. i mean it might, but i got more the impression that he was protecting her and just in general didnt want her near the internet or things like that. which tbf i can understand that pov. cause as much as the internet can help, it can also hurt. cyberbullying is a real thing after all and we dont really have an established past for neko that lead her to do what she did. not to mention he might be afraid of what shes gonna search where he cant see. like what if she starts looking up "how to kill myself in [insert manner here]" alternatively, he also might just not want her to see whatever porn he has on the computer, cause id bet my soul he has porn on that laptop.

thats a good catch with the dog/cat dichotomy though. i didnt even notice it cause i was too busy fuss worrying over eleanor not caring where the key is

way to watch over neko, eleanor

Delphina

Oh yeah, there was a strip where he was doing some kind of adult chat and he deleted his browsing history before giving his computer to Neko, so he totally had porn on his laptop.

That's true about the internet possibly being a bad thing that he could feel he needs to protect her from. I think that sort of history of how she interacted when she WASN'T avoiding the world would really add a lot of depth to Neko and make her more sympathetic.

That said, the author has done a really good job of making the environment feel uncomfortably tight and trapped, so sympathetic characters might not be what they want for this story and might reduce the sense of tension we feel right now.(edited)

RebelVampire

yeah i def agree. it does feel tight and trapped. especially whenever eleanor is there cause whenever eleanor is around i feel like her constant talking serves to make the place feel more cramped.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Why do you believe the fridge magnets spell out helpful sayings like “ask for help?” Who did it and for what purpose? What is the thematic significance?

Delphina

I suspect the fridge word art is Neko. It might be symbollic of her own subconscious trying to give her advice, or her way of communicating with her dad about his own poor way of dealing with problems.

RebelVampire

(the archive for the chat on Lovespells is now available! @thisintermezzo https://comicteaparty.com/post/181479135680/december-17th-december-23rd-2018-ctp-archive)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 8. How do you think the title, “Cat-Person,” ties into the story’s themes and topics? What does this title tell us about Neko or the other characters?

Delphina

(Going back to a previous topic, it looks like the pages that were added in the last few days do clarify that Neko does have agoraphobia/fear of leaving the house and she is an adult - https://catpersoncomic.tumblr.com/)

RebelVampire

idk if i consider that a confirmation shes an adult. but definitely old enough to drive.

Delphina

Neko knowing her phobias definitely makes me wonder why the dad wouldn't have told Eleanor those things. It seems like the kind of thing that I would have told my girlfriend before she met my daughter? And I have to hope Eleanor would have been broaching these subjects with more tact if these were known diagnoses.

Anyway, yah, the title "Cat-Person" seems to have ties in with Neko's name and the cat mentioned in her story. The stereotype of cats is that they don't like being around others and feel crowded/lash out pretty easily, which fits Neko pretty well at this point. Since it's such a core part of her identity, I'm curious if/how it can shift.

RebelVampire

the dad might have told eleanor tbf. she very much comes across as one of those ppl who thinks all mental issues are something you can just get over. or even if she isnt, i highly doubt eleanor did any research about it and attempted to actually understand.

it wouldnt surprise me if he didnt tell her. tbh, i dont think the dad really takes neko's fear of the outside all that serious either

i feel more he just tolerates it but doesnt understand the full extent of the problem

cause he seems kind of willing to indulge and spoil neko to a degree just so he doesnt have to deal with everything

Delphina

Hmmm, yeah, good point

RebelVampire

but to a degree i also understand cause hes got his own issues to work through. and ppl who have their own mental issues arent the best suited to help others in a lot of cases.

well more in the sense that neither are actively working to heal

so just arent in good places to help each other

keii4ii

I was actually wondering if he didn't tell her because he's a terrible dad and was worried it might drive Eleanor away from him

But I also like the idea of Eleanor having been told, but deliberately acting like she doesn't know

RebelVampire

tbh tho i could also believe he just never found the right time to tell eleanor

cause these are not casual things you drop down on your girlfriend

although i am leaning towards eleanor just didnt care

cause clearly she was told neko tried to commit suicide since she wasnt surprised at all

keii4ii

That, I was guessing (well, it was one of my guesses) Eleanor didn't actually take Neko seriously at the time and saw it as a younger person being an edgelord for attention

But any of these interpretations are possible at this time

RebelVampire

i think that is a good way to put it tho

that is 100% how i see eleanor fewing neko

as some young edgelord

that and she strikes me as one of those ppl who believes sunshine and fresh air will fix any illness

modern medicine be damned

RebelVampire

7) i kind of assume neko did the fridge word art for no other reason that shes a writer. so just makes sense. though i kind of feel like her father maybe encouraged her to do it. like put some positive affirmations on the fridge of some sort. i feel like their significance is to show something like how even when ppl can know what they have to do (like ask for help for instance) the actual execution of that is flawed and contingent on those around us. so asking for help is not necessarily a for sure path that lead to healing. or something like that. 8) as Delphina said, cats are "stereotyped" as being creatures that lash out and are relatively solitary (i quote stereotype cause as a cat owner annd lover, nah, cats are bundles of terror and these are accurate descriptions XD). the unfortunate thing is that ppl tend to assume these same traits apply to "cat people." which fits neko, but i also think in some way it also speaks of how ppl are auto putting their assumptions on her. in that the more they assume shes gonna lash out, the more she does so, and then its just a downward spiral. i think eleanor shows us the story is equally about ppls judgements and assumptions of who we are, in the same way people assume cat people are exactly like cats. and in so doing the title is also talking about how neko is being put into a box that is not conducive to her changing even if she wanted to, because people are already assuming certain things about her even before she meets or bonds with them

(i hope that drabble made sense cause im tired and about to go to bed XD)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Do you believe Neko’s father’s attitude and precautions towards her since her attempted suicide is justified, or is it more likely making the situation worse? What do you think will become of the issue regarding the locked up knife drawer and missing key?

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

RebelVampire

9) I think Neko's father's handling of the situation is kind of a mix of both. I can understand taking precautions so Neko can heal without being in danger. However, he's not doing a lot of other stuff he should be doing to help her get better. As for the key thing, I think it's gonna hurt the dad more than Neko. Cause I can just picture Eleanor mentioning it casually and the Dad fighting with her wondering how Eleanor could be so irresponsible. Or something like that. I'm gonna be optimistic rather than assume worst case. O_O 10) I'm looking forward to seeing where else the story Neko is writing goes. I really love how tied in that story is to the comic's story and it really helps build tension and makes for a really interesting read.

keii4ii

I'm looking forward to seeing actual changes, be they positive or negative... or suuuper negative even. So far there's been a lot of establishing what each character is like (which is necessary, and done very well). I mean, Eleanor being introduced to Neko's life is a change to her life, but not yet a change in her character. I feel like the point we're at is a cusp of some real changes...

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Cat-Person this week! Please also give a special thank you to P.Lo for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Cat-Person, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://catpersoncomic.tumblr.com/

P.Lo’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/pleaseleaveon?lang=en

[aplaceforthesoul]

Anonymous submitted:

hi,so ive been stuck in a 1 week depression episode and it started because of one bad grade, and now more stuff is piling on and making me miserable. one of my friends is always trying to annoy me because “im the only one who wont get annoyed” and they will do stuff that triggers my anxiety (poking me, hugging me, repeating things to me, and playing with my hair) ive asked them to stop multiple times but they wont listen. this has been going on for like a month and i think if i have to endure it any longer im going to snap on them. plus my friends have also been stressing me out since im still in school and am forced to see them every day. i really just want a break from all my friends as a whole for a bit but the school year only started like 2 months ago, so i have a while until summer break. basically, my friends are burning me out because their “dynamic” is being sarcastic and poking fun at each other. i cant get a new friend group either, all my friends are connected in one big group so if i leave them, ill be alone. the part thats really upsetting to me is that my best friend ever moved to japan during the summer, so i have to survive school without her, and as much as i pretend im not affected and am a-ok with it, im not. (hell, im crying while writing this, haha) nothing is the same anymore, and she was a really good person who was super positive, and i miss having a happy person like that. whether its my friends talking about relationship drama or even just saying “haha kill me rn” (literally like that), i just dont feel happy anymore. as a whole, theyve stressed me out to the point where theyre messing with my mental health. i just wanna know how to go back to being healthy and happy again instead of being surrounded by negativity all the time without cutting them off. sorry if that was too much, i kinda went off there

don’t be sorry friend, it’s all good! that’s what this place is for, I’m glad you were able to get all of this off your chest. 

as hard as it might be? I think it’s best to break away from your ‘friends’ for a while, even if that means being alone and by yourself for a time. you’ve repeatedly told them to lay off actions / behaviours that upset you, and they haven’t listened? \: I know you mentioned that you don’t wanna cut them off, but why do you want to continue to have people around that don’t respect you or genuinely care about you? people who are actual friends bring you up, they care about you, they’re just...nice to you haha. these people sound sarcastic and negative and unhealthy for you to be around at the moment, I can deffs understand the ‘burnt-out’ feeling and it’s only going to keep building up.

break away from them for a while, spend time by yourself and doing things that make you happy. maybe spend time at home practising yoga (good for the mind), listen to lots of 1D if that’s your kinda music, have a solo dance party in your room with your favourite energetic music, maybe spend some time drawing if that’s something you enjoy doing. when you’re at school? spend time in the library instead, or on the school oval, anywhere private that you can just spend time chilling for a bit without interruption. there’s only no shame at all in spending time by yourself at school -- and I wish someone had told me that when I was younger!! I had a toxic group of friends when I was at school as well and I was too afraid of breaking away from them and being called a ‘loner” but honestly? who tf cares what others think! you’re making a choice that’s best for you and your mental health, you’re making a choice to spend time away from negative and sarcastic people, and that can only be a good thing. other people might not know this and they have nothing better to do than make fun of others? but that’s a reflection on them, not you. 

so break away from this friendship group for a while, spend time by yourself doing things you enjoy. maybe make it a goal to meet some new people outside of school? :) if you’re old enough you could try looking for a part-time job, you could try using the website www.meetup.com or looking at what’s happening at your local community centre and signing up to a few activities (being apart of an activity or community that you enjoy can help you to meet like-minded people and build happier friendships). 

breaking away from your friends at school might not happen overnight, but it’s worth it. take time to focus on yourself and your happiness, make conscious choices to do things that make you feel happy and content, take it one day at a time. 

if you want to be happy and healthy, but you flat-out refuse to cut ties with them? the only other option is to have a very honest and blunt conversation with them, be very straight-forward and don’t mince words haha. be clear with expressing how you feel, make it clear that how they’re treating you isn’t a joke or just “annoying”, it’s now gotten to the point of being upsetting and messing with your mental health. hopefully they listen? if not, then cutting ties and breaking away from them is the only option left. all the best lovely xxx

- tash