#relationship drama

[hollymacycomic]

Holly & Macy and Everyone Else

Chapter 4: Page 45

Start at the Beginning | About the comic | Tip-jar 

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Along with this week's comic, I have a few announcements: Holly & Macy will be going on hiatus after February 15th 2024. More info about this under the cut:

This hiatus is for a few reasons, one of the reasons being that I am getting gay married in February (omg!!). I want to take some time off to relax with my partner and do wedding stuff. It also (conveniently) just so-happens that, by mid-February HAMAEE will have reached page 51 of Chapter 4. Usually once I've drawn ~50 pages the chapter has ended and I take a break + hiatus. This chapter is twice as long, so it won't end after page 51, but I still need a break from drawing. I can definitely tell that I am getting to the point where I need a break, haha. TwT And so, for the longevity of the comic and the health of my wrists, I will take a break from posting after February 15th. I have taken hiatuses in the past, and they typically last 5-7 months. Holly & Macy will likely return in late 2024.

I know Feb 15th is still a month away, but I want to give you guys an ample heads-up about this. Going on hiatus in the middle of a chapter is unusual for me, but I believe this is in the best interest of the comic overall. I've chosen a narrative moment that I feel is a satisfying stopping-point for the time being. And of course, the chapter will continue when I come back.

Thank you for the time you spend with HAMAEE. I hope it's an enjoyable reading experience. I'll see y'all again next week!

-Teratoaster <3

[theboywithburninghands]

Is it possible to write a Funnybunny/Buttonblossom story without Pomni? I dunno, but I just did. Anyway, this one is a little on the short side, but it took a complete 180 from where I was originally going with it. And I think the result is good, one of the better things I’ve written… That said, it is a little bit on the heavier side. So I’ll drop a small content warning just in case, but really it shouldn’t be any rougher than your average romance movie. Hope you enjoy!

Young and Dumb

t/w: angst, relationship drama

Another day came to an end. The adventure, forgettable. Somewhat unpleasant, but nobody died or got maimed. Dinner was fine, digital spaghetti and meatballs. The performers said their goodbyes and headed off to bed. With the exception of two.

Ragatha left the tent, holding Layla, the music-playing microphone beetle that Kinger picked up from a few adventures ago. It was Ragatha’s turn with her, and the doll-woman wanted to savor the opportunity. She walked a long way to her favorite retreat; a copse (Dark Souls II taught her that word) far in the back of the woods by the Digital Lake. She didn’t love the woods on account of her fear of bugs with too many legs, but there were so few places to be well and truly by herself around here. It was like what Kierkegaard said. There can’t be joy without risk.

Or… maybe that was faith without risk. Who the hell was Kierkegaard anyway..? Eh.

She came to her small thicket, or “copse.” It was distinguishable from the rest of the woods by the mossy boulder in the middle of it, softly illuminated by the digital starlight. Ragatha spent many evenings sitting on that boulder. Sometimes she cried for hours. Sometimes she screamed in rage until her voice was completely dried up. Sometimes she just laid on the boulder and stared at the sky. Once she laid there until dawn.

She first checked the rock for any insects, before sitting cross-legged on it, smoothing out her dress. She placed Layla down on her lap, the microphone-beetle looking up at her expectantly.

Ragatha: Layla, play… Into the Great Wide Open by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.

Layla nodded and began to play a heartland rock song. Ragatha closed her eye and let the music take her away. Hardly even realizing it, she began to sing along.

Ragatha: “Eddie waited ‘til he finished high school

He went to Hollywood, got a tattoo

He met a girl out there with a tattoo too

The future was wiiiide open…”

Jax: You’re kinda flat, Dollface.

Ragatha opened her eye and turned about on the boulder. Jax was leaning against a tree, his eyes also closed, with his hands tucked behind his head. Ragatha rolled her eye and tapped a hand to her lips.

Ragatha: Shh. Listen for a second.

The two of them remained quiet as Layla played Ragatha’s selected song. Ragatha swayed in time with the music, relishing every last note, before it concluded about three minutes later. She then smirked at Jax.

Ragatha: Ill met by moonlight, proud Jax.

Jax: What’d you say?

Ragatha: It’s from Shakespeare. What’s up? If you’re here to put a centipede down my dress again, you might as well get it over with.

Jax: Nah. It’s way funnier when you’re not expecting it. Can I join you? *points to the boulder*

Ragatha: Sure.

Ragatha scooted over as Jax strutted to the rock, sitting down and crossing a leg over one knee. There was a moment of somewhat awkward silence before Jax spoke up.

Jax: New kid is adjusting pretty well.

Ragatha: Mmm. She’s definitely a fighter. At least in an emotional way.

Jax: Think she’ll outlast us?

Ragatha: Come on, Jax, you know I don’t like thinking about who’s gonna abstract next. Hopefully nobody.

Jax: That’ll be the day.

Ragatha: …Well, I know for a fact it’s harder to completely give up hope when you have feelings for someone.

Jax shot Ragatha a look, who met it with a small, confident smile. The rabbit sighed and rolled his eyes. He balled his fists for a moment before unclenching them.

Jax: …Did she have fun?

Ragatha: Huh?

Jax: At the theme park. With Pomni. Did you have fun?

Ragatha: …Yeah. I did. It’s the same old rides, but… it’s a whole different experience having someone to share it with. To see react to stuff, y’know?

Jax: Did you two make out~?

Ragatha: Ugh, don’t be a creep.

Jax made some obnoxious kissing sound effects.

Ragatha: You know, I could ask you the same thing! Did you make out with her?

Jax: *immediately* Yeah.

Ragatha: Wh- *blushes* Oh. Uh. Hm. Wait, you can kiss people? Do you even have lips?

Jax: Huh? What are you talkin’ about?

Ragatha: No, I’m just thinking about the logistics of the whole situation, does she like… kiss you on the teeth?

Jax: I got lips, genius. *closes his mouth around his teeth*

Ragatha: Yeah but can you pucker them? Or do you just sort of… bump your lips against hers?

Jax: You’re reaaaally into my kissing techniques there, Dollface. There something you’re not telling me?

Ragatha: Dream on.

Jax: More like “have nightmares.”

Ragatha: Ha! Even if I were to kiss you, which I won’t, I think you’d find it perfectly acceptable at the very worst.

Jax: At the very best. At the very best I find it acceptable. At the very worst, I might puke in your mouth.

Ragatha: Jax! Blech… *sticks out her tongue* You always take it too far…

Jax: You all just don’t take it far enough...

Ragatha: Oh whatever. It makes me happy you’re enjoying your time with Pomni.

Jax: Why wouldn’t I? She’s… she’s alright. *he blushes faintly*

Ragatha: Yeah. She is alright. I’m really proud of you.

There’s a prolonged silence.

Jax: What?

Ragatha: I said that I’m proud of you.

Jax: You’re… “proud of me?”

Ragatha: Yeah. You’ve come a l-

Jax: What do you mean you’re proud of me, proud of me for what?

Ragatha: For-For finding someone that helps you get through the days, you know? It's hard to keep going.

Jax: That wasn’t what you were going to say. You said “I’ve come a long way.”

Ragatha: Oh. Well… I dunno. I can tell you’re softening up a little.

Jax: Huh?

Ragatha: I mean, Pomni is good for you. You’re not nearly as… well, as much of a jerk as you were before. Sometimes you need someone in your life that grounds you.

Jax: So what’s she doing for you?

Ragatha: What do you mean?

Jax: Well she makes me less of a jerk. What does she do to help your personality, huh? Or do you not need to change anything?

Ragatha: Hey now, I wasn’t saying anything like that.

Jax: But you get to be “proud” because the new girl makes me better? Like you got nothing to fix or already have romance figured out.

Ragatha: Jax, it’s a compliment!

Jax: Alright, look. *he stands up* I’ll let you kiss Pomni, but you don’t get to talk to me like I’m your baby brother.

Ragatha: Sorry, you'll let me kiss Pomni? And I mean, I am eight years older than you…

Jax: Oh so you do think I’m a kid, nice.

Ragatha: Jax, you know I didn’t mean it like that-

Jax: Amazing. It’s not enough you get to treat me like a child, you get to come into my relatio- my, my- you get to come into my life and take my girlf- *the words catch in his throat and he stops*

Ragatha: What..? *she stands up* Jax, where is this coming from? You told me you were okay with sharing!

Jax: Yeah, well… maybe I’m not so much.

Ragatha: You... Pomni said-

Jax: I know what I told Pomni! I told her…

There's another lengthy pause

Jax: I told her what she wanted to hear!

Ragatha: You…

Jax: She was freaking out over liking you, so I just bit the bullet and told her it was fine so she wouldn't flip out. I thought I could deal with it… But you know what? I can’t! It hurts just a liiittle bit to have someone you… the… the first person who you ever really cared about in this dump just up and decide that you’re not good enough for them and go find someone else! Especially if your replacement is some condescending knock-off!

Jax poked her hard in the left shoulder, and Ragatha slapped his hand away instinctively.

Ragatha: Jax, stop it!

Jax: No, no, you know what? Keep her! I’m just a dumb kid, right?! It’s pretty d@#& clear I’m not cutting it anymore! I hope you two have fun! I’m better off alone!

Layla piped up with a peppy late nineties techno beat upon hearing Jax’s words. The corner of the rabbit’s mouth twitched with rage.

Jax: Oh you think you’re funny..?

Ragatha: Jax, she doesn’t know any better-

Before Ragatha knew it, Jax had his hands around the beetle, who gave a squeal of feedback at being grabbed so tightly.

Jax: You little-!

The rabbit reared back

Ragatha: NO JAX DON’T!

Jax threw Layla hard into the woods, the tiny creature rocketing into the treeline. Ragatha gasped and ran after Layla, falling to her knees and palming around in the tall grass for her. She eventually felt a small round body and pulled it free from the leaves of grass.

Ragatha: Layla, are you okay? You didn’t hit a tree did you?!

Layla’s eyes twirled in circles before she blinked the confusion away and shook her head “no.”

Ragatha: *gives a long sigh of relief* Jax! Why would you-

Upon turning around, the rabbit was nowhere to be found.

Ragatha: Jax?

——

Jax made it to the edge of the forest. He panted and grabbed the sides of his head. His chest hurt. Shame and fury and guilt grappled in his stomach like a knot of snakes.

Jax: It’s late. I should… I should sleep.

He said this aloud to himself, a pitiful attempt to calm his emotions like twisting the cap back on a bottle of soda that was about to erupt with fizz. He just wanted to go back to his room. So he started walking.

His throat hurt. He kept walking. His vision became blurry. He kept walking. His cheeks were getting wet. He kept walking. His breathing hitched. He stopped walking. He fell into a squat. He got back up. He walked to the lake shore and sat.

He cried. For the first time in years, he cried.

And he cried.

And he cried.

[karihighman]

THE ROOKIE SEASON 6 FIRST LOOK 👀🤫🗂️

[wamnak]

The look. Day 3 begins.

[ask-calico-jack]

Anyway throwback to the no less than 4 separate times that Edward Teach fucked my wife despite not even being attracted to women just to cuck me. Now he's acting like me trying to break his new man in is a fucking crime. As if this isn't how we've been basically inducting each other's partners for years now🙄

[the-witch-in-the-elder-tree]

Someone has probably pointed this out before, but the reason Ed and Stede's relationship is so rocky is that they were never on the same level. What's more, they even developed into opposite directions and almost turned into each other in their own way.

Stede started out as a non-pirate and had issues committing to that lifestyle. Then when he did commit to it, he went too far and has a power trip. Meanwhile Ed used to be this ruthless pirate, became a lot gentler and down to earth for Stede, relapsed, but wants nothing to do with that life anymore now.

So before they can start a healthy relationship, they have to understand AND TALK ABOUT what they truly want and whether that's compatible. Sadly, love isn't always enough when your life takes you on different paths.

[abrighterspark]

we should know by now

that this will never work

the two of us, and her,

resident in your mind

but i am done

with feeling second best

so take this kiss

and my wish...

good luck with all the rest

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

My problems are your problems now ♥

In other words, Uma hooks up with Claudine Frollo to make Harry jealous. More drama to come soon ♥ (Meaning this will get another part–)

The party was all around her in full swing – the music, the alcohol flowing, the only mostly sane laughter, dancing and few fights breaking out here and there.

But something’s missing, Uma would say, something else than the taste of freedom they are all chasing and that keeps evading. Something's missing.

Harry is not paying attention to her, that’s what is wrong. 

Uma joins Desiree and Bonny dancing and accepts a shot of rum from Marya; she keeps dancing, not looking where Harry stands, but her eyes keep betraying her.

It seems as if Harry is all she can see.

Standing too far away from her. Leaning at the mast of Lost Revenge. Playing with his hook and leaning entirely too close to Anthony Tremaine.

Something is burning deep inside Uma’s chest as she finally looks away. 

Thunder sounds overhead, but Uma pays no mind. Instead, she takes another shot, this time with Ivy, and then sits on the railing, looking over her crew and the partying people. Definitely not on Harry.

She doesn’t notice seething Harriet Hook in the crowd, nor Ginny Gothel, sneaking around in a fashion that might indicate that she is about to assassinate her first mate. 

No, Uma is firmly decided not to pay attention to anything vaguely related to Harry today.

He took off his coat, showing off his arms to the biting Isle night.

Not that she noticed, of course.

She forces her disobedient eyes elsewhere.

Her attention falls to Claudine. Frollo’s daughter in the pirate crowd, her hair and eyes practically glowing under the fairy lights, dancing and stopping at the oddest moments, as if she forgot what she was doing. She is swaying just a bit too much. 

Her eyes barely leave Uma.

A sense of plan swirls into being in Uma’s mind, and she seizes it before it can fade away, before she can think. She doesn’t look in Harry’s direction.

„Claudine!“ she calls out, „Claudine, come here!“

She does manage to look at Claudine as she walks over, stopping closer than she would any other day, and leaning closer yet. She has a cup in her hand:

„What are you drinking, Claudine?“ Uma asks.

„Slammed tequila, Marya called it,“ Claudine answers, leaning closer yet and raising the cup to Uma, „D’you want any, Captain?“

Uma doesn’t want any, but drinks anyway, purposefully brushing her fingers against Claudine’s as she takes the cup. She hides her smile in the cup as Claudine gasps a little, the broken thing she is.

„Do you like it, Captain?“ she asks a little breathlessly as Uma drinks, and can Uma fault her for that, really?

„It’s absolutely vile,“ she answers, „Just like I like it.“

Claudine smiles too, a confusing mix of shy and sharp, and something deep and dark tugs at Uma’s mind, something that she usually tries to ignore. She presses the cup back to Claudine’s hand, both of them falling silent for a moment.

Uma is well aware of Claudine’s eyes at her lips.

She is drunk, both of them are, and Harry –

And life hurts and Uma shouldn’t–

She shouldn’t give that order–

She speaks anyway.

„Do you want to kiss me, Claudine Frollo?“

„I– I–“

„Don’t be shy, Claudine,“ Uma leans closer, her breath on her lips, „I know you want. It’s okay.“

„It’s not–“ Claudine barely manages to whisper. She doesn’t lean away.

„It’s not okay…“

Uma brings her palm to the back of Claudine’s head, and she hopes Harry sees them, and orders:

„Kiss me, Claudine Frollo.“

Claudine gives in and obeys. 

Sighting into Uma’s lips and grabbing at her arms – it’s okay to touch, don’t you know, Claudine? – and moaning when Uma bites her.

Uma slides down from the railing and turns Claudine around, forcing her against it. She doesn’t care if anyone’s paying attention as she breaks to kiss and whispers „Do you like this, Claudine?“ her lips against her ear, her hands at places Claudine might describe as „obscene“, were she in the right state of mind. Did she remember her father’s teachings.

With that, nasty thoughts, hatred and anger and fierce protectiveness flares in Uma and forces her to grab Claudine tighter, bite her, just because she can.

„Do you like this, Claudine?“

„Yes–“ her eyes are almost rolled up her skull and she’s shaking ever so slightly. 

(When did it get so cold? When did the wind pick up so much?)

(Is she shaking from the cold?)

(Uma can’t look around to the board of the Lost Revenge, can she now? Not when she has Claudine pressed against the railing like this. What a convenient excuse, right?)

Uma isn’t thinking much, finally, and heartbeats pass faster than they have any business beating.

It takes Uma a moment to notice when the ship falls silent behind her, and it’s mostly Claudine’s frigid body clueing her in.

Uma turns around to face her first mate with a smirk.

„Yes, Harry?“ she asks sweetly, positioned clearly in front of Claudine. It’s clear what they’ve been doing, isn’t it?

Good.

„Anything’s the matter?“

„Nothing’s the matter, Captain,“ he answers, all tense, his hands wrapped around his hook in the wrong way that is hurting him and Uma wants to peel his fingers away, „Nothing’s wrong.“

He’s lying and so is she.

He shouldn’t have started.

„Good,“ she answers anyway.

Claudine’s still frozen behind her, and so is the whole world, really, when Harry repeats „Good,“ with a barely contained sneer and turns on his heel and marches away.

The party doesn’t spark to life again that evening, and Uma falls asleep alone in her cabin.

She doesn’t want to know where Harry is – she doesn’t know where did Claudine run away to. She should probably care.

[femmefatalevibe]

Hi femme! I was wondering if you could do something about not talking shit and staying out of drama? Tysmmm I love what you do and you're so amazing <33

Hi love! Thank you so much! This comment made me smile from ear to ear <333

I would say there are a few easy motivators to opt out of gossiping/stay out of drama:

Staying silent in the realm of gossip/drama/people talking shit saves your reputation by default. Opting out of drama is one of the best PR campaigns you can implement for yourself. This strength allows you to pursue/strengthen opportunities, connections, and relationships with those who succumb to this low-brow energy and no longer have access due to their desire for instant gratification

Remember that any energy and time spent investing in drama/gossip correlates to less energy/time you can spend working on yourself, your goals, and the things you enjoy. With this in mind, involving yourself in gossip sounds like a lose-lose situation to me

Staying out of negativity will almost certainly lead you to be a more positive person by default. Like attracts like at the end of the day. Don't let other people's drama, hangups, or issues get you down. You deserve better than that

Hope this helps xx

[liskantope]

Growing up, to my knowledge the default way for two adults to argue was to have an angry fight -- I mean raised voices if not outright shouting at each other, constantly interrupting each other, anger and aggression generally taking over, which I assumed to be the universal definition of fight. This was certainly the way of my parents, even if they didn't like it and made some efforts to mitigate their communication breaking down into this mode; as long as there were strong enough disagreements that needed to be aired, it seemed inevitable that such an unpleasantly hostile scene would eventually take place. And as far as I could tell, there was nothing at all unusual about my parents or the amount of shouting fights that took place in my house: I assumed (and I still think probably correctly) that this kind of event took place with some regularity in most other households as well.

But when I think now to my friends' relationships (and even my own close roommate or practically-living-together relationships, platonic and otherwise), for some reason I have a harder time picturing much of this happening. It's not that I have any kind of direct knowledge of how my friends and their partners interact behind closed doors, it's just that in the cases of people I know really well, I simply don't imagine them resorting to handling disagreements in this way. (In the case of one couple I know really well, who I am still close friends with, I was actually in the room for their "first fight" as well as at least one other one, and neither of them at any point so much as raised their voice or quickened their speech -- they might have even slowed down.) It's not that all of my generational peers hash out contentious social issues in the carefully analyzing and qualifying and very wordy way that I tend to write about such things in blog posts, nor that they don't get angry or otherwise emotional. It's that they (I think) generally have better tools for confrontation at their disposal and prioritize avoiding the perhaps more traditional, nasty, screaming-at-each-other brand of conflict resolution, even if that's possibly what they grew up with.

I can't help thinking this is a generational thing, like people who grew up around the same time as I did (or later) are generally more in touch with how to process feelings and differences with others in intimate situations, and are even perhaps more emotionally intelligent and/or self-aware in general, I don't know. I definitely don't shy away from criticizing some of the values, mindsets, and tendencies of my generation and younger on this blog, but this is a very positive trait I'm inclined to hand to them for sure.

[hollymacycomic]

Holly & Macy and Everyone Else

Chapter 4: Page 26

Start at the Beginning | About the comic | Tip-jar 

🌘 Support the comic & read the next page now on Patreon! 🌘

[aroaceconfessions]

My coworker was venting about how her boyfriend asked her to buy 2 books to write a surprise romantic message in there for her, but he lost that book so he asked her to buy it again and told her about the surprise. She buys the book and gives it to him, which surprised him and she told him it was so that he could write the message in the book. According to her, he refused because he felt like telling her about the message would make up for having lost the book with the message. And now they’re both mad at each other. I don’t like my coworker, she’s so annoying and overshares, but in this situation I think the blame falls on her boyfriend because 1) she hates reading so I don’t know why he wanted to get her a book, 2) why did she have to buy the book if it was his gift to her??? And 3) if he lost the book, why is he making it seem like she lost it??? She constantly talks about her boyfriend and even when she’s saying positive things about him, it seems like the bare minimum. And it’s stuff like this I can’t understand because me being aroace makes it difficult to understand why people continue to be in a relationship with people like this, but if I suggest that they break up, I’m the bad guy. How is this better than being single???

Submitted February 16, 2023

[ask-calico-jack]

Tactical genius or whatever but he can't read a person he's known for over half his life. But then I'm supposed to just know that he doesn't want me to fuck Stede, know that he means the backstabbing and not me, know all this shit but he's not even expected to figure out that you don't just run back into a burning ship for a guy for the promise of blackmail material down the line

[spookyshoosh]

im about to lose my shit on my boyfriend

like im this fucking close to kicking him out of my house 🤏

he can get fucked

im about to not care anymore bruh

[whotookfowlie]

The Quick and Dirty Life Of Fritz Fargo, a queer dramatic comedy set in the 1990's. A grungy exploration of sexuality, addiction, trauma, and abusive cycles.

Currently, on hiatus, there are ten years of updates waiting for you on the website.

fritzfargo.com

[xxorelxx]

Theatre school is the best.

Nobody's schoolwork is up to date, we're all exhausted but we enjoy it.

There's always some relationship drama and hot tea being spilled in big rehearsals like it's nothing.

"OMG FRANCESCA (my name) ALEX BROKE UP WITH MEEEEE." - My bestie. Then she weeps into my shoulder for like 20 mins in the big rehearsal.

THEN THE TEACHER ENDS UP ALMOST QUITTING BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE DOING TERRIBLY AND IT'S LIKE IM THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE.

We are doing heathers and I'm the red Heather :3

BUT YEAH IT'S CRAZY BUT THE FUNNIEST THING EVER.

MUSICAL SCHOOL IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER DONE I SWEAR.

Its the best fever dream you can have 😘