welcome to the fest

Okay, so we know there's a suspiciously high amount of vaccine related themes going on in the strips this year. This is, of course, in stark contrast to, say, the Trump drone being the extent of any material done on the theme of his presidency specifically (probably for the best). There is a much darker and much more focused overlay everybody knows and sees and may very well be thinking about in regard to whether the man has gone off his rocker.

Now I, for one, find it surprising that this hasn't at least attracted some backward fanbase of rednecks who at least pretend to be feminist. Or maybe it has, I don't really know. My point is the most he did on Trump was that mini Trump drone arc whereas corona gets full blown Sunday strip focus arcs. I think we can conclusively agree upon the distinct possibility that this can no longer just be construed as "hey, he's just having them do hormones in vaccine form, it's really still just about feminism and only uses corona to talk about feminism." No, it's him being absurd in every possible way because it's a comic and silly ass interpretive shit like that goes on in the funnies. But, it's an understatement to say he has focused on vaccine themes in a negative way lately.

All this leads me to is the melancholy over how quiet the forum went since these latest heavy hitting strips. Even on the home front we got Squig and Crim openly discussing the porn world, fresh off of a Sunday strip where it shows the classic nudie mag in place of any modern porn mediums otherwise displayed in strips lately. There's clearly much going on through the man's mind, it's almost as if the comic itself is his only way to express his feelings nowadays. I'm sure a ton of us want at least some clarification, clarification that he's not about to give, I'm sure to the dismay of many. In fact, I'd be hard pressed to suggest he may have backup strips and sometimes decides which to go with by the day.

-Russly

I do agree with you that the man is going through some shit, still his latest comics have been.... upsetting. And its not just the blatant anti-vax stuff, but, for me, also the anti-trans message. Like, that isn't even subtext anymore, he just had characters straight up say "men can't be women" TWICE, and in the context of being some kind of persecuted martyr. Here's the thing though, I AM A TRANSWOMAN. It took me a long ass time to come to terms with that, to admit it to my loved ones and to start HRT. It was not as easy as just showing up and getting a bunch of 'lady pills.' I had to see psychologists, get approved by my doctors, was constantly monitored for adverse affects for the first 2 years by a team of health care professionals. It wasn't cheep, it wasn't easy, and i haven't even talked about the heaps of abuse I got during that first year. However, in the long run, it did wonders for my mental health, my confidence, my entire life. So when i see a creator, who've i've been following since highschool, just blatantly come out and put 'MEN CAN"T BE WOMEN" into the test of his comic... I get a little upset. And I want to say something. But then i just went, "What's the point? He won't listen to me, to my struggles, my point of view. He doesn't care." So yeah, it does feel like there's no point in trying to discuss any of it, because in the end, he's not even going to listen and i'm tired of defending my existence.

I'm glad somebody said it, this has been a weird pivot over the last year in particular.

I was never comfortable or supportive of the anti-trans sentiment that Tat included within the radical feminism message, and it's only become more and more of the central theme on that front. Meanwhile, there's also been portrayal of social media bans/censorship as some kind of gulag or prison camp for people who won't "recognize the new regime" since the election, the plot-line with 2021 and her adopted parents as poor-set-upon rural folk being victimized and persecuted by the woke-elite power structure, and now this terrifying anti-vax messaging...

Is it just me or do like 90% of the strips that have run this year seem like they could run on an alt-right message board and be cheered on to rave reviews. What is happening to Sinfest?

Yeah ALL I can think of is he's really just making fun of everything that hard. But the truth is the anti trans message was explicitly built into the forum which is why it surprises me I even got any responses.... I'm really just going along with what the comic does and even though I haven't agreed with it in ages, personally I still find strips to laugh at. Sometimes it's me laughing at the author rather than with him, sometimes not. I swear though, if he goes trans at the end of this and has the in comic avatar go through a mid life crisis....

-Russly

For me the common thread through all of it is the push back against what the 'woke' and 'government' and 'patriarchy' promote. Tat questions and scrutinizes all these things. The message is still anti-porn and anti-prostitution but it also is not afraid to push hard against the blatant requirement that certain topics be 'off limits'.

So he goes against what I will call the 'trans activism umbrella' since that is pushed at people - Tat says it is open for debate and thus he debates it in his comics. He parodies it and criticizes it and does not treat it as an off limits topic.

He also goes after the 'political vaccination umbrella' since that is pushed at people. Here again he says it is open for debate and parodies and criticizes it. This too is not an off limits topic.

His portrayal of the rednecks this year - parody - they might be shown in a positive light but they are fodder for the comic.

Our reactions to these things is provoked by their meaning to us. He doesn't care if we don't 'like it' - he is making a statement. He is going to make fun of and shine a critical light on all the things - especially those that are in the news.

At least that is the way I see it.

there is a difference between debating or joking about something and out right denying its existence. 'MEN CAN"T BE WOMEN" is a statement that leaves no room for debate. which is why it hurts me so much. He's not talking about trans rights or activism, he's outright saying that transpeople like me don't exist and aren't valid. oh and i guess that we're tools of the devil and mindless zombies. For a debate you need to show both sides of the argument. Tat isn't interested in debating, he's saying 'this is wrong' quite clearly, and thus people like me are left out in the cold.

Nothing we say will change another person's strongly held beliefs. Belief vs belief is a pointless argument. We all believe what we do based on so many subtle and non subtle things - based on our life experience which is different from person to person.

So, you say he says 'men can't be women' - or at least his comic character does. He has not said that 'men can't be trans women'. Therefore he is not saying trans people like you don't exist. He does not have to agree with you or your choices - you do not have to agree with him or his choices.

Your personal journey is not made less 'valid' by this comic strip even if you find things that you feel are 'personal' about the strip.

The other side of Tat's debate is what is being projected by the prevalence of media - we are amply supplied with that other side. Since when has any one voicing their opinion required to 'show the other side'. He is providing a counter point to what he is witnessing. His focus has been very on topic to what is in the news lately, so I can clearly surmise what the other point is.

"So, you say he says 'men can't be women' - or at least his comic character does. He has not said that 'men can't be trans women'."

Ok let me stop you right there. I live my life as a woman, i see myself as a woman. Trans women ARE women. So yeah, when someone says 'men can't be women', I tend to get a might upset, because in my experience, that means you only see me as, AT BEST, a man in drag. This isn't a costume i take off at night, this is who i am 24/7. and broad sweeping statements like that are hurtful because they do invalidate the years and years of struggle i had to go through to come to terms with who i am and how i feel.

Your experience is that - your experience. No one else can validate nor invalidate it. We are all entitled to our own views.

look i don't fault people for their view. But i have been harassed, insulted and assaulted because i'm trans. peoples 'differing opinion' has gotten me punched in the face, kick out of public spaces, had rocks thrown through my windows and my property vandalized. lawmakers around the world are trying to outlaw my very existence. I doubt your 'view' has gotten you half as much grief. forgive me if i'm a little testy on the subject.

No doubt that life can be hard at times and it sounds like you are going through tough times indeed.

Try your best not to 'spoil for the fight' - most who disagree do so only on certain points and not on the value of your existence. It is easy to believe the whole world is against us when we experience the injustice of a small segment of mean people.

If I may be so bold... if the comic is causing you distress it might be time to take a break from it. Tat is not through expressing his own unique take on the world. No telling if what he is expressing is totally his own view or mixed with a stance designed to cause controversy for the sake of being a controversial comic. Either way if you cannot disengage emotionally from the experience then maybe your time is better spent doing better things.

There are some comics I read that I don't particularly agree with for various reasons - but sometimes they delight me when they focus on a topic I like or their artwork is particularly good. I make sure to evaluate these comics and see if the balance of positive is in my favor. I am forever on my guard to ensure the content that my brain sees is leading me to be my calm and centered best self.

Woah there this isn't exactly what I figured I would come online to hahahaha. For one, as I say, he is making fun of everything that hard. Even the Sisterhood as far as I'm concerned ("the spice is life" is a joke I came across elsewhere recently in fact...). Unfortunately I have to agree with Zombie on one count of the blatancy of these messages. Even -if- the author's claiming the open ended nature of the comic, at this point it's getting to be irresponsible in its approach to tackling such topics.

Yes, not all trans people are like those in the comic. No, we don't know what percentage, (and it is some percentage) but when you see characters like Francis and Buddha still disappear even -when- the Resistance is brought back we can clearly tell something is up. The characters that used to keep such energies in check (this can technically include Legion). In fact it's weird thinking that the author is then simultaneously not being 'masculine enough' and also being way too aggressive in other ways anyway. I've read only slight coverage on the way comics are portrayed, like how more seriously drawn strips are less 'relatable' and more 'other' or observable than simply drawn characters. My, has Sinfest come a long way in that regard.

The reason the author's intents are clear is because they line up with very specific predictions that were made for accurate reasons. If you're saying trans people are good for society as a whole, you completely underwrite the scores of doctors who specifically set it up that way so you would be defending such a notion to defend the mimosas they drink every morning. Meaning, like with tech companies, there are definitely those in big pharma who planned in advance to have, or at least bank on, a trans movement that just so happens to be very costly, expensive, and invasive, full of advertisements for promotion of such ways and all in an eerily similar way to how society formalized -everything- about corona. When I heard 'quarantine' said in a, well, ghetto accent outside a train station last year, that's how I knew.

They probably don't need a break from the comic per se, but at the least to take it a bit less seriously yeah.... I certainly have had to take some of it in a more open ended fashion both when it began and now, albeit in mostly different ways.... But Tavi, also be sure to give the more compassionate response where possible. Sounds like what Zombie needs to hear is that the author doesn't want to discredit those he's insulting, even though, yes, everything is fair game and that's one instance of where this is such a provocative comic. Tat insults everything by default. He maybe got bored of the basic race jokes from the comic's start and has since, as we often guess, has gotten exploratory since then?

-Russly

Sigh. Sorry if i got carried away. It is a sore subject with me. Still, Russly, you make some damn good points, and yes, even I'm willing to acknowledge the hypocrisy of a lot of big pharma trying to squeeze every last dime out of me for my hormone supplements. It sucks and I don't mind that being made fun of. But I feel there is a big difference between making a joke about trans people, like the hard ship of suddenly having to shop women's sizes (also pocket sizes in women's jeans are bullshit!) or growing boobs at 30 years old. But when i see a character just say "Men can't be woman", that doesn't feel like a joke, just a hard stop statement. but, for all i know, Tat might have the character meet someone who changes their mind. Then I'd have egg on my face. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, some people aren't going to see the humor when it affects their lives on a day to day basis.

RikkiTikkiTavi wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 9:43 am

Your experience is that - your experience. No one else can validate nor invalidate it. We are all entitled to our own views.

This.

RikkiTikkiTavi wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:46 am

If the comic is causing you distress it might be time to take a break from it. [...] Either way if you cannot disengage emotionally from the experience then maybe your time is better spent doing better things.
[...] I am forever on my guard to ensure the content that my brain sees is leading me to be my calm and centered best self.

Exactly. No one here or anywhere is responsible for how others feel about themselves. Zombie, get a therapist and stop trying to boss strangers around. You're not a tirant.