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Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Episode # 477 - November 21st, 2017
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27 comments:
Hah! I beat RBS with the first comment! Anyway . . . yeah . . . that car wreck scene is definitely a metaphor for things to come between these two.
...s'all good, Ardie, as long as you keep patrol! ha-HAA! : )
WELL, I finally got some ACTION between the Huskies, but I didn't think think it would end up in a ditch! HA!
But, I will say it's nice to see a more 'clothed' edition of a B&B episode....feels more 'warm', as it were....
AND, Greg, WHY does it look more like YOU than Jake in panel 4? an artist living out a fantasy? hmmmmm. ha-HAA! : )
ANYHOO, off to work, CHOW!
-RBS
There's a pun here somewhere...
Something something downhill from here?
Something about hitting bottom?
Hmm
That was funny. I didn't like Sergei, but I've loved the last two installments of this story.
If the car wreck is a harbinger of things to come, I buy it. This "relationship" needs to end in disaster, and soon.
Still nothing offered today redeems Sergei from his awful behavior in the introduction, and I cannot wait for this ill-conceived romance to end and Sergei to leave forever.
More Sergei = less interest in reading this comic. Hate this character, and I hate how his awful attitude and behaviors keep getting rewarded. Bad, bad message to send.
Here are the things you can get away with in Kyle-land:
1) Hit on a guy you know is already on a date
2) Insult the person this guy is dating
3) Insult bears who date non-bears
4) Demean gay men who aren't masculine
5) Insult gay men who date men of a different age
6) Stalk the guy and insert yourself into his life
Even better, you don't ever have to apologize for being a jerk, you don't have to show any remorse at all, AND no bad consequences happen to you.
And you get the guy you want in the end!
Being a complete tool pays off in Kyle-land. No reason to be a nice guy or have ethics or standards in Kyle-land. Sergei proves all that.
Mike makes a very valid point.
Mike:
You make some interesting and arresting points. But this is only a comic strip first off...I pointed out a lot of this type of behavior before in the comic strip and ended getting stalked by a person (YREN) here and in an effort to "intimidate" me, he put my real business out here and you all applauded and nothing was ever done by the author or "monitor". I even was basically forced to put a face picture up (which really didn't scare me at all) But if you want to be objective, there is nothing that Sergei has done that will come close to Price:
1. Sexually assaulting Brad?
2. Tried to sleep with Lance
3. Tried to take Kyle's business.
4. "Bought" Kristan to get back at Richard.
5. Attempted to break up Lance and Drew.
So if you must point out flaws, you should do that for every character and not just one. That being said: I have always pointed out that I can't stand Jake's character as I feel as if this is stereotypical but accurate behavior within the gay community. I am wondering why your previous comment was deleted though...For the record, I agree with you though on most points...
Jack
God . . . where the hell is Wildcat? I thought we were done with this stupidity in the comment section.
I discussed this with Greg and we've decided to let Jack's most recent post stay. He's been away for a while, and we'll give him this one chance to spew his opinion. But Jack, that's it for now. You agreed to not post here anymore, and I'm going to keep you to that.
Not to "feed the problem" here, but my issue with Sergei as opposed to another character like Price is that Sergei has received NO NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES WHATSOEVER for his actions (whereas Price decidedly has), and *everyone* in the house has Price's number whereas nobody has looked the other way at Sergei's behavior. Even Jake, witnessing it all directly, just glosses over it.
What happened to Price is more balanced, and that's why I'm *so very irritated* by the Sergei situation.
Not to mention that Price occasionally has shown at least SOME flashes of self-awareness and desire to change, and of course, consistently *not getting his way* through his underhanded actions.
That's the very opposite of Sergei, who has shown no remorse, no awareness of his poor behavior, and has suffered absolutely zero negative consequences for his awful attitude. Nobody in the house seems to be onto him, everyone seems to just be ignoring his horrible behavior, and in the end, he's gotten exactly what he wanted.
Very, very, VERY different from any of the other flawed characters in the house. The list against Price is mostly things he TRIED to do and failed at. Sergei's list is all stuff he did, got away with, and ultimately ended up REWARDED FOR.
Hence my extreme dislike of the character and the storyline.
Loved it! Who doesn't want the earth to move, during your first kiss with a hot guy. And Sergei is hot!
I'm loving Sergei and Jake as a couple. And of course their first date ends in a super awkward situation. So perfect.
As for Sergei's "bad behavior," a lot of it seems to boil down to him sharing his opinions without a filter. Sure, he's brash and opinionated, but I don't think that requires some kind of comeuppance. In fact, I think he's exactly what indecisive, stuck-in-a-rut Jake needs right now.
Thom H.
Uh-uh, Jack. Sorry.
"Brash and opinionated" is one thing. Insulting someone, demeaning other gays? That's not confidence, that's not "just not having a filter" - it's flat-out rude and obnoxious.
Stalking someone until they date you? That's disturbing behavior.
I hate the fact that people are making excuses for all of this. In real life, this would be a danger sign.
Plus the fact that some of Sergei's "opinions" perpetuate negative stereotypes about people in our own community.
Putting it another way -- Sergei went up to a stranger in a bar, one that he knew was on a date, and played a gay variation of "negging". "Your relationship is wrong, your boyfriend is wrong, you shouldn't be dating a young girly-man, real men should only date real men, you've made bad choices."
Not only did it contain slurs against non-bear gay men, but it was essentially a trick, a tactic, just like the way straight guys use "negging" to trick a woman. It's a slimy technique -- not one that shows true confidence.
Too many strikes against Sergei from the very beginning. Plus the negative message that it's only right for bears to date other bears, that's utterly ludicrous and also offensive. It's just regressive gay stereotypes, not a well-thought-out, confident gay man who respects others in his community.
Hi Mike -- Thanks for the replies! I totally see what you're saying -- Sergei certainly says and does things that are controversial. I guess the difference is that you see them as downright wrong, and I find them mildly offensive and entertaining.
My point basically boils down to this: I'd rather read about characters who say controversial things and cause a little drama than about characters who are kind and respectful all of the time. The latter just sounds boring.
And I think Greg is doing a great job of writing Sergei as someone who stirs the pot without tipping him over into a complete a-hole. But again, that's where we disagree, so I don't expect I'll win you over even if we debated all of Sergei's actions point by point.
I do want to point this out, though: after rereading parts of this storyline, it's pretty clear that Jake and the B&B gang run into Sergei in a couple of locations (e.g., the ice rink, the grocery store), not the other way around. So I'm not sure Sergei is a stalker as much as Greg is trying to bring these characters together to advance the plot.
Thus ends my defense of my new favorite B&B resident sh*t-stirrer. Thanks fro the good read, Greg, and thanks for the lively conversation, Mike!
Thom H.
"Stalking someone until they date you? That's disturbing behavior."
Bullseye.
Hi Thom -- yeah, I really think you are being waaay too soft on Sergei. I don't mind controversy or interesting characters. I don't need people to be nicey-nice to be engaging.
But I don't like the gaslighting aspect of this. And Sergei's statements seem more than just "opinionated" or "controversial". They ARE downright insulting. To Jake. To Eduardo. I mean, Eduardo and Jake supposedly ended on good terms, but Jake did nothing to defend Eduardo against the things Sergei said. And Jake just ends up seeming weak and easily influenced throughout all of this. This isn't good character development for any of them.
And Sergei is continually rewarded for his negative behavior. Nobody calls him out on it, he gets no negative consequences, everyone just buys it and ignores it?? That's not even realistic.
Change any one of these aspects and I might have been more on board.
If ANYONE in the house had pointed out Sergei's nastiness. If Jake had stood up more forcefully for himself and/or Eduardo. If Jake just didn't seem so g-d mind-numbingly weak-willed throughout this whole "relationship" with Sergei. If Sergei showed any remorse for his bulldog arrogance, or if it affected any of Jake's so-called friends watching this unfold.
Even Price and Lance have had their comeuppances, they had detractors (in the house) from the get-go. They had to (and still have to) work to overcome their arrogance and people still call them out on it. Sergei the magical gaslighting Russian, though? He can do and say anything he wants and everyone just smiles and nods!
This just seems soooo artificial and unrealistic, I just can't buy into it.
Mike -- I see what you're saying, although we're obviously reading a number of things in different ways. It's interesting to know that you (and some other commenters) have such strong feelings about Sergei's behavior and relationships. It honestly never crossed my mind until you brought it up, so I'm grateful to you for the back and forth.
At this point, I'm curious to see the direction Greg takes this story. I think there's still time for Sergei's comeuppance (if it's coming). Maybe that's been in the works all along and Sergei has just pulled the wool over my eyes the way he has everyone else's. Or maybe Jake and Sergei will live happily every after. I guess only time will tell which one of us is right. :)
Thom H.
Hi Thom, I appreciate that, but I'll be honest, such a negative introduction to a character is going to make it extremely hard for me to appreciate any redemption for him that isn't equally extreme. And I don't see that happening anyway, that just doesn't seem to be where the plot is leading (although I hope I'm wrong -- I'm basically still reading at this point in the hope that Sergei gets run over by a bus... )
Plus... I don't like any of the characters who are giving Sergei a free pass. And it's bizarre. Every other "controversial" character in the strip, there was someone skeptical of them fairly early on in their introduction. At least one person who was suspicious or not under their spell. That's why I'm really turned off by Sergei -- seems like he's charmed *everyone*, even the ones who would normally have their BS-detectors set to "high" by a stranger acting so abrasively.
So I have to admit that with each episode of Sergei continuing to get rewarded for his BS behavior, with no one calling him out on it, I get a little more turned off.
I find that really disappointing, as it feels like I've been reading this forever! But this one character, in my opinion, is erasing a lot of my good feelings towards the comic over the years. I just really don't like the idea of a character getting away with negative stereotyping of other members in our own community, whatever the reason behind it, and literally nobody else in the cast seeing a thing wrong with it.
Finally, I find the whole relationship disappointing. The idea that Jake, as a bear, can only find happiness with another bear... that's not romantic, that just feels superficial and stereotypical. Even if Sergei wasn't a complete a-hole, I'd probably still not be all that thrilled with a plot development like that.
I was wondering why there were so many comments here...
I feel the relationship between Sergei and Jake don't really mesh well. Sergei is straightforward, knowing what he wants, condescending at times, and as people have said, a bit of a stalker with the encounters prior to dating Jake - who knows if it's really coincidence or not.
Jake still seems out of the loop with his identity. We haven't seen much introspection in to what his desires as an older gay man should be (Shakespeare paraphrased: '...to thine own self be true...')! If he could be defined by one word, it would be ambivalence. Going into a relationship without expectations, I'd personally be wary because any acts of offense could be excused as "how to make this relationship work better because it's still new".
Another theory of why the house panders to Sergei is because he's somewhat famous. Sure, being famous puts you in the spotlight in front of everyone, but it has the ability to let you get away with a lot of things too. The average person wouldn't be able to get a free meal from a restaurant, what's to say that the owner of the restaurant wants to garner favor by giving a celebrity a complimentary meal? Wear a certain brand? Sell a certain product? Maybe everyone is wearing rose-tinted glasses, maybe I'm overthinking too early I'm the morning. "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"
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