Line #25 Webcomic/KhaosKomix


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/khaos.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:The cast]]
3	''[[http://www.khaoskomix.com/ Khaos Komix]]'' is a SliceOfLife WebComic about eight English teenagers (at most one completely straight) coming of age. They are:
4
5	* Steve Madi, a GentleGiant who narrates the beginning.
6	* Mark Sheffield, CampGay best friend and love interest of Steve, whose parents kicked out his brother.
7	* Amber Jury, briefly Mark's girlfriend, LonelyRichKid coming to terms with her crush on Nay.
8	* Nanase "Nay" Oten, a semi-openly bisexual friend of Amber with a healthy dose of WillTheyOrWontThey.
9	* Alex "Murfs" Murphy, a rock-loving friend of Nay.
10	* Tom Blake, another friend of Nay, a fantastically handsome transgender boy who captures the attention of Murfs and almost Nay. [[CharacterCatchphrase Likes guys, but in a gay way]].
11	* Charlie Trueman, Tom's best friend, a transgender vegan girl with a gluten allergy.
12	* Jamie Davies, Steve's homophobic {{Jerkass}} of a friend who ends up dating Charlie not knowing her secret.
13
14	Also:
15	* Kelly, Alex's promiscuous CoolBigSis, who doesn't get her own story, but is a major player in the plot.
16	* '''STEVE'S DAD!'''
17
18	Each Arc tells the story [[TheRashomon from the current narrator's viewpoint]]. As of Wednesday, January 2nd of 2013, the full story has come to an end. The author, Tab, has started a new comic called [[http://www.discordcomics.com/ Shades of A.]]
19
20	----
21	!!This comic provides examples of:
22
23	* AbusiveParents: Jamie's parents. His dad is shown to be curt in Jamie's story, but nice and apologetic (or at least good at dealing with kids) in Alex's story. But then, he divorces Jamie's mom and more or less cuts Jamie out of his life when he leaves home. [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/jamies-story-page09 Oh and speaking of Jamie's mom....]]
24	* AlphaBitch:
25	** Amber's "friends".
26	** Natalie Geln, too.
27	* AmbiguouslyBi: Steve, who refers to himself as bi but only because it sounds "less gay".
28	* ArtEvolution: The artist has expressed dissatisfaction with the original versions, so the story has been re-written and redrawn from scratch chronologically from the beginning to the end of the current version.
29	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: When Charlie gets her own computer, her mother warns her to beware of pedophiles, never give out personal information, and avoid misogynistic websites.
30	* AwkwardlyGayDream: Amber had one of Nay, which made her realise her feelings. Steve also had several of Mark, but tried to fight them off with cold showers.
31	* BigBad: Jamie's Mom in "Jamie's Story". She's [[AbusiveParents pretty much responsible for everything that's wrong with him]], [[spoiler:besides the stuff [[GreaterScopeVillain his rapist]] did, of course]].
32	* BiggerIsBetterInBed: Mark limps for two days after trying sex with Steve without lube. Steve is a bit [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/steves-story-page-32 embarrassed when Mark mentions it]], taking it to GagPenis levels.
33	* BilingualBonus: Also counts as a StealthPun. Tom's birth name is "Maria" and "marimacho" is a Spanish equivalent of "tomboy". The "mari-" in it comes from "Maria".
34	%%* BlackAndNerdy: Steve, especially younger-Steve.
35	%%* ClusterFBomb: Jamie.
36	* CampGay: [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/steves-story-page-16 Mark, very much]]. Alex also picks up some mannerisms as he becomes interested in Tom; that part of him is "Inner Alex", who shouts inappropriate stuff in regular!Alex's ear.
37	* CastFullOfGay: Just look at that list above! The author can get [[BerserkButton a wee bit defensive]] about this at times, with the front page at one point saying "this comic contains an equal amount of straight and gay people, but... I only really write about the queer ones." Specifically, Steve, Mark and Tom are gay, Amber is a lesbian, Nay and Charlie are bisexual, Alex has SingleTargetSexuality, and Jamie is straight.
38	* ClosetKey: A lot of the characters end up being this for each other.
39	* ColourCodedCharacters: Sort of. Every major character has their own colour theming (yellow, blue, red, purple, orange, brown, green, and cyan, respectively by chapter order), and it's evident on the title pages for their respective chapters, as well on other page elements for all strips within each chapter. As the comic itself is black and white though, it's rather less evident during the story.
40	* ComingOutStory: Steve, Mark, Amber.
41	* ContrivedCoincidence: Sometimes the characters start to feel a ''little'' too likely to be gay.
42	* CoolBigSis: Kelly
43	* CuddleBug: '''''MARK''''', [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/steves-story-page-03 as this page clearly demonstrates]].
44	* DidTheyOrDidntThey: Steve and Mark the morning after they got drunk and slept naked in the same bed; Steve freaks out and has no memory of what happened, while Mark (who limps around for the next two days) both claims that they did have sex and that he doesn't remember anything. A clearer picture is painted in Mark's story: [[spoiler:they tried, but failed because they were drunk and inexperienced--Mark remembered everything, but lied about it because Steve freaked out]].
45	* DiscriminateAndSwitch: Charlie's mother wasn't actually fazed by her wearing girl's clothes, but getting her ears pierced. Also [[RealWomenDontWearDresses wearing a dress]].
46	* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: [[spoiler:(Almost) Averted]].
47	* DreadlockRasta: Steve
48	* EasySexChange:
49	** Averted, as it just doesn't work that way. The two transgender characters have considered operation, but they known it's a long, painful process, and the author also points this out in the FAQ.
50	** Meanwhile, the non-surgical transition happens quite easily, which Tab [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/about.html#genderstuff admits to being a mistake]] due to not doing the full research while writing the script, and being unwilling to {{Retcon}} it out.
51	* ElegantGothicLolita: Charlie.
52	* FullNameUltimatum: "CHARLIE MOONBEAM TRUEMAN!"
53	* {{Fanservice}}:
54	** The "side stories", first featuring Mark and Steve having sex for the first (successful) time, the second detailing an intimate encounter between Nay and Amber, third dealing with an encounter between Tom and Murfs, also adressing the complications of transgender sexuality. The FAQ adresses this:
55	-->'''Why do your characters all fuck each other?'''\
56	Because I am a fan pandering whore who likes money. [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/about.html#genderstuff]]
57	** [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/jamies-story-page22 And then there's this]]. Helloooo [[MrFanservice goth!Jamie]].
58	* FirstPeriodPanic: Tom is shown getting his first period and is understandably distressed, more because of the dysphoria than the period itself.
59	* FreudianExcuse: This may end up being why Jamie is such a homophobe, if Alex's Story is anything to judge. Confirmed towards the end of Charlie's story.
60	%% * {{Gayngst}}
61	* GayRomanticPhase: Amber's mother regards Amber's relationship with Nay as a youthful experiment.
62	* GreyAndGrayMorality: Amber is manipulative, Tom is a general {{Jerkass}}, Jamie was [[spoiler:sexually abused twice]], and Charlie [[spoiler:sexually assaults Jamie]]. However, in Charlie's case, [[spoiler:she comes to deeply regret her actions. See "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" for the full details.]]
63	* HowWeGotHere: How each story starts.
64	* IfItsYouItsOkay: While Murfs finds himself strongly attracted to Tom, he still decides he doesn't like men due to not fancying Jamie. Of course, [[SingleTargetSexuality he's not too keen on women, either]].
65	* IKnowKarate: Subverted: Tom is shown to be good at martial arts, but [[spoiler: gets taken out with a rock and [[MyGreatestFailure is unconscious when Natalie Geln attacks Charlie.]]]]
66	* ImportantHaircut: [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/toms-story-page-22 Tom getting a boy hair-cut]], Charlie's hair cut when she gets attacked and [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/alexs-story-page-31 Alex getting one emulating his sister]], to get confidence. Also, [[spoiler:Jamie's hair is short in the final page of his story]].
67	* TheInternetIsForPorn: How Steve finds out he likes guys, and what Alex does after he gets mesmerized by Tom.
68	* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler: Jamie's terrified that he'll force himself on Charlie because of his [[RapeAsBackstory background]]. Later in his story, Charlie comes inches away from forcing herself on ''him'']].
69	* ItsAllAboutMe: Jamie's mother. Jamie even lampshades it by commenting that she only cares about herself and what she will get out of something. She's ''so'' selfish that she [[spoiler: didn't even tell anyone about Jamie getting raped, nor tried to give him any medical help, for no other reason than to protect her own reputation]].
70	* {{Jerkass}}: Tom, to some. He's unwilling to give Jamie his chance with Charlie (albeit with some good reason) and he does dump Murfs out of nowhere. Worse, he flirts with Murfs while they're broken up (though he does seem remorseful when he's called out on it). He also crosses a line by calling Jamie gay, due to his dating Charlie.
71	* KarmaHoudini: So far, Natalie and her friends, who look to be in the clear without ever receiving their comeuppance. There's also Jamie's mom who practices some seriously questionable parenting but hasn't received any retribution -- yet.
72	* KissingUnderTheInfluence: Yeah. [[NextThingTheyKnew And then some...]]
73	* KnightTemplarParent: Amber's mother. Jamie's mother, who could also be considered an EvilMatriarch.
74	* LipstickLesbian: Amber.
75	* LGBTAwakening: Amber began having {{AwkwardlyGayDream}}s involving her and the Senshi after watching subbed ''Anime/SailorMoon'' episodes with her friends. It also helped reveal her crush towards her friend Nay.
76	* MenDontCry: [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/toms-story-page-51 After Tom's mother give him his name-changing forms.]]
77	--> What followed was several minutes of me crying like a kid. But I am not showing you it because this is my story, and I tell it like I want to tell it.
78	* MrFanservice:
79	** Tom.
80	** Steve, Mark and Jamie also qualify.
81	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Charlie gets a moment of this during Jamie's story. After struggling to be intimate with him, [[spoiler:due to the history of how he was sexually abused]], she meets up with a girl that she can tell he's slept with. [[ClingyJealousGirl She does not take it very well]]. [[spoiler:Specifically, she comes within inches of sexually assaulting him - only to pull back when she realises that her own insecurities about whether or not Jamie sees her as a "girl" are driving her to an insane panic and pushing her towards her own MoralEventHorizon. She realises that she could have done the very same thing as his rapist and ultimately spends the rest of his story full of guilt and regret for what she's done; even willing to completely swear off any kind of sex if it helps Jamie feel better]].
82	* MyGreatestFailure: Tom is a wee bit protective of Charlie, after [[spoiler: not being able to save her during the bully attack.]]
83	* OpenMindedParent:
84	** Charlie's mother, and Tom's mother. Upon seeing Tom bring Alex back she tells Tom in Spanish to use condoms since he can still get pregnant. Parents in general seem to be this in the series.
85	** [[AllThereInTheManual In the forum thread "Ask the characters stuff"]] [[MemeticBadass Steve's Dad]] is shown to be a bit embarrassingly openminded.
86	* PairTheSpares: When Mark and Amber were dating, they tried to set up Nay and Steve at a double date. Backfired, and resulted with both pairing up with their respective "spares".
87	* PoorCommunicationKills : During Jamie's story, [[spoiler:Charlie's insecurities about whether or not he sees her as a real girl and envy towards the genetic girls he's slept with cause her to almost sexually assault him]]. As it turns out, [[spoiler:Jamie ''did'' see her as a real girl. He was simply afraid of becoming intimate with her - someone he loves - because he considers himself too "tainted" to be worthy of her. In the end, the failure of both parties to properly communicate these issues until it's too late leads to Charlie spending the rest of Jamie's story [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone disgusted with herself for almost crossing the same line as his rapist]] and Jamie realising that, if he doesn't seek professional help to conquer his demons, he's only going to make things worse for himself and Charlie]].
88	* QueerRomance
89	* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler: The reason Jamie is so homophobic is because he was raped by a man in his youth, then going through all the psychological issues associated with it, and on ''top'' of that having to deal with an abusive parent. It turns out that his homophobia is the ''least'' of his problems]]...
90	* TheRashomon: Every chapter is from a new character's view point, explaining the events so far, and (except for Tom's) continuing from there.
91	%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Steve's Dad! Also his mother, the Murphy adults, and Tom's mother.
92	* RomanceAndSexualitySeparation: Jamie has some major sexual hangups from [[spoiler:being groomed and raped as a child by a man who told him he loved him]]. As a result, he has no issues with casual sex but is incredibly hesitant at the idea of sleeping with someone he's in a relationship with, and at one point tells his girlfriend that "I love you" is the one thing he can't stand to hear during sex.
93	* SassyBlackWoman: Steve's mum.
94	* ShoutOut:
95	** Murfs's sister Kelly has the same technique with computers as Largo from ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}''.
96	** If the above is referring to her practice of handling circuitry while naked, to prevent static electricity buildup from clothing, that is in fact TruthInTelevision for some hardware enthusiasts.
97	** Also, doesn't the plushie in the first panel [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/nays-story-page-20 here]] look a bit [[Manga/{{Naruto}} familiar?]]
98	** [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/jamies-story-page-45psd I'm so]] [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion fucked up.]]
99	* ShutUpKiss: [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/charlies-story-page-58 Jamie and Charlie]]
100	* SingleTargetSexuality: Alex/Murfs was not really attracted to anyone before meeting Tom. He does not consider himself Gay, but Tom-o-Sexual.
101	* SlasherSmile:
102	** [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/charlies-story-page-30 One more reason]] to be terrified of [[TeensAreMonsters Natalie Geln.]]
103	** Which doesn't even hold a candle to [[spoiler: the guy who abused Jamie.]] The distortion as if from a child's point of view makes it all the more terribly realistic.
104	* StraightGay: Steve, who's only intersection with any stereotype is an enthusiasm for baking; granted, he claims to be bi, but even admitted to the audience that that was only because it "sounded less gay."
105	* TheBadGuyWins:
106	** Natalie and her gang successfully assault and hospitalize both Tom and Charlie. Natalie then threatens to attack Charlie again, possibly at her own home, if she doesn't leave town. [[spoiler:Not only does she opt to flee but Tom follows her shortly thereafter.]]
107	** [[spoiler: Jamie's rapist]] is never caught, and as far as we know is continuing to live his life perfectly well.
108	* ThisIsMyStory, BookEnds: Each story starts and ends with this phrase.
109	* TookALevelInJerkass: Charlie as her story and Jamie's go on.
110	* TransparentCloset:
111	** Alex/Murfs. Subverted when the comic finally gets around to his perspective-- he's actually the most confident and self-aware in his sexual identity of the main cast. He objected to being called "gay" simply because he'd never met ''anyone''--male or female--that he was particularly interested in, so it wasn't accurate.
112	** Mark would have been a classic example except that no one except Steve and Alex seems to notice his typical campy mannerisms.
113	* TransRelationshipTroubles: Charlie's arc mainly revolves around trying to tell her homophobic boyfriend that she's a trans woman.
114	* TraumaCongaLine: Oh ''God'' poor [[spoiler: Jamie]]!
115	* TraumaticHaircut: [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/toms-story-page-46 Charlie's hair got forcibly cut]]. [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/charlies-story-page-31 In a seriously frightening way.]]
116	* TwoferTokenMinority: Quite a few. Steve is (probably) bisexual and black, Nay is bisexual and part Japanese, Tom is transgender and gay, Charlie is transgender and bisexual.
117	* UnfortunateImplications:
118	** (InUniverse) Tom is the only man (or, in fact, person) Murfs has ever been attracted to. Realizing the implications of this prompts Tom to break up with him.
119	** (InUniverse) Jamie is very homophobic ([[CharacterDevelopment he's getting better]]), and starts dating Charlie, a trans girl. Tom, apparently without thinking about it, decides that this must mean he's gay and in denial. This implies that Charlie is male, something Tom, of all people, should know isn't true.
120	%% * UnsettlingGenderReveal: Murfs [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/alexs-story-page-59 just had one dropped on him]]. His natural reaction is to ask if Tom's a Transformer.
121	* WebcomicTime: References to current events, or more likely, current pop culture pop up in story in anachronistic order. WordOfGod says it's intentional; the timeline is fluid and happening "now".
122	* WhamLine:
123	** [[spoiler: "...I didn't know you were still affected by that."]]
124	** Earlier, from Alex's story: [[spoiler: (after 8-year-old Alex explains to an equally young Jamie how two men have sex) "I...I think I've done that."]]
125	** And from Charlie's story, after a GangOfBullies attacks her and her friend Tom for being transgender, we get this from said bullies' leader, about Tom...
126	-->'''Natalie Geln:''' [[MoralEventHorizon Fucking rape her while she's unconscious.]]
127	* WhatDidIDoLastNight: [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/steves-story-page-28 Steve and Mark here]], and [[http://www.khaoskomix.com/komix/toms-story-page-11 Tom/Maria and some guy here]].
128	* WhatTheHellHero: Mark calls out Steve for [[spoiler: punching Jamie after they both come out to to him and he doesn't take it well. Everyone else that doesn't like Jamie even seems to agree it wasn't a good idea to come out to him in public.]]
129	%%* XtremeKoolLetterz.
130	* YaoiFangirl:
131	** WordOfGod says that Charlie "likes gay porn".
132	** And in Jamie's story, she is actually shown reading [[StylisticSuck badly-written]] [[Literature/HarryPotter Snape/Harry]] slashfic.

Context Webcomic / KhaosKomix