Sinfest

I do think that twitter has a lot of justified criticism, but again it's coming from Tat's.

Wait, people are still commenting in the new Sinfest forum?

It was a year or so ago, at least.

UPDATE: I wandered over there to look for the quote. I haven't found it yet — if it exists — but I did find a comment he made regarding ''Game of Thrones:"

Sociological storytelling versus psychological/individualized storytelling. Really important observation in our hyper-individualistic society.

I think it's clear which form of storytelling he currently prefers.

The trouble is that if you prefer "psychological/individualized storytelling" in allegories and parables rather than stories based on cause-and-effect, individuals, and events, those allegories need some connection to the real world. If they don't have that, their messages and lessons will be ambiguous at best.

Edited by Hexapodia on Jan 17th 2021 at 10:37:58 AM

We discussed this quote on pages 1287 and 1288 of our beloved forum

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=3o55vi0ln4ylpaphr0ivns48&page=1287

As to his psychological/individualised storytelling skills, he did use to be quite decent at it

But, and it's a big but, he tries so hard to crowbar in his latest bete noire without stuff like proper setups and world building.

It becomes barely comprehensible gibberish set in a candyfloss nightmare with so little connection to reality you start to wonder if he gives a toss about what he's currently scweaming about

Mmmm, now that Tats has gone full on anti-twitter/big tech. I wonder what his next big vendetta will be against?

Lets face it, he seems to have a new one every so often

I more than half reckon Tats is still on Plan B: Hate as a means of courting internet fame

Edited by NeedsAirCon on Jan 17th 2021 at 7:11:00 PM

As to his psychological/individualised storytelling skills, he did use to be quite decent at it

Indeed. That's why it's saddening to see what's become of his life's work.

And I had forgotten our previous discussion of that quote!

But I still have a vague memory — possibly a false one — in which Tats replied to a complaint about lack of characterization in Sinfest by announcing that he now considers agitprop more important than telling stories based on characters' personalities.

Edited by Hexapodia on Jan 18th 2021 at 1:19:31 AM

Good thing Tats is handling his discovery of TERF being considered hate speech by sane people with his usual grace.

Remember what you did to your own forum, you hypocritical fascist?

There's a dangerous temptation to identify the opinions and personalities in a work of fiction with those of the author, but in the case of Sinfest I think that's probably justified. I'm thinking of two possibilities ...

• I wonder if Tats' current themes of "all sides bad, corporate domination bad, censorship evil!" and "demonstrators = rioters = evil!" are a result of personal experiences? Specifically, perhaps he has been banned or locked out from twitter, as some have speculated? (And people elsewhere have claimed that they've tried to have him banned.) And perhaps he or someone close to him was endangered by the recent riots, or had a business burned out?

• It's pretty clear to me that Slick, Squig, and Criminy in Original Sinfest all reflected aspects of Tats' personality. Then after the shift in late 2011 to radical feminism, Slick became the world's most pathetic ButtMonkey, Crim became a non-entity who existed only to serve his girlfriend, and Squig became a repentant pig. Most recently the focus has shifted to Li'l Evil, who has had his sinful previous life literally washed away ... but who also seems to have no will of his own, his actions controlled by the dominating female in his life. Has Tats gradually shifted his self-identification from Slick to Li'l Evil?

Edited by Hexapodia on Jan 18th 2021 at 2:53:18 AM

I think he's shifted it from the male characters to Monique.

She's clearly everything he wants to be, even her appearance has kind of shifted towards a female version of himself without the glasses.

What I see when I look at the male characters is some sort of residual anger. It's as if Tats is taking out his own shortcomings on them. Especially Slick seems to be the victim of this.

Squig kind of doesn't fit there since he seems to have become the vessel for stoner infused "wisdom", mostly using him to write "subtle" and "clever" (by Tats's low standards!) criticism towards the government.

Wait, people are still commenting in the new Sinfest forum?

Not only that, today Celina posted a comment disagreeing with Tats. Not a complete disagreement of course, she just doesn't think the behavior of social media giants really falls under the category of "fascism". Still, I think that's a sign of the apocalypse.

Weird,

Suppose she'll have to ban herself then

I think he's shifted it from the male characters to Monique.

She's clearly everything he wants to be, even her appearance has kind of shifted towards a female version of himself without the glasses.

I'll grant you that ... but I also think that sometimes Monique is an insert for someone else. I base that on the strips that ran just before Satan's party in which Monique announced "The sun is out ... and so am I" and in which God blessed her relationship with Absinthe.

As a result of reading a post elsewhere by "Admiral Tigelle," I took a look at some old posts by Tats in ''The Resistance" section of Sinfest. Most of them just seem to be Tats bullshitting in a bizarro stream-of-consciousness mode, but a couple of them might — or might not — be significant regarding the evolution of certain themes in Sinfest. (Alas, the posts don't seem to be individually linkable.)

January 1, 2006
Heavenly widened roses seem to whisper to me
Posted by Tatsuya Ishida

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Hell yeah
If they were assholes to you and left you in the lurch when you needed them the most
Then by all means forget them
But you can't
Cuz they're all you think about And you seethe with resentment and anguish
And you plumb the depths of your emo soul
Where your every thought is:
How could you do this to meeeeeeee?
You wish there was a memory deleting service like in "Eternal Sunshine" and you'd delete that motherfucker right outta your mind
Am I right?
Huh?
Anyone?
Okay, so maybe it's just me
Fine
I can handle it
Happy new year.
Fuckers.
*sob*

November 30, 2005
It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?
Posted by Tatsuya Ishida

Learning to Draw Comics: The Tatsuya Ishida Tutorial. Many of you have asked me to provide a step by step guide to creating comics, so here it is. First, get a writing utensil you feel comfortable with, and a piece of blank paper. Now, think of someone who made you feel like utter shit. Someone who shattered your world into a million pieces and you can't bear to even be in the same zip code as them cuz they tore you apart so thoroughly. Now the only way to put your world back together is to get revenge. That's right. You must become famous. You must become adored by strangers and make obscene amounts of cash and drive cars you can't pronounce and light fat cigars with rolled up hundred dollar bills, and that'll show her, the bitch. And when you have your own toy line and three film studios competing for the movie rights and Leo on your cell inviting you to join the Pussy Posse, maybe then those feelings of worthlessness and despair will forever disappear. Or maybe not. I don't know. But it's your best bet. Now pick up your pen and start drawing.

Edited by Hexapodia on Jan 18th 2021 at 3:16:38 AM

https://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2021-01-19

Had your Twitter suspension time out yet Tats?

“Your name has been added to our Terror Watch List” says the drone.

Is Tats... actually sympathizing (if not outright SIDING) with the Q Anon crowd?

Edited by Eggmaster on Jan 18th 2021 at 7:25:44 PM

He's not he's just criticizing the concept in general.

Oh okay. You’d think he was though, since he’s really upping the “Twitter is fascist” tirade since after the crackdown on Q content on social media.

If you believe me, some people who are not fans of Quanon are pointing out this can lead to abuse in power by big companies.

Yeah, and it's not a good idea to cheer what's going on with deplatforming and enemies lists just because you don't like the people who are getting stomped. It took me waaaaaaay too long to learn the lesson that in politics and in love, "If they'll do it for you, they'll do it to you."

Edited by Hexapodia on Jan 18th 2021 at 11:04:12 AM

The awkward zoom out in panel 3 just to make sure we remember who Tats is talking about is really hilarious to me for some reason.

Such a master of subtlety!

It's a fine line. On the one hand you don't want companies and conglomerates to abuse power, on the other, there has to be rules or it becomes a free for all. The trouble is the rules present are so vague they're prime for loophole abuse.

Personally I think its going to be A LOT of trial and error and seemingly endless court rulings before we settle on something we can agree is a good enough compromise.

https://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2021-01-20

Tats is confusing USA and Twitter with Modern Russia and China now?

Edited by NeedsAirCon on Jan 19th 2021 at 4:11:20 PM

Maybe, maybe not. Consider Tats' lack of clarity in his allegories. I took the strip as an indication that Slick feels a sense of guilt over what the mob did, and he feels as though he ought to be punished for not doing anything to stop them.

China is way worse. I don't trust the upcoming administration, but it will never get bad as Russia or China.

[ deleted ]

Edited by Hexapodia on Jan 20th 2021 at 4:34:22 AM

Is that really appropriate speculation for this forum about someone's personal life?

Edited by NeedsAirCon on Jan 20th 2021 at 10:45:21 AM

Perhaps not. I've deleted the comment.

But the abruptness and the magnitude of the change in Sinfest have been grounds for endless speculation.

Edited by Hexapodia on Jan 20th 2021 at 4:36:59 AM