Sinfest

https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2021-10-25

And we're back to ineffectual unsympathetic heroes...

The car floating in the third panel is supposed to represent how fast it's going, I suppose. It looks like an incredibly shoddy copy-paste job, though, which I suspect it is.

I think it's just Tats' personal convention that the tires of a car in motion never touch the ground. He does it over and over again, with all sorts of vehicles.

I suspect that Tats watched too many episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard when he was a kid.

The fact that he's already stated they're doing this to fight for the antivax movement and other conspiracy stuff means he hasn't changed at all.

I'm mildly hopeful that Tats might cool his jets on the anti-vax stuff, at least for a while. When Slick gave us his list of enemy conspiracies a few days ago, he named Big Pharma. But he didn't mention vaccines.

Today's comic also.

Didn't Tats draw a whole dramatic comic with fembots once where "I will not comply" was their badass boast?

Wasn't Tats sucking up for months / YEARS to exactly what he's suddenly mocking here?

What a traitorous sellout. You can make him say anything once there's actually dollars involved.

I still say the hypothesis of maximum likelihood is that Tats has been subject to external influences, and the external influence that's affecting him the most right now is incompatible with some of the previous ones. A clue here may be Tats' sudden antipathy toward the People's Republic of China; the source may have ties to an East Asian country that isn't the PRC.

You can make him say anything once there's actually dollars involved.

Not dollars. Nookie.

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 25th 2021 at 4:25:06 AM

But Tats has spent over a decade now complying to the mindset of some really strange people

Maybe he's finally having a reaction to all those years of telling himself he's second class for being born male?

For my 2 cents it's

1) Nookie, or lack therof; then money

&

2) Nope, still tending towards conspiracy theories

P.S. And the Republic of China aren't nice people. It's not strange for Tats to dislike them

There are mutants living in swamps thanking God that they're not forced to live under those PR Cs

Edited by NeedsAirCon on Oct 25th 2021 at 12:03:07 PM

I am a bit confused, as I gather everybody to be when trying to decipher the meaning of Sinfest. Seeing this trio managing a resistance, led by Slick, makes me think that this meant to be poking fun at the people opposing the long list of opponents from last week. OR then that is only what Tatsuya wants us to think, that he's secretly pretending not to be in league with the MAGA-deplorables? I have no idea anymore...

It seems like Slick may be reclaiming his original role as the star of the comic. Which means, if he is to become Tats's new mouthpiece, skepticism of his actions is warranted. The other characters have just burned through too much credibility to be of use anymore.

But Tats has spent over a decade now complying to the mindset of some really strange people

Tats lives in Southern California — it goes with the territory. I'm a bit surprised he doesn't seem to have become involved in Scientology. Yet.

Maybe he's finally having a reaction to all those years of telling himself he's second class for being born male?

He ought to!

And the Republic of China aren't nice people. It's not strange for Tats to dislike them

But he's acting as though he's suddenly noticed, which seems odd. (Minor quibble: RoC is Taiwan. PRC is mainland.)

It might be that Slick has become a minor-league Hero in Sinfest ... but due to the fact that he's a character in a webcomic, he can't win in a way that would affect the Real World. Superman fought against the Nazis in the old comic books, but somehow he didn't win World War II.

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 25th 2021 at 10:54:11 AM

Maybe? It just seems odd that Slick would suddenly be used to portray anything beyond embarrassing screw-ups, after him being the biggest recurring Butt-Monkey for years. At least on a superficial level this seems like This Loser Is You commentary, with possible criticism aimed at those who believe Tats to be on their side. But I'm probably wrong and Tats has really gone off the deep end, so I'm soon expecting to see Slick & Co ramming protesters with their car, and to be treated as heroes for it. I would not be surprised to see Monique falling in love with Slick after her witnessing him heroically mow down some wokesters, possibly heavily implied to belong to the LGBTQ-community.

What Tats does with Monique ought to reveal some of his current mindset. What's going on back in Satan's control room? Is Demonique laughing at the foolishness and suffering of the mortals she sees on the video monitors? Or is she laughing at Monique, for believing her current ideology? Or is she laughing at Monique, for not realizing that Demonique — and Abby too, perhaps? — is evil and has corrupted her?

Will Monique come to realize that she's been a jerk? (Not just in her treatment of Slick, but also toward Abby and random people on the street.)

Unlike some of the people here, I don't think Tats has suddenly become a right-winger. I think he dislikes right-wingers for many of the reasons that left-wingers do. What has changed is that he now also dislikes left-wingers for many of the reasons that right-wingers do.

So Slick is now opposed to the organizations on his shit-list ... but that doesn't mean he'll win, and it doesn't mean he won't be an ineffectual idiot while he's fighting them.

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 25th 2021 at 1:00:53 AM

This is strange:

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 25th 2021 at 1:00:53 AM

It's a little after 1:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, where I am. Is the clock at tvtropes off by twelve hours? Or is tvtropes hosted in China? (In which case the date should be October 26.)

???

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 25th 2021 at 1:07:21 AM

Tats is even putting a right wing meme in the tagline of Monday's comic to signal what he actually believes in.

I don't know what else he needs to do to convince you.

It's really not subtle by any stretch of the imagination. I don't get why you keep doubting wether Tats is real here.

I think Tats is "right-wing" only to the extent that he's anti-left-wing. But I think he's also "left-wing" to the extent that he's anti-right-wing. In other words, I don't think Tats views himself as either left-wing or right-wing — he's above all that, in his eyes — but he's found someone new to hate! He's perfectly willing to use each side's ammunition against the other.

And that's what he's doing with the tag line. Right-wingers are not the only ones who are using "Let's Go Brandon!"

When college football season started, members of the Biden administration expressed dismay that tens of thousands of young people were packing sports stadiums ... and almost universally without masks. There was talk that the Feds ought to Do Something About It. (AFAIK there have been no "super-spreader events" associated with the sports crowds.) So the fans — largely college students — started mass chants of "Fuck Joe Biden." It spread to other sports events.

One such incident was at the Talladega Speedway, when Brandon Brown won the NASCAR race. NBC sportscaster Kelli Stavast was live on-air, when fans in the stands started the chant. What the crowd was chanting was quite clear in the video, which NBC later deleted from its own online archives. Ms Savast exclaimed, approximately, "Oh, the crowd is shouting 'Let's Go Brandon!'"

The clip went viral, partly because it was so ridiculous, partly because it was such a good example of media gaslighting, and partly because it gave people a way to say "Fuck Joe Biden!" without using offensive language.

If you don't like Biden or his policies, you can say "Let's Go Brandon!" and convey that message. A lot of people are appalled by his fuckup in Afghanistan, by the onset of stagflation, by the supply chain screwup, by his energy policies, by the signs that he's going senile, and so on. You don't need to be a right-winger.

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 25th 2021 at 6:44:09 AM

Uh, you really sort of do.

https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2021-10-26

Ah, again with the subtlety!

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be proud!

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 25th 2021 at 8:52:50 AM

And a Nazi, too! Don't forget Nazi!

Really, do you honestly believe all those college students are right-wingers? Do you honestly believe that only right-wingers think Biden has been a screwup as president?

The approval rating for Biden is down tremendously among everyone but people who deem themselves left leaning. The right has always despised Biden in the same way the left has always despised Trump. The real switch in power right now lies with those in the middle: the independents. And they have started to turn against the Biden administration.

True, it is most likely going to a right wing person who hates Biden, but there is a general challenge to what people would claim to be the status quo. Even in the Democrats own party you have "The Squad" which is made up of AOC and several junior members. They have been critical of Biden several times and the party itself has pushed back against the squad several times.

It's not just the right that's upset at Biden. The lack of respect for governmental officials has been growing steadier since (it feels like to me at least) the start of 24 hour news stations. Perhaps even social media.

But that is also another thing: there is a tendency to lump people that do not agree with you to an enemy, which is what Hoffer addressed. Even if a person may not be right leaning in any aspect save one, those who hate them will deem them as being in league with the enemy.

It was the same during the Bush administration where "if you aren't with us, you are against us." "If you don't support the war, then you hate America and the troops." Now, if you are openly critical of Biden you will be deemed right wing. All you have to do is go to any centrist board on Reddit to see that.

tl;dr: according to latest approval polls, only 39% of the country approves of the job Biden is doing. It's not just the right taking issue with Biden. I'm not even saying that there's any solid reason to dislike him. I am just pointing out that saying you MUST be right wing to dislike him is demonstrably false.

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-average-approval-rating-drops-141555844.html

There IS a poll that actually posts the approval rating by declared party affiliation and it HAS dropped in every party and group, but I can't find it. I won't say anything more on the political stuff since I don't want to wander into "Thump" territory, so that'll be my last mention on that and I'm back on the comic going forward.

Edited by Gibson35 on Oct 26th 2021 at 1:18:04 AM

He does realize there's a difference between getting vaccinated and doping, doesn't he? Have to wonder if he sees things like appendectomies as plastic surgery.

Today we've got a comic where Tats is using his usual stand in for the Jews to give rights back to people getting vaccinated.

Remember the glowie comic? It's not just yesterday's tagline. Tats keeps putting subtle and not so subtle signals in referring to the kind of company he's been keeping.

Tats clearly has made a switch somewhere in his belief system. You can tell by the inside language he uses and the subjects he picks to write about.

True. I have a philosophy major as a friend. He was very left leaning, but became right leaning as he got older. But I remember he once told me that he likes playing Devil's Advocate and how he likes to fight for the losing side. So that always made me wonder if his change was genuine. That is what I think Tatsuya must be about: his whole resistance schtick. I DO still think he's nihilist, so therefore he doesn't really care about the cause, but rather welcomes the drama.

Besides bringing Slick back into the action, which I thought he did it for the Patreon bucks, he went with an anti-mask message that has been tanking his Patreon. And he ONLY brought Slick back long enough to do it.

So he probably doesn't even really care about the Patreon. I think he must have a side gig elsewhere. Also, I want to point out that I did a deep dive not so long ago and found that in his old days he said it took him 3 hours to do a comic strip. That was pre-computer where he had to use inks, pens, and white-out for corrections. It probably only takes him a solid hour to do a strip with any tech he has at his disposal. Sinfest at this point is probably more of a hobby for him rather than a cash cow.

So he doesn't give a damn.

P.S. Learning inside terms really isn't that difficult. All you have to really do is follow a community for a bit and you pick up the terms. I talk about intersectional feminism, gender topics, etc., with all my right leaning friends and they look at me like I have two heads despite myself being very right-wing.

You go up to most right wingers and call them a cishet and they will probably say "Whadja call me?"

Perfect example is "Glowie." I've been right wing all my life and I NEVER heard that term. Everyone here knew what it was before I did.

Edited by Gibson35 on Oct 26th 2021 at 1:50:24 AM

Tats clearly has made a switch somewhere in his belief system. You can tell by the inside language he uses and the subjects he picks to write about.

I quite agree. But I don't view it as Tats switching sides. I see it as Tats finding one more group to oppose, while not embracing his former opponents.

The current arc with Slick has him sallying forth to do battle with organizations that right-wingers oppose. But he's already looking ineffectual and ridiculous in that effort, and he's not going to win.

The current anti-vax strip is so over-the-top that I can't tell whether it's a parody or it's sincere propaganda.

With that said, I do think that he's being exposed to right-wing beliefs, quite possibly by an intimate associate, that he once would have rejected out of hand. The difference between now and (let's say) three years ago is that (1) he's paying enough attention that he can use right-wing arguments and tropes against left-wing positions, and (2) he's employing right-wing tropes in his plot lines. Does he believe them? I dunno, but I don't think so.

I wish the guy would just explain himself. As things stand, his reticence and ambiguity allow everyone to find some point of disagreement with what he seems to be saying.

— — —

I DO still think he's nihilist, so therefore he doesn't really care about the cause, but rather welcomes the drama.

A very plausible explanation.

Contrast his strips of a dozen years ago, when Tats portrayed BarackStar as a cross between Superman and Jesus, with those of this year. I don't see him as being for anyone or anything.

Edited by Hexapodia on Oct 26th 2021 at 2:22:45 AM

Tats posts an anti-vaccine strip with the tagline "please dope responsibly" during the middle of a FUCKING pandemic. AGAIN

According to The New York Times & a quick Google, that's 738k dead USA citizens as of 1am Greenwich Meridian time today

Tat's behaviour in putting this strip out is atrocious. He comes across as a loony cultist parroting the alt right cult line

Adding in the Devil Girl (from Anti-Semitic Dogwhistles inc) for just that little touch of bigotry just makes it more blatant

He's pulling the same endorsement of alt-right talking points day after day, month after month

What else do we need at this point to be able to state Tats has fallen off the deep end of the alt-right slope?

A two week crossover story with Stonetoss?

Edited by NeedsAirCon on Oct 26th 2021 at 12:11:48 PM

A two week crossover story with Stonetoss?

That probably would make more sense than the "Vax Bar" strip.