Shades Of A 071
Panel 3 is traced over a screen shot of my hands. Turns out real hands are far more derpy than comic hands ever are…
It’s interesting discussing non-sexual parts of romantic relationships. The Wordsmith has a fantastic article over here:
That sounds like the voice of experience
*winces at memory*
it’s so sweet bees will swarming in drones…
Anwar, you are such a cutie-patootie. I love the last panel and the whole negotiating what romance would mean between the two of them. Wheeee ^_^
That article was interesting. These “nonsexual intimacies” reminded me of what some of my friends called foreplay. Most of these friends are women, which says a lot about gender roles within our culture, but they say that foreplay for them can begin days or weeks before sex.
For many, I would argue most, people foreplay isn’t just a five minute massage or a little petting prior to intercourse, it is the emotional/nonsexual intimacy that is created over days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years. I have heard from many [girl]friends a wish for intimacy that isn’t leading to sex. That being said, initially they feel a stronger bond to men who create/participate in situations of intimacy that do not lead to sex than with men who are obviously “after only one thing.”
It is ironic that an act or acts that initially do not lead to sex make up this sexual play that may eventually lead to sex. That being said, it’s difficult for me to see, in a very sex driven culture, a relationship consisting of two potent men (or for that matter any mix of genders) who decide on a non-sexual, yet intimate relationship. Tab, it will be interesting, and educational, for me to see where you take this! :)
Chris and Anwar are SO. ADORABLE. <3 I can't leave an intelligent comment because all my words are lost in SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I love how you flipped the script on this. Instead of discussing no-intimacy sex-only boundaries, they’re discussing no-sex intimacy-only boundaries. Love it.
I’ve also done a weird thing where Anwar has an opinion that Chris listens to instead of just ignoring it…
Haha! Well to be fair, the only thing Ana’s strongly opinionated about is other women.
I actually know the person who wrote the nonsexual intimacy article, and when you said Wordsmith, I didn’t even have to go take a look. I love this page, and I Really Like seeing people discuss what romance should be and will be between them. You never see that. Or, at least, I don’t.
I really like this a lot.
The stuff about nonsexual intimacies reminds me of one of my favorite series, by David Drake, featuring an asexual character (Adele Mundy). She and the other protagonist (Daniel Leary) have a close, intimate, but completely nonsexual relationship… VERY unusual for fiction, especially in a mixed-gender friendship.
Do you think Modesty Blaise & Willie Garvin count for notable fictional nonsexual intimacy then? I think they were the first instance of it I can recall finding.
I just read all of this comic so far and want to say that it is my new favorite thing ever. Sorry that I don’t really have anything more coherent to add, but props on being amazing. :)
Thank you for writing Shades of A. Being asexual, there just aren’t a lot of stories out there that show … life scripts and options and what issues I’m likely to hit. There are a growing number that show “here is how to interact with an asexual person and what to expect”, but that’s SO different from getting to be a protagonist and navigating common issues that you’re likely to face if you’re asexual. Its really hard sometimes to not have scripts to fall back on. Even the parts of your story that show how really hard this is are helpful in and of themselves to validate that struggle of working without a template.
Sorry. I’m rambling. Thank you for writing good stories. Stories are important.
Fish, you took the words right outta my mouth!
…AND WITH THIS PAGE THIS COMIC BECAME MY FAVORITE.
Christmas Ice skating! So adorable! <3
omg, their hook up is so perf XD
I “awwwwed” all through Anwar’s text. So freakin adorable <3 but that he also implies their relationship is only temporary is really sad somehow. Like he doesn't trust himself to keep Chris by his side and he doesn't trust Chris to be content with cuddling a man.
I'm really excited to see how these two awkward fellows will work things out :D I also would like to see details about J.D.'s relationship life (and I really mean stuff between sex) but I guess they can't steal Anwar's show now ;)
Or he could just being realistic that a relationship won’t last forever?
I LOVE the storyline. Something most porn/erotica is missing. But I have to say..
Brace yourselves, sexytimes are coming. (Me gusto)
This page is the best page. How cute is Anwar counting all the romantic things to do?
I have to say I absolutely love Khaos comics, I discovered them when most of the stories had been “finished” some months ago, so I gulped them all down in one go. But then I met this new story, which is to *fall in love* with completely. Splendid, lovely, wonderfuckful. The art, the storytelling, the characters (hmm, diversity! of course!), and even the website! Everything is fantastic. See, I already read it all last week and I had to come back again and go through the archive again.
Thank you for continuing to share your talent and creativity with us, your work has always been enjoyable and lovely, but your effort and time shows off! I’m going to bed with a fuzzy happy feeling, happily knowing soon there will be another page to read and admire :)
LOL I love his substitution
LOL I love his substitution. I’d hat to think him unmovable
I like how the noses look.