Shades After page 112
Penultimate page! This is all basically scenery porn- when Shades started out I wanted to use it as a time to really improve the way I drew backgrounds, so it’s fitting for me to close it with something showing that. That’s an actual london underground station, see if you can guess which! The house is based on a friend’s who lives in london, though like reasonable people they can only afford a flat which covers half of it XD
Potential names for Anwar’s cat are Pie, Spades or Ace- though feel free to suggest something else in the comments.
This weekend I’m at Dublin MCM comic con, then it’s the Last page Monday!
If he were a tortoiseshell cat, I’d go with Lord Voldytort. :v
I’d name my tortie that, but I’ve got a girl.
So… Lady Voldytort?
All Torties are girls. It’s genetically impossible for a male to be tortie or calico (well, almost, theres like a .01% chance, but thats like a freak cat)
But did you hear? One was found recently, a male named Harry was turned into a rescue in Scotland. The article said it was a 400,000/1 chance.
http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/one-of-world-s-rarest-cats-given-to-rescue-centre-1-3609492
I’ve got a tortie, her name is Heylia.
I wouldn’t have expected so much interest in projecting gender onto animals in this queer space …
You’re kidding right? It has nothing to do with gender, it’s biological sex of cats.
Does it help that the “male” torties almost always turn out to be hermaphrodites(XXY) with both male and female sexual organs (as in uterus and ovaries And penis And testicular tissue)?
My Tortie’s name is MeiMei, which coincidentally means both “little sister/prostitute” in Chinese, and “grouchy demon of razor-clawed doom” in Dwaelic.
I’d go with Pie. ‘Tis a good name for a pretty kitty.
*shifty eyes* I recommend Peace for the cat’s name. He seems to have achieved a greater peace in his life, and ‘War and Peace just work so well together.
Oooh good observation!
OOH, I love Peace, for ‘War, as well!
Ahhh this is my favourite so far! :D
Oh no, you beat me to it! But I agree too! XDD
I really love the name of Peace as well.
SECONDED jus so much WIN
omg high five, I like this reasoning
o/
I vote to call him Spades!!!
Spades! Because the spades suit is black, and it’s a black cat. If it was a brown/orange cat I’d vote pie, but no-one likes a blackened/burned pie :P
Spades is adorable. Ace is a bit too … expected for the pet of an asexual. But I like Spades.
Or maybe King? So that way there’s an ace, a King, and a Queen (Chris). Hurr hurr.
Ooh, well played on the King suggestion! I’m still chuckling at that one.
My date-mate and i are actually both asexual. When we met they had a pet dog from high school that they named ace even before they knew their own sexuality…..
It would be even better if the cat was female, since a female cat is called a queen.
okay i can’t, that was good
I vote Pie! I don’t know why, but it just seems to fit him.
Also, War, why. Why that facial hair. To be fair, I don’t like facial hair, period, on anyone, but I really really don’t like it on War.
But how else will I show a time elapse?! XD
Facial hair isn’t for everyone- I used to hate it but I’ve slowly become *way* more interested as I’ve gotten older.
Wrinkles? Different haircut? Just not a dead hamster on Anwar’s face.
I actually really like the facial hair. But this is a hilarious comment stream. :)
Hey !
I really like the facial hair too ! (both in real life and the way Tab has drawing ‘War with beard)
But he’s also Muslim, they are expected (the more orthodox ones anyway) to not shave.
He also has a boyfriend, so he is as much muslim as I balerina.
This is as ridiculous a statement as saying someone can’t be jewish if they like bacon once in a while, or someone can’t be christian if they divorce and remarry. People can believe in a faith, and participate in it, even if they choose not to follow ALL of the rules.
Vaira- I think that’s a little unfair. I’m an atheist, it’s all silly nonsense to me, but I understand it is very important to some people, it is a part of their identity. If you want to be given full credit when you make a declaration of how you identify- be it gender, sexuality, religion, to even being a fan of something that is a person’s personal choice and statement. If someone tells me they are the biggest fan of X show I don’t tell them “well you didn’t read the books, how big a fan can you be?” I don’t get to decide that, you don’t get to decide that, They do.
You must be a pretty fine ballerina then- half this comic was about Anwar maintaining his faith and having a boyfriend. The Qu’ran says about as much on homosexuality as the bible does: Not very much.
Yo but for real. The Qu’ran has pretty much nothing on homosexuality (sexuality in general if I remember correctly?) so yeah. :u
It’s also worth noting, Vaira, that you can be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, atheist, agnostic, etc and be LGBTQA too. For some people – Like Anwar here – faith is very important and plays a big role in their lives, just as much as their gender identity or sexuality.
There can be conflicts between faith and personal feelings/needs/wishes, and that’s actually a good chunk of Anwar’s story. Working with his faith, navigating a sexual world as an asexual, having a boyfriend in a sort of poly type relationship, dealing with his familial and platonic relationships etc.
“And [We had sent] Lot when he said to his people, “Do you commit such immorality as no one has preceded you with from among the worlds?(80)Indeed, you approach men with desire, instead of women. Rather, you are a transgressing people.”(81) Al-Araf 80-81”
The problem is, this people vote for simmilar people and politicians are also simmilar. Polish government is full of people “sure I promissed something before the elections, and I even plan to do some of it!”. And Polish society is full of people “sure I promissed something at the altair, but oh come on!”. Priests count all those hipocrytes to their “95% of Poles are catholic so the law should abide catholicism”. And it’s me who can have problems with buying contraception because of “conscience clause”.
Yes, I am bitter about it and I don’t respect half-respected declarations. I have justified reasons.
The thing is, almost all fundamental religions tend to frown on non-heterosexual sexualities. Usually because:
1) Many religions encourage procreation, and sex only for procreation. (Although some also encourage it as a bonding experience between spouses. Islam actually stresses that a good husband should pleasure his wife as much as she should pleasure him.) This tends to rule out most other sexualities.
2) Celibacy, as the conscious decision to give up sex and devote the freed time and energy to focus on you faith, is admirable. Asexuality, as an unconscious condition, renders celibacy null, as there was no ‘temptation’ to give up to begin with, and is not inherently connected to devotion like celibacy is considered to be.
However, just because some of the fundamental texts say so, does not mean religion in all it’s shapes and forms do. It’s not about being ‘half devoted’ or ‘picking and mixing’ what you choose to believe and follow. Even in more orthopraxic religions (Where it’s not what you believe, it’s what you do that matters more) following the central rules to a T is difficult. And there are so many different denominations and branches of all religions, that all say different things to one another, that it has never been about ‘pure’ abidance by the rules found in scriptures.
Faith is at the heart of it (Which is why I love Quakerism). Anwar identifies as a Muslim, practices his faith, and believes in his own way. Even as a fictional character, you have no right to say his is not a Muslim, no matter your reasons and how justified they are.
Borders and boundaries and deciding who is an insider or an outsider are really damn complicated at the best of times, but when it comes down to it, the most important people in that decision is the individual, and then immediate insiders.
And that’s why I don’t like most monoteistic religions.
And if abiding only some rules isn’t picking and mixing then what it is? “I love you and I will be with you, but I will sleep with other people although you don’t like it, because oh come on.” It’s exactly this.
I don’t have problem with theists, deists and other “I don’t know what god it is, but I believe in some” people. But if someone specifies a chosen religion and then isn’t following its rules, I call them a hipocryte. Hipocryte is someone saying one thing and the other. Like most “catholics” in Poland, going for a Sunday mass and buying condoms on their way back home. And that’s why our government and rules look how they look. And it’s me and other people to suffer. My money, my health and my life may be endangered because of this. Yes, even life, if some holy doctor decides my life-threatening fetus is more important than my life, so pregnancy can’t be terminated.
B-b-but, facial hair is so handsome and manly! ‘War looks so mature with a nice beard! And there’s nothing better than running your fingers through a well maintained beard!
Wait. That’s ‘War? I thought that was his cousin. This changes everything I was thinking.
Eee, those shoes! Those shoes! I think I know those shoes!
…why is no one else squealing in delight over what those shoes might mean?
Eh, guess I’ll wait and see.
Oh no, I was shitting over the shoes too, trust me. But I tend to squeal over everything solo…
I’m not sure if I like Ace or Spades more. Spades works with colour, but Ace opens up opportunities for puns (“Have you seen Ace?” “You’re right here.”)
I think spades works well punwise. Together they will be the Ace of Spades, wearin’ capes and shit.
Holy shit capes. Ace flag coloured costumes. Adorable heroes for people and cats everywhere!
THANK YOU.
I could be entirely wrong, but I think it looks like Westminster?
Southwark?
DING DING WINNER! :D
The middle panel threw me off because of the change in color of his shirt before I realized it was an overshirt/jacket dangling over his arm in panel two. Oops. His expression in the second panel looks like he’s gained some self-confidence in however much time has elapsed… Maybe that’s just me but we’ll see.
The kitty is cute. I like the idea of its name being Peace!
Look at the size of the shoes compared to Anwar’s. If they’re not Chris’s, I’ll eat my hat. *looks around to make sure she has a hat to eat just in case*
This comic has been a wonderful ride, Tab. It’s bittersweet to be nearing the end.
The size of the shoes is what is making me go squee. They’re as long as his, and slightly further away, so probably actually larger.
Yup yup yup!!!
for the cat’s name , pie sounds nice
Tab, can I suggest Peace, for the cat’s name? I feel it would be funny since the main character get’s affectionally called ‘War, and symbolically because ‘War looks so at peace with himself. And also after “War and Peace”, the Russian novel :p. No? That’s okay, just thought I’d try and take a stab at it…
(Ps: Anwar looks HOT in this time skip! <3)
Oh, you mean this guy in a white shirt is our Anwar? o.0 Wouldn’t tell. First panel – sure [but why the dead hamster on his face?], but second one, with this smug smile… Doesn’t look like “our” Anwar. At first I thought they [Anwar and white shirt guy] knew each other and didn’t really get on well, thus the “my my, what have we got here?” face expression.
You must’ve had some funny looking hamsters as a child…
One of my friends used the “dead hamster on one’s face” expression and I loved it :D
Thankfully facial hair is a completly free choice, so we can criticise it all we want. And Anwar can have it where he won’t have Chris, but Mark will have Steve ;)
I think that’s why I like insensitive people – I can say things I find funny and they will laugh or tell me where I can shove it, not feel sad. As in – I don’t want to make people sad, I just sometimes don’t know what makes them and why.
Name the kitty Pagan!
How about Chris?
Name the cat Cake. Aces love cake.
And bearded Anwar. NICE!
Maybe I’m wrong, but I swear that station looks like King’s Cross.
Also voting Pie for cat’s name.
I’m excited to see how it ends, but am sad that it’s ending. Tab, I love your work and look forward to the next comic you create. Also I’m kind of digging ‘War’s beard and the such. It definitely makes him look older and more distinguished
Can we name the cat Blackberry Pie (Pie for short)? That’s so delicious sounding… and cute.
I’ve always voted Chairmen Meow for a cat. If then not Spades. I loved your work with Khaos Komix and I loved Chris since he was introduced and can’t wait until I get to see what’s next!
Ace of Spades… I’m very partial to the name considering I had a little black dog named that.
How far is this time shift? ‘War looks a few years older. It’s not the beard, but his eyes that seem to give it away. He has this look of direction and confidence he never possessed before.
Name it cake, as in I’d rather have cake
Not gonna lie, I bawled when you wrapped up Khaos. Not really looking forward to the end of A :(
I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR HOT BEARD OF HOTNESS
BUT IT IS SO HOT?!
How many years in the future is this? I’m guessing 5?