#right now I am in a state where I am not sensitive to criticism haha | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

lovemesomesurveys · 5 years ago

Text

1. If we returned to a world without internet, what aspect of online life would you miss the most? Wow, that would really, really suck, ha. For someone like me with no life and who spends a lot of time on the internet... yikes. Sounds sad, but it’s true. I would miss Tumblr and surveys and checking my social medias and looking up random stuff and shopping online. I mean, obviously I’d have to adapt and move on, and hey maybe something good would come from it, but yeah just imagining that sounds awful haha. 2. What food are you craving at the moment? I’m not hungry right now, but I am thinking about that pizza I had Monday haha. It was SO good. I could definitely go for another. 3. Are you craving anything aside from food, and if so, what? I wanna travel. Last week my dad flew out to visit family and I was so envious that he was getting to fly somewhere and get out of town/state for a few days. I’ve only flown a total of 2 times, which was over 10 years ago now. I’ve gone along to take and pick up people from the airport many times; though, and each time I always get the urge to fly somewhere. I get this butterfly type feeling each time I’ve gone to the airport and I just wanna gooooo.

4. Where was the last place you went and what did you do there? I went to the doctor yesterday for my monthly check up on something ongoing I’ve been dealing with. 5. What was the highlight and low point of your summer (or whatever season you happen to be taking this in)? The only good parts about this summer was the few times I went to the beach, my birthday weekend vacation, saw some good movies, and my aunt (whom I’m super close with) came and stayed with a for a few days last week and it was really fun. Otherwise, I despise summer, it’s hot and miserable. I dread it every year and I just look forward to it being over. 6. What was the last change you made to your lifestyle? Hmm. 7. What was the last thing you gave up doing? Uhhh. I feel like I’ve given up on a lot of things in the last few years. Myself most of all. 8. Do you deal well with criticism? Does it make a difference if it’s constructive? I mean, if someone wants to offer some helpful, useful advice that could be beneficial to me that’s cool. Just don’t be rude about it. If I’m doing something and there’s possibly a better way to do it, then suggest that in a way that doesn’t come off condescending or rude. I’m most critical on myself anyway. I will say; though, it does annoy me if someone keeps telling me something that I should do that I already know I should do. Don’t criticize me constantly for it. Don’t nag me. 9. What was the last thing to boost your self-esteem? What sort of things typically make you feel good about yourself? My self-esteem is shit, but I know it’d be nice to get my hair done finally. It’s been over a year and it looks so bad and I always like how my hair looks and feels after I get it done. Like, I’m still a mess but at least my hair would look nice. 10. When it comes to food, do you prefer crunchy or softer textures? I like some crunch, but not hard. Like the right amount of crunch and crispiness, ya know? Depending on what it is, of course. I like soft textures as well. I eat everything with sauce, dips, or olive oil because I can’t eat things dry. Like my sandwiches, for example, I put a lot of mayo and mustard, but I also dip it in olive oil. Or like I eat eggs with ranch, unless I have country gravy with them. 11. Do you prefer savory or sweet things for breakfast? I just eat scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese for breakfast, sometimes in the form of a breakfast burrito. Hash browns are a great bonus. I used to eat like cereal, pop tarts, toaster strudels, granola bars, oatmeal, and waffles, but now I can’t eat a lot of sweet stuff anymore. Plus, I just prefer to have eggs. There’s more substance and I get something good out of it like protein. Honestly, I used to never even have breakfast at all, I just liked breakfast foods like I listed above. It’s only within the last year especially that I started to eat breakfast regularly. 12. When was the last time someone disappointed you? What about the last time you disappointed someone else? I’ve been very disappointed in myself for a long time. I feel like I’ve disappointed my family and former friends, too. 13. What is something you can’t seem to stop doing (or start)? I can’t seem to stop being a mess or start getting my shit together... 14. When was the last time you made a new friend? What about the last time you lost a friend? I haven’t made any friends in years. I lost all my friends over the past few years. 15. What was the last thing you were excited about? What about nervous? I was excited about having my aunt come and stay with us last week and for our beach trip last weekend. We had a really good time. As for nervous, this is a long story time so grab a snack and buckle up:

I was full on freaking out last Sunday, after having a great, relaxing time at the beach, because as we were turning the corner to our street, we got notifications on our phone from our security camera, which at almost 10 o’clock at night, was like wtf?? Before any of us had time to check it, we saw for ourselves the reason why it was going off: As we turned we saw firetrucks, smoke, and our neighbors all standing around outside, some of which were standing at our door, hence the security alerts going off. We saw our house and our neighbor’s house that we’re connected to engulfed in smoke. We had no idea what was going on, but our first and only thought and concern was our dog, who was in the house. I start literally crying and freaking out because like I said, we didn’t know what was going on, but what I described seeing as we turned the corner was terrifying and my only concern was my dog. My mom stops the car and she and my brother jump out and run up to our house. My brother comes back out running to the car with my dog, who was physically fine, THANK GOD, but very scared. She jumped in the back with me and I just held on to her the entire time while my mom, aunt, and brother went back to find out what the hell was going on. Turns out that our neighbor, whose house is connected to ours, was working on his car in the garage and his engine caught fire. Being that our houses are connected, the smoke came over to our side and filled up our garage. It was so bad that it was coming out the sides, which is why it looked like it was our house that had the fire. When my mom opened up the garage, she said the smoke was so thick that she couldn’t even see anything. It was crazy. The firefighters had to do a walkthrough of our house to make sure it was fine and checked for carbon monoxide and all that, and had to use their big blower thing to clear out the smoke in our garage. Our house was fine, we just had to open the windows up in our house and air it for awhile. The smell was strong; though, and the smoke was very irritating to my throat. OH, and the reason why our other neighbors were standing at our door was because they thought we were home asleep and they were trying to alert us of the fire. One girl even jumped our fence to bang on our backdoor. They were banging and yelling for awhile, apparently. My mom and I watched the video camera footage later and saw everything and omg it was so crazy. You can tell how scared and concerned they were. And the smoke was so bad at that point that they were coughing and covering their mouths, but they continued banging on our door and trying to yell out to alert us. D: It meant SO much that they cared and were genuinely concerned about us like that. We couldn’t stop thanking them. Ahh but anyway yeah, it was w i l d. And this was just a few days after there was another fire a few houses down from us. :O 16. What is something small that you take extremely personally? Hm. I don’t know. I’m a sensitive person, so. 17. What is your favorite thing about your favorite person? I don’t really have a favorite person. I love my family and I’m close to some more than others, but I don’t choose favorites like that. 18. What is something you wish other people knew about you? I don’t know. 19. What is something you wish others DIDN’T know? Uhhh. 20. When was the last time you comforted someone who was upset? When my aunt and I get together it always ends up turning into a therapy session between us. We stay up late and talk about everything and yeah, sometimes it gets pretty deep. Anyway, I was just lending an ear and letting her vent about some things. 21. What was going on the last time you couldn’t sleep? Every night I stay up and watch ASMR, Tumblr, and do surveys until I fall asleep. 22. What are your plans for the day ahead (or tomorrow if it’s late)? I don’t have any today, but tomorrow my mom and I are dropping off my brother and his friend at a concert. It’s out of town, so I wanted to tag along for the ride. 23. Do you tend to be more grumpy when you’re tired or when you’re hungry? Both. Like, I’m always tired, but when I first wake up you do not want to talk to me before I’ve had coffee and had time to wake up. I also get quite hangry. 24. When was the last time you yelled at someone? I don’t know. I yelled out to someone so they could hear me, but I don’t recall the last time I yelled at someone. 25. What types of things typically cause you to cry? Blah some days it’s like I’m on the verge of tears all day and any thing can set me off. Other times there’s a specific reason, other times it’s a combination or build up of things that lead to crying. There’s various reasons. I’m just a cry baby. 26. When was the last time someone else cried in your presence? It’s been awhile, actually. 27. What is one thing that would make your life a lot better? Better health. 28. What is something you are grateful to already have in your life? My family. 29. How would you describe your overall aesthetic? Leggings, graphic Ts, and Adidas. 30. What is one of your most positive characteristics? What about one of your most negative? Does it bother you when you see certain aspects of yourself in other people, or does it depend on the trait? I have a lot of negative traits. I’m struggling to think of something positive. I used to be someone who was there for others and willing to help anyway I could, but I haven’t been that way these past few years. I’ve become such a shitty person these past few years I feel like. :/

#personal #text #survey #surveys

7 notes · View notes

panelshowsource · 6 years ago

Text

adfjghlkjfhgd she is my #1 fan...i’m just that cool...

hahahahah i diiiiiid know that... they broke up quite a while ago (2017? 2 lazy 2 check her ig and confirm) and he’s dated people since, but it’s definitely funny to see them on hypothetical with that in mind, for example! i’m glad it seems they’re still kind friends

thank you anon! i have definitely seen people say good things about it, so when i have time i might branch out. i tend to use my free time for this blog and my main, but next time i have a long cab ride i might check it out...

i did of course i did!!!! simon farnaby stan forever!!!! paddington is god! shoutout to @idiots-assembled for running such an amazing, quality blog!

hahaha anon! well dara is known for doing a lot of maths and science programmes, and brian cox is also a scientist and tv presenter, so that’s where they cross paths in people’s minds. you’ve probably seen jokes like this one, right? the jokes are either that they are in love oooor they’re rivals — but what’s better than a little love and hate?

i loooooooooove graham nortoooooooon ahhh his was actually the only british programme i was ever able to get my family into! my mom still texts me on the weekends to tell me how funny he is after a new episode, and she bought me one of his autobiographies for christmas, hah! he is good egg 10/10

haha his positive energy is what makes him miles! and one of our beloveds! i’m so glad you all are enjoying radio panel shows! there’s so many comedians who aren’t deemed tv-able who get to shine on those programmes and i love that — and ofc the news quiz specifically since it’s always working to be more inclusive :’)

i genuinely have no idea who it is... there was a time i thought i had a decent clue, but i was really just projecting my own opinions onto him lmao who do you think? with tea there must come shade >:)

sure!

(i feel a little weary voting myself since i haven’t listened to all the other potential contestants, but good luck to all!)

i do wonder because i would loooooove to see her on tm! i wouldn’t hold my breath because she is very busy with bakeoff, qi, and her other writing, but i do think she gets a real kick out of hanging out with other comedians she respects. i also wouldn’t hold my breath for a “best of” kind of special; alex has said a couple times it’s never good when you can predict everyone will do well or everyone will do badly. i think he thinks that mix of responses and techniques is what makes the show so suspenseful, you could say, and therefore engaging! i think i agree with him, but i would be lying if i said i didn’t want to see, like, roisin, joe wilkinson, paul, nish, and liza tarbuck try and nail a team challenge. the chaos! it could be the end of taskmaster as we know it!!!

aww anon thank you 😚 it’s so nice everyone wants to have fun watching panel shows with me, i’m so grateful!

hey anon, i have answered something similar to this a few times! it really just takes a lot of exposure, i guess, but i’m definitely well past that point now, thankfully! :)

that is so surprise to me at all. there are ways in which you can you can tell he is a sensitive person who wants the best for people, especially in “real life” (i think i gathered this from his politics tbh); i’d also want those people around me since they’re all so unique, positive, and supportive. i think it speaks to the kind of person frankie is, really!

desiree burch isn’t one of my personal favourites, but i can see how as an american there are certain britcom dynamics and environments she can’t properly integrate into...that is sort of the nature of being a foreigner! of course there are more specific criticisms to her i’m sure you could argue, but it’s always going to be hit and miss depending on the show, the panelist, the other panelists, the topics, etc. *cute shrug*

the short answer is no, i really don’t... game shows have an absolutely different (and often negative) reputation in the states, for one: celebrities who appear on any reality or game show are considered desperate for work (this is excluding shows like lip synch battle and SNL) and these types of programmes are considered daytime tv or kind of trashy. i thought the fix on netflix might bridge the gap a little but i’m not sure it did. it doesn’t seem to suit american comics to sit around and shoot the shit about serious topics; in a way, that is what podcasts are for. americans fall flat doing one-liners waaaay more often than british comedians unless that is part of their persona. katherine ryan is a great example of a non-british comedian who has nailed really short bits or quick jokes with great delivery that always lands — without feeling too performative. but a part of the issue is that american audiences like comedy that is performative, that is bombastic, that is a segment (i’m not trying to quantify all americans’ tastes, i am referring to the majority that determines whether something gets to achieve mainstream success). that is not good for panel shows; catsdown is very lucky is has a mascot segment at the beginning because it pretty much ends there (RIP room 101). this is likely the reason taskmaster us didn’t make it past one season. it’s just too subtle; it’s not understandable or able to be summarised in a one-minute clip. i just don’t think the market exists... but if you disagree, i’m interested to hear why!

any time anon! it’s tooooo sweet! i hope you got a chance to listen to the radio version too, it cracks me up :’)

aw, you’re welcome from over here in nyc! let me know if you ever need help finding something

f.a.q. // tags // watch links masterpost

19 notes · View notes

comicteaparty · 7 years ago

Text

May 25th, 2017 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party chat that occurred on May 25th, 2017, from 5PM - 7PM PST. The chat focused on There’s No Such Thing as Jason - I.T. by Phenylketonurics.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

Good day everyone~! This week’s Comic Tea Party is now officially beginning. This week we are discussing There’s No Such Thing as Jason - I.T. by Phenylketonurics ~! (https://tapas.io/series/Theres-No-Such-Thing-as-Jason----IT) As CTP is brand-new, please allow me a brief moment to elaborate how the chats are formatted a bit in more detail than I will do for other chats (i.e. prepare for wall of text). The discussions are mostly meant to be freeform, so you can bring up whatever topic you would like about the comic. That being said, in order to help foster discussion, every 30 minutes I’m going to drop in a question. These questions are TOTALLY OPTIONAL, so if you have no interest in answering them, that is perfectly fine; you are welcome to ignore the questions completely. It’s simply going to be there to help those who need a bit of prompting to get into the discussion. As I’ve mentioned in other places, constructive criticism is allowed, please just be sure to be respectful towards the work. Keep in mind you’re also not obligated to give criticism. The goal of these chats is to have fun, talk about comics, and grow as a community. So please discuss what you wish. Since this is the first chat, I also want to mention this chat is free to drop-in and drop-out. If you can’t stay the full two hours, then that’s perfectly fine. Stay as long as you would like~! Tl;dr: Freeform discussions, but OPTIONAL questions will be dropped in every 30 mins. Ignore if it pleases you and have fun.

With that said, let us begin with this first question~!

QUESTION 1. What is your favorite scene in the comic so far and why?

DracoPlato

1. The scene where the antenna was coming out of Dim really stuck with me visually as well as from a shock value so that's probably my favorite atm.

RebelVampire

ah yeah that was a really standout scene. with a lot of wtf value.

AngelicEmpyress

Oh my gosh favorite scene

that's a tough one

i think the scene where we first see view and jason as two different people

that was a big what wut? to me

loads of wth value XD

DracoPlato

definitely!

RebelVampire

haha for me i sadly dont remember that scene as well. not cause it wasnt powerful but because my mind was already blown and swirling with what exactly is going on with jason's identiy stuff

AngelicEmpyress

lol i STILL don't know what's going on and i read it twice XD

DracoPlato

hmmm like did sten create a game and is somehow merging it with the "real" world

AngelicEmpyress

oh and i loved the scene when jason is outside and suddenly puts his hood on and his eyes go red and hes like "im not jason"

RebelVampire

ah yeah that was a really great image

i really liked the color contrasts in it

DracoPlato

oh Pheny's art is gorgeous, so many scenes stick with me because of the lighting and colors and panel layouts they use

AngelicEmpyress

yes!

the hair

all the hair

RebelVampire

picking a favorite scene is hard. i think im going to go with the flashback scene of where jason and dim meet. mostly cause i think jason is adorable and i think it gives better insight into what his original personality is.

DracoPlato

haha young jason is adorable

AngelicEmpyress

lol lil jason doesn't seem too different from now jason in so many ways

DracoPlato

i like his iced tip hair reminiscent of the 90s

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

DracoPlato

Pheeeeeny~!!

Phenylketonurics

YO! Oh, it's so exciting to see what some of the favourite scenes are, rock on! ICED TIP HAIR YES!!

AngelicEmpyress

hey there!

DracoPlato

My bro totally had that look going on when he was a teen, lol

AngelicEmpyress

Hahaha

Phenylketonurics

Hello hello~!! THANK YOU so much for being here, aa~

RebelVampire

glad you could make it~!

AngelicEmpyress

oh mah goodness your art is so awesome

Phenylketonurics

And yeah, the whole split in seeing Jason versus View, establishing that these are indeed two different "people" is one of my favourite scenes in the comic as well (I'm so happy for the kind words, wow, mega gobs of gratitude!)

THANK YOU EMPYRESS!!

AngelicEmpyress

and the story is a real page turner especially since thrillers are a genre i normally dont touch with a 10 ft pole

Phenylketonurics

Oh wow, that is a huge compliment then, dang! I'll admit, thrillers are also something I'm weary of -- they're tricky to follow!

DracoPlato

true! It's not usually my genre of choice either, but I just love how thought provoking Jason is

AngelicEmpyress

but i like the 'try to put the pieces together youself'

DracoPlato

yeah!

It's more thought provoking than any other comic i've read

AngelicEmpyress

though i will say this...in your descriptions, when you say "this connects to such and such page" it would be better if you say the episode... since you can't track the actual pages easy in tapas

Phenylketonurics

YES!! Oh man, I hoped so hardcore that it could be approached with the reader's perspective, the reader's ideas in highlight -- THAT is the key to figuring things out.

AngelicEmpyress

so i had a tough time maneuvering back and forth

DracoPlato

oh that's a good point AE!

cosmographia

hey hey hi sorry here I am!! :D/

AngelicEmpyress

hi there!

DracoPlato

Hiiii Cosmo~!!

Phenylketonurics

!!! AE YES! That would be way better, thank you so much. YO COSMO!!

cosmographia

EY!!

Phenylketonurics

Stoked to see you here, aa~!!

cosmographia

Stoked to BE here, so glad people have received it so well!! (cuz I agree with all of this, the comic is phenomenal!)

AngelicEmpyress

also...i feel jason's pain with that noise... i have mesophonia so it would probably drive me completely insane XD

Phenylketonurics

SO MUCH KINDNESS from killer rad creators, wow, I'm on high for the rest of the year, man. Mesophonia is something I am fascinated with, wow, no one talks about that!! RAD.

AngelicEmpyress

really?

no one i met had ever heard of it XD

RebelVampire

ah yeah i empathize with jason's pain noise as well. mostly because my ears are sensitive to cpu hums because ever since i got sick one time, ive been able to pick up the frequency of when its switching to different activity states and it took me like weeks at first to block out the annoyance of it and it drove me quite bananas. could barely even sleep.

AngelicEmpyress

i can hear that too Rebel

DracoPlato

oh wow

cosmographia

oh wow

AngelicEmpyress

least jason handles it better than me XD

Phenylketonurics

The effects of one's sensitivity to the frequencies of such auditory signals is definitely something Jason's dealing with, oh man, this is MAJORLY awesome you know about it firsthand.

cosmographia

yea I've had experiences like that too there's this weird white noise that comes from this one supermarket here and I've asked my family if they hear it and they've said they haven't. And it HURTS. I HATE going to that store hahah <"D

AngelicEmpyress

the ones that are key to me send me into ultimate rage and I cant concentrate on ANYTHING

cosmographia

oh! 80

AngelicEmpyress

i have to wear headphones all day at work because of it

RebelVampire

jason is handling it better than me too. for a week i wore my mom's insulated headphone things that ppl wear when theyre doing loud hardware stuff.

Phenylketonurics

Right, exactly! It's a very physical experience even if it's invisible -- Jason's just starting to re-experience the auditory assault. In one flashback, we see it causes him pretty severe headaches. ;o;

(it in conjunction with the whole video game programme test, aah(

cosmographia

-nod nod-

ngl for like...a LONG time I kept denying that all of this was actually happening (in the comic I mean hahaha)

Phenylketonurics

BUT YES, the whole idea behind Jason as it started was that I wanted people to bring their personal experiences with anomalies and troubled memories forward, inject them side-by-side with Jason's experience.

cosmographia

it wasn't till the recent updates I started taking the experiences more seriously, or more like...ACTUALLY happening, I thought they were psychological projections

now i'm like "WHAT" (with the most recent updates from last month to now)

Phenylketonurics

SEE!! yeah, I really hoped it would migrate from being psychological as in "not happening" to psychological and "VERY MUCH HAPPENING"

AngelicEmpyress

oh i like how Dim and Day look visually different in the past vs the present...i love that detail

RebelVampire

ah its a few mins early but this is a good time to drop in the next question XDXD

QUESTION 2. The comic deals with a lot of themes of perception, perspective, psychology and more. In other words, things aren’t quite what they seem. What in the story are you sure is “real” and what are you sure isn’t “real?” Is there anyone you trust in the story for an objective viewpoint into the events?

Phenylketonurics

oh cool cool, AE, I'm so happy to hear that, thank you!!!

cosmographia

YEP it was a punch to the face (metaphorical and in this case welcoming )

Itrustnoone.

AngelicEmpyress

omg...

i have no idea what is real or not yet XD

i still dont know what the heck is going on XDDDD

cosmographia

Phen keeps pulling the rug from the reader's feet

Phenylketonurics

Hahah! There's A LOT in the air right now, too, haha^^

That rug just tosses everything around!

cosmographia

in a GOOD way mind you!

it's like "-snap fingers- Ya got me again hahahahawhatishappening"

OH YEA def!

AngelicEmpyress

im sure that jason has feelings for Day... i think >.> then again even that is questionable at times

RebelVampire

i feel like the comic could have the assassins creed slogan underneath. about how nothing is true, everything is permitted.

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

cosmographia

seems to me like a co-dependency relationship as in any feelings are just a need for validation turned into romantic attraction

AngelicEmpyress

ah i can see that

Phenylketonurics

AE -- YOU ZOOMED RIGHT IN on a really big part of interplay that feeds on Jason -- View is mixed in definitely but like Cosmo said, co-dependency is an element to how this thing manifests.

Superjustinbros

WHOAH THE MAN HIMSELF APPEARED!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

cosmographia

:U!

AngelicEmpyress

lol super

Superjustinbros

HEY PHENY!!!

:DDDD

AngelicEmpyress

i know...we are in the presence of The MAN! XD

Superjustinbros

Sorry if I'm a bit late ^^;;

cosmographia

that being said, even if the situation is so out there, the characters are SO belivable and their reasoning/actions to how this is happening is relatable and understandable

RebelVampire

i feel like the entire comics begs the question of our definition of reality. like, even if these things are happening in Jason's head, are they any less real than things other ppl experience subjectively

Superjustinbros

I agree with that so hard

The characters of this story are written so well

cosmographia

yep!

DracoPlato

yeah i feel that too

Superjustinbros

Plus with the timeskips and flashbacks changing how they look as mentioned before(edited)

And I really feel like I can connect with Jason on a spiritual level of sorts

since me and him actually have quite a bit it common, especially with how lifelike the story gets

Like, without some of the heavier sci-fi elements like the antennas, I'd say this could all very well happen IRL

but if it did happen I wouldn't want an antenna on my head zapping me while I'm trying to do stuff

AngelicEmpyress

lol

zaps super =p

Superjustinbros

is zapped

cosmographia

yea I can definitely see how it's relatable in such a way

this one scene of Jason desperately trying to get an answer out of Dim (sorry forgot the page number) hit way too close to home haha

Superjustinbros

And it's super rare for me to treat a fictional character as someone like myself

So that alone is quite an accomplishment

AngelicEmpyress

wow yeah

cosmographia

damn! Yea

Phenylketonurics

(sorry sorry, wifi I'm using is a nightmare since I'm in a weird area, aaa! VIEW GO AWAY)

Superjustinbros

GET OUT VIEW

AngelicEmpyress

lol!

Superjustinbros

DON'T VIEW THE VIEW

DracoPlato

gdi View

SirDelta God King of Mecha

oh crap i missed the beginig, sorry whats going on

AngelicEmpyress

lol

gah i love that hair

and so much emotion in the eyes

even for just circles

DracoPlato

pheny's art is amaaaaazing~!

so much love

AngelicEmpyress

yus!

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i admit, not too big a fan of the red hair

Superjustinbros

He looks like such a goof too when he's not trying to plot something sinister

AngelicEmpyress

LOL

DracoPlato

don't trust him, he's evil

Superjustinbros

I even got sharp fangs like him

SirDelta God King of Mecha

but isn't he always sinister

Phenylketonurics

EXCELLENTE!! I'm extremely excited to hear that the characters are believable, too! Even if red hair is not a good thing, hahah^^

Superjustinbros

lol

brb never trusting my characters with red hair ever

RebelVampire

delta why you gotta hate the red?

AngelicEmpyress

red is my favorite color

SirDelta God King of Mecha

its not thats its a bad thing, i just don't like the style and color combo gonig on there(edited)

Phenylketonurics

The play on reality of being like... this question in and of itself is another slant that I DEEPLY enjoy seeing people's take on. Yeah, View's hair is something of Jason's past -- he doesn't like it either!

Superjustinbros

lol

So many possible ideas for what would happen

Phenylketonurics

Exactly!

Superjustinbros

if Jason and View started having a serious conversation between each other

RebelVampire

i think i like young jason's hair the best. so spunky yet so cute. i think compared to his older self theres something that capture youthful naivete

DracoPlato

I like the black hair best but I like all the varities

Phenylketonurics

Rebel has it right on, aa!!! I'm just over the moon that you can read that characters' milestone ages so well, thank you!!

Phenylketonurics

Hair itself has a history of being a strong definition of one's identity (culturally speaking)... so I definitely take that into consideration with Jason! He's constantly messing with his hair!

Superjustinbros

cosmographia

nice!

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i see i see

Superjustinbros

That sounded more funny to me than it should've been

DracoPlato

to represent his ever changing self

Phenylketonurics

Yes! Either in denial of events or possibly even as an affirmation, to distance oneself from things that have happened.

Superjustinbros

That's cool~

Phenylketonurics

A LOT of physical cues like... eyes, hands and adornments thereof have roots in the "magic" of the body. It's all a little superstitious, hah^^

Superjustinbros

I like that! It's a great attention to detail~

Phenylketonurics

Thank you, aa!! I'm really glad to hear that you've been able to pick up on these things yourself, though, THAT is like... half my work done, haha^^

Superjustinbros

You're welcome! Don't think I've ever seen a story that has ever done that to such a great extend personally.

AngelicEmpyress

oh....hand....that little whatcha macallit

ffff

keychain?

Phenylketonurics

YES!

The keyring Dim has!

WELL... rings in general (abstracted in Jason's perspective as a goal in the game programme but it goes back to a literal silver ring, one that is held in hands~)

Phenylketonurics

eheheh^^

Superjustinbros

Realy this is all such a deep lore you got going on!

I love it.

And lots of attentions to keep an eye out on

SirDelta God King of Mecha

this is going eva levels of deep

Phenylketonurics

It's been 10+ years in writing, I really gotta make sure not to get excessive with it, yeah? X]

cosmographia

DAMN

Superjustinbros

Phenylketonurics

I started it when I was 19!! I AM 31 NOW WHAT THE HECK

cosmographia

how much has the story changed since the initial idea? :0

AngelicEmpyress

lol i thought you were younger than that lol

Superjustinbros

LOL

DracoPlato

oh hey we're around the same age

AngelicEmpyress

Yup

Superjustinbros

I'm only 22

turning 23 pretty soon tho

AngelicEmpyress

Hehe

SirDelta God King of Mecha

you seems a lot more lively for someone that old than i expeted

Phenylketonurics

Not much, surprisingly! I started with There's No Such Thing as Jason, it's completely written, done. And... I wanted to take the story and expand upon what Jason meant (since the first focused pretty exclusively on View)

Superjustinbros

Aah, cool!

And I've been working on my stuff since I was,... 14? (at least my current stuff)(edited)

AngelicEmpyress

oh wow

cosmographia

cool tho!

I think my comic has gotten a few minor tweaks throughout the years but damn, keeping it like that for a DECADE -applause-

DracoPlato

that is impressive!

Superjustinbros

I've made so many tweaks to my concepts (and really I've bene conceptualising stuff for so long)

SirDelta God King of Mecha

where did the title of the comic from

cosmographia

good you're getting what you want, tho!

Phenylketonurics

MINOR TWEAKS ARE GOOD! It helps keep the narrative organic and fresh. TNSTAJ was a telling of something already very vague so... it was just a matter of style, haha^^

RebelVampire

ah ty delta. you are segwaying into the next question

Phenylketonurics

Oh! The title came from a line in the story!

Superjustinbros

And I have one other series that I retired that was a self-fic that lasted from 2001 (when I was only seven) to 2009(edited)

Phenylketonurics

WELL DANG! WAIT, there's a big change then.

There's No Such Thing as Jason was originally titled "What is Wrong"

Superjustinbros

XD "What's wrong, Jason?"

Phenylketonurics

Then in 2006, I finished writing and loved the line one of the characters says near the beginning, haha^

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i'm confused with the i.t. part at the end

AngelicEmpyress

information technology i would presume

DracoPlato

lol!

Phenylketonurics

The I.T. part gets added on as a sort of "volume 2"

DracoPlato

Jason are you okay

Superjustinbros

What would volume 3 be, then?

SirDelta God King of Mecha

volume 2?

Phenylketonurics

It's the I.T. side, the technical nitty gritty of what Jason is.

SirDelta God King of Mecha

ah ok

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. What do you think is the significance of the title as it relates to the story? Who is View? Who is Jason? Are they the same person, differing identities, or something else entirely?

Superjustinbros

Aye

AngelicEmpyress

i was right lol

Phenylketonurics

OH THIS QUESTION! W

cosmographia

I was JUST gonna ask about the IT thing I love the reasoning behind it <3

DracoPlato

There's no such thing as Jason

RebelVampire

draco no. youre grounded

AngelicEmpyress

i think view and jason are two parts to the same person and one is trying to overcome the other

DracoPlato

yeah i think that as well

or jason may be a computer program and view is a virus

AngelicEmpyress

oh i like that pov

Superjustinbros

If that wound up being the truth

the part of being "like a compute rprogram"

SirDelta God King of Mecha

from my understanding, i think at some point veiw and jason were the same person, than after some event jason was able to remain the domanit person and go on with his life leaving view in the back of his head just wating to get out and fuck up jasons life

AngelicEmpyress

i feel that view is something that was created for some purpose and is now out of hand

and Dim is kinda the 'ground' persay

DracoPlato

I think Sten created View in his experiments on Jason

AngelicEmpyress

Yes

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i forgot about those

Phenylketonurics

(I am sitting here grinning over every single bit of input, YOU GUYS ARE SO BLOODY SMART WHAT THE HECK MAN!!)

Superjustinbros

LOL

Superjustinbros

YO WE LEVELED UP TOGETHER

SirDelta God King of Mecha

oh cousre your smiling, were all here for your comic

Superjustinbros

Yup~

AngelicEmpyress

i was thinking about the lollipops being what kept view detained, and it kinda showed Dims whole purpose in it all

RebelVampire

maybe view is like the replication of an avatar in real life of some sort. it reminds me of a video i watched the other day about the movie perfect blue and how the movie is about how someone's avatar is something scripted and not the real person. so maybe sten tried to create an avatar that is reflected by the real person.

Superjustinbros

So Jason would be like

Phenylketonurics

Delta has a crazy good point about how people can be buried in the back of our minds and REALLY mess us up when thrust back into our lives -- which ties directly into what AE says about Dim -- his presence is absolutely crucial for Jason (and integral for View)

AngelicEmpyress

and i think Day is just using jason to study more about view

Superjustinbros

God dang I dunno how long I can keep up with thsi chat XD

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

Superjustinbros

It's just all over the palce rn XP

AngelicEmpyress

that's the fun part though super

Superjustinbros

(Also in part cause I have the AC set to low)

AngelicEmpyress

you know how every electrical thing has to be ground or else itd go haywire...there you go view and dim

Superjustinbros

Yeah

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i feel like the jason necklace that he gave day was ment to be some kind of restrictor on view

AngelicEmpyress

but i think Dim is slowly growing tired of his 'job' and fromt hat View is slowly slipping out of grasp

Phenylketonurics

Oh man, YES, electricity!! The electrostatic involved with radio frequencies, a physical output of what happens at a mico-level, yes! The necklace is a definite "controller" of sorts, being something that View is quite focused on whenever he talks with the other characters.

Superjustinbros

HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE NECKLACE XO

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

DracoPlato

I didn't forget

cosmographia

ooh

Phenylketonurics

Oh man, noticing Dim's exhaustion~ He's in a job position that... seems to contradict his history with "fiddly little technical things"

SirDelta God King of Mecha

and now its on day and its fucking up her life so it makes me thing it was specily made for Jason

AngelicEmpyress

i dont know...the line "this metal was never meant for you" i'm not too sure

DracoPlato

my wonder is if any of it is real or if there's another reality outside of the one they exist in

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i coud be wrong, i did binge read it last week

RebelVampire

idk i think day has some issues and doesnt need the necklace to bring havoc in her life. cause i mean dont think the necklace has anything to do with the toxic work environment she clearly has.

Phenylketonurics

Ohoho, Day versus Dim with the necklace and the grades of metal that Jason/View have physiological responses to is massive.

DracoPlato

day definitely has some issues i think, haha

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

SirDelta God King of Mecha

everyone in this comic has issues

Phenylketonurics

Draco!! YES, in conversation with Day, Qress (Dim's sister) mentions reality as being a fun little game to play with, yeah!!

AngelicEmpyress

though we havent touched on what jason's older brother has in all this

DracoPlato

yeeees~ she did

Superjustinbros

Lol

AngelicEmpyress

i think out of all of them, he's the only one on the ground of reality

i think anyway

Superjustinbros

(Apologies if I'm not active much atm, there's other stuff I want to get to)(edited)

DracoPlato

I think sten and jason's brother are most aware of what reality is

AngelicEmpyress

Yes

SirDelta God King of Mecha

well what is reality really, its just how we percive it who knows maybe the others see the "real" reality(edited)

Phenylketonurics

Bringing Sten in (Dim's brother) was so difficult, I hoped so much that it would be interesting and not simply break that reality (since yes, reality is dependent on perspective which is often very much skewed!)

RebelVampire

i think bringing in sten actually vastly added a new hand to the table so to speak about what reality. cause things i assumed werent real suddenly were.

SirDelta God King of Mecha

oh yay, existentialism

AngelicEmpyress

i think the only time it was broken for me was with Qress... her scenes just seemed to happen outside of everything else and almost felt it didn't belong

Phenylketonurics

Existentialists, just hold your finger up to any argument and say, "but what's the point" X] BUT NO, no, hopefully I can steer clear of that kinda thing. Qress is heavy, oh my gosh, I'm so glad you said that AE!

AngelicEmpyress

and its almost like after her scene, i forgot about her

cosmographia

I agree with what Rebel said about Sten

DracoPlato

yeah i do too

sten is a huge piece i think

SirDelta God King of Mecha

but whats the point (i had too)

RebelVampire

if i absolutely had to pick someone to trust in this story it would be Qress actually. i think Qress seems the most innocent party so far in what happened in the past. cause even jason's brother mentioned having an idea of what was going on.

DracoPlato

same

i want to see more of her

AngelicEmpyress

i think i trust the brother...i dont know why (cuz im weird)

DracoPlato

I trust no one until it's over

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

Phenylketonurics

IT IS SO GOOD to hear that Sten cemented the reality of the main three in place, heck yes, thank you!! The Qress and Day conversation was a tiny little fragment of establishing their relationship, REALLY hope to expand upon that!

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i don't trust anyone is this comic, too many fucked up people

its just layers of counter manipulation

cosmographia

yea like...without him dropping answers, he GAVE a lot of answers or rather some leads to grasp on till more clues emerge

AngelicEmpyress

its all Stens fault x3

DracoPlato

#BlameSten

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i'm just gonna blame view

that seems like a safe bet

RebelVampire

AH! i trusted jason's brother some until this scene

https://tapas.io/episode/551271

DracoPlato

i feel like sten is responsible for view tho

RebelVampire

and then i went trust no one

AngelicEmpyress

i think view is only trying to create a reality for himself unmanipulated...even if he goes aobut it the wrong way lol

Phenylketonurics

It is such a power play, the manipulation of information -- something of a hornet's nest gone mad at times.

THAT IS A GOOD POINT YO!! AH! I am so excited that you brought that up, dang!

SirDelta God King of Mecha

Brb

DracoPlato

ah yeah i remember that with jason's brother

Tyle

Phenylketonurics

Tyle's weak point is his very short temper.

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i thought that was the wierdist nickname

DracoPlato

haha i had to double check cause i thought his name was Ty

AngelicEmpyress

im kinda reminded of Johnny 5 when i think of View

DracoPlato

omg, me too

SirDelta God King of Mecha

it just seems so odd to call him tyle

Phenylketonurics

(Tyle for Tyler, heh, nicknames can be a fun mask to wear, yeah?)

DracoPlato

Ooooooooooooooooooh

that makes more sense

I am super bad with names btw

Phenylketonurics

haha, no me too!!!

RebelVampire

his name is actually tyler!? my life is a lie

DracoPlato

actually i love that pheny mentions the names so often in artist's comments

that's super helpful

Phenylketonurics

thank you draco, aaa!! I always make sure to list people, I am awful at names everywhere. It's humiliating.

RebelVampire

yeah that is. i say this from doing reviews and always double checking name spellings. sometimes its a pain when i have to search a billion pages to find a single name drop :"D

DracoPlato

yeah I started trying to do it more cause of pheny and mappy doing it i think

Phenylketonurics

Right?! You go back like 40 pages and still get the name wrong because it's vague who's referencing who??

Need a hover-over option, put your mouse over the character in question and the name pops up, hah!

DracoPlato

omg that'd be awesome

character pages are great too

RebelVampire

yeah i really like when ppl have websites with cast pages

it makes life 1000 times easier

Phenylketonurics

khyatix HAS AN INCREDIBLE character profile page set oh my gooossh

AngelicEmpyress

hehe yus

DracoPlato

oooooh no no no it's terrible

the one for zenchav

the one for OoO is decent

Phenylketonurics

IT IS NOT! The one for zenchav is my favourite waaaitt!!

DracoPlato

omg it's so bad, i need to redo it

RebelVampire

QUESTION 4. The story, in so far, has hinted that Jason was subjected to some sort of “experiment” in the past. What do you think the goal of the experiment was, and what was it doing to Jason exactly? Or, alternatively, do you think it’s all in everyone’s heads?

DracoPlato

Do you mean this one http://khyatix.com/zenchav/profiles.shtml Or this one? http://khyatix.com/zenchavooo/profiles.shtml

cosmographia

whether or not the experiment is real, it's clear that Jason was manipulated and kinda emotionally abused by the older gang so ū-ū

DracoPlato

The idea of perspective was brought up in relation to reality, so a lot of it may depend on who's perspective the story is really being seen from

SirDelta God King of Mecha

Back

DracoPlato

wb~!

Phenylketonurics

The first one! I LOVE THAT ONE, it's clean and has so much cool information included (everything necessary for referencing while making fanart, heh)! And whoa cosmo, you picked right up on the age play there -- seniority rules, yo.

DracoPlato

Ooooh, maybe i'll do more like that then, i thought they were kind of lame. But I couldn't do time specific ones for zenchav cause of the nature of the story

AngelicEmpyress

i actually have no idea

i sometimes think it really didn't have a goal...but it was just some fun experiment to see how far it could go

DracoPlato

okay so I think the experiment was tyle and sten dicking around creating a game and sten got power hungry and wanted to take it further

SirDelta God King of Mecha

sadly i don't remember those parts too well

DracoPlato

but initially maybe it was just as a to see if it can be done kind of thing

RebelVampire

my running theory is that it was specifically a psychological experiment on personality manipulation. in otherwords, the goal was to see if they could use a game to give someone an entirely different identity. thus view was born.

Phenylketonurics

Tying recounts of past events into present based on who's where (esp in relation to another character/their relationship status) has made the progress for the experimental game's purpose slow-going. but I love that there's so much potential/guessing-room for it.

AngelicEmpyress

oh wow i like that Rebel

DracoPlato

i do too, hahah

Phenylketonurics

Rebel, h'oh man, that is something HUGE to chew on and it's killing me! I love it!!

AngelicEmpyress

i hadn't made the connection with the game until tonight...had forgotten about that part

guess i focused more on the metal

DracoPlato

altho

dim was experimented on too it seems like

and it wasn't personality effecting so much

AngelicEmpyress

i think Dim was more the bracer...

like ok you two want to do this crazy thing ill make sure it doesn't get out of hand

SirDelta God King of Mecha

having two people experiment on someone is a bad idea

AngelicEmpyress

so he agreed to be experimented on

Superjustinbros

Very

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i mean two different experiments on one guy

RebelVampire

im unclear whether dim was experimented on or if they forged dim's name on the consent document so sten and them wouldnt get busted

in the sense that it shows dim as the experiment head instead of sten

Phenylketonurics

The ethical side of this experiment is clear, though, yeah? X]

DracoPlato

that it's unethical?

AngelicEmpyress

btw Rebel, I love these questions! i thought they'd be some generic each week questions but i love that these are tailored ot the story

Phenylketonurics

HAHA! IT IS CLEAR!

AngelicEmpyress

lol Draco

RebelVampire

oh good draco replied what i was thinking XD

and ty~! that was my intention is to have questions more tailored to the story. minus the first question which will probably repeat each week for sake of it being the first question and it letting ppl get their feet wet so to speak

Phenylketonurics

No for real, Rebel, these are such brilliant questions, humbled to the very core, yo. It is making me wanna answer with my all, hah!

AngelicEmpyress

hehe

that means phenny will be at other CTPs?

Phenylketonurics

YOU KNOW IT!!

SirDelta God King of Mecha

kinda makes so i can't wait for my comics day

cosmographia

yea man, the questions are A+ :D

AngelicEmpyress

YAY

Phenylketonurics

Delta, yes~!! I will so be there for your comic's day!

SirDelta God King of Mecha

Woo

AngelicEmpyress

ill be there too delta

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i think its in two weeks

any way we're getting stracked(edited)

AngelicEmpyress

i think the only scene that confused me...not as in what is going on in general...but more i never followed what happened was the game night scene

the description was like "day knows what happened and we do too" and im like i have no idea what happened

Phenylketonurics

THE GAME NIGHT SCENE, AA. That was one I had a lot of people tell me they were too confused over.

RebelVampire

if i understood the game scene correctly

AngelicEmpyress

i think i read it like 4 times before i gave up lol

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i don't even remember this scene

RebelVampire

jason hallucinated sten and they were actually talking to a different person?

SirDelta God King of Mecha

oh that one

AngelicEmpyress

but i thought view set it up but then he didn’t

SirDelta God King of Mecha

it seemed like view did it

Phenylketonurics

Yes! So... Jason was supposedly invited to a floor mate's game night party.

SirDelta God King of Mecha

i remember now

DracoPlato

oh yeah that did confuse me too

SirDelta God King of Mecha

its fine

i just thought of that as view fucking with jasons life

AngelicEmpyress

but then they got there and no one knew what was going on?

i thought the game night was at jason's

yeah total confusion

RebelVampire

it was at a differnt jason's

DracoPlato

Sten already playing a game with Jason

SirDelta God King of Mecha

other Jason

RebelVampire

someone who lived in the building whose name also be jason

or something like that

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

RebelVampire

the point being is i think jason was never invited but view lied to day and said they were invited

which is why when they got there the person said "i didnt invite you."

DracoPlato

jason, you have no friends

because there's no such thing as Jason

SirDelta God King of Mecha

name drop bomb

BOOOOOOM

RebelVampire

jason is a figment of everyone's imagination including ours

AngelicEmpyress

lol draco

RebelVampire

i took that thought too far in my head. now have headache

SirDelta God King of Mecha

I MIUST FIGURE OUT THE TRUTH THEN(edited)

DracoPlato

too many reflections in the mirror

Phenylketonurics

Yes! Earlier in the week, when Day and Jason were going to his dorm, do you remember the elevator scene? And them rushing to his room as someone called to talk to him? Right here>> https://tapas.io/episode/301105

AngelicEmpyress

Yeah

SirDelta God King of Mecha

yeah, other Jason

Phenylketonurics

There's a few little things that have yet to happen that will loop as a recurring moment from this scene. BUT YO, yeah, somatic experience ended up giving Jason a pretty harsh memory of Sten that he tried to resolve in present time.

It could be noted that Jason being aware of JASON and his memory super-imposing Sten over that name as a bit trippy.

ALL WHILE HAPPENING ON GAME NIGHT.

video games, ouch, hah^^

SirDelta God King of Mecha

jesus these people need to see a therapist

DracoPlato

lolol

that is intense though

i should reread that part

AngelicEmpyress

we shouldn't play video games XDDD

SirDelta God King of Mecha

but there so much fun

DracoPlato

it's okay, I don't

SirDelta God King of Mecha

you play the sims

cosmographia

hahahah

Phenylketonurics

THE SIMS IS CRUCIAL.

SirDelta God King of Mecha

...i know it(edited)

DracoPlato

I know right

sims is the best

SirDelta God King of Mecha

Ehh

DracoPlato

gotta make all my characters

damon gotta impregnate everyone

SirDelta God King of Mecha

were getting side tracked again

Phenylketonurics

I still put Sims music on while I'm working on background art.

AngelicEmpyress

sometimes it just makes you want to give jason a hug x3

DracoPlato

omg XD listening to sims music

RebelVampire

the plot twist of theres no such thing as jason is that its just a game of sims that jason is playing

AngelicEmpyress

lol

yus

DracoPlato

Ommmmmg

SirDelta God King of Mecha

view is just jason actully intervining in the game

Phenylketonurics

Jason has had not a very good experience with adults in his life -- crossing the threshold into adulthood might be wearing on his nerves, though! Sims adulthood is so much easier, ahha^^

DracoPlato

does jason have peter pan syndrome

SirDelta God King of Mecha

the fuck is that

DracoPlato

where you don't want to grow up and want to stay a kid forever

SirDelta God King of Mecha

AngelicEmpyress

Lol

SirDelta God King of Mecha

shoulda guessed

DracoPlato

i mean it's either that or the other thing

RebelVampire

to be fair, with the amount of emotional trauma jason suffered, he perhaps missed some key development points while growing up

DracoPlato

yeah i do feel like jason is off developmentally

AngelicEmpyress

True

SirDelta God King of Mecha

yeah...

that boy is fucked

Phenylketonurics

HOHO, Jason 's perspective on age not yet addressed, I am looking forward to this. His anxiety stems from just what you've been noticing though, yes. Fear of the unknown!

DracoPlato

you and me both Jason

SirDelta God King of Mecha

so...human nature

cosmographia

ay Jason...

Phenylketonurics

Haha, HUBRIS!

cosmographia

but yea that's a good point, he may have missed key developments due to trauma

DracoPlato

but is jason even human

cause he could just be AI

SirDelta God King of Mecha

and view could be a glitch then

SirDelta God King of Mecha

a terrible glitch

AngelicEmpyress

so many possibilities

Phenylketonurics

The problem though is that memory being shifty and undependable makes advancing beyond that fear even worse (view glitch is a freaking killer concept dang)

AngelicEmpyress

lol would be funny is view as he is trying to make the reality accidentally glitched himself

cosmographia

-nod- and confidence issues can effectively make someone far easier to manipulate

so you can just tell Jason "remember when you __" and with enough convincing, he'd most likely believe it?

SirDelta God King of Mecha

buts a little manipulator too

everyone is

cosmographia

oh yea def

but Jason could be a reactive manipulator as in, it's just what seems to work for everyone else toward him so he's projecting what works

SirDelta God King of Mecha

its just layers and layers of manipulation and counter manipulation

cosmographia

yea

RebelVampire

Unfortunately, the scheduled Comic Tea Party is now complete~! Thank you everyone so much for joining this first chat~! We are happy to have had you all here~! That being said, if you would like to continue discussing the comic, we encourage you to do so~! We want to give a big thank you to Phenylketonurics, as well, for volunteering There’s No Such Thing as Jason - I.T. for our reading queue. If you liked the comic, please be sure to support Phenylketonurics’ efforts. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about CTP, please feel free to PM me, or e-mail me at [email protected]. As CTP is new, we are going to tweak things here or there, but we’ll be sure to let you know of any changes.

With that said, next week’s Comic Tea Party will focus on Psychteria by CalimonGraal. Please use this week to read as much of the comic as you would like. Hope to see you next Thursday (June 1st) from 5PM to 7PM PST~! Until then~! Comic: https://tapas.io/series/Psychteria

#ctparchive #comic tea party #comicteaparty #there's no such thing as jason #TNSTAJ #comics #webcomics #indie comics #bookclub #comic discussion

0 notes

annasadventuresabroad · 7 years ago

Text

KEATS CONFERENCE 2017

May is a busy month! Finishing my last semester at Charles, putting together essay proposals, Erasmus friends leaving and, of course, travelling. I was so excited about my first Keats conference that I managed to stay up most of the night, wake up at 7am to say goodbye to parent and fall asleep without an alarm and wake up not even 3 hours before my afternoon flight to London. Without having anything packed. Besides this dramatic start to the trip, everything was great! I left my Prague home without forgetting anything important, my conference paper was done and approved, the accompanying powerpoint presentation perfectly synced with the talk, so something had to go wrong! I write this all 2 days after returning back, no longer stressed and sleep deprived - enjoy this summary of the trip!

THURSDAY, 18.5.2017

I already recollected the tale of my almost missing the flight. Everything was easy afterwards - the flight was on time, mostly turbulence-less and, surprise surprise, it was raining in London when we landed. I felt a sense of comfort though when seeing again all the pastures green and generally was very happy to be back in England. The journey to my airbnb in Hampstead took almost 2 hours, but my host(s) were super nice and we drank green tea while it poured outside.

FRIDAY 19.5.2017

The conference was to start at 2pm, so during essentially the only free hours I had in London, I explored Camden market. The weather was kinda miserable still, with showers and stronger wind, but the morning was alright, so I could stroll outside.

Okay okay, story time. I love buying books - and owning them even more. The UK is so great for having a wide selection of second-hand classics available so I always buy something. Instead of spending my budget on food, I walked into this bookshop thinking: “Anna, all you want is Godwin’s Caleb Williams [because Romanticism], Smollett’s Expedition of Harold Clinker [because Restoration lit] and, if they have it, Scott’s poetry [because Scottish lit]. No more, Anna!” So I go to the classics section and there they are: Caleb and Clinker. No Scott though. I went to the counter to pay and notice a poetry section. And there it was: SCOTT’S POETRY. I gasped. I opened. I marveled at the beauty of this 1907 edition. 12.50gbp? I’M TAKING IT. Ooooh shiny marbly patterned pages. And later on I found the Oxfam Books shop my hostess recommended me and there I added The Monk [because Gothic lit] to my expanding book collection in my bag library. No regrets, no regrets. I am still amazed that they had the poetry volume and am now half-way through The Lay of the Last Minstrel alongside doing my Shakespeare readings. Both are so great.

Went for coffee to escape the spring showers to Yumchaa, which was recommended by Anna on Facebook. A cozy nice lil cafe and one of the few places it seems that serve proper coffee and not just sirup-based ‘cappuccino’ (yes! that exists). I just stared gleefully at my books, though it was rather tormenting to know that I cannot dive into them now, but maybe in 2 months when studying for my MA finals.

Camden is full of stalls with clothes of various styles, jewelry and little small cute items like these coasters. I would go terribly bankrupt here, so walking through these markets was literally a test of strong will. I would immediately get that toucan coaster. And the sparrow. And jay. Heck, I’d get all the birdies!!!

The conference then began with a lecture by Theresa M. Kelley and a panel. Immediately I felt more comfortable - there was laughter and humor as well as great evident passion for Keats’s poetry and letters. I personally enjoyed listening and observing the Keatsian crowd first instead of engaging in conversation and panel discussions. The wine reception afterwards helped one relax a bit, as meeting a bunch of new people is quite an energy-consuming task. Nonetheless, it was evident that it was going to be a great conference and I slowly was getting ready to present my own paper the next day.

SATURDAY 20.5.2017

Day of my talk and 4 panels. Thanks to the superb location of my airbnb, I only had 10 minutes’ walk to the Keats House. En route I would see these things.

[I think that this is the house I accidentally entered a few years back when I first visited Keats House. In my defense, imagine a 17-year-old excited lit student looking for the home of one of the greatest English poets!] I don’t remember seeing the hair salon below that appropriated the name and poetry of Keats, but it definitely appeared here and there in the conversations of Keatsians around the corner.

Lines from “To Autumn”.

& grumpy, but gorgeous British cat that roamed around the Keats House throughout the conference. Warning: not cuddly.

The conference took place in the Nightingale room of the yellow building/library next to the Keats House and Museum. Sadly there was no time to explore the house itself, but it was still magical to know that Keats used to live right next to us and write poetry in the very garden where we enjoyed our coffee and tea breaks.

My professor from Durham, Michael O’Neill, also gave a paper that day. All the papers were so great and inspiring, literally - so many different points of views on K’s poetry, emphasizing his sensitivity to real objects, literature, his interpretation of sights, events and the various sides of his personality as expressed through not only poems, but also letters. I enjoyed so much every single talk and the creative approaches of the speakers, being it looking through his letters as giving a performance and self-making, looking at his poetry through a statistical lens or tracking the route Keats took to Isle of Wight in April 1817 with the help of his letters, Patterson’s 1811 edition of Roads, meteorological records and Google maps. All of these fun and impressive approaches made me feel a little insecure about my talk that I considered to be very serious and ‘basic’, but luckily there was so much enthusiasm and support and turned out, I was pretty much the only one talking about the medieval and Spenserian elements in Keats’s poetry and so it was a bit different. The feedback was generally positive, the only negative being (especially from the older ladies) that I spoke too fast, but everyone else seemed to be very content otherwise with the ‘enthusiastic’ speed of my talk. I am happy with my performance, though if I could do it again, I’d try to relax and pay more attention to the reactions in the audience instead of delving into a self-critical insecure state of mind as I tend to do. There was laughter at several points in my talk, which is a reaction I didn’t even consider once - it was a positive surprise! I felt more relaxed gradually, especially when I explained the origin of a background photograph on one of the slides that was of a hall in the Prague Castle and there were enthusiastic sounds when I joked that I am no architecture historian, hence I cannot promise that the picture would exactly match the medieval setting of the poem. So yeah, I think I should be happy with my performance as truly most people liked it!

Following my panel (the last one of the day), there was the conference dinner - and boy, it felt really well-deserved! It was also great to meet some new faces at the table, get the know some people closer and generally just relax, not being stressed out about giving a talk to 30 people. Haha and also, while the previous night I could barely sleep due to nervousness, this night I was too excited to sleep. #pandaeyes

SUNDAY 21.5.2017

Finally! No rain! It was a *beautiful* sunny day, around 22C and the atmosphere at the conference was more relaxed - less people than the previous day, as most already gave their talk and had to leave or were still practicing. I was happy to just enjoy the talks and especially Greg Kucich’s fantastic and hilarious lecture on the place of Endymion in the political instability of 1817. Sadly I had to miss the last 2 panels due to my flight, but I did have time to say goodbye during the lunch break, exchange email addresses and spend some 30 minutes at Hampstead Heath park, soaking a bit of Sunday London atmosphere while overlooking the panorama.

Traveled to the airport without problems essentially, just took the underground and train. The flight had like 30 minutes delay, but I had peace in my soul after the wonderful 3 days in London and assuredly I will return again! I truly couldn’t have wished for a better introduction to the Keatsian circle.

And what is the next adventure, you might ask? Hungary! For a 2-week international literature seminar. I don’t have enough time to post properly - this Keats conference was really special! - but I mainly post pictures on my instagram or on the Facebook page.

- Anna

0 notes