#wearebeneficiaries

[samorchard]

2017 in review and happy 8th birthday to my comic! http://www.roostertailscomic.com/comic/2017-in-review/

It’s this comic’s 8th Birthday today! What a massive year.

I achieved my resolution to get on Shortland St, and also got on a rugby ad (where I might be the first ever queer and trans All Black). Which, of course, meant that I made excellent gifs of myself:

Halved my anti-depressants; which has left me feeling way better than I was at the start of the year. I’ve been on anti-depressants for almost a decade now and have found them really useful, but it just feels like the right time to come down, maybe to come off completely, who knows. Either way I’m taking it reeeeaaaal slow.

The campaign that I talk about in the comic is called We Are Beneficiaries which I’ve mentioned in previous comics and has been a massive deal – both in terms of the time I’ve put into it, and in terms of how much media attention we got about it. Here’s me giving a speech at parliament wearing my dorky hat:

Anyway, there we have it. It’s been a busy one, and I’m trying to take a holiday – but it’s really hard to convince myself I’m allowed to.

Thanks so much to everyone who reads the comic – I’ve noticed a steady decline in readership over the years, so I really, really appreciate people who are sticking around and keep reading. It really means a lot.

[samorchard]

Feeling glum about my place in the world: http://www.roostertailscomic.com/comic/election-blues/

So the context for this comic is that I’ve been helping organise a campaign on social media called We Are Beneficiaries. I wrote about how it all came about in this blog post, and it’s exploded online (well, in a small New Zealand kind of way). I’m not sure if the premise translates in other countries, especially those that don’t have strong social welfare – but basically social welfare is not working in the way it should, a politician spoke out against it and talked about her time on it (and how she lied), and then she ended up getting fired.

Anyway – the elections came and went and it looks like the more conservative party will get back in. Sad.

BUT – hopefully this gif comic works – because Joey and I didn’t know how to end it, so I’ve included both our versions. Let me know if the gif moves too fast/slow to read.