Punk Yoga 2016-04-22

[AmriloJim]

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/punk-yoga/

[Cortanis]

Wow, their is a face we haven't seen in a while. I wonder if we'll start seeing more of the non para cast and social interaction.

[AnotherFairportfan]

Nice to see one of the original cast.

Maybe we're gonna get a sequence at Punk Yoga?

Maybe Atsali could go there to get more comfortable with her body?

[oldmanmickey]

nice to see some old friends return and maybe several of the girls need to do some yoga. It might really help the stinkweed master her body

[GlytchMeister]

(Thought process upon seeing the comic)

*blink*
...
*blink*

What's her name again? J... It started with a J... Jö... Nah... Uh, what about Jā... Eh... Jä? Ja-something... Um...

Wasn't there a q in there somewhere too?

...hmmm...

JACQUI! THAT'S it! Ha!

[Dave]

JACQUI! THAT'S it! Ha!

Yup!

And, I'll bet she's still trying to get the imaginary sphinx claw-marks out of the tiles in the Punk Yoga womens' shower room.

[Opus the Poet]

Gawds, how long has it been IRL since we saw anything at Punk Yoga?

[jwhouk]

Since Justin found out that Shel was a Sphinx - and he was a bit more than he let on.

EDIT: Wow, February of 2012!

[FreeFlier]

Since Justin found out that Shel was a Sphinx - and he was a bit more than he let on.

EDIT: Wow, February of 2012!

Wow . . . not as long as I'd thought.

--FreeFlier

[eee]

I wonder if Luci and Shelley are still at odds, or if the Sage of the Forest managed to use her wisdom to tame the Tattooed Receptionist?

[jwhouk]

I wonder if Luci and Shelley are still at odds, or if the Sage of the Forest managed to use her wisdom to tame the Tattooed Receptionist?

There seemed to be a detente after the whole tattoo removal incident. And I'm not 100% sure, but I almost think that Punk Yoga may have expanded beyond its original location, which would mean Shelly and Luci don't see much of each other.

[FreeFlier]

I wonder if Luci and Shelley are still at odds, or if the Sage of the Forest managed to use her wisdom to tame the Tattooed Receptionist?

There seemed to be a detente after the whole tattoo removal incident. And I'm not 100% sure, but I almost think that Punk Yoga may have expanded beyond its original location, which would mean Shelly and Luci don't see much of each other.

It likely would, but it doesn't have to.

--FreeFlier

[Alkarii]

I want to make a joke about this one, but I'm not getting any good ones. Granted, the joke I'm wanting to make would be a bad one, but of the "in poor taste" variety of bad joke.

All I can really think of right now is, considering Jacqui's pose, it seems wrong somehow. My memory is fuzzy, and I'm too sleepy to dig in the archives, but I thought she was a lesbian, which means she and Shelly need to trade places.

[Jabberwonky]

I don't think there's ever been a mention of Jacqui's sexual leanings...

[Alkarii]

Well, there was that one woman with glasses who pulled the gun on the mugger, and I think she was a lesbian, and then some talks between her and Jacqui. That might be where I'm getting it.

I think it's kind of weird, though. I'm noticing that a few female characters in webcomics are lesbians. Either they start that way, or they wind up in such a relationship. I don't really care one way or the other about whether a fictional character is gay, straight, or whatever else the is, just so long as it isn't being done in an attempt to make the comic (and, by extension, the creator of it) appear LGBT friendly. That just seems kind of a cheap way to get more readers.

"Oh! You're LGBT? Then you'll like this comic, because it has characters who are, too!"

Now, if it's done because the writer wants to develop an understanding of other groups of people, I'm all for that. Or if it's to give a bit of variety to the characters.

[Dave]

Now, if it's done because the writer wants to develop an understanding of other groups of people, I'm all for that. Or if it's to give a bit of variety to the characters.

How about "just being realistic"? Statistically, there's roughly 3-5% chance that any given person will self-identify as LGBT in an anonymous survey (based on a bunch of surveys done over the past decade or so). The odds of a person having engaged in some same-sex sexuality behavior at some point in their lives, or feeling some same-sex attraction at one time or another, are somewhat higher (on the order of 10%).

At these odds, you don't have to have many female characters in a comic before you get to the point that it's more likely than not that one of them has had some sort of same-sex partnership... if you're being realistic.

Strips with a large cast, all of whom are apparently straight... well, it's entirely up to the author of course, but in the real world the odds would be that at least one of them is in the closet.

[Alkarii]

Well, yeah, there is that, but it just seems to me that it's all "LOOK! WE HAVE GAYS AND LESBIANS!" It doesn't seem that way with this comic, though. Or, at least, it doesn't seem like their sexuality is being made the whole point of that character, like several other comics I've read. It just seems, for the most part, to flow into that.

Though it never made sense to me that Monica just up and left her boyfriend (Kevin? Was that his name?) just because some woman (Georgette? I'm bad with names...) said she was in love with her. I would say that it's kind of shitty to kill a good relationship like that and very quickly hook up with someone else just because the second person says they love you out of nowhere, but that happened to me twice. Well, okay, they weren't good relationships, but in the case of the first one, she could have said something about it, but instead just stopped talking to me. And the second one, well... I shouldn't spoken to her in the first place.

EDIT: Wow, did this ever turn negative! We should get back on topic, which is there's a cute redhead on a yoga ball, showing a lot of skin, and a tight bodied woman hanging out with her, also showing off some skin. Let's talk about that! (Especially as I'm in a bad mood today... Read my post in More Stuff for details)

[jwhouk]

It was Shelly who was friends with Heather (and still probably is). Jacqui has never had her love life discussed - only her hobbies and dreams (of which Punk Yoga was one).

Shel was the one who came up with the idea of calling it Punk Yoga ("ethereal punk" was how she relaxed).

[Sgt. Howard]

I am, by all accounts, probably one of the more rabidly conservative members of this group- Christian, Veteran, hard-working (until recently) small government advocate, gun owner (I actually don't know how many I own, except that it probably isn't enough)... essentially everything the far left fears and despises- My eldest daughter is gay. I love her, even though we argue a lot. I make sure she knows I love her. Having grown up in Kalifornicatia, I had little choice regarding exposure to the Gay lifestyle... it was basically rubbed in my face (not literally).
I am tolerant of such a lifestyle and have several friends who are 'sexually left handed'- I choose not to indulge in such. There has always been such people with us, the percentage seems to fluctuate a bit, but I would agree- 3% to 5% actively gay, 10% experimented with it. Theirs is essentially a sterile society (adoption and artificial insemination aside), so there is limited genetic continuation... and yet, the numbers remain. Do I have any answers a to why this is? No... GOD didn't consult with me in the matter and it is just as well as my wisdom thereof is extremely limited if not downright laughable. Do I have reservations in the issue? Yes- I don't date men- never did. Damned if I see the appeal. Would I go to a gay wedding? Possibly- depends on who it is. I consider marriage to be a sacrament, and as such am uncomfortable with it being used in a way that the Bible frowns upon... but I prefer the gay community to not fear or loath the Bible. Do I witness to gays? Yes- and with good results often enough. Am I actively trying to 'straighten out' gays? Hell no- that is for the individual to decide, not me.
The sins of the spirit carry more guilt than the sins of the flesh in my opinion- granted, sin is sin regardless of the degree, but the former is more toxic to the soul than the latter. I will likely find more Drag Queens in the hereafter than the self-righteous- at least, that is my belief.

Now... on the other side of the coin... is Paul doing a 'lesbianistic overdose' to appease our hedonistic tendencies? Possibly- he is marketing his product and sex, even the 'G' rated, muted sexual tension (that Paul has perfected), has a track record for selling. One can hardly fault him for it- it works. Besides, there's quite a bit of my fanfiction that went 'over the top'- for me to speak against Paul's work would be the height of hypocrisy.

We are here because we enjoy it- and each other's company.

Paul, thank you for this wonderful playground.

[Alkarii]

Whoa, I'm not vilifying those who are part of the LGBT community, or even calling what they do as wrong in any capacity. (Though I still don't understand how a person could have any confusion over their gender if they have properly formed organs, but it isn't really an issue to me, since nobody is being hurt.)

It's just, other webcomics I read seem to try to capitalize on one or more central characters being gay or whatever, and the writer/artist isn't. It makes it seem a bit forced to me.

As for Wapsi Square and the lesbian relationships in it... The fact that both people involved in it are female barely registers. I'm not sure exactly why that is, or what other webcomics aren't doing that makes their work seem a bit... Hollow, I guess?

For example, I read Spinnerette, and liked it so much I bought the books. But they made a huge deal about a central character being a lesbian, and then the main character winds up with her, like they wanted to draw attention to it with a bullhorn. But with Wapsi Square, it actually feels normal. There's more fanfare to the fact that someone got into a relationship than which sex the other person is.