This is literally me and my partner every effing time we're trying to be um, intimate in the boudoir. My cat tries to be intimate too, except her version of intimate is exactly the same as Manuel's: treating me to a clear shot of her butthole.
I have adored this webcomic since I found it a few years ago, as an Asian woman, and yet one thing has always been missing: where is the racism? Where are the Manhattan parties where Eve gets ching-chang-chonged at by friends of friends, the New York men who scream "bitch" and "konichiwa" and hit on her for being Asian, the white men who demand submissiveness and make comments about sideways vaginas? It's such a lovely story, and a lovely escape from reality… but it's not true to life. I so wish we lived in your reality.
Altho I completely agree to your comment, because I believe harsh realities, specially for minorities, should be portraid and represented, I kind of get where this is coming from.
OctoPie never made any kind of social comentary. Even in the examples given to us bellow, it feels a bit more like something used by the story to situate mood and character then the actual reality.
What I mean is, for example, Mar and Jane. They are gay. (I mean I guess we can say Mar is bi? hooray Mar) But anyway, LGBT+. That's never very commented on. They kind of just are. Jane kind of always was. Mar kind of finds out she always was. It's never used as means to comment on queer reality in america, or even they're hardships as queer, because it's not a main characteristic to them, it's just who they are.
Usually social comentary is used when the focus is on the characteristics that defines you as a minority, and thus, the plot tries to work on it. OctoPie is not about that, so there's no need to surface this questions and risk portraying something badly or just unfitting to the general theme.
Try seeing it like this: Eve is chinese. That's it. People treat her in this or that way because of who she is (among other reasons), not her race. And that's a good way of saying that "people are all people."
Idk. I do like social comentary and portraying reality. But as a 21yo bi woman, I find the portrayal of a queer couple here quite soothing. I can just read a comic that is about being in your 20's and confused and being a queer couple and happy and having general couple discussions above being an opressed queer. And sometimes that's really good. Because this is how I wish reality treated me, and OctoPie shows is not so hard to let people be.
macc_08, I understand where you're coming from. At the same time, this is the main character, this is the story of her life, and a large number of people do not treat Asian American women "this or that way because of who they are, not their race." I don't think realism is social commentary. I'm not sure I want realism. But it feels and has always felt like a gaping hole in this otherwise magnificent comic.
I do agree realism is not social commentary, I'm sorry if I made myself unclear. Thank you a lot for your politeness, Basil.
I'm not asian, so I wouldn't know, of course, what you go through in your reality. I agree with your points and that it would feel as a gaping whole for me, too, if I was asian myself and felt like I was reading something different from my reality.
So yeah, I agree and understand, or try too, since I'll never really know. Thank you for the talk and I hope that even tho it doesn't completely match what you'd expect, this comic still makes you as emotional and invested – and glad – as it makes me! I wish you the best
TheHairyCoo
Re-reading OP, and just commenting to say that this must be one of the most civilised discussions on the internet I've ever seen.
I get what you mean, as a fellow Asian with Asian friends OP sometimes feels set I. This fantasy bubble. I live in a city that must be at least 40% Asian and still get catxalled with racist slurs or generalized with racist assumptions
Different rescue story for my cat and yet exactly the same. I think that's what I love most about OP – it's realer than real. Reality+ (cats included 🙂
Hah my cat does this all the time and she's definitely not trying to be nasty or anything. It's almost as though she's super proud of her furry pecker.
Actually, I recently read that when cats present their butts, it's a sign of trust. The article suggested gently blowing at it as a reciprocation of affection.
I did it. I fucking caught up at last! It took several days of procrastinating on school work, but I did it!
This comic was a ride. It really captivated me in a way few others did, which everyone else here can sympathize with, I think. I can never figure out how other writers can write with such realism. Life experience and practice?
Also, apparently this is the last story arc before OP ends? That's ass, but then that means Meredith can write new comics! I'm really interested to see where she goes after OP, besides those Adventure Time comics she's written now and again.
I love this strip because it shows us that pieces of the old acerbic and perennially grumpy eve are still in there. She's still eve, even with all the new zen.
Nice trick, specifically describing his asshole as "multicolored" and thus prompting me to spend far more time trying to VISUALIZE what that looks like. It makes it feel like the cat's anus is right up in MY face too, and I'm pretty sure that's the purpose of art in a nutshell.
SO get this feels, except I have a 75 pound fluffy doggie that thinks she's a cat and get stroppy if she's not included in… intimate time.. even if it's a hug! *sigh* love her. At least now she knows "off" (as in off the fucking bed!!)
Love this Mer, again, you blow it out of the water.
42 thoughts on “#959 – cat light”
Kyle
Love ya Mer. Thanks for the great work, as always
Drea
You be safe too Mer! And i just love Manuel tho I wonder why Eve named him so!
weater
maybe because the car was a manual?
williamrwinters
the car had a standard transmission
Junebug
Maybe her was a manual and he was stuck in the manual transmission box.
Rezmason
It's probably not the transmission, guys. What do you consult when your car flashes a light you never saw before? 😉
Arianod
Thank you, Manuel xD
Spectacles
As cat owner, can confirm all sentiments about cat in this strip.
Laura
This is literally me and my partner every effing time we're trying to be um, intimate in the boudoir. My cat tries to be intimate too, except her version of intimate is exactly the same as Manuel's: treating me to a clear shot of her butthole.
Copycat
Cats love making humans look at their buttholes.
It's just another way they get back at us for the whole opposable thumbs things.
peakpointmatrix
So THAT was the window into prehistoric times last strip.
inqntrol
Thanks goodness it doesn't act like a portal.
grimmorrigan
It is an exit portal
Laura
AHAHAHAHAHA!
Jon
"my god, it's full of stars…"
Basil
I have adored this webcomic since I found it a few years ago, as an Asian woman, and yet one thing has always been missing: where is the racism? Where are the Manhattan parties where Eve gets ching-chang-chonged at by friends of friends, the New York men who scream "bitch" and "konichiwa" and hit on her for being Asian, the white men who demand submissiveness and make comments about sideways vaginas? It's such a lovely story, and a lovely escape from reality… but it's not true to life. I so wish we lived in your reality.
Stephanie
There's panel one from this strip, but that's the only example I can think of: http://www.octopuspie.com/2007-11-19/074-bucket-t…
Megan
There's also this page where Jacob asks her to translate a tattoo http://www.octopuspie.com/2012-07-21/octopus-pie-…
Kim
there's this other page in which a jerky writer tells her she couldn't be the hero in a show because she's a woman of color http://www.octopuspie.com/2011-10-03/485-i-hear-t…
there might be more examples but i can't think of them right now
macc_08
Altho I completely agree to your comment, because I believe harsh realities, specially for minorities, should be portraid and represented, I kind of get where this is coming from.
OctoPie never made any kind of social comentary. Even in the examples given to us bellow, it feels a bit more like something used by the story to situate mood and character then the actual reality.
What I mean is, for example, Mar and Jane. They are gay. (I mean I guess we can say Mar is bi? hooray Mar) But anyway, LGBT+. That's never very commented on. They kind of just are. Jane kind of always was. Mar kind of finds out she always was. It's never used as means to comment on queer reality in america, or even they're hardships as queer, because it's not a main characteristic to them, it's just who they are.
Usually social comentary is used when the focus is on the characteristics that defines you as a minority, and thus, the plot tries to work on it. OctoPie is not about that, so there's no need to surface this questions and risk portraying something badly or just unfitting to the general theme.
Try seeing it like this: Eve is chinese. That's it. People treat her in this or that way because of who she is (among other reasons), not her race. And that's a good way of saying that "people are all people."
Idk. I do like social comentary and portraying reality. But as a 21yo bi woman, I find the portrayal of a queer couple here quite soothing. I can just read a comic that is about being in your 20's and confused and being a queer couple and happy and having general couple discussions above being an opressed queer. And sometimes that's really good. Because this is how I wish reality treated me, and OctoPie shows is not so hard to let people be.
Basil
Thank you Megan and Stephanie!
macc_08, I understand where you're coming from. At the same time, this is the main character, this is the story of her life, and a large number of people do not treat Asian American women "this or that way because of who they are, not their race." I don't think realism is social commentary. I'm not sure I want realism. But it feels and has always felt like a gaping hole in this otherwise magnificent comic.
macc_08
I do agree realism is not social commentary, I'm sorry if I made myself unclear. Thank you a lot for your politeness, Basil.
I'm not asian, so I wouldn't know, of course, what you go through in your reality. I agree with your points and that it would feel as a gaping whole for me, too, if I was asian myself and felt like I was reading something different from my reality.
So yeah, I agree and understand, or try too, since I'll never really know. Thank you for the talk and I hope that even tho it doesn't completely match what you'd expect, this comic still makes you as emotional and invested – and glad – as it makes me! I wish you the best
TheHairyCoo
Re-reading OP, and just commenting to say that this must be one of the most civilised discussions on the internet I've ever seen.
metroidlunch
I get what you mean, as a fellow Asian with Asian friends OP sometimes feels set I. This fantasy bubble. I live in a city that must be at least 40% Asian and still get catxalled with racist slurs or generalized with racist assumptions
There's no escape
maybemaybemaybemaybe
Classic Manuel
Matt
Love 2 have cats
Nancy
Eve is opening up finally !
Josh
Just like Manuel!
Dan
Different rescue story for my cat and yet exactly the same. I think that's what I love most about OP – it's realer than real. Reality+ (cats included 🙂
Jillian
Manuel's Law: When you start to open up emotionally to your boyfriend, your cat will always be there to stick his asshole in your face as you do so.
Pylgrim
Hah my cat does this all the time and she's definitely not trying to be nasty or anything. It's almost as though she's super proud of her furry pecker.
tim callender
Actually, I recently read that when cats present their butts, it's a sign of trust. The article suggested gently blowing at it as a reciprocation of affection.
sep332
Will's smile is literally 5 pixels tall and it is perfect
macc_08
Stay safe, everyone. Thanks, Mer
kev
I really just needed your multicolored fucking asshole
JohntheFuckingWiz.
I did it. I fucking caught up at last! It took several days of procrastinating on school work, but I did it!
This comic was a ride. It really captivated me in a way few others did, which everyone else here can sympathize with, I think. I can never figure out how other writers can write with such realism. Life experience and practice?
Also, apparently this is the last story arc before OP ends? That's ass, but then that means Meredith can write new comics! I'm really interested to see where she goes after OP, besides those Adventure Time comics she's written now and again.
Laura
I love this strip because it shows us that pieces of the old acerbic and perennially grumpy eve are still in there. She's still eve, even with all the new zen.
Josh
Nice trick, specifically describing his asshole as "multicolored" and thus prompting me to spend far more time trying to VISUALIZE what that looks like. It makes it feel like the cat's anus is right up in MY face too, and I'm pretty sure that's the purpose of art in a nutshell.
lily
SO get this feels, except I have a 75 pound fluffy doggie that thinks she's a cat and get stroppy if she's not included in… intimate time.. even if it's a hug! *sigh* love her. At least now she knows "off" (as in off the fucking bed!!)
Love this Mer, again, you blow it out of the water.
Chris the Blue
Oh Manuel.
Never change.
KitKats
Oh, Manuel… *Sighs*