It’s ironic how much they hate Cyril, and the reader hates Cyril, when he is effectively exactly the same as Adam. If anything, Adam’s the bigger pervert – he hides his maieusophilia and allows it to cause him to emotionally abuse his friends. Cyril wears his heart on his sleeve openly and honestly. But because he’s ugly and awkward and creepy while Adam is handsome and relatively poised, the characters, and we, hate him while we accept Adam. Curious, and rather thought provoking. You should be proud of your skills as an author, that you can write such genuine-feeling characters that can inspire such reactions.
Adam would probably blush at you calling him handsome.
And honestly, the way I try to draw Cyril if he took better care of himself, he wouldn’t look so bad. (He has the same face as Pan.) He’s just not very conscious about how people perceive him, which is why he lacks tact and fashion sense.
As for Adam, he actually doesn’t know what it is that he has. He’s a late blooming belly lover. He doesn’t have a computer so it’s not something he’s explored.
Actually, I can think of two things Cyril has done, that make him creepier than Adam and justifiably disliked.
1- He blackmailed his way into the group.
2- He doesn’t seem to understand boundaries.
You can’t just force your way in and expect everyone to love you. And even if they except you, you have to realize where to draw the line (like showing up at someone house without letting them know).
Though Adam has caused pain, it’s more because he’s confused about his feelings and he doesn’t want to make Cait uncomfortable (way to backfire…).
Well said. It’s a terrible trait. It shows an utter lack of empathy and self absorption.
Ben
Do people tell him what their boundaries are? Not everyone picks up on these instinctively. That being said the blackmail part should be PRETTY OBVIOUS.
Ben
Sorry, that line struck a cord with me. I am not good with social ques and rules and one thing that had struck me over the years is how arbitrary many if the rules are. I try to compensate to a degree by having an attitude of “If I do anthing that upsets you let me know and I will stop, in turn if you do anything that upsets me I will let you know.” And then proceed to be open but try to treat people how I would generally want to be treated. The problem is that I find many people DON’T want to be treated how I’d want to be treated. And while I do not think this is what’s going on with Cyril. The comment about a lack of understanding of boundaries touched a nerve because while I do CARE a lot about other people’s boundaries and respect tgem, I have a great deal of trouble understanding them and unless they spell them out for me it’s something that I have trouble getting.
Sorry about this. Just the off topic (because again I don’t think any of this applies to Cyril, I am simply talking about why this comment touched a PERSONAL nerve) rantings of someone with Asperger’s Syndrome.
I just really don’t like because of his lack of social skills and general creepiness, if he wasn’t creepy he’d just be a bit awkward and you’d feel sorry for the guy but because he can be such an ass and a creep you just can’t help but dislike him.
That and he reminds me of someone in real life, The resemblances are uncanny.
Another bit to remember is that Cyril’s first major time in the comic is following them around taking candid pictures of them. Yes, Adam hides his fetish but it’s out of confusion about his feelings about it and feeling shame in having such an unusual interest. He’s also showed concern for the girls while Cyril has only invented fantasies about not even who they are but only what they look like.
But seriously, stalking and snapping pictures of people on the sly isn’t cool and while they don’t know this is going on, the willingness (eagerly even) to commit such acts is hard to hide in your personality. Cyril is creepy and it’s shows.
As far as genuine-feeling characters go, thank you. I try to inject the characters with bits and pieces of personality from people I know and have known. Even Cyril.
I still think Adam is as bad a person – the abuse he’s caused Caitlyn has been pretty direct. But yes, Cyril’s creepiness, both with the photography and with the blackmail, are every bit as bad. I think they’re both fundamentally undesirable and harmful people for the Olympian moms to spend time with. They just see that they don’t want to be around the ugly boy, and accept the cute one despite his actions.
That said, and the thing that really impresses me about your comic, is how REAL they all are. I’ve known people just like Cyril and Adam too, and they are both immensely interesting to read about (so I hope they don’t get kicked out of the group). And the ladies are all interesting, textured, vibrantly ALIVE characters. It would be easy for you to have made them either bland, or stereotypes. You have fallen into neither trap. These are all real and distinct characters who show complexities of emotion and style. Sure, there are things I’d still like to learn about them – but the way you’ve written the story, those things feel like they’re just waiting for the right time to be revealed. There aren’t any holes in the plot where you’ve move too fast. This is an awesome webcomic, and I’ll enjoy following it for years.
I love how you make each character belivable. Adam for instance, he tries to do the right thing, but fails because he well he gets tounge tied and is as some has said is a late bloomer. I also like how the girls cannot keep using their powers without some reprecussion. I am really happy I stumbled across this, I plan on being a reader till the end (may it never come 🙂 )
My biggest issue with Cyril is that he wants to post pictures of the girls on the internet. A friend of mine was in that situation where a molester put pictures of her online. Also, you’re not allowed to release pictures of people to the public without permission. At least, that’s how it is where I live.
13 thoughts on “09/10/2010”
TDK
It’s ironic how much they hate Cyril, and the reader hates Cyril, when he is effectively exactly the same as Adam. If anything, Adam’s the bigger pervert – he hides his maieusophilia and allows it to cause him to emotionally abuse his friends. Cyril wears his heart on his sleeve openly and honestly. But because he’s ugly and awkward and creepy while Adam is handsome and relatively poised, the characters, and we, hate him while we accept Adam. Curious, and rather thought provoking. You should be proud of your skills as an author, that you can write such genuine-feeling characters that can inspire such reactions.
KB
Adam would probably blush at you calling him handsome.
And honestly, the way I try to draw Cyril if he took better care of himself, he wouldn’t look so bad. (He has the same face as Pan.) He’s just not very conscious about how people perceive him, which is why he lacks tact and fashion sense.
As for Adam, he actually doesn’t know what it is that he has. He’s a late blooming belly lover. He doesn’t have a computer so it’s not something he’s explored.
Escadia
Actually, I can think of two things Cyril has done, that make him creepier than Adam and justifiably disliked.
1- He blackmailed his way into the group.
2- He doesn’t seem to understand boundaries.
You can’t just force your way in and expect everyone to love you. And even if they except you, you have to realize where to draw the line (like showing up at someone house without letting them know).
Though Adam has caused pain, it’s more because he’s confused about his feelings and he doesn’t want to make Cait uncomfortable (way to backfire…).
lyze
“2- He doesn’t seem to understand boundaries.”
Well said. It’s a terrible trait. It shows an utter lack of empathy and self absorption.
Ben
Do people tell him what their boundaries are? Not everyone picks up on these instinctively. That being said the blackmail part should be PRETTY OBVIOUS.
Ben
Sorry, that line struck a cord with me. I am not good with social ques and rules and one thing that had struck me over the years is how arbitrary many if the rules are. I try to compensate to a degree by having an attitude of “If I do anthing that upsets you let me know and I will stop, in turn if you do anything that upsets me I will let you know.” And then proceed to be open but try to treat people how I would generally want to be treated. The problem is that I find many people DON’T want to be treated how I’d want to be treated. And while I do not think this is what’s going on with Cyril. The comment about a lack of understanding of boundaries touched a nerve because while I do CARE a lot about other people’s boundaries and respect tgem, I have a great deal of trouble understanding them and unless they spell them out for me it’s something that I have trouble getting.
Sorry about this. Just the off topic (because again I don’t think any of this applies to Cyril, I am simply talking about why this comment touched a PERSONAL nerve) rantings of someone with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Qwerty2999
Well said Escadia, well said. 🙂
Danelle
I just really don’t like because of his lack of social skills and general creepiness, if he wasn’t creepy he’d just be a bit awkward and you’d feel sorry for the guy but because he can be such an ass and a creep you just can’t help but dislike him.
That and he reminds me of someone in real life, The resemblances are uncanny.
lyze
Another bit to remember is that Cyril’s first major time in the comic is following them around taking candid pictures of them. Yes, Adam hides his fetish but it’s out of confusion about his feelings about it and feeling shame in having such an unusual interest. He’s also showed concern for the girls while Cyril has only invented fantasies about not even who they are but only what they look like.
But seriously, stalking and snapping pictures of people on the sly isn’t cool and while they don’t know this is going on, the willingness (eagerly even) to commit such acts is hard to hide in your personality. Cyril is creepy and it’s shows.
As far as genuine-feeling characters go, thank you. I try to inject the characters with bits and pieces of personality from people I know and have known. Even Cyril.
TDK
I still think Adam is as bad a person – the abuse he’s caused Caitlyn has been pretty direct. But yes, Cyril’s creepiness, both with the photography and with the blackmail, are every bit as bad. I think they’re both fundamentally undesirable and harmful people for the Olympian moms to spend time with. They just see that they don’t want to be around the ugly boy, and accept the cute one despite his actions.
That said, and the thing that really impresses me about your comic, is how REAL they all are. I’ve known people just like Cyril and Adam too, and they are both immensely interesting to read about (so I hope they don’t get kicked out of the group). And the ladies are all interesting, textured, vibrantly ALIVE characters. It would be easy for you to have made them either bland, or stereotypes. You have fallen into neither trap. These are all real and distinct characters who show complexities of emotion and style. Sure, there are things I’d still like to learn about them – but the way you’ve written the story, those things feel like they’re just waiting for the right time to be revealed. There aren’t any holes in the plot where you’ve move too fast. This is an awesome webcomic, and I’ll enjoy following it for years.
Thailya
I love how you make each character belivable. Adam for instance, he tries to do the right thing, but fails because he well he gets tounge tied and is as some has said is a late bloomer. I also like how the girls cannot keep using their powers without some reprecussion. I am really happy I stumbled across this, I plan on being a reader till the end (may it never come 🙂 )
Kirsten
My biggest issue with Cyril is that he wants to post pictures of the girls on the internet. A friend of mine was in that situation where a molester put pictures of her online. Also, you’re not allowed to release pictures of people to the public without permission. At least, that’s how it is where I live.
master1o1
dude, your missing a Hephaestus godling
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