Hi! I binged your trans Spamton comic last night and I LOVE it so far it's a really good look at how some trans guys handle their journey from femme to Man. I know and deeply care for someone who Also had a "my mental health drains the longer I'm in this goddamn part dress" moment irl and I feel really strong emotions whenever I remember that day so seeing that part of the comic hit me right in the heart.
(also for clarity I'll be calling Orange they/them and Spamton/White he-him)
Something I am interested in though, I'm curious what the reasoning for why Orange is being so Strange-probably not the best word-with White/Spam and will we get more insight through your story?
I found the dynamic between them very intriguing, the power imbalance of orange not paying their own sibling an equal rate while leveraging family against him vs being supportive and seemingly aware that a change is needed and that Spamton DESERVES that change/should have it. Only to absolutely drop the ball. The way the family drama welled up when that happened definitely reads as an unspoken reason for a lot and I'm like 👀👀👀👀. Orange also comes off as a very flawed person which I'm sure is on purpose and could be a fun mirror to Spamton since, I think the way they're behaving could be used as parallels to what Spamton ends up doing in the future according to the game lore if that makes sense? I can't decide if Spamton is right and Orange is trying to hold them back(but maybe not for the reason he thinks) or if it's just a moment of selfishness/taking Spamton for granted that blew up.
Anyway that's a long enough inbox message lol, keep up the good work!
Hello!! I'd love to talk more about how I characterized Orange. It is going to be long as shit though, so put on yer reading glasses, I spose. (I'll be using he/they for Orange and he/him for Spamton)
The first thing that struck me as important with canon Orange is that they placed the mannequin beside them and didn't toss it in the trash. And I thought that presented me with an image of Orange that was very interesting- Were they close to Spamton in the past? Is this how Spamton looked pre-transition? Did they react negatively to Spamton's transition? And if he can't accept Spamton, then why hold onto this weird, physical doll that kinda looks like him?
First, I needed to answer why Orange wasn't cool with Spamton's transition. And I needed to give Orange a really, really good reason for doing that. Like, I'm trans. Trans as shit. So to have to write a transphobe presented an interesting challenge to me. I also firmly belief that people aren't born inherently evil and are instead oftentimes motivated by what they believe is correct. So what the hell could Orange have gone through that justifies denying Spamton his own identity??
And so I circled back to what Orange didn't want to change, and slowly, a family hierarchy developed. In my mind their family worked like this: It used to be their mom and store owner at the top, Orange as the "best sales associate" in the middle, and White as "the email guy" at the bottom. They had a system. But then, eventually, their mother's code got corrupted beyond recognition and Orange, as the oldest, had to become the defacto parent. They needed to run the store. They needed to pay the bills. They needed to rotate the stock. All while, presumably, having to go through the entire funeral process for their mom. It's a tough as shit role to take and big fuckin shoes to fill. But Orange manages. He manages so well that it's any wonder why they keep White around.
White can't sell for shit, they've been delegated to the grunt work for a reason. But I like to imagine that Orange keeps White around because "she's still family" "or she's just a kid." (She's like... 23 by the way.) or even, "it's what mom would've done."
But what Orange sees as generosity on his part is actually infantilization of White. Like at the end of part 1, when Orange says, "looks like someone 'bigger and better' needs it more than they might think," they say it with this large smile that speaks to me like, "oh, yknow. Sure lol, go ahead sell your suits or whatever. Till you get bored or realize you can't handle it. And I'll be there to pick up the pieces as usual."
But when Spamton doubles down, turns to selling suits full time, even thinks about changing their mother's shop, Orange's view of their family structure shifts. They're not the head of the family any more. They're like, co-head at best. And that's not possible in Orange's world.
So if Orange can't be the parent, then White has to be. In fact, White's gonna be so much like mom, and it'll be great for the store, and it'll be great for him.
But when Spamton shows resistance to that plan, that resistance turns into anger, and that anger develops into the lowest low that Spamton's ever felt. -and maybe even the lowest low that Orange has ever felt too! There's a line in part three towards the end of the hospital scene where he says, "don't leave me. please." It's hard to repair a relationship after that.
But maybe there's still a chance for them. Who knows. I don't write this thing. I'm being puppeted by [HYPERLINK BLOCKED] so he'll have to decide for me.
But in all seriousness this is where I'll leave my analysis off here. I only have so many pages left to conclude both Spamton, Tenna, and Orange's stories, so for now dear reader, you'll just have to wait till I figure it out. Thanks for reading!!!! and entertaining my yap!!! :P
