Isaac

Deviant Life #47

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This strip was thrown out onto the various social media pages for Discerning Deviant way back in June when I was going through some shit and put everything related to this site on what I thought would probably be a permanent hiatus. I’d already been sitting on it for quite a while and nearly didn’t release it at all except that it nagged at me, so I released it in the laziest way I could and didn’t bother actually updating this site.

I’d forgotten this little detail when I went to upload the first new strip since the hiatus and realized that if I didn’t make a post for this one there’d be a gap. So here’s that post.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram. We also now have a Redbubble store. Deviant Life artist D. White and I also collaborate on a more traditional adventure comic called Hardcore and Lethal.)

Deviant Life #43

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We’re back! I’ve missed y’all!

For those who care what’s going on with me, due to health problems I have left New York and returned to my birth state of Georgia to be closer to my family and support network. I’ve been staying with family in Gaineville (GA, not FL) while getting some extensive dental work done (an average of two dentist visits a week…so much fun) and trying to work out where I’m going to work and living in Atlanta.

My health has drastically improved since leaving New York. I’m in nowhere near the levels of chronic pain I was in before. Where I was spending most of my time between 8-10 on the ten scale in 2019, I’ve been staying mostly in the 2-4 range lately which is certainly much more livable.

Because I have no income right now, and I pay D. White to draw the Deviant Life strips, I’m only able to get back to posting strips again because of my wonderful Patreon supporters. So, much love to them for letting me continue to indulge in one of the few things that brings me joy through these dark times.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram. We also now have a Redbubble store. Deviant Life artist D. White and I also collaborate on a more traditional adventure comic called Hardcore and Lethal.)

Deviant Life #42

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If you’ve got insecurity issues about the fact that your girlfriend has sex with other people, including both of the guys she lives with, maaaaaybe don’t drop in unannounced.

Just as a bit of warning, I’m going to be moving back to Atlanta at the beginning of 2020 and that’s going to put my income and living situation into upheaval which may or may not affect my ability to consistently deliver the Deviant Life comic. I’d almost certainly have to shelve it if not for my fantastic Patreon supporters funding my comic related expenses but I’m not sure how updating is going to work if I’m homeless.  Hopefully it won’t come to that, as I do have a pretty decent social support network in my home city, but with me already being so inconsistent this year due to health issues I already feel bad for not doing more for my followers and it eases my conscience a little to prepare for the worst in advance rather than asking for forgiveness after the fact.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram. We also now have a Redbubble store. Deviant Life artist D. White and I also collaborate on a more traditional adventure comic called Hardcore and Lethal.)

Deviant Life #40

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Confession: I’m somewhat addicted to Apex Legends. I’m kind of trash at it, being a middle aged dude who isn’t usually into multiplayer shooters, but I still love it. Caustic, who Bernard is dressed as in this strip, is one of my mains and I’ve been dying for months to make this joke even though I’m not sure how much overlap there is between Deviant Life readers and Apex Legends players. I hope there’s at least a few and that they find this as funny as I do.

In other news, I made it out to the Sex Expo in at the Brooklyn Expo Center on Saturday. I had a great time. I got meet Lexi and Max from the Off the Cuffs podcast, which was delightful.

I also enjoyed catching up with Dirty Lola, who was there repping for #open, an awesome sounding dating app that breaks with the modern dating app convention of looking at a picture and deciding from that if you’re interested in someone by actually focusing on people finding each other by shared interests. I’m stoked to give that a try, as appearance is seriously one of the least important factors in whether I want to be romantically involved with someone.

Another highlight was catching the “5 Reasons Why Sex Parties are Important” by Hacienda. As someone who has loves sex parties, and has thrown quite a few, I always love hearing people talk about why they’re so great.

The pulled pork sandwich I bought from the expo’s food vendor was tops.

I didn’t stay very long because I’d run into a lot of issues before making it into the expo that had significantly diminished my spoon pool and the expo was quite crowded, draining them further.  I’m glad for the few hours I spent there.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram. We also now have a Redbubble store. Deviant Life artist D. White and I also collaborate on a more traditional adventure comic called Hardcore and Lethal.)

Deviant Life #39

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Bernard’s lines in the first panel are taken directly from a text message conversation I had with a partner I was in the figuring out interests and boundaries stage of getting to know each other. I like to use violet wands to ignite isopropyl alcohol on parts of someone’s body, and of course the writer in me sometimes can’t help but try to make things sound as dramatic as possible. This often makes me sound like a more dangerous flavor of mad man than I actually am.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram.)

Deviant Life #37

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When deciding what Isaac does for a living, it felt like there was a natural harmony between his proficiency at rope bondage (particularly in suspension) and a career in architecture, since an intuitive aptitude for geometry and the distribution of weight seems like they’d be highly valuable traits for both someone designing your house and someone hanging your body from an eye hook.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram.)

Deviant Life #36

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Because of the process involved in making these strips, it’s not uncommon for me to write a script and send it on to D to do the art and lettering only to get the finished strip back a week later to realize I was clearly in a grumpy ass mood when I wrote it.  This is one of those.

I honestly don’t have a problem with monogamy as a conscious choice one makes for themselves, but the monocentric values of our society are so often weaponized against myself and my loved ones. The fact that I’m so open about being ethically non-monogamous, to the point of being a D-list public figure for polyamory, has made it dangerous for people in certain careers or that have children by shitty exes to be openly involved with me. That kind of thing pisses me off and sometime that leads to me taking shots at monogamists I don’t really mean.

I will totally stand by romance as a genre having terrible consent messaging and part of that is its frequent promotion of the toxic possessiveness that less healthy monogamists really lean into. So, I don’t think Bernard is wrong in this strip. I just regret that he didn’t speak his mind more eloquently.

On a side note, I want to thank anyone who contributed to my friend Maddi’s Medical Expense Fundraiser and ask again that any who are able and charitably inclined please contribute. She’s one of the dearest people in the world to me and deeply appreciate anything anyone does to ease her struggle.

Lastly, a plug for the next Stigma Unbound event, Whore Haus on August 23 & 24. If you’re in the NYC area and support sex worker rights, please drop in. There’s a good chance you’ll find me there (though I can’t guarantee it).

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram.)

Deviant Life #32

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If anyone is wondering what Audrey’s response was to one of her boyfriends running it by her that he was thinking of asking out one of her girlfriends on a proper date, she squeeed with delight. She ships Isaac and Joy pretty hard.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram.)

Deviant Life #31

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There appears to have been a failure of communication here. Some people just like a well crafted endorphin cocktail and others like to push the limits of endurance. Preferences really should be sorted out before play happens, but during play it’s never a good idea to not let your top know when you’ve reached the point you’re not having fun anymore.

(Discerning Deviant is supported entirely through reader sponsorship via the Discerning Deviant Patreon and can also be followed on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram.)