If you get the reference in the title, yay you. If you didn’t, don’t feel bad, because I only discovered Billie in May. I am a devoted fan, as you can see. Anyway, I used sharpie, alcohol marker, and maybe a little too much pencil and ink...
A far-too-common archetype that i have observed frequently in people as they converse with another is one in which an individual uses two layers of defense to protect an otherwise unexamined confusion or emptiness. This relates to a defense of the ego and does not apply to all situations involving anything discussed.
First posturing:
-A mask (or wall) of mockery is sustained in which the defensive individual behaves flippantly as if in jest. This positioning is a way to be aloof from the situation, using incredulity and belittlement to keep a person or their ideas away from the defensive individual.
Second posturing:
-A mask (or wall) of rage is revealed after a certain level of perceived threat is achieved internally. This positioning is usually the one the defensive individual maintains when they have given up the argument or the introspection. Not risking an ontological or existential crisis, the defensive individual lashes out with anger, often accusatorily in manner, potentially belittling others further or just plain rushing away in a huff. This is usually the end of the engagement.
Third posturing:
-The masks (or walls) both come off, leaving the defensive individual to examine the thoughts or behaviors involved in the situation more critically. The defensive individual may find themselves feeling deeply uncomfortable, sad, uneasy, lost, or confused. This position leads to introspection and to a genuine openness, which is not something that the defensive individual had been prepared for. They may find that they were incorrect, only partially correct, or that the perceived rightness of their idea/behavior now has an expanded context, all of which may seem frightening. Individuals may become mentally paralyzed at this point. It takes a strength and an honesty to reflect in this position, which is not something that everyone expressing this archetype will be capable of doing.
(Based on my professional insights as: a cashier, as a member of various technical support staffs, as an occasional minister, and as a peer counselor. Also based on my casual and repeated interactions with both strangers and with more intimately known persons over the course of my lifetime. Observations are my own.)
I MADE A NEW OC, NO CLUE WHATS HIS NAME IS BUT HE REALLY JUST...SEEMES SAD ALL THE TIME (made him during school cause my little brain can't pay attention in school)
Thoughtful comics by author/illustrator Dale Rogers. I'm retiring from an 18-year career as full-time faculty in Multimedia Design. It's time to write and draw. Follow me at https://edrawingboard.com.
This is Detective Seven from my new story "Mecca Subatlantica". It's a cyberpunk setting with a little steampunk feel.
Click the sales link to subscribe on DeviantArt and read chapter 1. Chapter 2 should be out by the end of next month (Dec 2021).
Inspired by a little rabbit I've seen from the car one morning. While I was driving, the little bunny was hopping along the countryside. I was a a very peaceful and happy scene, the little guy living in its own little world, of which I only could get this one quick glimpse. All the other details remain to imagination..... Acrylics and ink on paper, 60x42 cm
I made this little vector graphic in illustrator based on one of my really old drawings. I was thinking about a very surprised cyclops when he saw himself in the mirror for the first time and this is result.
