It's Hard to Speak About these Things in Public...

November 19, 2013 12:02 PM

So He Drew This Instead. (TW: child abuse)
posted by Kitteh (28 comments total)

Powerful.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:27 PM on November 19, 2013

Fsking UpWorthy, the Ebaums of "touching" material - ripping off people and repackaging it as their own. At least they include a vauge attribution to the artist (the intro text and the FB link at the end).

This is a single-page view of Something Terrible, from the artist Dean Trippe.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:10 PM on November 19, 2013 [10 favorites]

Wow. Thank you for sharing this - seriously powerful.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 1:12 PM on November 19, 2013

filthy light thief's link is better for getting the pacing of the comic - it's one of the few times where I think putting something on multiple pages makes it clearer. Great comic.
posted by Archibald Edmund Binns at 1:18 PM on November 19, 2013

Gah! Even worse, it's a truncated version of Something Terrible. UpWorthy (or someone else, perhaps Trippe) cut out frames, and removed paired to make it a more suscinct single "page" comic. On the flip side, Something Terrible is posted as a "teaser," and you can buy the whole comic for $0.99 USD.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:19 PM on November 19, 2013

If we really must post single-link Upworthy posts at all, is it too much to ask to at least put slightly more into the post than just copying the obnoxious Upworthy teaser headline verbatim?
posted by strangely stunted trees at 1:23 PM on November 19, 2013 [8 favorites]

If we really must post single-link Upworthy posts at all, is it really too much to ask to at least put slightly more into the post than just copying the obnoxious Upworthy teaser headline verbatim?

What Happens at 3:20 In This Video Will Change The Way You Think About The Title of This Post Forever
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:25 PM on November 19, 2013 [12 favorites]

Dean's work has been featured here before.

He also has his own website
posted by bilabial at 1:25 PM on November 19, 2013

"The medium is the message..."

Yes - let the hate flow :D

(Might I ask that the original be substituted, in order to prevent the already occurring derail? I agree with the aforementioned sentiments, but would like to not jump track onto the collective hate bandwagon, distracting our attention away from the message).
posted by symbioid at 1:31 PM on November 19, 2013

I just want to hug Dean. As a fellow survivor, it sometimes seems impossible to talk about, but seeing that...seeing all the hope and all the skills he used to cope. Wow. So, so brave. So brave.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:34 PM on November 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Mod note: Swapped the main link to the original artist's site for it, carry on.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:35 PM on November 19, 2013 [4 favorites]

filthy light thief: “Gah! Even worse, it's a truncated version of Something Terrible. UpWorthy (or someone else, perhaps Trippe) cut out frames, and removed paired to make it a more suscinct single ‘page’ comic. On the flip side, Something Terrible is posted as a ‘teaser,’ and you can buy the whole comic for $0.99 USD.”

I have as much dislike for UpWorthy as you do, I think, but as far as I can tell Trippe himself put together this preview version that UpWorthy has posted. It's well worth paying the dollar to view the whole thing, I can say. Great stuff.
posted by koeselitz at 1:36 PM on November 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

The problem is that the Something Terrible is shared as a teaser to the whole story, so that link could be added as a partial "extended cut" of the whole comic, but my link doesn't include the full story (which Trippe spent the last year working on).

Here's a long summary of the complete 14 page comic, but covered in text, not in images.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:36 PM on November 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

And Here's an interview with Trippe, about the comic in question, where he says the whole thing is free. I'm guessing that changed.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:40 PM on November 19, 2013

If the topic or the genre interests you, spend the buck, read the whole thing and then read the interview.
posted by Anitanola at 2:26 PM on November 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

Here's the abridge UpWorthy version (again), because the revised link in the OP is the first part of the story.

I reacted to the source of the link and didn't take the moment to read the note from Dean Trippe himself at the end of the piece. I apologize for my GRARbomb dropped at the beginning of this thread, and I vow to read the article (or at least, the entire one-page comic) before ranting about the content host.

To atone for my wrongs, I'll share this large version of "You'll Be Safe Here," the climactic image from this comic (with proper credits to the artist and the source).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:59 PM on November 19, 2013 [2 favorites]

Cool. These days I really think a lot about art as a way to heal, live, breathe, uplift, share, connect. Thanks.
posted by nicolin at 3:13 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

This comic has a lot more context with the afterword in the PDF, and the comic as a whole is well worth the 99 cents.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:06 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]

No guns.



*love*
posted by blurker at 8:56 AM on November 20, 2013 [4 favorites]

Thanks for sharing the abridged version of my story, which I cut myself, and Upworthy was kind enough to feature, leading to a huge spike in people downloading the full story. I've been flooded with messages from fellow former victims of child sexual abuse this week, as well as those touched by the story for other childhood traumas. You can read the full version of Something Terrible for free, weekly at:

http://tencentticker.com/somethingterrible/

...where there's also a download link if you'd like to purchase the entire story now for $0.99, along with my afterword. Thanks for sharing it again, here, because the more people who see it, the more people who need it the most will hear the message of the comic. Signed up and donated just to say thanks, MetaFilter community. <3
posted by deantrippe at 10:12 AM on November 20, 2013 [35 favorites]

Dean, welcome and thank you for joining! Your comic is so powerful and so well done. Thank you for making it.

Also, since you've expressed positive sentiment for Upworthy, I hope you'll consider chiming in and giving your two cents in this thread.
posted by jbickers at 11:01 AM on November 20, 2013

Thank you, Dean, for this amazing work. It's moving and powerful, and a great reminder to all of us survivors that we are not alone.
posted by MissySedai at 11:54 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Thank you for creating such a moving and beautiful work, Dean. I'm glad you're here--here on MeFi, and here in the world sharing your story and your journey to safety with all of us.

There's a thread welcoming you over on MetaTalk also!
posted by beryllium at 1:01 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

This made me weep.

God bless you, sir.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 6:55 PM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]

Worlds collide - a buddy I have on FB shared the Upworthy link, and he doesn't ever (!!!) share Upworthy links. I knew it had to be truly worth clicking. Thank everything sacred and green for consistency.

I read the abridged story and had a mix of chills, lump in my throat, and intense ...pride? I'm not sure about the pride. Like what you get when you're watching someone on the last 2 miles of their first marathon and see that glow break through the wreck as they realise they've crossed the line and the cheers are for them, now.

Immediately bought the full version, even though, as I told my friend, I'm not sure when I'll be able to read it, despite knowing where it's going. Maybe after things calm down again.

Also as I told my friend, I'm putting this on the same recommendation list as "One Bad Rat". Rare to find things that cut through the sick truths of violation and leave you feeling illuminated at the end.

Glad you're getting so much response on this, Dean. You've given us something powerful. I hope it means more peace for you.
posted by batmonkey at 11:47 PM on November 20, 2013

The first contact I had with this story wasn't the Upworthy link, but I think someone posted the full-color page with all the different characters in it, it was re-blogged or Tumblr'd by Wil Wheaton and I thought it was neat. My husband bought the print, and I'm waiting to have it framed. I didn't know what its source was, and after having bought the whole comic and read the story, now I do.

Knowing what it is now, I'll be very proud to be able to display that print in my home.
posted by TrishaLynn at 6:39 AM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

So much love to you, DeanTrippe! I follow you on Tumblr and when I saw your latest comic making the rounds it broke my heart. Thank you for being open about this topic so that others can learn and heal with you.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 9:17 PM on November 21, 2013

Thanks guys. Seriously. The biggest bat-hugs. ;)
posted by deantrippe at 10:17 PM on November 26, 2013