Published February 14, 2025

The Role We Play

Reckoning with past wounds and misplaced responsibility

This comic is drawn in a loose style, with blank ink and lime green spot color. A snake curls around a branch, looking at a rabbit. Text says: I spent a kong time feeling angry at you.

The snake curls around around a rabbit, squeezing it tightly. Text: I was patiently waiting for the game to conclude because I felt resentful.

The rabbit lies still, the snake curled around them. Bugs scurry along the ground. Text: I was offended you wanted to roleplay a romantic scene with me. I was angry that you felt like there was nothing you needed to repair. I was shocked that you thought things could carry on as normal.

The rabbit lays on its back as the snake entwines around it. The snake has two heads. text: Over time, I realized that beneath the anger was shame. I was embarrassed that I had allowed it.

Flowers grow up and through panels and bloom. Text: I told myself if I adequately explained to you what the experience was like for me, you would see how misogynistic it was.

Seeds of dandelions blow in the wind. The rabbit comes to take a nibble. Text: That I would be a catalyst for making you become a more self-aware person. I thought if I stood up for myself.

The rabbit runs away from the snake, whose teeth sink down into the ground, leaking green venom. Text: If I said what you did was unacceptable. If I said you are the one who should feel ashamed.

Flowers grow and the snake eats his own tail. Text: that it would somehow repair my dignity and self-respect. I would no longer be the desperate and vulnerable person I saw during that relationship.

The snake sits curled over the branch again, staring down at the rabbit. Text: Now I just feel sad when I think back on it. I don't feel angry and I no longer see the point in this exercise.

text: I no longer feel the responsibility to shepherd you to the "correct" learning outcome of the situation. I don't care what your understanding is.

The snake slithers away off the frame. text: I don't want you to know me.

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