Line #42 ComicBook/Circles


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/circles_504.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Counter-clockwise from the top: Paulie, Douglas, Taye, Marty, Ken, and Arthur.]]
3	%% This is how the quote formatting is suppose to look: One indent, then dialog, then two indents, then the source. Don't mess with it.
4	->''"Dear Douglas,"''\
5	%%''On a fundamental level, I know change is good. Without change, we stagnate and die. But, let's face it...not every change in my life has been for the better. Change can be scary on some levels. For better or for worse, we are making a major change in our lives..."''
6	-->-- The beginning of every one of Paulie's diary entries.
7
8	'''''Circles''''' is a UsefulNotes/{{Furry\|Fandom}}[[note]](aesthetically, anyways; it is the TropeNamer for FurryLens, after all)[[/note]] [[QueerMedia LGBT]] SliceOfLife comic book about 6 gay men living in a large house together in Boston. The story concerns itself with the comings and goings of the 6 inhabitants: Paulie, the [[TeamMom loving den mother]] of the group dealing with the effects of HIV; his for all intents and purposes [[HappilyMarried husband]], Doug; and their four [[FriendsRentControl renters]]: Ken, part StraightGay, part GymBunny, part ReallyGetsAround; Arthur, an artist and one of Paulie's oldest friends; Taye, a CampGay PerformanceArtist, and Marty, the StraightMan and AudienceSurrogate. The 6 core characters, plus a few secondary characters, [[TrueCompanions form a family unit to work through problems and situations.]]
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10	The story is told mostly from Paulie's point of view as he writes in a diary, but his is not the pure point of view, since we see many things to which he is not privy. Paulie's diary segments are a FramingDevice used to introduce the subject of that season's problem.
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12	A very much beloved comic book series among those who have read it, ''Circles'' is usually one of the books many furries would indicate to prove that they're not all sex maniacs. [[DevelopmentHell It also had a fairly glacial issue speed,]] as it had taken [[ScheduleSlip 7 years to come out with 8 issues in a comic that started out as "4 times a year".]]
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14	The series started in the spring of 2001. According to the writers, there were supposed to be 13 issues. Issue 9 would have Ken's backstory, Issue 10 would be a collection of short stories, Issues 11 and 12 were supposed to have tragic events (fans already speculating that one is [[spoiler:Paulie dies from AIDS]]), and Issue 13 will be the final issue. However, due to the comic's severe obscurity, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen all of this was scrapped for a final issue,]] ''Circles: The Years Keep Rolling By'', which was released in 2015, thus the series has finally concluded after an extremely severe ScheduleSlip.
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16	[[https://twitter.com/aethanbear/status/1467945540235280386 A reboot of some sort]] is planned. Thus ''Circles: Let's Go Round One More Time'' was released November 2022 on Anthro New England.
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18	The issues are all available on the [[https://www.rabbitvalley.com/department/3849/0/0/Circles Rabbit Valley website here]]. As well as an [[http://circles.rabbitvalley.com/index.html official site here]].
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20	Oh, and by the way, [[CoversAlwaysLie don't let all of the fuzzy animal people and bright colors fool you here.]] This is a very dramatic and heavy story with funny moments and emotional rollercoasters. In layman's terms, [[TearJerker this is a very sad story.]]
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22	For more SliceOfLife Furry Comics that feature similar themes and star a group of cast members, compare Leo Magna's ''Webcomic/FurPiled'' and Vince Suzukawa's ''Webcomic/{{ISO}}'', which happened to be inspired by ''Circles''.
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24	'''Possible spoilers are left unmarked. It is recommended to read the series first before browsing these tropes.'''
25	----
26	!This comic book provides examples of:
27	* ArcNumber: 6. There are 6 men who are a rating of 6 on the Kinsey scale and they all live under the address of 6 Kinsey Circle.
28	* ArcWords: "Love". Love is a major theme in this story and many characters refer to their lovers as "love".
29	* AllGaysArePromiscuous: Subverted. Every couple ends up in an exclusive relationship with no cheating. The only characters who were previously promiscuous were Paulie, Arthur, Ken, and John.
30	* AuthorAppeal:
31	** The focus on the romances of the chubbier cast members, one of whom is one half of the OfficialCouple, might reflect a bit on one of the author's proclivities. Also, attractive women are rarely shown.
32	** It is interesting to note that all of the characters in this story are actually humans. They are portrayed as animals because of this trope (or FurriesAreEasierToDraw), and the authors refer to this as seeing the characters through a "furry lens". That means that this is a Furry comic in the sense that they are ''portrayed as animals'' and not because they actually are animals.
33	* BetaCouple: Taye and Marty. They remained together nearly the entirety of the story, however they are not the main focus of the story and Paulie and Douglas have been together much longer than them and way before the story took place.
34	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Paulie sadly dies from leukemia and Douglas finds it hard to cope.]] Until he realizes that he still has family who loves him and takes care of him. [[spoiler:Paulie]] did what he could to keep the family together and on good terms so that [[spoiler:they are never alone after his passing.]]
35	* BlackBeadEyes: Usually when the distance models are used but also even occasionally they will have these eyes up-close due to the artist's art style.
36	* ButchLesbian: Gus, one of Ken's gym friends. She also has a LipstickLesbian girlfriend named Lucy.
37	* CastFullOfGay: Everyone in the household except [[spoiler:Doug's son Jason]].
38	* ComingOutStory: Marty is forced to come out to his parents and finds that they are largely okay with it.
39	%%* DragQueen: Jesús the llama.
40	* {{Dramedy}}: The comic is half-drama and half-comedy. It is light-hearted and focuses on the relationships between lovers and the main characters living together and supporting each other like a family. However, there is also a dramatic atmosphere thrown in with sad scenes and even tragedy strikes.
41	* {{Expy}}: Dave, an expy of Davan from ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive''.
42	* FiremenAreHot: A calendar called "Men of Fire" with pictures of muscular anthropomorphic dogs in slutty poses appears occasionally.
43	* ForegoneConclusion: The audience knows that Paulie's HIV can only end one way...
44	* FunnyAnimal: Subverted. Species is purely aesthetic.
45	* FunnyForeigner: Jesús is campy and likes to sprinkle some Spanish words in his sentences.
46	* FurryLens: TropeNamer. The characters are actually humans, but portrayed as animals visually. The illustrated novel that concludes the series pretty explicitly describes human characters, as opposed to the FunnyAnimal illustrations.
47	* {{Gayngst}}:
48	** {{Downplayed}} with Marty who was the only character who was in the closet to his family and when Marty had dinner with his family and the other Kinsey boys, he came out to his parents in a moment of weakness.
49	** PlayedStraight with Ken. His backstory involved his [[spoiler:Uncle Davis sexually abusing him and threatening to tell everyone he was gay if he ever told anyone what his uncle did to him. Ken hated himself for being gay]] but after opening his heart to Paulie, he reconciled with his mother and openly embraced who he was.
50	* HeelFaceTurn: Three characters go through this:
51	** Douglas starts out as the rudest and most bitter of the bunch. The reason for this is how much he resents the fact that [[spoiler:Paulie has AIDS and struggles to come to terms with his nearly inevitable death.]] But over time, he gets better and becomes much nicer and kinder to everyone else.
52	** Ken started out bitter and unwelcoming towards Marty and Taye and rather rude to everyone in general. Over time, as more about his past was revealed and how he locked himself away from others emotionally, he came to a revelation and opened his heart to Paulie and then learned to love himself and others.
53	** Carter Allen was a raging homophobic neighbor of Paulie's who wanted him and all the other gay men that lived nearby out of his neighborhood. Over time, he learned that his kids loved the gang and then when he learns that Paulie paid off his medical bills, he decides to make amends with Douglas after hearing of [[spoiler:Paulie's passing]] and becomes much kinder and nicer to everyone in general and accepting of gay men.
54	%%* HelloSailor: Appearently, Paulie's dad had a case of this.
55	%%* IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn
56	* InterspeciesRomance: There are few repeated species. One exception are Doug, [[spoiler:his ex-fiancée and their son Jason, who are all otters.]]
57	* LaserGuidedKarma: Carter Allen, a vehemently homophobic man who loves his kids, learns that one of his sons is [[spoiler:possibly gay.]]
58	* [[LastGirlWins Last Guy Wins]]: In the case of Marty, who meets Taye toward the end of the first issue. Some of this also comes through in John and Arthur, who while part of the OneTrueThreesome with Paulie ended up drifting apart, having several other lovers, and eventually being alone... until at last, they get together in Issue 7.
59	* LipstickLesbian: Lucy, Gus' girlfriend.
60	* LoveTriangle: The comic sometimes hints at one among Marty, Taye and Ken, but never acted on it. Also, Paulie, John and Arthur were an actual OneTrueThreesome during the 1970s, and Paulie and Arthur are still best friends.
61	%%* ManlyGay[=/=]LeatherMan: Both associated with a subplot involving Ken.
62	* MeaningfulName: 6 Kinsey Circle. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_scale The Kinsey scale]] is a scale from 0-6 with 6 being someone who is exclusively homosexual. There are 6 men living in the residence and they are all exclusively gay. (A rating of 6 on the Kinsey scale.)
63	* MiddleOfNowhereStreet: In this case, it's [[PunnyName #6 Kinsey Circle]].
64	* TheMourningAfter: In the final issue/book, [[spoiler: Paulie dies of AIDS and Douglas]] is left alone, falling into a detached, "going through the motions" state. Thankfully, the rest of Kinsey 6 is successful in making his life meaningful again, though [[spoiler:Douglas makes it clear that "there will never be another Paulie".]]
65	%%* MusicalEpisode: Issue 8.
66	* OfficialCouple: Paulie and Douglas. They were together since the beginning of the story and always remained faithful [[spoiler:and stayed together until death.]]
67	* QueerRomance: All over the place, but then again this goes without saying.
68	* ShoutOut: The authors have an afterword where they list the many references such as:
69	** [[LampshadeHanging As pointed out in the first issue,]] the title of the series is a reference to the song "Circle" by Music/HarryChapin.
70	** Paulie is a huge fan of Music/TheBeatles and even occasionally quotes them.
71	** Paulie quotes {{ComicStrip/Pogo}} when he says "Don't take life so serious, son. It ain't nohow permanent."
72	%%* SexyDiscretionShot
73	* ShirtlessScene: Men take their shirts off quite often.
74	* SliceOfLife: Unusual for a furry comic is that the story and setting is well-grounded and down to earth with no wacky sexual scenarios or situations and the characters are very human and relatable. (Helps that the characters actually ''are'' humans.)
75	* StraightGay: Several characters fall into this simply by not addressing any particularly gay stereotype.
76	* ThereIsOnlyOneBed: The bed in Taye and Marty's bedroom. They initially share it platonically (and without clothes on), but it becomes ''their'' bed when they become a couple. Made even funnier when after they become a couple, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Taye ''arranged'' to have there be only one bed.]]
77	* TragicAIDSStory: The only character who dies is [[spoiler:Paulie and he dies from HIV. Douglas]] was devastated but soon he was comforted by everyone else. While everyone else was alive and had an EarnYourHappyEnding, at least [[spoiler:Doug had a BittersweetEnding.]]
78	* WhamEpisode:
79	** Chapter 5 reveals Paulie's backstory and the events that led up to him [[spoiler:contracting HIV.]]
80	** Chapter 6 reveals Douglas [[spoiler:has a son named Jason]] and how he first met Paulie after [[spoiler:being with Linda.]]
81	** Chapter 9 reveals the backstory of Ken and how he was [[spoiler:psychologically abused in his childhood.]]
82	* WhamLine: Several.
83	** From Issue 1, when Paulie asks who Doug has bad feelings for,
84	-->'''Doug:''' I have bad feelings about the guy [[spoiler:who got you sick.]]
85	** From Issue 2, when Marty asks why Taye said he wasn't "100% nice",
86	-->'''Taye:''' Well...[[spoiler:I bribed Arthur to pretend he couldn't pull the beds apart.]]
87	* WhamShot: When Doug [[spoiler:breaks up with Linda, she cries and drops her wedding book on the floor and the next shot reveals a tested positive pregnancy test next to the book.]]
88	* YouShouldHaveDiedInstead: [[spoiler:Douglas]] says this cold-heartedly to [[spoiler:Arthur]] after he blames himself and wishes it was him that got sick instead of Paulie.
89	----

Context ComicBook / Circles