Am I really a comedian here?

[hades]

Bad tone so I edited this post.

Basically
why are comments always so...joking in series here on tapastic?

[J.Lovelace]

Oh I think I can relate.
I tend to make funny things most of the time, and make people laugh, so I understand that my audience kind of expects that all the time. But it irks me a lot when I make a serious drawing/comic and someone just HAS to turn it into a very inappropriate joke.
On Deviantart I started to disable comments on more serious (especially the personal) works, so that people won't ruin it. Even if it was by accident, I still feel a very bad aftertaste.
Sometimes I asked why do they comment like that, and they unwatched me or jumped at me for being oversensitive.

[AnnaLandin]

I'm so sorry your anxieties are being triggered by this behaviour. I personally get mine triggered by people who make jokes about my partial face-blindness - it feels like they're mocking me, even though I'm sure that's not their intention.

All I want to know is why a serious page is considered so hilarious that it must be joked about.

I think it's partly just a general jargon on Tapastic - telling jokes is part of the commenting-culture - and it might also be partly for them to relieve tension; the page is serious, and they're worried about the characters, so they tell a joke to ease the tension a bit.

I know that telling you to shrug it off won't help much - anxieties are by their very nature not subject to a whole lot of logic - but I want you to know that it is DEFINITELY not because your comic deserves to be mocked.

My own comic is very serious a lot of the time, and I relieve that tension by telling my own jokes about it, but even when I don't, I get joking comments, because I think that's just part of the atmosphere here.

[DTSaranya]

Could you link the page that was meant to be serious that people think is a joke? I'm not sure which one you're talking about.

I poked through your work a bit and people seem to be taking you seriously. Your artwork is pretty and though I didn't see much of your stories, they look interesting, plus you've got good numbers of subscribers. I can't imagine that people would be mocking you.

I can imagine, though, that if they're fans of yours and fans of your work, they see your pages through a light that makes amusement easy, as they're invested in the story and characters. A line that wouldn't be a joke on its own can often get laughs or witty responses if seen through the lens of being a fan. Plus, people are often trying to be light-hearted and fun in comments, even if the page itself is not.

If it helps you with the anxiety, remember this:
No matter what you post on the internet, or what you do in life, there will be both people who like it and people who don't like it. All you can do is be true to your own sense of entertainment and your own sense of storytelling, and you will attract the people with the appropriate tastes.

There's no reason to fear someone who doesn't like your work.
If they're mean about it or mock you, they're just being an ass, which isn't your fault, so it's no problem.
If they're constructive about it, then they're trying to be helpful, so regardless of whether or not you agree with them, it's no problem.
If they're neutral and don't really get into your work, that's inevitably going to happen sometimes, so again, it's no problem.

So, regardless of what people think of your stuff, there's no reason to worry. No one can touch you. Even if they do their worst, it's no problem. The only ones who matter are the ones who like it, and you have plenty of those.

You haven't done anything wrong. You're doing fine - more than fine, actually - you're doing really well.

You've got a fanbase of at least a couple thousand people, so you're clearly doing something right. Everything is fine, and your comics are pretty.

[igneriss]

From my experience, there are two types of comments under serious pages- 'NOOO WHYYY' ones, and jokes. And personaly, I love both, even if there's my character dying there and readers are cheering on the monster killing him. I think it's just a community thing, and a specific sense of humour?
I don't know how the comments under your series are exactly (adding a link to the first post or on your profile might be helpful), but if they're similar to ones I came across, then your readers are not laughing at you and they don't mean any harm. They care for your story enough to comment, and commenting with jokes is quite popular- even some authors comment their serious pages with jokes in author's comments or tags. Relieving tension thing.

[indagold]

No one knows your phobias, so they can't help it. I say ignore it if they're being mean. If they really do love your work then step back and think about it, maybe it's just your anxiety getting the best of you. Odds are they are nice, I can see that as a possibility.

your work looks amazing and you have no need to worry about something like that.

[hades]

oh gosh i'm sorry guys. I made this during a downer and so my tone comes off that way. I'm not trying to seek praise for my work but I greatly appreciate everyone's kind words so far.

I guess a better question is this

Why is jokes considered so normalized here on tapastic? Is it due to the community being young [though not all!] or the gag a day atmosphere the site built up over the years?

[DTSaranya]

Eh - I think it's more that people in general, regardless of maturity level, get more enjoyment out of social stuff when it's silly. Even if reading pages isn't a social thing, commenting on them is, and with being social often comes a compulsion to be witty, or to bond over shared jokes.

I'm the kind of silly salmon who would leave dumbass jokes on a page that's otherwise serious. It's not out of any disrespect for the story, or because I'm young (I'm 24, so young-ish but not really, I guess....?), but just because that's how I have fun.

If people are joking around with you, that's a good thing - it means they feel familiar with you and are trying to bond.

[shazzbaa]

Why is jokes considered so normalized here on tapastic?

Jokes aren't just a common response here! This is a thing I've seen multiple people comment on, and that I've experienced myself, on twitter as well -- someone shares something that's not a joke, that might even be personal, and someone else who is a big fan will trip over themselves trying to make a joke in response.

I think the thing is.... what would they comment otherwise? If there is a very serious page, what do you say? It's very hard to know how to respond to serious things, especially in text. Some commenters might feel like "oh no" feels as flippant as "wow cool" -- it's too short, anyone could say that, I need to think of something to say, and so they find a joke to make. @DTSaranya says it well, they're trying to find some way to connect.

Plus the upvote system that kinda encourages people to find clever things to respond with, but I don't think that's the cause, just a contributing factor.

[Greg_Dickson]

I find jokes to be completely acceptable. Imagine showing your audience a page in real life, and people are oohing and aahing, but one or two people make a humorous little comment (not mocking anything about your art or style. Just a little observation that maybe relates to something a little funny they've experienced before), and you shushed them, going "What's wrong with you??? You're supposed to be taking this more seriously!"

I'm not saying that you're going to that extremity. Just using it as an example. But whereas you may find a little humour a little uncomfortable, your audience may find your reaction a little off-putting. I'd say, as long as people are enjoying your content and are not putting down your work maliciously or making fun of it, just enjoy the atmosphere that you're putting out there. I've made little humorous quotes for comments, and the authors have seemed to get a kick out of them (I can't really help it sometimes. I've done this in every form of media...movies, tv, games. Sometimes my mind likes to fill in these little blanks in the stories with humorous thoughts that just randomly pop into my head). I really do enjoy or respect their work, but if I knew that they wanted me to stop and take the story more seriously, I think I would feel that the author needs to lighten up a bit. Now maybe if it was every comment someone was doing this, and nothing they were saying was ever relavent to what was happening, I could see humorous comments getting annoying, but most of the time, they're infrequent and they aren't mean spirited. Like I said, try to see it as a positive thing, that the reader is getting a lot of enjoyment from your comic to make funny little observations/jokes with every now and then. Not every comment can be super-deep and observational. Sometimes just knowing that our audience is in a good mood while reading is flattering enough.

[WakaXO]

I know personally I am the type to joke when I am nervous/tense/anxious to alleviate the feeling. I don't do it to cause offence and if I did cause offence I would feel really bad about it. I think there are a lot of people out there that are the same, its just how their minds work, so you shouldn't stress too much and assume people's motives are bad.
Also I looked through your comics and I have to say they are gorgeous! 😍😆

[J.Z.Castillo]

My thing comes down to this, if I joke with you or in your comments is because I like what you are putting out. 8/10 times I will leave a joke... but when it's something really emotional (like the last few updates of AMOLAD) I will say nothing to not ruin the moment, ya feel?