Cliff x Father Eugene- 2AM Confession

Oh Father Eugene, what have you gotten yourself into?

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This is the loosest confession ever haha, Cliff doesn't say any of the words that you're supposed to, mostly because I didn't want to draw more panels :P. Maybe he would have, if Father Eugene had prompted. He certainly wouldn't stick to being a good boy in the long run, but he feels bad enough that he might be sincere for a moment. (like when you drink too much and say ‘never again’ LOL) I think he does believe in God, but he’s not really interested in being a good catholic, he knows he couldn't haha.

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Also in terms of what he did to feel so bad and go to church, I imagine some kind of sadomasochism or humiliation, but… I mean it’s not good for you if you’re not into it. I was loosely inspired by the grossly written encounters in City of Night (John Rechy) and how it impacted the character. [About a hustler, it's great if you have the stomach for it.]

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So you all probably know I have no religious upbringing to base this story on, and I’m learning a lot as I go. SO I realised that the churches I had in my head were actually church of england, there are loads of little ones in the villages and towns and they’re lovely and old*. Anyway it's news to me that catholic ones are newer because it was illegal (yes I forgot all my school history) so I had to research WAY more on the kind of church I wanted. I went virtual pew shopping it was great. I spent hours scrolling around google maps looking at the churches, hoping to find one with enough photos to use haha. Most of the ones that have comprehensive photos are very grand, and I want it to feel like it belongs in a town, not a big city.

*I actually drew this style in the comic with them fucking on the pew, it has the little side door which are kind of not a thing for catholic ones!

Here's the one I've settled on for now- I hope nobody who goes to this church ever finds me. I also added an office!

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In the Kelly Green comic I did a lot of clothes research for Father Eugene which I didn't share, but he's wearing similar clothes here. I imagine he's a good few years behind on the trends, but he doesn't want to be excessive with money. I was looking through the sears catalogue year by year - check out the catalogues here, it's wonderful, I love them. Here's some of the pictures I got!

My descent into madness trying to figure out if Cliff was wrong for calling Father Eugene out of date for wearing flares:

For Cliffs outfits I had to do some digging into the working classes, I think a few of these are from The Troubles.

Below screenshot from The Dilly: a History of the Piccadilly Rent Boy Scene

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More research ahead, a bit dark!

I know I'm painting street sex work as pretty negative here, but it was really fucking dangerous, and most of them were either desperate, addicted to the thrill, or addicted to something else. Cliff lives at home now, but he was a runaway and relied on rent to live for a good few years. He moved back home recently to support his mum because his dad killed himself, and also because in the early 80's the popularity of rent was dwindling, there were too many people doing it, too much surveillance, and other options emerging. Also at 20+ Cliff is actually getting a bit old for it, a grim fact, but the younger they were, the more popular they were. He was struggling and getting desperate, and he’s lucky his mum took him back.

Screenshots from The Dilly: a History of the Piccadilly Rent Boy Scene

  The shoes being an indicator of wealth:

 If you've got this far, thank you for reading, and thank you for supporting me to make my intensely researched porno :P.