About
This is a comic about gender and sexuality. It follows the lives of 8 main characters: Steve, Mark, Amber, Nay, Tom, Alex, Charlie and Jamie. It’s about them finding themselves, falling in love, lust and like and how hard they fight to get there.
This comic contains so many issues I can’t even really list them. Some of the things you may find here include: Gays, lesbians, those weird bisexuals everyone is talking about, faggotry, homophobia, transgender issues, dubious consent, body issues, abuse, hate and most important of all, a big old helping of LOVE. There’s a reason I called it Khaos.
FAQ
Author Stuff
Site Stuff
Story stuff
Gender/Sexuality stuff in the story
Author Stuff
I’m Tab.
I’m a full time costume maker and comic writer. You can find my costume stuff at www.khaoskostumes.com. My queer stuff is all here. A man of many faces, people consider seem to consider me a master of disguise, but I’m really just a little nerd who likes to dress up.
My full name is Mr Tab Artemis Kimpton, it is not short for anything except ‘totally fucking awesome’. Male pronouns please, I have a varied gender expression (read: camp as a row of pink tents), but I’m quite comfortable in my masculinity.
I live in England, I was born in 1990 and I’m doing this comic because I got these characters in my head back when I was a lonely 13 year old queerio and I needed to write them down.
Site stuff
Why did you not answer my email?
I read every fan mail that arrives in my inbox, I just don’t really respond to those that don’t have questions in them because I’m not sure what to say back. I do appreciate every single one and I thank you for taking the time to email me. If you asked a question and still didn’t get a reply then it’s likely my spam folder ate it.
How do I get the old wallpapers?
Donate £1x the wallpapers you want and email me telling me the ones you want.
When do you update?
At least once a week, though I attend a lot of cons so it gets manic. Unless I die/other way of hindering me writing Khaos will never be abandoned. Check the update bar for up to date information.
Story stuff
Which story is next? How many stories will there be? You’re not going to end it are you?
There will be 8 stories in total, Charlie is number 7 and Jamie 8. I’ll be ending the main story archive there. I think it’s very important to have endings and not to let things drag and become crap.
However just because Khaos ends doesn’t mean that my work will. There are lots of things I want to write about that would feel tagged on if I included them in Khaos, so they need new characters and situations to work.
What? Why does it say the characters are in college? I thought they were still at home/not 18! What grade are they in at high school?
I’m British. As in, I come from England, the place where this language you’re reading comes from. In the UK, and even within England there are different school systems. The characters are aged 16-17 and are in their first year of 6th form college. If you want to know more, google is your friend.
The [insert thing here] part of your story is shit. Why are you so shit?
Because I’m human and can’t create perfect amazing stories. I also don’t think Khaos is super special amazing, to be honest I’m surprised people like it so much. If you have any thoughts or constructive crit you’d like to share (that’s the one where you tell people what they did wrong AND let them know how to fix it) feel free to email me.
This part of the comic triggered me because of [this issue]. Could you put a trigger warning before this page?
I did, it’s on the front page at www.khaoskomix.com. People bookmark the archive and I can’t stop pages from appearing when people click. Please keep in mind when reading this comic that it is not a safe happy place where I make you feel wonderful, but one where I beat the shit out of your heart with the intent to get you addicted to my updates and love my characters. If you are sensitive, please read with caution.
Gender/Sexuality stuff in the story
Have either Tom/Charlie had their sex change operations yet?
1) There is no magical sex change operation that just makes them into the other sex instantly. What you are referring to is actually called Gender Reassignment surgery. There are several different ones for either direction, and it can take years before all of their surgery is finished, if they choose to undertake surgery to begin with.
2) If either Charlie or Tom had major surgery in the comic, I think I would have mentioned it. If you’re curious about hormone details ect, then you’re going to have to wait until the story tells you like you would with other comics.
Why are there no straight people? I feel you’re not representing straights fairly because I think Jamie is a dick!
I’m writing stories about people who sit outside the hetro norm. If you want stories about straight people I suggest going into any book store and picking up pretty much ANY book. There are plenty of straight people in this world, I’m just not writing about them this time.
I am saddened that you don’t see Steve’s dad is an excellent example of heterosexuality.
You have too many gay/trans people! They can’t all be gay!
In the UK gay figures are about 1/10, not including bisexuality because bisexuals are apparently invisible. So in a college of 500 (because it’s a quite small one), there’s going to be about 50 queers wandering about, creating awkward friendships with other queers.
As for trans people, I know at least 3 came out of my college. Maybe where you’re from they’re just better at hiding.
My trans experience is different to Tom/Charlie’s! You’re not representing trans people correctly!
That’s kind of how trans/gender/sexuality experiences work. They’re different to everyone’s because they’re Yours. Neither invalidate the other and only you can say who you are. I wouldn’t tell you your trans experience was wrong because I’m not you.
Why do Tom and Charlie pass so well without hormones?
Because I’m a inaccurate dick who Did Not Do the Research. It’s too late to change the story for Khaos to portray this more accurately, so I’m going to keep writing it, finish and then possibly look at how passing and not passing affects trans people in a later story.
Why do your characters all fuck each other?
Because I am a fan pandering whore who likes money.
Q: Why do Tom and Charlie pass so well without hormones?
A: Because they’re young? Because they’re well-dressed? Diet and exercise?
Also because my style is androgynous anyway. I don’t think I could draw a male character in a dress and make them still look male.
SAME HERE! The only difference is the existence of visible boobs…
That’s what beards are for, guys.
I have to agree with Bea. You’ve explained why Charlie is petite (wheat/diet), and she chose a style of dress that can cover a lot, especially since she is good enough to make her own shaping clothes that do exactly what she wants.
Tom is on the tall side for his genetics, and is skinny enough to de-emphasize hips and chest. Combined with an exercise program that emphasizes the arm and shoulder development, and some slight clothing help from Charlie, it’s not real surprising he can pass if slightly androgynously.
You know, it’s like theater. Where even cisgendered characters pass by putting on the clothing of the opposite gender, or disguise themselves as other characters by putting on their clothes. Besides, the fact that the “Khaos Universe” is consistent is what matters.
GREAT comic. Tom’s fockin hot but his hips are WAY too skinny for a pre-opp! Wish I had his hips.
There isn’t an operation to change the size of your hips, except to make them bigger.
Not to mention there are female bodied people who are built that way. For example I’m 22 year old female and I still wear a size 1 or 0 (depending on brand) because I have no real hips to speak of.
Not true. It’s not as common in FTMs as mastectomies and any of the various genital reconstructive surgeries, but I’ve seen a few FTMs go down that road, coughing up the money for reductive surgery on hips/waist.
Also, I disagree with the current switch from “sex change” to “gender change.” Gender is what is innate; THAT is your mentality and social conditioning.
‘Sex’ is something harder to define than what you’ve got up there, but it includes genitalia/secondary sex characteristics, which is the only thing that surgery can touch.
So an FTM is a guy with a male gender and female sex (usually, but you’ve also go to consider ftms that have partially intersex sexes, such as chromosomes abnormalities, et cetera.) And vice versa for a MTF. In my humble opinion/understanding, at least.
Not true. It’s not as common in FTMs as mastectomies and any of the various genital reconstructive surgeries, but I’ve seen a few FTMs go down that road, coughing up the money for reductive surgery on hips/waist.
Also, I disagree with the current switch from “sex change” to “gender change.” Gender is what is innate; THAT is your mentality and social conditioning.
‘Sex’ is something harder to define than what you’ve got up there, but it includes genitalia/secondary sex characteristics, which is the only thing that surgery can touch.
So an FTM is a guy with a male gender and female sex (usually, but you’ve also go to consider ftms that have partially intersex sexes, such as chromosomes abnormalities, et cetera.) And vice versa for a MTF. In my humble opinion/understanding, at least.
Thanks for saying this. That is all.
Well, I don’t know if it’s part of GRS, but professional dancers will sometimes get their hips shaved to make them smaller.
Some females just aren’t all too curvy in the hips and the tank Charlie made for Tom could probably squeeze things in a bit if it’s like a compression tank. If their long enough to go to the hips atleast. I don’t know about hip surgeries, but i know in some cases it’s just weight distribution changing so it doesn’t go to the hips that can make a female body more male. That’s mostly once a female goes on T though.
Also, most women are rectangular, not bottom heavy or hourglasses:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-shape-of-things-to-wear-scientists-identify-how-womens-figures-have-changed-in-50-years-516259.html
60% of women are either rectangular or “inverted triangles”.
Just want to say I’m a female-to-male transsexual. I’m built similarly to Tom, with small hips and breasts and rather tall. Because people have different body shapes, Tom was “lucky” and doesn’t have big hips or breasts. I speak about transgender issues, and I always get those people afterwards to come tell me “I never would have guessed” and “But you look so much like a guy”. Yes, someone PRE-OP, and even PRE-HORMONES can look and sound “just like a guy”. Just wanted to give this from the perspective of someone with a similar body type to Tom.
Just be glad we’re in the 21st Century where loose clothes are in fashion-actually, these days everything is in fashion, which definitely helps Tom and Charlie (oh and also be glad because we’ve got cool stuff like the internet, blue-ray, MP3′s, video games with graphics that don’t suck, etc, etc)
Not to mention modern medicine, sanitation, an average life expectancy above 50, etc. At least in developed countries.
I love this comic and I love how brutally honest you are about how you do things so thank you for the comic and thank you for the bluntness I appreciate them both
Could you put up a place with all the characters’ full names? Charlie Moonbeam Trueman is not one we will soon forget, but I can’t for the life of me remember Mark’s or Jamie’s family name.
Interesting idea, I’ll think of adding a character section. For now:
Steve Madi, Mark Sheffield, Amber Jury, Nanase Oten, Tomas Blake, Alex Murphy, Charlie Trueman and Jamie Davies.
what order should the stories be read in?
Read them in the order they’re put up.
First Steve, then Mark, then maybe their side story if you want, then Amber’s, etc.
Yep! Hit “first” on the main page and it will take you to where it starts.
When you say it’s NSFW, does that mean that it has graphic images?
Or just that there are events that may trigger someone, therefore possibly causing them to break down in the middle of work…?
NSFW means it’s adult content, so yep, graphic stuff.
I do have a trigger warning in the new disclaimer, separate to the NSFW, as I know some people do get emotional when reading.
Tom’s not too skinny for a guy, my own husband is “girl skinny” in the hips, if he had narrower shoulders and shaved he’d make a prettier girl than me.
Hey, just wanted to say I love what I’ve read of your comic so far. Made me cry, and made me laugh out loud a few times. You’ve got that horrible, sometimes soul-crushing, sometimes hilarious awkwardness down excellently.
I have to say, when they cut Charlie’s hair, I cried. It was incredibly emotional. I also wish my parents were as accepting as both Tom’s and Charlie’s, but I guess everyone’s different, especially when it comes to real life… *sighs*
Anyways, really loving the webcomic, I’ve officially fallen in love with this and I don’t do it easily with webcomics! (There’s this one and girlswithslingshots that I will now read religiously – hope to buy your physical copies soon when I get monies!!!)
We bisexuals are not really invisable we just keep a low profile…or at least in the United States we do. LOL However it makes it hard on relationships, which is why I really like these comics for there characters issues!!!
You are a wonderful person, by the way. I really have to love charlie, because I’m a trans girl with some similar experiences, and for an presumably non-trans person, you have a really well centered outlook. Thank you for writing it, and for taking the time to put a representative view of trans people here without as much cis bias as the material is usually shown with.
I know a lot of trans Men who pass without hormones.
It’s not Impossible for a trans woman of Charlie’s age to pass, given good genetics. it’s just hard as fuck. (from seeing friends do it better.)
Honestly this is one of the best, and most thought out comics i’ve seen anywhere, including mainstream ones… Got to say, I’m a huge fan.
though… in your above q and A section i saw something that i must comment on.
I dislike a lot of the stresses people put on societal conditioning as part of sex. As someone who came out to their first person in first grade, and had the shit beaten out of me for it (yes… as a first grader)… i really don’t think i had too much time to “soak up the privileged”…
The biochemical purpose of the SRY gene and the Y chromosome can be isolated to reproduction and testosterone production. It determines none of the secondary OR primary characteristics of the human body. (the presence of hormones in utero does this. I.E. Testosterone, or its absence) Thus hormones bipass this. yes… the dna is still there… but it doesn’t DO anything. Though many like to argue about stuff it’s already done…past tense.
Gonads and genitals are removed in the surgery for a MtF…. Gonads are removed for the surgery for a FtM… and some select braver ones have their genitals altered as well… though… :/ *sadface*But again. People like to focus entirely on the past tense.
The point here though is that trans people don’t usually socialize to their birth sex… Some of them kinda do… but that’s not been my, or any trans person i’ve had any long conversation with’s, experience with life. Idk. I think it’s mainly a cis excuse for stating their rightness about our sex. Just My Opinions and concerns.
Which Q&A is this in response to?
I was responding to the section above (in the about tab) where the author writes: “”Gender/Sexuality stuff in the story
Have either Tom/Charlie had their sex change operations yet?
1) There is no magical sex change operation that just makes them into the other sex instantly. Sex can be defined as your chromosomes, your genitals, your gonads or your social conditioning, which means it’s pretty impossible to change sex. What you are referring to is actually called Gender Reassignment surgery. There are several different ones for either direction, and it can take years before all of their surgery is finished, if they choose to undertake surgery to begin with”"
And the author is right in saying it CAN be defined by social conditioning, in the sense that people are physically capable of defining it that way…but they SHOULDN’T. Your upbringing factors into your personality. It does not change your sex or gender. People are not socialized to become female… they are female, and their socialization determines how they ACT. It’s a dumb reason Cis people use to say that a trans woman should never be allowed in protective spaces. but idk. I’m biased.
When I say social conditioning, I mean being told “you are female” or “you are male”. For example, intersex people who have been told they are a single gender from birth are definitely socially conditioned to feel like one or the other.
But yes, I’m basically saying here that there are so many factors that determine sex that it’s pointless to use it as a definition. The only relevant thing is the gender that a person feels that they are.
The social conditioning has to do with gender, not sex.
I never write on sites, even those I like. Once in a decade I may write an author I like. I teach writing and have daughters who want to create their own graphic novels. This is all just to say, here is another voice (somewhat in context) to applaud you for work that is moving, relevant, and addictive. In response to several of the comments above: I do think your characters, Charlie in particular, and sometimes Tom, don’t just look androgynous, but sometimes — and realistically — certain emotions seem to show a hint of female in Tom, or conversely uber-male (when flirting with Murphy). And sometimes, for instance when she was kissing Jamie for the first time, there were hints of Charlie as a boy. Personally I think this is accurate, subtle and very moving. The acceptance of some of the parents in the story is such a relief, and feels so contemporary. Thank you for not sinking into the old tropes that just reinforce outdated bigotries. Quite a number of US politicians I won’t name could learn a thing or two from you. I look forward to reading more.
Basically: this.
Thanks for putting it so well, Charc.
I’m not really sure where else to put this- I love this comic, and I’ve been stalking updates for around a year now without any problems, but for some reason now I can’t get past the ‘warning’ page- when I click ‘Enter Khaos’ it just doesn’t work
I’ve made sure cookies are enabled and tried on four different browsers but it just refreshes the page. Help?
Awesome work, by the way- you wouldn’t believe how helpful this has been to me for working myself out.
Thank you!!!
I am 16 years old and I live in a VERY conservative family (pastor’s kid) in a pretty conservative town. I have always felt different, especially about my sexuality. I have been so overly confused. “Am I a boy?… Then I must be a lesbian…. Am I bisexual?… Am I gay? Then I AM a girl… Am I making it all up like my family keeps suggesting?” I have been hiding inside myself for so long, I know I am not making this up! I have been trying to be all of these things but finding I cannot meet up to all the “requirements.”
After reading this comic and reading Tom and Alex’s story everything clicked! I like how Tom says, “I like boys, but in a gay way.” That gave me a whole new outlook on things. I am still not 100%, but I now know that what I am feeling is real (Even if my only confirmation is all in your imagination).
Thank you!!!
i love this comic im engaged to an ftm and i can sympathies with the gay characters and the ones that are transgender. i think it gives a great incite to what you go though emotionally when you are transgender. Great job and keep up the great work i cant wait to read the rest
“Why do your characters all fuck each other?
Because I am a fan pandering whore who likes money.”
There is soda all over my laptop. I should have learned not to take a drink when reading anything you write from back when Charlie told Tom that she’s dating Jamie XD
I have to say, your comic is very addictive. I’ve been patiently following you since you were halfway done Mark’s story and going into Amber’s. …Man, it’s been years.
I remember looking at the archive page and deciding I couldn’t wait until Alex got to tell his story… Too bad I never realized how long it would take for Alex to speak!
My point is, is that you write a compelling story. When I first stumbled upon your site, I think I read through the existing pages and the three zip files in 2 or three days, tops. Anyways, the fact that you can write something so fascinating that you have people who have followed you for years is amazing. I don’t do that for most webcomics.
PS- I’m sorry, but I have to say this…. You are a rather cute nerd.
As far as the trigger warning on the front page is concerned, I can’t actually find the front page. khaoskomix.com takes me straight to the current page in the comic and I remember there used to be a cover page with a big picture and a warning that basically this comic is all about gay people and trans people and very few of the characters are straight people and some of it is NSFW and if you’re cool with that read on. I presume that while I’ve been away that’s where the trigger warning also appeared but can’t actually find that page at all! Which is fine by me, I could see where Jamie’s story was going and having kind of mentally prepared myself, I just read through as fast as I could and then found something nice and fluffy to watch instead, but if there’s going to be a trigger warning I’d like to know where and I’d like to know that everyone reading the comic has definitely had the chance to read it and know what to expect.
So I just wondered where that warning was and what page it’s on and yeah… just so I don’t worry…?!
The trigger warning is still there, but if you click “okay” once and have your cookies turned on, it won’t pop up again. If you’ve never seen it, not sure why it’s not popping up. Every time I’ve come here on a public [library] computer instead of on my laptop, I’ve had to go through both the library’s mature content disclaimer /and/ the warning page Tab put up.
I’m impressed. No one asked if Alex is assexual in any extent? I need to know this.
If Alex was asexual he wouldn’t be turned on by Anything.^^
Not sure if there even is a name for his way of sexuality. He seems more “picky” than the other characters, anyway.
Actually asexuality varies immensely, it doesn’t mean you’re not turned on by anything.
Alex was written with asexuality in mind, though he’s more similar to single target sexuality.
Alex is just about the asexiest person written.
Tab, is that you in drag in the lil gif? Or are you a trans?
I’m male but it doesn’t stop me from wearing female costumes.
What do you do? http://bihecegoco.de.tl elwebs biz nymphets couldnt concentrate. i was more concerned about the health and safety when her neck was so close to the corner of that shelf.
Hey, thanks for writing such a great story that shows a lot of characters that our gender- and heteronormative society would just ignore.
I read this comic when I thought I was totally straight, while dating manly men and all that. And it was interesting and a cool story, and made me think about things I hadn’t really considered. The characters were interesting people I wanted to get to know, even if I hadn’t experienced anything like what they were going through.
I’ve just now reread it after starting to date my girlfriend, who was assigned male at birth. My perspective has changed immensely; and the work you’ve done here feels authentic and accurate. Suddenly what were “other people’s problems” are now mine, and your work speaks to me in a different way.
I can tell from experience that your work reads well from all perspectives. Thanks for doing such a great job!
First of all,great job,I mean I read the stories in like 2-4 days.And I’m fascinated by it,addiction totally…
This even made me realize that I’m like Tom …
It’s first weird but I never thought about it all those years I didn’t notice it quite that I thought of guys in a gay way.
Gay guy stuck in a body of a girl.
But anyway great job and thank for for making me find my orientation and myself.
I never thought about being trans before I read this comic, but this has really changed my perspective and actually help me learn a lot!
I have realized that I’m like Tom. I was born female, but I feel like a boy and like guys in a gay way.
Love this comic! I discovered it right as Jamie’s story ended(Literally, the day Tab posted the last page)
Hi! Really been enjoying your comic, but I just noticed you’ve made a mistake under “Have either Tom/Charlie had their sex change operations yet?”.
You incorrectly refer to “Gender Reassignment Surgery”, which doesn’t actually exist. As I thought you would have known, ‘Gender’ refers to the mental and ‘Sex’ refers to the physical, and thus you can’t change someone’s gender (no matter how hard some people may try). While “SRS” may not be the best term, it /is/ considered the official one – it’s certainly better than GRS which is often used by cis transphobes because it implies the person was never a man/woman to begin with (which they were, mentally).
Just thought I should let you know so you weren’t accidentally misinforming anyone.
In the UK at least it’s a faux pas to refer to any surgery a trans person undergoes as sex reassignment surgery. This is because it’s a very erasing for non-surgery trans* people who have no desire to have surgery, and also can imply that a person isn’t their gender until surgery occurs. Instead the term GRS (gender reassignment surgery) is used, not as “this operation will change the person’s gender” but to say “This person is this gender and any operations they undergo are to help them feel more at ease with how their body fits with their identity”. For example, a trans woman wouldn’t be changing the sex of her face if undergoing facial feminisation surgery, but she’d be aligning it better with what she’d consider to be her identity.
I’m happy to discuss more on the FAQ if you like, I don’t think it’s particularly clear in places and would like to make sure people don’t get confused. Terminology I know is very important when it comes to these themes and while Khaos isn’t supposed to be a one stop education on trans issues I’d like to make it correct and easy to understand.
I disagree with Tom and Charlie’s passing well being inaccurate.
I know girls like Tom who work out a lot and have arms like him. They are not trans but if they did things like get a haircut and tied down their boobs they’d pass just as well.
Charlie doesn’t pass as well as she does easily. Shes put incredible amounts of work into her voice, her posture, her body, her hair, cloths and make-up.
To pass as well as they do, no hormones needed.
I didn’t really know where to put this comment but I just realised there is a kid at my school called Alex Murphy… Should it be automatic that I love him?
yes