Hien Pham sits down and talks about community, titles, representation and celebration surrounding this friendly-competition for Perth’s next Mr. Bear pageant. Hien masterfully shares a short interview and slice of introspection in this beautiful comic. That’s a lot of words for: ‘I love this comic, and think you will too!’
Hien’s Notes!
Thank you to the lovely Mitch for sitting down with me and telling me their story, which was equal parts inspiring and validating! Shout-out to my bud Stewart for the cameo, Kal at Moose Knuckle Leather for lending me their leather sash design, and all of my friends at Bears Perth for their encouragements toward my run at Mr. Bear this year! I’ll try my best to do y’all proud!
We’re comign up fast to some big changes for our Patreon! I went ahead and wrote about what to expect over here. BUT the TLDR: is that in the next few weeks OJST will officially be switched to a Per-Month Patreon Subscription =D No more fluctuating charges depending on how many Tuesdays there are in a specific month! Now, you’ll be able to commit a set amount of support and just sit back and relax. Granted we’re a bit rattled by the forced change, but we’re equally excited to make supporting us, our artists, and this site easier =D
Don’t let me talk you out of backing us now though: sign up for a buck or two right now to see the BTS and bonuses, while they are at their cheapest!
– Join the Oh Joy Sex Toy pay-per-comic (For only a one or two more weeks!) Patreon to directly support us
– The Erika Moen Monthly/Yearly Patreon as another way to support Erika and the site.
Finally, if Patreon isn’t your thing… – just email me and we’ll figure something out!
If you’d like to help us in other ways… Share our newer and updated Sharable Comics on a social someplace! We’ve been reformatting the comics in this list slowly and surely to be separated split pages, way better for posting on social and reading on a phone! Every comic that’s read and every click back is truly a help =) Read more about how our license works over here!
↓ Comic Transcript
PAGE 1
Our protagonist, Hien Pham, is a Southeast Asian cisgender heavyset man with a short, bushy, black beard, fuzzy body hair, and glasses. He is mostly bald on top, with the rest of his hair pulled back into a proud bun.
The art style is rendered in a rich, painterly, textured manner with a mostly brown, orange, yellow, tan, white, and black color palette over fairly realistic depictions of the people and objects.
A crumpled, black and red shirt is laid out and a black leather chest harness with silver metal bits resting on top of it.
"Oh boy..." The narration begins over Hien Pham sitting shirtless and looking at his reflection in a vanity mirror with large white light bulbs lining its edge. "Here we go again..."
Hien rests his elbows on the edge of the dressing room table, on the plaid shirt and chest harness, as he continues to look pensively at his reflection. He is framed between a gap in the thick, purple privacy curtains as the narration continues, "Many things surprised me when I first came out onto the queer scene, but few were as boisterous and beautiful as *titleholder competitions.*"
Along the entire vertical length of the righthand side of the page, we see stripes of black, gray, white, tan, yellow, orange, and brown leather sewn together at a slight diagonal.
PAGE 2
Set against a flat color background of those same diagonal colored stripes, we see Stewart Wheeler - Mr. Bear Perth 2023, a hunky, hairy white man flexing and smiling coyly at us. He wears a crown sewn out of the same diagonal colored leather strips, as well as a pageant sash with the same. He also sports a black leather brimmed cap underneath his crown, a leather cuff on his wrist, a black leather open vest, and a heavy-duty chain necklace. His thick reddish-brown beard and hairy chest and shoulders are proudly on display.
Narration: Mr. Bear, Ms. Leather, Mx. Rubber, National and International Pups and Handlers... These mini Prides are held annually, with handfuls of events leading up to big pageants where communities look for their next representative. The newly-sashed titleholder goes on to raise funds and awareness for their club and chosen charity, as well as to enrich the local queer culture for the rest of their title year.
Now outside a pub in the evening, with string lights illuminating the bustling terrace, Hien stands to the side nervously. He wears his black and red plaid flannel shirt.
Narration: I first put my hand up for Perth's Mr. Bear in 2021 as an incredibly earnest attempt at making friends and introducing myself to the community.
Hien sits quietly in a chair among several men jovially talking and drinking.
Narration: Despite not winning the sash, I've become a regular face, volunteer, and even a committee member over the last three years.
In the same outfit and now sporting a kind of cartoonish koala onesie that he wears as a hood on his head and the body flows down his back like a cape, Hien skittishly navigates a crowd of men, serving up a tray of snacks for the attendees.
Narration: The Bears have since become a place I don't hesitate to call home, but it hasn't always been a smooth ride.
PAGE 3
Hien stands outside a well-lit building, leaning against a porch handrail. He is back to just his black and red flannel shirt, dark khaki shorts, and no koala hood this time.
Narration: Alongside the feel-giood, there were times I felt so acutely alone. I am a brown kid who's not as hairy, not as sexual, not as conventionally Bear-y as I and many would like... Am I even fit to represent this community?
Inside an empty pub on a later date, Hien now sits at a tall, round bar table with Mitchell Bertolini - Mr. Bear Perth 2020 and Mr. Australiasia Bear 2021. Mitch is a non-binary (he/they) Italian person with the sides of his head buzzed short and a mane of thick hair swept back from the center of his head, running down to their neck. They have a sparse, short beard with a thicker (but still short) mustache, a pierced ear, and he wears a soft hoody and jeans. Hien wears a short-sleeved button down shirt and shorts.
"It's a double-edged sword." Mitch tells Hien. "I won, and I'm making connections and engaging with a community that I could feel I was a part of... But it was also the start of a lot of bullying and ridicule. A lot of people didn't agree with my physical appearance and the way I presented my gender. 'He's not a Bear.' 'What a disgrace to Bears.' 'Twink with a moustache.' Nevermind that I was volunteering and donating not just my time, but also money from my small business."
PAGE 4
"What kept you coming back?" Hien asks.
"I genuinely, whole-heartedly, just want a space to be queer." Replies Mitch. "I met some of my closest friends through community events. I didn't have any queer friends up until then." Smiling fondly and resting his head against his hand, he continues, "The first time I came to Bears, Sam, who was the present and titleholder at the time, walked up to me and asked for my name. He got me to pull the raffle ticket that night. It was wild! I kept coming back because of it."
Hien's face lights up as Mitch tells him, "You've always been good at that, Hien, welcoming new people. Someone's initial interaction when they first walk through the doors can make or break their relationship with the scene. Girl, you were even introducing *my* friends that *I* brought to Bears to me!"
"I didn't know!!" Wails Hien in exaggerated embarrassment as he covers his head in mock-shame.
"It's funny! Keep doing your Hien thing!" Encourages Mitch with a laugh.
PAGE 5
Back in the dressing room from the beginning of the story, Hien buttons up his black and plaid flannel shirt, rolls up his sleeves, and attaches his "Bears Perth: Hien" tag on his chest, next to one of his leather harness's straps.
Narration: Like Mitch, I found a home of Bears because someone saw me when I felt so invisible. I wouldn't have met so many irreplaceable friends in my life if I wasn't afforded that chance to be seen, and to belong. I'm competing against for a lot of reasons: to show that someone like me can be Bear Excellence, to challenge myself, to show my growth..."
Taking a calming breath, Hien stands behind a thick theater curtain which is cracked just enough to let a thin vertical beam of light shine onto his face and chest.
Narration: But, I think, at the core, it's to extend a welcoming hand to someone who needs that chance like I once did. It's achievable without a title, but this celebration is the perfect opportunity for one invisible kid to inspire many others."
From behind, we see Hien part the curtains and the warm stage lights illuminate his front, giving us just a rimming glow around his edges. The O-ring and straps of his harness are just barely visible to us.
Narration: I truly believe, the single greatest thing any of us can ever do, is to make an effort to show someone that they matter.
Transcription was made by Erika Moen 9/16/24, support us on Patreon.com/Ohjoysextoy!
Our protagonist, Hien Pham, is a Southeast Asian cisgender heavyset man with a short, bushy, black beard, fuzzy body hair, and glasses. He is mostly bald on top, with the rest of his hair pulled back into a proud bun.
The art style is rendered in a rich, painterly, textured manner with a mostly brown, orange, yellow, tan, white, and black color palette over fairly realistic depictions of the people and objects.
A crumpled, black and red shirt is laid out and a black leather chest harness with silver metal bits resting on top of it.
"Oh boy..." The narration begins over Hien Pham sitting shirtless and looking at his reflection in a vanity mirror with large white light bulbs lining its edge. "Here we go again..."
Hien rests his elbows on the edge of the dressing room table, on the plaid shirt and chest harness, as he continues to look pensively at his reflection. He is framed between a gap in the thick, purple privacy curtains as the narration continues, "Many things surprised me when I first came out onto the queer scene, but few were as boisterous and beautiful as *titleholder competitions.*"
Along the entire vertical length of the righthand side of the page, we see stripes of black, gray, white, tan, yellow, orange, and brown leather sewn together at a slight diagonal.
PAGE 2
Set against a flat color background of those same diagonal colored stripes, we see Stewart Wheeler - Mr. Bear Perth 2023, a hunky, hairy white man flexing and smiling coyly at us. He wears a crown sewn out of the same diagonal colored leather strips, as well as a pageant sash with the same. He also sports a black leather brimmed cap underneath his crown, a leather cuff on his wrist, a black leather open vest, and a heavy-duty chain necklace. His thick reddish-brown beard and hairy chest and shoulders are proudly on display.
Narration: Mr. Bear, Ms. Leather, Mx. Rubber, National and International Pups and Handlers... These mini Prides are held annually, with handfuls of events leading up to big pageants where communities look for their next representative. The newly-sashed titleholder goes on to raise funds and awareness for their club and chosen charity, as well as to enrich the local queer culture for the rest of their title year.
Now outside a pub in the evening, with string lights illuminating the bustling terrace, Hien stands to the side nervously. He wears his black and red plaid flannel shirt.
Narration: I first put my hand up for Perth's Mr. Bear in 2021 as an incredibly earnest attempt at making friends and introducing myself to the community.
Hien sits quietly in a chair among several men jovially talking and drinking.
Narration: Despite not winning the sash, I've become a regular face, volunteer, and even a committee member over the last three years.
In the same outfit and now sporting a kind of cartoonish koala onesie that he wears as a hood on his head and the body flows down his back like a cape, Hien skittishly navigates a crowd of men, serving up a tray of snacks for the attendees.
Narration: The Bears have since become a place I don't hesitate to call home, but it hasn't always been a smooth ride.
PAGE 3
Hien stands outside a well-lit building, leaning against a porch handrail. He is back to just his black and red flannel shirt, dark khaki shorts, and no koala hood this time.
Narration: Alongside the feel-giood, there were times I felt so acutely alone. I am a brown kid who's not as hairy, not as sexual, not as conventionally Bear-y as I and many would like... Am I even fit to represent this community?
Inside an empty pub on a later date, Hien now sits at a tall, round bar table with Mitchell Bertolini - Mr. Bear Perth 2020 and Mr. Australiasia Bear 2021. Mitch is a non-binary (he/they) Italian person with the sides of his head buzzed short and a mane of thick hair swept back from the center of his head, running down to their neck. They have a sparse, short beard with a thicker (but still short) mustache, a pierced ear, and he wears a soft hoody and jeans. Hien wears a short-sleeved button down shirt and shorts.
"It's a double-edged sword." Mitch tells Hien. "I won, and I'm making connections and engaging with a community that I could feel I was a part of... But it was also the start of a lot of bullying and ridicule. A lot of people didn't agree with my physical appearance and the way I presented my gender. 'He's not a Bear.' 'What a disgrace to Bears.' 'Twink with a moustache.' Nevermind that I was volunteering and donating not just my time, but also money from my small business."
PAGE 4
"What kept you coming back?" Hien asks.
"I genuinely, whole-heartedly, just want a space to be queer." Replies Mitch. "I met some of my closest friends through community events. I didn't have any queer friends up until then." Smiling fondly and resting his head against his hand, he continues, "The first time I came to Bears, Sam, who was the present and titleholder at the time, walked up to me and asked for my name. He got me to pull the raffle ticket that night. It was wild! I kept coming back because of it."
Hien's face lights up as Mitch tells him, "You've always been good at that, Hien, welcoming new people. Someone's initial interaction when they first walk through the doors can make or break their relationship with the scene. Girl, you were even introducing *my* friends that *I* brought to Bears to me!"
"I didn't know!!" Wails Hien in exaggerated embarrassment as he covers his head in mock-shame.
"It's funny! Keep doing your Hien thing!" Encourages Mitch with a laugh.
PAGE 5
Back in the dressing room from the beginning of the story, Hien buttons up his black and plaid flannel shirt, rolls up his sleeves, and attaches his "Bears Perth: Hien" tag on his chest, next to one of his leather harness's straps.
Narration: Like Mitch, I found a home of Bears because someone saw me when I felt so invisible. I wouldn't have met so many irreplaceable friends in my life if I wasn't afforded that chance to be seen, and to belong. I'm competing against for a lot of reasons: to show that someone like me can be Bear Excellence, to challenge myself, to show my growth..."
Taking a calming breath, Hien stands behind a thick theater curtain which is cracked just enough to let a thin vertical beam of light shine onto his face and chest.
Narration: But, I think, at the core, it's to extend a welcoming hand to someone who needs that chance like I once did. It's achievable without a title, but this celebration is the perfect opportunity for one invisible kid to inspire many others."
From behind, we see Hien part the curtains and the warm stage lights illuminate his front, giving us just a rimming glow around his edges. The O-ring and straps of his harness are just barely visible to us.
Narration: I truly believe, the single greatest thing any of us can ever do, is to make an effort to show someone that they matter.
Transcription was made by Erika Moen 9/16/24, support us on Patreon.com/Ohjoysextoy!