#Right now Im trying to finish next pages of main comic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

c0smiccom3t · 7 months

Text

Dimension Dyfenders Update!! (9/20/23)

HEY, HEY, it's September! You know what that means! (read the above)

Hello D.D fandom, hello followers, mutuals, friends and hello people who curiously stumbled upon this post. You all know who i am, but for those who don't, let me introduce myself. My name's Comet. I'm the co-creator and main artist in the indie webcomic series Dimension Dyfenders! As of right now, i'm attending art school and trying my best to work more on the webcomic while also attending on my studies and get better grades. Now, you might ask, "Comet, what's going on with this series now?", "Why haven't been there more pocket adventures minisode 1 parts lately?" Well, i got the answers right here! First of all, let's start with the most obvious one... The Pocket Adventures situation.

Now, Pocket Adventures hasnt been online as of late, no next parts were being published, and im very sorry for that. The cause for it is the loss of motivation i had, which made me not work on it for a long while. Even when making new panels i feel extremely tired. Feeling like i should do something else (heck, i feel insecure about its panels when i draw them!) But fret not, that doesn't mean Pocket Adventures is getting cancelled. We still have loads of plans on the table and we can't wait to roll them out. But for now, we're taking a break due to IRL situations for example, art school. We, the team, have lives outside of making d.d content. We need to get our degrees and, well, try to survive life. But no worries, because I got plans to get back on D.D P.A Minisode 1 and finish it completely once winter break hits. As long as my motivation gets out of its hibernation phase. But still, i can't wait for you all to see the conclusion to minisode 1. (I just hope you dont mind if i jump right into the 'new designs' in the next pages)

Speaking of minisodes, I've been thinking of releasing minisodes only once a year than every saturday. Though this decision is not final yet. I don't want clout, in fact, i just wanna do what I love. Create stories and comics for everybody to enjoy. But if you guys would love for a minisode to release once a year or once in 3 months, let me know your opinions! Your criticism helps this series, especially its production, grow better!

Now, for the second and final question you may have asked… Thing is, Nothing has changed! But well, if you know me on my social media for my recent Crash Bandicoot fanart, then you might notice that Crash 4: It's About Time, especially it's artbook (and concept art by Nicola Saviori)... Has affected my artstyle, DRASTICALLY. So. The characters, of course, have went through some changes. I'd like to call this new artstyle... "The TFB Effect". As a matter of fact, Dimension Dyfenders (both its miniseries and full series) is going to have a brand new, more cartoony, zanier than ever artstyle! Don't believe me? See for yourselves. Starting with the main ones!

I decided to add a little bit of the good ol' Squash and Stretch to the characters to make them stand out more in the next comics. So of course, some of the colors have changed, especially designs and bodytypes. Oh, and not just that, our heroes have some new stuff, too! For example: Knockout's Dyfender Element is now refered as "Quantum Strenght", Paintdrop's is called "Cosmic Creativity" and Speedrunner's is called "Light Speed". Neat upgrades, eh? (Still, criticism is accepted.) Anyway, notice that in the first picture above there's something that says: "Dyfender Mode", right? Well, if you see that, that's because we are introducing something brand new to our heroes. Called: Omni-modes.

Now, "what are Omni-modes?", you may ask? Well, Omni-modes are modes that are set on the Dyfenders' Dy-watches, you may see that the Omni-Modes are, of course, the Dyfenders' alternate hero forms, to help them take on a mission in a different, more suitable form. When the day needs to be saved during night time (and rarely past bedtime), they activate Night Mode. For sunny beach days but still wanting to make sure nobody figures out their secret identities, Acqua Mode will be at their service. There are tons of different Omni-Modes to be shown (Especially, Pride mode, which was shown on this year's pride post.) So, yeah. Omni-modes will be shown in both the miniseries AND the full series!

Oh! And refering to characters, we can't forget about our main bad guys! Oh, you know, the Dajo-Crew? They got a bit of a make over to fit to the current artstyle! (ft. the updated height chart):

Now that we got that out of the way. let's just head over what will the future of the series look like as of right now. Starting off with the full series and pocket adventures. As said before, Dimension Dyfenders' artstyle changed. But that doesn't mean everything changed, things may be different (the more cartoony artstyle and the sillier tone), but nothing about the series has changed! And that means..

MORE POCKET ADVENTURES IS HAPPENING, THAT'S RIGHT! MORE D.D CONTENT COMING THIS WAY!

As for right now, D.D Minisode 1 may still be in development as we speak, but one thing that's completed right now is the script! Now that its finally finished, all thats left, is the panel and comic page-making (hopefully you wont mind the sudden character design changes, though.)! But in the meantime! We got some sneak peaks for not just one of the panels from the next minisode 1 pages, but also a never-seen before panel from the next minisodes of pocket adventures! (notice: some of these are not final and may change in the final product.)

That's not all! this franchise has got some new stuff coming in during it's run. We got so many plans, but this is the only thing we can show about said plans:

As you can see, you're gonna see some new characters in pocket adventures. While in the full series, you'll get some new characters too. Except... New baddies will be only in the full series, while in the miniseries then later in the animated series... You'll get to meet some new allies! So, keep your eyes peeled for them! And we hope you like them as much as we do.

Now, D.D has never shown a sign of stopping, even during hiatuses, so im happy to announce that more Pocket Adventures will be on their way after Minisode 1 has completed production! We're thinking of putting the upload dates on hold (which means, minisode 2 is delayed until further notice, sorry guys.). So please be patient when waiting for new minisodes.

And speaking of patience... I think I got a little something to keep you guys busy with while you wait... Introducing…

DIMENSION DYFENDERS TOONIES!

Now, you may be wondering: "What is THIS?" D.D.T (Dimension Dyfenders Toonies for long), is a brand new miniseries of comic strips that comes out during the weekends. (Starting in October, the end of september, or during the holiday season! No promises, though.) It's a little something i can make up while you guys wait for the next Pocket Adventures Minisodes. Oh yeah, here's one of the cover for it, too! It's not much, but i know you guys would go NUTS for it:

This will be about how the Dyfenders handle their superhero and school lives in everyday situations. (No worries, the action isn't gone. There might be some strips about school, but there will be more strips about their superhero lives, guarantee!). It's also about what The Dajo-Crew does when they aren't invading dimensions, get into some shenanigans at the castle and also when they plot evil schemes. some strips will be either original with a new short story or a recreation of old strips from phase 1 (not a final decision of course, but you can tell us if you like this idea)! One thing to point out is that some of the strips might take place before some minisodes, now thats another thing to notice, right? And that's the only "spoiler" I can give. So, sorry, no more! OH! And for any of you voice actors reading this who are like: "Wow, i wonder when this series will get a comic dub / animated series. If i'm lucky enough i might be able to voice act for it!" … Boy, do we have a treat for you all. Which will be posted in a few hours. both on bird app, bluesky, insta and on here! The only thing I have to announce is that during the d.d stuff's production and during art school, i'm not gonna be online on social media. (until during normal/long weekends and festive days.), but no worries, the series is still alive and kicking, even when there aren't posts about it for a few months! Though, in some days, i'll be able to make and share some art for it! You're all in for a wild ride for these months and for 2024! Oh, and about Dajo's account. I'm planning to bring it back. But, Dajo is currently busy conquering Dimensions, but I can assure he hasn't abandoned Sinstagram completely. You'll see more of his influencer side, too. Both in his Sinstagram and in the upcoming strips! (And perhaps in some mini– OOPS! TOO MUCH!) That's all for now! Thank you all for your support on the series, don't forget to share your fan creations of the series in DMs or tag me and the team in your masterpieces, share it with your family and friends, subscribe to the series on Comicfury, and follow me on Tumblr, bluesky, bird app and Instagram if you wish to support the project even outside of comicfury! Once again, thank you all in this slowly-growing small fandom for all of your support, and i hope you're all excited for what's to come! If you have any questions, please drop them on my tumblr askbox, Which i'll be able to answer during the weekends. That's all, back to the offline study and sleep abyss for me. GOODBYE!

#dimension dyfenders #webcomic #indie project #comics #announcement #dimension dyfenders updates #dajo stuns in new selfie /j #art #artists on tumblr #webcomics #ocs #original characters #webtoons #superheroes #cartoons #comic strips #official update #demon ocs #this is a new tag for artists

20 notes · View notes

bvannn · 2 months

Text

Weekly Update March 8, 2024

I didn’t do as much as I had hoped over spring break due to still being sleep deprived, but tomorrow and the next night I should be able to catch up. I’m making a good deal of progress on stuff.

I figured out animation with Clip Studio enough to make a little gif of Romeo playing piano, to go along with his theme. I’m really happy with how it came out. That’s the biggest song I have ready, but I’m really close on another (unless I decide to get more ambitious, which I might), and I do have a smaller one scheduled to go up Tuesday. I’m feeling surprisingly good about music.

The main problem I’m having is kind of a ‘just finish it’ thing, where I’m just not motivated to go record melodies or melody parts for whatever reason. That’s what’s holding back a couple pieces now, but I’m hoping that I can do some tonight or tomorrow. I’m thinking tonight because I got hit with inspiration for another character theme melody, and I don’t want to lose it while I sleep tonight, but I’d feel bad starting in that when another character theme and some other miscellaneous pieces are also awaiting melodies and recordings. I’d like to knock a whole bunch out tonight, because theoretically they shouldn’t be that bad, the annoying part is dressing them up for use which doesn’t need to be done tonight. Im not sure if I want to tonight because I also want to draw, at a minimum I’ll record that character theme melody.

The other big music thing is a vocaloid cover of a song that I’m using to test out how vocaloid works. I got the audio back from the friend with the voicebanks, and it sounds a lot better than expected! There’s a couple things I do want to tweak, but I don’t think I’d be able to do it from within the program, it’ll probably be more me fiddling with the wav file. Idk song is going surprisingly well, shouldn’t be very complicated to round up instruments, I already got all the plugins set up it’s just a matter of recording. I’ve also managed to find a guy in my area who offers Guitar lessons for cheap, which I’ve been taking and I do think the two I’ve been to are helping. Maybe if I get really brazen I can record organic guitar instead of using a vst, since it should be mostly or entirely power chords, but it’s not the end of the world if I can’t.

I do want to figure out visuals to go with it. I was a little hesitant to really put in a big effort with it, until I heard that buying a license for cover rights is ‘not actually that expensive’. I don’t know if that means 10 or 200 bucks but worst case I can hold onto it until I’m comfortable enough to drop money if it’s really that expensive. I’d like to do a simple music video with the vocaloid character, since the original song’s video is also really simple, although I need to figure out character design. Might throw a few together and put up a poll.

I’ve been trying to get more drawing stuff done too, some miscellaneous animations mostly. I’m really trying to push myself to finish up the timings I need for my commission sheet, and honestly I’m pretty close. I feel bad because I probably will have to increase prices after all, but I’m also offering other options, which can still be cheap. I’m trying not to undercut myself for my level of work, but art commissions are so expensive that I don’t want to be overcharging either. Most of the comms I have done have come with tips, so I guess people are willing to pay a bit more than I was charging anyway, but even then I don’t want to crank the prices high just because a few people are willing to pay more. I’m charging based on time, I just need to sort out how long things take.

Final point, comic writing/thumbnailing is going well, I’m at 25.5/32. Unsure how bad editing is going to be, but I’m kinda editing as I go along so I don’t anticipate it’ll be that bad. I’m expecting to be able to actually start making pages soon. What comes next could either be a continuation or a pitch for the other story. I get more questions about the other story, so I’m tempted, but I also feel like it’s a harder sell than the first. Whatever I need to finish the first one first, and that’s what I’ll do.

I’m still messed up on sleep and flareups are also picking up pretty bad, but only in the mornings, so I bet if I get more sleep they’ll go away too. Either way I do have a consult for the next surgery to deal with that in a couple months, so I should hopefully be okay. Plan tonight is to either draw some more or record some stuff

#weekly update

3 notes · View notes

ask-october-fox · 3 years

Note

Meta question: how much do you prepare for this blog? Every year is an absolute treat, pun intended, but I find it impressively hard to tackle it all in one month like how you do it. Do you ever work on comic pages etc throughout the year?

Oh ho?~ A very meta question indeed! So you wish to know the secrets of this blog? Well keep reading to find out!

Ive actually been meaning to get to this question for a while now but literally hadnt had the time nor the right reaction image. But as to answer your question in full- Short answer: Yes! Long answer: Yes, but not well xD Long long answer: Generally speaking, as soon as this month is over, im already starting to plan out the next year, trying to get an idea of what I might do or where the story might go. I had actually planned on doing another 'big' story this year but of course life got in the way and I couldnt do it. Not to mention there were some other factors that also made that difficult, as there are certain events that need to happen in a certain order for those things to continue. And those parts have to come from another POV but thats a spoiler so I cant say much else about it. Tho if im able to get an idea and story planned out, I take the month of September to start working on that. For those that dont know, I do commissions as a source of income throughout the rest of the year, so that cuts into a lot of my time to make this a full time thing. I try to get all my work done by September and I take that time to strictly work on October content if I can help it. This is where the story or merch are mostly created- tho the merch is much more last minute as I dont always know what it is I want to draw |D; I have a lot of ideas honestly but not always the skills to pull that off. This year I had actually done a lot of the merch way before September- tho uh... I realized that after finishing all of this year's first "print" it would have been far too suggestive even in a SFW setting, so I had to quickly come up with another idea, which I did thankfully! But it was very much cutting it down to the wire! The first "print" and all its versions will be available on my Patreon. Some stories do just happen, like last year's, since thats when the pandemic hit along with many other things. An idea came to me so I was able to work with that, which then kind of accidentally gave me an idea of how to lead into more of the actual story. There are really two main factors that keep me from always having a story: 1) Time and 2)Backgrounds as I just REALLY DONT LIKE DOING THEM. I can draw the characters but if I have to do a new background I just cry inside xD; So yeah, im sure you didnt need to read all of that but I got excited to share some 'behind the scenes' stuff so there I went on rambling!

#quick reply #anonymous #the mod talks

46 notes · View notes

wisteriabookss · 3 years

Text

My ACOSF Review (2/5 Stars)

Please respect my opinions. Not everything I say will be praiseful or nice. While I liked a lot of this book, a lot of it frustrated and bothered me.

This review contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.

This review will be more of an overall impression, and I will get more in depth about certain characters in future posts.

I eventually got into the plot of the book, but I don’t think it was as great or creative as it could’ve been. I feel like SJM recycled ideas she’s already used to create the storyline. A quest to find a magic object that can stop a war and save the world? That sentence applies to both ACOWAR and ACOSF. It’s even more disappointing when you know there were other routes the plot could’ve taken but were eventually scratched. It was the perfect set up for an Illyrian mountain setting, it was written in canon, and, unsurprisingly, SJM retconned and changed it.

The Valkyrie plot was cool, if a bit forced and out of place. Nesta barely starts training, and all of a sudden she wants to recreate a powerful band of female warriors that we’ve never heard of in the context of this world? Honestly, it feels like SJM watched Thor: Ragnarok, and was like, “Yes, that’s what I’m gonna do.” I thought Helions winged horses would come into play with that, but I guess we’ll have to see.

I thought the Blood Rite plot was gone, but we got it in the end, even though it was rushed. The most beautiful parts of the book happened during the Rite, so I’m glad we got to see those.

The ending of Briallyn was so swift I literally had to go back a page to make sure I read it right. Literally one page, and she’s killed. I expected more. I can’t say I'm surprised by how rushed her death was when I knew the Feysand trouble was approaching, and the number of pages left was getting smaller. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that SJM would save Rhys, Feyre, and their baby. Out of the entire ensemble in Kingdom of Ash, she only had the heart to kill Gavriel, who wasn’t too much of a main character. There was no way in hell she would do that to Feysand.

I’m sorry, but I do not like the name Nyx. Imagine calling someone Nyx? Did she originally have it as Nick, but just needed to put an X? My eyes were rolling so hard when I read it. Just put an ‘O’ in front of it and end our misery, though I still would’ve rolled my eyes at that name too. The name just reminds me of all the blogger moms who put X’s in their child’s names for dramatic effect that ends up looking like they can’t spell.

I also didn’t appreciate the out of touch colloquialisms in this book either. Prythian doesn’t have a name for anxiety, depression, or PTSD, but they know what lactic acid means?

The amount of sex in this book was something we had been warned to expect, and I think due to the fastness of me reading this book (finished in two sittings), it made it feel like the sex was happening every other page, which it basically was. I’m not going to be mad though because a) it was well written, b) I didn’t feel like it harmed the plot too much, and c) this is the only Nessian smut we’re going to see in canon. But that threesome line with Az. . . y'all know which one I’m talking about. . . the one with the details about certain positions. . . chile um anyways let’s move on.

I called it months ago that Emerie would either be Mor or Azriel’s love interest, and looks like it’s going to be Mor. SJM’s writing is fairly predictable, especially when it comes to romantic ships, and she couldn’t have been more obvious about the two of them. I will write about Gwyn and Azriel in Azriel’s chapter review (cause that monstrosity needs a post of its own).

Now about Nesta’s healing arc. Some of it was satisfying and others were saddening. I’m happy that Nesta was able to find purpose in her life, and not believe herself to be worthless or pathetic, but strong and powerful. I’m happy she found Gwynn and Emerie; I love their friendship. I love how they stuck by each other no matter what, and saw the good and potential in one another.

However, even by the end of the book, Nesta still thinks herself as undeserving. Of Cassian, of love. She knows she has it, and she's so grateful for it, but she still believes she is undeserving of it, that Cassian is just so much better than her. A part of learning to love and live with yourself is knowing what you deserve, so why SJM took that from her character, I don’t know. I was continuously disappointed when said she was undeserving of anything, even after she had learned and grown from her mistakes.

Maybe SJM thinks the belief of being undeserving of one's partner is romantic. I’m telling you now, it’s not. All that does is give unnecessary power to a person you believe you are undeserving of, and this leads to unequal power dynamics in a relationship. Rhys was the exact same with Feyre, so I’m guessing it's a theme.

Speaking of romantic themes, the repetition of the “your mine-im yours” line in this book was nauseating. Your going to make Nesta say the exact same thing her sister said when they had sex? Is there nothing else SJM could’ve come up with? It’s just so weird. And I swear to god if I see Elain do the same thing I’m gonna vomit.

Nesta apologized to Cassian about what she said to him on Solstice in ACOFAS as if he never called her unlovable. As if he never said he didn’t understand why her sisters love her. He never apologized for that. There was so much apologizing from Nesta to Cassian about her calling him a brute, as if Cassian didn’t say he was “shackled” to her after she clearly explained how she feared she would lose her humanity if she accepted the word mate. Not if she accepted him, but the word.

For Cassian to routinely tell Nesta to, “shut her fucking mouth,” when she used some attitude against Rhys was comical. Rhys has been bad mouthing and disrespecting Nesta this whole time, and when she shows some warranted attitude in return (not even an insult), Cassian rips into her. It doesn’t matter what he did for you, babe. Not everyone has the same experience with Rhys, so Cassian getting angry when Nesta showing anger at the way she was being treated was wrong. Her experience with him does not become invalidated just because Cassian has a good relationship with him.

There wasn’t a character arc for Cassian, which was one of the most disappointing parts of the book. He thinks of himself as inferior and undeserving as well, and by the end of the book it’s not even clear if that stance has changed. We saw him grow into the courtier persona in the meeting with Eris when Tamlin shows up, but we never see it again. I know there were instances in which he stood up for Nesta, but he also very quicky after that became silent in other moments when they were insulting her. The next book isn’t in his pov, but I’m hoping we see him become more confident in himself and make a firmer stance to protect Nesta (although I doubt he’ll need to seeing as how Rhys kisses the ground she walks on now).

Now onto Nesta’s apologies to the IC. I think Nesta apologizing to Feyre was expected, and I’m glad the sisters had that moment. I am, however, upset that there was never a moment where all the sisters sat down, and hashed it out. Talked about what they’d been through, how it affected them, and how it affected their feelings toward each other. After everything that happened between Nesta and Elain, all that hurt, you’re telling me all it took was Nesta to make Elain laugh by saying “fuck you,” and we’re good? It’s lazy writing.

Elain telling Nesta that she only cared about how her trauma affected her did not sit right with me. Nesta sat by Elain’s side for weeks when she was in the thick of her struggles, and refused to leave her alone for fear that her struggles would eat her up alive. She constantly looked for anything that could help her sister, and never left her unprotected. Nesta and Elain didn’t communicate after the war, for reasons that we now know was because of Nesta’s guilt for Elain being kidnapped. It is not abnormal when a family member has been traumatized by things that have happened to another family member. That’s expected. Ask any family who has lost a child or had a relative go through something horrible.

Elain is acting as if Nesta has only ever been concerned with herself when she’s spent her entire life concerned with Elain. I made a post long ago about how the IC only wanted Nesta to heal for their sake rather than her sake, and there’s so much more evidence for that than for Elain. Elain’s healing process was able to be understood and encouraged by the IC, whereas they had no idea what to do with Nesta. So for Elain to come at Nesta for not caring about her trauma, a second after Nesta was trying to protect her from further trauma by telling her she didn't want her seering for the Trove, was unwarranted.

Speaking about Elain looking for the Trove, what happened there? Elain had this whole speech where she said she wanted to do something and no one could stop her and then we just. . . don’t hear anything about it again? SJM had a perfect opportunity to do something powerful with Elain there, and completely threw it away.

Nesta’s apology to Amren was extreme, dramatic, and honestly, unnecessary. Amren called Nesta a “pathetic waste of life,” constantly demeaned and degraded her anytime her name was mentioned, and said she did all this because Nesta used her as a shield against her problems and the IC. Seriously? Nesta using Amren as a shield does not warrant that kind of verbal abuse. It doesn't make her a pathetic waste of life. Amren’s been alive for how long? And reacts like that to an obvious side effect of extreme trauma? No ma'am. Nesta getting on her damn knees was too much, and obviously just another moment, like a lot of moments, that SJM felt the need to make dramatic. And then having the audacity to let Amren say to Nesta that, “the struggle with the darkness is worth it,” when she was one of those people who contributed to that darkness is disgusting.

I didn’t like Rhys at all in this book. Even after he saw inside Nesta’s mind about her experience in the cauldron, he was still wary and rude with her. Literally anytime Nesta showed that she was changing, Rhys didn’t change anything about his attitude or behavior towards her. A moment of regret, and then he’s back to being arrogant ass Rhys. Him not telling Feyre about the baby was also extremely stupid. It’s her body, her life, her baby’s life, his life, and she had a right to know what was happening. Not telling her because you didn’t want her to be “upset,” is a dumb excuse. I thought you always promised to let her make her own decisions, Rhys? What happened to that promise? The one that was a hell of a lot better than the stupid bargain ya’ll made? Though Nesta told her out of anger, good on her for telling her sister. Should’ve happened way sooner. His apology to Nesta was the only one that warranted the dramatics. That is what you get on your knees for.

That whole scene about him becoming High King had me throwing the book. Amren telling Rhys that the swords were some sort of mother-mary-cauldron-blessed-hallelujah sign that he was supposed to be High King had me fuming. It’s Nesta’s power. It’s Nesta’s sword. That should have never been a discussion. Not everything is for Rhys. These people are so blinded by their love for him they can’t even see how arrogant he is. To write Nesta giving back Ataraxia made me so angry after we just had a whole moment where we find out it means inner peace. I just hope that all of this is not foreshadowing Rhys becoming High King. I know you love him Sarah, but please don’t.

All in all, this book wasn’t too bad. There were some great moments and some bad moments. I think SJM’s biggest issue in her writing is that she doesn’t outline, or at least doesn't seem to outline, not thoroughly. I feel like she uses plot devices willy nilly whenever it’s the easiest solution. There was never a moment where I said, “that was clever!” A lot of it was cool, but not clever. Not creative. She also has a tendency to write very dramatically, in staccato type sentences where everything is made into a big moment, which bugs me a lot.

I love Nesta. She’s still my fav, and will probably always be my fav. This book doesn’t change that, and as you can tell in my review, most of the issues I had weren’t with her behavior, but with the behavior of other characters. I still love Cassian, even though he made me want to rip my hair out sometimes.

Will I read the next books? Probably. I can’t seem to stay away from these characters or these books, so kudos to SJM for writing them. I know a majority of people have given this book 4 or 5 stars, but I can’t bring myself to give it more than 2/5.

#nesta #cassian #nessian #acosf #a court of silver flames #sjm #nesta archeron #nesta x cassian #cassian x nesta #feysand #feyre #feyre archeron #rhysand #elain #elain archeron #amren #sarah j maas #nesta stan #nestastan

91 notes · View notes

asmywhimseytakesme · 3 years

Note

Hi, I just saw your blog and I have to ask; do you have any recommendations for people who really, really enjoyed the Murderbot Diaries? Im kinda obsessed with it

Hi @extra-plus-ordinary ! I am so flattered to be asked this because I LOVE giving recommendations.

The first thing I’ll say is, there is a very active Murderbot discord server and if you aren’t in it send me a dm and I’ll get you a link! The lovely folks there can probably give you lots more recommendations than me. I’ll admit I haven’t been on there much lately because life be like that sometimes, but you can bet I’ll be active there plenty when the next Murderbot book comes out in a few months! The folks there also found me links to a couple Murderbot short stories that you should absolutely check out if you haven’t yet.

I have to admit, my first thought on getting this ask is... there isn’t anything else quite like Murderbot! Sometimes all you want is more Murderbot and we don’t have any (yet). The first time I finished the series I started over again at the beginning because all I wanted was More Murderbot Please. It took me awhile to be in the mood for anything else. I absolutely recommend indulging that mood because personally, when all I want is Just This Book, I end up disliking anything else I try to read, even when I normally would like it. But! If you are in the mood to try something a bit different with perhaps some overlapping appeal, let me offer a few suggestions:

The Queens Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner

I have to mention this first because it’s fans of THIS series that got me to read Murderbot. Also I’ve been obsessed with these books since I was a teen. Similarities between the series include:

Sarcastic first person narration—this is mostly just in the first book of the series, The Thief. If you, like me, fell in love with Murderbot because of its voice, give this book a try. Gen is a different narrator in many ways, but I find the appeal similar. There are also some similar character dynamics and interactions with a group gradually getting to know a character they previously underestimated, and forming strong friendships over the course of the series.

However, I will note that The Thief is notably different from the rest of the series in tone and pacing, and some people find it boring. That was not my experience, but many recommend starting the series with the second book.

The second book has a character that I feel is similar to Murderbot on many levels, but I don’t want to say much more about it because SPOILERS. Actually I don’t want to say any more about the series at all because it’s really best to just go in and experience it for yourself. Take my word for it—many people love both series, there is lots of crossover appeal.

The Mandalorian tv series

Ok I feel kinda dumb mentioning this because I feel like everyone’s probably heard of this show by now and has already decided whether they’re gonna watch it. I mean, it’s STAR WARS. So I’ll be brief here, but I really feel like Mando and Murderbot have a LOT in common and would get along really well, and people drawn to one of these characters might also like the other. Murderbot wishes he had as good an excuse as Mando for keeping a helmet on at all times. They’re both similarly good at their jobs (which involve fighting), and end up coming to care for characters weaker and less experienced than themselves. They then put themselves on the line to protect their new Found Family, while steadfastly refusing to admit that they have any feelings whatsoever. Also, so far? No romantic pairings. Murderbot would approve. There are more comparisons I could make but I’ll stop....So yeah, if for some reason you haven’t given The Mandalorian a try.... do it.

Digger by Ursula Vernon

Ok, so the cool thing about this recommendation (aside from the fact that it’s a super amazing story, which I’ll talk more about in a bit) is you can read the WHOLE THING. FOR FREE. RIGHT NOW. Don’t have to put it on hold at the library, don’t have to order it and wait for it to come in the mail, don’t have to track it down in a used bookstore. ITS ALL FREE: http://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/

That link should take you to the first page of the comic.

The first comparison I’ll make here is the VOICE. Digger has a first person funny/sarcastic voice that reminds me a LOT a of Murderbot. Different, of course, but..., I think Murderbot would really like Digger. She would be a good client. Practical, tries to stay safe and make good decisions, and she would 100% get Murderbot’s sense of humor. She gets thrown into a crazy magical world and takes it all in stride, making plenty of friends she’s ready to defend with her life.

Yeah, Murderbot would like Digger.

I’d go on, but seriously—did you forget I just said THE WHOLE THING IS FREE TO READ ONLINE so just.... go start reading it and get a taste for it yourself.

http://diggercomic.com/blog/2007/02/01/wombat1-gnorf/

The Vorkosigan Saga

This is a big one that will keep you occupied for awhile! I don’t remember how many books are in the series... 20 maybe? I don’t even know. This is the series I re read when I was coming off my Murderbot high a few months back, because in some ways it has a similar vibe.

Anyway, this is another Space Drama that explores some interesting potential economics, politics, and conflicts of a future of planets linked by wormholes. Some of the planets have a more Corporation Rim feel, others are like Preservation, with many others thrown in the mix. The main character, Miles Vorkosigan... he would love Murderbot. He’d recruit it on the spot—a competent person who shows initiative? Wonderful! On the other hand, Murderbot would HATE Miles.... no sense of self preservation, barreling into problems with no clear plan of how to get out... he would drive Murderbot absolutely crazy.

Personally, I started reading the series with The Warriors Apprentice, and that’s where I recommend starting. However technically Shards of Honor, which tells the story of Miles’ parents and how they met, is the first book chronologically.

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein

This is a very short novel (so if the Murderbot novella length worked for you, give this a try). It’s a gripping take on Arthurian Legend told from the point of view of Medraut (Mordred). Medraut reminds me of Murderbot in many ways—he feels unworthy of love because of what he is, wrestling with a violent past and trying to be better, struggling to know what to do when he is loved by people who he doesn’t think should love him. Also, like All Systems Red, his narrative is addressed to a specific person, which affects how the story is read.

So those are just a few books/series I recommend for Murderbot fans! And everyone, really, because these are all excellent because my taste is impeccable ;-).

I hope there is something here to tide you over til the next Murderbot book comes out @extra-plus-ordinary 😁

#Murderbot #Murderbot diaries #queens thief #Vorkosigan saga #Mandalorian #the winter prince #digger comic

78 notes · View notes

franeridart · 3 years

Text

Anon said: Are you still into krbk? I noticed you haven't draw them a lot recently (I don't mean to pressure you, I was just wondering)

I still very much am!!! but a convergence of unrelated happenings (my focus being unusually scattered, lack of general motivation, them not having interacted much in the manga lately, my having pulled out of the fandom a little for a bunch of reasons, having gotten into a lot of new things I want to make a lot of stuff for ??) had my output of stuff for them/inspiration related to them die down a lot ): I miss them though, I should fill a page with doodles of them one of these days... well, I haven’t drawn much in genereal lately, so maybe let’s start first with fixing that haha

Anon said: Fun Fact : In smash bros ultimate there are spirits with octopath traveler and they're in pairs and guess what ? Alfyn and Therion are together :3

I KNOW!!!!!! It makes me so emo I’m a bundle of feelings they’re soulmates I tell youuuuuuuuuuu ;;A;; (little inconsequential things making me a mess, what’s new xD) - another fun fact is that h’aanit and ophilia share one too!! and I ship them too!! and cyrus and tressa share one as well, and they’re my brother’s mains in his save! A series of delightful little coincidences haha

Anon said: Will you be drawing more Jujutsu Kaisen? I love your art sm and I would love to see more!!!!

Right now I feel like I want to spend the next ten years drawing these kids, so I sure hope so! But as I said my focus has been very scattered for the past three or so months, so I can’t promise anything ): let’s both enjoy it while it lasts haha

Anon said: You are my emotional support artist. I check back every once and a while and BOOM. Serotonin.

You’re too kind!!!! But thank you, I’m glad I can make you feel better! :D

Anon said: i'm super new to your art (and mha) and i just wanted to say your krbk stuff is just !!!!!!! it makes me so happy and makes my poor jaded heart feel something and it's just all around incredible!!!

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!! I’m glad you like my way of portraying the kids!!!!

Anon said: I’m about to cry I’ve spent an hour looking though your bnha tag for that lil comic where Kiri hugs Baku and. It. Sent. Me. Back. To. The. Top. I didn’t even get to finish reading it. I’m so upset. So. So. So. Upset.

(same) Anon said: OH MY GOSH IT KEEPS SENDING ME TO THE TOO I HATE MOBILE AND LOVE YOU I LVOE YOU BUT THIS WEBSITE IS K I L L I N G ME I JIST WANNA SEE WHAT HAPPENS AS KIRI ATTEMPTS TO HUG BAKUGOU BUT NOOOO, AN HOUR OF MY TIME ISNT ENOUGH SAYS THE TIME STEALER

(samesame) Anon said: I. Found the hug thing. On Pinterest. In. Five. Seconds. I hate life but also it was really cute. Thank you but seriously I hate this website

The saga hahaha sorry anon I couldn’t get to you before you went out of your mind trying to find it, I got the asks in the middle of the night! Glad you could find it, though I’m kinda sad you had to look on pinterest for it (...sad it is on pinterest at all tbh) here it is anyway, if this is the one you were talking about! you really went back in the years for this one huh

Anon said: So for that thing that you made a w h i l e ago where Bakugou ruffles Kirishima’s hair, right? So I imagine Kiri is like w h a t and calls over Mina or Denki or Sero or all of them or something like that and tells them and is freaking out and they’re like “he wasn’t in the right mindset, you know he sleeps at 8:32” and make a joke out of it as Kiri is freaking out. And Kiri is freaking out soooo much as they are crying laughing on the floor at Bakugou’s sleeping schedule.

hahaha I’m sure he must have freaked out on them at some point after that, and bakugou must have done the same (probably with jirou, less likely but more hilarious with todoroki or tokoyami haha) - though, the original idea came from a bigger one where the scene in the comic didn’t bring them anywhere closer to getting together (or figuring out they’re into each other, for the matter lmao idiots) maybe one day I’ll get back on that >:]

Anon said: In your comments, you said “at this point my hands will never forget” and I had a nozaki-kun memory float into my head, imagining him sick and trying to make his deadline xD yes muscle memory

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anon you have no idea how often I think about that hahaha yes, I say my hands won’t forget but we all know that’s exactly how it’ll end at some point lol

Anon said: dang this happens all the time like I follow someone for their bnha content and then like two months after following them I find out they used to make yowapeda content and im just sitting their like dang thats wild because bnha and yowapeda are like the only two animes I watch

ANON!!!! HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Always so nice to find other ywpd fans!!!!!!!! Sorry I’m not making art for it anymore (for now) but despite my sister insisting I read the manga already I’ve been putting it off......for years lol but it’s on my reading list!! So maybe I’ll get back on it at some point!

Anon said: FRAN!!!!!! i love ur art so much and im trying to buy ur products on redbubble and i geniunely cant decide what to get!!!!! i tired asking my friend but she doesnt know which one either hahahahhahah ig i just wanted to send this because i really appreciate u and u are very talented. im sending u lots of high vibrations and love❤️🧡

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!! It means so much to me that you guys are still buying my stuff (TTATT) I should...........seriously update it..........gomen m(._.)m

Anon said:YES YES YEEES MORE ALFYON ON THE WAYYYYYY 💖💖💖💖💖 They're both the cutest really their ship is the beeest Try reading some the alfyon fanfics if you have some time, they're really good ! The one i really recommend you is Crismonberries, blackberries by court_court on Ao3 !Your art is the best ever can't wait to see more octopath !!💖💖💖

Anon thank you SO MUCH for suggesting that fic to me I!!!!!!!!!!!! loved it so much I deep-dived into it and spent two straight days reading it it’s such a gem!!!!! ;;; bless you

Anon said: Have you watched Fullmetal Alchemist?

Hell yeah! Only Brotherhood though. I read the manga too tho!!

Anon said: Have you read Noragami? It’s one of my favourite manga, and the anime isn’t half bad either (still waiting for s3 tho lol) anyway it’s really good, concept-wise it’s similar to Soul Eater, I totally recommend

I watched the first season back when it aired! It’s not really my thing though ): feels a bit sad in that very specific way that always ends up just making me miserable as I keep reading............................... sorry

Anon said: I will never not be in love with your art. Everytime I'm feeling down and/or missing the boys I scroll through your krbk tag and it reminds me exactly of why I love them so much and I'm so thankful for that. Your brand of krbks is the one I love the most and honestly thank you so much for all your marvelous art of them and of other things as well because you art is just so pretty and I love seeing your ocs and other fandom art 💕💕💕

Anon I love you......................... ;;;;; thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me (oTT^TT)o<3

#fran answers #long post #chatter chatter chatter #you guys are always so nice to me man #every time i write out one of these posts i'm overwhelmed by just how much love piles up in my inbox #sob #love you all

149 notes · View notes

ashen-crest · 3 years

Photo

Tazlo Fluff #15: Asleep

Tazlo Fluff is a side drabble series about Cal and Emry pre-book events. For the main story, please see The Stray Spirit!

Setting: about seven months into dating

Synopsis: Emry falls asleep while Cal studies.

Words: 362

TW/CW: none

TSS Taglist: @crystallized-ink, @little-boats-on-a-lake, @semblanche, @theramwrites, @wordsbycreed, @pretend-im-normal, @mel-writes-with-her-dragons, @wildswrites, @ladywithalamp, @ettawritesnstudies, @mj-comics, @cecilsstorycorner, @write-your-own-stories

As beautiful as it sounded tapping against the thick panes of the window, the late spring rain was doing nothing to help Cal focus on her work. She was nearly done, and if she could just finish reading these last twenty pages or so-

“Emry, do you think you could play something for me?” she asked as she rubbed her forehead. “Maybe Tree and the Stream, or that version you came up with for Spirit’s Grove…”

He didn’t answer.

“Em?” She lifted her head. The man had taken all her pillows on the bed and propped himself up against them, only to sink in and fall asleep with his lute still in his hands. She shouldn’t have been surprised- he had only rolled into her room a half hour ago, having done at least five odd jobs that day on top of waking up early to practice.

Setting the book aside, she stood and went over to take the precariously balanced lute out of his hands. His arms fell heavy at his sides when they slid off the wood, but the twang of the lute strings didn’t rouse him. She settled onto the blanket next to him and shifted a curl off his forehead.

“Hey…” she was about to reach for his shoulder to wake him up, but it didn’t feel right. She wouldn’t be going to bed for at least another hour, if she was being honest with herself. There was no need to disturb him.

But since he was so fast asleep…perhaps she could try something out. Just a test. Just to see.

“I…” she paused and looked around, as if someone was going to materialize out of the walls and make fun of her- then turned back to him. “I love you, Emry Karic.”

The words hung in the air like a sustained note from a piano. Now that they were spoken, she could analyze them, let them settle, see if they felt right.

She determined that they did.

And when he said the words to her just a week later, with shaky hands and a shakier voice, she pretended he had said them first.

#the stray spirit #tazlo fluff #heart eyes

13 notes · View notes

musubiki · 4 years

Note

Hello!! I've followed you on twitter for a while for your pokemon stuff, but stayed for your cute ocs and art style! I really adore your comics, and I was wondering if it's okay to share some tips or tutorials on how you make them (panels/expression/dialogue)? Or maybe just your general process!! I also want to improve on drawing comics and you have been a big inspiration 💕

AAAA THANK U SO MUCH!!! 😭💖💖💖 IM JUS GONNA PUT SOME TIPS CUZ DOING A WHOLE TUTORIAL WOULD TAKE TOO MUCH TIME I THINK,,,these are just newbie tips cuz i dont rly know what im doing so far either 😭😭😭

- i always do the script for a comic first!!! and i usually wait a while between doing the script and actually drawing it since i usually end up changing/thinking up new ideas after a few days!!

- ive read that a good way to break panels is “one panel per emotion”!! so dont try to fit like 3 different emotions into one panel!! (BUT ive seen official mangas like GSNK bend that rule and they end up putting normal tone at the beginning of one panel and ending it with an angry tone without the characters face changing!! that also can work!!)

- i just put one tone over the whole page and set it to overlay. my stupid ass is too tired to give each hair/article of clothing a different tone (unless you wanna make ur character stand out a bit more, like all my characters right now are just gonna have normal toned hair but i wanna give taffy sandpaper toned hair)

- i try not to break up my script into pages, but instead i open a canvas, and make boxes according to how i picture it in my head!! before i used to pre-break the script into pages just to find out the pacing was weird/off and found its better to go back and forth between your script and your comic page so you can make boxes as you go if that makes sense????

- like sometimes you might wanna add an extra pause panel because one wasnt enough, or something like that, its better to just add it instead of having to go back and re-seperate your whole script again

- Clip studio has a lot of manga panel/page resources but i am too lazy to figure it all out so i just use the grid and put boxes how i want using the grid as a guide!!

- gotta decide which colors classify into which monochrome color 👁👁 mine is a little funky cuz obviously pastel pink is lighter than the orange of limes hair, yet limes hair is white in my comic and the pastel pink is a light gray..,,.,,just gotta work with your colors to make sure theres not too many similar grays right next to each other or else it gets confusing/hard to see 😭

- BIG TIP: if a panel is ugly, just accept it. dont spend 5+ hours trying to make it absolutely perfect cuz lemme tell you, you can draw a whole ass mona lisa of a panel and 90% of people will spend 2 seconds on it reading the dialouge and will just move on and forget about it cuz theyre trying to read the story. no one will notice or care it looks a little off (unless its one of those PAGE LONG panels AND/OR the pic is the main focus of the panel then yknow,,,,obviously u gotta make it nice. but if its just “i need a picture for this dialouge panel” dont worry too much. it ees what it ees.)

- figure out what process works best for you!! whether its “i sketch all my pages, then line all my pages, then color all my pages, etc” or “i do one whole page at a time and dont move on until its fully colored and texted up” or “i skip around depending on what panels i want to draw more” (me)!!!

- its a learning process!! for me too!!! im sure in a month or a year you’ll know a lot more about comic making if you make more comics!!! first page is gonna look bad anyway. just gotta power through pages like a steamboat and not look back at them and hopefully you’ll eventually get to a point where you can read your own comics without cringing (im not there yet shdhdjdjd)

- for me, making comics is just a continuous process of “this panel is ugly” and “i hope im conveying the right emotion” and “i hope the read understands this part”, and the whole time youre doing it just repeating “its fine, its fine, its fine,” over and over again until your comic is finished

- EDIT: ONE MORE!!!!!! you only need a minimum of one background panel per page just to remind the reader of the environment!!!! no need to have background on every panel!!! have some pattern/plain backgrounds too!!!

#sorry theres a lot that goes into my personal process so making a tutorial would take too long i think!! 😭😭#hope these kinda help!!!#god i worry so much about effectively communicating tcwg lore #its been in my head for so long i might forget to explain some things in the comic #yall just gonna have to roll with it and die with the questions like howls moving castle #i also always worry about the balance between magic and slice of life because this comic DOES involve a lot of magic but also a lot of NO MA #GIC episodes

68 notes · View notes

otterloreart · 3 years

Photo

good news everyone! I’m making serious progress on... a comic! yay! sorta!

Since I’ve been posting more about my process and art here is a little process post!

Panel 1: final background + frog princess (speech bubble: Giddafuck out my swamp)

Panel 2: marker drawing with color correction

Panel 3: Marker with lineart added

Panel 4: White fog has been added for fog effect

Panel 5: more shadows on the stones, plants, building, reflection in the water, and light has been added, but before more color correction was done

Panel 6: a “bright” alternative color version (eg less moody lighting)

So... if everyone doesn’t know, I really struggle with making comics in particular and more detailed pieces of art as well. I simply find it very difficult to come back to a project I have “started” in some way, I basically give up or have to really push myself and that takes a long time and is not very fun for me, so I tend to drop comic projects fairly quickly. There’s also the fact I find digital painting, particularly for backgrounds, really difficult and not fun.

That’s one of the reasons my first comic project, Hand of Crystalline, looked like this:

It’s backgrounds were a (kind of sloppy) mix of gouache and watercolor! I really love those mediums but they can be a pain in the ass in terms of drying times which does not make for a smooth drawing process. Like I said, my ability to concentrate on a whole project at a time is kind of nonexistent! So! Waiting for watercolor to dry made this much more difficult to do all at once.

From what I see on the internet, most comic artists go like this: Script -> thumbnails -> layout/ full sketches -> lineart -> color -> text/bubbles and, besides doing the backgrounds separately, thats what I /tried/ with Crystalline. Which is probably why both times I tried to start it, it took so long to complete each page. When starting a project I can basically do Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 as long as they’re all at the same time, but if I start Step 1, I have a lot of trouble motivating myself to go back to Step 2, essentially.

So! To solve my two main problems (backgrounds and Motivation) I’m doing things a little differently this time around. I have already done thumbnailing, script, and laid out panels, and I’m going to try and just fill them in step by step so I don’t struggle so much motivating myself. That way, one panel can be complete and I can move on to the next one, etc, and even if im not totally satisfied with it I don’t have to look at it 300 times while coloring!

And I’m drawing in marker!

I’m not like super good in marker! (And I’m still shit at perspective lol) heres my first draft of that drawing which i way overdid

which i managed to make like... half better digitally but still ended up redrawing

but I’ll be learning, trying to improve. If you’re wondering why i dont just *try to improve* at digital painting I just... don’t find it that fun, its a completely different way of drawing and I simply don’t like it very much! Maybe someday I can but right now i dont have a super amount of time to practice drawing 24/7 *before* starting a comic and I’ll be way happier with the comic if I’m trying in a medium I actually enjoy.

Finally, the actual post above: is not quite the finished picture but a preview of a background from the first section of the comic. more to come soon!

#princess frog #frog princess #comic #my art #art2021 #ocs

2 notes · View notes

askmymylittleponyocs · 4 years

Text

Update: Sprucing up the tumblr blog with better navigation tags.

I got a new code for this tumblr blog and since I have alot of ocs , i decided to make a page into the blog as a “My MLP OC List” so that way if i have no room to get every MLP OC along with my Next Gen characters as well, it’ll be all in there.

Thankfully for this blog design theres 4 Navigation sections with 4 link buttons, one of the 4 will have thats Next Gen focused. I am working on my Next gens, just lately for the past 3-4 years its been very slow going but i feel its cause of mix of depression, and dealing with a shitty toxic friend that i wish i never was friends with to begin with. so me and my friends wouldnt have to deal with their pathetic toxic attitude and actions they have done.whats done is done though.

I am planning to do fan art of MLP as well, even though G4 is over but it only is over if you let it be over. know what im saying? MLP has been apart of my life since i was a kid, 8 year old me was introduced to MLP Gen 3 and my dad introduced me to the first MLP animation episodes of Gen 1. it only made me love the MLP series as a whole even more.

MLP will never die nor will i ever tire from the franchise and the shows. i will love it all to pieces and will never let it go. I am sad that my ponysonas have changed over a while from one pony to another and another and another...but i feel its because i was struggling so badly at what would my ponysona be.

this is coming from me who hates herself to a big degree, and i am trying to find myself. i did manage to FINALLY settle on one oc i designed completely which is now my forever main ponysona Rainbow doodledrops.

I do have a fanfiction idea that she’ll be a focus in that the mane 6 ends up being involved and I really do hope it goes well, because i plan to make a comic of it one day. Im no professional writer but- hopefully it’ll go well. i may need some help of proof reading. hopefully i get some help with it.

I do have another fanfiction idea which for the Next Gens. alot of people have named their Next gens like pandoraverse and much more. Im not sure what the name should be but maybe harmony verse or something. theres probably so many next gen names im not even sure which isnt even taken. maybe do harmony rain or something. if anyone has any ideas you guys can let me know. ;w;

thought i update you guys on this. plus looking at the ask arts ive done as responses god THE ART IS BAD. BLEH. especially with rose/sweet delight. yeah thats a huge ass confusion and im so sorry XD im still working with it. i do have a interesting story with sweet delight and rose which will be a fanfiction in itself which we journey together with sweet to find out the mysteries behind her and rose. especially why is rose even in sweets body to begin with.

I also have been updating most of my ocs designs up and hopefully you guys will like it. right now just sprucing up the tumblr blogs profile down and get everything set up. i’ll show you guys the blog once its finished :3

All the asks i havent answered THOSE WILL BE ANSWERED I PROMISE. I havent touched them- nor deleted them. i planned on responding them for sure. im so sorry for the wait and i thank you guys for your patience. i wanted to at least give you guys good quality stuff here. ^^

#update #update blog #My Little Pony #ask blog #mlp ask blog

1 note · View note

comicteaparty · 4 years

Text

February 17th-February 23rd, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from February 17th, 2020 to February 23rd, 2020. The chat focused on Crossed Wires by Iris Jay.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Crossed Wires by Iris Jay~! (http://crossedwires.irisjay.net/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until February 23rd, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic!

Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Alex_makes_comics

Just started on this comic. It's highly addictive. The art is super expressive ( I am always really jealous of people who can use dot shading effectively), and the story is fast paced. It keeps you turning pages. I did not see the twist of the vr helmet coming at all and I love that. I love thinking I am reading one thing and then finding out I am reading something else. It suddenly made the character design choice of having a dragon samurai as the MC so much more understandable. This choice was fun to begin with, but it so much more perfect when you realise it's an avatar. I'm only on page 25 and I have to get back to work,so it's early days yet for a favourite character. So far, I'm just annoyed at all the characters for talking in class

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I made it through the comic, and it was a really fun read! I like how the mechanics of the universe embellish the concept of hacking without... making it "unrealistic"? Like, I often see hacking portrayed in media as just typing gibberish code and saying "i'm in", which is generally pretty silly. What Crossed Wires does is turns hacking into essentially real-world heists, where you need disguises and acting and people watching your back. Sword fights aside, that's actually way closer to how hacking actually works (like, it's easier to get someone to tell you their password than to crack the password database). My absolute favorite example of this is the ending of Chapter 02 (which is also my favorite scene of the comic). Michael has been built up as this absolute dirtbag, and the number of creeps he somehow has following him has made him nigh-unbeatable. I'm not going to spoil exactly how the gang gets to him in the end, but watching him get beaten down was one of the most satisfying things I've ever seen in a comic.

RebelVampire

I agree that story wise, the way it handles hacking is really unique. Which tbf to TV, real hacking is generally actually very boring. And as @snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights) says, there's actually easier ways like just getting someone to tell you their password that are way easier. In real life, even, the first thing companies who are hired to test another company's security do is just show up in person and try to trick their way past people. People are really the worst enemy of all security. But anyway, even though it's a bit weird, I definitely think turning hacking into this real life VR experience is unique while capturing the real life flaws that humans create for security ventures. I also like that the beginning really just starts right up with this premise without taking like 20 pages to exposition. Just gotta accept a fighting dragon, which works really well in this case.(edited)

My favorite moment in the comic so far is actually probably the one morning chat between Cass and VRRMN where they have a serious talk about their relationship and the future. I actually like that their relationship is built on the point that sorry isn't enough, and that while you can see VRRMN's sincerity, you can also justifiably see why Cass isn't going to forgive so easily. And it was just a very real and heart breaking scene since no matter the direction,, nobody was going to be happy. Which tbf, I also like this scene because Cass is my favorite character. I like that Cass is a smidgen more down to earth than some of the other characters so far, and I really like this dilemma where Cass wants to leave hacking, but keeps coming back. Plus Cass is cool and badass, so there's that too.

Ironically, though, I think I like seeing Cass and Alan interact the most. I like this kind of...brother sister relationship they have going on where Cass just wants to protect Alan who is way too eager to get over his head. So all their interactions are super cute

But lets chat about art for a second. I really like that the art style in this is like this interesting mix between modern and cyberpunk. When it comes to stories where you have VR or similar involved, there's a lot of directions to go. Some just use the same art style throughout, some drastically change it, etc. It all depends on what is being sold to the reader in terms of setting. What I like about the art, though, is that despite it really doesn't change much, I'm sold on both the modern real world and the cyberpunk sort of feel I get from the world of the hackers. I always feel like both aspects are unique and have a lot of character, which I don't find in a lot of other similar comics

Iris Jay

Iris Jay here, author of Crossed Wires! Thanks for the rad comments so far, it means a lot that y'all are reading my weird queer hacker comic. <3

And I'm glad you dig the worldbuilding!! XW originally started as a Hackers fan comic, and I wanted to capture the same general feeling of it-- a cyberpunk story that wasn't happening in some neon-lit future, but now, the present, albeit with slightly better graphics capabilities. (Of course, with VR technology rapidly catching up, it's probably going to be historical fiction by the time I'm done with the series, buuuuut what're ya gonna do...)

Cass gets a LOT of cool stuff coming up very soon in the comic. I'm super excited to show y'all where the story goes next!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Oh, one other thing I love - I really like how both of the main protagonists are trans. Like I really think it adds some interesting parallels and theming to the story - these are both characters who felt rejected by the world, they went into VR for escapism and for avatars that portrayed who they really were. And I'm interested to see how the theme of a person's VR avatar being very closely tied to their identity is explored further in this chapter (I'm guessing it will be, particularly with regards to Cass).

sagaholmgaard

Im only about 30 pages in but I dig the style difference between the digital world and the dots for shading, and the real world with the greyscale shading. It's really cool. And the use of big areas that are colored black!! Love that kinda stuff, want to get better at using that myself!

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. What exactly is the Amphisbaena Project and how does it work in a way that it physically affects a person? What is the goal of the people who revived it, and who revived the project in the first place?

10. Do you think Cass will ever forgive Vrrmn/Theresa for the events that happened between them in the past? Can their relationship be repaired, and how will their soured relationship affect their separate relationships with Alan?

11. Do you personally believe in the hackers’ mission in exposing wrongdoing despite it being illegal? In general, what do you think the story has to teach us about standing up for both ourselves and for society?

12. Overall, how do you think the events of the story will change Alan, his relationships with others, and his pursuits of hacking? How will the other characters change and grow as people over the course of their adventures?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

RebelVampire

I feel like the Amphisbaena Project maybe started as like an anti-hacker measure. Since it's not like hackers are doing legal things, so it walks that ethical grey line of what is and isn't ok to do to law breakers. Like, if someone is invading your home, is it fine to shoot them. But now I think the people who revived it (which I have no guesses as to who yet), are using it to eliminate business rivals. Cause that sounds like something a corporation would do. As for how it works, I think it's just a simple matter of information overload to the brain, just on like...a brain-breaking level. Which this leads me into the moral quandry of, do I believe in the hackers mission. The short answer is no, because personally speaking I don't believe breaking the law is good in most cases, and often wrongdoing taints the results. However, I also emotionally understand why people would do this. The characters have made their personal mission sort of clear, and that makes me empathize with their plight. So all in all, I feel the story teaches us that standing up for yourself and society isn't easy. Whether it's an emotional or physical hardship, there are sacrifices and sometimes, you just gotta be ok with that.

Let me move onto character growth. I don't feel Cass will ever forgive Vrrmn, but I do think Cass will move past it to the level of being cordial. And I think Alan will be a big part of that, since both seem nice enough to not want to put Alan in the middle of their personal issues. So while the relationship will never be what it was, they'll probably be able to say How are you without Cass sneering. XD As for Alan, I kind of feel that the story will teach Alan more humility. We've already seen quite a bit of this, but I think his overwhelming confidence could still be more tempered as the story goes on. Not just because Alan will face strong people, but with more experience comes more wisdom. So at the end, Alan will be able to recognize that those boasted skills in the past weren't so great. As for other characters, I feel like I need to know them more before I can say.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

RebelVampire

What I'm most looking forward to in the comic is probably just seeing more of Cass. I'm interested to see where Cass goes both emotional and physically as the hacking world begins to change somewhat do to the events of the story. Overall, this is a stylistically interesting comic that covers a lot of ground with lots of interesting visuals that complement the story well.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Crossed Wires this week! Please also give a special thank you to Iris Jay for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Crossed Wires, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://crossedwires.irisjay.net/

Iris’ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/irisjay

Iris’ Shop: https://shop.itsnero.com/

Iris’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/irisjaycomics

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #crossed wires #iris jay

2 notes · View notes

zetrystan · 6 years

Photo

How powerful is hugduul compared to Nicholas or Hector? It’s a weird thing to answer actually... Hugduu’l is technically a... healer? Tank healer. Yes. Does Hector know how Nicholas feels about him? What do you think? :) your sona looks like shaggy from scoobydoo I do look like Shaggy. Mh. Will we see more of Nicolas' lovers in the future ? :D (in Bromance) Yup! He has even a bunch of “main” lovers that will enter the story. We actually technically saw some of them already... and one is in the comic. :-> Favorite movie ? 030 Can’t choose! But I recommend Confessions (Kokuhaku) (2010). It’s very very very good. Are you aware of how wonderfully diverse you art style is and what a joy it is to look at? Eeeeeeeh. Nope, I’m sincerely not aware. :’> Haha. I wish I was able to make more different stuff, actually! U play overwatch? Nope! But if I did, I would main Junkrat, I’m pretty sure. Will you make a bromance physical book if and when it finishes I actually still am wondering... I don’t think Bromance would really work as a physical book as it is right now, but my friend @bekkidoodles actually gave me an idea of how to make it look good. But it would need a whole other lot of work. :’) Your a cutie.. Shut up. >:I Do you like cake? What kind? If not why? Almost all the kinds of cake, like any true human being should. IS MAYONNAISE AN INSTRUMENT? No it’s not. Horseradish is not an instrument either. Will any Angels or beings from other Pantheons appear? (in Bromance) Technically speaking, we already have a god and a demon in the story! But you will see more for sure... at least one other is planned right now... hEY COOL CAT if you could be a dinosaur for a day,the heck would u do ? Woah woah, important informations are missing there. In the prehistoric age? In our times? What kind of dinosaur am I?? are u gonna drop merch or comics strips of it someday ? cause at least im pretty interested in saving n buying ! (Bromance) Well, for the comic strips, they can be find on my Bromance Tapas page! As for merch... I’m yet again still thinking about it. I’m not sure Bromance has enough of a following to have people interested in buying enough stuff, ahah. Do you have any plans for bromance, or is it mostly improvised? A mix of both. I have a plan for both my “main” story and my “side” stories, but I don’t like being too organized, so I keep enough space to create more things if I want to. Do you have your own irl bromance? :o Haha, kinda, in a way. Not the same kind though. as a pet would you rather have a tiny kitten-sized dragon or a large house-sized dragon? Kitten-sized dragon, of course. A house-sized dragon would be COOL AS HELL, but also absolutely not practical. How do I feed it? Where does it sleep? Where does it even stand? (in the middle of the street?) What color is the shirt youre currently wearing? I drew my shirt on the drawing in this post, haha. Go check on top of it! Do you love me? Are you pizza? If you are, the answer is yes. What hobbies do you have outside of art? Not much, since I spend most of my time drawing. But... video games? Jeez, that’s original. How many projects are working on right now? I remember you have a lot going on all the time it seems. I usually have a lot, but I tried to shorten the list the most I can. So now, I’m pretty much trying to focus on Bromance. Did you ever get water back for your street? or are you still melting snow? HAHA yes, forgot to tell it here. We got water back after two days. Two. Long. Days. Without showers or toilets. Terrible. Your ideal date? No date is my ideal date. Aw shit dude you like Heartstopper? I just started reading and it's real good I do, discovered it a few weeks ago! Well made comic! Do you loke anime? I loke anime. Any plans for another comic? Kinda, but I’m trying to kill those plans as soon as I have them. Better focus on ONE comic first, it’s hard enough! ahah Hey Trystan! Ou sont toute les femmes dans ton comic? (translation: where are all the women in your comic?) They exist! Considering I showed mainly three characters in the comic and I’m focusing on them, it seems like there’s no women, ahah. But I assure you the next big main character planned to be introduced is going to be a woman! (Well... kinda...) How long have you been drawing for? Any art style/artist you admire? For a long time, not too sure. Always been drawing a little, at least. And I know way too much artists I love, ahah. But recently I really have been digging @mancameron‘s art. Biggest goal for 2018? Not fail. It’s not up to a good start.

#ask #ask me anything #answers #random

106 notes · View notes

im-a-writer--im-in-distress · 6 years

Text

Salt (Insert-version)

Writer: im-a-writer—im-in-distress.tumblr.com

Fandom: Teen Wolf

Insert with: Theo Raeken

Others: McCall pack

Rating: #NewGirl, #GhostOfDepressiveHolePast

Words: 1800+

Warning(s): new girl; mention of deceased relative.

A/N: 1) This idea of Theo smelling salt started weeks ago, but I couldn’t figure out how to move with it. Then yesterday, I worked out in a little during a 10-hour car-ride to my grandparents’ place. I finished it today, just a little while ago. The initial “salt” concept is the same – (I wanted to portray that no matter what) – but the comic and the pack and all that, that was just stuff that popped up as I wrote. I kind of really like this for a couple reasons, so I’m just going ahead and posting it as is. 2) (I get the feeling there may be a series based off this coming someday.) 3) As always, I tend to write things as an OC-version first and then edit to a reader-insert. But if you’d like to read the OC-insert version, you can find that here.

It was a Tuesday after third period when Theo first smelled salt. On particularly stormy days, an edge of saltiness did hang on the breeze as it rolled in from the sea, but that was miles away. On any normal day, even a chimera like Theo Raeken couldn’t smell it. But that day, a new saltiness appeared.

It clung to the walls of his lungs as he paced through the halls of Beacon Hills High School, stealing his focus. This new scent bothered him. There were plenty of weird things in this town; a new anything never meant something good.

The chimera found himself on edge, a place he never wanted to be. He couldn’t bring himself to care about anything important. Certainly not school, but that didn’t often make his priority list. Not his pack and their constant need for supervision. Not even the newest toy of the McCall pack.

Though at least she peeked his interest.

She was a transfer student from abroad. She’d spent the last few years in Cyprus where her mother worked. Her father was in the military there, but was killed in action last month. That’s when they moved back to the town where her mother grew up. She was friendly and enjoyed playing the piano and couldn’t wait to make a fresh start in California.

Or that’s what she’d said in her introduction speech when she’d first walked into Theo’s class. Then she took the spare seat next to him in the back even though the teacher had directed her to the open desk on the other side of the classroom. She smiled at him, helping herself to his textbook, and then waved the instructor on when she noticed everyone was still staring at her. The balding man straightened his Bill Nye tie and cleared his throat, adding to the uncomfortable aura that tainted the room, and then turned to the chalkboard.

She then turned to Theo and reached a hand across her body towards him. “I’m Y/N.”

He took it, pushing a breath out of his lungs. The scent of salt was back and distracting him. “Theo.”

Y/N smiled and turned back to the lesson. Theo watched her for the rest of the period. She didn’t seem like someone who had just lost her dad. He got the impression perhaps they hadn’t been very close, she and her father. She was bright and friendly and really, really talented with a pen soaked in boredom. Her color-coded notebook that she pulled from her bag had every page covered in many, boxed pictures.

They were more than doodles. Comics, he realized. Over-exaggerated expressions and assets with unfortunate proportions detailed people in her life and moments floating around her. She’d tried to take notes, but her pen had started marking down the balding professor in his fifties with pinched features and a Bill Nye the Science Guy tie that was so long it dragged on the floor. A series of three boxes illustrated how he would trip over it every time he went to move.

Theo snorted to himself at the accuracy of the representation, and Y/N glanced at him. He was sure she would slam the notebook shut and blush or tell him off, but she gave him a simple smile before a new look crossed her face. He went stiff, blinking at her. She tilted her head and gazed at him, not saying anything. She wasn’t quite seeing him; she was just looking at him. He didn’t know what to make of that. Then she returned to her comic and started another box below the previous.

Theo watched her pen trace the lines of a new person on the right side of that new box. It was a male in a tight t-shirt and a cheeky smirk. His proportions were complimentary; someone the artist rather liked, he guessed. He was looking at the empty space beside him with a smug pleasure. Her pen sketched something behind him, peeking up from behind the desk like a fat lightning strike. Motion lines were drawn around it like it was waving back-and-forth. Theo’s brow crinkled at it. Then she drew two fluffy ears atop his head, and she leaned back, pleased, a giant grin aimed his way. Theo’s jaw dropped.

She muffled her laughter in her hand, trying hard not to draw attention to herself. Theo’s eyes bugged out of his head as he grabbed her notebook and held it up to his face, staring at the little figure. He’d been drawn into her comic as a smirking, wolf-eared cartoon!

She was still laughing when he looked at her. She shrugged at him, and took her notebook back from him. He resisted her; having caught her attention, he took a single finger and pointed at her. You next.

A look crossed her eyes, and she laid the notebook back out to fill in the blank space. The girl she drew next to the wolf-boy was different that he thought she’d draw her. Different than he’d draw her. This figure was young, very young, with pigtails and bows and a Sunday School dress. She had paint smudges on her face and tainted fingers holding up a finger-painting in celebration. A wide grin took up half her face, but it didn’t mess up the proportions; it was just a happy kid.

Y/N stared at the comic, clicking her pen on the table for a moment. Then she rocked her head like, Eh, good enough, and handed it to him.

Theo wasn’t sure what he made of this representation. It was her, sure, but so young. Like she was only happy when she was little. Simple kid joy. Theo didn’t know why that bothered him. He traced the lines with his eyes: the pigtails held with bows, the paint on her cheek and fingers, the painting being waved in the air with a giant smile plastered on her face. It was almost comedic, like Y/N was making fun of the situation. Then he realized what the little painting was of.

It was Cyprus.

The island was smudged and shaded in different concentrations as though in different colors, like it was an afterthought. Like an adult brain found a shape in their child’s mess.

But it was there. And it was intentional.

And something sad rose up in Theo’s gut. It had been bugging him all day. The bell had rung not long after that, and Y/N had skittered away with her notebook in hand.

As it turned out, he and Y/N didn’t have fifth period together, but seeing her come into the room for sixth surrounded by the McCall pack had something boiling. She hadn’t noticed him yet. But then Lydia did. And the sudden stop in her friend and a crinkle on her nose made Y/N search for the cause. She caught sight of Theo and waved, returning to her search. Lydia yanked her hand down and whispered something to her in a harsh voice, something that Y/N shot her a shocked look for and glanced at Theo with a confused expression.

Theo turned away in his seat. He didn’t need to see any more.

Halfway through class and Theo had found his gaze once again on the new girl. She sat across the room with the McCall pack, Lydia and Stiles sitting in front and beside her respectively, and the kitsune glaring at him from the corner desk. He snarled at her.

Y/N looked uncomfortable. Like she couldn’t breathe. She was stiff and awkward, and Theo could smell the panic from all the way across the room. The McCall pack was oblivious, per usual. Not a clue one they’d claimed as their own was trying not to freak out.

And on top of that, the salt scent was back and stronger than ever. That was worrying him more than it had reason to, and it was all because of this incessant need of his to be close to that girl. It made him crazy that they hadn’t noticed something was wrong; he couldn’t even go investigate the scent and trust they’d watch out for her. His leg was shaking, and he knew all three of that pack could sense his frustration. They kept shooting looks at him.

It was when Y/N shot out of the classroom at the sound of the first bell that Theo realized she hadn’t unpacked anything. She had been sitting on the very edge of her chair, bag in her lap, body made small and tense, eyes glazed over as she focused on staying calm. She hadn’t even taken out a pen to fiddle with.

And that realization made Theo shoot out the classroom door through the McCall pack without even a second glance back when Stiles started cursing at him.

They didn’t try to follow him. They didn’t try to follow Y/N. It irritated him that that annoyed him. He was chasing after some human girl. He had bigger fish to fry.

Theo shook his head and cleared his mind. Students making their last stop at their lockers crowded the halls, but thankfully, that salt scent was much more potent than any human stench. He picked it up passing an adjacent hallway aimed away from the main entrance, and he started after it. It was stronger then, and that wasn’t because there only a few stragglers around him. There was more of it in the air, a thicker stream rushing up his nose. He narrowed his eyes as it got stronger and stronger, his steps faster as he followed it deeper into the emptying halls. He followed it around another corner and then��

It was gone.

Theo sniffed the air; the salt was dimmer now. It was behind him. He turned around and found the stream again. It was dispersing, its source gone now, but there was still a concentration of it near him. He could smell it. And he could… hear it?

The chimera shook himself clear of his tracking instincts. He needed to focus. Then he heard it.

He shoved the door to the empty music room open, and Y/N leapt out of her skin. She whirled around from her place on the piano bench, her hair flying around her and bright, shimmery streaks painting her cheeks.

Theo stared at her as she stared at him, both at a loss of what to do. Her bright eyes sparkled with water, her pale skin tinted with red. The grand black piano casting a large shadow behind her made her look small. And Theo remembered the pigtails in the comic.

Y/N turned away from him, somehow trying to hide the fact that he’d seen her crying. But it didn’t matter. He could smell it clearly. It was her. The salt was from her tears.

He closed the door and came to stand behind her. The saltiness of her scent brought a sadness that chased away the fear of the unknown. It didn’t mean there was a monster. It just meant there was a human girl who was utterly heartbroken.

And he wanted to be around the day she drew a comic of herself that smiled as an adult…

#imagine #imagines #teen wolf #theo raeken #teen wolf imagine #tw imagine #teen wolf imagines #tw imagines #theo raeken imagine #theo raeken imagines #x reader #teen wolf x reader #tw x reader #theo raeken x reader #fic rec #tw fic rec #teen wolf fic rec #theo raeken fic rec #theo x reader

47 notes · View notes

cutecatpumpkin · 6 years

Text

i just need to write out my thoughts right now cause im kind of blown away by the situation im in right now.

so, like, for the past few days ive been working on my art. just, every day. and i didnt even have to force myself to work, or pressure myself. i just... did it? and im only realizing now how easy its all been. i stress out about everything so easily and i havent even thought about it until now.

i had all these goals in mind for years. draw every day, work on comic, work on asks, make fanart that people who follow my blogs would enjoy, get better at talking to people, overthink my mental state in the hopes it would cure me, do chores, just, on and on and on with everything. so many things i wanted to accomplish. but for, a week now?, ive shortened that list considerably. now my goals changed to 1 - follow main passion of life (help people be happy) 2 - draw every day and 3 - do what you can

so i started working on drawing every day, which turned into drawing things to make people happy (im included in people), which then snowballed into, ‘well, since im drawing so much anyways i might as well work on my work (underfell blog comic + asks) which has led to the mindset of ‘i’ll work on what i want to work on’. so i have both my personal projects and my work open at the same time. and once i work on my work it brings me to think ‘im happy to work on work, im making a lot of progress and im proud of myself’ and because i love working i work on work even more, still having my personal projects open because sometimes i dont want to work and would rather draw other fun things, which is fine. its fine to take a break now and then and its not like my goal is to work or anything, so whatever. and then comes today, where i spent a lot of time working today because once i finish drawing for the asks i plan on working on the comic page, and itll be satisfactory to work on the comic page, so i eagerly do work and then spend 4 hours straight working on the comic page. ive finished the line art and plan on doing at least the flat colors, not tomorrow, but the next time i work on it. not because i have to, but because i want to.

me, doing work, without even thinking twice about it. not stressing in any way shape or form. i have drawing i want to do and once im done drawing that if im in the mood i’ll do some work for however long i want to, and if i dont want to work i wont. but because the idea of work doesnt stress me out because thats not even what im trying to accomplish, i want to work. so i work

im really weirded out honestly. im doing work, without insulting myself, without hurting myself in any way, and im enjoying myself. im making progress. im making so much progress. im so nervous i’ll fuck up this good thing ive got going on. but i feel like, maybe this time, itll actually work out. and my fears will be for nothing.

.....its 2am, i should go to sleep.

#talking to myself #mental nonsense

2 notes · View notes

cabbitthoughts · 7 years

Text

Reading between the lines...

So i started reading a webcomic that i came across randomly about a week ago. The artist was posting artwork and a story about being homeless and the trials challenges that they faced related to that (i'll include the links at the end of all of this). But from there i decided to check out some of their other works. As it turns out they wrote a really great and amazing story using some unique characters they created. It was designed to be a split off from their main story of several years it seemed... but it was something that i really found myself liking and attached to. The story was cute and very meaningful and all around an amazing work. I saw that they had been continuing to work on this piece to an almost current date as they went into a 2nd chapter! I was quite excited about this and then I started to read their other stories... Now i wouldn't say that this is where the trouble began but i tried to read the story from a part where i was interested and go forward... which I couldn't find a good part and eventually decided to go back and start from the beginning... This comic started sometime in 2004? I think so their was well over 2K pages to read! I was excited and started getting really into it. Sadly reading a work that goes from cool and interesting into something serious and dark/depressing while i myself was not and have no been in a stable mind... lets just say that this was not the best idea... at all. So inevitably I have RL situations going on that are stressing me out and making all sorts of things flare up in my head before/during/after reading this... One night i stayed up until 3am reading this another night nearly 5 am... im not sleeping right and im stressed about work (amoungst other personal family matters)... WELL Wouldn't you know that i reach the part of the story where things start to get sad/depressing right around alot of concerning family issues start happening? And it sucks! So over the next few days i start to just completely envelop myself in the story and everything else just starts to suffer... However then i have a stressful night at work... and now im having problems just holding myself together at times. I feel issues like these are kinda what lead to my last job problems and thats not giving me help or confidence in my current situation. Well right now Im just trying to put something down here. I think that just getting things down, not that i look back at it really, but it gives me the chance kinda just "get it out"... While im sure i have people to talk to about these matters... Its not easy to want to bring these up to people. I mean seriously who "wants" to open themselves up to their most vulnerable state to someone else... Ive also been feeling like i need to get away from my current living situation... Its just not making me happy. I cant keep staying around my family, its not easy to be around them. Its like living with people that want everything that you hate and that hate everything that you believe in. I cant be me or anything like that. I cant even "discuss" things because there's no "discussions" with people that cant understand things because they can only see things from their own view point... Also as im the now "most successful" child I've gotta deal with that... i mean hell my POOL rate before going to regular part time with the nursing home was only $5 less then my mom was making roughly... and she's been doing what im starting to do now, for about 30 years or so? So im sure they have issues with ... Im living here, not paying much or anything to be here... and I don't wanna be here, but I don't have the confidence or money to leave... (this all comes back to my connecting with some of the characters from the stories in a way)... Im basically stuck in a fucked up situation where I don't want to care, because I "know" (assumption based on beliefs) how things with my family will turn out when i leave... but I find myself unable to not care... My family (parents) put themselves in less then ideal situations partly due to their own lack of understanding - but also so that I could have opportunities that i did and get me where i am now. Right now I just wanna get something to help myself think straight, get my confidence in myself and what i do back... and just move the fuck on with my life. Ive lived nearly over a quarter century and almost none of it was on my own terms in my own place with the people I want to be with. I know that this is long and I don't really expect anyone to read it... It just helps to get it out... If your interested in what i was reading... check out www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/rmccool The comics in my suggested order of looking at are: 1. How to be homeless (its real and its hard to believe but its done in a lighthearted way) 2. Habibahs Song - while technically the "last" or furthest in the future setting of the rest of their comics the first story arc gives nice intro to everything characters and its nice. The 2nd arc is imcomplete but you can always read that too. 3. Now... Life with dragons LEADS INTO public humiliation... which is kinda off cause it was never finished but it shorter and quicker to look at so worth a shot... IF NOT then READ public humiliation... Just be warned you'll know when it starts to turn dark... If you manage to get to the "end" of that read that and "even more public humiliation" as they sort of parallel but their all amazing works... I really wanna get more attention to this artist and support their works! I'd love for them to be able to pages for all their comics every week (or more) but also it would be even better for the artist to be a in better safer and more secured situation and that will allow them to do more with their comics/works. Well thats all i have for now on this account.. I'll get back to my current messed up mental state (which as bad as it is, its nothing like what their dealing with... and yet still its one of those things that doesn't help really cause I need to change me before i can really do much to change / help anyone else... though i will admit I am currently supporting their patreon ( www.patreon.com/Jrileymc ) because I read ALL of their works and I want to see them do more and by supporting them now i can support both their situation and their works. So while I don't normally do this... I would seriously have bought their comic in printed forms of whatnot to support them. All in all i hope your nights better then mine...

0 notes