#cos I haven't been drawing a long comic

[ruubesz-draws]

Gonna draw a super cringe Godzilla Christmas comic lol

Be prepared

(Been a while since I drew a comic featuring these three)

#godzilla #rodan #anguirus #christmas #gonna draw it cringe #well... it looked cringe so be prepared #idk #but it's been a while #cos I haven't been drawing a long comic #stay tuned!

[choochooboss]

Introducing your station master & Magma event host!

Since there's already a lot of passengers visiting this station and I haven't spared much time to get to know my fellow submas fans over Tumbrl yet, an introduction would be in place!

I'm Jun, nice to meet you! *offers a hand for for a shake* I am a devoted submas artist & a monthly Magma event host! I go by ChooChooBoss everywhere (Twitter/Bsky/Twitch/Ko-Fi)!

This will be a long post! I will write a short intro as well which you can just skim through but here is a more in depth view how I got into submas, my other interests and life in general, in case you'd wish to know more about your conductor on this silly train!

How did I get into submas in the first place?

PLA. I met this certain mysterious & cool fellow time traveler and got curious! After the cave scene I went to read his Wiki, found out about Emmet, and... yeah. The emotional impact blasted me right out of a miserable cycle I was going through back then and set my soul on fire!! A month later I set up my first art account on Twitter, and the rest is history. They've become my greatest source of strength and inspiration and I enjoy drawing them every single day!

I love both twins very much! I tend to vibe with Ingo a little more than Emmet, but I draw Emmet more. People say I remind of butler Ingo the most, hehe. I certainly don't mind because I'm a big fan of butlermas!! In fact I got into submas & started playing Pokémon Masters EX in April 2022, a week before butler Ingo banner rolled in, so they truly got a special place in my heart ahah! (pssst draw more butlermas for me pls pls pls-)

However I don't draw warden Ingo as much as I would like to. I still get pretty emotional over his fate ahah, I can't draw him without a single tear! This sweet & kind man leading a good life and being an inspiration to others has been torn from literally everything he had for seemingly no reason apart from his name, clothes and the muscle memory and even those are barely intact. It seems like a miracle he's still standing and breathing after put through everything judging by the wear and tear on his uniform and body. Despite all that he carries a positive attitude, assists everyone in need, and does his best to help people and pokémon understand each other, unconditionally... Oh, my face is wet again...

My other interests besides submas?

Monster Hunter! Zelda! Genshin Impact! Super Mario! Trine! Crash Team Racing! And many many more! My favourite genres are platformers, kart racers, and action games, with a side of rhythm games. I'm a big fan of co-op games! I also watch my sis play JRPGs!

Monster Hunter is the dearest to me out of all. I've been hunting for well over a decade starting from MHFU. The games have charmed me with their incredibly satisfying combat system, world building, creature design, great attention to detail, character customisation and the games being nearly fully co-op!!

Other things I do:

Pokémon is practically the only turn-based game I enjoy, mainly because of the characters and collection aspect. However!! I adore Pokémon Colosseum (the first pkmn game I ever played!) and it's double battle focus, so The Indigo Disc has been a delight after the long starvation for double battles, coming up with different combinations makes the battles much more fun to me!!... I sound like Emmet here do I ahahah! We also share the fact we are both left-handed!

Shuffle dancing, daily pull-ups, and expanding my ever growing VGM collection! I also enjoy traveling and taking photos to keep as a diary! I've played piano in a music school for 9 years, and I can also play kalimba. I've done casual boxing, gymnastics, horse riding and medieval swordfighting. I used to read comics/manga and watch movies and anime but nowadays I barely do that, I just rather use that time for drawing instead of just sitting and watching, unless I have company!

I share the apartment with my anxious brother and our two sweet female cats, Laku (11, stubborn and cuddly) and Kalevi (21, demanding and full of love) in a city center. My parents are both entrepreneurs and run a farm in the countryside & I have 4 siblings with me as the middle kid!

Where can you meet me?

I am a game artist by profession, with 4 yrs of studies and roughly 7 years of EXP in the field doing game art, UI design, character/prop design, in mobile games as well as PC titles, 2D and 3D. At the moment I am looking for work; I keep up the motivation and learn new skills by running my art accounts while looking for new opportunities.

I hail from the land of darkness, snow, salmiakki, metalheads and renownly reserved people, Finland! (UTC+2)

Despite having my roots here I am pretty much the opposite of a typical Finn in almost every sense ahah! I'm a small guy who's not afraid talking to strangers and laughs a lot. And I dislike coffee for the contrary, it's very popular amongst finns.

With the inspiration from submas I've finally stepped into the world of cosplay so you can usually meet this small and excitable Ingo in the biggest local conventions, Desucon and Tracon! Come say hi!

About my social battery:

I'm both social and socially anxious ahah! I love making new friends and talking to all sorts of people and writing comments, and gathering together with my mutuals to do cool stuff together! However my social battery is very small... I often struggle with my AD(H)D and anxiety issues, so my replies can be extremely slow. I'm easily overwhelmed when life gets busy and I deal with it by withdrawing to minimise the the stimuli and then sorting my stuff out one by one. This is a frustrating shortcoming, but I'm working hard to find a balance I can maintain without getting exhausted. Please be patient with me! If you don't hear from me in a while, please don't take it personally! In fact, it makes me really happy if you contact me, for any purpose!

Which pronouns do I go with?

I go by they/them! I am also aroace, so if I appear to show any sort of romantic interest, it's definitely not that. I love meeting new people and am quite interested in people in general so I'm excited to get to know you better, but the thing is... I have been confusing people on several occassions for saying things that could be taken as flirting. I am terribly sorry for that, that's just the way I show how I care!

I don't really identify myself by any specific gender either, but rather by my roles or interests (Magma host, submas fan, game artist etc.). Submas encouraged me to enjoy dressing formally even if I'm just sitting at home, because I love formal clothing in general and wearing them makes me feel confident and stand taller! I usually wear collar shirts and black or white slacks.

More about my AD(H)D:

I don't have an official diagnosis but deal with the same problems as AD(H)D people do; poor work memory, dissociation, hyperfocus (drawing and people), sleep deprivation, impulsiveness (juggling too many things and going with the wind), getting sensory/information overloads, and feeling like I don't fit in. I figured it out after I finished school & lost my job for that I am unable to handle big tasks without anyone giving me directions. It has taken a while but I've figured out things that help me manage my daily life as well as have a medication that mainly boosts my capability to get things started which is another great struggle ahah.

How do I manage to keep myself on track?

I use a Pomodoro timer to keep up a good flow and remember to take breaks! This is what I use the most:

I should set it up on my tablet as well. I think it's really cool to see how many hours I have actually put into drawing! Last year I clocked in well over 3k hours, ahaha!

How to catch me?

Right now I have great difficulty managing replies, but usually you can reach me by DMs! I check Discord and Twitter the most often! However I must ask you to respect my current DNI status. It means I am really overwhelmed so I wish nobody comes asking for my attention until it has been lifted, unless it's really necessary. I really love talking to you all but I also have to accept and deal with my own limits strictly like this or it won't work out.

What am I working on at the moment?

Besides the holiday set I have several short comics under works as well as one big comic (100+ pages!). That one is my personal greatest goal! I started working on it in June 2022 and I have currently 40+ pages sketched and 60+ thumbnailed.

I was afraid of starting any comic projects before submas, but the sheer excitement over them carried me over that personal wall ahah!

The story's beginning and end are looking good and somewhat functional but there's still a lot to work to do and holes to fill in the middle before I dare to start fleshing out the pages. I have little experience in writing or comic making so I hope you forgive if some things don't make sense or the dialogue is a little on the nose so to say ahah!

The story will be packed with action with the overall tone being on the darker side, but it sure won't be lacking in humor! The project's main goal is to make it a celebration of all things submas & to prove to myself I can handle a big scale project despite my shortcomings!

This train has reached the terminal!

Thank you for riding my silly submas train!! I adore reading all your tags and comments! They brighten up my day & fuel my passion even more!! I hope to bring many more fun things for you to look forward to!! See you again soon!

ALL ABOARD!!

#Personal #Introduction

[c0smiccom3t]

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

[standupcomedyhistorian]

Hi, everyone!

It's Demetri Martin Month on my website for December, and I've been working on a number of articles about one of my favorite comics.

If you haven't heard of Demetri before, his comedy is DENSE with fun music, clever turns of phrase (he's a master of wordplay), and witty one-liners. Plus he draws—and he's ambidextrous!

Anyway, while doing some research, I discovered something pretty interesting:

Almost all of my top 5 favorite comedians have some affiliation with Gillian Jacobs (Britta Perry on Community)! 🤯

Here's how:

1. Bo Burnham: Bo and Gillian both appear in Adventures in the Sin Bin, and Bo knows her long-time partner Chris Storer REALLY well (Chris co-directed two of his comedy specials—what. and Make Happy)

Fun fact: Gillian also participated in a DND game with Bo and Jerrod Carmichael as part of Elsie Fisher's podcast—and it's one of the funniest things I've ever heard haha

2. James Acaster: No connection that I know of

3. John Mulaney: Both John and Gillian appear in the wonderful episode from Season 2 of The Bear called "Fishes"

4. Flight of the Conchords: No connection to Bret that I know of, but Jemaine Clement and Gillian both starred in I Used To Go Here (a really enjoyable movie and definitely recommended)

5. Demetri Martin: Gillian plays Demetri's love interest in his directorial debut Dean (that he also wrote—so talented!)

Pretty crazy how many connections all of my favorites have to Britta! 😉

#gillian jacobs #if she is in Ghostbusters somehow I'll be able to connect James too lol #bo burnham #chris storer #the bear #the bear fx #adventures in the sin bin #tony caito #the sin bin #john mulaney #jemaine clement #i used to go here #demetri martin #demetri martin month #dean #much more on demetri coming soon on my site! #britta perry #community

[1010lilfoot]

Talent de Lune magical girl AU?

It's very fun to draw an outfit without any regard for fashion hehe.

If this AU is based on STAR GIRL, most magical girls are with a gov. agency. They fight monsters and get paid. Even if you become a magical girl, you don't have to do this (it's just strongly recommended), but the gov. will have you take some classes to understand your new powers and keep them under control (and also to try to persuade you to work for them).

But there is the occasional vigilante magical girl! During the time period of the STAR GIRL comic, they are very uncommon (maybe they don't even exist yet), but in this TDL AU, let's say there are a bunch of vigilantes, haha.

Samantha: She was with the gov. for like 2 seconds. She met Cameron when she was outclassed, fighting a monster, and he saved her. She decided to become a vigilante with him because she felt like the gov. didn't care about her life. Later, both of them join TDL!

Cameron: Kind, but mysterious. He's had powers for as long as he can remember, which is very strange. He doesn't quite understand the depths of his own magical girl power yet...

Max: Co-leader of TDL! It's a guild of vigilante magical girls. I think he himself isn't one, actually, but he still helps fight monsters and provide tech support. He's the guy in the chair!

Cathy: Co-leader of TDL. She's got musical powers. Has been friends with Max forever, and when she got her powers, he was the one to suggest they go rogue b/c she didn't want to work for the gov.

Abby: Teleportation powers! She's pretty OP. Got her powers at a young age, and she is super fond of them. Has been a vigilante for ages, was raised by vigilante guilds.

Ben: Maybe he has powers, maybe not...I haven't decided. Either way, he's still the designated medic-guy and pseudo-big brother for TDL.

BONUS CHARACTERS!

Ambre: Gov. agency magical girl. Super strength/fortitude! She's high-up in the ranks, kind of a special agent. Very powerful and very immoral.

Amily: Another vigilante, with water powers. Leads the NYSM guild, which is a total powerhouse of rogue magical girls.

TDD: The main four are all magical girls as well, I think. Jupiter's got gravity powers, Eight has clairvoyance, Fae probably still has earthquakes, and I'm not sure about Aidyn.

#TDL #ask #anonymous #TDL star girl AU

[420thewritersroom]

Team Fortress 2: The World (W.I.P & Preview)

Team Fortress 2 is a game and setting that is wholly unique to me.

When it comes to other games, even those with wacky comedic elements, they at least try to ground themselves in some realm of reality that is established in their setting. Yet, Team Fortress 2 is the one and only game that I know that says, to your face, "fuck reality" and does whatever it wants. And it works. This post sums it up perfectly, but TF2 is the one game where even the GAME MECHANICS are taken into account by the fandom. In what game has the Respawn mechanic ever been considered? There are countless SFMs, fanfics, and drawings that take the Mercs' ability to return from death more seriously than Valve updating their game in the current age.

But if there's one thing I haven't seen done in the fandom, it's fully establishing the setting and expanding on the canon of Team Fortress 2. Now, yes, there are canonical reasons for why the Mercs are shedding blood in the game, and there is a, albeit incomplete, main story comic that further expands upon it. But I haven't seen anyone further examine the lore and try to build upon it. Which, if there are some people who have placed their own personal headcanons about the world of TF2, please send them my way. I'd love to read or hear them (I haven't been in the fandom for a long ass time, so I'm sure I missed a post or two elaborating upon the canon of TF2).

Below the READ MORE will be long lines of text as we go over the origins that lead us to the start of the Mann Wars, What the big corps are & their place in the canon, going over the key players of TF2, the events of Mann VS Machine, and where the Mercs are at now.

In The Beginning, Mann Waged War: The Origins of the Gravel Wars.

Now, while there is a whole comic that goes over the origins of the Gravel Wars and the events that would lead us to MVM, we're going to break this apart, piece by piece.

Zepheniah Mann

The sequence of events would begin with one man, Zepheniah Mann. There's very little detail about Zepheniah, but we know a few things about Zeph. Zepheniah was the original owner of the Mann Co company and sold munitions as far back as 1822. He wasn't alone in running this business as he also has a brother by the name of Silas Mann who assisted with making keys and name tags. At some point, he was associated with Barnabus Hale, Saxton Hale's grandfather (we'll get to the Hale family in a minute), and eventually married a woman by the name of Bette. We don't know much about his wife. The only bit of information we know about Bette is that her maiden name was once Bette née Darling and is the daughter of a man by the name of William Darling esquire.

But from the way Zepheniah spoke of her during the LITERAL BIRTH OF HIS THREE SONS, he was more annoyed and unbothered when she passed after childbirth. He also was just as uncaring about his infant sons as the midwife/nurse that attended Bette expressed confused correction as though Zeph should KNOW that he was expecting 3 sons.

To add to this, Zeph examined his own children as if he were picking livestock from a farm, determining their worth before making the go-ahead to raise them. And the second he saw his third son, who would eventually be known as Gray Mann, he immediately wanted him dead when it was discovered that he not only was the rut of the "litter" but was capable of full speech.

So based on this alone, we can ascertain that Zeph was a complete dick for no reason. We're not given a background check on his personal history, such as how Mann Co. came to be, who was the wife he married, and what could've caused him to be so heartless that he didn't bat an eye when his wife died and became a father. But this is where we can probably fill in some blanks to potentially explain some this.

I'm thinking that perhaps his marriage to Bette was purely professional. Maybe she had money due to her own personal wealth, or she was the daughter to a man with a successful company, and this caught Zeph's eye to marry her so that his affluence would leech off her earnings. And if we're going to bounce off of this theory, then that could explain why Zeph never cared for Bette. He got her riches and had her give birth to his future children, so her usefulness was spent aside from raising his children. The only person Zepheniah had an alright relationship with was Elizabeth, his maidservant. In his Will and the Loose Canon, he calls Elizabeth his "dearest maidservant." And nobody uses such a term, dearest, lightly. Zepheniah valued her very much, their relationship possibly being one of great trust as colleagues, friends, found family, or even lovers. Keep Elizabeth in mind because we'll be coming back to her soon.

Now, considering that Team Fortress 2 is a dark comedy and goes balls to the wall with its humor, I could be looking too deep into this. It could be that Zeph's indifference is played up for laughs. But that's what we're here for, overanalyzing a war dress-up game.

And this is where we'll have to end this section with Zepheniah Mann. Once again, not much we can go off on with Zepheniah other than he's an asshole. His sons, though!

RED VS BLU

From the get-go, these twin brothers HATE each other. In the same comic where we glean a bit of information about their father, Zepheniah Mann, we see both Redmond & Blutarch stink eyeing each other immediately after being conceived. Like their father, we don't know much about what went on before the main events of TF2, but we do know that ever since then, the brothers never got along. But they did love their father. Which I find very interesting.

Once again, Zeph shows utter disinterest in his sons, most likely only seeing them as a means to prolong the family business and nothing else. He quite literally, after assessing them like cattle, says how "They'll do." So, I can imagine how much of a "loving" father Zeph may have been. At best, if we want to throw this man a bone, he was the toughest loving father there could ever be. Or, at worst, he was neglectful and only cared about his sons when it came to teaching them the family business, putting high expectations on both of them.

And considering that children (and people in general) are naturally inclined to be loved, the twins most likely did everything in their power to appeal to their emotionally detached father. This could explain why the Mann brothers were always at each other's neck, wanting to outdo the other in hopes of gaining their father's attention.

In the Catch-Up comic, Saxton Hale describes the brothers as idiots, and he's not too far off with that statement. The Mann brothers convinced their aged father to buy most of all of New Mexico. But what was it that pushed them to make such a move? I neglected to mention this, but the Mann family originally resided in England, and with all their wealth, why move to the U.S.? From the Blood Brothers comic, Redmond confirms that they believe "whoever owns those pits (of gravel) would be a god." That gravel would be able to power steam engines. We're not told WHO or WHERE they got this idea from, but we can assume this is what urged them to convince their father to move to the States and buy up land in New Mexico. Something Zepheniah would never forgive them for doing.

Before we continue, I want to analyze what we know about the brothers individually. Despite Valve favoring the RED team when it comes to backstory, Blutarch is the one that gets the most screen time and info about him. In my opinion, Blutarch is perhaps the more ambitious brother if we're speaking purely of the twins that Zeph chose to not attempt infanticide on.

In Loose Canon, the one who not only approached the Engineers' grandfather, Radigan Conagher, but the Engineer himself (Dell Conagher), is not Redmond, but Blutarch. Blutarch is also the one who initially compiled a group of mercenaries to take the shared gravel-filled land by force from his brother. Blutarch is also the one who proposed a truce so that they could do some old man yaoi mpreg crimes against nature. Hell, the motherfucker even knew where Radigan's blueprints to his life-extender machine were buried (in his grave, mind you). This has me believing that Blutarch was perhaps the second smartest brother of the bunch (Gray Mann being THE smartest of the triplets).

As for Redmond, we don't know what original ideas he came up with to combat his brother. So far, everything that Redmond achieved was because, one, his brother thought it up first, and two, someone else TOLD him about what his brother was planning to do. The only time we see Redmond make any propositions about anything is when he conjures the silly idea to convert gravel into coal and to call his men up to send his brother to hell.

With this in mind, I can imagine if Zepheniah gave a single damn about his kids, Blutarch was perhaps his "preferred" child. At least Blutarch had some minor promise of running his company and preserving the family image. And don't get it twisted, Blutarch is just as much an idiot as Redmond, it was BOTH brothers who convinced their father to purchase land in New Mexico under the impression that the gravel there could be used as a power source. But at least he's ambitious enough to think up wild ideas and find someone to make it a reality.

But despite this, because of the L Zeph took for even listening to his sons, when he was dead & dying, he created a Will. Within this death testimony, he split his profits and heritage among three people. Firstly, his company, Mann Co., would go to his trusted aide, Barnabus Hale. Secondly, his maidservant, Elizabeth, was to inherit all of Zepheniah's wealth that wasn't squandered thanks to his sons' misgivings. But for his sons, they will have to live off the purchased land they convinced their father to buy. Not only that, they would be forced to share the land evenly. Now, reading the Will Zeph left behind, he's exceptionally harsh to his sons, understandably so. And you would think that with such jarring words, this would be their wake-up call to perhaps better themselves and work together. Or, better yet, solemnly accept the reality they're in and grudgingly co-exist across the street from each other in the barren wasteland they now possess.

But, no, the Mann brothers decide this would be a perfect opportunity to fight over useless land. This is where I feel like the brothers are blaming the other for what transpired with their father and family fortune. Once again, both Mann brothers loved their father dearly, perhaps even fighting for Zeph to even acknowledge them in an ok light. So I can imagine their shock and heartbreak when the final words from their father, in his own Will, is how much he despised BOTH Redmond & Blutarch. In Loose Canon, they looked more annoyingly shocked about having to share the purchased land, but who knows what their faces were when the Will was being read in its entirety.

Thus, I believe the war started due to the brothers dealing with the emotional trauma that their father left behind. Neither brother has the guts or brain power to admit that both of them were at fault when it came to the mishandling of their family fortune, nor do they have the capability to accept that their father was an absolute ass. So, they blame the other brother, believing that the land rightfully belongs to them, learning nothing from their own personal experience that their low intelligence and hatred for the other is what got them into this situation to begin with.

With the Gravel Wars finally commencing, Blutarch hires 9 mercenaries to attempt to take his brother's land by force. But, Redmond would get the same idea. Thus, RED VS BLU would become a staple rivalry until the current time in the TF2 universe. As most may remember and know, Blutarch hired famous individuals in history, such as Abe Lincoln, Billy the Kid, Nikola Tesla, John Henry, Davy Crockett, Sigmund Freud, Stonewall Jackson, Alfred Nobel, and Fu Manchu.

I'm NOT going to bother with overanalyzing these characters, considering that most of these characters simply shouldn't exist during the time of the Gravel Wars (1850), and they're clearly placed there for comedic factors. On top of that, we know next to nothing about these mercs (save for Abe Lincoln). If I were to throw myself a bone here, I theorized that the moment they realized that they were fighting a pointless war, the men simply left. I cannot imagine a famous inventor, a president, an infamous outlaw, a general officer, a frontiersman, a chemist, a neurologist, an American folk hero, and a racist stereotype spending more than a year fighting for land that produces nothing in return for 2 idiot men; even if there was money involved.

However, before we get further into the Gravel Wars, there is one person we have to talk about before delving into the situation between BLU VS RED.

Elizabeth, Helen, and TF Industries

It's important to understand where the Administrator and TF Industries come into play when it comes to the lore of TF2. Unfortunately, because the TF2 comics for the main line story haven't been updated since 2017 and the details of TF2 are spotty and vague, there are going to be some questions that we will have to speculate and answer ourselves. To help with this, I highly recommend watching SkyminSlash & Casperr, both of whom did outstanding jobs analyzing what we know about the Administrator and making this section a whole lot easier to write down. I'm also going to drop these two videos from Mister Dispenser & Richter Overtime as they not only go into a bit about the Administrator but also put down possible endings to the mainline TF2 comic (which we'll get into later).

When it came to the Administrator and writing this section, it practically made me go insane. I had a difficult time writing up a coherent theory that sounded right to me and plausible enough that it could be possible. However, I believe we can condense this down to three questions that we have to ask to further understand the possible motives behind the Administrator.

Who is the Administrator?

What is it she craved that she would become indebted to someone for it?

Who is she indebted to?

To start us off, who is the Administrator? Well, based on canon, the earliest we know of the Administrator is that she was a young girl...At some point...Yeah, in terms of personal history BEFORE she became the woman we know today, it's still a massive question mark on who she is. We know that the Administrator is named Helen; she smokes a lot, is a master manipulator, has a loyal assistant named Miss Pauling, watches the TF crew from various monitors, and has a hand in the Gravel War. We are aware that way back when she was placed in an old debt that she'd been trying to settle for all her life. From her wording, it sounds like whomever she was indebted to gave her something she greatly desired since she says this:

And this is where we gotta go into the whole Elizabeth and Helen situation, as many noticed a pattern between the two women. The trademark look of the Administrator is that she's elderly, most likely in her 60s-80s, wears purple, has a smoking habit, constant resting bitch face, and has a white streak of hair. These are the core traits of the Administrator we all know and love.

However, two other women in the comics share a striking similar semblance to the Administrator we know today. The maidservant I mentioned a while ago is shown a few times, mainly relating to the Will that Zepheniah left behind, giving the maidservant, Elizabeth, all of his wealth. There was also another woman by the name of Elizabeth who approached Radigan about making life extender machines for Redmond and showing the precious metal, Australium, to him. Now, initially, back in the Loose Canon comic, this other woman who spoke with Radigan wasn't named. It wasn't until 2014 with the Catch-Up comic that Valve confirmed that this other woman who looked similar to Elizabeth AND Helen also shared the same name as Elizabeth.

Both women have been around in different periods of time, the maidservant being around since 1850 (at the earliest) and the other Elizabeth approaching Radigan since 1890. And it is to be assumed that both Elizabeths are the Administrator, Helen. Now, some theories speculate that perhaps the Elizabeths in the comics could be relatives/ancestors of the Helen we see today. And these speculations can have some merit to them, but I prefer seeing the connection between the Elizabeths' and Helen as being one person instead of a family lineage.

I further believe that the Elizabeth's and Helen are the same person because in the comics, between some banter with Saxton Hale & Charles Darling, he expresses how Helen has been alive for well over 150 years (this slightly contradicts with Gray Mann & Miss Pauling rushing to find the 1850 census records, but give me a second, lemme cook). However, this doesn't really tell us much about the Administrator. So she lived for a very long time, most likely through Australium, but what is it about her that she would put herself in such a debt that she has to prolong her life?

Casperr made the suggestion that Helen may be a blood member of the Mann family. Originally, I didn't vibe with this, but there was one thing that kept nagging at me that I started to entertain this theory: the census record. Census records survey the population of a country to determine its population along with details such as an individual's age and current job description. This is often used to plan or adjust healthcare, employment, and education. But it's also used by those who wish to trace back their family lineage. When you look up census records, you will find either websites providing free information about such information or the records being used by genealogists & family history researchers.

When we focus on Miss Pauling and the merc during Unhappy Returns, she specifically asks for "genealogy records." And we know these are the census records that Gray Mann was looking for because when Gray Mann was asking for the records, the mayor of Teufort stated that Miss Pauling was also looking for records that date back to 1850. But why 1850? We do know that Elizabeth gained Zepheniah's wealth and "miracle gravel" once he died, but why look into the possible circumstances of her birth?

This is where I drop the possible theory of Helen/Elizabeth being a Mann daughter.

It will go without saying that Helen/Elizabeth was NOT born exactly in 1822. If we take the 150-year statement Charles Darling informed us of, 150 years from 1972 takes us back to 1822, the exact date the Mann triplets were born. When we look at the family photo where Elizabeth/Helen sat with the Mann family and Barnabus Hale, she already looked exceptionally old. Old enough to consider the Mann brothers her own children or grandchildren since the brothers were 28 when the Will was read to them. Now, considering that Helen/Elizabeth is always shown smoking, perhaps this may have aged her physically as smoking constantly can make someone appear older than they should be. However, to further pin that Elizabeth/Helen was NOT born in 1822, in the same comic, Blood Brothers, the nurse who aided Bette quite literally states that Zepheniah was father to triplets; Redmond, Blutarch, and Gray Mann.

So if Elizabeth/Helen is a possible blood relative to Zepheniah, then he must've had her much earlier in his life. In Blood Brothers, when we first see a alive and young Zeph, we can possibly estimate that he's probably 30-40 years old. So he probably had her a decade or more before the Mann brothers. Now, whether or not Bette would still be considered her mother can be up for speculation. She could be Bette's first child or Zepheniah could've boinked some random woman.

Perhaps Elizabeth/Helen was Bette's first child, but because she was a girl, and considering the era at that time, Zepheniah did not see Elizabeth/Helen as a viable choice to run his company because he wanted a boy. Or perhaps Elizabeth's mother was someone Zeph coupled with before settling on Bette Darling. Whether or not he loved this woman can also be up for debate since we don't know what he was like outside of being a grouch. He could've loved her or only saw her as a means to "put off steam." But when he discovered Elizabeth/Helen was his daughter, he may have offered to ward her, not officially adopting her into his family despite being related to her. That could explain why she's called his maidservant, just so that he could further muddy the familial ties she has with the Mann family.

Remember that question I posed earlier about why Helen & Gray Mann wanted to look for the census records that date back to 1850? I believe that the Administrator changed her name sometime in 1850 once she inherited the "miracle gravel" from Zepheniah and eventually branched away from Redmond & Blutarch.

So we answered the first question about WHO the Administrator is, a possible member of the Mann family. Then what was it that she craved that she was indebted to someone to have it? Now, this was the issue I had when writing this up. Because we have no hints or clues to point to that could tell us any alternative motives the Administrator may have. Initially, I figured that perhaps she may have craved power & wealth. Which, with the theory of her being a potential Mann child, wouldn't be too far-fetched.

Perhaps due to the social climate at the time, Zepheniah denied Helen/Elizabeth the inheritance of his affluence. Helen/Elizabeth could've felt bitter about being left out of the family fortune and even being demoted to being the "maidservant" of the Mann family. On top of that, when the Mann triplets (Redmond, Blutarch, and Gray Mann) were born, she may have started to truly fear her position in the Mann family. Now that Zeph had 3 (technically 2) "reliable" boys in the family, he had someone he could pass the company off should he desire to keep Man Co. traditionally run by a member of the Mann family. Even worse, 2 of the brothers are incompetent, and the other one was taken by eagles.

Furthermore, the only thing Elizabeth has going for her is that Zepheniah has a lot of respect for Elizabeth. But she still worries about her future with the Mann family. What happens when Zepheniah dies? He could easily give his estate and riches to his sons, and considering that she's a maidservant to not just Zeph but the Mann family as a whole, she could be spending the rest of her life under the servitude of her brain-dead (half) brothers. And even IF she decided to leave, that would mean leaving the safety net of wealth that the Mann family provided her.

Leaving means she has to build up her lifestyle, something that would've been difficult for her to do depending on how good and how willing she was to perform certain labors (she was a maidservant, so her skills were most likely cleaning, shopping, cooking, and potentially caring for the Mann children). And not everyone has Mann Co. money; she would be leaving a comfortable life if she wanted to attempt to make it on her own with the limited possibilities women had at that time.

As I said, I initially figured that this would've been a good enough theory to run on…But then I thought of another possibility that made more sense in my mind. Mortality.

It's a common theme in the TF2 universe of characters defying their temporality and trying to prolong their own lives. We see this with the Mann brothers, the mainline TF2 comics, Merasmus, Medic's medigun, and many other examples of characters who prolonged their lives to avoid dying. So it wouldn't be too far off the table to think that Helen/Elizabeth simply wanted to live. Perhaps someone close to her got horribly sick, and it scarred the Administrator. Maybe she was terminally ill herself and wanted a way to cure herself. Maybe sickness had nothing to do with her motives; Helen/Elizabeth could've seen how easily life could be snuffed out, and she didn't desire to die. This could be watching a loved one die horribly or peacefully, watching them or herself grow old, or hating her own mortality. Furthermore, as we established, Helen/Elizabeth is often shown smoking; she could've started seeing the ramifications of her chain-smoking when she discovered that she was aging faster (visually) and developing lung cancer.

Either of these two speculations could be valid reasons for why the Administrator would put herself in a lifelong debt in exchange for the above-mentioned.

So, the Administrator may have craved power, wealth, longevity, or a combination of the three; then who is she indebted to, and what is she supposed to pay back?

Now, this is where things get a bit crazy. Based on what we know in canon, there's really no one we can point to that can be a possible candidate to serve as the Administrator's creditor. One could possibly turn to Merasmus since he's a wizard and might have the ability to grant or provide her the means to gain what she desired. However, Merasmus is quite literally a Saturday morning cartoon villain and an incompetent wizard who poses no possible threat to the Administrator that she HAS to pay him back anything. To make my point, more often than not, Merasmus is the one seeking out the TF2 crew for help because he got HIMSELF in debt with the mafia, and he's commonly harassed by the RED Soldier. The same man who tapped cardboard to himself to sneak into a robot base.

We can also rule out the Mann brothers, Redmond & Blutarch, because it's highly apparent that she's manipulating them to achieve whatever hidden goal she has going on. And it's been proven time and time again that the brother's agenda is the Gravel war, woefully ignorant to whatever the Administrator is doing. Gray Mann, we can DEFINITELY rule out because he's actively going against her and made no hints that she owed him anything.

Zepheniah Mann could be a possible contestant since he did have Elizabeth/Helen swear to protect his "miracle gravel" and to keep it away from Gray Mann. I also find it interesting that near the end of his written Will, Zepheniah expresses how he does not wish to die and that "God and His angels will have to drag me screaming to Heaven. I do not want to die." If we were to use Zepheniah Mann as the potential creditor, perhaps Helen/Elizabeth would be trying to resurrect her (possible) father after he granted her his remaining estate and riches. However, there is a problem with this theory.

Firstly, Zepheniah technically resolved his own issue by cursing himself to death. We see this firsthand in his testament AND during the month of October when we play on Harvest, and his ghost gives the Mercs a visiting scare. Now, one could argue that perhaps being dead for so long gives him limitations, such as eating, drinking, and other human senses that one would miss. But basic Ghost 101 would remind you that spectral entities are known for possessing people for personal gain. While we don't see Zepheniah perform this ever in the TF2 universe, I'll be damned if it hasn't occurred to the old bastard to try that trick out once in a while. If Zeph ever wanted to re-experience being human, he could just haunt a person for however long before finally being exorcised or leaving on his own free will.

Secondly, what reason would the Administrator have to indebt herself to Zepheniah? Based on the speculations we made earlier, Zeph coldly demoted her from the family to become a maidservant, blocking Helen/Elizabeth from his wealth. If it wasn't for the misgiving of his sons, who knows if Helen/Elizabeth would've gotten his affluence. And the Administrator doesn't give the air as someone who would do anything out of the kindness of her black coffee heart. Even though Zeph considered Elizabeth as his "dear maidservant" and trusted her dearly, that doesn't mean that Helen/Elizabeth shared the same sentiment. In the Loose Canon comic, we see that on the day that they were going to bury Zepheniah, Helen/Elizabeth is shown smoking and not giving a single fuck during the funeral. She could've still harbored some bitterness toward Zepheniah, and she could've just taken the money she got and not feel any obligation to "repay" Zeph for anything.

On top of that, let's say we shove the whole "wanting riches & power" aspect of the Administrator aside, then how the fuck does "paying Zeph back" help with the possibility that the Administrator wants to avoid death? Sure, she was given his stash of miracle gravel (Australium), but Zeph himself didn't grant her this nigh immortality; the mineral does. She can let the bastard rot in his grave and scavenge all of Australia to get what she wants. Matter of fact, she did EXACTLY that in the same Loose Canon comic when she spoke with Radigan Conagher. And it's not like Zepheniah had any secret powers that we know of-he was just a man who sold munitions to the highest buyer.

And lastly, Zeph isn't a threat worthy of a final comic reveal. I'm certain that there's probably someone out there who can prove me wrong on this, and all power to them, but for me, there's very little about Zepheniah Mann where he's a valid contender to be the creditor to the Administrator's debt. When we look at the last comic, Blood in the Water, we see the Administrator in a state of desperation when she's told that all the Australium is gone. And in that desperation (and acceptance), she opts to use up the last of the Australium to settle this debt within an hour. Those last panels in the second-to-last comic would have us believe that whomever she's indebted to is so intimidating that the Administrator would use up the last of her life and finally end this 150-year-long debt "once and for all." You don't typically see that language used if the threat isn't something substantial. Hell, there was that one document where the Administrator was speaking with the UNITED STATES SENATORS and exposed her secret plan to these men. And it scared them so badly that one of them remarked about having to see their family.

To further add to this, the reason why I believe this creditor is such a massive threat is due to the experience Miss Pauling had when she was dead. As some may remember in the Blood in the Water comic, we start off with Miss Pauling in a deserted, dream-like reality, and she enters a door that leads to the Administrator monitoring herself. After a brief conversation, Miss Pauling is shown practically begging Helen to come forward about her massive plan that she's been working on for years. When Miss Pauling asks what is it that the Administrator wants, we get this iconic panel as the Administrator responds:

Now, I know that many would say that this doesn't prove anything about who her creditor may be because this was just a death-induced dream…Or was it? We know that Heaven and Hell exist, then a Purgatory, an in-between realm, should be a possibility, yes? When we see Miss Pauling in this mysterious place, we see vultures surrounding her body. This is typical behavior of vultures since they are carrion birds. However, when we see vultures surround a character, especially one who isn't dead, it's to signify that the character is close to death. One example I can think of is during The Lion King when Simba is discovered by Timon & Pumba. While the little lion appeared dead, we learn quickly that he was close to death. And, mind you, vultures ONLY eat carrion, creatures that have died, not close to death. In Miss Pauling's case, since the RED Medic was in the process of resuscitating her, the vultures could only surround her since she was going to survive anyway. But, all-in-all, the vultures being in this deserted land could be a hint that Miss Pauling was in Purgatory.

Another case of this possibly being the land between life & death, Heaven & Hell, is the location. Now, when trying to get a tangible idea of how others picture Purgatory, I couldn't get a direct answer since many of the sources I skimmed through kept going into the religious symbolism of Purgatory. However, thanks to Dante's Divine Comedy, it's often described as a mountain or a "rocky hill with separate openings into its hollow center." In other pictures (with a quick Google search, mind you), Purgatory is a mountainous region with a sandy beach at the very bottom, surrounded by water. The mountain is often depicted as having a trail that leads up before it becomes a multi-layered platform like a stacked cake.

When we re-examine where Miss Pauling was located there are no mountains or hills, but we do see a rocky formation nearby. Also, Miss Pauling is placed in a desert area, and many would say that being stranded in the desert is a sentence that only leads to death if not appropriately prepared to face the harsh elements. But one thing that does fit the description of Purgatory is the door that Miss Pauling sees upon waking up in this other realm. A "separate opening," if you will. During my research, I also want to add this little tib-bit. So, the first layer of Purgatory is Ante-Purgatory, which has two terraces that make it up. The first being the ex-communicate, in the context of Dante's Divine Comedy, are individuals who were exiled from the church. However, the second terrace I found interesting. The second terrace are the Late-Repentant. These individuals are described as people who were too consumed by "worldly affairs" to repent for their sins, or they didn't receive their final rites before dying. And wouldn't you agree that both Miss Pauling and the Administrator had "worldly affairs" that they desperately wanted to attend to before dying?

Finally, to cement my point that Miss Pauling AND the Administrator were in a Purgatory-like realm, we see that Miss Pauling awakens from her death sleep thanks to the RED Medic. Shenanigans ensue, and she gets a call from the BLU Engineer. They talk for a moment, but we learn that the Administrator is dead. Fast forward after the TF Crew takes care of business at Gray Mann's island, the BLU Engineer greets the Administrator after tinkering with her Life-Extender machine. It is then that we learn that the Administrator was dead for FOUR HOURS. This means that Miss Pauling having that death "dream," coming back to life, the TF2 finding and killing the TFC Mercs, Scout dying then coming back to life, Medic dying and coming back to life, and all the other shenanigans during Blood in the Water happened within 4 hours or maybe a little before that time limit.

Also, if you just simply read the comic, it pretty much spells it out to you that Miss Pauling and the Administrator might be in a Purgatory-Hell-like realm, so…All that speculation was kinda of for nothing.

REGARDLESS! I believe that the Administrator stating that she needs blood and doesn't have enough of it relates to the debt that she's in. If the Administrator requires blood to fulfill her debt, then her creditor must be exceptionally sinister to ask this of the Administrator. And Zepheniah Mann just doesn't cut it as someone who would ask that of the Administrator. So, if not him, then who?

With all of this in mind, one would probably still point a finger at Merasmus. The guy often keeps terrorizing the Mercs, and he does perform rituals of various types. In the Blood Money update comic, he does mention that he obtained the "blood of virgins" by using his own blood, and in Gargoyles and Gravel, the RED Spy details that Merasmus does use blood in his schemes. And while all this would make sense, the TF2 crew are ALWAYS fighting that old man every Halloween. So much so that he's not even a threat to them anymore, as they are just as quick to dismiss him. Hell, in the same comic (Gargoyles and Gravel), the Mercs nearly left Merasmus to his fate if it wasn't for the RED Heavy stepping in because he didn't want to play bootleg D&D. On top of this, despite appearing every Halloween, Miss Pauling, and possibly even the Administrator, didn't even know the guy existed until Gargoyles and Gravel. Which is surprising to me since he comes around EVERY HALLOWEEN. And a person can't be a threat to ya if you don't even acknowledge their existence.

Now, this isn't me saying that it's IMPOSSIBLE for Merasmus to be the reason the Administrator is in debt. Merasmus is 6,000 years old, so it's not implausible for him and Helen/Elizabeth to have met, and the guy knows magic, so if it's riches or immortality she wants, he can provide it. I would probably say that he's the "safest" option. But, with Merasmus' slight incompetence as a wizard and the fact that the Administrator hasn't communicated or even acknowledged the wizard, I'm just gonna put this option in a corner by itself.

But that leaves us stuck with no options. Once again, the Mann brothers are a no-go since the Administrator isn't intimidated by any of them. Zepheniah Mann doesn't qualify due to the above-mentioned. Then, what about Saxton Hale? Well, that's also not an option either. One, it's often shown as a pompous idiot who doesn't give heads or tails about anything but fighting and drinking. He doesn't even respect the Administrator because he has a dedicated barren room with Miss Pauling's name on it. And when informed about the Administrator by Charles Darling, he looks genuinely perplexed when he tells Hale how she lived for 150 years and was planning something big. And I'm not going to bother with his ancestors because Helen/Elizabeth clearly see Australians as, in her words in the Loose Canon comic, "lager-pickled brain."

And at this point, there's really no one else we can look to. There's no one else above the Administrator herself that can pose a possible threat to her in any way. However, I do have a suggestion that might work. I would like to introduce the Unknown Individual. The first time we are even informed that this person exists is when you combine the torn pictures of the Mann family photo. On the left side, we see Redmond Mann, Blutarch Mann, Zepheniah Mann, Elizabeth/Helen, and Barnabus Hale. On the right, we see Silas by his lonesome at a fireplace. When you try to combine the photos, we can see that there's a missing link as a mysterious individual is shown that bridges the photos; preventing it from being 100% complete. All we can ascertain about this individual is that they're wearing some sort of coat. The wiki claims that there might be something being held by the Unknown Individual, but I've analyzed this picture for a while, and I just can't see it. Maybe it's the stylized art, or I'm just dumb.

This is another unfortunate case where we don't know who this person is and what stake they have in the TF2 story as a whole. But, I will bet my ass that this person had something to do with the final comic, and we would've finally gotten confirmation on who they were. We got the same treatment with Gray Mann when they finally revealed the final lines in Zepheniah's Will and showed us the birth certificate, so something similar could've been done for the UI (Unknown Individual). However, because Valve didn't develop this mysterious individual, they are a blank slate for us to do whatever we please. So, who is this Unknown Individual? An eldritch entity, of course.

Now, I'm going to build off this theory from Richter Overtime's video and the possibility that a cosmic entity has the Administrator indebted to it. To give some context, Richter Overtime made a video going over what happened to the final TF2 comic. He briefly goes over the real-life explanations on why we never received the final comic (Because Valve essentially), but he also showcased an anonymous user on 4chan who posted on TF2's V board who "claimed" to have "read the script" for the final comic. Before I continue, let me be the first to say that I am more than skeptical about this individual who supposedly read the script for the final TF2 comic. There's nothing that this anon provides that proves that they have any relation to the game, not even giving us a "I'm a friend to the son of an uncle who works at Valve who also happened to work on the comics for TF2." Now, understandably, if this IS a Valve employee who worked on the comic, revealing company information such as the final comic could be detrimental to their job, so they would want to put as little of themselves out there as possible. HOWEVER, as it stands, we have no concrete credentials that can prove this guy's telling the truth. Also, two, even if this was a "leaked script," I highly doubt it, and, to give it the benefit of the doubt, it's probably a rough draft. But it being a draft doesn't say that it's a finished project. Look no further than GTA 6, a game that was leaked a few years ago, and everybody with no good sense judged the game, even though the game wasn't even in a stage where it was even PLAYABLE.

With that out of the way, let me continue my point. So, in Richter's video, this anonymous person claims that the person whom the Administrator was indebted to was a "cosmic entity or messenger" posing as Abraham Lincoln. And, in my opinion, I vibe with this. Considering that God & Heaven, Satan & Hell, ghosts and aliens exist in this world, I don't think it's too far off to include eldritch horrors in the TF2 universe. I mean, we do have the Bombinomicon, a book that's supposed to be a reference to the Lovecraftian Necronomicon. To add to this, I remember seeing comments on Richter's video that don't like the possible idea of a cosmic entity being the reason why the Administrator is in debt. Here are a few examples that I found in the comment section:

Which, I can understand why most would feel that way. Since TF2 had its world expanded upon, there's been no hint that a higher being is closely watching the Mercs and the TF2 universe as a whole, so throwing in a G-Man-esque character into the mix might seem unoriginal and tacky. However, I don't mind this possible theory; lemme explain why.

Firstly, Valve tends to leave in some of their stories an omnipresent individual who oversees the main protagonist. We all know of the G-Man, an enigmatic and mysterious entity who both helps and hinders the Half-Life characters as they push their own questionable goals. But I think there's a lesser-known "G-Man" type character that some overlook in the Valve games, the Rat Man.

For those who don't remember, back in the first Portal game, there were secret dens that could be found with writings and dioramas on the walls, similar to the rambles and scribbles of a supposed madman. These hidden spaces belonged to an unseeable figure named Doug Rattmann, commonly known as the Rat Man. These images that the Rat Man leaves behind help Chell, and in turn, the player, with piecing together that GLaDOS could not be trusted and figure out what happened in Aperture Science. Now, if your memory is jogged, you might be thinking:

"Well, Rat Man isn't really a G-Man-esque entity. There's a whole comic explaining his whole deal and why he bothers to help Chell in the first place."

In which, you are correct. However, counter-point! Notice I said 'omnipresent.' The word means something that is widely or constantly encountered. Or, when speaking of a godly figure, present everywhere at the same time. Now, the latter wouldn't apply to the Rat Man, but you could agree that he (the Rat Man's Dens) is widely encountered if you know where to look for his dens. The Rat Man may not be an otherworldly entity, but his presence is still felt once you're aware of his existence. The same could be said about the G-Man. I detour this section to say that Valve has a track record of including an always-watching entity in some of their games that provide aid or woes to their main protagonist. That's why I don't mind the idea of a potential "G-Man-esque" character being a possibility in TF2.

Now, the unfortunate thing is that there are not a lot of omnipresent individuals in the TF2 universe. The only definite person who would fit that role is the Administrator, but we're here to explain who's the person SHE'S indebted to. Unless there's some debt that she owes to herself, we can't really count her in this instance. But in terms of omnipresence, the Administrator is the only one who is persistently present in & out of gameplay that assists and hinders the players (reminds us what time the match ends, informs us if someone took our intelligence, and in the Meet the Spy animation, she quite literally informs BLU team that the RED Spy was in the base; hindering the Spy but assisting the BLU team).

And that's why I opted to pick the UI (Unknown Individual) as the omnipresent individual who oversees the TF2 universe. Once again, because the UI hasn't been established at all in the TF2 universe (there is literally one long sentence dedicated to them), so we're free to throw random bullshit at the wall and claim that it sticks. So, if the UI is the creditor to the Administrator and responsible for her blood debt, then who are they? Since we're categorizing them as a Lovecraftian eldritch being, the joys about this is that I don't have to go into a long-winded rant about them :D. Besides, the fun about the Lovecraftian horrors is that they are not explainable by human comprehension, which I think fits the Administrator heavily since we still, to this day, in canon, don't know what her whole deal is.

However, it wouldn't be fun if we just left it as that. I do have an idea I want to present to explain who or what this entity is. The Unknown Individual, in my book, is a Nyarlathotep-type creature, an entity that thrives on chaos & cruelty and is highly deceptive and manipulative. Nyarlathotep-based on the tib-bit of information I scrounge for this-is a highly active Lovecraftian horror who is more "down to earth" than most cosmic entities in that genre. Nyarlathotep takes the guise of humans instead of maintaining an unfathomable shape, they actually communicate through humanoid means, and they even maintain multiple cults, some of them not even being their own cults, and are instead the religious sects of other Outer Gods & Great Old Ones. As stated before, unlike other Lovecraftian creatures, Nyarlathotep prefers causing madness than death & destruction. Then again, in the same breath, based on various wikis I found, they say that Nyarlathotep has the possible intent to destroy the human race and the earth as well, so take that as you will.

Also, a thing I found interesting was the inspiration that brought about Nyarlathotep. Based on his name, it clearly has Egyptian origins, but what I thought was more fascinating was that Nyarlathotep was conceived due to a dream Lovecraft had. There are many interpretations of this dream, but William Murry, as far back as 1991 and as early as 2006, speculated that Nyarlathotep may have been inspired by Nikola Tesla, who was known to have well-attended lectures that involved extraordinary electrical experiments and was surprisingly seen as a sinister figure by some at the time. And guess who plays the Engineer when Blutarch initially hires 9 mercenaries to forcibly take land from his brother…Take that as you will.

So, we determined WHO the Administrator is, WHAT her cravings possibly were, and WHO her debtor is. So, what's the TLDR version of all of this?

Well, in order, Helen, previously known as Elizabeth, was the true first child of Zepheniah Mann. I'm still going to keep who her mother is ambiguous. As for her craving, Helen wanted to live; the why I also want to leave a pseudo-ambiguous, but I would believe it might be related to what happened to her mother or due to an existential crisis. Helen communes with Nyarlathotep by either seeking them out or the reverse, and they both strike a deal. Nyarlathotep is willing to provide her the immortality she craves as long as she can provide blood in return every year or decade that she lives. A life for a life type of deal. In agreeing with this, Nyarlathotep causes coincidences to happen, such as Zepheniah Mann dying from every illness possible and Zeph giving his entire estate to Helen, along with his "miracle gravel." Nyarlathotep doesn't magically give Helen what she wants but provides her the tools to get what she desires. However, the problem presents itself when it comes to obtaining blood. Helen can't just go on a mindless killing spree, and perhaps taking another life is a daunting task. Canonically, we have never seen the Administrator lift a finger against anyone save for a glass window. And each year/decade she doesn't spill any blood, the more her blood debt increases.

However, she knows two idiots who are willingly sending men to their graves due to a petty feud. Thus, the Administrator decides that, with the newfound affluence she acquired, she would fund Redmond & Blutarch to continue paying Mercenaries to die for their silly land disputes as a secret "interested third party." However, Nyarlathotep, while impressed that she would go this route, opts to not accept these offerings because the Administrator isn't the one doing the killing, even though she's funding the men to perform such deeds. She needs to be the one to pull the trigger, to swing the axe, to light the dynamite fuse. Helen needs blood on HER hands. However, to give credit where credit is due, Nyarlathotep was willing to put her in a "payment plan" to help her make up for the loss of blood she didn't provide. But this arrangement is intended to put her deeper into this blood debt. The Administrator is aware of this, but the hanging threat that this all-powerful entity will snatch away the gifts that they provided hangs over her like a loosely strung-up piano. If she doesn't make the "payments," she loses everything. And every time she thinks she's over it, she's done, she will accept the darkness that awaits her; Helen's fear of the unknown, of absolution, of the monitored office that she has to face every time she temporarily dies; it brings her back into the vicious cycle once again.

By 1890 and some decades before, Helen established TF Industries, a company "devoted to the highest level of craftsmanship and personal security" and "providing the latest in military technology, selling all manner of deadly, cutting-edge devices to prospective buyers." However, this is a pseudo front to bring lambs to the slaughter. In selling deadly weapons & devices, Helen hopes this will cause enough bloodshed to be spilled so that she can repay her debt. And, in hiring individuals to TF Industries and, in turn, sending them to RED or BLU, two companies she would end up buying, she hopes the unsafe work environments will also contribute to fulfilling her debt.

And this is where we will leave the Administrator's portion of this analysis for now since the further down the lore and worldbuilding of TF2 we go, the more we can expand upon her and her involvement with the Gravel Wars. But before we move on to the Gravel Wars itself, there's one final thing we gotta talk about.

#Team Fortress 2 #This shit has been sitting in my drafts for a while and I wanna show off what I've gotten done #the Administrator part has nearly driven me insane and I almost didn't want to finish this project #but I got her down where I'm somewhat satified with what I theorize #Also the title speaks for itself #If this feels clunky/paced weirdly/and sounds like mad ramblings is because it is #When I'm done with this I'll most likely delete this #just wanted to put this out there so that there's life to this blog #TF2

[raphaelapproves]

I do not want to terrify any of you or myself with the sheer number of blogs I have, but the ones tied in with Baldur's Gate or easily adapted to it will be listed all together in this post [ and I will probably add/link it to it in a pinned post on my blogs as well so it's easy to know what blogs are mine ].

First, to explain, I get hyperfocused on things and end up with a ton of muses [ Tolkien, Marvel, DC, mythology, gaming, etc ], and each one [ usually, though some are constants ] goes dormant for a bit while I hyperfocus on another thing--and sometimes manage to mesh and adapt several things into whatever the current thing is, as witnessed by spareastory because I still love all the things, my focus has just pivoted. I periodically cycle back around again, usually when some thing has perked back up the braincells in regards to that thing. Sometimes multiple co-exist at the same time, sometimes they just keep to a cycle. Sometimes it's a little of all of it.

My brain is just like this. It's always been like this. I have a wheel of special interests and it spins to whatever has the most to keep the braincells interested. The last long-stint hyperfixation was Overwatch and that was eight (8) or so months. Before that was Final Fantasy VII. Baldur's Gate is going on seven (7), I think, and I don't see it going away anytime soon because it has everything I love to write and I can adapt so many of my other favorite things into it.

So I know I have a lot of blogs and, trust me, I don't expect anyone to follow all of them, but that's kind of the explanation as to why they're here and why I share them from time to time.

With that said, here is the list of the current BG3 and related blogs in case any of them do appeal to anyone, a sort of menu, as it were, to pick and choose from as, when, and if you like:

ACTUAL BG3 BLOGS

@thishouseofhope // MAIN // Raphael and some HoH NPCs

@dirgeforthedead // MAIN // Perhaps slightly canon-divergent Dark Urge

@morethandarkness // MAIN // a drow multimuse for canon, original, and adapted

@spareastory // MAIN // a catch all multi for BG3, anybody who doesn't have their own blog; Canon, original, and adapted muses present [ Among these can be found Counsellor Florrick, Guex, Asharak, Rugan, Klaus, Tiernan, and Alan the Bartender, as well as muses adapted from WoW, mobile games such as Raid and EverLegion and Path to Nowhere, as well as muses from film, television, other video games and literature ]

@thefaithbroken // SIDE // Zevlor

@immenselytalented // SIDE // Rolan; may or may not just shift to my multi, we'll see. I do really love the url but.

@darkeningdawn // SIDE // OC daughter of Lathander

@stalwartprotector // MAIN // Halsin, but he's been very quiet so he's basically on hiatus

@theperilsofadventure // SIDE // This is going to be a multi/experiment in very loose DM'ing to an extent for little mini adventures within BG3 canon/verse, if anyone is interested. I just got a bestiary book and there are several beings and such that interested me, like the Old Man with the Canaries, Stone Giants, Storm Giants, etc. And, of course, owlbears and such. I have never DM'd and I do not know any official rules. This would basically just function like an RP account, but a condensed version of what I do with my many accounts, as explained in this post here.

@lathandertolight // SIDE // Lathander

@selunetoguide // SIDE // Selûne

@kelemvortojudge // SIDE // Kelemvor

MISCELLANEOUS

@andpassageprovide // SIDE // Thanatos, adapted from Greek mythology // SIDE

@lionofthealliance // MAIN // King Varian Wrynn from WoW; has a BG3 verse

@neveraguardian // SIDE // Khadgar from WoW; has a BG3 verse

@glamglitterandgoblins // SIDE // Jareth, the Goblin King; I'd say he has a BG3 verse, but it's pretty much just his regular verse but with access to BG3. Jareth is Jareth. I draw heavily from the movie, but also the comics that released regarding a prequel to Labyrinth. Great comics, if you haven't read them

@nosehabladebruno // SIDE // Bruno Madrigal; was a main, moved him to a side so that I could write him more easily, absolutely will have a BG3 verse

@lovebeyondproof // SIDE // Alice and Cyrus [ who is a genie ] from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland; its main verse can basically fit right into BG3

#|| out of charm || { ooc } #|| ' full of sound and fury signifying nothing ' || { psas // thoughts // ramblings } #;; long post

[chichiricatsan]

For the Writer Asks Game: 4, 5, 21, and 23?

Oh! Thank you so much for the ask! ^_^

4. How many times have you been thrown off plot for a particular WIP?

Only the first question and I already feel attacked (lmao jk but at the same time...hngghghghg). The bottom line answer is TOO MANY. It's to a fault, unfortunately... It's why I'm so slow to update and write at all really... :(

5. How would you describe your writing style? Does your writing style change for different WIPs? If yes, describe all or maybe just a few.

Hm...I honestly don't think it changes much. I have a hard enough time sticking with whatever style I have tbh. It's a mix between descriptive and narrative, I think, but sometimes I bog down my work too much with repetition and other things that have been pointed out over the years. It stems from my problems with needing to explain everything and overexplaining from being misunderstood or purposefully ignored (mostly in the past). I enjoy describing things, though, but I find I really enjoy writing dialogue/banter and feel like I have a strong foothold with that. I'm not even sure this answered the question...gah.

21. Have you thrown any writing rules that everybody follows out of the window?

I end sentences with prepositions, I start sentences with Ands and Buts and Because-es, I adverb things the F*CK up because idc how "unecessary" they are they can really add to the emotion/situation imo, I still use the Oxford comma with lists and will die on this hill, I keep run-on sentences for fun sometimes (especially if it suits the emotion/situation), semicolons and en/em dashes are friends of mine in this house, as are ellipses (my true love affair).

23. Tell me about your newest WIP idea. Even if you haven't written it down. Even if it will die in a matter of days.

Oh, dear. There are many that live in my head rent free the freeloading bastards that they are, but aside from my long fic I'm trying to focus on at present, there's an outline I'm working on with a friend to co-write a Dragon Age fic that involves one of her OC Inquisitors (Flyn Lavellan) and one of my OC Wardens (Cerys Surana). I've drawn a few (conceptual) things for them on my art blog as well. Like this || and this || and this! ^_^ ~I'm also trying to refresh an outline for a Detroit Become Human fic with a Connor/Fem!OC I had from a while ago that I just kinda gave up on until recently that takes place post-"Best End". Action/Mystery/Romance kind of thing with that one. ~Then I have one that's a shorter piece in my head (not on paper/typed atm like the others) for a Ryan Lucan/Fem!OC for the Life is Strange: True Colors universe that's pure romance with an underlying focus on mental health issues and struggles. ~THEEEN I have been pecking away at a re-telling of the Dragon Age Origins world state I've made with my OC, Selph Surana, and her romance with Alistair in the game. Been typing that a bit as well as drawing things for them, too. Like this || and this || and this comic page!

There are others, but those are the big ones. Goodness gracious me.

-> If anyone wants to reblog the original post or ask me questions, here's the link to the OG

#thank you chyrstis! #ask game #asks #writing

[saltnpepperbunny]

Hi! Can you tell us more about Team Tempest? Is their story one that you've been developing for a while? Any fun facts? I haven't played a PMD game since the original for the GBA- does their story follow the plot of the more recent games? Loving your writing so far!

Hi, thanks so much for asking about em! Team Tempest are the worms that rot my brain. XD More under the cut, since this gets long!

I first conceived Selkie and Shadow as characters in uhhhh early 2018? They came from a nuzlocke run I was doing of Pokemon Ultra Sun that wiped on Akala lol. I originally designed them to be part of a collab PMD comic I was gonna make with a couple of friends, where we each had a team that we would right for. Team Tempest was my gang for the comic, and I essentially designed them to be the story's antagonists. They were basically the Team Skull of the story, the bully team that makes life hard for the good guys. However, the collab never got off the ground, but I fell in love with the characters and kept them around!

My original plan was to tell Selkie and Shadow's story through a PMD comic called Spectrum, that was going to be set in the same universe as Finding Your Roots. The comic was supposed to be part of a trilogy series that was going to include FYR and a Firered nuzlocke comic that I abandoned two updates in, and it was meant to be the ending to an overarching story that would be told with the three comics together. Spectrum included Selkie and Shadow essentially as villain protagonists, and Lyn, Margarine, and Thistletooth were the good guy characters who would save the world Selkie and Shadow were seeking to destroy.

Selkie, in her original conception, was both very similar and very different from her current iteration. She was not mentally ill so much as just a straight-up abusive monster. She was the terror of the guild, constantly bullying and abusing the guild's weakest members, and she would essentially make use of Shadow's illusion magic to psychologically torture other guild members and get them to obey her whims.

Shadow was originally Selkie's biggest victim in this. She was highly abusive of him, but he latched onto her hard for reasons I can't quite elaborate on yet because it's spoilers for Till World's End. Shadow's arc was originally going to heavily involve making new friends with Lyn's team and using these new connections to break out of the abusive relationship. By the end of Spectrum, Shadow was meant to turn against Selkie and help Lyn & co defeat her and save the world. In the end, he was actually supposed to get together with Margarine!

However, Spectrum never got off the ground! It was too large-scale of a project to take on at the time, since I was trying to draw FYR and was really overwhelmed with the scope of that project. Taking on another big comic at the time wouldn't have worked out for me. Eventually I started working on other comic projects aside from FYR, got busy with those, and permanently tabled Spectrum. It wasn't a comic I was interested in bringing to life anymore. My interests had moved on.

I came back to Selkie and Shadow because, a few years after tabling Spectrum, I became interested in writing about a certain brand of mental illness called personality disorders. I wanted to write a love story between two characters with heavy mental illness, and the exact nature of those mental illnesses brought Team Tempest back to mind. I always cherished those characters so dearly and wanted to properly finish their story someday, and I realized it was a perfect opportunity to tell their story through prose! I revamped the characters to make room for the new aspects I wanted to bring into them. Shadow's character was altered somewhat, but Selkie is the one who got the biggest revamp. She's still a pretty bad person and can be abusive, but her nature is significantly different from how it was before. Selkie, in this new iteration, isn't a complete abusive sadist. She's got her flaws, absolutely, but she is not the villain of her own story anymore.

Here is some original concept art of Selkie and Shadow from Spectrum, back from 2018-2019! A lot of the art of them is grayscale because Spectrum was gonna be a grayscale comic.

Anyways, I hope that answers the question! It was fun to talk about them, so thanks for asking. ^^

#ask spb #pmd till world's end #oh and btw! #till world's end is loosely based on the 3D pmd games #sorry this took me a while to answer btw!

[tisiphonewolfe]

Hello hello! I have 5 hours of sleep in me and I feel like pestering some people. You can see this ask as a place to chat about anything you'd like to at the moment. I know that can be a big vague task so here are some silly questions to jump off of or to ignore.

What came first the art or the writing?

Which would you say has been more worth the effort to improve at personally (like both are awesome but which one fills you with that glowing shine of warmth to look at and go "yeah I made this!")

White chocolate or dark chocolate (we ain't talkin about milk chocolate here)

What is something small (or like what could be small) that you did you are so proud of and want to gush about without judgement (like made a good sammich, folded your laundry, hit a note perfectly)

Oh hi, thanks for checking in! <3 Sure, I'd love to ramble a little!

Art came first. I started learning how to draw back when I was 16-ish with the intention of making webcomics since that was my obsession at the time. I made a journal comics for a few years, and then after that made a long-form story comic weekly for about nine years. I stopped in 2021 because a) I wanted to write and b) my buddy who was co-authoring that comic with me is a busy fella these days.

It took some time to accept, but I don't think I'll ever be an incredible artist. Due to my disability, I lack a certain amount of dexterity and I can't draw for long periods of time. But! I am very happy with how much I learned over the years, and the progress I was able to make. And I still enjoy drawing character art when I get the time, and the occasional piece of fan art!

For that reason I think I'll always be more proud of my writing. I can actually complete things there, refine them, and feel proud that the progress I make is actually going towards something that (hopefully) people might someday read! That's where my shine comes from!

Dark chocolate easily takes it for me, the darker the better. I'm not so much of a fan of sweet things as I used to be - my teeth hate the sugar - so dark chocolate is more palatable to me!

Something small I did recently . . . well, I'm going to be boring and talk about my job. I work as a software dev, but due to various circumstances I haven't been given a lot of proper coding to do in months. A lot of my company's tech is moving away from the kind of back-end framework that I'm good at, so I've been in a bit of a nebulous position. I finally got given some work to do, in a language that I like, doing stuff that I understand but still presents enough of a challenge - aaand it's been going great! It's nice to remember that I'm good at the thing I actually earn money for from time to time ;;^^

Whew! This was fun! Thank you for letting me ramble for a bit, I enjoyed that!

[theanimeview]

Recommended Watch: WhytManga

Title: How to Character Design | Easy Tips and Tricks for Beginners Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPX2IyOpMh4

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

With almost 500k followers on YouTube, many of you reading this are likely already fans of, or followers of, Whyt Manga on YouTube. However, if you haven't heard of WhytManga (full name: Odunze Whyte Oguguo) yet, then let this be a brief introduction to this amazing creator!

My first encounter with @whytmanga on YouTube was about six months ago. I've been scripting a comic and wanted to learn more about character design/drawing to see if I could do some beginning-level sketch work or storyboarding prior to hiring an artist (or, perhaps, improving enough to do the art myself over time).

The channel came into my recommended section, given my preference for animation and manga, and by the end of the day, I had consumed multiple videos from this talented individual.

Based on my brief internship with Warner Brothers DC Comics Editorial Team and working as a freelancer with self-publishing authors in this field for a short while (and being a long-time fan of the medium), I would say that WhytManga really knows his stuff.

From design to layout, one of the key benefits of watching WhytManga's work is how well this creator breaks down the complicated processes of drawing and publishing your own work into a simplified step-by-step process. It really is a "do-it-yourself" and still find success sort of channel, which I greatly appreciate as someone who has worked a little in the field and found it, at times, to be overwhelming to view the back end of things when one is so new.

You can check out their Linktree here, including links to WhytManga's other social media accounts, books, and more. I highly encourage a self-exploration into what WhytManga (and the company they co-founded, Saturday AM) offers, as I think that WhytManga (Odunze Whyte Oguguo) is setting the stage for how American Comics can elevate in genre, character, and focus, to match what we see coming in and publishing internationally.

#whytmanga #manga #anime #comics #american comics #recommended watch #notes #note #publishing #comic creator #apple black #comic creation #write #draw #design #comic book #Youtube

[wanderlustt-101tn]

Tennessee Renaissance Festival

This unique vision became true in 1970 when a high school architecture student Mike Freeman drafted his own dream house, it wasn't just like a normal dream house but an entire castle. This was just for a project but sure enough he made it come alive. From the first thought, to drawing up the blue prints to then breaking grounds for the first tower in 1980. Mike had wonderful help from his wife Jackie, and a group of supporters transformed a quiet rural area to what is now known as the big white castle when driving interstate 840 here in Tennessee. Castle Gwynn and this well known festival is the destination to be at in May. Mike Freeman shares the outside of the castle to the public weekends in May and Memorial Day. Visiting the castle is a bonus attraction of attending The Tennessee Renaissance Festival, hosting over 70,000 people a year. Did you know the Freeman's started the Tennessee Renaissance Festival over 30 years ago and soon developed into an the annual event to attend here in Tennessee. The Freeman's preserved the lands and ensure that the festival continued to operate at high standards for years to come. By doing so Mike Freeman proposed a partnership that would then benefit all. Mike will tell you that just because he lives in Castle Gwynn on the north side tower. but it's because he never stopped giving up on building his dream home. Putting in 12-18 hours in and building as he goes which has taken 26 years to complete. When I was there May 14,2023 it was getting repairs and adding things onto to it.

I haven't shown you a picture of it yet because when I do you'll instantly know which castle I'm talking about. Even if you haven't attended the Tennessee Renaissance Festival or seem like you wouldn't want to. Swifities listen up. Castle Gwynn is the exact castle Taylor Swift filmed her music video for Love Story which led to Castle Gwynn nationwide recognition. Wondering where Castle Gwynn name comes from, The answer to that question is it's color. Two seven story towers are connected by a brick cloister, or even a walkway with Indiana Limestone arches and both towers are painted a stucco white.

Wanting to know how you can get close to this amazing castle? You'll have to attend the Tennessee Renaissance Festival in May (Mother's day weekend is usually when the event is scheduled but things can change. During this festival the grounds of Castle Gwynn come alive, guests dressed up in Renaissance clothing or even themed cos play/costumes. From game booths to art work and other local shop accessories are there to check out along with vendors from delicious Turkey leg to funnel cakes. You won't go hungry at this event. There is also jousting tournaments by knights on horseback games a quick bus ride for up close seeing of Castle Gwynn. Tennessee Renaissance Festival is one of those events you don't want to miss and keep going back to.

Things to know about the Tennessee Renaissance Festival

It took 50 long years for Castle Gwynn to be built.

The castle wasn't complete at the first Renaissance, just two towers and a roof.

If I were to get married this is where I would want to have it at. I'm sure some of are you to and wondering if you can. Mike Freeman always said that was the plan from the very start. He's been working on the hall for two years now and sadly could take a couple more.

To those just there to have a good time, to those interested in Game of Thrones, to fantasy lovers, video game lovers, comic books collectors, those that love Star Wars or Star Trek everyone is welcomed and will find something to enjoy while attending.

This is a popular event so there can be a long wait before entering. TRAFFIC!! If it has rained lately it's best not to wear your best shoes as it can get very muddy there. Kids are welcomed at the event and no worries about having to put up with annoying drunks, as alcohol is not permitted on grounds. You don't have to dress up to have fun it was nice walking around seeing how much people really get into this. I'm not a big fan of Taylor Swift or much into Renaissance events and I still had fun and plan on attending much more events here. There was so much to do and little ways to have fun while spending the day there. SO much food!!! and I'll admit it was incredible to see Castle Gwynn

My thoughts while attending:

I was not expecting to see so many people to dress up or just being so invested in it.

I thought there could of been a little more food or beverage options

I did enjoy the fact that they don’t accept alcohol on grounds. There’s always someone that ruins it. I guess after so many calls to police about drunk and disorderly behavior that got set in place.

The bus that drove to the Castle didn’t have ac luckily it wasn’t a long trip.

So many people in a small place but luckily to be outside and able to spread out.

#places to visit #places to explore #planyourtrip #planyournextadventurewithme #tennessee #castlegwynn #onlyintennessee #renaissance faire

[mcrmadness]

Interests changing and evolving is so weird. Normally whenever I go to sleep, I have to think about something while I try to fall asleep (even if it takes me less than 1 minute to actually fall asleep) and usually I have absolutely nothing to think about but fanfic scenarios. But not for a few weeks, I haven't find any of those scenarios motivating at all. Everything is the same over and over again, very boring stuff, stuff I have already seen so many times and I just have no interest in watching those "videos" yet again.

Now I have also been thinking about my fanfics, and what that means in regards of them. I feel like it's been ages since I have updated any of my fanfics, but my calendar tells me it's actually been less than 2 weeks. Anyway, I feel like not even my fanfics are doing it to me anymore. Long time ago I stopped reading fanfics because I couldn't find what I wanted to read, and I kept writing myself. Now I feel like there's no point in writing, because I don't need that text anymore? I bet it has again something to do with me being aroace. My texts has gotten more and more into the QPR direction, and I literally don't know what else to write about, and now I feel even less and less like writing fluff. I don't even feel like imagining fluff scenarios anymore. I can't see them properly either anymore. And I'm left with friendship scenarios, which are so boring to me, that it makes no sense. I mean, I have a hard time finding stuff for myself to do, even more so for me and friends, so it's even harder to come up with stuff characters in a story could do. What is there that you can write about movies or books? Not much, unless you go into details of one, which is not the point of a fanfiction (or any fiction) because it's not about those stories.

I haven't drawn much anything either. I did a shitton of shippy doodles and comics but I either got an overdose of those or just fulfilled the need for fluffy pictures, and now I don't have any of that either. I sometimes feel like asking for doodle prompts, but then don't do so because it'd be the same prompts again and I'm bored. I want something new and different. Fortunately, with these this is possible. My comics and doodles are supposed to be funny and make people smile and laugh. I'd love to have that with fanfics too, but I'm unable to do so because I can't come up with any plot to wrap inside humour.

Anyhow, I don't know what this means. Maybe it's just autumn approaching and I will get a random inspiration and hyperfocus on a fanfic sooner or later. But might also be that I won't do so. Right now, I have no interest in my fanfics. Tomorrow? Who knows. I don't know how my interests work. They come and go constantly, sometimes they go and never come back. 10 years ago this happened with fanfics and I thought I grew out of them for good, but then it came back 5 years later.

In a way I think I'm again looking for some change and new things to do. My school continues soon and the year will be very busy one, but at least it's other stuff to think about and doing things I've never done before. It's what keeps me feeling like I'm alive. With drawing I will continue with my comics, just don't know to which direction. I also think I need to get back to coloured pencil drawings, it's still a challenge and a medium I've yet to conquer. Just like watercolour too, I want to test some things at some point. And I love markers, I definitely need to get myself some more of these, I'd love trying to do a realistic but coloured portrait with them, as so far I have just been doing b&w ones (because I don't have enough colours yet for a coloured drawing). They just are so expensive, and I'm trying to figure out if that one really recommended cheaper brand would be worth buying or not. I just want to know if they smell stronger or the same/less as Promarkers, cos Copics are or used to be way too strong for me and I can't use markers with too strong odour.

But yeah. No idea what I'm gonna do with my fanfics. Rn they just feel like absolutely nothing to me. None of the events in them make me feel anything at all. So I guess they're on a hold for now, unless my adhd decides otherwise. Which can happen in a matter of days, or years, or then never.

#mcrmadness' random stuff

[scourgethewhorehog]

fuck/fic/tive/kind dysphoria actually sucks i hate being an obscure character from a comic that isn't running anymore that most people hate or make fun of.

Long post incoming, venting and sys stuff

Literally sucks that I'm constantly embarrassed just bc I'm Me and on top of that past experiences make it hard to find places to talk abt it without fucking. Rambling on and being annoying to everyone I love bc Every mobian-centered 'kind space is a burned bridge and/or full of children.

Gotta just fucking swallow it I guess and rawdog the existence of being percieved as a cringe introject from a shitty comic adaptation that some dude who rewrote a Holocaust poem for Knuckles the Echidna gave Sega an excuse to shut down bc of his hissy fit no matter how like real it feels to me and a bunch of people in my head to not seem like I'm over reacting and completely unhinged because most people would just rag on me for being divorced from reality or try very gently to be like Focus On Now and it's like.

I am focusing on now! I'm doing my best! I'm managing so many things I wasn't previously! I'm not even dysfunctional I'm just fucking miserable over having to live day to day as another person but to be fair, nobody here gets to be them unless with our partner, ever.

There's no host, just people switching around and offering tasks and hoping the Dog Caretaker guy fronts for Dog Things and the Person who likes to wash Dishes can switch in for Kitchen Cleaning and now instead of Angel I front to Be Around People but I never did that.

I vacuum sometimes, talk to people when I want to, play roblox, clean our room, draw, and remember to brush our teeth. I didn't even know deodorant was a part of daily routine because I haven't been apart of bodily daily routine since I was fucking 10 years old.

Now suddenly instead of being around our mom sometimes, it's always. Every phone call and discussion and decision is suddenly on my lap and it's like I'm no longer just Me like I am in headspace I'm taking up the mantle of a person who hasn't really existed and just been a puppet passed on between many hands but now it's like, oh my god this is gonna be my life for now? The stress has made it so hard to communicate and it's like I'm in my own head by itself instead of hearing other people's thoughts swirling in predominantly, or at least equally, and sometimes it goes back to that co fronting chaos but it's like now I'm in the front seat of a car and they're in the passenger seats and the reality sets in where it's like, where I have to wake up and realize. Oh my god I'm just fucking me and I wake up every day and I'm me but I don't get to Be Me and in the place of a mental breakdown that typically is Angel thinking he's crazy and has been alone this whole time and made it all up I can't even touch that idea where it's more like, realizing there's a chance that this is a new normal for longer than I thought.

Some things are good, there's not this like, insane consistent exhaustion and fatigue that Angel felt fronting but god.

To Be Fair after all that's happened I. don't trust 80% of people outside of our like, closer inner friend group because even like, other otherkind and other systems have always kind of looked down on us for being Too Much and I experienced that a lottttt with um. the Mental Health Community Gang that my other system members got involved with at a certain point (which btw sick of it + would rather trade back to old cult shit if you're wondering how bad it felt to be present for me! I'm worming out of there as long as I'm around I don't feel like dealing with conditional acceptance LMAO )

This is just an Experience for me.

#infection #i have a feeling also im going to be stuck as the main person fronting for a long time so. Woooooooooo #ignoring my subsystem ever harder <3 #diy psychological horror

[skimmeh]

Hhhgg man's wanna say a lil thing

Bit of a long post... Don't worry nothing bad!!! :D...it's not a bad or angry rant, more just getting something off my chest

..I'm struggling ... more with like ...my platforms and shit ... I really want to build an audience, but not number wise, more interactive and engaging audience! ... I love talking to people about things I and the person both enjoy ... A mortal conversation over stuff ... And also just storytelling

I miss being able to like give y'all a story to engage in and actually talk about (like when I had that ask fancomic running)

Now don't get me wroung, I'm not talking about the difference with fan content and original stuff

In all honesty, I'm way more motivated in my fan content and story ideas then I am in my original stuff ...

Maybe because I just love to see people create and like ...their own perspective of charaters in their own story ...

I had it with Undertale ... The one thing that originally got me into drawing comics to begin with ....was undertale fancomics

And now with dsmp, I know some people might think I'm chasing the clout from popular media ...but trust me that's not what's happening ...I generally am so engaged in the characters and story

... look I had been riding the undertale train ..for 6 years ...long after the hype for the game died down ...and that was beacuse I loved the character! ...I still do!!

And man ....just let people love things just for what they are, hah

But anyway this is all besides the point, what I'm getting at is, I'm incredibly shy and anxious on my platforms... I desperately want to reach out and interact with people more ... To like build a follow on that interactions and stuff

... but AAHHHHH ...I'm so fucking shy ...I'm really really trying hah, and I deeply respect the people who do comment and engage in my post, seeing the responses brightens my day!!

I'm just not sure where to start to get outta my shell haha

And further more ... I've been in a pretty big art drought recently, beacuse of a mixture of uni, huge mental health drop, and just over shit that I won't get into

And it SUCKS ...cos I have sooo many ideas and shit

The only way I can get outta this is just to ... simply just push through it and...draw ...

Hah...this furthermore sucks ...cos the only way I know how to interact with people on my platform ...is art

And because of that lack of it recently, I haven't been able to keep up with everything

I know this is all long winded ...and mostly rant, cos there nothing you guys can do, I'm not asking anything from y'all

If anything ... whoever's reading this anymore ... If you feel intimidated by me, please know I completely understand and promise you ... I'm like a spider and probably more scared of you then me HAH

So if you ever wanted to ask me something or just talk, but were too scared to ...don't be ... I'm more then greatful, I let people send asks anonymously for a reason, cos I completely understand

And maybe ...I'll try and reach out more, conquer my fear

I luv y'all, and really from the bottom of my heart, appreciate yall for stinking around!!! Thank you ^_^

#lil bit of a long post qwq ...its 1am #i love yall!! #and for like the fuce people who actually read this- #thank you :) ..it means alot

[duanecbrooks]

Media Impact     It's time to once again let you in on what is My All-Time Favorite. And to remind you once again that I am not nor have I ever been a high-culture maven nor an aesthete nor even a real and true intellectual but am and all during my adult life have been a geek of the Meghan McCain stripe.       Got all that? You do? OK, so My All-Time Favorite Media is...Heart and Soul magazine's 2003 cover story on my girl Robin Givens.               Literally everything about said article shines. The cover of this particular Heart and Soul issue features Robin sporting an especially dazzling smile and is emblazoned with a particularly ingratiating headline: "Robin Givens: On Mike [Tyson], Money, and Being Misunderstood." Open up the magazine and flip through a few pages and there's Robin again, again wearing a notably uplifting smile and bent over rightward in a quite fetching manner, with the words "Robin Redux" on the bottom of the page. Flip through a few more pages and on the "Contributors' Page" there's a pic of the (as shall be demonstrated, very talented) writer of the Robin piece, Janice R. Littlejohn, who is shown to be a not-bad-looking woman, probably (then) in her early-to-middle-40s, herself equipped with a highly beguiling smile. In her space she engagingly compares meeting Robin to "[c]oming face-to-face with the most popular girl in high school. 'It was like meeting up with the girl who you thought you knew everything about, but [then] realizing how much you have in common.'" We're then let in on the fact that Littlejohn is "[a] freelance television, entertainment, and lifestyle writer in California" and she appealingly reveals that she's attempting to make her life more pleasurable with "food, travel and trying to find the perfect couch for my new house."             Now to the Robin piece.               Let it be said first off that my lady looks positively stunning throughout, first giving yet another stunning smile while lying upon her stomach with her legs up in the air and outfitted in Maroon pinstripe pants, a beaded Chaiken tank top, and metal Mare olive heels. Turn the page and there's Robin again, this time wearing a L'impasse white floral gown and a Elisabetta bracelet. Turn the page once again and there's my woman once again, this time decked out in an Anja Flint olive jersey dress, a Stephen & Co. gypsy-like necklace, and a Barry Cord cocktail ring. And in all--all--of the photos Robin has an enticingly cheerful expression.           Here's where we come to the actual Robin article.             The aforementioned piece begins with a rather appealing quote from the subject herself ("I feel okay now. I know what I want instead of what you think you're supposed to have. I know what makes me happy"). Then Littlejohn paints a sensitive picture of the two of them agreeing to eat at this one restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and her expectation that "[s]ince the media has been less than flattering to Givens [that's a considerable understatement]...I expected her to be guarded." (As it turns out, she was all the while "relaxed and friendly"). Eventually Littlejohn deftly captures, as the two of them walk along, "fans [of Robin] beginning [sic] to take notice--gawking, waving and doing random drive-bys, yelling, 'You look good, girl!'" From there Littlejohn skillfully depicts where Robin was at that point in her life ("At 38, Robin Givens is a woman reborn, clearly revelling in a new sense of self outside the Hollywood spotlight--a nascent inner tranquility that comes from embracing life's simpler things. She divides her time between Maryland, Kentucky and New York...fancies herself a connoisseur of fine Italian and French food, frequents American diners and loves chitlins and pig's feet"). Littlejohn proceeds to stylishly sketch where Robin was professionally (the latter "is no longer defined by the trappings of a box-office-driven career. Acting is simply what she does") and offers up some insightful words from Robin's Boomerang/Head of State co-star Chris Rock ("I'm clicking through channels and see Boomerang and think, 'Hey, what's Robin Givens doing? Haven't seen her in a while.' When I met her for lunch, I said, 'You should get back out there.' It was kind of a pep talk. 'Get out there. You can act'").               Littlejohn's article continues. She elicits from Robin some admirably searching words from her subject concerning how it was like for her growing up without a Dad ("[Y]ou just feel this sort of unworthiness, and the pattern begins there...If you're not good enough for the first man in your life to stay, then why should any of them stay?"), incisively delineates what was Robin's public image pre-Tyson ("Givens has long been known for her love life, beginning with a romance with a Saturday Night Live comic named Eddie Murphy. She's had public romances with Brad Pitt and tennis pros Murphy Jensen and Svetozar Marinkovic, whom she married and quickly separated from") and draws from Robin some telling observations regarding Tyson's words during that infamous 20/20 interview they did by Barbara Walters, which was responsible for Robin's 20-year reign--especially, sad to say, as crowned by blacks--as The Most Despised Woman In America ([Tyson told Walters] "'The best punch I ever gave, she went from that wall to that wall...and she was out.' I thought. 'This is definitely not going to be acceptable.'"). Following are some intensely perceptive words from Robin's good buddy Tiffany McLinn, one of the Lifetime network's Intimate Portrait executive producers ("[Tyson] was really popular, and people were completely on his side...[A]t the time he was married to Robin, and so people really vilified her...She didn't have any rep before [hooking up with Tyson]--it's just because of that marriage [emphasis mine]"). From there there is a deftly-done sketch of my lady's professional standing during that period ("She starred in TV projects such as The Women of Brewster Place and The Penthouse, and she was on her way to box-office stardom with critically applauded roles as Imabelle in 1991's A Rage in Harlem and the next year as Jacqueline Broyer in Boomerang").           Going forth: Our portraitist gets Robin to present some genuinely moving recollections concerning her then-emotional/psychological life ("I had gone through hurt, and I mean it really hurt, and it hurt me and it hurt everybody close to me and it was serious for me, the pain that I felt. So it was interesting to have agents going, 'Yeah, but you're on the cover'"). After pointing out--and this is a fiercely individualistic statement, considering the fact that it's being made by a black writer about a black celebrity/entertainment figure in a black-oriented magazine--that Robin realized "that she was just another cog in the Hollywood machine," Littlejohn's probing gets Robin to freely acknowledge: "At that point I realized I wanted to be a healthy, happy human being, not just have a successful career. That's what I realized was the most important thing to me." Littlejohn, to her great credit, also gets Robin to own up to the fact that "I'm not looking for vindication. I'm not looking for people to go, 'Aha!'"                 And there's more. Littlejohn, with laudable journalistic professionalism, paints a picture of Robin as an absolutely hands-on mother, quoting her as asserting: "Nothing makes me happier," then quoting McLinn as contending that Robin and her sons are "like the Three Musketeers...[Being a single mother is not without] its challenges. But [Robin] is first and foremost a mom, not an actor." Robin then movingly tells of her renewed spirituality ("[Y]ou can call it anything. I mean, I now have a relationship with God") and in time laughing and "carefree," (Littlejohn's description) claims: "I have no ambition for a career." (To this Littlejohn adds: "At least not a career outlined by Hollywood's terms," going on to delineate the sporadic work Robin had done around that time [periodic television series like Courthouse, periodic independent pictures like Book of Love, her then-current work producing the Uninvited series for the Heritage Networks]). Following is a quite sprightly portrait of Robin doing a photo shoot, wherein she's "wearing jeans, flip-flops and a white tank top under a black salon cape" and "[h]er hair is in spiral pin curls, and she's wearing no make up." Littlejohn effortlessly captures Robin's admirable good humor during this shoot ("I think we shoot me just like this, whaddaya think?").                 And the conclusion to the article is honestly uplifting. Littlejohn makes the exceedingly perceptive observation that "while Robin Givens may not have always been in fashion, she has always been popular. Now with age and life experience, she has an outlook that matches her newfound confidence." (Robin afterward shares said outlook: "I know that if you hang in there, He'll work it out for you"). And the absolute end of the piece is outright heart-melting. Here Robin "smilingly" says: "I've been through enough to know some stuff, but [I] still have a lot of living to do. You know when little stuff would bother you? Now it's like, 'This is me. Take it. Leave it.' It's feeling comfortable in your own skin. As a woman."             In sum, Littlejohn's Robin profile certainly, definitely proves the aptness of the title this one IMDb-message-board-post writer bestowed upon Robin: "The sexiest black woman in entertainment" (actually, she shares that title with Paula Patton)--and proves that she's a highly articulate, intelligent, thoughtful person to boot.               Heart and Soul magazine has long, long, long since stopped doing cover-making celebrity interviews. Too bad. Janice R. Littlejohn's Robin Givens article should have won the aforementioned publication a National Magazine Award. Hands down.

#geek #Meghan McCain #Heart and Soul Magazine #2003 #cover story #robin givens #writer #janice r. littlejohn #Chris Rock #Tiffany McLinn #the women of brewster place #The Penthouse #imabelle #A Rage in Harlem #jacqueline broyer #boomerang #paula patton #national magazine award