#the reason for the nickname is so much funnier in the comics but I love this one too

[ducknotinarow]

2k12 Mikey Casey - #

| send me “#” for cell phone headcanons about our muses including:

"mmmm I dunno, I don't think Casey would like me to show the stuff we talk about? Raph already beat me enough I don't need Casey adding in. hmm I guess it's fine though not like I would keep my dirt on Casey that open after all. Nah I keep that under lock just in case."

- what your muse’s name is in mine’s phone

'💀Casey🏒'

"No special names or nicknames used I do decorate his name with emojis though. I mean I gotta make sure I can tell who i'm talking to after all. Not that I text that much honestly I use my phone most when it comes to getting pizza you wouldn't believe how easy it is to get deals or better free pizza! Oh right Casey. Well I think it makes sense the Skull cause he paints his mask like a skull since he thinks it 'so metal' kind of looks like a raccoon mask in you ask me. I think he should look at some comic characters and do it over. And course hockey stick cause Raph's right hes a total puck head. Last time I said it around Splinter I got in trouble cause he mistook what I said. So he is also a fuck head for that."

- what your muse’s picture is in mine’s phone

[image description] A photo of Casey sitting with Young Savage on the couch in the pit. The small baby turtle is clearly attached to his finger at the moment. Casey in the middle of a clear moment of pain. There are some 'stickers' added to photos with yellow smiley faces tearing up around it. Casey clearly seems aware and doesn't look to happy about the picture being taken of him in that moment.

"You think he would learn no to pet around the lil guys mouth, but I also think Savage likes bitting Casey which he might be letting them get away with? awww ain't that just cute?" The turtles snickers a little after. "Man nothing funnier than Casey trying to act like a tough dude hes like a marshmallow man. Sure I didn't always like Casey at first but I changed my tune, even if he likes to blow us all off for Raph he still sits there and puts up with me at times like answering my clearly very accurate magazine quizzes. Suuuure I tend to lure him with something about Raph when I do buut he don't have to if he really didn't want to right? Besides I think this is a hilarious picture of Casey I should send it to Angel!" He makes a little mental note of that thought. "but that's not the only reason I picked it. I know Spike meant. Alot to Raph, but Raph? He's the type to blow things off that effect him like nothing. How Raph is. But I guess that's when I started to feel like Casey was good for my brother. Cause he saw something none of us really noticed cause I know how much raph loved Spike beat me up for it alot so casey clearly really cares about Raoh to know a pet turtle would mean the world to him"

- what your muse’s ringtone is in mine’s phone

Pop That Lock by Adam Lambert

Tonight we burn it all

Get high, get tall

Yeah, we are lighter than air

You got the key to your release

So pop that lock until you are lighter than air

"I don't I think it fits for Casey I like Adam Lambert, was surprised, casey did too. But maybe I shouldn't be? I feel like I really misjudge casey cause how he acts and such ya know? But he's pretty cool I guess. I think it's cute he tries to lowley paint his nails red by going as near black he can. I dunno I notice Casey seemed to open up himself too I don't know details. He just got more hmm uncaring? Mayne he grew comfortable with us? I mean yeah him yelling he has a erect in the middle of lair isn't something I want but I dunno. Look were mutants yeah? We outcasted blah blah blah. That it's nice that a human feels that way around us is all I mean. Casey never really seemed phased by the turtle thing he kind of just treats us how I feel he still would if we were human? Any the song cause I feel Casey very good about wanting to stand out and such and seems to do more so as he gets more open and I like that. Also it's a good song!"

- my muse’s last text to your muse

[Text] oh casey don't freak out but!

[Text] image sent of Angel's arm seemingly covered in blood

[Text] we found the arm though so don't worry we reattached it

[Text] ah fooled you Dr. Prankenstein strikes again!

-----

[Text] fine I'll hang out with Angel for the night buy you own me like three pizzas, make it four angel gott eat too

----

[Text] image of Raph as a handling sent

[Text ] since Raph said you couldn't have the copy!

----

[Text] hey Casey I was told to text you cause uh raphs hurt so he might not make your date, you can come see him but he got hit on the head soooo might be out of it

---

[Text] casey I scored some make up (clean btw!) And raph said you might loke the sliver stuff

[Text] so I set it side for you!

#muse| hamato michelangelo #madamkezzie #aflockoffeathers #[ rokin and heads a rollin’ aflockoffeathers] #[2012 verse] #phone contact meme #meme answer #ic rpely #stay queued

[himbeaux-on-ice]

Who are your top five NHL teams and why?

Ooooo this is fun! Thanks anon!

Short list:

Habs ❤️🤍💙

Pens 🐧

Canucks 🌈🌊

Caps 🦅

Leafs 🟦🍁🟦 (no really! I know I don’t talk about them much but its true!)

Over-wordy explanations/backstory for my relationship to each of these teams below the cut for those interested!

Montreal Canadiens. My dearly beloved Nana, who half-raised me, is a lifelong diehard Habs fan who grew up listening to their games on the radio and then later as an adult watching them duel with the Leafs on Saturday nights on a black-and-white tv (also a BIG Carey Price stan). Needless to say she rubbed off on me immensely, and I remember saying to myself at some point “well, if that’s Nana’s team, that’s gonna be my team too” and it stuck for life. I also had a friend in middle school who was a RELIGIOUS Habs fan who also worshipped at the altar of Jesus Price in those early 2010’s, so I heard a LOT about all of that every lunch break as he argued with friends who were Pens and Bruins fans lol. We went on the Bell Centre tour during the annual 9th grade French class trip to Quebec, and while I was mostly focused on getting to the gift shop to buy Nana a souvenir, I swear my friend’s eyes were the size of quarters the whole time lmao. (Would LOVE to go back now that I care a lot). Basically the Habs are the closest thing to a local NHL team our region has bc we get their broadcasts (though people choose their own team allegiances for various random personal reasons), and I grew up absorbing through osmosis both the legends of yore and the latest updates on whatever Carey and PK and the lads were up to. (Also I’ve been quietly in love with Price myself since at least the 2014 Olympics lol. My first best fav ❤️) Bottom line the Habs are My Team, the “I’m gonna be here even when it sucks, even when players move on, this is attached to me in a way I can’t quite explain” team that every hockey fan has in their heart. GO HABS GO!

Pittsburgh Penguins. If you were an elementary school kid in Nova Scotia when Sidney Crosby was first released and up through the 2010’s, you had two options: love him, or hate him, but you better accept you’re gonna be hearing about him a LOT. I settled on “vague fondness” and followed Sid from a newspaper-scanning distance and vaguely rooted for him because when he brought the Cup home it felt like we all won. And like I said, lots of passionate Pens fans in my grade school classes to hear from (he’s also the only non-Habs player my Nana likes lol). Then I got into hockey properly last year and learned about Geno beyond just knowing his name, and my chronic affection for large loveable Russians got combined with my longstanding vague “I hope the Penguins win” feelings and my “time to get the full story on the Sidney Crosby’s Penguins narrative I only ever watched from a distance” research, in a manner not unlike the creation of the PowerPuff Girls ([chemical X] etc etc lol) to create a potent adoration for this team that rocketed them to second place in my heart. Also the fandom is just so damn fun and makes such great content, and that definitely feeds my level of engagement with the Pens!! Sometimes, when I want an emotional pick-me-up I watch one of their last 3 championship films just to remember what joy and optimism is — I would love to be present as a real-time fan for another adventure like that. With how much I know about them and how much I care, they’re my #2 for sure. I love those flightless fucks!!

Vancouver Canucks. So I started watching live NHL hockey games last summer around I think game 2 of the Habs’ first round series against the Flyers (I saw Price’s “Miracle Save” on twitter while following along bc I was intrigued by the fact that they made it through the play-ins, and was like “OKAY NOW I GOTTA SEE THIS SHIT LIVE”). That was really fun! Riiiight up until the Habs got eliminated. :/ And I was like “well, shit. I’m enjoying this hockey thing too much to stop now. who else is still around I can root for?” And the Canucks were the last Canadian team still in it, and there was buzz about their miraculous first-round win but also uncertainty I believe Markstrom had *just* got injured. So I started watching, ended up witnessing the Bubble Demko Miracle unfold live, had my heart charmed off me by “whatever the hell those two lil blonde bitches have going on” and a delightful underdog story, and here I am. Hitched to the Canuck wagon whether I enjoy it or not. Here for whatever happens! (Doesn’t hurt that I love me some Elton John too 😉)

Washington Capitals. I’m a person who is more likely to be really engaged with a team that has super interesting personalities, characters, and narratives around it — and my GOD are the Capitals good for that. I absolutely definitely started down this road with that mic’d up video from the 2018 final of Ovi telling Nicke “after me, I give it to you baby!” re: the Cup. Like I can pinpoint that there was a day I saw that for the first time in a gifset, squinted at the screen, said “you’re fucking with me...”, went to youtube, watched it be for reals, and was like “well. now I need to know more about ALL this.” After watching games and learning more about the team, I really enjoy the Caps’ “big dumb found family of stone-cold total weirdos” energy, their fun collective chemistry, their Cup story, etc. And oh BOY the fandom is fun during game lb’s! I love all the in-jokes and player nicknames, our delight with the quirks of our colourful wonderful broadcast crew (shoutout Wine Uncles & Co), the way we cheer for record-breaking milestones like they’re a first NHL goal! Being a fan of the Caps AND the Pens can be a bit awkward sometimes, and the team certainly has its blemishes, but my heart is big enough for two Metro teams for sure, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Toronto Maple Leafs. So like, as you can imagine from my previously described upbringing in Hab Land, “haha Leafs suck” is a punchline I have long been familiar with and trained to recite. I got a solid 3 days of laughter and entertainment out of the whole Zamboni Driver Saga last February, oh boy did I ever. But the thing is.... I have the Leafs to thank for the fact that I watch hockey now. See, the entire reason I started paying proper attention to the playoff bubble last summer was because one day, I happened to see the phrase “WHAT IS HAPPENING” trending at 16k tweets on twitter, and clicked on it like “huh?”. Turns out the Leafs were in the middle of their miraculous 3-minute comeback against Columbus and the country was losing its mind. And when they won, I was like “huh... the Zamboni Team is doing THIS??? I may have to start paying attention to this playoffs thing, because if they go All The Way I think that might be the only thing funnier than the Zamboni Incident”. Aaaaand when they immediately lost the next game and were eliminated I was like “lol, sounds about right” and was then immediately distracted by news of the Habs winning the play-in round. So then I spent several months watching playoffs and forgetting about the Leafs. And then one day in early October, looking on YouTube for more hockey to watch after the playoffs ended, I stumbled across something called a Hat Pick, and boy I actually enjoyed this shouty man’s sense of humour and takes on the game... and then when I ran out of Hat Picks and Dangits I watched some Trade Trees, which pulled back the curtain on the business side of the game... and then I discovered LFR’s, which were good background noise for doing tasks... and then I was recommended the episode of the Steve Dangle Podcast about Mitch Marner and The List... and next thing I knew I was listening to more of this podcast, because I found Steve and the guys to be insightful and funny and there was no hockey to watch, and I was trepidatious about accidentally stumbling into the more toxic corners of hockey fandom if I branched out for other content... and, well. If you spend enough hours listening to people passionately analyze every facet of a team, shout and cheer over a team, make fun of that team, nearly cry over that team... it’s really REALLY hard to not start to care about it. Leafs analysis was basically how I learned most of what I’ve learned about hockey this past year! And kudos to Steve and Adam and Jesse, their passionate investment in the Leafs and great content has got ME invested in the Leafs mainly because I want to see things go well for them. I want Charlie Brown to kick the football! I love a triumph over adversity story! Also, I think if the Leafs did Do The Thing it would basically be the combination of “Cubs win the World Series” and “Raptors are the champs” and I wanna watch the city of Toronto go fully apeshit from a safe distance. I don’t adore many their individual players as much as I do some other teams higher on this list, and I still laugh far too much when things go super comically impossibly badly for them, but I am actually pulling for the Leafs!! I want to see it all pay off for them. I want them to go all the way. Gimme that “LEAFS WIN!!!” (Unless it’s against someone above them on this list lol)

#if u get the joke in the Canucks emojis bless u #long post #asks #anon #actually I would root Leafs in a TOR vs WSH playoff series but it would break my heart to do so lol #Washington has a Cup already ya know?

[what-stop-the-presses-rly-means]

Hi, it's aphandgflove's girlfriend, can I get a ship for DEH and BMC too (or Hamilton or Heather if you can? I know these better)? I a sex-negative asexual who enjoys telling dirty jokes to confuse people, I'm a total sadist, especially with people I love (my girlfriend, friends, and OCs) but I actually care a lot about their happiness (spits hearts(and blood)), I'm a gamer and a cheater (in video games) and I love reading, writing and talking about stories in as many details as possible. Thanks

This took me forever to respond to, and for that I apologize 😓

Also, I stuck with DEH and BMC because I don't know much about Hamilton and I'm only just now becoming a fan of Heathers so I wasn't confident in my knowledge of the two. Hope that's ok!

DEH:

I ship you with Jared!

He would be a little confused when you first tell him you're asexual. And in his very Jared Kleinman way, he'd probably make a couple lewd comments about it

Of course he'd back off if it ever hurt your feelings or made you uncomfortable. And eventually he'd grow accustomed to it (after doing extensive research on Google) and be less of a dick

If anyone can relate to picking on/teasing loved ones but actually very much caring about them, it's Jared. He doesn't show affection too often but you know he cares

It's in the little things he does, like remembering your food order when going out, knowing all the words to your favorite song, or always having your favorite candy on hand

He always has his guard up so he never likes to outright show that he's interested in something. He'll want to hear all about your stories but doesn't wanna look like a nerd. You've heard this more than once: "So... what happens next? Not that I care! But does it have a happy ending? Or whatever..."

You guys never give each other affectionate pet names, oh no. Everytime you see each other you come up with the best/worst nicknames you can think of:

"What's up, Assface?"

"Hey, Trashbag!"

"Later, Trolldoll."

"See ya, random comic relief/throw away character!"

*gasp!* "Too far!"

He would totally team up with you to make over the top sexual comments and jokes to each other in public. He already does that with whoever's in the room, but it's 10x funnier to him when he does them with you and everyone looks so baffled and confused

You guys spend countless hours playing videogames. You'll sneakily try to cheat your way to the finish line while he's less subtle. He'll straight up just sit in your lap, blocking your line of sight, or push you out of your seat. He gets very competitive

BMC:

I ship you with Michael!

Michael's always super chill about everything. You're asexual? Cool, dude! You do you. He thinks he might be asexual himself so there's no weirdness there

But you would totally catch him off guard by telling dirty jokes. He'd get all flustered and blushy, the cute boy. But after he gets used to it he'd just laugh, especially if you're in public. The more confused you make others, the funnier it is to him

He's a very creative person so if you want any advice on how your story should go, he's always willing to help. Hell, he doesn't even need an excuse to read your work, he enjoys himself either way

He would play video games with you all the time and it would kill him, not knowing how you beat him every time. When he finally finds out it's because you cheat, he is baffled. He goes into drama mode, claiming he could never trust you again

Then the next time you play (which is probably like the next day lbr) he dramatically glares at you like every 10 seconds to make sure you're not cheating. And you still end up beating him

He tries to get into reading because you love it, and he really tries his best. He picks out a nice book with a lot of action and adventures, and he sits down next to you so you can both read together...

And 5 minutes later the book is on the ground, he's for some reason sitting upside down in his chair, and now you're completely distracted from your book. But it's not his fault, the poor ADHD boy

He's such an emotional, loving guy who always wears his heart on his sleeve. So there's never a doubt in your mind that he cares about you. It can get a little much and sometimes you feel pressured into reciprocating the affection. But he assures you that he knows how you feel, no matter what. (You could probably punch him in the face and he'd say thank you)

Again, sorry this took forever and half to get to. Thanks for being patient with me! ❤

#dear evan hansen #deh #be more chill #bmc #Ships #jared kleinman #michael mell

[starglasszodiac]

SGZ Anniversary - Cassie and the Comic

The big one, the origin story!!!! And honestly one of my favourite memories to look back on. :’D I’ll be talking about both the idea itself and the evolution of Cassie’s character in what is a BEHEMOTH of a text post, so here we go!

While July 19th, 2015 is the official origin day of SGZ, it started a bit prior to that. I have this story already somewhat explained on the blog’s FAQ page, but I might as well reiterate it here:

SGZ started as an idea in the summer of 2015 after my buddy Laura showed me two webcomics: Paranatural by Zack Morrison, and Vibe by Dan Ciurczak (two comics I highly recommend, please go read them!). I loved how vibrant and beautiful their artwork was despite how different their stories were, and how wonderful the writing and humour was. My two biggest creative passions have always been visual art and writing, but ironically this was what really flicked the switch in my head to actually try comics, the literal combination of the two. Why I didn’t start sooner will forever be a mystery to me, but I suppose a lack of exposure to comics as a kid had something to do with it. Better late than never, right?

The specific launch day of July 19th is an homage to not only the creation of the idea but of the main protagonist, Cassie. After thinking “hey, I could do this!” I started wondering what I should make a comic about. While working at my retail job (on the slowest day in existence), I began to make a list of things that I liked or wanted to write a story about, and stars / astrology was one of them. I had always loved that aspect of mythology, and my affection for stars is a mystery to no one.

I worked at what was effectively a Blockbuster clone in my hometown (RIP Cherry Hill Video) and we had scrap pieces of paper that we made from old movie facings, so the first ever notes and doodles for this series exist on these scraps. I’ve still got quite a few of them, but they got a bit scattered when I moved for college. I’m hoping the rest are at my house somewhere.

I got the idea of a girl with a star in her eye, and called it the Starglass. And, well, the idea went from there! I started researching all of the zodiac signs and symbols, and drew the first (digital) drawing of Cassie when I got back home that day. Which, looked like this:

Seeing this again is not only weird and oddly nostalgic but it’s a testament to where my artistic sensibilities were prior to going to animation school. The idea for SGZ happened mere months before I was thrown into that 3-year fray of insanity so the evolution is pretty odd in places, especially how my knowledge of shape language, anatomy, etc. evolved and how my style adapted to that. I had almost NEVER drawn humans prior to going to college, so a lot of the art for this series deals with my inability to do so at the start. ^^’ The awkward phase, if you will. And as such, it is the first story idea I had that primarily focused on humans.

Looking back on it, Cassie’s character in terms of personality was pretty different than what it is now, but from a visual standpoint there’s (surprisingly) a lot that stayed. The basic idea of her hair stayed, right down to the double ponytail and orange clasps. Her freckles, eye colour and general face shape too, even if that ended up modified after solidifying her character later.

Her main colour was always red, in fact after making the headshot I remember having NO IDEA what to do for the rest of her body, so it just ended up being RED. Then I added the blue for the contrast, but I still wasn’t happy with it at the time (a perhaps subconscious origin for her blue pants though, lol). I also find amusement in the fact that my current concept for her mother Nora has her wearing blue flats much like these.

Based on the notes I have and what I remember, Cassie was older at this point (like 15 or 16 probably) and seemed to be a lot more sarcastic (this is a norm for a lot of my characters, trust me). xD Some of the first character interactions I ever wrote largely involved Cassie being sassy to one of the signs, back when a few of them were being over dramatic (looking at you SCORPIO). I cackled reading those interactions again now that my characters have changed so much. They’re not well written at all but they still let me look back to that time with fondness. :’D

What is also interesting is the progression of her name, or the fact that she didn’t have one right at the start. My earliest notes have simply Starglass or SG whenever I wrote dialogue. I started trying to think of a name, and contrary to popular belief, settling on Cassie actually had nothing to do with Cassiopeia. Though I do really enjoy the irony of that. xD It started with Cass, which could be short for either Cassandra or Cassidy, and I ended up going with Cassidy. I then changed it to Cassie, as I find the -ie suffix makes it a lot cuter. I am biased though, my name ends with it too, aha. There is a note that spells it as Cassi and for the life of me I cannot determine if that was a typo or not, but when I write fast I miss letters sometimes. The nickname of “Star” was one the table for a while too, and now that Star VS exists it’s even funnier. I specifically recall my mother telling me that she was going to suggest Star on the Facebook post I had made for the art at the time, but thought maybe it was too obvious. She was right, though this idea lives on in the nicknames that the signs end up giving Cassie later on, my favourite being “Little Star”.

While development for the story and characters started right away, it got a much welcomed jumpstart at the beginning of my second year at animation school. We were given a character design project that would span the entire year, and would require a story concept to complete all of the assignments. We were told this fact in first year to give us time to prepare over the summer, and I had just pulled an all-nighter to finish an assignment that day, but upon hearing this news I was not tired at all. Character design was already my favourite class, but this put it over the top. That beautiful feeling of inspiration that hits you is the BEST and in that moment nothing else mattered. Not even my fatigue, which I promptly dealt with the next day.

I used this as an opportunity to spend time developing the designs and story progression of all the characters, while getting marks for it at the same time! This is largely the reason I was able to launch the comic a few months after completing that year of school, as it ended up giving me full-sized references, colour schemes, and a much better idea of the story as a whole. Based on when my school years took place, I can actually track the progression of the characters pretty well through the artistic skill upgrade I was getting too.

The progression is pretty wild honestly, especially between 2015 and 2016:

(oh god these are so old help me) 

(these aren’t all of them either but I did my best jdhkfhsjkfhskjf)

From 2016 onwards I had the basic idea of her, so her colours stayed more or less the same once I actually added them. Cassie’s hair was one of the things that required a lot more iterations. I had her general idea down for a while, but when it came to making the character pack of her for my character design class, I remember having to sit down and actually figure out how her hair would work, structurally and otherwise, for that High Quality Refinement™ that was required of the project. Her older drawings had the part in her hair be in the middle, and that posed the problem of covering her eyes too much. If she was a more reserved character in any way this could have worked, but nah. I knew from the beginning she was going to be an outwardly eccentric child, one I wish I could have been when I was growing up.

Now for anyone that knows me as both a huge nerd and an artist, when it comes to fantasy stuff I LOVE armour. Absolutely love it. You see it everywhere in the things I make both inside and outside of SGZ, and I adore making themed costumes based on that (see my Feather Knights series for the most extreme example of this ever, ahahaha). So, it stands to reason that I would do the same for Cassie at some point, and I did! 

There was a particular focus on a helmet for a while too, whole plot points in fact! This helmet was, story wise, a long-standing plot point that proved difficult to change once the focus shifted. The initial idea was that the helmet belonged to Cassie’s science teacher (who is still a minor character in this as of now) and he gave it to her knowing its significance to the Starglass, thus establishing a sort of connection between Cassie’s normal life on Earth and the supernatural shenanigans that happen on the Astral Plane. The night she brings it home, she discovers that this little friend laid dormant inside:

This is Flicker. A character I’ve actually never revealed to anyone prior to now but hey, why not? The idea of Cassie having a spirit companion certainly didn’t come out of left field for me, but I wasn’t entirely sure how this character would appear, or what dynamic they would have with Cassie. I didn’t have pets bigger than a hamster growing up, so the idea of Cassie having a potential dog or cat companion would be new territory based on my own experiences. 

Flicker, as they are right now, acts as a sort of sensor for spirits that are roaming loose on Earth, and alerts Cassie to them... even if she’s not always up for a spirit hunt. They do have a backstory associated with how they appear and what their purpose is in the overall context of the world, but that isn’t revealed until much later in the story. For now Flicker is a cute little friend that cannot say much, but is devoted to protecting things, especially the Starglass. Luckily they still made the cut when it came to the helmet idea, and you should be meeting them officially pretty soon in the comic! :D

While the initial problem was getting any sort of cohesive look to the helmet or any other armour in terms of concept, I found as the story developed along with Cassie’s design, both her hair and her star sweater ended up being her two most “iconic” qualities aside from her eye, and using armour would have covered that up. 

On top of that, Cassie didn’t really end up being the type of character that would use armour, as one might expect from a character that has to fight and defend things a lot. She’s one to do things a little differently, and both her and the signs discover that, well, different works! It wasn’t a matter of her physical strength for the majority of the problems she faces, but rather strength of heart, and that’s a very personal note for me to touch on with this character. As such, nothing about an armour concept ever came out of the sketch phase:

It still makes for really interesting ideas though, so I’m sure I can work these into something else I’m working on. :’D Knowing myself, I’ll find a way. (The wings are VERY Cardcaptors though lol)

What did stay, however, were her swords:

She had at least one sword at the very beginning of this concept, but it eventually evolved into two. I find it interesting that sun, moon and star symbols were always present, regardless of what iteration these swords went through. Their official names are the Sun Star and Moon Star Swords respectively. Aside from the few doodles here and there for the zodiac weapons, this was the first appearance of any kind of fantasy weapon in SGZ. I can confirm that Cassie and the signs were going to have weapons from the get-go though, this IS something I made after all. xD

I think I also need to mention the main influences for this series, as the love for those things is very evident in my work, from the visuals to the storytelling and everything in between. Aside from my general interest in fantasy topics such as mythology and astrology, here’s a list including (but not limited to) the series that inspired the making of SGZ:

Kirby, Steven Universe, Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra, Cardcaptor Sakura / Cardcaptors, Kim Possible, Danny Phantom, and pretty much any other show I’ve watched about surviving school while going on crazy adventures. That stuff may be cliche now but I’ll be damned if I don’t love it still.

I grew up with some of these and the rest are new, but they’re all near and dear to my heart for many reasons. I’m happy that I can put that love into something I’ve made, and share that story with the world. 

I know I’ve got a lot more ranting about this story to do in general and the comic is still going, but I want to say some special thanks to some of SGZ’s biggest supporters: 

Laura, Eleanor, and my classmates and teachers at Seneca College. This comic wouldn’t exist without you. <3

I’ll be honest, working on this series got me through some of the toughest years of my life so far, and this was one of the first times where something I made actually came to fruition in some way, and had a genuine development period that I can look back on. I’ve grown a lot as both a person and an artist since then, and doing this look back in time really solidified that for me. I have a cast of characters that I love, and now I get to tell their story. So if you’ve stayed till the end in this gigantic post, thank you. I don’t know where this story will lead me, but with any luck it’ll be somewhere in the stars. Thanks for reading, friends. <3

#Starglass Zodiac #SGZ #SGZ Anniversary #origin story #Cassie #development #character development #story development

[in-madhouses]

so i was tagged by @whimsicalstylesfics for @mackabees‘ new tag game! apparently isbah thought it would be cute to tag the couple (liam and mackena) from a breakup fic (on the line) that so far only has the prologue up. so, fair warning, this is a non-canon future where these idiots get shit together and end up together.  

rules: choose a couple of fave photos/gifs/manips/etc of your ship! copy and paste the questions down below! answer as if you’re the characters that have been tagged! then tag some more of your fave ships/characters to answer next!

i love me some women of colour so i’m tagging @whimsicalstylesfics for alisha and zayn, @lifesbetterasamermaid for rei and harry, @loveinthewriteway for ariana and louis, @dotsandstripesxo for cassidy and harry, as well as @madminniefics for riley and niall. 

WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO:

Make breakfast: Probably a tie. Both of them are early risers and picky eaters. 

Cuddle the other for no reason: Liam. Mackena is not as physically affectionate considering the issues she’s had trying to prove herself in a man’s world. 

Sleep on the couch after an argument: Definitely Mackena. It’s hard to believe how much pride a person can contain. It’s also almost hard to believe how much spite a person can contain. She knows how much it annoys Liam when she does it, which is exactly why she does it. 

Drive and who is most likely to ride shotgun: Liam drives, mostly, much to Mackena’s dismay. She likes having control, but he’s too much of a gentlemen to allow himself to be chauferred by a woman.

Choose the music in the car: [I just realised I didn’t answer this one proper and left Isbah’s answer int here but] Liam, he likes to impress and that’s one of the few ways he can truly impress her because he’s always pulling out new songs and artists and fun little anecdotes about them.  

Get jealous: They get equally jealous, but Liam is easier to tip over. Mostly because Mackena prides herself for being cool and collected, at least publicly. 

Break the expensive gift rule: Liam. He’s accustomed to a certain type of living. But Mackena is never too far behind, she’s got discipline but the girl loves to splurge. 

Remember anniversaries: Liam. Although in Mackena’s defense, anniversaries are quite vague and Liam has a lot more headspace for things like anniversaries and grudges. 

Sneak sweets in the shopping cart: Liam. Mackena has too much discipline. She’s also worked way too hard to let herself go with momentary lapses. 

Hog the covers at night: Liam. Even though he’s always warmer, he’s constantly a tangle of sheets and limbs. 

1. What do you do when the other is upset?

Liam: I used to panic, because Kena’s prevailing emotion is anger, and she picks at me when she’s upset. She’d get riled up and she’d rile me up and then it’s over and we move on. Kena was upset that I was late to pick her up for a show once and we argued midway through the comic’s show over whether or not feminism has a place in comedy and a couple behind us asked if all our arguments are like that because they heard us arguing over the pronunciation of ‘vitamin’ before the show started. 

Mackena: I get stupid and I try to make him laugh even though it never works. I mean, I don’t even know what to do with myself when I get upset, it’s hard to deal with another person’s emotions too. 

2. Who is more romantic? Give examples.

Mackena: Definitely, definitely Liam. He’s all big romantic gestures, sweeping speeches, and expensive presents. It stems from the fact that he’s so grateful, always of being able to live his dream I think. 

Liam: Yeah, romance is definitely me. I remember thinking ‘I’m such a sap.’ when we first started dating because I’d go into overdrive thinking where to take her and what to get her and Kena’s just like ‘I’m good with pizza.’ and I’d be thinking I need to get this girl THE BEST PIZZA ever. 

3. What do your families think of your relationship?

Liam: Her dad isn’t quite that happy that we’re doing this whole dance again, but her mum is great. I think she always wanted us to end up together. 

Mackena: Yeah, she is over the moon about it. And I think his family’s just happy that he’s not out there dating a different pop star ever other week. 

Liam: It was a phase! And you know I was ever only dating those people because I wanted to try to make you jealous.

Mackena: Oh yes, and that turned out remarkably well. 

4. If you had to wear a couples costume for Halloween, what would you go as?

Liam:  If it were up to me, I’d look up the lunar cycle and say I’m a werewolf. Or put on glasses and just say I’m a nerd. This is totally Kena’s thing.

Mackena: It is, Liam’s hopeless. I like to put a little thought into it and incorporate a current trend. Costumes are funnier when they’re on trend. We went as the gay family emoji recently. 

Liam: I looked amazing in a wig. 

5. Are you both earlier rises? Or do you both sleep in? Or is there one of each?

Mackena: We’re both pretty early risers.

Liam: Breakfast is a good time. We cook and kind kind of get into the groove of the day together. Among other things. 

6. Do you have any routines at night? Before bed, in bed, etc.

Liam: There isn’t much of a routine, we’re normally quite knackered. But when we’re not, I guess we read? Among other things. 

Mackena: Yeah, we have quite a bit of sex because I’m apparently dating a sixteen year old. 

Liam: I was being subtle. 

Mackena: As a bus, Liam. 

7. What nicknames do you have for each other?

Liam: Not particularly. I’m about the only person who calls her Kena though, so I guess that. 

Mackena: He also likes ‘love’ which I’ve kind of adopted. I use ‘babe’ quite a far bit too. 

8. Say you had a child, who is the strict parent and who is the lenient parent?

Mackena: I’d have to be the strict parent, I just know it.  

Liam: She’s right. 

Mackena: I always have to play bad cop. Always. It works though, because I like the control. 

9. Would you rather go to a fancy restaurant for a date or stay at home and watch movies with pizza?

Mackena: I’m more of an at home person. Past experience has taught me that public spaces are fair game, and I don’t like to share.��

Liam: I want to say fancy dates, but it hasn’t quite worked well for me in the past. The media is quite needy and greedy and I only have space for one needy and greedy —

Mackena: HEY!

10. What first attracted you about the other person?

Liam: I could tell that she was different the moment I saw her. From the get go, there was just this fire and passion in her that made me want to be better. She’s smart and driven and completely out of my league. I mean, she made me dizzy.

Mackena: It’s true, I was assistant coach and I had the team do suicides on a muddy pitch. 

Liam: She wasn’t afraid to get dirty either. If there is one thing that I learned from Day 1 it’s that Kena will outlive God to have the last word and I was just completely enamoured by this specimen. 

Mackena: I was in turn enamoured by this completely fit looking guy on the pitch who should by all counts be really confident but was oddly shy around me. He was a mess of contradictions and the physical attraction was quite clear, and so we kept our distance, at least, in the beginning. But then when we finally got to explore the other side of who we were and it was just magnetic. He’s very perceptive. It makes you wonder what it’s like in his head. It’s.. It’s very disarming. 

#fic: on the line #this was kind of interesting because i feelnlike i'm giving away so much and we've barely started on the story

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 9/2/20

Yay! Sean’s back!

Barakamon, Vol. 18 + 1 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – I had thought this was something like an epilogue to the series, but it ends up being more of a hodgepodge—there’s a number of 4-koma strips, there’s interviews and yes, there is a short “years later” mini-chapter that assiduously avoids showing us Naru looking older, though it teases it. Instead, the majority of the book is an artbook, showing off color illustrations. And that’s the reason to get it as well, as you’re reminded that the art was also a big strength with this series. The pieces are very character oriented, showing Handa and company in a variety of poses and places, and it adds to the overall peaceful feel that we got from this series. I’ll miss it. Also, show us teenage Naru, you cowards. – Sean Gaffney

Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 2 | By Dr. Pepperco | Seven Seas – I never actually reviewed the first volume of this series—it came out in the height of COVID isolation, and I was bogged down in other things. It’s quite good, though, being a fairly tortured yuri drama without quite tipping over the edge into melodrama, although the reason it reads so well is that it balances on that edge quite nicely. Here we learn the story of Alice and how she became everyone’s favorite suspicious person, as well as the tie that binds her past with Hanako’s. As for the two of them as a couple, we aren’t there yet, and may not ever get there—it’s unclear if there’s a happy ending coming here. Nevertheless, you hope for one—these two need some good things happening to them. – Sean Gaffney

Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 2 | By Dr. Pepperco | Seven Seas – I really wish I liked this more. I like the setting—England in 1900—and two heroines who love books (and talk about Oscar Wilde and Sherlock Holmes!) and want to thwart society’s expectations of women while still being constrained by them. But everything just moves so fast! I found myself wishing this was a romance novel instead so it could have a little time to just breathe. They love each other, they find out secrets, Alice’s mom and fiancé conspire to get Hanako sent away, Alice finds her, more secrets are revealed. Nothing really lands with any emotional impact because it’s cruising right along and, in fact, comes to an end in the next volume. I will probably see it through to its conclusion but am overall kinda disappointed. – Michelle Smith

Horimiya, Vol. 14 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – This is the manga that never ends. It goes on and on, my friends. Given that the writer and publisher seem dedicated to avoiding the original ending of the webcomic, there’s not really much that can be done here except ‘everyday high school life’ shenanigans,’ to the point where I was for once reasonably pleased when Hori’s sadist/masochist tendencies come to the fore again, as she spreads a childish nickname for Miyamura just so that he’ll get mad at her. That said, despite the two being a seemingly close couple, at the end of the day Hori is still a horribly flawed character who needs constant validation and can’t trust her own feelings. She’s the most annoying and most interesting part of this. – Sean Gaffney

I Don’t Know How to Give Birth! | By Ayami Kazama| Yen Press – This is an excellent combination of biography, information, and comedy, as the author and her husband take us through the steps they took in order for her to have a child—more steps than you’d expect, as they eventually need in-vitro fertilization—and how she felt as she went through the process, ranging from “why am I doing this? My husband is the one who really wanted kids” to “I am getting in touch with my inner animal!” Scattered throughout are facts about preparing for nursing your child, Japan apparently not teaching expectant mothers how to push, and the lack of meds in their non-Tokyo hospital. All this is done in a fun way, with the author’s self-portrait having an arrow in her head. – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 4 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Should you sacrifice your dream for love? Well, not if you’re in a romance manga, but it’s a question that’s thought about long and hard in this volume, as Nanase discovers that Dr. Tendo is getting an offer to study abroad so he can research a condition that killed someone he knew in his past. He is seemingly fine with abandoning it and staying with Nanase, but another patient with the same condition shows that he’s not as cool and collected as you’d expect. As with previous volumes, this strikes a good equal balance between the medicine and the romance, and there is also some lightness of tone, such as Nanase mistaking her lovesickness for a heart condition after the two spend the night together. – Sean Gaffney

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 2 | By Umi Sakurai | Square Enix – The more we see of Kanda’s late wife, the more we see how much her death has devastated him, and we are grateful for Fukumaru for being there. That said, Fukumaru is a big, awkward, untrained cat, so this inevitably leads to events like the cat breaking precious pictures and the like. The cat is also somewhat jealous of anything that gets in between him and his master. So it’s a nice mix of cute ‘the cat is destroying the house and acting like a cat’ antics and ‘the cat is basically the one thing keeping his owner away from despair.’ Kanda’s utter adoration of Fukumaru’s cuteness (made funnier by the fact that, to most everyone else, Fukumaru’s pretty goofy-looking) may be the best part of this. – Sean Gaffney

My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 1 | By Shinichi Fukuda | Square Enix – Wakana has an unusual hobby—he admires and creates traditional Japanese dolls. In part because of this, he’s become a loner, but that changes after his popular high school classmate Marin discovers his talent with a sewing machine and convinces him to help her make a (sexy) cosplay outfit. Marin is passionate but not a skilled seamstress, so she hopes Wakana’s experience making doll clothing will be of some use. My Dress-Up Darling is rated “mature.” The first volume does include some risqué images and topics of conversation; however, it’s not overly explicit. Later volumes might become more so, but right now the story itself is surprisingly wholesome and the characters endearing. I’m really looking forward to reading more of the series and seeing Wakana and Marin’s relationship develop. But perhaps even more, I’m hoping to see Wakana follow Marin’s example and become more confident in himself and his interests. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!!, Vol. 5 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – The last volume of this series really does not stray from its mandate of ‘gags.’ We see 1-A and 1-B team up for a rescue exercise, the highlight of which is seeing that even the SMASH!! author thinks that Itsuka is a better Momo than Momo is. There’s some of Deku being such a hero fanboy that it’s hilariously creepy, and everyone participating in comedy training. (I was not prepared for Uraraka’s fantastic Aizawa impression.) There’s tanabata festivals, held back by a personality change in Bakugou (this actually comes up TWICE). And we end with a “years in the future” that isn’t really, with only Deku left to be the straight man. I’m happy this is ending now, but it was also a good deal of fun while it lasted. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 8 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – As expected, ‘making the relationship public’ gets put on the back burner, mostly as reality is far too complicated for things like that to go smoothly. Instead we spend much of this volume transitioning into a new arc, featuring Shirayuki and Ryu going up north to snow country to study as herbalists there… with the added addition of Izana, who is traveling there incognito to annoy his brother and to study Shirayuki further. In between these things we get a story looking deeper into Obi, who I sometimes get the feeling the author would be more happy making the lead character. It adds up to a good solid volume of the series, though I suspect the next volume will set a better pace. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 9 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – The rule of thumb in this series is that Takagi is more readily able to admit her own feelings to herself than Nishitaka is to himself. His embarrassment and wariness of any action that he’s goaded to by Takagi leading to a “ha ha, so you like me!” moment drives whatever he does, and the moment he gets over this the series ends. (Mostly—the unlicensed next-gen series shows he never quite gets over it.) Takagi CAN occasionally be embarrassed—my favorite chapter in this volume, where they’re sending texts to each other, ends with her blushing—but for the most part is content to tease him every day and patiently lead him to a point where they can be a couple. It’s not happening anytime soon. – Sean Gaffney

To Be Next to You, Vol. 8 | By Atsuko Namba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – On paper, To Be Next to You looks like standard shoujo fare. Nina Uemura is in love with her next-door neighbor, Kyosuke Tachibana, and to try to forget him, she started going out with a classmate. But when Kyosuke collapses with a fever on Christmas Eve, she bails on her boyfriend (Miyake-kun) to take care of him. Miyake-kun realizes that whatever happiness they can achieve together will always be vulnerable to being swept aside in an instant, and breaks off their relationship. What I love is how skillfully Namba-sensei has shown Nina’s maturation process throughout this series—she’s definitely not the same oblivious girl we encountered in volume one—and that we get little moments like Miyake-kun telling his friends what happened and them crying on his behalf. Between this and That Blue Summer, I have become a true Namba fan. I hope we get more from her soon! – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[whyshouldicareaboutafrica]

Can Instagram Function as the Most-Used Photo Software Through the Olympics?

I like to make my foods simple and delicious, ergo the hashtags #KeepItSimple and #KeepItTasty. Number reason to cloud the taste of the ingredients in your meal with items which do not improve the flavor of the plate nor have a purpose. Along the way instagram took on a instagram foto de perfil hd position in my own daily life. The inspiration and motivation was still there however the unintentional comedy rose to new levels. Before I examine the photographs that are my personal favorite let me claim that I love laughing and these photographs help to take the strain from life even when for a few moments. If you are on Instagram then I believe you are able to agree with one of these images in they cause you to chuckle if you are scrolling through the images on your own iPhone or iPad. I'm not sure when the Journey Bar turned the face of healthy ingesting but if you visit a wholesome supply there is nearly assuredly an image of a Journey Bar. And it isn't enough to only be considered a Quest Bar but the product has been sliced and put into biscuits and cakes, broken up and tossed in to yogurt and therefore a number of other variations of their use this post will be also long. I have never had a Journey Bar and almost certainly never may so I cannot comment on the taste. Why do the Instagram pictures produce me laugh? They're every-where and you cannot move a day without viewing an image of them. That is my next beloved photograph on Instagram. I am uncertain why it cracks me up when I see them but they do. I guess internally I'm considering to myself: whenever you can't make use the microwave. Maybe privately I want to make cup cake. I'm not sure, but I am particular that whenever the pictures on the Instagram show up I giggle from the gut. I could claim that I have observed some amazing mug cake masterpieces like the molten candy mug cake. That's incredible in my own brain, but the previous I put 1 egg, protein powder and other things and voila I'baked'a Protein Glass Cake only breaks me up. These only destroy me. They're on Instagram in droves and they produce me giggle since my thought is: Wow, you know how to use your blender. It is just a preparing snark of course, but just how many pictures of green drinks may one individual see before thinking: awesome, today take to cooking those vegetables in a different sort or fashion. I understand that drinks are rapidly and I make sure they are as well, however when I really do make them I do not reveal them with Instagram because I didn't do anything other than adding water, vegetables and fresh fruit to my blender. I'd like my Instagram feed to be impressive and motivating to get people in to your kitchen to prepare but however if a natural smoothies gets somebody started on the path to health then I'm all for it. Allow me to be clear and say that there's absolutely nothing inappropriate with natural drinks or smoothies generally speaking it is simply when you see 20-50 natural smoothie images per day you've to only laugh. They're my all time favorite. The image of the flex pose is the greatest, but nowadays I'm introducing my pal Marlene of Mission To A(nother) Race because her selfies have me pretty much hyperventilating. I love when she posts pictures of himself from the bathroom at her company after a sweaty journey or run and her experience shows the complete story. The best photograph of Marlene is in her swimming goggles as she looks like those dudes in Despicable Me and thus my nickname on her is Despicable Marlene. Selfies would be the gift that maintains on offering since you understand you will dsicover dozens of these at any provided time and one is simply funnier compared to other. Would you wait until the bathroom is obvious to take the image? Can you not treatment if the toilet is crowded? These 6 factors are why Instagram will also have a invest my day-to-day routine. How you can't laugh at a number of the material you see on Instagram is beyond me. There is a lot of creativity and drive, like the 21 Day Sugar Detoxification I will undoubtedly be placing about on Monday, but some are comical as well. I truly enjoy following individuals in my own feed to generate creative a few ideas for preparing, to obtain me out to the gymnasium and to make me laugh.