#On a more positive note I really like whoever drew the characters “background appearence” this episode eheh

[sskk-manifesto]

Ep 6!!!

[babbysquid]

Not A Whiskey Drinker Pt. 2

Author’s Note: Oh my goodness thank you all for the positive feedback on NAWD! I’m really enjoying writing this and living out my own fantasy. The DRAMA begins in the part after this so prepare yourself for that!

Warnings: mild cursing

------------

Sunday had passed by quickly and it was now Monday at 8am. Your interview was at 9. You studied your reflection in the mirror. You were wearing the outfit that Parker had helped you pick out but had the shirt buttoned all the way up. Grabbing your bag you and throwing on your shoes you looked at yourself one more time. Chewing the inside of your cheek you took a deep breath.

“Fuck it.” you whispered to and you unbuttoned the top two buttons of your shirt, just as Parker had done previously.

You stood outside a tall office building and looked up. It looked modern and new, but not imposing. Swallowing hard you pushed your shoulders back, raised your head up, and strutted through the front door. Fake it til you make it as they say.

“Hi I’m Y/N Y/L/N.” you said to the receptionist at the front desk. “I have an interview with Mr. Daniels.”

“Ah yes Mr. Daniels has been expecting you. Give me one second and I’ll take you to his office.” said the receptionist.

“Ah it’s okay Sara, I got it.” said a voice from behind you.

Turning around you saw a gorgeous woman. She wore a white button down and black slacks. Her short haircut was modern and cute. It suited her face really well. Thick glasses sat on the edge of her nose. She gave you a kind smile. Looking at her outfit and her appearance in general you suddenly felt self conscious. Maybe you should’ve stuck with the fully buttoned up shirt.

“I’m Ginger.” she said, extending her hand.

You took her hand in yours as you introduced yourself and the two of you walked to the elevators.

“So you have an interview with Jack?”

You nodded.

She laughed a little and it almost seemed like she was taking pity on you.

“He’s a good guy, but he’s definitely a character. He means well though.”

You smiled back. New York City was definitely filled with interesting and strange people. Your mind quickly thought back to the cowboy you met on Friday.

The elevator dinged and stirred you from your thoughts. Ginger guided you to a pair of mahogany doors.

“Well. This is where I leave you. Good luck Y/N.”

“Thank you.”

Taking a deep breath you knocked on the door and waited. A second later you heard some footsteps and you mentally prepared yourself for whoever was inside. The door swung open and your jaw dropped. You couldn’t help it.

Before you stood the same cowboy that had prevented your fall. Quickly you snapped your jaw shut. He was just as handsome as you remember, if not more handsome. He was still wearing his black stetson. Instead of the long camel coat he wore when he was in the park he was wearing a blazer with matching slacks. The blazer had a classic cowboy look but was still somehow modern. You flicked your eyes down to confirm your guess, he was wearing cowboy boots. He was wearing a pair of simple wire glasses and they looked good on him.

“Well isn’t this a coincidence?” said the man, “Come in, please.”

He stepped aside allowing you to enter the office.

For as modern as the building appeared, Mr. Daniels’ office felt lived in and warm. It was covered in mahogany and leather. An old globe sat on a shelf and other bits and bobs decorated the office, including what appeared to be a cow skull. You didn’t realize you were staring until Mr. Daniels’ honeyed voice made you blink.

“It’s real if that’s what you’re thinking.” he said.

You turned and realized he was much closer than you thought, practically close enough to touch you. You swallowed hard. He smelled good.

“Well let’s get started, shall we?” he said, stepping back and motioning to a chair that sat in front of his desk.

Wordlessly you moved to the chair and sat down. The whole act of confidence you had suddenly vanished. Mr. Daniels was slightly intimidating and holy hell was he attractive.

“Now Y/N — you don’t mind if I call you that?” Mr. Daniels asked.

“Y/N is fine yes.” you said, slightly unsure about the familiarity. Your previous job you were never addressed by your first name, it was always Ms. Y/L/N.

“Would you like something to drink?” he asked, swiveling in his chair to grab a bottle of whiskey and two glasses from behind him.

You smiled, appreciating the offer but politely declined.

“I’m actually not a whiskey drinker.” you said. Mr. Daniels laughed loudly as if he knew something you didn’t.

“I know it’s odd that I’m here interviewing for a whiskey company Mr. Daniels—

“Please, call me Jack.” he interrupted.

“…Jack,” you said slowly “but I promise I’ll be dedicated even if it’s not my drink of choice.”

Jack smiled and poured himself a glass of the amber liquid. Leaning back in his chair he studied you. Feeling his gaze on you, you gave him a small smile, trying to convince him that you really would work hard.

“Well Y/N,” he said after a second, “you got the job!”

Your brows furrowed. There was absolutely no way he was serious. He only asked if you wanted a drink, the company’s drink no less, and you said no. No interview questions, no asking for documents or recommendations. Nothing.

“I know you might be surprised but here at Statesmen we like to do things a little differently. And don’t worry about not liking whiskey. Who knows though, you may warm up to it.” he said, giving you a wink.

“This certainly was the easiest interview I’ve ever done.” you whispered under your breath. But according to the booming laugh that came out of the man sitting in front of you, your whisper wasn’t quiet enough.

“I assure you Y/N that you’ve already gone through an extensive interview process. The company has contacted past employers of yours and done copious amount of research and background checks into your resume. It may have been easy on your end, but not on ours.”

‘Certainly the weirdest interview I’ve ever done too.’ you thought.

“Well!” said Jack, clasping his hands together and standing up from his chair. “You start tomorrow. Let me give you a quick tour so you can settle in easy tomorrow.” In a flash he was around the desk and holding his hand out to you, a million dollar smile on his face.

Letting out a short breath you pushed away your anxiety and trepidation. If this was gonna be your new job you may as well start acting like your normal self. You grabbed his hand with assurance and stood up from your seat.

Neither one of you moved.

Standing there your eyes were glued to the sight of your hand being dwarfed by his. Slowly your eyes moved up to meet Jack’s. They were the most gorgeous shade of brown. Dark but still with a warmth and spark that drew you in. The glasses he wore framed them perfectly. Subconsciously you lightly bit your bottom lip. You blinked and the trance was broken. Slowly you removed your hand from his, but your palm was still tingling from the skin to skin contact.

“Thank you by the way.” you said breaking the silence.

Jack gave you that smile again and it felt like your internal organs had been turned to soup.

“Don’t worry about it darlin’. I’m quick on my feet and happened to see a beautiful young woman in need so I helped.”

You almost choked at the words he spoke.

“Let me show you to your space.” said Jack, his hand moving to lightly sit on the middle of your back.

In any other professional circumstance if someone did this to you you’d immediately call HR. In this instance however Jack’s gesture felt comforting and gentlemanly, not creepy and an intrusion of personal space. To summarize, you enjoyed his touch.

The two of you strode out the doors and walked a short distance down the hall to a door. Leading you inside Jack explained how this would be your personal office. You had never had a private space just for yourself in your workplace. You laughed softly.

“Something funny?” said Jack, looking down at you, hand still on your back.

“Never had my own space before. This place is almost bigger than my apartment.” You looked up at him with shining eyes. Jack swallowed thickly. Your big eyes were something else and certainly affecting him.

“Hah. Well I just hope you don’t move in here! Gotta have a separation between work and play.” said Jack, winking at you.

You could feel your face heating up at the comment as Jack led you out of the room and your heart was beating faster than it should’ve. Unbeknownst to you, so was Jack’s. He wasn’t expecting his new PA to be the gorgeous girl from the park. Admittedly he had thought about you a couple times since, beating himself up for not inviting you to coffee or something.

Outside of your new office stood Ginger.

“Ah sweet Ginger!” said Jack, removing his hand from your back. You silently mourned the loss of contact.

“This is my new peach of an assistant Y/N.”

“I know Jack.” said Ginger, rolling her eyes. “How do you think she found your office?”

“Always one step ahead Miss Ginger.” said Jack, flashing his smile again.

“Come with me Y/N and we’ll get you put in the system.”

“Pleasure meeting you darlin’ and I cannot wait til tomorrow.” said Jack, winking one last time before turning on his heel and sauntering back into his office.

“Is he always like that?”

“He’s always been a ladies man. You may be his assistant but make sure he knows who’s in charge. Keep him on a short leash.”

------------

“So how was it?” Parker asked, taking a bite out of her pizza. She had come over to eat dinner with you and get all the juicy details about the job interview.

“Weird. I mean I got the job, but it was still weird.”

“First off yay! Secondly, what do you mean weird?”

“Well the building was way more high tech than I expected but the thing that was the weirdest was the interview itself. The only thing he asked me was if I wanted a glass of whiskey.”

“To which you said no.”

“Yeah…” you trailed off.

“I know that look Y/N. What’s on your mind?”

“Jack Daniels is the cowboy from the park.”

Thankfully Parker had swallowed her bite of pizza before hearing this, otherwise there’d be a chewed up wad of cheese on your floor.

“WHAT?”

“He was acting kind of flirty too.”

“So you did unbutton the shirt!” Parker said, a look of pride on her face.

“Parker that’s not the point. Afterwards when I was talking to the head of networking and media she explained that Jack is like this with every woman. The hat I need to show him who’s in charge, even if he is my boss.”

“That’s hot.” said Parker taking another bite.

“Shut up he’s my boss.” you said, pushing her shoulder. “I get what she’s saying though. I’ve dealt with guys like that before. Admittedly they were in their 20s and went to the same college as me and weren’t actually adults who I worked with.”

“How old does this guy look anyways?” Clearly Parker had a different agenda than you.

“Parker…” you gave her a glare.

“Okay okay message received.” she put up her hands in mock defense.

You looked down at your pizza slice and picked at the bit of cheese that had slid off of it.

“So how’re you gonna fend him off while still creating a good relationship?”

“Guess I gotta use that stubbornness you were talking about earlier.” you said giving her a small grin.

taglist: @absurdthirst��@space-daddy-owns-me @agentwhiskeypussyindulgence

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2018 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest Results Thread!

Thank you all for your patience this year! I know this is a little later after the holiday than I would like, but one day is simply not enough to contain all this love! Once again, it’s always wonderful to have an assortment of both familiar faces participating, as well as many newcomers. 

As always, this will be a rather massive thread, so bear with me. Most of it will be hidden after the break, so please do take a peek at all these wonderful entries!

Due to the size and sheer quantity of comic entries, there are plenty of images to view. For that reason, I’m sticking to thumbnails for now. Please click to view the entry in it’s full glory!

Also, my thanks to @jaybird-c for the help with judging this year. I’ll have some of his commentary with my own below.

The three raffle prize winners will be noted by their alias, as well. 

For your reminder, there were two categories, broken down into Humor and Talent. There were 6 total Humor entries, and 14 Talent entries. So, to start off, we’ll begin with the category with the least entrants, and to fit with my tie-in promo art.

*EDIT* OK, now I think everything is good. So long thumbnails, to keep this shorter.

Once again, for an easy link to all the images in a single gallery, please go here: https://imgbox.com/g/uAbXkTDaot

Otherwise, I’ve tested it again on both mobile and desktop, and everything should link to a full image. It still does on my end.

*/EDIT*

For Humor, this year’s theme was “Beauty and the Beastman.EXE.” The goal was to illustrate a mismatched Megaman couple, one in a monsterous, beastly form, with another more beautiful character that falls for them. Any allusions to the popular tale of Beauty and the Beast were welcome, but not a requirement.

Here are your top 3, followed by the remaining entries in alphabetical order by alias:

1.) @prar-draws: (*Prar wins $100 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: Prar's comic has the absolute best execution of a joke, increasing the tension until the last panel when it masterfully throws the audience for a loop. Prar's style complements the story very well by making each individual moment easy to digest, and the last panel also just happens to be really funny to look at on its own. Just thinking about it makes me crack up.

Miyabi wrote: While this piece really contains more tension and drama until the final panel, I agree that the build is what helps bring the big laugh at the end. You can also see the temperature rising for Ciel, as her cheeks get redder and redder as the panels move along. I felt it tied in to the Beauty and the Beast storyline nicely, and your chosen characters fit well to pull off the connection. Very cute, and well constructed comic!

2.) @amiable-apparition: (*a-a wins $50 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: I don't remember this scene from the Star Force anime. Must've been cut from the final release. Clever use of trickery regarding who the real "monster" is; poor Damian appears to have misjudged the situation something fierce. Good idea and use of twist.

Miyabi wrote: I guess Sam was the one who was ‘Hungry Like the Wolf,’ after all! I too enjoyed the spin at the end, it was a funny deviation on how her character was portrayed in the anime. Subject choice was strong here too, connecting the theme with a couple characters who fit well with the concept. Nice work with the variety of panels you created to set things up.

3.) @frankenchio​: (*frankenchio wins $25 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote:  Ah, the Princess and the Toad Man. Frankenchio's piece is a clever little reference to the classic fable, but most of the humor is in how Roll apparently didn't know what kind of prince was on the other end of that frog. Clever, pretty to look at.

Miyabi wrote: I like that you thought outside of the box with the theme, and used a totally different classic tale, but still connected it very well. Ice Man sure lucked out this time, after whoever cursed him into Toad form. While a simple few panels, your style is just adorable. Those jewels on the crown look really detailed!

Close, but not quite ~

Dark Dullahan:

Jaybird wrote: Dark Dullahan has the idea of recreating an actual Disney scene with Iris and (Zoanoroid?) Zero, which is very sweet. It took me a few repeat looks to digest what was going on here but it's amusing to see Zero protecting his wounds from the fierce and terrible Iris. Because she's obviously the worst thing that can happen to him. Cute, amusing scene.

Miyabi wrote: Sorry, I don’t know why this upload defaults to a side view, when I don’t even have it at that orientation. It automatically glitches that way, no matter how I upload it. :/ Anyhow, a clever spin using the EXE versions of Zero and Iris, living in a world where only reploids...no wait, they don’t exist here. This Beastly ZoanoZero will open up to her over time, I’m sure. But first, he needs to heal up. Again, good use of parodying the scene.

@drewblossom​:

Jaybird wrote:  The sheer concept of Rock-Belle made me wonder if they were going to throw in an FMA reference somewhere, but Drew's picture doesn't need it. They make good use of the Disney-classic-gone-wrong idea -- Oil Man and Time Man as Lumiere and Cogsworth are nearly inspired --though I think they didn't quite go far enough and should have rounded out the piece with a more feminine version of the suit; Rock-Belle changing into Mega *Man* raises questions about whether the main character's an actual girl or just a cross-dresser, which distracts from the joke.

Miyabi wrote: I guess Rock is both the beauty and the beast, for totally destroying those poor innocent talking inanimate object bots! While I had a good laugh at the quick-change blast, the character reactions, and the overall parody of the classic scene, sadly I did feel it just didn’t quite have the couple contrast/Valentine’s theme as well as others. 

@erekisaiko​: (*RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER* Captain N Height Chart)

Jaybird wrote:  I feel like I'm missing a reference to something else. As amusing as the concept of JunkMan's and Meddy's unsanitary hospital sounds, the picture doesn't present us with enough information to make sense of what actually happened (i.e. why was JunkMan wearing a cardboard Falzer costume in the first place?), and [=ClockMan's=] joke lacks the punch it ought to have because the punchline has no set up. (Unless of course this is all just an incredibly obvious reference to something I've never been exposed to that would fill in all the missing context). Amusing concept in punchline, it's fun to think about how this situation could've arisen.

Miyabi wrote: Meddy’s not oblivious, she just has a big heart ready to heal any messy, junky slob! Cute and different idea having more of a ‘fake’ beast, although I think Junk still would count as a beastly character on his own, in some respects. Very well-drawn, and appreciate all the detail you put into your internet background.

For the talent category, the theme was “If You Like It, You Should Put a Ring Boomerang On It.” This category was all about proposal scenes. And I am shocked there was not a single Jewel Man! XD

Here are your top 3, followed by the remaining entries in alphabetical order by alias:  

1.) @wintesm​: (*wint wins $100 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote:  Jeez. Unrelenting Style. Your children's book painting is incredible as ever; your figures, your colors, your atmosphere, just about everything.  I ran into a problem with your composition, though; the stark black page divider clashes with the predominantly horizontal-mirror structure and makes it hard to wrap your head around the story as its meant to be told. It was less of a problem once I trained myself to ignore it, and you use the divider very effectively in the second-to-last section, but it still made it harder to enjoy the work. Masterful technique, colors, perspective, expression.

Miyabi wrote: With your subjects, I felt this composition was a very clever way to tell the story, and kinda mirror their separate, but similar tales side-by side. As mentioned, you have such a fitting children’s storybook style, from colors to shapes, that shines once again! It’s a cute tale for such evil characters!

2.) @peach35​: (*peach wins $50 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote:  Peach deserves a lot of credit for her mastery of figure-drawing and perspective. That's something a lot of people struggle with, and accomplishment in these matters should be recognized. Another good choice of simple background to highlight the main moment, and awesome use of colors and lighting to suggest 3D -- I'm far more fascinated by Gate's nose than I should be. Incredible faces, hands, colors, and general shading.

Miyabi wrote: The sense of confused shock on Alia’s face is a different reaction that most, as it’s apparent Gate is slipping that ring on in total surprise. Clean lines and soft lighting helped this piece stand out.

3.) @tianura​: (*tianura wins $25 USD or an item(s) up to that value.)

Jaybird wrote: Tianura's style is difficult to read; the line quality can be inconsistent from panel to panel, some attempts to convey 3D positioning could use polish, and the panels never stray very far from simple torso and head shots. That said, the expressions are exceptionally clear (again, look to the eyes) and convey lots of emotion, and the page-by-page composition is very good. Very expressive faces, judicious use of colors for effect.

Miyabi wrote: I thought this was a creative parallel for life-long partners in using Netto and Enzan. You did a nice job keeping Netto’s goofy charm intact, with quite a few humorous lines. The ending was totally fitting for him, older or not. XD While I’m sure you would have liked to color the whole thing, I liked the differing use of screentone shading. And the watercolor look of the color pieces did give it some storybook charm as well.

Close, but not quite ~

@borockman​:

Jaybird wrote:  It's such a shame this isn't a humor category, because this deserves major points for funny (the Nana-Sigma romance anime that the fandom doesn't want, but nonetheless deserves). The linework itself is pretty good. Expressive, good use of background for mood. Also, Sigma, the ring goes on the ring finger.

Miyabi wrote: It’s a dream. It’s always a dream! Siggy puts the ring on her pinky because Nana’s his ‘lil pinky-poo... ;p With the tears running down her face, I really did like the emotional feel of the moment. 

@digitallyfanged​:

Jaybird wrote: In terms of sheer atmosphere, this is one of the best pieces. It looks like a still from some fairy tale picture-book. The forest scenery, the background, the flower-swing, the misting breath, the quality of the outfits and the details on the dress and sword all make this exquisite. Unfortunately the characters aren't quite as expressive as they ought to be -- this is very clearly a fairy-tale love scene of some kind, but what kind? Laika is clearly being emotional towards the princess, but what is he saying? "Who are you"? "You're beautiful"? "I love you"? "Be mine forever"? It's gorgeous, but it's a little too vague to tell whether it's on topic or not.

Miyabi wrote: Gorgeous scene that felt a bit like another Disney-ish tale, moreso of the Frozen variety. They may just be easy-to-use Clip Studio effects, but I really thought it was quite creative how you pulled off the swing design. The watercolor forest background is beautiful, as is Pride’s snow princess outfit. Pretty, pretty picture!

@drewblossom​:

Jaybird wrote: I'm glad I saw Drew's title, because it took me a minute to figure out exactly what was going on -- for a moment I thought Geminiman was trying to propose to himself with that (fittingly) gaudy diamond. The linework is pretty good, and I like the lighting effects on Gemini's crystals and the translucence of his chest plate. I'll give them points for an ambitious concept, but the best mirror art looks at a scene from two different directions, and Gemini's reflection is simply a reverse of the main view. Good colors and lighting, elegantly simple background that does a good job of highlighting the main action.

Miyabi wrote: No better way to practice a proposal than to recite it in front of your self. Of course, if he is proposing to his clone, then I think with his nonchalant actions, he’s got this down already. XD Clever, and unique!

@hyperbole1729​:

Jaybird wrote: This piece is another mix. It has some very nice things -- the colors are spot on, the composition is very nice (you take cues from the 18th century Romantic movement by having the whole world revolve around the subject), you clearly pay attention to character details, and your field of flowers is great.

Miyabi wrote: Another set of net-battling partners who seem like a great choice for being together forever. The background is a fitting place for Sal to do it, because I don’t quite see Miyu being the one to speak up and propose. That might be more of a frightening proposition. LOL Cute, traditional scene. 

@iris-sempi​: 

Jaybird wrote: Iris-sempi's got style. The colors are interesting, the subject is clear, the linework pops out because it's -also- part of the colors, the cartoony elements fit in very nicely, and the presentation as a literature/manga cover is well-done. The technique is some of the best I've seen. That said, I have to ask, if you were going to go through all the trouble of creating such a cool cover, I think it's only fair to point out the title is blocked by the artwork, which defeats the purpose, especially on something's Volume 1.

Miyabi wrote: Just to clarify for everyone, the Japanese characters for this piece say "Let's Get Married" and "Sea Salt Honey." I thought it was a really clever mag cover format, where the characters really pop out against the pink background. With the waves, it really does feel like Splashy leapt out of the ocean to smack some salty sugar on Honey/Vesper Woman. Her vibrating antennae give some nice movement and comedic effect, too. Love it, but felt it just didn’t quite have the proposal feel as strongly as others.

@jb-artist​: (*RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER* - Megaman 8 cel)

Jaybird wrote: JB's picture is very cute, and we don't have much actual oekaki here, so props. While you deserve even more props for how direct you are to get to the point, it's difficult to judge how we're supposed to interpret this -- is Alouette precociously misunderstanding the nature of a marriage proposal or is it an actual proposal to her older sister figure? The perspective rocks, the colors and lighting are good, and there are lots of little details that portray lots of love for the Zero series.

Miyabi wrote: Zero’s such the silent, brooding type, that he sends Alouette to do the proposal for him. I’m just not sure if that will help or hurt his rank in this stage! XD It is honestly really cute, especially when you see her doodles on the resistance base’s wall. I think that makes the piece more than anything, and was a clever callback to the game. I like how you set up the scene with the background, and those are some really nice mountains back there, too. 

@lightlabs​:

Jaybird wrote: Now this is pretty. Great composition to direct us through the piece (-nice touch- on giving the ring some bling) and rocking use of paint swatches for style. The art does a great job of directing us into the center, and the warm colors in the center do a lot to convey mood. Zero, you smug jerk, stop showing the rest of us poor schlubs up.

Miyabi wrote: Yes, this is happening. There is a reason for me to go on. What...what am I using this line foooorr? The warm colors and sparkles give it a unique glow, for what seems to be a night scene. The brush strokes give it a neat paint brush look, for your coloring, too. Nice work conveying their emotions with their expressions as well. 

@pandapanic0:

Jaybird wrote: In terms of actual skill, the coloring is good and clear, the piece is composed well, the lighting effects are fairly elegant. If it were the actual humor category, the Ring Man's appropriately outlandish bid and Mega Man's exceptionally feminine reaction would gain the piece lots of laugh-out-loud points.

Miyabi wrote: Thank you for taking the title of this category literally and going for the humorous visual of a giant ring Ring Boomerang! Even if he says no, once he tries to get rid of that ring, it’ll just come right back. XD Rock’s blushing expression is cute. Nice crisp coloring and bold lines. 

@shikai-the-storyteller​: (*RAFFLE PRIZE WINNER* - Archie Worlds Unite Page)

Jaybird wrote: On a panel-by-panel basis, the art is very good: crisp lines; good color and lighting; good technique with hands and faces; great use of background and expression to convey mood -- you got more mileage out of your backgrounds than probably anyone else here.

Miyabi wrote: Another nice job of mixing humor into your piece, while still keeping it a tender, sweet moment. Nice way of showing that things don’t always go as planned for a proposal, but sometimes it’s the thought and effort that counts. As always, your lines, colors and penmanship are smooth and flawless.

Superbasket5:

Jaybird wrote:  Aww. If I've got this right, it looks like X is so nervous about giving Alia a valentine that he doesn't realize Berkana is giving Alia encouragement as well. I think. I have to wonder what Marty is doing here -- research tells me she has a crush on X, which seems like it would get in the way, and if that's the case, this impending trainwreck will be something worth watching. That said, the piece is still in its rough stages, especially your setting and perspective; I can't really tell where the characters are (outside at a park?), and Alia's hip is in front of X's arm.

Miyabi wrote: Alia has her support group, but I don’t know if she’s going to be able to pop the question to X with a crowd around her, either. XD Cute expressions, showing her nerves, while X is probably not quite expecting what’s hiding behind her back. I kinda wish we would get that visual of what she’s hiding as a cutaway, much like how you gave X a thought bubble for what’s going on in his head. 

@yugiohlesbian​:

Jaybird wrote:  Good job! I'd like to compliment you on how versatile your figures are and how you use that to make them very expressive; your use of perspective and individual panel compositions are both very versatile. While there isn't any color, the nighttime scenes do a good job with the lighting. Your style is pleasantly simple, but sometimes the panels seem to be oversimplified; more developed backgrounds would be welcome in several places.

Miyabi wrote: Totally different subject, but Zero, none of us understand taxes, either. I like how you illustrated the struggle of a reploid trying to understand human logic and traditions, and yet in the end, it still being something Zero didn’t truly need to grasp in that logical sense. While I know you wish you would have had more time to continue perfecting these panels, I agree that the night scenes stand out and give a good contrast between Zero’s computer research scenes. 

Thanks once again to all who participated! I will be contacting the winners soon enough. Work will probably keep me from replying to everyone immediately, but if you don’t hear from me today, I will send a message about prizes hopefully within the next day. 

For those awaiting the secret contest results...sorry, for another slight delay. Between finishing my promo art for this thread, and typing this, it took up too much time and I’ve gotta head to work. I will have those posted overnight, into Sunday morning, as it won’t be quite as intensive to write up. My apologies, but I hope you can all hang on for another 20 hours or less. ^^;

[antikripkean]

Post #101 + Tumblr Recap

I had intended for this to be my 100th post, but I changed my plans due to unexpected circumstances. The following will be a very Tumblr-esque thing: a rant about my feelings.

TW/Disclaimers: Long; potentially boring; lots of rambling. Might not be very organized. There may be cringe. This is not logically focused and is meant to describe subjective matters. The purpose of this is for me to vent and make my feelings available to anyone curious. It is not meant to offend or argue a point. People do not have to cater to the feelings presented below.

History

I have a lot to say about my Tumblr experience so far, and I might as well start with the creation of this blog. I first started using Tumblr on a separate account back when I was less interested in politics and had yet to discover the wonders of people like Milo Yiannopoulos and Blaire White. (Though I was already a fan of Martin Shkreli.) At that time, I thought more about other topics such as anime, books, and Undertale. All of these things still interest me; I doubt that will change anytime soon. Still, I had expected to devote most of my blogging to the world of fandom.

That did not go as expected. I wasn’t very active on that blog for a number of reasons; real life obligations, lack of familiarity with formatting, posts getting deleted when I tried to post on the mobile app without saving them, and being a perfectionist with tagging. Whenever I began a post, I wanted to make sure I got everything just right and would sometimes stare at a few sentences for quite a long time before uploading them, and to my dismay, they would sometimes get deleted. Also, I was worried about art theft; I wasn’t (and still am not) sure whether using existing artwork or a photo off the internet for a background or avatar constituted art theft. I didn't know what sort of feel I wanted for my blog either, so I was unsure about what to draw and which colors I should use. And I had no idea what to write for my blog title and description.

Other things which irrationally troubled me were liking, reblogging, and following people. I think these are supposed to be some of the most enjoyable parts of Tumblr, yet they all made me somewhat stressed. I wasn’t sure how much I should like a post before I “like” it since there doesn’t seem to be a way to sort “liked” posts. I wondered if I should “like” every post which gave me a positive mental reaction or only the ones which I considered personally meaningful. I doubt it matters to most people, but I wanted a consistent standard for myself. As for reblogging, I didn’t want to do it very often since I wanted my blog to be almost exclusively my own content. With regards to following people, I wasn’t sure whether to follow anyone whose content I liked or only people who almost exclusively posted content that interested me. I also wasn’t sure whether I was socially obligated to follow Tumblrs from people I knew in real life if their content generally wasn’t about topics I enjoyed. I’m still not very sure of these things and probably still would not be if someone decided to talk to me about it. I’m the type who constantly thinks of counterarguments, so I’d probably get stressed holding them in or annoy whoever would try to help me.

Another major thing was the social aspect. I’m not particularly social in real life and was aware that I could find many people who share my fandom-related interests on Tumblr. And there are a lot of fandom people here, but since I barely liked, reblogged, or followed people, I wasn’t particularly noticeable. People had little incentive to interact with me as well since I barely had any posts, and my Tumblr wasn’t particularly good looking. I have low social initiative, so I wouldn’t try to initiate conversation as well.

So what changed?

Well, I was gradually becoming more interested in politics, social justice, and futurism. I was curious about the state of the world and the direction it was going. I always loved exploring moral issues in fiction and had increasingly thought about the ones in reality as well. Plus I love science and liked thinking of how it would develop in the future; I thought it important that society prepare for the effects of new technology.

And then there’s feminism. Feminism wasn’t even the social issue which interested me the most, but it was one of the ones (along with transgenderism) which raised the most questions. I used to think of feminism as a good thing and associated it with women becoming able to do things such as vote, work, and be educated. And as a child, I was sometimes bullied for being a girl with more traditionally masculine interests. I thought feminism not only made significant social changes for the rights of women but also would support girls like me who were being treated unfairly for not conforming to a limited gender role.

Over time, I read more about feminism on the internet and discovered that some people thought it was a bad thing. This confused me; how could people not believe women deserve equal rights? Were people really that sexist? I looked into this antifeminism movement a bit more. Not enough to discover its prominent leaders just yet, but to see what the basic arguments against it were.

What I learned was that many people who are against feminism believe that women have equal rights already and that feminism teaches women that they are inherently victimized by society and should blame men. The antifeminists saying those things no longer appeared sexist to me, but I was still confused. I hadn’t heard from feminists that I was doomed to be a victim because I was a woman or that I should hate men. The only thing I saw wrong with feminism was that some feminists believed all feminists should be pro-choice.

I did some more research, and I found that some feminists do say such things. The feminist movement no longer seemed as equal as I thought. At that point, I still thought such feminists were in the minority and that feminism was still needed to help women get rights such as educational opportunities and having a choice in their spouse elsewhere in the world where there is less gender equality.

I ended up taking two classes which heavily involved feminism and other areas of social justice. One of them was one of the best classes I’ve ever taken; the other one, not so much. I began to empathize with the antifeminist movement even more. I started planning a Tumblr essay analyzing women who don’t need feminism and explaining how both antifeminists and feminists bring up good points and should try to effectively communicate with each other.

I came across a website called Everyday Feminism during this, probably when I was researching trans people. I was very skeptical about the concept, and I wanted to see if my mind could be changed. After watching one of the videos, I found a response video and decided to watch it as well. Thus I discovered Blaire White, who did change my mind with her explanation of gender dysphoria. I realized I had misunderstood what it was previously. I watched more of her videos, which got me interested in other people such as Milo Yiannopoulos and Shoe0nhead. I was red pilled, and I felt like a whole new world of different perspectives and ideas had opened up to me.

I felt compelled to write about these topics, but I thought my current blog wouldn’t be the best place to do so. People might not want to look at my fandom material if they didn’t agree with my political content. I thought the solution would be to create a side blog. And so I did.

This new blog was titled AntiKripkean, named after my commitment against Kripkean dogmatism. (Kripkean dogmatism is when people dismiss anything contrary to their view due to it being contrary in and of itself.) I drew a background tiled with Bill Cipher (to represent my love of fandoms and my appreciation for trollish characters in both fiction and reality), the female symbol (indicating I support equality for women and am open to discussing feminism and antifeminism), Pepe the frog (as a tribute to the positivity I felt in my life after discovering the anti-SJW movement), and hearts (since I also value compassion, empathy, love, and peace). This background was meant to indicate the bizarre mix of ideas floating around in my head and to celebrate a diversity of subject matters. I drew a peach with inverted colors to make it look somewhat frozen, indicating my support for free speech.

Unfortunately, I realized that side blogs lack some of the features present in main blogs. I didn’t want my blogs associated with one another, and I found that a side blog can’t follow or like. I ended up making a new main blog with the same background, name, and avatar then reposting all the content from the original AntiKripkean. Thankfully, I only had ten posts. Thus this blog was created.

General Feelings

My Tumblr experience so far is not quite what I thought it would be. One big difference is that I thought I would do a lot more essay-type posts. I have a few longish ones, but a large portion of my original content is Martin Shkreli fanart and Milo gifs. There could be many possible reasons for this. One is that I like producing that sort of content, especially considering there is barely any available. I suspect that I might not feel as motivated to draw or make gifs as often if there were plenty of them already; I’d probably be staring at them for an inordinate amount of time instead. Another possible reason is that essays take more planning on my behalf, and I often will reread the same few sentences over and over again way too many times. I would like to do more essay posts, but I plan to continue making fanart and gifs as well, perhaps of other people such as Blaire White and Laci Green as well.

Currently, I’m the most proud of this particular drawing of Martin Shkreli. My digital art skills have been improving. While it doesn’t have the most notes out of all my posts, In the last few days, it’s become my most popular post (thanks, haters), and I’m proud of that since I worked very hard on it, and I consider it my best work on this site so far. I think I did well with the shading and colors. I also think I did a good job capturing how biased the media is against him. I still can’t draw hands well, though... ^^;

On the topic of people I draw, it still surprises me to see my Tumblr pop up as one of the top search results on this site for both Martin Shkreli and Milo Yiannopoulos. I know I feel very positively about both of them, but to see it acknowledged on the internet on a major website still feels surreal. I suppose it makes sense considering that most people on Tumblr think negatively about both of these people, yet I didn’t expect myself or my efforts to support them to be significant enough to warrant my placement in the search results. I feel happy that my content is prominent for others interested in these people and proud of myself for making it this far, yet I also wish that there were other people producing similar content. I’ve enjoyed having fandoms constantly producing content for books and anime, yet with Martin and Milo, I’ve been having to make the content for myself and anyone else interested. And I really like making it, though it’s a bit lonely when almost no one else on Tumblr is doing it as well.

I have generally felt good on Tumblr, though. I would like to thank my sister, @rightwingbarbie, @brightsapphireseas, and my chatroom frriends with accounts here (you know who you are) for making me feel welcome here; I appreciate all of you very much. I didn’t expect to be treated with such kindness here, and I’m truly grateful for you. Thank you to my followers as well; you’re also amazing.  ♥

People haven’t been getting upset in the way I’d expect, either. I thought that people would respond negatively to me almost as soon as I’d post content about controversial figures, yet it actually took a bit longer. I woke up one day to a bunch of notes after barely getting any before, and I was very surprised to have gotten what seemed to me like a lot of attention. (I’m aware it isn’t a lot, but in comparison to what I had gotten previously.) I was more upset about people speaking negatively of Martin Shkreli and Milo Yiannopoulos than people insulting me; I’m sick of lies about them being spread around all over the place. Still, it was somewhat amusing that people could get so upset over some drawings. And some people claimed to want me to die, which I’m not quite sure how to feel about. I’m cynically amused by the hypocrisy and double standards with regards to internet etiquette, but I’m a bit sad that people can be so close-minded. A lot of the people critical of me might be generally good people, and I don’t want to assume that anyone who disagrees with me, even if they do so rudely, is automatically a bad person. (I also want to add that I don’t draw controversial people to trigger SJWs; I do so to show my support for them. If people get triggered, so be it.)

I’m willing to talk to people even if they disagree with me, and I welcome ask box content. :)

The Past Few Days

When I realized that I had hit 99 posts, I began writing what you see here: a summary of my Tumblr experience and my ideas for the future of this blog. Due to an unexpected event a few days ago, there was a change of plans. I decided to dedicate my 100th post to Martin Shkreli instead. I can and will write a lot more about my feelings for what happened, but to stick with the theme of this post, this will be a recap of how it’s affected me on Tumblr.

I spent a few hours writing and editing Post #100, and Tumblr reacted to my previous posts more quickly than I can type. My art posts, or my favorite one in particular, were flooded with notes. (On the bright side, that post became the one with the most notes, which is what I’d wanted.) Many of the responses were negative, both towards Martin and myself.

Since Martin’s arrest, I’d get so many notes. My screen would light up with notifications all day. While most people would probably be happy about getting a lot of notes, my feelings were more complex.

The main thing was that I felt overwhelmed. I want and plan to respond to many of the comments and reblogs I’ve received, but there were so many to keep track of. I also wanted to finish my tribute to Martin and this post so they could respectively be Post #100 and Post #101. There are many claims I want to address. At least by the time this gets out I can begin to respond.

I’m aware that I could feel less overwhelmed by turning off my notifications, but I want to be fully aware of the impact of my actions and not cut myself off from knowing the consequences. Even if it can get distracting and overwhelming, I want to experience it regardless of whether I like it.

Also, it saddens me when people insult Martin. Whether or not it bothers him, to me, it’s an indication of the malice and ignorance present in society. I don’t think Martin is perfect and some may find him unlikable, yet almost all the criticism I see for him involves double standards or is founded on misleading premises and/or blatant lies. If people are to hate him, they should at least have a proper understanding of why. Still, an understanding of him could lead to them becoming fans, like it did in my case.

I’m not as bothered when people insult me. It doesn’t make me feel worthless or guilty; in fact, it strengthens my resolve. Some people have criticized me respectfully, but many of the negative comments are rife with profanity and lacking in logic. This is likely because they were posted with the intent of expressing negative emotions, not starting a dialogue or persuading me to change my mind. I respect people’s freedom of speech to do this, but it only goes to show that they prioritize their own feelings and degrading mine over rational discourse. And I’m not saying all of my critics are like this, but the more rational replies are unfortunately limited. It makes them as a whole seem rather unkind and lacking in the critical thinking department, and it’s giving me delusions of grandeur. I’ve been reminding myself that I’ve messed up in the past as well, and these people might be kind and intelligent in other areas of life.

I started looking through my reblogs after finishing Post #100 so I could determine who to respond to. While reading the responses and tags, I also noticed other things on people’s blogs. I feel like many of the people don’t quite see what they’re doing. I recall some of them specifically stating in their descriptions that they are nice and want to help others. This leads me to think that they might generally be (or at least imagine themselves to be) this way, yet they perceive me as a negative being undeserving of this component of their personalities. Some of them share things in common with me such as being demisexual, loving animals, and being fascinated by MBTI. Many of them are also fandom people. As a fan myself, I’m a bit disappointed by their behavior. While I recognize that liking something doesn’t mean one has to agree with or like everything about it, fandoms have influenced me to see people as deserving of respect, to look beyond public opinion, and to try to empathize with and understand others. It seems kind of wrong to me that Undertale fans won’t show mercy (and yes, I know there’s a genocide route), Game of Thrones fans disregard individual complexity, and FMA fans act as if people they don’t like have no value. Yet I try to see them as people, not just hateful text on a screen. But some can be very cruel.

There have even been threats and incitement of violence towards Martin himself. I doubt any of the people doing this pose a real danger, but this still goes against Tumblr’s community guidelines. I’m not referring to the people who say he has a punchable face or that they wouldn’t mind if (or even hope that) harm befalls him. I’m talking about people who say they will harm Martin or are requesting that others do so. I’m pondering whether I should report these people; ironically, the main things holding me back are the words of the people they hate. I want to give these people the mercy that Martin did not receive, and Milo has said that people should not have their lives destroyed over jokes, and I think these threats may have been intended as jokes. (Though Milo did say that threats and inciting violence do not constitute free speech.) I’m not sure what the consequences would be for these people if I reported them, and I don’t want them to be banned from Tumblr, subjected to legal investigation, or thrown in jail. I think they should have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, and I’m not sure how Tumblr would handle the situation.

People have also been telling me to kill myself. I’m thankfully not suicidal, but if I were, I wonder how these people would feel and what would happen to them if I really did take their suggestion. I want to respect their freedom of speech, but I really don’t like that they’re saying this because they may get in the habit of it (if they aren’t already) and end up telling it to someone who’d actually do it. I don’t know whether this is covered under freedom of speech, but it’s an awful thing to say. Words have consequences. And for anyone reading this, please know that your life matters. If someone tells you to kill yourself, don’t do it; you are precious, and your life has meaning. And on a side note, Martin mentioned before that he wanted to develop a drug to treat suicidality. So not only are people urging me to commit suicide; they are taking a stand against someone who wants to help suicidal people.

I haven’t received anywhere near as much negativity as others, yet for me, it appeared to be a lot in comparison to my previous experiences on the internet. I was fully aware that this could happen, though. I’m not quite sure if what’s happening to me constitutes harassment; I haven’t blocked anyone no matter what they’ve said to me. (Yet some have left me hateful messages and blocked ME when I didn’t even say anything to them.) While I dislike what people are saying, I want to be aware of it, and I respect their freedom to say it. I also want to be able to have respectful discussions with those who are willing.

Future Content

I really think I should make a FAQ page, disclaimer list, an about me page, and a tag index. That may be useful to some people.

I also will be drawing more fanart and making more gifs, but for now, I plan to do longer text posts, with evidence to support my viewpoints. It will probably take a while to both write these posts and do my research, but I think it would be more useful if I produced more intellectual content.

I’d also like to cover more topics including but not limited to the environment, the abortion debate, feminism, futurism, racism, my personal experiences with political discussion, mental health, parallels and differences between fiction and reality, representation in fiction, cultural appropriation, reviews and responses to other content, SJWs, trolling, and the importance of lingual clarity. And I side with liberals on some issues and conservatives on others, so I plan to discuss my Leftist opinions as well. Yet for now, expect a lot more posts about Milo and Martin.

I’m not quite sure how to end this, but I hope my presence on Tumblr can benefit others as well as myself. I’d like to be able to start some discussion about various issues and help people who need advice. I look forward to posting more content.

And thanks to anyone who read through this entire mess of a post. ♥