#and hopefully! i will make comics that people will want to support through patreon or something like that!

[sforzesco]

like, I'm old school web comic culture, I like handmade zines that are stapled, I just want to make comics and tell stories and the ranking system of the popular webcomic sites exhaust me to my core, which is why I like tumblr. I want to draw sulla wound fingering crassus and not think about the metrics.

[elbdot]

You know what? This year may have been THE most chaotic one yet in EVERY aspect of the word - but it surely was my most productive year as well! As many emotionally ups and downs as I had, as hard it was to distract yourself from the CHAOS of the world and the justified anger, fear and frustration of the people, I can still say that my year has been more positive than the ones before! I feel different - more like...myself. MORE me. Almost complete. And I have the strong desire to show more of myself out there, to be seen and recognized for what I do and who I am, I want my work to go OUT THERE, to make new friends and find new business partners so I can finally go ALL OUT and republish my books - and I did actually form new friendships this year, more in one year than I did in the past 6 years combined, it's incredible! I stepped out there and made new friends by not even particularly DOING anything - I was just me: A pure bug nerd walking with Maybugs and wild bees on my hands through the streets - that's how I met MULTIPLE people this year.

And I gave myself the space and time to flourish artistically in EVERY direction - From Fakemon Designs to animal studies, horse illustrations, realistic styles, comic styles, personal-, fan- and Pokemoncomics, traditional animation, puppet animation, Photography, SKITS on Youtube - EVERYTHING I wanted to do I DID and I am VERY PROUD that I was able to see through and finish almost everything I started this year or had begun to work on the year before!

There's so much I still want to do and I hope to achieve next year - when I hopefully am more in power again, when my body has recovered from its current whooping cough, when I can contact agencies again. And I really hope social media will become more kind to us artists again, when we currently have to struggle so much with algorithms who want us to be influencers and content machines to post daily. That's why I'm really grateful for my community here on tumblr and the fact that it is not being dictated by an unforgiving algorithm like twitter and Instagram is. On here you actually still have a chance to be seen.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your support this year! Especially those of you, who decided to join my community on Patreon and have become part of my Discord server. You guys have lifted my spirit in ways I couldn't describe and I'm so happy to have such a kind and incredibly generous community! Truly, thank you all so much for being here!

Onward to 2024, let's hope it will treat us all with gentleness and kindness 🥹🥰💖💕

Socials | Patreon

[beesmygod]

"A GHOST STORY" IS A WEBCOMIC I MAKE THAT I WILL BE RE-POSTING, GRADUALLY.

the top row is from 2013, the bottom row is from the 2018 re-draw. EXCEPT NOW WE'RE IN A PERIOD OF 2019 WHERE THE ART ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING SOMEONE MIGHT WANT TO LOOK AT FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME!! what a relief. however there is still much to improve and learn always and forever. again, it's a bit of a relief to be able to look back at these pages and be like "damn now if i were doing this, i would change this and this and this and this for these reasons". this (hopefully) demonstrates an ability to not just see that things are wrong but how they could be fixed. which is something i had a harder time recognizing back then (still do, might always!).

in the new pages there's a little more care in the construction of the environments, in the postures of various characters, in the faces. things are still extremely rudimentary and basic and the speech bubbles are still pretty messy...but BETTER than they were.

the second page on the first row is a good example of why i had to start splitting up pages. too much shit on that page! the inconsistently sized gutters are driving me nuts too. im glad i fixed things if only for some consistency while people are flipping through pages now.

one consistent problem in the Before Times is not knowing or understanding the 180 degree rule. maxine and jack change sides arbitrarily based on who is speaking despite the fact that they should be standing still in this moment. the second set of pages are a vast improvement over the first, but still bend (if not outright break) the rule.

i think the black-eyed kid looks worse in the new one though. bummer! sometimes it turns out that amateur art has a certain je ne sai quois that's hard to recapture when re-drawing it.

the writing is much improved too. they were weird in the beginning and not in a good way. my inexperience with affectionate human behavior really shone through in those early pages.

jack's behavior is sort of like a cats. he'll cry and complain if you do something to him he doesn't like but if he really didn't like it, he'd leave. he just likes to complain and have someone hear him

---

♥ read the comic: A Ghost Story ♥ support the comic for as little as $1 a month on Patreon ♥ donate on kofi ♥ pay what you want for the re-draw of the first chapter on itch.io

you can block the tag "#AGS repost" to keep this off your dash

[unscrupulousartist]

Kickstarter Update #2

Cross-posted from Kickstarter:

A few things I'm looking forward to in October...

Hullo, hullo! Welcome to Update #2.

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who's supported my campaign so far. :) This first week I was hit by an influx of spam marketers and questionable conversations that, while a shitty achievement badge in general, I was unprepared for emotionally; but each and every one of you has been a reminder that there are real people out there who want to support real art.

Speaking of supporting real art... there are some exciting things coming up in October that I'm looking forward to supporting in my life, and perhaps it'll be stuff you'd want to support, too.

IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER 

October 15th—Confluence ft. Publishing Goblin | @publishinggoblin

Confluence is on my radar because of my low-key obsession with Publishing Goblin—'cause come on, how great of a name is that? I've supported previous Publishing Goblin projects and will likely support more of their projects in the future. Publishing Goblin brought me The Alleyman Tarot, will eventually bring me The Hot Housewife Tarot, and has been steadily working through several poetry projects. As a bit of a goblin myself, I've got a starry eyed vested interest in seeing another cool creative make art and succeed in this world; for it's art that makes the rest of it worth living.

Confluence has beautiful artwork, a trusted artist working with a diverse team, and is a perfect excuse to throw dice into trays and laugh with friends. Full disclosure: this is likely to be a nice little gift for my TTRPG loving step-son, and we'll see about bullying him into running a little campaign for me and his dad. 

October 22nd—A Fool's Errand by J Strautman | @strautmaskreplica & B Marsollier | @b-marsollier

In other TTRPG news, your friends and mine over at Planet Arcana have designed their own tarot-based system.  A Fool's Errand puts your party into the world of Planet Arcana, with it's lavish landscapes, brilliant beasts, and arcane insight. You don't need to be familiar with the podcast to enjoy the game; but if you're looking for an award-winning group of Canadians playing through a unique Tarot-Inspired universe, it's definitely worth a listen. 

Playtesting our own little calamity has been a highlight of my still-very-novice RPG experiences. I get to live out my piscean fantasties as an angry waterbreathing aquean composite, and weave a tale of prophet and mystery with some storytelling friends. We're only a few sessions into our campaign, but it promises to be a fun experience. 

Sometime in October, Probably—Refugium by Simon Roy | @simon-roy

And I would be remiss not to include my favourite comics on my list. Refugium is the third book in Simon Roy's Griz Grobus series, following the eponymous first book Griz Grobus and the second, Miramar. Simon's a fantastically detailed comic artist and works with a wonderful colourist, Sergey Nazarov, to bring this galaxy-spanning universe to life. It's already funded, but you can buy the backlog or support Simon on Patreon while you wait for whatever he makes next. I'm trying to be patient while I wait for my copy of Refugium to arrive—hopefully sometime this month.   

Can you think of anything else exciting happening this month? Let me know. :) I always like finding new artists to swoon over. 

Stay Rested, Audrey

[dzthenerd490]

DZtheNerd Main Post

Yo! What up, I'm DZtheNerd, just a dumbass who has no voice but 1,000 ideas at any given time. I like to reblog lots of stuff but also work on my own stuff as well. My favorite and most successful project is the SCP: Horror Movie Files but I'm working on other stuff hopefully less fanfiction based in the future.

I occasionally dwell on politics as I think it's not something you should avoid regardless of how depressing it can be. But I also like to have hope that things can get better if we're all willing to raise awareness and put some effort into improving things.

But anyways my main deal is that I'm just a nerd who never shuts up about what their thinking about. If you want to be more personal currently go by They/Them and my sexuality... Don't know! I mean Girls are Hot and so are Men but can't always decide which is better. Though honestly most of the time I lean towards liking girls but whatever, I guess.

Enough about my silly ideas, what do I do on Tumblr?

I write lore documents and fanfiction stories (mostly fanfiction)

Recently got into creating art for my projects

I also make videos on YouTube

Most importantly I love giving my support to my fellow artists, writers, and overall content creators. So if you have a project of your own that you want help promoting don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'll do my best to make sure everyone knows how awesome you are.

The most important thing to remember about me is that when reaching out to me, ALWAYS use the Ask Box to contact me first. I only trust Messages from people I'm already acquainted with. If you EVER contact me through the Message Board first without contacting me any other way I WILL block you. So please don't ever send me a Direct Message, PLEASE always use the Ask Box.

If there's anything else, you want to know about me please view my main works here on Tumblr.

SCP: Horror Movie Files

DZtheNerd Art Collection

Warhammer 40K Retold

And my stuff on other sites.

YouTube

AO3

Patreon

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I update my Patreon with new posts every day. Please support me on Patreon for $5 a month to get the following rewards.

Early access to ALL my projects

Vote on what takes priority

Get your name mentioned on all my social media accounts.

Request low effort Art pieces from any of the following: Exotic Plants, NanoGenesis, Black and White Comics.

Pledge $10 for everything already mentioned but now including

Any Request you make takes first priority.

Make a request on any of the Low Effort Art Pieces AND now the High Effort Art Pieces which includes the following: SCP: HMF Artwork, The Malipherian Empire, Warhammer 40K Retold, The Nightmare Virus, Trench Crusade Homebrew, and Endless Conflict

There is also the free membership option where you can only see low effort projects or previews of the big stuff. Also, each tier is given a 7-day free trial so if you're not sure, give that a try first and if you don't like it just cancel within the seven days. I do need money but don't forget to think about your financial situation first, everyone!

.

My Patreon's!

William Adams

Cierra Hernandez

Thank you so much for supporting me!

.

Please let me know if any of the links aren't working. Please also comment on anything you read or see and tell me what you think. I'm ALWAYS looking for some good criticism, In fact I LOVE it when you give a review on my work. It shows what I do right and wrong which is something every good writer and artist wants to know so they can keep improving. PLEASE give me all the criticism on my work you want, even if you think it sucks, I just want to know why it sucks. Thank you!

[hekkoto]

Big big LIFE UPDATE! IMPORTANT STUFF HERE!

Heya my darklings <3 so, Im coming with some life update, Im happy to say that stuff starts to look waaaaay better!

First and the most important: Im super grateful for your love and support, I had really awful time lately and your kind words really helped me <3 My mind often tells me that nobody would miss me and Im just a problem but people patiently keep telling me that truth is opposite and many people would miss me and they really care about me. Thank you guys, really

So the best thing: My parents told me they gonna pay for my therapy, I have psychiatrist next week and I gonna ask to get it prescribed to me. Im deeply disturbed person and especially now I need this the most. So yeah, I gona try fix my life at least partially! I also gonna ask for meds for ADHD and hopefully I can end this nightmare ^^;

I started limiting substances like alcohol or too much pills. Going slowly but hopefully theraphy will allow me to end usage without any party or smth. Drinking with people is fine, I just shouldnt start day with this or do it daily >.> wish me luck!

I was invited to podcast! Here is clip: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-N9M01q2Tf/ it should be aviable somewhere in next month! [on this clip you can see my fabulous big Hello Kitty sticker on my wardrobe >XD]

In last days my mood is mostly on euphoric side which gives me hopes things will be easier now ;-; trust me, last weeks almost killed me, I was on edge of my strenght. I gonna catch up on the most important stuff first and then I gonna work a lot on videos and arts ^^ Im super grateful for your love and patience, really <3

I will try to sort my life now, I have to book some treatments and such, I will try to go back to more healthy diet and hopefully start exercising! I definetelly must catch up on important arts and focus on projects Im working on! I will show some cool stuff soon ^^ My plans are coming back to weekly short comics, finishing my comic Welcome To My Hell, releasing first video for arg horror Denimo's art space, I hope to make 3 vidoes on my YT per week and deliver all of promised Patreon rewards [I gonna look through them and note in calendar when I want to post stuff and hopefully it will allow me to fulfill all of them! I also gonna come back to drawing answers for this ask/dare Jeff thingy

I will be opening my KoFi shop soon! First I gonna offer some handmade stuff like earrings, chokers, magnets, keyrings and stickers and shortly after I will be offering prints. In near future I also plan to offer small originals of my paintings <3 and of course more handmade stuff ;p

Im focused on my goal of making living as an artist. Im also full of motivation and this mostly euphoric mood gives me a lot of strenght. I believe I can make it and I know this will help me with my borderline if I will be focusing on arts and engaging with lots of people. What I can say, borderline loves attention >XD so better give it to me ;p

Anyway, thank you a lot again <3 I thought it all gonna end soon but I guess I can try push a little harder <3

Love ya,

Hekkoto

[theguildedtypewriter]

Writing Update

Hello All!

I'm going to try to make a habit of these so that you all know what's going on with the series and my writing in general. That way, you won't be missing out on exciting news or follower requests.

What's Going On

So many updates on the Newborn City Front. In fact, let's make a list for easy viewing.

Affinity for Pain got a new cover! That's right, she's updated and looking gorgeous. I've also started working on the rest of the covers for the series, because of course, I couldn't stop myself. You can see it here.

Burn the Bone will be looking for Delta Readers! Yes, a new term I've come up with just now for this fourth round of beta reading that the second book in the NBC series will be going through. You can learn more about BTB and if you'd like to be a Delta here.

Calling Evil Forth has words on the page! After a long spell of writer's block, the third novel actually has words and paragraphs and even a few pages! Hurray!

Newborn City has Merch! Patreon has updated its merch offerings and I've included these in several tiers. It's images of Hope, Ciaran, and Red that I drew myself. Show your support and get cool stuff! It's a win-win. You can check it out here.

I'm writing for CBR! That's right. Ya girl is writing for Comic Book Resource. I'm doing movies and gaming, with an emphasis on Dungeons & Dragons. So my fellow nerds out there I'd be so honored if you checked out the stuff by me, Rachel Johnson.

What I Want for the Future

Here are my goals for the coming year:

I want to grow my Patreon- I'd love to see some real traction with my account so that I can start creating custom writing pieces for people. I love the idea of creating my own little writing community that exchanges ideas, get to see my work first, and is rewarded with short pieces written just for them based on their unique ideas.

Get Affinity for Pain self-published- Yup. I'm taking matters into my own hands and releasing this bitch to the world! I'm going to begin the process of getting final copy edits, choosing a publishing format, and launching my book. Hopefully, if everything goes smoothly (when does that happen?), I'll have it out by my birthday, October 21st.

Move Burn the Bone through Delta reading- By the end of the year, I'd like to get BTB through its last stage of readers so that it's ready to be published once AFP has been out for a year.

Finish a first draft of Calling Evil Forth- Yes, I must finish getting the words on the page and actually complete the story so that the series can continue.

I'm very excited about the year ahead and am determined to have a good one despite everything, especially my terrible luck. I hope all my followers stay involved with me here and I'd love to see some of you over on Patreon. There's cool stuff happening at every tier so no matter which one you choose, you'll be happy.

That's all for now folks!

[hillnerd-art]

bummer of an announcement

So! I got an anon asking ‘it's been a while since you posted art. are you still making art?’ Honestly? No, I’m not. Not really. Not right now.

TLDR; I can’t make art right now due to medical reasons. I do not know when this will change. 

I’m still in the Potter fandom. I’ll still post art here when it is made- 

 @hillnerd​ I will be still be doing tons of the other fandom stuff.

I’ll still continue hosting fandom events as well.

If you still want to support my work/creative stuff/medical stuff with money, I have a ko-fi you can always send 'tips' to. ko-fi.com/P5P2841I

WAY more detailed information under the cut

For the past few months I’ve not been able to make art because stylus/pen-holding has been nearly impossible for me. I have a few medical conditions that sometimes make it very difficult for me to do art. Recently it's gotten worse and worse.

I have about 8+/- sketches and drawings queued up to post (need to get around to posting them!) and have a line up of commissions I am trying to get done.

After that... I honestly don’t know how much art I can guarantee I’ll make. I will always be an artist of the heart, but my body simply won’t let me continue right now. Well obviously I'm going to push through and finish all my obligations- including last commissions- but after that it's up to my body.

When/If I am making art again after this last push (and I'm certain I will eventually! I mean, this CAN'T last forever, I hope!) it'll be fandom, or working on my pride and prejudice comic etc.

I am honoring all my commission commitments!

If I still owe you one and you are concerned pm me or email me.

I am shutting down my patreon,

and won’t be taking sketch requests or commissions for the foreseeable future.

Patrons there���s a special announcement there for you.

If you still want to support my work/creative stuff/medical stuff with money

I have a ko-fi account you can always send 'tips' to.  https://ko-fi.com/P5P2841I

Wait, aren't I a full-time artist???

I was, but I'm not anymore. I started working with kids back in november. I'm now going to graduate school to get a master's degree in teaching. My medical issues are part of why I'm becoming a teacher instead of remaining a full-time artist. I can't do my work anymore like I did (plus I hated so much of the non-fanon work I did! :P graphic design is the devil.)  I am very excited about teaching and genuinely love it- and hopefully my medical situation will improve and I'll be able to do art on the regular for fun/my own projects! But I can't do it on command in a timely manner anymore.

Am I staying in the fandom?

YES!  I can still type, I can still talk, I can actually do a ton of things (RP, chats, meta, fic writing etc- none of them are deeply affected by this).  I just can't hold my pen/stylus for longer than like 5-10 minutes at a time.

What's my medical situation?

I have a LOT of stuff- but the main one interfering right now is my fibromyalgia. My hands get super sensitive a lot of the time and get easily fatigued. When they are bad they go pins and needs or literally feel like I have a bad sunburn all over my hand, and any pressure for more a minute or so feels like someone grinding a knuckle into a bruise, or like you brushed a sunburn up against sandpaper. It's really intense and hurts a ton. Pushing through this pain is very hard on me.

How come I can do makeup but can't do art?

Makeup changes the brush/tool, pressure on the fingers/hand and angle of the movement a LOT. I'm very fast and it requires only a short spurt of energy to finish each part and i'm in minimal pain. Digitally drawing does not do this- the fingers/hand are stuck in the same general shape, the same muscle groups are enacted continuously, and it required much more dexterous control of the tool in my hand for a longer amount of time. That constant pressure on my hands/fingers is incredibly painful.  I am sure that with time I could relearn how to draw in a different way so this is not an issue- but I'm not going to put pressure on myself about this so I can do fan art.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED ME, WHETHER FOR A LONG TIME, OR A SHORT TIME. I REALLY DO APPRECIATE IT!

Again, I’m not ‘retiring from all art ever’- I’m just letting y’all know the situation- that I can’t draw much right now- and you’ll see a slower output of new work. I’m still in the Potter fandom. I’ll still post art here when it is made- it just might be a while after this last push until you see new work.

And honestly, reblogs have been drying up.

I’ve never been that popular of an artist.

People rarely reblog my stuff, and if I’m going to literally push through tons of physical pain to make stuff, I’d like to have an audience that engages with it. Likes don’t spread my art out, and don’t encourage engagement. So there’s that. :P  Anyways that’s it! Bummer of an announcement to have to make but... yuuup.

Stay safe, and keep it magical

-Hilly

[twiniverse]

Sooooo... this is super embarrassing. I’ve lost a few Patrons this month. That makes sense! There’s a lot going on in the world and people need to be looking out for themselves. I get it, and I don’t blame anyone for putting themselves first. In fact, I always encourage that! We talk about it a lot on Discord and I always tell people not to support me if they don’t have a lot for themselves as it is.

Thing is, Patreon is my entire source of income outside of commissions. And, as I admitted before, there’s not a lot on Patreon for people to look at which means it’s not super appealing to everyone. And that makes sense, too, and is completely fair! So, I’ve had to make a decision. For the time being, the following perks will be added to Patreon! Please note, if you become my Patron this month you will not be eligible for perks until after your payment goes through at the beginning of next month. (This means if you become a Patron in June, you can collect on the July Perks Call I will post on Patreon)

$1 Patrons will be eligible for Bust Linearts for one character.

$5 Patrons will be eligible for Full Body Linearts for one character.

(Example coming... soonish?)

$10 Patrons will be eligible for Full Body, Flat-coloured Pieces like my standard commissions. One character.

I don’t do robots, nsfw (including gore), or Homestuck characters. For everything else, I’ll let you know when you request it if I’ll be able to do it for you or not.

I’ll try to update this with examples of the Bust and Full Body linearts soon as I have some examples to give. I’m already working on a Bust for one of May’s Patrons, so hopefully I’ll have that for you all soon.

Remember, take care of yourself, your family, your situation first! I don’t want anyone to put themselves out on my behalf. But if you enjoy the comic and want to help out a nearly starving artist [I’m lucky to have my bills paid by my sister] then please consider becoming a Patron for me. These extra perks will last until I build up enough Patrons that it becomes overwhelming to do all of them, at which point I will go back to having art perks for $10+ Patrons only. That may be a long while, though, so feel free to hold back for a few months if you have to.

https://www.patreon.com/Twiniverse

Next Twiniverse update is on Thursday, June 4th, at 5am Central US time. I’ll be working on some commissions, Gem Adopts (hopefully), and Patreon perks for a little while to build up some money, then I’ll start working on the update after that.

Thank you all for your likes, reblogs, follows, and everything else! Every bit of support, even non-monetary, means the world to me and really keeps me going. I’ve never kept up with a comic longer than one page before, but having you all here waiting patiently for my motivation to spike again really helps me. I really think I can go all the way with Twiniverse, even if it takes some years. I hope most of you will stick around with me to see it through!

[yoitscro]

First thought: Homestuck^2 should've just been called Beyond Canon, and more people should call it that. 

The 2 was put on for chuckles; HS trending the day it was announced with it being a sequel spoke enough about how such a thing shant be underestimated, and why Homestuck is ABSOLUTELY more than just our small twitter crowd (and the scrap of us still on tumblr). I say that because remembering the Beyond Canon part slightly reassures me about the fact that this is a fanwork that will do some weird shit, and things I don't agree with, but isn't something that I have to subscribe to enjoying all the way with how I engage with Homestuck.

Homestuck 2 is not the canon continuation. Homestuck 2: Beyond Canon, is an OFFICIAL continuation.

Not having it on such an important stool and as the only content we all are only allowed to digest should come from both people who obsessively dislike it, and people who defensively support it. If a character says they kick babies then I can say, hey that's weird, maybe not great writing, but I can pretend they don't in my content, and i dont have to send threats or call people cishet white men for it! and, it's an absolutely great thing that we were all encouraged to create our own ideas without anyone who's influenced us to do so squinting their eyes when we actually go through with it. Glad I don't have to put this story up to the expectations of being a sequel to a 11 year, worldwide IP that's shooketh the internet landscape since it's merely optional, Death of the Author persists, and ideas aren't just dominated and revolved around the perspective of a 1% in this entire fanbase.

That said.

As an OFFICIAL continuation versus a canon one, HS2 is ok. It certainly has that fanfiction vibe, and a story it wants to tell. I can't really tell what that story is since we have like, 10 sub plots rn though. There's not a real a clear indicator on where the focus of main conflict is that connects all these stories together.

I thought that the prose in replacement of Vriska's battle was jarring, but not teeerribly surprising for the format HS2 is going for. It's more so using drawings to compliment text versus Homestuck's usual of panels being side by side with visual importance, or even itself being the one compliment. It sorta feels weird tho that it brought old fans back in with art just for them to get sneered at when they get a bit upset that there won't be main staples of art known to progress the story forward. 

Also people who mock people for “having to read homestuck” knowing there’s language barriers and struggling focus from those who’ve been use to something that was never so dense, are ridiculous.

Personally this could be solved by knowing how old flashes worked, having way more artists on the team, maybe even an art director if not already, and noting that we're not asking for the next Cascade. Rome wasn't built in a day, but Rose Ride sure was, and Homestuck’s animation is absolutely not the same as a 12-24 framed 12 minute cartoon. That, or just snuff the illustrative art as a whole since it's very clear on where the focus is.

I’m sure you’re not here trying to see my opinions on how the outer workings are though, versus plot.

Uuuuh, let's see. Yiffy's still a name I don't care to use until I eventually get tired of any of my art that do not show up in tags. This is fine and not as offensive as people are saying it is. Minors who want to cosplay this character don't have to call themselves this character. Not wanting to be one letter away from accidentally entering a very NSFW space of twitter is fine. Also the lot of people call Tavros, Tavvy.

I hope Kanaya's anger at being cucked is actually seen versus being implied through fan guesses and another character having to say she was.

Roxy needs to be more of an involved character. Where are they during all this?

Jane should have a mention of her relations to HIC being a main/bad influence on her current parallels to Alternian dictatorship.

The PRE-RETCON GROUP should have a fun one-shot update for fans who like them, since they oughta be around if they fell through the ghost hole. Most of them. The sprites that aren't Jasprosesprite should also show up too, since they're around.

Aaaaaand I think we should be extra careful going into the future when it comes to the alien rebellion. It's weird that a lot of the writers are white and toy around with concepts that can be a not so great parallel to racism. Currently not great timing rn! If the characters are going to remain aracial, but with them still doing not much to reference other non-white earth cultures or getting new hair cuts that have different textures (looking at you, Rose), we shant make the species with actual biological benefits a racism commentary. the xeno joke at least had a play on words. If any writer has happened upon this then a, please don't get mad at me again haha, and b, consider having more black writers or directional assistance on your squad. You know who they are.

In the future. I casually want the ghost from the Dream Bubbles to be shown since it's a big elephant in the room to not have a single one of them in the bg despite a load of them appearing from the ghost whole. Don't gotta give them speaking lines, especially the dancestors. I personally don't know if I want that right now.

I also hope in the future that we don't get HS content that is only going to revolve around HS2, if it's optional enough to engage with without being the only option. That's why PQ could ended a bit better for me, and why I hope it's not the main thing that's keeping Hiveswap on the backburner. I don't think it's farfetched to consider that multiple HS content could come from more than just one team; to relieve work load, but to also strengthen the idea that Homestuck can be a various amount of perspectives when it comes to the ideas fans have. The most dedicated fans leading the direction of the story is not just a handful of them. If anything, at least acknowledge the massive ass fan projects going on once in awhile to showcase the different avenues.

"Hey Cro, you sure have bitched about this alot. Do you have anything good to say? Why don't you stop reading if you hate it so much!"

Not every comment needs to be golden, love. Again, some of these decisions I eck at, but ultimately they're just words on a computer that I'm not holding anyone at gun point to do, and I'm curious to see how the story handles itself going forward, since again, it's just a fanwork. Sometimes I wish to not only see where the plot goes, but to see a writer's craft in action.

Good Things:

The Art. Again, please have more artists. It'd help so much, especially since the main one is also double timing for VE. That said, HS2 sticks out to me because of the way the color composition is used. Aside from hair and other tiny things, I haven't seen black used a lot, which makes colors pop. It's really nice to look at. I hope we get more sharper styles of character in the future, since it builds on nostalgia and makes the trolls feel much less like they're from Repiton, but I can deal with it for the most part. I also like that one panel where the omega kids and vriska are talking in the dark room, and based on where they're standing, the text aligns. Tasty as hell.

Meat and Candy still do hold neat logic in the direction the stories go. Candy, while it could be more tasteless in some areas, is chaotic and too much of a good thing. Meat is having something a little more straightforward, though I'm not sure quite yet where it's going. I always found Candy to be the part of the epilogue that actually entertained me the most, from how much of a surreal Robot Chicken skit at 3am it felt. Sometimes the jokes slapped real nice and made me wonder, going in, how is this monkeys paw gonna play out and, hopefully, make people laugh or smirk like they got a good roast at themself?

The slightly episodic feel of each update is what I wanted from the Epilogues, so it's interesting to see that play out when it comes to switching different perspectives.

The bonus updates get points for featuring characters that a lot of us have been wanting to see for ages.

Hopefully this isn't unpopular, but I think the tension of Yiffy's introduction was nicely composed and written (ignoring some of the things I wish for Jane). It leaves you with enough want to see what'll happen next time. You could also say that despite her growling and making a lot of noise, it's not actually bad writing: I see it as the audience being forced to see her in the same perspective that Jane see's her; a dog. Upon no context we're seeing the same thing while knowing things are obviously off, and once we see this character in a new environment where their personality shines, it'll have a bigger impact her own character being humanized. So I like that.

Okay, I think that's all I got. I improv wrote most of this; hopefully I won't be taken out of context since I don’t think that HS2′s writing should ultimately be a judgement of the writers as people, nor treated as if they should hold the same unhealthy work environment that Andrew forced himself to do when writing the og comic. And I'm still like, donating to the patreon and everything, lol.

[runs away]

edit: i was going to put the cw as another positive thing for the comic...but...yeaaaah.

[steve-rogers-new-york]

August

Warmest greeting my sweet, soft snickerdoodles <3

Last Month — July

What a shock! Last month I got up-to-date on all my physical perks, posted all my scheduled posts, and made great headway on one of my long-term, major-massive-huge projects for the blog. So progress. So success. So respectable adult! It was so cool to post two posts I had been looking forward to: The US flag one and the Dip Pen’s post :D I hope you guys enjoyed them! I also revived our old love: Recipe Wednesday! I’ll try my best to keep them up.

The aforementioned mega-huge-totally-all-the-work project is an extensive list of period accurate slang terms. If you’ve been with me a while you may know I have a gorgeous 720-page dictionary of slang (”The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English”) that is a beloved fixture of my small SRNY-related bookshelf. I have been, for a while, going through and compiling a list of terms that are historically-accurate language that would relate to both our boys, as well as Steve’s mother, Peggy, and the other Commandos. It really is a long-term project, and I am only just finishing up the C’s, but when I’m done, I’ll have the full list available to everyone for fic (and other) reference, as well as a series of themed posts!

Aside from posts, I have been trying to be more sociable. I’ve been semi-active on the Put on the Suit Stony Discord server, so if you see me (Owlish Fun) over there say hi <3 I’ve really enjoyed chatting with peeps over there about fic and cannon, and you know, whatever. And obv, I’m still loving the SRNY Discord, we’ve getting some new members recently and we’ve been having some great research-related chats!

Upcoming Posts — August+

August is a little behind on the post due to some health issues I’ve been having the last couple of week (see later in this post), so I might not get as much up this month as I would like :( I alway have a number of projects on the go, so below are some you can expect to see in the next month or so:

Asthma Cigarettes — Part of Patreon Ephemera Club Perk

Art Deco (art, furniture, architecture etc — on special request)

More Recipe Wednesday!

Coney Island’s Thunderbolt — Part of Patreon Ephemera Club Perk (late)

More 1920s-1940s slang

August Ephemera Club Perks (Patreon)

This month’s perk theme is medications, and will include...

ONE box for "Dr. Guild's Green Mountain Asthmatic Cigarettes" and TWO matchbooks featuring advertisements for medicines available during this time period! I was so excited when I found these boxes, and I’m really excited to share them with your guys! They have all the directions and commentary for the products, as well as price. I still have two more sets of these items for new subscribers in August, so if you would like to receive your own and support the blog, you can join the Ephemera Club tier over on the Patreon!

What’s Up with Me

So, as you may already know from my earlier post, I’ve been dealing with a rather persistent ear infection this past couple of weeks. Not only is it really painful and annoying, it also makes is nearly impossible to focus properly. As such, I’ve pretty much been unable to work on the blog for more than short bursts, and I’ve not written anything new in a while. I’m trying to be productive despite this, doing some clean-up of existing research notes and minor additions. Mostly, I’ve been working on the aforementioned vocab list of slang-terms from my dictionary. It’s just absent minded enough I can do it without too much trouble. I’ve actually made great progress actually, finishing the B’s and soon the C’s! I’m new about 1/4 the way through the dictionary! Very excite.

So yeah, I’m still under the weather. Most of the stronger pain is going thanks to a course of antibiotics, bit I’ve still only got about 20% hearing in that ear, near-constant ringing, regular discomfort and with occasional stabbing pain, and just generally feeling off thanks to having a problem ear. I guess the good news is that two doctors have said their pretty confident I don’t have COVID, so joy? It’s not fun guys — 0/10, would not recommend.

Beyond all that, I also moved at the beginning of this month, and how is that not the biggest news I have?? Dang health. I actually just moved (quite literally) around the corner from my other place, so with the help of my old housemate the move was quick and easy. The house is lovely, my new human housemate is great, and my new feline housemates are good company, if crafty and mischievous. Only downside is that I am allergic to cats xD Not extremely, but i get all-day sniffles if I don’t take antihistamine daily. Totally worth it.

August is a bit of hurry-up-and-wait. I start my Masters programme next months, and nearly everything is sorted by this point. I was lucky enough to be in a small programme so I got into all my first choice courses (enrolment was at 6am on the the day I moved, such fun!). This week I’ve been giving my credit card a work-out getting supplies so I’m ready for courses, including notebooks and other stationery products. I’m pretty picky about notebooks, so it took a month to finally settle on which ones I wanted to get. I might be mad.

I guess the last life note to make is the fun mid-point I’m occupying between intentional deluded calm and constant panic over my finances. I’ve been luck enough to live in a country that is providing financial support for those effected by COVID, so I have been receiving financial aid from the Canadian government since March. However, it’s going to be coming to an end soon, and with me starting a Masters degree in Sept, and my job still not really existing because of the pandemic (I work in tourism), it’s unclear what I’m doing for money come October. I have a line-of-credit set up to cover rent/food should it come down to it, if I cannot get any government assistance and my job continues to be unable to get my work. But that will just add to future Me’s debt coming out of my Masters, and a course I’m trying to avoid. I wasn’t able to get any scholarships this year, which was a huge let-down, as I had the academic clout that should have made me a shoe-in. While it is weighing on me, there is only so much I can do about it, so I’m keeping positive and know I have the worst-case safety-net of credit if it comes to it. In the meantime, I’m working on framing some vintage prints and comic book covers to offer on Etsy — something I’ve been wanting to do for a while but kept putting off. They’ll be items at a higher sell price and hopefully will bring in a little more income from the store. I’m also looking for suggestions on what other things people would like to get out of the Patreon, things that might make it more appealing for new and existing Patrons. I have recently added a Patrons-Only perk of a Masterlist of and access to my full research notes for existing and un-finished blog topics.

Ugh, this personal section won’t be this long in future, It’s just been a very eventful month so far. Love you guys, D.

[ Support SRNY through Patreon and Ko-Fi ] And join us on Discord for fun conversation! I also have an Etsy with upcycled nerdy crafts

[azs-changelog]

August Newsletter

To get the ball rolling...

Though we're just starting, there's been a lot happening with regards to the creative construct that is antonymZoo Studios. Having started the planning process in May 2020, antonymZoo aspires to provide a wide variety of products and services to an eclectic community of gaming, art, and roleplay enthusiasts. Earlier this month, antonymZoo suddenly went from a "planned sole-proprietorship" to a "planned LLC."  Gaining five unique team members, antonymZoo Now has a total of creators: ACN, AmbiLati, Lebi, Dapper, Kaien, and Faelen.  All of whom first met each other on the Crystal Data Center of Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV). All of us here hope you like what we create and stick around to see how antonymZoo continues to develop.

So began a nostalgicEscapade...

Starting anything online can be a long and arduous journey. With such a broad medium as the internet, we have to ask: How do you get your content noticed by the right people? And how can you stand out from others who are doing the same or similar things? For antonymZoo, it means supporting each other's interests and ideas within the team and fostering a welcoming environment for our prospective community members. We won't be putting our eggs in one basket, so to speak. To account for this, we're arranging our business structure to fit our products and services into themed groups.

The nostalgicEscapade project consists of two different Twitch streams and a group roleplay that will be turned into a Webtoon comic called, Beneath a Withered Moon. We'll post detailed updates and information on the nostalgicEscapade project and any new additions to it through the changeLog Archive on Tumblr.

Upcoming nostalgicEscapades

08/07 - There's noScape! In our next post, we'll give you detailed information on the various nostalgicEscapade projects we're planning and the current stage of each.

08/09 - August Screenshot Dump The antonymZoo creators love playing FFXIV, and here on noScape, we've got a little screenshot army to share from our time in-game.

08/11 - aZoo of Introductions Get to know the creators of antonymZoo Studios and learn more about them through the About page on our website.

08/13 - Gettin' Twitch-y Learn more about what we stream and why. We're starting with introducing our hosts and the two major portrayed by our streams.

08/15 - August Free Write We're gonna take something random. We're gonna make it a prompt. And then we're gonna post it! We cannot guarantee that fictional characters will not be harmed in the making of this post.

08/17 - Getting Organized with ClickUp So, I forced the team to use an app called ClickUp for all our scheduling and project management. Here's why.

08/19 - nostalgicEscapade: Beneath a Withered Moon Let's make a webcomic! Find out what we're planning, how you can get involved in the roleplay behind it, and what to expect from the first few episodes as we introduce our characters and cast.

08/21 - Code w/ Us: Basic HTML Page Structure ACN will create an accessible copy of the base HTML page structure that she uses.  The post will include a version of the base file that can easily be edited and duplicated for easy page creation. For beginners, the blog post will explain all the parts that make up the overall basic structure with a list of free, online resources she references regularly.

08/23 - August Art Feature The antonymZoo art team is starting strong, and this time, they come bearing selfies. Get ready to see what we've decided represents us.

08/25 - Building a Website and Putting it Online We'll finally make our website! By the time this post goes up, hopefully, it won't still look like this:

08/27 - Draw w/ Us: Anatomy In this post, we're going to go over the basic structure behind the anatomy of the body.  Starting with the basics and then stretching and distorting specific characteristics to turn that into a well-defined, original character.

08/29 - Learning Online: Go to platforms Over the length of 2020, ACN has been learning on multiple online platforms such as StackSkills, Udemy, and so on. Check out the full list of what she's been using and her experiences with each.

08/31 - August Highlights Let's take a look back on what happened in August and see how far antonymZoo has gotten over the last 31 days. Have we made much progress? Are we in debt yet? Find out on the 31st!

Thanks for reading!

We, the antonymZoo team, really appreciate our readers and community. If you want to keep up with all the things we're doing here, check out antonymZoo Studios or one of our creators by liking/following/subscribing to us on:

Patreon | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | AmbiLati@Twitch | ACN@Twitch

[tarotdeckshuffle]

So this is weird and silly but I wanted to request the bros somehow getting like a body switching spell cast on them and they end up switching bodies with their f!s/o?? How does that go down?? (I low key feel like Noct wouldn’t be able to not touch his boobs all the time)

Here wego! Taro is posting again!

Taglist: @idiotflowerex, @laststory1013, @sayaoqueen, @jophinabean, @mysme-already, 

If youlike what you read, please consider supporting me on Patreon or buying me a Ko-fi!

Noctis

Why iseverything you’re wearing so uncomfortable?

Immediatelyfeels his (your?) boobs.

“Wow…they’re…heavy.” 

Can’tstop touching his boobs.

But…not what he expected. 

Wantsto take off his bra because it’s uncomfortable.

You tryto stop him at first, but the whole scene is quite comical so you let it playout.

Youthought he was bad at getting your bra off? Try watching him get his own offfor the first time. 

Finallymanages.

Now istotally embarrassed.

“Theseshirts show everything”

All youcan do is nod in a knowing way. 

Hetries to cover himself with a coat. 

Laterin the day is complaining of back pains. 

“I hatebras…but I need them.” 

Mood.

Finallyyou switch back and he couldn’t be happier. 

“Inever have to wear a bra again!” 

Prompto

“Firstoff, can I touch my boobs? Your boobs? On me? But…”

He hasto know, like RIGHT away. 

“Go forit.” 

Hedoes, but he looks dismayed. 

“They’redifferent sizes…”

Noshit, sherlock. 

“Ithought…but…” 

It’slike a kid who just found out Santa isn’t real. 

You endup just walking around most of the day. 

Promptoends up getting catcalled. 

Istotally freaked out by it. 

“Whyare they doing that? Is it because something’s wrong with me and they thinkit’s funny? Are they serial killers? Are they going to do something? Should werun?” 

He literallyvoices everything that runs through your head each time it happens. 

“They’reharmless…hopefully.” 

Promptosqueaks and walks faster.

Whenyou finally switch back, he practically falls over in relief. 

“How doyou do it? The…the catcalling and the uncomfortable clothes and the makeupand the…WOW! YOU ARE JUST INCREDIBLE! No, better, you’re majestic! A queen!It takes talent to be a woman and bravery and you are just so much more thanthe world gives you credit for…”

And hekeeps rambling your praises for hours to come. 

Ignis

Firstinspects his new body, running his hands down his hips. 

“Notfully what I expected…” 

Andwhat the hell did you expect?

He gives you a mischievous smile. 

“Thatrequires further testing…”

Totallya Tiresias sort of thing.

Wantsto test this body as soon as possible. 

Otherwise,extremely poised with his new body.

Also,amazing at walking in heels. 

Gladio

Strangelypoised in the situation. 

“Huh,always wondered what it’d be like…” 

He’slooking up at you in his body, now. 

“I feelso…small.” 

Welcometo everyone else’s life. 

Triesto pick fights all day. 

Manypeople back down from an angry woman,

Butothers just laugh. 

Whichpisses him off even more. 

Helearns to fight in heels and ends up loving them. 

“They’reso versatile. You can kick with them, throw them, stab someone with them…youcan do just about everything but walk in them.” 

Forhim, touching his boobs is a bonus, but not essential. 

Whenyou switch back, the first thing he does is pick you up and cradle you. 

“It’sgood to be tall again…”

Ravus

“Theseare the clothes you choose to wear?”

Immediatelystarts judging you. 

Sure,they’re nice clothes, why?

“Theyare uncomfortable, worn out, and do nothing for your figure.” 

Andyou’re off shopping instead of investigating. 

If he’sgoing to be in your body, he’s going to look good. 

He getsyou designer clothes for every layer. 

Testingthem himself of course. 

Likelyhas more fun doing makeup than you thought he would. 

He getsto spoil you and himself in one go! It’s perfect!

“Idon’t’ like that, take it off…”

“No! Itaccentuates your curves and I find it quite attractive…”

By thetime you switch back, you’re disgusted and amazed. 

Sure,the new clothes fit and feel amazing,

But…someof them are so not your taste. 

Nyx

Can’t…stop…touching. 

Wantsto try EVERYTHING with your body!

“Erg…whydoes my stomach hurt so bad! What did you eat?” 

It’snot food, darling…it’s cramps. 

“It’swhat?! You mean it’s…THAT time of the month?!”

Hethinks the world is falling apart. 

Yes,dear, it is. But you’ll be fine. Just tough it out. 

Buthe’s a big baby about it. 

Superawkward with tampons and pads. 

“Everythinghurts and I’m bleeding. That statement should mean that I just came from abattle but NO! It’s a monthly thing for you?!” 

All youcan do is shrug and laugh at him through the day. 

Whenyou switch back he couldn’t be happier.

“I’mnever screwing with women again, you’re damn near made of pain. Men’s bodieshurt when they get hurt, yours hurt regularly just for fun.” 

Ardyn

“Ohh!This again!” 

Wait…again?!

Strutsin heels, looking absolutely fantastic. 

Makesyour body look better than you do!

“Whatdo you say you let me find out what YOU like best?” 

He sayswith a wink, pulling you close. 

Takesyou forever to figure out how to switch back because he has to get bored withyour body first. 

Afteryou do, your relationship takes on a whole new level of pleasure. 

[clevercatchphrase]

2019 year in review

So… The 2010’s are almost over. Huh. What a decade it’s been. Hard to comprehend how much has changed in 10 years. I can barely believe that I was in high school at the beginning of this decade, and now I’m a college graduate with 2 degrees who’s been working at the same job for the last 3 years. But trying to summarize the past 10 years in a single post is a good way to give myself an existential crisis, so let’s not do that! Instead, let’s just focus on 2019 because there has been more than enough shit that’s happened to me in this year to talk about.

PART 1 OF 2: 2019 AND 2020 GOALS AND RESOLUTIONS

Huh, looking back through my archives, I apparently didn’t make a tumblr post about my goals this year. I definitely had some, though. Lemme list ‘em off real quick, and then we’ll go through them point by point.

1)      Pay off all my student loans 2)      Finish some song comics 3)      Make art for my Redbubble account 4)      Finish the first rough draft/script of a game I wanted to make 5)      Practice ASL 6)      Sew some stuffed animals 7)      Finish some fan fictions 8)      Work on Ghost Switch 9)      AMVs 10)   Do some original writing 11)   Make illustrations for my fan fictions

Okay, first off, the student loans. I was actually SO CLOSE to successfully completing this one bUT THEN MY CAR HAD TO BE A WHINEY PISS BABY AND HAVE ITS ALTERNATOR DIE ON ME WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND THEN A BLOW OUT THREE WEEKS LATER.

GOD, if I had to summarize this year in two words, for me it would be “Car troubles”. I swear I spent more on auto repair in the first third of this year than I ever have just freakin’ OWNING a car. All four of my tires had to be replaced, my alternator failed and my car literally just SHUT OFF while I was driving, and I was barely able to coast into a gas station. Both my front breaks and rear breaks were worn down the metal and I only learned this when my car was barely able to stop after I had to slam the petal down full force!  I went in for an oil change, and they found some problems and then I didn’t get my car back for three days! I don’t even like owning a car! I hate driving! I hate my country’s refusal to provide universal, free public transportation! I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!

Oh-kay… number 2. Finish some song comics. I didn’t finish any. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t work on them. I have made tiny progress, but that’s certainly better than no progress. One of these song comics I hope to be realizes is going to be a collab with one of my friends. It’ll be a long-time coming as it’s pretty low priority for the both of us, but if anyone else out there was disappointed with KH3’s ending, we’re gonna have ya’ covered… With SONG!

3. Make some redbubble art. I actually did this one! Not in the way I expected, but I added (technically) 3 new designs to my redbubble in the middle of the year. If you like butterflies and dragons, I got some product for you~!

Number 4, finish a script for a game I want to make. I… thought about this. I thought about this a lot, but I never put pen to paper, so… oops. It almost happened! I debated making this my main writing project for NaNoWriMo this year, but ended up having more inspiration for another story. Maybe next year? (god, I hope not. I don’t want to wait a full year just to write something)

Number 5, practice ASL. I just straight up didn’t do this and I only have myself to blame. Still keepin’ up that Danish Duolingo streak, though. 4 years going strong and not a day missed yet.

Number 6, sew some stuffed animals. Again, another one I just straight up didn’t do, but I have an excuse of trying to save money while my car crashed and burned in every other sense except literal this year. Hopefully 2020 will be different. I’ll definitely be able to pay off this last loan within the first half of 2020, and then I can start saving for whatever I want to buy.

Finish some fan fictions was number 7, and I did this! Well, I only finished, 1, but it was a story I’ve been working on for over 3 years, and it came out to over 200 THOUSAND words long, which is the longest thing I’ve ever written, and I’m quite proud of myself. Now that the big story is out of the way, and I’ve gotten into a good rhythm of working on Ghost Switch, maybe I can squeeze in some short writing sessions more frequently. (either that, or just wait for my car to break down again and then go on a writing spree in a pepboys. The lord and the fan fic discord know that’s solely why I finished my other fic this year)

Speaking of Ghost Switch, working on it was a goal this year too, and I did that! I kept it up all year and took a vacation in November and it was wonderful. While the major plot points have been in place since before I started drawing, I still need to script each arc beyond Snowdin, but hey, by the time we get there, it’ll be 2022 so I got time. (Note, don’t do this, kids. Script your stories and comics thoroughly before publishing. The road I’m on is paved with misery and pain and it will only end in tears unless I change lanes soon)

Number 9, amvs. Do people make AMVs anymore? Idk… the last one I made was... Jesus, 5 years ago? (it was a gravity falls/fall out boy crossover, if you were curious) I’ve been wanting to do 2 more for just as long, but in order for me to do that, I’d have to spend time re-watching the shows to find the footage, and then actually edit them together, and I just don’t…. feel like it. Maybe someday, but not any day soon.

10; do some original writing. I did this! For nanowrimo! I wrote the first draft of some original fiction I’ve been planning for a year or two now and it completely sucks! But it’s on paper now and I’m happy. Will I revise and edit it? Sure, but not for a while. I want to let it sit and forget about it and look at it with new eyes months from now so I can be sure I can make it better when time comes to rewrite.

11, make illustrations for my fan fics. Now that You Monster is done, I want to go back and add pictures to it. I didn’t do any this year, but I did keep a list of scenes I wanted to draw, so I have plenty of ideas to do as warm up sketches next year~ I kinda want to stream them~

So, that was 11 goals, and I successfully fulfilled 4 of them! That’s! Not a very good ratio… QmQ So, goals for 2020. Some I’m gonna keep from this year, some I’m gonna drop and some I’m gonna add. In short I would like to,

1)      Finish paying off that last student loan 2)      Put more stuff on my redbubble 3)      Illustrate my own fan fics 4)      Sew at least one stuffed animal 5)      Make an enamel pin 6)      Read one new book a month 7)      Write one page a day/Complete at least one new fan fic 8)      Learn Python or C# for the game I want to make 9)      Finish fully scripting Ghost Switch 10)   Boost my patreon

Most of these I think are pretty self-explanitory, but I’ll go into detail just a bit because I’m on a roll and typing my thoughts helps me feel less alone in the middle of the night when you’re super tired and you know you should probably go to sleep, but the toddler in you is throwing a tantrum and doesn’t wanna go to sleep just yet, but you can’t fight the progression of time either way.

Number 1- I should be able to reach this goal by the end of March. End of June at the absolute latest. Once that goal is met, my secret new year’s resolution will be unlocked as well!

Number 2- I want to put more art of my OCs on redbubble. These OCs are tied to the game I want to make. There’s already some art of them up there, but I want at least one piece for each character.

Number 3- Mostly for You Monster. Embrace the cardinal rule of fan fic and apply it to fan art. If you want to read about see art about certain ideas, scenarios, or what-ifs, you gotta make it yourself.

Number 4- I have 3 potential ideas to sew. One is definitely leagues easier than the other two and will probably be chosen if/when I have the time and materials.

Number 5- This year I got really, REALLY into the idea of making enamel pins. Unfortunately it’s a pretty big investment (like, $350 to make 100 pins you  might not even sell). If this happens, it’ll probably be towards the end of the year, and if I get enough interest. I’m currently torn between making an original enamel pin and one based off Undertale. We’ll just have to see where this goes.

Number 6- Back in 2018 when I paid off one of my many student loans, I rewarded myself by spending over 200 dollars in used books. All these books had a theme; they were focused on dragons because I have a problem. I have not yet read a single one of these books I have bought, and I would like to fix that. I have, like, 20 unread dragon books, and even if I only read 12 out of 20, I would consider that an amazing accomplishment and money well spent.

Number 7- I currently have about 8 different WIPs I could work on. (well, I don’t know if I can even call them wips. More like, a general idea and a title written down.) I want to build good writing habits, and if I can write just 200 words a day, hell, even 200 words a week and just one of my 8 stories done, I would consider this goal met.

Number 8- I’m torn between making my game in unity or ren’py. I know jack shit about both. Ren’py is more user friendly, but unity will allow me more customization. (Lol, can you guess what kind of game I want to make yet?)

Number  9- I really just want the full story to be done and written incase anything goes horribly terribly wrong in my life and I find myself unable to continue making ghost switch in comic form. Then at least I can finish the story by other means, you know?

Number 10- It always surprises me every month when I get that patreon email saying I got paid. Sure, I don’t even make double digits on it, but it still awes me enough to know that people out there like my work enough to throw me a tip. I can’t thank my patrons enough for supporting me and I hope to one day be in such a good place I can update my comic/song comics/writing frequently enough without need for goals or milestones. But until that magical day arrives, money is always a great incentive for anything, I suppose. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 ALRIGHT. PART 2 OF 2: SHIT THAT HAPPENED TO ME IN 2019

Cheesus crust what a year. This year started off great! Back in late January Kingdom Hearts 3 FINALLY released, and let me tell you a little story. Back in the summer of 2006 I was a 13 year old middle schooler with no way of making money other than by doing house hold chores at a rate of 25 cents a task. A few weeks ago, I had a sleep over at a friend’s house and they let me play this weird game called “Kingdom Hearts” and god, I was instantly hooked on it. That summer, I did over 800 chores, enough to earn myself 200$ and buy myself a playstation 2 (just in time for the ps3 to come out, gg me) The only games I had for the ps2 were KH1, 2, Re:CoM and Okami, and I beat them all… except Okami. Miffed that the PS3 wouldn’t allow for backwards compatibility, little 13-year-old me made a promise. I looked myself in the mirror and said “I will not buy the next playstation console until KH3 comes out, AND BOY that was probably a good choice for me to make with my level of gaming. I’m even less of a casual gamer than the average casual gamer, but I have been waiting 13 years for this piece of closure, and I even told my friends and family that “the day Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out is the day I will buy a playstation 4”. My dad apparently thought this was the funniest shit, because he literally took the day off from work that Friday to drive me on base to get the game and console (he thought it would be less crowded than a regular walmart, I suppose). I paid $400 on a ps4 pro while he bought me the game. Again, I have an impecible sense of timing seeing as the PS5 is now right on the horrizion, but just like before, I’m not buying a new console until the next KH game is released. See you in 2045, sony~. While I was at the gamestop on base, I also picked up Okami HD and The Last Guardian. For all of February and even early March, I took my time playing through KH3. And…! It was the best disappointment I’ve ever played. After a month away from gaming, I started The Last Guardian and finished it in a couple weeks. I love trico and would die for him, but trying to get 100% completion on that game is udder insanity. Okami, HD, however… again after a month break after finishing TLG, I started replaying Okami. I think I had only managed to get about halfway through the game before I just… stopped playing it on my ps2 version. I am currently SO CLOSE to getting a 100% on the ps4 version. In fact, I’ve beaten the game. I only (techinically) need 2 more trophies to be done; 1st, escape the water dragon without being eaten, 2nd, I need to beat that dumb stupid race with Kai, in order to get the last bead on my rosary, as well as the top dog trophy. I hate her so much. I hate this race so much. It’s awful and bad.

Flash forward to December! Earlier this month I was at Barnes and Noble, buying myself a planner for 2020. I exit the store and notice that there’s a gamestop across the street. For shits and giggles I go inside to look at their game selection, and I find KH 1.5 and 2.5. Now, my PS2 died a few years back (it just won’t read my discs anymore, I don’t know why) and I haven’t been able to replay any of my other kingdom hearts games since. If you had seen me the day I finished kingdom hearts 3, after the ending credits rolled, you would have heard me say “Man…. I wish I could play kingdom hearts 2 again”. AND NOW I CAN, ALONG WITH BBS which I had never even played yet, but knew the story of. I’ve restarted playing kh1, and I was so happy to hear that familiar music when I booted the game up for the first time. While at the game stop, I also picked up Rime and Tearaway, two games that had looked interesting to me. At the time of writing, I’ve finished Rime and am 25% done with tearaway. Rime was…. An interesting experience. I learned about it through Jacksepticeye’s channel a couple years back and thought the art style was enticing. For a super casual gamer like me, I found the puzzles just the right level of challenging and exploring was a blast! The music gave me VERY strong Princes Mononoke vibes, but the overall story left something to be desired. Overall I had fun, and enjoyed completing this game to 100%. Now for tearaway. Can I just say this game is super fucking adorable? I know the original was on the ps vita and the gameplay there was arguably more diverse and imaginative, but this game is just so fucking cute I don’t care?? ALSO, this game’s sound track is ABSOLUTELY incredible and I’ve only heard the first fourth of it! Listen to The Orchards, Pig Riding, and Gibbet Hill Pilgrimage for a taste of their wonderful beats and fantastic use of string and woodwinds! God, I’m so excited to get some more games in 2020. I’m proud to say I currently own more ps4 games than I ever did with my ps2 (and now the majority AREN’T Kingdom Hearts titles!), and I’m still hoping to play Journey, The Witness, and Abzu before everything becomes ps5.

What else happened to me this year. Oh, I went to a doctor for, like, the first time in seven years. I also had my blood drawn for the first time ever, and the nurse said the most disturbing thing to me while she did it. Now, whenever I get shots, I refuse to look. I did that here. So she thought it would be appropriate to say to me “Can you feel your blood leaving your body?” Lady… You can clearly see I am uncomfortable with what is happening here. Why, of all the things you could say, did you choose to say that. Unfortunately, while my doctor is nice, she keeps wanting to run tests on me, that I just cannot afford with my current salary, and my monthly insurance is about to go up to 200$ a month, so I’ve cancelled my next appointment with them, and don’t plan to go back until it’s absolutely necessary. Capitalism is fun, guys. Preventative healthcare is for wusses.

I started going to a chiropractor on a monthly basis. Story time- I don’t know when it started, but sometime late last November I began to notice that I had a headache that just... wasn’t... going away? And each day it was starting to get a little worse. It made it hard for me to find a comfortable position to sleep, it made it hard for me to be in bright areas or move fast. So I said to myself “Okay, if this headache persist through the month of december, then something is proooobably wrong and I should go see someone about it. And hoo-boy were thing wrong with me. By the time this January rolled around, I couldn’t even stay on my feet for more than a few hours without it physically hurting to just BREATHE. So I started going to this chain called The Joint (A+ name, I know). THey aksed me “How are you doing?” I said “I’m in pain” and they said “We can help fix that!”. I’ve only been to a chiropractor once before in my life a few years back after my freshmen year of college because I began to notice my hips weren’t able to support me? LIke, I would lie on my back, and I couldn’t push my hips up when my feet were flat on the floor. I also couldn’t climb anything steep, because my legs just couldn’t push me up if my knee had to bend more than 90 degrees when I lifted my leg up. (Turned out both my hips were apparently out of place). This time only one of my hips were out of place (which they fixed. they said one of my legs was an inch “longer” than the other because I had been leaning all my weight on one leg when I stand). But two of my ribs were apparently “Stuck” which was why it was hurting for me to just breathe, and one of my shoulders was missaligned too, causing one of my trap muscles to constantly be streched, which was pulling on my skull, and causing the headache. Anyway, after they popped all my bones back into place, I still felt terrible, but by god, that night was the first time in weeks I was able to sleep without a migrane. A chiropractor can’t magically heal your arthritis, or fibro, but I definately think they have merit to keeping your posture good and helping your body with things like circulation. 10 outa 10, would recomend. It’s all the fun of getting your neck snapped without the dying!

Earlier this month I got together with two of my friends and we baked Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun, as well as a great learning experience. A member of my family has a gluten allergy, so we used rice flour for most of the cookies. We learned this is a bad idea! The cookies will just fall apart! A few member’s in one of the friend’s family have nut allergies. Other friend and I knew this and were careful to avoid cookie recipes with nuts, bUT THEN COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT ALMOND MILK AND ALMOND EXTRACT COUNT AS NUT. IN FACT, ALMOND EXTRACT IS PURE CONCENTRATED NUT JUICE AND WE FELT SO BAD FOR ALMOST ACCIDENTALLY POISONING THE FAMILY.

Earlier this year me and these same friends took a field trip to Hobby Lobby and just dicked around the store for a couple of hours. It was super fun, 11 outa 10, would recommend, a great date idea for your artsy S.O.

Back in May I went to a wedding for the first time in my life. (well, not true, but the first one I could remember) we left at 5am, drove 5 hours to get there, hung out at a zoo and spent the night in a la quinta before the wedding day. I slept on the bathroom floor because my mom was snoring too loud in the main room and keeping me awake, and the rest of the day was just spent me trying to keep myself together because I was pissed off and tired.

Other than all of that, nothing really major happened to me this year. I guess one more thing I’ve tried to do this year is started the process of breaking certain internet addictions so I can use my free time for more personal projects. Seriously, I found myself watching way too much youtube and following blogs that didn’t even make me happy. I had a personal intervention with myself where I sat down and asked myself, “why do you watch these videos and youtubers? Why do you follow these blogs? Do you really enjoy their content? Do you really care? If you stopped watching/following them, would you even notice?” After critically thinking it over, I’ve found myself unfollowing several channels and blogs and suddenly I feel so much happier. I thought I would miss it, but I realized I didn’t really care if I saw their content or not. I wasn’t missing much. And now I feel like I have more time to draw, read and write. If you think you spend too much time consuming and not enough time creating, I suggest you try and de-clutter your internet habits as well. It’s done wonders to un-fuck my headspace.

And… well, that about sums up my year. How are your holidays going? Anything fun, exciting, dramatic happen to you this year? I hope your new year is warm and safe! Good night, everybody!

[goodticklebrain]

Q&A August: Me, Myself, and I

Hey everyone! I’m back from my break! Well… sort of. Various personal crises and professional obligations have reared their heads, and I need to take some time to work them all out. Fortunately, I have lots of amazingly generous Shakespeare friends who have agreed to help me out by answering some (hopefully) fun questions about Shakespeare and themselves.

Now, I try never to ask anyone to do something I would not do, so I’m going first.

1.  Who are you? Why Shakespeare

I'm Mya Gosling, the artist and author of Good Tickle Brain, the world's foremost and possibly only stick figure Shakespeare webcomic. (But, since you're reading this, you probably already knew that...) My love of Shakespeare started when I was around 10 years old and my father showed me the Laurence Olivier film of Henry V. Since then I've been fortunate enough to see almost all of Shakespeare's plays performed live. For the past six years I've been sharing my love of Shakespeare with people through the incongruous medium of stick figure comics. My attitude towards Shakespeare can be summarized in two main points: a) he's a lot of fun, and b) don't take him too seriously.

2.  What moment(s) in Shakespeare always make you laugh?

In the middle of the chaotic final scene of Cymbeline, in which about a dozen improbable dangling plot threads are being improbably resolved by a series of improbable revelations, the Doctor pipes up with the line "O gods! I left out one thing..." It's a line that, while not funny in and of itself, is absolutely hysterical in context and never fails to make me laugh.

3. What's a favorite Shakespearean performance anecdote?

I saw a local university production of Much Ado About Nothing where the actor playing Claudio had come down with a nasty stomach bug. There were no understudies, so the actor playing the Sexton was drafted to step in. He wandered around the stage, clutching the script binder like a life raft and exuding a genuine insecurity that made his hapless Claudio much more sympathetic than usual. I spent the entire first two acts waiting eagerly for Beatrice to say "Speak, Count, 'tis your cue." It was an appropriately cathartic meta-theatrical moment.

4. What's one of the more unusual Shakespearean interpretations you've either seen or would like to see?

I was lucky enough to see the RSC's current production of The Taming of the Shrew, which is set in an Elizabethan matriarchy with an almost entirely gender-flipped cast (Petruchio is played as a woman by a woman, Kate is played as a man by a man, etc.). It was very well done, and surprisingly thought provoking on a number of levels that I did not expect. Even the way the costumes were used, with the women's large dresses not being seen as encumbrances but rather a means for them to physically take up more space (i.e. woman-spreading), was fascinating. I’d like to see more productions play around with the gender of characters and see what effect it has.

5. What's one of your favorite Shakespearean "hidden gems"?

He’s not hidden, and he’s definitely not a gem, but I’ve had a character crush on Hotspur ever since I first saw Henry IV part 1  back in 2001. Objectively, he’s a totally thoughtless and impulsive jerk, but he’s so charismatic and compelling and entertaining that he just completely carries me away. I’m mature enough now to realize he’d be absolutely terrible for me, but I’m still carrying a tiny torch for that gunpowder Percy.

6. What passages from Shakespeare have stayed with you?

This is awfully cliched, but one of the first bits of Shakespeare that I committed to memory was the opening chorus from Henry V: "O for a muse of fire, etc. etc." How can you not fall in love with a paean to the imagination? The ability to conjure something out of nothing has always excited and inspired me, and this speech so perfectly encapsulates the imaginative and collaborative magic not only of theatre, but of any creative profession. (The Salic Law speech, which I memorized when I first started this comic back in 2016, has also stayed with me, mostly because it's a great party piece, if also an unfortunately effective way to get people to punch you in the face.)

7. What Shakespeare plays have changed for you?

From first impression to most recent impression, the play that has changed the most for me over the years is The Winter's Tale. I really didn't like it the first time I saw it: Leontes was obviously an irredeemably horrible character, so I didn't see why I should care about him getting an undeserved happy ending, plus the Bohemia bits were interminable and pointless. However, each successive time I've seen it, a little bit more of its magic has been unlocked for me. I still think the Bohemia bits are interminable and pointless, and that Autolycus is an immensely overrated and tiresome character, but the hope and forgiveness permeating the latter half of the play is starting to melt my stony heart. I still don't love it, and I may never love it, but I appreciate it more and more every time I encounter it.

8. What Shakespearean character or characters do you identify the most with?

Recently I've identified very strongly with Peter Quince. All he wants to do is entertain people, but nothing quite works out the way he's planned, and it looks like everything is going to be a disaster, and he's very worried and stressed out all the time, but in the end he (inadvertently) produces a work of comic genius. I relate very strongly to all of that. I have aspirations to be a Beatrice, but honestly compels me to admit that I am not.

9. Where can we find out more about you? Are there any projects/events you would like us to check out?

If you’re reading this, you already know all about me! But if you’re interested in supporting my work, head over to Patreon. Also, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, if you happen to be on any of those platforms.

COMING THURSDAY: You’ve almost certainly seen him in (very fast) action, making a professional fool of himself. It’s my Comedy Fairy Godfather!

[marshmallowgoop]

Studio Trigger Live Drawing with Mago (03/13/19): Transcript (Non-Verbatim)

Studio Trigger streamed their fourth Twitch live drawing at 19:00 JST on March 13, 2019. The stream features Space Patrol Luluco character designer Mago drawing Trigger-chan from Trigger Girls and Luluco from Space Patrol Luluco, as well as a Q and A with producer Hiromi Wakabayashi and translator Tatsuru Tatemoto. A full video of the stream is available on Twitch here.

I’ve put together a transcript of the stream for anyone curious about the Q and A. While the transcript is not verbatim, all the meaning should still be captured.

Transcript

Tatsuru Tatemono (Tattun): Okay. Thank you for joining us on our fourth live-drawing session. We have Mago as our guest tonight. I’m aware that it’s very late for a lot of our followers. Thank you for stopping by. It’s 3:00 am in Seattle. Thank you very much for stopping by.

Again, Mago is our guest animator or guest illustrator today. As usual, Hiromi Wakabayashi is here as our MC. I, Tattun, will be doing the translation and moderation for the stream tonight. Tonight, we are having Mago draw Studio Trigger’s mascot character, Trigger-chan. I believe we had a special request from Mago that she wanted to draw Luluco as well. So, I think, uh, we would like…

Mago says that it’s a pleasure to meet you. She says that her name is Mago the Illustrator, and she’ll do her best today. Hiromi Wakabayashi says konnichiwa, as usual.

I’m sorry if it looks dark. It’s our camera. We’re going to be focusing on the illustration part a little bit more, so hopefully, the darkness won’t be too bothersome. I guess Hiromi brought a pre-release item from Promare that he was quality checking.

I’m very sorry. We’ll have our audio pumped up a little bit more.

So, we noticed that there’s a little glare on Mago’s tablet. We’re going to try to get rid of the glare so that you have a better view of how she is working with her illustration. Today, Mago is working with SAI 1, the first version of SAI. I believe she’s using the Cintiq 16, the newest tablet by Wacom. Otherwise, she’s using a wireless keyboard and mouse. When we upload the video on YouTube, I’ll make sure to cover all the specifics in the comments section.

Okay. So, I think we will get started with the Q and A session like usual. However, before we do so, note that this stream is brought to you by all the lovely support we receive from Patreon. Thank you. If you’re interested in becoming a supporter as well, the link is provided on our Twitter page. Please check it out if you’re curious. We try to provide digital rewards as frequently as possible, so if you’re interested in those things, do definitely give our Patreon a glance when you have some time!

So, for the people who are unfamiliar, Mago usually works on a lot of Studio Trigger’s SD character designs. She’s been a part of every single project except for DARLING in the FRANXX, which doesn’t really count because DARLING in the FRANXX is a collaboration work and not a 100% genuine Trigger show. Mago wasn’t part of Inferno Cop, either. Inferno Cop is a prestigious Trigger title, Hiromi says, so she needs more experience with Studio Trigger. We’re receiving some comments that Mago’s not a part of Turning Girls as well.

Well, that was the introduction. Let’s get started with the Q and A session. Again, if you’re a part of our Patreon, you will have the opportunity to cast a vote on what kinds of questions will be asked and what kinds of illustrations will be drawn during these streams.

Hiromi and Mago are explaining that Mago’s drawing is an interesting line-up of characters. You don’t usually see these two characters together because they’re obviously the same character.

I have a question from Paul Schmidt: “Mago-san, I noticed you're only credited as the character designer and with ending illustrations on Space Patrol Luluco in Anime News Network's (ANN) encyclopedia, yet on your Twitter profile introduction, you list Kill la Kill, so I was wondering how you were involved with Kill la Kill? The reason I ask is because I personally submitted the staff and company credits to the ANN encyclopedia page for Kill la Kill, and your name (まご) is not credited in any episode, at least according to the corresponding page on the アニメスタッフデータベース [staff database].”

So, Mago says that she wrote Kill la Kill on her profile because she was responsible for one of the back illustrations for the Blu-ray/DVD jacket and was also in charge of the small SD characters for merchandise. That’s why she wrote about her involvement in Kill la Kill on her Twitter profile.

What is an SD character? I think SD stands for “Small Deformed” or “Super Deformed.” I’m not too sure. If that’s not the term used in English, I’m very sorry. Please tell me the term used in English. It’s Super Deformed?

So, Hiromi says that it’s called Super Deformed or SD in Japan because it started out originally from Gundam or Macross, which had a mini-mech series called “Super Deformed.” Hiromi suggests that you should stop calling the designs “chibi” and use the term “SD” because that’s the term that the proper anime industry uses! [Laughing.]

I guess Mago is going to take her time on the color and make a very Canvas illustration.

We have a question from Chen Luohan (I’m sorry if I mispronounce your name): “Hi Trigger! The production of anime fascinates me. What is the pipeline in the production of an anime series? What do you consider first when starting out with the ideas? Story? Character? Settings? Thank you very much!”

Wakabayashi says that they come up with a concept and foundation for what kind of series they want to make first. The concept might be something very, very broad, like family love or family bonding. Imaishi might be simpler; he might just want an anime with drills and that’s it. Once Trigger has that keyword—for example, Gurren Lagann would be “drill”—Trigger gets together to brainstorm how to make an interesting story from the one keyword, like “drill” in the case of Gurren Lagann.

Mago says she’s never put too much thought into her style formation. She generally likes drawing illustrations with very few shadows and lines. Before she knew it, she came up with her current style.

Hiromi noticed that Mago likes to clean up or refine her lines. She says that she cleans up where she feels like it! Mago says that she thought it might be more interesting for the viewers if she’s working on various parts of the illustration rather than concentrating on one part.

Mago and a few of our studio staffs went to Comic Fiesta, a decently large event in Malaysia. The event was a few months ago, I believe, during the Christmas season, but we were talking about how it’s actually summer during winter in Malaysia, so the event was very warm.

All three of us are saying that if we’re invited to a local event, we’ll most likely come out if it’s not conflicting with our schedule. This year, we want to try various places and go outside of the States more, to anywhere in Europe, Asia, etc.

We have an interesting question from EiGi696969: “Mago, do you have any interest in directing? Would you like to direct an anime one day?”

Mago says that she has no interest. She is a manga artist as well. She explains that when she draws a manga, she has to do everything; she has to come up with the story and concepts, which is like directing. It’s a lot of work. She doesn’t think she enjoys it too much.

For example, Mago says that it’s hard to motivate herself when she’s coming up with a story because she wants to... If she’s told to draw a manga, she tries to draw a character she’s currently interested in drawing. It’s hard for her to draw a pre-existing character that she’s told to draw.

A while ago, Mago was drawing a series of manga that featured Studio Trigger. The manga was about the daily nonsense of Studio Trigger. I think it was published through Utek Magazine [sp?]. Mago likes doing that kind of diary-type manga, she thinks.

We have a question from reportas1: “What are your favorite characters that you have drawn?”

Mago enjoys drawing Luluco the most. She also enjoys drawing Mako from Kill la Kill.

Wakabayashi says that they receive a lot of questions about DARLING in the FRANXX, asking if they are satisfied with the story and ending. 

Studio Trigger’s general stance, as a studio, is that they basically try to give an idea to the director. The director, Nishigori Atsushi, usually comes up with a concept or idea that he wants to do. The studio gives him feedback and sees if he likes the feedback. The director obviously makes the final call. It’s very hard to say if Studio Trigger “liked” the ending sequence of DARLING in the FRANXX or not, Wakabayashi says.

Sorry, there was a misunderstanding! We’re not talking about the ending sequence. Wakabayashi did the production for the ending sequence of DARLING in the FRANXX, so he’s super satisfied with that! If the question is about the how the story was wrapped up, Wakabayashi says that the ending is the director’s choice, and he doesn’t think that it’s right of Studio Trigger to comment on how the story wrapped up.

There’s a question from Patreon’s Bill Erak: “How involved is Trigger in the dubbing process of their shows? I've heard of directors that sometimes get involved in dubs, but that's more of an exception. I ask because KLK had an amazing dub, Luluco's was pretty dope too, while LWA's sucks. Are those things left to whoever distributes it on the west? Can't you, Tattun, maybe check the dubs, and if they suck, tell them so that they change them?”

So, I thought this was a pretty interesting question. To this day, I don’t think many Japanese studios or production committees give much thought into this matter. Studio Trigger obviously doesn’t check or even receive a notice for a revision of the dubbing process. Wakabayashi says that he thinks that, if they made a request to the dubbers and distributors overseas to check on the dubbing process and auditions, they might be able to comment. However, distributors don’t even ask if the studio is satisfied with their work, so Wakabayashi guesses that it’s just very unnatural—or there’s no previous incidence—for a studio or production committee to comment on the dubbing process.

If given the opportunity, Studio Trigger would like to direct their dubbing as well, though, Wakabayashi says. Wakabayashi says that he would like Inferno Cop to be dubbed by Leonardo DiCaprio! [Laughing.]

tigermac from Twitch asks: “Mago, how many sketchbooks have you filled up since the start of your art career?”

Mago says that she doesn’t have a sketchbook! I guess she doesn’t really practice. She likes to doodle on her PC, and if it turns out well, she’ll share it on her Twitter. If not, she’ll usually toss out the files.

Whatever illustration or doodle Mago feels satisfied with is updated on her Twitter, so please check out her Twitter. I’ll post her Twitter on the YouTube upload as well, so please check that out if you’re interested, but I’m sure it’s not too difficult to find Mago’s Twitter if you just Google “Mago.” We have a couple of viewers posting Mago’s Twitter now!

I guess Mago is having a little trouble drawing Trigger-chan. Mago doesn’t draw Trigger-chan too often. She’s going to redo the drawing from the rough draft portion, she says.

There’s a question from Patreon, from Harry Bonyari (very sorry if I mispronounce your name): “I know you’re a big fan of sneakers. How do you let your interest in fashion inform your work?”

Mago says that she’s not too keen on fashion, but she does like sneakers. When she feels like drawing particular sneakers, she’ll usually draw the character in some kind of cool clothes to go with the sneakers. However, she doesn’t know if she lets her choice of fashion affect her work too much.

There’s a question from Cesar A. Morillo: “Is Inferno Cop Season 2 coming either this year or next?”

There’s no ETA for Inferno Cop, says Wakabayashi. It’s ready when it’s ready. If Studio Trigger focused on Inferno Cop, they would have to delay Promare, and Wakabayashi is sure that you don’t want that! He’s sure that you’d prefer to watch Imaishi’s and Amemiya’s new actual series instead!

Wakabayashi says that the studio has a lot of ideas for Inferno Cop 2, though. In every creative meeting for other projects, they usually get derailed and talk about Inferno Cop. They are waiting for the opportunity to utilize their ideas. Maybe Mago’s SD designs will be featured in the new Inferno Cop season, Wakabayashi says! [Laughing.]

There’s a question from Ben Veltri: “For Mago: In terms of drawing ability, how do animators and illustrators differ? Do you think illustrators are better?”

Okay, so we got some pretty interesting answers! This was a question from Patreon, again.

So, I guess, the question was, in terms of drawing abilities, how do animators and illustrators differ, and which is better? Hiromi and Mago said that the two jobs are different and can’t be compared; different skills are involved. An animator has to draw a character or object from every angle and in motion. An illustrator is meant to express with one single illustration, which might be hard for an animator to do—to convey a message with a single illustration. It’s very hard to compare. Mago says that she feels like it’s harder for an animator to acquire their set of skills, though.

EiGi696969, your question is interesting. It doesn’t hurt to answer your question twice. The question is, “What is your stance on piracy? Does it cost the studio any money when people pirate their anime? Do you think it’s a necessary evil? Do you think it’s something that will go away or get worse in the future?”

I guess Hiromi is saying that nowadays, there are so many different streaming services that everyone can watch what people in Japan can watch. In the past, that wasn’t the case, though. A lot of anime weren’t made available for much of the anime community. Those people had to illegally download, view, or stream anime elsewhere. Also, those people supported the community. Hiromi does agree that piracy is a necessary evil (or used to be).

Hiromi is speaking about an ideal situation, but even if you did watch Studio Trigger’s works illegally, he says to please watch it on a legit streaming service as well because it leads to success for the general industry.

We got a question from faux_wizard from Reddit, I believe. By the way, thank you for your help a while back. The question is: “How did Mago end up working alongside Trigger?”

Okay, so this goes pretty back in the days. Wakabayashi was working on... There’s this idol unit called Emitsu Private Middle School [sp?]. Uh, I’m sorry. There’s this talent, named Ai Ai [sp?]. There was an offer to do an illustration on her; Wakabayashi had an offer to draw her, and Wakabayashi talked to Nishigori Atsushi, the director for DARLING in the FRANXX and character designer for Gurren Lagann, about how this person named Mago draws really cute girls.

So, Wakabayashi and Nishigori thought that Mago’s illustration style was cute, so they asked Mago to do a comic spin-off about Ai Ai. Mago agreed. Two months later, the studio started working on Kill la Kill and asked Mago if she was interested in creating the official SD designs for Kill la Kill. Ever since then, Mago has been working on various Studio Trigger titles.

It’s been maybe roughly seven years, Hiromi says, that they’ve been working with Mago. They’ve been working with Mago since before they were making anime series. It’s been a long time! Mago is the studio’s go-to person when they need a cute design, Wakabayashi says.

Wakabayashi says that when they were coming up with Space Patrol Luluco, which was their fifth-year anniversary anime title, they approached Mago. It was kind of a joke series at the same time as well.

There’s a question from cataphractz: “Do any of you have a particular anime character you like outside of Trigger?”

Mago’s favorite character outside of Trigger works is this pirate character from Nintama Rantarou. Have you ever heard of Nintama Rantarou? The series is about these little ninjas in training. The anime is very, very… it airs every day on NHK. It’s a longtime-running series in Japan. Mago’s favorite character’s name is Atoi, the pirate. He only appears about once a year in the series. Mago made a lot of doujin.

I guess Hiromi is going to Google some fan illustrations that Mago posted.

So, we were discussing that it’s hard to come up with a character that we like. We have so many characters that we like! We thought it might be easier to think of a character we that we like from a series we recently watched. Hiromi didn’t know! He couldn’t think of any off the top of his head, so he told me to go first!

The studio boss, Masahiko Ohtsuka, bought Porco Rosso on Blu-ray recently, and I watched it. That film has always been one of my more favorite Ghibli films. It’s like waifu wars! You guys get new waifus every month. I don’t get new waifus that frequently; it’s hard to choose from all the numerous waifus. I recently watched Porco Rosso. I liked Fio. Porco is awesome as well, but Fio is smashing cute. At the moment, I like Fio. That’s what I was trying to say to Hiromi.

Mago says that she likes SpongeBob because it’s such a cute and funny show. She likes Gary, the cat-like snail!

Hiromi says that he likes Gwen more for Spider-Verse.

All right, this question is from Kuribo4: “Did you know Luluco would turn into Trigger when you designed her? Love your characters!”

So, Wakabayashi says that this goes a little bit back. They kind of neck-wrote their mascot characters 5-6 years ago. They wanted to do an April Fools’ joke. At the time, the mascot characters didn’t have names, but they just went with “Trigger Girls” for the joke. The joke was about making a new anime series about the Trigger Girls. The illustration for the joke was drawn by Mago.

Then, a few years later, they had the opportunity to do Space Patrol Luluco. Hiromi personally wanted to link that series with Trigger Girls. That’s also the reason why he wanted Mago to be the character designer for Luluco. Wakabayashi says that he wanted Luluco to transform into Trigger Girl in the end. He made a special request to director Imaishi and pushed for Mago to be the designer.

Luluco has a weird pigtail, Wakabayashi says. Hiromi says he made the request specifically to Mago because he wanted the pigtail to turn into… I don’t know how “ahoge” translates. It’s like a bad hair day? I don’t know what it is! We call it ahoge! I hope that answers your question, Kuribo! I see the term “cowlick” for “ahoge.”

Mago is currently doing a stage performance in Osaka. The script is done by Nakashima Kazuki. I’m assuming it’s doing well. It’s a pretty popular title.

This question is from Patreon. The user name is Grandpa: “Waka-Sama, when are we getting another Promare trailer?”

Wakabayashi is explaining that you can expect a new trailer in the near future, very soon.

[In response to unvoiced questions on the chat log about pizza.] So, Wakabayashi likes pizza and coke. Mago doesn’t really have a favorite type of pizza. I wondered if she supported pineapple on pizza. She’s indifferent, so I’m guessing she’s okay with pineapple on pizza.

So, everybody says that Galo from Promare looks really close to Kamina from Gurren Lagann. Wakabayashi is curious if people really think that way. Why don’t people think that Galo looks like Mikisugi if we’re thinking about half-naked guys with blue hair, Wakabayashi asks?

Wakabayashi says that Galo’s hairstyle is very natural if you think about his profession, which is firefighting. When running into a fire, there is a lot of hot air coming up, and that’s why Galo’s hair is always spiked up. There’s almost a buzz on the side because the hair on the side burns off!

So, no_04, I’ve seen your name on Twitter a few times. I think you follow me on Twitter. You strike a good point. Galo is basically Panty’s hair with Kamina.

So, again, no_04 made a good point, Wakabayashi says. Panty is the main character of Panty and Stocking. Galo is obviously the main character of Promare. If you notice, when Ryuko gets her Kisaragi outfit in the final episode, her hair is kind of spiked upwards, too. In all of Imaishi’s work, his main characters have this spiky hair. Even before Imaishi was a professional, he had a fan manga with a character whose hair spiked up as well. The hairstyle is an icon for a main character in Imaishi’s work. The hairstyle represents Imaishi’s stance to rebel against whatever is oppressing him. That’s why a lot of the characters—especially main characters—have spiky hair in Imaishi’s works.

I have a question from maxie721 who asks, “What about Mago? Any special features in her characters?”

Mago answers that she doesn’t really have any special features in her characters. When she tries to think too deeply, things don’t work out; she feels like she restricts herself too much, and it kind of kills the illustration on a whole.

There’s a question from Tony on Patreon that asks, “Would Studio Trigger ever do a “Basics of a Trigger Animation” tutorial on a live stream?”

Wakabayashi says the content in a Trigger animation tutorial would be pretty lecture-like and might not be too entertaining. There is a producer at Trigger who likes doing tutorials, though, and goes to colleges to do so. They would need a different line of staff to do a tutorial, however.

For those who want to know how to draw in general, Wakabayashi says, these kinds of streams are basically a cheat guide for you guys, which is why we do it. We make the streams available for later. If you don’t have time to watch a 2-3-hour stream, we make an edited version available for later. We should upload the stream within a few days. However, we haven’t uploaded the March stream yet because the tech staff has been too busy. We’ll hopefully get to it soon. If you’re a Patreon supporter, we provide .psd files for these illustrations, which is even more of a reference to work with for those who are interested. Please do check it out!

There was a question earlier on our Twitch chat log. The question was something along the lines of, “I saw one of the rougher illustrations or rough takes on Lalaco Godspeed. Why did you decide on short, bob-like hair for Lalaco?”

Wakabayashi says the answer is that Lalaco had a big fur coat and didn’t want the hair to overlap with that coat. Also, in terms of the design process for animation, Wakabayashi says that shorter-haired girls tend to be perceived as more energetic or active. Girls with longer hair tend to be perceived more as… I have to choose my words properly. They’re not docile. That’s a bad word! [Laughing] “Calm” or “reserved” would be what I’m thinking of. Short hair was used, Wakabayashi says, because Lalaco’s obviously a very aggressive person, and they thought the short hair would better portray her personality.

There’s a question from no_04: “Was it difficult for Mago-san to adapt Gridman or the kaiju to the SD style for the line stickers?”

Mago says that the kaiju was not very hard for her. She had more trouble redesigning Gridman and his other mechs. So, Mago can draw monsters and kaiju because they’re basically animals, she says. However, she has trouble drawing mechs and robots.

So, Hiromi was asking if Mago was having trouble redesigning this black object that the studio asked her to draw (and of which he can’t give too many details about).

So, this was a question from berikpo: “What are Mago’s favorite accessories to wear and to draw?”

Mago’s answer was sneakers. She likes Nike Air Force 1 in particular. However, the one she owns most are Air Jordans.

We have a question from Kikoman589: “Has Mago’s childhood or upbringing influenced her art in any way?”

When Mago was very young, her first manga she ever bought was Urusei Yatsura. She feels like she was pretty heavily influenced from that series. She used to copy from that book a lot and drew her own illustrations.

I asked Mago about why she doesn’t draw any male characters. I was curious if she doesn’t like drawing males. She doesn’t! She likes drawing girls! Hiromi asked about Nova, who is a guy. Mago says that that’s the reason for there not being much passion.

I guess I got it a little wrong, but Mago doesn’t like drawing male characters. Old dudes are out of the question. Luluco’s father was actually designed by another of the main animators.

This question was from k3shanberk. They ask when Mago committed to a career of drawing.

Mago says she hasn’t really committed herself to drawing yet. If she gets offers for her illustrations or her designs, she thinks she can get herself into another line of work immediately.

Last year, Mago felt she needed to take a little break from drawing to gain a bit of sanity. She worked part-time at a shoe store for a while.

Mago’s nickname was “Mago” when she was younger. She just picked that up as her penname or handle for illustration. I don’t think she feels comfortable sharing her full name.

Ex_trident asks, “Any kind of media you guys are into lately? Like a specific movie, a song, novels, or even games?”

I guess Hiromi is into Legos right now. Hiromi bought some kind of kit for Lego Movie 2. The film isn’t available in Japan right now. He’s too busy to build it because he has to work on Promare. If Hiromi has time, he wants to make vehicles or mechs from Promare with his Lego kits.

I guess Mago was playing Fortnite on iPad. I didn’t even know you could play that on iPad! I’m surprised! Again, I’m surprised that Fortnite is playable on iPad.

Hiromi says that maybe they’ll do some streaming on the Kill la Kill game when the game is released. Maybe Mago can stop by and play as well, he says!

There’s another question from no_04: “Is Wakabayashi planning to continue Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt: CEMETERY HILLS story where Nova means Panty and Brief in the end?”

By the way, Hiromi would like to inform everyone that CEMETERY HILLS is not a Panty and Stocking series. There is no relation with Panty and Stocking, but he would like to continue.

Sorry, there is a relationship between the two. In Panty and Stocking, the main character is Panty, but in CEMETERY HILLS, the main character is Geekboy; that’s the distinction. Hiromi would like to make a sequel. In the next sequel, Hiromi would like to introduce gun morphing like in Space Patrol Luluco in Panty and Stocking as well. He would like to see Panty transform into a gun!

There’s a question from evsanata: “Does Mago have any favorite artists? Who are the artists that have inspired her and influenced shaping her art?

I think we answered the later part of this question already. We’ll answer the first half now. Mago’s favorite illustrator and animator is Akiman. Mago’s first encounter with Akiman was over the Internet. There was a special forum where Akiman regularly converses with his fans, and that’s where Mago first met him. At that time, Akiman was looking for an assistant to help him with his series. Mago took that job and was helping Akiman for quite a bit.

Mago doesn’t remember how long she had that job. However, ever since she helped Akiman out, they have been in contact with each other. As such, Akiman has been a good moral support for Mago ever since the job.

totallynotnameddan says, “It was unclear from your phrasing. Is this supposed to detail the origin of gun morphing ‘cause that would be cool?”

I’m sorry if it was unclear. Hiromi wanted to make Panty able to transform into a gun with gun morphing as well.

How many of you have visited Comic Market? Have you visited Mago’s booth for Comic Market?

InfectedAdri asks, “Mago-san, how’s your dog doing?”

Mago says her dog is doing well. I guess she took her Chihuahua grooming, and now the dog is looking like a baby. There are two types of Chihuahuas, she explained. The one that I’m familiar with has short hair, so I wondered if Chihuahuas really need grooming. She says there are two types: one with long hair and one with short hair. Her Chihuahua has long hair, so if she doesn’t take her dog to grooming every once in a while, he has dingleberries, where the poop gets stuck in the hair. He needs regular maintenance.

ThexIncinerator asks, “What are the next conventions lined up for you guys? Will Mago be appearing at any of them?”

Wakabayashi says that he doesn’t think they’ve announced any of their 2019 events yet. They haven’t visited many conventions because they’ve been working on Promare. As soon as they finish Promare, they’ll probably make their presence at various cons. Mago is planning to appear at Comitia, which is a lot smaller than Comic Market and only allows original titles.

Personally, I like Comitia better than Comic Market.

It is Mago’s birthday in April, so she plans to do a birthday event! She will probably announce that. She wants to be pampered once in a while.

PraQnickstream asks, “Where can we find the dates of those comic events?”

Just Google Comitia. It takes place four times a year, so it’s a pretty frequent event.

Mago’s birthday is on April 11th. It might be on a different date! Mago doesn’t have too much of a pleasant memory… in Japan, you change your grade level every April. In April, you have a new class with new classmates. It’s hard to have a welcoming environment even if it’s your birthday. Mago didn’t have a very cheerful experience.

Ulric10 asks, “Idk if you’re gonna answer this, but could I have some tips for drawing like you?”

Mago says to draw what interests you and what you want to draw. So, if you just simply want to draw for your own entertainment, Mago says, draw just what pleases you. However, Mago says that if you want to get good at drawing, you should draw your own manga. You’ll be forced to draw various angles and backgrounds that you probably wouldn’t enjoy drawing otherwise, so you’ll gain experience.

There’s a question from NeoCoill from Patreon: What is Trigger's stance when it comes to creators making profit through fanworks of Trigger’s characters and shows (e.g. Doujinshi sold at Comiket or digitally)?

So, Hiromi thinks that it’s similar to cosplay...

Mago finished drawing! This is the final illustration! The illustration will be available on our Patreon page. If you’re interested, please do support us. All of the money goes to our creators, illustrators, and character designers who make guest appearances to our streams. None of the money goes to the studio. The support is appreciated.

Let’s finish up the question. Hiromi was saying that it’s similar to cosplay. If they shut out every aspect of fan community activities, it kind of halts the growth of their content as well. Even though they came up with the designs and concepts of these characters, for people who sell doujin and fanart, they are ultimately the ones drawing the individual art pieces. He doesn’t think that it’s right to say that it’s not their work to sell. Hirmoi personally doesn’t have anything against doujin or fanarts. He’s genuinely happy about people drawing their characters. If that’s what people do, they should continue to do it, he says.

Mago is happy to see her characters on other people’s doujins. She thinks that if you draw, it would be awesome to draw more of her characters in your doujins and illustrations.

We would like to ask Mago what her selling point for her illustration today is.

So, when Mago usually receives a commission or request for illustration, there’s always an offer from the client talking about the proportions of the characters, and these proportions are made pretty specific. It’s hard to organize these proportions. Today, Mago drew two characters who are basically the same character and have the same proportions. Mago is proud that the two characters are in the same proportion and will pat her own back!

This will be our last stream until maybe June. We need to concentrate on the production for Promare. We will take maybe two months off from our stream activity, but we will continue our smaller activities on Patreon. We upload the monthly shikishi for our supporters to see and will continue to do that. The livestreaming will have to wait until June when we finish Promare, though.

Thank you for coming to our stream. I bet it’s like 5:00 am on the west or east coast. 

Would you guys watch if we streamed like random people from Studio Trigger playing games? We were curious. For example, would you like to see me and Hiromi play Apex? We might be able to do those kind of stupid—not stupid; I mean non-creative—streams in the near future. We’ll have to stop on the illustration streams until June, but there’s a big response for these gaming streams, so we might have to do that!

All right. That will be it for tonight’s stream. Thank you for your participation. Have a good night, everyone.