#and i didnt feel like drawing the next panel

[shoemi]

live and learn

[xxplastic-cubexx]

if i said i picked up this issue for anything but drunk erik i fear i'd be lying

(Wolverine (2020) #3)

[soriastrider]

they deserve some time to relax

(transparent edit under the cut)

the original dirk and jake images here are pulled from homestuck (i removed their backgrounds here), i just edited them together :) and then i decided to try drawing a fake panel background lol

[todayisafridaynight]

daigo-gets-trolled kinda fuckin panel

[sillyandquiteawkward]

Do you have any tips/advice for someone doing comics? Like, shorter ones, not necessarily longer form stuff? How to plan a lil scene, set up panels, etc? Anyway, I like your comics a lot, your art is really cool and I hope you have a nice day <3

i feel like i do what you arent supposed to do, but i write a lot of my short comics from the seat of my pants. i have a general idea of what i what to accomplish, sometimes i have some dialogue and stage direction written in my notes app, and i just. draw a rectangle and start going. that tends to be why a lot of my mspaint comics tend to be talking head type deals, haha. ill try to give some proper advice, but im also just a hobbist whos taken a some classes about communication through design and comics years ago.

most comics do well if you establish a scene with a larger set piece, then you can narrow down to characters or actions. show us where we are in space, and the audience can take that knowledge and move along the other panels with a stronger suspension of disbelief. (bc comics are all about giving toys to your reader and hoping they play with you) heres the first page of my anya n swansea comic illustrating this. big location panel, then narrowing down to character moments.

you notice as i focus more on dialogue, that my scenery gets left out. this is bc theres only so much space in a panel, so i need to choose what gets shown. of course this depends on what medium you work with, but the gist is the same amongst all types. dont give your reader TOO much to play with or they might get confused, or will start skimming. not what we want!

for shorter comics, id suggest something eye catching right at the beginning to catch readers attention. if you have multiple "pages" or breaks in the comic, make sure the last panel before the next page is enticing. be it a punchline or cliff hanger, something to keep the reader interested. jingle those keys. in general most short comics need to end on a punchline or satisfaction or deep thought. something for the reader to chew on after their done reading, or to inspire rereading. makes for a satisfying read!

but it also depends on how you want to structure a comic page. this comic of anya and curly i did is very different than the previous one i showed, and i think its one of my fav recent comics. it starts with a weird piece of dialogue that makes you ask "what does that mean" which gets answered by the next panels. theres visual and spoken repetition, theres very little said, and its short and sweet. very easy to read and reread, so its easy to take in, and its easy for the reader to sit with it longer and ponder it more. and be able to draw their own conclusions. play touys with meeee

i think when it comes to planning scenes, it depends on what you want the reader to get out of it. when i was planning this comic page, i really wanted to mention that curlys tear ducts probably dont work, and anyas been wearing the same contact lenses for months! i wanted to showcase their similarities and how they mirror each other narratively and i had the idea to use the onomatopoeia of drip to stand in for the drip of saline. but i didnt have any solid ideas past that. but i do like showcasing mundane sort of events, so i thought maybe just a simple exchange of using saline to wet curlys eye, and then her eyes. initially the idea to literally copy and paste the action of applying the saline was out of ease so i didnt have to draw it again, but i found that it worked for the narrative, so i leaned into that. i flipped anya around to better convey them as on either side of the mirror, and had anya repeat her dialogue.

something else to debate about in layout, is making sure the comic isnt too unbalanced (unless thats a theme/motif youre wanting to work with) in this comic page, anya always remains on the left side, except the first panel where she is on the right. i Could have swapped her and her dialogue in the first panel, so she stays on the left and better mirrors curly in panel 3, but if i did that, the comic would be very left heavy. anyas hair and her clothes are a heavy, dark color, it takes up a lot of visual attention. i thought the comic would look more pleasant for anya to be on the right in the first panel to balance it out, as i didnt find much narrative use for her to be on the left side always. the reader would still read the comic left to right and follow the typical reading pattern regardless. to make up for this, in panel 3, curly mirrors the angle she's at in panel 1, its not an exact mirror, but its enough that i was satisfied with it.

in other comics, it might be easier to play with how the eye would move across the page. regardless, its something important to keep in mind. you have to assume how the reader will read your comic, and if youre going to be breaking the rules, you need to put in lots of safeguards to make sure the reader can understand what youre doing. too much dialogue in confusing places? work with the speech bubbles to create hierarchy and flow so the reader knows how to read everything in order. number one rule of design we were taught was people are stupid, so you have to play at their level, or baby proof your level DX designers and artists know all the rules, but readers dont have a grasp on the rules themselves, just the vibes of the rules.

the most important thing with comics is legibility. if the reader cant understand or follow the comic, it might as well be like them not reading it at all. and the worst thing that could happen is they think what youre doing is pointless. so you have to juggle what you want to accomplish, what the reader can understand, what the medium limits you to, and what rules you think you can get away with breaking.

hope this is some sort of satisfying answer! i feel like im always hit or miss with advice XD;;

[lynn-tged-posting]

tged webtoon ep 161 spoilers with thoughts below the cut u know the drill

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THIS IS MY FAVORITE PANEL OF JAVIER EVER. IN THE ENTIRE MANHWA IM LOSING MY MIND HAHAHAHAHAHA

HE JUST LOOKS SO FUCKING UNHINGED I DIDNT EXPECT IT AT ALL HHAHAHAHAHAAAA

anywayy back to the top

honestly maybe i shouldve seen the fact that his own singing would fuck him up coming LMAO

their matching dazed expressions when they both realize PLEASSEE LOL

raphael also calls the start of his singing demonic sounding lmao

and then they start fighting again and JESUS holy shit they're so overpowered this is so cool to watch and also as i was reading i was VERY scared for javier

genuinely i really really love whenever they draw action scenes they look very cool while also not being terribly hard to follow i like that

like oh my god?? he's swinging that hammer around like its nothing its very very terrifying, esp cause its been a while since javier has fought something thats his match yknow, or at least it feels that way

AND THEN. THE LEADUP INTO THE NEXT SCENE IM LOSING MY MIND JAVIER YOU SCHEMER

the feigning being down and then the peek and the slow getting up im giggling so so bad AND THEN

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA JAVIER YOU CLEVER ASSHOLE I LOVE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH

like i knew that line raphael said about how the halo would continue protecting him so long as he's pure and just or whatever would come into play BUT I DIDNT THINK JAVIER WOULD BE THE ONE TO DO IT SO DIRECTLY TOO HAHAHAHAAA he's learned so much from lloyd <3 LOL

i also think its interesting that the halo keeps track of this with like points or smth, not much to say about it i just think its an interesting gear; the ultimate defensive tech but it's based on how "good" you are thats just really interesting to me hehe

ALSO ALSO i think it's really really silly funny that raphael was this very intimidating and menacing figure that was super scary right up until the moment javier played dirty and then the moment that happened that image/vibe immediately crumbled WAHHAHA he's just a silly guy and the halo does the work i like him a lot

i really like these panels of them being evenly matched, raphael is still holding his own even with a penalty like that, their expressions here are really good too its so tense,,,

AND THEN LLOYD BEGGING THEM TO STOPP AAHHH

AGHHGHGHHGHGH AAAHH JAVIER STARING WIDE-EYED AT LLOYD IM CURLING AND SHRIVELED ON THE FLOOR

like okay i know lloyd is scheming or whatever. but my heart wants to believe that some part of this was very real okay . let me cope let me believe this . one cannot act/lie effectively without some of it being real. RIGHT???

AND THEN WHEN THE POPUPS APPEARED I STARTED SHOUTING OH MY GOD I FORGOT ABT THE RP SYSTEM IM SO. LLOYD YOU BRILLIANT MOTHERFUCKER YOUUU

HE CAN JUST SKIP THE PROCESS AND THEN BECOME A SWORDMASTER HE HASNT DONE THAT IN A LONG TIME OHHHH MY GOD

also. everyone else's bonus RP was +10. but only javier's bonus RP was +45. which could mean nothing.

WHAT DO I EVEN SAY ABOUT THAT LIKE. JAVIER WHAT YOU. WHAT. YOUUU im gonna lose it im gonna LOSE IT

top ten photos taken moments before disaster HE LOOKS SO EVIL THE ART HERE IS SO GOOD HAHAHAHA OHH MY GOD

and how he says "YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS" ohhh lloyd you asshole you i love you so much

THIS PANEL TOO LIKE WOW THE FUCKING EFFECTS THIS IS INSANE HE LOOKS SO FUCKING MENACING THE VIOLENT LINEART HES POWERING UP HIS SINGING OH MY GODDD HAHAHA

when i saw these panels i immediately thought of that one song from princess and the frog god i wish i could like tween or something itd be so cool to see This drawn to That

thats all i LOVED this ep i had so much fun RAPHAEL JAVIER LLOYD FIGHT PART THREE NEXT WEEK HERE WE GO

[pop-roxs]

hiiii idk if i wanna post this on ao3 or not so you guys tell me pleaseeee

relationship(s): grelle x reader words: 533 extra: no warnings should apply, reader is just a sickly little guy and grelle takes care of them(noooo i didnt write this cuz im sick rn wdymmmm)

reader is gn!!!

You laid in bed, lips slightly parted, which allowed you to breathe, as you heard footsteps drawing closer to you. You felt a weight be placed on the edge of the bed you laid nearest to, and a hand touched your forehead. You opened your eyes.

“Hey, sweetheart. Are you feeling better yet?” the redhead asked. You shook your head, and she frowned. “I’m sorry…”

You were going to speak up, to tell her that she had nothing to apologize for, but your clogged nose and itchy throat decided that you weren’t going to speak comfortably for a little while. You moved her hand from your forehead down to your cheek, and she leaned down to kiss the spot where her hand previously was.

“Do you need me to get you anything? You have water, tissues, and medicine when need be… Do you need something warm to eat?” You nodded. “Alright, darling. You wait right here.” Grelle stood up from the bed, walking out of the room and presumably to the kitchen. You turned over to close your eyes again.

You couldn’t help but feel a bit bad about all of this. You got just a little cold, and now Grelle is all over the apartment trying to make you feel better. You didn’t like these thoughts, so you let your body relax, and you drifted into a nap.

Grelle slowly opened the bedroom door, and once she saw you asleep, she made sure to be extra quiet as she made her way around the bed and to the side you were sleeping on. She gently placed the bowl of soup she had made on the nightstand next to you, crouching down in front of your burning face. She pouted. “Poor dear,” she whispered, as she caressed your hair and placed a few kisses along your cheek. She paused when she heard you grumble and saw your squinted eyes

“Good morning.” It was 1:24 PM. “You look awful. I wish I could do more to help.” You reached your arms out to her, beckoning her to join you in bed. “Oh, really? You’re so sweet to me. Of course, ma cherie.~”

You scooted back to make some room for her, and she gently pulled up the covers, sliding underneath them and holding you close. She tucked a strand of hair behind your ear, both your arms around each other. Her smile was sweeter than ever. You pulled her closer, resting your head against her chest, but she could tell that you were trying hard to not get any mucus on her.

“My love, you look uncomfortable. As your partner, it is my sworn duty to look after you when you are sick. Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.” You looked up at her for a moment, before sniffling, and deciding to just tuck your face into the crook of her neck.

She pet your head once more, holding you tight and whispering in your ear, “I love you so much, my dear. You’re safe with me. Rest, now. I’ll take care of you.” So you closed your eyes, drifting into another nap, this time feeling as if you’ll have sweet dreams.

im gonna die right here also yes. i reused the grelle divider from my valentines fic. leave me alone i couldnt be bothered to go looking for a good panel to take a picture of

[thedrotter]

not-yet-dead-person

silly comic of a conversation in-game i thought was too funny not to make something proper for instead of a doodle ww

(timelapse + wip images (thus silly process commentary in read more if you like artist commentary :3)

i think the sketch looks silly and goofy and funny so i find it important to share with you the mere presence of the faces i drew on it. i drew it on top of the boxes without staying inside its borders because i find my proportions can get wonky if i draw them cropped in a restricted space. and I feel trapped otherwise and i will draw BAD!!! give me spaceeeee to go wild!!!!

the head circles are there for emotional support

very low res speedpaint because truth is the canvas was much bigger than the space where my comic was placed. i didnt account when exporting my timelapse in 720px that that tiny space would look so pixelated ... but it's able to be percieved, so its okay.

(i will now comment on my process and it is not brief sorry)

usually i would try to clean up my sketches and figure out what goes on top before jumping into linework, but since there are multiple panels and drawings i chose to jump into inking right away for the sake of brevity. i just went in with a brush that uses pen pressure and drew what was needed. i added extra line thickness and contrast in areas around the face because it helps direct your eyes there more easily that way.

according to her equipment rei has a chain belt but i only remembered it existed once I was going to color, and i did not like that discovery... I chose to ignore it to maintain my peace. i already have the color palettes for these characters figured out, and i didnt really want to think about a new element at the moment www I tend to overthink those things a lot so i skipped it

the rest is rather straightforward! not that anything else wasn't, but in here i could turn my brain off and sing. linework and sketching require mumbling so i cannot turn my brain off. just block in the characters with a solid color so i can have a mask (something along those lines,) where the color can stay inside. then just color in !!!

Base colors just had slight cell shading on the skin, and for the hair i airbrush a bit of the skincolor in low opacity near the forehead... I'm not sure what it means, but i can look at the faces easier with it somehow. i like the gentle subtlety it adds even if you cant really tell. it makes things look nice.

background was just me blocking in the color of the wall and floor, shade the wall a bit, then slap a noise and free use wood texture on top. work smarter not harder ! yet it took a bit to make it look stylistically fitting with the characters, and even now i think bottom middle panel looks odd. whatever!!!

for the middle panel i thought itd be funny if the background was a solid silly and colorful one to contrast the next panel's sketchy black one. a contrast to how the word widow is seen. on that note my handwritting is not pointy. i gaslighted my hand into thinking that it was indeed pointy in that moment so i could write "not-yet dead person" in letters that didn't seem cute. my hand did not fall for it but it complied anyway

that's basically it! I'm not sure what else i could say that doesn't feel barebones because it really is that straightforward. if you're curious I used clip studio paint for this. only special brush used was for linework (a brush named Lemon Brush), the rest used were just the default. my computer gets the least credit. it was trying to convince me a 20mb file was going to nuke it all the time and hardly let me save multiple times so i do not appreciate it

[naumin]

2024 retrospective and 2025 goals

this is the censored version of this post. for full images, check out the full free post on subscribestar!

hi :)

i'm really happy with everything i achieved in 2024. it was my first year illustrating full time, meaning no school and no salaried job on the side (believe me i tried to get one) and i'm happy to report i did not die! fuck yes. i even illustrated for 7 (i think) art books, designed merch for 2 and organised my first collab fanbook.

from top left clockwise: michael deforge, anna haifisch, Michel Esselbrügge, CLAMP, saul bass, jon whitcomb, rene gruau, paul rand, molly fairhurst

at the beginning of 2024 i made this moodboard for influences i wanted to incorporate into my work more, they are pretty much the same faves ive had for years but i just wanted to have them in front of me and start deliberately choosing elements to ape.

i'd say i basically want to incorporate more 2D cartoon graphic elements combined with detailed, realistic, delicately rendered characters, more theatric background design and props... features like borders etc. the thing about a moodboard is unless you print it out and put it up by your desk it will sort of slide to the back of your mind which is what i think happened w mine LOL. cuz looking at this now im like well i didnt really hit all these ideas but i did inch closer.

the first pic here is sth i drew immediately after making the board and i like it but it does feel like a slightly clumsy attempt at mashing stuff together... i wouldn't say that it shows i dont understand whats appealing about the work i was referencing (even though thats how it looks), its more like the picture goes in an unexpected direction while making it LOL. but that's part of the fun. whereas in my mind the 2nd pic spiritually embodies the ideas of the ppl i'm trying to copy. even tho visually it's still a ways off. its probably my favourite thing i drew all year? :) though that's hard to say bcus i'm so pleased w so many other pieces especially those u can see on my summary pic!!!

i have a few more artists i wanna add to my board and then i will definitely print it this time so i can look at it every day instead of just twice a year LOL.

another thing im really pleased about is the number of comics i drew in 2024. i have this odd relationship with comics where i do draw them and have for years and im more or less decent at them but i act like drawing them mortally wounds me. like im so dramatic... i do partially believe the only way ill ever be able to complete a longform comic is through abusing stimulants but you know ill also never find out if i keep crawling off to die after inking a page. i see a lot of illustrators suffering when approaching comics from the illustration mindset of making beautiful pictures instead of the comics mindset of making finished pictures, but u know, im extremely slapdash as an illustrator and im also proud enough to believe im a guy that can do both, so its really time i act like it... basically just shut up and draw. i want to apply this especially to perspective drawing/panel backgrounds, which im, like, fine at. honestly fine at. i do think i trip myself up because i want to be the next dostoevsky or beyonce or whatever, i want to be great, but have to remember the most anyone can do is aspire to express something from your inner world. everything else is secondary.

one thing i learned the hard way is how hard it is to have work life balance when you work from your bedroom and 'monestise your hobby'... you know, the thing everyone has been warning each other about for years. turns out its real. its super confusing when so many elements of your work bleed into your social life, physical health, leisure time etc -- like i go online for fun, and also to promote myself. so wheres the distinction? i watch movies for entertainment but also for research... ive definitely felt like ive been working around the clock or my job has consumed my life at points. but i think being stricter with my work hours is the way forward. it truly is shaytan at the wheel when u answer an email at 3AM... no more of this!

and tied into this is being realistic about what i can achieve in a day and not feeling ashamed or that i need to do more... i get stuck in this silly loop that's like... 'i believe everyone should work 4 hours a day, but because other people are stuck working 40 hours a week i should also be making myself do that' and then i work myself into a flare up and wreck my work ethic and enjoyment. u can laugh... i know it doesnt make sense. well i wont do it any more. because i CANT... because i will DIE... some days i work 4 hours. some days i work 6. some days i work half an hour... it doesnt matter as long as stuff gets done.. and it does.

also want to talk about my chronic pain and hypermobility... after a year of lifting weights i am stunned to let u know ive actually improved. unfortunately i dont look anything like the rock and i still cant do a real push up but im stronger and have more stamina and suffer from way less zaps and aches and numbness, which was unthinkable before. i only really noticed after taking a trip and doing different activities (painting walls) that i can physically do a lot more than i usually do at home. but also my house is fucking cold so its hard to do anything for anyone. hoping for warmer days and big muscles to come.

some of my other art goals are to work more on paper whenever i can. i used to have a huge stack of newsprint on my drawing board underneath my ipad and id doodle and test ideas on that paper before drawing it digitally. i wanna do that again. many people find its easier to 'think' on paper and im the same. whenever i have an idea i wanna go 'what would this look like on paper?' and then find out.

i want to be thinking about composition and storytelling more in my illustrations, as in, think cinematic, movie posters, communicating big ideas. even if that idea is only as big as 'this blue looks great with this orange'... i want to make more stuff that looks like promotional material for my stories. of course behind every movie poster is 100,000 thumbnails and sketches and half-finished ideas. i want to remember that and not be hard on myself for drawing girl in profile #997.

i want to draw more autobio comics, just to be drawing more comics and also to look back on and know what i was doing that day. nothing fancy. a lot of people are doing that gentle comics habit this year and i fear my competitive nature may get me into it too.

i have more books i wanna create which ive talked about at length in my last diary entry and for now i think that's enough goals thank you very much. thank you for reading this far and for all your support. happy new year! love you x

[thornswoggled]

its 107 time. back in the saddle. lets ride

a 29-pager. we get these. you gotta read it slow. makes it last longer

ALICE MOMENT!!!!!! HELLOOOO ALICE HELLO ALICE HELLO ALICE HELLO ALICE HELLOOOO

as i understand it taking paid leave in japan is kind of a whole to-do so makes sense why theyre spending so much dialogue on it

misread renfreds flashback dialogue as alices own thoughts and said "whoa, she finally accepted that hes her dad." incorrect buzzer sound

the jump to torrey appearing is hilarious. yes, torrey will DEFINITELY go behind his back lmaooooo

another title page mainstay genre returns: chise and ruth meandering somewhere. cant go wrong with the classics

second time in the span of several chapters torrey has walked down a long hallway with a child and given them a cryptic life lesson. i imagine if youre reading these back to back as an archival reader it will feel like "didnt i already read this scene"

chise texted alice aaooouuuuugggghhwwwooooo and alice got a present for her what if i pull my hair out what then

yeah i could have guessed philomela was getting adopted. hopefully everyone (read as: everyone in-story, not everyone online) will stop assuming she and rian are love interests since they both seem annoyed by it. and theyre both gay. who said that

return of the hospital scrub swag for chise

"we're not adults yet," yes yes yes we get it, your acknowledgement of reality is appreciated and noted

the tiny family tree is cute

i like that philomela isnt always wearing her prosthetics. i wonder if she was asked to remove them for their tests or whether she has a very alchemist-minded attitude of "i need to remind myself of my mistakes and take responsibility for them." whatever the case i like the detail

elias' "no im good" hes too funny help

"i might need to leave the college for a while" man i told yall her ass isnt going to be studying. girl help youre going to fail and youre only auditing

wait. confused about the finger situation. she bought new fingers when they went to the prosthetics guy. the muryans complimented her on them afterward. but i guess shes waiting on new ones she ordered? so was the other set she was wearing a placeholder? guess it doesnt matter that much. i like the gloves isaac made her. seems like itll be easier to draw lol

i love it when yamazaki draws elias in such a way that he looks like hes wearing a paper bag over his head

so the investigation starts at the end of march. seems to line up weather-wise for the dramatic confrontation with lindel based on what chises wearing in that scene. i wonder if after chises birthday theyll skip ahead to that point in time or if we will just see a bunch of milling around until then

elias has opinions about guns. interested in chise bringing the topic up given how strict gun laws are in japan. could house st george not hotwire a doohickey 9000 and blow a hole out the red dragons chest etc etc sorry low-hanging fruit

this page feels full of awkwardly machine-translated lines. i have to reword dialogue bubbles in my head in a way that sounds more natural. annoying to do

lil fella reminds elias of alcyone. it could be that it was created by someone, then? i noted before that its stony/crystal texture looks like the things comin off of the new mages head. and the new mage is waiting to "meet him," whoever "he" is. related?

"is it someone's creation?" oh okay so i just typed that out before reading the next panel. good. at least im understanding the implications

BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK. GRRRRRBARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK JBARK BARK

i was WONDERING not too long ago if elias knew chise had a brother. i thought it had been mentioned in chapter 17 or something but couldnt be assed to go check. her never bringing it up is sooooooo...

wait okay i just went back. it was chapter 19. she DID tell him. so he literally just forgot about it. i guess the drama of almost wiping her memory overshadowed it

the last time chise mentioned that she doesnt know where her brother is was chapter 86. not that ive been counting

ANSWER THE QUESTION CHISE!!!!!!!! DO YOU MISS HIM!!!!!!!!!!!! IM GOING TO PUNCH DRYWALL

you rewatched your memories when joseph "bullied" you like, a year ago. you can do the math figure out contextually how old yori i mean fumiki would be cmon

BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK

SILKY!!!!! okay i thought this might be what she was doing but like. how did she do that

i guess she doesnt trust that theyll be coming back regularly. she is so fucking funny

return of selkie boy

omg meg is the person the new mage watched get eaten

oh goddamit it i thought the slider had more on it. this always happens to me i always think theres more pages than there are

so i wonder where we will pick it on in 108. are we gonna return to stella and ashen eye i wonder. or maybe we will see meg get eaten. and maybe the new mage. idk. yamazaki loves vore, so

this chapter feels like a bridge thats just kinda laying out the groundwork for stuff thats gonna happen. it reads sort of like a syllabus. philomelas family stuff is "answered," we know when the investigation starts, more yorimiki teasing, and now we are being gently reminded that Selkie Nathan exists. i wonder if this is yamazakis solution to things being dropped for chapters and chapters on end. it has been a long time since i read tamb in real time... i used to wait for the fan translations to hit maigo a month after it came out in japan. so i dont really remember what it was like before. but i do think she is earnestly trying to make sure stuff stays fresh in our heads month to month since not everyone is an insane chronic re-reader like my ass is. given that we got hildas convo with lindel immediately, i have to imagine we will go into ashen eyes/new mage/vore territory next time

[dogboyklug]

UH-OH! a comic about being trans. by me. part one of probably three :]

i felt bad about being transmasc so i decided to just give up and write about it until i hopefully didnt. i feel a little better getting this all on digital paper but there's still. a lot to draw. so. oops

i'll be posting the next parts. whenever they're ready (which will hopefully be soon) and linking them all here, so whenever you want just check back with the base post and i'll prolly add some links and maybe clean things up. yay!

text transcript / partial ID under the cut!

transcript:

looking back, there were a few signs i might have been trans.

[a sequence of events showing little me flinching and going "ow" at being called his deadname, little me reading a book and going "haha im like a tomboy but i dont like sports or being active or anything im just. a boy. haha", and little me having an active breakdown, crying and holding his glasses, with partially obscured text in a dark cloud around him. the only text visible shows his thoughts, and shows he's worrying that he's sexist for mostly only liking and relating to boy characters.]

...some.

however.

there were also a few things i considered signs of me not being trans at all.

EXHIBIT A:

[a drawing of little me, looking at his 3ds. he's thinking "as long as i make sure that i always play as the 'main girl character' in these games i wont cry because im a girl because i wont be me as a girl i'll be Them. roleplaying. as them".]

no dysphoria.

[caps] EXHIBIT B: [end caps]

[a crude drawing of little me staring at nothing. he's thinking "i don't hate women. and i don't like being mean to other people."]

[caps] I WAS A FEMINIST. [end caps]

and not toxically masculine.

i knew about trans people, but i didn't know trans MEN existed.

[a drawing of little me, with the caption "clueless". he's staring slightly up, and saying "huh?!"]

my mom was nonbinary, with a few trans friends, but people [caps] WANTING??? TO BE MEN??? [end caps]

to be

gross,

disgusting,

hateful,

cruel,

oppressive,

men?

[the background slowly gets darker until it reaches the final word, and that word is a significantly bigger font than the rest of the words.]

for a while, primarily due to my lack of research

[drawing of little me, staring at his computer (which is labeled "deviantArt machine") and going 'huh'.]

i figured, if i WAS trans, I was probably a trans women.

but of course, that was silly

you can't be a trans woman if you're already afab.

and there's no other ways of being trans,

right?

[a crudely-drawn drawing of a deviantArt favorite's tab. none of the favorited pieces have any detail, though several are the same width and length as classic deviantArt stamps.]

hm.

hmmmmm...

[a crudely-drawn drawing of a representation of one of the favorited stamps. it's a massive, pink stamp with the text "SHE/HER!" in it in all caps and pink lettering. bottom text states it is a "she/her pronouns badge by ...", though the rest is cut off.]

HMMMM...

[a picture of a mouse hovering over the 'favorite/unfavorite' button. the star is filled in, indicating clicking it would unfavorite the piece.]

[two wordless panels, side-by-side, showing little me staring at his screen, hovering his cursor over the unfavorite button.]

[two more panels, showing that little me has unfavorited the she/her badge. the panel showing his face shows he is grinning wildly, his hair has poofed up in excitement, and his glasses are now blue-ish purple.]

OHO!!!!!!!!!!!!1

.................and that's

quite literally

how it happened.

before i knew how bad the entire site was, i would frequent dA. CONSTANTLY.

it was baby's very first "social media" webpt site.

[a drawing of a tiny, cartoonish kitten with a small turf of hair, staring at wonder up at a computer, one hand on the mousepad. it is labeled "dramatic reenactment of me making my d a account."]

i wasn't really SHELTERED as a kid, i just didnt know fuck for shit, and my baby anxiety made learning annoyingly hard.

so i turned to memes as a sort of wire mother as opposed to my real, cloth one.

jokes can be easier to understand than reality, sometimes.

(this isnt a good thing.)

so, i sort-of-came-out on deviantart, home of the wacky, wild and weird, where i learned he/him pronouns were an option, and a choice.

[a drawing of little me, with blue glasses, gazing up at the sky and smiling triumphantly.]

and some crazy trauma but that's for a different comic. if i make it.

[a drawing of little me being hit with a cartoonish star, which is meant to represent the trauma.]

sooo...

that's it, right?

[little me, with a cartoony bandage on his head, gently rubbing his wound.]

my mom was supportive & anyone who wasn't ...isn't in the picture now

that's the end

...right?.

end transcript.

[nutzworth]

its been a whole month. but you know what time it is? thats right.

DAY 6: MARCH 17, 2024

STATS: read for 1 hour 20 minutes (WEAK.) pages read: 1359-1592. 233 pgs slur count: 9 + 3 = 12 (dave, john x2. r slur) silly count: 11 + 1 = 12 (wv about his drawings) (i REALLY feel like i missed some... but whatever.) piss count: 2/3 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (dave pissed in his shower)

THOUGHTS: ok i didnt think a lot this round cus its like nearing midnight on a school night so im reading for funsies ok

act 4 has the story bouncing around way more than it did in previous acts. i saw a lot of the exiles today. and a lot of TROLLS! the exiles are so fun today i saw some pm and ar lore and wv pm ar all fought and then they had a meal. and wv and ar are trying to win over pm but she dont care. the WOMEN. panel. so good.

somethin else i reaaally noticed this time around is HOW GOOD HUSSIE WRITES! seriously these kids are talking so naturally its insane. i really like it. theyre so cute. they talk like me and my friends and its really good. hussies a really good writer guys

why did dave say that "i should probably text [john] soon. cus. i love him" why did he say that? and rose's "I know." why? what? im sure this has been read into like a million times but it feels so OUT OF POCKET. why did he SAY THAT? why does rose KNOW? what is anything.

today was the introduction to rose's exile and land. the land of light and rain. the combination of the land and the weird cursive exile and the weird loneliness and silence just really... it really creeps me out ok. "A mother does what's best for her children" with the empty dock with a cut rope and the martini. ugh. "There are footprints in the white sand." oh my god. IT CREEPS ME OUT. its SO QUIET it freaks me. augh. i love you rose

DAVE PEED THIS ROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the next (and last) on the piss counter is in the middle of act 6 so were gonna be sitting pretty for a damn while. daves kind of a freak to be real. he says "voyeurbot" and "little girl" in the same sentence. why did he say this?

PA HARLEY. PA HARLEY ON LAND OF WIND AND SHADE!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!!!! oh oh aaaalso jade mentioned her penpal (JAKE!!!) and it got me a little excited. teehee. i looove jake english you dont even know

ummm dave entering the game... hes not in yet. but hes toying with his big machines and he got his totem and the object out. his egg. yeah. i didnt realize he was just playing with all this stuff and hes not even in the medium yet. craaaazy

WE SAW TEREZI THREE TIMES TODAY! THATS SO MUCH! SHES SO CUTE! i literally love terezi i always forget but i love her. shes so cool and silly and cute and the best. her convo with rose (her first one?) is so funny and awesome and ahh i love terezi. she says that the two of them were destined to be hatebuddies cus theyre both seers. ahhh

she also mentions some god tiers during that convo which was crazy. seer of mind. page of breath. knight of blood. maid of time. hussie just had this stuff on lock huh. why TAVROS'S classpect? not like vriskas? i dont know man.

karkat was so dumb today i cant even talk about him. he showed up twice and fumbled so bad. girl you havw GOT to stop being mean to people and yes that includes yourself. i really like karkat too i cant lie. hes so dumb so sweet. i love you karkat

jack noir just straight up gives pm a hit list for her king and queen for no reason. i mean yes there is a reason hes like "lol i do this to everyone wouldnt it be crazy if she was the one to get me their crowns lol" why does he do that? does he just have swords and symbols on lock? hes literally crazy

rose does her cool knitting needle in the monster thing. DAVE AND KANAYA CONVERSATION! i love them bad. rose and tavros is also funny but tavros types so much like a tool i can hardly stand it. im gonna be real i dont really like tavros. hes just not my style sorry

thats it sorry for not reading for a month. maybe ill do more this month haha. maybe maybe not. we will see ;-) thanks

[downfallofi]

That doesn't sound bad. That's only disappointing if it disappoints you. What kind of stuff do you tend to sketch if I may ask? Also might've been low key seeing if you play video games that I could invite you to play.

Ah, you know, thank you for this. 🥹 they are my hobbies, and I need to learn not to minimize them or apologize for liking them. (Old habits, it comes with growing up the way I did and being told that liking comic books and Star Wars and "living in a fantasy world" was making me weak) But yeah I mean. It's not disappointing to like reading, or art, or video games, nor does it make someone a loser.

(I need to remember that)

I love to draw all kinds of things, I have a sketchpad filled with stuff from reference/still life, I like practicing drawing flowers, I actually sometimes like drawing smut/ shibari and if I ever actually posted that online I'd tag the models I referenced... not even in a horny way but there's something wonderful I find in shibari or fetish stuff artists that they challenge you, in drawing in a pen and ink medium, to workshop how you adapt poses, musculature, lighting, all that stuff.

And I have a lot of superheroes.

When I was a kid, all the way up to about 17, I wanted to be a graphic novelist, make my own comics that were like just my teenaged brain firing off ideas I'd sponged up from a lot of X-Men and a LOT of Toonami. I didnt go on to become a comics artist, in fact, due to being discouraged by my dad and others (...but, well, my dad) I sort of came to the conclusion it was childish ("cute lil cartoons," they were derisively called) and let my gift atrophy. I drew nothing.

So in coming back to it, slowly over the last... ten years? Ive gotten back in to art.

It's not the same as it was. Sadly, it can't be, that fire I had when I was young was well. Stomped out.

So I cant make panels, and I struggle with transition and movement from one panel to the next to make a story flow, and sometimes it feels like I draw OTHER people's heroes like Spider-Man like I'm a fucking cover band at a dive bar playing KISS.

But I've still worked on it, and grown a lot over those last ten years, and found a peace in it that yeah, idk, maybe it isnt what I wanted to be when I was young but it's still art, dammit.

So yeah, sorry. Im wordy and it was complicated to answer but you kind of put a dime in and got me talking about it so. My sketchbook has lots of microliner ink drawing, some flowers and still life, some smut, some X-Men cover band stuff, just stuff I want to challenge myself to draw.

I'm also determined to experiment more with color like my copic markers this year so.

Video games I play are really a lot of single player open world stuff, Im currently grinding on um.

...fallout4 OKAY DONT JUDGE ME, I am of the specific brand of gamer that finds some peace and comfort in going back to Skyrim and Fallout from time to time...

I would love to get in to games with other people but I wouldnt know where to start, or what to pick up, frankly, but that is a kind offer and one I'd be interested in maybe perhaps at some point

I take it back... I did have a coop farm in Stardew Valley I played sorta multiplayer with my friend from CO but... our friendship sort of died off and we dont Stardew together anymore... fuck Im sad now.

Sincerely, thank you for the asks and the kindness and if you made it through reading ALL of that shit you are a fucking G and I respect and love you so much

[someone-always-cares]

chapter 5, page 48

first - previous - next

[image description: an sac webcomic page. "seems like a normal kitchen. coast's clear, but it's locked." jade says, off panel. theres a view of the kitchen from the outside. no acual kitchen appliances are shown, but there is a island counter, and a few shelves in the back with various items, notably camera equipment, cleaning supplies, and assorted boxes. "we'll have to break in here, everything else is boarded. you remember what i taught you about breaking glass?" she continues. "yeah. it'll be loud though" lewis replies. "we'll just have to take whoever hears us." jade states, the panel now showing jade hiding to the side of the window, looking at it out of the corner of her eye, while lewis has wandered off and is kneeled down to pick up something off the ground. "this glass seems sturdier than the wine glasses lewis practiced with... can he do it? i've never been able to get the frequency right, but surely any glass will break with a loud enough noise?" jade thinks to herself, looking through the window, still to the side of it, while frowning contemplatingly. she seems to be unaware of lewis behind her, raising the brick he just picked up like one would when preparing to pitch a baseball, and sticking his tongue out in concentration. end id]

yall are getting a treat with me drawing actual backgrounds the past few pages! my computer fucking hates it and has tried to crash my art program many times but im not losing to a fucking machine so the page is ready to go! and yeah i didnt think to google what a broken wire fence looks like until typing this

anyway some life updates. next page may be a little late, i have a convention this weekend (if anyone is headed to animeleague london anime and gaming festival this weekend feel free to say hi! its the one with the star fairy lights and like. my art in it? yeah. also for the same con in birmingham in a couple weeks)

also ended up getting those wooden pride cat pins! or the charms, i need to glue the actual pin bits in and that tomorrow's task!! and even more importantly, i've started the process of trying to make sac into an actual printed comic!! so far it seems like im just going to start with chapter 1, because with the printer im thinking of using, anything over 76?ish pages is automatically more expensive so currently only have the funds for chapter one (50ish pages inc bonus and prologue).

also because turns out theres more work than i thought. theres some things like getting the colours cmyk ready and fixing typos and other errors, there is some size problems (the first 6 pages in particular need to be redone entirely but not much of a loss. they look.... Not Great. maybe prologue too). also some "accidentally lost some files and the backups of said files in an external drive related incident a couple years ago" but i've got my best experts on the case (asking my dad for help). i also need to change the font since the old pages are using the old version of the font. also a front cover because i never made a cover for chapter 1. anyway. its a start

anyway this was long i really needed to sleep a few hours ago lol. its only 1am but its been a day

[moumantaimf]

Intermission, Page 4/4

=============

With this... I want to finally celebrate the first anniversary of this comic! While technically the first page was done on September 19th and some of the characters had been created long before, it was a sketch the one that kickstarted the whole comic idea and that one was made on September 17th, 2022.

Last year I was working but I had lost most of my love for art due to multiple reasons. I decided to start this comic because "If I don't do it now i will never do it". And it ended becoming a sort of miracle cure: Working on this brought me back all the love I had for arting. And while properly getting back into the groove was extremely hard (couple with a lot of RL reasons), this comic helped me to regain my sanity and the appreciation for everything.

I decided to pour here everything I had learned so far. Writing. Trying to make a story that didnt rely on crude jokes, edgy stories just for the sake of being edgy, and trying to keep it SFW to an extent.

Chapter 1 didn't have much writing on it beforehand (just a vague note); I was trying to just "draw, don't stop". I was also afraid of losing interest (like has happened with most of my stuff before) so I wasn't sure how far I was going to reach with this (and that's why I didn't try to make a page like this for the comic at first). But I carried on. And started properly writing the story I wanted. I look at it now and its insane for me to think that I have an actual proper story, a lot of characters and relationships that feel natural.

This story is what I think is my magnum opus and I'm putting all I know, learned and have into it. However, saying I've done this alone would be super false. I tried to put in the credits the peeps who have helped me in one way or another, and I want to sincerely thank not only them, but also you, the reader, for your interest and for reading this, and also to everyone who shares this and so. I hope to continue making a story you like.

See you during November or December when chapter 8 comes!

- Vic

====================

Panel 1: D is in a graveyard. He says "…And that's what's been going on. I even got a space sister, one that actually acts way less spoiled than your daughter in spite of having much more".

Panel 2: D smells a handful of flowers with their eyes closed.

Panel 3: D drops the flowers next to the gravestone of 'Emma Reh' with an epitaph in German: 'Der Tod, so bitter er auch sein mag, ist nicht das Ende, sondern nur eine weitere Stufe, von der aus wir zu einem besseren Leben übergehen'. D says "You know what, old hag? I forgive you for all the bullshit. To be honest, I'm sorry you never found happiness in your life; unlike what you taught me, I learned that life actually can be beautiful and worth living. I don't really love you, but I genuinely hope you found some peace at the end, and that you're having fun with all your boys down there. Now it's my time… to leave with my new family, or pack, as we call ourselves. And you… You sleep well or whatever. Auf Wiedersehen wir sehen uns in der holle".

Panel 4: The band is walking through a street, but both Sher and Rowi are hugging D. Rowi says "Hey D, you're still very stressed. Wanna get some Döner Kebab with us?". D replies "S…sure! Thank you guys. You're the best thing that has happened to me in my life".

Panel 5: Roi, standing on a ceiling, wearing a visor, says "We love you too, D. You can be sure of that". There's a small narration square saying "End of recap. Thank you for reading this intermission. The story will resume in Chapter 8".

[marunalu]

I want to talk a little bit about the “Inko Shimura” theory and while Im not 100% convinced about it and there are not as many hints as with the dad for one theory, its not as impossible as some people seem to think. Remember there were almost no hints about the “Shirakumo is Kurogiri” theory and in the end it was true. This post is inspired by similar posts of @gentrychild​ and @psychomurderz​ and I will just list a few hints that support the theory.

First hint: All might says Inko reminds him of Nana.

Here All might tells Izuku that he “cant put his finger on it” why Inko reminds him of Nana. In the end he mentions they have the same hair, but that alone is clearly not the only reason why he feels like that. He is unsure himself. Of course Inkos motherly and protective nature could remind him of Nana too, but he doesnt mention that. And knowing Hori he didnt include this moment for nothing. There was by itself no reason why Hori should include this, if he doesnt want us to remember it later. And while I personally dont see much of a resemblance between Nana and Inko when it comes to their looks, in the bnha universe they seem to be similar, otherwiese All might wouldnt have mention that. 

If you look at them like that, you could indeed think they are related. To me personally its the weakest hint, because the only resemblance they have in my eyes are their hair style. But! Even if they dont look like each other that much, that doesnt debunk the theory, because for all we know Inko could come after her father/nanas husband. We dont know what the guy looks like and its very possible that Inko inheritet her features and colours from him, while Kotaro clearly comes more after his mother in appearance.

Second hint: the scarf.

Like the first hint this could be a complete coincidence, but Inko and Nana wear the same scarf. And I like to think that Nana left it with baby Inko, when she left her in the hospital for adoption/foster care.

Again, maybe its just nothing, but Hori could have choosen any pattern and motive on Inkos scarf, but he choose the same as for Nanas.

Third hint: Kotaros quirk.

You most likely think now “but he never showed what his quirk is”. Yeah, thats right... or is it? Look at this:

In the first panel on the left, we can see that Kotaro spotted a garden tool near him. Distance wise I would say its about 2 to 3 meters away from him, because we cant see it next to him on the picture in the middle. But in the very next picture in the bottom right, Kotaro already holds the tool in his hand. The tool is to far away to just grab it and its strange that Hori didnt draw a picture of Kotaro running or jumping for it. Its as if he left out a picture on purpose. And if you look closely you can see that it seems indeed as if the tool “jumped” or “flew” right into Kotaros hand and he closed it over the tool handle. Its also interesting to note that Kotaro holds it with his right hand, despite his left hand being nearer to it. Of course we could say its because he is right handed, but if you are in a situation like him, wouldnt it have been more logic to grab it with the hand that was nearer. That tells me he grabed it with his right hand, because that is the hand he is used to using his quirk with (and because he is most likely right handed). So if what we see here is indeed Kotaros quirk and the garden tool “jumped” into his hand on his own, I think we can all agree that this sounds suspicious similar to Inkos quirk, attraction of small objects, with which she also can make objects “fly” or “jump” into her hand and Nanas quirk is called “flow” after all, only that she makes herself flow and we dont know what the quirk of her husband was.

Fourth hint (now it starts to get interesting): “That was a demon that threw away her own children.” - Kotaro Shimura about his mother Nana.

Yeah you read it right. Here Kotaro says word for word that Nana threw away her “children”. Not child! Children! Plural! For someone who is supposed to be an only child, its very strange to speak in plural here. And the interesting thing is: he also uses plural in japanese. In japanese he says: “Kodomo o suteda kichikuda.” The translation for that is: “Its a devil/demon that throws away (her) children.” So its possible that Kotaro knew that he was about to become a big brother. The timeline suggests that when Nana gave Kotaro in foster care, she was already pregnant (the death of her husband was probably not long ago). Its spring at that time, because we see can see the Sakura blossoms fall. And Inko was born in summer. And if we look at Nana in that pictures, she looks indeed as if she gained weight. You could say its because of the coat, but even then she looks more “rounder” then normal and its also a little suspicious that Hori didnt draw her from the front. And from afar she really does a lot look like Inko, dont you think?

Also the building in the backgroud looks very similar to the house complex the midoriyas life in right know.

Fifith hint: Inkos birthday date.

Some of you may wonder now, whats so special about Inkos birthday date. Inkos birthday is on 4. July or 7.4. The special thing is in the translation of the numbers, because it translates into: seven (nana) and four (shi). 7.4. = nana shi. And if we consider that Hori loves to put informations about his characters in their names and birth dates, I think this is a pretty big hint from him.

Sixth hint: Parallels

Im pretty sure I forgot a few hints, but this were the ones that came right to my mind, so feel free to ad a few more if you can! 

P.s.: And lets face it. If dad for one is canon, we all know, afo would go after Nanas daughter, as soon as he finds out about her.