#have i ever drawn a successful comic in my life?

[the-cookie-of-doom]

me, possessed by delusions of grandeur as usual: I'm going to draw a jeffcest comic page

[burningvelvet]

Forever mourning the fact that most editions of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall are based on the edited 1854 Hodgson text and not the original 1848 Newby text (accessible via Internet Archive) and therefore most editions leave out the majority of the iconic 28th chapter. Aside from the opening letter of the novel, this is the other most important alteration of the text, and the other biggest section of the text to be omitted.

I believe the full original chapter gives us some of the best insight into Arthur’s thoughts as well as his relationship with Helen before it totally imploded. We can see her trying to bargain and rationalize her feelings for both Arthurs. Helen later says that the only reason she leaves Arthur is in order to protect their son, and in a way, this moment from the original chapter 28 is the catalyst of this decision, as no where else in the novel does Arthur blatantly explain his lack of paternal feeling. The last lines are especially brutal:

"If you were less selfish yourself, Arthur, you would not regard it in that light."

"Possibly not, love; but so it is; there's no help for it."

But the chapter isn’t only brutal. The crux of it is that it shows how at this point, Helen is still able to rationalize her feelings and her decision to remain with her abuser. She has not totally come to hate him yet. She still believes that his “jokes” are truly jokes, and he still cares enough to placate her into believing so. In a way, his awkwardness with their child is almost comical, but as the moment continues, it becomes more apparent that he’s exhibiting the traditional paternal behavior now known as “weaponized incompetence.” He isn’t a good father because he simply doesn’t want to be. He isn’t a good person because he doesn’t want to be. It is his own self-belief, it is his own self-will which guides him on this path.

This is why Helen’s belief in universal salvation, a huge theme of the novel, is so powerful. When Arthur is on his death bed and pleads with Helen: “Pray for me, Helen!” she replies, “I do pray for you, every hour and every minute, Arthur; but you must pray for yourself." We cannot save other people. She began her diary by declaring several times that she would “save him,” as we see in the following statement:

“I have such confidence in him, aunt, notwithstanding all you say, that I would willingly risk my happiness for the chance of securing his. I will leave better men to those who only consider their own advantage. If he has done amiss, I shall consider my life well spent in saving him from the consequences of his early errors, and striving to recall him to the path of virtue. God grant me success!"

But by the time she decides to leave Arthur, and perhaps more than ever on his death bed, she realizes one of the most important lessons in life there is to learn. We cannot save anyone but ourselves. To a lesser extent, we may also save our children when they are young, as she does by steering her young child away from his father and onto a healthier path in life. But eventually, they must learn to save themselves. In Anne’s discourse, saving one’s self entails a quite literal Christian salvation granted by God. However, I believe that many secular, humanist readings can be drawn from this rhetoric, even despite the implications of Arthur’s lack of faith (if not blatant atheism) contributing to his infectious degradation and death.

[grunkulous]

some lazy gideon sketches. He’s so hard to draw btw, if you haven’t tried drawing him for yourself yet give it a go and come feel the pain with me.

WARNING: incoherent analysis rant below, proceed at your own risk!!!

I’ve been struggling with drawing him for a while now, especially his hair and face, and I’ve been thinking about how his design has probably changed the most out of everyone. His appearance has always been incredibly inconsistent, and while it used to irk me (mostly because it makes it hard to find reliable drawing references) I’ve come to have an appreciation for every variation, and I’m starting to realize why they exist at all.

I don’t think there will ever be a completed or finalized version of gideon’s design, and it has to do with his oddly contradictory and complex personality/character.

On one hand, he’s a manipulative, cunning, vengeful, smooth-talking maniac. He owns an incredibly successful media company, of all things, and is a total dick to almost everyone around him, showing little care for his allies. Yet he’s also a romantic obsessive who can’t handle a rejection and goes through the effort of forming an entire league to control ramona’s love life despite not really seeming to even know why he bothers at this point.

But at the same time… he’s also a huge nerd and a hopeless loser who watches anime and binges junk food in his spare time, who ends up yielding to the first woman more assertive than he is. He’s kind of ridiculous, to put it simply, and every iteration has its own interpretation of the character.

It’s very difficult to capture all sides of his character in one, singular design because truthfully, gideon is one of the more complex characters in the series, having such an odd array of characterics that somehow just work, yet are nearly impossible to display all at once.

I think the best design so far is still the comic book version, which has a good overall balance between nerdy, business and crazed lunatic, but I think every design so far has its own strengths to boast, none of them really feeling… complete? if that makes sense? There’s something to like in every version, yet none have contained his full character. There is no perfect look for him. My own version that i’ve drawn feels a little too… soft for my liking. I don’t know how to visually communicate everything at once. You can only get the full picture by looking at every iteration.

in conclusion, character design is fucking hard. I have a great respect for anyone who has to make characters for a living.

[dukestewart]

I actually have a question, I'm wanting to start a webcomic at some point in the future myself, do you have any recommendations or advice for me?

Okay, I have a million things to say on the subject but to save you a lot of scrolling I’ll cut it down to the main things I wish I knew when starting my webcomic.

Don’t overprepare

It’s easy to fall into the trap of perfecting your art style or developing your character arcs before you actually, like, make the thing. The truth is you get diminishing returns on the pre-production phase, and too much planning will just waste your time. I once wrote an entire script and sketched out 200 pages for a graphic novel version of my webcomic Roundhouse, 90% of which is now redundant or contradictory. Probably took me hundreds of hours. Whoops. Make a basic plot line and some concept pictures by all means, you gotta start with something, but you’ll be much more motivated to make the comic when you’re already making it.

Collect references

This might sound kind of contradictory to my previous advice but bear with me. It’s important to prioritise creation over planning but gathering a compendium of your favourite artworks and writing techniques will save you time in the long run. If I’m ever stuck on how to draw a certain expression for example I know I have a folder full of expertly drawn faces to remind me how nostrils work. Personally I keep separate reference folders for colour, anatomy and character designs. Fantastic cure for artist’s block, swear by it.

Get someone to proofread

You have no idea how important it is to get a second opinion. No one in the history of media has ever been better off without a different pair of eyes to catch a mistake. They’ll see the obvious things you missed, a typo, a pacing issue, a joke that makes no sense… if you’re embarrassed to show it to anyone in your life then get an internet friend to have a look. Hell, I’ll have a look. Send me a message, I’m easy.

Even the most talented creators struggle to be seen

A good comic will always have a better chance of success than a crap one but that’s only a part of the equation. We’re forgetting our two troublesome neighbours, Monsieur Marketing and Lady Luck. It stinks, but we operate in an algorithm-based economy, and getting things out there takes a lot of hard research. I hate the marketing side of things, personally. I’d much rather make a page every week and not care whether it’s seen or not but such is the nature of capitalism that I have to try and monetise my work any way I can. Knowing someone in the business can’t hurt either.

Look, I’ll never be able to condense everything I know about webcomics in a single post so consider this my declaration to give advice to anyone who asks for it. Got a specific question about comics? Message me.

[redgoldsparks]

September Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese by Deya Muniz 

Lady Camembert is the only child of Count Camembert, but as a daughter she cannot inherit unless she marries. She refuses, and after her father's death takes up a different life in the capital city, far from her hometown: she pretends to be the male heir to her father's title. This feels like the perfect solution, except then she meets Princess Brie, and as feelings begin to develop between them, Cam despairs that her secret identity means she can never be anything more than friends with the Princess. This is a beautifully drawn book, sweet and silly, full of cheese puns and historical anachronisms.

The Yakuza’s Bias vol 1 by Teki Yatsuda 

Yakuza member Ken Kanashiro's life is changed when the daughter of the clan leader he works for takes him along to a kpop concert. Ken is moved by the kpop idol group's commitment, hard work, passion, and loyalty to each other and their fans. His introduction to fandom, and new social media friends, bring a breath of fresh air into his violent and dangerous life... and like most fervent fans, he starts trying to convince the people around him to stan the group to greater or lesser success. This manga series is very much in the same tone as Way of the House Husband but I appreciated the slightly longer chapters and the growing ensemble cast. It's a silly concept but with moments of genuine feeling as it shows how loving something can connect you to a whole new community.

Of Thunder and Lightning by Kimberly Wang

This is a beautiful, meta deconstruction of battle-robot manga; it plays with POV, with format, and theme. Two corporate nations struggle for dominance in a ruined world. Each spreads propaganda about the other; each has developed a pop-star like AI robot avatar, which battle each other in televised combat with custom costumes and snappy catch phrases. These robots, Magni and Dimo, exist only to destroy each other, but also find in each other their only equal. They both savor their violent encounters, but both are pushed by their creators and handlers to destroy the other. The story is half devastating elegance, half tongue-in-cheek satire. This title is most easily available through the publisher's website and I highly recommend it.

Blackward by Lawrence Lindell 

Four friends, Lika, Amor, Lala, and Tony, bonded in a bookclub over being Black, queer, weird and punk. They clearly see the need for a community space for folks like themselves, but struggle with how and where to build that space. After their first attempt is ruined by trolls, they ask for guidance from a local bookstore owner and zine fest organizer. So the idea for the Blackward Zine Fest is born, an event to showcase creativity, make new connections, and maybe even find dates. This book doesn't shy away from the negative sides of existing and creating as a minority in public, but it is also a celebration of friendship and community and the power of comics!

Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb read by Paul Boehmer 

What an exciting, explosive end to this trilogy! Fitz starts this book as low as a man can be, having returned from near death, with nearly every person who has ever known him believing him dead. He has to learn how to be human again, and learn how to care, and figure out his plans now that he has hypothetical total freedom. But the Red Ships are still pounding the Six Duchies shores, and Regal has withdrawn the strength and wealth of the Duchies inland. Verity is still missing on his endless quest. The beginning drags a little, but after the mid point of this book it is CONSTANT action and adventure, with so many twists and turns, and such a payoff at the end. If you like high fantasy, I highly recommend this series, and I'm so glad I chose to revisit it this summer.

I Thought You Loved Me by Mari Naomi

This is a long, thoughtful look at a friendship breakup, told through prose, letters, diary excerpts, collage, and comics. Mari met Jodie in high school where they bonded as rebellious teens seeking freedom from parental and academic rules. They loved the same music, both dropped out of school, and moved in the same circle of Bay Area folks for years. They were best friends- until Jodie cut Mari out of her life suddenly and unexpectedly. Years later, Mari was still trying to piece together what had happened, from lies, misunderstandings, secrets, affairs, communications lost in transit or responded to by the wrong recipient. Friendship breakups can be equally as devastating as romantic breakups- sometimes even more, as there's no societal norms on how to mourn them, and because we often expect friends to remain in our lives forever. This memoir was honest about how memory fades, how easy it can be to remember only the good or only the bad of a person colored through a specific lens, but also hopeful about the possibility of reconnection. No memoir is over while it's characters still live, and this one took more twists and turns than I was expecting! Beautiful and thought provoking.

Enemies by Svetlana Chmakova 

This fourth installment in the Berrybrook series is just as charming and warmhearted as the previous volumes. This one focuses on Felicity, an artist who struggles with time management and deadlines, and with comparisons to her hyper-organized, science-fair winning younger sister. Wanting to prove herself, Felicity joins a competition for kid entrepreneurs. But coming up with a winning idea proves more difficult than she expected, especially when her partner keeps suggesting completely impossible ideas. Also, one of her best friends from elementary school stopped talking to her and now glares daggers at Felicity and she has no idea why. It's hard to keep your head up in middle school with all of the swirling emotions, homework, personal projects, and still maintain high scores in the most popular new online multi-player combat game. But Felicity has the love and support of her family- all she has to do is be willing to ask for help.

Skip by Molly Mendoza

The art in this book is absolutely gorgeous, and the page layouts are stunning. The story opens with a child, Bloom, and a nonbinary adult, Bee, surviving in a post apocalyptic world. But Bee goes off to help a stranger and then Bloom falls through an Alice-in-Wonderland like rabbit hole into multiple different trippy, strange settings were they are generally much tinier than all the other inhabitants. There's a nice through line about friendship and trusting yourself, but ultimately I found the story too ungrounded and loose to have a deep emotional impact.

Alexander, The Servant and The Water of Life book 1 by Reimena Yee

I am so impressed by the scope, artistic skill, and inventiveness of this work! The author weaves together multiple, at times conflicting, tales of Alexander the Great. It's drawn in rich colors and a wide variety of styles, many of which reference specific historical manuscript traditions from medieval European to Islamic to East Asian. I love the way the flashbacks are worked into the frame narrative, I love the shifting art styles, I am awed by the size of this project. And you can read most of this first volume online for free here on the author's website.

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell read by Raphael Corkhill 

This is a creative and gripping follow up to Winter's Orbit. Set in the same larger universe but focusing on a new set of main characters in a new sector of space, this extremely slow burn romance is satisfyingly dense with military and political intrigue. Tennal is the nephew of the Legislator of Orshun; he's also a Reader, or someone who can telepathically read the emotions and surface thoughts of the people around him; he's also the black sheep of his family, a party boy and general fuck up. His aunt forces him into an army position with the intention of having him permanently mind-linked to an Architect, a soldier with the flip side of Tennal's skill- the ability to control people's minds. Tennal is horrified and begins to think of every possible way he can avoid this fate. But much larger forces are at play around him, from the mystery of a semi-destroyed scientific lab relocated in the middle of chaotic space, lies about the creation of Readers and Architects, and a coup in the making. This book is heavier on the sci-fi elements than the relationship progression, but that suited me just fine and I look forward to hopefully reading more installments in this series!

Sunshine by Jarrett J Krosoczka 

When author Jarrett Krosoczka was in high school he had the opportunity to volunteer for a week at a camp for kids with cancer, their siblings, and parents. Jarrett had no idea what to expect, but he packed his sketchbook and an open mind. The experience changed his outlook forever. He had his own problems back home: a family affected by addiction and absent parents which lead to him being raised by his grandparents. But in the company of children facing life-threatening illnesses his own concerns fell away. He built relationships with some families that lasted for decades after his time at the camp. Painted in soft gray with hints of yellow and orange, this book offers an honest look at families facing the very worst circumstances and still heading out into woods to find community, friendship, and a breath of peace at a nature camp.

The Out Side: Trans and Nonbinary Comics edited by The Kao 

A really charming collection of nonbinary and trans stories! Most focus on coming out, but a few talk about a later in the process piece of trans life, such as getting top surgery. I enjoyed seeing which pieces of the stories echoed each other, appearing universal, and which stood out as unique to an individual's experience.

Hard Reboot by Django Wexler read by Morgan Hallett 

Set far in the future, this sci-fi novella follows a researcher from an extra-terrestrial human settlement on a scientific tourist trip back to "Old Earth". A misunderstanding leads to her accepting a very large bet on the outcome of a mecha battled, and when she losses and can't pay, she has to team up with a mecha fighter to try and win the next round to get her money back. I was able to predict the majority of the twists of this story within the first quarter of the book, but it was still fairly entertaining as a short audiobook listen.

Best. Ceremony. Ever: How to Make the Serious Wedding Stuff Unique by Christopher Shelley 

I just officiated a wedding for the first time in my life, and this book (while cheesy) did actually help me get started writing the ceremony speech. It gave me the general outline of the beats I needed to hit, and some smart ideas of little touches or moments to include. The book is very inclusive of same-sex couples, which I really appreciated. Its also padded out with a completely unnecessary 50 page glossary of terms, so I only really read/skimmed the first three quarters of it, but I'd still recommend it if you are either planning or officiating a wedding.

[supernaturalfreakout]

Gravity

[History on Your Side—Chapter 5.] Sam Winchester x Reader

Chapter summary: After the success of the ritual, the three of you go out to celebrate and the connection between you and Sam deepens. *Please see the masterlist for entire work summary and tags* Masterlist | Read on AO3

The drive back to Lawrence was filled with Dean’s classic tunes blasting through the speakers. You couldn't help but join in with his infectious energy, laughter bubbling from the high of the success at the woodland. The brothers were surprised to find that you shared some taste in music with Dean, although preferring the more progressive side of 80's rock.

"I didn't take you for a Rush fan" Dean observed with a grin, turning his head towards you in the back seat.

You smirked. "There's a lot you don't know about me, boys."

"Well, we'll have to tease some secrets out of you tonight then, right Sammy?"

Sam chuckled, a glint in his eye. "Oh, absolutely."

The Impala pulled up to a bar that you suggested, not far from your home. It was in a quaint spot, dimly lit with a rustic charm that made it the perfect place for a celebratory drink. The bar was busy, but not rowdy, filled with the clinking of glasses and murmurs of lively conversation. Dean immediately took charge, ordering a round of drinks for you all.

Still unable to contain his energy, Dean challenged you both to a game of pool, his competitive nature coming to the surface. Sam, ever the strategist, offered pointers while sipping his drink, occasionally joining in with a smooth shot that surprised you all. You on the other hand, well… pool was not your forte. This amused the boys to no end.

Another round of drinks came, and Dean ordered food for the table. Conversation flowed as Sam and Dean shared stories from past hunts, the weight of the evening’s events momentarily forgotten. Their stories were a mix of heart-pounding adventures and comical mishaps, each tale drawing you in further. You found yourself laughing along, reveling in the shared joy. In the midst of the shared laughter, you caught Sam stealing glances your way. There was a silent understanding in those moments, a connection beyond words that spoke volumes.

As you settled into the confines of a booth, the atmosphere felt different, more relaxed and intimate. Dean noticed the unspoken connection between you and his brother and skillfully excused himself, engaging the bartender in lively conversation.

Alone now, save for the ambient buzz of the bar, you and Sam found yourselves drawn into an easy conversation, sharing stories and exchanging smiles, the air brimming with an undeniable chemistry. Sam appeared genuinely interested to learn more about your life, and you about his.

"So, have you always lived in Kansas?" Sam questioned, taking another sip of his beer.

"No actually, I grew up in Virginia. A small town called Mystic Falls".

Sam looked at you blankly.

You chuckled, "I don't expect you to have heard of it, nothing exciting happens there."

Sam smiled. "Mystic Falls... Sounds cozy."

"Yeah, you could say that." Your heart fluttered as you felt the weight of Sam's gaze, his attention focused completely on you.

In that moment, your phone started to buzz on the table. You glanced down at the caller ID - Bonnie. You decided not to answer, flicking on Do Not Disturb.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's just my friend, Bonnie. She's probably wanting to tell me about her date... She can wait." You smiled cheekily, putting your phone in your jacket pocket and turned towards Sam. "So...enough about me. I want to hear about you! Where's this mysterious bunker you live in?"

"Lebanon... Not far from here actually, just a few hours' drive. It's a pretty strategic location, right in the center of the country, which is pretty ideal for our line of work, and for the Men of Letters before us."

"Huh, makes sense... I still can't believe you live in the Men of Letters headquarters, that's crazy!"

"I'm sure I could convince Dean to let you see it at some point… you know, for your research… if you wanted?"

You smiled, meeting Sam's eyes. "I'd love that."

Your shared gaze held a subtle acknowledgment of the budding connection between you. Sam's tentative proposal felt like an invitation to something more than just a tour of a secret hideout—a chance to bridge the gap between your worlds.

As the night deepened, the connection between you grew like a magnetic pull, his presence an enchanting force gently drawing you nearer, the closeness inevitable, yet beautifully mesmerizing.

"Do you go back much? Back home?"

"Yeah, quite a lot- my parents are still there, I like to help them out as often as I can, and I have a great bunch of friends still in the town."

Sam nodded, listening to you intently. "You sound like you had a good life there."

"Yeah, I um... I moved to Lawrence when I started my doctoral studies, and just ended up staying. I miss my friends... But the opportunities here were better and the University are really good to me."

Sam nodded, thoughtfully.

"What about you? Do you see much of your family? You mentioned something about a family business?"

Sam's gaze dropped to where his hands were resting on the table, a hint of grief behind his eyes as he sighed a half-smile.

"Dean's my only family....well... the only family I have left." He looked up at you with a faux smile, attempting to hide the pain he felt from the memories that had plagued his whole life, but his eyes betrayed him. He had always been bad at hiding his feelings when he'd been drinking.

You felt the grief in his words, and the look in his eyes made a well of sadness form in your stomach. "Oh, Sam, I'm sorry... I never meant-"

He cut you off. "Stop... Please don't apologize."

"I'm s.... okay." You had to cut yourself off from apologizing for apologizing.

Sam fiddled with his watch and took a deep breath before speaking. "Our mom died when I was a baby... She was killed by a demon... We lost our father a few years ago... it's complicated... And kinda the reason why we do what we do."

You didn't know what to say. You couldn't think of any words that could do justice to what he just told you, so you reached out to him, placing your hand gently on his forearm, a gesture of compassion and understanding.

Sam's eyes met yours as he gave you a half smile, placing his opposite hand upon yours.

He brushed his fingers over your knuckles in unspoken reciprocation, his touch feather-light but purposeful.

This is the first time he has touched you intentionally, you realized, and he felt electric.

He gently parted your fingers with his, twining his hand against yours in an unexpectedly intimate gesture.

In that moment the world stopped spinning.

You could no longer hear the bustle around you, your attention completely zoned in on him.

You sat like that, hands clutching onto each other for what felt like an eternity.

You started to feel woozy. It wasn't from the alcohol.

Heat rose to the surface of your skin, snapping you out of your haze as you became increasingly lightheaded.

"Hey, um… it's getting a bit stuffy in here… fancy a walk?" You slowly relax your hand out of his grip and straighten up in your seat, acutely aware of the blush staining your cheeks.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Sam's eyes snapped back into reality from his glassy haze. He scanned the room, searching for Dean as he rose out of the booth, but he was nowhere to be seen. He checked his watch, completely disorientated to the time. 11:31pm. How long had Dean been gone? He had no idea.

The brisk November chill offered instant relief, cooling your skin and calming your nerves.

Sam slung his jacket over his shoulder with a grateful sigh, also clearly enjoying the cooling sensation.

You walked slowly, side by side, the weight of your earlier interaction on your minds.

You looked up at Sam beside you. "Hey, I really appreciate your openness in there. You didn't have to-"

Sam cut you off, softly. "I wanted to... I… It's hard to keep things bottled up all the time. I have to be strong, for Dean…". He glanced down at you. "Thank you for being there".

You smiled softly. "Of course."

As you walked, you tried to grapple with the feelings you were having. You liked Sam. That was clear. He seems kind, and is clearly intelligent... Not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. What harm could it do, huh?

A kaleidoscope of butterflies flapped their wings in your stomach as you tentatively invited Sam back to yours for 'coffee'.

"Coffee? You sure we need caffeine right now?" Sam laughed, playing it cool. Must not appear too keen...

"I have decaf" you countered, with a cheeky smile. Is he serious?

Sam chuckled softly at your quip, a subtle smirk tugging on his lips. “Decaf sounds perfect”.

Under the moonlit sky, a comfortable silence settled between you, the presence of Sam beside you a quiet comfort, but you couldn't suppress the flutter of anticipation in your stomach.

A yawn escaped your lips, your lack of sleep finally catching up with you. Or was it because you were nervous? It was hard to tell.

You let out a small chuckle, apologizing for your yawn. "Sorry..."

Sam chuckled back with an amused smile. "Come on, let's get you home..."

---

As you stepped into the warm haven of your home, a comforting embrace of familiar scents and soft lighting welcomed you. You brewed two cups of coffee and settled on the sofa in the lounge.

With each passing minute, the barrier of formality dissolved as you shared thoughts, dreams, and fears. Stolen glances and tender touches punctuated the moments, the magnetic pull between you impossible to ignore.

As the clock ticked past midnight, a subtle tension crackled in the air, a grounding reminder of the night slipping away.

You shifted closer, your knee grazing his thigh, his arm resting behind you.

Sam's gaze rose to your eyes, then dropped to your lips.

Your behaviors unconsciously mirrored his, the two of you completely in sync. He was the earth, and you were the moon, completely bound in his orbit.

Your hand slowly rose to his face to gently brush a lock of hair from his eyes.

"Y/N, I...." Sam breathed as he gazed at your mouth.

"Stop." You mirrored his earlier words as you cut him off with a gentle press of your lips to his.

His lips were soft and warm against yours, and he tasted of coffee.

You slowly pulled back to search his eyes. "Tell me if I'm wrong" you whispered, brows furrowing slightly.

His breathless reply brushed against your lips as he drew you closer. "You're not wrong" he rasped, a confirming murmur against your skin as he crushed his lips to yours.

Chapter 6

[burins]

it's time for my big books of the year roundup! gonna do a separate post for graphic novels/comics bc there were simply soooo many of those this year. bolded are my particular favorites

JANUARY

The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability: For All of Us Who Live with Disabilities, Chronic Pain, and Illness by Cory Silverberg, Fran Odette, Miriam Kaufman (reread)

The World We Make by NK Jemisin

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (audio)

The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal

FEBRUARY

The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness: An Empathy-Driven Approach to Solving Problems, Preventing Conflict, and Serving Everyone by Ryan Dowd

Libraries and Homelessness: An Action Guide by Julie Ann Winkelstein

Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane (audio)

MARCH

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (audio)

The Stars Undying by Emery Robin (audio)

APRIL

Babel: An Arcane History by RF Kuang (audio)

Get Inside: Responsible Jail and Prison Library Service by Nicholas Higgins

MAY

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K LeGuin (audio)

The Dispossessed by Ursula K LeGuin (audio)

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler

Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America by Mayukh Sen (audio)

The Betrayals by Bridget Collins (audio)

Paper Bead Jewelry: Step-by-Step Instructions for 40+ Designs by Keiko Sakamoto

JUNE

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (audio)

Translation State by Ann Leckie

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Happy Place by Emily Henry

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera

JULY

Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life by Alice Wong (audio)

SEPTEMBER

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 

The Sundial by Shirley Jackson (audio)

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan (audio)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

NOVEMBER

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (audio)

Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape by Raja Shehadeh (audio)

Where the Line Is Drawn: A Tale of Crossings, Friendships, and Fifty Years of Occupation in Israel-Palestine by Raja Shehadeh (audio)

DECEMBER

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane (audio)

Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman by Greg Grandin (audio)

Golda Slept Here by Suad Amiry

The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchens

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

below the cut, some writeups for my faves:

Wolf Hall - it's not news but Hilary Mantel is among the best to ever do characterization in just a few sentences

The Future Is Disabled - emerging from the rage & fear of being disabled during COVID lakshmi piepzna-samarasinha never lets us forget the joys of disabled community

Libraries and Homelessness - this is partly a spite pick bc i HATED ryan dowd’s book so much. this is an empathetic and practical guide to providing services to unhoused patrons that encourages community partnership, is full of examples, and isn’t miserably condescending!

Underland - i liked this so much i wrote a cave scene in timkon road trip fic. The texture of the prose is delicious!

The Stars Undying - i don’t actually know the story of antony and cleopatra very well but this was a very tasty space opera with messy messy characters

The Lathe of Heaven - still thinking about this 7 months later! Every year I read a LeGuin and it knocks me on my ass for the rest of the year. The opening scene is one of the best things I’ve ever read. (I liked The Dispossessed very very much but I loved Lathe.)

Mimicking of Known Successes - delightful noir-flavored scifi, great worldbuilding and equally great exes.

Some Desperate Glory - do you ever leave a cult against your will, and also you’re the worst girl in the world! This one is for all the clementine kesh fans. Breakneck.

The Haunting of Hill House - this was a great year for me to read books written 50+ years ago. I tweeted about it when i read it but ooghhghhgh this book is devastating. What if you got everything you ever wanted and finally felt at home and everyone called it evil.

Where the Line is Drawn - this was my second book by Shehadeh and it never shies away from the thorniness and hurt inherent in human relationships formed amidst occupation. Really, really excellent.

Kissinger’s Shadow - concisely unravels the ways Kissinger’s legacy shapes every part of US foreign policy you’ve ever heard of. Also really gets at the paranoid ouroboros of Kissinger’s personal philosophy.

Golda Slept Here - the legacy of several Palestinian houses, told through an eclectic mix of personal narratives, photographs, and occasional poetry. Funny and angry and heartbreaking.

[zacki0gaming]

The PCC Comic + HOPE Series Are Masterpieces? (Absolutely Not!)

Before I Start

This is going to contain Major Spoilers, Disturbing Topics, Etc (You have been warned).

Greetings everyone! I am continuously providing reviews of both continuations of the episodes and ranting. Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to express my thoughts on the comic titled "Pink Corruption Continued" or PCC for short (which is canon btw) and the HOPE series. If I must briefly describe these two, I must say that it felt more like it was "another waste of my fucking time".

The content, more often than not, felt like I was listening to a fanfiction OC fetish that I could typically find on websites, such as Wattpad or Archive Of Our Own.

This is generally insulting in this franchise that it does an incredible successful endeavor to make me feel miserable. The HOPE series felt very empty and the PCC comic NEVER tries to make it feel "canon" and I wasn't even satisfied to the "slightest" on how this entire current 23 page comic went.

In advance of offering my critique, I would like to acknowledge a noteworthy statement that was shared by a YouTuber named "Upper Echelon," which I wholeheartedly concur with: "Human beings can be manipulated through cheap and shallow tricks." Within storytelling, whether it be in a game, novel, or other media format, individuals can be emotionally manipulated and misled by poorly-written narratives. Regrettably, creators may intentionally introduce characters who are supposed to be perceived by the audience as cool and instantly likable. Yet... Objectively speaking, this approach offers characters that are often somewhat forced into the storyline without adequate development or proper characterization. This can be interpreted as an "act of manipulation" towards the audience to forcefully evoke sympathy for these characters. Remember this because this almost happened twice for me with one of ArtofSoup's OC characters when I initially read the PCC comic for the first time that I'm going to talk about later on.

Here is what I'm going to do here before starting reviewing the entire comic:

Firstly, I'm going to explain the drama, controversaries, and the old cancellations to the best of my ability from what I can remember.

Next, about the comic, I'm going to be explaining all of the characters I've seen having ages changed, the canon ships, etc.

Thirdly, I'll be discussing additional screenshots of potential ideas that were supposedly going to be incorporated into the comic that were from discord.

Fourthly, I will be starting reviewing the entire comic by dividing the pages into 4 separate categories: Pages 1 -5 (First), Page 6-9 (Second), Page 10 - 15 (Third), and Page 16-23 (Final).,

Fifthly, I'm going to be actually discussing the "HOPE" series too because why not.

And finally, I'm going to give off my final conclusion for all of this.

Drama, Controversaries, & Old Cancellations

I can confidently say that this entire franchise's downfall is well-deserved in my opinion.

For the sake of brevity, I will succinctly address the Pink Corruption Drama because this will go down in my opinion, the most stupidest and hypocritical drawn-out drama I have ever seen in my life... All of this started because of disgusting pornographic fanart from Brittany's sister, Brea...

It is repulsive, nonsensical, and ironically hypocritical. If you want even further context on this, I will be providing links to videos, etc about the drama and allegations itself. I'm not joking, some of you people don't realize how DEEP this rabbit hole goes...

To clarify, the Pink Corruption Series used to reach its peak back in 2019 to early 2020, specifically talking about the amount of views Season 1, Episode 3 has on Brea's channel. 3.1 million views... (Probably only because the JSAB game was very popular back at this time). However, Brittany's sister, Brea, uploaded several videos discussing canceling the series but, I couldn't remember the main reason why.

This action here was the beginning of "the downfall of the entire fanchise of the Pink Corruption Series". This also most likely caused the drastic decline in viewership for the series, going from receiving millions of views to approximately 10,000 or more views in the subsequent months.

In early 2020, with insights from Bubby Aurora's "Telling My Tale" google document, the "drama," or "great schism" as some call it, began in early 2020. Brittany's sister, Brea, had been writing pornographic fanfiction for the series and constantly showed it to Brittany. This made Brittany so uncomfortable that she felt compelled to cancel the series.

In early 2020, the infamous drama, or "great schism" as some call it, began. The catalyst for this event can be traced back to insights gained from Bubby Aurora's Google document titled "Telling My Tale." At the heart of the conflict was Brittany's sister, Brea, who had been making pornographic fanfiction for the series and continuously showed it to Brittany. This caused significant discomfort for Brittany, leading her to make the difficult decision to cancel the series. (Keep this in open mind later on).

At the time, ArtofSoup and Brittany used to be friends at this time period, but I didn't fully understand what was happening behind the scenes. Because of this friendship, Brittany Robinson gave her permission and consent for ArtofSoup to continue the series in the form of a web-comic. Ecstatically, ArtofSoup began writing their comic, "Pink Corruption Continued." (I'll explain the events surrounding this in more detail after discussing the current topic.)

However, things started to fall apart when Brittany supposedly cut off contact, shit talked ArtofSoup behind their back, and continued to create episodes (that were non-canon, NOT CANON)... Without their consent... This eventually led Brittany Robinson to intentionally create the "Non-Canon Continuation of the Pink Corruption Series" on youtube, "Season 1, Episode 6 to recent". Due to this happening, Brittany Robinson started to blatantly steal ideas from ArtofSoup's work into the non-canon continuation, which infuriated ArtofSoup.

The most important links I can possibly provide for this:

Telling My Tale - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VcQcbdEQwRxJPiWgI8BZFwj8d0GtmjzC0R3ASOSzrls/edit "Telling My Tale" is a document drafted by a user named "Bubby Aurora / Mzoyagon." It recounts both her personal experiences within the fandom and people who she used to be friends with such as the current creator of the series, “ArtOfSoup” (formerly known as (Quadragon, ItzFriday). It also deals with other disturbing and horrible topics she encounters such as grooming, stalking, spying, doxxing, etc. ArtofSoup also traumatized her since she was 12 years old at that time because of it.

Lucas' Lies - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ci_EhXiI6pndj1g-T3Kfy-YgwBd0UVgD was a Google Drive that was established by "ArtOfSoup," formerly known as "Quadragon" and "ItzFriday," the current creator of "The Pink Corruption Series." The contents of the account included inadvertent conversations between Brittany's sister, Brea and ArtOfSoup, and allegedly stole ideas derived from both Brittany and Brea without their consent. Moreover, tons of screenshots and proof about it, showing Brittany Robinson lying behind ArtOfSoup’s back. 

Reasons why LucasTheDubber shouldn't upload on BreaBear Jone's channel - https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sr33b0 This was one I found from a website I've never seen before on the Internet called, "TwitLonger". It was created by a user named, "RPG_Animator_Mi" for reasons of Brittany's sister, Brea just trying to suck in all of the attention and money they can, and using Brittany herself as a vacuum. The list that he created has 7 here, some are possible evidence that Breabear is directing Lucas and some are things that are definitely wrong. However, all of these links in the list aren't going to be accessible to you all.

Pink Corruption Youtube is in DANGER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXP-EGwa63A This Youtube video revolves about two things, Identity impersonation and copyright infringement related issues. This was because of Brittany's sister, Brea, "who is alleged to have posed as her sister, Brittany in order to issue copyright strikes against fan videos of The Pink Corruption series from other Youtubers, whom are in the fanbase". The issue happened with the removal of translated versions, including "Russian", of content from the series. From the video itself, the situation escalated when a favored Youtuber within the community, known as "Heck Island" (whoever remembers this person), faced the termination of their YouTube channel due to repeated copyright strikes. Notably, these strikes were attributed to her sister, Brea alleged to be impersonating Brittany Robinson. The videos that were listed on Heck Island's channel were taken down because, "they were just regular memes videos".

Furthermore, remember what I said on why this is also comes off hypocritical too? Well... I would consider Brittany Robinson, a fucking hypocrite herself because of this. According to the "My Channel Intro 2022!" Video on Brittany Robinson's channel, toward the end of the video, this is where I initially see Brittany comes to "her sister's defense against long-term bullying because of the people harassing her online". Moreoever, she expresses a zero-tolerance policy toward negative commentary regarding her sister, which she will go to lengths of blocking you "if you say something bad about her sister", possibly for the ones about her being a groomer.

Brittany coming to her sister's defense over this shit is absolutely unacceptable. However, the gravity of the situation cannot be understated because IT'S... STILL... FUCKED... UP!!!

I could talk even further about Brittany's hypocrisy. Remember what I said about how the drama originally started back in early 2020 because of Brea shoehorning her Pink Corruption pornographic work into Brittany's face? Well... I have a screenshot of Brittany Robinson, "calling her sister's disgusting Pink Corruption work, "Cute" with a heart emote".

I can prove this further when "Pipythecat205" says in this response on the Pink Corruption discord that "Lucas just doesn't seem to care". Yet, Pipy... Is right... Brittany Robinson doesn't give a shit ALL THIS TIME and still supports her sister from this.

The Drama's Central Query So let me tell you yall something... If Brittany Robinson does actually love and care about sister, actively defends her over online harassment from other people, and has recently developed a tolerance for her sister's contentious disgusting contributions to the "Pink Corruption" series—the catalyst for the drama. What the fuck... was the legitmate point of this all happening in the first place then...???

Final Verdict On The Drama, Controversaries, & The Old Cancellations

Overall, perspectively speaking, Brittany Robinson is a straight-up hypocrite, a fake friend, and perhaps a disgusting individual. She went from being ham-fisting crude pornographic depictions of the Pink Corruption Series by Brea. Into terrible lengths to allegedly steal ideas without that person's consent for her non-canon continuation, false relationships, block people on Youtube (probably the ones, who know about the drama), and for some unknown reason, "likes Brea's content now"...

Her sister wanted to shove porn art of fanfiction TPC crap up to Brittany's face, abusing the copyright system to take down TPC Fan videos from other Youtubers who watched this series, etc.

This entire drama is remarkably atrocious in a tumultuous and regrettable manner. Brittany Robinson and her sister, Brea wanted to deliberately cause their downfall of the entire series in the most disingenuous, hypocritical, and ridiculous way. And they succeeded at it...

I'm finally done talking about this shit... I know there's more to discuss, but I've decided to focus on the most important points here in the entire drama. There were more videos about the drama itself, but unfortunately, the ones I used to watch have been already removed from YouTube.

Character Ages

After finally discussing what I know about the Drama, now we discuss the age changes made by ArtofSoup themselves. In one of the current creator's posts on the canon wiki, I had to scroll down to find the canon ages post. According to the post, it is quite clear that ArtofSoup changed the caretakers' ages.

The Caretakers' ages before being changed: (Pretty much confirmed from Brittany Robinson's old twitter account)

Pyrare - 1000+

Pentellow - 24

Iris - 25

Cube - 19

The Caretakers' ages after being changed from the current creator, ArtofSoup:

Pyrare - 45

Pentellow - 20

Iris - 21

Cube - 16-17

Please keep this in mind, because I’ll bring this up again later to provide more context by combining this with the canon ships, including the other characters as well. Now, here are the other characters whose ages have been changed:

Dub - ? (I don't know why he's age has a question mark because Brittany Robinson confirmed that all monster shapes have longevity for being 1000+ years old)

Ajaceare - 19

George - 22

Challenge - 19 (soon 20)

Teroblast - 22

Sitbnite - 15

It is likely that ArtofSoup knew about the previous ages for the Caretakers and then changed their ages for the continuation. Also, an issue with this is that the is is clear that there is a minor lore change I noticed ArtofSoup made... It was to the species' lore. They removed the monster shapes' ability for longevity, giving them instead a normal lifespan like normal shapes.

The Ships

Now we're gonna talk about the canon ships. According to the canon wiki's posts, I found a screenshot of at some point on Youtube, ArtofSoup (Formerly known as QuadragonX on their channel's name), confirmed at least 6 ships. Let me briefly state my thoughts about these ships.

Dub x Cuda (Barracuda) - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship, also I don't have anything to say about this.

Cintagon x Circumsphere - One of those type of ships that I generally feel so confused on why people shipped these two in the first place because clearly there hasn't been any potential romantic tension between these two.

Cube x Lythorus - I don't ship these two because I see their relationship perfectly working as "childhood best friends".

Ajaceare x George - George has a fucking wife and children since Season 1, Episode 1...

Pentellow x Iris - I'm not going to explain this insufferably generic lovey-dovey couple ship...

Squadril x Marcle - I don't see a lot of people talking about this ship but, I ship it nonetheless.

I'm starting to feel like I don't have a huge taste in romance anymore. It's still fine. :/

Anyway, if we combine the age changing and the ships together, ArtofSoup made it feel disconcerting and perhaps disgusting because of two ships on the list. The ones I'm talking about on this list is, Ajaceare x Geroge and Cube x Lythrous ship. Before you all start talking shit, none of this has to do with me being a homophobe or anything, let me please explain why...

Ajaceare x George Ship

Let's first talk about Ajaceare x George ship. Considering that this ship isn't even close to being decently popular, since Season 1, Episode 1, it has been pretty much confirmed that Lythorus was talking with George himself before he turned into a corrupt. He had a "martial family with a wife, son, and a daughter".

We don't know how old Geroge was before the comic came out besides being confirmed 22 by only the current creator, not Brittany herself. In light of this, it seems that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted George to "secretly divorced his family, thereby opting to pursue a romantic relationship with an unattractive cyclops female monster cube". Crazy, right?

Cube x Lythorus Ship

Now we'll talk about Cube x Lythorus ship. I generally feel like they wanted Cube to be shipped with a character like I said about Lythorus's entire characterization in my Season 1, Episode 2 rant "who is so incredibly forgettable in the series that was left in a coffin for about 6 years by now, and a cardboard cutout leader who shows a level of incompetency for not having any reinforcements". But wait... Here's what I found out...

I could pretty much say that Brittany Robinson confirmed the caretakers' ages, including Cube being 19 years on her old twitter account before it was taken down. In all 31 states, a minor is referred to as someone under the age of 18. So basically, I thankfully got a screenshot of Brittany Robinson confirming that Lythrous is actually 20 years old from a QnA on her channel before it was taken down because of the recent short cancellation of her non-canon continuation of the series. We can pretty much agree that Lythorus was this old before the comic and the drama came out.

So theoretically, what I'm trying to say here: ArtofSoup never confirmed Lythrous's age being changed on their canon age post on the wiki. So, if I'm possibly correct on this and ArtofSoup likely knowing about the caretakers' previous ages, they would be changing Cube's age from being 19 to a minor (a 16-17 year old) just for him to be shipped with a fully grown adult (a 20 year old flower) in the canon continuation. If that's the case, then we have a damn problem here guys because it is a 5-4 age gap... Might as well have to give Cube a different main love interest than in the comic...

Sexualities

Also, I found a screenshot of the characters' sexualities for the canon. I don't have a lot to say about this. :/

Final Verdict for the canon ships & sexualities, and characters' ages being changed

None of this has to do with the characters' sexual orientations or anything like that. Overall, what I'm saying about this is that the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted characters like George, who has been canonically married with a loving family since Season 1, Episode 1, to be in love with Ajaceare, and changing up the lore for the monster shapes just for them to be get rid of the ability of longevity. Furthermore, ArtofSoup could also potentially involve changing characters' ages into minors so that they can be shipped with fully grown adult characters like I said for Cube and Lythorus. I can't say for sure whether this is the case, because I don't have much evidence to support it. But it's possible based on what I've covered up.

Potential Lore Changes

Despite my previous discussion about Monster Shapes losing their ability to have longevity, I found another screenshot that has happened since 2022. These were possibly future ideas for the canon continuation itself for the current creator to use if that's the case.

So technically, they are 9 here and let me tell you something. Some of these feel uninteresting or pretty weird. Although I do find some that are potentially good for the comic.

The idea of granting the Tree of Life the power to send prophetic dreams to shapes, offering glimpses into their future, is an intriguing concept that adds supernatural abilities to the trees themselves. However, on the other hand, I find this other idea for the Tree of Life to be quite ridiculous. Having the Tree of Life become bored and cause all sorts of mischief for its own entertainment feels completely out of character. I generally don't like the idea of the Tree of Life having potentially negative motives, as it doesn't make sense to me.

Making LGBTQ+ jokes that confuse some other shapes like I don't care about this...

Also, having Heroes such as Cyan, who is canonically a 0 years powerful childlike being start cussing, especially saying the world "fuck" while improperly maturing is just pretty uncomfortable... Imagine seeing Cube hear his hero start cussing while in his sudden mature state... Like, these heroes are so precious to be starting to swear tbh...

Let's FINALLY Discuss This Comic Now!

Front Cover

First off, we get a simple, yet terrible front cover. Just look at this shit...

I can already tell that the current creator is a "straight-up Iris simp" who made Iris "the pretend main lead of him being the only one to fight Dub in this front cover" instead of including the other caretakers and heroes with him. I'm getting sick of tired of these people having this sort of "Iris Simp Fetish", trying to make Iris act as if he's the coolest character and should've been the main protagonist of the series because very clearly he's definitely not in my opinion...

Second, it seemed like the current creator, ArtofSoup implemented some kind of dumb Iris vs. Dub fanart that they found somewhere on the internet for the front cover instead. (I know it's the creator's digital artwork but, come on...)

Anyway, now let's talk about the pages. (I'm not going to be discussing a lot here due to it feeling short because of the length of these pages).

Pages 1-5

On the first page, the story continues after the opening scene of Season 1, Episode 6 left off, as it originally shows Cube losing his grip from his grabbing claw while trying to stop Cyan from searching Ajaceare while he was in his sudden mature form once again.

On page 2, as the trio (Cube, Cintagon, and Iris) continues to plummet to the ground, Iris says that he can't teleport while falling, and even if he could, it likely wouldn't help save him and the others. (Well, I don't understand this part about why Iris can't teleport while falling. Perhaps ArtofSoup was trying to establish a "weakness" here for Iris's teleportation ability, but it feels very vague to me).

While this part was still ongoing, I'm not fucking joking, this was so unexpected that this happened in "THE SECOND PAGE"!! One of ArtofSoup's OC characters named, "Challenge" came out of nowhere alongside Orange because he randomly found this dude?!

On page 3, Orange screamed out Iris's name as he noticed him with Cube and Cintagon still plummeting toward the ground. Challenge quickly came up with a plan with Orange to split up so they could catch more of them. Challenge and Orange then starts zooming down toward the trio to save them.

On page 4, when Challenge grabs Cube's hands, (He does the 200 pound joke like how Lythorus did in Season 1, Episode 2 toward Cube. This reference right now for me is cheap, amateurish, and not funny at all and it's only there to be this perhaps stupid exaggeration for Cube to be called FAT) due to Challenge carrying Cube from his hands. Wow ArtofSoup, I don't think it's the best time to be doing this right about now.

On page 5, this is where the entire pacing goes all over the place... It abruptly skips ahead to Squadril, who is suddenly captured by Dub and Flower Corrupts.(In a confusing turn of events, I was... Being showcased a fucking completely new and seemingly OC character - a random inverted triangle—whom Orange somehow met at some point in page 2. And now, this story then abruptly shifts to Squadril's perspective, where we find him being held captive at Dub's base with no explanation... What...?)

Dub, who was satisfied by Cyan being out of the way for his future plans. (I swear to fucking god... I hate this plot device that this series gave Cyan. Cyan's sudden mature form "ISN'T DOING ANYTHING FOR CYAN'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!! IT'S ONLY THERE TO BE A "FRUSTRATING NUISANCE" TOWARD THE OTHER CHARACTERS, ESPECIALLY HIS CARETAKER, CUBE THAT'S IT!!") Oh my god...

BTW, CYAN WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN FOR THE REST OF THE COMIC...

Behind Dub, two corrupted flowers called him by "Boss" show Squadril being held captive all of a sudden. Squadril then tells them to back off as he won't surrender to them. This won't help Squadril as Dub then corrupts him in the process.

Alright, so... not off to a good start for me. The first five pages already have pacing issues, with OC characters randomly appearing and a touch of overused comedic references from the canon episodes that aren't funny at all for the dish. What a disgusting meal...

Pages 6 - 9

On page 6, we see Dub still processing on fixing Squadril while turning him into a corrupt. While fixing him, Dub screamed out George's name, wanting to know where George was. George was seen presumably hiding and (starts to be the only mouthless flower corrupt showing emotion...) Answer me anyone... WHERE THE HELL did this development come from???

On page 7, Cube and Iris were safely landed back down to the ground with the help of Challenge and Orange while Cintagon completely landed onto a tree branch from impact (Hey Orange, why can't you use your telekinesis on Cintagon too???). Iris then says nice work to his hero, Orange. (Lets pause here...)

Major Issue: Iris's Entire Characterization Being Changed

From a post I found out about Page 7 from the current creator, one of the information about this page is that ("Iris has more emotion than just "smug").

I actually have more evidence to go along with this which is from the Halloween Comic, ArtofSoup created on DeviantArt.

From the Halloween comic itself, Iris does a prank on Cube by using pink paint to disguise himself to make Cube think that he got infected. After Cube found out that Iris was pranking him, he didn't find this funny (Iris... Your sense of humor will always fucking suck bro to this day... Get a life dude...). Iris even "actually apologizes to Cube from the prank", which is so weird for me because of his sudden change of character.

You really think that Iris was this kind and friendly enough from the way Brittany portrayed it, who has fucked up demeanors? THINK AGAIN FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP!!!

Overall, this also implies that ArtofSoup also made Iris's personality more apologetic and nicer now. So... takes a sip of cold coke You're telling me that your making Iris's whole characterization and personality more mellow and likable now all of a sudden without even giving him any sort of meaningful character development for him to be acting this way...??? Bruh...

THIS WAS NOT EARNED!!!

Btw, that Halloween short comic just basically shows just like I said, how fucking pathetic Iris's sense of humor is toward the other characters.

Back To The Comic

Back to Page 7, Challenge, Iris, and Orange notice Poly Village unknowingly being destroyed that being up with pink flames coming out of the burned houses from some unknown corrupt. WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS COMIC?!?! DID AN FUCKING DRAGON BURN THE ENTIRE VILLAGE DOWN????

On page 8, we get to introduce another OC character.... (where the hell are these characters even coming from, bro...) that comes out of nowhere. He's name is, "Teroblast", an old friend of Challenge and this MF looks like a self-insert of the current creator, ArtofSoup's QuadragonX's profile picture on the wiki into this bitch.

Am I wrong?

Anyway, while Purpex is never to be seen (like we care where she is at this point), Marcle was crying on the ground because of Squadril getting kidnapped. Teroblast was about to comfort her until he noticed Challenge with the others. With an awkward gesture, Challenge acknowledged Teroblast's presence by placing a hand on the back of his head.

On page 9, Teroblast asserts that he has not seen him since his brother's death. This statement concludes with Challenge exclaiming "ENOUGH!", which shocks Teroblast. Ok first off, let's talk about what happened here...

Question Time Imagine this scenario: You unexpectedly run into an old friend you haven't seen in ages. They are delighted to see you, but out of the blue, they start sharing very personal information immediately that you'd rather not discuss in your current situation. I want to generally hear your thoughts about this in the comment section...

I would've punched Teroblast in the face for that...

From what I'm seeing him pages 6-9, Poly Village gets burned and destroyed with no explanation to just let it happen for the sake of the plot's progression, more OC characters coming out of no where that looks like an almost self-insert of the current creator.

Page 10 - 15

On page 10, Challenge believes Teroblast doesn't understand. He explains that he and his unknown brother were very close until Dub abducted him. Judging by the appearance of the unknown shape next to Challenge, it is implied that his brother is Barracuda himself. But, who knows if that's the case...

On page 11, Teroblast expresses sympathy for Challenge, who is grieving the loss of his brother. Challenge weeps, and Teroblast speaks his name.

Here's the main issue with this: remember what I said earlier on, before I started explaining the comic, about how creators may intentionally introduce characters who make the audience instantly love and find them cool, but who are objectively blinded by them not being well-written characters? Reflecting on this comic, I nearly felt sympathy for Challenge and his predicament. However, I just... Still don't care about him because he was very unexpectedly introduced into the story in a very non-linear approach.

Secondly, Teroblast... Why the hell are you bringing up something so personal out of your fucking mouth to piss Challenge off and make him cry afterward, despite already knowing about his brother's death then...? Let's have Teroblast be aware of Challenge's brother's passing without making it a big issue, and then immediately use it as a cheap trick to try and sympathize with Challenge's situation.

On page 12, this is where I die in laughter... After Dub finishes corrupting Squadril, he turns into this very clever and calculated henchman (Hedrilateral, his name)😂😂, as he comes up with this plan for Dub to disguise as a flower. (Lets pause here).

So you're telling me that Squadril's character gets immediately thrown out of the window because I barely fucking know anything about this magician's life, just for him to become a "henchman corrupt for Dub" for god knows how long?! 😂😂

On page 13, Dub showcases a new ability for him to shapeshift into a gray flower, like the one from the video game itself.

On page 14, Dub senses victory drawing closer. He envisions a restored Cubic and a corrupted Iris, believing that Paradise will be his. (Just to keep you guys the heads up, Iris's corrupted counterpart's name is just "Corrupted Iris"...)

On page 15, Iris notices Stibnite and alerts Teroblast, Challenge, and Citren that they have a problem. Teroblast shouts to Stibnite that he has five seconds to leave, or he will take action. However, someone intervenes and advises Teroblast not to do that.

Overall for pages 10-15, the portrayal of Challenge's emotional turmoil as a result of his brother's demise, coupled with Teroblast's subsequent apology, was so poorly-done and was clearly contrived, seemingly inserted from the current creator, ArtofSoup with the intent to elect sympathy for the Challenge's character. Additionally, Squadril's entire characterization gets his ass cheeks smacked out of the window, just for him to become a "fucking henchman corrupt" for Dub...

Pages 16 - 23

On page 16, Stibnite displays his hatred for Sabrepulse and the four caretakers. Before seeing a shield, he immediately senses that something is wrong. He notices the purple dome that was created by Iris and Orange that contains Lycanthropy inside the seal from the Lycanthropy fight since Season 1, Episode 4. Wait...

So basically what's going on here is that, ArtofSoup wanted to insert another OC character coming out of the blue. Furthermore, I thought Dub was going to send "a group of corrupts to save Lycanthropy from what he said in Season 1, Episode 5", not some bat-like creature that randomly finds it out in Poly Forest. Another minor plot change that nobody notices...

On page 17, Stibnite approaches the seal. Inside is Lycanthropy, who appears to be undergoing a purification process within the seal, which is transforming him back into his pure counterpart, Lythorus. Lycanthropy and Lythorus begged anyone to save them until Stibnite saved Lycanthropy's life from purification inside the seal by summoning a bomb attack to explode the seal. (Lets pause here).

About this page, the seal that Iris and Orange created here for Lycanthropy since Season 1, Episode 4 was another way to purify corrupts. It is shown that Lycanthropy is being weakened by the seal's power, proceedingly turning him back into Lythorus, but at a slow rate. However, at the same time, looking back at Lycanthropy's entire character, you could barely give a fuck about him because he has little to nothing to do in this series...

On page 18, Challenge uses some sort of new ability or something (possibly a clairvoyance power, I don't fucking know). Meanwhile, Lycanthropy thanks an embarrassed for Sitbnite for stopping the purification and destroying the shield, though the former thinks the latter overdid it. FINALLY, Pentellow shows up and accidentally snaps a branch, Lythorus notices her, and the situation gets ugly for Pentellow.

WHERE THE FUCK WAS SHE AT???

On page 19, Pentellow gets worried about how she can't win against Lycanthropy. Challenge runs off-screen to search for Sibinite as Cube chases after him, while Tsavorite, who pops out of no where and somehow, starts to use some new ability to sense or call Cube (I don't know). Tsavorite starts saving Pentellow's life from Lycanthropy, as Tsavorite tells Pentellow and Cube to rush off, while Tsavorite and presumably Challenge stop Lythorus.

On page 20, Pentellow tells Cube that they need to go without a second thought, with Cube being clueless about what's going on (how about explaining to him while still running). Lycanthropy was about to launch a spiked ball at Pentellow and Cube when Challenge stopped the attack by using a weapon by using his prismatic ears, then threatening Lycanthropy to stop. (Let's pause here).

What follows here everyone is going to be the most blatant heroic sacrifice I've ever seen...

On page 21, Cube realizes that Challenge got infected by The Pink Corruption via his prismatic ears. Cube informs him, but Challenge already knows, and he says that although "pyramid monster shapes are resistant to The Pink Corruption Virus" Slams hand so hard on computer desk in disbelief WHAAAAAT?!

I THOUGHT THE CARETAKERS WERE THE ONLY ONES THAT WERE GIVEN THIS ABILITY!!! THIS FURRY PYRARE WANNABE MOTHERFUCKER IS NOT A "CARETAKER"!!! GTFO WITH THIS SHIT!!!

With tears in his eyes, Challenge warns Cube that he has been too cautious. He asks Cube to convey his farewell to his father (how the fuck will Cube know anything about your father if you never told him his name to him...) before succumbing to corruption. His final words to Cube were a single, urgent command: "Run!"

On page 22, while Cube, Tsavorite, and Pentellow are running away (and we never learn what happened to Orange, Iris, Gold, and Pyrare), Challenge confronts Lycanthropy, declaring that he won't allow him to harm our virus-stopping team. Lycanthropy responds by saying that he has already achieved victory, but Challenge is confused and asks what he means.

On my gosh, we are at the final stretch of the comic everyone!

On page 23, Teroblast shows up and is forced to watch Challenge being corrupted. Teroblast and Challenge are both shedding tears, with Challenge trying to say he loves him (Don't tell Teroblast that you love him after he bursts out very sudden personal information about your brother's death), before the virus fully controls him. Challenge suddenly becomes infuriated, as he screams in agony turning him into a corrupt.

You know what, I wanna talk about this dude, Challenge...

Challenge's Entire Characterization

Undoubtedly, even though it's been 23 pages, Challenge is the most forced OC character I have encountered over my years in web-based content. He was so forced here in such a highly incongruous manner, that Challenge wants to be incorporated into the comic to play a pseudo-protagonistic role, which is absolute shit. Furthermore, the current creator, ArtofSoup, wanted so hard to manipulate my emotions by invoking sympathy towards Challenge situation - specifically about his brother's loss, as it is clearly shown from pages 9-11.

ArtofSoup wanted her OC fanfic fantasy to have Challenge to be the most broken character in the entire fucking series. I will explain why:

It is implied that Challenge has the ability to "see into the future".

Every Pyramid Monster Pyramid like Challenge are resistant to the Pink Corruption (even though, the caretakers only possess this power).

He can fly.

If Challenge had been introduced much later in the story, in a more linear approach, it would have been a lot better.

In all honesty, this wouldn't help right now, because I couldn't care less towards Challenge's selfless heroic act, leading to him becoming a corrupted shape since Page 23. Overall, he is poorly-written, who has been seemingly shoehorned so hard into the story with very little consideration for contextual fluidity or compelling characterization, is contrived, distracting, and is too overpowered.

Other OC Characterers

This also goes along with ArtofSoup's other OC characters such as Teroblast and Sibtinite...

Final Verdict On For The PCC Comic

Cons

Narratively, ArtofSoup wanted to ham-fist shit such as different story's direction, changing characterization without proper development, minor lore & plot changes, etc to make it feel so unappreciated, miserable, and unsatisfying to me. It happened because to make the entire comic feel like it has "OC Fanfiction Fetish Fantasy Syndrome" from the current creator, ArtofSoup. They tried to deceive me by deliberately using "forced sympathy tricks" to desperately make me care about their OC characters in the cheapest way as possible, particularly Challenge and Teroblast (mostly for Challenge) cause IT DEFINITELY SHOWS. The pacing is already all over the place in the story's progression over the span of the preceding 23 pages. The Caretakers and Heroes should've been in a different area in Paradise by now searching for more groups besides wasting their time tagging along with these fucking OC characters (that almost look like self-inserts) for the PAST 23 PAGES!!!

Pros

Despite the amount of issues in comic, story and writing-wise, I would like to acknowledge some commendable elements. For starters, the story's tone achieves a more serious tenor (from the look of the direction), while not trying to be cheesily lighthearted, like from the earlier episodes of the series. Furthermore, character designs such as Teroblast's are aesthetically pleasing, knowing that it is assuming that the canon continuation was going to add more characters with improved designs.

Score

In summarizing my evaluation of the PCC Comic, I assign it a score of 4 out of 10 (Below-average). Starting with your sister shoving that disgusting pornographic fan-art cake in your face for dessert, and ending with the transfer of ownership of your project—with your full consent—to another individual, whom you badmouthed behind their back all this time, all of this led to a lackluster fanmade series derived from the "Pink Corruption Series," specifically the "Hope" series (that I'm going to be talking about next). Finally, giving me an actual pretty bad continuation in the form of a web-comic that "never tried to make it feel canon to begin with", to shove even more cake ONTO MY FUCKING FACE NEXT with OC fanfiction fetish toppings on it.

Hope Series

Now we can finally talk about the "Hope" series... The Hope Series is a discontinued fanmade series, based on the web-series, "The Pink Corruption Series" after Brittany Robinson gave her consent and permission for the Pink Corruption series to ArtofSoup.

Most of all, just like the pilot episode from The Pink Corruption Series, this pilot episode is not good...

So Let's Discuss This Episode

Beginning Part

In this episode, the scene opens on a stormy night, with Cube singing as he sits on a rock. He receives a call from his triangle chest from his brother, "Cubical". (Lets Pause Here).

Do you want to know the main reason why Cube has a brother? It's probably because we feel so bad that Cube doesn't know anything about his biological family. I don't mind Brittany taking away the generic childhood best friend trope, but this doesn't help the fact that I wasn't even invested into Cubical's character.

In a conversation between Cubical and Cube, Cubical asks Cube about his whereabouts and mentions that he has been searching for him. Cube responds by telling Cubical not to look for him and explains that he "needed some fresh air anyway". (It is evident here that Cube has a bit of an attitude here toward his brother).

After hanging up his brother, Cube continued walking until he heard a baby crying. He found Cyan, whose wing was caught on a tree branch. Cube rescued him and decided to take him home.

For some unknown reason, I don't know why Cyan is out here this windy and rainy at this late at night, while getting stuck in a tree...

While Cube was singing to Cyan, Cubical, who had been searching for him, spotted his umbrella on the ground and picked it up, looking worried. He then found Cube and hugged him. Cube stated that Cubical didn't need to search for him. Cubical was startled when he heard Cyan and quickly moved back. Cube explained how he had found Cyan, and Cubical agreed to let Cube take Cyan home. (Cube and Cubical's relationship kind of fucking sucks tbh).

Overall, the beginning part of HOPE episode 1 was pretty boring, with nothing interesting happening. Notwithstanding, the interactions between Cube and Cyan were moderately charming, though not particularly noteworthy, Cube and Cubical's relationship is already somewhat bad and cliched. Moreover, having Cyan randomly come out of no where just to get the rest of the plot going was never explained...

Back To The Episode

Middle Part

Later, while they are eating, Cyan shoots a beam from his chest, acting like a projector, showing Pyrahedron (we fucking "replace" Pyrare with this guy now...), who explains that Cube is now the fourth caretaker of the Tree or Life and that he has one day to reach the tree and seal the monster. (Lets Pause Because I Think I Can Talk About This Right Here).

Major Issue: Cube's Entire Characterization Being Changed

I think it's a good idea to make a comparison from the pilot episode from TPC with the HOPE series.

You can clearly tell from Cube's character and personality in the HOPE series that it's "completely changed" and I find it very disagreeable. From Season 1, Episode 1, Cube was fairly apathetic about his role as one of the Caretakers and his position as the hero, Cyan. This was evident from Cube's dereliction of his duties as a caretaker, which occurred twice in the pilot episode.

The first was forgetting to assist his hero Cyan in sealing away Dub, seeing Cube questions Cyan on why he has to come along as well.

The second one was forgetting to give Cyan his name (most likely by accident).

In a metaphorical sense, Cube's pronounced apathy towards his caretaker responsibilities, evident since the first episode of Season 1, serves as a reflection of his demeanor characterized by timidity and nervousness. Seeing him throughout the series occasionally questions Cyan or the companions, the other caretakers and heroes about why he has to perform these challenging or significant tasks. Nonetheless, despite his reservations, Cube still greatly assumes his role and together with his hero, Cyan, unintentionally semi-completes their mission on sealing Dub (even though it ended in chaos toward the conclusion of that episode).

(This image right here perfectly explains what I'm saying.)

In contrast, in the HOPE series, Cube's persona went from being a shy and somewhat introverted shape, which clearly shows signs of self-doubt and uncertainty about his role as a caretaker at times throughout the TPC series. And turned him into a much more easygoing and composed personality, who has a bit of an attitude toward his brother's overprotective tendencies and doesn't seem to be bothered or anything in the slightest about being chosen in his caretaker's role. Although recognizably simpler, this marked shift in character causes me severe dissatisfaction, as I perceive Cube's character in TPC to be superior...

About the way Cube gets chosen as the 4th Caretaker of the Tree of Life here, he was chosen so damn unexpectedly, after receiving a call from Pyrahedron (I don't know how the fuck did Pyrahedron get Cyan's phone number), without giving any indication as to why he was chosen for this role. Cube never expressed any concerns or questions about this, like how his TPC counterpart legitimately did toward TPC Cyan in the pilot episode. All of this happened because "he fucking "randomly" found Cyan, who inexplicably showed up out of no where to initially be stuck in a tree and gets taken care of by Cube just to get the rest of HOPE's main plot going".

Overall, I already dislike Cube's character here. This fucking disrespects how Cube's entire characterization was established in the TPC series.

Back To The Episode

Gold pops up and interrupts the call, while being happy (Gold's character gets ruined here too...). After Pyrahedron hangs up, Cube says he will go to the Tree of Life. Cubical asks how he is okay with all of this. Cube replies that he wasn't until he saw Gold on the call and realized that he looked similar to Cyan (Are you only giving out the main reason why you were chosen was just because of your fucking appearance looked identical to Cyan here...) He thinks Pyrahedron was serious and decides to head out in the morning.

The next morning, as Cube gets ready to head out, Cubical asks if he's really ready to do this. (OH MY FUCKING GO... You know what, I might as well talk about Cubical here...)

Cubical's Entire Characterization

I don't have a lot to say here so, I will keep it brief. If I have to describe him here, Cubical serves as a "clear replacement for Cube's childhood best friend, Lythorus". Despite being a caring brother to Cube, objectively, his character comes across as goddamn irksome due to his overprotective nature, constantly fretting over Cube's safety throughout the entire pilot episode, like shut up, bro...

Back To The Episode

Btw, despite giving Cube a brother, STILL DON'T HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SHOW PARENTS!!! WTF!!!

Cubical reminds Cube about his previous encounter with Dub. Cube gets a flashback of Dub shooting a laser beam, presumably toward one of his eyes. Cube reminds his brother that he survived the incident and that he will survive.

So you're telling me that before Cube was chosen, he encountered Dub before and was attacked by him, which we can all agree that Cube gotten "infected", right? So how come CUBE HASN'T TURNED INTO A CORRUPT LET?!

Subsequently, Cube requests that Cubical cease his concerns. While initially agreeing, Cubical persuades him to at least consume a meal before departing with Cyan, which Cube acquiesces to.

An hour later, Cube traverses the terrain clutching Cyan who slumbers soundly. Suddenly, a hazy figure zips past him. He glances back but discerns nothing. Progressing towards a huge pink lake, looking shocked. Unable to wade through the water, he ponders over how to circumvent his predicament.

Ketches approached Cube and asked if he needed help crossing the water to reach the Tree of Life. Cube gratefully accepted and thanked him. Ketches introduced himself and explained that he had helped all the caretakers before Cube as well. He invited Cube to hop aboard.

During their voyage, Cube acquaints himself with Ketches and inquires about the other Caretakers. Ketches identifies them as Iris, Pentellow, and Pyrahedron and clarifies that Iris and Pentellow have been unaccounted for since Cyan's birth. (You know what, looking back on Pyrahedron, I wouldn't mind having different caretaker characters because I could care less about Iris and Pentellow returning here...). However, Cube expresses his hope that their disappearance is unrelated to Dub. Ketches concurs, and they eventually arrive at the Tree of Life.

End Part

After dropping Cube off at the Tree of Life, Ketches expresses his gratitude, while cautioning Cube. He says that it looks like a clear path, but there could be someone clandestinely lurking about. Cube acknowledges Ketches' advice and proceeds towards the Tree of Life.

Before I talk about what happens next, I'm not joking, the rest of this conclusion is more "hilariously bad" than the TPC pilot episode's conclusion. 😂😂😂

Issue: Laughably Bad Conclusion That Ended On The Most Biggest Discontinued Cliffhangers I've Ever Seen In This Entire TPC Universe

Suddenly, a group a flower children showed up (they are fucking corrupts btw, who popped out of fucking no where). One of them "viciously assaults Cube by uppercutting him physically as a corrupt that caused him to disembody his body from his dead flying upward into the air". 😂😂😂 I burst out laughing because of this... How come Cube hasn't even turned into Cubic yet after getting blasted by Dub from his previous encounter with him and now an uppercut (that was so strong by the way) from an infected flower child?!

Cube firmly declares his refusal to engage in combat with children, even those tainted by corruption. (ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THEY ARE CORRUPTS CUBE, DEFEND YOURSELF?! 😂😂😂) However, one of the children warns that, despite their own unwillingness to fight, Cube will still face dire consequences from the flower group. (WHAT?! THEN WHY DID ONE OF YOU LITTLE BRATS START ATTACKING CUBE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIGHT HIM THEN?!)

Following this, one of the child corrupt flowers, pulls out a damn gong out of her ass that causes the sky and the Tree of Life to adopt a pink and black hue. Heli's fleeting appearance is observed, before taking flight. In the ensuing commotion, Dub emerges, and the episode concludes. (JESUS WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?! 😂😂😂)

Final Verdict For HOPE Series

Cons

After laughing so hard after HOPE's pilot episode conclusion, it's time to give my final verdict on this. It is so unappealing and boring than its predecessor, TPC (despite my unfavorable opinion about the latter).

From a narrative standpoint, Episode 1 presents a poorly-written script, replete with subpar pacing, characters such as Cube, who has his personality and characterization disrespectfully changed, minor inconsistencies, and an utterly hilariously bad conclusion that is more worse than the TPC's pilot episode.

Not to mention, upon me discovering a restored video of the Hope series's intro, HOPE's worldbuilding looks like in a nutshell, if The Pink Corruption Series's worldbuilding was overly simplistic and generic that will make you go...

Me: Bro...

And, take all of the elements out of what a JSAB world looks like...

Pros

Episode 1 doesn't have a lot of pros besides character designs being improved (also, Cube's hat looks ugly as shit btw).

Score

My appraisal for the show, taking into account its single episode, would be like the PCC comic, 4 out of 10 (Below-average). The HOPE series, in my perspective, appears to be an unproductive utilization of my time. Going from giving your consent and permission to someone else just to make another typical underwhelming web-series on Youtube that failed to impress me.

Right after, when Brittany Robinson - the show's former creator - discontinued HOPE and instead embarked on the Non-Canon Continuation of the TPC series, this is where her writing skills showed their "true colors" due to how unbelievably bad it was in my opinion. It was because I knew something was up with the writing since the pilot episode that was going to eventually decline later on.

Final conclusion for ALL OF THIS!

So... What's the problem here between these two works? The biggiest main issues between them were the "amount of changes" that felt so insulting to me. It includes narrative shortcomings and quality, poor characterization that were disrespectfully changed or without proper development, ineffective worldbuilding that takes away what a JSAB world actually looks like, and try to perceived manipulative tactics emotionally toward me that were employed from the PCC comic for Challenge and Teroblast haphazardly, that was distracting and unnecessary, etc.

The Entire Pink Corruption Drama is the most pointlessly disingenuous drama I have ever seen in my life from what I've analyzed to the best of my ability. All of this because from the distasteful and objectionable pornographic artwork associated with the TPC series from Brittany's sister, Brea.

If I were to amalgamate both the PCC comic and the HOPE series, my rating would be a modest 3.5 out of 10 (slightly below average). My perception is that ArtofSoup and Brittany Robinson have lost their touch for me regarding the series as a whole. While there is much to criticize, I will refrain from doing so at present. However, I cannot help but feel melancholy because the PCC comic and the HOPE series does "an incredible job to make me feel straight up miserable in my gaming chair" and it shows, it ABSOULTELY SHOWS FOR ME!

Thank you to everyone who read this...

[tathrin]

I just need you to know your tags on that post about Boba Fett made me realize HOW MUCH of Legends-era Boba Fett I didn't know about and now it is my goal to hunt every book and story down because dear gods he's even more amazing than I realized

Ahhhh omg yes he's the best and worst in all the best ways. Thank you for giving me another excuse to talk about him!

Okay so start with the Twin Engines of Destruction comic by Andy Mangels and John Naedeau, that is THE epitome of Boba Fett. (#he had no face just the helmet that WAS his face #he canonically gives money from successful jobs to orphanages WHAT #when he found out someone was impersonating him AND BOTCHING JOBS he set that fucker up SO GOOD #he literally took the man apart physically spiritually and emotionally and left him paralyzed staring at his own about-to-explode jetpack #and put the antidote to the neurotoxin in front of him said ''you may survive if you have the will to move...like i would'' and WALKED AWAY) Genuinely just...this is it, this is him, this is everything anyone ever needs to know about how to write Boba Fett.

After that I'll recommend moving onto the Boba Fett: Death, Lies, and Treachery comics (consisting of "Bounty on Bar Kooda," "When the Fat Lady Swings," and "Murder Most Foul") by John Wagner and Cam Kennedy (probably my favorite Fett comic artist; their style is wonky yes but it fits so well!). Boba Fett: Agent of Doom is another one drawn by Kennedy that is excellent, although it's written by John Ostrander (who did the best Clone Wars comics btw) instead of Wagner. Also I personally like to headcanon the last one actually being about Ailyn Vel, but that's neither here nor there. Your best bet to find these is probably the Star Wars Legends — Epic Collection: The New Republic vol 7 tpb but Marvel is shit about keeping their SW comics in print, so good luck.

Also definitely worth reading are K.W. Jeter's Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy of novels (#he surgically removed his olfactory pleasure sensors so he wouldn't be affected by space pollen shit  #he'd drop an entire mine on top of himself to get his mark if he had to and then just dig his way back out #he once used the dying body of the closest thing he had to a friend as a laser canon to kill some tin-can hutts  #he had his fucking SKIN DISSOLVED and still sat up to shoot a bitch #he walked onto an exploding star destroyer just to have a conversation AND THEN FLEW IT RIGHT BACK OUT AGAIN) but I will say that the quality of them varies wildly between different sections...but it's one of those "even the bad parts are good, despite being terrible" books, if you know what I mean!

No Disintegrations, Please! is a short-story from the Tales of the New Republic collection, and that's the one that features Fett walking through an Imperial Garrison to get his mark that I was thinking of when I made the post (although it seems that tag didn't save? or I just can't find it again amidst all the unhinged shrieking of the rest of them lol) although he also took on a garrison in one of the comics and in another comic he went through a wrecked Star Destroyer full of murder-droids and TIE patrols so like...not an out-of-the-ordinary endeavor for him lol.

Payback: The Tale of Dengar, also from one of the short-story collections, in this case Tales of the Bounty Hunters, is where Dengar gets Fett to be his best man, although alas the wedding itself is never depicted anywhere, at least not that I've seen. (Although if you'll permit an extremely immodest self-rec, I did write about it once in a fic...) My favorite moment in this story, though, is when Boba Fett pulls a straw out to drink without removing his helmet. Too bad no one apparently ever mentioned that features to Din Djarin; would have made his life considerably easier. And yes, I was the person shouting "use a straw you idiot!" at the screen several times, to the vast amusement of those watching with me.

And of course, Susejo a.k.a. the Sarlacc mentioned in the original post is from A Barve Like That: The Tale of Boba Fett from the short-story collection "Tales From Jabba's Palace."

For new stuff that still feels like classic Fett, Age of Rebellion: Boba Fett by Greg Pak and Bria LaVorgna is really the only thing that comes to mind, but it's quite a lovely little one-shot.

*If you have trouble finding Twin Engines of Destruction let me know. I have the whole thing saved on my computer because I love it so much, although I will say that the digital format/coloring does it no favors.

[spw-art]

If you have OCs... could you perhaps make a masterpost-link thing with them that I could save up to check them out/save to go back to if I forget anything on them? (Bonus points if u have potp/dragon ocs smiles)

ALSO your art slaps hell yeah 💪

Looks at you with big wet eyes. My tag #my oc should have all of em.

POTP is a universe in which I feel like it’s both difficult and impractical to make an oc for unless they exist before or after the story.

I fucking love dragons I haven’t drawn any dragons in so long. Besides Pokémon dragons.

And now I’ll see if I can remember all the tags of all my ocs. Or at least the main ones.

All of the links will just lead to their tag.

Harte Sekioka - Pokemon breeder and ex-magma admin from an amino roleplay that took place in 2017. Currently he’s used in a roleplay with friends because I didn’t want to make a new character for it. Just went ahead and decided he’s 20 years older now. Self-proclaimed sexmaster. Annoying. Single father of two. Should not be a father.

Claudia - A Ditto masquerading as a human from Harte’s universe. She’s helped him out with speeding up the process of selective Pokémon breeding. She’s also extremely important to Harte’s universe’s Team Magma.

Sif Saph - My BG3 character, I haven’t been able to play BG3 in forever. Not much info on him besides he’s the cousin of my first ever D&D character, Sif Krymsul. And he has blue dragon ancestry on his father’s side. Really really really hoping to draw him more I miss him so much.

Divo Success - Pokémon oc. He’s the platonic idea of a cowboy the same way The Stanley Parable’s Narrator is the platonic ideal of divorce. He hasn’t even seen a cow in his life. But he does have a gigantic horse that everyone is afraid of for her Stamina Iron Defense Body Press swagger. He has weird fucking abilities that allow him to be a western movie character. Every time he rides away on his horse it’s into the sunset. No matter what time of day it is. He can always appear in a cloud of dust or smoke. He operates entirely on rule of cool.

Daylight Under Outsmouth - A Call Of Cthulhu campaign that unfortunately never came to fruition. It’s about a universe being consumed by an oppressive darkness with the center of its terror being Earth. Things keep getting darker. Stars disappear from the sky. Aliens and extradimensional creatures find their way to earth as refugees. I reaaally want to make a comic or something with the story.

Aoife and Padraig - Characters made for my friend’s series called Analog Files. They’re the same person from different worlds. They’re married. They’re fucking weird. Aoife is dying of Cool Guy Cancer that’s turning her into a bug and then into a pile of flesh. She wants to be studied while she dies. Padraig loves studying her. They’re great.

Legally Distinct - A glam metal band made up of monsters from Universal Monster movies. I had made them for Art Fight, they’re quite silly, they have so much sex and do so much drugs. And rock n roll of course.

Nigellians - A type of creature made of music, glamor, passion, and magic. They’re born of human creation. Think of Eddie the Head if he was less powerful and less aggressive and more of a little fairy spirit.

Herb - An utau made by my friend NyxQuentiam who is voiced by me. I need to record a new voice bank so badly. He’s an artificial angel who harvests energy from other angels by killing and blending them. He then goes to the angel black market to turn mortals into angels: a high he should not be doing. But whatever, he’s having a good time.

Ward - Cringefail rich boy accidental racist fire genasi who sucks. Used him in a D&D campaign until it fizzled out due to the DM being weird. I don’t think I have much stuff with him here (I think it’s just one post) but he’s my beloved little shitstain. His sword is incredibly blunt. It does bludgeoning damage. He’s whining the entire time he’s adventuring.

Those are the main guys. Hope that helps! :)

Always feel free to ask more questions! Yippee yahoo yippeeeee

[autumnbrambleagain]

"I figure if we're bringing all of the old cast back, you'd probably want Bismark Mk. 15 too." Chimmering was staring. This ridiculous pool toy... dog? Was it some kinda dog? Wasn't like Chimmering could tell. This ridiculous pool toy was floating in the air paddling its little feets and, like. They didn't have a pool. Did they EVER have a pool? "... who?" Why didn't they have a pool? She wanted a pool. S/V did that noise they made when they were frustrated, and half of them said, "You know, your iconic balloonite. You rode him around on that, uh, you know. The adventures? I think you were chasing me that one time because I was missing Oh, My Convoluted Life! And then you shot me with a shotgun. Good times." "Roland," Chimmering said. "What?" "S'name was Roland, my balloonite." "What? No. Is that true?" The pool toy squeaked in the shape of words. "It's actually Ronald! You both get it wrong a lot." Oh. Right. Chimmering pretended she was scribbling notes into the clipboard S/V had given her. She was actually doodling a comic where she had a suit of power armor with rocket launchers on the shoulders and she was blowing up ghosts. "Well, s'looks like you managed that narrative identity continulity thingamajiggy for him then." "Indeed, the experiment was a success. Iterative identity has reached synchronization. This was definitely us re-enacting an ancient running joke for the purpose of enforcing identity continuity limby, and not us entirely forgetting what he was named." "He used t'be like, a hot air balloon? A latex floating balloon? Why's he a pool toy now? S'kinda an entirely different thing?" "Pool toys are all the rage. It's the hit new trend! It's a hit with all the kids. Shut up we'll hit you. We're going to murder you with a large corkscrew. We made all the balloonites into pool toys. We're doing pool toys this universal cycle. It's better." "Floating pool toy. Like, not in the water where a pool toy's supposed't'be, but like, in the air, even though like, the entire point of a pool toy--" "Well last time they were literally just latex balloons with eyes drawn on, and we can do BETTER than that thank you very much. I think we had a rope harness on him so we could hold on to him?" Chimmering chirped in amusement as a memory crossed the gap of time and bumped into her thoughts. "Yeah, like, later we did. Mostly we were just holdin' onto him and tryin' not to pop him and hoping we didn't crash. 'n then we'd crash. 'n then you'd blame me. 'n then you'd kill me." "Well he's got handles now." "S'got a dick too. You gave 'm a dick." "Well, yes, far be it from us to forbid his exploration of his sexuality. Everyone is entitled to that freedom." "You're gonna pop him aren't you." "Oh, constantly. Mostly on purpose." "S'like, a fetish thing?" "Everyone is entitled to an exploration of his sexuality. His, specifically. We're entitled to it. We made him we can do whatever we want with him shut up are you going to start saying we can't rape our creations now? Like, NOW?" "Usually you just make the things you make murder or rape me so like 'm not gonna complain--" "What? Yes. Yes, you will complain. If you don't we're not giving you enough things to complain about." Ronald squeaked happily, bouncing lightly off the house. "Can I go now?" "What, are you still here?" S/V asked, dismissing the balloonite with a wave of their paw (whose arc coincided with Ronald's face (claws first (causing less of a pop and more of a sudden and rapid deflation))).

[go-go-devil]

13 and 19 and even 14 for animation ask

13) Name some of your favorite animators and why you fell in love with their style

I'll answer with two for the sake of brevity

As you might have gathered from the Hedgehog in the Fog and Tale of Tales gifs I often reblog, one of my all-time favorite animators is Yuri Norstein. I've seen a LOT of unique styles in animators and yet his work is by far the most ethereal to watch for me. It's so dream-like yet visceral in its textures, and honestly a bit disturbing how fluently he can animate paper cut outs (especially that 5 minute clip of The Overcoat that recently surfaced holy shit 👀👀👀).

For more modern animators, I'm also a big fan of Victoria Vincent (a.k.a. vewn)'s work. Her style is something I would also describe as kinda dreamlike, but in a different way from Norstein. It all looks like the panels of a comic drawn in a high schooler's sketchbook come to life in the style of Dr. Katz, and the voice acting and sound effects often give these animations really help w/ the relaxed, yet slightly uncomfortable vibe of most of these stories. I dunno, it's just such a vibe...

14) Describe your overall opinions on Disney’s animated film catalogue (and/or Pixar as a separate studio and as a conglomerate of the Disney corporation)

Ah, Disney. Where do I even begin?

Overall I can understand completely why the studio earned such world-renowned success. Steamboat Willy and Snow White were absolutely groundbreaking for animation as a whole, and throughout each decade they've managed to cover so many different styles and create art that's enjoyable for both children and adults (most of the time)

They've always had some serious problems, especially considering how Walt himself was a union-busting asshole who literally wanted to rule over people in a Disney-constructed city at one point, although lately I can't help but agree w/ the majority that they've been getting particularly blatant w/ their capitalistic take-over on media as a whole. I don't even want to pay to see great films from them like Encanto or Turning Red because I seriously don't want to give money to a bunch of businessmen who's only interest is destroying art from other creators for the sake of churning out craploads of awful live-action nostalgia-bait

As for Pixar, all I can say is that I REALLY miss their 90's and 2000's era T_T

19) Have YOU ever made an animation before? If so, what was it about and what did you learn about the medium while making it? If not, would you want to try to make one in the future?

I have, actually! An incredibly simple bit of stop-motion w/ paper cut outs that I did for a project in my science writing class. I had to make a short video, so I decided to animate my topic of how the invasive spotted lanternflies came to Pennsylvania and why they'd become such a threat

Goddamn is stop-motion tedious, even in its simplest form... There were two scenes where I used multiple frames of animation to show movement (as opposed to adding images to singular frames for certain scenes), and both of those scenes ended up taking WAY longer than I anticipated! I didn't have a proper camera holder so I needed to position myself in the exact same spot and hold the camera the exact same way for each shot, I had to move the lanternfly cut-outs' bodies and wings individually and VERY slowly so the movement looks at least slightly natural, and I had to do this about 100 times or so for both scenes. And it still looked like crap even after all that, but it was at least impressive enough to get me an A+ on the assignment :-)

Would I animate in stop-motion again? Absolutely! But only when I get a better studio to work in that's not my dining room table

[owelrain]

Anime the Medium vs Anime the Artstyle

So being the lonely person I am, I've had people look at my shit and say:

What anime is that girl from?

That's when I realise that most of the times, the characters aren't actually from a specific anime, but rather just appear so.

My arguments with one of my good friends also led me to think further about this comparison.

We were decorating our discord server, deciding who should get the "anime pfp" role

I said that he should get it, since his pfp at the time was Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles

His argument against it was that Xenoblade is not an anime

So in this post, I will be discussing the differences between Anime the Medium, and Anime the Artstyle.

Anime the Medium

a style of Japanese film and television animation, typically aimed at adults as well as children. ~Oxford Languages

Looking at various sources, it is generally agreed upon that Anime refers to animation originating from Japan.

Other variations include a broad generalisation of the genre, such as it being "animation broadcasted in Japan to the masses", however this vague definition turns out to be troublesome when "Tom and Jerry" becomes classified as an anime (I will not be discussing this topic any further).

From what I could gather, Anime began its stay in media in the 20th century, with the earliest commercial animations dating to 1917.

There have been some original works solely in this medium (such as the works of Studio Ghibli), but Anime is commonly known for being animated adaptations of the following:

Light Novels

Manga

Video Games

Since then, the medium has expanded tremendously, backed by the growth in the number of production companies, and has itself a loyal fanbase due to globalisation (weebs).

Due to this major growth in popularity, it is difficult to find an individual in a first world country that does not know what Anime is, nor recognises its artstyle.

Artstyle here is a generalisation of the way Anime is drawn or computer generated. It takes into account the development of the style since the inception of the medium, in a 2d format. Take note that this is distinct from Western Animations. Although there have been attempts to make Western content with the Anime artstyle (success varying), the artstyle tends to feel outdated. If you have examples of where this is not true, feel free to correct me.

Anime the Artstyle

I have a Venn diagram to help you visualise this argument the same way that I do:

As you can see, Artstyle actually encompasses Medium.

This is central to the argument, as in my opinion, for a piece of media to be considered part of Anime the Medium, it needs to fulfil a few conditions:

Japanese Origins

Animation

Anime Artstyle

With extra attention on the last point, it shows the relationship between the artstyle and medium.

Without its distinctive artstyle, it's difficult to consider a piece of media as Anime

So why does Anime the Artstyle extend beyond the Medium itself?

The popularity of Anime as a Medium has undoubtedly inspired a myriad of artists to adopt the artstyle into their work as well, regardless of whether it is used in an animation or not.

As all things in life mirrors the ever falling nature of dominoes, this led to the development of entertainment content that were not expressely Anime, but shared its artstyle. Some notable pieces of media affected by this Animisation include video games and comics.

New forms of media also developed from this, a good example bring VTubers.

A VTuber, or virtual YouTuber, is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics. ~Wikipedia

If you search up the term "VTuber" on any search engine, one of the things that become apparent quickly is that most of their models resemble characters that would appear in Anime. Not characters FROM Anime, mind you, but they look like they would fit in one due to the artstyle.

So, what does this entail?

With media now occasionally adopting this Anime-esque artstyle, it's quite easy to encounter a situation where something Looks Like It's Anime, while not actually being part of the medium. Thus, the question:

"What anime is this from?"

Becomes surprisingly hard to answer without sounding like an asshole.

There are a few possible arguments, as well as their implications, to consider here:

Media outside the medium of Anime should not be considered Anime even though the artstyle is shared (How do we differentiate between the two at first glance? Or is that not important? Does the artstyle lose its distinctiveness and significance then?)

All of the media with the artstyle are considered Anime (This could create confusion between genres, and responding to the "What anime" question with "hololive" could be awkward)

The medium and artstyle should be kept separate but acknowledged so as to preserve the identity of the genre (Not everyone is aware of this difference in the first place, so answering the "What anime" question could become inefficient)

Conclusion

So what anime is it from? Well it's really up to you how in-depth you wish to go with your explanation. Or you can just direct them to this post.

This post isn't meant to strictly define anything about the subject matter. As you can clearly see, it isn't particularly well researched. This is just my thoughts on an argument I've come across a few times.

Any other opinions on this matter? Let me know lol.

Also I added an updated venn diagram of my conclusions from this:

[jungk0oksthighs]

Over The Odds | 파트너

Pairing - jungkook x reader

Genre - smut, angst, fluff, S2L, ceo!jungkook, sugardaddy!jungkook

Word count - 6k

In which you meet Jungkook’s parents

warnings: swearing, toxic family relationships, mentions of sex 

FULL SERIES COLLECTION

Seoul is the most beautiful city in the world, it’s rich with culture and bursts at the seams with creativity – every corner springing to life with colourful artwork and lively energy, something about it feels almost romantic, it’s nothing like you pictured it to be on the journey here. As the car moves through the busy streets you find yourself glued to the window, drinking in your surroundings while you count your blessings. You’re so lucky to be able to travel here, to see what the capital is really like behind the scenes of K-dramas and K-pop music videos. You’re awe-stricken, staring at the pink haze of cherry blossom trees that dance in the wind.

Jungkook feels warm beside you in the back seat, even in his travel outfit he looks perfect. For the long-haul flight you’d both opted for comfort over style, the two of you settling for mostly black lounge wear. His tattooed hand rests on your thigh as he taps his phone with the other, presumably alerting his parents of your arrival.

“What do you think? Beautiful isn’t it.” Taehyung grins from the front passenger seat. Somehow he’d ended up joining you and Kook on your trip, not that you mind of course.

“I can’t believe you both grew up here, I’m kinda jealous.”

“Don’t be,” Jungkook locks his phone, training his face to yours, “London is much more exciting, nothing ever happens here.”

“Nothing really happens in London either,” You flash him a fond smile, “Aside from all the stabbings, muggings, burglaries, rapes, murders—”

“Mmm, you have such a way with words.” Your boyfriend chuckles with a low voice, planting a kiss to your temple.

“I’m still here guys don’t even think about it.” Taehyung glares back, his eyes comically wide and sharp jaw set tight. In the rear-view mirror you can make out the faintest smile ghosting Yoongi’s lips. “I know all about what you get up to in the backseats of cars and I won’t stand for it, no I won’t, not in my home country.”

“Okay dad.” You snort, resuming to the view from the window.

“It’s daddy to you,” Tae clicks his tongue in sync with a devilish wink before sighing exasperatedly, “You two are making me so depressed, I’m so alone.” He whines with pouted lips.

“Maybe you should get your own girlfriend and stop trying to get mine to call you daddy then,” Jungkook is smiling, watching you stare out the car window, “Just a suggestion.”

“She wouldn’t even be your girlfriend if I hadn’t convinced you to buy her a drink that night, realistically you should be thanking me right now. But I guess you can make it up to me by setting me up with Y/N’s hot twin sister.”

“I don’t have a twin sister.”

“That’s a shame. Do you have any siblings at all?”

All the air in your lungs escapes your body in a long, drawn-out sigh, “Just one, an older sister.”

It’s no secret that you and your sister do not get along, it had been that way since childhood – she’s two years older than you, arguably prettier than you, she’s always been more popular than you, more successful than you, it’s gotten to the point where you avoid mentioning her until moments like this arise and you’re forced to tell the truth. Twenty seven years is a long time to be living in somebody else’s shadow, the feeling is somewhat mutual though, as she’s openly admitted she feels like your parents favour you over her, giving you’re the baby of the family. Three years ago she moved away from London in search of a ‘quiet life’ and you’ve seen shockingly little of her since.

“She hot?”

“Not really.” You lie, the fact of the matter is she’s breath taking – but it’s very unlikely she and Taehyung will ever meet, thank god.

“You never told me you have a sister.” Jungkook’s brows are pinched, confused.

“I don’t like to talk about her, we don’t get along. Let’s just leave it there.” You’re still staring out the window, watching the beautiful streets of Seoul pass you by. Thankfully your boyfriend doesn’t pry and neither does his best friend, presumably sensing the energy shift in the car.

It’s not that you hate her – you don’t, she’s your sister and you’ll always love and support her no matter what. It’s just… She’s so draining to be around, always having to be the smartest, prettiest, funniest and most overbearing person in the room. She’s such a daddy’s girl too, whenever she visits you can never get a word in edgeways with your father, it’s interesting to you how she seemingly cares for him more than your mother yet never shows her face at the hospital when he takes ill. You purse your lips, vaguely irritated at the mention of her existence.

“Are you staying at your parents house?” Taehyung directs his question to Jungkook.

“Yeah, it’ll be a bit of a squeeze but yknow what my mom’s like, she’d be offended if we stayed anywhere else.”

“Mmm. Do you even have a double bed in your old bedroom? I only remember that skinny fish finger looking mattress underneath all your junk.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if she’s bought a new bed especially for Y/N, you should’ve seen her face when I video called her and told her I have a girlfriend…” Jungkook chuckles lightly, “Poor woman nearly had a heart attack.”

“I can imagine, I think we all did.”

Conversation flows naturally between the two best friends as you zone out entirely, focussed on your surroundings. It’s hard to imagine Jungkook living anywhere other than his glorious penthouse apartment, the idea of him sleeping on a single mattress on the floor seems…foreign to you. Of course he’d explained to you before that he comes from nothing, everything he has he’s worked excruciatingly hard for, but there’s a part of you that always assumed he was exaggerating somehow. Except he wasn’t, as you pull up to a small, modest looking house you realise that this is his childhood home.

While the house isn’t big it’s still beautiful, the fence surrounding the property is pastel pink and littered with gorgeous hand-painted flowers and fairy lights. It’s a two storey building, there’s a small red Hyundai car in the driveway and as your journey comes to an end you realise this place is seemingly in the middle of nowhere, save for another little house just across the street.

“Don’t be nervous, their English is really good these days but if you need any help just let me know.” Jungkook’s voice is reassuring, as is the faint squeeze he gives your thigh before he steps out of the vehicle.

Perhaps this is too soon you wonder, suddenly feeling very anxious and very homesick. You’re in a foreign country, about to meet your boyfriend’s parents – whom you’ve only been officially dating less than a month. You feel overwhelmed, mentally bracing yourself for the next few days. At least Jungkook is an only child and unlike you doesn’t have any bitchy older siblings, there’s a silver lining to every situation.

“Where we going first?” You hear Taehyung’s deep voice ask as he gathers his belongings from the boot.

“Well I’m going to my parents house, and you’re going to yours. Don’t worry we’ll stop by tomorrow, but I think tonight should just be me and Y/N, my dad’s working so we’ll only be having a quiet meal with my mom.” Jungkook’s patting his friend on the shoulder while he collects both your bags.  

“Fine, but if you’re not at my house by midday I’m coming straight over.” Taehyung grins, waving you off as he crosses the road and heads toward the house across the way. “Say hi to your ‘rents for me!” No wonder they were so close they grew up as each other’s only neighbour, you smile, it must’ve been nice for them.

“You ready?” Jungkook opens the car door after he gives his driver the information for his hotel, “You look nervous.”

“I am nervous.” You climb out of the car and he shuts the door behind you.

“Don’t be nervous.”

“Can we stop saying the word nervous it’s making me more nervous.”

He drops the luggage to the floor and pulls you into his large body, pushing his palms underneath your oversized hoodie, fingertips grazing your lower back, “Come here.” He whispers, sinking his lips down to meet yours in a short, soft kiss. A genuine kiss, a kiss that makes your head spin and forget all about your worries until he pulls back with loving eyes, “Don’t freak out, just be yourself. Okay?”

“Okay.” You nod, bending to pick up your bags when he swats your hand away, grabbing them for you.

No sooner than you arriving on his parents doorstep, the front door opens and reveals a fair skinned petite woman around her mid-fifties, she’s stunning. Her dark hair is short and choppy, framing her rounded features perfectly – Jungkook looks so much like her, there’s no denying this is his mother. As your boyfriend greets her in Korean she beams with pride, wrapping her slender arms around his middle in a tight bear hug. Then, she looks at you.

“You must be Y/N, come in! I’ve heard so much about you!” Her smile is contagious, she’s already so welcoming and kind as she stands to one side, allowing you to enter her home, “Sorry about the dust, we’re renovating the kitchen.”

“You are?” Jungkook asks, placing the bags by the staircase before having a conversation with her in their mother tongue, giving you a moment to look around.

The house very homely, very lived in and you’re sure it’s full of happy memories, it’s the kind of place that makes you feel safe and warm inside, mirroring the personalities of the family who reside here. To your left is the lounge area, you can make out two small sofas in the room with a television on the wall but it’s the doorframe that grabs your attention. The wood is white, so the lines that mark Jungkook’s growth over the years really stand out, it’s hard to imagine him as a small child giving that he’s such a huge man now, but judging by the line drawn not even two feet from the floor there was a time when he was tiny.

You’re smiling as you poke your head around, making yourself familiar with the layout. The lounge, study and a small bathroom are on the left, staircase on the right. At the back of the house is a big kitchen and dining area which looks to be open planned, newly decorated grey.

“—Do you wanna wash up before we have dinner? And my mom’s made you a care package,” Jungkook grins, “I don’t know what’s in there but she’s insisting it’s all good things.”

It’s your turn to grin, taken aback by her kindness, “Thank you so much, you didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.” She gestures to the kitchen and dining area, where there’s a large hamper basket atop of the table decorated with pink ribbons.

“Thank you… I feel so bad I didn’t bring you anything.”

Waving off your words she reassures you right away, “You did, you’re the reason my son has come home. It’s the least I could do.” At this Jungkook clears his throat before speaking Korean again, presumably telling her that he’s going to show you the upstairs before you both go to the next floor with the bags and the pretty pink care package.

“Sorry I keep speaking Korean, she’s just… So embarrassing sometimes.” He chuckles, swinging the door at the top of the stairs open – revealing his childhood bedroom.

“What do you mean?” You giggle, stepping over the threshold. It’s not how you pictured it, it’s much cleaner and more spacious than Taehyung gave credit for and thankfully there is a double bed in here too, pushed into the corner of the room where the window is.

“She thinks you’re very pretty.”

“Oh.” You’re blushing, looking around the room, there’s so many medals and trophies in the closet that it’s completely golden.

“And she thinks we’ll make beautiful children.”

“Oh.” Your voice drops, eyes widening. “Does she know we’ve been dating less than a month?” You’re smiling as you notice Taehyung’s parents’ house is visible from here, you can only imagine what kind of trouble the pair got up to when they were younger.

“She knows we’ve been dating for nearly three months.”

“Except we haven’t.” You hum, turning to face him.

“Kinda have,” Jungkook closes the bedroom door and sits on the bed, smoothing over the red and white covers with inked fingers, “I told her about you after our first date.”

“You did?” You’re shocked to say the least, chest swelling with something unfamiliar as you realise he must’ve had feelings for you for some time, perhaps even longer than you’ve had feelings for him. “What did you tell her?”

He sighs with closed eyes as he leans back on the bed, propping himself up with one elbow, he seems relaxed here, “That’s for me to know and for you to never find out… And I know you’re probably wondering why they still live here and not somewhere… More extravagant.”

“I wasn’t actually, I’m wondering what’s in that care package.”

“Right,” He playfully rolls his eyes, grabbing it from the floor, “Well I’ve tried to buy them a bigger place, better cars, holidays... But my dad refuses to take my money.”

“I see.” You pry the hamper from his hands as you finally sit down next to him, your thighs touching ever so slightly, “I like it here though, it’s nice. I can see why they don’t want to leave.”

“Mmm.” He pops his tongue, “Anyways I’m gonna go take a shower, you’ll be okay in here?”

You nod in agreement as you begin to unbox your gift from his mother. Without even meeting you she’s picked out your favourite scent, the basket is filled with all kinds of Korean skincare and cosmetics, perfumes, shower gels, and there’s even a dainty silver bangle with your initial on in there. Your heart tightens at her kindness and you pray to every higher power that you’ve made a good first impression with her. Namjoon’s mother didn’t like you when he grew to spend more time with you than her, she was very overbearing and controlling so your experiences with boyfriend’s mothers had been forever tainted – but thankfully Jungkook’s mother seems to be nothing like that.

Since his father is working night shifts at his restaurant you don’t meet him that night, instead you, Jungkook and his mother all enjoy an amazing meal together, it turns out she’s an incredible cook and you eat so much that you feel as though you’re going to burst at any given moment. The conversation flows effortlessly, she compliments your looks often and you learn that your boyfriend was a competitive child who excelled at pretty much anything he put his mind to, including boxing and taekwondo, hence the medals and trophies. This comes as no surprise to you, giving how strong and competitive he still is now. When you finally head to bed to sleep off your jetlag Jungkook reassures you with a proud smile that his mom really likes you, planting a sweet kiss to your temple as the long journey catches up with your body and you succumb to a peaceful slumber.

It’s the morning when you wake to the sound of Jungkook’s bedroom door being barged open, revealing a rather dashing looking Taehyung, wearing a beige suit with a crisp white shirt. You’re facing the wall but can just make out his reflection in the window with sleepy eyes, he’s grinning at the sight of you and your boyfriend cuddling in bed.

“Rise and shine love birds.”

“Go away Taehyung.” Jungkook mumbles into the crook of your neck, his bare arm lazily draped over your pyjama clad body.

“Not likely,” Tae chirps, clapping loudly, “Your dads home.”

“And?”

“And he wants to meet Y/N obviously.”

“What time is it?” Jungkook’s breath is hot on your ear, his body warm behind you as he stretches in place.

“Almost nine.”

At this your boyfriend groans, sounding as though he’s in actual physical pain, “You said midday.”

“I got excited, my mom’s downstairs too she wants to see you.”

“We’ll be down there soon.” You feel the bed shift behind you, his warmth quickly disappearing as he pulls the covers over your frame, rolling out of bed. “Is he in a good mood at least?”

“Dunno, didn’t speak to me as usual.” Taehyung sounds neither surprised or hurt by this, “So does she know that your dads an asshole or is it a gonna be a surprise for her?”

“The latter.”

It takes you an hour to wake up properly and get ready. The shower gel you’d been gifted upon arrival was among one of the nicest smelling toiletries you’ve ever owned, it’s subtly floral and sweet and you find yourself humming contently at the scent of your own skin while you get dressed. It’s warm in Korea, a lot warmer than London is and so you opt for a lightweight cream shirt, tucked into a pair of blue denim shorts. Natural makeup evens out your skin tone and you consider yourself good enough to head downstairs where Jungkook and the others are waiting, you spritz your body with one of your new perfumes and exhale the air you didn’t realise you were holding in. He can’t be that bad, you mentally assure yourself.

“You look nice.” Jungkook smiles, flashing you a mischievous wink when he’s certain nobody’s looking at him as you make your way over to the dining table.

“Thanks.” You fight an awkward laugh, feeling everybody’s eyes on you.

In a turn of events you realise Jungkook resembles his father even more so than his mother, he’s a tall and handsome muscular man, his features almost identical to that of your boyfriend’s. He’s sitting at the head of the table with an unreadable expression, wearing a plain white t shirt and slacks. Next to him is Taehyung’s mother, who is undeniably beautiful – she could be a runway model for Victoria Secret, even at this age. Envy brews in the depths of your stomach at her perfect physique and bright smile, she catches your eye and gasps.

“Is this Y/N?” Her voice is sweet like honey.

“The one and only.” Taehyung quips from beside her, stirring a silver spoon in his drink.

“When are you going to get a girlfriend Tae?” She asks with a small giggle.

“Y/N I’ve made you some tea.” Jungkook’s mother hands you a China mug with steaming liquid inside, to which you thank her and lower yourself onto the empty chair between your boyfriend and his father.

“Thank you so much,” You smile, your body immediately relaxing when Jungkook drapes his arm over the back of your seat, “It’s nice to meet you.” You flicker between the two members of the group you haven’t seen before, settling on the older man.

“Mmm.” He nods, eyeing you curiously, “So this is the girl?”

“Yup, Y/N this is my dad, dad this is Y/N, my girlfriend.”

You watch his father quirk a brow as he gives you a once over, he looks surprised, “She’s very pretty.”

As much as you don’t appreciate being spoken about like you’re not sitting right between them, you find the strength to stay quiet and smile politely, silently thanking him for the compliment with your eyes. Taehyung’s mom is nodding in agreement, as is her son before everybody resumes to eating their breakfast – and what a breakfast it is, the whole table is covered with bowls of freshly sliced fruits amongst pastries and breads with varying spreads, it’s like something from a movie.

“She is.” Jungkook’s voice is low yet soft, he’s looking at you with an expression that screams ‘I’m so sorry about this’ while you drink your tea.

“What do you do?” His dad asks and you already feel judged.

“I’m a waitress,” You answer, “But I am looking for something more suited to my degree, just waiting for the opportunity to arise.” It’s not a complete lie – you do want to make use of your qualifications and find another job eventually, though you haven’t exactly been proactive in searching for it lately.

“She went to business school.” Kook explains on your behalf with a proud profile.

“I’m surprised you haven’t given her a job yourself, or bought her a company to run,” His dad scoffs and you immediately feel uncomfortable, sensing the shift in atmosphere, “Being the big shot CEO you are.”

Taehyung watches the scene in front of him unfold with cautious eyes, as do the women in the room. The two men continue conversing in Korean so you don’t fully understand what’s being said, but what you do gather is that Taehyung was right – Jungkook’s dad is an asshole. Their voices are raised and they’re speaking fast enough to frequently run out of breath for a good ten minutes, you’ve never seen him look this…offended. His mom looks almost ashamed at what she’s hearing as the older man scoffs again, glaring at Jungkook expectantly. When he fails to get an answer from his son he clears his throat, putting down his own tea.

“It was nice to meet you Y/N,” His father stands from the table with a forced smile, “I’ll be upstairs.”

“I am so sorry about him.” Jungkook’s mother is the first to speak when she’s sure he’s out of hearing distance, awkwardly shifting in place, “He’s been working so hard recently.”

“I work hard too but I don’t speak to people that way.” Kook scoffs, “When are you gonna stop defending him and excusing his behaviour? You wanna know the real reason I don’t visit often? It’s because of him.”

You get the impression that his father disapproves of his lifestyle, for what reason you don’t know because Jungkook is a very successful man, the idea of somebody not approving of the empire he’s built for himself is silly. As his parents, you’d think they of all people would be beyond proud of their son’s achievements.

“Don’t say such hurtful things to your eomma Jungkook.” Taehyung’s mom puts down the croissant she’d been awkwardly nibbling at for the last ten minutes and shoots him a stern yet understanding look.

“Sorry.” He mumbles with a tight jaw, his features and shoulders eventually softening when he makes eye contact with you, “I’m sorry.”

The rest of the day is a blur, as much as you didn’t want to pry you can’t help but wonder what had been said at the dining table between Jungkook and his father, especially since everybody else had tiptoed around the subject all day. The five of you, yes Taehyung and his mom included, went to the Han River and enjoyed a lovely picnic. The sun was hot against your bare legs all day, though you didn’t love the humidity in the air. It doesn’t take you long to figure out that Taehyung’s and Jungkook’s mothers are also best friends, they told you the story of how they’d known each other since they were four years old and did absolutely everything together – including having children at the same time. Where Jungkook is an only child out of choice, Taehyung has two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, who attend an elite boarding school an hour away from London.

You don’t see Jungkook’s father again that day, he chooses to stay out of the way until the sun sets and he heads to work. It’s strange how little he seems to care about his own son’s presence, especially when he hasn’t seen him in such a long time. The situation is soon forgotten about though, and you enjoy another evening meal with the people who do care about your arrival, you help his mom wash the dishes once everybody had finished and Taehyung makes a joke about how you’re already ‘wife material’. Soon after that you and Jungkook head upstairs, leaving the three of them in the dining area with a few bottles of soju between them.

“We all have them you know,” Your voice is quiet as you climb into bed after your shower, your head soon finding it’s way to rest on Jungkook’s bare chest, “Family members who don’t approve of our decisions… My sisters the same.”

“I’m really sorry about this morning, I knew he was gonna go off but I thought he would’ve done it away from you at least.” Kook snakes his arms round your body, “Just wanted to have a nice break from work and introduce my girlfriend to my parents, is that too much to ask?” He sighs, this is a different side of him that you’ve not seen – usually he’s calm, cool and collected but as his heart hammers against your cheek you realise he’s stressed by the situation.

“Not at all, don’t worry I’m used to parents not liking me.” You’re trying not to take it personally, clearly there’s a much bigger picture here.

At this Jungkook kisses your forehead reassuringly, “It’s not that he doesn’t like you, he’s just… He has an opinion on everything I do, it’s really not you. My mom absolutely loves you.”

“That’s good.”

“I think she prefers you to me.”

“Doesn’t everybody?” You grin, squeezing his middle.

“Such a brat.” His voice is amused as he jokingly tugs your hair, “What’s the deal with your sister anyway?”

“We just don’t get along, that’s all there is to it.” Your heart drops, you hate having this conversation but deem it only fair given that he’s opened up to you about his turbulent family relationships, “She’s always been the smarter, prettier, more successful one and I spent the majority of my life living in her shadow. She moved away three years ago and I think I’ve texted her maybe twice? Okay three times tops. It’s not just me she doesn’t like me either, claims that my parents baby and favour me.”

“Two things.” Jungkook’s chest vibrates in sync with his deep voice, “First of all there’s no way she’s prettier, not possible. And secondly, you definitely have been babied by your parents.”

“Who’s side are you on here?” You snort.

“Yours, always yours. Just saying that you can be a bit of a…”

“Don’t say it.”

“Brat.” He chuckles sleepily.

While his mother has gone out of her way to make your stay enjoyable, there’s still a hint of discomfort in the air as you pack your bags the next day. Truthfully you’d like to stay longer but understand that Jungkook’s schedule simply doesn’t have the free time to allow that – you’re just about finished packing when his father knocks on the open bedroom door.

“Hello,” Surprise is evident in your voice, “Thank you for inviting me into your home.” As much as he and Kook don’t seem to get along you’re still polite, this is the first time he’s actually registered your existence since yesterday morning. It’s better to remain calm and respectful, you’d expect the same from Jungkook after all if he were to ever meet your sister.

“Are you only with him for the money?”

You immediately stop what you’re doing, dropping your cosmetics case onto the bed as you face him, flabbergasted and offended, “No.”

“Mmm.” The older man is unconvinced as he steps into the room with pursed lips, he knows full well that Jungkook and his wife are currently downstairs and decided to take it upon himself to corner you like this, “He’s a business opportunity to you then?”

What?! You’re frowning, toying with the idea of giving him a piece of your mind even though you know you should remain well-mannered. “I-,” You breath out, “I like your son a lot, I care about him, I would never use him like that.” How fucking dare he assume so little of you, and why? You’re his son’s first ever girlfriend, you understand some curiosity toward your situation with him giving that he’s nearing thirty and has never had a romantic partner – but this is… Infuriating.

“You know what they say about you in the press, don’t you?”

“No. I tend to avoid the articles.” You say between clenched teeth.

“They say you’re just another one of his flings, something pretty to keep him entertained until he gets bored of you and moves onto the next.” His words are venomous as they pierce the otherwise silent room, aiming straight for your heart.

“I wouldn’t be here right now if he was bored of me.” You defend yourself, slowly losing your patience.

“I’m curious to know why you’re here at all.”

“I don’t know what the situation is between you and Jungkook,” You’re vibrating with rage at this point, choosing your words carefully, “But he wanted me here, I’m sorry that you don’t.”

“Break up with him.” He barks, “If you care about him as much as you say you do, leave him, let him find a nice Korean girl to marry and mother his children. It’s the right thing to do.”

“The right thing to do for him or for you?”

Your question noticeably catches the man off-guard as it hangs in the air, remaining unanswered. From the moment you initially started seeing Jungkook you were well aware of the fact people would judge you, your appearance, your lifestyle, your choices… But you never expected that it would be his father scrutinising you the most. 

You don’t read the articles about your relationship so you’ve no idea if he’s telling the truth about what other people think of you – but something tells you he only uttered those words to hurt you. For some reason you feel…embarrassed that you don’t meet his requirements for a suitable daughter-in-law. It stings knowing that he doesn’t approve of you, and you let it bother you more than it should.

“—Yoongi’s on his way now,” You hear your boyfriend jog up the stairs, taken aback by his own fathers presence. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” The older man sighs, “It was nice to meet you.” And just like that he’s gone, but not before glaring at you over his son’s broad shoulder.

“What did he say to you?” Kook looks furious as he collects the bags with strong hands, probably noticing your discomfort.

“Nothing.” You lie, there’s a time and a place for everything and now is not the time nor place you decide, “Is Taehyung ready to leave too?”

“Y/N what did he say?” He stills his movements and scans your features for the truth, worry evident in his big brown doe-eyes. How on earth such a caring and considerate man came from his father you’ve no idea – thank god he hadn’t turned out anything like him.

“Nothing, really.” You feign a smile, running manicured fingers through your hair as you say goodbye to his childhood bedroom and make your way downstairs.

Yoongi’s arrival forces Jungkook to let it go and help him load the car, his mother gives you a warm embrace and begs that you’ll return again soon, she even cries when Jungkook explains for the fifth time that you really need to get going now. She and Taehyung’s mom wave the three of you off as Jungkook opens the car door for you, proving further how much of a gentleman he really is. Your thoughts are still poisoned by his father’s words as you make your way to the airport, completely zoning out of any conversation.

The flight back to London is equally quiet for you, save for the occasional ‘are you sure you’re okay?’ from Jungkook which you consistently answer yes to. At some point you drift off, accidentally falling asleep on Taehyung’s shoulder who sits next to you – thankfully he doesn’t try to move you and just lets it happen, mumbling to himself something about how he’s so painfully alone that this is the most intimate moment he’s had in months. When you eventually land you realise somebody’s jacket is being used as a makeshift pillow for you, separating your cheek from Taehyung’s frame ever so slightly.

“Oh,” You exhale, noticing you’d spent the entire flight with your head resting on somebody who’s not your boyfriend, you’re so embarrassed, “I’m really sorry! Ah, you should’ve woke me up sooner! I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Tae chuckles as he stretches in place, you feel guilty for how stiff he must feel right now – giving that he hasn’t moved from that one position in hours. Jungkook sits opposite you glued to a sleek silver laptop, he’s so zoned in on whatever he’s doing that he doesn’t register you’ve woken up straight away.

“Are the paparazzi even allowed to be here?” You’re frowning, gesturing to the swarm of camera flashes just a few feet away from the jet. Usually you’d try to ignore the media and much like Jungkook had advised you on your first date you do kind of get used to it after a while, but this, this is something else.

Jungkook displays an amused grin as soon as he realises you’re awake, closing his laptop. “Good evening sleeping beauty, did you sleep okay?”

“Uh-, yeah actually.” You’re surprised, Taehyung must’ve been really comfy to lay on.

“I’m glad,” Most men would be mad, maybe even a little jealous that their girlfriend had fallen asleep on the shoulder of another man, but he doesn’t seem phased at all. Gosh, he’s so unproblematic that it still manages to surprise you, “I’ve got a meeting early tomorrow so is it okay if Yoongi takes you to your place tonight? Or you can stay at my apartment but I’ll be leaving at 6AM, I’ll be out for the whole day but it’s up to you, what would you rather do?”

“Guk…” Taehyung interrupts, his thumb rapidly scrolls his phone screen, eyes borderline bursting from his skull. “Fuck, guys… This is bad. This is bad.”

“What?” You and Jungkook say in sync.

“Is everything okay?” You’re distracted by the paparazzi literally screaming at the security guards to get closer to the jet, there must be at least one hundred camera men on the ground all fighting their way to you.

“Shit,” Taehyung jumps from his seat and gathers his belongings, “We need to get out of here and away from them, now. Fuck.”

“You wanna tell us what’s going on?” Jungkook laughs at his friend’s sudden change in demeanour, looking equally as confused as you.

Rather than saying anything Taehyung turns his phone screen in hand, so you and Jungkook are able to see what the problem is. It’s an article, actually there looks to be several articles written about you and your boyfriend – you grimace, remembering his father’s words about how you’re portrayed in the media. It’s when your vision completely focusses on the words that your heart drops into your the depths of your stomach.

Billionaire Jungkook and girlfriend Y/N Bora Bora sex tape leak. Watch the video here. 

x

[elfdragon12]

Okay, so I had intended to focus on Brawl as Brawl is the most relevant to Tracks and Needlenose, but then Vortex hopped on his back and demanded to get drawn too, citing the fact there wasn't enough screen time in the comics. As everything I see of them comes off as pretty sibling-like, I thought it fit.

And yeah, I decided Vortex is a woman for my take on humanformers. I realized I was developing a whole cast and not a single woman was in it. So Vortex gets to be a feminine ball of gremlin energy.

The image above is referencing this scene:

More info about them below the cut (update: Vortex's history has been changed a bit):

Vortex, Victoria Noknoi, started life in a small apartment with only her mother as family. However, at about the age of 4, her mother came down sick, barely able to do any work and certainly not able to take care of a child. After some heartbreak, Victoria was surrendered to Child Services in the hopes that the mother would eventually recover and be able to reunite.

However, that never happened.

Whether or not her mother recovered, Victoria never learned. She was shuffled about and got lost in the system, bouncing from home to home. Had her mother ever managed to recover, finding Victoria again would have been an immense struggle. Instead she was raised within the foster care system.

Into her teenage years, she met one young Ukrainian-American boy brought into the foster care system named Bodhan Pavlovych Bondaruk whose parents had been caught in the crossfire of the police and local gang members. As they both were directionless teenagers, they were "volunteered" for a sort of military youth outreach program (I mean, they're in the US, so like JROTC)... It was kind of successful because it gave them direction... But also kind of not as it allowed some of their worst tendencies to grow. Vortex, as her call sign came to be, found she was actually pretty darn good at driving (despite all the cracks about her needing a booster seat). Brawl, as others called him, was excellent at throwing people around and even had some great aim at the shooting range.

Once of age, they were both registered as official members of the US Army. They were assigned to one Orlando Hart, who had the call sign Onslaught. Orlando didn't mind their personalities so much, not taking too long to figure out when to rein them in and when to let them wreck havoc. They enjoyed it, especially as their squad leader was pretty smart and (as Bodhan found out the hard way) not too shabby in hand-to-hand combat himself.

... And then Orlando made a proposition to them. Either hang around the military until it chews them up and spits them out dead or defect with him and they'll do whatever kind of mercenary jobs they want for the highest bidder. Neither Bodhan or Victoria thought too hard about it before agreeing. They'd both been under the thumb of government authority for too long and wanted to stretch their metaphorical wings outside of that influence.

(As an extra aside: Victoria is ace. You wouldn't know it from how she talks, but she only wants to get down and dirty in the battlefield, not in your pants. She and Bodhan had a short period of experimentation and she found that sex was just not for her.)

[undertalethingems]

Hey there! Question for ya: Do you have any advice for someone looking into starting an undertale comic? I've been a fanfic writer for 6+ years and, at this point, i'm not really struggling with the story elements. But -though i've been doing pen/pencil art for quite a while- i've only barely begun in the realm of digital art (ive drawn 3 pieces atm haha). I was wondering (since your comics are AMAZING) if you might have advice on getting started? Love your style btw!!! <3 -@Ninathenope

Ah, sorry it took me a bit to get to this!

Hmm... tips for when you're just starting out...

Well, I know that for me, the biggest things have been making my comic in a way that's manageable, and not worrying about making it perfect. Could I do Unexpected Guests in full color and shading? Sure, but it'd be a lot of work! When I tried that in the past with other comics, I ended up burning out and losing interest because it wasn't fun (and in some cases physically harmful. remember to stretch your hands guys >>;; ). For Unexpected Guests, I went in with the mindset that I would make it look good as I could while not worrying if the lines were always smooth, the characters were perfectly proportioned, and keeping things simple in terms of shading and color--because the priority is to tell the story.

My other tip might be a little harder to get?? But try to think of your comic panels as being still frames of an animation. Both comics and animation can be thought of as sequential art--as in, one picture follows another in a logical way that continues the action. So figuring out key poses, timing, smears, and other tricks animators use to make us think still images can move can help your comic panels imply a lot more life and motion. There are a lot of tutorials out there for animation tricks; looking up information on storyboarding and animatics might be the most helpful since those lie between comics and animation.

But I think another important thing to consider is: start small! Though Unexpected Guests is the first comic I've done in a while, it's not my first ever--I've made other comics before this, even if they weren't as long or successful. But they were enough to give me a sense for what worked. So rather than throwing yourself into a major project right away, maybe experiment with some shorter ideas first, just to get a sense for how you want your workflow to be structured. Since you're just starting with digital art, you don't want to start something huge only to discover your workflow or format makes it a pain to draw or add text or something.

there's definitely plenty more info on making comics out there--tutorials and the like--so don't take these as the only tips you'll ever need XD But I hope they're a start, and good luck ^^