#thank you devs for creating stories and characters we love and cherish

[14dayswithyou]

I literally have the most amazing and wonderful community in the entire world???? T_T In this essay, I will—

This is going to be raw and unedited because I want to get my initial thoughts out there before I forget n go back to crying /pos, but?? Yawl.... I can't even begin to find the words to express how appreciative and grateful I am for each and every one of you!! ;v;

I've spent the past few hours reading through everyone's personally written messages, then rereading them all again to let it all fully sink in. I'm being genuine when I say that I've never felt this loved or appreciated in any community before in my life.

Those in the Discord server might know about this already, but since the start of this year, I haven't really been enjoying myself (nor have I been as active) in the yandere VN community. There was far too much infighting between devs, parasocial communities, and toxic anons that ruined so much for me — so I withdrew from it all and remained in my own small bubble. Even then, I still got belittled, harassed, doxxed, and even became the target of Tall Poppy Syndrome by others; most of which nearly made me want to leave altogether, but the overflowing amount of support from everyone in the 14DWY community made me want to stay.

And even now, after reading all those heartfelt messages... I think it's permanently solidified the little space I occupy here on the internet :3

So... Yeah, long story short (and a story that will likely end up as its own separate Tumblr post gjskskjd), I wasn't enjoying myself at all in the yandere VN community... but I did have the time of my life in the 14DWY community. And it's all thanks to you guys.

I'm genuinely sooooo proud to have such an endlessly kind, social, and talented community; and I'm glad to have brought such an interactive and friendly group of people together over our shared interest in such a nice concept. 14DWY is essentially a labour of my love — and although I'm ultimately creating it for me and my silly interests — it's still something that I want to make worthy of you guys as well. All the love and support you've shown me and 14DWY motivates me to do my very best, and y'all deserve nothing less. So...

Thank you all for finding a comfort character in my Totally Normal Guy and his Totally Not Eccentric quirks. Thank you for all the insanely talented creations y'all make and share with me. Thank you for sending in your silly (/pos) questions and turning them into inside jokes and AUs for the rest of the community to enjoy. Thank you for talking with me and making this space a genuinely fun place for me to be in again.

From the bottom of my heart; thank you all so much. I really hope everyone has had an amazing year so far, and I hope 2025 will be as kind to you as you all were towards me.

I also want to give a big fat massive huuuuuuuge shout-out to Ashe / @flaneur001 my love (/p) for organising the 14DWY letter event on Discord, and for contributing so much of their time and dedication to the 14DWY community. You say you've only been part of the community for a year, but to me, that was a year well cherished and appreciated. The 14DWY community (and me especially) have all been so lucky to spend this past year with you, and I sincerely hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have. You've done so much for me, the community, and the 14DWY Discord server, so it's only fair that you get the recognition you deserve. So thank you, Ashe!! And a big thank you to everyone in the 14DWY Discord who participated in this event as well!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some cryin and sobbin to do <3 /silly /pos

[gifastic]

GIFASTIC SPOTLIGHT #2 : MARIE DE DURAT

@gifastic is an animation collective created by @matthieu-fouquet & @thevipersnake. The group is formed by 16 members, and you will discover them one by one with GIFASTIC SPOTLIGHT !

All the gifs above are made by Marie de Durat for Gifastic

You can follow her here :

tumblr : @billandashley ___________________ MARIE’S INTERVIEW :

Spotlight : Can you introduce yourself ?

Marie : Hola !  My name is Marie de Durat, I’m 22. I’m currently in fourth year at Georges Méliès school next to Paris. I am working on my graduation movie, « HERO » with four fabulous friends ☆

Spotlight : What do you think about Gifastic and what did it brings you ?

Marie : Mathieu and Arthur had a very good idea bringing Gifastic to life, thanks guys for creating it ! It’s very positive to reunite students from all over the world by their own initiative. Gifastic has been a breath of fresh air for me. I haven’t done a lot of animation during my studies (working more on vis dev, character design and background for student film) and when I was doing animation exercise for school, it always seemed so difficult, the simplest things were becoming complicated. For Gifastic, we can do just anything we want, simple or more sophisticated. So I relied more on my intuition, loved it, and I learned mostly thanks to this. It has been kind of a revelation. It’s also a really fun way of thinking « Okay I have this theme, theses colours and only 3 seconds. What kind of story I can tell? » Spotlight : Can you talk about your inspirations ?

Marie : I just got to many  and it changes a lot so I’m gonna talk about the ones that comes in my mind right now  (in a couple of hours, I’m gonna be such a  frustrated shit because I didn’t talk about this artist or this one, but I can’t mention everyone anyway !) First, the God of Gods : Taiyo Matsumoto. I discovered him more precisely this year, and everything in his art is just so sensible and humanly accurate. His habit to put life’s « insignifiant » little details in his stories makes it real and relatable. And it’s visually astonishing (I had to read 3 times the first book of samurai bamboo before being able to follow the story because I had tears in my eyes seeing something so beautiful.). Also there is Masaki Yuasa of course, the work of Studio 4°C, a lot of painters but I can’t name them all so go check the tumblr « Master Painters ». Zilai Feng, Jean Paul Léon, Victoria Antolini , the work of Jenerally drawing, Yoshitaka Amano, Robert Valley, especially his sketches, Gigi Cavenago, Jia Youfu, the illustrator Arx lee, the work of Alex Rimbault is also super funny, Rickey tickey sketches, Mikkel Sommer… Music to, especially hip hop. But the best inspirations are outside, in the streets, at your school … (I know it sounds like a microwaved generic sentence but it’s true!) Sketching people outside is the thing that I like the most, and the best inspiration I ever found. It’s quite incredible how drawing is seen as something positive or reassuring by people. Sometimes it opens the door to a little chat with this stranger you draw, and that social aspect is something I cherish. Spotlight :  What would you say to someone who wants to get into animation ?

Marie : Just to say, I only have a student experience so my vision can be not complete compared to someone who is working in the animation industry since years So if someone tells me he wants that, it’s cool, go for it ! It’s mostly a passion job, so it’s a chance! As Neil said, go for it ! When someone comes and talk to me about getting into animation, I heard a lot of « I’m afraid, I heard that you have to work really really hard, sacrifying a lot of stuff, your spare time, health, family… ». I think it’s possible to keep all of this, having a normal schedule, and work in animation.  Personally I draw a lot, it takes me most of my time, but it is my choice, because I love it, drawing is my work and hobby. But, don’t be afraid, it’s absolutely not an obligation to give all your time to drawing/animation. And more, it’s important to keep time for other stuffs so you don’t turn crazy. Also I would tell : keep being sincere in your work, and keep the fun ! And remember all the time that everyone has different taste about drawing, and inspiration. Even if one day you may have heard someone say “this style is lame/mainstream/…”, don’t be afraid, everyone is different, as long as you are sincere with what you do. When you do something you like, it’s sweat out your work, and you do better stuff  (It’s a little negative detail but in general everyone is really nice in animation ! AND !  Don’t hesitate to try different things! It’s more fun to use the creative opportunities and ideas your brain gives you ! You can find this way some new  technics, thematics that will follow you during your career. ___________________ Gifastic Spotlight #1 : Neil Ingle HERE ! Find all Gifastic episodes HERE ! We also are on Facebook ! You want to make a gif with us ? Try the Gifastic Challenge !