Been Here To Long Now I Cant Escape

With the finale out now I think a central theme that I've recognized and really adore is "all of these characters are more complex than an audience would appreciate." They are all being squished into a child-friendly set of archetypes, be that by Caine, Jax, or metatextually, the fandom. Caine doesn't want them complaining, swearing or having sex, they just have to go on endless, mindless, youtube-monetizable adventures. He's the ringmaster, he puts them in a bright poppy's playtime ass stage and demands for funny to happen. Meanwhile, Jax doesn't want to address the dire reality of their situation and copes by playing along, treating himself and all the characters as flat archetypes with no internality, so that the elephants in the room can safely be ignored. The fandom, meanwhile, is quietly guilty of all the same things. "Why isn't my favorite character acting in accordance with my headcanon? Which characters are flatly evil so we can hate them? Will they achieve my perfect happy ending? Because if not I'll be mad about it."

It doesn't work. Because they're more complex than that. They're people, they need more, they have emotions and traumas and wants and needs. Ragatha isn't always cheerful, she's not just the mom friend, and she's not some manipulator either. She's a person, trying her best, and very often failing. Pomni isn't always anxious, she's a natural leader and she wants the best for everyone, but she's not perfect either. She's a person, trying her best, and very often failing. And Jax isn't just a villain, he's a very complicated ball of traumas whose consistent first instinct is to push everyone away, hurting others so that he won't get hurt himself. He's a person, trying his best, and very often failing. She might even be a girl. Zooble isn't just a grump, Gangle isn't just a wimp, Kinger isn't just crazy. They're humans. And humans aren't always good. They're messy, screwed up, complicated things. They're things that can't be flattened down to archetypes, no matter how much Caine, Jax, or the fandom wants it.

The fandom wanted a bunch of cookie cutter adventures with good guys and bad guys, but what we got is just a bunch of people, stuck together, their traumas rubbing up against eachother until something catches fire and explodes. And I think that's way more interesting. I'm glad the show is that. I understand not everyone feels that way, though. A lot of people wanted something less nuanced. But I don't think the show not matching your expectations is the show's fault. I think people just need to come at it with the right mindset. Meet the story where it's at.

Star Devourer

Chapters

Chapter 2: Who you are (5/??)

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when your dad calls you by your full government name

There are currently two TikTok accounts (most likely operated by the same person) impersonating both myself (EJ) and @doodle-bunstel

They are:

taking our artworks

using AI to alter our drawings

removing or changing our watermarks and signatures

and reposting the edited images as their own original work.

Unfortunately, TikTok's reporting system has not been helpful. Both Bunstel and I have reported these accounts for impersonation, but TikTok has repeatedly responded that they found no violations.

We ask for your help.

If you have TikTok, please report these accounts under "Misinformation" and "Deepfakes." While TikTok unfortunately does not allow reports for impersonation unless the victim is a public figure or celebrity, these accounts are, by definition, spreading misinformation by pretending to be artists they are not and presenting altered artwork as their own.

‼️Please do NOT comment, message, or otherwise engage with these accounts, as any interaction only boosts their visibility. Reporting them is the most helpful action you can take.‼️

If you don't have TikTok, a reblog would be greatly appreciated to help spread awareness.

Bunstel and I have spent years developing our skills and creating artwork out of genuine passion for both art and the characters we love. Our work is shared freely with the community. It takes us hours to create a piece, yet only seconds for someone else to run it through AI, alter it, and claim it as their own.

The hospital is really busy right now (major surgeries booking into October), including lots of big patients (some have been bigger than me!) and that means the space is at a premium even just for me to walk around.  But sometimes I need to do something other than sew and writing up the stories of patients is one of my happy procrastinations where I don’t feel too guilty for letting them sit.  So thank you for being a reader, and letting me procrastinate with a bit less guilt! 😊

I have two recent stories I really wanted to share, so here is the first, the story of a mouse.

Unlike the patients above, Mouser is actually fairly small. Not tiny, but about ten inches tall. His person first wrote back in 2020, when Mouser was 29 years old. He had had an unfortunate run-in with a dog. Here are the diagnosis photos from then:

She also sent a photo of a similar (though not quite the same) younger mouse as a comparison:

We all know how 2020 went, so Mouser didn't come in then, but six years later (he’d been kept in a safe space all that time) his person wrote back. She was finally ready to send him to the hospital.

We agreed that the best treatment would be:

Repair injured foot

Recover both footpads

Fix finger toe stitches

Repair muzzle with new nose

Two new ears

Repair arm with new hand pad

Repair tail attachment

Gentle spa

Of course, these were subject to change as treatment proceeded (and you’ll see they did a bit) but that was the plan.

He took a short flight down the coast from Washington and started his treatment with a gentle spa. Here he is in his bubble bath:

You can sort of see in the photo, he’s kind of a bluish gray, which I couldn’t match exactly for his new ears and back of his missing hand, so there were two choices for his human to choose from:

She chose the shorter fur and surgery proceeded. I had a really good match for his pawpads.

Here's his heart being made and installed with a bit of original stuffing:

And here were his initial chubbiness approval pics:

He still needed some new toes and fingers:

And new whiskers:

And then, he was ready to fly home! His person wrote: He looks amazing!

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