nuclear waste aerobics

Huh...

Have a nice summer! 🌴

What fandom? Huh?

I initially interpreted this as anon confessing they're obsessed with my characters and wish to be a nasty lil shit towards the other handful fans over shipping. Which would be hilarious tbh

Aww thank you so much, that makes me happy!

My style of lineart may look like something that comes out naturally but I actually very consciously developed it for a while. You literally have to train your hand to behave a certain way, i.e. a relaxed hand makes relaxed lines and so on. Relaxed lines appear more lively than stiff lines

I place line weight (pressure adjusted thickness) into the corners because that's where shadows form usually; it reads more naturalistic to me

As for hatching, if you're drawing something organic I recommend you don't hatch with straight lines but rather match the contours of your figure to give it depth. They don't teach this in how-to-draw books but hatching and cross-hatching work with curved lines too (often even better I might add)

Before anyone asks about the brush it's some free CSP brush asset I found and modified but I guarantee you there's others like it out there. But again, a new brush won't magically fix your art if you haven't taught your hand to use it

Homestuck or something would've been more appropriate my friend

I guess every artist wants to make successful work but it's a double-edged sword since for every 99 fans you gain you also gain 1 hater who wants to ruin your life. IDK, I'd be quite happy enough if my comics scored me a cool house

Not that I think Phantomland would get big though. Most successful webcomics out there have a catchy premise and update often. Neither of which applies to mine lol

Thanks! It's on hiatus atm, I can't work too much so I focus on stuff that pays the bills. I hope I can resume updates later this year

Thank you so much!! I'm thrilled that people are still reading and enjoying it!

Well, I've never been diagnosed but I could be mildly autistic. I was a weird kid who got bullied a lot, even at home, but that's normal right? Everyone gets bullied over arbitrary shit right

Some time ago I noticed that many fans of my webcomic seemed neurodivergent. I kept wondering if that's just comic readers in general or if there's something about the comic itself. Then it finally clicked after a while: Maybe Phantomland was a story about fucking autism all along? That's why they're drawn to it? Because they can relate to it???

It's not even the first time I'd put a metaphor into my work without realizing. In Phantomland having the ghost virus would mirror that feeling that you're fundamentally defective inside. Where you think you're a regular nice person while other people will find you offputting within seconds of meeting you. For me it wasn't every interaction but common enough to notice a pattern. Kind of a depressing thing to navigate. That unfairness where people won't judge you based on what you say or do, but some nebulous third thing

I also think about this sketch you did of Jon and Chie having a tender moment and he's saying "I don't have much of this in me.. but you can have what's left"

As well as your depictions of men in intimate situations, the disaffected, cool and collected faces make me think of this THIS IS SUPER RANDOM but this guy is so perfect and hot he reminds me of your enchanting work

Also.. if you couldn't tell, huge fan!!! I'm so happy that you're still making stuff! :D

Thanks for your message! (censored it a bit because this is a sfw acc)

Do my characters have ASPD? I doubt it. I just have a fetish for stoicism lol. Jean is possibly aromantic but I hesitate putting labels on anyone

ASPD is fascinating though. I'm definitely inspired by it. Jon checks some of the boxes since he uses violence and threats to get his way. On the other hand his motives aren't necessarily selfish? He treats his friends well? So I'd rather say he's a product of his environment. He's been through shit

Writing ASPD accurately seems difficult because a self-serving jackass with zero empathy lacks an emotional weak spot. Characters tend to need vulnerabilities, otherwise they become hard to sympathize with… though I guess that's the interesting thing to explore, right. When a psychopath shows kindness how can you tell if it's genuine? Does it matter if it's genuine?

I'm thrilled that you found a guy who resembles my drawings haha… tread carefully though, I have some past experience with ASPD types. They can be really good at saying whatever you wanna hear. Keep an eye out for red flags

Thanks for your message. You should have as much buffer as possible, naturally... rushing pages to make a deadline feels pretty bad after all! With a buffer you'll have plenty of time to catch mistakes and polish your stuff before publishing. That said I've always lost my buffer very quick because I'm just never as productive as I hope lol