#squidi

Squidi’s full ref ! 🦑

so good.

Sean Howard, I appreciate your time.

Sean Howard is the author of the pixel art webcomic A Modest Destiny (AMD) and a number of pixel art side projects. All of the pixel art he uses in his comics is self-made, and it gives them a very different feel than the other webcomics I have written about so far. It instantly puts you into the mindset of early Zelda and Final Fantasy games. A Modest Destiny successfully and hilariously plays with the tropes of the fantasy genre as we follow its young hero seeking fame and fortune, and who ends up saving the world (twice). Four chapters have been completed, with a fifth promised someday.  

I first started reading Sean’s work in high school. I loved the characters, humor, and look of the comic. I remember being so excited to read the new update each day. It was the first webcomic that I followed regularly, starting a habit that I continue (albeit with other comics) to this day. AMD was also the first online project I ever supported by buying merchandise – a t-shirt that says “Brain for eat, not for think” that I still wear to this day.

Sean also writes a blog that introduced me to discussions on a lot of issues that, as a teenager, I was just beginning to learn about. Religion, equality, being a geek, copyright, intelligent discourse and the importance of discussion are all topics that he cares deeply about. He even made a short comic series titled The Atheist, the Agnostic, and the Asshole about atheism and agnosticism that contributed to my own beliefs. After the end of the fourth chapter of AMD, I stopped actively following Sean’s work, but even today he continues to blog about issues that challenge his assumptions. I don’t always agree with everything he has to say, but what I really appreciate is that he tries to examine the issue from many possible sides, starting from the position that all people are equal.

What inspires me about Sean and his work is his persistence. His webcomic has been called infamous for its repeated cancellations and un-cancellations.  He was once the centre of an internet hate-swirl about copyright, which almost made him give up on his online work all together. But, he came back, and continues to put his creative work out there for all to see. Taking something that you create, that you care deeply about, and thrusting it out into the world requires certain fortitude. I hope that someday he will share with the world what he has planned for AMD chapter 5, but until then I will try to do what he has already done – create something worth reading.

Visit Sean Howard's homepage Squidi.net

Read A Modest Destiny 

Read the comic that inspired the t-shirt 

Read the TvTropes page on A Modest Destiny 

Read The Atheist, the Agnostic, and the Asshole 

Three Hundred Mechanics

Whenever I feel like there are no new ideas out there for games, I can always stop by Squidi aka Sean Howard’s Three Hundred Mechanics and remind myself that there’s plenty of uncharted waters out there. Although the site has stalled out recently, I still highly recommend the site for anyone that is interested in novel game mechanics.