The Dark One

Cat's out of the bag, here's the art commission I did for Sam Vincent !!

You'll be able to get this as a print at Sam's table during future convention appearances.

- Eridian jedi! Scuttling around, dual wielding lightsabers, letting Yoda ride them

- Eridian mechanics having animated arguments with droids in the background

- Since most species can't survive on their planet, the Empire has a hard time getting to them, so they absolutely would make secret domes and smuggle a bunch of their Jedi friends in

- Jedi dealing with astrophage by politely asking it to leave

- On the flip side, Grace on 3 hours of sleep after a movie marathon asking Rocky "hey do you think we can make a lightsaber?"

- They can. Oops.

“For most dialogue, use a comma after the sentence and don’t capitalize the next word after the quotation mark,” she said.

“But what if you’re using a question mark rather than a period?” they asked.

“When using a dialogue tag, you never capitalize the word after the quotation mark unless it’s a proper noun!” she snapped.

“When breaking up a single sentence with a dialogue tag,” she said, “use commas.”

“This is a single sentence,” she said. “Now, this is a second stand-alone sentence, so there’s no comma after ‘she said.’”

I Am Not Your Asian American Doll: a comic for AAPI Heritage Month 2023

I usually spend a lot of time editing and fine-tuning my comics so that they come across as polite and inoffensive. But honestly, I’m really tired of the way Asian cultures and countries are treated / talked about while Asian people themselves are excluded, and thought it was about time I really let my rage out lol.

My main inspiration was the work of feminist artist Barbara Kruger, who you may know from “your gaze hits the side of my face” and “you construct intricate rituals which allow you to touch the skin of other men.” I wanted to pair really shocking, striking words with high-contrast monochrome images as she did.

I chose eyes (and lack thereof) as a central motif. In conversations about art and media history, the “gaze” of the audience is a way to exert power. Who is made into the passive subject, and who gets to be the all-seeing viewer? Who is the subject being portrayed for? Hiding the Asian figures’ eyes demonstrates their lack of agency and establishes them as the subject rather than the viewer.

The skyline on page 5 includes Namsan Tower, as some readers pointed out. (You may have also been clued in from the page’s respective alt text, which describes this as the Seoul skyline.) Though numerous Asian countries have been victims of imperialism several times over, Korea was specifically in mind here. It was Western powers who Korea was split into the North and South, and their colonization and exploitation has led to extreme poverty even today, despite the country’s glamorous facade and rising international stardom.

As many guessed, pink was chosen for its association with sexualization and femininity, although of course fetishization of Asian cultures affects all genders. I also wanted to pick a dark, shocking pink that reminded the viewer of blood; in fact, it is used to color blood here on page 6. I was really happy that the color palette was limited but still legible. (But drawing the large food spread on page 4 with only three shades of pink was definitely a huge challenge.)

Here are some thumbnail sketches I made when planning the comic. You can probably recognize some of the final pages — and see how others evolved!

I want to thank everyone for their overwhelming support for this comic. I never could have dreamed of such an amazing response. To my Asian siblings across the world, you made me feel less alone. To non-Asian allies who lent me their ear, thank you so much for standing with us and listening to our struggles.

Usually I’m extremely careful to write my comics in a palatable tone, but for this piece I decided to not restrain my anger. I understood that by making this decision I would be sacrificing readership, and that many people would be much less willing to listen to me because of my tone. Nevertheless, I truly believe that any and all of the harassment I received was a small price to pay for such an honest piece to be seen.

Thank you all, again! Please consider supporting my most recent fundraising project, an Inumaki Toge themed fundraiser for aid in Gaza.

Hi Anon I am deeply, deeply sorry for how long it took me reply, I'd wanted to type a whole essay citations and all & draw something but then things happened and this just. fell to the wayside. If its any comfort this was constantly in the back of my mind for the past 2 years (my gosh).

Anyways Anon your brain is so incredibly huge... it gave me brainrot so powerful it reignited my passion for re7/8 so I HAD to draw it:

MANY thoughts... I know you mean jonmina are reflected in ethan/mia in a more general sense, but I love pinning the traits to specific plot points (ofc theyre not entirely interchangeable but its a fun bit). Ethan going to an unfamiliar location and getting irrevocably changed by it in the same way Jonathan went to Castle Dracula. The journey to an unfamiliar place to save a loved one reflected in both RE7 Ethan and Mina (and Jon in the final chase but that rescue-ness feels more RE8 Ethan). A loved one that isn't necessarily who you knew before and yet their past self isnt completely gone.

I don't know enough of Resident Evil lore to comment on Mia & Eveline's relationship (fake fan😔) beyond broad strokes of "entity infects another in search of companionship" being somewhat similarish to Dracula turning Mina (which I don't think is romantic but more in the "Misery loves company" sense? Alison Case's Tasting the Original Apple explores how Dracula's 3 Oct attack is in a twisted way, recognition of the key role Mina plays that the men don't acknowledge—converting her becomea an attempt to recruit a valuable player in the game against him that was undeniably being gradually isolated by those who should know better.)

I said theyre not a 1 to 1 match but mmm thinking of RE7 & RE8 in combination I feel like. Mina matches more with Ethan...? In getting her vampiric powers aligning with Ethan's mould— though Jonathan does also have the "grieving spouse goes on a avenging hunt" ish like Ethan in RE8, the powers thing really is a sticking point. Mina's psychic tracking of Dracula, while not as obviously aggro as kukri-sharpening anger/gun toting Ethan, is very much still a hunt. If it was just RE7 Ethan/Mia dynamics it'll be a tougher contender for who does what but with RE8 it kind of edges Mina into Ethans role maybe?

WELL GUESS WHO FINISHED DRAWING THE CAT ECHOES ACTS >:3333

Act 1's main body is roughly the same size as Koichi's, but its tail adds a lot to its size and makes it seem much larger. On its back is a yellow "1" and it is capable of carrying Koichi around but the rounded surface and lack of purchase make balance a bit difficult. While the helmet and back/shoulder plates are tougher than its soft and fluffy underbelly and tail, it only provides a minimal amount of protection and bends easily under pressure. However, its speed, size and flexibility make it incredibly maneuverable. Its tail is coated in a thin layer of fur and tipped with a three taloned prehensile claw, however the most damage the claw can do is equal to that of a regular cat claw

Act 2 is much more protected than the previous Act with most of its body being much harder. Only the black portions, its feet and part of its head are soft with the rest being hard plating. The plates on its back feel more metallic while the ones on its tail and head have a slightly scaly texture to it. Most of the plating is smooth, however it does have a few yellow gems on its back. While it now possesses claws on the ends of its feet, offensively they can only be used for close range attacks. However, they do assist in the usage and finer details of Act 2's ability, during which it will knead and shape the diamond like its dough. Because of the tail's new size and strength, Act 2 also now has the ability to throw Koichi short distances

And finally, my personal favorite, Act 3! Big kitty! It can control the texture of its entire body, allowing it to change between cold hard metal, leathery scales, and soft warm fur. The plates that form the mane are emotive, flaring out whenever it or Koichi feels angry, distressed, surprised or excited and lying flat when either are calm, content or just tired. It is capable of carrying human passengers in flight and has gained a huge speed boost making it very reliable transportation. The gem at the end of its tail can't do anything special, but it is a good blunt force weapon. The shattered gem on its left hind leg is a remnant of Koichi's injuries and scars from the Centipede Shoes. While the wound does impair Koichi's walking, its reflected in Echoes because of the psychological affect Kira had on him and circumstances of Echoes's evolution

Act 3 is still completely sentient and capable of speech, which it uses on a semi-regular basis. Not super often, but enough that it's stopped being strange to those familiar with it. It's very protective of Koichi and the rest of the gang, seeing them all as family

I also made a size comparison “chart” with Jotaro for scale, and it was only as I was comparing Act 3 to the other two which I realized just how BIG it was but honestly I think that makes its even more hilarious so I’m not changing it-