miketheme

[miketheme]

Just some silly little watercolouring 🎨

(the dark cards represent the entity)

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Damien’s enraged line “You were never good enough for Celine!” is making me ponder. It sounds very off-character for Damien to say this; He says it in a way that fits, but is still a jump out of his usuality. He can get angry and accusatory, but never before did he fire such truly worth-weighing statements. (Not on screen at least.)

It’s probably not that deep, and it’s just a line that fits… But like, think about it just for a minute:

Was this just an angry slip up, or an actual opinion about Mark? And, in case the latter was the case, since when did Damien have this opinion? Did he have this subtle feeling all along, or did he just now realise it, as everything came crashing down?

“You were never good enough for Celine!” is just so absolute, given that Damien genuinely cared for Mark and wasn’t shown to have doubts about Celine’s and Mark’s marriage;

Ahhh I WANNA KNOW the thought process behind this exclamation!!

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Just a silly sad scene because the DA is an absolute tragic character (as they all are, ffs). And I love comparing their dynamic with Damien to the one with Dark. I’ll never be over that, I swear.

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I like the idea of Dark’s eyeliner not being a default avatar detail but something he is manually applying by mood. Like, he carries an eyeliner pen in his pocket to use when he feels like it, something like that.

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Pheww, that was a lot of text. Just lemme dump this dialogue here that I kept in my head for so long, and enjoy the drama of my little Damien-kicks-Celine-out-of-Darkiplier concept!

I just love Damien so much, I gotta create more angst with him, thank you.

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Damien’s subtly, melancholically told character arc will never let me go! All these specific climactic changes in his development, they make themselves present in the Darkiplier he is controlling (as much as you can call it control). It just makes so much sense, especially after DAMIEN, and I love how much it makes my heart crackle.

His leader-to-rebel arc.

His pawn-to-prisoner arc.

His peaceful-to-vengeful arc.

His “We’ll go through this together“-to-“We don’t need the others” arc.

His sweet-to-intimidating arc.

His inviting-to-deprecatory arc.

His optimist-to-mysterious-pessimist arc.

His “We can do it”-to-“I am so tired of this” arc.

The way he cares less and so much more at the same time.

The way he is misunderstood.

The remaining constant is his want for justice. His honesty. His will to make things right.

THIS MAN WON’T GIVE ME A BREAK.

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REGRET

(Tap for better quality, and to zoom on the details, if you like ^^)

I felt like messing around with a possibly popular scenario. One in which Actor falls apart as his repressed regret finally (rightfully so) crashes over him, all due to a small, coincidental, but final, reminder of what he’s done.

I seriously am so fascinated by his character story.

My insatiable plot-hungriness makes me doodle all the time!

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One significant thing that makes me admire Mark’s acting, is the fact that characters like Damien and Actor look different.

And I don’t mean it just by their outfits. Despite their identical faces, they look different!! Their face expressions are not the same, their whole charisma, their body language… All of these make two characters who are identical in looks, played by the same guy, actually look different when you get to know them.

Also, THEIR VOICES! They both sound like Mark. Clearly. But the Damien voice is nowhere near the Actor voice, and even farther away from irl Mark’s natural voice. That’s a peak acting attribute right here.

(Same goes for all of the egos actually, especially Wilford looks different from everyone else, and that is definitely not just because of the mustache.)

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Damien study! (Tap for better quality ^^)

I’ve done the same thing for Actor a while back, and I figured that these are super fun to do. I am actually so proud of this one!! Seeing my art improve in such a short time is amazing.

Damien is such a kind and nuanced and gentle and imperfect and sweet and flawed character full of… well… character! He is and remains my all time favorite :) His mayor-to-rebel character arch!! It adds so much to him and his personality and story, I absolutely love it.

Drawing favs is a very entertaining and challenging thing to do, especially in these types of detailed studies. Anyway, enjoy this one, and have a great evening!

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I love the role of friendship in Who Killed Markiplier.

Rambling on.

One thing that bothers me in various media, is how often friendship is portrayed as an inferior/secondary type of relationship. Luckily though, there are quite some movies and series that don’t do this, and actively make friendship (and non-romantic relationships in general) an important part of the story.

As in WKM. Friendship, family and romance are shown as what they are: all co-existent. Without an objective ranking / labeling of importance.

The different types of social relationships are present in all the main characters, it’s a crucial part of the storytelling and the tragedy that follows.

Throughout the whole series, the dynamics are present! Damien and William’s argument, Damien trying to apologize to William afterwards, Celine and Damien’s entire interaction, the fond way the main characters talk about each other, the familiar way they talk TO each other… Goooood, there are so many lines and sequences I could list up here, but that would be too long.

I will especially emphasize the final chapter, since it’s the most heartbreaking; After Celine and Damien die, as half of the people leave, and the Colonel refuses to let his friends down, unknowing it’s already too late. That’s the point my heart starts to crackle under the angst. There are two people he loves in this manor, and both are suddenly gone.

I can practically feel the panic he’s expressing through the screen. Even after watching it countless of times. It really makes me feel. However, the next two times he‘s searching for them are what makes my angsty heart truly fall apart completely.

„He took them from me, he took my friends from ME! He took Celine, he took Damien!“

This line is stuck in my head permanently. Especially the WAY Mark acted it out, his voice breaks, his breath is unsteady, he is grieving. William loves Celine, he’s expressed it in many of his lines; and he loves Damien, too. In different ways, but he loves them both, and losing them both made him fall deep into the pit of desperation. In this spiralling state of fear, he was certain that Abe is at fault. That he’s lost his dearest people, all because of him. That’s not merely a sad addition to the plot, it’s an important, central occurrence, it’s what introduces the showdown to the final tragedy.

And of course, the ending. The saddest scene in the series. William still searches for Celine and Damien, he doesn’t let them go, even as things fully break apart, inside and outside.

It’s evident, of course, everyone would look for all their loved ones in this situation.

But the way WKM portrays relationships and embeds them into the devastation of the story… It is heartbreaking, touching. An absolutely successful implementation.

Rambling off.

EDIT: Damien‘s cane!! How could I forget the cane William cradled for ten hours straight?! That got me ten extra breaking points.

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SHATTER - Part 6 (End)

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Previous

Wheew, now, I’ve reached the end of this small fic :)

It was really fun to draw the scenes in my head into existence. Wilford and Actor are such fascinating and angsty characters, I just NEEDED to make a little fictional setup for them. I’ll probably make more (one-parted) comics in the future, now that I’ve gotten a bit back into practice!

Thanks so much for the nice comments on the way✨ Have a nice evening!

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It blows my cinematic mind how watching Date before knowing WKM was an ENTIRELY different experience than watching it after having seen WKM. Like, it straight up becomes a different story! The whole conception of death and hero/villain are mixed up and that’s absolute genius.

Ik, this has probably been rambled on enough, but I gotta.

AHH, Dark‘s entire monologue! “I missed you, very much“, “I‘m tired of giving people a choice“, “He needs to die, he’s a bad man who does bad things to good people“, “There’s nothing you, or he, can do to stop me”, etc…. It all hits so much harder after WKM, and I love it.

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BUT THAT’S ALL IN THE PAST

The idea of a photo of them as kids is absolutely not new, I know, I know.

I am just so outrightly taken away by the unshown yet implied deep lore in the pre canon; There’s no way I’m gonna miss on the opportunity to draw more friendship backstory. I’ve always loved the symbolism and meaning in photos AND their condition.

Here, I’ve placed the rips just where I thought they fit into the plot. Also, I’ve had the idea of them jokingly dressing up as what their future professions would be, so I brought that factor in as well!

There’s something so sad to the idea of them actually being a happy friend group, certain that their friendship is gonna be for ever. None of them knew what would happen two decades later.

I don’t know who taped the photo back together… Maybe it was Wilford, possibly Abe. Perhaps Celine saved that photo from Mark, longer ago. All of these options would open a new range of story!

This series stays a masterpiece even after 7 years, always there for more and more people in the farther future to enjoy and draw inspiration from. I just adore the characters and their whole stories so much!

Intact version below the cut:

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SHATTER - Part 5

Beginning

Previous Part

Next Part

Daaamn, another long one! Originally, it was supposed to be split in two parts, but I decided to merge them into one, since it was a better fit, I think :)

Therefore, there’s one last part left to go! Until then, enjoy this one ✨

[miketheme]

I mourn this fictional man more than I should mourn a fictional man.

Lil extra ‘cus it fits:

It’s 3 AM, and I tryna make a meme instead of sleeping

[miketheme]

Here's what we know about the deportations.

What to look out for, what to know, and what to do

When I say ICE, I also mean anyone else who could possibly be working with them

Know

- if you are poc at all or even poc presenting, they will come after you as well. It's not only immigrants they are targeting

- they are starting this targeting schools and churches

- Sanctuary states are stepping in to protect their citizens, states that aren't (like Texas) is purposely turning a blind eye and will not help you, please check if you're in a safe state

- teachers are actively stepping in to protect their students

- classrooms and houses count as dwellings, people cannot come in dwellings by force (unless they have a warrant)

- if people mention "winter boots" they mean agents.

Look out

- ICE is in van's, those vans are unmarked and will not be obviously ICE workers

- if you go to school, ICE is (trying) to use social workers and CPS to take away kids, if they come in, watch who they are looking for. (For right now, CPS and social workers are refusing to work with ICE, but I would still be cautious)

- if you have a noticeable poc population wherever you go and live, watch it. Watch if people suddenly go missing or for whatever reason isn't seen for a day or 2

- Look on any form of media for reports of agents

These are the warrants you should be looking for

To do

- Do NOT open the door if ICE or those suspected of working for them come to a dwelling, they will force their way in once you do that. Keep the door closed.

- Do NOT run if you think you see them, running will make them think you are guilty and they will go after you.

- Treat them like cops, because they are. Like cops, you have to be extremely calm and collected with them because cops will use whatever reason they see fit to harm you. Do not yell, touch, raise your voice, and be extremely clear when you talk to them.

- ICE does not have you or anyone's best interest in heart, do NOT try to actually befriend them

- Walk in groups if you or someone you know is poc or an immigrant, it is harder to seclude and take someone if they aren't alone

- Get in touch with your community, it is harder to protect or be protected if you do not know who to be with

- you can legally and SHOULD record and take pictures of agents, once you do that, send those videos and pictures to anyone you know. If you post it to social media (which you should) put down the location they were seen.

It is INSANELY important that if you have any other tips or information that you put them down here.

Protect your fellow person, regardless of if you know or like them.