#PEACE AND LOVE FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[doggirling]

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY, RICKY!!!!!! 💚🦇🎉

it has officially been HALF A DECADE since a depressed little 14-year-old me decided to try designing a random fruit bat librarian character in krbay's art style, entirely clueless to the fact a whole story would branch out from him and that she'd be changing the trajectory of her own life forever!!! happy 5 years of ricky, 5 years of starstruck, and 5 years of a somewhat worrying level of kirby oc hyperfixation!!!

(and he also did get that KitchenAid KSM90PS 300-Watt Ultra Power 4-1/ 2-Quart Empire Green Stand Mixer.)

read below for a very rambly note, and more 💚⬇

i initially had written and drafted a very long, very heartfelt note about ricky and how much he's helped me, but i felt it was a bit too intimate to publicly post online, so a majority of it has been put away. here is a snippet.

this fruit bat has been with me through (DEEP BREATH) severe depression, missing my last months of middle school due to it, extreme childhood suicidal ideation, starting high school all alone with none of my friends, therapy, meeting some of my best friends ever, the pandemic, the lockdown, contracting a certain illness twice (hint hint), the terror of online school, more therapy (cbt edition), finding a psychiatrist, receiving my official diagnoses, getting properly medicated, getting better, losing all my childhood pets, finally getting to a point where i overcame depression, graduating high school, and my gap year! ricky has been here for some of the biggest milestones in my life, and he's helped me reach each one. i can say for certain i would not be at the point i am now (or would maybe even still be alive at all) if it weren't for ricky. via the struggles he faced in his story as i developed him + starstruck over time, younger me had him as a coping mechanism throughout the hardest time of my life, where his continued survival and perseverance despite everything was something i decided to replicate (if ricky dahlia can survive all that, so can i!) i continued to live as a way to thank him and the cast for what they've gone through and how they helped me, and i will give him the happy ending he deserves because he's why i reached mine in the first place! whether i remain fixated on starstruck/kirby or not (which i probably will, considering this is also technically the 5-year anniversary post for starstruck itself and the hyperfixation has not wavered once), it will never ever change the fact that ricky is the most beloved, important character i ever created. may he and i see many more years together. ❤❤❤

NOW. here's a collection of all the ricky bday art from over the years put together! its very nice seeing how both my art improved and also how ricky's design has somewhat changed over the years. would normally be very embarrassed posting such old art. but its in the name of celebrating ricky, so i can tolerate it. 😊

1️⃣. first birthday

2️⃣. second birthday

3️⃣. third birthday

4️⃣. fourth birthday

that's all for this post now, considering it's already super long 😅 ricky is just one of the most important things in my life, and the fact that 1. it's now been a whole 5 years/half a decade since he came into existence, and 2. i'm actually alive to witness it is. kind of a big deal to me. so you all have to deal with me being particularly obnoxious about him, cause if it weren't for him, i would not be here. anyways... until next year. I LOVE ALL OF YOU, AND I ESPECIALLY LOVE YOU, RICKY GREENDOWN DAHLIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 💚💚💚🦇🦇🦇