#because that ruins the fun!

[sonicchaoscontrol]

So, has any part of the plot changed from the first time you wrote the story? Has the plot changed from your long hiatus to now?

[Short answer? Yes. Long answer? Oh my good lord, yes. Long post, so this one's getting a readmore and no bold text. Why DID that start, anyway? I think it's just more legible on the web theme. Anyhow--]

I don't have any of the papers it was conceptualized on anymore because I was probably in fourth grade or so, but believe me when I say the idea for this story is pretty old. There's not a lot I can divulge this early in because I don't want to spoil all the fun, but what I can do is give you some bullet points from the EARLIEST rendition that are No Longer Applicable in any format:

-Knuckles was the big bad. Yes, really. This is no longer the case. Who is it now? We'll find out together, won't we! -I had offed much of the main cast for... reasons?? Mostly just angst. Glad we did away with that. Mostly because one of those was Sonic. Lmao. -The whole thing was riddled with fan characters as the main heroes. While I love FCs dearly, they are not the focus of the story anymore, even though this AU is canon-adjacent. -The main setting took place in a city that had been submerged in water, with a sprawling ice-cave complex surrounding it. This idea has been reworked and recycled. More on that later!

The character designs have been changed SO much over the years, and one of them in particular got his design updates through an RP blog I used to run! If you know it from the Olden Times, no, no you don't, but it's taking all of my self control to not get back into the scene so I'm gonna need either a good or a bad influence here.

But TLDR nowadays the plot is actually mostly FINISHED, as opposed to 'let's just go page by page and see what happens'. A lot of that is thanks to my cool-as-ice editor and partner in crime, @skeblinn!! Lots of late nights hashing out the minutiae.

Thanks for giving me the chance to chat a bit about the process! I'll see if I can't dig out some old concepts as we get a bit further in :]

[ddeck]

"I sense my padawans. Aayla Secura shimmering in the force — a beacon of blue light."

— Star Wars: Republic #75

+ close-up undercut

[sugarcoatednightshade]

thinking about how Humans Are Space Orcs stories always talk about how indestructible humans are, our endurance, our ability to withstand common poisons, etc. and thats all well and good, its really fun to read, but it gets repetitive after a while because we aren't all like that.

And that got me thinking about why this trope is so common in the first place, and the conclusion I came to is actually kind of obvious if you think about it. Not everyone is allowed to go into space. This is true now, with the number of physical restrictions placed on astronauts (including height limits), but I imagine it's just as strict in some imaginary future where humans are first coming into contact with alien species. Because in that case there will definitely be military personnel alongside any possible diplomatic parties.

And I imagine that all interactions aliens have ever had up until this point have been with trained personnel. Even basic military troops conform to this standard, to some degree. So aliens meet us and they're shocked and horrified to discover that we have no obvious weaknesses, we're all either crazy smart or crazy strong (still always a little crazy, academia and war will do that to you), and not only that but we like, literally all the same height so there's no way to tell any of us apart.

And Humans Are Death Worlders stories spread throughout the galaxy. Years or decades or centuries of interspecies suspicion and hostilities preventing any alien from setting foot/claw/limb/appendage/etc. on Earth until slowly more beings are allowed to come through. And not just diplomats who keep to government buildings, but tourists. Exchange students. Temporary visitors granted permission to go wherever they please, so they go out in search of 'real terran culture' and what do they find?

Humans with innate heart defects that prevent them from drinking caffeine. Humans with chronic pain and chronic fatigue who lack the boundless endurance humans are supposedly famous for. Humans too tall or too short or too fat to be allowed into space. Humans who are so scared of the world they need to take pills just to function. Humans with IBS who can't stand spicy foods, capsaicin really is poison to them. Lactose intolerance and celiac disease, my god all the autoimmune disorders out there, humans who struggle to function because their own bodies fight them. Humans who bruise easily and take too long to heal. Humans who sustained one too many concussions and now struggle to talk and read and write. Humans who've had strokes. Humans who were born unable to talk or hear or speak, and humans who through some accident lost that ability later.

Aliens visit Earth, and do you know what they find? Humanity, in all its wholeness.

[passive-apocalypse]

Eclipse!! Minus the whole uh...ruin part...;^;

[elyfonart]

Been having COMPLETELY normal thoughts about a pre-timeskip Germa AU recently

[horse-head-farms]

i can’t believe hypno would ruin beef’s lawn like that 😔

[uncanny-tranny]

I just have to say that it's so weird reading how transphobes think of trans bodies as mutilated and gross when they never would have thought my body pre-transition was worthy. The "argument" of mutilated beauty that transphobes have tossed around is just a fear mongering tactic, because they don't tend to actually love or appreciate and see value in bodies that don't "neatly" fit into male and female, with no overlap and no nuances.

[polarolds]

From @thedreadslayer's fic Unbroken, Chapter 37.

Sometimes I like to make comics, as a treat. See below the cut for a snippet of my progress. :)

Clothing refs for Ch 37, Ellie's hand-cropped shorts and red flannel were given, but Abby's clothes were not as clear so I took some artistic liberties. :')

+ lighting test - was aiming for early morning/dawn colours. Purple hues are some of my favourites to work with.

The section of the fic I was adapting, written by the brilliant @thedreadslayer:

“What … the hell am I doing?” Her legs go numb and unsteady. She plants herself down on a boulder. “Oh, god. I could’ve … oh, my god.” “But you didn’t,” says Abby, kneeling beside her. She gently rotates Ellie’s arm and indicates her masked bite. “Because of this. Because you believe in what we’re doing here.” Abby takes Ellie’s hand, clamps it around her Firefly dog tag, and just … holds it there. It’s terribly intimate. And terrible. “You did a good thing.” Ellie glares at Abby and imagines ripping her pretty face right off.  Because the Fireflies, the cure, humanity - her supposed “greater purpose” - had little to do with her decision to stay. 

I've made comics from prose a few times before in the past, but I can't say that I've developed any specific process for it lmao 🥲 i just try to make thumbnails and see what vibes well

from sketch (damn they messy)-> lineart -> to final

it isn't shown here, but I've learned to start blocking out the colours before I line and found it's been a great help figuring out the tone and layout :')

and that's p much it!

[logicpng]

he just needs a spa day

[rinisdrawing]

the golden princess & the sorcerer prince

[juiche]

Inspired by Way Down We Go by @xiaq 🪄

Draco and Harry found a way to snuggle together while remaining as clueless, platonic best bros and it's a bit hilarious and very sweet, so I had to draw it :)

[mangywayway]

Gently reminder that the Maid Cafè season is still in its full swing at @harringrove-cafe and the boys are ready to serve you, all dressed up 🤭💖

(and also to fashionably kick some rude customers' asses if needed)

[sysig]

Experimentation (Patreon)

[electrozeistyking]

individual who has emotionally destroyed people through their fan comics decides to make one involving an in stars and time au

[bloo-the-dragon]

A small detail I like that seemed to get overlooked by a lot of people: Moon wasn't trying to keep the lights off to hurt Sun or to hurt children, he wanted to keep them off, because in his corrupted state, light was causing him PAIN! Rebooting them into Eclipse didn't JUST help Sun, we helped Moon, too! All THREE are good bots, your honor and I love them and GHDASJGhj

Yes i agree! I think in the main game it was definitely virus related (since the flashlight, the laser gun and fazcam does nothing against him) but in the DLC its gotten to the point where he has become hyper sensitive to light (either due to the virus still scrambling his brains or the damage both have sustained since or a combination of both) and so it causes him a lot of pain when exposed to it.

If we look at his two jumpscares also, the one where neither generators have been turned on he grabs Cassie and flies up in the air with her but doesn't outright display any overly violent behaviour so one could almost assume he does try to take her to naptime and maybe drops her in the process (accidently or intentionally is anyones guess)

But when one generator is turned on he is now in greater pain and aggravated so when Cassie approaches him he is far more unstable and lashes out in anger and frustration, especially when Sun also tries forcing him back in.

I do love to think Moon is not intentionally malicious/evil but with his coding scrambled by the virus and neglect and Sun actively fighting him parred with hyper sensitivity to light and both quite possibly being in a near constant state of pain i don't blame him for being so aggressive.

Rebooting him would have reset the messed up coding and helped bring Moon back to a more stable state and while i doubt it would completely fix them mentally (trauma goes brr) at least he and Sun have been brought some peace at last and made whole again. ;;v;;

[stiffyck]

I love bad art so much. I love when people just scribble and do random brush strokes and I love seeing artists just not care if the end result looks pleasing or good. I love when people do art just because it's fun.