I started brainstorming Petrichor in 2016 and it was kind of a "what if worst case scenario" about what little I understood of the political climate at the time, and I kind of got into worldbuilding that and doing some research into science advancement and political history to feed the world.
I didn't realise how extreme Trump would be at the time, nor how bad brexit would be, and France narrowly avoided electing the far-right at the elections the following year, but it did get me thinking. In 2017 I predicted a climate crisis (in part to justify the characters having a similar obsession with the beauty of water to me), a deadly pandemic starting in China due to population density, lockdowns that contain it, excessive oligarchy, governments being run by proxy by the rich and not elected officials, Russia and the US becoming nuclear wastelands, nuclear war in Qatar, famine, and finally violent bloody revolution. So far I'm glad that I wasn't entirely right.
There's also big themes about characters in found families, finding your identity as an immigrant, and the duelling desire between desire to live peacefully even if that means accepting oppression, and wanting revolution to be free of fear despite that meaning that it's going to be a hard, long, violent fight that is unlikely to be won in your lifetime.
So... Yeah. It's sci-fi so it's basically a philosophical pamphlet but with pretty colours and neon lights.
While Skull Force Agents is an action comedy on a basic level, the story deals with the topic of toxic masculinity. The LGBT community has done a wonderful job addressing this in media, but I feel that there aren’t many stories that challenge toxic masculinity from a heterosexual perspective. Much of my story is about my character Walter learning to find personal validation in simply being a man just the way he is. I’m really looking forward to keeping this theme going.
If I were to describe my approach, I hope my stories are like 'Spirited Away.' Of course, I'm not saying my work is as good as Miyazaki's XD. The level is much different.
What I mean is, I hope my comics convey some of my reflections on things happening in the real world and my personal philosophies. But I don't want it to be too obvious. I hope to keep it subtle, even if only a few people notice it's fine, though of course it would be better if more people could notice.
I don't really want my philosophical explanations to overshadow the story itself.
But, if someone can understand what I'm trying to say through my story, I would feel greatly honored.
Oh man, there are so many things I want to express with my writing, it all depends on the story/piece. My poetry is usually a way of expressing my emotions, and so are my "Mental Soup Comics" and some of my art. My comic strips are usually because I love to laugh, love making other people write, and also want to improve my art.
My novels are because I have characters I got really attached to and I have emotions and plots I want to share with the world, but also because I want to share love, and the importance of being there to support and care for people. This is a recurring theme in almost every novel I write, though it shows itself differently every time.
Many of my essays are about things that aggravate or upset me, like racism, ageism, colorism, child *buse, poverty etc. I want to draw the world's attention to things that need to change. Some of my Mental Soup comics are about these things too
I don't have anything to proclaim in my story. To most other people it might be a dramatic/sentimental story or just a strange furry shit, but it is my baby. I don't see the point to elaborate more as I have good feeling with the story & no regrets (but not the efforts & delivery I have to muster everytime). As long as I keep it as initially intended and true to my vision it'll be alright.
For the most part my stories are just for entertainment. If I can distract someone from everyday stress then that's all I really want. That being said, I do eventually end up with some sort of message once I get to know the characters and realize how I want them to grow and change. Some of the stuff I've written about includes death (I write about this a lot, lol), loss, depression, sacrifice, and fate/destiny.
I also end up exploring things like the worth of life and of living and the effect of loss on those left behind. In my Wattpad Original story, Albatross, I go into the importance of letting people process things at their own pace and letting them feel those negative emotions. Some of that comes from my experience with depression and all the times I've seen people push this idea that you just have to force yourself to be happy to get through it. Another thing I cover in a couple of my stories is that everyone is worthy of love regardless of how "damaged" they might think they are.
But I also like to write silly things like henchmen being dummies that forget to take the loot after robbing a bank.
I'm also predicting a future, though it's less obvious, since its not the focus. It's on the slow decline model - I'm following the catabolic collapse predicted in Limits to Growth. Everyone is much poorer than standard Americans today, there's far fewer cars - but since it's West Virginia anyhow and the protagonist is young, it doesn't show much - she doesn't realize what's happened. At least not yet.
I'm trying to present a lot of the fascinating and strange worldview of the American alt-religion scene, especially 19th century weirdness, neo-druidry, obscure American Indian mythology, and other strangeness, and thanks to the writings of a certain archdruid, ecology, historical cycles, and many other fringe theories naturally followed.
Actually that's really valid! Hetero men are statistically most likely to die by suicide and in so many ways they are often cut off from community based on the way society contextualizes them. I don't like to talk a whole lot about the modern world directly, but in my work there are a few characters that I use to explore masculinity and what it means to be a "good man". I would heartily agree that men need more positive examples and aknowledgement that there's nothing wrong with them inherently even if they've benefitted from society more than other groups.
Nah that's a vibe though and i can see the miyazaki influence! I really want to have a more subtle storytelling style too, though I'm not well suited to it as I'm quite prone to philosophical navel gazing among characters. I have a folder called "this doesn't need to exist" that are just conversations that I wrote but then cut for brevity... but was too attached to completely delete.
Well,
Humanity has contextualized the creation of art through this lens way longer than it's been about lionized authors and their super smart individual talents. I read a short story once that drew its drama from the protagonist taking on a beautiful perfect idea from an external source, but the acquisition of skill to tell it made it impossible to share. I found that story very relatable XD
I just wanna info dump about my man
But I’m pretty sure ya’ll are sick of him at this point. I know I can sometimes. (Hyperfixations and special interests suck sometimes)
And talk about food and how excited I am to go to college in two weeks! And that I have a boyfriend! I have so much to say. I just don’t know how to communicate properly. Did I mention that I am neurodivergent? Probably autistic. Haven’t been tested yet but I’m looking for a person to go to get tested for adults. Cause apparently they only do younger people until they’re 21 where I live for testing for autism or ADHD. And I’m 22. Sooo…
I have big plans for my comics though. Working on The Elsie Clone High AU comic. Elsie is going great too. It will get a third season.
Any ideas on how I can make my own website? I need help with that