I've been listening to lo-if and vaporwave for at least a year now, not ironcally but like for background noise while I draw, and stuff. I just would listen to it background, sometimes I would ask myself why I liked this type of music so much. I even like watching the "music video" people put together for music like Saint Pepsi's Private Caller, and Cherry Pepsi and other songs like Groove City. It wasn't until recently when I decided to go back to a more pastel color scheme, it hit me. I looked up "Pastel Aesthetic" out curiosity what I would come up, and I instantly fell in love. I mean, I know the pastel aesthetic is linked to websites like tumblr (which I don't like ), but despite that I really do love this aesthetic. I love how everything looks so dreamy, soft and cute, and I also looked up Vaporware Pastel Aesthetic.

What came up was pastel-colored old technology which I found pretty interesting, and  these things called png packs, I didn't really know what they were at first, then came figure out they were for decoration Tumblr blogs and Photoshop. I decided download some packs and see if could make something cool, I could feel an idea in my head brewing. As  I looked through more packs putting together this collage thing, (I even downloaded a crock board for added effect)I started visualizing a place inspired by the pastel/neon colored cityscapes, imaging what kind of people live there, what technology this people used, and how these people lived. I started to ask these questions more and more until I had a complete vision of a city, it took me a while to come up with an actual name though, but I finally settled on NostoNeo.

Nosto coming from the word nostalgia and Neo for new. I wasn't too happy with it at first but then the more looked at it on the board I grew to like it. NostoNeo is a city where all the resident use old technology, all the resident are creative and city holds a art showcase every weekend, so people can share their best work with one another. Smartphones don't work in city as soon as someone arrives pass the welcome sign the phone turn off and don't come back on until the person is out of city limits. The city also has a mysterious , dream like atmosphere to it, due to it's pastel, and neon-ish color. The city has a bunch of vintage video stores, arcades, movie theaters,  etc. The city also has a abundance of cool vending machines, while town is cool and vintage, many wonder what keeps the city so retro, but still working. Some residence also report seeing strange creatures at night, but other say it's their imagination.... 

I want the NostoNeo comic to focus on 5 (or maybe soon 6) main characters, just living in the city doing cool stuff, and then they notice strange things happening and decide to do something about it. I don't know that's all I have for now. I'll make another page for the whole comic info and characters. I decided I'll  use this blog to keep info about my comics and such, and then post the pages on Tapas.

That's all I got for now. Later days~

So, since I have found a new passion for MMD again, I wanted to make something with it, that's mostly my own with using anyone else models. At first I was just going to use some really pretty Voicaloid models, and make a gag comic about Gumi and the other Voicaloids in a human AU (alternative universe) doing stuff around "town"  it was going to have kind of lucky star/ nichijou/doodling around kind of feel to it. The only problem was (beside the fact  I didn't make models my own) that since the voicaloids don't really have a set personality (it's up to anybody's own view on how they act) it was hard to actually visualize situations for them to be in (I was also worried that  some rabid fanboy/girl would come at me rant about how I got their personalities all wrong). So, after thinking for a while I finally got a somewhat good idea for a 3D comic.

The idea is (which is really girly, but hey I'm a young woman, so what ya' gonna do) the comic was going to be about this girl who likes to play dating sims and Otome games. The girl has always dreamt of finding the perfect guy like in the games, but she kind of  has social anxiety around guys never knowing the right thing to say. She finds this one that very strange dating sim and she's never really seen before, but she plays it anyways, and then gets sucked into the dating sim world. There's an NPC named Cupid that tell her the only way out of the game, its to get the best ending with one of the five guys.  Sounds easy enough, but with fact she also need to get a job in game to be able to get money to buy gifts and other items, gain skils to impress the guys, and go highschool again (since she just graduated). it's not going to be that easy....

The guys are going to have specific archetypes in the personalities one is serious, one is a gentleman, but very clumsy, one is a tsudure,  one is silly and nerdy, and one's a smooth talker-ish.

I was going to draw the first half the real-world part and the rest the game part is going to be in 3D. 

I'm also going to post it here since, the last time I try to post a comic on twitter it looked super weird it was hard to read. I'll probably just upload a screenshot of the most interesting panel and have a link that lead to here.

(probably make another page here for it also) 

Even though I still have the other comic, cupcakes and clubs, which  I would release like at least 2 pages a week, but it just the first part of that comic looks really bad, but it improves with the more recent pages and after chapter 1 but once chapter one's out I'll probably upload two page per week or at least try.

This 3D comic maybe easier since I don't have to make sketch and color in it in I can just place models in poses and objects in places, so I'll probably upload this one more frequently. The part that's probably going to take the longest it's probably the actual making of the characters, but other than that it shouldn't take too long.

I've  already started on the main character, just need to do the others

and that's all I wanted to talk about for now

Later days...

So, today I was just was roaming around on the internet as usual, while at the same time working on my webcomic (which hopefully the 1st chapter will be upload on here soon..) While working on my webcomic I was thinking about other webcomic had read recently and one that came to mind that I haven't checked up on recently..

 called Rock and Riot 

Rock and Riot is a webcomic by New Zealander animator/webcomic artist Chelsey Furedi . The comic's set in the 50's and is about  a girl rebel group being rivals with a boy rebel group in high school with LGBTQAI+ themes. The comic has a home at Tapas and Tumblr (duh). Just based on this small synopsis the comic sounds pretty interesting, this comic could be taking a look at what it could be like to be LGBTQAI+ in the 50's in the US. If only it was really like that (sigh).  I feel like this comic had so much potential to be interesting but  it didn't really live up to it, and also it didn't really explain somethings that made some  parts really confusing.  I would like to go through the comic and share some of my thoughts and feelings, and at the end I'll give my own thoughts on how it could have been better. (NOTE: I'm not bashing the artist/author of the story , this is her first comic, so it's no surprise it's a little rocky. I have hope that Chelsey can and will do better in the future with her next story!)

(and also I'll be linking to the important pages I'm referring to I won't  be actually putting them here because unlike last time where you couldn't find the web comics as easily without using the way-back machine, this time the comic's still up. )

Okay, Here we go

The comic opens with a shot of a old style 50's car riding up to a school, and here is where we get the first look at part of the cast

and you can see that they're pretty popluar among their fellow students. The main character has her sights set on a pretty girl and tries to get her attention, but does it pretty weird at least in my opinion. She tries to show off her muscles during class, look cool when smoking in the restroom, and almost blew her crush over with her car.  I'm guessing the main character, Connie is just used to people being so impressed by anything she does. Connie finally gets herself together and talks to her like a normal  human being.

The next part shows the male rival group and the leader Frankie, getting into a fight with Connie saying that the girls where on their turf. He was also upset with Connie for taking  one of  their members, Rolly  under her wing. Rolly says that "she" doesn't miss being in the boy group and likes the girls just  fine. Frankie and Connie get into a tussle and their hair gets messed up in the process.

Later Connie and her girlfriend Carla are on a secret drive in movie date at the same time Clyde and Gene (who are a part of the guy group) are also on  a secret date.    Their date gets interrupted by Frankie and the other guys.

In the next chapter, a new kid, Ace  shows up at school and both the gangs want them to be apart of their group.  Both groups try to persuade the new kid into their groups, but they deny both of them. Later Rolly gets to talk to Ace to see what's up. Ace says that  both groups are probably nice, but they don't feel like they'll fit in since they don't identify as a boy or a girl. Rolly says that she used to be a part of the boys group, but then went to the girls and now she feels happier, Ace says that's good for her. Rolly tells Ace that both groups will respect their wish.  It turns out  Ace has their own group and feels comfortable with them.

The next chapter, The girls sense that Connie is in love with someone,   her friends suspect it's a guy she's in love despite the fact she always said that she doesn't need no man. Later, Clyde visits Gene at his house and catches Gene right in the middle of doing his homework, even though the boys don't do homework. Clyde says that Gene shouldn't hide his true-self from them, and if Frankie has a problem with that, he'll have to go through him. Gene finds comfort in this, but then tries to ask Clyde something but he dips before Gene can finish his question.

In the next chapter, Carla spends her break time with Connie since Carla's break is so short and she's always so busy, Connie feels like she can't spend time with her.  Carla suggest that maybe they can go to this club she knows around town later that night.  Connie's excited for her date night with Carla that she's already counting down the moments! Later that night, Connie and Carla are walking to the place when they are stopped because of Connie's skin color. Carla doesn't stand for this and threatens the door guy with telling his wife about the affair he's having with the librarian.  Carla and Connie decide just to chill at the beach.  Carla tells Connie that she wants to go to prom with her, but Connie feels like she  won't be accepted, Carla then says that if they are accepted she owes her a dance. Connie accepts!

The next chapter, starts with Rolly getting ready to go to the movies with the other girls. This then  flashbacks to the first time at a sleepover Rolly wore a dress . Rolly remembers the memory fondly and goes off to the movies with the others.

The next chapter, Clyde and Gene continued where  they left off at the movie date after class . Just as things were getting heated, Connie goes back into the class room to get her jacket, and sees Clyde and Gene together. Even though they try to cover it up as a push up thing

In the next chapter, Clyde, Gene, Carla, and Connie meet up at Suzy's Diner. They are all surprised with their relationships and orientations .  Connie says that she'll stick to women, Carla said she likes anybody despite gender, and Gene says that he has always had a thing for Clyde, Clyde feels bad that he didn't know about Gene's feelings. Gene says it's okay because Clyde couldn't  have known before anyways. The girl gang and boy gang come  in and they think Connie is dating Clyde and Gene and Carla are dating,This tears the both groups apart. 

The next chapter, Ace's group is handing out cheats on test and homework help, but the most recent batches of cheats made everyone fail. Ace's group is stumped for ideas for how to solve this problem  until  Ace has a brilliant idea to make their own final exam, so there'll be no way they could get the wrong answers.  Later that night, they sneak into the school and change the old test with their new ones. They also added a new gender option to the test as well.

The next chapter, Connie sneaks into Carla's house while her Dad's taking a nap. Carla tells Connie it's probably best if they just confess about their relationship, Connie says that she doesn't want her friends to see her as weird, but Carla says that she'll always be there for her. Connie then ask Carla when will they have sex, and Carla says she wants to wait 'til marriage, but Connie says the likelihood of 2 women getting married is as about as likely as a black president (*cough*). Carla says that she'll know when she's good and ready, and Connie says she'll wait.  Carla's dad is just about to come in the room and Connie dives out the window. Clyde and Gene have the same type of convo,  but Clyde seemed a little to hype to get down. Clyde and Gene brush away the awkward moment and just cuddle in bed.

The next chapter, is basically about how the  two groups got to be rivals, which is just them fighting over another turf and having a race to settle the score. the race ends in a tie and Connie can't stand this, and states she'll never stop fighting to prove girls can be just as good as boys.

The next chapter, The girl and boy gang continue to fight until they ALL end up in detention. Connie finally confesses that she's not dating Clyde, but dating Carla. Clyde also confesses that he's dating Gene, Connie's best friends also confess their love for one another, and Frankie confesses that he has feelings for the Jock,Sasha. It seems like everyone's coming out of the closet and the one guy in the back confesses that he's asexual.

The next chapter, Ace has a hard  time telling Rolly that they want to go to the prom with her, but with help from their group, the bandits they sing a love song for Rolly and she accepts.  In the next chapter, Carla askes Connie to the dance , then Clyde asks Gene. Everything seems fine and dandy until the principle announces that there will be no inappropriate partnership allowed at the dance.   Both groups are devastated by this news and won't stand for it. So, they decide to put aside their differences and come together to make up a plan.  Frankie also apologizes for not accepting Rolly for the person she was all along, She accepts his apology and shares a group hug with everyone but Frankie. 

In the next chapter, Ace tells the team that there is faculty inside the building, Ace then sees a sad couple and states this is probably not going to be easy.  Connie gets everyone together and says they can no longer take the easy way out, they'll have to take the big plan be. This is their night, and they'll rock and riot to get what they want! They use the car to crash into prom, and then speed through prom. Taking pictures and some cookies and then they dip. People seemed confused at first, but then everyone celebrates and dances with the partner of their choice.  They all wander into the forest and lay down on the grass and take it all in.  Carla reminds Connie about their bet earlier, and Connie says they weren't accepted, but Carla tells her to look around.   Everyone dances and they all share kisses with their lovers, and then they all hop in a car and go home.

So that's the comic mostly in summary....        

    Here's where I'm going to give my opinion, One of the first things that's really hard to ignore, and that is the fact that this is so historically inaccurate. Now, I'm all for one taking artistic changes, and making their own little world, but anyone who grew up in the US or when to school in the US knows that  america was a heavily racially segregated country at the time. According, to my own mother who grew up in the 50's, she didn't go to a mixed school until middle school and that was around '62 .  So, everyone being okay with African Americans along with other races and white  people being in the same group of friends, let alone the same school is hard to believe. I mean it is touched upon once, but a few pages later you see a interracial couple chillin' and being happy together (It's hard to believe it's just that ONE place in the 50's that's racist against Poc). Not even when the characters were little were they separated by race. I guess since this story's about LGBTAI+ themes and not racial themes.Also the girl group being loved by everyone at school, while everyone knows women weren't treated too well in the 50's, and no one  really took women that seriously back then. Again, only one character is shown to be sexist and he turns out to be gay at the end anyways, and he doesn't get a hug when he puts his sexism aside and accepts one of his friends being trans.  The author did say people shouldn't complain about the time period and just enjoy the story. I think she just picked the 50's because of the clothes and aesthetics. She could have just made a alternative world where it was the 50's but Poc and LGBTQIA+ people were accepted, but there wouldn't be any conflict would there, well about this comic and conflict. 

    Another problem I have with the comic is that the issues are easily solved as soon as they're brought up, and there no real consequences for the character's actions (expect for getting in detention,but that actually helped the groups understand each other more)  . I guess the whole Rolly not being accepted by Frankie issue is a thing, but is only talked about at the start, but is shove to the back until the end. I thought when Connie pretended Clyde and her were dating, Carla would be upset that she didn't tell the truth right there and then, and they would go through  like a small break until Connie owned up to their relationship, but no that didn't happen. In the next few pages, everybody comes out of the closet,  and everyone's accepted. Also, I thought it was weird that Connie thought her friends would disown her for being queer, when they were pretty much okay with letting a transgirl into their group, who was once apart of the rival group. Not to mention, she stated before to her friends that she don't need no man.

   I mean it's no surprise, she would date a girl. I could even see Connie being worry that her friends won't accept Carla because she was a bit too  soft or nice, but no they welcome her with open arms. There was also a guest comic that showed Connie's friends being A-okay being with Carla.  So, it's obviously not hard for anyone to believe. Once Ace says that they don't identify as a boy or girl both groups just give up on them pretty easily. I kind of get why Clyde and Gene were scared to  come out because they're boys in a tough boy group, but even then Clyde said he would fight for Gene against Frankie. Frankie never said anything bad about LGBTQ+ people, I feel like he said more bad things about girls (which is understandable why Rolly would feel weird around him). Also, Frankie coming out as gay along with Connie's friends seemed to come out of nowhere it was never hinted at ever, unless I missed it. The comic seemed to focus more on Connie and Carla's relationship, then mostly focus on Clyde's and Gene's, there were no hints in between. 

There were also points in the  comic where the couples (mainly Connie and Carla) got a little too mushy. I know it's meant to be cute, but after like one time it gets a little old and annoying. I mean you can convey that two people are really into each other without making them kiss every time or say overly lovey dovey stuff.  Admittedly, I did enjoy Clyde and Gene's interactions, but they didn't get that mushy. 

Other than the main characters being in a  relationship, and except for maybe Frankie. Everyone seems pretty static in terms of character development.  I can't really describe the characters in more than one word, and Connie doesn't really seem like a tough girl until she's around the rival gang.  Her two friend seem interchangeable, the only difference between them is that one's just chiller than the other. None of the characters have moments (except for the bandits, the main couples) where they shine individually, like we don't really get to know more about anyone besides the main couples.  I mean even the author has a hard time describing the other characters with actual adjectives.  One character didn't even show up until the end, before that he was just a background character.

    Even the major conflict at the end is handled  kind of poorly. The whole comic was kind of leading up to the prom, which again  didn't really feel like it until the end. Everyone's end goal was to dance with the person they liked at prom, going against what the school said was inappropriate, but it was all anticlimactic. First, the whole prom thing came out of nowhere, you think a school that allowed Poc students,  where the most popular girls are mixed race, have different body types, and are treated like anyone else and aren't objectified at all by their male students, wouldn't allow LGBTQ+ couples at prom?! I also don't know what lead  up to the principal making this choice, I mean the gangs only got in trouble once and that's it, and the characters worry about this just now, and not before prom.  The character's big plan B was really kind of lame, I mean it was cool how they literally crashed prom, but all they did was photobomb and take some cookies and bounce. They hyped it up as something big,like this was going to be a hard task.  There was only one adult at the prom anyways, which another thing that's hard to believe because anyone who has at least seen any  prom scene from movies or TV know that their are a bunch of adults around making sure everyone's following the rules.  Once the teens got in they would have grabbed them or blocked the exit.

Here's what I would have done to fix somethings, I would have the story still set in the 50's but the actual 50's like maybe there is  one school they just started non-segregation, and all these students are coming together. Trying to get used to the change, There are a hand-full of characters who are LGBT and are trying to love despite being from different backgrounds.  Maybe some  of them meet as kids, but couldn't really talk until now.Despite the fact that everyone doesn't find this normal, and maybe that will inspire other kids to explore their relationship options. At least with  the whole prom issue, instead of  them going and crashing prom, they would have made their own prom and spread the word. I mean looking at the ending it seemed like the school had alot of LGBTQAI+ students enough at least to have a sizable party. It would have been at last minute, but that would add more drama to the story. They could have set up a outdoor party in the forest and make it all pretty and have everybody welcome. Since, anybody's welcome basically  no one would go to the school prom, and it really be sticking it to the man! but that's just my humble opinion.

  Overall, I think Rock and Riot is a pretty cute comic for being someone's first comic.There some parts I really liked like Ace not wanting to be apart of  either group because they don't identify as boy or girl,the push up scene was cute, and also the part where Clyde was so ready to get it on with Gene . While it's not that realistic and doesn't really take advantage of it's time period to tell a great story. It's an easy read, and if you're ever like bored and want to look at cute pictures of couples then this comic's for you. I can't wait to see what else Chelsey does in the future.

Recently I've been working on animation short "Net buddy" which is about a girl playing around with a character who lives inside a PC game, and my work in progress (hopefully to be finished one day) comic, Cupcakes and Clubs, about a girl going to a high school where club activity is highly enthused and recommended,where the leader of the oh-so popular cupcake club is seeking to make the main character's school life miserable (and also stealing her crush while she's at it). Even though, I've only been working  on "Cupcakes and Clubs" for  only about 4 years now. It wasn't always the way it is now, Cupcakes and Clubs actually started out as a thing called "Just Friends". That was back in my younger Disney Create days, that site was the first place I uploaded some of my earliest drawings. I had known about Deviantart before (which I stumbled on upon when I innocently wanted to know what sonic's hands looked like, and let's just say that was a start of a journey into learning about different types of fetishes....ugh..) 

While trying to climb out of the odd rabbit hole I had gotten myself into, I stumbled upon a comic that was normal (thank god) with a very unique style at the time, One which I never seen before. It looked like Neopets, but these characters had human features, the style was also bright and colorful. The comic looked so inviting I wanted to look more into it. Luckily, at the time there was a group for the characters and they had their own little world.

Miles and Poppy were pretty big at the time around when I found them, I think the fandom was at it's highest of popularity, at the time the makers even had their own website souly devoted  to MaP. The Creators would frequently role play Miles and Poppy on the site and in the DA group. 

The two main characters were called Miles and Poppy (sometimes referred to as MaP for short). Miles was a nerdy, bookworm, sweet boy. The type to be found reading under a tree, while the other kids socialized, he was also seen as the smartest kid at school, and he came from a rich family. He also had a heart condition where it made things like sports and gym class not to favorable for him. Then there was Poppy she's almost the complete opposite from Miles. She's more outgoing, she's fun-loving, excitable, but she's really very caring. She likes making friends and talking to people, and she can draw really well for her age. Miles and Poppy were both in high school but Miles was older by a year.

Miles and Poppy were best friend since they were little, they even slept together in the same bed, and took baths together.  

There were more comics where Miles and Poppy would go on adventures together. I remember one of them I read alot was called Concert Close Call, where Poppy got her and Miles tickets to see their fave band LAWL live, the tickets came last minute so they had to rush to get there. When they got there they enjoyed the concert as usual, then Poppy went to  take a bathroom break. On her way back some creep tried to come on to her, noticing Poppy was gone Miles went to check on her. He saw what was going on, and stepped in (I don't really remember what happened) I remembered at the end Miles ended up with a black eye and the creep was caught, and the band gave poppy and miles free stuff. There were other misc. comics that flashed back to when Miles and Poppy were younger. Even though the comics didn't seem like it they all lead up to a big finale. 

Even though, the list said to read A Ruse For Rocket, in where Poppy finds out her little bro, Rocket is involved with drugs and uses a unique way to get him out of it. That one was never finished along with Poppy's surprise, where Poppy tries to find a gift for Miles (which I think looking at the description that one sounds a little like Gift Of The Magi) and Drama at the Dance  ( originally known as Discomfort on the Dance Floor at least I think) and Flourishing Friendship, I'll get to those in a minute.

Since Miles and Poppy were friends for so long, People started to ask the question if they had feelings for each other. This would always be hinted at every now and again, through fan art and ask blogs, artwork made by the Creators themselves,  and there was even a song some one wrote called Yellow World. They started to play with the idea of Poppy and Miles being together. I think with the comics Drama At The Dance, and Flourishing Friendship they were really thinking about exploring this some more.

Yellow World

From the looks of the MaP blog on the site, the two creators seemed equally excited about Drama At The Dance around this time, also this was where the updates started to slow down a little bit. Even though they weren't sure when they could update. This comic was also just going to be in black and white to save time, so they could  update more often. They published the first page in February of 2010, but went on a hiatus until  April that same year. Where seven pages were released at once to make up for the down time and also the website was going to be taken over by someone else, but the Creators still promised they were still working on the comics. The next month, with no new pages released from the creator, The last update was again apologizing for the lack of updates and such, and the struggle balancing work with hobbies, the site was suppose to be getting an overhaul and if anyone wanted more info and updates they should go to the MaP Twitter.

Drama At The Dance was going to be about Poppy being excited for the upcoming school dance, but Miles wasn't really interested until another childhood friend, Aron convinces him to go and ask Poppy, but just as Miles is going to ask, the new foreign exchange student asks Poppy instead and that's where it ends.The comic ends on a cliffhanger. After this point the Creators stopped all together. There was no more Poppy and Miles after this, I think around 2010 anyways was where the fanbase was slowing down which makes sense since the Creators weren't even putting out any art or sketches or role plays of the characters, there was nothing for the fans to go off of.

Flourishing Friendship was suppose to be the big finale to the series (I think). In that comic Miles and Poppy were suppose to go to the forest looking for a special  type of mushroom that glows in the dark, by this point in the series Miles starts to feel feelings towards Poppy that he never really felt before. Poppy also notices the weird way he was acting and it was teased if they were going to get together.(but now the world may never know)

I find this really sad because one, I like said I came at the height of the fandom, and I fell in love with the characters and their world. I liked how real the characters felt and how the Creators would show MaP at toddler, child, and their current teenage age. I couldn't wait to see how their love would grow and who would confess first, it was like a soap opera for me in a  way. I even downloaded one of the wallpapers for my PC, I took a break from MaP because I felt like I was becoming a little to obsessed with it, and I also wanted to take part of the fandom but I was only 9 at the time, and DA was for 13 and up (even though most kids wouldn't have followed that rule, but I did for some reason, and also my art skills weren't that good, so I stayed on Disney Create)

When I came back a few years later, the website was still up and I found the new Drama comic, and loved it and I wanted more. So, I waited patiently waited for more content that never came, soon the group was dead and it disappeared and then the website disappeared along with it.By the time I was old enough to go on DA officially, the Creators moved on and deleted most of the content related to MaP. It was like a part of my childhood was gone...

The second (and the saddest thing) was that The Creators (Nestly and Centchi') made MaP as a representation of their real-life friendship(one of them owns Miles and the other one owns Poppy), a friendship that they thought was so great that they wanted to share and show others. I read Nestly's old journals on DA, they were talking about how much fun they had at Centchi's  house and how welcomed she felt there. From what it seems like they had fun together working and collaborating on the comic and MaP in general (at least at the start), but somewhere down the line their friendship started slowly fading, and maybe the stress of working on the comic and keeping up with all the characters and stuff was too much. This all lead up to something big happening, according to the tweet on the official twitter the event was very dramatic for the owner of Poppy in July 2011. It must have been  huge fallout because in April of the next year there was another tweet saying the website was closing, no more faint reminders. So, since The Creators of MaP weren't friends any more. Poppy and Miles weren't friends anymore......

(Also the penultimate tweet was a start of a rant but the rest of the rant was lost because the older TweetDeck is no longer accessible) 

Like I said earlier, by the time I was old enough to be on DA both Creators moved on, Nestly moved on to make new characters and a new comic about cute animals and Centchi went on to be in the MLP fandom, but I didn't want to let MaP go, I liked it so much, I didn't want the characters to "die" like this...

While on my break from MaP before the big shutdown, I started my own comic inspired by MaP called "Just Friends" about two middle schoolers named Theo and Rose. Granted and admittedly Theo and Rose were a rip of Miles and Poppy, but unlike Miles Theo's hobby was making inventions, but Rose was exactly like Poppy. They had friends, but their friends were a mix OCs and straight up brand name characters like Polly Pocket (I mean I was only 12 at the time so..) and the friends would try to get Theo and Rose together. Once, I found out Miles and Poppy were "cancelled", this inspired me to make Just Friends more, but something about Just Friends didn't seem right.

 Like I was trying to be too much like MaP, and I wasn't adding anything of myself in there. Eventually, I stopped working on "Just Friends", and decided I should move on from MaP, it was fun while it lasted and I should just move on with my life. Later in my freshman year of high school, I wanted to join clubs, but every club I tried to join was boring or not that welcoming. I was frustrated and fed up looking for a new club, so I started thinking about wouldn't it be cool if there was a club that helped other clubs  with their issues and struggles. Like for one week that club would take part in the club they were helping out with, like they were special members for one day.  I started thinking more and more about the concept and before I knew it, I was already drawing the characters. Admiring the way the Creators of MaP put so much time into their characters, I decide to take time with them and think through about their personalities and interests. Soon enough, I had a whole cast of characters (and it's still growing), and the more I wrote about these characters the more, I started caring about them myself.

I did take some inspiration from MaP, but it was only a tiny bit this time, and I pushed the whole romance thing aside and made it more like a subplot more than anything. There were characters that have  a similar relationship to Miles and Poppy, but they probably won't be getting together anytime soon, I liked them to stay as just friends.

Soon, I went back to Nestly's page, and I had saw she had put up a new page of her all her older characters (including Miles), she gave Miles his own page.I was happy to see her acknowledge him after so long, but I was a little sad reading his new profile.

 It was kind of sad to see Miles like this,  it was as if this Miles was from a timeline were Poppy didn't exist and the only friend he had was Aron (which isn't bad I guess). It's just he looked so much happier with Poppy around, and I feel like if the comics went on to their college years I think Miles and Poppy would at least been a thing by then. It just seems like this Miles is missing a certain joy in his life that he used to have, like he lose his innocent and sweetness he used to have, and even the newer design is a stark contrast to the softer younger design of old. Maybe that's just an age thing though...

But maybe drawing Miles like this helps Nestly cope with the feeling of losing something as wonderful as a friendship, if this is her way of dealing with it, then I can't really get up set at her for it. Centchi very rarely acknowledges Poppy, she still has some old art of MaP, but most of it is just of Poppy, since the character was her's to start with (and also Poppy's friends and family). She seemed like she was going to do something with LAWL, the band that was in that one comic, but nothing came from it besides a few pieces of art work. I like how Nestly at least apologies for getting people involved with MaP then halting the project. 

Honestly, I'm not really mad at either of Nestly or Centchi to be honest. At first, I was super upset because of how fascinated I was with the comic, I gotta say that the both of them can make some really great art and can tell a pretty compelling story, and they both have a knack for making realistic characters. I wouldn't be surprise if one of them ends up having their own show or their own big fan base again. Looking back at it, if MaP where to continue even today, I probably wouldn't have made "Cupcakes and Clubs", I wouldn't never known I could make my own characters just as great as theirs. I probably would be too afraid to even tried to make a comic because I probably would have thought it couldn't be as great as MaP, or maybe some rabid fan would have said I was ripping off MaP. I actually should be thanking them, it's because of them I have these wonderful characters, and who knows the stories I could tell with these characters . To quote Dr.Seuss "Don't Cry Because  It's Over, Smile Because It Happened!"

I was going to do a retrospective on the 3rd Splatfest in Splatoon 2, but I was feeling really down. So I decided to skip out on SplatFest, instead played Mother 3 since my brother told me it was sad (which the first chapter was) and then I was going to do a retrospective on that, but I'm just gonna wait until I beat the game. Today, one of the youtubers I follow made a video about a manga called The Promised Neverland, he said it was really sad and dark which made me want to check it out.  I read the first chapter and I decided to blog my thoughts about it....

So, When I first saw Promised Neverland it kind of looked like a fantasy magical girl anime, which  I assume because there was a young female main character. When I was younger I used to love that genre, but it started to get old and some of the magical girl animes I was watching just started to get weird (not in a good way), Anyways I found out that this manga was actually featured in Shonen Jump, which in Japan isn't that rare to have a female main character in something an adventure action genre. So it seemed like there's something more to this..

    The few first pages showcased an idealistic scene of children playing in a large field outside of mansion, the main character Emma, 11 years old, reveals that this mansion is an orphan and she's one of the oldest children there out of all 32 children. Emma and the other kids loved there seemly prefect life of days fulled with playing outside, eating delicious food, and oh...taking a high tech standardize test daily. The caretaker of orphan know as  Mama tell the children the test acts as substitute for traditional school. Emma, and her best friends Ray and Norman score the highest in their class.(?) All the other kids idolize Emma and her friend because their the smartest, most nimble, and most strategic of them all.  

At this point of the story, it was really giving me Maximum Ride vibes, I was really excepting the orphanage to be like some like way to scout out young kids with superpowers. The story was also following the typical beats of a False Utopia poltline, and that's not anything bad in my opinion a trope can be used, it's how that trope is used that matters. Anyways, the story really starts when one of the orphans named Conny is finally taken in by foster parents. She tells everyone that even though she not smart like Emma and her friends, she wants to be just like Mama when she grows up, to be a good mother and not let any of her kids go.  After, Conny leaves Emma notices that she had forgotten the plush bunny Mama had given Conny when she first got here, it seemed strange to just leave it behind after such a heartfelt speech. Emma and Norman make it their mission to give it back to her.

The orphans aren't suppose to adventure outside because it's dangerous, so they'er protect by a gate. The only way they know about the outside world is through books and novels found in the library.When they get near the gate, Emma and Norman see a car for what looks like the first time in their  lives. They check the car for Conney, and they find her but she's not live anymore, they soon  discover that what they thought was an orphanage was actually a human farm and when a child gets send off to live with  their foster parents, they'er actually being killed and sold for meat by demons. I personally wasn't surprised by this fact, I saw it coming as so as Conney talked about how not smart she is, and how she dreamed of being  mother when she grew up.   

 What I really liked about this story is what happened next, after discovering that this whole time all her friends were being sold off and eaten and that even Mama was in on it ,  Emma starts to have a mental break down as her and Norman make their way back. Norman comforts Emma by telling her and they'll just run away, but Emma reminds him that if they do that the others will meet the same faith as Conney, and Emma states that she doesn't want anymore of her  siblings to die.  Norman reassures her  that  with their skills along with Ray's they'll be able to  escape with everyone. Chapter one ends with Emma gathering her thoughts and being determined to fight against the adults.

What I like about The Promised Neverland is despite the story so far isn't anything new, I really like the characters in it, they'er all really likable. Emma is the right amount quirkiness to where she know how to act during a serious situation and when it's time to get down to business. She also acts a pretty good big sister to younger kids being helpful, fun-loving, and cheerful, she also really smart which is a trait I really didn't expect her to have. (but I read/watch magical girl stuff and in those stories the main characters are usually lazy, and hate school) So, it was a breath of fresh air to me. Norman seems to have the chill guy archetype, where he cool and collected for the most part, but he cares about Emma and the others alot.  Ray, there no much yet I can say about him, but his character does have potential to be a great character.

 What I think may happen next is that they find out the people who are sold away are the less capable ones , and The mother's trying to keep Ray, Emma, Norman (maybe?) or they'er prime meat because one of the demons did mention of getting higher quality meat in the near future and Emma, Ray, and Norman are reaching the age of 12, where they can no longer live  on the farm. Also have the feeling that the books in the library don't hold the whole truth about the outside world, like how it is now at the point of the story. The library is probably fulled with old books.... 

Overall, I think this manga has a pretty good start, it tells you enough to get invested, but not too much to keep it a mystery. I also like how the cutesy art design of the children is side by side with the more detailed kind of hyper realistic demon character designs.   I may talk about the series more on this blog, but I still want to blog about other thinks like why some MMORPGS die off (at least the ones I play), I'll probably dedicated another spot an the blog for Promised Neverland, I've already join the Reddit and I'm getting the English version of manga in December. I'm still going to read the translation done by the fans on Reddit tho'

I give it a 

  4.5/5 stars