Hi Fosc!! I have a ton of miscellaneous, random questions lol, hope you don't mind.
If you had to compare or draw connections from your story to another piece of media, what would it be?
Do you have a playlist you've made for working on the Grimport Misfits? Or is there a specific show or YouTuber you put on in the background to keep yourself sane?
Does it ever feel odd to know people REALLY admire you and your story? If so, how do you deal with that?
Are there any massive changes you've had in your story since you first started working on THIS version of it, that make you look back and chuckle?
What breed is Rick's dog?
Are there any artists who've really inspired you to make this story, or that have inspired your art style?
How do you stay sane while animating??? It takes forever.
Are there any artists or writers you'd want to shout out or recommend people to check out?
Besides Rick, who is YOUR favourite Grimport character?
Outside of art, do you have any hobbies or interests?
What has the editing and publishing process on your first trilogy been like? Are there any words of wisdom you'd pass to other creators wanting to publish?
Is there anything that worries you about having a fandom?
If you had to correlate an animal to each of your characters, what would the animals be?
I'm sorry for how many questions there are 😭 I hope you don't mind answering them!! Have a good day ❤️
Hoy hoyy! 🥰❤️ I don't mind at all! I love answering these heheh the more the marrier!
- I honestly wouldn't know what to compare it with. Obviously you guys will see comparisons between similar type of stories much easier, but since this story is generally inspired by life instead of other media, it's genuinely impossible for me to single out a piece of media to really say "Grimport is like this!". I will say, I do love literaly realism. I can only dream of achieving the level of writing these guys had, but I always had a similar need to talk about the social struggles of people, be it class, marginalization, or anything similar, so perhaps that's a line of similarity that can be drawn.
- I usually don't listen to music when I draw actually! I can only listen to music while writing and for that I do have spotify playlists, though I mix it up with random music sometimes, depending on the mood :D this one is for The Kostrov Traces for example.
While I animate and work in general, I usually either watch movies or put on youtube. This is generally a problem because I listen to movies without actually ever watching them haha so it sometimes takes years for me to properly "watch" something with my eyes lmao. I also love history docs about 20th century and internet mysteries, and I LOOOVE liminal space games. That's usually what's in the background if I'm not rewatching my favorite films for the 800th time.
- I don't think I ever really acknowledged people really do know this story outside of my head HAHA. I only had a few situations when people directly recognized me for what I do in real life and every time I was like "??? Wait how??" Haha 😭 it's like a separate reality so it's always a shock when people who aren't a part of my friendgroup actually come up to me and tell me they love my stuff, it's very humbling and heartwarming ❤️ this project is really all I ever wanted to be doing, and my mantra about posting has always been "so long as one person out there finds comfort in these guys as I have, it's worth it" and to have such a massive amount of people actually really liking these guys is the biggest compliment I could ever get. I truly cannot tell you how blessed I feel for that.
- Oh absolutely, there were a bunch of changes that happened since this is a super old story that was with me through all my life eras, including my OG angst teen era. The cities were all changed, the storyline was altered a bit, but strangely the family dynamics were almost always like this. One of the funniest things that were canon that absolutely aren't canon anymore is that Rick wasn't always a writer. He had a BAND. And everyone in the family was in this band LMAO, including Michael (Maggie's boyfriend) and somehow excluding Jake because he was shy or something. It was like a heavy metal band and Rick was ofc a singler HAHA, think Lordi but with Rick 😭 why?? Idk I just like music and I thought that was hella cool man. He was also a Canadian by blood for a long time and born in Manhattan which was also very random.
- Rick's dog Ryan doesn't have a breed, he's a random mutt he found on the street! He's some sort of a shephard mix, though there is a theory that he had a wolfdog down in his lineage because he can't bark, has yellow eyes and is pretty skittish otherwise. Plus the size of course, but that was never really confirmed.
- Oh man, it's so difficult to narrow these inspirations down haha! I think my style must have first began with Fox and the Hound since I drew fanart of that constantly when I was a kid (specifically of the animals because I couldn't draw humans haha). I'm also just in general, especially lately, really inspired by mix of abstract and figurative art. I think I spent such a long time in my life chasing perfection that I'm now learning to deconstruct things and I enjoy every bit of it ❤️ I think, at least animation-wise, I'm most inspired by Treasure Planet and all the artists that worked on that. It's truly my biggest wish to animate anything similar to that level of beauty one day.
- I honestly just love problem solving and seeing things come to life 🫶 I actually don't often come back to watch my own animations once they're done because all I see are mistakes and where I could improve HAHA. Like I love watching them back, but I love working on them much more, and I honestly feel that's the main part about animation that keeps me sane. I really love process more than I love the end result. I think that's where the magic happens and where I, as an artist, exist. Once the product is done, it's on the world to embrace it, but there is a certain intimacy when it's just me and the piece I'm working on. There's a million small problems to solve and to see them solved is so satisfying haha I could literally do it all day every day ❤️
- God, too many to count! I love Beidak's art, Arttwins, Elk, Labottegadelleart, Wregularknight, Jaredpike.art, Whydoihavetoart, 02png... I could go on haha. These are just some of my favorite style-wise, but I also really love Gerald Scarfe's Pink Floyd - The Wall animation, I love David Firth's Salad Fingers a LOT, and I could count more categories since I also have favorite tattoo artists and so on haha
- I honestly really love all the Kostrovs. I draw Rick the most since he's the main character but I love them all somewhat equally I think haha. Besides the Kostrovs, my absolute favorite character is Justus Harris. He's what I'm super excited for you all to meet in the books. The only levelheaded guy lmao 🤲❤️ he's quite a stable force which I love for this chaotic story, and I feel like he's strangely the most morally sound considering his position (so not morally pure, but stable in terms of his views).
- Iiiii.... work too much to have hobbies that aren't work HAHA 😭 No I'm lying (not really haha). Rick story was my hobby before it became a job, so now I'm in this weird spot where I work 24/7 all year round but, since this is also a hobby... it doesn't feel like it? I have a tendency to not be able to immerse myself into things unless I do it crazily, and since work takes up 90% of my life, I kinda just don't have much time outside of that left.
I do love to collect things if that counts as a hobby haha. I love collecting bird enamel pins, special hardcover book editions and McFarlane dragons. I've also grown to love experimenting with fashion since starting my OCD/anxiety meds (that actually allowed me to wear more than 1 thing for 10 years), so I love funky clothes that kind of look classically nice (think 1920s fashion mixed with '80s dad mixed with gothic vampire). I love spending time with my dog, I love grabbing a cup of tea with friends whenever all of us manage to catch a moment of spare time haha. I also really like going to the mountains and just chilling in the woods, and I'm trying to learn how to play a tin whistle but work has been not very friendly to that. I also love playing liminal space games (also doesn't happen often because work).
Idk if those count as hobbies but they are things I do either while I work or at rare points when I don't ✨️
- I'll have to get back to you on publishing when I actually do end up fully publishing the trilogy so we know for certain I didn't massively fuck up any part of it by accident HAHA 😭
My favorite part so far has been working with the editors and beta readers! They have been the first people to get these books after way too many years of me rewriting them over and over, so to hear critiques and what they love, their overviews... it's been super helpful for me as a writer and made me look at my writing from a bit of a different perspective, too. Creating all the art for the trilogy is also mad fun, I love it haha
Some of the advice I'd give in general:
Definitely do yourself a favor and plan your books out before you start writing if you can. At least a skeleton. I wouldn't have been rewriting these for years had I done so in the first place haha.
There's usually a reason an editor is mega cheap (like cheap beyond reason and without an explanation). Definitely go for an editor that can give you an editing sample and is in the mid-rage price-wise so you know you'll actually get what you paid for. Research is your friend.
You do need an editor, so definitely invest at least some momey into hiring them.
Reserve yourself more time than you expect if you're doing this alone. I thought I'd be done with everything by now but you never know when unexpected things will arise when you work with other people (which is totally normal), so make sure you reach out to people way ahead of time.
- The only thing that really worries me about having a fandom are really:
1. Parasocial relationships: I'm one person behind several hundred thousand of you guys across all plaforms, and my social battery is already fucked. This happens rarely thankfully, I feel because I'm very strict about the 18+ rules for my pages and usually it's kids who get a bit weird about parasocial things, but in general, I'm pretty private as a person and I'd like for things to stay that way. I do love connecting with people a LOT, but there is a line between socializing and actual friendships which I like to keep. Just because people know my story doesn't usually mean they know me as a person and I do like to keep this creator-audience line clear.
2. Kids - Younger people are a part of any audience, but I don't think this story is for them, both because of the themes and because I'd prefer to discuss this story with people who are at least 18 so we can actually talk openly. There is a boundary any adult worth their salt should have with kids, especially online, and this can't often be easily established, so I prefer to simply not have too much interaction with them if I can avoid it.
3. Bullying - Because obviously. Let's be respectful.
- Rick would definitely be some sort of a bird haha, I think an owl would definitely be his thing. Maggie would be a black cat for certain! I think Mike is the most golden retriever coded person ever so he'd definitely be that ♡ I'm not sure about FJ and Jake though! That's something I'll need an input in haha
