nuclear waste aerobics

She/her, Finland. Art blog. I draw (web)comics and lurk in a fandom or two. Minors keep out!

[maariaaargh]

Never quit

[maariaaargh]

Adding her to the canon

[maariaaargh]

Never quit

[maariaaargh]

Have a nice summer! 🌴

Characters from my webcomic Phantomland

[maariaaargh]

How would you feel about selfshippers in your fandom, especially the possessive/non-sharing kind?

What fandom? Huh?

I initially interpreted this as anon confessing they're obsessed with my characters and wish to be a nasty lil shit towards the other handful fans over shipping. Which would be hilarious tbh

But go ahead just ship whatever, write whatever, I don't mind. It's flattering to hear about if anything

[maariaaargh]

I first discovered Phantomland when I was like 17 or something, and I could not get the hype about Jon. He was just... a big old man to me. But now.... I'm over 30 and I just rediscovered this comic and OH MY GOD now I GET Jon. He's so HOT!!!!! I guess my dilf era has begun!

[maariaaargh]

I need your hatching secrets immediately because the way you use linework and texture is genuinely insane. Your art has so much atmosphere to it and the hatching always looks so intentional and satisfying🤤

Aww thank you so much, that makes me happy!

My style of lineart may look like something that comes out naturally but I actually very consciously developed it for a while. You literally have to train your hand to behave a certain way, i.e. a relaxed hand makes relaxed lines and so on. Relaxed lines appear more lively than stiff lines

I place line weight (pressure adjusted thickness) into the corners because that's where shadows form usually; it reads more naturalistic to me

As for hatching, if you're drawing something organic I recommend you don't hatch with straight lines but rather match the contours of your figure to give it depth. They don't teach this in how-to-draw books but hatching and cross-hatching work with curved lines too (often even better I might add)

Before anyone asks about the brush it's some free CSP brush asset I found and modified but I guarantee you there's others like it out there. But again, a new brush won't magically fix your art if you haven't taught your hand to use it

Hope that was useful!

[maariaaargh]

I was thinking more about the worldwide popularity/fandom side of it 😭

Homestuck or something would've been more appropriate my friend

I guess every artist wants to make successful work but it's a double-edged sword since for every 99 fans you gain you also gain 1 hater who wants to ruin your life. IDK, I'd be quite happy enough if my comics scored me a cool house

Not that I think Phantomland would get big though. Most successful webcomics out there have a catchy premise and update often. Neither of which applies to mine lol

Thanks! It's on hiatus atm, I can't work too much so I focus on stuff that pays the bills. I hope I can resume updates later this year

Thank you so much!! I'm thrilled that people are still reading and enjoying it!

Only a Swedish print edition exists. No plans for other editions at the moment

[maariaaargh]

Would you ever want Phantomland to blow up worldwide the way My Little Pony did?

You compare a webcomic to a toy franchise????

[maariaaargh]

Do you think feeling like an outsider helped shape your art style and the way you tell stories?

Good question. But ehhh, hard to say… of course everything I experience finds its way into my writing and drawings. My main characters tend to be outsiders and underdogs but that's not an unusual choice or anything. Most journeys start from the bottom rather than the top after all

[maariaaargh]

You mention autism/autistic experiences pretty often in your posts, so I got curious — do you personally relate to that stuff, or do you just find it interesting to write about?

Well, I've never been diagnosed but I could be mildly autistic. I was a weird kid who got bullied a lot, even at home, but that's normal right? Everyone gets bullied over arbitrary shit right

Some time ago I noticed that many fans of my webcomic seemed neurodivergent. I kept wondering if that's just comic readers in general or if there's something about the comic itself. Then it finally clicked after a while: Maybe Phantomland was a story about fucking autism all along? That's why they're drawn to it? Because they can relate to it???

It's not even the first time I'd put a metaphor into my work without realizing. In Phantomland having the ghost virus would mirror that feeling that you're fundamentally defective inside. Where you think you're a regular nice person while other people will find you offputting within seconds of meeting you. For me it wasn't every interaction but common enough to notice a pattern. Kind of a depressing thing to navigate. That unfairness where people won't judge you based on what you say or do, but some nebulous third thing

Making peace with my own weirdness has been good for me though and I've started to understand the world better since. Neurotypical society doesn't actually operate on facts, fairness, logical stuff like that… in practice it's mainly peer pressure, social status and "vibes". Autistic people fail to detect and comply with the unwritten rules. They inevitably lose in the pecking order but that missing filter allows some of them to become amazing artists with bold voices. I hope I can become amazing too someday

[maariaaargh]

HAI!! I was wondering if any of your characters have ASPD? Or anything that causes an empathy deficit? I met this SUPER handsome lovely guy with ASPD, and I got to know more about the different ways he experiences love and care, and learned about how people with ASPD seek intense emotions and novel experiences and all that kind of stuff!! and it made me think back to an ask you answered on bluesky? Or twitter, about if Jean loves Chloe, and you said [redacted], just makes me think that Jean might have something similar or is Aro

I also think about this sketch you did of Jon and Chie having a tender moment and he's saying "I don't have much of this in me.. but you can have what's left"

As well as your depictions of men in intimate situations, the disaffected, cool and collected faces make me think of this THIS IS SUPER RANDOM but this guy is so perfect and hot he reminds me of your enchanting work

Also.. if you couldn't tell, huge fan!!! I'm so happy that you're still making stuff! :D

Thanks for your message! (censored it a bit because this is a sfw acc)

Do my characters have ASPD? I doubt it. I just have a fetish for stoicism lol. Jean is possibly aromantic but I hesitate putting labels on anyone

ASPD is fascinating though. I'm definitely inspired by it. Jon checks some of the boxes since he uses violence and threats to get his way. On the other hand his motives aren't necessarily selfish? He treats his friends well? So I'd rather say he's a product of his environment. He's been through shit

Writing ASPD accurately seems difficult because a self-serving jackass with zero empathy lacks an emotional weak spot. Characters tend to need vulnerabilities, otherwise they become hard to sympathize with… though I guess that's the interesting thing to explore, right. When a psychopath shows kindness how can you tell if it's genuine? Does it matter if it's genuine?

I'm thrilled that you found a guy who resembles my drawings haha… tread carefully though, I have some past experience with ASPD types. They can be really good at saying whatever you wanna hear. Keep an eye out for red flags

Happy to have a fan <3 Look forward to more of my works!!

[maariaaargh]

Do you still have any of your old/teenage art? It’d be cool to see how your style changed over time

Haha I mean... you can always read the first pages of Phantomland, those were drawn over 15 years ago. I have even older stuff in my folders but can't be arsed to dig them up right now. Maybe sometime!

[maariaaargh]

Hi, I just wanted to ask if you have any other socials (I believe you had a X/twitter before but not sure if still up) love your work and opinions lol

Aww thank you... I sometimes post on my bluesky account but that's about it

[maariaaargh]

I’m just really curious what’s the amount of buffer you make for your webcomic? I just finished my 3rd chapter and currently working on my 4th, and I’m just constantly going back and forth on if I should release pages as I’m making them or just finish all my pages then release them once or twice a week. Sorry if this a dumb question to ask lol, also I hope you’ve been doing well!

Thanks for your message. You should have as much buffer as possible, naturally... rushing pages to make a deadline feels pretty bad after all! With a buffer you'll have plenty of time to catch mistakes and polish your stuff before publishing. That said I've always lost my buffer very quick because I'm just never as productive as I hope lol

Good luck with your comic! 💪

[maariaaargh]

Hi! I’ve wanted to send this for a while. I’m a fellow Finn and I first found your work back in 5th grade through 'Aino ja hevossaaren juhannus' when I went to the library. I fell in loveee with your art style then, and it’s still my biggest inspiration today.

When I was older, I followed you through DeviantArt and the launch of Phantomland, and after rediscovering your work again as an adult (I'm almost 24 now!), I’m still just as obsessed. Your art has made me want to 'lock in', keep practicing and maybe even start my own art account someday. Thank you for being such a huge influence on my journey! :>

Oh wow such a longtime fan! Those book illustrations are ancient stuff but I'm glad there's a kid out there who liked them. Thanks for sticking around!

Man I'm so old lol. It's nice that my work inspires younger generations though. Keep practicing, I know it's tough out there with AI replacing real artists but there's still incredible value in learning to express yourself with your own hands. Good luck!

[maariaaargh]

Silja the radiant

[panelparty]

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[feathernotes]

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