▲ “Sir! Excuse me, sir! Come back here. We just want you to reconsider that nonsense.”
▽ “If you don't mind, we're going to fight you, defeat you, and prevent that idea from becoming a reality.”
I just have a feeling that when Ingo gets really mad, he grins like a maniac, while Emmet becomes more serious (not this time thought). In any case, I think Zach is going to be the first living person to see the twins this angry! 🚕💨 🚃🚃
May 5th 2011 does not feel that long ago, yet it is. While I was working on my nuzlocke Pokemon White comic, I have drawn an anniversary pic more or less around this time of the year (browse the tag here). I stopped after I finally finished the project on Dec 24th 2017.
Revisiting this tradition again made me very nostalgic. While some stuff will probably sound repetitive, gonna yap about it under the cut.
I was a bored college student back in early 2011. I had just finished playing a nuzlocke of Pokemon Diamond, and had been nearly done drawing that comic. While I thought I was going to play HeartGold next, various technical difficulities with regards to the game made me pivot to playing something different. Coincidentally a new generation of Pokemon was coming up, and a nuzforum friend gave me a copy of Pokemon White (JP translated version). The info about the gameplay was scant due to Pokemon not yet implementing global releases, but I didn't care. Still played it as a nuzlocke for fun.
Despite all the flaws of the game (that I noticed some time after my first playthru), I had a great time. And it gave a good premise of what I wanted to show from a narrative standpoint. My first nuzlocke comic was a shitpost fever dream (not literally but does feel like it lol), I wanted to try my attempt at a slightly more serious story. And tbh, while the forums back in the day mostly had joke-y/comedic runs there were many who were receptive to such things. Probably helped I was one of the first gen 5 nuzlocke runs being posted then.
Compared to some of the more current nuzlocke/nuzlocke-derivative works I have been catching up on, my stuff is VERY basic. I guess that is why some people consider it a "classic" nuzlocke because I just sort of drew it without changing TOO much of the main game story beats. I did adapt things I picked up over the years being in the nuzlocke forums community (changed a lot since I joined, and still evolving!) but again, not super innovative. Just mostly solid story with mild case of infodumping but I was drawing it assuming I would never do professional works! I am still a hobby artist and in terms of direct financial profits, I have made nothing LOL.
GIven how I had finished the other comic in a few months, I had naively thought it would take me 3 years to get it all out.
...It would actually take me 6 years.
I think me going through different life changes definitely affected my pacing for drawing Myths of Unova. No longer I had the free time or the energy of a college kid. I decided to go through medical school and graduate school and would finish the main nuzlocke story late 2017, years before my actual MD/PhD graduation. I had hoped to make/finish a "minisequel" called Episode Grey before completely graduating...you'd think I would learn that such fast turnaround was not going to happen but lol. Post-doc woes/COVID fucked up a lot of things too, making me take breaks for mental health reasons. Now I am in a more stable life situation and "back" on the project but it is significantly slower. But I am stubborn and will work on it until the end. I still got my files of the next pages and it is being worked on slowly!
Even when I change fandoms and interests, I will always look back at this project fondly. Sure not all the stuff I wrote/drew aged well but hey, it is a time capsule of my work. The number of people who told me (anonymously or not, through various means) this comic made a positive impact means a whole lot, and I am not kidding that I have tried to save most of the comments/fanworks you guys have sent me.
How long will it finally all end? I have no idea. But I hope (whether you joined my wild ride from the beginning or more recently) that you had fun experiencing my creative works.
PS: drawing my "old" comic style was a wild ride god it is a jumpscare to me
Zach doing his best Saturday evening strut.
Zach belongs to https://bsky.app/profile/2dongz.bsky.social
I made dis! https://www.furaffinity.net/user/eyrich
#furryart
fanfiction is so much more than smut. sometimes they’re the most devastating, poetic, beautiful things I’ve ever read. sometimes they change my perspective on life as a whole. most times, I just really enjoy reading them.