I did two rounds of hourlies this year, for a few reasons: HCD falls on a Saturday this year, which is my day off. I've worked at my current job for going on almost 4 years right now, which is the longest I have ever held a job, and has been featured in my comics for the last 2(now 3) years.
As it stands now, this could very well be my last year(for many reasons). I am unsure what the road ahead looks like. I wanted to immortalize this era of my life in my hourlies one last time, both for me to look back on in the future, and compare how the years changed. I will also touch on this in the further commentary as well.
12:30 am:
"What the fuck are green noodles", you might be thinking. Theyre noodles that I dyed green. I hope this helps.
I'm not a very good cook. Do worry, the fire was not put out and I died shortly after drawing this.
"I knew the noodle was going to go out eventually, and sometimes its funny to watch your reaction, so I just watched you." -my partner
1 am:
I taught my partner how to mend his pants with my liddle bitty sewing machine. He did very well, and made a layered stitch so thick that I had no idea how my machine was capable of it.
When fabric gets bunched up, or a thread gets caught, the machine stops and buzzes.
12 pm: my er... quirkiness was not appreciated during my teenhood. I think I was expected to "grow out of" being weird. My partner brought up something that reminded me of this memory, so I decided to put it here.
1 pm : THIS IS NOT AN ADVOCATION OF DRUG USE. I AM SIMPLY RECOUNTING EVENTS IN MY LIFE. INDULGE RESPONSIBLY. 1pm onward was drawn at work traditionally while I was at work.
2 pm: The video on the pump was of one of those "So Tasty!" brand videos. They made a really stupid salad with what looked like Mcdonald's chicken nuggets. It did, in fact, look like shit.
3 pm: I have to climb 4 flights of stairs to my office. I thought to myself when going to my car, "i should make another panel where i say 'going up the stairwell i saw a dick i saw once before'" but then I was on my phone walking up the stairs and forgot.
3:30pm: Despite everything, I know one day, this moment will be just a memory, and I will miss it. This job is a huge part of my life, for better or for worse. I know, one day this panel will seem less and less familiar to me as the years go on. I won't take it for granted.
5:30pm: I'm not explaining this one.
6:30pm: The funny part is that you can tell it went right back to traditional afterward.
7 pm: fart button
10 pm: I eventually found the orange in my car. Thank god. I wouldn't have been able to continue living if I didn't find out.
11 pm: Pro-Tip: If you make paper clay at home, use it ASAP, It will smell so yucky. It's bad.
9:30 am: By the way, he did get me sick. But I took the day off to write this commentary, so suppose we are even now. Too bad I already sent the locusts to his house.
12 pm: In winter, the fleas return. They die in the summer. Why? we don't know. I keep all the fleas in a jar because I get mad at them for eating my cats. The flea collar method isn't proving fruitful this year.
Hourly Comic Day also falls on Tohru Adachi's birthday. I have a rapt fascination with the man that vexes and haunts my partner. They fail to grasp that Adachi doesn't stand a chance against them, though. (I don't think they would let me feed them expired pork chops though)
You might notice a lack of a 2pm comic here. That's because I didn't include it.
3 pm: When I stay in bed too long, the cats start to go crazy. Especially if me and my partner are in two different rooms.
I'm quoting this scene from Family Guy in the second panel.
Mona loves uppies. Alot.
6 pm: Allegedly, this is a car.
7:30 pm: He did actually take some pictures of me. But can you blame me? I hardly stand a chance against the cheddar bay biscuit.
I have a lot of thoughts on this one. This comic is why I chose to include commentary in the first place, because this strip ended up being so incredibly special to me.
I didn't intend for this strip to be as emotional as it got, but creating art has a way of surprising you. Originally, the strip had more dialogue.
After panel 3, I asked "Really? You thought the same thing when you saw it?" and he responded "yes." But I found that I liked it much more without that.
Fun fact: its likely the star pictured here is Venus.
This is the first time I've drawn myself as accurately as I possibly could, and actually thought "Hey. That looks like me!" at the result.
I've drawn self portraits ever since I first started drawing, but whenever I tried to make it "realistic" or proportionate, I could not recognize me. Even when TRACING over images of myself, I could not register it as me.
Maybe it's because this body is slowly becoming "mine" over the years, but there's something to be said about the fact I was finally able to "capture" myself, because I was drawing myself looking into the eyes of my partner. I even used a photo he took of me at dinner for the reference. He sees me for me, he is the closest one can ever get to my "truest self". Not many get to bear witness to that.
I love you, Crow. No matter what happens, no matter where we are, I will always love you. You changed my life.
Love is powerful. Love is what keeps you and me going. Hold onto that. The next few years will be testing for a lot of us. You need to hold onto love, and holding your loved ones close. Be patient with one another. Don't let the hate consume you. Show patience and kindness even when it's hard to.
Find the love in your life that keeps you going. It doesn't have to be a partner. Doesn't even have to be a person. You will find it. I promise.
9:30 pm: yeah. I like yaoi. what of it?
...Yeah I ended up running out of steam by the end of all this. I got sick the very next day, and didnt finish them until the 3rd (also the day the commentary was written). I think it's good I ended up doing them early, because it took a lot of pressure off me.