Art Book #4! (yes.)

MCSM THIRD ANNIVERSARY THING

ok so I was originally going to do smth else but then I was almost done with it and I decided I didn't really like it

So I started over with a while new idea and I'm ver proud of that one (especially since it took me around five hours)

But then I went back and changed some stuff on the original, and now that one's alright too

My original idea was this:

I like this one fine, but it just...didn't quite turn out like I planned and I'm not sure why

The second one, on the other hand, came out even better than I was hoping

So this is my official 'third-anniversary celebration' art

Do you know how long I spent fighting with Medibang's transform tool

Me neither

I stopped counting after hour 3

But this somehow ended up looking kind of amazing, which is highly unusual for me

---

And now for the emotional rambling aspect of this.

*sigh*

Three years is a long time, especially to a kid. Time is weird when you're young; everything is either forever or no time at all.

Who I've become in the last three years is mostly thanks to MCSM.

That may sound kinda stupid/dramatic/cheesy, but it's true. This game really influenced my life, and I'll forever be grateful to Telltale for giving me that.

I have a problem with getting attached to things.

Everyone gets emotionally attached to dumb stuff, but my issue is that I do it with a lot of things.

I have trouble letting go. Which is to say, I physically can't. And that's why, nearly a year after the game ended, I'm still so hopelessly in love with MCSM.

Yes, it's just a stupid game. Yes, it's dorky; yes, it's riddled with flaws; yes, the fanbase is half dead and half insane. But it gave me something to wait for, to be inspired by, to laugh and cry over, to simply love, and I don't think I'll ever forget that.

It's because of this game that I met so many amazing people who I care for so deeply, not to mention that it's been my source of inspiration for a long time. It's even gotten me through some of my darker times, just because when I'm feeling horrible about the world and myself, it reminds me that there's something in this life that makes me happy, no matter how simple it may be.

MCSM is something that I feel is mine, even though I share it with so many other people. I'm in a lot of fandoms, but this is the one that fused itself to my heart for some reason, which is why I'm still in some amount of pain because of the fact that it's now over.

Hell, I still get misty-eyed thinking about the simple fact that there's no more to be said from the characters and world I've grown to love so much.

To me, endings feel like falling off a cliff. Even if something has a good ending, it still makes me feel like I'm tumbling. Getting into fandoms is like hanging off the edge of something, and knowing that when I fall, I'm going to die.

Watching a show or playing a game or reading a book, it's all just dangling from a brink. Then when the ending comes, it's like something stomps down hard on the hand I had clinging to the edge, pushes me off so I fall and a part of me dies.

I know this is just me being overdramatic, but it hurts. No matter what it is, endings hurt.

HTTYD did this to me. I was broken by the end of the series. The end of MCSM s2 hit me pretty bad too, but a part of me was still hanging onto the edge, hoping for any sign of more, waiting for a clear yes or no.

And now that's been given. TTG is shutting down, and that means the ambiguously sad ending we were left with at the close of season two really is the end.

MCSM fueled my life for three years, the time that I needed it the most. I'm growing up. I'm barely a year away from becoming a Legal Adult, and having this stupid little game to love helped me...not hide from the rougher parts of my life, but to edge around them.

Like I said earlier, it made me happy, in the simplest ways that I needed. 

It's thanks to MCSM that I started getting into art. It led me to friends. It gave me stories I wanted to tell, and the confidence to start putting worlds and characters and tales of my own creation out onto the internet. 

So this drawing is several things at once:

A gift to the game that made my life so much better.

An acknowledgment to all the amazingness that's sprung from MCSM.

And a goodbye, to all the adventures we've had and left behind. 

-Rush💙