What I've Been Working On This Spring

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Hello, all!

What a busy, busy year its been. My thesis project for my senior year has been a doozy and a half, and I'm at that point in the project where I'm rapidly flip-flopping between "I hate everything about this project and want to light the whole thing on fire" and "This is fine, actually, it just needs a little work."

I think the big issue I'm struggling with right now is a combo of sunk-cost fallacy and the realization that... my original pitch feels kind of plain.

...Maybe it is a matter of staring at it too hard. After all, I've been working on this project for over five months now, and with all the feedback (and criticism) doled out by teachers, students, and faculty, it's easy to assume the constant conflicting voices are right. That my work needs to be scarier, more interesting, more appealing, more understandable, more digestable.

Problem is, its far too late to turn back. My senior show starts in less than three weeks. I can't throw it all away and start again, there's no time!

And so I'm stuck with this idea, whether I like it or not. At this point, I can barely find it in me to care. I can only hope whatever end product I make, it at the very least helped me learn something new.

I can feel it -- the project itself isn't bad, it just needs a little TLC. My skills as an artist aren't terrible, its just that I'm pushing myself outside my comfort zone, and that's going to lead to some frustration along the way. That I've been staring at this damn project for so long my metric's completely skewed. Either way, I'm still looking towards what I'll do next.

What I've been Doing in My Free Time

When I'm not working on my senior thesis show, I'm recovering from working on my senior thesis show. Between napping, chores, and feeling exhausted, I've been catching up on some of my favorite Marvel movies.

No, not that one. I'm talking Daredevil (2004), the two Ghost Rider films, the Hulk movies... I'm here for the cheesiest of the cheese, the schlockiest of the schlock, the Marvel movies that beg to be forgotten.

Following the development of a new special interest in Moon Knight, I've been tentatively dipping my toes into the Marvel franchise once again. I've read almost every comic series involving this white-clad superhero with DID, save for the ones from the 1995-2000s era. (I tried, believe me. It was like gargling toxic waste. Turns out, 2000s-era Marc is not the best depiction of mental illness!)

I read the X-Men series "God Loves, Man Kills," most of the early 90s-00s Deadpool comics (the 1994 4-parter being my favorite), and a smattering of Hulk and She-Hulk for the first time. I revisited X-Men Evolution, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and Spectacular Spider-Man, TV shows I haven't watched since childhood.

I read lots. And LOTS. Of fanfiction.

There's not a lot of material out there for Moon Knight lovers like myself! I got deeply invested into the series at a very awkward time---the TV show came out in 2022, 4 years ago now, and the thirty years worth of Moon Knight comic runs tend to be few and far between. Its part of why I've been able to tear through it all---there's only so much to read. I've already reread my favorites three times!

Fanfiction has given me lots and lots of satisfaction where canon has fallen through. I've added nearly two whole pages to my bookmarks since December, and downloaded twice that number to read during transit. But... its not enough.

Despite my busy schedule, complete lack of free time, and imminent burnout... I've been writing fanfiction.

What? It's helped!

Here's what I've got so far:

It's The Pits

Jason Todd stumbles into Dick Grayson's apartment to stave off an episode of Pit Madness. Except instead of a rage-fueled haze, he's reliving his final moments before he died.

M, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD flashbacks and hot chocolate.

Lost and Found

A short slice-of-life drabble about Marc getting ready for Steven to go to work.

G, Fluff, Marc's barely concealed texture issues and granola bars.

Jake Lockley's Taxi Adventures

Moon Knight offers a cab ride to an assortment of vigilantes, superheroes, and the occasional civilian.

Secret identities, dramatic irony, and crossovers, oh my! Each loosely-connected chapter follows from the perspective of a new character, so you get a smorgasboard of unique POVs set within the confines of Jake's taxi.

Daredevil, Spiderman, Venom, Jean Grey, the Avengers...

If you like identity schenanigans, "Moon Knight meets the Avengers," and believe in Jake Lockley supremacy, this fic is for you.

...Okay, this one hasn't been released from my drafts yet. Because it's my first multi-chapter fic, it's been my pet project all throughout the semester, and I haven't had the courage to publish it just yet.

I already get enough feedback on my thesis. I don't want feedback on the project I've been working on for fun.

Soon, though!

Once I've gratuated college, I plan on releasing chapters weekly. This should happen around the beginning of summer? Right around when school lets out, sometime early in June.

I hope you look forward to its release!

Et Cetera...

• Flowers and Hubris, my submission for This is WAAC, Issue 7: Dimensions Unknown, should be published sometime in April. Its a sneak peak at a book draft I've been working on, a fantasy story written in unconventional formats.
• I submitted a short film to the Vision Fields Film Festival. Do I plan on watching it at the Woodward Theater? No. Did I submit a project from 2 years ago anyways to add a line to my CV? ...Maybe.
• One of my poems was on display at the Satellite Gallery in New York! Read it for free here: Everything Feels Like Mutiny Against My Best Intentions.pdf​

As always, thanks for your support!

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