Original HERE

Shoutout to everyone who wished me a happy otakuversary! Thanks, guys! You're what makes my time here so special.
I'll send gifties a little later, I have to go see if I can rent a U-Haul for college so I'm a tad pressed for time.

As for the art, I liked the flats better than shading them. In a way, it's symbolic. Their story has been with me for a long time, and while it started out as a one-dimensional coping mechanism, it's evolved with me in the years since it first took form. I'm paying homage to that basic origin by keeping them flat what do you mean I just got so sick of working on it and was too lazy to shade after redoing their lines and color fIVE TIMES

Weirdly, one of the things that popped into my head as I was working on this was "Oh, look, it's mlm/wlw solidarity at its finest," and that got me to thinking that if I ever rewrite their story, the way they meet will be the same, only Riker's trying to escape Charlotte's clutches after evading her unrequited love for years, and the two become beards for each other while Paige grapples with her latent attraction for girls/bisexuality as Riker realizes gender doesn't matter for him--he just thought he didn't like girls because the only one who was ever prominent in his life was Charlotte, the one girl he finds completely incompatible and therefore not in the least appealing to him.

The "only when legal" subheading is completely a nod to how it's illegal to have more than one person on a bicycle in Japan. Which part of the updated story might take place in. No promises.

Wibblywobbly genderywendery stuff aside, let me talk about the background for a second.

No, I didn't bivouac off and become a digital art god in my absence. The stuff in the windows is actually a watercolor background I got from here, and while I technically don't have to give credit because I'm a lifetime member with an Extended License, they deserve a shoutout. They've got really awesome stuff, you should check 'em out if you're looking for some free brushes and textures and fonts. I got my lifetime membership last year from a groupon, so maybe you can too.

Art and characters (c) elricbrothersfan (me!)