Together, I think that we can make it, come on, let’s run.
The first time Reggie felt like he had a family that didn’t make him want to hide up in his room was Sunset Curve. Luke, Alex, and Bobby made him feel like it was them against the world.
90SJATP | Part III: You Get What You Give / I Got The Music (4/6) Part I: 1|2|3|4|5 Part II: 1|2|3|4|5 Part III: 1|2|3
Oooh Jesus, the stuff I have to say about this installment. I will try to make it make sense and not to be too self-indulgent!
Though I probably won’t be able to dive into their relationship any further, I just wanted to say that, in this little silly ‘verse of mine, both Alex and Willie find a sort of salvation in meeting each other.
On one hand we have Willie, who was brought back by his significant other and then suddenly left alone, stuck in the living world, once his boyfriend also died too soon. There’s no Caleb in this AU, so it mainly means that Willie’s been wandering alone for all this time, without a purpose, without an end.
On the other hand, Alex. I truly have too much to say about his character, on which I project so much already in canonverse. But this AU Alex is a super self indulgent take on his psychology, specifically his feelings about becoming famous while also in the closet and dealing with anxiety.
I headcanon Alex as the fan favorite member of Sunset Curve — you know how every band has the charming one, the funny one, the smart one– and Alex just comes off as sweet, and shy, and has these beautiful looks on him that make it so easy to fall for him (plus he’s a drummer, so that’s added value.)
And if all the attentions from fangirls and media would flatter someone like Reggie or Bobby or Luke, Alex is only stressed by it. The way the band grows bigger by the minute means that their lives — professional and personal— are under a spotlight that’s only growing in size and brightness. Being 17, barely out to a family who rejected him and a couple of friends who don’t really understand him, already dealing with an anxiety disorder that’s just getting harder to handle… Alex doesn’t want to admit it, but there’s a sort of relief in what happened to the band. After all, i’s an easy way out from the pressure.
A lone ghost and a lost ghost meet, and it’s all that it takes. Willie will provide him a reason to keep on living, even jn death, and Alex will show Willie that he won’t be alone anymore.
The last piece I made for @jatpzine! A Sunset Curve print. Everytime someone posted a story with their bundle and I saw this print among the merch, it made my heart grow three sizes bigger
90SJATP | Part III: You Get What You Give / I Got The Music (2/6) Part I: 1|2|3|4|5 Part II: 1|2|3|4|5 Part III: 1
After their recent discovery, the boys realize they have a second shot. The problem is: are they all willing to put up with the new terms? And are they all sure they want to go back under the spotlight?
I have so many things to say about my view of Alex’s character in this AU… but the next two installments are gonna do the talk for me. For now, enjoy some funny angst.
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Fridays are for comebacks and unrequested additions to preexisting mythologies.
(As I imagined, I won’t be able to draw all five intended parts of this AU, what with real life happening and interests changing. But I wanted to at least complete this 6-part section of the story, which has been so important to me for many reasons. If you’re still keeping up with this, I hope you’ll like it as much as I do.)
My piece for the @jatpzine, the first @julieandthephantoms fanzine! I got to draw a small piece of our beloved characters in a 90s Movie AU, and I couldn’t help but choose the iconic Romeo+Juliet by Baz Luhrmann. Featuring:
Influences for making Julie a diner waitress were mainly All Time Low’s “Lost In Stereo”, Blue and Gansey’s (The Raven Boys) first meeting, and visually I love Twin Peaks’ Shelby Johnson which I used extensively especially for these lil sketches.
② JUKE
Biggest regret was not to get to write/draw the enemies to lovers Juke I wanted but I had this sketch dump of a bunch of reference pictures I had in my saved folders, going from JATP bts to That 70’s Show to 10 Things I Hate About You.
One of the commissions I did in 2021! This was for @darthmaultoast who asked for a cute Alex/Reggie interaction, with the same vibes of a Willex fanart I previously posted! I came up with two concepts and we eventually went with the one of them attending a Britney concert, because you can pry Britney fanboy!Alex headcanon from my cold dead hands, and Reggie listens to basically every music genre that ever existed so of course they go, of course.
If you’re curious about other commissioned pieces, I collected them all in the dedicated highlight commissions✨
90SJATP | Part III: You Get What You Give / I Got The Music (6/6) Part I: 1|2|3|4|5 Part II: 1|2|3|4|5 Part III: 1|2|3|4|5
It seemed fitting to have the last post of 90SJATP as the last post of 2021. From the initial idea of just dropping some sketches and info here and there, to making a playlist that eventually turned to be my most played bunch of songs on my Spotify Wrapped, to actually try and craft a story — this little comic has been a huge part of this past year, and a fun one too!
Due to a shift of interests this will most likely remain an unfinished story, but just in case you’re wondering what the last two parts were supposed to include: Part IV: Free Fallin’ / Finally Free was a juke-heavy part with the actual enemies-to-lovers stuff (and I regret not drawing it the most!), while Part V: 1995 / Stand Tall dealt with Sunset Curve’s comeback — and I suggest you go listen to 1985 by First to Eleven in the 90SJATP playlist because that song really kept me going.
At any rate, I’ve learned so much about the do’s and don’t’s of this media. Yes, there’s so many things I’d do differently now, but I’m happy that, despite all the flaws and mistakes, there’s people who kept up with it and let me know what they did and didn’t like about every update.
There’s a couple of sketch dumps that I’ll drop in the future, and maybe I’ll still draw something more about this AU anyway. But for now, thank you for every like, comment, share and save, ‘cause they really helped me grow and learn during this weird, weird year! Here’s to a peaceful and artful 2022.
A soul mate does not complete you - they inspire you to complete yourself. A soul mate is the person who supports your direction, who motivates and encourages you to stretch, to change, to reinvent yourself until you are happy. A soul mate is someone who loves you with so much conviction, and so much heart, that it is nearly impossible to doubt just how capable you are of becoming exactly who you always wanted to be.
