Deirdre’s Musings

 Inflammatory title, I know. I’ll use this opportunity to state that I will be leaving names out to protect my family and I. This post will be about homicide bereavement and how the Canadian justice system routinely fails victims in order to pander to abusers.  I, for one, am sick and tired of people preaching to me the so-called wonders of “restorative justice” and the “Nordic System” when it comes to violent, abusive people who use manipulation as their weapon to charm enablers and keep the abuse cycle going. The coddling of abusers by the current criminal code is one of the chief things which keep generational trauma going. How do I know this? I’ve seen it with my own eyes.   It’s been over three and a half years since my father was violently murdered by a drug addict with an extensive criminal record of committing violent crimes (including assault and break and enters).  I’ve had to listen and read the perpetrator’s children do whatever they can to paint him as t...

Writing fanfiction is a lot like playing with dolls. It hits a lot of the same areas in the brain, and feels more socially acceptable when you're a teenager. My parents didn't care, I was at least doing something more productive than watching TV. Yet, despite it all, I have to give myself a little bit of leeway: I was only 13-14 when I wrote it. Like many other fanfiction authors at the time, I didn't really have a story structure for it. The “story” (if you can call it that), was 8000 words of shameless self-indulgent fantasies that I used to escape from my real-world problems.  At the time, I felt trapped in a very toxic friendship where my “friend” was low-key bullying me. He’d pick me apart, always told me I was worthless and stupid, never stopped reminding me that he feared me “trading him for new friends” to elicit sympathy from me.  On top of that, I was being bullied excessively by boys in my class. Being frequently told “it’s because they like you” has led me down ...

  I have almost forgotten that 2010 was fifteen years ago. Back when not only were the DS Pokemon games the norm, but the series had its own flavor that I never quite appreciated back then.  For me, Pokemon truly peaked with Platinum and HGSS. While I love the Unova games, late Gen 4 was something truly special. I can appreciate Unova’s story, but gameplay I’m always going to be biased for Gen 4. And so, I started replaying Heartgold.  Some may say it’s the nostalgia speaking, but there was something truly magical about this game.  The 2D sprites paired with the 3D buildings during the DS era of Pokemon made the series feel unique. Black and white somehow managed to perfect the art of combining the 2D with 3D.  I know it’s a shorter post, I just wanted to get this off my chest.  Thanks for reading.

  I have a series of pens available Working on a comic and on my Frost Babies line Making this card took an actual emotional toll on me. I started crying halfway through coloring.

 At some point in our lives, we all manage to find an obscure piece of media that we obsess over that no one else has heard of. For me, most obscure media I get into tend to be short-lived mangas with no other adaptation. Zodiac PI, by Natsuki Ando, is that series for me.  I have specific memories of checking this volume out from the school library and reading it in my room over the weekend. I love the early 2000s Shoujo art style this manga has, it’s expressive and cute. I'll admit that its not for everyone: I can understand why folks might not like the sharp chins and dot/checkmark noses paired with shiny eyes. The story itself is pretty simple; its about a girl named Lili Hoshizawa who can summon horoscopes to help her solve crimes happening in her area. I find the premise really appealing. It’s like Sailor Moon meets Detective Club. While it has some unsettling moments (murder and suicide in some chapters), it’s never depressing perse.  It’s a short-lived series becau...

It’s snowing out, so I decided to draw this to cheer myself up.