I just remembered I never shared these Spike and Twilight drawings on here, so what the heck, have a retrospective!

Creating Ask Spike Da Dragon was an experience I'll always cherish, not just for its own success but also for how many people I was able to help with it.
(thread)

One of the most memorable experiences I had with the comic was looking for brand new ask blogs that were just getting their start, and sending them questions under the Spike account. As far as I could tell, it always made their day.

Some of those accounts were run by kids who were just having fun or trying to find their start, so to have someone swoop in outta nowhere and give them a boost was a treat.

Another favorite was a video recorded by a young fan who did a read-through of a bunch of comics. It was awesome to know I made something that parents were OK with letting their kids enjoy, but also something parents themselves could have fun reading.

The friendships made during that era were incredible too. I met many people who became friends during and after this time, as @MXCoriginal, @SolarSeaking, @ragtagstuff and more cool folks know well. :P

My one regret is that I didn't save credits for most of this fanart

(though I do at least remember the "bros" one was by Solar, haha. We collaborated on a few things during that time with his own Spike blog and made many cool things)

The comic itself had its ups and downs, but the friendships forged during that time were really something special to me.

While I don't think most of the earlier comics have held up too well over the years, the "purple line" comics that marked the end of its run in 2015 are the exceptions in my book as they still make me smile. Their off-beat sense of humor and presentation is just so... me.

Most of the comics went through a scripted process where I thumbed out a lot of entries in the margins of my class notebooks.

Not the purple line comics. They were, for the most part, unfiltered nonsense straight from my head with no middleman. If it made me laugh, I drew it.

What a joy and privilege it was, to be able to write for characters who could talk, think and act almost exactly the same as I did.

I think being able to loosen up the artwork and focus on my strengths (lineart) also made the writing get better and be less afraid to experiment. It's an approach I should consider revisiting for my next comic tbh...

While it had two brief revivals after its "ending" in 2013, SDD truly stopped in 2015 as I started to dive into production on Keev! and wrap up college.
It seemed fitting to leave Spike behind with college (and also with a comic where he burst into flames... by coincidence :P )

There was a brief moment following college where I looked into making a physical book collection of all of my Ask Blog comics. It never happened due to lack of interest/costs... but one can dream.

For as long as I ran the comic, I made an effort to not take it for granted, which I think made it easier to hold it with an open hand and help others. It remains one of the most creatively fulfilling things I've made yet, and I'm forever grateful and glad I had the opportunity.