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This page may look a little different. I lost my free access to Adobe Illustrator with my college graduation and so have switched to Krita. I had to familiarize myself with a new art program on top of putting this together; at least I got through it. In some ways, I like Krita better; in other ways, I like Illustrator better. Krita actually reminds me a lot of Photoshop.

I believe characters should be judged first and foremost as characters. Being a bad person doesn't necessarily equate to being a bad character. It annoys me seeing people judge characters for being evil, mean, or rude when they're clearly supposed to be and the narrative doesn't treat their actions as right. That is, it annoys me if that's what the complaint amounts to.

Let me put it this way: I had an animation professor who wasn't a big fan of Disney's Encanto. One of his complaints was that Abuela Alma was so unlikable that she made him want to see the Casita destroyed, thus taking him out of the experience. Meanwhile, I've seen members of the Encanto fandom complain about Alma because...she's abusive. Like, not only did the movie make it clear that she was blinded by her trauma and just needed to realize how her actions were affecting the family, there wouldn't be a movie at all if she was fully self aware and didn't hurt the family. You see what I mean, right?

That is to say I don't like seeing people say they hate Shelley because she's mean to Stan. She's not supposed to be a kind, caring older sister. However, I completely understand disliking Shelley because she's a Karma Houdini. For one, it's a valid criticism of her as a character, as opposed to, "Waah! This character is mean!". For another thing, I myself wish we got more moments where she receives karmic punishment for her actions. By that, of course, I mean moments where she brings her downfall onto herself through her own fault, such as the She-Ogre battle in South Park: The Stick of Truth, not moments where the universe craps on her for existing, such as her losing Larry Feegan in Broadway Brodown and her straight-up dying in the first Post-Covid timeline.

I like to think Shelley feels at least somewhat guilty for mistreating Stan. I always feel guilty for acting out, be it due to an autistic meltdown, PMS, or a combination of both. That's pretty much what this story is about: her adopting age-regression as a new outlet. I'm not sure whether or not I want to try it myself. Sometimes I think I do; other times I'm not sure. I haven't started living on my own yet anyway, so I can only really express it through my art.

Shelley's fantasy in the last panel is based on one of my personal coping mechanisms. My fantasies don't involve me, but rather a select character of my choosing, usually connected to my current special interest. I imagine the character feeling guilty or worthless and another character comforting, or something like that. More recently, I've tended to bring age-regression into these fantasies, because it feels right.

I've said a lot. Stay tuned for more.

South Park belongs to Comedy Central and Paramount.