I am #1 Gabe Fan. I believe this to be true... I get embarrassed about it a lot of the time now, like I should have spent some time on other characters Too. But i think Gabe is the first OC to inspire me like a Character from a piece of media would, and then way Way more, because it felt like there was so much more depth accessible to me. Most other OCs, even Syke, Inspired Me, but could only do so much, cuz i wasnt Allowed to interact with them, and Know Them. Gabe was the most engaging interaction i'd had with a character Yet! I thought shipping him & Dusty might feel more like how shipping with other characters had felt in the past, where you identify them as compatible, draw them being sweet together a couple of times, and then ... um ':3 ... Talk about things theyd maybe do a couple more times. Maybe... But I was allowed to know this character much more deeply than anything before... That experience alone was so Fun for me, like getting to go spelunking, and it just keeps going down and getting Richer... I normally felt like i'd hit bedrock by then. Not here! I felt Bad for getting so much enjoyment and comfort from your oc, especially if you weren't around. For wanting to receive photographs of this thing from Every single angle, in every lighting condition that you could give me, and then trying to communicate it out again.

I've learned a lot through drawing him, and wanting to See Him, and like... get it right. I've learned a lot about drawing bodies (not enough) and a lot about drawing faces (not enough) and a lot about drawing Hair! I've learned a lot about trying to strike the nuances of a face and keep it consistent by trying to draw him... He helped me realize what traits I thought were important to portray and how i wanted to portray them. I'm still learning. I have a lot left to go. I didn't realize I liked drawing faces like this. Like.. Portraits, I guess. I think until that fake polaroid of him smiling, did I realize I like... Wanted to keep refining how I drew faces and figuring it out, not because I thought I was Bad at it (at first it was because I just.. Was bad at it.) but because I now saw the appeal of trying to like... portray and stylize someones specific face and traits.. Before it was something that scared me, and I wouldn't really draw irl people or faces for commissions or anything ( the one for our fifi is different) and didn't see the Appeal.. Now i do :3 I dont know if I know how to explain it just yet, but Garby helped me learn that it excites my heart, and helped me bridge the gap from "I Cant Draw Faces Consistently At All!!!" To "I feel like I'm Almost There, then I just have to figure out like, postgame notes about continuing to hone stylization" (the last 10% takes the longest though) and I think he will Forever be special to me at least for that :,3

I feel tender & special to have had this character shared with me. Thank you for helping me learn so much