My first flash comic! ^^
This is a project I made for uni and also my entry for a competition called "Creativity with a Conscience". It is a project I hold dear and I invested A LOT of time and effort in it (I had to work 18hrs/day for 3 weeks in order to finish it on time for the deadline) and I did it not just for my uni mark but because I really wish it could help someone, somewhere even if just a bit...
It deals with the issue of "bullycide" or suicides caused by bullying and what inspired me to do it was a story that went viral a couple of weeks ago, about the suicide of teenage girl that had been severely bullied. I believe there is nothing more heartbreakingly sad than a child taking his own life...

You can learn how to make a flash tutorial with some help from Yuumei [link] (you might need some extra help from internet tutorials if you're a complete beginner)


EDIT: thank you so much everyone for your positive response! Knowing that I managed to inspire a bit of hope for someone is my greatest reward. I confess it was the hardest thing I ever did to reveal such an intimate part of my soul to the world. Out of honesty, I do feel like I owe a couple of explanations: the story is indeed based on my past, the words are mine and they are as honest as possible but, for artistic purposes and story's sake, some of the images do not reflect my real life (eg. I haven't visited Africa yet, I haven't ridden a horse, I am not married...). But I hope that that won't take away from its meaning... The images reflect everything I feel right now, they are like visual metaphors of my words and are meant to show what I feel, they represent all my hopes and my attitude towards life so they are, by no means, less sincere. I wasn't planning on saying this, as I actually hoped the story won't come across as a such an obvious confession, but seeing the honest responses I've received I feel like I owe you total sincerity as well.



EDIT:
1 - OMG! my very first DD! thank you for the suggestion and to everyone else for your wonderful comments and to each of you who have shared your own stories! this is my biggest reward, the response I hoped for, I am truly happy that I've managed to give some of you a bit of hope! Really, thank you so much!

2 - I would also like to say smth about the "religion part"... I was expecting different opinions to be expressed about it, and I respect each and every one of them. I do not judge anyone's belief or lack of it, that is not my business to judge and this comic also wasn't meant as a "repent and turn to God or burn in Hell" message but a "Have hope! It gets better! no one, ever, should take his/her life!" message. As much as I wish in my heart that everyone would discover the true path, the true faith of Orthodox Christianity, I cannot, and will never, shove my beliefs down people's throats... All I can do is live my life the way I have chosen, bring my testimony through that, and let those who are wiser do the preaching. If anyone will ever ask me about my faith, I will tell them, if they will ask what I think about their beliefs and philosophies, I will express my honest opinion, if they will ask how one can become an Orthodox Christian, I will do my best to guide them to the ones who know best, but I will not impose my beliefs on them and continue a false, general belief that to be a Christian is to be militant, close-minded, harassing, harsh and hateful. This is just my story of hope, that I chose to share with the world and God was, and is, such an important part of my life and survival, that I could not leave Him out, and I will never be ashamed to talk about Him.

3 - Also, another mention... I said in my description above that this story was inspired by "a story that went viral a couple of weeks ago, about the suicide of teenage girl that had been severely bullied"... I feel like that person deserves to be named since she too needs to be thanked for my little message of hope to you. That girl is Amanda Todd, and she inspired me through the courage she had to share her story with the world ... and it broke my heart to see that such a beautiful, sweet girl took her life because of such an unfair, terrible pain that she was put through. I know many other teenagers have killed themselves before her, and by no means their deaths are less heartbreaking, but Amanda asked for help in such a desperate way, and yet she didn't find any hope in the end.