From Betamax to Bloodborne

JP de la Rama
4 days ago
3 min read

Why Telling Your Own Story Might Just Save Your Career

And they say wearing your merch is cringe.

“The monsters we fear as kids become the stories we must tell as adults. They don’t just scare us — they shape us."

Setting the Stage

I don’t usually do sales pitches in these newsletters. I’m not the "marketing guy" who knows how to use buzzwords like “leverage” or “funnels.” But sometimes, if you’re a small creator—or even just a person trying to make a living doing what you love—you realize something:

Telling your story 'is' the sales pitch.

And if you don’t tell it, who will?

For over a decade, I worked in the shadows—illustrating someone else’s vision, coloring someone else’s storyboards, and fulfilling someone else’s dream. It paid the bills… barely. But it came at a cost I didn’t fully recognize until now.

Because then came AI.

Suddenly, the floor beneath artists trembled. Freelance work dried up. Opportunities became a race to the bottom. And the voice inside my head whispered:

"You’ve spent 10 years building other people’s worlds—what happens when the world no longer needs you?"

That hit hard.

But something shifted recently. A memory came back—one that had nothing to do with client briefs or invoices.

It was a memory of monsters.

The Root of the Problem

When I was about the age of my daughter now, I’d spend weekends with my dad renting Betamax tapes from local shops—our own version of Blockbuster. We’d binge-watch sci-fi, action, sitcoms, wrestling… and yes, even gory horror films.

My dad didn’t stop me from watching them. He’d just calmly remind me,

“It’s not real. It’s just a movie.”

I’d still cover my eyes during the brutal parts, but I was hooked. 'Alien' and 'Aliens' were the ones that really got to me—not because I loved the gore fest, but because the "monsters" fascinated me. The design. The fear. The world-building.

As I grew older, that fascination never left. My first paid gig as a colorist? A horror comic. My earliest personal projects? Always leaning into suspense, thriller, and fear of the unknown.

And when I created 'Scribbtoons', I knew that my flagship title had to come from that same place of childhood awe and terror. I started diving deep into Soulslike games, especially 'Bloodborne'. I didn’t even know what “Lovecraftian” meant back then—but somehow, I already understood it.

It wasn’t about jump scares. It was about "the unknown".

The feeling that the universe is so vast, so indifferent… it could swallow you whole.

Building My Own World

For years, I helped other people build their worlds. Now, it’s my turn.

Instead of letting AI erase me, I decided to "create something it could never replicate"—my own voice, my own story, drawn from my weird childhood obsession with monsters, machines, and mysteries.

This is why I’ve been working on my own "graphic novel"—a horror-fueled, soul-crushing, lore-rich, Lovecraft-meets-supernatural kind of universe.

And you know what?

It’s not just a passion project anymore.

It’s a 'survival project'.

Because in a world where everything is disposable, telling your own story makes you irreplaceable.

That’s what I’m doing with 'Scribbtoons'.

That’s what I want to encourage every artist, creator, and visual storyteller out there to do.

Create the thing only "you" can create.

Tips for Fellow Artists

If you're stuck, here's what I learned the hard way:

Your personal story is your strongest brand. Don’t wait 10 years like I did to start telling it.
Missteps are part of mastery. That first horror coloring gig? It wasn’t perfect—but it got me closer to my voice.
Nostalgia is fuel. Go back to what fascinated you as a kid. That’s where your originality lives.
AI can replicate output, but not origin. The monster in your head? It’s yours alone.