This Is My World

This Is My World is an upcoming animated fictional miniseries written by Gilbert Martinez. The miniseries is about the lives of Grissom Stevens and his friends in Fairbanks, WA, from November 2, 2019, to January 1, 2020. The miniseries focuses on Grissom's struggle with moderate depression, alcoholism, and their effects on his relationships as he lives with the pressures of being a young adult.
==Characters==
*Grissom Alexander Stevens (b. May 12, 1997) [22]Grissom is the protagonist of the show. He is skilled in a number of areas, yet he suffers from moderate depression and mild social anxiety. He is introverted, cautious, and reserved. He enjoys the company of his friends, especially his best friend Rocky and his girlfriend Sadie. He has lived in Fairbanks since 2007. Above all else in the world, he wants strong and stable connections with people, especially with those who truly understand him. As indicated at the beginning of the series, Grissom spends many weekends getting drunk with Alan. He does this to try to take his mind off of his depression. Sadie is worried that he has become an alcoholic. He is the youngest of the main characters.
*Rocco "Rocky" Salvatore Luciano (b. April 16, 1997) [22]Rocky is Grissom’s best friend, having known him since childhood. The two have spent plenty of time together, and have always supported each other. Rocky is confident and maybe a bit crass, but he is a loyal and caring friend. He has lived in Fairbanks his whole life.
*Sadie Erica Dawes (b. August 20, 1992) [27]Sadie is Grissom’s girlfriend. The two have been together since 2015. She is cheerful and sweet, and she is always ready to brighten Grissom’s day. She doesn’t hesitate to stand up to those who may intimidate or threaten Grissom. She has lived in Fairbanks her whole life. She cares deeply for Grissom and tries her best to ensure he’s okay.
*Alan Andrew Hertz (b. July 7, 1992) [27]Alan is an openly bisexual horse who is good friends with Grissom and Rocky. On many weekends, Alan accompanies Rocky and Grissom to the Blue Cherry nightclub. He is quite flirty when intoxicated, and he has told stories about his many sexual escapades. Alan has lived in Fairbanks since 2004.
*Julie "Cherry Zard" Nesbitt Edgerton (b. April 16, 1992) [27]Cherry is a waitress at the Blue Cherry nightclub who is good friends with Alan. She enjoys teasing Grissom and Rocky, especially when they’re intoxicated. Grissom does everything he can to ensure Sadie never knows about Cherry, since he fears it would ruin his relationship. Unbeknownst to everyone, she suffers from severe depression, which she disguises behind her facade and remedies with cigarettes and wine. Cherry has lived in Fairbanks her whole life. She is the oldest of the main characters.
*Sven Ulric Hjort (b. November 2, 1993) [26]Sven is a shy, Swedish horse who moved to Fairbanks in 2018. He, like Grissom, is reserved and introverted, yet he is also deeply compassionate. Whenever he gets nervous or bashful, he speaks in Swedish involuntarily. He is a closeted homosexual. Sven has a latent crush on Alan, but he is nervous to admit it to him. Sven confides in Grissom because he sees a lot of similarity with him. His father is the world famous rock star Ragnar Ansgar Hjort (b. 1948), who fronted the hard rock band Zed Leppelin in the 1970s.
==Episode List==
Below is the list of episodes, paired with the dates each episode is meant to be set in.
#"Twenty-Four Hours" — November 2, 2019
#"Transmission" — November 8, 2019
#"Isolation" — November 16, 2019
#"Disorder" — November 22, 2019
#"A Means to an End" — November 30, 2019
#"She's Lost Control" — December 8, 2019
#"No Love Lost" — December 15, 2019
#"Decades" — December 25, 2019–January 1, 2020
==Synopsis==
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
The miniseries begins with Grissom going through a typical weekend. He spends time with Sadie and Rocky, then later on gets drunk with Rocky, Alan, and Sven. This time, they celebrate Sven's 26th birthday. One week later, Sven approaches Grissom for dating advice, due to him having a latent crush on Alan. Meanwhile, Rocky approaches Alan for advice on life. Rocky wants to move on to bigger and better things, yet he fears hurting Grissom's feelings. Later on, Grissom laments to his friends about what he considers to be the stagnation of his own life. Meanwhile, Alan takes Cherry to dinner and a movie.
On Thanksgiving, Grissom gets alcohol poisoning after hanging out with Alan instead of having dinner with Sadie. Grissom tries apologizing, but Sadie won't accept it until he promises to stop getting drunk with Alan. Grissom is devastated by this, convinced that he has ruined his relationship, and he spends the next week in a crippling depressive episode. Eventually, sick of his suffering, Grissom expresses his suicidal inclinations and nearly hangs himself in his apartment. However, his friends are able to stop him before he does it, and they manage to talk him out of suicide.
One week later, Grissom hangs out with Alan and Rocky. For the first time, he decides to remain sober. As he watches his friends get drunk, he begins to question what he had really been doing with his life. He then notices Cherry looks rather distraught and upset by something, which Cherry denies. He repeatedly offers to help her, until she snaps and shouts at him outside, hurting his feelings. Later on, he is at his apartment with Sadie, who is consoling him over what had happened. Cherry calls his cell phone to apologize for snapping at him, and she invites him to her house to talk about what's been bothering her. Grissom later shows up at Cherry's house, where she invites him inside to watch the movie Closer and drink red wine. As the movie plays, she tells Grissom about her struggles with severe depression and laments that she is unable to really do anything about it. She also expresses her desire to move away, but that she is reluctant to do so because she knows she'll be leaving everything and everyone behind. Grissom tells her that he has had similar struggles with depression, and that everything will be okay no matter what because she'll always the support of her friends. Cherry almost slaps him when he uses her real name, but she stops herself and breaks down in tears, feeling guilty for wanting to hurt him for trying to help her. Grissom comforts Cherry, which causes her to kiss him. Eventually, Grissom returns home to Sadie, and they sleep together.
After these events, Grissom begins to feel more in control of his depression and relies increasingly less on his antidepressants. He spends the next weekend buying Christmas presents for his friends. Sven approaches Grissom for dating advice again, and this time Grissom's advice is based on what he'd learned over the past month. On Christmas day, Grissom and his friends open their presents, and Grissom proposes to Sadie. Sadie accepts the proposal, making her and Grissom engaged. Two days later, Cherry quits her job at the Blue Cherry nightclub and moves away. Grissom, Alan, Sven, and Rocky see her off, with Grissom giving Cherry a blue cherry pendant as a parting gift. Sven and Alan go on their first date on New Year's Eve. Later that same day, Rocky leaves for Army boot camp and tearfully says goodbye to Grissom. The series ends with Sadie and Grissom watching the countdown to 2020 at the Seattle Center, where they kiss as the year comes to a close. The final shot is of the fireworks exploding over Seattle as the snow gently falls.
During the credits, pictures appear that show what has happened to each of the characters, although they don't glimpse too far into the future. Rocky has made it through boot camp and awaits further job training. Sven and Alan have officially become a couple and have stopped going to the Blue Cherry nightclub. Cherry has found a happy life in Portland, OR, where she now attends film school, works as a waitress, and has a boyfriend. Grissom and Sadie got married on February 20, 2020, as evidenced by their wedding photo.
==Trivia==
*The miniseries title is derived from a lyric in the song "Perception is Reality." The lyrics of the song were written by Gilbert Martinez on June 12, 2018, and set to music 2 days later.
*All of the episode titles are derived from songs made by the 1970s English post-punk group Joy Division.
*Gilbert intended this miniseries to be a window into depression, as he has moderate depression himself and wants to spread mental health awareness.
*The miniseries was first imagined on June 28, 2018, after Gilbert had repeatedly listened to the Radiohead song "Paranoid Android" and the Joy Division song "Isolation." He'd imagined the 6 main characters interacting on a typical weekend from the point of view of the main protagonist, Grissom Stevens.