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[i-eat-your-pancakes-art]

Welcome!

Visit my StrawPage website if you want to learn more about me and what I make, draw something for the gallery of horrors guestbook, or just want links to all my socials in one place.

ieatyourpancakes.straw.page

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Here it is! ieatyourpancakes.straw.page

If you: want links to all my socials in one place, are curious about more in-depth information on my projects, or just want to draw something horrible for the gallery of horrors guestbook, this is the place! I’ll be putting it in a new pinned post soon.

I'm creating a StrawPage so that people can easily find my different socials, info about projects I'm working on, etc. I'll make it the new pinned post both here and on tumblr. I'll likely have it ready next week. This'll be fun :)

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I'm creating a StrawPage so that people can easily find my different socials, info about projects I'm working on, etc. I'll make it the new pinned post both here and on tumblr. I'll likely have it ready next week. This'll be fun :)

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This party sucks :/

Been keeping most art for TTAT a secret until it's released, but I realized I should share at least a little bit of it ahead of time to show you what you're in for. This one goes along with the very first scene and it's not really a spoiler, just a scene to set the mood for the beginning.

RED Sniper's not shy, just an introvert who values professionalism. In those early days, he certainly wasn't thrilled with having to adjust from a solitary lifestyle to being stuck with people he saw as a bunch of loud weirdos. It wasn't exactly in the job description.

But there was someone else on the team who would convince him to loosen up a little…

I remade the old geezer sign from scratch as set dressing because I'm strange like that

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I've been practicing drawing Teddy Roosebelt and Koala Compact! They'll make an appearance in the story I'm working on :)

I remember when Teddy was added to the game, and I was like, "aww nice." Then a year later when they added the koala I was like "HELL yeah, now we're going somewhere"

Listen...the fact that they both have stuffed bear versions of themselves is something that positively tickles me to this very day. Truly the duo of all time

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One of my new year's resolutions is to post here a lot more, even if it's just small updates and teasers. For today's teaser, here's a WIP Pyro roasting some shmallows. This is a small slice of one of the many big illustrations that'll go along with Through Thick and Thin once it's published to AO3.

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Hey people! Here's a quick-ish doodle of the boys to ring in the new year.

2024 was kind of slow as far as my art and projects went, but I finished a lot of the writing and planning that had to be done first. Adult responsibilities tend to slow things down a lot. Cringe, I know. But thankfully I have much more solid plans compared to this time a year ago. 2025 will be the year that I drop both of my TF2 stories and all the art I've been working on behind the scenes! (Assuming everything goes smoothly...)

Through Thick and Thin will be out as soon as the rest of the art is done. Maybe springtime? Depends on how much free time I can weasel my way into. I'm also revealing the title of the other story with BLU Soldier and Scout right here and now: Paternal Instinct. That's the same placeholder title I've had on it for years, and there's really not a better name for it, so I'm sticking with that! I have an outline for it and will flesh out the chapters once the other story is out.

Thanks as always to all of you who've stuck around up until now. You're going to love what I've got in store for you this year, I promise.

I was planning on posting this on new year's eve but it ended up taking too long on top of seeing some friends and my actual work ;_;

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Extra Thoughts About My BLU Soldier and Scout Fanfic (TBA)

Adding onto my train of thought from the last post. This isn't worth adding to that one because it was already so long, but I wanted to make a post addressing this other fanfic in the works, too. Writing my thoughts down while I'm working on my projects is helpful for me, and it's proof for you folks of how much of my brain power I'm pouring into them.

Anyway, I'm glad I went out of my way to confirm for myself that the game and comic settings are two separate continuities because that means that the story I've always wanted to write about BLU Soldier and Scout is still viable too (for the game verse, of course. I never intended to put it in the comics continuity). It was a bit ambiguous at first but by the time the catch-up comic and issue #1 were released and the continuity distinction was officially made, it appears that they settled that the comics-verse Soldier and Scout were both RED to begin with before teams merged. The BLU ones only exist in the game verse and its SFM shorts/update comics. Not that it matters a lot thanks to the separate continuity, but it just gives me further encouragement to use them in particular. (You saw them in that one-off where they fought Old Nick at the mall! They're meant to be used in more stories, I tell you. That was one of the things that got me attached to them all those years ago.)

It's just me but I still think in the game verse that the RED versions would be a father-son duo as well, since both teams are identical. But most of the content I make about them in this respect will feature the BLU versions just to be distinct about which continuity I'm using.

After issue #7 of the comic dropped I did a lot of thinking, and then some kind of panic came over me. Suddenly I NEEDED to make absolutely sure that I hadn't imagined the two separate verses thing. I admit I hadn't looked at the comics, which is where the separate continuity thing is stated, in a very long time. I'm sure you can imagine why. And then yesterday, I started thinking, "was that just something my brain invented to gaslight me?" Thankfully no, it wasn't. Now I carry on as usual, with some added confidence. I'll write what I've always wanted to make and nothing will stop me. ;u;

The next fic is still a long way off but I have a solid outline already and even some sketches for its scenes. Thanks once again for sticking with me as I work on both of these fics and try not to go insane!

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Update on Through Thick and Thin + Pointing Out TF2's Separate Continuities

First of all, my fic project is moving along well, about 1/3 of the art is done. Not what I'm here to discuss, though.

So it finally happened...damn, I kinda thought comic issue #7 would be coming out around springtime. Merry Christmas to us. I won't go into my thoughts on the comic here, but its surprise release made me realize I should make sure my audience is aware of some distinctions between the game versus the numbered comics issues.

The numbered comics are actually unrelated to my story, and I'll explain why that is. This post will be long, but I feel compelled to make some things clear to everyone who's been following me before I publish the story. I'm the type of writer who really wants her audience to understand her thought process. I dove WAAAAY deep into official statements and material to make sure this post is all accurate, as well as to give myself the peace of mind that my fic can be canon-compliant to the game itself, which is all I care about. This also means that I won't be stepping on the toes of people who prefer to focus more on the comics. That’s a relief because I’d been a bit nervous about putting this story out there.

I want you to know that this fic was written with the game itself's continuity in mind, not the continuity of the numbered comics. Issue #7's release doesn't even affect my fic in any way. So why am I making this distinction? Well, there's something important that a lot of people either forget or never heard in the first place. I blame Valve for not marketing this fact better, but whatever.

Here's the deal. In the official comics, it's stated that TF2, the game, is a "dramatization" of the war between RED and BLU. It makes sense why Valve said this. It's why so much that happens in the numbered comics is never mentioned in the actual game + SFM videos and vice versa. The game and the numbered comics aren't canon to each other since there are differences that make them incompatible. They're two valid but separate continuities told in different mediums/formats.

You could say that the game + SFM shorts and those silly one-off update comics are continuity A, with the original , much loser style of worldbuilding, in which RED and BLU fight each other for territorial control all over the world. And that's all there is to it. There is no one epic plotline or ending to this version of the world. The later comics feature continuity B, which take the characters introduced in the game and put them in a new format with a single, long-running story that eventually ends. The split more or less occurs when Gray and the robots are introduced to give a story reason for the RED vs BLU war to "end."

So, what's the difference and why'd they choose to make the later comics their own new distinct continuity? Read on, and I'll go over some key differences between these continuities for those of you who weren't aware, and then I'll talk about where writing fanfiction (like mine) stands in all of this. This will be long, about two pages of a word doc, so I'm putting the rest under a cut.

The game is said to be a "dramatization" of the RED and BLU conflict that's similar to the "gravel wars" as they're called in the comic universe, but with all classes present on both teams for a total of 18 mercs. It's never explained why, but everyone rolls with it as "just how it is." There doesn't need to be an explanation because it works so well already. It's honestly really funny to think that RED and BLU just so happened to hire a bunch of guys that look exactly alike and it’s never explained. I've seen a lot of people write game-universe fics that propose one team are original mercs and the other team are their clones, created just to fight them. But I always thought it'd be funniest with no clones or whatever, just a series of wacky coincidences in which RED and BLU happen to hire 9 pairs of extremely similar people. It's so absurd and impossible that it fits the silliness of the game perfectly, don't you think? This way, things are so even that the fights are endless. It works out perfectly, so don't overthink it! Just have fun with it like I am.

Meanwhile, the numbered comic issues only ever show 9 individuals, no doubles. In this comic storyline, some were RED and some were BLU before merging to fight Gray. It looks like there'd been 5 REDs and 4 BLUs. Since there are absolutely no duplicate mercs in the comic, different from what had been established in the original game continuity, this just can't be the same setting. The “rules” are different. And that’s why the game and numbered comics are weren’t intended to be the same continuity. It bugs me that more people don't know this. Again, I blame Valve for not advertising that better.

And of course the older, non-numbered, one-off silly comics that were released to go along with game updates aren't to be lumped in with the numbered issue comics and what builds up to them with Gray and the Robots. Those have featured members of both teams and are tied to the game itself, which they were created to promote. They’re part of continuity A. The same goes for the Meet the Team videos and Expiration Date. Notably, these feature some mercs (like RED Engie or some of the BLUs) that don't even exist in the continuity B of the numbered comics, so that’s why they aren't connected.

It makes sense why the numbered comic issues had to go the route they did with no doubles because it would've been very confusing to have 18 of them running around in the story, especially if they were all look a-likes. The story is kind of a mess already, imagine twice that mess! The plot would've suffered for it. But it's the reason why those comics aren't meant to be the same setting. It’s clear: all 9 of RED team and all 9 of BLU team are real only in the game itself’s universe which has a much looser set of rules.

I won't lie, I’m only interested in writing for what I see in the game’s universe instead of for the numbered comic issues. There's far fewer things to restrict you and more freedom to make the scenario you want because the game continuity has no ending, just a series of shorts that go along with it. There's plenty of fun stuff to work with in this version of the world but no definite end to the game itself. Just countless fights across countless maps. The comic issues never mention the mercs fighting anywhere besides some of the spots in and around Teufort, NM. Meanwhile, the game takes us to other regions, continents, and even outer space! We don't even know what order the teams could've visited all the maps in or who won which fights where. We’re not supposed to know who wins. That's for the outcome of each individual match to decide! The game versions of the setting and mercs leaves much more creative room to work with.

Here's how I look at it: The numbered comic issues tell one long, winding story. Meanwhile, the game's method of storytelling is just like a really violent cartoon with random, unrelated episodes as told by the shorts and matches ingame. If you have an idea for a story but you've hesitated because it'd clash with the numbered comics' storyline, like I once did, I hope this has encouraged you to look at it another way. Word of God says they’re two separate continuities. Just use the game's version as your setting! There's so much potential there!

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Now for why I felt the need to blab about all this...I chose to use the game's setting for my fanfic because the numbered comics' plot is far more defined and doesn't leave room for what I wanted to accomplish. RED Engie and BLU Sniper don't exist in the numbered comics, which sucks because you can't write them always being on the same team in that universe. One could use RED Sniper and BLU Engie for it, in fact I know I've seen people do that. For me personally, so much happens in the numbered comics that it would just complicate things too much to try this route. There's a chance that the comic's version of "Mick" and "Dell" strike up a friendship in the midst of all the chaos of the comic but that's too complicated for me to want to touch. (The ending makes that outcome possible, but I would get a headache trying to shoehorn my own story into all of that. I also don’t wanna put up with all the angst in the comics.) I tip my hat to those of you who write your fics in the comics universe. I'll just stick to the game, which I'm actually very happy with because of the freedom it allows. I like this version of "canon" better anyway, but that's just my preference.

It's still unrelated to my fic, but to end this I'll go ahead and shout out that Valve actually threw me one last bone: Engie and Sniper sitting right next to each other once again at the dinner table in the final comic scene. I'll take it. :) They've been shown next to each other enough times to make me wonder if someone at Valve shares my feelings on these two, as well. That's probably me reading too much into it, but hey, it's fun to speculate.

TL;DR my fic with RED Engie and Sniper is meant for the setting of the main game/SFM shorts universe, not the universe of the numbered comics. Remember, they're canonically two separate canons!

I'll probably be adding a shorter version of what I just wrote to the author's notes of the fic once it's published so that everyone who reads it will be aware. Both canons are fictional to us, so we can all choose whichever version of canon we want to focus on in our fan works and discussion. I'm glad I can say that, because it means my fic will be canon-compliant to what I care about most: the game that's had a hold on my heart for the past 14 years. The comics look fantastic and tell a compelling story many years in the making, but they aren't the canon I prefer to focus on. But that's just me.

If you read this whole thing, thank you for sticking with me. It means a lot to know that people still take interest in my work and read my ramblings!

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Oh my god I finally drew Gordon and Spencer again after 158275234 years. I feel bad for not making anything for so long. ;_; But hey, I've improved a lot since the last time I drew them, so it's good to make something shiny and new. It's just a doodle, but I wanted to get a feel for drawing them again. I'm out of practice.

Can I be candid for a sec? Once the disaster of a reboot happened I got bummed out and lost all the motivation I had to keep making TTTE stuff. I just wasn't in the mood.

So, this post is the result of a couple things. First of all, I've actually been going on a binge of TTTE fanmade episodes lately. I love how dedicated this fandom remains, even after everything that's happened. We have so many talented artists and storytellers! Second, I noticed a lot of people adding notes to some of my old art out of nowhere recently. I have no idea what's causing this spike in attention, but I see you. :) Thank you for being interested in my work even when I don't update much.

I'm still focusing most of my free creative time on my TF2 story for now, but if you guys still want to see more talking train people, I'll remember that. I used to have so much fun drawing them and I've missed it.

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Here's Signas for the Megaman X art collab hosted by Kazuni and RivRider! I'd also like to give a special shoutout to @kielbasanova for dragging me into this mess. It was a good creative exercise!

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me when a friend infodumps about something they're an expert on

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I've been pretty secretive so far with the illustrations I'm making for my upcoming story about Engie and Sniper, but this one isn't exactly a spoiler. I think this kind of scene probably happens all the time with them, lol. So here, take this as a teaser of what's to come. Still have a lot to go, but I'm making decent progress.

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I drew everyone's favorite murder friends just in time for spooky month :) And I'm super excited to announce I'll be selling all of these as stickers! Keep an eye on my page for more on that very soon.

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THROUGH THICK AND THIN: A story about Engineer and Sniper, Coming Soon™

Those of you who've followed me for a while might've heard me mention that I've been working on a TF2 fic for a long time now. I'm happy to announce that the written portion is complete and I'm revealing the title and cover today!

Through Thick and Thin is a series of eleven loosely-connected chapters that follows the deepening friendship between RED Sniper and Engineer. I've really loved them for many years, both separately and as a duo. They're a lot alike and I believe they'd have great chemistry. I'd describe this as slice of life with eventual feels plus some action sprinkled in. Nothing touches my heart more than best friends who are openly affectionate with each other, so you can look forward to that between them later on. :)

But it's not available to read just yet…and that's because I'm making multiple illustrations to go along with each chapter! I don't want to publish it until everything is complete. Art and all. I'll give you a few teasers before it's ready to drop, and I don't have a release date set because I don't want to set one only to realize I can't finish the art in time. We get there when we get there. In the meantime, keep an eye on my page for more sneak peeks.

And of course, a very special thank you to my beta reader, @3nigm4art, for looking over all eleven chapters. Without your feedback, I wouldn't have been nearly as confident putting this project out there.

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Here's the full version of my TF2 mercs ref sheet. Made it mostly for my own use but I thought I should go ahead and post it since I haven't drawn some of them in a while.

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7/30/2024 Update on the Engie and Sniper Story + SNEAK PEEK

Now that 007 Fest is over, I wanna say thanks for sticking around if you didn't follow me for James Bond content. I'm going back to putting my full creative attention on my TF2 fic. Since my last update, an entire eight chapters are fully written! It's up to 14,992 words! I've only got two more plus a short epilogue to go. I know everything that happens, I just need to flesh it out.

And then once that's done, I move onto the art portion of the story...that'll take a while, but I'm looking forward to it. I'll be posting art WIPs every now and then leading up to the story's release.

Now if only I could decide on a title for this...I'm torn between a handful of ideas. We get there when we get there.

Straight outta google docs, here's the start of chapter 1 to prove this isn't just vaporware!

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I wanted to draw someone totally unexpected for the free space of the characters table. Here's floating broom guy from the background of Quantum of Solace. Easily the greatest of all the side characters.