#A few more sketches with Alan

[tinni404]

[universallydestinytaco]

*yawn* Is it Halloween yet?

EDIT: So apparently in the Spanish Dub for SF Charlie's girlfriend is named Zoey and I made this post before that info became more well-known and prior I dubbed her as Susan....Zoey is a cute name OMG

Okay, so I’m bored and I wanna yap about a Corpse Bride AU I plan on later making into a fanfic or at least a few comics for Halloween this year, Charlie VanDort is in love with Zoey Everglot but he accidentally proposes to Zombie!Pim who whisks Charlie away to the Land of the Dead for the Honeymoon to die for! Meanwhile Zoey is engaged to the sketchy Mr. Frog who has quite the skeleton in his closet…

Oh yeah and Mr Boss is the Priest of the Undead, Dj Spitz is Bonejangles, Glep is the maggot and Alan is the Spider. Y’know what screw it I’m gonna draw this AU and show it off later ALSO check out this awesome sketch my buddy @zeronighthaze drew for me back in November/December! Please go follow Azuni and @smiling-friends-stories for more awesome SF stuff like this, thanks!!

[zkylearnstherope]

how, do you draw, A’s glasses

please teach me your ways, I am struggling so much

Here's a few references for The Admin.

Here's what the glasses look like at the front. You could try tracing it.

This is also a guide about he/r height in comparison to normal sticks, and the position for the Limiters.

Here's how the glasses could look like in certain angles.

This one is for a collaboration for Alan Becker: The Superior Stickman comic series by Guy Who Writes. The context is your/your OCs reaction to The Abomination and victim fighting. You should check out the comic on Webtoon. I love reading it. They also post it on the AB server and TDO's server.

I enjoyed drawing this one, because one, the couch is in it, and two, I tried a new shading/lighting style. I love how it turned out.

This one also features the Interface, which is a floating UI that A uses as a computer and cellphone. S/he lets the rest of The Monochromes use it too, so you could also draw H using it.

This one is an ongoing Christmas Collaboration by @a-sc0tt-ish-madness. That's @muffledexplosion162's OC, Sketch on the left. Feel free to add your OCs to it, I think it's fine.

S/he's supposed to be swaying he/r feet while waiting for vic.

I messed up the glasses here, but I like this one because of how the cape looks. He/r cape has this effect that when you look at it from the outside, it's transparent. But from the inside, it has stars. The cape only manifests if s/he removes the Limiters.

Here's a blank meme template I made with @lakedo. Feel free to add captions however you like, but keep it appropriate please.

This is one of the rare times you could see A with noticeable emotions.

Lastly, the humanized version.

The first one is what she normally wears, vic's shirt that super undersized for he/r, and black pants with a leather belt. The second one is he/r more accurate hair and Launcher Corp., uniform.

The first pic features my Artfight attack for @fusciaguardian 's OC, Savage.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday Scottish actress Georgie Glen.

Georgie was born in Helensburgh on April 20th 1956 and as a child had little interest in appearing in school plays. She studied graphic design at Glasgow School of Art and moved to London in her mid-twenties to design book covers for the Thames and Hudson publishing house.

Looking for other interests she joined Floodlight Council, an organization set up to bring out adult’s artistic skills and then became part of the Questors Theatre Company in Ealing, West London. Here she met the late Alan Rickman - who, like Georgie, had a background in design before treading the boards - and he encouraged her to follow her acting ambitions. As a result she enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic drama school and on graduating had her first job at the Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich.

Even then she felt, somewhat modestly, that she did not have the looks for a leading lady but ever since her television debut in 1988 she has been a reliable supporting player in virtually every type of show from sketch comedy to period drama, notably in a recurring role as doughty Sergeant Jennifer Nokes in Heartbeat and the liberal, kindly teacher head of History, Audrey in'Waterloo Road - filmed in her native Scotland.

Indeed she may be said to be one of the first ladies of character acting and though her film roles have again always been in support of bigger names she has proved herself to be a scene- stealer par excellence, as one of the more enthusiastic in Calendar girls alongside Helen Mirren and Julie Walters.

As I said earlier she has been in every type of show, to name a few we have comedy roles in Harry Enfield and Friends, Alas Smith & Jones and Little Britain, drama series and films are two many to mention them all but there are dozens, the pick of them include Taggart, of course, Peak Practice, Doctor Findlay, Mrs Brown, Shakespeare in Love, Silent Witness, and I think a lot of you will maybe “say” oh yes, when I tell you that she was the Judge in The Victim in 2019, an excellent four part series set in Scotland also starring John Hannah and Kelly McDonald, and she was Denise in the brilliant Channel four show Damned!

[fp-am]

something to write?

hmm...

First time that Orange sees snow?

kind of short, but here’s a young Second discovering snow

heehee

-

(Third Person POV)

Circa, 2015

“We have another animation to make, Second.”

“Ok!”

It was around Christmas time of 2015. Second was still young and curious, being nurtured and cared for on Alan’s current computer. He’d never seen much of the outside world besides a few scenes and drawings of nature.

He always asked his friends about all the things he’d yet to learn. So far, he loved every drop of information he has consumed.

Today was another busy day. A simple background animation commission for Christmas time. Second was still new to the whole Christmas thing, but was excited to learn more.

Second started drawing pine trees and sketching a landscape, giving it a cool night sky with stars. He glanced over at Alan. To his confusion, he was drawing some white marks on the perfect trees and grass that he had just drawn.

“Alan, what are you doing?”

“wdym?”

“Why are you putting white marks on the background?”

“do you not know about snow?”

“..snow?”

“it’s something that comes around during the winter. when it gets too cold, the rain drops in the clouds freeze up and turn into little shards of ice. that’s what we call snow. once the snow falls, it bunches up and stays on the ground due to the cold weather.”

“Ohh.. it’s like ice.. but smaller?”

“kind of. Why don’t you touch it?”

Second curiously looked at the snow Alan drew. Leaping over, he stuck a hand in. He pulled it out almost immediately.

“Ah! Cold!”

“pft. well of course it’s cold. but its fun to play around with. watch.”

With a smile, Alan drew some more snow, then used his mouse to roll it up into a few balls. Placing them on top of eachother, he drew some accessories for the snowman.

“Woah!”

“see? here, try.”

Drawing some accessories, Alan handed them to Second and backed up.

Scooping up some, Second started building his own snowman. But, every single time, the snow crumbled. He started to get angry, but eventually, he figured it out. Carefully, he stuck on the accessories.

“There! It’s not.. uh.. good but.. I did it.”

“I think it looks great.”

“You’re just saying that..”

“no. It’s really great, Sec.”

“But yours is way better.”

“It’s only ‘better’ because I used a mouse. I didn’t put any effort into it. yours has heart put into it.”

That made Second smile a little.

“Yeah. I guess you’re right. Well..”

..Second jumped directly into his own snowman, letting it crumble and go down.

“?????”

“Haha! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself! I like how soft it is.. I could take a nap in it.”

“why are you always so sleepy”

“I don’t know, but I feel like if I closed my eyes right here, I could just sleep.”

“wouldn’t it be too cold?”

“I don’t think so..” Second yawned, snuggling into the cold, soft lump of snow that used to be a snowman. “Mmmh.. I actually think it’s just right.”

Slowly, he closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

…

It was hours later when Second awoke.

“Mmmph..? Huh?”

“oh, you’re up”

“Did I fall asleep?”

“Yep”

“Oh.. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. I finished it anyway.”

Second looked around. With all the shading and the snowflakes falling from the sky, it was beautiful.

“Wow..”

“what is it?”

“It’s so pretty..”

“hm. I guess you’re right.”

Suddenly, Second sneezed and sniffled.

“Ah.. what was that?”

“It looks like your sick from sleeping in the snow. you might have a cold.”

“Like.. a sickness?”

“Mhm. cmon. let’s get you in bed so you can get to feeling better..”

“Ok.”

Second left with a smile that night.

Snow. What a curious thing.

[idontknowreallywhy]

Resurface 17 - Redraw

Previous bits

Writing art is not my forte but Virg doesn’t have access to a piano right now so he insisted. I hereby blame any clumsy wording / inaccuracies on this being Scott’s POV so… yeah it’s the flyboy’s fault.

💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚

It had been a little over 48 hours since Scott had last been in the same room as Virgil. While at one end of the feed a brother was happily chatting away to his invisible-to-everyone-else best friend, the unseen brother at the other huddled on the couch, curled protectively around his tablet lifeline and was politely rebuffing anyone who hovered with offers of irrelevancies like sustenance and reassurance. And company.

He felt bad about that. He had a nasty suspicion John was berating himself for revealing those details about the past and at some point very soon Scott was going to need to fix it. But it wasn’t now. The rest of them needed to concentrate on Virgil anyway.

Speaking of which…

Virgil had got fidgety and was stretching his arms behind his head in an achingly familiar way. Gordon, who was on duty again, was heavy-napping on one of the other beds and didn’t stir. The squid had taken the brunt of his brother’s care upon himself and he needed the sleep and so this was fine. Kayo and John were distracting Alan. Scott was keeping watch and could raise the alarm if the patient got out of bed. He didn’t though, merely shuffled his pillows around a while before appearing to notice the sketch pad and new set of pencils that had been left on his bedside table at his big brother’s insistence. Scott felt a little rush of justification as Virgil seized the pad and opened it to a fresh page, tapping his chin thoughtfully with the end of a pencil.

Scott watched as his brother began to sketch some light sweeping strokes across the page. The tension in Virgil’s expression melted away and Scott felt a little of himself beginning to thaw too.

After a few minutes, the artist laid the pad down beside him while he reached over to to select a different grade of pencil from the tin. Even upside down Scott recognised the sketch as the beginnings of one of Virgil’s many sky backgrounds - rays of sun peaking through soft clouds, the hint of a light wind mysteriously depicted through graphite on white. So many things could emerge next - a cityscape, a portrait, a whale leaping from the ocean… It could be an abstract of a solar eclipse or a detailed study of one of their ships. Perhaps a flock of birds over a silhouetted volcanic island. Whatever his eventual intention, Virgil so often began with the sky and everything else followed.

He picked the sketchbook up again and proceeded to add something smaller and more detailed. Scott entertained a hope that it might end up being Two and One flying home side by side - had three of those displayed in his suite - one watercolour, one acrylic, one mixed media collage and he was more than happy to add a pencil version too if Virgil allowed it. The eyebrows of intense concentration had been deployed and Scott had begun to smile at the familiarity of this when the merely concentrating look hardened into something else.

Virgil started to add much heavier lines, the knuckles of his right hand white as he held the book steady and the left almost a blur as he dug the pencil in hard and dragged it rapidly to and fro across the page. Scott wondered how the paper could possibly withstand such a ferocious onslaught of carbon - he half expected it to catch fire if his brother didn’t gouge a hole straight through it first.

Scott watched in helpless dismay as his the look of distress on his brother’s face deepened and was on the point of calling Gordon to wake him when Virgil seemed to run out of steam and slumped back into the pillows, sketchpad clutched to his chest. He closed his eyes and took a couple of breaths before propping himself up again and gazing at what he had drawn. He didn’t move at all for several minutes. Scott unconsciously leaned sideways as if he could change the angle of the security camera to see what it was then swore to himself. This was wrong. He should just be able to go and ask… he always asked and Virg always showed him… maybe somewhat shyly but he’d always show him. He didn’t dare defy Grandma, not when he was so clueless about all of this, but his gut told him she was wrong - Scott should be there by Virgil’s side.

This was wrong. She was wrong.

He had to try again.

He stood and started towards the stairs to go and reason with her when another movement from the screen caught his attention. Without removing his eyes from the sketch pad, Virgil leaned over to the bedside table and patted around until his fingers closed over a large eraser. He spun it in his fingers for a few moments then appeared to remove something then added some small detail, his expression intense but unreadable, even to the brother who knew him best.

Some small noise must have alerted Gordon who suddenly flung himself on to the bed and enveloped Virgil in a hug.

The sketchpad slipped to the floor and Scott slowly sat back down again.

💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙

[scarlet-cookie]

Ink Demonth 2024 Day 6 : Drop

Joey felt the wind rushing past him- or at least, he’s believing that there’s wind rushing past him at that moment. Because, abiding by all laws of the Cycle, there shouldn’t be wind here.

He closed his eyes, although it didn’t make much of a difference since his environment was dark anyways, and began to recollect his thoughts.

Alan threw me in here..

After telling me he ‘revived’ me by extracting memories within the Dark Puddles…

Joey blinked a few times.

Did he say that?

He felt as if there was some detail he was missing, but he couldn’t tell what it was.

Joey felt his body plummet faster as his thoughts rushed past him.

Finally, there was a soft thud.

Joey carefully pushed himself up to his knees, looking around his environment, albeit, he didn’t really have to.

His heart seemed to pound as he inspected his surroundings.

The familiar corridor, the ink seeping through the ceiling, the old wooden floor.

It was indeed the Cycle he created.

….

Joey stood up, casually brushing off any possible dust that could’ve come from falling down such a height. He stared at his wrinkled old hands that seemed to be made from a pencil sketch now.

Then, he looked up at the sight before him.

His eyes continued to be blank for a while.

What now?

What do I do next….

Joey suddenly found himself unable to remember the exact details of this part of the ‘script’.

He couldn’t help but feel vulnerable again.

After a little bit of focusing, he gently came to the realization that many chunks of his memory seemed to be missing.

Is this what Alan meant when he said he ‘revived’ me?

He wanted to ponder his own identity now, whether or not he could still be called “Joey Drew”.

Solemnly, he decided to shake those thoughts off for the meantime.

He wondered if he could return back to his old office.

It wouldn’t hurt..

He quietly took a step forward.

His expression turned fearful as he realized the ground beneath him gave away, sending him plummeting towards the depths once more.

That was when Joey Drew finally understood why Alan would reconstruct him incompletely like this.

Bendy : The Untrusted AU - Intermission (Part 3.5/5)

[thatonecrookedsmile]

A little something from the past that I thought would be nice to post here. I don't think I've ever posted it anywhere before. Funny story; I had the idea of ​​posting this drawing here 3 years ago when I first joined Tumblr. I had done these sketches a few months before (around May-June 2021), and when I had the idea of ​​posting this here I went back to the drawing to change a few things. I never posted it back then, I think you can tell.

I went back to this drawing recently and realized that I didn't like the small changes anymore and reverted them with the exception of one, so consider this the hybrid of the original 2021 version and the edited 2022 version. I prefer it this way.

The ideas in this drawing at the time were related to both events of my two Bendy AUs, but at the time of this post, I don't know exactly how intact these ideas are currently in my AUs. Things change. And what I had planned in 2021 may not apply now with what I have planned at the moment. It doesn't hurt to share what I had in mind, though. At the time, I had been playing around for a while with the ideas of the ink being this being with a mind of its own that DCTL presented/expanded and with the possibilities of "ink powers" based on Audrey's abilities from what we had seen so far in BATDR (again, this was 2021).

The in-universe context (as I recall): during the Ink Machine experiments, the studies and research based on this project led to the development of other adjacent ink experiments. Some were done with the intention of helping projects related to the studio (like Sillyvision for animations and the sentient ink for the machine) and others were done based on finding out what else they could do with their newly discovered technologies and how far they could go with them.

Some of these experiments resulted in the creation of inks with more "unworldly" properties, which could be used by humans for certain types of tasks. Ink powers, that is. (Example: sketch on the right). Each experimental ink had a different color in each mix that represented different properties or abilities they possessed. (I remember the gold ink was one of them. I don't remember what it did, though.) These inks would not be distributed to the rest of the studio or to outsiders, and would remain in the confines of the Ink Machine project's research department.

I believe these ideas are solid, I would just have to revise a few things to make them make sense with the "story" (if there is one) that I made for these AUs. Especially regarding these "Ink Powers" with different colors. I don't know which AU this concept would fit better, IF it still fits nowadays, of course.

The woman on the left is one of my Bendy OCs, Kate Donova, a scientist and one of the main minds who assisted in the research and development of the ink during the development of the Ink Machine project.

I don't know exactly what her current lore is, because I've come up with two versions of her story so far. The first version is that she's a scientist who works independently/isn't connected to a specific company that lives in NY, and was recommended by the GENT guys to Joey to work on the studio's projects. The second version would be that she works for GENT as a scientist and ended up being one of the people in charge of helping with the ink experiments for the Ink Machine project.

Maybe I can combine the two. A scientist in the corporation recommended by the employees themselves (maybe by Alan?) to work on the project and that Joey ended up following the recommendation. Best of both worlds. I have to draw her again someday.

But yeah, I like these ideas, even though they're a little bit dated. I should work on them again. A lot of my ideas for my AUs from 2020-2021 are kind of dated and I wouldn't go back to them nowadays (at least the ones I remember). But I have to admit that some of those ideas aren't that bad.

Wow this turned into a yap fest really fast I'm going to go now byeeee

[marvelmaniac715]

Specifically for @lydiavalentino. This is the cast list that accompanies my Schmigadoon! Season Three pitch. I’ll include actors, character names and character descriptions so that you can get an idea of what I’m going for :).

Cecily Strong - Melissa Gimble:

Melissa is the same as she always is, kind, funny, a big fan of musicals, but the stress of parenting two hyperactive twins is starting to wear her out, and she’s less willing to join in with Schmigadoon shenanigans than usual, and she may yell at this season’s leprechaun when he eventually appears for putting her children in danger. Also, is a forbidden romance with a stranger who’s not so unfamiliar in the cards? Melissa is faithful to Josh, but old lovers and crushes have a certain way of getting to you…

Keegan-Micheal Key - Josh Skinner:

Again, Josh is the same as he always is, except he too is stressed out by raising twins and his teaching position, and he’s developed a much stronger interest in musicals that he, along with his wife, tries to pass down to his children. In my hypothetical third season, his reaction to the newest version of Schmigadoon (the ‘Schmoods’ and surrounding French district) is a lot like Melissa’s reaction to Schmigadoon in Season One, because this is the period of musicals he is most familiar with and he gets so excited whenever he spots a reference. Is he a cool dad? Well… he certainly has a thing or two to learn from a few Schmigadoonians, but he and his kids get along great (even if he is a little overprotective at times).

Dove Cameron - The Princess:

That isn’t a placeholder. That’s the character’s name. Think of Rapunzel from Into The Woods, but combine her with Cosette from Les Mis and Christine from Phantom of the Opera. She’s your typical ingenue at the start of the season, sheltered from the world by her adoptive mother (we’ll get to her) and dreaming of romance. But as the season progresses, she (with a little encouragement from Melissa) begins to break out of her shell and pursue romance with mysterious French Schmigadoonians (oh, the scandal of it all!).

Aaron Tveit - The Prince:

The Prince is a more villainous character, he falls in love with The Princess and is convinced that they are destined to be together (think of the two princes from Into The Woods with Marius from Les Mis levels of pining) and refuses to take no for an answer. This would be a sort of dark reimagining of Jenny and Topher’s romance from Season Two, and Melissa would point this out at one point (but nobody sees the comparison except for her). Does he find romance by the end? Perhaps, but that is yet to be decided.

Alan Cumming - The Wolf:

As you can see, a lot of character names are symbolic (a lot like Into The Woods). At the beginning of the season, Josh and Melissa are convinced that he’s the one who lured their children away (hey, they’ve seen Into The Woods and The Wolf looks VERY similar to the wolf that ate Little Red Riding Hood in that musical, they don’t want to take chances) but it’s a red herring, and the ‘sneaking around’ they catch him doing is merely to provide for his pup, Clawsette (Little Cosette from Les Mis, slightly inspired by the SNL Diner Lobster Sketch with the lobsters in terms of naming). His character will help to teach lessons about parenting to Josh and Melissa via a song, and the character may be French, with subtle references to Duly Blight and Mayor Menlove because of course there will be.

Kristen Chenoweth - The Witch:

What can I say? She’s the witch from Into The Woods, I just wanted to allow Dove Cameron and Kristen Chenoweth to play mother and daughter again. She would also teach Josh and Melissa about parenting in a VERY Children Will Listen inspired song.

Jane Krakowski: Leader:

Leader of the troupe of children that lures Josh and Melissa’s twins into the woods. She’s seemingly kind at first (she’s inspired by the Narrator from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat after all) but she soon reveals a sinister dark side reminiscent of Bill Sykes from Oliver, and she makes the children under her employ carry out her dirty work (crime such as theft).

Patrick Page - The Narrator:

The Narrator from Into The Woods, but more sinister. There’s a running gag where Josh and Melissa (big Into The Woods fans) continuously try to sacrifice him to whatever monster or rival is onscreen, thinking that that will help them to ‘reclaim their own stories’ like it did for the characters in Into The Woods. He gets more songs that show off his awesome deep voice, and he isn’t employed by the leprechauns. He’s their father. That would extend the parenting theme I’m trying to build and show the sometimes strained relationships between parents and children.

Martin Short - All Three Leprechauns:

He’s back as the leprechauns! This season’s new addition is Johnathan, a very Rent inspired character who may have a striped scarf. And yes, he would have a line paying homage to that show, such as ‘sorry my land isn’t as flashy as my brothers’, I’m struggling to pay rent’. It’s stupid, I know, but it brings me joy.

Tituss Burgess - Unsure:

I want him to be in this, but I’m not sure HOW. He’s a phenomenal actor though, so I want him to at least have a cameo as a French villager (Ratatouille the Musical, anyone?).

Fred Armisen - Unsure:

He’s in the same boat as Tituss for me, but I would perhaps cast him as Alan Cumming’s character’s ‘mate’ or something so that Layton x Menlove could live on in a way.

Ann Harada - Leader of the Rats:

Somebody had to do it. She’s basically Grizzabella from Cats as a rat, and when the characters help out in the final episode, she leads the charge. This is no slight against Ann Harada, she’s great, but I thought it would be fun if she could have a song (or a brief snippet of a song that keeps getting cut off as a running gag similar to ‘I’ll drink to that’ lady from last season) inspired by Memory from Cats.

Jaime Camil - The Phantom:

No prizes for guessing which 1980s musical inspired this character. Melissa has a big crush on the Phantom of the Opera, and she may have a brief romance with this character (Baker’s Wife from Into The Woods all over again) but she gets over herself and sets him up with The Princess, seeing her as a version of Christine, and that it would be the ultimate fan service to set the two up together in order to ‘fix the ending’ of Phantom.

Ariana Debose - Francine:

Fantine from Les Mis, but she doesn’t die. And she has a son unlike Fantine. (Mason, played by the boy who played Carson in Season One). She helps to teach parenting lessons due to her dedication to her son. By the end of the season, she may have a romance with The Princess, but I’m currently undecided.

The Twins - Casting Unclear:

The twins are about nine or ten, and they’re scrappy and adventurous. They love musicals like their parents, but because this is their coming of age story (Into The Woods, remember) they will go from naive to wise by the end of the season, after overthrowing a powerful dictator, of course…

[jellyghostspace]

I put up my 2023 art scrapbook for free on Patreon!!!

ft. a gratuitously long photo collage of all the art I made and all the art I loved throughout the year + links to my written thoughts if I put them up anywhere.

If you're into it, please consider joining blah blah month blah + all my new work in every newsletter blah blah $1, I have another post with resolutions and art plans for this year, plus sketches for some new work, and brief reviews of Before the Green Moon, Alan Wake 2, and a few of Thecatamites' early games that I really like

[neil-neil-orange-peel]

loved the rik and ade fest you arranged with @/xgardensinspace recently! it made me curious, if you would rank your favorite rik and ade projects how would you rank them? :)

Aw thank you! I'm glad you liked it. The fest is always fun to run. ❤️

Now that's a tricky question! I'm very bad at ranking my favourite funny shows at the best of times. 😂 A lot of it just depends on my mood in the moment. Here's an attempt:

Joint first - The Young Ones and Bottom - sorry! Far too difficult to decide which of these beats the other for me. They're both brilliant and changed my world. While containing obvious similarities, they both also offer differences. So, yeah, really depends on my mood. The world of TYO is certainly more raw and surreal, which I think makes sense as it was the gang's first proper foray into television and sitcom, but that's part of what I love about it. And, perhaps because of that factor, it captures something true about youth, which is why multiple generations of young people have found it resonating with them. It's very exciting and angry and just, bloody hell, so entirely accurate. Richie and Eddie, on the other hand, have more depth and emotional realism as characters (feels insane to say that about Bottom, but still 😂). You can feel Samuel Beckett oozing out of the mouldy walls of their flat. The situation in Bottom should be extraordinarily depressing - a warning, even, about what happens if you just let life happen to you - but instead it's brilliant and hilarious and full of pervy, disgusting joy. That's the magic of sitcoms.

Third - The Comic Strip Presents... - I really like anthologies. It's a shame they're so rare these days, given recent examples like Inside Number 9 and Black Mirror have been so successful, though I get that they're generally more expensive and more of a gamble as far as viewing figures are concerned. I love the world of the Comic Strip. The series just felt really creatively inspirational to me when I first watched it. I love the idea of a gang of mates all writing and producing stories. How insanely cool? That said, it's not got the top spot for me because not every Comic Strip is gold standard. There are definitely a few I've only seen once. There are some with flaws that I still love, but there are also a fair few (of the later series, perhaps when the magic was wearing off) that just don't cut the mustard for me. But there are some truly great offerings: both Bad News episodes, Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, the Famous Five parodies, Consuela (my fave ❤️), Dirty Movie, A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques, The Strike, Red Nose of Courage, Demonella, Gregory: Diary of a Nutcase, the list goes on. For the most part, the imperfections and rough and ready style are part of the various Comic Strips' charm.

Fourth - The Dangerous Brothers - I absolutely love this double act. This is where it all started for Rik and Ade, after all! Richard being the dominant one is also an interesting twist on their usual dynamic - they're basically Laurel and Hardy but more violent and a lot ruder. 😂 But seriously, you can tell Ade takes a lot of inspiration from Stan Laurel. There's this specific face he does. The only reason they're fourth here is because, as sketch characters, I suppose there was only so far they could go with them. That's not to shit on sketch characters! A good sketch character is gold dust, just check out Harry Enfield's repertoire. And it's not as if sketch characters can't grow into something more versatile Alan Partridge Alan Partridge Alan Partridge since that's arguably what Richie and Eddie of Bottom were (the pinnacle of an ever deepening progression of Rik and Ade's dynamic). The Dangerous Brothers are mad fun, but with so many other Rik and Ades on offer, I've had to be harsh. Sorry lads. 😂

Fifth - Kevin Turvey - Ade appears in The Man Behind the Green Door, so it counts! I have a lot of love for Kevin Turvey; compared to most of Rik's characters, he's a sweetheart. I also really like it when comedians have a character inspired by the place they grew up in. The world of Kevin Turvey still has the anger and surrealism we'd expect from Rik Mayall projects, but it's much more toned down. This was very early Rik, so Kevin is just very interesting, in that respect. I'm sure he'd appreciate that. The fact Rik let him write a chapter of his autobiography says a lot about his relationship with him, even if he was ultimately superceded by a bunch of other bastards called Richard. 😂 The main reason he's so low down on this particular list is just because Ade doesn't feature much, so it's not super reflective of their double act.

Sixth - Filthy, Rich & Catflap - Look, I'm not here to contribute to the FR&C hate in the world. 😂 I don't think it's as bad as people at the time made out, but I'd also be lying if I said it's their best work. Richie and Eddie are important as a crossroads point between Rick & Vyvyan and Richie & Eddie of Bottom, and Nigel is amazing as Filthy, but they're never gonna be as beloved as those who came before and after them. Also, Richie Rich's hair is worse than Richard Dangerous' to me. 😂 I think it was a mistake, though I understand why it was done, to advertise FR&C as the successor to TYO. Of course, in comparison, it was going to fall flat. Although it's satirising the old British showbiz world, why on earth would the young audience they picked up from TYO - who didn't necessarily feel enamoured by that - want to watch their favourite characters morph into people from that world? It's similar in tone to TYO, but the world it inhabits just doesn't come alive in the same way. FR&C is also very wordy - which, kudos to Rik and Ade primarily for remembering all those lines, and to Ben for writing them - but, in the first episode especially, this definitely slows the pacing down. Rip.

I've only included stuff with Rik AND Ade, hence the absence of The New Statesman etc. Apologies if I've missed anything!

Thanks for the ask! ❤️

[the-prsc]

Day 3: 

Previously in PRSC... 

The boys in Genesis, Rush and King Crimson continue to progress and gain a tiny bit more comfort in their… difficult conditions.  

Tensions within the Yes and ELP camps reach an all-time high. Steve Howe does a runner and reaches ‘The Court of The Crimson King’ by midnight. (Keyboard wizard) Rick Wakeman and (Fish) Chris Squire plan their well-needed escapes... 

Death count: 0 

In The Court of The Crimson King...  Steve reached the camp late last night and has since been welcomed by all members of it (except Broof, who tries to ignore him following his awkward exit from Yes). He is put to work with John and David in doing various dull, laborious tasks overseen by Fripps right-hand-percussion-men, Bill and Jamie Muir who are ‘keeping them in check’. Although Steve feels tired, he also finds the structure, safety and sense of community that he felt was lacking with Yes. We cannot say the same for John and David.

Meanwhile in ‘Epping Forest’...

This is the supper of the mighty one! Genesis eat well tonight as (during a particularly long prance around the woods) Peter found nice, ripe fruit on the forest floor (little does the band know that Jon dropped it earlier that day, made clumsy by his consumption of the mushrooms). Tony is spending hours a day perfecting each detail of the entrancing face of his Etch-a-Sketch recreation of the Mona Lisa.  Phil, Steve and Mike have managed to make primitive fishing rods out of the spare guitar strings that Steve forgot he brought (also forgetting to bring his guitar). Good one guys!

Rushing over to another camp…

Their fishing may be less effective (standing in the river and lashing out at any passing fish. In the event that one is caught, the band all stress out as to how to kill the thing) but, the three companionable Canadians of Rush continue their hygienic progress. The band have exhausted their camping supply of bottled drinking water and sadly, in the wilderness the band cannot dine on honeydew or drink the milk of paradise. Luckily Neil remembered a 7th grade science lesson he had where he was taught that boiling water kills all dangerous microorganisms and disinfects it. He removes the camping stove and small pot from his bag, fills the pot with water from the cleanest part of the river he could find and begins to boil…

Close to the Edge, Down By the River…

Near the ‘pretty view’ of the river Jon selected, Yes are crumbling to some extent. Steve asked Jon if he could go over to The Court yesterday and Jon reluctantly agreed and let him go. Steve didn’t mean it personally but I think Jon took it that way (poor guy). Meanwhile, Rick is getting fed up with waiting around for Jon and Alan to get vegetarian food when he could eat as much meat as he likes (though in reality, he is far too lazy to do so). Chris isn’t a fan of Jon’s leadership style. Its a sort of strange hotchpotch between Hippy and autocratic that he doesn’t like. All the while, it doesn’t help that Jon has found some magic mushrooms and spends quite a lot of his time in ‘dreamland’. He and Rick have planned to leave the camp to find ELP next time Jon and Chris go out gathering together.

In the ELP camp... 

The last few hours have been somewhat monotonous at the ELP camp. The band’s relationship is fractured (particularly Keith and Greg’s). Morale is dipping sub-zero, and Carl still hasn’t figured out the drum part for Karn-Evil 9 so instead of making useful progress to prolong their lives, the half-starved threesome chose to discuss new project ideas for ‘when all this forest crap is out of the way’. One could call this a useful conversation to keep up hope and distract them. They could also call it valuable time and energy wasted that will eventually lead to their doom. Either way, in their hungry, delirious state discussion is getting heated quickly. Carl leaves early to actually try and help them survive, and is also hurt by the two of them calling him a ‘shit Buddy Rich knockoff’. 

The issue on the table currently is Greg’s suggestion, ‘Love Beach 2 (Electric Boogaloo)’. This thought seems to be sending Keith into something of a violent frenzy. 

I will spare the details of the real-time commentary for the next few minutes. This passage is written in retrospect: Keith and Greg got into a physical confrontation which included a lot of punches from Keith and in the process, Greg hit his head on a large protruding rock in the wood’s undergrowth and by the time Carl returned from his mission of trying to keep them alive, and managed to pry Keith away from his friend, it was too late. 

The two of them aren’t talking as they submerge the body into the dark, cold river water. What he has done is beginning to dawn on Keith and he has been battling with his tears since they left to the water. All Carl can think about is that his friend and bandmate is a ‘fucking murderer’. He must negotiate a way away from this knife-wielding maniac. Luckily, upon return to the camp, he recognises two new, trustworthy silhouettes, CHRIS AND RICK!!! He is currently having a private discussion with the two of them featuring sentences like, ‘Guys please get me out of here. He’s a crazy madman with a knife. I’m gonna die’. Chris sensibly responds in a hushed voice, ‘We could always give those Canadian kids a go?’. And that is the plan for the three of them... 

That’s all for today, so we’ll see you tomorrow for... 

The Prog Rock Survival Competition!

[ajpendragon]

Red

It was a pretty good sketch, she had to admit. Even with the loss of her normal pencils, she had managed to turn the singular red colored pencil she had scrounged up into a beautiful landscape. Most everything here on Mars was red anyways, so it hadn’t looked too off, although a few extra colors would have been nice. When she got back to base, she would need to repack her travel kit. 

Speaking of base, it was time to get going. She had left early that morning to get to the solar panels before the sun fully rose. A few of them had been giving some weird readings, and she had been sent to fix it. After brushing the brick-red dust off the surface, she had stayed for a few hours to ensure that they were now functioning optimally. With the last readout uploaded to her suit, it was time for her to go home. 

Each step puffed up clouds of red dirt behind her, each of them billowing away in the light wind blowing across the surface. She tucked the sketch into a pocket as she walked, eager to get home. It could go on the fridge. Rory would like it. 

*******************************************

The ground crumbled beneath her feet, sending her careening down the slope. She hit the bottom with a thud, her route down clearly marked by a darker red streak where she had slid. Her oxygen tank was still attached, thankfully, and her suit appeared intact. She ran her hands over her body, checking for any damages she hadn’t initially noticed. Her hand came away red. Huh. That was new. Twisting as much as possible, she could just see the liquid dripping down to the ground, forming a slow puddle. As the adrenaline of the fall faded, her side hurt. A lot. 

She activated the comm unit in her helmet, hoping to reach the base for a pickup. Silence was her only reply. Either the hole she was in was blocking short range communications, or she had damaged her comm unit in the fall. She continued to try, refusing to give up yet, when a beeping interrupted her. A quick glance at her HUD showed the problem. Her injury had breached her suit. Oxygen was leaking into the surrounding atmosphere, and it would not take long before she was out. 

*******************************************

“Hey Al, you’re still over by Mars, right?”

“John, you know exactly where I am right now. What do you need?”

“I’m getting a weird signal from the surface. It could very well be nothing, but since you’re in the area anyways…”

“You want me to go over there and check it out.” Alan finished, already changing direction. “I’m on it. Send me the coordinates, and I’ll be there ASAP. But if this is a false alarm, you owe me dinner.”

“Understood, Thunderbird Three. Transmitting the coordinates now.”

*******************************************

Her oxygen levels were long past where she would normally allow them to fall, deep into the red portion of the gauge. She had tried to pull herself out of the hole, but there were no handholds. The pain in her side had flared every time she moved, so now she had taken to sitting propped against the wall, trying to conserve oxygen as much as possible. 

She occupied herself by staring at the stars, watching the sun sink past the horizon and its more distant cousins appear one by one. One caught her eye, initially looking like a shooting star, but continuing in a blazing red trail. She idly wondered what it could be, too weak from blood loss and lack of oxygen to care much. 

She tracked it across the sky until it came to a stop right next to her hole, the shiny red rocket glowing in the faint light. Her eyes slipped closed as something seemed to descend from the side of the ship. 

*******************************************

When she opened them again, there was a red gloved hand reaching for her. It took a monumental effort to take it, but as soon as she did, it lifted her confidently into the air. She pressed her helmet into the red of his baldric, and felt safe. 

[ufonaut]

i would love to see you flex your comic autism. pls. i love learning. a list of ten TRUE OBSCURE dc facts about the jsa or a specific favored character. pls seeing you blog makes me want to dive deeper into my own obsession about dc.

this is sweet, thank you :') my whole thing started because i saw somebody being like "the jsa huac trial is a direct parallel to the cca disbanding most of the industry???" like it was the greatest revelation of our collective lifetime and it's just plain ridiculous to me because if you've got even the faintest passing familiarity with any form of media then you've heard of the hollywood blacklist and mccarthyism and you know twenty-something year olds paul levitz & gerry conway didn't personally come up with the concept for the hell of it in the late 70s!

fact of the matter is that all-american comics and national comics both operated under an in-house code not dissimilar to the one imposed by the comics code authority, and the vast majority of their superhero comics could've been approved by the cca with frankly very few changes. you have to note that western, horror, and crime comics -- the worst offenders according to the cca -- became the biggest hits of the 1950s while fredric wertham's 'seduction of the innocent' was published in '54, and the jsa had already taken it's last bow in '51. what killed the superhero back then was a simple matter of shifting trends, the war was over and 90% of superheroes were based entirely around helping the war effort -- audiences wanted to forget the wartime years, and genre comics made it big for a good ten years. this isn't to say that the cca didn't deal a near-fatal blow to the industry, it certainly did, as had the kefauver hearings in 1950 but superheroes (=/= comics) were very much already on the way out by then.

so, it's in that context, that the jsa's huac troubles are quite directly & literally referencing the real life house un-american activities committee because the timeline coincides perfectly with the end of the jsa's golden age adventures. it's all part of the same era of censorship and paranoia, of course, but even the most in-depth exploration of the jsa's huac hearing in the golden age 1993 sees it as synonymous with the hollywood blacklist and follows the same line of thinking about the public having already outgrown the wartime superheroes. you can read more on the cca in various full length articles i've posted here, here, and here.

as for obscure facts, i think there's nothing half as delightful as finding out stuff for yourself so i'd like to recommend you all four volumes of roy thomas' all-star companion and any & all issues of alter ego and back issue that seem interesting to you -- all widely available wherever you read comics, or i can link you to anything specific if you'd like to dm me, there's also a lot of articles on my blog in the tags for these books/mags. it's important to me that here at ufonaut dot edu we don't perpetuate the classic fandom attitude of 'this is the right/true thing because [x person] told me it is', i want to share the joy of actually reading & learning this history!

i will however tell you that one of my absolute fav obscure facts is mart nodell basing his original sketch of alan scott's green lantern costume on douglas fairbanks as the black pirate

(alter ego #5)

[loominggaia]

Los fgg cambian de sexo por 24 horas, ¿que situaciones hilarantes terminan sucediendo?

(Translated via Google Translate)

"The fgg change sex for 24 hours, what hilarious situations end up happening?"

I answered a similar question --> HERE <--

Jeimio (Jeimos) would be stoked at first, then very disappointed when the spell wore off.

Evelynn (Evan) becomes the beefiest woman in Drifter's Hollow, and Glenda (Glenvar) is simping hard for her.

Lulu (Lukas) awakens uncomfortable feelings in everyone.

Javanni (Javaan) and Bellazaar (Balthazaar) try to score as many free drinks at the tavern as possible until the spell wears off.

Lando (Linde) is going insane because now none of his clothes fit and he has no idea how to dress anymore.

Nothing really changes for Ellis (Elska), except he has become bigger and more muscular, which he considers a win.

Alan (Alaine) turns himself into a sideshow attraction to earn money, marketing himself as "a rare male mermaid".

Skelle (Skel) feels strangely at ease with this change...but won't admit this to anyone.

Ms. Ocean desperately tries to lay eggs so she can fertilize them and become a father when the spell wears off. Doesn't succeed, just shits herself and passes out.

Zeffra (Zeffer) has a mental breakdown, afraid that Evan won't be attracted to her anymore. Hides from everyone until the spell wears off.

Zacry is unaffected by the spell, but its AI is confused as fuck when everyone else is.

Someone actually requested drawings of gender-swapped FGG a while back. I didn't draw them all, but I did a few rough sketches:

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

If you were gonna design a Riddler to be played by Alan Cummings, what's the general direction you would take for him?

Riddler Design based around Alan Cumming

So, someone who knows me definitely sent this. Though it isn't exactly a secret, there's only a select few people who know my actor crush on Mr. Cumming. He's a stunning, talented actor with whom I could probably listen to his voice for an obscenely long time. That in mind. Several things.

This riddler is around the same age as Alan Cumming irl (late 50s, early 60s) so a riddler that's been in the game a while. That being said, I would like this Riddler to look the part. He's been around a bit. Banged up. Facial and body scarring- doesn't have to be a lot. Just evidence that the man has been fighting for years. Plus, scars are sexy and visual storytelling. That and he's either leaning harder into the cane OR OR....... This art by worri-wort has me in love with the idea of him having a prosthetic leg of some kind as well. it would of course be extra as hell. Something he designed himself. There is also this rad as hell art by lucasoliko portraying him with a leg brace which I would also be down for!! Basically multiple ideas on HOW to visually portray his long years of fighting heroes, you get the gist.

For personality- verbose, lyrical and charming. Little bit slutty. There's a social awkwardness there that he tries to hide behind a silver tongue. Inspo from Zero Year and Batman #452-453 (where he tricks batman into doing the supernatural ritual and gets excited over a danse macabre) where he's fairly delighted by what he does. A joy and smug pride, if you will, by his own cleverness. Yet when he becomes menacing, it's a sharp and strong heel turn. Distinctive and cold-blooded.

In terms of clothing, I think it's fair to say that Alan Cumming can pull off many different fashions and not only in suits.

Pardon my poor sketching- I am in no way a designer of any sort. But here is a general idea of what I've had in my mind. Inside of the coat/back of the vest is black with the question marks being gold. Dress shirt under all the layers is black. Mask, gloves, ribbon on bowler and tie are matching purple.

All question marks are either solid metal gold or metallic gold thread as on vest and coat. Dark brown almost black fashionable but functional boots. "Pocket watch" that is actually a long range pinpad/remote for his devices. Cane is dark metallic made to look like wood besides question mark. Bowler solid green matching elements of the outfit.

In terms of main coat/vest/pant fabric, I'd actually love to see a Riddler with some texture. I was thinking either the outer coat having a marbled green OR front of vest and pant marbled with outer coat solid matching green OR just front of vest marbled. That is something that would be the result of different sort of experimenting to see what looked best. These are just several example fabrics to give an idea of direction.

I could also see this riddler in particular in a skirt/more gender ambiguous clothing design such as this 60s riddler art by ciriceart!

If he's working on something, he likely has old t-shirts and canvas pants that he doesn't mind if they get ruined :)