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stepswordsen · 4 months ago

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【Magi】 Judar Wearing Hanfu 🖤❤️🐈‍⬛

【Magi】 Judar wearing hanfu 🖤❤️🐈‍⬛

【マギ】漢服（ハンフ）を着るジュダル

Intro

Judar is my fave Magi chara, and JuAli is my fave Magi ship, so I REALLY wanna create plushie designs of them one day, as well as a Tegaki fan-animatic MV... It's my dream 🙏

My unhinged gremlin black cat son who's Black Sun, Moon, and Eclipse themed! 🐈‍⬛☀️🖤🌙

1st Judar doodle is a planned concept art reference sheet I wanna do for my headcanon design of him wearing black and red hanfu 💞

2nd Judar doodle is based on a Vocaloid song parody with JuAli (Judar/Alibaba) x Unfriendly Hater by Meddmia (drawn by WOOMA) 🖤❤️💛

In my HCs, Judar wears a type of hanfu called Ruqun (襦裙). Ru (襦) is the cross-collared top of a hanfu, and the wrap-around skirt is called Qun (裙). The coat jacket is called Da Xiu Shan (大袖衫)

He'd look great wearing black and red hanfu with white and gold accents~ The black outer coat jacket is slightly translucent, so it'll show the cross collared top's red sleeves through it.

I drew some tentative rain drop earrings for now, but I imagine he would wear gold and red hanfu earrings, and/or snowflake/icicle ones (since Judar is an ice magic user) ❄️

I've been forgetting to post my doodles from my side account onto main, so here you go. I missed talking about my son and drawing him.

I think my art style is getting more refined 🥰💖 The way I draw faces/eyes has been improving steadily! The first Judar doodle was the first time I experimented with an eye style with thicker eyelashes and underlashes! I love the new eye style a lot, so I've comfortably settled into it for the rest of my arts.

I want to draw him in different styles of huafu too, but I made the main hanfu he wears in my HC version, simple to draw (black coat jacket, red cross collared top, black wrap around skirt) with simple patterns, just for my own sake.

...

I'm obsessed with Meow meow mf charas. Black and white colour scheme and design aesthetics. Black and/or white hair. Black Sun & Moon themed. Sharp tsurime eyes. Eyeshadow. Causes problems on purpose. C*nty Sen-core bastard cat. Smug chaotic edgy evil asshole character. Violent, unhinged, bloodthirsty and murderous. Arrogant with a huge ego that distances them from humanity (or social interactions).

I love "Sen-core Meow meow mf" and "Cunty Sen-core" bastard cat Annoying Nyam Nyam types like him /pos <3 🐈‍⬛💗

Judar's long black hair with braids, and black + white + red + yellow design hits my fave aesthetics 💗I love his braids sm

Judar is my fave Magi chara. No one is surprised LOL. Judar is a perfect Sen-core character.

Especially since I KNEW I have a history of being obsessed with Kuroha (KagePro) since I was 12. I knew exactly what would happen

The fact that my evil unhinged meow meow pipeline has led me from Kuroha (2013) to Judar (2022) is really not surprising at all.

It's so funny rereading my messages from 2022 when I first read Magi and guessed that he'd be my fave after seeing his 1st CAMEO appearance 😭😂 It's like watching my downfall in real time /lh

My friends mainly associate me with my meow meow mf faves like Douman, Xanxus, Judar, Idate, Kuroha, and Hibari. To be known for them is an honour ✨ It makes me very happy (❁´◡`❁)

Judar's a fun chara and a perfect squishable gremlin it's natural I'm devoted to him. I love my son

I wanna draw even more of him cuz he's just so fun to draw. I need to practice more cuz I have trouble drawing his spiky hair at times

I put the rest of my doodle WIPs, and talks of my headcanon design for him, and my art process under the cut ✨ Cuz I don't think I ever talked about how I got obsessed with this chara in full? I'll put that too

WIP Shots

The last one is an older doodle. I still like aspects of it but I'd redraw it (also the above doodles are just better drawn versions of it)

Headcanon Design

Judar wears hanfu and hanfu earrings in my headcanon design.

I imagined that he would wear gold and red hanfu earrings, and also snowflake/icicle ones! Silver snowflake ones, and glass icicle earrings would be cool...

So I think I may wanna put snowflake/ice and dragon patterns on his hanfu. The silhouette of a Chinese dragon (ice dragon) would be rad 🐉

I want Alibaba to wear traditional Arabic clothes (white and yellow). I've been looking into it for now, but I wanna draw it soon... I also HC Alibaba to have tanner skin in my HC design

Ohtaka is really good at harmonizing colour palettes (seen with the volume covers). I loooove using teal/cool tinted black when colouring my meow meow mf faves, so this is a treat hehe

Since Judar is from the Kou Empire, which is based on China, I wanted to project Judar's ethnicity onto his design more (since many friends who I've spoken to from my other interests didn't know he was even CN inspired until I told them)

I always take aspects I like from canon and imbue it with my own tastes! I base my drawings on my own headcanons/interpretations of my faves.

I agree with the above post <3

Magi is in my top favourite series ever in terms of art and writing. It's generally peak imo

Magi's biggest flaws are the whitewashing, colourism and racial stereotyping (ex. racially stereotyped clothing in the character designs) and some parts of the setting being bastardized takes on SWANA and South Asian cultures, and I've always been critical of that.

Of course, it's totally normal for cultures to do cultural exchanges with each other, but that's not what's going on here.

A lot of EA media feeds into insensitive/distasteful racial stereotypes on non EA cultures, we don't need more of it being perpetuated in fandom spaces. I personally won't be drawing certain Magi charas in their canon clothing designs.

Ohtaka's drawn him (Judar) in hanfu before, it should've been his canon clothes instead.

I love his hair design with the braids sm. I draw him in huafu in my HC design instead as a fix-it for the obvious colourism going on in Magi's chara designs, and also, the charas' clothing designs and parts of the settings too, being bastardized and racially stereotyped takes on SWANA and South Asian cultures.

WIP Shots (Art Process)

I drew these, which I like, but I liked the original best (up top). A few of them have slightly more curled hair strands! I think 1st and 2nd are the best in capturing the vibes, but the others are also interesting to see. I might incorporate some aspects from them when I refine this doodle

I think there's a lot of improvement from my past doodles. I still like this but I'd redraw it (since I feel like my recent doodles are just better drawn versions of this)

Admittedly I'm MUCH better at drawing meow meow mfs, so I haven't gotten the chance to draw Alibaba yet.

I find Judar's spiky hair hard to draw so I'm still trying to decide how I want to draw it...

I love how Ohtaka draws the shape of his braids. I didn't get the time to refine the sketch yet so I just blocked in the shape of his braids roughly with a silhouette (so I'll go fix it later)

I wanna redraw and refine the hair and clothes later 👍

I think when I actually get to colouring, though, I'm gonna desaturate the teal tinted black colour slightly

On the 1st sketch pass, I just care about making the face and eyes look good (since it's usually the main focus of my pieces)

Then I just scribble whatever for the clothes.

And then when I go back to clean up the sketch, then I fix everything else, including the clothes

Inspiration

(Magi: Kou Empire Arc - Ch. 255 Spoilers)

I was rereading the Judar vs. Aladdin fight in the Kou Empire arc and I love how dynamic Ohtaka's art is. I'm in love with the compositions

Judar's ice dragons and the the last page with Judar being themed with the moon!!! That's so cool. My son is so cool and iconic

Judar’s leitmotif is the Black Sun and Moon ☀️🖤🌙

I reread the Kou Empire arc so many times cuz it's SO good art/writing wise and just in general like WHDSHDHSH

But this is why I want Judar's hanfu to have snow/ice and ice dragons on it. I'll make it an easy pattern/silhouette and use a stamp brush probably cuz uh I don't want to have to draw that by hand every time

...

Ohtaka is one of my main art inspirations of what I wanna draw like someday in terms of technical skill. Her inking is godly.

Ohtaka is BRILLIANT with inking, dynamic battle compositions, perspectives, and colours... Her art is soooo good, it's such visual eye candy.

Ohtaka is brilliant with complex dynamic perspectives and inking. She draws GREAT expressions. Her colours harmonize really well. She's a brilliant author/story writer.

Her inking style is so unique. And it fits thematically too with how Magi is mainly in black and white (black and white rukh)

Since Magi was loosely based on 1001 Nights for the charas' names and parts of the setting, the roc/rukh is a giant legendary bird.

It's apparently a reference to Rukh/Rok (A mythological bird) and Rūḥ ("Essence/Soul")

Source: (X)

The way her inking stands out on its own with minimal screentone usage (except for BG effects and lighting) is a testament to her skill

Misc Rambles

These are my top fave meow meow mf faves.

My top main faves are all very important and personal to me, just in different ways. So I tie them all as no. 1 ��

Irt Judar and Kuroha/Saeru, they're completely different characters personality wise, since Judar is mischievous, bratty and playful, childlike and emotionally immature (due to his personality and context), but they have similar~ish designs and a couple similarities, in terms of their basics.

As in, they're both evil black haired meow meow mfs with similar expression ranges, who are bloodthirsty, sadistic, and love causing violence for fun. They have the same Sen-core character type.

They have similar~ish hairstyles (black hair with braids in the back, unique eyes (Kuroha's snake eye pupils and the rings in Judar's eyes), and are unhinged bloodthirsty meow meow mf core charas

...

My History

(Magi: Ch. 15 - Judar's 1st Cameo Appearance)

Ok I don't think I ever told in full my origin story with this chara, I guess. Basically I was going off the mutuals/blorbo osmosis and just my friends' rambles at this point before I read the series.

And I was reading back my messages of what I sent to my friends at the time

I first read Magi, I think around Sept 2022, two chapters, then started again in Oct 2022 read to Ch. 15 saw Judar and was like. (.) 🧍 This design is Sen core. Don't let me go down like this.

When I first saw Judar’s CAMEO in Ch. 15... I had a feeling.

Cuz I sensed Sen core meow meow mf.

I felt my doom. I knew it... I sensed it with my instincts 😭

WHEN I FIRST SAW THIS PANEL OF JUDAR, I WAS LIKE OH NO... I SENSED MY DOWNFALL.

And then I was like, "Well I made my bed, so time to go lie in it 👍"

Since I saw the charas from my friends' tweets before, can you believe that at this point I was like "Wow I wonder how my would be ship interact together. They're on the same page!!!" 🤸

THIS IS INSANE OF ME DSAKLSDKLKLSDKLS

My friends were like "I can't believe you're shipping them this early 😭 Even before they actually interact omggg"

And I started shipping JuAli by Ch. 15. So before they even interacted. So when I JUST saw Judar. And then I doodled them right after (it was my first doodle of them!) 😭😂 LMFAOOOO

Good god me getting obsessed with charas/ships is like my insanity speedrun

Me with JuAli and KuroEne... Insanity speedrun x1000000

Like I had a feeling that he'd become my fave by his first CAMEO appearance... He makes his first major appearance around like ~Ch. 44

Douman took 5 days for me to be obsessed with after I found out about his character/writing.

Judar just took me seeing his 1st cameo appearance in the manga.

Kuroha/Saeru took just seeing the Outer Science MV when I was 12 (Tbf, Outer Science is peak KagePro and is one of the best KagePro MVs in terms of visuals and storytelling)

...

Judar is extremely important and personal to me, I feel this as someone who comes from a similar cultural background to him as well, Judar is EA/CN inspired and so his background and backstory context really makes me feel for him… Speaking personally, as someone who is Viet/SEA diaspora.

Considering Judar's backstory context, and his character arc themes of resentment and grief… Wahhhh ;__; I can mildly relate to him.

Like, ahhh, this character makes me so emotional… He makes me want to cry (in a good way). Emotional tears, cuz this chara is so healing and cathartic for me. I'll punch him out of love! 🫶

#magi #magi: the labyrinth of magic #magi: the kingdom of magic #magi fanart #judar #judal #judar magi #judal magi #fanart #digital art #my art #wip #doodle #artists on tumblr #stepswordsen art

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tblsomedoodles · 2 years ago

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Doodles?

any doodles? You have given me too much power lol : )

In that case, have a little doodle from a very non-canonical seer twins apocalypse future, b/c the idea has been rotating around my mind for three days to the point of distracting me while writing.

Soooo....the explanation for this is weird.

but both seers loose their powers when one of them dies. That means a new pair gets born then, even if one of past seers is still alive since they no longer have their powers so don't count as a seer.

SO! THis (VERY NON-CANONICAL) apocalypse future, Donnie dies early. he only makes it four years. even Raph outlives him. They don't know it at the time, but he dies the day CJ is born. CJ is the next Soothe Sayer. But he needs a doom prophet to go with it, yeah? so bby turtle!

Leo finds her in an incubator in Donnie's lab trying to get access to his computers after he died (he was hoping Donnie had a death-contingency plan or something. He did not.) (he also had no idea this little thing was in there. Donnie kept her a secret.)

honestly, i just really liked the idea of Leo seeing (and essentially raising) his and Donnie's seer replacements. specifically this right here

where he's meeting her for the first time.

i don't even have a name for this little thing right now. Just that her and CJ basically grow up as siblings.

I might post a comic of Leo meeting the tiny turtle, i might not. (probably will b/c i've already sketched out like 6 pages for it) but I am having fun explorign this concept for the time being.

Thank you!

#asks #tmnt #rottmnt #seer twins au #non canon #apocalypse timeline #my doodles

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cxs-workshops · 1 year ago

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Hi, I am new to the MTAS and MTAP games and I just wanted to say thank you so much for your art. You looked like you were genuinely having a lot of fun making art and lore for these games and your characters (I especially love Quinlan! I know they're (I didn't see any pronouns so apologies if I'm wrong about those) probably your most popular OC but they are still so cool! My builder would probably be both terrified of them and desperately want to be their friend anyway at the same time lol. I remember seeing posts about you being nervous or tired of interacting with the fandom as a whole because it's apparently toxic. (I haven't interacted as much since I'm new so I haven't seen as much yet but I'm sure I'll see something the longer I'm in it). And I just wanted to say thank you again. You're still making art now. Art that has been inspiring me to look into making lore for my own builder and turning them into a character of their own just like you did with Quinlan. I'm so glad to see you still around and one day I hope to overcome my own fears and get off anon to start talking to others about MTAS as well. Stay healthy! I hope you don't any more horrible anons or bad messages! Also, while I'm not able to make any good art myself, if I could I would draw an art piece of my builder giving Quinlan food to cheer them up or make their day more special because HOLY COW IS YOUR ART AMAZING.

Oh my, what a sweet treat to wake up to. Thank you so much for this lovely message and taking the time to send it, I’m very glad that you enjoy my silly doodles (and Quinlan). MTA’s world building and art design/concepts have me hooked. A few characters have caught my interest too.

True, the fandom can be…colorful. There are plenty of friendly faces ofc, I’m sure you’ll find your people. I have some personal issues (and serious bad luck) with parts of the fandom and have been distancing myself, the negativity is just louder for me and I’m constantly discouraged. Kind of just keeping my head down and just post when I can.

Thanks again for the message. It’s really nice to read something like this every once in a while

#I hope to whoever wrote this I can see your builder one day!#I may not have fandom besties but I hope Quinlan can still be friends with others for fun

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sunshinemoonrx · 1 year ago

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Cai, Bedwyr and company

So pretty much ever since this post about the original folkloric magical-warrior Arthur, I've been doodling designs for other characters surrounding him (and that real good art I rb'd yesterday kicked my ass into wanting to upload them finally).

Of the companions of the Welsh version of Arthur, Cai (or Cei/Kei) has to top the list. Most magical guy in the world. Per Culhwch & Olwen dude has heat and cold powers, he can grow giant, he can survive underwater for nine days. He fought a giant cat once. (It's actually kind of interesting that he later was adapted into the boorish, incompetent Sir Kay because of how amazing he originally was; it's the classic anime rival bit where you can show how cool your new OC, Lancelot or whoever, is by having him be better than the existing best guy)

I was already leaning into the "slutty magical anime boys" aesthetic and, with characters like this who only appear once the legendary Welsh versions of the 9th century on get into full swing, I felt more license to go further with that (whereas my Arthur and Trwyth look slightly more down-to-earth because they appears even earlier as small-scale local figures).

So my concept for Cai is that since he can generate heat from his skin so intense no rain can touch him without evaporating, by anime girl character design logic obviously he has to leave his back and shoulders and thighs uncovered since that's where I'm having his wings of magical flame project from.

The hair gave me a little trouble--I briefly thought I could give him two-coloured hair to reflect his heat/cold thing, but then I remembered one of the popular HeroAca guys is a two-colour-hair fire-ice-powers guy so I hard-swerved away from treading on those toes. In the end I settled on the MILFy ponytail at the bottom since it'd keep his hair clear of his back, since again, it's very logical and strategically important for the skin there to be bare.

The gloves and metal bands, meanwhile, are meant to be like a shadow the hedgehog power-limiter kinda deal, where he can take them off to unleash his full elemental power. That works with gloves but not really the boots, but I didn't want to lose the symmetry, but then! A piece of medieval Welsh poetry gave me inspiration for another function, and a way to make the design hornier I guess.

One of the Triads of Britain refers to the Three Fettered Men of the Isle of Britain: "Because horses could not be obtained that were suited to them, owing to their size; so they put fetters of gold around the small of their legs, on the cruppers of their horses, behind their backs".

Cai isn't one of the three, but in addition to his main epithet "Cai Wyn" ("worthy Cai", or "Cai the Fair", so it's important he's hot you see), he's also known as "Cai Hir" ("Cai the Tall"), which may be a reference to his ability to grow giant, and fits the 'reasoning' in the Triad. So the bands on his legs became fetters of gold, and my idea is he releases his power by breaking the chain to do his Ultraman rise.

A "crupper", meanwhile, seems to be like, an ass-harness? Sure, that fits the vibe we've ended up at. I figured that can be what he slings his sword from, and then spent...a while trying to figure out the logistics of that. So y'know I had to draw his hips and ass a bunch. For science.

As you can see, there's a couple of attempts to render the leotard as chainmail; one story, Rhonabwy's Dream, describes Cai as wearing mail of pure white rings with pure red rivets, which sounds gorgeous but I dunno how to draw white chainmail so I mostly gave up. He can wear one over the other, I guess?

In Culhwch, Cai (who is the best sword-maker in the world, naturally) forges a sword for the giant Wrnach Gawr, then kills him with it and takes it, so I figured that'd be a cool weapon to give him. Cai asks if he'd like it to be white-bladed or dark-blue-bladed, and Wrnach answers "whichever way you prefer"; we never find out what that is, so I thought an asymmetrical design incorporating both would be fun.

Anyway, here's another friend: Bedwyr! Precursor to Sir Bedivere, Bedwyr is Cai's constant companion, who "never feared a quest that Cai went on". Do Not separate them. He's the Fast Guy; though he has one hand, he can draw blood three times faster than anyone can with two; by the time you notice he's stabbed you once, he's stabbed you another seven times, etc. He's also noted as the most beautiful man in all the land (except Arthur, and one other guy whose name never comes up anywhere else).

I had kinda wanted to give Cai lots of hair volume but was thwarted by the bare-back thing so I made that Bedwyr's thing, and he's gotta be a spear guy given the above (another fun thing is his spearhead can fly off and stab guys on its own then come back to him). Another Triad calls Cai one of the "Three Diademed Battle-Leaders of the Isle of Britain", but adds after giving the three that "And one was diademed above the three of them: that was Bedwyr son of Bedrawc." So that's why they both have little tiaras, and while I flip back and forth on the look I settled on making Bedwyr's a little fancier and Cai's simpler to conform with the poem.

So that's how we arrive at what I consider my final designs for these two lovebirds (one poet tells us Bedwyr's death left Cai "heartbroken"); in the end I prefer the sword-harness just looking like a simple belt from the front, and I added some boots? Thigh-socks? Something?? to Bedwyr to break up the design a bit. The asymmetry of them to conform with his tunic's skirt is inspired by Marin from Saint Seiya, who really rocks the asymmetrical leggings.

And on the right is an initial go at Gwenhwyfar, precursor to Guinivere (and I try to respect the Welsh spellings and pronounciations generally, but I may sometimes refer to her as just "Gwen" in this case). I was inspired by a fragmentary dialogue between her and an antagonistic warrior Melwas (who spends half the dialogue trying to fight Cai actually), where he calls her "Gwenhwyfar of the deer's glance", which brought a vision of a spooky lanky cryptid lady with all-black too-long eyes to mind.

The battle of Camlann was said to be brought about by conflict between Gwenhwyfar and her sister Gwenhwyfach, and a blow struck by the latter to the former, but they might also be like...reflections of the same person's good and bad sides or something?? It's all very murky. In any case, I couldn't stop thinking of Gwen as someone who punches dudes, and the main other instance of that in Welsh legends are their versions of "witches", who wear armour and kill with iron claws. Gwen's mother is a member of the Roman nobility, so I thought fuck it, let's get real wacky and ahistorical and dress her like a cestus-wielding gladiator. Roman influence, iron claws, punching dudes, it all comes together.

Oh, and her father is a giant, so I drew a little Arthur to scale at the bottom to show she's inherited some of that too. I wanna draw her more and refine this, make her spookier (one Triad presents her as being three people? Or Arthur just had three wives with the same name? It might just be a pun? Unclear???) But for now, here's one final page of assorted stuff, presented a couple ways up for clarity:

So there's another Bedwyr; below him, the Cath Palug, the giant cat Cai fights in the poem Pa Gur, which I do intend to do a big funky monster design for, but much like Trwyth in the first post, I had fun doing a human one too. What, am I not gonna draw a catgirl when I can draw a catgirl?

From the other angle, there's Melwas, foe of Cai and Gwen mentioned above. He describes himself as young, and Gwen calls him a "lad of black and yellow", so I made him a twink with dyed hair, but I'll do a more full design later. Probably not before doing Cai's fight with the Cath Palug though.

Caledfwlch, the pre-Excalibur, I drew before, but I did a more ostentatious version here based on its description in Rhonabwy's Dream, where drawing it is like flames leaping forth from the jaws of the serpents whose designs were on it, so blinding no-one could look at it. I like to imagine it having the more humble look until the critical moment when it reveals its true form.

Aaaaand then there's Arthur on a motorbike. (You may have noticed there's one of these way further up in this post in one of the Cai pages) This is just me continuing to think about that idea from the last post about him popping back up in the modern day. Mostly what I orbit around is that he'd defeat whatever evil wizard he was summoned to deal with and then people would be like "so your job is done?" and he'd be like "what? no, the world is clearly in grave peril" and start running around destroying fossil fuel infrastructure. In fact I have a real hankering to make that a comic, but I'd need to be like, an actual artist for that.

So anyway the idea is he gets the spirit of his horse (Llamrei) to inhabit the bike, enabling it to do sick physics-defying stunts. Here's another for the road in fact:

(Wow, Cat, do you like Kamen Rider or something?)

#arthuriana #king arthur #catia learns to draw #culhwch and olwen

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artofjim · 2 years ago

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5 Years of Drawing: Part 1

Originally posted on ko-fi.com/artofjim

July marks 5 years since I started learning art and drawing every day. As they say, time flies when you're having fun, and time has really flown! I want to use this blog post to reflect on some things I've learned, look at some old work and compare it to current, and emphasize my gratitude for all of the support I've received in the last half decade. This is a long one so I'm breaking it into 3, but it should give you a ton of insight into my journey as an artist that brought me here today, and hopefully help you carve out your own path!

Before July of 2018, I would occasionally get it in my head that I wanted to draw. This would be prompted by seeing some cool art online, or needing a way to pass the time on trips. I'd spend money on new sketchbooks and tools, and doodle for a weekend in them. That would be that, and my sketchbooks would sit until the next time I felt like drawing again, which was no more than a few times a year. I had a little natural talent at copying proportion and detail, but there was no methodology to my picturemaking and I relied heavily on replicating others' art. Because of the inconsistent schedule and lack of interest in learning, I usually say I started drawing after all of that. Here's some sketches from before 2018.

This is a direct rip of Nate Van Dyke, with a couple additions of my own. 2014? I learned about ink and decided that was the only medium I wanted to work in.

Around the same time. Every artist has been here at some point, I think. I found some photo portraits of homeless people on pinterest probably and took it upon myself to draw them. Lots to unpack there but we should move on (please we must move on oh God). Again, I wasn't trying to learn, I was just copying photos and other art with no rhyme or reason to it, and very rarely. I just loved that kick when people would look at it and say it was good.

2018

In 2018 I was working in Tacoma and there was a great little book store called Culpepper's across the street. Jerry Culpepper had ran that store for decades, and had no great love for comics. As a result, anytime he got graphic novels in, he'd hide them in an unorganized shelf and price them way, way down. This was also true of artbooks, but I wasn't interested in those (yet). Jerry and I had an amicable relationship, with him busting my chops about the coffee shop I worked at being too expensive, and myself ironically bringing him free drip on my breaks. I remember him going into great detail explaining how "Black Panther was absolute shit! Waste of my time seeing that film!" I probably went in there once a week and dug around, spending tip money on anything that looked interesting while Jerry peered down at the titles with a furrowed brow. My love for comics started at this time, and some of the first graphic novels I bought were from Jerry Culpepper. The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and A Small Killing, both written by Alan Moore, and drawn by Kevin O'Neill and Oscar Zarate, respectively (a great place to start, if you ask me!).

Still have them! Jerry always priced books with pencil on the first page. He'd usually charge me at least 30% less than this, and shave off sales-tax if I paid cash.

I bought so many comics and bothered Jerry so often that he started giving me stuff for free (again, he had no interest for comics and was intent on filling his store with civil war history and first edition antiques). I'd pay $20 and walk out of there with an armful of graphic novels, video game concept art, Japanese editions of collected Ukiyo-E plates, published artist sketchbooks, and all sorts of odd things I wouldn't normally look for. That's the beauty of local used book stores, you cannot predict what's waiting in there for you. Those early Culpepper finds were, and still are, very influential to me. I dig through my bookshelf for them regularly. I think it's very important for creatives to have a personal, physical collection of things that inspire and interest them, because they will bury into your style way more than temporary online influences.

"Culpepper Books: here you'll find a man struggling to get the hell home with as much money and few books as possible before he retires" -Jerry, during his last week of business when I asked him for a caption

In late-2019, Jerry Culpepper got an offer to end his lease early from a big developer and decided to retire right as the pandemic started to hit, which was definitely the right decision for him. While writing this, I searched his name to see if I could find his online collection, and learned that he passed away in 2022 at the age of 70. Here is his obituary if you'd like to learn more about my old friend at the bookstore who impacted my life more than I could have realized at the time. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/tribnet/name/gerald-culpepper-obituary?id=32332566

My last purchase from Jerry

Now that I was reading comics a lot, I became hip to Jim Lee, comic art superstar of the early 90s known for his work on X-Men, Punisher: War Journal, and countless other titles soon after. Jim Lee streams on Twitch, and one day in July I popped in to watch purely out of curiosity and ended up following along with his live tutorial drawing Wolverine. There's a recording of this tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wxoH_eZgrw I had never had drawing explained to me in the analogous way that Jim Lee did. Much of the concepts he was demonstrating are very fundamental no-brainers to me nowadays, but back then, despite drawing off and on my whole life, I had never been exposed to them. I specifically remember him relating the teeth to a can of soup, and the triceps muscles to parallel canoes. This was mind blowing to me, and sparked an obsession that is still roaring to this day. Here's my results from drawing along with Jim Lee that day.

A little heavyhanded on the spot blacks there, Jimbo...

Even though the idea of using simple forms like soup cans and canoes had been demonstrated so brilliantly by Jim Lee, I immediately went back to my old ways of rote copying. Only now, I was doing it for a few hours a day. I also started streaming art on Twitch during this time, and I'm amazed anyone watched because I was completely directionless.I was reading a lot of Frank Miller and the interest in ink was renewed, and I would just copy things straight out of comics, line-by-line. I didn't have the tools or direction to study in a more meaningful way, so I just copied and copied and copied, with no real improvement besides hand-eye coordination, and my ability to copy from image to paper.Jim Lee had also mentioned Bridgman, and I found a copy of his big book at Culpepper's and copied a few pages (poorly) before giving up.

Notes?? Why would I write down anything from the book? This is drawing!! Sarcasm aside, this was the extent of it. Whatever concepts I pulled from it, I didn't cement with mileage so it was all for not. Granted, Bridgman is not beginner friendly at all.

I also took part in Inktober for the first time in 2018, and actually attempted concept creation. I knew I was bad at drawing heads, so I decided I would twist every prompt into a helmet of some kind. Strange method. You can view the completed pieces here, if you really want to: https://www.instagram.com/p/BokqcKngdlz/

2019

In 2019, I began to become invested in history, and really enjoyed drawing historical garb. Japan especially grabbed my interest, and I bought tons of books about it from Jerry. I'm surprised I didn't try to copy more Japanese art, especially Hokusai's ink sketches. I was filling sketchbooks regularly by now, still just copying for the most part, and getting a little better at it! When I look back at those sketchbooks now, there's a common "Jim" thread present even if I wasn't being very original. I want to point out that I don't think there's anything wrong with copying references, ever, but especially as a beginner artist. The way I was doing it, though, was from a limited perspective: drawing straight to final linework and not considering anything but the 2-d image. I wish I had pursued fundamentals more, and varied my tools, but I just didn't have exposure to those things. I was still wielding a brush pen like a club on every drawing, and using expensive markers that bled through the page.

I learned about Karl Kopinski, and some of the other star artists from Super Ani, and didn't know about all of the mileage and proper practice between where I was and where they were, so I tried to just do what they were doing. Of course, KK appealed to my interest in historical costume, and I copied a bunch of his drawings in my sketchbooks. I also dug into Sergio Toppi, attracted to his painterly hatching and masterful ink compositions, and learned about Moebius. I picked up a Final Fantasy 1-7 artbook for $10 (thanks Jerry) with tons of drawings by Yoshitaka Amano in it, and tried to match his watercolors with my bleeding Copic markers. Because there was no method to my drawings beyond copying mark-by-mark, there was an element of luck involved that decided the success of each drawing. The artmaking journey, then, was just chasing that next lucky winner drawing, which is not sustainable long term! Sure, I might get lucky more often as I copied more accurately, but I wouldn't know why, and I had no lens to understand what made an image work.

Toppi copy

One of the lucky drawings

Kopinski copy

Amano copies. Notice the difference in quality between the Toppi samurai above and these; this is the element of luck I'm referring to. There was no repeatable process, just diving into the final lines and gambling on it.

Beyond that, I wanted to create, not replicate. I would watch Karl Kopinski, Kim Jung Gi, and Peter Han create worlds on the spot, with no reference, and have no idea how to accomplish that. I figured it was my poor visualization ability holding me back. All I thought mattered was drawing a lot, and drawing a variety of things. I would stream on Twitch and take requests to draw anything anyone wanted for ten minutes. I drew 20 different outfits from the Camp-themed Met Gala. I drew video game characters, Power Rangers, cartoons, and Kermit the Frog smoking a blunt. Occasionally, I'd try to draw people and places from life.

My first ever POV sketch

I knew that clothing was something academics studied, so I "studied" some drapery as well! All that meant for me was copying, line by line, a few reference photos. I downloaded Autodesk Sketchbook, a free drawing program, and tried my hand at digital art. If I wasn't just attempting photocopying, I did try my hand at some imaginative work, with a degree of realistic rendering. Here's those paintings, just so we can compare to my current paintings later.

I would paint over Bill Sienkewicz sketches, this is one of those

This funny little fellow is a Japanese God, Fukurokuju. The drapery is looking especially mushy.

In mid-2019, I decided I would challenge myself to making a comic for Inktober. I was very naive, but still took a lot of time planning for it before October started. I scripted out the pages, did some character "designs," and even worked on turnarounds. My thought was that if I took the time to figure out what a character would look like from any angle, I could just use that as reference when I needed it. This is true, and how animators do it, but I created this sheet by smashing together references and finding an image for every expression and angle I could need. I also sculpted the main character's head so I could use it as reference. I had not rediscovered the power of "form" yet, despite Jim Lee's great tutorial that started all of this, and the literal sculpted 3d form sitting on my desk.

Here's a few pages of my Inktober comic, Dog Days. I made it 13 pages in and burned out super hard, since I was working full-time still and spending at least 8 hours a day on the pages. The cyst on my wrist got massive and I was not sleeping at all. I took a break for a few days to go on a trip and just never came back to it. Surprisingly, I haven't ever experienced a burnout since then.

If you're interested in checking out the other 11 pages, they're available to Ko-Fi Members for $4.50/month, along with my other comics.

For my first comic, I am extremely proud of that work. There's a sort of energy that is now inhibited by experience and judgment. I was fearless and committed to every page, because I had no idea how long it would take me or what challenges I might face. I don't think I will or should ever finish it, because I cannot replicate that vibe.

I returned to drawing a few weeks after the burnout and dove back into Japanese historical drawings, becoming obsessed with the photos of Felice Beato, who brought photography to Japan right as it modernized. Some coworkers of mine were my first ever commissioners, asking for some work relevant to what I was already studying. The first was a family portrait taken in the early 1900s. The second was a 6 panel piece on the history of Taiko drumming. I think they spent more on the frame then what I charged them for the piece, which is hilarious to me now. I also experimented with some blacklight ink and collage, which was a nice change from all the inking I did in October.

I did these on expensive Awagami rice paper with ultra-archival Noodler's fountain pen ink. I was fooling myself into thinking that expensive materials were necessary for any sort of "professional" work, and that they would elevate it. In the end, it just made the process nerve-wracking and left no margin for error.

I will continue with years 2020 and 2021 in my next post to keep this one from getting any longer! Follow my Ko-Fi to get notified via email when that comes out, or tune into my social media: https://linktr.ee/artofjim

If you'd like to support my art career and get some goodies in return, become a Ko-Fi Member in exchange for art in the mail every 6 months, monthly giveaways, access to my comics, discounts in my shop, and more. Starts at $4.50/month, goes up for better rewards. https://ko-fi.com/artofjim/tiers Thank you to all of my members, past and current, for enabling me to pursue my greatest interest in life more comfortably.

#blog #art journey #art education #art level up #drawing #art blog #reflection #learn art #art study #art practice #tacoma wa #tacoma

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overthinkingtaleblr · 2 years ago

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Ok i don’t this is something I talk about often but I like thinking about how Spencer seemed to want to be in PIE for a short time, and how I hc the Jennys as paranormal teens as well, and just… Paranormal Investigators in Training unit for PIE that’s lowkey just to try to manage these kids and make them act out less. I don’t know if they’d get along well.

Basically, the Jennys are both there under fake names to protect their identities, they’ve both done crimes and are here because the ppl in charge don’t know how to contain them, so they’re here instead to try to usher into society without incident. They’re just supposed to follow around the team members, help with shit on jobs, and not cause too much of a ruckus. Maloney, being a. Literal paranormal creature, is the one in charge of choosing who goes into group and does frequent check-ins on their progress.

Spencer, on the other hand, has somewhat mellowed out a bit/stopped antagonizing everyone around him as he’s gotten older and is starting to have aspirations and goals for after he graduates high school— which he’s about to, he got homeschooling credits (either legally or through hacking) and transferred in around junior year in the concept— but has realized that the. Literal criminal record he’s accrued over the years while living with the Acachallas (Spencer was rarely caught for his own crimes but often got wrangled into the Acachalla’s) may stop him from being considered for literally anything. Maloney, being Sally’s cousin, finds out about this and mentions the thing PIE’s doing. Since Spencer is a member of the Acachalla family, he. Basically classifies as something paranormal. The kid survived off cardboard and styrofoam through middle school and has rusty braces in his mouth 24/7 wtf. So yeah, he gets shuffled in with the Jennys on a technicality.

The Jennys also have their own things going on— I’ve already posted a doodle of Jenny Ghost interacting with Casket, I think it’d be interesting if she found out about him but didn’t tell the other two (of course Spencer likely already knows). Jenny Toast, on the other hand, is working very hard to figure out the new environment she’s been placed in, and is spending more the story trying to figure out what PIE’s deal even IS. I think since they’re predominantly paranormal they get access to more things PIE normally doesn’t, but also has unique dangers— like Spencer being the only one who can assuredly handle All of the equipment without a problem.

So, yeah, the Paranormal Investigators Trainee program— membership consisting entirely of teenage dirtbags.

#taleblr #spencer acachalla #Jenny toast #Jenny ghost #taleblr pie #taleblr au #tagging this as an AU bc it’s more a story idea than a headcanon #but i do think that the Jennys minus spencer are in a similar situation with different conditions in my canon #(gestures vaguely)#I’m considering making Maloney work in CPS instead of being a police officer bc acab while also explaining why he’s involved in shit like th #i am absolutely holding back information btw i want there to be plot twists when i write this #… if i write this #i better write this down

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cyberscratch · 2 years ago

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Forgot to post these doodles yesterday! I have quite a few character design concepts for OCs laying around, all being worked on slowly before I make them an official OC or before I find a correct role for them in their story they belong to... I wanted to draw some of them properly, and this is it!! (I have more than this, but these are the ones I did draw yesterday.)

Below are explanations for all of them!!

1) The most recent, and simple of them all! I was taking notes in math class... There was a triangle and two long arrows pointing below it at some text. One was red, and the other was blue. I saw that and thought "WOAH THAT'S!! A LITTLE GUY!!!" So I stopped paying attention entirely as I always do in math, and doodled this guy some more. I love them! They need something more on their body and I am afraid the bowtie will make them look too much like Bill Cipher, but... They're cute!

2) An Addison child OC for DPAU! I had an idea for a plot to happen within DPAU, but it'd require a new character... And it's this fella! Since I'm not fully set on including it yet, I won't share the details. I had the idea for their design one day so I scribble down the key parts... And now I finally tried making a full-body proper concept! Liking them so far, though maybe I could make their outfit a bit funkier. Love their hair, though!

3) THE MAN THE LEGEND. He's been in the works for a while!! First as many failed basic shape and idea doodles in class, then inspo boards I never did anything with because I had burnout and art block... To Ms paint doodles which I liked! This design is not the first one, but I feel like I stuck with it too fast. He is very close to the initial vision I had for him, however! Anyways, he's for This Universe Has Lemons, aka whatever Lemmy's universe is. It is after all a weird Lil Lemon Demon kitty hopping thru arious universes, mostly based around Lemon Demon songs. He is based on the "Lime Angel" meme. He's basically a god, and seeing a little kid making portals constantly to hop around for fun is a bit concerning. What If something fucks up? He wants to stop Lemmy, but he couldn't be bothered to do it himself so he makes an angel puppy to get Lemmy. The two become rivals, but in a Tom and Jerry cartoon shenanigans way. To Lemmy, this guy is a mean grown-up and a villain. But he's just doing his job, really. He has several inspos put into his designs!

#character design #character design concept #Oc art #This Universe Has Lemons #Guz art #[2023]#Dpau #Datapack au

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magpierrecanarie · 2 years ago

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Found the design sheet! Only took me a while to sort through the mess that's my "my stuff 2" folder. I don't even know why I named it that since this laptop is literally my own.

TL;DR: I talk about my Vocaloid Oliver design, show some progress pics and talk more regarding his overall concept.

↓↓ Click here if you'd like to know more! ↓↓

So... if you've been following me for a bit, you'll probably realize that I've changed from posting everyday to posting every other day. Well, about that, it's because I realized that I'll actually run out of artworks at this rate since I'm relatively slow in making art in general.

Which brings me to today's topic! I'd like to talk about some of the process I go through whenever I design a character, or in this case: Oliver.

Like, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm not exactly good at art, sometimes I reuse poses and it ticks me off, othertimes I literally reuse identical character distinctions and it takes me a while before realizing. However, I do always try my best to not have overlapping character designs so that every one of them is unique in their own way. My personal favourite trick is to add something that's awfully big and obvious that makes them look clearly different, even when they're completely shaded over with black (Oliver's tail).

First things first, I try to come up with a doodle with some sort of concept in mind. There were actually a couple more pre-concept art doodles that I made a good 4-5 years ago that isn't included in this post, I'm considering posting it (+ another one I drew up a year ago) in a separate post since it's getting a bit late and I don't feel like digging it up.

Since I'm playing around with an Oliver from a universe where the Vocaloids are an alternate version of their original VPs (more clarification in the previous Oliver fanart), + I mentioned that his specific side-effect was borderlining on life-threatening (also in the previous Oliver post), I decided to draw him as half human, half Nessie the Loch Ness Monster.

There were quite a number of reasons why I chose her compared to other monsters: 1) I've always had the headcannon that the PowerFX Vocaloids were like a big family, not necessarily blood-related but they're spiritually bounded to each other. Since I personally believe that Sweet Ann and Big Al are Oliver's new adoptive parents, I think it'll be nice for him to also be a monster in some way. (+ the amount of Oliver is a monster/half-monster headcannons in the fandom is uhh, hoo boy) 2) Oliver has always reminded me of a sailor. I don't know why and I'm pretty sure his entire costume is based off of a pre-existing choir's outfit, so there's literally no reason for it to have ties to the sea. Maybe it's the colour palette? Or maybe a Vocaloid fanfiction I read a long time ago that I've forgotten since then? Idk, but either way I really like the thought that he came from either a family of sailors or a family that lived close to the sea. 3) Okay, if you know anything about the Loch Ness Monster myth, you'd know that its origin is from Scotland and not you know, Britain, where Oliver's supposedly from. And to that I say, my argument as a South-east Asian is that it's CLOSE ENOUGH... Plus, I don't think there's other Sea Monster myths that are as easily recognizable as Nessie, who ironically enough doesn't even live in the sea, rather, she lives in a fucking lake. But still, the other couple of Sea Monsters/Sea Creatures myths that I think are decently popular are probably the Kraken or the Mermaids + Sirens. The Kraken is eliminated from the selection since this isn't supposed to be the Horror genre LOL, and the Mermaids + Sirens are a bit too far regionally, plus they're a bit basic (sorry to all my Mermaids + Sirens lovers out there) imo.

There are some ugly AF doodles here but it's what you go through when you're me, sadly.

Also, if you noticed but here I finalized the design you saw in the previous Oliver fanart where he was wearing a merge of these two testing designs of his cloak:

The former was partially inspired by the Scottish Kilt Sash, though it's not very obvious since Oli's not Scottish so I just took inspo from the way it's usually framed on one's body. The latter however was inspired by manta rays, they look STUPID as hell and I love them, so as a compromise, I merged the two cloaks together and that's what became of the current one! B)

It's actually getting a bit too long for my laptop to handle so I'll leave it here for now.💀💀

See you on Friday! B) Might be posting an original artwork then so you can look forward to it!

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doorplays · 2 years ago

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Musings on Art: Wherein A Dog Helps Me Get In Touch With My Inner Artist

Hello! As I talked about with my spoilery review for Immortality, I sometimes want to do an accompanying spoilery review/article for games that I want to really talk about, but can’t talk about as much due to not wanting to spoil their stories. I’ll be changing up the format of these kinds of articles so that it’s less a review and more of my thoughts on my experience of these games!

Before we continue though, I’ll have to give a big fat !!!SPOILER WARNING!!! for this article as I will be talking about this game in a somewhat in-depth manner, mentioning some character arcs and some lore.

With that out of the way, let’s get on to my thoughts about Chicory: A Colorful Tale!

Chicory was a lot of things I didn’t expect. Even starting out, the game asked me for my favorite food. I didn’t think it would be used for the main character name, so I just said “Lumpia” and moved on. So I guess my drawdog is named Lumpia! And based on the title, I thought the game will be chiefly about Chicory, and that I’d get to control Chicory, and I guess I was (partly) wrong about both points!

I wanna talk about the game. I wanna talk about how it made me feel. But first, let’s talk about art.

I feel I need to post a disclaimer: I am not an Art Expert in any way, shape, or form. I am just a huge fan of art! Specifically the Game kind, but I do find myself liking a bunch of art. ANYWAYYYYY

Art means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Some think it has to have a deep effect on you. Some think it has to be done in a specific way. Throughout the years, it has evolved and changed, incorporating new tools, being expressed through new mediums.

What I’ve found, though, is that at its core, art is about communication. It’s about the desire to share a thought in a way that you choose.

If art is about communication, then there’s always two parties to art: the artist and the audience. And art, in this exchange, is the message.

It is a description that may seem too simple, but I do believe that is the heart of it. Nonetheless, art is definitely more complex than that! Artists struggle to perfect their craft in an effort to deliver art that is worthy of their chosen audience. They want to perfectly distill the ideas they want to share in this capsule of art, and share it with the world. Books, poems, paintings, movies, even games are made in the name of art. From small one-person artists to sprawling collectives working with collectives, art has been made and remade in a constant conversation between artist and audience.

It is no wonder, then, that many people want to be part of this conversation in a speaking role. They want to deliver their own message and thus become artists.

In Chicory: A Colorful Tale, there is only one artist that truly matters, and that artist is the Wielder.

When you start the game, you are introduced to the concept of a Wielder, and how important the role is to the society of Picnic, the world of this game. Using The Brush, they bring color everywhere, painting the trees, the seas, and the skies. They go around Picnic, retouching old paintings and buildings, helping everyone who needs their help. Since this role is a singular one, it is very important, and the responsibility weighs heavy on those who are charged with it. A new Wielder is chosen by the previous one, apprenticing them until they are ready to take on the role.

We see four Wielders in this game. We see Cardamom, an adorable old Lion! He loved doodling. He loved being in touch with his creative side whenever he drew and painted. But when he became the Wielder, he found that he disliked the role, as it meant that he was no longer doing this for his own happiness. As time passed, he grew tired of being the Wielder and he searched for someone to pass it on to.

Blackberry was the Wielder after Cardamom. She is a severe figure who values skill and greatness. She sees the Wielder role as a very important responsibility that must be handled with care. As such, she took decades before she chose an apprentice. She chose Chicory. Though passing on the Brush to her was a traumatic event for both of them, Chicory ended up becoming the Wielder all the same.

Chicory worked hard to be the Wielder. It’s all she wanted. It didn’t leave her room for much of a life other than working for the role. And now she has it… and she has grown to hate it. Blackberry pushed her too hard to be great. She colors in one spot and is unsatisfied, repeatedly erasing and coloring it in until she thinks it’s perfect. She is celebrated by everyone… except herself.

Lumpia, my player character, was a janitor for Chicory. Throughout the events of this game, they end up becoming the new Wielder, with Chicory guiding them. While Lumpia is happy to become Wielder, they are keenly aware of how they just stumbled into the role by luck, and constantly think if they are worthy of it. They are happy to help people using the powers of the Brush, yes, but they also think that maybe someone else deserves it better. Not only that, they also don’t know if this is what they even want in life!

It is interesting to me to see the Wielders’ varied motivations and their differing relationships with their role. Cardamom saw it as a burden that he soon cast off. Blackberry saw it as a responsibility to carefully guard. Chicory saw it as her ultimate calling, a goal to work towards. And Lumpia saw it as a way to help others. This… relation of the art with the artist, this is what Chicory: A Colorful Tale wants to talk about. How does your passion move you? How does your creativity manifest? What do you like about being an artist? How do you use your art? There’s a lot of questions to ask, but the point of Chicory is to help you explore these questions yourself. And what better way to do this than to be an artist in-game?

Chicory: A Colorful Tale opens with the world being devoid of color. It is an open-world coloring book for your own creativity to run wild in. The cursor is a brush that can change to different colors (depending on the area) and sizes. There’s even an in-game series of art classes for you to draw your own interpretation of various prompts and art pieces!

The art classes are optional. Heck, to my memory, there are only really one or two required paintings you really need to do. The painting in-game is mostly a way for you to interface with the Metroidvania platformer gameplay. Nonetheless, the game invites you to have fun with it. Color in the world! Draw some graffiti! Draw some [REDACTED]! It’s a blank canvas, you can draw as much (or as little) as you like! This is all an exercise for you to explore how you want to express your own creativity, and how much fun you have doing it.

I really like the game for how much it let me have fun with drawing and painting. It made me remember my younger days where I’d draw a lot of robots on notebooks, giving them stats. And seeing the in-game characters comment on my art enriched the experience, making me feel like my art actually mattered.

I think it’s too simplistic to call this game’s story as “unexpectedly dark,” but that’s what first comes to mind. On its face it seems like a fun coloring book of a game. As you play it, though, it then tackles themes of burnout, depression, systems that gatekeep, and a bunch of others.

I identify a lot with Chicory. As a person diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, I really empathize with her. She has lost her drive, her main motivation, and is now lost. She blames herself for the current troubles of Picnic, even though it isn’t her fault. Blackberry pushed her too hard and she just took it silently because she really wanted to become the Wielder! The Brush that she so wanted to Wield has become the representation of the heavy expectations placed on her by Blackberry, by society, and by herself. Who wouldn’t buckle under all of that stress?

It is only when she lets go of the Brush that she begins to heal. As she helps Lumpia with their path to being a Wielder, they too help Chicory with their path to recovery. When the full nature of the Brush’s darkness revealed itself, they came back to Chicory and fought to help her despite her own self-destructive tendencies.

The Brush, being the creativity of all the Wielders made manifest, is also their doubts, their fears, their insecurities. Cardamom’s burnout. Blackberry’s gatekeeping. Chicory’s depression. Lumpia’s impostor syndrome. And so much more. It is the reason why the color of Picnic has been drained, and it will become worse if left unchecked. This is the moment where Chicory and Lumpia think: this has to end. There has to be a better way to create that doesn’t involve such trauma.

In Picnic, everyone can make art, but only one person at a time gets to be the Wielder. I like how the story discusses how unfair this system is, with recognition only being given to the current Wielder. Radish, an art student in Picnic, talks about this unfairness at length, and even after quitting art school in protest of this, she still needed Lumpia’s help to get her work noticed. So I especially liked it when in the ending, the current Brush is destroyed by Lumpia and Chicory, who have rediscovered the forgotten skill of growing your own Brush.

At the end of the game, she moves out of the Wielder Tower and into her own house. She painted it with her own style, and hung up Lumpia’s rendition of her. “I really want to be better,” she says. She doesn’t know what the future holds, but right now she wants to help all those who want to be artists in this new world that she and Lumpia helped build: a world where everyone can grow their own Brush.

I really like that. Anyone can be an artist, if they so choose to be.

Art is communication between artist and audience. But sometimes, you have to remember that you are also the audience of your own art. And sometimes you have to sit back, relax, and take a break. Take a moment to play a game about a dog who draws. The world can wait.

#door reviews #chicory: a colorful tale #chicory #spoilers

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doppel-doodles · 1 year ago

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Intro/Navigation stuff

So who runs this circus?

Hi! Howdy! Hello! My name is Doppel how do you do?:>

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Happy to have ya folks:D I'll be your gracious host so allow me to introduce myself and what I do here:

I am a multi fandom artist and writer, I mainly focus on Oc content as they have been my biggest hyperfixation ever since I was a small child so that's what you'll find the most of here!

But my interest doesn't just revolve around my characters, I also just love learning and drawing the little guys of other folks in general!

Also I am a supporter of self inserts/self indulgent content because I'm a firm believer in the mentally of "if someone is just having fun and not hurting anyone then just let them be KAREN." So expect some of that to also float around here.

My goal is to post regularly I want to use this blog to showcase all my silly little projects, talk about the things I'm passionate about, meet new people and well just have fun goofing off.

And if that sounds like you're cup of tea do feel free to stay and watch this chaos unfold!

Inbox: Open

My inbox is always open incase ya got a question for me, whether that be about my characters, thoughts on fandoms or just to ask how the weather is or something I dunno lol

Events

I like hosting little events to give back to my followers or just as a fun pass time!

Doppels Valentine

An event that goes for all of February where you can request cute self insert drawings and x reader stuff:D

Original characters

Im still working on new refrences for them but I have a couple of "Main" oc's that have their own universe and story but that I'll also frequently re-imagine them in different fandoms because I believe cringe culture is dead.

Anyways here are their names!

The Allards

-Arthur Allard

-Shui Liu

-Adrien Allard

-Klara Allard

Family Jin

-Kathrin Allard

Here is a post that has some info cano to their Lmk iteration!:D

-Jin Jú

-Jin Bao

-Jin Yúnlü

The Gāuguí brothers

-Gāuguí Ming

-Gāuguí Baí

Miscellaneous

-Amia Widow

-Mengtao

Fanfics

I have started a couple and more are to come, will I actually finish a story? God I hope so-

Thicker than blood

An LMK prequel fic featuring all my ocs!

Strays

This one is set in COTL in a AU that I've been developing, it covers the backstory of two of my ocs!

Fandoms

A list of fandoms I'm currently interested in so you have an idea of what I like/tend to post about, if I have a big AU for it I'll write the name beside it:}

Kirby

Mario

The Legend Of Zelda (totk&botw specifically)

Sonic

Cult Of The Lamb (Fallen Crown Au)

Lego Monkie Kid

Gravity Falls (Mass Falls au)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Journey To The West

Personal Tags

#Doppel

->draws

Finished illustrations but also doodles basically all my art stuff

->writes

Anything I write that I take a bit more seriously than usual. So basically my fanfics

->rambles

The opposite of the former, I’m just letting my brainrot run free

->cinematic universe

Lore stuff that I have

->answers

Any answers from my inbox

#Oc name

Pretty self explanatory here you can find anything about a certain oc

#Ship name

Same concept here just it's anything about my ships

#Au name

Yada yada anything about a certain au here

#Doppels plushy factory

A series where I draw characters as plushies

Concept cabin

Stuff that I have in development or want to develop or big ramble posts

My ocs as Legos

Experimenting with the lego style

Growing garden au

That's it! Buh-byeeeeeeeeeeee

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inky-duchess · 4 years ago

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My Writing Process: Week One

So I'm going to post these every Friday (or whenever I remember). These are going to be about my progress on my new WIP, a sort of week by week report of what gets done. (this will fluctuate, so don't be surprised if some posts have more than others).

So it's been a week since I finished my last project TTK, and between projects I like to give myself a week of peace and rest just to get any trace of my last projects out of my system. I catch up on my Netflix (chill with some true crime documentaries or watch some movies on my TBW list).

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Usually I have an idea already forming when I'm finishing a project, so I have the basic concepts fleshed out before I take up a note book and jot my ideas down. Once they're on a page (or my notes app since I'm waiting for a new notebook 🙄), I can see what is vibing and what isn't. My original concept doesn't vibe with me anymore (a fantasy quest) but the bones of my story are still in place.

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Before I flesh out the plot, which is next week's job, I spent this week sitting down and asking myself the main questions:

Who is my protagonist? How did they get to this point in their life?

Who is my supporting cast? How did they get here?

Does the story support multiple PoVs? Will a single PoV do?

What's the overall vibe of the story? (gritty) Is it going to be dark? (yes, incredibly so) Are there a lot of twists? (oh, yes ☺️)

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Once these questions are answered, I move into fleshing out the protagonist and his supporting characters. I work on voice first, trying out lines of dialogue and offering them scenarios to get through. I know what kind of person I want them to be at the beginning, the basic archetype such as the funny guy, the witty soicalitez, the dashing spy. At the beginning, all I need to know is the outward characture of who they are. To build on that, I begin to put them into situations such as:

Would they stand up against somebody being a dick? If so how?

How would they react to a betrayal? What constitutes to a betrayal to them?

How far would they take retribution?

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Once I have finished a quick study on characters, I move onto the backdrop of the story. I always feel more sure of a story when I can picture myself standing in the world. I begin first drawing the map. I tried all my favourite methods: the Rice Krispie Method (literally dumping the cereal onto a page and drawing around it), the Planting Method (layer long maps on maps) & Free Line Method (doodling until it vibed) before finally choosing the Free Line Method and having my map. I carve out the counties on the land, adding cities and notable landmarks such as mountains & rivers.

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At this stage in the story, I have to only fully develop 2 of the countries where the story will take place. I make bullet points of the other lands, denoting government systems, culture, standing with the story, place it has and tie-in with the main plot.

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But for the two main stages of the story, I begin to ask myself the important questions (this is one if my favourite worldbuilding techniques, I'd be lost without it). By the time I finish my research and my notes, I should know how to behave in the society, what's acceptable to do and say, the issues of the systems in place such as law and order, the aesthetics of the clothes of each class, how the upperclasses and lower classes see one another and the basics of the culture. I always go into writing knowing more about the world than I actually need to put on the page. I always like to leave some room in my first draft to chop and change details (it's the best way to allow myself room).

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Also I have made a plan of the city where this story will take place. Usually I leave myself room to plan out cities but this time I decided to make a detailed plan. This took me 3 or 4 tries just to get a map I was comfortable with. It's no detailed plan of course, I'm not Michaelangelo. It's a simple map with important landmarks drawn in just so I can find my way around.

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Writing Process Taglist

@trapped-inadystopianovel @pen-and-inks @brownskinsugarplum76 @crystals-and-ink @mayawritesbooks @donutwithinadonut @a-midwinter-night-dream-86 @raccoon-writes @writinglyra @weishendery @aqueenieme @garden-beans @maeve-jas @doggoscrappywriting @you-reblogged-from @bearunicorn154 @goblingraveyard @paracosmfantasy @reignnyx

#My Writing process #writing #writing resources #writeblr #writing reference #writing advice #writer's problems #writer #spilled words #writer's life #characters #New wip #Writing Process #Writing Process taglist

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just-asks-and-answers · 4 years ago

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JUST ASKS OLD CONCEPTS | PT 2

I had originally planned on Just Asks being a comic! Independent of an askblog. I wasn't confident that I would get enough attention. Dynamics arc from the original FEAR Event was the only main arc I had thought of for the post-game.

As for the designs shown here, yes Rhythms original name was Beat HGFNGN- I had intended for each of their outfits to have a dangly piece of their clothing that would flow in a weightless kind of manner when they flew. Tempos was his scarf, Pitch I wasn't too sure if I wanted it to be his cape or like??? Ribbons??? Around his wrists??? Yeah I still don't know. Dynamics was the end of her jacket and Rhythms was the tails of her bandanna!

I had some basic character notes for them too! For the most part these concepts still do apply to the characters nowadays! Tempo is the confident leader, Pitch is chill, Dynamic is loud and rowdy and Rhythm is a sweetie! Of course, much has still changed.

Gijinkas!! Old ones at that! Rhythm had a couple names before settling on Rhythm clearly ehehe! Her name was Bass after it was Beat! Tempo and Rhythm have mostly been unchanged in terms of gijinka design. I think Blixers was really adorable to be honest EHEHE- Also o hey Isos.

From this point on these are all largely unseen doodles from after I started the blog! So this is where it gets a bit more familiar!

An ask was sent to Blixer and I was like AWW SHIT!! So for the school day that day I wanted to make a final version of his design. It's pretty close to the design I ended up going for. Torn leather jacket and jeans, leather boots and headphones. But I ended up removing the shoulder spikes, and adding one VERY important and iconic detail.

His head bandages! By this point I had been lurking around the Tumblr community on JSAB and seeing everyones different versions of the boss. Azzies really cute take with Beam. Roses bad boy take with Phae. Bigbys chilled out casual but still specific style by Astral. They'd have headphones or the little fragments around their heads but, I always wondered.. there was no sign or trace of annihilate alot of the time! Some would have massive scars on their head but I wanted to show mine a little differently! As well as also portray Blixer as someone who had been washed up. A defeated villain. The leather jacket he wore as New Game being torn up, having lost all of his flair.. and with the bandages to boot? I wanted to convey that even if he's this big, spikey monster, he's also.. defeated and miserable and pitiable.

Blixer was clearly bothered by it, but after making that promise to Dy, the guilt kinda came in strong. He did wish he could have that power again, but he promised Dy didn't he?

WELP. Guess Dy was right to be scared of him.

Man.. F to Pitch... and Dy.. and everyone for that matter! Yeah Blixer was supposed to go apeshit and take over again. The eventual method he did this in was teaming up with the tower shapes, Into The Zone, Try This and Vindicate Me, since they still supported Blixer being the Ruler of Paradise. They had a HUGE concert in a nearby city, that the Quartet attended. Pitch played with them, completely unaware of his friends plans. When the signal was given, Zedd, Vinn and Ty completely shut the show down tight! Trapping the Quartet and the rest of the attendants while Blixer booked it for the Tree again. Pitch broke out and tried to stop him but.. alas.. it was too late :).

#just shapes and beats #just asks and answers

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popculturebuffet · 4 years ago

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Goof Week: Goof Troop: Forever Goof Review (Everything’s Coming Up Goofy, Good Neighbor Goof, Gotta Be Gettin Goofy) (Commission for WeirdKev27)

Yahhahhooooeeeey all you happy people! WELCOME TO GOOF WEEK! Now normally when a character who got their start in theatrical shorts has a birthday, I do a marathon of them. I have since last year with Donald and it’s one of my favorite things: it allows me to explore Disney’s rich history of them I was largely unaware of till Disney+, and allows me to revisit the shorts I grew up with in the case of The Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry while discovering new favorites. SO naturally with Goofy’s birthday in two days I intended to do the same for him, especially since I’d covered Donald and Mickey the same way.

But fate had other ideas. Not thinking about this tradition, Kev, my patreon, friend and the guy who commissions a LOT of reviews from me ($5 an episode if your curious and I WILL make room on the schedule so your commission gets done as soon as possible), suggested reviewing the Goof Troop pilot movie Forever Goofy, later split into the episode Everything’s Coming Up Goofy and Good Neighbor. I loved the idea since I genuinely loved Goof Troop, and decided to do both that week.

It’s then I got a great idea.. why limit myself to JUST doing two things? I hit my 15 dollar patreon stretch goal, so a review of the Goofy Movie was on the Horizon anyway, and for it’s anniversary year Kev has been commissioning House of Mouse Episodes, so it wouldn’t be THAT much of an ask (and it wasn’t) to simply randomly select from a pool of Goofy-Centric episodes instead of all the episodes.

Thus GOOF WEEK was born, and Kev once again proved vital to all this by suggesting the special Sports Goof from the 80′s. I’d like to give him special thanks as outside of the Shorts Special, which as a patreon he still got to pick one and if you’d like to pick one for Donald’s special, sign on up even one dollar patreons get the honor. , this week is either entirely paid for by him or in the case of A Goofy Movie, is partly thanks to him. I wouldn’t be able to do NEARLY as many reviews nor make money off this without you bud, so thank you.

So naturally given the idea to do this two parter gave me the idea for this week and that Goofy Movie makes a logical finale for said week, it only made sense to start the week with Goof Troop. Bop-dop-da-da-do-bop, YEAH.

Goof Troop is the first Disney Afternoon show I ever watched and the only one I watched when I was younger, as Disney Channel used to play it ocasinally when I was younger and Toon Disney would do the same and I even got to Marthoon it when Disney XD did a weekend marathon. Given it starred my faviorite Disney Character, Donald hadn’t worked his way up to tying with him quite yet, I loved what I could grab of it. And as an adult.. it still holds up. It has problems i’ll get into, but it is a real good time so I was exastic to get an excuse to watch some of it and much like with Darkwing wish I had sooner.

Before I can h-h-h-hit it though, I have to talk about the series history. I ALMOST didn’t find anything: much like the other Disney Afternoon shows there really wasn’t much on the Disney wiki nor wikipedia, google turned up nothing... it wasn’t till I went to the Tv Tropes Trivia Page for the series, where i’d remembered reading about some early versions of the show, that I hit gold: A two part behind the scenes blog post by series co-creator Michael Peraza. You can find part one HERE and part two HERE. It’s a short but fascinating read.

Speaking of fascenating Peraza himself is someone i’d never heard of till reading this article but damn if he isn’t a legend. Seriously the guy’s career is as an unsung hero, starting work under the Legendary Nine Old Men, and working on some of disney’s greatest films: The Great Mouse Detective, Aladdin, The LIttle Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast, along with live action cult classics Tron and Return to Oz via concept art. And concept art is where he’d hit his stride: he did conceptual work for all the big Disney Afternoon shows apart from Gargoyles, being one of the key guys in the early days of Disney Television animation. He didn’t stop at just designing things either as he worked as Art Director for Ducktales, The Proud Family and of course given how vital he was to it’s creation, Goof Troop, and to this days gives lectures with his wife to aspiring animators. He even did some guest work for the 2017 Ducktales Episode “Treasure of the Found Lamp!”. So yeah dude’s awesome

So how did he come to be a key part of this show’s creation? Well he’d just finished up some concept work on some other Disney Afternoon shows, and being a company man was glad to report to the Goof Troop..ers to help as the show was having trouble getting off the ground. The reason for this was the creative exec, who Peraza didn’t name out of kindness as the guy wasn’t a BAD person.. just a clueless one, this being his first job in film and tv. As such rather than work hard to develop around goofy or focus on his strengths the kid threw out one concept after another: The series got it’s name from a pitch that had Goofy as a scoutmaster, something I was glad to finally know. To quote Peraza

“ Although while I was doodling versions of the show that were destined to never see the light of the TV screen, the pitch date remained etched in stone and kept creeping closer. Various versions would find their way to the surface only to sink again into the wasteland known as the roundfile (trashcan). One moment Goofy was the Captain of the Fire Department, the next day a detective out of the Maltese Falcon mold, or a swash buckling hero fighting The Flying Dutchman.

The supporting cast he came up with really wasn't very supportive when you consider they sometimes included alien dragon babies with wings along with a large gorilla. Somebody at Walt Disney Television Animation must have really had a thing for giant gorillas around this time as they were plugged into almost every concept we assembled.”

It was clear that while Goofy COULD fit into just about anything, this exec was just throwing everything at the wall, nothing was sticking, and rather than try to refine his supporting cast, they kept having to throw them out and start over. And dont’ get me wrong, cartoons go through a lot of development and changes as they go.. but it’s usually born from a concept and usually by this point, they at least have what the show will be ABOUT in stone. While i’ve had the same creative changes and what not when coming up with projects that ultimately never saw the light of day, and currentlly some I hope to but might not, I’m not being paid by a studio to do this nor had a hard deadline. I was just spitballing trying to get something anything off the ground before reviewing gave me a steady outlet for my creativity and thus ballanced me to take my time with stuff. Peraza WAS turning out amazing art, like this concept art for the fireman pitch that honeslty makes me want to see it as a series. Who DOSEN’T want to see 9-11 with Goofy as the main character? Throw in Donald and grown up versions of Max, PJ and PIstol (And even not THAT much for the former two, as they did go off to college and all), don’t forget Roxanne this time out and you have a worthy goofy movie sequel.

So yeah this wasn’t working and the latest pitch was not great: Putting Goofy in ToonTown as a cabbie driving the Cab from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. As Peraza TRIED to point out to the exec, putting Goofy in a naturally goofy setting didn’t really play to the characters strength, his whole shtick being a goofus in a normal world. Enough of an every man to root for but also a slapstick joly weirdo.

The executive’s INCREDIBLY douchey response, especially since Peraza was a Disney Vetran at this point and had spent quite a lot of time on Ducktales, so he knew what he was talking about was “Do it anyway and leave the “Visionary” part to me”

As you can tell by MR. OOC there, this might be one of the most punchable sentences i’ve ever read.

So Peraza wasn’t in a great place and was naturally terrified when he got a call from Gary Krisel, president of Disney TVA, asking about the show and to see him about it.

Turns out though Krisel was a nice guy who already had a great working relatinship with Peraza, and genuinely wanted to know what was going on there and wanted his honest opinion. It’s why i’m not AGAINST executives in animation as sometimes they can come in when somethings clearly not working or allow a smooth transition of power if a propelmatic creator has to be booted off their own show so the show and i’ts crew don’t suffer as a result. It’s just more often than not they cause headaches or cancel shows for entirley stupid or self motivated reasons. But I will give credit where it’s do and point out times where there NOT stupid or homophobic or what have you and this is indeed one of those times.

Peraza was indeed straight with him: pointing out all the concepts they’d gone through, and like with the other guy honestly gave his opinon the ToonTown Pitch wasn’t working.. and he not only agreed but asked Peraza himself, actually respecting his experince instead of yelling at him that he has a vision that wouldn’t last the end of the day probably.

Peraza was HOPING this was where this was going and gladly gave him a far less high concept pitch and one truer to the character, quoted in full bellow:

“ My spiel went as follows, "Goofy is a recognized star of Disney animation, so why re-invent the wheel? His son is an average kid dealing with many of the usual issues they face: peer pressure, young love, grades, school bullies, and so on. On top of all that, he has the zaniest, wackiest GOOFIEST dad to live down. No matter how insane the situations get though, they will always love each other. They're a family." Gary asked how I would pitch it and I replied, "It's ONE day in the life of Goofy and son. From getting up in the morning to fixing breakfast, we see their difference side by side as his son tries to distance himself. No matter what though he knows deep inside that his father will always be there for him, whether he likes it or not."

If your wondering if Peraza noticed that that original pitch line is basically the peremise and emotioinal core of The Goofy Movie down pat.. your extremley correct and he notes that the film was based on said pitch even if he had no involvment with it that I could tell. The series would still use this but the whole embarasment aspect was toned down, and honestly fit a teenager better than an 11 year old..

So the exec loved it and Peraza shaped the core of the series: the idea of having Pete as his nemisis, pete having a nuclear family including a gorgeous wife, and the show being more slice of life and what not. He made some great sketches, got roaring approval and then pitched it to rousing success and the rest is history. Goof Troop was a moderate success and The Goofy Movie after it is a classic beloved by all. We have this wonderful man to thank for all that and I also thank him , on the offchance he ever sees this, for bringing Goofy into modern times in a way that did the man-dog justice. It’s thank to you we got this fun series, two great movies, and a goofy the way he is today: the best of everything about him rolled into one. Thanks man, free review.. not htat you NEED It since you’ve worked on things i’ve covered and what not, but I feel like I should offer. Outside of Peraza, I found one last bit of making of stuff before I get to the premiere proper. These two early concept shots:

The first has Max who both looks older and has red hair like he did in the shorts. Honestly I see a lot of his Goofy Movie self in thiis design, the only diffrence obviously being the red hair which was wisely changed to make the boy look more like goofy, something kept for the movie.

The more intresting one is this shot of the Pete’s. Starting with Pete he’s more athletic and has a perfectly tacky outfit. While changing him to be a bit more slovenly honestly fit this version of the character better, I do wish they’d kept hte outfit as the tacky gold and green jacket, the gold chain, the open ollar.. it all fits this version of pete so well, as well as his illusion of being a big shot when he is in fact a medium one. Peg is both slightly younger looking and far more doting and is so different I swear this picture looks like Pete remarried after the divorce and got some lipo. Pistol has about the same design but with a vastly different, more Isabella-ish outfit. Finally we have PJ who looks the same, but has a diffrent outfit and a far more sour demeanor, probably meant to be a bully. My best guess is sthis stuff comes from the pitch, and was likely made to simply get the basic premise across before fine tuning the characters for series

So with all of that out of the way i’m calling eveyrone to join in the fun under the cut and report to the Goof Troop.

Everything’s Coming Up Goofy:

Our first episode opens in a small but cozy trailer, where Goofy’s cooking up lunch as only goofy could: by making osme meatballs then serving them to his son over a game of table tennis, with Max doing the same. It’s really freaking adorable, and a dynamic i’m not used to since i’m more familiar with Teen Max. Seeing Max genuinely get into his dad’s hyjinks and enjoy them.. it just warms the heart and adds weight to The Goofy Movie by knowing there was a time the two really were thick is thieves before the stygian hole that is high school drained all that out of him.

So the two are like buddies and pals until the Mailman arrives, not even phased at this point. Turns out it’s a Diploma, and with this Goofy can get a job he’s been up for in Spoonerville and plans to move immediately. Max is devisated he’ll loose his friends and runs away to use a magical mystery box to keep them together only to end up in a land full of frogs with an old man who sounds like his dad minus the drawl and two other tinier frogs and ... I may have the wrong show. In fairness you try dislodging a finale where Keith David runs a 13 year old through with laser sword and then talk to me.

Goofy is sympathetic though: While he seems a tad oblivous to Max’s worries, it’s very clear he’s jumping on this job and this move so far to give his son a better life. Sure he runs through all the cartoon moving away talking points that don’t work in real life or most other cartoons such as there being a nice lake and that max can make new friends, and Max accepts it weirdly fast because this episode is only 22 minutes and they don’t have time for that subplot... but it’s clear the idea of a better paying job, a secure home not in an alleyway, and some stablility for his son is the real reason Goofy’s doing this, and he probably wants to simply give the boy the childhood he had growing up.

Meanwhile in Spoonerville, we meet Pete. To my shock this is where Jim Cummings took over the roll he was born for and has played since and with good reasons as Cummings is just amazing with Pete no matter the incarnation and excels here his penchant for playing jerks, hams and gravely voiced guys all coalesicing. Pete is planning on building what modern toxicly masculine weirdos such as himself would call a Man Cave on his lawn, because Pete is a very SPECIAL kind of douchebag. He also plans to stretch it into the neighboring property, tear down the house there and set it up.

This is news to his wife Peg, played by fellow voice acting Legend whose stillg ot it, April Winchell in her star making role. Peg is Pete’s strong willed wife who dosen’t put up with her husbands crap.. you know that trope that infected sitcoms for kids and adults of the doofy husband whose either a manchild , a skeevy self serving quipy asshole or some horrible combination of the two. The kind that has still been so prevealant the wife from one of said sitcoms helped produce a show about the wife finally doing the logical thing and plotting to kill the bastard. No really.. that’s an actual thing that’s happening. It’s even got a Little Bit of Alexis as Anne Murphy plays the poor, poor wife.

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And why yes the series is called Kevin Can Fuck Himself. And why yes said former sitcom wife was the same one on a sitcom called Kevin Can Wait who was fired because they wanted to retool the show with the wife from Kevin James other sitcom. That also is very really a thing that happened. Payback is a bitch aint it? Fun too.

But yeah from minute one Pete is a terrible husband: Peg is a realtor and thus is trying to sell the house because it’s her fucking job instead of letting her husband throw their family deep in debt to very likely illegally demolish a house so he has a giant yard to play in. I mean even if this is all played for jokes i’ts just not funny enough to not make him an utter bastard. The fact his response to her VERY valid criticism and subtextual worry he doesn’t’t take her career seriously is to fake a panic attack, from a very REAL tendency he turns out to have giant breakdowns under stress, to try and guilt her into letting him have his giant public man cave just backs this up.. as does the fact she simply glares at the camera as he’s clearly DONE this before.

Since I have to put up with this version of him for the rest of this episode, the next, AND a portion of the movie, i’m proudly introducing the Pete Sucks Counter. This will carry over to any other appearances of the guy from here on out. So that’s one for his insane plan, one for disrespecting his wife’s career and one for faking a panic attack to try and win an argument Pete Sucks Counter: 3

So because this episode ran short Peg caves and compromises: He can have the property if it isn’t sold by 9. So Pete does what ANY husband would do: uses his spy camera and booby traps he’s set up in the other house to try and scare away prospective buyers.

Yeah.. while the show TRIES to have Pete not as his old-timey villian self.. they traded in for him being fucking MODOK. I mean he is a grotesque monstrosity who has a nuclear family and spends all his time in a chair thing and can barely function as a Husband or Father. Though at least I can belivie MODOK LOVES his family which not so much with Pete.

To prove this Pete tries using a fake spider to scare some buyers then CALLS THEM TELLING THEM PEG IS A CON ARITST. I.e. something that if they mention to her bosses could get her FIRED. He respects his wife’s autonomy, what she wants and what she’s asked him for, which is a fair shot to sell the place before he tries to wreck the place, as well as likely what his neighbors want. I mean I can accept breaks from reality for comedy, snakebird is my boy.

So I can accept pete has this stuff.. I just can’t find it funny when these shenanignas very transparently show that while he surface level loves his wife he dosen’t respect her or actually listen to her except when she gets angry. He IS the villian so he’s still a slight step among monst sitcom dads but i’ts not great. I can find it funny that his den also functions as a super villian lair though. That shit will never not be great. Also Pete Sucks Counter: 6 For the record: one for the spider itself, one for having traps set up in a property hat both isn’t his and his wife is trying to sell and another for threatening her job and her self esteem as she is baffled at what she possibly did wrong.

So Goofy and Max get on the road, leaving moving the rest of their stuff to an old coot whose a friend of theres. So it’s goodbye Duckburg, Hello Spoonerville! And yes I headcanon this as Duckburg. Goof Troop is one of two shows that very clearly happened in SOME form, the other being Tailspin, the only difference being the time period (Goof Troop taking place in the 90′s and Tailspin in the 30′s or 40′s) and any adjustments for clashes with the 2017 verse. So going off that, we also know Donald and the boys KNOW goofy and didn’t remotely question his presence, as did the rest of the cast.

So figuring out the timeline, Goofy likely met Donald in college, even if he never finished college as per an Extremley Goofy Movie, which may not happen the same exact way given Goofy still has his old job and may not loose it in this timeline, though i’d like to think he still meets Sylvia. But point is he drops out, possibly to marry Max’s mom, they end up moving to Duckburg for her work, she sadly dies, and Goofy is left raising Max alone. Donald and Goofy likely bonded as single parents struggling in low paying 9-5 jobs. Goofy left here, likely said goodbye to Donald and the 5 or so year old boys offscreen , and left. As for how anyone else knows him that’s simple: he probably visits whenever he can. He’s a good friend, genuinely loves Donald like a brother in all continuities, and of course would show up with a progressively more then less grumpy Max every time. As for what I think the rest of the cast would think of him: Scrooge would hate him for his disaster area ways, but at least respect him as a hard worker, he just wouldn’t personally hire him which is.. it’s fair. Beakley would be aggravated by him. Webby would of course like him because she’s essentially him but competent and gay, and Launchpad and him .. god that’d be a joy to see. And drive up Scrooge’s insurance. Della would also like him obviously. I”m really disappointed we didn’t get a season 4 if for nothing else the fact we probably would’ve got another Goofy episode. It also feels weird he’s not in the finale in any way shape or form you know? Why have such a big guest spot for him and then just not bring him or Max back? GIVE ME MORE MAX DISNEY DAMN YOUUUUU So they move right along with Goofy excited to get back to where he once belonged, and to call Pete with the good news on his 90′s cell phone. Pete is utterly TERRIFIED finding out Goofy Comin and tries to send him off course to prevent it. Naturally despite nearly running into a truck, Goofy makes it to Spoonerville by evening anyway and we get a delightful bit that shows off BilL Farmer’s comedy skills as he rapidly lists off all the things in town while driving Max through town. It’s so damn smooth. This also is notable since before this farmer had just played the character in some DTV music videos, which stands for Disney not Denton but god I now want Shock Treatment with the Disney Crew. I mean who wouldn’t want Donald as Brad, Daisy as Janet, and Gladstone as Farley Flavors I ask you. Not sure who every one else would be i’m sorting that out. And if you don’t know what Shock Treatment is, here have this trailer with a nightmarish opening.

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Dammit now I want to watch Shock Treatment again... so I am. Found it in full on YouTube, and I feel no shame in sharing that as it’s not on VOD, nor any streaming service, the DVD, which I own, is out of print, and the Blu Ray is a UK exclusive. This film both needs to be seen more and needs another proper US release damn it!

So naturally Goofy somehow finds Pete’s house.. I dunno maybe Peg’s been sending him letters. Can’t blame her for having a wondering eye long as she dosen’t act on it. She’s married to a walking lump of ego, selfishness and cholesterol and likely only held on as long as she did for the kids. Which for the record Peg as a child of divorce whose parents got divorced rather than keep up a sham marriage or anything.. it’s not worth it. I was MUCH happier that way in the long term.

Anyways Peg and Goofy happily reunited while they awkardly try to get the kids to meet, with Goofy and PJ not warming up to each other at first, likely because Max just lost all his friends, and PJ clearly had none going into the series from context we’ll get later in the pilot. We also get a hilarious bit where Peg alternates between warmly greeting the goof’s and hilaroiusly shouting at Pistol to not play with worms.. in what honestly sounds like a protype for Miss Finster’s voice.

Meanwhile the kids try to hide a small crack in Pete’s boat.. which he notices as he’s just about to steamroll the house despite NOT having asked Peg if she sold it yet and just assuming, possibly opening himself and her to a lawsuit

Pete Sucks Counter: 7

Discovering his boat is trashed, he has a comical panic attack, which I can forgive since this was 1992 and they weren’t as well known as a serious problem. Seriously while pete is a bastard man.. the animation on him is GORGEOUS as it is HILARIOUS, while Jim Cummings brings the hell out of it. He’s kept the roll for three decades as of next year for a reason. Goofy ends up accidently destroying his boat in the process of trying to help him as you’d expect.

So Pete reluctantly lets the goofs sup with them.... and by reluctantly I mean he don’t wanna but Peg’s forcing him, which is pretty much the other half of their relationship in a nutshell: When pete isn’t lying and betraying her, Peg is forcing him to do stuff. As you can probably guess by how harsh i’ve been this aspect has aged INCREDIBLY poorly for me. This is your standard sitcom setup: asshole or dumbass or both dad, put upon wife who has to keep him in line.. but it’s just not how a GOOD marriage works and got so damn draining over time. Again and again we got things saying marriage is awful, comitting sucks unless your young, again and again. It’s why i’m REALLY happy we’ve been getting far better sitcom dad’s and marraiges lately. Bob’s Burgers is naturally the example, with the wife being the less sane one but both having their quriks and neither being so entirely dysfunctional you ever question the marriage. The Louds are another good example: Lynn Sr. And Rita NEVER right with each other that i’ve seen, have a perfectly happy relationship despite 11 kids, and wholly support each other, with Rita happily giving her husband the go ahead to quit his soul draining desk job so he could pursue his deream as a chef, and later letting him take a massive fincial gamble and open up a restraunt, purely because she belivied in him. Finally we have the Williams from Craig of the Creek who are easily one of the best married couples i’ve seen in western animation and one of them’s played by Terry Crews so that shoudln’t be a shock. I could prabobly find more but my points made: this trope REALLY ages the show poorly, more than any of hte 90′s specific tech or swinging theme song I just realized I forgot to talk about. Eh i’ll save it for the next episode.

I have NEVER liked this trope anyway: only simpsons has really made it work for me and Family Guy did until they just stretched it too far, and with Simpsons at least they freqeuently have episodes pointing out how unehalthy it is. It dosen’t help this trope somehow STILL isn’t dead, as evidenced by the fact Rick and Morty has it in spades and for SOME damn reason got them back together.. I mean they don’t fight anymore but it dose’nt fix the problem. So yeah while I’m not holding against the show TERRRIBLY as this trope wasn’t as widespread at the time, it still dosen’t make it GOOD even at it’s core.

Things get worse for Pete though as while Goofy praises him (And the Pete Kids rightfly wonder if Goofy is from space given the logic of ANYONE being that fond of pete. ) Pete finds out GOOFY bought the house he was going to demolish and will be staying with them till they move in. I have only one response to his misery....

Max also futzes with the tv which you THINK would lead to Peg finding out her husband is the antagonist of a Blumhouse movie but instead just does nothing.

So then we have Dinner where we find out SUPRISINGLY, Pete actually has a somewhat valid reason for resenting Goofy: Goofy cost him the big game in high school as Goofy and Peg were on the cheerleading squad together and Goofy accidently kicked pete in the face at a crucial moment, which Pete got the blame for. Granted I did say SOMEWHAT: Goofy is genuinely apologetic and says Pete shouldn’t of been blamed and Pete’s apparently been hiding the truth from his kids this whole time. I do call bullshit on that as while admittedly i don’t get into local football or any sportsball, Pete works at a dealership. At least one asshole would bring it up to either rile him up or out of genuine rage at something that happened at the very least a decade and a half ago. Pete hasn’t let go of this footbullshit DESPITE owning a successful dealership, having two wonderful children, an even more wonderful wife, and a friggin nice boat. But really.. it speaks to Pete’s character in any version: His ultimate undoing is his greed, his tendency to keep going and never settle. It’s something he oddly shares with Donald but Pete lacks Donald’s’s heart or redeeming moments. Pete just wants and wants and wants no matter who gets hurt because he’s inehently selfish and will simply TAKE It if he can’t get it. But it’s why he’s miserable, and ultimately ends up divorced: He can’t be satisfised so he often looses what he has.

So with Pete on the rampage Peg sends the boys upstairs. It’s here we get PJ’s first Woobie Moment: He has a room FULL of cool toys, comics and what not but his dad is such a greedy asshole he refuses to let the kid actually use them. He even knows this isn’t normal but is just resigned to it. Rob Paulsen is phenomenal as PJ, being funny and energetic, snarky and off to the side or depressed and fearful all with grace and ease and all making this all feel like the same sweet kid.

I mention this because Paulsen’s action is so good it highlights an issue with PJ: the writers lean way too hard into how much a hardass Pete is, to the point the series, likely intentionally, HEAVILY implies he physically abuses pete and the stuff on screen isn’t over the top enough, at least for tehse episodes, to get away with how he emotionally abuses him either. He talks down to him, doesn’t let him play toys and as seen by various episode synopsis and the next episode, uses mind games to keep him in line. THIS is why I can’t stand this version of Pete. He’s an abusive monster to this poor boy and I won’t stands for it, nor it being played off as a joke, especially since they try to ping pong between using it for comedy and using it seriously which just.. doesn’t work.

So Max earns his future best pals’ friendship by trying to help him.. and succeeding by pointing out that while he said not to use the Tank anywhere on the ground.. he didn’t mention the celling or walls and has the tank going up the walls. And clearly by the fact PJ is seen sleeping with it later, despite Petes’ss anger at this, Peg presumably ripped him a new one once she found out about the toys thing.

So that night Pete can’t sleep with Goofy tromping around the house and tries to whack him with a Golf Club. I’d give him another sucks count..

But given my brother lives in the basement and I sometimes accidently wake him by tromping overhead without meaning too, I DO get getting a bit fed up with someone clomping around and waking you up, and it is a slapstick cartoon so trying to physically assault someone is less of a crime here and more a setup for a punchline.

So get an UTTERLY hilarious scene as teh combination fo tripping on golf balls and Goofy singing his family lullabye, camptown races with lyrics

So Pete proceeds to have another freak out this time RUNNING ALL THE WAY TO DUCKBURG, THROWING THE OLD MAN OUT OF THE CAR AND THEN BRINGING IN THE GOOF’S BEDS AND BOXES BEFORE TOSSING THEM IN THE HOUSE. It is truly an amazing combination of Jim’s utter talent as he babbles hialriously and the animators as they just make it sing. It’s a great climax to part one. So with that the goofs are home and Pete semeingly gets to go to sleep.. until they start working on unpacking.

Final Thoughts On Good Neighbor Goof:

This is an excellent start to the series. The jokes are really well paced, the characters well introduced and the humor top notch> I had my complaints obviously.. but i’ts more systemic issues with the series, and stuff that honestly it dosen’t hamper my viewing experience for the most part. The PJ stuff does, but it’s not as big a deal this episode as he barely interacts with his Dad, but otherwise it’s stuff that just hasn’t aged well and they can’t be faulted for not seeing a deluge of terrible sitcoms a comin. The cast is top notch: I didn’t get to them in the proper review so Dana HIll deserves praise as Max, giving just the right amount of 90′s TV Kid mixed with real honest emotion and i’ts a tragedy she’s gone. She would’ve been right up there with the rest of this amazing cast in history. Though at least she got a worthy succesor.. but that’s not for now. For now we’re taking an interlude to look at the wonderfully 90′s music video that was aired along with this special:

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Gotta Be Gettin Goofy:

This was my raw reaction to this video. Now is it bad? No the song has great flow it somehow manages to scratch Bill Farmer’s goofy vocals with the beat, the rapper makes the cheesy lyrics work, and the chorus of “gotta be getting goofy” backs a great bit. It’s not a bad SONG.. but the video is a hilariously insane mess. We have two of the poor dancers forced to wear just.. HORRIFYING looking Goofy costumes that look like the Dog based sequel to cats that thankfully only exists in my nightmares

I pityt hose poor dancers. Meanwhile the rest of the dancers are wearing Goofy Baseball uniforms and letterman jackets for some reason. is it beause Goofy likes sportsball. I thoguth they just had them lying around but now I see the g’s on the uniform. They CHOOSE to do this. Max also does a shredding guitar solo, not the max up there the animated max. Combine that with LOTS OF random clips from the show and you get this thing.. and i’ts worth a watch> it’s just hilarously what the shit.. not the most hilariously what the shit thing i’ve seen.. not even this week... that would be this thing from the Eurovision Song contest...

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Your welcome. So moving on because this is already badly behind.

Good Neighbor Goof:

So our second episode opens with the Goof’s trying to move in and pete being upset their being loud. Now being upset your neighbors are being loud is one thing: Mine set off fireworks all week around fourth of July. Granted Pete would probably be the one doing such nonsense but still, I get it.. but it’s fair to have a lot of noise when your moving in and in Goofy’s case also trying to patch up a massive hole in the place.

So he does what any reasonable man would do and activates the earthquake machine he hid in the basement.

I wasn’t kidding about the MODOK comparisons. Granted the thing uses a belt to somehow do this.. but it’s designed to SIMULATE AN EARTHQUAKE AN DDOES SO WELL. The only reason Goofy’s not dead is that pete uses a low setting that instead ends up unpacking everything. IT’s a neat gag but again... PETE HAS AN EARTHQUAKE MACHINE.

Which Goofy accidently destroys his boat with. Meanwhile the boys try to talk over tin can phones only for Pete to notice and try to stop it because he’s a dick and doesn’t want his son to be happy because he hates Goofy. So Pete’s idea of a punishment is for PJ to wear the family shoes to go crush cans while wearing a helmet and given Pete mutters to himself about this keeping PJ away from Max i’ts likely something that he made up to torture his son soooo..

Pete Sucks Counter: 8 Max being a good pal agrees to help his friend crush the cans down to recycle for money and comes up with a zany scheme to do so

Meanwhile we get a few scenes of Pete trying to eff with Goofy’s day: Peg is making food for Goofy like a good neighbor/someone planning for their eventual divorce, so Pete makes him some too with tons of hot sauce. By the laws of classic cartoons, naturally Goofy loves it and wonders if Pete has hot sauce, while Pete trying it explodes his head Scanner’s style.

He then tries giving Goofy a chainsaw loaded with some kind of explosive or something... so yes he’s esclated to MURDER over.. Goofy annoying him a bunch as he’s apparently given up on the whole taking over that lot thing.

Pete Sucks Counter: 9 But it is hilariously petty and naturally backfires again by cartoon law as Pete ends up starting it for Goofy who can’t get it going.

Meanwhile PJ and Max inact the plan which is to drop a bolder with a rope on the cans, but end up having to ride the cans down when PJ lets it go too early and it ends up sweeping both boys on top of the box. They have fun though, with PJ actually getting to enjoy life for once and loving having a new friend.

So as his lot in life Pete has to ruin it by yelling at PJ for getting diryt, then for hanging out with max as he can SMELL the goof on him.. which means he’s either exaggerating or he knows what goofy smells like.

So he forbids PJ to see him insluting max.. while Max is hanging out the window and ends up crying. Oh and Peg never gets involved in any of this across both parts, likely because she dosen’t know.. which makes it even MORE horrifying as it gives off the implication Pete gets away with his abuse of his son because he hides it, like a real world abuser. But even then some things like trying to break up his and Max’s friendship or the toys thing you’d THINK she’d notice.

So we get more untetionally telling stuff as PJ says he’ll treasure this day and the only time he was happy.

Pete Sucks Count: 14 2 for the last scene, 3 for ALLL this one implies. But Max won’t give up the ghost no he won’t give it up. They haven’t the strength to hold on for long but if they both hold on together they can make each other strong. So he has a plan: have Goofy throw a Luau and invite the petes.

Peg naturally forces him to attend and Pete is a dick about it at first, but eventually enjoys himself when they do a conga line. The pets, Waffles and Chainsaw get into some antics. I do love Waffles because I love a kitty. Chainsaw is okay even though I love me a good doggo. Especially this one.

You are a Good Boy, Good Boy. But eventually while playing a party game about passing coconuts, Pete considers the coconut and considers the trees but dosen’t consider Goofy kicking him in the face AGAIN

So Pete is naturally a dick about this despite it being you know, an accident. But he takes it a step further by insulting Max Pete Sucks Count: 15 So Goofy gets mad. But here’s where a rather sizeable flaw shows up in the episode as Goofy.. acts exactly like Pete does about the insuing feud. He forbids Max to see PJ makes up rules and is generally petty and vindictive. And look Goofy could be in the shorts. He’s endlessly adaptable.. but here nothing about his character has shown he’d sink to this and it feels forced to bring abotu the climax.

Thankfully said finale salvages thing: That night Max pulls PJ into his room via the cans, and comes up with a plan.. weirdly asking PJ to hit him with a muffin to save their friendship... but it’s not random it turns out. His plan.. is brilliant. While I really don’t like these types of feud between neighbors make our kids suffer by making them not be able to be friends because we’re being petty children plots, this one has a REALLY clever solution to that: Max and PJ FAKE an oversclated fued similar to their parents, starting with insutls and throwing mulch and escalting to taking down each others fences and then throwing food at each other, before injuring their dads with planks and stuff, nothing serious just slapstick stuff, all to get both to settle down and try and get the boys to stop fighting.. it works like a charm, it’s full of great bits like Peg offering the boys pie only for Max to use it as amuination and i’ts just a great way to end one of these episodes. Not that I WANT more of these episodes but if your going to do this stock plot you might as well be creative with it.

So we end on the Petes and Goofs having a BBQ, all friends again, with Pete having his marina and Goofy nearly burning Pete’s house down and us getting a photo to end the episode.

Final Thoughts:

This one was a step down. Pete’s abuse is REALLY highlighted here and the plot is very paint by numbers and forces Goofy to be out of character for the last act for it to work at all. He just strikes me as too genuine and noble to hold onto a grudge this easily. Peg is also reduced from her usual feisty self to being oddly useless, not stepping in at ANY point to stop any of this depsite it being grossly otu of character. There’s a few great gags and a great climax, but the whole product is just okay

Later Today: Goof Week and Goofy’s birthday continue as I complete the trilogy of Shortstaculars with one about my boy! Featuring Goofy’s first apperance, his first short and the first apperance of what would eventually become Max!

If you liked this review, follow me for more and consider joining my Patreon which you can find RIGHT HERE. Even a buck a month helps me keep doing these and more gets me to my stretch goals, the next one up being the two remaining ducktales mini series, a darkwing duck episode a month and a reivew of the danny phantom film the ultimate enemy. And even a buck a month gets you access to exclusvie reviews, my patreon exclusive discord and to pick a short any time I do one of my shortstaculars. My next one is for Donald’s birthday next montha nd there’s only 6 days left to get on that pay cycle so if that sounds good to you get on in NOW while you still can and i’ll see you at the next rainbow.

#goofy goof #goofy #goof troop #max goof #P.J. Pete #PJ Pete #Pete Pete #Peg Pete #Pistol Pete #Sponerville #Gotta Be Getting Goofy #disney channel #the disney afternoon #disney afternoon #disney xd #disney plus

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dakt37 · 4 years ago

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Avengers Assemble - Feral Outlaw Stony

So I've been expanding on this concept I doodled before Christmas, where Steve goes with Tony into the no-tech dimension at the end of season 3. Probably a lot of stuff isn't canon-compliant (beyond the obvious change that is), but "It's an AU so I do what I want" rules apply. Anyway.

The tl;dr is: The two of them spend a little time puttering around the weird no-tech dimension, and then get absorbed into Battleworld. They become explorers, helping people out and falling in love along the way.

(Once again, I feel like someone must have had this idea already, but I’ve never looked.)

Cut for excessive rambling.

~~~

Not all the areas we see in the show are present in Battleworld when Steve and Tony first arrive, so the boys spend most of their time traveling around, mapping the place out as it expands. A lot of my ideas rely on them still having little-to-no access to modern conveniences. Obviously someplace modern has to show up for them to get their hands on a pickup truck and a motorcycle, but I’m picturing a post-apocalyptic junkyard that’s been picked clean of anything obviously useful. They get the vehicles working by sheer force of “I’m Tony-fucking-Stark.” But like that fully functional NYC area is way too convenient, so it’s not around yet. (tbh I’m not even sure if it’s an alternate NYC or theirs, in which case it wouldn’t show up until the other Avengers do anyway)

They get the low-down on the "Battleworld" concept by eavesdropping on one of Beyonder's* welcome speeches. They realize that they are uniquely off the grid, because Beyonder didn't know they were in the no-tech dimension when he added it to Battleworld. They decide it's advantageous to maintain this secret status, but they're still Avengers™️ so they can't NOT help out wherever they can. But they don’t stick around any one place for long. Basically, they become vagrant vigilantes in addition to surveyors. They get a lot of their “stuff” (clothes, tools, toiletries, etc) as payment for odd jobs, or gifts from grateful locals they rescue. They get some food from populated areas as well, but also rely on foraging and hunting while on the lam. They have definitely eaten dinosaur at some point.

(*He doesn't get the nickname "Beyonder" until the other Avengers show up. In this AU Steve and Tony refer to him as "The Entity" or "Suspenders." You can probably guess who tends to use which.)

On top of the survival story, it's also a getting-together story. Steve and Tony flirt and pine and bicker and flirt some more, until a squabble turns into a confession and they finally start kissing. There’s plenty of time for “it’s cold in this wasteland and we only have one blanket, oh no,” but they’re firmly established as romantically involved by the time the other Avengers show up and they have the final showdown with Beyonder.

Anyway a lot of the AU notes I've been making are about the functional side of their Big Camping Adventure. So here's a bunch of lists about vehicles, gadgets, and navigation.

Vehicle stuff:

If Tony is riding passenger on the motorcycle, he can clip his repulsor boots into special footrests that reroute the energy and give the bike a speed boost.

The bike has a tow cable. Steve can harpoon things using a spring-action firing mechanism, including cliff faces to help him scale steep terrain. The cable can also be uncoiled manually, like when Tony takes flight while holding the end so he and Steve can clothesline hostiles.

Steve can stick his shield several places on the bike depending on what’s convenient. On the front as a windscreen/battering ram, on one side for easy grabbing, and even on Tony’s backpack so Tony can snuggle in properly while riding passenger and keep both their backs protected.

They probably don’t even need a ramp to get the bike into the bed of the pickup. Steve just picks it up and puts it there.

The evolution of Marsha (the truck) into a full Hulkbuster-style mech takes a long time. For the majority of their time in Battleworld, it’s just a truck with an ever-increasing number of weird add-ons.

Marsha can function as a tiny camper home. The cargo bed liner is a false bottom, which can be pulled up and rearranged to form a cover/roof. Underneath the liner, the actual truck bed is about a foot deeper, with most of that storage space taken up by a mattress and bedding.

Tony can pull a cable out of Marsha’s steering column and plug it directly into his arc reactor. This unlocks extra features and weapons. He generally has things balanced so that Marsha drawing power doesn't affect him any more than his armor drawing power would. But on rare and desperate occasions, he can overclock and hurt himself. Steve of course hates when he does this.

Turnabout is fair play though: at least once, something else damaged the arc reactor, so Tony plugged into Marsha to draw power from the battery for his electromagnet while he repaired the arc.

Gasoline can be difficult to procure, so both vehicles are hybrids. Tony just keeps adding new power conversion elements as they go along, based on what they can find.

F in chat for Tony’s armor:

Tony dismantles the armor he’d been wearing when they first went into the no-tech dimension.

Obviously he keeps skeletal versions of the repulsor boots and gloves in-tact enough to function.

He also keeps most of the helmet, for when he’s riding with Steve on the motorcycle. Mostly because Steve insisted. It's gutted of tech though, so if the faceplate stays as part of the design, the eyes are just holes (like in the classic comics).

The rest of the pieces are kept in a large packing trunk.

Tony repurposes some parts into useful gadgets for himself and Cap, plus the odd toy for other Avengers (like Widow’s new stinger gauntlets) because he’s optimistic like that.

Electronics use precious metals like gold and copper, so Tony scrapes some out to pay for things in certain areas of Battleworld, like the cowboy town or the pirate area. He might also barter with other general bits like wires and screws, but he avoids parting with any actual full tech.

Plug-n-play Gadgets

Since the power draw for Tony's electromagnet is actually fairly minimal, Tony makes use of the arc reactor as a charging station, mostly when he sleeps. It's not like there's a corner store they can drop by to get a pack of batteries. Things he charges include (but are not limited to):

Flashlight for Steve. The bulbs for it came from the eyes in the Iron Man helmet. Note: Tony doesn't need a flashlight himself because he can turn up his arc brightness apparently, lmao.

Camp stove. Steve questioned Tony building one for a hot second because hello we can build campfires to cook over? But then it’s raining and they're in a cave and Tony is like, "if you fill this space with smoke I will divorce you before we're even married." And Steve is like "camp stove wow yes okay." Also they had camp stoves in WW2 so honestly it was simply a Himbo Moment to disregard the virtues of one in the first place.

Walkie talkies. I know they had Avengers comms but I like the aesthetic of walkie talkies more. Maybe the comms relied on satellites that they obviously don't have anymore or something.

Navigation:

Speaking of a lack of satellites, the GPS in Tony’s armor is rendered useless. Steve is real smug about it and pulls out his old-fashioned compass. But Battleworld also doesn’t have proper poles, so it just spins wildly for a few seconds and then points at Tony’s electromagnet. Not to be deterred, Steve declares, “Well, you’re never lost if you can find Polaris.” They look up and realize that the night sky, despite having stars and a moon, is not at all arranged the way it is on Earth.

Tony takes this as a Challenge. He builds a sextant, then spends the next several nights in a row muttering math under his breath as he painstakingly creates a hand-drawn star chart. This, combined with landmarks, becomes the primary way they orient themselves as they roam around Battleworld.

Many nights, Steve and Tony lie in the bed of the pickup together and make up constellations named after other Avengers and friends. Steve makes a copy of Tony’s star chart and sketches artistic renditions of the constellations on top. To close this post with an interesting visual, here’s an example of what Tony’s star map might look like vs what Steve’s would more resemble:

#avengers assemble #avengers assemble AU #battleworld AU #Feral Outlaw Stony AU #stevetony #dakity yaks #Dakt rambles about Avengers stuff #long post

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