#and so many Penn characters am non-binary

[noelbobby]

The Penn Comics

I should probably transfer over my Penn comics to this Tumblr account. Who is Penn? Well, it all started with violent, pistol-wielding thug who said some weird dialogue that came t' me one day.

Then it evolved into an' occasional segment with a more realised violent, pistol-wielding thug who smoked and had delusions of greatness that he certainly didn't have who was part of a larger cast.

There's a fair bit to this story, 25 works total, so hit that 'read more' if y'am interested. Otherwise don't because you'll be scrollin' a while, I'm gonna be writing for a while... bloody Hell, its sinking in.

This is 'A Pack of Pens from the Pound Shop', it was written on the 27th of March, 2022. At this point Penn didn't have a name and I wasn't intending on ever bringing him back.

That changed on the 9th of September that year, when I created the second ever Penn work, called 'This Person Again' (at the time I hadn't decided Penn was a man).

This started a minor interest in Penn from me. So much so I drew the next Penn image on the 12th of that same month and named Penn as 'Penn' in this time. A crossover image between Penn and my at the time ongoing (now on indefinite hiatus) comic Treasure of Microchips character Gecko Onslaughter, called 'Onslaughter and Penn'.

Now, Gecko Onslaughter is a far more competent character than Penn, I won't get into them, but I made it quite clear that Penn was very outmatched (as a sidenote, Gecko Onslaughter could be described as 'non-binary', but its their culture, and all ToM characters cultures, more don't have a gender-binary culturally... no, I didn't know I was non-binary when I started Treasure of Microchips, no I'm not very smart).

2 days later on the 14th I gave Penn his second ever comic 'Penn's Negotiation Tactic'. Which demonstrated the direction I was goin' with the character

That is to say, he's a joke. An overconfident fool who thinks throwing pens at people makes him seem serious and respectable. Becca's last line is the perfect summing up of the absurdity.

Penn drawings continued but for some reason I only uploaded the next 3 images on me DeviantArt on the 9th of December, 2022.

Luckily, I know when my drawings actually were drawn. The next 'un would go back to the location of Penn's second image: Penn's Place and was drawn on the 26th of October.

Notably in this image you can see a pack of cigarettes (and a loose cigarette). This image, literally called 'Penn Smoking' drawn on the 30th of October 2022 would do what it says in the title.

Why did I make Penn a smoker? Well, Penn smoking cigarettes contrasted him nicely with Gecko again, who is also depicted smoking, but they smoke cigars. Also since Penn is always smugly smiling, so I thought it'd be funny to draw him trying to maintain his massive grin while smoking. This was also about when I decided 'Norm' was a name of Penn's. Is his full name Norm Penn? I've never actually decided.

But now things get interesting, on the 9th of December (the same day I uploaded the other 2 images to DeviantArt) I 'ad a funny idea. Penn is an incompetent fool who thinks he's a dangerous and tough mercenary. So, what if he thinks he's a rival of a real dangerous merc? That's when I drew 'Penn's 'Rival''.

Penn's 'Rival', Cox, was designed in contrast to Penn: ae wears a suit rather than casual clothes, ae's bald rather than having a baldspot (and is stated to shave aer head), ae maintains a 5 o'clock shadow while Penn has no facial hair and aer skin is a teal shade in contrast to Penn's red with green hair. However, we'll get into the biggest difference between the two soon enough.

Cox is also, as you may've noticed, an ae/aer user, that's nothing t' do with Penn, and is incidental to the character, really, but I think that adds to Cox's coolness.

I moved back to Penn exclusively for the next joke, Penn at a Shooting Range on the 3rd of January, 2023.

I love to imagine the delivery of the 'Sir?' there... also is it obvious I've never even seen a shootin' range? Probably.

On the 25th I drew a full-body image of Cox creatively called Cox Image. My January self said this in the description of this image

'Penn thinks that he is Cox's biggest enemy, but Cox would say aer biggest enemy is aer desire to always look aer best. The shaved head, meticulously maintained stubble and insistence on businesswear means Cox spends more time in front of a mirror everyday than ae would admit to most. When aer style looks effortless, that's when Cox is satisfied. Still, as eccentricities go Cox's actually ends up making aerself look more serious and competent, unlike Penn's which makes him look a bit weird. Cox would never use a prop in an attempt to convince a client of aer worth. Cox's reputation speaks for Cox.'

See, Cox and Penn are both into presentation. Penn's presentations are more literal, theatrical use of pens in a strange gimmick. While Cox's presentation is appearance-based and ae have skills to back up aer look.

Then on the 8th of March I decided to go into Penn's backstory in the image 'Norm', well, more specifically in Norm's description.

'Norm was an accountant who was arrested as he had defrauded his clients in a very obvious and stupid way. He was put in a low security prison, of course, but Norm started feeling... powerful after his arrest. His feelings of power and his ego grew and grew in prison. By the time he was released Penn had started feeling invincible... and he's been working under that feeling ever since.'

What can I say, I wanted to add some depth to Penn. I certainly didn't add anything new on the 31st of March, 2023. When I drew 'Penn is about to Fire'

I pointed out in the description that Penn wasn't aiming that gun even slightly.

It was only a matter of time before I drew or write a story where Penn actually managed to kill someone. He's funny, but he also is still alive, so of course sometimes he's gotta stumble into victories. A very literal title was created on the 3rd of April, called 'A Written Penn Scene with two Visuals'.

'Gunter could hardly believe this man standing in front of him. The man had walked into his office and loudly declared a murderous intent, pulling a gun from his trousers "You seriously think you can shoot me in my own office and get away with it? I don't know how you got past security, but you clearly know I am a connected and powerful man. Do you honestly think you can shoot me right now and escape this office alive?" "Yes." "You are the most imbecilic—" Gunther couldn't finish his thought before the man fired and... hit his computer. The man fired again, this time it hit to Gunther's left "Seriously?" Gunther thought in disbelief "This man can't even shoot straight at this range how did he think he can—" the thought was ended by the fourth shot, a bullet to his brain. Penn put his gun back into his holster and turned to leave another job well done. On his way to the stairs he thought "Typical inflated ego. No actual sense of self-preservation to earn it."'

(its still a joke because Penn is saying the last line)

Of course, Penn's compitence can't be too great. Which is why I created Trigger Discipline is Important when Posing on the 9th of May.

Description from the time: 'If Bradley-Anna had opened the door I'm sure they'd have found Penn's pose very cool before Penn shot them. As it is, Penn stood there for at least four hours after this and Bradley-Anna fled the country.' yeah, Bradley-Anna is non-binary. It's a stable of me works because since no binary artists add us, I might as well.

I then got the idea of giving Cox an interesting tattoo on aer back. So on the 11th of May I drew 'Cox's Back'.

This also shows that Cox's name is W. Cox.

On the 16th of July, 2023 I had a hilarious thought: What if Penn met a less competent and more obnoxious person than himself? In a comic that's so big I needa divide it for Tumblr. It's the longest Penn Comic I've ever made so far.

This is called 'Penn meets Unicorn Browne' (and Mx Marko is another fine example of me many non-binary characters in this comic).

Original description also said 'The text that's blurred together reads: Unicorn "The greatest of all time, the new Goddess of mercenary work! Unicoooorn" Penn "I am the most expensive of all pens! You should go back to the pound shop!" And in the text under Marko's shouting Unicorn is going 'Broooooooo'[wne] and Penn is saying 'This pen is you: cheap!'.'

I fuckin' love Unicorn Browne, lemme upload me 19th of July image 'Cox, Penn and Unicorn Browne' an' then explain why.

See, Cox is a contrast to Penn in that Cox is more competent, capable and aer 'gimmick' is that ae wants to look competent and capable. Unicoooorn BROOOOOWNE! (sorry) She dresses a lot like Penn, she smiles like Penn, but she's even more overconfident than Penn. If his ego is Jupiter, he's is the Sun.

Design-wise she's also got the inverse skin and hair to Penn and she also is ever-smiling, but it's an open smile, all the better to yell her own name. Which is her gimmick, an even less fancy, even sillier gimmick than Penn's props. She contrasts Penn, but also Cox in many ways.

On the 30th of July I made this more explicit with these 'Unicorn Browne Drawings'. Showing that she, like Cox, has tattoos, but her's are knuckle tats that read 'UNICOORN BROOOWNE' rather than an elaborate back tattoo with a somewhat cool slogan.

On the 9th of August I had a weird idea called Penn's Invite, another long comic.

Penn's sister. No, I haven't developed this idea further. I maybe one day.

I really like Unicorn Browne, I like them all, but Unicorn Browne is such a strong gimmick I made a Unicorn Browne exclusive on the 12th of September, 2023.

This is called 'That's why she uses a Pool Cue' and the description says 'I think Council's face manages to say it all.' while its not as explicit as Mx Marko, Council is also a non-binary character.

Next few images'll be very quick. I've been writing for over an hour.

This is 'Cox Paint Drawing', drawn on the 13th of September, there's not much to say on it. I wanted t' draw Cox in Paint. Ae looks good no matter the program, I think. Hahahaa.

On the 16th of September I drew a non-Paint Cox drawing called 'Cox's Morning', Showing Cox after ae has finnished aer 5 o'clock shadow maintinence. Look at aer happy face.

Simplistic Penn character drawings on the 3rd of October is another Paint drawing. I wanted t' see if the three looked the part without the colours because I felt a tad self-conscious about me face-design that day.

9th of October, Penn in Pen. The creepiness of Penn's design shines through in pen, I think. He's funny, but since the original image he's meant to have a bit of an edge.

Now on the 20th of October is 'Unicorn Browne Thumbs Up'. Drawn because I wanted to do somethin' with her knuckle tats. I'm not entirely happy with this image. I also considered instead having her flipping you off.

And we am at the latest Penn Comic image. Which, ironically, has neither Penn, Cox or Unicorn Browne. On the 21st of October I drew 'Penn Comic Bosses (so far)': Becca, Mx Marko and Council.

I pointed out in the description that funnily none of these 'Bosses' are confirmed to have ever hired a main character.

-

Gordon Bennett, that was a lot, wasn't it? I'm rather tired after that, but, yeah, that's the 'Penn Comics' universe so far. Hope ya enjoyed it. I'm tired after this compiling, but I enjoyed writing it. At some point there will be more Penn Comics, but, luckily, that time I'll be puttin' 'em 'ere separately.

[imightbeabuddhist]

Salutations Tumblr.

Welcome to My Blog:

By Z.D. Burkitt

The question on your mind has to be, but who are you? Well, let me answer your question with a question. Did I forget the "by" line? No, I'm really asking. Anyway.

I'm Z.D. Burkit. Z for short. I've been a hobbyist writer for 25 years. Now, I'm a Copywriter. Can you tell? -covers my username with my hand- So, I figured I'd introduce myself. As I said, I've been writing for 25 years. However, I haven't published anything other than crappy fanfiction on fanfiction.net. Assuming that website still exists. Like a blacksmith at their* forge, I've learned much about writing, honing my craft(we'll get there.* <--pun). As the name suggests, I'll mostly be posting Copywriting Memes. Sometimes it'll just be the meme. Other times I might share why I like it and any insights I gleaned from it. I'll also post regular blogs and the occasional short story. Now it's time to address the elephant in the refrigerator.

Darn that Pesky Pachyderm:

I am Non-binary. No, I won't bring this up unless I need to. Nor do I care what pronouns you use. They, he, she, or neo-pronouns are all fine. I'll leave that up to you. I should also say I am Pansexual and engaged. As I get more comfortable, I'll give more details. One final thing, I have ADHD. Since this is my first post, I think I'll leave the housekeeping there. This seems like a good time to get the elephant out of my now-destroyed fridge. -sigh- 

Some more Things about Me:

I'm fascinated by fungi. I guess you can call me an amateur mycologist. Mushrooms, lichens, and all fungi are mesmerizing. I'm working on a story about super-powered teens living in 2100. The Golden Trio in my novel are LGBTQIA+ and Neurodiverse characters. River, the MC, is a Genderfluid Pansexual shapeshifter. One of their best friends is an AMAB non-binary gay person. The other is a cis-gendered bisexual guy. I promise River is not a self-insert. You'll come to know that as I add more to this blog. I am a big-ol' nerd. As evidenced by my near-comprehensive knowledge of the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles. Feel free to test me. I'm also well-versed in Destiny and Gear of War lore. Despite not owning any, I have a growing appreciation for excellent watches. They're just cool. Although I'm no car expert, that's what we call an understatement, kids; I do enjoy rewatching episodes of The Grand Tour. While we're on shows, I'm constantly binging Start Trek DS9. It's my comfort show. I aspire to one day get a Private Pilot's license. And yet, I've never flown. I've never even seen the inside of a plane that was about to take off—just a few at an aviation museum. While we're on the topic, one of my favorite podcasts is Black Box Down; it's all about aviation disasters. Listen to it if you're afraid to fly like I was. You'll realize just how rare these things are. Not only that, but the steps taken to prevent them from happening again. Not a spon. I have no sponsorships. I'm an anime fan, shocking, I know. And I'm clearly a fan of italics. And, like David Tannat's Doctor, I can ramble when I get going, can't I? Here are a couple of rapid-fire facts about me.

I practice lockpicking as a hobby - Scrolling through TikTok, I came across a guy called McNallyOffical, who made it look like a lot of fun. So, I bought a cheap lockpicking kit of off; I'll call it the Everything Store and a cheap (read Master Lock) lock. As soon as it arrived, I stared with the clear practice lock, and once I stopped pretending I was in Skyrim, I got it on my second try. Now that little clink sound of the shackle popping is just uggh. -chief's kiss-

I'm 420-friendly - That one speaks for itself. 

I'm an ex-Atheist - I'll admit this is partially due to the anger I felt when I had to deal with any religious or spiritual things that wasn't good for my mental health. So I took a step back from the community and soon found I wasn't angry more often than not. I still respect and listen to many Atheists like Penn Jillette and his business partner, Mr. Teller. Jillette's book God No! is still a personal favorite. The anger made me decide to believe in all gods or none. I have an answer to the ontological question do you believe in god? I believe in every god. I'll delve into that later.

I do believe Science - Despite believing in spiritual things, I am an avid proponent and communicator of Science. No Flearth or anti-vax nonsese here. One spiritual practice I reject is holistic crap and other snake oil. Crystals are pretty, but they can't heal shit IRL. 

This one should be obvious - I'm someone you can come to if you're LGBTQIA+ and you need to talk. 

I have depression, anxiety, and ADHD - I'm very open and vocal about my, and mental health in general. It's important, and you are too. Never forget that.

I think that's an excellent place to stop. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Take care. 

-Z

The Convival Copywriter

P.S.

If you're interested in an INTRODUCTORY OFFER for my services, email me at zdburkitt@gmail.com. 

-The Convival Copywriter