#mugshot and pollen

[strymes49]

Happy Indie Animation Day!

I am not an indie animator myself, nor can I use twitter to do this, but I am a huge fan of the animation *medium* (NOT GENRE!), and would like to do my part to spread the word of some of my favourite #indieanimation projects for #indieanimationday , hosted by @thesunflower_club_ ! Featured here is: Bob's World by @wizzymmd70 Lumi and the Great Big Galaxy by @starteas Desert-Mayhem Overdrive by @rocketsockit Tomb Cats by @manolonart​  Horizonauts by @dynamotoon Lackadaisy by @lackadaisycats Mugshot & Pollen by @soleildiddle​ Big Top Burger by @worthikids Port By The Sea by @geordenwhitman Far-Fetched by @farfetchedshow and Velano by @helepto (twitter) This may be late in the day, but to me, it doesn't matter when indie projects of ANY kind should be supported. They should always be given the opportunity to thrive. And I hope that everyone will continue to give these ones the attention they deserve, even after the day is done. 💜 #indie #animation #animationart #supportindiefilm #supportindie #bobsworld #lumiandthegreatbiggalaxy #desertmayhemoverdrive #tombcats #horizonauts #lackadaisy #farfetchedshow #portbythesea #velano #bigtopburger #mugshotandpollen

[mnpcartoon]

Working on a new short side series for Mugshot & Pollen!

These are called the 'Elsewhere Interlude's focusing on the other goings on of their world particularly their childhoods!

It's such a refresher to get back working with these characters and I can't wait to share them too!

Watch the pilot and subscribe on youtube!

[soleildiddle]

friendshapes

[historyhermann]

The Indie Animation Boom Continues in 2022 [part 1]

In August of 2021, I wrote about the boom in indie animation, consisting of almost exclusively crowdfunded animations. Earlier this month, I expanded on that and wrote about various indie animations, specifically noting Hazbin Hotel and Wild Card which are in development. As storyboarder Amber Avara put it on January 7, “2022 is the year of sick indie animation, let’s make it happen!” Various creators are making it happen. Due to the number of indie animated series being produced, it is near impossible to mention all of them. Despite that limitation, this article will highlight over ninety indie animated series, giving you a snapshot into the existing boom of indie animation at the present time, with particular notice to those currently airing.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs, my History Hermann WordPress blog on Jan. 21, 2023, and Wayback Machine. This was the ninth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on January 27, 2022.

On January 27, the fourth episode of Gods’ School, a French indie animation about Olympian gods and Greek mythology, will air on YouTube. The series is created by one animator, Gaylord Cuvillier Philippe Libessart, on his own! In 2018, the series received support from the French National Center for Cinema and Animation, which gave Libessart the “opportunity to start the production and make the pilot episode.” The first episode aired in January 2019, telling the story of Eris, a goddess trying to find her place among gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus. Gods’ School has been described as having animation as “gorgeous as classic Disney,” and it is adorable, really cool, an addicting and amazing cartoon that should be more well-known, and praised for its talented voice cast. Some have drawn fan art of the show’s characters. As of the writing of this post, three episodes of the series have aired.

Other indie animated series currently airing include Wisdom Nunn’s Bob’s World, Vivienne Medrano’s Helluva Boss, and Nico Colaleo’s series, Ollie & Scoops. Helluva Boss also includes several LGBTQ characters: Blitzo is pansexual, Moxxie is bisexual, Stolas is gay or bisexual, and Sallie May is a trans woman. In the latter series, there was an episode in October 2020 centered around a teacher, Binnie, admitting she liked a fellow teacher, Wendy. Just as prominent is Eddsworld, a long-running animated series which began in December 2004. It continues to rack up millions of views on its YouTube channel, even with its Eddsworld Beyond season, which began in 2021 with Matt Hargreaves as a showrunner.

Additional currently airing series include the spy mystery series SCP Origins, where incompetent spies try and take down villains, an adult animated comedy named Nora and Zin, and an ongoing series named The West Patch which describes itself as “a dark look at the side effects of consequence-free children’s programing.” For the latter series, at present, there have been two episodes so far. There are spinoffs also like Space Triage and The Following Call. Also currently out for viewing are the Instagram clip show Ronzilla, an original animated web series in which all the characters are dolls with the name of Project Infinity, and a murder mystery series named The Marvelous Adventures of Danny DeComp. The majority of these series air on YouTube. This again makes clear the preference of the video sharing platform as a place to share series, making it even more popular than somewhere like Newgrounds.

Official art of Umi, Port, and Jolly Roger in Port by the Sea

In January of this year, non-binary Argentine artist, Moon, creator of the sci-fi series in development, Indigo, asked indie series creators to promote themselves. Many people responded. Georden Whitman shared news about his animated pilot in development, Port by the Sea, which focuses on two kids (Umi and Port) sailing the seas to “find pieces of their broken moon, before an ancient deity swallows the world in ocean.” Matt Acuña shared information about The Garden Age, a series in development focused on “cute bugs on their journey to stop a lawnmower from destroying their world.” Andre Grandpierre noted that he is developing Long Way from DelArte, an animated series about friends traveling around the world, in hopes of “achieving their artistic dreams.” Some said that they were developing hand-drawn animated films or animated series, all in distinct stages of development. [1] Of these creators, some had some prominence in the animation industry. For instance, Whitman is the creator of Nomad of Nowhere and Acuña is the Production Coordinator for Bob’s Burgers.

There is more “indie animated goodness,” as Whitman termed it. This includes series in development with a focus on magic and adventures like Warlocks of Wrath High, Century Park, True Tail, Stars Align, Wimp Witch, and Evelynne Doom. There are many other animated series in development. [2] One example is a series about a non-binary sheep who is making their way through high school titled Sheepish. Another is a cop buddy show between an ace cop and a succubus entitled Succubus Cop. Two others, Band of Mythix and Stellapie are action series, with the former a musical series as well.

In addition, Mugshot & Pollen is about two best friends hanging out, Starmakers, an action/adventure series, is about a bisexual girl named Astra who joins a guild and teams up with people to fight monsters after escaping those who want her as a “source of power.” There is a sci-fi, comedy, and horror series with the title The Heroes of Tomorrow and a series about wolves called Wolves of Cecila. It is one of the many wolf-related series out there, with those in development including Demon Soul, the concluded series All Lone Ones, and The Shadow Marked. An animated “homage to 8-bit retro gaming” named Bit Wars and a sci-fi series which may be released in June titled Monkey Wrench are just two more examples of potential upcoming indie animated series.

The creators of The Descendants said they would pitch their show this year. The series Lumi and the Great Big Galaxy had a fundraiser while the show was in pre-production. Amber Avara, mentioned at the beginning of this article, continued working on an indie anime named Nocturne, sharing information about the character, images of color tests, and character sheets with her followers. Alpha Betas is going ahead, according to its Twitter and listings on its YouTube page. It appears that Long Gone Gulch, by Tara Billinger and Zach Bellissimo, is also going onto the next stage of its development, either by submitting the pilot, or becoming an indie animated series beyond the pilot. It’s hard to know where Long Gone Gulch goes from here, whether it will stay on YouTube or end up on a major network.

Screenshot from opening of Wild Card

The indie, adult murder mystery series about lawyers set in a Boston where “elite legal universities rule the legal system,” titled Wild Card, keeps moving forward. A pilot episode is in development and there was even a webcomic created on Line Webtoon to generate interest in the series and tell some stories using certain characters. The series’ official Twitter account, and additional social media accounts associated with the series, shared news, test animations, and music in the series. The show features LGBTQ characters like the show’s bisexual protagonist, Jack, based on show creator Alex Bahrawy (who is also bisexual), and a non-binary character. Some called the series, which has been in the works since 2016, “one of the coolest indie productions,” and “really cool.”

Since my last post, Cartoon Connect‘s series Little Ron Ron, Gotta Be Mo, Lumen, or Loyalty High have not been continued. He appears to be working on a new animated series called Kenny Quick, asking for voice actor auditions in November 2021. The same is the case for Brandon Wright – it looks like his animated series Silver Lin is unlikely to continue. The same appears to be the case for Guardian Instance. Despite this, Diver appears to be on track, as a video this month noted that a new episode was being developed. The Quickening, with a pilot airing in July 2020, and Ascendants, a series which appeared to be in development, are dead in the water. [3] While those shows may be ending, unless something miraculous happens, Howdy Cloudboy, a Western genre series with a main cast who are “all black lqbtq+ folks,” is being developed by a Black and Queer led studio named Faeduck Studios.

The Far-Fetched Show, created by Ashley Nichols and Dave Capdevielle, who both previously worked on Hazbin Hotel, has gone ahead. The official account put out a call for more animators and clean-up artists at the beginning of this year. Far-Fetched is a horror comedy about Rue Cervello (voiced by Nola Klop), a young woman who loses her chaotic canine, Kira (voiced by Jazmine Luevanos), and joins a bunch of musical misfits (Quinn, Griff, Piper, and Warren) who are part of the band Sesamoid. They work together to fight and survive in a place where science clashes with the supernatural. There are two villains: Drain (voiced by Michael Zekas) and Blair (voiced by Lauren Landa).

At one point last year, there was a post of the show’s official Twitter, showing the characters holding LGBTQ flags. Rue holds a sweater saying she is questioning, Quinn Hickley (voiced by J. Michael Tatum) holds the demisexual panromantic flag, Griff (voiced by Jacob Takanashi) holds an asexual flag, and Piper Stubbs (voiced by Dani Chambers) holds a lesbian flag, while Kira and Warren Webber (voiced by Jonah Scott) are allies. This was clarified by Nichols. The show’s current route is to fully fund the pilot themselves, then launch a larger crowdfunding campaign and merchandising to give the series “longer episodes” and make additional “bonus content.”

Presumably, shows like Satina, a dark comedy, will include LGBTQ characters. Hopefully, Satina will premiere this year. Like Satina, which continues to be in development if anything can be gleaned by creator Hannah Daigle’s YouTube channel, once the episodes of Far-Fetched are finished, they will be on YouTube. Comics of the show’s characters will likely be released.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[bigboxcar]

Mugshot Monday - "Parkview Drip Grind Coffee" mug by Westwood Yesteryear with Morning Glory Cold Brew by Peace Coffee

I don't remember the pollen being this gnarly on a Memorial Day weekend in Minneapolis. I'm a mess. Watery eyes, snot-faucet, the whole experience.

We had literal clouds of pollen wafting through our alley all day!

I really shouldn't complain at all because the weather was absolutely fantastic this weekend. It was just beautiful.

I took this mugshot around 10am *before* we started with the yardwork we've been intentionally putting off during no-mow-may. I knew my allergies were going to kick in, and I was right. (There is no *after* shot, sorry.)

This Parkview Coffee mug is another one of my Westwood Yesteryear faux coffee brand mugs sold in the 90s. I love the illustrations and I love that type treatment. Such a cool cup.

Today we remember the veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our country. Raise a mug if you have one.

See also my 690+ photos from the Mugshot Monday project here: www.MugshotMonday.com – Every Mug Has A Story

[woomycritiques543]

With fur, I can understand-

But the skin color, in a universe where the color brown still exists?! Even in Heaven, a world where the angels are meant to look more “alien” she made them much more humanoid instead, and specifically, the black women were drawn as a light grey. How could I, a black person, not read this as colorist?! Even if done racist unintentionally, that doesn’t excuse the outcome!

Especially a bunch of harmful outcomes, that the creator refuses to fix because she’s more focused on mainstream appeal, and toxic “positivity” and “perfection” than to do anything about any of the problems with either of her shows. It’s so frustrating, because there’s so many decent indie shows and shorts that are amazing, but don’t get picked up- or any love from critics because they’re not “memeable” or “trendy” enough.

I like Hazbin, but I understand that there’s better indie media out there that deserve more attention and love than that of Hazbin Hotel or Helluva Boss, not just morally-

But quality wise.

Media:

“Mugshot and Pollen.”

“Film Quest.”

“The Day of Crows.”

“Please Stay Tuned.”

“Carmen Got Expelled!”

If anyone has any other recommendations-

I’ll add them to the list! 🦑

WOAH! Finally, a new advertisment!

So for that- time for some pros and cons! :D

If they can have brown in Hell (like the tree)- Why are all the non white characters grey washed or not colored as brown besides only one character that wasnt drawn by Vivziepop?

EDIT: Turns out, Milky and Coco, the character named after the fact that she's a black character (wow progressive...) arent even brown, and Milky, the darkest one, is shown as a ligther red (basically whitewashed) in her "demon" form. Bro...wtf?

What's with all the "grey"washing? Why make most of them grey, a light grey, if brown is something that exists in that world? It just makes the series come off as unintentionally colorist with how they refuse to have any curly hair, brown skin, or anything that non-white people tend to have commonly despite these characters clearly being meant to be the "most" humanoid in the story. Charlie and Cherri Bomb literlly being white- not even peach, white!

Why? What's the point if grey and peach are colors that have the ability to exist in this universe? Why make most "poc" characters in the series such a extremeley light color outside of just maybe Velvet and some background characters. It's just feels wrong, honestly.

2. Too much red, oh my god there's almost no other colors.

I get it Viv, you like red. Hell, Hell isnt even red!

Fire, by definition, is a orange color! Fire is orange, not red! 😂

So the "dynamic" or reference doesnt even make sense and just feels like a cheap excuse to have almost everything the same color. Is a bit more of a pallete really "too much" work for this show outside of well... slapping it together randomly?

3. Not even a con... but A24's radio silence is still happening.

:(

So for that, on with the pros!

1. Hazbin Hotel is almost here!!!! How could I not be excited?! Hazbin Hotel is finally happening! 😲😄😄

Been waiting for this for yeaaaaaars you have no idea! Well- you do, because you all have been waiting too. So good for you guys too! :D

2. Charlie (outside of the overuse of a certain color) definitely has a nicer design. Great change from the "eh" hair she had before.

Well... that's it for now! Not really much to say other than-

HAZBIN HOTEL IS COMING OUT NEXT SUMMER!

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!!!!! :0

WOOOHOOOOO!!!! 😆😆😆😆😄😁🦑

[paperannxo]

Who’s Ready for Three Fics Today?!

No, I’m not being a good author and spreading them out.  I meant it when I said there will be chaos.  I only have so many days off which means fic bursts!  Wheee!! In case you missed the Saturday update! Nothing Tastes the Same Square Filled: Wincest Summary: Everything is wrong and Sam isn’t sure they can fix it this time. With the news flashing their mugshots for a killing spree, hallucinations of Lucifer telling him this world isn’t real, and the stupid secret he’s been keeping since forever—something’s gotta give. He’ll leave it in his brother’s hands. Sam will finally come out with it and if Dean accepts him, they can muscle through. Together. If not? This may be the end of his road. I’m a Work in Progress Square Filled: Paddling Summary:  Dean had taken some time off from the sub-lifestyle because of a bad experience (but everyone has those, right?) except now he’s ready to dip his toes in again. Castiel was...not what he’d expected. At all. The dom was a damn surprise, a fucking gift, and he doesn't want Dean for a sub, alone. Castiel wanted to help fix him. Oh, then there's Cas’ style in bed—that's a thing of beauty. A/N: There will be another chapter of this fic posted soon :) Later in the day, look for the fills: Sex Pollen, Scent Kink and Samifer! Happy Monday! xoxo

[mnpcartoon]

The Elsewhere Interludes follow Mugshot and Pollens childhoods before moving to wherever it is they found themselves in. It can be weird or charming depending on who you are.

Here they enjoy a passing carnival, next? Who knows!

[mnpcartoon]

It's ⁦‪Indie Animation Day‬⁩ !

‎Here's a preview at our first short, Elsewhere Interlude: Off-kilter Carnival! The Elsewhere Interludes are short stories from Mugshot & Pollen's childhood which range from strange to their normal silly-cute!

‎🎠⋆｡˚⟡˖ ࣪

[mnpcartoon]

PILOT EPISODE OUT NOW!

[mnpcartoon]

Are Mugshot and Pollen best friends or lovers?

Best friends!

They match each others freak in a platonic sort of way.

[mnpcartoon]

Long awaited updated intro sequence for the pilot!

Episode Synopsis: Mugshot&Pollen are your kind of regular average adults, who just want to get along with their neighbors, have fun, and run away from home. But let's not unpack that they have games to play!

Song Composed by Rodrigo Teodoro

Animation by Soleildiddle, Shandzii, SoulofEbony

BG Art Soleildiddle,Starry Nwt

[soleildiddle]

Happy valentines day from them the two of them

[soleildiddle]

thats his eldest thats his pride

[mnpcartoon]

Happy #IndieAnimationDay ! Here's another clip from the pilot and some super serious unserious previews of the episode!

[soleildiddle]

yams!!