[ ID: Traditionally done and colored fanart of Smile For Me the game involving Parsley Botch and Ronbo the clown. It is of my AU Roseverse.
Here Parsley has a buffer look and his gold canines are a bit bigger, his sharp nails are painted red. Ronbo is an alien clown so he has neon eyes, sharp teeth and little antennae. They are colored with sketchpens and color pencils.
The buildings below are painted in warm colors of red, orange and yellow. Parsley is being carried away from the balcony of a building by a grinning Ronbo, his suitcase flies open and multicolored business papers, notepads, files swoosh away. He starts to smile. His clothes loosen in the wind. Ronbo holds his hand, and holds heart shaped balloons in the other. They are both flying away. The background is a gradient done in sketchpen of space from black to blue to purple to pink, dotted with white spots of paint as stars. End ID]
YAH I ship them..guy from hell and guy from space...yowww...Go Ponbo shippers 2024!!!!
Something that I've noticed ever since the Smiling Critters were introduced is that they can so easily be paired off into complementary duos, ones that are specifically designed to teach children fundamental lessons about life and self-care from two different angles. It's really interesting to me.
Like obviously you have Dogday and Catnap, with their sun/moon, dog/cat dichotomy, that stress how important it is to have fun and get things done during the day, but also that it's important to wind down, relax, and get a good night's sleep.
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Bubba Bubbaphant and Craftycorn were introduced as a duo in the Smiling Critter show's intro, and their dichotomy is quite obvious. They are basically the right and left sides of the brain personified. Bubba is the left side of the brain, logical, analytical, focused on math and science. Craftycorn is the right side of the brain, creative and imaginative, focused on the arts and self-expression. They represent learning and academia in all its forms, the different ways people engage with and understand the world.
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Hoppy Hopscotch and Kickin' Chicken form the sportsmanship duo. They are both portrayed as enjoying sports and the outdoors, but in different ways that highlight the different ways sports can be played and enjoyed and also what it entails to be successful at them. Hoppy Hopscotch may be loud and impatient, but she is also a team player, shown in her willingness to slow down her fast pace to make sure none of her friends are left behind. Kickin' Chicken, on the other hand, is laid-back, relaxed, and chill, the described "cool kid" of the group, but he's also described as having a ton of perseverance, more of a "slow and steady wins the race" type of person.
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This leaves Bobby Bearhug and Picky Piggy as the last pair. Fittingly, these two are all about how to meet the fundamental needs of yourself and others. Bobby teaches children how to nourish themselves emotionally through showing and receiving care from others, while Picky teaches them how good food is important to nourish the body and soul. Depriving oneself of either of these things only makes oneself and therefore everyone around one miserable, because those fundamental needs are no longer being met.
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Like fr, this is some pretty genius marketing right here. You have enough characters that every kid will have their favorite, but not so many that any would get lost in the shuffle, because the lessons each one of them would teach would be integral to the group as a whole. It really makes me that much sadder we saw basically nothing of the Smiling Critters during the game itself, because Mob Games struck gold with this concept, only to ultimately do nothing with it. :/
Playing GK, and I'm doing a "collectibles" run through Gotham tonight and went hunting for the street art in the West End.
(Sorry for the potato quality; I had to lighten the camera to make it visible in screenshots. Also, image IDs are in alt.)
I was surprised when the descriptor "Born This Way" popped up when I added it to my collection, along with a description of the piece being commissioned for Gotham Pride.
"Aw, that's nice." I thought. A nice little bit of world-building that ties in nicely with Tim coming out as bi and Dick offering to go to Pride with him.
So, anyway, art collected, I hopped back on my bike, took off down the street, and then reversed at full speed because I realized I'd just driven over a rainbow crosswalk.
"Aw, cool! That's a nice little touch. Wait a minute... is that an Irish gay bar?"
"It is! It's a gay Irish bar! Huh... I wonder what else is around here."
So I get off the bike, turn a corner, and start counting the rainbow Pride flags hanging over fire escapes and windows.
"Wait... does Gotham have a Gay Village?"
"Holy shit, they gave Gotham a Gay Village!"
"Wait, what does that sign say under the Pride flag... "The Quiet Escape Bookstore"... GAY BOOKSTORE GAY BOOKSTORE GAY BOOKSTORE GAY BOOKSTORE!!!"
So anyway, yeah. I have 154 hours in this game and only just now found Gotham's LGBT district.
TODAY, our game Smile For Me is FIVE YEARS OLD! WOW! Here is a special commemorative drawing~ thank you for the support all these years, ya scoundrels!!
the quiet show of support from kim despite his own nerves... the playful ribbing between the two of them... the image of kim lending a crying harry his handkerchief, doing what he can to dry this broken man's tears....... these moments are really making me feel some type of way alright