#the funniest part abt this was clicking learn more

[volcanicflowers]

[beatcroc]

a year!!! as of today i have now been drawing these funny little pizza freaks, to the exclusion of almost everything else, for!!! an entire year!!! i wanted to do a nice group shot/lineup of everybody to compare to when i first started trying to draw them because oh boy were they bad. i never even posted most of them anywhere because they were so bad. but im posting them here, now, to see how everything's changed/evolved.

this is probably the hardest time i've ever had trying to figure out how to work with a style, but we got there eventually; i'm pretty happy with the handle i've got on everybody now...dont let ur memes be dreams. lots of unimportant journaling and idle thoughts abt it below.

older pics

the first one is the VERY first time i drew them, before i thought i was going to actually have any interest in drawing them [lmao]; it was just the one isolated image, for my friendserver, to illustrate the funney message, so there was no attempt to make it Good or actually understand anything going on w/ the designs or style.

second is the original run of practices sketches to start trying to figure them out for real; done after i started having ideas for the comics and such and realized oh god maybe i am actually gonna draw fanart for this. [again, lol, and lmao.]

third one is the first pt art thing i posted on here. there were a couple weeks of sprite studies between this one and the previous image. the one on the top right wasn't part of that post i just threw it on as space filler; i'd intended to shift to doing Sprite Redraws But Stylized to explore tings more, but that was the only one i did. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

individual characters

peppino: by far the hardest dear god. bro what ARE your shapes how DOES your face work. jesus christ. everything i have trouble with this style for, peppino has it in excess. i draw in polygons! i need consistency! and that is the last thing this kind of style is concerned with. they are made of squarshy clay and i do not understand how to mold them. i was really hoping trying to learn this game's style would GIVE me that kind of flexibility for fun exaggerated facial expression but i don't think much came of it in the end 😔. anyway on the bright side all this means once i got peppino figured out a little bit everybody else clicked way easier.

fake peppino: honestly i never did anything with him on purpose except for how his eyes work + the perma-smile thing. i figured ok hes supposed to look weird and off model so whatever happens with him happens. and it did. and it kept happening. it is still, in fact, happening.

noise/ette: somehow, for every bit that peppino was the least natural thing i've ever tried, these two worked pretty much right off the bat. i still don't understand it, seeing as pretty much all the things at play for peppino are also at work for them. i think the new sketches are actually a little worse than older ones but not enough that i care.

gustavo: really funny bc i drew him on model twice and just went 'okay, cool nice, easy, um. he doesn't have any fucking legs?' fortunately he was the only one i had a strong idea for how to stylize him [square] and it worked exactly as i was hoping so wahoo.

brick: is an animal and therefore 5000x easier and more natural for me to draw/stylize than anything else in the cast. that is Just a rat bro. i can draw a rat.

gerome: i think the funniest one here. the most drastic and least necessary change imo. i was gonna have him be really small at first, like smaller than the noises, but then i just... didn't. he's just peppino-sized now. also i gave him like. actual human facial structure, which is funny bc in most cases i'd do anything to avoid, but it works well for his being A Rock to give him some angles and definition like that+ to differentiate his vibe from the rest of the cast who are all very squishy. also since he is essentially Just A Head it's good to emphasize that too ig.

john: i only drew john a couple times but he gets to be here because i like him. and because most of the stuff i applied to gerome was readily applicable to john, though i did try to keep him a little more uncanny because he is a Huge And Lanky Freak. i hate that he is barefoot btw but idk how to make his color balance look right with shoes.

pizzahead: i did not want to put him on here honestly but i Have drawn him a handful of times and more importantly i didn't know what i was gonna do with john's pose if i didn't have him there to be glared at. the only thing that's different with him is giving him wider-bottomed pants, which i got from when i tried to draw these guys in clone high style [i never posted that one either][i will eventually]

snick: he gets to be here because 1. he's like 6 lines 2. i like him and 3. ive scribbled him a few times offhand and it went pretty well

misc

there are some guys missing because those are guys i didn't draw enough [or at all] to have gotten comfortable with them. sorry

i would have Liked to shade these but for the time being i have accepted that my grasp of light/shadow has decayed to the point im not going to be happy with anything i try there, so For Now i am working on my presentation with flats i guess. gerome has a shadow only because he's shaded like that ingame and looks naked without it

anyway if you are still reading [hi?] i get to shamelessly plug now. i'm over the hill of my pizza run now, and while i still have plenty of things i want to make here, most of the bigger more in-depth ones have passed. pizza tower was the first thing in THREE YEARS to get me out of my oc groove to doing fanart, and once i am done with my ideas here i will be going right back to it. if you like my art or how i write characters/interactions you should check out my oc/webcomic blog @jamverse . i can't promise people who like pizza stuff will be terribly into my designs, but i can guarantee i treat my guys with the exact same sort of tone i handle the pt guys with. and hell, i've mentioned it a few times before, but like 70% of my characterization for fake pep is just copied off one of my characters, so if u are going to miss him... he will still be there in spirit >;p

and if you dont care about any of that and are still reading thank you anyway. actually making these comics + seeing how shockingly well-received they've been has done a lot for my confidence, and for seeing that my kind of stuff IS something people enjoy :')

[apricusapollo]

EXACTLY

istg the more i learn abt history (major shout out to the first 5 seasons of horrible histories for that <3) the more it clicks that pretty much every major event ever was completely avoidable had the ppl in power just used?? common fucking sense???? like yeah hindsight is 20/20 or whatever but i feel like it shouldn't be that hard to not make the dumbest possible decision in any given situation??

(i've somehow only had the realisation that maybe my childhood obsessions with horrible histories and the clone wars may have had more of an impact than i realised lmao)

and the funniest (the saddest) part is that a lot of things STILL can be avoided if people in power weren't just straight up bags of shit!!!

[rovermcfly]

Okay so like the end of the gay episode(the explicitly gay one, let's be real so much of ql is gay) though?? Like the '/was/ he gay?' 'does it matter?' exchange? I don't know why but I always loved that - ziggy anon

That was a really really good choice because that perfectly summed up what the ep was about. It doesn't matter. These guys performed perfectly, were star students but once they’re gay suddenly they're no longer qualified for no reason. The does it matter perfectly encapsulates the whole point of the episode (although I'm sure tommy was gay, I think that's more than heavily implied and not just me interpreting it how I want).

I have SO much to say about this ep. And yes this ask now has a read more because I only have you to talk to.

1) I can't believe they had Sam not just help a gay man but actually be one. I never expected that from an early 90s show, esp with how the show keeps saying that Sam has parts of the leapees in him, that feels like something shows would wanna stay as away away as possible. 10/10

2) At first I thought making Al homophobic was a terrible choice but it's actually incredible commentary. That the Navy brainwashes people to the point that even Al, who's an open-minded person, would be homophobic and let it out on his best friend about things that never bothered him before because the environment triggered all that conditioning about being a good little straight soldier.

2.a) Al. Is. Not. Straight. But not the way I thought. All the hypersexuality and talking about women, the gay panic when Sam was a woman (and the conclusion was “love is part of friendship”???) makes sense now. He was so brainwashed to believe being gay is bad, at least if you're in the military that until now he couldn't admit it. Dr Beeks was more right than I ever thought when she asked him if he's a repressed homosexual because he is. He listened to the coach, what he said about hiding himself because of his career and it clicked. He wasn't just wrong about gay people, but wrong about himself.

3) I want to kiss Sam Beckett for being the way he is. There is no hesitation, no learning curve, nothing. He just believes every single person deserves to be treated equally and with respect and he will fight for that. He's not hesitant abt it or lets "hey you look a little gay" get to him because he never once would doubt that being gay is any different. Which is of course because he IS queer but you know.

I know in the original script apparently when Al says he's never seen him cross his legs that way Sam makes an equal remark about the cigar and I just love that they cut it because Sam. would. never. He'd never make that type of joke or stab.

4) Sam implying that Ronnie is gay because he's "taking it all very personally" is great cause uh Sam is also... taking this quite... personally. Again, because he IS queer. obviously.

5) The gay boat festival is one of the funniest lines and deliveries in the show.

[youichi-kuramochi]

dearest viv,

how the FUCK do you connect scenes?

i forgot what sign off i was gonna use

started with an r

umm

fuck. whatever

i cant remember if it was regards or respectfully. maybe respectfully?? yeah since i was yelling?? ok

respectfully,

honey ʕ ﹒ ᴥ ﹒ ʔ

ALDFKJGALDFKGDLFJ THIS WAS THE FUNNIEST ASK TO WAKE UP TO THANK YOU FOR THAT OMG

ANYWAY............ do u mean like in general or me personally lmao bc my answer to the second is probably like. totally unhelpful bc I just kinda vibe it most of the time when I’m writing adflkjagdfk at least first drafts. editing is another story (standby. we’ll get there lmao)

[sidebar: OH MY GOD THIS ANSWER GOT SO LONG I’M SO SORRY IF THIS WAS A JOKEY ASK AND I JUST RAMBLED UNNECESSARILY FOR LIKE FOREVER I am just. I am very passionate about writing even though my own process is a Mess aldkfjglkgf anyway I’m putting this under a cut bc uh. this really got away from me]

alright so theoretically??? I think transitions are less important than like. there should be a point each scene is trying to make. it either develops character or plot or relationships or any combination of those, and you need to have enough to make that point and then it can end (though I overelaborate a lot so. idk. I don’t think I follow most of this advice even though I understand it In Theory adlfkgjlkf). similarly, when you string the scenes together, they should to build towards a larger narrative arc. like because character a learned this thing about themself in the previous scene, now they can confront character b about something else. or because of this character establishing moment, we can now have this character do this thing because we, the readers, now have some insight into their motivations/fears/desires/etc. or whatever. I guess this is sort of about transitions lmao but the point is that the larger narrative should connect, not that you need to be super careful always about making the words/physical scenes themselves connect, if that makes sense

imo scenes can start and end abruptly and like as long as the narrative point is made you don’t really miss out on much. I’m terrible at actually doing this which is why my fics all wind up so long but I don’t mind it at all when I’m reading. I think it’s really cool when someone can make a really powerful point with far fewer words than I ever could. idk who told me this maybe a professor or maybe I just read it somewhere but it’s often a good move to drop readers right in the middle of the action like you don’t need that much buildup to it (unless the buildup serves a purpose. maybe your character is hesitating. maybe they’re overthinking.) you might need more buildup/general exposition in the beginning to get us acquainted with the world of the fic, but especially as you go on, exposition only as needed can be a good move. something something kill your darlings, y’know?

actually this last bit I do follow sometimes lmao I often wind up with several pages of just. unused text that I’d written and then decided was extraneous to the point I was trying to make or made a scene drag on or just didn’t click. like for my current ongoing fic, I have entire scenes I’ve cut. I wrote 2k of a high school scene that I ended up only using slivers of for flashbacks. there was a scene when onigiri miya opened at one point. for my bkak big bang fic I literally have over 6k that I took out completely that if I had kept in would’ve given the whole thing a completely different tone that I decided I didn’t like after I’d already written like half the fic. so I scrapped them. I usually save these, not do anything with really but just because deleting text forever is hard lmao so saving the writing somewhere, if not in the fic itself, makes it easier for me to cut

ALL THAT SAID it’s also totally cool to just trust your gut and run with a vague idea. like this kind of writing should be fun and I wouldn’t let worrying about this stuff get in the way of having a good time. and also everyone’s process is different!! everyone’s writing style is different and your writing probably won’t have the same tone or style as writers you admire and that’s okay!! it’s a good thing, even, imo. that’s what’s so cool about writing and honestly a lot of my favorite writers do not write like I do and I love that

and when I said I vibe it w my fics I really honestly do 90% of the time. I usually have a general sense of where I’m going but it’s more enjoyable for me discover things on the way. some people swear by outlines, I fundamentally do not other than like. AT MAX writing a short bullet point list of scenes I want to include as I think of them bc my brain is like a sieve. and usually weeks after starting something, I’ll write a line/paragraph/scene and have an epiphany like oh my god. oh my god I get what this whole piece is trying to say. (this is my favorite part of writing tbh. discovering that moment) and once I have that, it’s much easier to figure out what belongs and what doesn’t when I go back and edit earlier scenes and make sure that everything ties together

and also, finally, (sorry I know I’ve been rambling for a while now I swear this is the last point) I want to note that all of this gets easier and more natural with practice. I’ve been writing for over 10 years, on and off. ao3 says I have 500k+ of published fic, not to mention I probably as much if not more from abandoned wips that will never see the light of day AND a bunch of stuff floating around on livejournal (lol) from the pre-ao3 days, so I have written. a LOT. and over time you sort of hone your intuition about what works for you and what doesn’t and at least for me, now I think a lot less abt the nitty gritty and just go wherever my writing takes me and I’ll usually land in the general vicinity of making sense. I think anyone can get there (or wherever it is you’d like to be if this isn’t your style). the trick is just to keep writing! it’s a skill like everything else ☺️

[funky-boat-zone]

the lighthouse chronicles: part 2/??

black out

something i’ve learned is that only there’s a 50/50 chance that the episode uploaded and the video’s title will actually match up. so i have to check the episode’s title card every time i click on another one to make sure it’s not one i’ve already blogged

i’ll never get over “snugboat harbor”. it makes this series sound like a soothing set of bedtime stories, which i’d probably prefer tbh

“sufferin’ smokestacks” big mac, i can’t believe you’d steal your own brother’s catchphrase like this!

when has big stack ever played practical jokes? i can’t even think of a single instance within this own series

“maybe it was something you ate” warrior, stop. stop implying that these boats have organs, that’s terrible

sunshine is clearly making fun of big mac, and yet she looks just as scared as tugs!sunshine did in the original series

talking abt the cartoon segments for a minute: salty’s toy boat is alive enough to blink, and yet he’s stashed away in the toybox? (could have just been a visual gag, but i’m taking every thing to its most horrific possible conclusion for The Funny)

if aurora is a lighthouse bulb, she’s probably the world’s most ineffective lighthouse because salty and friends would go blind otherwise

the public domain footage used in the musical segments is the stuff of nightmares half the time.

“what’s that crackling sound” sounds like wood creaking, but ok

one of the scariest moments in the original series, and it’s watered down to less than a minute with ten cents and sunshine downplaying how scary it is the whole time.

hercules’ spiel at the end is weirdly faithful to the original episode, idk how to feel

eight is too much

the musical segment is inexplicably at the beginning of the episode

zak still sounds like a chain smoker in this universe, so at least this show got that right 

it’s not safe to go through the canal.

zak, you don’t get to yell at zb to get away from the bridge when you were the one who made him take it under the bridge in the first place when he correctly guessed that his load was too tall and didn’t want to

don’t talk to me through the fourth wall, salty

one bad day

“nothing’s gonna go wrong today” good going warrior, you’ve jinxed it.

the audio for this episode has a lot of mic pops, so i feel like i’m traversing a minefield sound-wise. fun times

warrior might sink someone bc he just wants to show off his rocks

“my good day is turning into a really, really bad one” warrior, most of your current mishaps wouldn’t have taken place if you didn’t decide to show off your rocks.

“stay here, stinker” does lord stinker really have a choice anyway? he’s a barge

there’s at least a few more fires (using footage from “munitions”) across the series. this harbor is arguably even less fire-safe than bigg city port!

hands off!

oh god, oh fuck. it’s another episode with messed up audio. this is gonna suck.

“someday we’ll be bigger tugs” hey ten cents what the fuck does this mean

also sunshine switches liveries constantly throughout episodes, because they keep using footage from “sunshine”, but it’s especially noticeable here

yes, a wave dragged sunshine into the duchess, much like how zip and zug accidentally jammed a fire barge across the creek that one time.

“the fog rolls in like a new carpet” if i write a book, remind me to steal that.

top hat is the funniest part of this whole damn show. that’s not saying much, but hey. i’ll give him some credit

sunshine is described as having “a lump in her throat”, which raises a lot of horrifying questions (okay i’ll try to lay off the body horror jokes now, even i can tell that they’re probably getting repetitive)