#this is what that sketch of a comic thing I’ve been showing off is about

[shade-e-e-es]

Nobody understands him like I do

[temtamtom]

Fuck it, I’m taking out the trash. Here’s a dump of sketches and some perpetual WIPs that are sitting in my procreate files. A few of these are from well over a year ago 😭 I’ve actually posted a few of these WIPs before, only to promptly delete them out of insecurity (at least I think I did. Some might still be up and I just forgot lol). I’m trying to be less shy about my art, even the caca sketches- so I’m pulling them back out of the abyss.

Some context/explanations for the drawings under the cut:

1st page:

- An exploration of a young Ludwig. He came out more baby-faced than I originally planned, so let’s just say he’s like. 12. Or something. Bro should be playing Fortnite 😩

- I think this is from a year ago- it’s a Björn from one of Grem’s AUs (which is why he’s got all those scars, rest in piss)

2nd page:

This is one of the WIPs I posted and then deleted immediately after. At least I think I did, I can’t seem to find it on my blog. Anyways, I sketched this while exploring how the itabros drifted apart as they grew. This particular one-shot is set during Holy Rome’s funeral, and Romano is conflicted on how (or even IF) he should approach Feli. Should he comfort him? It might be awkward, but that’s his brother so he SHOULD say something, right? Would he even be that helpful? It hurts to see him cry, but he’s already surrounded by so many people, it might just be redundant. God this is so awkward and difficult and and and-

3rd page:

Woe, Venetican be upon ye. Thinking of Pietro’s more sentimental, softer side. The part of him that yearns for something genuine with Feliciano, but would never dare to cross that line. He’s scared of what his feelings mean and if he thinks about it too much he might just shatter. If you’re wondering why Feli is blurry, my idea was to imitate a camera focal lens and have it “focus” on Pietro’s face solely. Sadly, despite the blur, I didn’t like Vene’s face so I just moved on to other things FBGHF

4th page:

- This started off as a study from a photo and then ofc I hetalia-fied it by turning it into Sebastiano. He’s just a littol guy…

- Another oldie. VERY old and very rough, from well over a year ago. This was from a historical story/one-shot idea where Romano’s on a Not-Date with Alfred, and he breaks the news that he’s going back to Italy. They’re not a couple, and they won’t be for a long time. It’s very rough but ngl I like how Romano’s face turned out

- Another historical one-shot idea- this time about Gaul and François. I already posted a sketch of lil France from this comic a few weeks ago, but I don’t think I showed any Gaul panels. Here he’s talking to a Druid, who comments on François’ peculiar nature, and tells Vindiorix to hold onto him before he inevitably slips from his fingers. Soon enough, François would live under Rome’s care as “Gallia Narbonensis”. He would eventually embrace his new Roman identity, and his loyalty would shift (both out of genuine respect, and for survival)- inevitably drifting away from his father. I wasn’t happy with the dialogue, so I left it on the back burner for another day.

I’ve been thinking a lot about François’ childhood. His relationships with Vindiorix and Rome, his loyalties, his turmoils, his regrets. There’s more I’d like to say, and I would love to make a more in-depth post about it, but uni has fried my brain and it’s become difficult to string a coherent thought or sentence together. One day, though! I love those two so much augh they tickle my brainnnn

——

Pls excuse any errors or awkward phrasing, I’m genuinely running on fumes 😭 </3 At least I’ll be on break soon YAYAA. Anyways if y’all wanna yap about any of this stuff, my inbox is open. I’ve got a few lovely asks I need to finish answering too aaaa sorry y’all

[heymrspatel]

ART TAG

thanks for tagging me @deathclassic @kiennilove @suzy-queued @doshiart and @sgtmickeyslaughter 🥰💙

Have you always been interested in creating art? i have, yea! i've been drawing for as long as i can remember!

What's your favourite medium to use? If digital, what programs do you like? right now i would say digital since it's what i use the most nowadays. i use procreate on an ipad that is about to give out on me (and i really really need it to NOT do that).

Do you create outside of fandom? yea, i make silly little sketches for myself almost daily. just to stay sane while i work a corporate 9-5. those will never see the light of day.

Share something you haven't finished and/or never got around to posting this is like 90% done... but i never posted it because i didn't feel good with it at the time lol like something was off and i felt like i would have to undo too much to get it where i wanted it to be... (does this make sense?)

Favourite piece you've made? this is hard! i feel like it changes all the time? i'm going to go with this one because i really like how the background turned out and because i'm a soft bitch

Draw your icon in a minute or less hehe his cheeks

An underrated piece you've made in your opinion 'baby boy' idk i think it's really soft and lovely

but also, a lot of the kinktober pieces… i’ve been so so so very proud of them because they’re so vulnerable and i think i did a nice job with some of them, but they don’t quite take off 😅

Do you do art in a professional setting? i do not. my work is the furthest thing i could get from being creative.

A piece you don't like but did really well on social media uuuhhh i think i'll skip this one! simply because i could pick apart probably everything i've ever posted lol!

Post an old piece and compare it to your most recent, what are the similarites? i'm not going to do my most recent because it's kinktober and i also went for a pretty different style... SO! i'll do the first comic style one i did and the latest one!

the color palette is still the same, they're still very soft and gone for each other, i really love a gentle face hold!

Have you ever collaborated with another artist/s? i don't think i have? but i've collaborated with a couple of writers to make some pieces for their fics!

What piece has the most notes? Are you surprised? roadtrip boys! i'm not really surprised, not for nothing but i did my thing here. there's lots of details, storytelling, dreamy colors. i get it.

Who/What is your favourite subject matter? tbh it's landscapes or mundane still lifes...lol!! "julissa, not bowls of fruit!", everyone cried! you'd be correct. not that. but everyday kind of humdrum but meaningful pieces. atmospheric. yanking you back to a point in time. - i did a drawing of my grandma's vanity once. with her lipsticks and little lotions and stuff. like that.

Show us something not from fandom you've made here go:

Where do you like to create? on my couch. absolutely hunched over like a shrimp.

Do you have a tag that you use to group your creations? Tell us so people can follow it i do! i put everything under myart

Give yourself a shoutout, where can we commission/buy/follow you for more pieces? i don't do commissions or have anything for sale and i also don't exist anywhere else lamdsflj i'm just here and i crosspost on ao3 💙

i'll tag @deedala @michellemisfit @gallapiech @lingy910y @vintagelacerosette @gallawitchxx @spookygingerr @romidoes if you'd like to play! if not, this is just me giving you a little nose boop!

[yosajaeofficial]

JUNE UPDATE

WASSUP BROS AND HOES, IT’S ME, YOSA FRICKING JAE. BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH ANOTHER UPDATE ABOUT THE JMC 🔥🔥🔥‼️‼️‼️

Last time, I remember saying it’ll be different and things will spice up, and I am indeed gonna provide more stuff piled into these updates because the debut comic is taking so long. I wanna make sure you all get full when consuming these updates instead of being like “oh, nothing happened lol”. I have a good chunk of shit to talk about that’s outside of the comic itself, but it’s like behind the scene stuff about it :3

With that out of the way, let’s finally get started!

The Comic

(W.I.P OF THE OFFICAL DEBUT COMIC)

The comic is slowly making progress, the first thing that’s changing is me showing progress of the comic itself and giving ya’ll w.i.ps in order for me to give you guys content to look over, and because I just want ya’ll to see it yk? The honest truth is that it’s moving slow because of burnout. It was huge and made me wanna give up on the comic and leave the fandom, I was struggling for a good while but my best friend told me it was best to take a break and recharge instead of pushing further. They told me to do something else so I can regain my motivation and passion for the project, and she was right, because I’ve been having fun hanging out, watching her play Stardew Valley, and letting loose without the pressure for the debut comic to come out. I have to prioritize my health and well-being before anything else, and I know the comic will be done!

Also for you all to know, the team I had disbanded, and right now I don’t have a full official one to help with the debut. I have amazing friends that have helped look over the script, one did some sketch compositions, one helped fix up grammar in the script. They helped me greatly and I’m so grateful for them and their loving support even through all of the rough patches. For the most part, I’ve been doing everything on my own, and it can get stressful easily because of how much I’ve had to change my plans and shuffle around when the team disbanded. I’ve been the one doing the scripting, sketches, lineart, color, management, and just everything. Even if I try to act like things are fine behind the scenes, I definitely got more anxious and depressed after events occurred, so this break (not hiatus) has helped me recharge after going through a bit for this comic. To end this section on a good note, I’m feeling so much better and I’m recharging absolutely greatly, I even renewed my love for Donnie after a friend drew him 🦐 Sooooo…The JMC is still in good hands.

Bonus Content: The Villain

YosaJae, what is this? This is the section that’s hella new, the place where I show you guys some cool concept art, ideas, and plots that show the origins of the JMC or even scrapped/cut content. Today we’re gonna talk about the villain of Arc 1. Fun fact, two were created at the same time but one of them was finalized to be the primary villain for Arc 1!

(First ever concept art of Archie Gomez)

Here he is! The cat himself, ✨Archie✨ I needed some variety and needed an anthropomorphic character since Rise has lots of their mutants and yokai. Archie was a character that was a lot more serious and hella threatening but he was toned down after more arcs were created. For some reason, I included freckles because I originally thought, “Ginger people…..” then included the freckles to make him more recognizable. Let’s just say that they weren’t as rememberable as I thought because I forgot them after a while-

Fun fact, Archie was originally gonna be a native Spanish speaker but not be able to speak English. The actual conflict was gonna be about the turtles and Archie fighting due to language miscommunication, but it was later scrapped because of the issue with translating each of his sentences and being truly accurate with his dialogue. He also at first was a one off character that would never return, but he was popular that he became the reoccurring bad for Arc 1.

(Archie Gomez Evolution 2022-2024)

Archie had went through a good bit of design changes over the years and I changed him to be more easier to draw by giving him a more unique silhouette by drawing his head as a pentagon instead of a circle. The transition was at first a circle to triangle, but then the shape was too complicated to recreate so I had to go with a pentagon (as an accident at first too). That changed him A LOT but I was hella happy with the way he turned out because he started to look more unique and iconic. Pretty cool, eh~?

Aaaand that’s it! Thank you all for stopping by and coming in to read this update! I hope it was fun to go through and very refreshing. I wanna make my updates more like this instead of what was said above. Especially because this is taking so long, I wanna be able to go over behind the scenes with you all since ya’ll at least deserve that; I can’t keep being mysterious about the comic since it is taking years for it to be made, but it’s trial and error so I gotta do this in order for it to be worth the progress. I’m strong, I can do this! Hopefully your day/night is amazing, and take care until next time 😋🫶💜

[asktheovertaken]

(ID: A digital drawing of Twiglog, a character that is a log with multiple holes all over them, each hole either having nothing inside or an arm or a eye. In this drawing they have two arms potruding from two different wholes, both held up infront of them. They have three visible eyes, all having an expression that seems happy. Their is text meant to be their dialogue next to them saying: Hello, my friends! I’m Crim, runner of asktheovertaken and mysteriousmothball. I have a little to talk about regarding my creations, so please stick around if your interested! End ID)

(ID: There is a second image that is another drawing of Twiglog, this time off to the side of the screen, facing away from the viewer. There are some holes visible on their back, but no eyes show. They look off into the distance with only one hand raised, saying: First things first, despite my absence I haven’t left the community.(you might’ve seen me lurking!) I don’t have any plans to! I will confirm Asktheovertaken and M M are discontinued. I have no ideas for what to do with them and no motivations. Text ends there, with three small sketches of: Mothball the Ninjask Electrike hybrid from Mysterious Mothball, then Mags the Magnemite and Vau the Vaporeon from Ask the overtaken. End ID)

(ID: Another drawing of Twiglog, this time of them hunched over a desk, fretting over a piece of paper while holding a pencil in one of their four arms protruding out of some of the various holes on their log body. They have one visible eye, out in the very front of their body. They have a worried expression. Theres dialouge above them reading: I also want to confirm I do have a few projects in the works! I never really stopped making stuff relating to pokeask, I’ve just never felt like I had enough plot or enough things sorted out or some other worry to make another blog. I’ve also had trouble drawing, specially in comic style or something consistently. This problem has diminished quire a bit though! The text ends there. End ID)

(ID: Another image showing a drawing of Twiglog. In this one, they are on display in a large format, making only the top half and a bit of the side of their body visible. They have one arm out, giving a thumbs up. They have three eyes poking out of some of the holes on the front of their body, all showing the same happy expression. Text above them reads: I hope to release something this year! I have alot to get done for that to happen, but I’m confident I can do it. End of text and ID)

-

Hello everyone! Its been awhile, I just wanted to make this to share my plans for the future when it comes to pokeask. I also wanted to say if you have any questions(just in general or about this specifically) feel free to ask me. Also, Twiglog(character shown here) is my fakemon pokesona.

I figured I should give an update before I officially get back into poke ask-ing, so that its not so much of a random occurrence. And also because I’ve already been doing a little in the community and I want to make it surefire knowledge I’m sticking around lol.

Thanks for reading!

[shiny-miltank]

A leche hobbies update:

Update on knitting adventures: almost done with a scarf I started 🤔 dropped stitches everywhere but it really helps with my adhd to have something in my hands to play with while feeling like I’m working towards something! Don’t think I’ll show it off though LMAO, it’s ugly as a scarf but I like it as a “baby’s first scarf” to look back on when I get better. And it’s warm :)!

Other thing: picked up a sewing machine from the good will and still in really great shape and working! Its old and has character and I love it HAH. I’m learning from my abuelita on her own machine. It’d be great to combine this and knitting to make essentials and to repair clothes that really need it.

Drawing/not really a hobby it’s my “Jobby”: sorry for being a lil slow on updates! I got a little bit of burnout and I really want to finish summers commissions so I can clear my schedule more. I’m just about done so I’m no longer chipping on three projects at a time between my full time job oof-but do know they are being worked on. I’ve got adoptables on the way and sketching the next ask-n update! I’ve also been keeping an eye on other places to post like insta and bluesky but I feel like I need to like…observe? Some more? Before committing and learning whole new platforms and posting schedules bleh.

I got other projects in the pipeline, one including a pmd thing, more Paldea headcanons and what not and some certain purple psychic cat things returning. But all in due time! Can’t overwhelm myself : 0

And a little bit of a rant or ramble about perhaps dropping a longtime hobby I’ve had and feeling sad about it beneath the cut ;( but if you’ve read this far thanks! Love ya’ll for supporting me!

I think a handful of you? Know I roleplay on this platform and have for a good seven? Eight? Years. It’s fun, a lot of my ideas and headcanons and art I’m known for were actually jump started by some random thread or idea from between my rp partners and what not. The Mewtwo blog, ask-n, scarlet turo and etc etc were old muses or ideas that turned into their own thing. It’s always been so easy to write and collaborate your ideas with the rp community you’re in and it becomes it’s whole big thing!

But I know it hasn’t always been the healthiest hobby for me after awhile but esp when I want to focus on content creation as a job that I’m really into. I no longer have the time to maintain plots and characters despite being so determined to stick to it. It’s becoming more of a distraction of just scrolling down the rp dashboard out of FOMO more then anything and heck I can’t even see most of it as a lot of events and verses and etc I blacklist to attempt to curb anxiety and distractions which haven’t been working lately 🤔 I still get lots of anxiety.

That and the community’s changed really. I know every old rper has typed their piece on “back in the good old days-“, leaves their blog and doesn’t give any useful advice or attempt to change the narrative lol. I don’t want to do that.

And it’s not the communities fault either. It’s natural for spaces to change to help new ideas and new people come in. It just means maybe it’s no longer meant for me and that’s okay. If anything it’s more how my friends I’ve been with for all my time there have left or are leaving. There’s a disconnect I can’t seem to get over no matter what new muse or idea I promote esp when I’m no longer comfortable in the space I enjoyed for so long. I never had to block so many things before and again not the communities fault and none of the things I’m blocking are unsavory, it’s more like my tastes and likes and dislikes and what I have spoons for have just become different over so long. It’s totally a me thing.

It’s in my mind that maybe it’s okay to let it go since I’m getting so hyped for my newer hobbies and the ideas I have for my art/comics. I don’t have the time anymore to dedicate so much energy on it like I use to esp when even over all my work Im still figuring out my adhd after getting diagnosed officially, new meds, the other mental diagnosis that makes the mental soup in my head alongside other life stuff.

I owe rp in general for helping me get that creative spark and through a lot of tough, long dark times. It’s provided me with the escapism and outlet since like, forever. I started rping in ye old Neopet neomail days and haven’t stopped since besides the occasional period that didn’t last long. Who knows maybe this is just a rut and I’ll feel better tomorrow or next week or something. Could be the change of seasons where my seasonal depression kicks in but I’m not quitting yet but it’s somewhere in the funky mind palace as I navigate this weird patch.

Thanks if you’ve read my ramblings this far! I wish there was a way to reward peeps who read through my long jargon? It just feels good to know I can scream into the void and sometimes I’ll have one or two people nod at me in understanding. Idk, I’ll think of something—

[thethingswehavecomic]

A year ago today, The Things We Have publicly released its final page.

In other news… Did you know that 2022 was the first good year that I’ve had, like, possibly ever?

Yeah, it was weird to think about when I first realized it. 2022 was just… a good year. Nothing horrific happened. None of my relationships ended. No one died. Nothing happened that made me cry alone, thinking the world was ending. There were definitely tears. There were hard days, and hard nights. Things happened that scared me, or upset me.

But so many good things happened, too.

I got an IUD to treat my horrible PMS, so I no longer have to suffer every time I get my period. I got straight As in school and started my senior thesis project, and it’s going really well. My sister apologized for how she treated me, and I forgave her without pause. I started and released a new comic that was well-received! I got back into prose writing, for a little bit, and have finally learned how to not be overly perfectionist with my prose. And, after years of trying to make it work, I finally moved in with my best friend.

Things are going really nicely for me. I’m going to graduate with honors from school in May and finally start working in my field. Comic progress has been going swimmingly for all three of my projects: Finding Your Roots is finally introducing so many new characters and plot elements I’ve been excited to show off, Children of the Light is off to a strong start, and Little Lapses is almost finished with just one chapter left to sketch! My Discord server is active, popping, and full of love. My health is finally in order, and I haven’t had any big scares in a long time. I’m eating well, hydrating, getting lots of sleep, and showering every day. My relationships feel strong, not like they’re teetering on the edge of doom. I love my friends and family, and they love me in return. I feel loved. I feel protected. I feel safe.

I admit, I’m scared of what will happen when things inevitably get bad again. I’ve made a lot of progress. I’m better at fending off dark thoughts, and I don’t cry so much anymore. My emotions feel almost manageable, not like they’re constantly hitting me like a sack of bricks. I make use of my deep breathing skills, and I try to rely on my friends. But I know how prone I am to falling apart. I get stressed, and it can feel like the end of everything. I’m graduating in May, and I have the whole world ahead of me. Its light, and its darkness. Things are so good right now, but I’m scared of what’ll happen when eventually, something bad happens. Will I show my resilience and progress? Will I find that I’m suddenly able to handle things I once couldn’t? Or am I just gonna… collapse?

I don’t really know the answer. And that’s pretty scary.

The Things We Have finished only a year ago. Those cold days, those memories that brought me to write the story, sometimes feel so far away. Other times, they nip at my heels. When I wrote the comic, I wasn’t sure if I truly believed in its message. Maybe its concluding notes were a doomed promise. But now, with all that’s happened, I think I believe in my story, my promise, just a little more.

It really can get better. You, too, can be saved.

Whatever has happened, whatever you’ve done, whatever has been done to you, I love you anyways. So, hang in there, okay? Cause someday, somehow…

You’ll be ready to come home, too.

<3

[ackalice]

Hiiiiiii how are ya?? :D Been a while, sorry I've been sucked into another fandom lol Anyways I found this and thought: why not ask my fren! :3 Here's an ask thing

1. who's your favorite oc?

2. who was your first oc?

3. how many ocs do you have?

4. have you kept all of your

ocs since the beginning?

5. are any of your ocs based

off of a show/book you like?

if so, who?

6. what is the species of the

majority of your ocs?

7. are any of your ocs an

original species? if so,

what's the species and who?

8. if you can, draw (oc name)!

9. write a few sentences as

(oc name)!

10. are any of your ocs part

of a story? if so, what is it

about and who's in it?

11. do you have any twin ocs?

12. are any of your ocs

siblings?

13. what is the gender of the

majority of your ocs?

14. make up a new oc right now

based on (concept/show/color/

etc.)!

15. would you ever give up any

of your ocs?

16. who is your oldest oc

(age-wise)?

17. have you ever roleplayed

as your ocs?

18. how many of your ocs were

adopted from someone else?

19. who is your least favorite

oc?

20. which oc do you think has

changed the most since you

made them?

21. who is your newest oc?

22. have you ever cosplayed

your own ocs? if so, who?

23. which oc do you think has

affected you the most as youve

grown with them?

24. have you gotten cosplayers

of your ocs? if so, of whom?

25. do you have any ocs that

you havent drawn/written as/

talked about in a long time?

if so, who?

(Please ignore this if you either don't want to answer or have had this sent to you already)

OH MY GAWD THE QUESTIONS

Hi meelu!! I’ve been alright, just very inactive because of busy busy life stuff- but I saw this pop up and I wanna answer dis cuz I luv u my moot!

Alrighty anyway OC QUESTIONS MY FAVORITE!!

1. Favorite oc: my favorite oc out of all of them? Uhhhh good god- I’m gonna say my favorite is my very first oc, C.J., because she was a very big part of my early art journey. And also she was very cringy and I love her for it.

2. First oc: whoops I answered this- it was C.J.! She was a generic fox girl I made when I was a very itty bitty kid.

3. How many ocs: don’t judge me here- from what I counted just now it’s 56. There could be more that I’m forgetting, so it’s pretty iffy. But I do remember that the number got up to 60 at some point.

4. Have you kept all your ocs since the beginning: Despite how many I have, it’ll be a surprise to hear that I have actually retired a bunch. And by a punch I mean probably over 15. This does include C.J. And her band but only because I felt like I wasn’t using her enough and she had done her part for me.

5. Are any of your ocs based on a show or book: HELL YEAH! God, dude there’s a lot. Well- I say a lot but it’s not 56 a lot- anyway-

I made warrior cat ocs, like anyone, but those were retired. I based a series I have, Remnant, off of magic girl shows but it’s too far from any of them to be directly from those media. There’s The Owl House, which was several ocs I never continued using (and I’m sad I never did), there was a Brand New Animal oc I scrapped, and of course there are more that didn’t leave the sketch phase.

I guess you could count fnaf, but that’s a given.

I also had some Helluva Boss ocs that I have sketches for and even started a comic for- but when I say a comic I mean half a page was finished and I lost motivation.

Good lord I just remembered I had a whole mlp next gen. So I made a crap ton of mlp ocs- anyway-

But then you delve into two of my favorite shows and you go down a rabbit hole of history I’m not going into- which is My Hero Academia and Tmnt. I’m saying Tmnt in general because I’ve put my ocs into several shows in the franchise. Tmnt has ocs I’ve mentioned before on this blog and MHA has seven ocs of mine, that’s Jejeru, Kami, Kai, Kianami, Marikaida, and Chinatsu. I’ve fallen out of the fandom but I might use them in future, who knows!

6. What is the species of a majority of your ocs: Okay. So. This question is very hard to explain because I delve into some WACK species genetics with my ocs- Remnant is literally based on splicing genetics. But if we are being honest, most of them either started out or were, at the beginning of their story, human. So I’m gonna go with human. The second place runner is definitely an animal crossed with a human though because those are just fun.

7. Are any of your ocs an original species: Yes, actually! I’ve got several. Not that they have names or official species types or backstories or anything, but they sure are there. I’m gonna describe random characters I’ve put together with no specific species in mind.

Lufoa, an oc I did a ramble on a while ago, is not crossed with any known animal. That’s actually part of her story, but I haven’t worked it in yet. Another I could count is Artemis, but I don’t know exactly what she is- I haven’t explained it yet. There’s also my oc Alice, (NOT A SELF INSERT) who’s some kind of demon. I dunno what kind but she’s also there.

!INTERJECTION!

I’m gonna be skipping 8 and 9 because I’m running very low on the creative juice and haven’t drawn or written for fun in a WHILE and just don’t have any motivation for it- I’m so sorry abt it but I’ll answer the rest gladly!

10. Are any of your ocs part of a story: Quite a few of them are, actually! The one’s based on tv shows and books are obviously apart of one, but I’ve got a few I’ve made up on my own. There’s Remnant, the big magical girl-ish show series about teens participating in a high grade school and also accepting genetics testing to be apart of the military (main character is not aware of this second part in the slightest, woOooOoo plot~). I’ve got Midnight Misteps, which is a similar concept but it’s the apocalypse and new species and monsters and cryptdids roam around while our main cast tries to rebuild society again. I have Vivian and Fin, the two characters I don’t have a series name for yet where Viv meets a demon through accidental circumstances but turns out it’s not accidental and she’s been kidnapped by literal Hell but she doesn’t know for a majority of her time down there. And then you’ve got Camila, the rich pink and proper girl who meets secret agent Thomas under the impression he’s just a grouchy guy and then gets roped into a big gang conspiracy in her town and has to avoid these dangers with her new cop buddy all while in heels.

So yeah I’m doing great with work in progress projects

11. Do you have any twin ocs: yes! I’ve got one set, and they’re fnaf ocs, if you can imagine it. I reworked a sister location oc around a few months ago and doubled her into two people! That’s Frankie and Danny, the sweetheart engineers! One of them isn’t a sweetheart, but yadda yadda, plot and story stuff- I’m movin’ on!

12. Are any of your ocs siblings: oh. My. God. Yes. It would be very hard for me to pick them all out and name them, but let’s just say yes. Yes, there are many. I’ve got one set of sextuplets in there somewhere-

13. What is the gender of most of your ocs: Female. It’s so female it’s unfair. I’ve been getting better at this, but I still prefer drawing women over men and I have no idea why?? It’s nothing negative or anything- I just think I started drawing girls and just kept drawing girls and completely missed the boat I had to jump onto to draw guys anatomy correctly. But I’m getting better!

14. Skipped again because creative juices….aughhhhhhh….I’m tired of not having energy to draw ;-;

15. Would you ever give up any of your ocs: Okay I’m gonna assume this is talking about giving up an oc to another person- like an adopt situation- and uh no. I don’t think I would be able to do that just because I have emotional connections to literally all of them. I love them too much to just hand over their birth certificate, y’know?

16. Who is your oldest oc (age wise): oh hah. Okay, so I’m inclined to say C.J., because I ended her story with a cute little story of her growing old with her partner in a little cottage in the countryside- but! I’m gonna give this one to Paula Fidreas, a Remnant oc, because she is quite literally in her 50’s as of the start of the story. In the simplest terms, she’s a PE teacher.

17. Have you ever roleplayed as your ocs: Yes! C.J. Was actually made from a role play! And I think I’ve role played as Camila before, but that memory is a bit fuzzy.

18. How many of your ocs were adopted from someone else: None of em’! They’re mah babies, tried and true.

19. Who is your least favorite oc: I don’t count her in my oc count but Adelaide’s adoptive mom is definitely my least favorite. As a character she has a purpose in the story but I would never use her again or draw her in detail. I don’t know, she’s just there for character development at the moment.

20. Which oc has changed the most since you made them: Vivian. Definitely Vivian. Not just because she’s the oldest of I still use, but she’s also went from a brown haired girl with zero personality and a boyfriend to a troubled teenager who is too weird and different to have friends so she seeks out companionship in the land of the dead.

21. Who is your newest oc: I mentioned them earlier and this totally breaks the abruptness of me mentioning them once out of nowhere, but the sextuplets are my newest ocs. Out of all of them, Orion is the newest because I came up with his concept first.

22. Have you ever cosplayed your own ocs: Alas, I’ve never had the determination nor the money nor the confidence to do such a thing, BUT I ALMOST DID. When I was little I almost cosplayed C.J. Because I had no other ideas for a halloween costume. I didn’t end up doing it because I chickened out. Kinda wish I did though..

23. Which oc has effected you the most as you’ve grown with them: I’m gonna give this one to Alice, actually. She’s the basis of my online persona and username, if you couldn’t tell- and she was with me through quarantine. That was a joke, but no really, she consumed my art that last year.

24. Have you gotten cosplayers of your ocs: No, lol- I don’t know near enough people or anyone who would do it. And if anyone did do it, I would be dead upon seeing or hearing it because OH MY GOD?? You thought my art was good enough to put time and money into a COSPLAY?? THANK YOU???? We’re getting married. Put on the ring.

25. Do you have any ocs you haven’t used in a long time: y e a h… I haven’t ever mentioned Pepper here. She’s uh…okay- imagine Entrapta from She-ra but ten times worse and no moral code. Evil scientist. That’s all I have to say here.

MEELU THANK YOU I NEEDED SOMETHING TO DO LOL

I’ve been off tumblr for a while bro thank you for bringing me these! They were so fun <3

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #64: “They Took My Thumbs” | December 14, 2008 - 11:30PM | S04E02

I forget if I discussed the gimmick of this season's episode titles, so I'll do it here, possibly redundantly. They titled each episode so that if you were to sequence them in production order (like how they usually appear on DVD), the resulting list of episode names will spell out a cohesive message. That way, when you buy the DVD, the episodes will be listed in production order, resulting in the pay-off.

This episode felt like it had fewer sketches than most, meaning there was an emphasis on longer sketches with only a handful of channel-change gags or shorties. The first one is about the contractor building the dungeon trap from the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The joke being that it’s silly and doesn’t make a whole lotta sense. Also the contractor sorta got a little too creative vs. what was actually asked of him. This one is decent, basically on par with an average SNL sketch. Actually now I’m recalling sketch where Christopher Walken plays Blofield, and James Bond shows up to his liar unexpectedly ahead of schedule and he has to apologize for the construction going on. This is different enough for me not to be pissed at it. Also the Walken sketch sucks. 

Next is Train Man, about a guy who gets squished by the Subway and must live the rest of his life being squished, for if they move the train it will cause his organs to fall out of his body and he’ll die. He spends his lifetime being a businessman and ignoring his wife and kids. There’s a guitar song that goes along with it. I guess this one alludes to an old urban legend. I don’t know man, I didn’t get much out of this one. 

The next sketch is about Jason Vorhees leading a boring life of quiet domesticity, but he eagerly awaits Friday the 13th so he can go out on have a killing spree. This one is fine, I guess, but the premise is faulty. I am pretty sure Jason doesn’t care about the actual day he kills people. This MF would kill on Talk Like A Pirate Day if he felt like it. And he should! 

You see, I wrote the joke “this MF would kill on ____ if he felt like it” and that’s what I came up with. Sorta low-hanging fruit. I could’ve gone with something edgier, like my birthday. Can you imagine bad stuff happening on my birthday? People wouldn’t be able to say “happy birthday” to me. This is the saddest thing I can think of right now!

Wildman is a sketch where kids are persuaded by one of their mothers to go swimming instead of cooping themselves up playing video games. She’s helped along by Wildman, a kid-friendly “outrageous” rocker whose advice gets preachier and lamer. The kids become disillusioned with Wildman, who doesn’t seem all that wild to them any more. The final gag is Wildman departing with a message against gay marriage. This one’s decent, too. Not mad at it! Wildman is voiced by Sebastian Bach, and he gives an great performance.

The final sketch is Bring A Sidekick to Work day, which is a bunch of lame riffs on DC Comics heroes being lads with each other. Sebastian Bach voices Martian Manhunter in this one, which was a little surprising to learn. The Robot Chicken crew have said in one of the few audio commentary tracks I listened to that when they get a guest star, they typically have them voice three different voices. Usually it’s obvious, like when you have somebody like Keith Crawford voicing a doctor. According to the wiki, this sketch was co-written by Geoff Johns, a guy whose name I’ve seen on DC comics before.

I’d call this one slightly stronger than most Robot Chickens, but I am very tired of sketches where Superheroes are horny. Just knock that shit off. All of them retain their semen, or have been chemically castrated as ordered by a judge. Sorry, I’m a stickler for this sort of thing.

[alwayscraftynight]

Was gonna put a response to your art concepts in the replies but it didn’t fit so I’ll just put here

1. YESYESYESYESYES. So pumped that you’re planning about making a comic about Jacob’s past. Seeing your interpretation of what he was like before canon, and how he eventually became the person he was in Yesterday’s Lie would be sick. Also I really like his outfit, it’s nice to see him out of the ol’ blue jeans and brown coat

2. I’ve never been one to involve Jacob in romance or romantic interests because the stuff doesn’t really interest me, but this is really fucking funny. I’m just imaging after Camila constrains Jacob in the cage he’s both going “Augh those damn alien bastards, they’ll rue the day they crossed me!” and “why was that hot why was that hot why was that hot”. Also as a side note, very appreciative of how you drew Jacob in a mellowed state. That’s how I often imagine him because it’s how he acts in my fic, and it is very starkly contrasted with how he acts in both the show and fanworks. So it’s nice to see a high quality drawing of him like that that isn’t a shitty sketch I made in the corner of my school notebook.

3. I’m not a subscriber to the belief that Jacob is a descendant from the Whittebanes, but this looks neat. I’m assuming this is gonna play some role in that Jacob and Phillip team up comic, where one or both of them connect the dots and realize that they’re related.

All in all, very cool stuff

Welcome back! I've been planning the Jacob backstory comic for a good while, it feels good to get some of those ideas out onto a screen. It's a topic that especially interests me since there's a lot of room for interpretation, like what even was this guy like before he went off the deep end? Im glad you liked the outfit, it brought me joy since he looks like such a dork DJRKDMMD. In terms of Jacob and Philip being related, I'm not sure if they'll figure it out in the AU yet, I kinda just wanted to give Caleb a wife before he ran away with Evelyn and I thought it'd be a neat opportunity lol. All in all Masha's probably more closely related to the Wittebanes than Jacob is realistically. It could be subject to change, I'm pretty much going off of what's been in my head for this project and stuff has already changed quite a bit. Also I just thought that Jacob having a thing for Camila would be funny lol. I have to put that man in weird predicaments for my own amusement.

Anyway I'm glad you like the stuff👍 See ya.

[daysofourlivesrecaps]

Susan Banks (the cat)

I see that I’ve picked up a couple of actual followers — which is honestly a development that I never expected. Sorry that you just happen to have jumped on when I decided to hit pause on these for a couple of weeks. (I will be resuming soon though, I promise!) In the meantime, let me regale you with the cute story of our very cute cat, whom we named after a not-especially-cute Days of Our Lives character. This is Susan Banks.

She looks like this (and this picture doesn’t really do justice to her crazy novelty teeth) and speaks in the most comedically broad southern accent you’ve ever heard. Despite being EJ DiMera’s mother (the E is for Elvis!) and having a couple of other fairly grounded connections to fairly serious characters, she really gives the overwhelming impression of being a sort of throwaway joke. Because, in addition to the accent and the teeth, she’s a psychic. Mind you, this is the show that became infamous for its devil possession storyline in the mid-90s. So much so that they revisited that storyline with many of the same characters in 2021-22. Which gave Susan, despite her strong “12:50 sketch on SNL” energy, something to do in the story. So she was around a lot when I first started watching. Side note: Susan has always been played by the same performer who plays Kristen DiMera. That used to be Eileen Davidson, and is currently Stacy Haiduk.

When Stacy assumed both roles, she reportedly sat herself down in the makeup chair next to the guy who plays EJ and said “I’ll be playing your sister and your mother.” Which absolutely delights me.

So. Yeah. When the Devil came back to Salem for another crack at Dr. Marlena Evans’ immortal soul, Susan Banks caught on pretty quickly, being, as she was, a psychic. So Satan, using his Satan powers, sidelined her by transforming her into a small cat. No, seriously.

The incident in question only lasted about one episode, but Susan managed to bring it up regularly for months afterwards. You know that ol’ devil, she’d say in that hilariously awful accent, he turnt me into a li’l kittycat! This became one of those things we’d repeat from time to time in our household. (Don’t pretend you don’t have things like that in yours.)

Last December, they killed off Susan Banks. Well. Maybe. We never actually saw her body and I’ve read enough comic books to know what that means. But she was in a car that plummeted off a cliff and I’m almost certain the stock footage they used to depict this was the same footage they frequently used in Toonces, The Cat That Could Drive a Car sketches.

Also last December, we adopted this tiny kitten.

(Not pictured: the fact that she’s missing one of her back legs. I completely forget this most of the time, but you might notice it in subsequent pictures and wonder what’s going on. So I’m telling you: it’s that. She has three legs.)

It did not take us long to determine that, even though she wasn’t the same kind of li’l kittycat, Susan Banks was the perfect name for this little fellow. It would also be an excellent tribute to the now-definitely-for-sure-dead character from Our Stories.

Here are a couple of us together.

And here she is with the dumb picture of Stefano DiMera we put in our living room.

Sadly, we snapped that picture a few seconds too late, because she actually had per paw up on it briefly. Almost like she knew. (She doesn’t. She’s a cat.)

[freedfromthegalactichivemind]

Damn Cartoon-Cursing Comic...

This post on Sweary She-Ra has been brought to my attention again.   And, wow, reading it again just hits me - because I’ve been having THOUGHTS. Not directly related, but I have been thinking back to this particular set of screenshot-comic panels a lot in relation to the things I have been thinking about.   So, I keep looking at one of my art pieces today - I finally posted it at my artblr that no one goes to.  It’s this goat skull I painted several years ago with this theme of the sky of another world bleeding through a dominant sky.  I did a sketch recently for a painting (on watercolor paper) that I want to do in acrylic featuring an alien-fantasy sky bleeding through onto a mundane / natural setting in a distant sequel to this skull I did.  I think I want to do a bunch of artwork with this exact theme.  I also want to do more artwork in bright neon colors showing a kind of distorted version of nature.    I am thinking that some of my non-fanart art-desires might be related to trauma.  The deer picture is (and I don’t feel the need to detail what birthed it.  I did not hallucinate or anything, it was something I did to make myself feel better after a bad situation).  The goat skull wasn’t trauma-related that I remember, it was just me having fun with a gift given to me by a friend (who raised goats). The desire to get back into doing “wounds bleeding from another dimension” artwork definitely comes out of my grief over a recently-deceased loved one and a certain strong desire I have to connect with another, better world - one where people don’t die, perhaps the one where my loved one lives now (if such things are).   I know for certain that I’ve had a desire to “see beyond” in some way, but have always been afraid of doing whatever mystic / witchy / ascetic stuff you’re supposed to do to get there because certain diagnoses in my life make me think “I must remain RATIONAL” and “if I dive off the deep end, I risk being lobotomized.”  - and/or else losing everyone else I love, in a different way.  And so I’m back to Entrapta’s dilemma in the “let’s make a kid’s show use curse words!” comic.  I’d *love* to see beyond our world, as she does beyond hers.  I’d love to connect to a creator or creators.  (I’m not sure that arguing with God the way Entrapta argues with Alice actually counts.  Everyone here knows that Alice actually exists, after all). And much like Entrapta, I know if I hit a dimensional rift, maybe life will make more sense - but only to me - and I’ll just be weirder to everyone else.  And I’m not sure I can afford to be any weirder.  

[bvannn]

Weekly Update December 20, 2024

I don’t know how I’m doing, I’m all over the place. I’m still trying to get work done but I’m not really adhering to a schedule. I’m also a little drunk right now so can’t really summarize well anyway. I’m gonna throw a cut on this one because I’m probably gonna ramble. I did a lot of work though!

Music: the main thing holding me back on music is getting visuals done, and my patience for vocaloid tuning. This week I drew assets for BATB’s visual, so theoretically I can get a lyric video for that ready and release it some time next week. Will I? Depends on motivation. I do still have a finished lyric video for the Blow Off Steam re-edit, but I want to release one more original before I post that. Either BATB or LF. I did the bulk of tuning for LF today, the main challenge is probably going to be getting the growl to work. That’s going to depend on which voice I use, since the Kagamines growl just fine, but right now I’m honestly thinking about sticking with VY1. The version of VY1 I have is VY1 lite, which I don’t actually know what version she is, but I believe she’s based on VY1V3, because I can’t hear her growl. So I have to use vocascreamer. Good news is I found a way to sidechain it, so I have more control over it, which is great.

I also got past a really big roadblock on the runner-up cover, BGCS, and am now getting a VSQX made, that will probably be a Wil song. The VSQX will take a bit longer than the others since it is a Japanese song, so I don’t know which syllables to drop. The last of the three covers from the poll, CM, also had its MIDI recorded, so I will finish that once BGCS is done.

Last notes on music in addition to getting the BATB visual mostly finished I also got thumbnails sketched for a couple others, including some instrumentals. I have a few miscellaneous ones I wrote on whims that I might release all with the same art as like an anthology ‘album’ or something. The big thing as far as visuals go is I *believe* I have finished the visuals for that little animation one I was working on, so I can sit down and plug those into animate and after effects any time and get that done. Again it depends on my patience. Anyway point is lots of things are coming to fruition or close to coming to fruition.

Comic: was not as big a priority this week unfortunately, I meant to do all the sketching for page 15 tonight but only got around half done. It should be a quicker one, though. Fortelling has been wonderful for writing on other things that needed to be taken care of, O’Malley almost has all 16 episodes synopsies figured out, with episode 2 outlined and episode 3 about half outlined. Backstage is also finally shaping up in terms of structure, with more scenes and ideas actually forming into episode concepts finally, and the pilot 2/3 outlined. Speaking of Fortelling…

I don’t remember if I mentioned this last week or only started this week, but I do have a script going for an epithet erased TTRPG character building tutorial video. Right now I’m aiming for 20-25 minutes, which I think is pretty reasonable, and right now I’m on course for that. I do need to edit down the blurb on all the settings, and write the example characters segments, but I think it should be pretty quick. Especially since I can use visuals from the show and wikis and can limit my own drawings.

And also on the topic of the epithet erased TTRPG I finally sat down and did more map stuff. Drawing objects, especially in pixel art, is really annoying so I’m kinda procrastinating on it a bit, but I finally made and decorated the last stage 1 map, finished up the assets for the stage 2 maps and started making those. I was a little ambitious with some of the ideas I had for maps and tokens, some of which being partially animated, but I believe I have figured out how to get the animated map I want working for stage 2, and got an animated token for stage 2 done. I haven’t been doing tokens chronologically, so once I’ve finished off the ones I have sketched I’ll try to go back to the list and get the rest of stage 1 done. With maybe a fun one from a later stage every once in a while as a treat.

The other thing I’m messing with a little bit is some more animation things. Therunawayguys are back, and I’m considering doing a little animation, now that I actually know what I’m doing in flash, but the first order of business is fixing their gross suboptimal rigs. I opened up Tim’s rig to show it to a friend and explain how it worked and all the things I’d change, and some of that linework was *disgusting*, he had visible seams everywhere, and I think his proportions might’ve been a little off even. And I remember Tim being the ‘good kid’ between the three of them. It’s not a big deal, though, I’ve learned a lot over the past year and can fix them up no problem. Even if I wanted to redo them from scratch it wouldn’t take that long, although I don’t expect it to come to that. I also have an idea for how to do a ‘quick and dirty’ TRGA, and anything is worth animating in the Wonder LP, I can get something out quick. As soon as I saw they were back I went out and bought supplies for that so I could get it done quick. I’m not planning to mess with the rigs until I have LF’s vocals done and BATB’s video done, and maybe the other animation project as well (which would be called LW per my music naming scheme). A quick and dirty animation would be done as soon as something warrants it, though. Although maybe ‘animation’ wouldn’t be the right word… Hmm…

Lot of progress being made a lot of stuff to do. I still feel burnt out, but my boredom will outweigh my burnout since I don’t have anything better to do at the moment. I may be returning to work pretty soon, so I will likely have less time to work on stuff, but it’s good for me so it’s fine. And I still should have a good showing of projects pretty soon no matter what. Right now it’s coming down to energy/patience, so the most I can say is *something* should be posted next week. Some music thing will be posted, idk which it will be, but something. Thanks everyone for being patient, I really hope you like whatever I get finished this week!

[greensparty]

2023 Northeast Comic Con Fall Edition Wrap-Up

For a few years now I’ve been lucky enough to cover the Northeast Comic Con (read my coverage here), a fun cool convention for lovers of comics, pop culture, and collectibles. I attended the Spring edition in March and over the Summer I also attended their spin-off MusicCon Collectibles Extravaganza.

Here are some of the highlights of the guests I got to speak with at this season's NECC:

Actress Heather Matarazzo gave one of the great breakout performances of the 90s when she was only about 13 in Welcome to the Dollhouse. Such an impressive performance as teen outcast Dawn Wiener. She's popped up in loads of films since then, including Randy's sister in Scream 3. I asked her what it was like returning as Martha Meeks 20+ years later in last year's Scream (5). She said "It was like getting to put on a very comfortable pair of shoes. I got to slip right in and Jamie [Vanderbilt] and Guy [Busick], the writers of Scream 5, did a really excellent job of capturing the essence of the legacy characters and establishing the new horror film." Heather was super nice and cool and spoke to my son for a few minutes as well!

The 5-piece Canadian group The Kids in the Hall came to prominence with their sketch comedy TV series that ran in the U.S. from 1988-1995 on HBO and later CBS. The series slowly garnered a cult following. I was just getting interested in comedy at the time and became a big fan. I’d stay up late to watch it on CBS on Friday nights. So many LOL skits and they were a team that played so well off each other. After the series ended, they made the 1996 movie Brain Candy, reunited for a few comedy tours and a limited series in 2010 that ran on IFC and last year's limited series on Amazon Prime Video. 2 of the 5 Kids in the Hall were at the NECC: Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald! They did a panel moderated by my friend Ken Reid. I got to speak to them briefly. I asked them both, outside of Kids in the Hall they have both done a great deal of voiceover work, so I was curious what their favorite was? Kevin said "Invader Zim and Lilo & Stitch were fun, but I also enjoyed playing Waffle in Catscratch and a new one, I haven't seen it yet but it seems pretty good is the Scott Pilgrim cartoon [Scott Pilgrim Takes Off]." Dave said "That would be Bug's Life." I replied that it was so cool that years later he did an episode of Veep with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, where it was like a live action reunion of A Bug's Life! Dave said "Well I had also been on her show The New Adventures of Old Christine, I was on about three episodes. But it was fun on Veep getting to be the creepy Finnish Prime Minister's husband who gets to hold her breast. And the half-hour rehearsal we did to prepare for it."

After seeing last year's documentary The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, which showed the ups and downs of the group as well as Scott Thompson's health issues, it made their reunion on the limited Amazon series that much more special. I asked them both if they had plans for another reunion, whether it's a tour or a special or a film? Kevin said "We have plans to make plans. It could be a tour, it could be a movie, it could be a tour and a movie. But we're meeting next week for some celebratory thing, so we're going to meet the day before to talk about what our next plan is." Dave added "There's plans to at least fight about making plans!" [Laughs] I could literally listen to them talk all day and they could not have been any cooler!

Last but not least we Liz Puleo, a recent contestant on Lego Masters. My son is a big fan of Legos and enjoys that show, so we went up to her booth. She was so nice, she signed a photo and gave it to him before he even asked for it, she just asked his name and she gave it to him. Thanks Liz!

For info on Northeast Comic Con and their other events: https://necomiccons.com/

[crossfire-essays-collected]

From Crossfire #2, June 1984

I have these things in my life called “markers.” You have them too, though you probably don’t know it. Markers are those things that remind us of who we are and how far we’ve come from… well, from wherever we were. Unless you stubbornly resist all change in your life, things happen to you that cause you to say, “Gee, five years ago, I couldn’t have believed I’d be doing this.” Or, “Gee, I sure have come a long way.”

Well, whatever causes you to say that… that’s a marker.

Some markers from my memory:

1959: I’m seven and a devout watcher of Soupy Sales’ TV show even though I have both of Soupy’s jokes committed to memory. As much as I love Soupy, his crew loves him more. You can always hear them laughing off-camera and it is those laughs that give me my first desires to be in the TV business… to be a part of this magic. Now, FLASH FORWARD TO 1980: I’m Head Writer on a variety special for NBC, we’re taping at a rental studio in Hollywood and who should be taping his new syndicated series on the adjoining stage but Soupy! Whenever I’m not needed on my show, I’m over watching his, chatting with Clyde “White Fang” Adler, talking to Soupy and being one of those off-camera folks you hear laughing in the background. Clyde even lets me hurl a pie shell of Gillette Foamy into Mr. Sales’ kisser at the close of one sketch; now, that’s a marker!

1961: Now I’m nine and most of the big things in my life, TV-wise, have the Hanna-Barbera logotype on the end: Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear, et al. My favorite actor in the whole world (no contest) is the voice of the above characters, Daws Butler. FLASH FORWARD TO 1977: It is the day after I have completed my stint writing “Welcome Back, Kotter.” I get a call from my former editor at Gold Key Comics, Chase Craig, who’s editing a line of comics for H-B of Yogi Bear, The Flintstones and company. He says, “I know you’re out of comics and making a ton of money in TV but would you like to write a comic or two on the side? Dan Spiegle’s going to be drawing “Scooby Doo” and he asked for you.” I say, “Sure, if I can write everything” and I happily set to work, writing the characters I loved when I was nine, often working with the same artists who drew the comics I loved at the time. (Marker no. 1) Now, FLASH FORWARD TO 1982: Joe Barbera calls me in, which can only mean one thing — H-B has a script crisis. They never call Evanier unless there’s a script crisis. CBS has ordered a prime-time Yogi Bear Christmas Special and, to get the animation done in time, it should have been written two months ago. The problem? Every staff writer in the H-B building has done one or more outlines and CBS has bounced every last one of them. “You know these characters,” Mr. B says. “You’re always nagging me we ought to revive them. Well, here’s your chance. CBS wants to guest star Huckleberry, Quick Draw, Augie Doggie, Snagglepuss and all the rest.” Forty-eight hours after my agent closes the deal, CBS okays my outline and, before long, the script is approved. A few days later, I get home and play back the messages on my Record-a-Call. There, in the unmistakeable voice of Daws Butler is: “Hey, hey, hey, Mark. This is Yogi Bear. I just called to say that this is the first good script I’ve had in almost twenty years.” I’ve had actors like scripts before but when John Travolta liked something I wrote for him, that wasn’t even a marker. Yogi Bear liking his script, now that’s a marker.

1963: I’m eleven and my best friend is named Brian Jacobson. Brain [sic] has, secreted away in his room, a pile of Playboy magazines and it is there that I first find out what women look like under their clothes, a big moment in any boy’s life. Brian and I talk about the fold-out ladies and there is, of course, nothing more beautiful than them, especially when you’re at the age when your glands are just beginning to kick in. They are, of course, unattainable. If women like that even exist (we have our doubts), they are surely and forever out of the reach of guys like Brian and me. FLASH FORWARD TO 1976, I think, for two markers in rapid succession: One is that I meet a Miss September of my childhood and, while she is now married and a mother, that’s not the point. It’s like meeting Wonder Woman and finding out that she really exists, even though she’s hung up her tiara. Marker no. 2 is dating a then-current Playmate who turns out to be, contrary to my ’63 beliefs, a real live human being and not some glossy-paper fantasy. Intellectually, of course, I knew that all along. But while walking into a party at the Playboy Mansion with Miss February, I couldn’t help but think how far l’d come from when Brian and I would desperately hide his Playboy stash from his mother.

And I’ve had other markers: Meeting Groucho Marx, Bob Hope, Phil Silvers, George Burns. Writing for Gale Gordon, Eve Arden, Sid Caeser and others I loved when I was younger. I even, under duress, wrote a sketch once for Jerry Lewis, proving that not all markers are pleasant.

A lot of my markers have to do with comic books I loved as a kid and wound up writing as a bigger kid — and with the artists with whom I was teamed.

When Brian and I played at his house, we looked at the Playboys. When we were at mine, we looked at comic books. I had the biggest collection in town — and remember, this was years before there were any conventions or Price Guide or fanzines or mylar snugs or any of those things. Comics were ten, going up to twelve cents. And old comics were worth less, never more. The few bookstores that sold old comics priced them at a nickel each, six for a quarter.

One day, I decided to file all my comics. I had never heard of anyone doing such a thing but I did it because, I guess, they were important to me and it seemed like a gesture of respect. It took all day… The Harveys in this pile, the DCs in that stack. The biggest pile was the Dells and, when I had them all segregated by company, I broke them down into mini-stacks of licensors: The Disneys here, the Hanna-Barberas there. Dell was my favorite company. Of course, at the time, it was everyone’s favorite company. In the fifties and early sixties, they published a line of comics that made them, to this date, the best-selling comics company in the history of mankind. At one point, they were selling more comic books per week than all of today’s companies, collectively, sell in a month. Their worst-selling book was selling about double what X-Men now sells. (And I’ve got to explain this because it confuses everyone: Dell was the publisher of this line of Disney/Warner Bros./Lantz/etc. comics but the books were edited, written, drawn and printed by Western Printing and Lithography, a wholly-separate firm which owned the comic book rights to all those great characters. Dell was Publisher in that they handled the finances and distribution. In the early sixties, the two companies got a divorce and Western began publishing the same books themselves under the Gold Key colophon while Dell scrambled to assemble a new line. This, I find incredibly amusing: For at least one brief moment there, around 1962, Dell was the bestselling comic book publisher in America despite the fact that they had no characters, no titles, no editors, no writers, no artists and no printing facilities. Apart from those minor omissions, they were in great shape.)

As I pored through my newly-separated pile of Dell “adventure-type” comics, I began to recognize artists’ styles. I didn’t know how a comic book came to be but I figured that there were artists and that they didn’t draw exactly the same. There were no credits but I did manage to deduce that the guy who drew Maverick was the same guy who drew certain issues of Sea Hunt. He did a lot of the Dell (later Gold Key) books: Days later, paging through the Disney stack, I found him in The Hardy Boys and most of the adaptations of live-action Disney movies. His work was wonderful and dramatic and fascinating. No one could draw Hayley Mills like this fellow. Years later - in one of the best-selling comics of all time, Space Family Robinson — he got to sign his work and I got a name to go with the style. He was Dan Spiegle.

Still later, I learned about his background. In 1949, fresh from art school, he got his first job, drawing the “Hopalong Cassidy” newspaper strip. (True story: He got it when he answered a newspaper ad for a strip artist, only to find that the job was on Bozo the Clown. Dan was skilled at adventure, not humor and he was about to leave when the executive doing the interviewing said, “My brother-in-law is Hopalong Cassidy’s manager and he’s looking for someone to draw a strip too.” That’s how Dan wound up drawing one of the best western strips of its day.)

Westerns were big at the time and Western Printing, true to its name, produced zillions of cowboy comics for Dell to publish. They lassoed Dan and made him their “star” adventure artist. In the sixties, if you walked into Marvel and inquired about work, they told you you had to draw like Jack Kirby. At DC, you had to draw like Curt Swan. At Western, if you aspired to draw adventure material, they handed you Dan Spiegle comics and said, “This is what we’re looking for.” But this did not apply to their humor comics; there, the works of Paul Murry and Carl Barks were the ideal. Dan Spiegle could draw anything… except humor —

— which posed a problem after Western lost the rights to the Edgar Rice Burroughs characters. They’d been publishing Tarzan and Korak with Spiegle on the latter. Dan’s Korak was the better-selling of the two, making it the best selling of all the E.R.B. comic book adaptations ever, not just in this country, but everywhere. Chase Craig was the editor at Western’s L.A. office then and he found himself with no book suited for Mr. Spiegle’s art style. Cautiously, Chase assigned him the Scooby-Doo comic based on the Hanna-Barbera hound of the same name. It was a stretch for Dan and, at first, the results were un-impressive. Spiegle tried like hell but it was like Pavarotti trying to be the lead singer in Culture Club. Chase decided that, if the art wasn’t going to be special, the scripts had better be - so he reassigned that task to this new kid he had writing (literally) a third of their line, a kid named Evanier.

Marker!

I was thrilled to be writing something that would be going to the artist whose work I’d so admired. I was even more pleased when I met Dan Spiegle and found him to be, easily, one of the three nicest people in the whole comic book business and, no, I won’t tell who the other two are. As a team, we “clicked” and I learned an awful lot about comic book writing by seeing how Dan staged my scripts. I wasn’t the only one who learned from him: A great number of comic book artists - new and old - avidly study his work and are impressed with how devoid it is of comic book drawing cliches and how solid he is in visual imagery, perspective and a dogged determination to never repeat a pose or composition.

We work together whenever possible. When foreign publishers of Tarzan and Korak comics demanded them, we did a batch of Korak comics for overseas consumption. Later, I edited a batch of comics for Japan and the first artist I called was Spiegle. When Hanna-Barbera made a deal with Marvel to publish Scooby-Doo and other H-B comics, we were again reunited. When I was off doing TV work, Dan was snatched up by DC and they had him — sans M.E. — on Jonah Hex, Nemesis, Bat Lash, Zatanna, Green Arrow and others. But when they assigned him to a revival of Blackhawk, I came out of my funnybook retirement and joined him on what came to be known around the DC offices as “The Unknown Comic.” In spite of DC’s best efforts, the book developed a small but loyal following due to Dan’s excellent artwork Recently, along with co-writer Sharman DiVono, Dan and I did a new adaptation of Tarzan of the Apes for the Burroughs folks. He was their first choice as illustrator and, also, the choice of foreign publishers who are issuing the book by the millions. I love the way he draws and I’m not alone.

I’m writing this the day after Dan sent me the artwork for Crossfire number one. It is, perhaps, the two hundredth Evanier script he’s illustrated and the two hundredth time I’ve gotten this giddy grin on my face over the way he takes what I give him and makes it look like a real comic book. He’s improved leaps and bounds since his Maverick days and, yet, I can still see that he’s the same artist whose work got me all excited over comics. back when I was eleven. You see, to you folks, Crossfire may be a comic but, to me, it’s a monthly marker.

                                  — Mark Evanier

[psshaw]

Another thinkums about the new speed of social media.

I was just saying to a friend that the base skill level for the average 20-year-old online artist feels WAY higher than it did 10 years ago. There’s a few reasons I can think of for this— building off the ideas and examples of the utter dorks that came before them, and western cartoons competing better with anime for the “cool” factor. They tend to show a comfort with color, motion and shape that far outclasses a lot of the people I grew up with. Another is that they draw fast as hell, and a lot. Have to, really. That’s just what the world trained them to have to do.

I do not draw fast. I am a very “draw-adjust-draw-adjust-draw” kind of person who zooms in too hard and gets obsessed with tiny details that I’m very proud of but aren’t notable on a quick scroll. And twitter was a wake up call to learn how to draw faster! I learned skills that helped me streamline the process of making comics and communicating faster through art.

I KNOW that the slow-motion nervous breakdown I had about a year-point-five ago was connected to looking at the work I’d been posting and being like “oh my god, I’m really fucking bad at drawing”. But like. Almost all of the pieces making me think that were completely rushed. I’m looking over it again right now and feeling awful again. It was fun in the moment to communicate these ideas and get feedback, but looking back I can’t fathom why anyone was excited or nice to me about it. Some of these sketches are truly awful! Before the pressure to share every little thing, I’d always looked back at my posted work and said “hell yeah, she tried her best and learned a lot” and felt great.

Basically what I’m saying is that I wish there was a way to get everyone to scold me for rushing things, haw.

Now I’ve gone to the inverse. I have a whole mess of nearly-done WIPs going right now, and whenever I feel off again I just open one up and check to see if time has revealed an unbearable wonkiness. (As tends to happen to me, a person who refuses to flip the canvas.) I think holding on to them makes me feel better, knowing that they’re still under perpetual construction.

BUT ALSO I HAVE TO POST THEM SOMETIME…….. THEY’RE EATING MY IPAD MEMORY OUT OF HOUSE AND HOME