[North side of Grunvale, apple-growing country. Charlotte Walker and Janet Long, in this universe a pteropine/flying fox and ailurid/red panda respectively, are picking apples by a white-painted barn as they talk]
Charlotte: “Hey, what are these apples? They look like a crossover between gala and red delicious.”
Janet: “They’re Jonathans, Walker. And the word you’re looking for is ‘hybrid’. A ‘crossover’ is what we’re in right now, an episode in which characters from a work of fiction appear in another’s continuity. It’s like CN City, remember that?”
Charlotte: “Remember that? I’m ten! I wasn’t even born yet!” [beat] “In fact, it’s before your time too! How do you remember that?”
Janet: “Well, you see, there’s this magical thing, you might’ve heard of it. It’s called ‘YouTube’.”
Charlotte: “Oh, right, that makes sense.”
Janet: “Anyways, CN City were these series of bumpers of characters from various Cartoon Network shows interacting with one another. Set in a city, of course.”
Charlotte: “Ah, I get it!”
Janet: “Similarly, we’re characters from the world of an animation fan named Isaac, on a trip into the world of a phoenix named Stormy.”
Charlotte: “Ooh, a phoenix!”
Janet: “It’s just a title, he’s a leporine in this world. An angora. Although he did survive a car accident, so he earned that title.”
Charlotte: “Cool! And, uh, what about Isaac? Does he know about this world?”
Janet: “Oh, yeah. He’s drawn some procyonine girl that calls herself ‘ambassador to the hue-man realm’ a few times. As a Rigby lookalike, eating a carrot, and at a formal event with her leporine friend. Oh, and for the phoenix himself, he’s drawn some technicolor emoji-looking things to look like the poster to some movie he likes.”
Charlotte: “Show me the paintings?” [Janet pulls out her phone to show said artworks. Charlotte’s eyes go big when she sees the so-called ambassador] “Oh, yeah, I know this girl! Her name’s Gilda. And the leporine’s named Margo.”
Janet: “You know her?”
Charlotte: “Yeah, I freaked her out with my tap-dancing.” [sets apple basket down and starts dancing. Janet’s eyes start spiraling as she watches her, but she slaps herself in the head before she can get fully hypnotized]
Janet: “Okay, I get it, you can stop now.” [Charlotte stops dancing. Janet goes silent as she realizes something is amiss] “Hey, where’s Torres?”
Annie: “Over here.” [Charlotte and Janet turn their heads to the sound of Annie Torres’ voice, coming from the side of the barn. Annie, an albino caprine/ibex in this universe, walks away from the wall, startling Charlotte and Janet with her seemingly sudden appearance] “Perks of being albino.”
Janet: “It always freaks me out when you do that!”
Charlotte: “I freak ines out for just existing.” [beat. Annie and Janet stare at her] “I mean, I am of a race associated with vampires and rabies. No matter how many times I try to clarify I’m a frugivore, and not a sanguivore! Hmmph! So annoying!”
Annie: [beat] “I can imagine. I mean, sometimes I hear that I look like a ghost.”
[Charlotte’s ears pick up on guitar-playing off in the distance]
Charlotte: “You guys hear that?”
Janet: “Hear what?”
Charlotte: “I don’t know, something metallic-sounding. It sounds like –” [sees Charlotte Roth slouching under one of the trees, playing ‘Helplessly Hoping’ by Crosby, Stills, and Nash on Marky] “Guitar playing.”
Charlotte R.: 🎵 Helplessly hoping her harlequin hovers nearby, awaiting a word / Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit, he runs wishing he could fly / Only to trip at the sound of goodbye 🎵
Charlotte W.: “Ooh! And some singing! I’m gonna go over there.”
Janet: “Walker, no. You don’t know them. You’re probably just gonna startle them.”
Charlotte W.: “Don’t worry, I’ll be quiet.”
[Walker flies over to the tree Roth lays against, as the latter continues to sing]
Charlotte R.: 🎵 Wordlessly watching, he waits by the window and wonders at the empty place inside / Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams, he worries, did he hear a goodbye? / Or even, hellooooo? 🎵
[Walker lands on a branch above Roth. One of her tapdance shoes makes a clack noise as she lands, startling Roth. She grabs Marky by the neck and looks around, and Walker quickly kicks her foot up, hoping Roth didn’t hear her. Walker slowly puts her foot against the trunk and reaches for another branch above her for balance, and Roth goes back to playing her guitar]
Charlotte R.: 🎵 They are one person / They are two alone / They are three together / They are fooo-ooour each other 🎵
Charlotte W.: “Number puns?!” [covers mouth, hoping Roth didn’t hear. But she did. And she’s not too happy about being, for lack of a better term, walked in on]
Charlotte R.: “AAACK!” [beat. Roth looks up] “What in tarn — Hey you! Whaddya think ye’re doin’?!”
Charlotte W.: “I was just… listening to that song of yours. Here’s a tip, if you want anyone to take you seriously as a songwriter, don’t write puns into your music.”
Charlotte R.: [annoyed] “Fer yer information, young’un, it is not my song. It was written by a boar named Stephen Stills.”
[beat]
Charlotte W.: “Who?”
Charlotte R.: [rolls eyes, and starts playing] 🎵 Chestnut brown canary / Ruby throated sparrow / Sing a song, don’t be long / Thrill me to the marrow 🎵 [Roth notices Walker is just staring. She is silent for a while as she thinks of what to play next… then starts playing] 🎵 Think about how many times, I have faaa-allen / Spirits are usin’ me, larger voices caaa-allin’ 🎵 [Roth notices Walker is still just staring] “Okay, if ya don’t know this next one, then leave me alone.” [plays] 🎵 And there’s a rose, with a fisted glove / And the eagle flies, with the dove / And if ya can’t be, with the one ya love, honey / Love the one you’re with / Love the one you’re with / Love the one you’re with / Love the one you’re with 🎵
Charlotte W.: [as Roth sings the second non-repeated half of the chorus] “Ah yeah, I know this one!” [tap dances on the branch. Roth smiles as she notices she’s reached Walker]
Charlotte R.: 🎵 Do-do do do do do do-do / Do-do do do do do do-do / Do-do do do do do do-do / Do-do-do! / Do-do-do! 🎵
[Roth whistles loud, imitating the organ from the original song. Walker continues dancing on the branch, until she trips and falls off]
Charlotte W.: “Whoop!” [flaps her arm-wings to stop herself from falling] “Phew. That was close.”
Charlotte R.: [stops playing] “You ‘kay there?”
Charlotte W.: “Yeah.” [beat] “You’re really talented… um… hey, I never asked your name.”
Charlotte R.: “It’s Charlotte.”
Charlotte W.: [beat] “Charlotte? Like, your name is Charlotte.”
Charlotte R.: “My name is Charlotte, yes.”
Charlotte W.: [pauses, then laughs] “How funny! My name’s also Charlotte!”
Charlotte R.: “Really? Well, latkes and grits! It’s mighty nice to know somebody else by that name, I tell ya what. Hey, if ya like, I can teach ya some guitar. I can be yer teacher! I perform country and bluegrass and folk, so I hope ye’re into all that.”
Charlotte W.: “Oh, uh… I’m actually from California. I’m on vacation.”
Charlotte R.: “California?” [beat] “Well, no reason we can’t still be friends! This is the 21st century, we got social media. I’ve got a YouTube, ‘s just my name, Charlotte Esther Roth. I give guitar and piano tutorials on it, also baseball tutorials, occasionally. My biggest video’s me performin’ “The Star-Spangled Banner”, ‘s got almost a million views.”
Charlotte W.: [pulls out phone to search for Roth’s YT] “Oh, so you’re kind of viral!”
Charlotte R.: “Mm-hmm. It’s a fluke, though. My next biggest’s got only ’bout two hunnerd-K.”
Charlotte W.: “Well, from what you’ve showed me, sounds like you deserve more.” [finds Roth’s YT and subscribes] “Aaaaand subscribed.”
[Roth gets a notification on her own phone of Walker’s subscription. She smiles and reaches to pat Walker on the head]
Charlotte W.: “Woah!” [steps away] “Hands away from the hair! It takes an hour to get it looking this perfect.”
Charlotte R.: “My apologies.”
[Annie and Janet run over to the Charlottes]
Janet: “Walker! What’s taking so long?”
Charlotte R.: “Oh, it’s okay, she ain’t botherin’ me.”
Charlotte W.: “Janet, Annie, this is a new friend of mine, she’ll be mostly a social media friend, but that doesn’t make her any less. Here’s something funny, her name is Charlotte too! Haha! And, uh, Charlotte, this is Annie and Janet. They’re friends from… back home in Cali.”
Charlotte R.: “Nice to meet ya both.” [shakes Annie and Janet’s hands. Walker smiles]
Full disclosure, I began writing this fic before the news broke out of David Crosby’s death. If it hadn’t been so far along, I’d have removed the CSNY/CSN/Stills songs mentioned, since this is a birthday present for my social media friend Isaac Vargas (@AnimationFan15 on Twitter), and I didn’t want it to come off as an awkward last-minute tribute to Crosby. Which it’s not supposed to be. I just so happen to be releasing a fic with CSNY songs in it shortly after the passing of one of its members.
But, the fic was already over half done by the day it’s being uploaded, so the songs stay.
Anyways, this artwork, and the fic to go with it, were written to celebrate my friend Isaac’s 25th; at the time of writing this, he turns the age in two days; I uploaded this early because I’ve scheduled Sunday night to be when I upload the GITGA comic I’ve been working on for months. The most I have to say about the artwork is the scenery; once again, it was done through my recently-developed ‘Color Turner’ process, where I draw in grayscale before colorizing everything. Unfortunately, most of the background got obscured by that branch, but I did take screenshots along the way of what it looks like unobscured, and I’ll be uploading those to my main Twitter account. You’ll be surprised when you see just how bare and minimalistic the background started.
The speckled lighting on the Charlottes were done the way you’re used to seeing from me; massively enlarged and masked noise. I almost posterized that effect, but I decided against it when I saw how ugly it looked.
Finally, as for Charlotte (Walker)’s design, I reused the pteropine design from my 2021 birthday present for him, adapted to my new art style. The color of her eyes is an off-white, inverted from the black prevalent throughout Charlotte (Roth)’s design, including in her eyes. I chose this off-white as a middle ground between how Isaac and I draw pupils on our characters; I draw anime-style pupils, and he… well, he doesn’t draw pupils. What’s the middle ground between that? I say anime-style pupils with white irises!
And yes, Isaac does know about this. He found my take ‘interesting’.
And… well, as Forrest Gump would say, ‘that’s all I have to say about that’. Happy two-days-early birthday, Isaac! And to all my readers, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, welcome to the Aquarius part of 2023, and have a good one.
In Memory of David Crosby
(1941-2023)
Twitter (Main): https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
Twitter (Art): https://twitter.com/TheOfficialOTOG
Instagram: www.instagram.com/phoenix_of_g…
Newgrounds: https://phoenixofgrunvale.newgrounds.com/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCXj2N…
Discord: Contact me by my tag (Stormy Adler, P.o.G.#1752) for an invite to my server.
Grunvale/OTOG is owned by me. You’re free to draw fanart of it, as long as you credit me as the creator of the series.
Charlotte Walker, Annie Torres, and Janet Long are owned by Isaac Vargas/AnimationFan15.
“Helplessly Hoping” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” were written by Stephen Stills for Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s self-titled album, owned by… (looks it up) …well, I’ll just say Atlantic Records. Since Zaslav is even after WBD’s music catalog. Yes, really. He is that evil.
“Southern Cross” was written by Stephen Stills, Rick Curtis, and Michael Curtis for Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s album Daylight Again, owned by Atlantic Records.
“Love the One You’re With” was written by Stephen Stills for his self-titled album, owned by Atlantic Records.
The artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).
The Gallery of Stormy Adler 