Say Cheese!

[Northeast side of Grunvale, early evening. Sally is driving a 1965 Volvo Amazon, while the triplets sit in the back seats. Molly sits in the middle, Paddy to her right and Margo to her left. And Buffett rides on the top of the car]
Molly: “I love staying at Uncle Shaun’s!” [car hits pothole, causing her to bump her head on the ceiling. She continues as she grips her head] “Nothing says being from the richest family in Grunvale, who live a mansion with a beautiful, panoramic view of the entire town, than spending the weekend with your middle-class relatives. Who live in a glorified shack built into a burrow, and have just thick woods and the other glorified shacks to look forward to outside their door.”
Sally: “I know! It’s pahfect foah a gal like you!”
Margo: “It’s not all thick woods, Mol. They’ve got a backyard. Not as big as ours or Gilda’s, but bigger than most ines’ in town! And it’s got a stream at the edge!”
Molly: “And the two oak trees that block out what little sun the pines don’t. Which kind of defeats the purpose if this was about getting sunshine!”
Sally: “They’uh’s still fresh aiuh to get. If ya want yoah sun so much, then ya know yoah uncle’s got those UV lights foah his plants. Just point ’em at yoahself and pretend. Ya didn’t foahget how to pretend, did ya?”
Molly: “No, but you’re mistaken if you think that’s nearly the same thing.”
Sally: “Well, then just climb a tree and get yoah sun. If you’ah that insistent on gettin’ real sun.” [the Hyndes reach the Ketcham house] “Well, we’uh here.” [the triplets exit the car] “Have a nice weekend, ‘membah to behave yoahselves foah my brother and Aunt Roxie.”
Hynde triplets: “We will.”
Molly: “I’m gonna miss the sun, though!”
Margo: “Buffett, caw caw!”
[Buffett flies off the roof of the car and onto Margo’s head, just as Sally drives off. The triplets being walking toward the Ketcham house, but jump as they hear a loud burst, followed by a hiss. They turn to see that their mother’s car has hit another pothole and caused a flat tire]
Paddy: “Oh no, that ain’t good.”
[Sally steps out to look at the damage]
Sally: “Crap!“
[the Ketchams’ front door swings open, and out walk Shaun and Roxanne’s quintuplets: Zack, dressed in green and wearing glasses, carrying a rag and bucket; Ellen, wearing a yellow dress and carrying a bucket of paint and a set of brushes; Drake, dressed in red and wearing a bandana, carrying a car jack; Victoria, dressed in blue and wearing a baseball cap, carrying a lug wrench, and Filmore, wearing a black leather jacket and rolling a tire across the lawn. The triplets watch as the quintuplets walk toward the car]
Zack: “Don’t worry, aunt Sally, we’ll have this taken care of in no time.”
Drake: “We came rushing the second we heard it.”
[Sally backs away from the car as the quintuplets survey the car]
Zack: “Alright, it’s a ’65 Volvo Amazon in aqua, paint is chipped in a few places. Ellen, that is aqua paint you have, right?”
Ellen: [holds up paint can to show that it is indeed aqua] “Like I’d forget the color of my aunt’s car. We see it every month.”
Zack: “Very good. I think the small brush will be enough for this job.”
Ellen: “I’ll make the coat so shiny and even, this car’ll look like a piece of the ocean on the road.”
Sally: “Paint?”
Zack: “The windows look a bit scuffed and dirty, too. I also see cat paw prints and…” [takes a closer look] “…the prints of a Herring gull, on the windshield and roof.”
Buffett: “Cawwwk! Cawwwk! Cawwwk!”
Zack: “Thankfully, no droppings, so this’ll be easy to clean.”
Sally: “Clean? Um, no, no, no, quints, I just need the tiyah changed –“
Zack: “And of course, the tire needs to be changed. Filmore, thanks for getting that one out.”
Filmore: “Mm-hmm.”
Zack: “We’ll need a screwdriver to remove and secure the nuts.”
Victoria: “No, Zack, we’ll need a lug wrench.” [holds up said lug wrench] “And I’ve got you covered.”
Zack: “Yes, Victoria, I was testing you and you passed.” [Victoria scowls] “It is in fact a lug wrench we need.”
Victoria: “You know I don’t like being called Victoria.”
Zack: “Right, right. Vicky. It’s a lug wrench we need, Vicky.”
Victoria Vicky: “We’ll talk about this later.”
Margo: [claps and speaks quietly] “Heheh, that’s right, Vicky. Don’t let anybody call you by your stupid girly name.”
Zack: “And we’ll need the jack to secure and lift the car.” [Drake is already setting the jack up, setting it as high as it goes]
Drake: [claps] “Boom. Secured!”
Zack: “Alright, guys, you know the drill. ‘Quints move quick’ on four. One, two, three, four…”
Ketcham quints: “Quints move quick!” [the quints get to working on the car. Sally steps back so she won’t get in the way of their work]
Margo: “That has a nice rhythm to it.”
Paddy: “What does?”
Margo: “‘One, two, three, four, quints move quick’. It’s got a time signature to it and everything. I’m sure if I had Gilda play her metronome to it, I could even find out the tempo.” [pulls out her phone] “In fact, give me a moment.” [calls Gilda and walks off] “Hey, Gil, can you help me figure out something?”
[barely a minute into the job, Ellen has filled in most of the areas of chipped paint, Zack has cleaned all the windows, and most importantly, Filmore is now holding the busted tire, with Drake inserting the new one onto the car and Vicky securing the nuts]
Sally: “How’d ya know this was an Amazon, kid?”
Zack: “I study a lot of old cars. I love how boxy they look. I want a car like that once I’m old enough.”
Sally: “Well, I hope ya find one, ’cause I ain’t lendin’ ya mine. Too attached.” [watches the other quints finish on her car] “Ya guys wahk real fast there.”
Zack: “But of course, aunt Sally. We know you’re in a hurry.” [Sally pats his head, causing Zack to crack a smile] “Also we all take shop class, so we know our way around a car. Well, okay, actually, Ellen takes home ec, but she’s got an eye for detail.”
Sally: “Home ec, huh?”
Zack: “She likes baking and cooking. Also Dad pressured her to take it when he found out she likes baking and cooking.”
Sally: [laughs weakly] “Yup. Sounds like ‘im. Yoah father was the only one out of his siblings to take home ec, too.”
[Ellen paints over the final chipped areas and Drake lowers the jack, finishing the quints’ repairs]
Ellen, Drake, Vicky: “And done!”
Zack: “And done?”
Filmore: “Mm-hmm.”
[beat. Sally looks over the car]
Ellen: “Well, what do you think, aunt Sally? Doesn’t it look beautiful?”
Sally: “Yes, Ellen, it does look beautiful. But moah importantly…” [feels the tire] “You got my tiyah on theuh good and tight. Both on the cah and in tiyah pressure! Good wahk, mah brothah’s kids!” [sees Shaun and Roxanne walk up] “And good job raisin’ ’em, Roxie! And Shaun!”
Roxanne: “Yeah, we raised a great pit crew, didn’t we?” [ruffles Sally’s head]
Sally: [flattens hair back out] “And good kids as well. That just so happen that they’d be a good pit crew too.”
Shaun: “Would you believe my Ellen doesn’t even take shop?”
Sally: “Yes, Zack told me. She’s the only one of five of the only one of five.”
Shaun: “She was actually making grilled cheese sandwiches for us when we heard your tire burst. They were a big hit at the Larson bake sale, she made over a hundred of ’em and they sold out in just over an hour!”
Sally: “Oh, really?”
Filmore: “Mm-hmm.”
Sally: “Ya didn’t tell me ya had a little Emeril, Shaun.” [beat] “Grilled cheese, huh? What’d it taste like?”
Ellen: “This!” [takes a miniature grilled cheese out and shoves it into Sally’s mouth. Sally immediately begins chewing it]
Sally: “Mmm!” [pulls mini-sandwich away from mouth, leaving strings of cheddar between her lips and what’s left] “Oh, this is delish. How do ya make this?”
Ellen: “Oh, just a tiny slice and some sprinkles on sourdough bread. And also dijon mustard for that spice.”
Sally: “Well, Ellen? I didn’t think grilled cheese could taste this good. You’re a bona fide prodigy.”
Ellen: [blushes] “Thanks, Aunt Sally. I get that a lot.”
[beat]
Sally: “Well, I best be goin’ now. Shaun, Roxie, keep the triplets entertained.” [calls out to the triplets] “G’bye, kids! Foah real now!”
Paddy: “Bye!”
Molly: “Goodbye.”
Margo: “165 BPM!” [pause as she puts her phone away] “I mean, uh… bye, Mom!”
[Sally scowls at Margo as she steps into her car. After a few seconds, she drives off. The Ketcham family wave as her car disappears into the trees]
Shaun: “Alright, now let’s have some sandwiches from the up-and-coming master chef!”
Ellen: “Oh, please, Dad, you embarrass me.”
Roxanne: “Get used to hearing it, El. The ines at the bake sale really loved those sandwiches.”
Filmore: “Mm-hmm.”
[the Ketchams head inside, and the Hynde triplets follow. Margo catches up with Vicky]
Margo: “Wow, you guys are really hyping them up. Are they really that good? The sandwiches, I mean?”
Vicky: “Oh yeah. They totally are, Mar. Prepare to experience Heaven for the taste buds.”

The fourth of (hopefully) twelve entries to fulfill my New Year’s resolution. For April (specifically April 12th), we have National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day! And also the debut appearance of the Hynde triplets’ quintuplet cousins, Shaun and Roxanne’s intelligent and energetic kids who attend Larson Middle School: the nerdy Zack, the girly-girl Ellen, the athlete Drake, the tomboy Victoria, and the emo Filmore.

Well, in the ficlet, at least. The artwork itself, of course, depicts Victoria (who much prefers the name ‘Vicky’), Margo’s favorite of her cousins, not just of Shaun’s kids, but in general. Mainly because, much like herself, Vicky is a tomboy. But more of the book-reading type than the athletic type; while Margo just knows what works for anything she does, Vicky actually knows the mechanics and such, as to why it works. For instance, Margo would know to egg the house of anyone who gets under her skin, whereas Vicky would know the type and angle of throw to cause the most damage with the eggs. And teach it to Margo.

Not that anybody should be egging anybody’s houses, but you get the idea. Vicky is the brainy tomboy, and Margo is the brawny tomboy. Together, they’re a powerful force in… tomboyishness. Uh… I’m under a bit of a time constraint to put this out, I head to work in like an hour as I’m writing this. 😅

Anyways, that’s all for this artwork. Until next time, take care, stay safe, reject crypto, watch Nimona whenever it comes out, and have a good one.

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

Taste the Rainbow

Original Twitter Upload Date: March 30, 2022. The script below was originally posted to DA on the same day, and has been revised minimally from the original version.

[March 29, 2018 on the strict timeline of ZP-51498. Gilda and Abby are in the kitchen of the Lowry household, assembling the molds of the agar-agar they’ve made for Auggie and April’s 13th, into pride flags. Gilda, holding a pizza cutter, is the one doing the cutting, while Abby, holding repurposed putty knives, is doing the scooping. They’re on the yellow of the non-binary flag, and Gilda is far along making the third and final slice into it]
Abby: “What did you say agar is made out again? Kelp?”
Gilda: “Seaweed.” [finishes cutting] “It’s made out of seaweed.”
Abby: “Seaweed? Really?”
Gilda: “Red algae, specifically.”
Abby: [jaw drops] “Algae? You mean the stuff that grows in swamp water?”
Gilda: “That’s some of what it is. And it’s also what most know as seaweed.”
Abby: [scoops the first portion of the yellow] “That’s… fascinating. And from what I’ve seen, it makes a damn good Jell-O alternative.” [has the portion slide into the first tray of non-binary flag agar, next to the white] “About the only thing different is that you can’t see through it.”
Gilda: “But it’s still just as delicious. Well, the taste, anyway. The process of making gelatin is actually gross. Which is why I never make any recipes using it. Agar only.”
[Abby scoops up the second yellow portion]
Gilda: “So, uh, which are you gonna have first, of the scraps?”
Abby: “A white one, the pitaya-flavored.” [slides the portion into the second tray of nonbinary flag agar] “What exactly is pitaya, anyway? Other than a wicked-looking fruit with a surprisingly mild taste?”
Gilda: “It’s a tropical fruit, grown in Central Amareica. Also known as the dragonfruit, for how its exterior resembles the fire and scales of a dragon.” [fiddles fingers in front of mouth to imitate fire] “GRAHHHHH! Dennis Quaid, let’s do some goofy and over-the-top things togethah!” [imitates fire again] “GRAHHHHH!”
Abby: [noticeably confused] “Huh?”
Gilda: “Dragonheart. Ever seen Dragonheart?”
Abby: “No, I haven’t even heard of it.”
Gilda: “1996 film starring Dennis Quaid and a CGI dragon voiced by Sean Connery. It’s an action-adventure movie, it’s not really supposed to be a comedy, but it’s so soaked in 90s cheese that you’d believe anyone who told you it was.”
Abby: “Well, you know how much I love cheesy stuff! Especially retro cheese. I oughta watch it sometime. In fact…” [pulls out phone] “Dra-gon-heart. Save!”
Gilda: “Dragonheart‘s just about the only good dragon movie ever made. All the other good dragon-related pieces of media are video games.”
Abby: “What about Dragon Tales?”
Gilda: “Okay, besides that one. Video games about dragons tend to be awesome.”
Abby: [scoops the third yellow portion, leaving just a single strip in the tray] “Isn’t there just Spyro?”
Gilda: “No, there isn’t just the Spyro games. Although those are the best ones. Stewart Copeland’s music truly made those games. Yes, even Enter the Dragonfly.”
Abby: [slides the portion into the third tray] “But you didn’t answer my question. What other dragon games are there?”
Gilda: “Well, there’s Double Dragon…” [Abby scowls] “Hey, games containing the word in its title count too!”
Abby: “How about games that actually have dragons in them?”
Gilda: “Well, there’s Dragon Warrior, awesome franchise. Actually prefer it over Final Fantasy. It’s actually called Dragon Quest, but…” [chuckles] “…let’s be honest, Dragon Warrior is way cooler. Objective fact.” [eyes dart around] “Not a fact, just my strong opinion.”
Abby: “Ah, cool. What else is there?”
Gilda: “Dragon’s Lair, the absolutely groundbreaking LaserDisc game from Don Bluth.”
Abby: “Who?”
Gilda: “The director of The Secret of NIMH and An American Tail.”
Abby: “Oh, cool! I love Secret of NIMH.“
Gilda: “Who doesn’t?” [beat] “Anyways, uh… what else, does Minecraft count? It does have that dragon in it, doesn’t it?”
Abby: “Yeah, it does. And…” [beat] “…you’re speaking my language now, Gilda. I love Minecraft. The building in it, so much fun. I’ve logged like a thousand hours into building in that game. One of these days, I oughta invite you into my server to show you everything I’ve made. I’m a real pro.”
Gilda: “Hm. Oh, and there’s Lair. You ever heard of Lair?”
Abby: “Um…” [stops to think] “No?”
Gilda: [beat] “Yeah, you don’t need to play Lair.”
[she and Abby look at the strips of agar they haven’t used for the flags]
Gilda: “So, that just leaves these as the scraps.”
Abby: “Yep.”
[a short pause between the two. Then, Gilda cuts into what is left of the dark orange used for the lesbian flags, and pops a square of it into her mouth]
Abby: [chuckles] “Of course you go for the orange.”
Gilda: “Well, what did you think I was gonna go for? The licorice?”

Yeah, I’m doing a series for the Tetrad’s 13th birthdays, too. And since I showed Wendy’s on her canonical birthday of March 7th on Twitter and her canonical bat mitzvah celebration date of March 10th, time to show April and Auggie’s today, their canonical birthday of March 30th.

Now to the artwork!

As I’ve been doing a lot lately, I used fresh pasta stock images (as a refresher, that’s a portmanteau and mispronunciation of ‘thresholding’ and ‘posterization’, the effects used to create the filtered look) for the scenery, namely the background1 and table texture. However, the table outline and the agar trays were still drawn by me, using a one-point perspective that I think came out quite nicely. For those wondering, I get these images from a site called Pexels. And then in ASP, I cut them out and edit them how I see fit. Sometimes, I do take my own images, though. I actually have an artwork planned of the Tetrad fishing; it’s gonna use some images I took recently at the Civil War campground, after it got flooded in a rainstorm.2

1 Gourd, how did that thing end up looking like a Craiyon asset when it isn’t even Craiyon?

2 I, uh… I think I still have those images? I have a large backlog of art ideas that I never ended up making.

This is my first time drawing Auggie since I revealed them to be genderfluid, meaning sometimes they feel more masculine and sometimes they feel more feminine. As a recap, they don’t mind being called by their birth name ‘August’, but they also go by the more feminine ‘Augustine’ and the gender-neutral ‘Auggie’. I’ll use the latter name outside of dialogue in my cartoons3, though, because I feel it’s the most respectful to use for this canonically non-binary character.

3 And ficlets.

Anyways, this 13-year-old version of Auggie has their hair grown out (not as far as their 15-year-old self, however), and a single pair of eyelashes. The latter of which will be a permanent change to even their 11-year-old design, and the former of which will not be added to their 11-year-old self, where they will keep the undercut. I got the idea of the single-eyelashes from the ACNH villager Sasha, a lazy leporine added into the 2.0 version, and the most feminine of all the male villagers in the game (he’s the only male villager with the fashion hobby). I thought up the design of the shirt as I was looking at images of ruffled shirts, which April has described before as ‘[Auggie’s] thing‘. What I was going for, was something that looked both masculine and feminine at the same time. Something that an enby would wear. And… that shirt is what I came up with. Do enbys dress like that? Well, Auggie does. Not that I ever intended for them to be the end-all-be-all representation of all enbys, or any of my characters to be the end-all-be-all rep of any group, but still.

I figured out while drawing this that, if Abby were to be 6’6″/1.98m at age 13, and she’s 4’10″/1.47m at age 8, she’d have to grow an average of four and a half inches every year. Which is why this 10-year-old version is drawn as 5’7″/1.70m, same as April at age 11. And in case you’re wondering, Auggie is 6’1″/1.85m here, and April is 5’10.5″/1.79m. April and Abby have been established to have conflicting personalities, with April being a girly-girl and Abby being a bit of a tomboy. And I made their different takes on femininity show through their outfits here; April is quite heavily made up but wearing minimal jewelry, while Abby is bare-faced but heavily accessorized.

I’ve always liked the idea of Gilda and Abby befriending each other when they’re older, and first explored it in the above-linked “A Panel of Lowry Brow Humor”. I figure they have a similar friendship to the one Gilda has with Nicole, where they know each other through one being a sibling of the other’s friend, one is older and a bit of a teacher to the younger, while the younger easily gets along with the older because of traits or interests that they share. Gilda and Nicole share being on the spectrum, and Gilda and Abby share a love of retro culture4.

4 Nicole also has somewhat of an interest in retro culture, but not to the same level as Gilda and Abby.

And I made sure Abby’s outfit shows that love of retro culture just through the color palette, with the purple and cyan being inspired by the CGA color palette of 1980s computers. Honestly, is there a more 80s color combination that blue or cyan and purple or pink? I think not.

Anyways, that’ll be all for this one. Until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, and have a good one.

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

The Keys to Hitting the Low-ry Notes

[Lowry household, day. Gilda knocks on the door, and leans against a column as she waits for it to be answered. She hums to herself, before singing quietly]
Gilda: 🎵 Mainstream, are we moving too far away? / Mainstream, is it worth it if it doesn’t pay? / Mainstream, the centerline is status quo / Gotta stay within the / Mainstream, if you stay within the tried and true / Mainstream, you’ll remain among the chosen few / Mainstream, survive a year🎵 [scat sings the guitar fill as Carol opens the door] “Oh! Hello, Mrs. Lowry!”
Carol: “Hello, Gilda.”
Gilda: “Fancy seeing you at the house. I don’t see you much.”
Carol: “Yeah, well, you’d be surprised how busy the fire department keeps you.”
Gilda: “Y’know, we picked a good day to schedule Abby’s lesson. The Hynde triplets are at her uncle Shaun’s for the weekend, Wendy and Nicole have dentist’s appointments today, and April’s out with Jazz in the city, obviously you’d know that last one. And… uh, where’d you say August was again?”
Carol: “Hiking in Yonderpine’s woods. He saw… they saw, some robin’s eggs and wanted to take pictures, to could remember what the color looked like. They want Margo’s sister to make them something.”
Gilda: “Her name’s Molly.”
Carol: “Right. Molly.” [beat] “Anyways, Abby’s already at the piano, in fact, I think I hear her playing already.”
[Abby is heard playing ‘Louie Louie’]
Gilda: 🎵 A-A-A, D-D, E-E-E, D-D, A-A-A 🎵 “Yep, just as I taught her. ‘Louie Louie”s probably the easiest song there is to play on any instrument. Just three notes. And yet it’s a catchy riff, isn’t it?” [walks into the house]
Carol: “And if you’re hungry, we have some leftover lemon chiffon cake.”
Gilda: “Generabrand?”
Carol: “No, actually, the good stuff. Redfeather Commune.”
Gilda: “Ah, cool! For the record, Mrs. Lowry, they’re both the good stuff. But of course, Commune tastes better. And I’m not just saying that because the cake from the Commune is my grandma’s recipe! I’m saying that because the recipe –” [slaps mouth shut] “Just kidding, that’s secret.” [signs ‘NDA’ in sign language and goes to the kitchen. She calls out to Abby as she opens the fridge] “Good playing, Abby. You know the other riff?” [beat. Abby plays the other ‘Louie Louie’ riff. Gilda sings it quietly to herself] 🎵 A, A-D, D-E-E-E-D-D 🎵 “Sì, very good!”
[Gilda takes the cake out of the fridge, puts the plate in the sink, and goes to join Abby in the living room, holding the dessert in her hand. Abby stops and stares at Gilda as she walks in, taking her first bite of the cake]
Abby: “You… eat cake like that?”
Gilda: [swallows] “Eat cake like what?”
Abby: “Without a fork! Or a plate, for that matter!”
Gilda: “The cake’s still getting in my stomach, is it not?”
Abby: “Yeah, well, usually, if a food leaves behind a lot of crumbs or whatever, normal ines would use a fork or spoon or… ah, never mind. What do you know about normal anyway?”
Gilda: “That it’s a boring way to be.” [takes another bite of the cake as she sits on the floor by the piano] “Alright, let’s mix it up. You know the A-chord, major and minor. And also D and E in major and minor. Since I feel inspired by this song, show me a G-chord. Major.”
Abby: “Since you feel insp –“
Gilda: “Just do it.” [Abby plays the chord] “Very good. Show me three of them.” [Abby plays them slowly] “I was thinking a little faster, like G, G, G.” [Abby plays the chords as requested] “Okay. Now show me three minor A-chords, like A, A-A.” [Abby plays the A-chords as requested]
Abby: “What exactly am I playing?”
Gilda: “It’ll make sense in a moment. Now play them together, one after the other.” [Abby plays a G major-chord followed by an A-minor] “No, no, no, like what you just did. G, G, G, A, A-A.” [Abby plays as Gilda requested] “Very good. Now keep playing up until I start singing. Then start playing C-majors to the tune.” [Gilda stands up as she takes another bite out of the cake. Once she swallows the piece, she snaps her fingers and points at Abby, prompting the C-major chords] 🎵 I don’t know how I’m gonna do it / But I’m gonna make him mine / He’s the envy of all the girls / It’s just a matter of time 🎵
[Gilda flicks her hand around to signal Abby to stop]
Abby: “Wow, Gilda, you’re actually a really good singer.” [Gilda bows] “What song is that?”
Gilda: “‘My Sweet Lord’ by George Harrison.”
Abby: “Really? The Beatle?”
Gilda: “No, I was testing you. ‘He’s So Fine’ by the Ch –” [looks at her cake] “By a girl group from the 1960s. They have the same alternating chords, minor second and major fifth. Difference being ‘He’s So Fine’ is in G and ‘My Sweet Lord’ is in E.” [Abby plays the E-minor chord] “Major.” [Abby plays the E-major chord] “You know, there’s a funny story about the two songs. I’ll tell it to you some other time. But trust me, when we get to ‘My Sweet Lord’, it’ll click. Once you know ‘He’s So Fine’ in and out, it won’t take any time at all to learn ‘My Sweet Lord’.”
Abby: “I think I’m ready now.”
Gilda: “Not yet, you’re not. Let’s get those right hand fingers on the keys.” [Abby sets her fingers on the piano, light enough that she doesn’t play any notes] “Now, remember, Abby. Which hand do you use more often to do things?”
Abby: “The right, Ms. Lefty.”
Gilda: [squints at Abby] “That’s right. Um, that’s correct. And of course, that’ll be the hand you use to play the more complicated melody, as you play the more simple chords, with your left.”

Entry number three to fulfill my New Year’s resolution to draw at least one National [thing] day-themed artwork every month. For March, much like with last month, we have another twofer. Well, twofer as in two days are being addressed here. World Piano Day (the 88th day of the year, marking how many keys are on a traditional piano), and National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day. And for it, I came up with this artwork and ficlet, of Gilda eating lemon chiffon cake as she teaches Abby piano.

If a few ficlets ago was any indication, I’ve decided to have Gilda’s go-to instrument be the piano. Since a raccoon’s dominant sense is their touch, I thought it’d be fitting for Gilda to play key-based instruments, such as the keyboard, the harpsichord, the organ, and of course, the piano. And as an expansion on this, I’ve had this idea that Gilda serves as Abby’s piano teacher, because she’s the only one willing to teach rock and pop music, the stuff Abby wants to learn, rather than the traditional stuff like “Chopsticks” and “Heart and Soul”.

And if me saying this, as well as “Louie Louie” being played in the ficlet, makes you wonder if these ideas were inspired by the 1995 film Mr. Holland’s Opus… yep, you got me. I quite enjoyed the film, BTW, except for the Gershwin revue stretch of the film. Also, if anyone makes an unironic plea ‘for the children’, show them this clip. I apologize in advance for it being a pan-and-scan VHS rip. But the message is still correct.

Anyways, that’ll be all for this one. Until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, please I beg you TGAMM fandom do *not* turn heterophobic just because Molly x Ollie is apparently going to be a thing, and have a good one.

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
“Mainstream” was written by Kerry Livgren for Kansas’ album Drastic Measures, owned by Sony Music Entertainment through Epic Records.
“Louie Louie” was written by Richard Berry and most famously recorded by The Kingsmen for their album The Kingsmen In Person, owned by Gusto Records.
“He’s So Fine” was written by Ronald Mack for the Chiffons’ album of the same name, owned by Universal Music Group through Capitol Records.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

Stellar Beauty

[Voronov household, day. Stella is dressed in 1940s attire, complete with a teal dress and pumps, her hair in victory rolls, and made up and accessorized like a pin-up model, as Dolly inserts a hibiscus hair clip into her hair]
Dolly: “How you holding up, Stel?”
Stella: “Well, I’ll say this much. It’s not exactly the most comfortable thing I’ve worn. The corset feels like a shirt that’s too small on me, and the falsies feel like I’ve got caterpillars sleeping on my eyelids.”
Dolly: “Yeah, they feel that way at first. You get used to it, though.” [picks up a red bead necklace and fastens it around Stella’s neck]
Stella: “And yet at the same time, it’s worth it.” [stands up from her seat and poses flirtatiously in the mirror] “I could make any boar swoon over me dressed like this. Or die in a war for me, if it were that time period.” [bats her lashes] “Hello Mr. Vitskog, how you doin’?” [blows a kiss into the mirror] “Oop! Almost forgot!” [picks up a pair of white, lace-trimmed gloves from the counter and puts them on. She poses and bats her lashes again] “I really dig these lashes, actually. They’re heavy, but worth it.”
Dolly: “Mm-hmm. Desmond’s gonna love the way you look. I guarantee it.”
Stella: “Okay, Buck’s Warehouse guy. Let’s go to the studio.”
Dolly: “I’ll be your shield from any mud.”
Stella: “You’re keeping the pig, out of mud?”
Dolly: “Well, you don’t want to get dirty and spoil your ensemble, do you?”
Stella: [beat] “Okay, good point.”

An artwork I drew as more perspective practice. And also because I wanted to draw Stella Svampsson in a 1940s-inspired ensemble. Once again, victory rolls prove to be a flattering hairstyle on any lady, from the human pin-up models of World War II, to the anthropomorphic fashionistas drawn by the cartoonists of today. And also I proved with this artwork, that putting lipstick on a pig *does* make her look more beautiful. If she’s an anthropomorphic Lutheran suilline of Swedish descent.

Oh, I forgot to mention. I decided to make Stella a Lutheran instead of a Methodist. After doing some research, it turns out that Lutheranism is the biggest branch of Christianity, not only in Scandinavia, but also in northern Germany (central and southern Germany are mostly Catholic). And since I want to be accurate to heritage wherever possible, and Grunvale in-universe is supposed to be part of a former Gerbilman (German) colony, a Lutheran church it shall be. That Stella is part of and is prominent in Grunvale.

But back to the part where I said this was ‘perspective practice’. That’s the pots of flowers you see on either side of her. I recently discovered that ArtStudio Pro has a tool that locks the lines drawn to a grid, that can be set to one, two, or three-point perspective. And I’ve used it quite a bit since, including on the graphic novel. Spoiler alert, you’ll see some perspective work on Project Oregon.

As for the flowers, those were actually pretty easy to draw. They’re just a bunch of red and pink dots, diffused to the point where the outer pixels look like petals when viewed from a distance. Flowers are a large part of the 1940s aesthetic, and Stella already has a floral motif going on with her ensemble. So why not have some actual (in-universe) flowers in there along with her?

Finally, of course, the artwork is filtered to resemble a photo of the 1940s. If you’d rather see this artwork with the original colors, or even in black-and-white as would have been most accessible in the 1940s, the Newgrounds upload has you covered.

Overall, glad to finally have this artwork on my blog. And of course, it was fun getting to finally bring Stella to my revamped art style. That’ll be all for this artwork; until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, happy Spring, and have a good one.

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 2880×2160 (aspect ratio 1.33:1).

Why Project Oregon? I’ve decided to name the chapters of my graphic novel series after classic video games. The first comic of the series is Project Pong, and ‘Gaming in the Gild-ed Age’ is retroactively Project Spacewar.

Smoke is a Good Boy

[Grime/Griswold household, evening. Gilda and Terence are watching a movie on TV in the living room, giant bowls of popcorn on their laps. Gilda picks up a bottle of lemon juice and squirts it onto her popcorn]
Terence: “Sis, that’s weird.”
Gilda: “No, you’re weird for caring. What I put on my popcorn is none of your business.”
Terence: “Yeah, but… lemon juice? “
Gilda: “It makes the popcorn taste sour and sweet.” [picks up handful and shows it to Terence] “You want some?”
Terence: “No, I’ll have my popcorn buttered. Like a normal ine. Get that weird stuff away from me.”
Gilda: “Hmph! So stubborn!” [shoves popcorn into mouth, glaring at Terence as she eats it. The ringtone of Sharon’s phone sounds in the kitchen]
[ringtone]: 🎵 Oh, this is gonna be so much fun / Oh, this is gonna be so much — 🎵
[beep. Sharon answers]
Sharon: “Hello, Redfeather. It’s happening? Mm-hmm. Yep. I’ll be over right away.” [hangs up. Gilda leans over to see Sharon in the kitchen, frantically open the cabinet, take out a bowl, and fill it with water from the fridge; she sings a crude, fast, off-tempo version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” as the bowl fills] 🎵Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down / Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down 🎵
[Sharon scat-sings the piano bit as Gilda walks in]
Gilda: “Grandma? What’s going on?” [chuckles] “You’re acting like somebody’s giving birth or something.”
[Sharon turns around and shows Gilda the dog bowl, half-full of water. Gilda’s eyes go big]

[at Redfeather’s house. Redfeather and Sharon are in the living room with the former’s Shar Pei, Prune, who is in labor; Gilda stands outside the room]
Redfeather: “My dog’s giving birth!”
Gilda: “Prune’s about to be a mama!” [steps into the room] “Hang on, Pruney, Gilda’s coming!”
Sharon: “No, Gil. You don’t want to be in here.”
Gilda: “Don’t want to be in there? But it’s puppies!”
Sharon: “Gilda, trust me. The birth of newborn puppies isn’t as cute as it sounds. It’s wet and bloody, and the babies look sickly.”
Gilda: “Sickly like how?”
Sharon: “Pink where grown dogs don’t usually have pink, their eyes are closed so tight that they look angry, and also they’re wrinkly. They almost look older than actual elderly dogs.”
Gilda: “Wrinkly? But that’s what makes Shar Peis look so cute!”
Sharon: “Gilda, just trust me, you don’t want to be in here.”
Gilda: “I’ll still get to pick out a puppy for the house once they’re all out, though, right?”
Sharon, Redfeather: “Yes.”
[Gilda smiles]
Redfeather: “Not the first one, though. That’ll be mine.” [beat. Gilda leaves the room] “Whoop, speak of the devil.” [Prune pushes out a puppy, and cleans it as they squirm around on the floor]
Sharon: “Good girl!” [picks the puppy up] “Son of a bitch.”
Redfeather: “What? What’s wrong?” [looks at the puppy] “Oh. He is a son of a bitch.” [fastens tiny red collar around the puppy’s neck] “Welcome to the world, little guy.” [thinks back to a few seconds ago] “Speak of the devil… hm. Satan.”
Sharon: “Redfeather, you can’t call a dog Satan.”
Redfeather: “Sure I can, he’s my dog.” [Sharon glares at him] “Okay, fine. Cerberus.” [sets Cerberus beside Prune’s stomach]

[Three hours later, Prune has given birth to the rest of her litter. Six puppies in all, the five after Cerberus given yellow, green, cyan, blue, and magenta collars, in that order. All of the puppies are nursing]
Sharon: “Remember, Gilda, whichever you pick out, you’ll responsible for. Not just for their playtime and giving them treats, but also for putting out food and water for them, and for letting them outside to do their business. And the occasional bath, of course.”
Gilda: “Yes, grandma, I know all this.”
Sharon: “And also these puppies are of nursing age for, what, a month?”
Redfeather: “Prune spent two months.”
Sharon: “Two months. For the next two months, whichever puppy you get, you’re gonna be bottle-feeding. Since they won’t be getting milk from their mother. Oh, and of course, once it’s on solid food, it’ll start growing fast. These are Chow Peis, so expect them to be about… how much?”
Redfeather: “Prune weighs sixty pounds. Chow Chows weigh… a few pounds more. Let’s round it to five. Sixty-five pounds.”
Sharon: “You got that, Gilda? Sixty-five pounds.”
Gilda: “Sixty-five, woah. That’s over half a me!”
Sharon: “Yep. And as for how much food they’ll need, well, I’m sure you have that one figured out.”
Gilda: “You know, you say all this as if I wasn’t prepared to take this on.”
Sharon: “I just thought I’d remind you what you’re in for.”
Gilda: “So, uh, can I pick one now?”
Sharon: “I don’t know why you weren’t picking one when I was talking to you, multitasking’s supposed to be one of a procyonine’s natural gifts.”
[Gilda crouches to get a good look at the puppies]
Redfeather: “Remember, Cerberus is mine. He’s the one with the red collar.”
[Gilda is silent for a few seconds, before her eyes lock onto the puppy with the green collar]
Gilda: “Ooh, this one’s cute.” [rubs the puppy’s back with her index finger] “So fluffy. I’m guessing from the collar they were the third one?”
Redfeather: “Yes he was.”
Gilda: “His fur reminds me of a puff of smoke.” [beat] “And if it’s true what you say about him being over half my size by the time he’s grown… oh boy, he’ll want to sleep on me at night, won’t he?”
Redfeather: “If he ends up affectionate, he will want to. And he will do so.”
Gilda: “And in doing so, he’ll leave me gasping for air. Like a… puff of smoke.” [beat] “Grandma, what do you think of ‘Smoke’?”
Sharon: “Is… is that what you’re naming him?”
Gilda: “Yeah. I think it’s fitting for him.”
Sharon: “It’s… well, it’s a better name than Satan.”
[Smoke latches off of Prune and crawls away. Gilda picks him up and kisses him on the forehead]
Gilda: “Welcome to the world, Smoke! You’ve got a lot to see. Once you open those eyes of yours.”
Redfeather: “Have a nice heartbreak in a decade or so!”
Gilda: “I will, Mr. Redfe — wait, what?”
Redfeather: “Nothing.”
[Gilda and Sharon leave the room, beginning to leave Redfeather’s]
Gilda: “We… do have a bottle, right, grandma?”
Sharon: “Yes, I have a glass one in the attic. I used it to feed your mother when she was an infant.”
Gilda: “Pffft. And we’ll be cleaning out whatever dust and stuff’s been accumulating in there the past… forty years or so, right?”
Sharon: “My family deserves better than dusty milk, ine or wild. As if you even needed to ask that.”

Well, am I glad to finally have this one out. As a bit of closure I will never have.

As many of my followers would know, the YouTuber James Phyrillas, better known by his username ‘Schaffrillas’, was recently involved in a car accident in which his brother Patrick and friend Chris Schaffer were killed, and he was left injured. Anyone who knows me well know where this is leading; his accident reminded me of my own accident back in May of 2020, that left me wheelchair-bound for the entirety of summer, as well as the death of my (originally my sister’s) Labrador Retriever/Chow Chow mix, Doug.

Being stuck in a wheelchair wasn’t the hard part, there wasn’t much to do that summer anyway. We… we all know why.

☠️☠️☠️2020 SUCKED FOR LITERALLY EVERYONE. ☠️☠️☠️

But losing Doug, that was fucking awful. I’d already lost Molly the month before, and I had to go through the pain of losing a beloved animal companion once again. Even nearly three years later, I have not gotten over losing him. I haven’t gotten over the fact that I’m responsible for his death. And I especially haven’t gotten over the fact that I never even got to say goodbye to him; those moments we spent in the rubble of that Kia Forte, wrecked by a left turn made in a moment of impatience and negligence, were the last moments we spent together. Though Doug survived the initial impact with only a cut on his nose, the medicine he was given in the days following to help him relieve the pain, damaged his kidneys, already weakened by Lyme disease, to the point where he could no longer function. He was put to sleep twelve days after the accident, never knowing what had happened to me.

And yes, I do know that he missed me; while I was still in the hospital, my mother showed me a picture on her phone, of him sitting outside my room. He knew something wasn’t right.

Doug’s death is also what turned me off from religion for good. In the days following the accident, I believed that angels may have been looking out for me. But after Doug was put down, I realized how ridiculous that was. Why would angels be looking out for me and not Doug? Was Doug not good enough for this world? Why must bad things happen to those who do no wrong? If there is a God, that God has it out for me. I’m like Sonic in the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Robotnik is God. In the Under Ground Zone, just as I was about to fall in the metaphorical lava, here comes my lifelong enemy to save me. God, the universe, whatever. Save me only to put me in front of… well, I don’t know what that thing is in the game. An antlion’s head in a pit or something? But for me, it’s my fears, my guilt, and the void calling me to join Doug and Molly on the other side.

I’ve always assumed it’s Grunvale keeping me alive. Every time the metaphorical ball to hit my own antlion head goes up, that’s progress being made on my work. And every time it falls, that’s when I hit writer’s/artist’s block, and don’t know where to continue, hope that ball won’t fall on me. That’s what life is for me since the accident, since losing Doug. A metaphorical fight against the first and somehow hardest boss, in one of the worst games in the Sonic franchise. Is it an objective fact that it’s the worst? No, it’s my strong opinion. But that boss always sticks out to me as one of my least favorite in gaming. And that stage, Under Ground Zone Act 3, is the best analog I can think of for the struggles in my own life. I’m Sonic, Robotnik’s the force that decided to torture me instead of kill me, the boss is the curse on my mental health, and those bouncing balls are Grunvale and the progress I make on it.

Maybe that last part is the optimistic side of all this. Because as I’ve said before, I may be the creator of Grunvale, but I wouldn’t say I’m the one that gave it life. It’s Grunvale, that gave life to me. A reason to live. I’m still here because the world needs me here, to tell the story of that nerdy procyonine and what goofy stuff she gets up to with her friends.

…let’s go back to what I said above. About this being a way to find closure I will never have. Because I imagine a Chow Chow much like Doug, being Smoke’s father. If he can’t live in my world, then I’ll have him live in the world of the stories I tell. As the father of Gilda’s dog, who mates with a dog of her favorite breed, to create a wrinkly fluffball that she of course would adore.

You live again, Doug. Not in physical form in my world, but in digital form in the world of the stories I tell. And you even have puppies to carry on your legacy. 🥲

Sorry this got so heavy. We’ll be back to lighter fare next time. Until then, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, have a good one, and rest easy, Patrick and Chris. You shooting stars broke the mold.

In Memory of Patrick Phyrillas and Chris Schaffer

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” was written by Paul Simon for Simon and Garfunkel’s album of the same name, owned by Sony Music Entertainment through Columbia Records.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

Mabrouk to Wendy!

Original Twitter Upload Date: March 7, 2022. The script below was originally posted to DA on March 10, 2022, and has been revised minimally from the original version.

[March 4, 2018 on the strict timeline of ZP-51498. Gilda, Margo, and April eat at their table in the food court in the Grunvale Mall]
Margo: “And that’s why Teen Titans‘ “Things Change” is the worst series finale to any show ever. Why would they leave so many questions unanswered if they were just gonna end the show right there?!”
Gilda: “Margo, next time you end a rant, actually have a rant to end. Instead of just randomly saying the conclusion out of nowhere.”
Margo: “Oh, come on, Gil, you’re no fun. Let anyone who’s eavesdropping on us just now think I was ranting!”
[Gilda looks around the area; everyone’s either too busy eating, lined up at the vendors, or walking past the food court] 
Gilda: “Who would be eavesdropping on us?”
Margo: [beat] “I dunno.” [bites into carrot she’s eating]
April: “‘ey, ‘ave ye lasses seen Wendeh t’deh?”
Gilda: “Nope, haven’t seen her.”
Margo: “I haven’t seen her either.” [swallows] “Maybe she died.”
Gilda: “Hey, that’s not funny, Margo, she’s our friend. You shouldn’t joke about that.”
Margo: “I mean, it’s possible.” [sips from her Orange Crush]
Gilda: “She’s probably just preparing for her birthday. She is coming up on… that age, you know.”
Margo: “Oh, right, thirteen! She is becoming a teenager, isn’t she? And then you do, April, and then you Gilda, and then me, in…” [eyes go big] “Holy crap, three and a half months? That’s how close teenhood is for me already? Damn!” [beat] “Well, if being a teenager is anything like what they show in the movies, then at least I’m in for a fun time.” 
Gilda: “Well, yes, she is becoming a teenager. But since she’s Jewish, that also means –“
April: “Ah, ‘at’s right! Bat mitzvah!”
Margo: “Bat miztvah?! Oh, that’s awesome! Our Wendy’s becoming a grown sow!”
Gilda: [chuckles] “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m as excited as you guys for it. Both the ceremony and the party.”
[Margo and April fall silent]
April: “…but weh can’t gae.”
Margo: “Yeah, Gil. You really think Wendy would invite our gentile asses to such a sacred event?”
Gilda: “Yes, I do. Her sisters all did. I mean, invite non-Jewish guests. Stella got to go to Dolly’s, that marsupial boyfriend of Nicole’s went to hers, and I remember my own brother Terence going to Roz and Maddie’s b’not. He wore an orange tux to it. It looked like Jim Carrey’s in Dumb and Dumber. Gourd, I wish I had a tux like that. In green.”
April: “Ye dae, daen’t ye? The shooldah-padded one?”
Gilda: “That’s a suit, April. I mean a tux. Like with a ruffled shirt.”
April: “Ye’d look silleh!”
Gilda: “I’d look classy! And so would you. Actually, if I got you one in your color, you’d –“
April: “Ruffled shirts’re mah twin’s t’ing. Ah daen’t need un, thank ye vereh much.” [bites into egg sandwich, looks off, and points]“Oh hey, thar’s Wendeh.”
[Gilda and Margo look back; sure enough, Wendy’s walking up. She’s carrying papers with her]
Gilda: “Oh! Hi, Dub Dub!”
Margo: “Hey, Wendy, what’s up?”
Wendy: “Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late. I was just printing some stuff out. Here, I want you to have these.” [hands out the papers, the rest of the Tetrad start reading what they say as they recieve them] “I’m sure you know what they are.”
Gilda: “The invitations, right?” [reads the invitation] “‘You are cordially invited to witness Wendy Rowan Wyler as she is called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah, this Saturday at the Albaneigh County Sephardic Temple. Service at 5PM, party from 6PM to midnight. The dress code is semi-formal. Catering will be provided by the Grunvale, Ithaca, and Buffalo branches of the Redfeather Commune. Edward Voronov, brother of Wendy’s brother-in-law Gregory, will be deejaying.'” [to Wendy] “Well, sounds like it’s gonna be a lovely night. I promise I’ll be there.”
Margo: “Gilda says you don’t have to be Jewish to go to these things, is that true?”
Wendy: “Of course! In fact, when Roz and Maddie turned thirteen, they even invited Gilda’s brother to –“
Margo: “She told me that too.”
Wendy: [beat] “Anyways, part of the reason I wanted to deliver these to you guys personally is because… well, you see, it’s tradition at bar and bat mitzvah celebrations for there to be candle lighting. Generally, there’s fourteen to light. One for each year lived up to that point, and one for good luck.”
Gilda: “Oh yeah, I know that part. Calling up family and friends to light. I’m guessing you want us to light one of the candles?”
Wendy: “Yes, I would. I have you guys as candle number ten.”
Gilda: “Number ten, like the tenth candle?”
Wendy: “Yeah, the tenth candle. I’ve already got the order figured out. I light the first candle for my dead relatives, then Dolly lights the second one, then Nicole lights the third, Greg lights the fourth, my uncle Jerome and aunt Dessiree light the fifth, my cousins, their names are Guillaume, Roderick, Maurice, Nikita, and Wyatt, by the way, they light the sixth, My grandparents, my maternals Ezra and Jacqueline and my paternals Tae-hyung and Moon-hee, they light the seventh, Dolly’s friends Stella and Samantha light eighth, Nicole’s friends, her teammates Murphy and Charlotte and her boyfriends Murray and Holt, they light ninth, and then you guys light tenth. And in case you’re wondering, rabbi Franco is eleventh, Greg’s sister Vicky is twelfth, Roz and Maddie are thirteenth, and then I light once again for the fourteenth candle, which is for everyone who shows up. [beat] I, uh… I wanted to put you guys earlier, but the way these things usually work is that family goes first, and, well…” [chuckles] “I didn’t realize how much family I had.”
Margo: [scowling] “Dolly’s friends and Nicole’s friends aren’t your family.”
Wendy: “Yeah, but I’ve known them since I was four. Well, Stella and Samantha and Murphy and Charlotte, at least. I’ve only known you and April since first grade, Margo, and Gilda for a year and a half. And as for Murray and Holt, by the way things are going, I’m gonna be calling them my brothers-in-law in a few years.” [beat] “Dolly and Nicole were also very persuasive. It’s scary how well they do puppy eyes.” [chuckles nervously] “Seriously though, I hope you guys don’t mind going so late.”
Gilda: “Not at all, Wendy! I feel honored you’re even giving us a candle at all.”
April: “Sae do I!”
Margo: [observing her friends’ reactions] “You know what, they’re right. I should feel honored. And I do. I mean, putting us before your rabbi, that’s pretty big! I am bigger than your God.”
Wendy: [laughs] “Okay, dial it back, John Lennon.” [addressing entire group] “Now to the big reason I’m here. The tradition is to play a different song for each candle-lighter, a song that we associate with the ones lighting. Eddie and I have it all figured it out… except for you guys.”
Gilda: “Oh?”
Wendy: “So I’m asking you, what song would you like to have played? It can’t just be any song, it’s gotta be something good. Something meaningful to all of us. Something you guys and I can all agree on.”
Margo: “Meaningful to all of us? Oh, that’s easy. ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ by James Taylor.”
Gilda: “Oh, 🦭 off, troll! And that’s not even James Taylor’s song, it’s Carole King’s.” [to Wendy] “We are not playing anything James Taylor.”
Wendy: “I wasn’t even taking that suggestion seriously.”
April: “How ‘boot ‘Sky Takes th’ Sool’ by th’ Proclaimers?”
Wendy: “That’s only meaningful to you, April.”
Gilda: “‘Touch of Grey’ by the Grateful Dead? Since the song’s about getting older and we’re all becoming teenagers?”
Wendy: “Yeah, but it’s not you guys who are becoming bat mitzvah, Gilda. And we’re not so old we’re turning grey.”
Gilda: “You’re grey.”
Wendy: “Yeah, but because of my race, not my age.”
Margo: “‘With a Little Help From My Friends’? Either Beatles or Cocker.”
Wendy: “That’s too cliché.”
April: “‘Thank Ye Fer Bein’ a Friend’?”
Wendy: “That’s also too cliché. And again, we’re not old like the Golden Girls!”
Gilda: “It doesn’t have to be the sitcom version, there’s still the Andrew Gold version to play.”
Wendy: “It’s still cliché.”
Gilda: “Hmmm… oh, I know! ‘Your Wildest Dreams’! That’s a song that means a lot to us! We had fun singing it at Marilyn Springsteen’s, remember?”
Wendy: “Yeah, but a song about a long lost love isn’t something you play to honor your friends. Look, guys. How about we choose something unconventional. Something that still fits us, fits the situation, but they wouldn’t be expecting us to play?”
[beat]
Margo: “Oh, I got it! The Ramones’ cover of ‘I Don’t Want To Grow Up’!”
Wendy: “Awesome to see you acknowledging Tom Waits, Margo.”
Margo: [quietly, as Wendy is still talking] “Of course, he’s an underground legend.” [Gilda pats her on the shoulder]
Wendy: “But that song’s about suicide, not growing up. It can’t just be fitting by title.”
April: “How about ‘Baker Street’ by Gerry Rafferty? Ah’bodeh looves th’ sax bit!”
Wendy: “None of us live on a Baker Street, April. And my synagogue isn’t on one either.”
Gilda: “Wait, I got it! ‘New Pork State of Mind’! It’s perfect, because Billy Joel is Jewish like you, and we all live in New Pork!”
Wendy: “The state, Gilda. Not the city. The song’s about the city. We don’t live in New Pork City. Also, it’s too slow.”
Gilda: “How about ‘Panllama’? Diamond Dave’s Jewish too.”
Wendy: “We don’t live in Panllama, either.”
April: “‘Friends in Low Places’?”
Wendy: “You’re all from priviledged backgrounds!”
Margo: “‘Waiting On a Friend’? I mean, who doesn’t love the Stones?”
Wendy: “I won’t be waiting on you long to light the candle!”
Gilda: “Come on, Wendy. Stop overthinking it. You can’t turn down everything we suggest.”
Wendy: “But the song’s gotta be perfect, Gilda.” [Gilda hears the opening to Chumbawumba’s ‘Tubthumping’ playing over the PA system, causing her to get distracted tune out what Wendy is saying] “It can’t just be any song. It’s gotta be fitting, and we all gotta agree on it. I need everything about this party to go perf –“
Gilda: 🎵 I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! 🎵 [Margo, April, and Wendy are surprised by Gilda’s sudden singing; Margo and April look at each other and smile] 🎵 I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! 🎵
Gilda, Margo, and April: 🎵 I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! 🎵 [Wendy smiles as she watches the rest of the Tetrad sing]
Wendy: 🎵 Pissing the night away, pissing the night away 🎵 
April: 🎵 He drinks a whiskey drink, he drinks a vodka drink, he drinks a lager drink, he drinks a cider drink 🎵
Gilda and April: 🎵 He sings the songs that remind him of the good times, he sings the songs that remind him of the better times 🎵
Margo: 🎵 Oh Danny Boy, Danny Boy, Danny Boy 🎵
Entire Tetrad: 🎵 I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! 🎵
[the Tetrad, not realizing that everyone in and around the food court had been watching them sing, are surprised when everyone around them begins singing]
Other patrons: 🎵 Pissing the night away, pissing the night away 🎵
[the Tetrad looks at each other and smiles, before continuing]
Gilda: 🎵 He drinks a whiskey drink, he drinks a vodka drink, he drinks a lager drink, he drinks a cider drink 🎵
Wendy: 🎵 He sings the songs that remind him of the good times, he sings the songs that remind him of the better times 🎵
Other patrons: 🎵 Don’t cry for me, next door neighbor 🎵
[Mall manager Walters walks in on the singing; after observing for a few seconds, she smirks and runs into a music store]
Tetrad plus patrons: 🎵 I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! [Walters comes out of the store carrying a saxophone] 🎵 I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! 🎵
[Walters starts playing the saxophone, the Tetrad sees this and smiles]
Gilda: “Holy crap, we even got Walters in on this.”
April: “Well, ah t’ink weh foond ‘r song, whit ‘boot ye guys?”
Gilda: “Oh yeah.”
Margo: “Fine by me!
Wendy: “Yep. This is our song. It’s settled. ‘Tubthumping’!”
[the Tetrad high-five each other and cheer]

[March 10, 2018, the candle lighting at Wendy’s bat mitzvah celebration. Eight of the fourteen candles have been lit]
Wendy: “One’s a first basesow, and two more can pitch. And the other one’s a shortstop in love with a…” [winks, and says the next part fast] “…centerfielder so good she’s practically a witch.” [the crowd laughs; Dolly and Nicole blush with shock and embarrassment, the former just her cheeks, the latter her entire face]
Dolly: “Good gracious, Wendy!”
Nicole: “I don’t know how to take that.”
Wendy: “All four are great players, whether Canaries or Shamrocks. Maybe one day, they’ll play for the Red Sox. They’re friends of my sister, so they’re friends of mine, and they’re all here tonight to light candle number nine. It’s the knight named Charlotte and the tank named Murphy, the goofy nerd Holt and the nerdy goof Murray! Hit it, Eddie!”
[a spotlight shines on Charlotte, Murphy, Holt, and Murray as “The Cheap Seats” by Alabama plays; the audience, including Wendy and the candle-lighters already on stage with her, applaud as the baseball players take the stage]
Margo: “The knight and the tank? What’s that supposed to mean?”
Gilda: “I think it’s because Charlotte is armored, since she’s a cingulatan. And Murphy is powerful even though she’s heavy.”
Margo: “I guess that makes sense.”
Gilda: “Also, on a side note, you gotta hand it to Wendy. She didn’t just take the easy way out and use ‘Centerfield’, she went for the deep cuts and found a song about baseball nobody would think to use. Except her, ’cause she’s awesome.”
April: “Yeh t’ink N’coole knoos why she chose ‘Doon By Th’ Lazeh River’ fer her?”
Margo: “Yeah, because it’s catchy and fun.”
Gilda: “No, Margo, it’s because the Osmonds are from Utah.”
Margo: “They are?” [Gilda and April nod] “Oh.” [beat] “Oh, that… what an awesome troll move.”
[Wendy hands the lighter to Murphy, who lights the ninth candle. The baseball players then take their spot on stage next to Nicole as the applause dies down; Murray notices that Nicole is still reeling, and puts his arm around her]
Gilda: “Whoop, here we go. Our turn!”
Wendy: “One loves glamour, another loves a dare. And another agrees with Huey that it’s hip to be square. They’ve been with me through the thin and the thick, the times that sparked joy, the times we got sick, the boy-girl parties to which we went hen. I invite them up to light candle number ten.”
April: “A’ight, ‘ere we go. ‘Tubthumpin” time!”
Wendy: “It’s April and Gilda, averted to boars, and rough tomboy Margo, lover of a soar. Hit it, Eddie!”
[the spotlight shines on Gilda, Margo, and April as “Tubthumping” plays; Wendy and the party applaud again as the trio take the stage]
Murray: “Soar? What’s a soar?”
Holt: “It’s a term used to describe certain ines that defy the outdated concept of the gender binary.”
Murray: “Oh, I get it. It combines the words ‘boar’ and ‘sow’.”
Nicole: “Yeah, isn’t that clever? They soar above the binary. Heheh.”
[Gilda, Margo, and April sing along to the song as they walk towards the candles on stage]
Gilda, Margo, and April: 🎵 I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked down! But I get up again! You’re never gonna keep me down! 🎵
[Wendy hands Gilda the lighter]
Gilda: “Eeeeemph!” [puts her arm around Wendy and takes the lighter. Wendy puts her arm around Gilda as the procyonine lights the tenth candle] “Mabrouk, Wendy. On becoming bat mitzvah.”
Wendy: [blushing] “Thanks, Gilda.”

For those wondering, ‘mabrouk’ is an Arabic term used the same way as ‘mazel tov’. I came across the term while doing research into Sephardi culture, and, after seeing the social media accounts of Sephardim using it along with ‘mazel tov’, I decided to give the term some exposure through my work, as I’ve established the Wylers before to be Sephardi.

You know, it’s funny. The reason I made the Wylers to be Sephardi to begin with, was because of what I learned through research I did into the Jewish community in France, where the sisters get their ancestry from on their mother Judy’s side. According to what I’ve learned, most Jewish in France are of either Sephardi or Mizrahi background. I ended up going with the former, as I thought that having a Jewish character of what’s basically Hispanic background, would make for great representation and character interaction. Especially with her also being half-Korean. Little did I know, though, that I would be tapping into an underrepresented group, even within the Jewish community1. As I’ve brought up before, most Jewish people are Ashkenazi, and thus it’s mostly the Ashkenazi Jewish that are depicted in media. So having a Sephardi character for a change, was a chance to show a culture that most don’t know about. And, as I’ve learned from experience, is also quite difficult to find information on. But I’m willing to put in the work, and show whatever I can find and confirm to be accurate. Like having my Sephardi characters say ‘mabrouk’, either instead of or in addition to ‘mazel tov’. Personally, I see Wendy being 60-40 with it, with ‘mabrouk’ being her favored term.

1 Since writing this, Libby Stein-Torres of The Ghost and Molly McGee has become recognized as the breakout character of her show, and Casey Goldberg-Calderon of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is approaching breakout character status as well. While they haven’t, to my knowledge, been outright confirmed to be Sephardic, they are Jewish characters with Sephardic surnames, and thus I feel I have good reason to believe they are Sephardic like my own Wyler family. TGAMM, MGADD, and OTOG are the only three pieces of media with Sephardic characters I know of. If anyone knows any others, feel free to tell me.

Now to the artwork.

I ended up having to crunch production of this artwork into a single day, as I suffered from artist block wondering how to depict Wendy’s bat mitzvah celebration, and didn’t think of what to do until late on March 6th, i.e. just hours before Wendy’s canonical birthday. Not an issue when it came to drawing the Tetrad, but I ended up having to make the background out of thresholded and posterized stock images. I… think I’m going to call these kinds of backgrounds ‘fresh pasta’ backgrounds for now on, just for shits and giggles2. Anyhoo, creating the fresh pasta background was quite annoying; at one point, it ballooned the size of the PSD to nearly half a gigabyte (yes, gigabyte). I’ve worked with 100MB PSDs before, but the 400+ this got up to was ridiculous. I think most of the size is owed to the levels the images had to be scaled to.

2 Emphasis on the ‘shit’.

When it comes to the stock images themselves, the wall had a projection screen on it, which of course I cut out to make space for a window, and I also had to use the eraser and inpaint tools to remove a watermark that was over the image. The plants were JPEG images with white backgrounds that needed to be masked out, and even afterward had light outlines around them, that thankfully disappeared in the thresholding and posterizing. As for the window, it comes from a stock image of a room in a house. The window in the image stretches to the ceiling, and the image itself was also photographed during the day. So I had to manipulate the dimensions to make it look like a window several feet off the ground, and also apply layer effects to gaussian-blurred blocks of dark blue, to make this look like a night scene. Not much of an issue, considering I’ve done day-for-night effects before.

Being respectful of the day, this artwork originally uploaded to Twitter on March 7th (Wendy’s actual birthday), and I’m uploading it here and typing this description on the 10th, which, in 2018 (the year on the strict timeline Wendy and the rest of the Tetrad turn 13), was a Saturday, the day of the week when synagogue, and by extension bar and bat mitzvah celebrations, are held.

And that’ll be all for this artwork. Until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, and… mabrouk!

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
“Tubthumping” was written by Chumbawumba for the album Tubthumper, owned by Universal Music Group through Republic Records.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

A Selfie of Swan’s Soaring Spirits

[1980s night at Marilyn Springsteen’s Retro Diner and Arcade in Albaneigh. The Oddball Tetrad stands outside, of course in their 80s outfits, as Flannery arrives by bus, also in 80s attire, and also wearing her epilepsy glasses]
Margo: “Flannery? How’d you get Flannery to come here?”
Gilda: “There’s a new salad dish on the menu that she wanted to try when I told her about it. Also, you do know she likes to dance, right?”
[Flannery walks up]
Flannery: “Hello, Grime’s weird friend group.” [sees Wendy] “And hello Wendy.” [waves bashfully]
Wendy: “Hi, Flannery.”
Gilda: “Nice to see you could make it, Flans. Love the earrings, they look really cute on you.”
Flannery: “Thanks. They’re clip-ons. Plus, I needed something to go with the bow.”
April: [notices Flannery’s makeup] “‘ey, what’d ye use fer blush thar?”
Flannery: “Strawberries. And the glitter is tiny quartz shards. You like it?”
April: “Like it? Ah loove it! I gootah try it oot fer mahself!”
[Flannery smiles]
Gilda: “Oh, what’s this? Flannery Swan is smiling! I don’t think I’ve seen that before!”
Wendy: “Hey, you actually have a really nice smile.”
[Flannery takes her hair and covers her mouth with what she can of it. The rest of the Tetrad crowd around her]
Gilda: “Oh, don’t be so shy, Flans. Show us that smile of yours.” [beat. Flannery slowly lets go of her hair and shows her smile] “There we go, there it is. And how about showing us those teeth and those eyes of yours too? I know they’ve gotta be spar-kliiiiing!”
[beat, once again. Flannery slowly takes off her glasses and grins. She poses bashfully too, holding her glasses in both hands behind her back, and twisting her legs. The Tetrad gush]
Tetrad: “Awww.”
Margo: “Who knew such a bitter jill had so much cute in her?”
Wendy: “It’s always the ones that smile the least, that have the most precious of smiles.”

My National Retro Day artwork for 2023. Not much to say about it, other than it was something I thought up at the last minute; Flannery is a 1980s fan like Gilda, so I thought I should bring her outfit from the Lipara artworks to proper color. And… well, because I won’t get an opportunity to post the Lipara artwork outside of this for… probably a long time, I’ll post it in the stingers below, as well as the ones I made for the Tetrad.

Sorry if I seem low-energy about National Retro Day of all things, it’s almost 11PM as I write this, coming off an evening shift at UPS, which, due to my coworkers taking too long of breaks, everyone who works the job I do, including me, now has to take their break at the same time. So, um, thanks for that, losers. Thanks for reminding me of one of the worst parts of school. The whole class getting punished because a few idiots ruined it for everyone else, who actually behaved.

That’ll be all for this one. As I said above, the Liparas of the Tetrad and Flannery will be in the stingers below. And until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, report Zaid Magenta, and have a good one.

The Liparas

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
The main artwork in this post was made at a resolution of 3996×2160 (aspect ratio 1.85:1); the Liparas were made in 2880×2160 (aspect ratio 1.33:1) .

A Big Wheel Invented By a Big-Named Guy

[Gelbsend, the town west of Grunvale. The town is holding a fair, and the Klug, Rose, and Wyler families have arrived, the latter in two separate vehicles; Dolly, Gregory, and Wendy ride together in a Chevy, and Roz, Maddie and Nicole in a Mitsubishi]
Nicole: “Thanks for the ride, Roz. And Maddie.”
Roz: “Any time, little sis.” [waves. Nicole waves back as she runs off. As Roz parks the car]
Maddie: “What’d we say about calling her that? She’s not little anymore, she’s bigger than us. She’s our younger sister.”
Roz: “I still remember her as little. No matter how big she gets, I’ll still see her as my little sister.” [beat] “Even if she’s big now. My big, little sister. Who sucks at communicating with others, but is amazing at baseball, and found herself a boyfriend. Two of ’em!” [hits a pothole, causing the car to jolt]
Roz, Maddie: “Oof!”
Maddie: “How do monoamorous folks manage? It’s a boring way to live, only loving one. Nobody has just one computer or one notebook their entire lives, or even just one at one time. Why should it be expected to have only one romantic partner?”
Roz: “I know, right? So what if we want two boyfriends? Or more! Nicole, she’s turning out right.” [beat] “Just a question, who do you think is the better of her boyfriends?”
Maddie: “Murray, no contest. He’s a total beta dork, it’s charming. Plus he’s got four years of knowing her on Holt. And he’s not gonna be passive-aggressive towards me for ‘cheating on his brother’, as Holt’d put it.”
Roz: “Murray has a sister, not a brother.”
Maddie: “‘scuse me, cheating on his sibling.”
Roz: “And you know, Kate is pretty rude towards Nicole and Holt.”
Maddie: “Only ’cause she’s jealous. And it isn’t toward me. Oh, and Murray’s a perameline. You know how much Nicky loves Ausnailian culture.” [beat] “I’m gonna guess you think Holt’s the better boyfriend.”
Roz: “It’s only been just over half a year, but… yeah. The fact he’s a sciurine, and Jewish, and autistic, and a homely-looking dork, all things Nicole is. He’s practically made for her. Oh, and they also like 1980s music. The bad and cheesy kind. What was the song they danced to together again, at the Sadie Hawkins dance?”
Maddie: “I don’t know, something by that leporine, the albino, what’s his name.”
[Wendy walks up, slapping the hood of the Mitsubishi to get the twins’ attention]
Wendy: “‘Treacherous Love’ by Edgar Winter. From Mission Earth.”
Roz: “Mission Earth?! Like L. Ron Hubbard?!”
Wendy: “Yyyyyep.”
Maddie: “Nicole and Holt danced to a Scientology song? That’s… something. How’d he even find out about the song?”
Wendy: “My friend Gilda’s grandpa was into sci-fi stuff. Even if it came from controversial creators. He must’ve bought the LP back in the day. And Holt wanted a song to dance to, I led him to Gilda, and… well, he found the song. Gilda even tried to tell him the song’s about drug addiction and not romance, but… he didn’t listen. He’s not a good listener.”
Dolly: [standing about thirty feet away with Gregory] “Wendy, come on! The cotton candy’s not gonna easily dissolve itself! Or confuse procyonines with its existence just sitting there!”
Wendy: “Coming, Dolly!” [to the twins] “Have fun at the fair, you two.” [goes to catch up with Dolly and Gregory]
Roz: [to Maddie] “You practice your throws for the five-in-a-row game?”

[Meanwhile, elsewhere in the parking lot]
Holt: “You know why they call this place Gelbsend?”
Murray: “No, never really thought of it.”
Holt: “Because it’s where the sun appears to set for Grunvale. ‘Gelb’ is the Gerbilman word for ‘yellow’. So it’s basically yellow’s, yellow being the sun, ‘Yellow’s End’. Many of the towns in and around Albaneigh are Gerbilman-founded. Including all of The Colors. Grunvale, Gelbsend, Rottsgarden, Blaufluss, Lilafeld, and Swartcaverns.”
Murray: “You know, I never understood, what makes those towns ‘the Colors’?”
Holt: “Their names. Their names begin with Gerbilman color names. Well, all except the unfortunate Eaglicization victim of ‘Swartcaverns’, which would still be ‘Schwarzkavern’ if not for the Eaglish-speakers taking over this country.”
Murray: “Wow, you… really know a lot about local history.”
Holt: “Hey, it’s Gerbilman history. My ancestry’s history.”
[Nicole sneaks up and ruffles Holt’s hair]
Nicole: “And you’re very knowledgeable in it!”
Holt: “Whoop!”
Nicole: “Fitting that your last name means ‘smart’!” [Holt blushes. Nicole then turns to Murray] “Oh, and hello, my precious Aussie baby!” [pokes Murray’s nose] “Boop!” [laughs. Murray smiles] “Glad you both could make it.”
Murray: “But of course!”
Holt: “You’re awesome to hang around with, Nicole.” [kisses Nicole’s left cheek while Murray kisses her right. Nicole lets out a flattered squeal] “Now, first things first, I’d like to go on the Ferris wheel. Not just ride it, like, actually go on top of it, climb to the top. I am a sciurine, after all.”
Nicole: “Whoa, this place has a Ferris wheel?”
Holt: “Uh, yeah, it’s right there.” [points to it]
Nicole: “Wow, that’s huge! A hundred feet at least!” [puts her arms around Holt and Murray] “Good suggestion, Holt! We’re climbing onto the Ferris wheel! Murray, how good are you at climbing? You know the view’ll be more special than if we just rode!”
Murray: “Uh, kind of good? It’s not a natural gift for me like it is for you two. My gift’s digging.”
Nicole: “Kind of good, that’s good enough for me! Let’s go!”
[the three walk onto the main fairgrounds]
Murray: “I forgot to also mention this also seems dangerous.”
Nicole: “Don’t worry, I’ll open the top car for in case the wheel starts moving. And if it moves on our way up, just take a vertical bar and we’ll figure it out from there.”

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Which happens to also be National Ferris Wheel Day. So why not combine the two into one artwork and ficlet? A romantic, polyamorous relationship, getting ready to get on a Ferris wheel. And hey, it shows commitment to my resolution to draw at least one artwork for National [whatever] Day, that began with drawing and writing for National Spaghetti Day.

Onto everything here!

One of the movies on my watchlist, is Steven Spielberg’s most recent film, The Fabelmans. I haven’t seen the entire film at the time of me writing this, but I did watch the scene with Sammy meeting the legendary film director John Ford (the latter played by David Lynch, himself a legendary director), who gives him advice about horizon lines, and where to place them in a shot. Namely, that placing them at the top and bottom is ‘interesting’, and placing them in the middle looks ‘boring as shit’.

Anyways, the scene reminded me that I need more interesting-looking shots in my own work. Not specifically images with horizons at the top or bottom, but also experiments with higher than one-point perspective. Like with panel II here, which was drawn in three-point perspective. I discovered a tool in ASP that allows for the user to set perspective lines, and even fix said lines to the perspective. And used said tool to figure out how to draw Nicurrolt. What you see above was the result. I’m glad I found out the tool exists; I’ve been using it quite a bit since, and have more artwork in the pipeline that involved the use of the tool.

As for the ficlet… there’s not much to say, other than, no, I didn’t forget about Roz and Maddie, and this should be proof of it. Also, this is the first ficlet I’ve written where all five Wyler sisters have a speaking role. Good to finally have one out of the way!

And… that’s all for this post. Take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, happy birthday Jen my coworker on the off chance you’re reading this, and have a good one.

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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.
Both panels of this artwork were made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

Girl Group Tetrad

Original Twitter Upload Date: October 18, 2022.

[Evening. The Tetrad are at the Grime/Griswold household at the Redfeather commune, in the living room. Gilda sits at the piano, Margo sits on the couch with some bongos and pots for makeshift drums, and Wendy and April stand, the former with a guitar and April with a bass]
Gilda: “Alright, girls, from the top.” [Gilda prepares her fingers to play a D-chord] “And remember, it’s D major. Not D sharp, not E flat, just regular old D.”
Wendy: “Gilda, D sharp and E flat are the same note.”
Gilda: “Yes, I know, I was testing you by being funny. You passed.” [waits for the rest of the Tetrad to prepare their instruments, then sets the metronome on top of the piano to 157 BPM before letting it sound. She waits for a few seconds…] “Uno, due, tre, quattro!” […and then starts playing. The rest of the Tetrad follows on their instruments as Gilda starts singing]
Gilda: 🎵 Been running so long, I’ve nearly lost all track of time / In every direction, I couldn’t see the warning signs / I must be losing it, ’cause my mind plays tricks on me / It looked so easy, but you know, looks sometimes deceive 🎵
[Wendy and April start doing kick-dances and flick their tails back and forth as they go to the next verse of the song]
Gilda: 🎵 Been running so fast, right from the starting line / No more connections, I don’t need any more advice / One hand’s just reaching out, and one’s just hangin’ on / It seems my weaknesses just keep going strong 🎵 “Harmony section!”
[Wendy and April walk closer to the piano and Margo leans toward it, as the four begin singing in harmony]
Tetrad: 🎵 Head over heels, where should I go? / Can’t stop myself, out of control / Head over heels, no time to think / Looks like the whole world’s out of sync 🎵
[the Tetrad plays for a few more seconds before stopping. Gilda silences the metronome before speaking]
Gilda: “Alright, that was good, that was good. We got something good going with that harmony. A few notes. Margo, you’re good as you are as a drummer, but you’re also Angus Hynde’s granddaughter, and I know for a fact he’s taken inspiration from Neil Peart. I’ve seen him say so in interviews. I want to hear it in there.”
Margo: “I, uh, I can do that.”
Gilda: “And April, sing a little louder. You’ve got a Tracy Chapman voice, own it.” [April nods. Sharon and Jessica peek their heads into the room, and Gilda notices] “Oh, hi, grandma and mom.”
Jessica: “That was a nice rendition, girls. You’re doing good. Um… but I thought your thing was 1960s throwback, not 1980s.”
Sharon: “They do all kinds of music, Jess. They just perform it in a style like the 60s, even the 80s stuff. Like that band what’re-they-called. The one that sings ‘Rock Lobster’ and ‘Love Shack’.”
Gilda: “The B-52s.”
Sharon: “Oh, right, them.”
Gilda: “And small correction, ‘Rock Lobster’ is from 1978. 1979 if you want to go by the release of their debut album. How do I know more about the 70s than you do?”
Sharon: [half-jokingly] “Excuse me?”
Gilda: “Well, if you do know more than me, how many albums did the Talking Heads release during the decade?”
Sharon: “Three.”
Gilda: “Name them.”
Sharon: “Talking Heads: 77, More Songs About Buildings and Food, and Afraid of Music.”
Gilda: “Wrong!” [goes to the record shelf and pulls out an LP of…] “Fear of Music.” [Sharon rolls her eyes as Margo, Wendy, and April laugh. Gilda points to the word ‘fear’ on the LP as the reactions play out]
Jessica: “I guess she does know more than you, mom.”
Sharon: “Well, to be fair, Talking Heads was your father’s music, not mine.”
Jessica: “Now that you say it, he was always the one putting Talking Heads on, wasn’t he?”
Sharon: “I liked the girl groups, and disco once that became a thing. And then MTV happened, and… well, that’s where my knowledge of popular music starts to dwindle. I liked and still like what the guys from the 60s and 70s put out then, then there was the synth-rock and new wave that Garry liked, then the grunge that you liked. And then I know almost nothing after whatever it was that the Backstreet Boys were.” [beat] “Are they still a thing?
Gilda: “Well, technically yeah, they still perform together. But if you mean ‘still a thing’ like they’re still popular and putting out hits…” [chuckles] “…no.” [beat, as Gilda puts away the Talking Heads album] “Wait a minute, MTV came out in 1981. So doesn’t that mean your knowledge of popular music starts declining about two, three years before?”
Sharon: “Your grandpa didn’t discover Talking Heads until he saw the ‘Once in a Lifetime’ video on MTV. Then he bought Remain in the Light –“
Gilda: “Remain in Light, there’s no ‘the’.”
Sharon: [grunts] “He bought Remain in Light, said it blew his mind. Then he bought their first three albums, said they blew his mind again, all three of them. And then he found the Cars and Devo, and a bunch of other new wave bands, and kept me up to date with all of them, as long as new wave was a thing.”
Margo: “Was he into Myxoma?”
Sharon: “Yes he was, Margo. But Talking Heads was his favorite.”
Gilda: “The Talking Heads was grandpa Garry’s favorite new wave band?”
Sharon: “His favorite band, period. He was even in the audience for Stop Making Sense, remember?”
Wendy, Gilda: “What?!“
Gilda: “Grandpa was in Stop Making Sense?!”
Sharon: “What? I… I thought I told you that before. Or that your mother did.” [to Jessica] “Jess, you never told Gilda your father was in that movie?”
Jessica: “I thought I did. She wouldn’t just tune something like that out.”
Gilda: “Well, I’m remembering it now. Girls, apparently my grandfather was in Stop Making Sense.”
Margo: “That’s cool.”
Wendy: “I’m jealous.”
April: “Yer gramps wis in the pre’ence o’ Scotterland’s grehtest musical expaht.”
Wendy: “Oh, right, I keep forgetting Byrne’s a Scot.”
Gilda: “Actually, hold up. This gives me the perfect bit of inspiration.”
Margo: “What do you mean?”
[Gilda smiles slyly and sets the metronome to 119 BPM]
Margo, Wendy, April: “Oh.” [all nod]
[the Tetrad gets back into position and Gilda prepares her fingers for an A-chord]
Gilda: “This is a speccy’s song, so only fitting that I sing lead, even though I’m a mezzo. Uno, due, tre, quattro!”
[the Tetrad begin playing a SMS-styled rendition of ‘Take Me to the River’. Margo sets her drumsticks down and plays a rhythm of bongos and clapping before the other instruments come in, followed by her, Wendy and April’s singing]
Margo, Wendy, April: 🎵 Take me to the river / Drop me in the water / Take me to the river / Drop me in the water, water 🎵
Gilda: 🎵 I don’t know why, I love her like I do / All the trouble you put me through / Take my money, my cigarettes / I haven’t seen the worst of it yet / I want to know / That you’ll tell me / I love to stay / Oh, take me to the river 🎵
[Sharon smiles as the Tetrad continues singing]
Sharon: “She and your father would’ve gotten along so well.”
Jessica: “She definitely got her vibe from our side of the family.”

Aaaaand now for a 2022 holdover piece that I wrote a ficlet (thanks for that term, @BrendanPoepple1 of Twitter) for. Shortly after switching art styles to the anime-inspired one I use for OTOG, I decided to draw remakes of the artworks featuring the Tetrad as 1960s-style girl group singers, because those outfits are adorable. I’ve explored the idea before of the Tetrad, when the situation or event calls for it, dressing in outfits that match in structure but differ in color, similar to the Powerpuff Girls or the Winx club. And among those events would be when they perform together as musicians. As I’ve stated before, people often overlook how big the overlap between 1960s and 1980s pop culture is; the truth of the matter is, the Venn diagram looks like a pair of parenthesis around an oval. Disregarding how many 60s artists and songs had second waves of recognition during the 80s, the Go-Go’s were the 1980s’ first big take on a girl group (even being named after one of the most iconic elements of 1960s fashion), before the likes of the Bangles and Vixen would show up later in the decade with a much more rock-heavy sound, the latter being full-out hair metal. And the Stop Making Sense version of “Take Me to the River” has the prominent backup singers commonly associated with music of the 1960s. Hence their inclusion in the ficlet!

Also, yes, I finally settled on a name for Gilda’s mother. Her name isn’t ‘Gretchen’ anymore, it’s Jessica. Full name Jessica Lois Grime, née Griswold. Her name in-universe is inspired by Garry’s love of sci-fi and Sharon’s love of fantasy fiction; ‘Jessica’ coming from Dune‘s Lady Jessica, and ‘Lois’ coming from Narnia author CS Lewis.

And that’s all for this one. Sorry if there’s not a lot to say, but… I’ve got more ficlets to write. Including one for the 14th. Until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, remember you’re not worthless just because and if you’re single, and have a good one.

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

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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.
“Head Over Heels” was written by Charlotte Caffey and Kathy Valentine for the Go-Go’s’ album Talk Show, owned by Universal Music Group through IRS Records.
“Take Me to the River” was written by Al Green and Mabon Hodges for the album Al Green Explores Your Mind, owned by Fat Possum Records through Hi Records; the version depicted is based on the Talking Heads’ version recorded for the concert film Stop Making Sense, owned by Palm Pictures, with soundtrack owned by Sire Records.
This artwork is a combination of four, made at a resolution of 2160×2160 (aspect ratio 1:1) and combined into a 4320×4320 (also aspect ratio 1:1) canvas.


Queen of the Grime

Original DA Upload Date: October 21, 2021.

Gilda: “Yep.”
Margo: “Yep.”
Wendy: “Yep.”
April: “Mm-hmm.”
[the Tetrad see Flannery, dressed in Middle Ages attire, carrying a lute, walking through the garden]
Flannery: “Greetings, Grime. Greetings, grandkin of Angus of Hynde House.” [pauses and blushes when she sees Wendy] “Hello, lovely wench.” [beat] “And greetings whatever your name is.” [glances at Wendy one last time before running off and ducking behind a blueberry bush. The Tetrad are surprised]
Wendy: “Did she just call me a lovely wench?”
Gilda: “That girl ain’t right.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This description contains a brief discussion of a character’s transphobic views. If transphobia is a trigger for you, feel free to skip out on reading further.

King of the Hill is a show I’ve been a fan of pretty much my entire life. Among the Fox shows, it serves as a contrast to the more satirical tone of The Simpsons and the wacky tone of Family Guy, with a more down-to-earth setting that relies more on character-based humor, than it does references and gags, like most other shows of its kind. Though the show definitely has right-leaning politics, it’s never to the point where it blindly insults or glorifies one political party or the other. You’ll find that Hank has respect for people as liberal as Willie Nelson, and reject people as conservative as George W. Bush1. He even believes in environmental causes, a rarity among conservatives. You’re all very well familiar with how he’s a propane salesman; he frequently cites propane as a ‘clean-burning fuel’. Which it is, at least compared to natural gas, oil, and of course charcoal, which he criticizes frequently throughout the show. However, it goes deeper than that; in one episode, he helps run an organic garden at his son Bobby’s school, and gets angry at his wife Peggy when she is found to be spraying the crops with pesticides2. In another, he leads a push for Strickland Propane to go green after his boss, Buck Strickland, is found to have been dumping propane tanks in the river3. And in the very first episode, he even threatens to ‘kick [his friend Dale’s] ass’ if Texas gets any hotter through global warming!

1 In season 5, episode 1, ‘The Perils of Polling’. He does think positively of Bush for most of the episode, until he’s found to have a weak handshake. Also, the episode first aired in 2000. As we’d learn in years following, a weak handshake was the least of Bush’s problems.

2 Season 7, episode 18, ‘I Never Promised You an Organic Garden’.

3 Season 13, episode 2, ‘Earthy Girls Are Easy’.

However, environmental views aside, he still is a conservative. And as a conservative, he does unfortunately have a lot of outdated views. He tosses around the phrase ‘tough love’ sometimes when disciplining Bobby4, which you know what I think of that phrase. It’s mostly used as a weak excuse for bullying and being unnecessarily forceful to someone. He also in one episode describes trans men as being ‘jerryrigged out of a toe and some old skin’, which I hope is just out of his/creator Mike Judge’s ignorance than actual malice. This episode I’m describing is from 2005, after all5. Knowledge about the trans community wasn’t as widespread then as it is today, even among the LGBTQIA community.

4 Remind me to do one of those threads on this phrase.

5 And it’s season 9, episode 5, ‘Dale to the Chief’.

Oh, and because it comes into conversations every once in a while… no, social media, Hank Hill would not be a Trump supporter. Even disregarding that Mike Judge himself has debunked the idea of Hank being a Trump supporter, if you think Hank would support Trump, then you’ve obviously paid no attention to the fact that he, not only hates charcoal, but refused to vote for Bush after getting a limp handshake from him (Trump’s tiny hands, anyone?)6, had an identity crisis after finding out he was born in New York City (Trump’s birthplace)7, hates the idea of well-done steaks (Trump is known for liking well-done steaks)8, criticizes his own father for being an adultering misogynist (something Trump is infamous for being)9… what I’m trying to say is, if you think Hank would support Trump, all you know about his political views is that he’s a conservative and you obviously haven’t seen enough of the show. And also you ignored every time he’s criticized charcoal. The only one of the guys who commonly stands in front of the fence I can see supporting Trump, is Dale. And even then, it’s not like he’d vote for him. Even the idea that Dale’s name would be on any government document is a misunderstanding of his character10. Dale would be the kind of person that thinks COVID-19 is a hoax and that masks are mind-control devices. Boomhauer would wear his mask properly without argument or question, Hank would wear his mask properly because he feels he’s fulfilling his patriotic duty, and Bill would wear his mask under his nose like the bumbling idiot he is.

6 I refer you to footnote 1.

7 Season 5, episode 10, ‘Yankee Hankee’.

8 Season 12, episode 6, ‘Raise the Steaks’.

9 Season 6, episode 21, ‘Returning Japanese (Part 1)’.

10 Except in the aforementioned ‘Dale to the Chief’.

Anyways, despite the show’s mostly conservative politics, I’ve found that the show, along with Big City Greens, The Casagrandes and Malcolm in the Middle, and of course popular music from the latter half of the 20th century, has been a major influence on my writing style as I’ve written The Oddball Tetrad of Grunvale, New Pork. As for modern audiences wanting to get into the show, just go into it knowing that some backwards political views are expressed throughout the show, and once you get past that, you’ll find a show with some strongly-written characters that are effective at delivering both comedy and drama. And if Mike Judge ever makes a reboot/sequel series set years later in a post-Trump world, as he’s expressed interest in doing before, I’d gladly watch it11. Although I do wonder how they’ll implement Luanne and Lucky into it, considering their voice actors are dead. Maybe recast them? I don’t know.

11 The fact this is being uploaded here now is in celebration of the reboot getting picked up by Hulu.

Anyways, onto the piece!

King of the Hill recently made its grand return to cable reruns, after a successful showcase on Adult Swim from 2009 to 2018, and an embarrassment of a timeslot on Comedy Central in 2018. FXX is where its cable reruns are now12, as the network, now with the rights to the entirety of Family Guy, competes with Adult Swim, now left without Family Guy as a selling point as the big three animation networks, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and the Disney Channel, disappear piece by piece as HBO Max13, Paramount+14 and Disney+ become bigger by the day. I was pleasantly surprised to see that, unlike with The Simpsons, FXX does not crop or even stretch King of the Hill to the 16:9 aspect ratio, instead showing it in its proper 4:3, with black bars on the sides. And I’ve enjoyed revisiting the show; the episodes are just as classic as I remember them being, and I don’t even feel the show deteriorated in quality after the show switched to digital coloring in season 815. It was especially nice to see the episodes from the first two seasons again; Adult Swim stopped showing them about halfway into its time with the show.

12 As mentioned above, this artwork was made in 2021. And so was this description; it was written in the brief window of time before Adult Swim started airing King of the Hill again after it started airing on FXX.

13 Pre-Discovery merger HBO Max, of course.

14 As I write these footnotes, Paramount+ and Showtime are merging.

15 My opinion has changed somewhat since I wrote this. As I’ve rewatched the later King of the Hill episodes, I’ve started to understand the criticisms against them. I still largely enjoy even later KOTH, however.

My time rewatching the show on FXX, led me to drawing this King of the Hill-inspired artwork of the Oddball Tetrad, referencing the show’s most iconic establishing shot, the one of Hank, Dale, Bill and Boomhauer, standing in front of the fence, drinking beer and saying ‘yep’.

In terms of the production of the artwork, there isn’t much to say. Gilda’s wearing her acid wash again, partly because I haven’t drawn her in the outfit in a while, and partly because I’ve seen acid wash associated with the American South (King of the Hill is set in Texas, just about as Southern as it gets16). The cans they’re drinking out of aren’t Alamo Beer, but rather an imagined combination of Dr. Pepper and Sprite, that I’ll probably come up with a logo for if I ever have to show a can in close-up. Either that, or I’ll use copyright-safe versions of the Dr. Pepper and/or Sprite logo. Don’t want Keurig Dr. Pepper or Coca-Cola to come after me. I think copyright law allows for parodies and mentions of copyrighted properties, even ‘copyright-safe’ versions of logos might be going too far. Also, because Boomhauer and April are both the ones with a unique way of talking within their group, I decided to have April be the one who says ‘mm-hmm’ like Boomhauer instead of ‘yep’. Come to think of it, the rest of the Tetrad kind of matches with where they’re standing, too17. The reference image I used for this had Hank to the furthest left, then Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer going to the right. Gilda being where Hank was reflects her being the central character of Grunvale/OTOG, Margo being in Dale’s position is fitting considering her hair is orange like Dale’s hat, and even Wendy isn’t entirely filler here; she’s French like Bill is, even if not from the same ethnic group (Bill is Cajun and Wendy is Sephardi).

16 Aside from DeSantis-led Florida, at least.

17 Standing based on the reference image I used; they’re in different positions numerous times throughout the show.

Anyhoo, that’ll be all for this one. Hope you guys haven’t been inconvenienced by the large gap in new art; I’ve had a bit of an art block lately as college assignments18 have piled up. No worries, though, one of my upcoming artworks is also a college assignment, and I can’t wait for you guys to see that. Until next time, take care, I tell you h’wut.

18 I was still in college in 2021.

If you would like to commission an artwork, consult the StormArts Commissions Ad for pricing and how to contact me. I accept payment through PayPal. Also don’t forget to follow me at any of the below platforms:

Twitter (Main): https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
Twitter (Art): https://twitter.com/TheOfficialOTOG
Instagram: www.instagram.com/phoenix_of_g…
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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 is owned by me. You’re free to draw fanart of it, as long as you link me to it.
King of the Hill is owned by Disney (I am never going to get used to saying that) through 20th Television Animation.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).