Roth Gets Walked In On

[North side of Grunvale, apple-growing country. Charlotte Walker and Janet Long, in this universe a pteropine/flying fox and ailurid/red panda respectively, are picking apples by a white-painted barn as they talk]
Charlotte: “Hey, what are these apples? They look like a crossover between gala and red delicious.”
Janet: “They’re Jonathans, Walker. And the word you’re looking for is ‘hybrid’. A ‘crossover’ is what we’re in right now, an episode in which characters from a work of fiction appear in another’s continuity. It’s like CN City, remember that?”
Charlotte: “Remember that? I’m ten! I wasn’t even born yet!” [beat] “In fact, it’s before your time too! How do you remember that?”
Janet: “Well, you see, there’s this magical thing, you might’ve heard of it. It’s called ‘YouTube’.”
Charlotte: “Oh, right, that makes sense.”
Janet: “Anyways, CN City were these series of bumpers of characters from various Cartoon Network shows interacting with one another. Set in a city, of course.”
Charlotte: “Ah, I get it!”
Janet: “Similarly, we’re characters from the world of an animation fan named Isaac, on a trip into the world of a phoenix named Stormy.”
Charlotte: “Ooh, a phoenix!”
Janet: “It’s just a title, he’s a leporine in this world. An angora. Although he did survive a car accident, so he earned that title.”
Charlotte: “Cool! And, uh, what about Isaac? Does he know about this world?”
Janet: “Oh, yeah. He’s drawn some procyonine girl that calls herself ‘ambassador to the hue-man realm’ a few times. As a Rigby lookalike, eating a carrot, and at a formal event with her leporine friend. Oh, and for the phoenix himself, he’s drawn some technicolor emoji-looking things to look like the poster to some movie he likes.”
Charlotte: “Show me the paintings?” [Janet pulls out her phone to show said artworks. Charlotte’s eyes go big when she sees the so-called ambassador] “Oh, yeah, I know this girl! Her name’s Gilda. And the leporine’s named Margo.”
Janet: “You know her?”
Charlotte: “Yeah, I freaked her out with my tap-dancing.” [sets apple basket down and starts dancing. Janet’s eyes start spiraling as she watches her, but she slaps herself in the head before she can get fully hypnotized]
Janet: “Okay, I get it, you can stop now.” [Charlotte stops dancing. Janet goes silent as she realizes something is amiss] “Hey, where’s Torres?”
Annie: “Over here.” [Charlotte and Janet turn their heads to the sound of Annie Torres’ voice, coming from the side of the barn. Annie, an albino caprine/ibex in this universe, walks away from the wall, startling Charlotte and Janet with her seemingly sudden appearance] “Perks of being albino.”
Janet: “It always freaks me out when you do that!”
Charlotte: “I freak ines out for just existing.” [beat. Annie and Janet stare at her] “I mean, I am of a race associated with vampires and rabies. No matter how many times I try to clarify I’m a frugivore, and not a sanguivore! Hmmph! So annoying!”
Annie: [beat] “I can imagine. I mean, sometimes I hear that I look like a ghost.”
[Charlotte’s ears pick up on guitar-playing off in the distance]
Charlotte: “You guys hear that?”
Janet: “Hear what?”
Charlotte: “I don’t know, something metallic-sounding. It sounds like –” [sees Charlotte Roth slouching under one of the trees, playing ‘Helplessly Hoping’ by Crosby, Stills, and Nash on Marky] “Guitar playing.”
Charlotte R.: 🎵 Helplessly hoping her harlequin hovers nearby, awaiting a word / Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit, he runs wishing he could fly / Only to trip at the sound of goodbye 🎵
Charlotte W.: “Ooh! And some singing! I’m gonna go over there.”
Janet: “Walker, no. You don’t know them. You’re probably just gonna startle them.”
Charlotte W.: “Don’t worry, I’ll be quiet.”
[Walker flies over to the tree Roth lays against, as the latter continues to sing]
Charlotte R.: 🎵 Wordlessly watching, he waits by the window and wonders at the empty place inside / Heartlessly helping himself to her bad dreams, he worries, did he hear a goodbye? / Or even, hellooooo? 🎵
[Walker lands on a branch above Roth. One of her tapdance shoes makes a clack noise as she lands, startling Roth. She grabs Marky by the neck and looks around, and Walker quickly kicks her foot up, hoping Roth didn’t hear her. Walker slowly puts her foot against the trunk and reaches for another branch above her for balance, and Roth goes back to playing her guitar]
Charlotte R.: 🎵 They are one person / They are two alone / They are three together / They are fooo-ooour each other 🎵
Charlotte W.: “Number puns?!” [covers mouth, hoping Roth didn’t hear. But she did. And she’s not too happy about being, for lack of a better term, walked in on]
Charlotte R.: “AAACK!” [beat. Roth looks up] “What in tarn — Hey you! Whaddya think ye’re doin’?!”
Charlotte W.: “I was just… listening to that song of yours. Here’s a tip, if you want anyone to take you seriously as a songwriter, don’t write puns into your music.”
Charlotte R.: [annoyed] “Fer yer information, young’un, it is not my song. It was written by a boar named Stephen Stills.”
[beat]
Charlotte W.: “Who?”
Charlotte R.: [rolls eyes, and starts playing] 🎵 Chestnut brown canary / Ruby throated sparrow / Sing a song, don’t be long / Thrill me to the marrow 🎵 [Roth notices Walker is just staring. She is silent for a while as she thinks of what to play next… then starts playing] 🎵 Think about how many times, I have faaa-allen / Spirits are usin’ me, larger voices caaa-allin’ 🎵 [Roth notices Walker is still just staring] “Okay, if ya don’t know this next one, then leave me alone.” [plays] 🎵 And there’s a rose, with a fisted glove / And the eagle flies, with the dove / And if ya can’t be, with the one ya love, honey / Love the one you’re with / Love the one you’re with / Love the one you’re with / Love the one you’re with 🎵
Charlotte W.: [as Roth sings the second non-repeated half of the chorus] “Ah yeah, I know this one!” [tap dances on the branch. Roth smiles as she notices she’s reached Walker]
Charlotte R.: 🎵 Do-do do do do do do-do / Do-do do do do do do-do / Do-do do do do do do-do / Do-do-do! / Do-do-do! 🎵
[Roth whistles loud, imitating the organ from the original song. Walker continues dancing on the branch, until she trips and falls off]
Charlotte W.: “Whoop!” [flaps her arm-wings to stop herself from falling] “Phew. That was close.”
Charlotte R.: [stops playing] “You ‘kay there?”
Charlotte W.: “Yeah.” [beat] “You’re really talented… um… hey, I never asked your name.”
Charlotte R.: “It’s Charlotte.”
Charlotte W.: [beat] “Charlotte? Like, your name is Charlotte.”
Charlotte R.: “My name is Charlotte, yes.”
Charlotte W.: [pauses, then laughs] “How funny! My name’s also Charlotte!”
Charlotte R.: “Really? Well, latkes and grits! It’s mighty nice to know somebody else by that name, I tell ya what. Hey, if ya like, I can teach ya some guitar. I can be yer teacher! I perform country and bluegrass and folk, so I hope ye’re into all that.”
Charlotte W.: “Oh, uh… I’m actually from California. I’m on vacation.”
Charlotte R.: “California?” [beat] “Well, no reason we can’t still be friends! This is the 21st century, we got social media. I’ve got a YouTube, ‘s just my name, Charlotte Esther Roth. I give guitar and piano tutorials on it, also baseball tutorials, occasionally. My biggest video’s me performin’ “The Star-Spangled Banner”, ‘s got almost a million views.”
Charlotte W.: [pulls out phone to search for Roth’s YT] “Oh, so you’re kind of viral!”
Charlotte R.: “Mm-hmm. It’s a fluke, though. My next biggest’s got only ’bout two hunnerd-K.”
Charlotte W.: “Well, from what you’ve showed me, sounds like you deserve more.” [finds Roth’s YT and subscribes] “Aaaaand subscribed.”
[Roth gets a notification on her own phone of Walker’s subscription. She smiles and reaches to pat Walker on the head]
Charlotte W.: “Woah!” [steps away] “Hands away from the hair! It takes an hour to get it looking this perfect.”
Charlotte R.: “My apologies.”
[Annie and Janet run over to the Charlottes]
Janet: “Walker! What’s taking so long?”
Charlotte R.: “Oh, it’s okay, she ain’t botherin’ me.”
Charlotte W.: “Janet, Annie, this is a new friend of mine, she’ll be mostly a social media friend, but that doesn’t make her any less. Here’s something funny, her name is Charlotte too! Haha! And, uh, Charlotte, this is Annie and Janet. They’re friends from… back home in Cali.”
Charlotte R.: “Nice to meet ya both.” [shakes Annie and Janet’s hands. Walker smiles]

Full disclosure, I began writing this fic before the news broke out of David Crosby’s death. If it hadn’t been so far along, I’d have removed the CSNY/CSN/Stills songs mentioned, since this is a birthday present for my social media friend Isaac Vargas (@AnimationFan15 on Twitter), and I didn’t want it to come off as an awkward last-minute tribute to Crosby. Which it’s not supposed to be. I just so happen to be releasing a fic with CSNY songs in it shortly after the passing of one of its members.

But, the fic was already over half done by the day it’s being uploaded, so the songs stay.

Anyways, this artwork, and the fic to go with it, were written to celebrate my friend Isaac’s 25th; at the time of writing this, he turns the age in two days; I uploaded this early because I’ve scheduled Sunday night to be when I upload the GITGA comic I’ve been working on for months. The most I have to say about the artwork is the scenery; once again, it was done through my recently-developed ‘Color Turner’ process, where I draw in grayscale before colorizing everything. Unfortunately, most of the background got obscured by that branch, but I did take screenshots along the way of what it looks like unobscured, and I’ll be uploading those to my main Twitter account. You’ll be surprised when you see just how bare and minimalistic the background started.

The speckled lighting on the Charlottes were done the way you’re used to seeing from me; massively enlarged and masked noise. I almost posterized that effect, but I decided against it when I saw how ugly it looked.

Finally, as for Charlotte (Walker)’s design, I reused the pteropine design from my 2021 birthday present for him, adapted to my new art style. The color of her eyes is an off-white, inverted from the black prevalent throughout Charlotte (Roth)’s design, including in her eyes. I chose this off-white as a middle ground between how Isaac and I draw pupils on our characters; I draw anime-style pupils, and he… well, he doesn’t draw pupils. What’s the middle ground between that? I say anime-style pupils with white irises!

And yes, Isaac does know about this. He found my take ‘interesting’.

And… well, as Forrest Gump would say, ‘that’s all I have to say about that’. Happy two-days-early birthday, Isaac! And to all my readers, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, welcome to the Aquarius part of 2023, and have a good one.

In Memory of David Crosby
(1941-2023)

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.
Charlotte Walker, Annie Torres, and Janet Long are owned by Isaac Vargas/AnimationFan15.
“Helplessly Hoping” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” were written by Stephen Stills for Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s self-titled album, owned by… (looks it up) …well, I’ll just say Atlantic Records. Since Zaslav is even after WBD’s music catalog. Yes, really. He is that evil.
“Southern Cross” was written by Stephen Stills, Rick Curtis, and Michael Curtis for Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s album Daylight Again, owned by Atlantic Records.
“Love the One You’re With” was written by Stephen Stills for his self-titled album, owned by Atlantic Records.
The artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

2022 Was a Bad Year for Artists

[December of 2022 on the strict timeline of ZP-51498. Wendy drives with the Tetrad, up to the Albaneigh Museum of Fine Art]
Gilda: “Here it is.”
[Wendy parks, and the Tetrad begin exiting the car]
Margo: “Museum of Fine Art? What are we doing here?”
Gilda: “They’re hosting an exhibition for art made by robots.”
Margo: “Robots? Cool. How do I make one of these artist robots?”
Gilda: “You shouldn’t want to, Margo. They learn by stealing from actual artists! It’s unnatural, and they’re destroying the livelihoods of the artists they steal from! And they’re duping artists into thinking they’re just a tool to make art look better!”
[beat]
Margo: “So, are they a tool?”
Gilda: “Wendy, pop the trunk.” [she does so, and Gilda picks up the paint cans and paintbrush inside said trunk] “Yeah, they’re a tool. They’re a tool in the same way a getaway driver is a tool for a bank robber.” [slams trunk shut] “Even the Phoenix got duped! They’re past it now, they only use the robots for inspiration and references now. The only moral way to use them. That and educational material that shows how ridiculous robot art looks. But they should’ve woken up sooner!”
April: “Geez, Gilleh, ye soond real radge ‘boot t’is.”
Gilda: “Yes, I am radge about this! And so is the Phoenix. They were the one that got duped, after all. But I’ll tell you what, they need better calibration of their bullshit detector! They fall for a lot of bullshit!”
Wendy: “Hm. Cut them some slack, they thought they were ahead of the curve.”
Gilda: “Yeah, well, they weren’t. Robot art is not the future, it is the present, and once this trend is over, it’ll be the past! It’s already the past for the Phoenix! Except for, again, references and educational material.”
Margo: “You love pop culture of decades before you were born, and yet you’re criticizing things as the past?”
Gilda: “Robot art is not the kind of past that’s cool! It’s the Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher kind of past, the kind of past that was awful even when it was the present!” [holds up paint cans] “And we’re about to make a statement about it.” [hides paint cans and brush in jacket] “Onward!” [the Tetrad walks toward the museum]
April: “I’m nae pa’ o’ yer ‘we’. I jist wanna enjooee th’ m’se’m.”
Gilda: “You can enjoy it until security starts chasing us.”

[inside the museum, Gilda, Margo, and Wendy come up to the robot art exhibit, entitled “Robotic Creations – The Work of the Next Generation of Artists”. Gilda sneers at the name]
Gilda: “Hmmph! Next generation of artists! Not when I get my hands –” [Wendy slaps her hand over Gilda’s mouth. Gilda pushes it away and starts whispering] “Not when I get my hands, my…” [waves hands around, still holding the paint cans by pressing her elbows against them] “…anatomically correct, not-deformed, five-fingered hands, on them!”
Wendy: “Heheh, because they can’t do hands.”
[Gilda, Margo and Wendy walk into the exhibit. Gilda drops her paintbrush, which Wendy picks up and gives back to her… but to slow not to be noticed]
[security guard] “Hey, is that a paintbrush?”
Gilda, Margo, Wendy: “Uhhhhh…”
[security guard]: “Hey, wait a minute, you’re robot art haters! You came to wreck the exhibit, didn’t you?!”
Wendy: “Oh please, they’re made on a computer from stolen images. You can just print more.”
[security guard]: “Boo! You just hate progress!” [into walkie-talkie] “Security to the robot art exhibit! We’ve got more robot haters!”
Margo: “Okay, we better make our move fast. Gilda, you splash that paint on the… paintings? And I and Wendy will smash the sculptures of gnarly-looking hands.”
[the trio run through the exhibit, laying waste to it as the security comes in. Said security turns out to be… hue-man sized robot crayons. That have voices that sound like Verne Troyer and Tom Waits speaking in unison]
[crayon 1]: “DO NOT RESIST THE ROBOT REVOLUTION.”
Wendy: [holding a miniature, mangled interpretation of Donatello’s ‘Saint John the Evangelist’] “Wait, are you… are you a robot crayon? Wow, that’s…” [laughs] “That’s so stupid. Crayons aren’t even any good as an art tool!”
[crayon 1]: “DO NOT MAKE MOCKERIES OF THE ROBOT AUTHORITY.”
Wendy: “The authority is a literal crayon.” [throws the sculpture at the crayon-bot, breaking it in half]
[crayon 1]: “OUCH.” [both halves fall to the floor]
Wendy: “And crayons break easily!”
[the crayon’s top half slowly picks itself up and looks up at Wendy]
[crayon 1]: “CRAYONS CAN ALSO BE MELTED BACK INTO SHAPE. AND IN BETTER COLORS.”
Wendy: “Hey, you’re right! Better colors like –” [stomps and kicks the crayon-bot to pieces, shouting in rhythm with every blow she deals] “Chrome! Grey! Silver! Black! Green! Like the… metal and… wires and… chips and… boards… inside… of… you!” [picks up the sculpture and smashes the robot’s head with it]
[crayon 1]: “CRAYONS CAN BE MELTED BACK INTO SHAPE.”
Wendy: “Not worth it for you!”
Margo: “Eight-fingered arm karate chop!” [another crayon-bot’s tip goes flying]
[crayon 2]: “THAT TIP CAN BE MELTED BACK ON. THESE PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES ARE STATE OF THE ART.”
Margo: “State of the art, look, dude.” [holds up arm sculpture] “There’s a finger growing out of this thing’s palm.” [pokes said finger into robot’s eyes, smashing them]
[crayon 2]: “HARDWARE FAILURE, CANNOT SEE.”
Wendy: “Hey, maybe we can melt on a pair of eyes for you! Since you things claim melting will solve your problems.”
[crayon 2]: “HARDWARE FAILURE, CANNOT SEE. MAINTAINENCE REQUIRED.”
Margo: [mocking robot’s voice] “Hardware failure, cannot see… another eight-fingered arm karate chop!” [chops the robot again] “And another!” [chops the robot repeatedly, causing it to break to pieces like the first] “Another, another, another, another!” [pauses. Margo looks over the mangled arm and nods] “Actually, say what you will about robot art, I like this arm. It has a weird and cool vibe to it. I’m stealing it.”
[Gilda paints giant red X’s over the paintings she finds. She comes across a piece entitled, ‘2022 – The Year in Memes’, by an artist with a name she finds suspect]
Gilda: “‘Emma G. Stock’?! And it sold? Well! The seller will be getting this piece as a statement against robot art!” [paints X’s over the parts of the image representing Craiyon (for June) and Different Dimension Me (for December). A crayon-bot hops over to where she stands]
[crayon 3]: “CEASE THIS VANDALISM IMMEDIATELY OR FACE PROSECUTION.”
Gilda: “A talking crayon? Have you come to advertise Wild Woody 2?”
[crayon 3]: “…I DON’T UNDERSTAND.”
Gilda: “Heheh, I got you with that one.” [punches the robot so hard that it breaks in half]
[crayon 3]: [laying on the floor] “MAKING WILD WOODY REFERENCES IN 2022 IS FOOLISH.”
Gilda: “Yeah, well, not as foolish as mangling other’s art to call your own.” [looks up at the meme review] “Heheh. Or making a GI Jane reference in 2022.” [chuckles] “Keep my wife’s name out your…” [laughs loud]

I decided to go in a different direction this year with the year-in review, since so much of my art this year used assets generated in Craiyon, something I no longer believe in using as anything more than for the early part of the art process, like in inspiration or in references. You see, me and my social media friend Isaac (Twitter handle @AnimationFan15, drop him a follow, he’s a talented artist) have been, throughout 2022, trying to decide on what are the various memes of every month of the year, after watching a video by @StarGiantPro that detailed what she considered to be the memes of January to April. We both agreed with her choices, and took the torch from there, to fill the spaces of the following eight months of the year.

The memes depicted above are mostly my choices, I don’t know how much Isaac agrees with them. Regardless, here are the memes depicted, described in detail:

January – Elmo vs. Rocco: Elmo’s feud with Zoe’s pet rock, Rocco, became the talk of social media early in 2022, for how irrationally angry the little red Muppet would get at the inanimate object. The feud even became the subject of a Saturday Night Live sketch, which many (include myself) regard as having been so unfunny that it killed the meme.
February – WordGirl: PBS Kids show of yesteryear. I never watched it, but apparently people found this show’s premise strange. Anyways, this month was kind of dry of memes, so this one kind of won out by default.
March – Slapgate: The infamous moment at the 94th Academy Awards in which Will Smith slapped Chris Rock for making fun of his wife Jada Pinkett’s alopecia, skyrocketed to the top of social media late in the month, with many memes and discussions of violence, chivalry, and the Smith family’s personal life, sparked from the incident. I’d even argue the discourse around the moment continued into April, until its own big meme was born.
April – Mr. Enter’s Turning Red review: Mr. Enter’s comment about this 2002-set Pixar film not mentioning the September 11 terrorist attacks made him a laughing stock to all of film Twitter, and spawned many memes tying the film to the historical event. Even at the end of 2022, it is common for someone to trot out a 9/11 joke when the movie comes up in conversation. Unfortunately.
May – ‘It’s Morbin’ Time!’: Misinformation around this non-existent line associated with the film Morbius spread so wide, that it spawned several memes. This meme got so big, in fact, that Sony even briefly re-released the film in theaters. It made barely any money in this re-release… and even its lack of interest in its theatrical release became a big talking point about the film.
June – Craiyon-generated images: AI-generated images took off in 2022 with the public availability of programs such as DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. And at the opening of this Pandora’s box, was DALL-E’s prototype, eventually renamed Craiyon, available to the public without any red tape to get through. June proved to be a month of many people showing off the crazy prompts they put through the crude AI, some funny, some scary, all uncanny as hell. I even used Craiyon to generate some of the assets in my art for a while… something I now regret, as I have said many times.
July – Gentleminions: Largely a TikTok trend, but it did find its way onto Twitter. This meme involved people, mainly high school- and college-aged individuals who grew up with the Despicable Me franchise, dressing up in formal attire to watch Minions: The Rise of Gru. Illumination actually took notice of the film’s older audience; shortly after the film’s release, they announced a banner for releasing animated films for a more mature audience.
August – Ableist posters from school: Particularly posters made by Carson-Dellosa, a company infamous for drawing characters that all have the same giant, soulless, creepy smile. Some people who observed the meme (including myself) even attempted to draw or edit characters to have that infamous smile.
September – The Little Mermaid 2023 discourse: Well, not so much discourse as it was racists complaining about the idea of Ariel, a non-human character who just so happens to resemble a Caucasian redhead, being played by a black actress in her live-action counterpart. Because apparently casting non-white actors as originally white characters, is somehow making it political. Newsflash, white people, whites have been getting cast in originally non-white roles for decades. You can stand to have the opposite happen a few times. Also, it’s not being political. It’s acknowledging people exist.
October – The Super Mario Bros. Movie teaser: Probably the most positive reception any trailer for a film based on a video game has gotten, until the trailer the following month dropped. Aside from Chris Pratt’s performance as Mario receiving mixed reception, everyone was on board with this movie from the moment this teaser dropped. Hopefully the film itself will be awesome.
November – Free Birds: Probably by virtue of this being the only true Thanksgiving movie (as in, movie actually about Thanksgiving, not just set during it) people actually know about, this 2013 film has actually been a meme for a while. But 2022 especially saw people’s feeds bombarded with memes about those turkeys going back in time to the first Thanksgiving, etc. My two cents, this movie sucks, but I’m glad that it’s found a cult following.
December – Different Dimension Me: Tencent’s take on an AI image generator, this particular entry to the trend attempts to turn any image thrown its way, to anime. I saw many people putting images through it, Isaac and I even dabbled with it ourselves. The results, as AI images often are, were uncanny. An image of Flannery I made even resulted in an upside-down character. This meme jumped the shark for me when some jackass put an image of the World Trade Center on 9/11 through the generator. The generator itself also has issues with people and characters with dark skin.

I (Gilda in-universe) crossed out Craiyon and Different Dimension Me due to both being AI programs. As an artist who was an apologist for using AI assets in art for a while, I felt like this was a good opportunity to emphasize that I no longer feel this way.

As for the rest of the artwork… the background was created the same way as the scenery in my previous upload here. Drawn in black-and-white, and converted to color. I decided to nickname this technique ‘Color Turner’. For how it turns my greyscale assets to color, and also as a joke about Ted Turner and how he attempted to colorize the black-and-white films he owned back in the 1980s.

And that’s it for 2022. See you in 2023, I promise many a great artwork coming your way in the next year. Until then, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, and you all have a… wait a minute.

HOLD UP!!!!!

Right… right. I almost forgot. Heheh.

…

…I’ve actually got one more thing to share with you all.

Consider this the announcement that the OTOG graphic novel series has officially entered production.

I spoke to a friend of mine on Twitter and one of the people I’ve talked to most regarding my work, Wesley (@WesleyHunt2, drop him a follow too, he’s cool). He told me he thinks my series would work best as comic strips that build up to a single joke. I don’t really agree with him on this; I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller with this series, have OTOG be serialized rather than episodic. But I am new to the graphic noveling thing, and I am taking part of his advice. Which is why I’m changing the format of my series, to smaller stories a few pages long and which happen to have continuity between them, rather than epics (by my scope) of scores of pages and hundreds of panels. I don’t want to make myself look like a dummy goober like Margo’s final glasses-less comic. But I still have a story I want my series to tell, and I feel I’ve made my script-writing strengths known throughout 2022.

Anyways, to the details this announcement didn’t make clear.

The first OTOG story written for the graphic novel series, as I’ve alluded to before, is called “Gaming in the Gild-ed Age”, adapted from the first script I wrote involving my characters. It is set shortly after Gilda meets Margo, Wendy, and April in the graphic novel canon, thus, it is not the first story in chronological order, only in production order. However, I feel it still makes for a fitting pilot episode of sorts, considering its source material is itself the first script written for the OTOG franchise. I do plan to have this story published eventually, so I have had to take some liberties with the copyrighted materials depicted in the original script. But I hope you enjoy it when it finally drops on the @TheOfficialOTOG Twitter account, 9PM EST, on January 22.

Buckle up, ladies, gentlemen, and all in between. You are in for a fun ride.

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: twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
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.
Sesame Street is owned by Sesame Workshop.
Wordgirl is owned by PBS.
The Academy Awards are owned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the telecast is aired by Disney on ABC.
Turning Red is owned by Disney through Pixar Animation Studios.
Morbius is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment through Columbia Pictures; the Marvel brand as a whole is owned by Disney.
The Despicable Me franchise is owned by Comcast through NBCUniversal and Universal Pictures.
The Little Mermaid is… in the public domain. But Disney has their own version of Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fairytale, which they own.
Super Mario Bros. is owned by Nintendo; the film adaptation is owned by Comcast through NBCUniversal and Universal Pictures.
Free Birds is owned by Disney through their purchase of 21st Century Fox, the original home media distributors of the film.
The artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

It’s December! Mabrouk!

Original Twitter Upload Date: December 22, 2022

[Albaneigh County Sephardic Temple, Saturday morning during Hanukkah. Rabbi Gabriel Franco gives a speech]
Franco: “I know it’s a hard time for many of us this time of year, having shoved in our faces society’s love of commercialism and gluttony. Quite frankly, it makes me sick as well. You’d think a holiday often called ‘the time of giving’, that originated as a celebration of the birth of somebody known for his charity, would actually be about charity. But charity often goes punished in this cursed society.” [beat] “Well, okay, actually, Christmas originated as a pagan holiday celebrating the Purrsian sun god Mithra, but that’s besides the point.” [points to the vestibule behind the rest of the synagogue-goers] “If any of you would like to do more than the vast majority of the rest of society will, I’m running a donation box in the back. The money will go to the Albaneigh Homeless Aid Center, wonderful organization. Provides housing and food for those less fortunate. That is, when it’s actually donated to. It’s been getting less money in recent years due to the selfishness so prevalent in this modern world. So if any of you would be so kind as to donate your spare change, whether it be a few nickels or hundreds of bucks, it’d be much appreciated. Gracias. Y buena… semana.”
[the synagogue-goers all leave their seats, and make their way toward the exit. Wendy, Nicole, Dolly, and Greg, the former three of whom dressed in 1980s-style suits for the service, begin talking with one another]
Wendy: “I don’t know about you girls, but I like coming here in a suit. It makes me feel important. Plus, I got some pretty good pockets to keep my money.” [pulls out fifty bucks’ worth of Lincolns from her jacket pocket and shows them to Nicole, Dolly, and Greg]
Dolly: [surprised] “Fifty bucks? You’re donating fifty bucks?”
Wendy: “Somebody else needs it more than I do. We shouldn’t forget to do good and share with others, such debts are appreciated, as it’s said in chapter 13, verse 16 of Hebrews. With paraphrasing on my part. And of course, Stella likes to bring up Matthew 25:35 to 36, which isn’t our religion, but they’re still good verses to live by.”
Dolly: “I’ll be donating everything left over from the presents I bought for Hanukkah and Christmas.”
Gregory: “Christmas?! Who would you be buying Chri — oh, right. Stella.” [rolls eyes]
Dolly: “Anyways, I got thirty-three bucks left over.” [takes out wallet]
Nicole: “Ah, dang. I’ve only got a quarter.” [pulls out said quarter from jacket pocket]
Gregory: “You’re still more generous than most of society.” [Nicole puts her hand to her chest and smiles] “As for myself, I’ve got a dollar on me.” [beat] “Alright, let’s do some good.”
[The Wyler sisters and Greg enter the vestibule, and put their money in the donation box. They then head outside, where they find it to be snowing]
Wendy: “Oh, hey, look, it’s snowing.”
Nicole: “Snow! I love snow!” [sticks out tongue to catch some of the snowflakes] “Lehhhhh. Lehhhhh.”
Dolly: [goes cross-eyed as a snowflake touches and melts on her nose. She laughs] “That tickles.”
Wendy: “Hey, you know, it just occurred to me, we haven’t taken a photo yet. Of us in our suits. I think Gilda would appreciate it. Let’s do that before we get in the car.” [points in front of a shrub] “Nicole, Dolly, will you stand over there for a moment?” [Nicole and Dolly do as Wendy says as she pulls out her phone] “And Greg, take my phone, I want you to snap the photo.”
Gregory: “Uh, okay.”
[Wendy takes her place between Nicole and Dolly and puts her hands on her hips]
Wendy: “Alright, girls. I wanna see some smiles here, show those teeth that make you rodents. Say ‘beech’!”
Dolly, Nicole: “Beeeeeeeeeech!”
Gregory: “Beech? Uh, okay, whatever.” [sees the sisters in position on the phone; Wendy is just smiling, not showing her teeth] “Oh, right, showing teeth isn’t really Wendy’s thing.” [snaps the photo]

Happy Holidays, everyone! And if you have a problem with Happy Holidays, then Happy Shut the 🦭 Up. It’s Christmas Day as I post this, and this is a year Hanukkah is going on at the same time. So why not use the opportunity to rebel against Christmas, and post this Hanukkah-set artwork of the Wylers?

Part of the reason I drew this was because I felt you guys deserved better than artwork that had AI-generated assets, to celebrate the holiday season. Gilda as an elf is cute and all, but it’s not cute to have her in a world generated by robots, many of whom probably think she’s a virus upon the earth that needs to be eradicated. Because, you know, robots are often depicted as doing that.

I have enough experience with the fresh pasta effect, that I decided to imitate it here, and try to integrate it into my art style. And by ‘it’, I mean the imitation fresh pasta, not the actual fresh pasta. I still applied the fresh pasta effect to my reference images, to figure out where and how to place the white, black, and three shades of grey as I drew the scenery.

“White? Black? Grey? What white, black, and grey? It looks like full color to me!”

That’s because I colorized the assets with the hue and color effects after drawing them in greyscale initially. Similar to what I did on Auggie Will Prom-ise Margo Anything, but now with a style born from experience using fresh pasta assets. It’s not the most detailed scenery out there, but it captures the general feel of the look I’ve been trying to go for with scenery. Now done by hand instead of by stock and AI images!

As for the snow, it’s just a bunch of white and grey dots made with one of the brushes in ASP, some of which I warped and blurred to make them look like they’re flowing erratically in the wind, rather than just simply falling. The effect turned out pretty cool, all things considered.

Overall, I’m glad I can finally put my AI days behind me.

That’ll be all for this artwork. Next one will be a year-in review… but a bit differently than how I’ve done it the past five years. And also stay tuned in the description of that year in review for… a special announcement. You’ll be excited when you see it. 😏

Until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, Happy Hanukwanzmas, and have a happy new year.

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: twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
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 artwork was made at a resolution of 3996×2160 (aspect ratio 1.85:1).

Burning Secret – Off to the Country Club

Oh, joy, my pre-Grunvale artwork. 😶

At least this piece is one of the better artworks from those days. Hence why I’m preserving it. So, uh… let’s get this over with. 😅

Original DA Upload Date: June 17, 2017.

[Stormy is working on updating his WordPress in the year 2022]
Stormy: “Damn DeviantArt, what were those guys thinking? Implementing an AI program! Do they not realize some of their users are dead?” [sighs] “Alright, guess I’m moving my uploads to this site Newgrounds. Time to update my WordPress with the links to it so I can move on from DA. Starting with my pre-Grunvale art, of course. Which to pick?”
[Stormy goes through the DA uploads from 2016 and 2017]
Stormy: “Hm, a lot of Loud House stuff. Let’s see. Eeny, meeny, miney…” [sees fanart of the fanfiction Burning Secret, “Off to the Country Club”, drawn similarly to a shot from the segment No Guts, No Glori] “You.”
[presses download on OTtCC]
Stormy: “And of course, I gotta copy and paste that description I wrote so long ago. And make some annotations to comment on my 2017 self and how cringe they were.”

For those of you that don’t know1, Burning Secret is a fanfiction by Samtastic-V3, that I’ve been reading ever since he posted the first chapter. I remember Sam himself telling me it was partially inspired by the South Park episode Butt Out, but personally, it reminds me more of the King of the Hill episode Revenge of the Lutefisk, due to it having what I consider to be a similar plot.

1 Hey! 2017 me! They don’t know! Especially if they’re reading this on WordPress in the years after!

The plot of the fic is, Lincoln accidentally starts a fire that burns down part of Royal Woods Elementary. Although he’s hailed a hero for pulling the alarm and getting everyone to safety, everyone believes that the fire was arson, and thus Lincoln feels guilty for it. And to make matters worse, someone knows he started the fire, and has threatened to report Lincoln to the police for the so-called arson if he doesn’t do as he says. It’s a pretty awesome and intense fanfic, right up there with Requiem for a Loud and Syngenesophobia2 as one of my favorite Loud House fanfics. And I recommend anyone who hasn’t already read it, to read it3. And watch Sam for his awesome work. You won’t regret it.

2 Wow. I actually read Brawl in the Family and No Such Luck fics. I’m embarrassed already. No offense to the original author, of course. I’m just commenting on how cringe the Loud House fandom was then, getting Mr. Enter levels of angry about cartoon episodes.

3 Any way you can, of course. Which may involve going to DA.

Anyways, without giving too much spoilers, the seventh and most recent chapter4 of Burning Secret has the Loud family going off to Lord Tetherby’s country club, as Lincoln has been named Guest of Honor for the ‘Hero Party’. Before the limo arrives, Lynn Sr. has all the Loud sisters get in line, oldest to youngest, and state the expectations for their behavior at the Hero Party, one by one, as he taps a pool cue on their shoulder.

4 At the time this was written, only seven of the nine chapters of the fanfic had been posted to DA.

I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but I’m a sucker for cartoon episodes where the characters are dressed in formal outfits. I don’t know why, I just am. So of course with the kids dressed in formal attire (and also having an opportunity to draw Lynn Sr., who I’ve come to love as a character thanks to Fed Up and Fool’s Paradise), I felt the need to draw my own interpretation of the scene, re-reading the seventh chapter several times just to make sure I was drawing the sisters’ outfits as Sam had described them. And then my brain basically filled in the blanks as to what their hair and makeup and jewelry would look like. Oh yeah, and I used the scene with Lori dressing and acting like a drill instructor from No Guts, No Glori as a reference for this, of course.

I’m… somewhat impressed with how this turned out5. On one hand… I drew Lisa’s ears way too big. I guess I wanted to experiment with what her hair/wig6 would look like if it was neatly brushed for a formal event, but I fucked up on figuring out how to draw the ears to go with it. That, and I had to do a lot of last-minute editing to this thing in MS Paint7, because I missed a lot of color gaps with the paint bucket tool in the ArtStudio8 app, and Lucy’s colors turned out way too… not black, to put it simply, when I saw how the image looked on my laptop. And yes, I know MS Paint is the worst thing ever, but… you probably wouldn’t have known I used it here, had I not told you. Besides, I did do like 99% of the rest of the drawing in ArtStudio. And I wanted to draw Lincoln and Rita in there, but because I didn’t have enough room to draw them in, I had to omit them. So, to compensate, I’m just gonna say that this drawing is from Lincoln’s POV.

5 Yes, this was very impressive by my standards at the time, wasn’t it?

6 Wow, what a loser I was. Actually paying attention to continuity in The Loud House of all things. Didn’t I also get angry at one point about House of Lies showing Leni with red hair when she said she hated how she looked as a redhead in Anti-Social? Wow, so many layers of cringe. I’m glad I outgrew this show.

7 *laughs in GIMP user*

8 Oh, right, this artwork is that old. Made in regular-ass ArtStudio. I switched to the Pro version in 2018.

On the other hand, though, other than Lisa, I like how the sisters and Lynn Sr. turned out in my drawing. Don’t know how Sam feels about me swapping Lana and Lola’s places (since Lana’s the older twin), but I think I managed to fit everyone in pretty well. I might need a little practice with drawing Lynn with her bangs back and her widow’s peak exposed.9

9 The widow’s peak she had in Linc or Swim but not in Head Poet’s Anxiety. Wow, I really took the continuity of this show too seriously.

Anyways, post in the comments below what you think of this drawing. I hope Sam likes it.10 He did love the work-in-progress version, after all. And read Burning Secret if you haven’t already. It’s awesome.

10 He loved it. Sam, if you’re reading this, sorry I moved this artwork to here, if that bothers you. I just can’t support a site that wants to make AI of dead people’s artwork. And doesn’t do enough to protect artists’ work from becoming NFTs.

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: twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
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.

The Loud House franchise is owned by Paramount through Nickelodeon.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 1920×1080 (aspect ratio 1.78:1).

Holt Burns for Nicole

Original Twitter Upload Date: April 27, 2022. The script below was originally posted to DA on April 28, 2022, and has been revised from its original version to add story context and fix keyboard errors present in the original version.

[August 13, 2016 on the strict timeline of ZP-51498. The Albaneigh County Sephardic Temple is hosting the bat mitzvah celebration of Nicole Wyler, which, lucky for her, fell right on her 13th birthday. As Nicole dances with her boyfriend, the perameline Murray Rose, to “Lady” by the Little River Band, Holt Klug, Murray’s sciurine friend and baseball teammate, fixes himself some strawberry lemonade from the refreshments table about thirty feet away]
Dolly: “Um, ‘scuse me, don’t you think you’ve had enough?”
Holt: “Uh, what?”
Dolly: “I mean, well, don’t you think you’ve had enough of the lemonade? I’ve seen you have like ten full glasses already.”
Holt: “Well, I’ve seen you have sixteen glasses of it, toots. I’ve been counting!”
[Dolly opens her mouth, but can’t think of anything to say]
Gregory: “He’s got you there, Dolly.”
Dolly: “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But can you blame me? Strawberry’s just so deli –” [to Holt] “W-w-wait a minute, ‘toots’? Did you just call me ‘toots’?”
Holt: [blushes] “Uh… maybe? Uh… Dolly, you’re so hooooot!”
[Dolly blushes. Gregory is dumbfounded by Holt’s behavior. Roz and Maddie are standing nearby; the latter recognizes Holt]
Maddie: [walks up and speaks to Holt] “Hey, I know you. You’re Holt Klug, aren’t you?”
Holt: “Yeah?”
Maddie: “Holt as in brother of Hoyt of the Clark Salmons football team?”
Holt: “He’s gonna be on the Iwerks Rushin’ Quartzes next month, but yes.” [pauses, then glares] “Wait a minute, you’re that girl who cheated on him, aren’t you?!”
Maddie: “That’s how he took it, but I’m polyamorous.”
Holt: “Poly… amo –“
Maddie: “Meaning I like having multiple boyfriends at once. Look, kid. I know how your kind thinks. You’re at that age where every doe and sow, every female you see is hot to you. But my sister Dolly here’s a grown lady, with a fiancée. Way too old for you. You stay in your area of the sea and stop being a shark in Dolly’s.”
Dolly and Gregory: “Thanks, Maddie.”
Maddie: “How old are you, anyway, kid? Thirteen?”
Holt: “Uh-huh. Turned thirteen ten days ago.”
Maddie: “Yeah, you should only be looking for girls your own age. The rule is half your age plus seven. For you, that’s thirteen. Or fourteen, depending on how you round.” [looks over at Nicole and Murray; she grabs Holt’s head and turns it so he’s also looking at the young couple] “Why not my sister Nicole?”
Gregory: [mildly but visibly disturbed] “Huh?”
Dolly: “Maddie, what are you doing?!”
Maddie: “Hey, you never know. Nicole might be poly, too.” [to Holt] “You should go talk to her.”
Holt: “But my friend Murray’s already taken her!”
Maddie: “If I know my sister well, and I do, then I expect that she’s willing to open her heart to another boy. As well as the one she’s already got. Nicole’s not the kind who replaces anything, she’s the kind that accumulates everything.”
Holt: “If you say so. I mean, she does look pretty.”
Maddie: “I do say so!” [pushes Holt onto the dance floor; Holt covers up his lemonade] “Now get out there, Quasimodo!”
Holt: “Quasimodo?”
Maddie: “Because you look like Quasimodo, the Disney version. The one that gets the happy ending!”
Holt: [beat] “Not the nicest thing to call me, but I’ll take it!”
[“Lady” fades out, and “Never Tear Us Apart” by INXS begins playing]
Holt: “Ooh, INXS! Now that is music!” [unintelligibly hums the music as he walks up to Nicole and Murray] 🎵 And they could never, tear us apa — 🎵 [quickly lifts glass… sending the lemonade splashing into Nicole’s eyes] “OH SHIT!”
Nicole: “OWWWWW!!!” [falls to the floor, covering her eyes] “My eyes, they sting!”
Holt: [puts glass in his jacket] “Oh, no! Nicole! I burned your eyes!” [kneels to Nicole’s level] “I’m so sorry!”
Murray: “Um… I’ll go… get a washcloth?” [walks off]
Holt: “Are you okay?”
Nicole: “Uh, yeah, I’m fine, J-Cans pitcher. Whatever your name is.” [twirls whiskers back into place] “What’s your name again?”
Holt: “It’s Holt. Holt Klug. I’m a friend of Murray’s. Can I help you back up?”
Nicole: “Sure.”
[Nicole takes Holt’s hand, and he lifts her back up. As they stand up, they stare into each other’s eyes]
Holt: “Um… did… did anybody ever tell you how beautiful you look?”
Nicole: “Did anybody ever tell you how handsome you look?”
[the two blush and smile at each other as they realize they’ve fallen in love. A panicked look then comes to Nicole’s face]
Nicole: <Crap, I’m poly!> “Um… you better go.”
Holt: “What?”
Nicole: “I said you better go.” [nervously pushes him away] “Bye, Holt, I love you! I mean like you! I mean it was nice talking to you!”
Holt: [confused] “Um… it was nice talking to you too?” [walks away as Nicole nervously waves goodbye]
Nicole: “Whew. Dodged a bullet. Now where’s Aussie baby?”
Murray: “Right here.” [hands washcloth to Nicole]
Nicole: “Ah. Thanks, Holt.” [rubs her eyes with the cloth] “You’re real life saver, you know that?”
Murray: “…Holt?”
Nicole: “Wait, did I — oh. Haha. I mean Murray! Thanks Murray you’re a life saver!”
Murray: “Nicole? Are you okay?”
Nicole: “Yes, yes I’m perfectly fine now! I was always fine! Let’s get back to dancing, Aussie baby!” [tosses cloth on the floor and grabs Murray by the hands. Though visibly confused, the latter smiles and gets back to dancing with Nicole, as “I’ll Never Find Another You” by the Seekers begins]

The main reason I made Nicole (and Roz and Maddie) polyamorous, was as a response to fandoms arguing who to ship with a certain character. The Amphibia fandom is the biggest inspiration behind the idea; I’ve seen Sashanne supporters, Marcanne supporters, and Sasharcy supporters, as well as lesser numbers of Sprivy and Spraddie supporters. For the latter, probably because the show itself settled on Ivy as a girlfriend for Sprig, even giving the couple a segment in season 3 called “Sprivy”.

Anyways, the Amphibia fanbase’s weird obsession with shipping, was what led to the idea to have Roz, Maddie, and Nicole (most prominently the latter), be into having multiple relationships at once. In Nicole’s case, her boyfriends are Murray Rose, the perameline/bandicoot shortstop of the Kahl Junior Canaries that Nicole has had a crush on since she was ten, and Holt Klug, the sciurine/squirrel pitcher of the Junior Canaries, who is Murray’s friend and Nicole has had a crush on since meeting him at her bat mitzvah celebration, as depicted above.

Now to the artwork!

Since drawing Mabrouk to Wendy!, I’ve had this idea that the star-shaped earrings are hand-me-downs, originally worn by the Wylers’ mother, Judy, for her bat mitzvah celebration in the 1980s, and later passed down to Dolly, Roz, Nicole, and eventually Wendy for theirs (Maddie’s ears are not pierced). So as a bit of continuity, I decided to have Nicole wear the earrings here. I also have her wearing a Karner blue butterfly brooch (the Karner blue is a large topic of concern for conservationists in New York’s Capital Region), and her hair is decorated with peanut leaves, as peanuts are stereotypical baseball park food, and Nicole, as I’ve stated before, is a baseball player.

Also, on a side note, the similarities between Nicole’s outfit here and the Tetrad as a 1960s-style girl group, kind of makes me want to draw Nicole and Wendy together performing as 1960s-style singers. I think that’d be cute.

I managed to draw all the scenery in this artwork without resorting to fresh pasta textures, with the exception of the wooden floor in panel IV, which wasn’t even made for this artwork specifically anyway. For the most part, all it took this time was studying the background of the aforementioned “Mabrouk to Wendy!”, to figure out how to draw something that looks similar. Speaking of panel IV, I also drew a crude Dolly and the top of Wendy’s head, to make the scene feel less empty. Panel V, on the other hand, has pixels rendered, stretched, and blurred, to give the effect of partygoers.

Finally, there’s panel VI. The panel containing a new technique, that I only discovered while drawing this artwork. I found out that the pens in ASP, can actually be set to be horizontally or vertically symmetrical in their place on the canvas, which makes things a lot easier, considering I’ve previously used a combination of the rectangular marquee and copy/paste tools to achieve symmetry, and I didn’t get to see what the symmetry would look like until after. I used this new and more efficient method of symmetry to create a romantic-looking background fitting for Nicole and Holt, decorated with infinity symbols (as a reference to both being on the spectrum), baseballs (as a reference to both loving baseball; the detail didn’t make it into this artwork), abstract representations of their initials (also obscured here), and of course a giant heart in the center. I think it turned out beautiful; I’ll show the whole background off in my blooper thread.

Overall, this comic turned out cute. It’s a cute comic of a cute couple’s meet cute. Heheh.

Anyways, that’ll be all for this artwork. 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: https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoenix_of_grunvale/
DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/phoenixofgrunvale
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCEtCO…
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 Grunvale.
“Never Tear Us Apart” was written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence for the album Kick, owned by Warner Music Group through Atlantic Records.
All six panels of this artwork were made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1). Panels I, II, IV, and V have been scaled down to 1080p for narrative and resolution purposes.

SKASK-elbel’s Canon

Original Twitter Upload Date: March 28, 2022. The script below was originally posted to DA on April 12, 2022, and has been revised to add story context and fix keyboard errors present in the original version.

[August of 2003 in Boarston, MA, on the strict timeline of ZP-51498. Shaun Ketcham, wearing a tuxedo and his hair in a Ty Pennington-style cut, runs toward the flower shop]
Shaun: “Hair clip, hair clip, hair clip, hair clip!” [barges in] “HAIR CLIIIIIP!!!” [pants heavily. He sees a nearby coccinelline/ladybug, wearing a dark green apron, sorting the shelves] “Hey! You, ma’am! Is my sister’s hair clip ready?”
[the coccinelline turns toward him, shown to be male, with Billy Idol-style spiky blonde hair, a mustache, and a prominent chin. He looks annoyed]
[flower shop employee]: “You talking to me?”
Shaun: [blushes in embarrassment] “Oops.” [beat] “Um… hello. Sir. Is my sister’s hair clip ready, the one with the red hibiscus? It’s urgent, she’s due to be married in…” [pulls out cell phone] “…about two and a half hours.”
[flower shop employee]: “Sister? Married? Oh, wait a minute, I know you. Your sister’s marrying Angus Hynde’s boy, isn’t she?”
Shaun: “Yes, yes, that’s her! Her name’s Sally, I’m her brother!”
[flower shop employee]: “Hey Crown! Her brother’s here!”
[a male procyonine, with glasses, brown curly hair, and a similar green apron, comes out of the back room]
Crown: “Who’s brother?”
[flower shop employee]: “Who’s brother you think? Sally Ketcham’s!”
Crown: “Harry Hynde’s fiancée — yep, yep! I got it!” [goes to get the hair clip]
Shaun: “Well, actually, this evening, it’ll be Sally Hynde. She’s taking Harry’s name.”
[flower shop employee:] “Well, congratulations.”
Shaun: “Don’t congratulate me, congratulate my sister.”
[flower shop employee:] “Your sister’s marrying into rock music royalty. That makes you rock royalty too. Embrace it.”
Shaun: “This is my sister’s accomplishment, not mine.”
[Crown comes up carrying the hair clip; true to Shaun’s description, it bears a giant red hibiscus]
Crown: “Here you go, Mr. Ketcham. Your sister’s hair clip.”
Shaun: [takes the hair clip and looks at it] “It looks beautiful. It’ll compliment my sister’s hairstyle beautifully.”
[flower shop employee]: “How is she wearing her hair, exactly?”
Shaun: “If you must know, she’s wearing a 1940s style with giant curls on both sides. [sets the clip on the windowsill and pulls out his wallet] ‘Victory rolls’, she calls them. They’re the style some doe called Ingrid Bergman wore in a movie called Notorious.”
[flower shop employee]: “Oh.”
Crown: “That sounds nice.”
Shaun:[takes out a Franklin out of his wallet and hands it to Crown] “Anyways, here’s a hundred for your work.”
Crown: “Um, your sister already paid for that clip.”
Shaun:[puts wallet back in his pocket] “Take it anyway, you’re not paid enough. Byeeeee!” [picks up the clip and runs out of the store]
[beat]
[flower shop employee]: “He forgot to sign for his order.”
[Shaun barges back into the store]
Shaun: “I forgot to sign for my order!” [goes to the checkout desk and signs the order sheet] “Okayforrealnowbyeeeee!”
[Shaun runs out of the store again, this time for good. He fastens the clip to his lapel and runs across several lanes of traffic. Not a problem for him, as he’s a leporine and thus can cross quite quickly. He makes it to the other side of the road, where the Sheraton Boarston hotel stands. As he walks up to the hotel, he sees a bus bearing a Rugrats: Go Wild ad… which he isn’t happy to see]
Shaun: “They canceled Invader Zim, but they made a third Rugrats movie? Geez, Nickelodeon sucks!” [looks up at the hotel] “Now, which is it? Third floor, one, two, three… four from the left! That’s her room! Here I come, sis!” [leaps in the air]

[in the hotel room, Sally and Shaun’s sisters-in-law, Ivy (the angora leporine/rabbit), Amy (the ochotonine/pika), and Ebony (the black-tailed leporine/jackrabbit) are helping Sally get ready for the wedding. The sisters-in-law are all in their bridesmaid dresses and Sally is in her bridal gown, putting on her jewelry]
Amy: “The son of the Beef of the Leaf, that’s who you’re gonna call your husband. You must feel really special, Sally.”
Sally: “Honestly, I was nevah really a fan of Myxoma. It’s hair metal production valyahs given to songwritin’ that I can only describe as the poah buck’s Phil Collins. Who himself’s a poah buck’s Petah Gabriel.”
Ivy: [wincing] “Yikes.”
Sally: “At least Harry’s music sounds nice. It sounds like Train with a touch of Oasis. That and he could use a lawyah like me to keep him outta trouble.”
Ebony: “Train and Oasis, that’s the kind of music you like?! Wow, that’s lame.”
Sally: “Says the doe that keeps playin’ “I Believe In a Thing Called Love” at every oppahtunity.”
Ebony: “Hey, don’t shit-talk The Darkness!”
Sally: “Their singah sounds like a crocodile’s bitin’ his junk.”
Ivy: “You said the same thing about Prince and “Kiss”.”
Sally: “Only about the last thuhty seconds of that song. That Dahkness one is a whole song of someone soundin’ like that!”
Ebony: “Oh yeah? You’re gonna trash my Justin? Well, uh… Chad Kroeger sounds constipated when he sings!”
Sally: [beat, then starts laughing] “Pffft. That’s yoah comeback? I actually agree with ya about Kroegah.”
Amy: “Girls, girls. Can we not argue about music and just be happy for our sister-in-law on finding love? And also that the Beef’s son is about to be our brother-in-law?”
[beat]
Ivy: “I can.”
Ebony: “Yeah, I can too.”
Amy: “Good.”
Sally: “Amy, Harry’s not gonna be yoah brothah-in-law. Or yoahs, Ivy, or yoahs, Ebony, eithuh. He’s just gonna be my brothahs’ brothah-in-law.”
[the does hear a thumping against the window. Ivy pulls the curtains to see Shaun standing on the few inches of windowsill, holding on tight to the space above him. This sight mildly startles the bridesmaids, while Sally reacts like she was expecting her brother to do this]
Amy: “Woah.”
Sally: “Speakin’ of which.” [walks over and opens the window] “Hello, brothah o’mine.”
Shaun: [climbs into the room] “Afternoon, Sally. And Ivy, and Amy, and Ebony, and… hey, where’s Linda?”
Sally: “She’s helpin’ downstairs in the banquet hall, gettin’ the tables ready.”
Shaun: “Aw, dang it. I was hoping I’d check up on her here, make sure we’re still on good terms.”
Sally: “Of coahse the two of ya are on good tahms. Ya had to break it off ’cause of yoah job, you and I are still friends with ‘er, everything’s fine.”
Shaun: “Ah, okay, good.”
Ebony: “How’s it going, Peter?”
Shaun: “It’s going good, Ebo — wait, Peter? Why did you call me — oh. Because Peter Parker. Haha. I’ll admit it, that’s a good one.” [beat] “Of course, I prefer Wonder Boys as a Tobey movie myself. And guess which one my sister likes. She probably made you watch it.”
Ebony: “I know which one you’re talking about. And yes, she did. What a way to hold a bachelorette party, turning it into movie night.”
Amy: “I can understand why your sister likes that movie so much.”
[Sally looks over at the TV shelf in the room; a Pleasantville VHS is lying beside the tube]
Ivy: “I liked it too. Love the costumes in it. And Randy Newman’s score, of course.”
Shaun: “Would you believe it’s not even her favorite movie?”
[Ivy, Amy, and Ebony look at each other]
Amy: “Well, if she talks up a movie that isn’t even her favorite the way she did, then I’m curious to know what her favorite movie actually is.”
Ivy: “It’s something Douglas Sirk, isn’t it?”
Sally: “No, actually, Ivy, it’s My Cousin Vinny.”
[beat. the sisters-in-law are visibly surprised]
Ivy: “My Cousin Vinny? Isn’t that with the Karate Kid?”
Sally: “Yep. It’s also the movie that got me interested in law. I still remembah back when Shaun and I were ten, oah fathah let us go to the movies by oahselves foah the fahst time. We were supposed to see some kiddy flick called Rock-a-Doodle, but I talked Shaun into sneakin’ into My Cousin Vinny. I wanted to see it ’cause the Karate Kid and Harry from Home Alone were in it. Little did I know I’d come out of it interested in the legal system and how it wahks.”
Amy: “Well, it’s definitely a good one to call your favorite.”
Sally: “What can I say? It depicts the legal system in a respectful and accurate mannah, and yet it’s still effective as a comedy. Ivy, you’ah a theatuh grad, you can attest to comedy bein’ difficult to write, can’t ya?”
Ivy: “By far the most difficult genre to write.”
Sally: “I can go on and on about how much I love that movie. But, we’ve got a weddin’ to get ready foah, in…” [looks at the alarm clock next to the bed] “Crap, that close already?” [to Shaun] “Shaun, ya got my hair clip from the florist, didn’t ya?”
Shaun: “The one where the dude ladybug works?” [pulls the clip off his jacket] “Uh, yeah. You were looking at it the whole time.”
[beat; Sally looks embarrassed for not noticing]
Sally: “Ohhh.” [chuckles, then sits down in the chair in front of the vanity mirror] “And his name’s Lars, by the way. The ‘dude ladybug’. His name is Lars.”
Shaun: “Lars. Okay.”
[Shaun prepares to put the clip in Sally’s hair, but pauses to look in the mirror. He focuses on Sally and the various details of her ensemble. Her hair, tight curls of strawberry-blonde. Her eyes, bearing voluminous, swooping lashes from lids painted blue like her eyes. Her lips, a bright and shining ruby. Her jewels, deeply shimmering sapphires. And her dress and gloves and shoes, a blinding white like snow. Shaun is overwhelmed by his sister’s beauty; he takes a deep breath and stares at his own reflection, as he slowly and clumsily slides the clip into his sister’s hair]
Sally: “What? What’s takin’ so long, brothah?”
Shaun: “Wow, Sally. I mean, wow.” [sets his hands on her shoulders] “First getting into Harvard, and now marrying the son of the Beef of the Leaf. I don’t know who should feel more special, you for achieving such things, or me for getting to be born with you and watch you grow into what you’ve become.” [Sally blushes and smiles] “Is… is it okay for me to feel special on your big day?”
Sally: “Of course it is, Shaun. Foah the reason you said you should feel special, yes, it is okay.” [stands up and hugs Shaun, Shaun hugs back. The sisters-in-law are overwhelmed by how cute the twins’ hug is]
Shaun: “I love you, sis.”
Sally: “I love ya too, brothah.”
Shaun: “I wish you and Harry many happy years together.”
Sally: “And I wish the same foah ya. And whoevah’s the doe that’ll see ya as hubby material.”

[October of 2004 in Grunvale, NP, on the strict timeline of ZP-51498. Sally, dressed in a green, 1950s-style outfit, has a surprised look on her face as she watches Shaun’s bride-to-be, Roxanne Sumner (a peach-colored brunette Holland Lop a half a foot taller than Sally), get dressed into her wedding outfit… a puffy white blouse with white, Katharine Hepburn-style pants]
Sally: “So, you’ah the doe who sees my brothah as hubby material.”
Roxanne: “Of course I do. Shaun’s a total boss! I always hear him cheering me on when I’m playing for the Dribblin’ Quartzes and he’s selling the hot dogs. ‘BOOM SHAKALAKA!’. Really speaks to the NBA Jam fan in me.”
Sally: “All my brothahs like that game.”
Roxanne: “That, and he’s good at taking basketballs to the stomach.”
[beat]
Sally: “What.“
Roxanne: “It’s a ritual we have at Iwerks. We get somebody to dress as the opposing team’s mascot, they walk across the court, and we all throw a bunch of basketballs at them.”
Sally: “That sounds horrific!”
Roxanne: “Eh, it’s all in good fun. Besides, it’s a full-body costume, head and body, really sturdy and reinforced. The costume takes more of the blow than whoever’s wearing it. Unless it’s like, really damaged.” [beat] “We’ve been getting Shaun to do it because he barely reacts to getting hit. And he’s a good challenge as a target, given how fast he runs.” [chuckles] “And the team thought a leporine couldn’t do the job.”
Sally: [rolls eyes] “So that’s what my brothah’s been doin’ lately.”
Roxanne: “He’s also very funny and sweet. He even tended to my foot after I sprained my ankle. And he makes a great casserole, too.”
Sally: “Shaun always was the nice one among my siblings and I. And he was also the only one of us who took home ec instead of shop. Which turned out well foah him, ’cause he ended up the best cook in the family.”
Roxanne: “And way better than me, too. Who also took shop.” [steps into a pair of white high heels]
Sally: “So… pants.”
Roxanne: [chuckles] “Yeah. I’ve always been a bit non-traditional. You like them?”
Sally: “I’m moah used to the idea of weddin’ dresses, but it’s whatevah you want. Not what society expects of ya.” [Roxanne stares at her silently] “Ya look nice in what you’ah wearin, though.”
Roxanne: [smiles] “Thanks.”
Sally: “I’m guessin’ you’ah goin’ pretty minimalistic on the makeup, too.”
Roxanne: “Yeah, just mascara and blush and a peach lip gloss. I don’t want my face looking all painted and feminine if the rest of me isn’t.” [pulls out said mascara and begins applying it to her lashes] “Those’ll be interesting photos for my future kids to see, won’t they, eh, Sally? Their mama wearing a shirt and pants as a bride.”
Sally: “Oh!” [lightly touches belly] “Right! Kids!” [to self] “I haven’t broken the news to Shaun yet.”
Roxanne: “You okay there, Sal?”
Sally: “Yeah, I am, just… I’ll see you at the ceremony, Roxie. Byeeeee!”
[runs out of the room to find Shaun]
Roxanne: [calling out to Sally] “Don’t let Shaun see me, okay?”

[on a porch outside, Shaun, with head and facial hair resembling that of Chad Kroeger, looks over the railing as he talks with Roxanne’s own twin brother, Richard]
Shaun: “Can’t believe I’m only three hours away from becoming the last of the Ketchams to marry. And that I’m about to have two brothers named Richard. On top of also having a father and a nephew named Richard!”
Richard S.: “Well! Sounds to me you’ve got a real… rich family! Haha!”
Shaun: “Uh, yeah. I do. My sister is the wife of Angus Hynde’s son.”
Richard S.: “Oh. Right. Pun backfire!” [slaps himself in the head]
Shaun: “You could’ve had a V8.” [beat] “Gotta say, going the route of having each other’s twin as groomsbuck and bridesmaid was a good idea. Roxanne gets to know my sister better, and I get to know you better. And from hanging out with you for the past day… well, you certainly know how to party.”
Richard S.: “Yeah, I have that reputation in my circles. I’m a real party buck. So is Roxie, but I’m better at throwing them. Hahaha!” [Sally barges in, opening the screen door] “Oh, hi, Sally. What’s the word?”
Sally: “Hi, Richard. I’m gonna need to talk to my brother. Privately.”
Richard S.: “What? Uh… okay.” [gets up and walks out the door]
Sally: “And get out of earshot, okay? Maybe check on Roxie and see how she’s doin’.” [closes the door]
Shaun: “Wait, what’s going on?”
Sally: “I, uh… I just wanted to check up on ya, see how you’ah doin’. Thought you might be feelin’ nuhvous.”
Shaun: “Well, as a matter of fact, I am.”
Sally: “Well, ya don’t really need to be. Roxie loves ya, and ya love her. What’s theuh to be nuhvous about?”
Shaun: “I guess I’m nervous to see how beautiful she looks.”
Sally: “She looks very beautiful, Shaun. The most beautiful ya’d evah seen her.”
Shaun: [blushes] “Oh.” [beat] “I’m gonna be taken in by her beauty, aren’t I? I… I hope I don’t get so taken in I screw up the vows or the kiss or anything.”
Sally: “You won’t, Shaun.” [puts arm around Shaun] “You won’t. And hey, listen to me.”
Shaun: “Yeah?”
Sally: “If ya get nuhvous durin’ the ceremony, just remembuh that in about eight months, you’ll be an uncle.” [Shaun’s eyes get big. Sally holds up three fingers] “To triplets!”
Shaun: “Triplets? Wait, hold up! You mean to tell me you’re pregnant?!”
Sally: “Yes, yes I do mean to tell ya that. They should be comin’ sometime late June, the doctahs said.”
Shaun:[eyes welling up with tears of joy] “You’re gonna be a mama. My sister’s gonna be a mama! Woo!” [beat] “Have… have you figured out any names yet?”
Sally: “I’m not that fah along yet, Shaun. But if ya may ask, I’m countin’ on at least one of them bein’ a girl. Something tells me I should name whatevah girl I get ‘Margo’. What do you think?”
Shaun: “Margo? Like our aunt we never see?”
Sally: “Yeah, like her. But I kinda wanna go with a theme.”
Shaun: “A theme?”
Sally: “Ya see, both mine and Harry’s names go, consonant, A, double consonant, Y. And I want my kids to have names followin’ the same foahmula. I’ve got a feelin’ the girl’s gonna be rebellious, though. So I’m thinkin’ ‘Tamra’, T-A-M-R-A, as the first name. It can still be nickname-ified into ‘Tammy’. And then ‘Margo’ can be the middle name. What do you think?”
Shaun: “‘Tamra Margo’, huh? Well, it is a nice name. Quite tomboyish-sounding. But trust me when I say I know girls. If she’s gonna rebel about her name, it’s gonna be the middle name she uses. If you’re lucky.”
Sally: “Well, then at least she’ll still have the birth name that follows the theme in spirit. If… if I even end up with a girl.” [laughing] “Let alone a rebellious one.” [chuckles] “Any suggestions ya have foah the othah two?”
Shaun: “Well, keeping that formula in mind, and assuming it’s a boy and another girl…. how about ‘Paddy’ and ‘Molly’?”
Sally: “Paddy Hynde. And… Molly Hynde. I… love it! Paddy ’cause the name’s Glirish like me and Harry, and Molly ’cause the name means ‘pearl’ like my favorite gemstone!” [looks down at belly] “Oh, now I’m countin’ on my babies bein’ a boy and two girls!” [looks at Shaun; a nervous look comes to her face] “I… I haven’t made this weddin’ about me already, have I?”
Shaun: “No, it’s fine. If anything, you gave me reason to be excited and not anxious. I’m about to marry a beautiful doe, and we’re gonna be the favorite uncle and auntie of…” [takes a deep breath, looking at Sally’s belly] “…your kids. Wow.” [holds hands to chest]
Sally: “Well, I’d better go off now. See ya at the chapel, brothah. I wish you and Roxie good luck on yoah marriage.” [pinches Shaun’s cheek before going back inside. Shaun puts his hand to his pinched cheek as Sally closes the door behind her]
Shaun: “My sister is carrying the grandkids of the Beef of the Leaf. And I’m gonna be those kids’ uncle. I’m Myxoma’s heirs’ uncle. Wow.”

Well, that was a long one. Truth be told, Part of the reason I made this comic was because I wanted to see if the script format works for multi-panel comics as well as single-panels. The comic itself, well, it ended up more of a diptych than a comic. A diptych of Shaun talking with Sally before her wedding, and Sally talking with Shaun before his. But the script part, yeah, it can work out. Probably best as an extended version of the story the comic’s already telling, but there’s a use for the scripts even on multi-panel comics.

Oh, and of course, panel I shows younger versions of Ivy, Amy, and Ebony from… well, you’d know them best from last year’s Easter artwork. Amy and Ebony are still largely recognizable, but Ivy has some noticable differences even disregarding this is her younger self, whose eyesight hasn’t yet deteriorated to the point of needing glasses. Namely, that her ears don’t lop anymore. This change was made to be more accurate to actual Angora rabbits. I’ve long gotten used to drawing leporines with lopped ears, regardless of if they’re a lop-eared breed or not. And this was a good way to break that habit.

Finally, as you can probably guess, it was the first panel that took up the majority of the work for this piece. Placing the fresh pasta images in a believable manner, making the reflection in the mirror, working in barely visible details like the glow of the lamps against the wall and the lower part of Ivy’s leg, showing the makeup on the shelf to make the scene feel more lived in. It took… no less than eight hours total of work, I’d like to say. Whereas panel II is just Sally, Shaun, and fresh pasta of a forest and a balcony railing. Not that I’m less impressed by the second panel or anything, I think both panels of this comic/diptych compliment each other well.

Anyways, that’ll be all for this artwork. 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: https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoenix_of_grunvale/
DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/phoenixofgrunvale
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCEtCO…
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 Grunvale.
Both panels of this artwork were made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).

Amareica’s Favorite Cigarette Prsents…

Full 1950s CRT-filtered version. View the transparent, full color, filterless, and curveless versions of this artwork here.

Original Twitter Upload Date: April 1, 2022. The script below was originally posted to DA the same day, and has been revised from its original version to add story context and fix keyboard errors present in the original version.

[jazz theme plays as we open in this 1950s sitcom-style alternate universe]
[announcer]: “Gilda and Flannery is filmed before a live studio audience.”
[Flannery is playing with a homemade doll of an ovine ewe made of wood, wool, and crudely-stitched pieces of white fabric, and holding a knife made of tinfoil, as another doll lies on a ‘bed’ of cotton and a cut piece of plaid fabric. A beetle walks on the windowsill]
Flannery: “Leave my mother alone, you cad! I’ll kill you for what you did to her!” [jerks the doll back and forth toward the beetle, imitating stabbing] “Grrrrr!” [the beetle tries to run off, only for Flannery to push it off the windowsill with the doll’s tinfoil knife] “That oughta teach you!”
[Flannery blows a raspberry as Gilda enters the room. The procyonine is talking with her hands and has… um… different speech patterns than usual]
Gilda: “Ohhhhh! What’s you’s doin’ over there, Flans?” [sees the dolls] “Playin’ Cheryl Crane with those dolls of youses again?”
[the audience laughs]
Flannery: “Uh… Gilda? Why are you talking like that?”
Gilda: “Whaddya mean, talkin’ like what?”
Flannery: “You’re talking like a lazy stereotype! I thought you hated stereotypes! You hypocrite!”
Gilda: “Ayyyyy now, Flans! Relax. I’s just acting like an Istallion stereotype! Imitatin’ Caucasians ain’t considered racist by nobody. Never will. You give it a try, you’s Glirish!”
Flannery: “Um, no. I’d rather not.”
Gilda: [pauses] “Anyways. I’s just here to ask if you’s family has fulfilled your quota for the commune’s medicinal output –“
[Flannery rushes to cover Gilda’s mouth]
Flannery: “Shhhhh!” [beat] “It’s ‘farming settlement’, you dolt! You want us deported to Walrussia?!”
Gilda: “Kinda, you’s weird like their’s toons.”
[the audience laughs again. Flannery hits Gilda on the nose, which makes a bop noise and makes the audience laugh louder. Gilda holds her nose for a few seconds as the laughter continues, then looks back up as it quiets, revealing it to be misshapen, with prominent, forward-facing nostrils. It looks like a piece of prosthetic makeup]
Flannery: “Haha, you look like a suilline.”
Gilda: “Ah yeah? Well, so do you, wisejill!”
Flannery: [beat] “What?!”
[Gilda uppercuts Flannery in the nose, making a bonking noise as the laughter starts up again. Flannery, like Gilda, holds her face as the audience laughs. When it dies down, Flannery removes her hands, revealing that her nose has become so dislodged that it now appears to have completely replaced her right eye, and left a vacant space where a nose should be. Some laughter is heard as she turns around to face a mirror, and sees her nose over her eye]
Flannery: “Well, I may be ugly now, but at least I look like a Picasso.”
[the audience laughs, more quietly than during the punching]
Gilda: “I’ll rough yous up so bad you’s gonna be lookin’ like a Dalí!”
[a similar laughter to the previous one]
Flannery: [mockingly] “Oh no, don’t subject me to a good time!”
[a loud laughter and applause from the audience]

Yeah, this is what I came up with for an April Fools’ joke this year. Grunvale as a 1950s-style sitcom. Which began as the title card you see above (unless you’re looking at the transparent background version), and I decided to write the sitcom-style script to go with it. Which has a few jokes referencing the time period, and sanitized language and violence much like what would be seen on a sitcom from the era.

Of course, it began with just the drawing of Gilda and Flannery in period-appropriate attire, with the hair ribbons and full skirts and mary janes and such. And to sell the period feel of the asset, I decided to give it some details I associate with/swear I’ve seen before on artwork of the period. Namely, the sparkles in their eyes, the shines on their shoes, and the flush of their cheeks. Particularly in the monochrome versions, I feel these details really sell the retro feel of this artwork.

And I say ‘monochrome’ and not black-and-white, because the monochrome versions of this artwork aren’t actually true black-and-white. They have a slight bluish-purple tint to them, to imitate how I’ve often seen black-and-white images appear on some screens, particularly CRT screens. And with the CRT-filtered versions of this artwork, I went all the way to make it look as much like an image on a CRT as possible. I scaled the image down to a quarter of the size of the canvas, added white dots to simulate film grain, and then scaled the image back up, to blur the pixels and make them appear much like they would on an old TV. To imitate the scanlines, I made a pixel-tall line on every fourth horizontal axis from the top of the image, and then added an overlay effect and one-pixel gaussian blur to the lines.

And then I added the final touch, the curvature of the image that resembles that of a CRT screen. ASP has had a curvature tool for a while now, but it was only on this piece when I finally figured out how to be pixel-precise with it: use a placehold layer with a single guide at a time, in this case, a 100×100 square in the corner of the canvas, which the corner of the main asset could be dragged to the edge of and be snapped to. Repeat until the curvature is equal on all sides, as it is in the main version of this artwork. Which you’re probably looking at above, unless you decided to dig into my DA gallery and look at the other versions.

Anyways, that’ll be all for this artwork. Maybe one day the script above will be fleshed out into its own story in the OTOG graphic novels, heheheh. Until next time, Until next time, take care, stay safe, get vaccinated, reject crypto, and happy April Fool’s Day.

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: https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoenix_of_grunvale/
DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/phoenixofgrunvale
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCEtCO…
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 credit me as the creator of Grunvale.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 2880×2160 (aspect ratio 1.33:1).

Sisterly Bonding III: Well-Suited for Wholesomeness

Original Twitter Upload Date: February 27, 2022. The script below was originally posted to DA on February 28, 2022, and has been revised to add story context and fix keyboard errors present in the original version.

[After a trip to the local Goodwill for a suit more to Nicole’s style than just a matching version of Gilda’s, Gilda, Wendy, and Nicole walk into the Sears at the Grunvale Mall]
Nicole: “Sears? I didn’t know Sears was still a thing.”
Gilda: “Of course it’s still a thing! What, you gonna tell me you think Blockbuster’s not still a thing? Or Circuit City? Or Borders or Sports Authority or KB Toys? You think they disappeared because *duh ehntuhnets*? Not in this timeline, no ma’am! They survived, every one of ’em! And we’re better off for it!”
Nicole: “Um, you don’t need to be so formal with me, Gilda. In fact, I’d prefer if you didn’t. Just call me ‘Nicole’. Not ‘ma’am’, please.”
Wendy: “She was saying it to be funny, Nicole.”
Nicole: “Oh. Never mind then. Silly me!” [she and Wendy both laugh, and lightly punch each other in the arms]
Gilda: “You two are really cute together, you know that? I wish my brother and I got along as well as you two did.”
Nicole: “But of course! I’m Wendy’s big sister. And as her big sister, it’s my job to protect her! And of course be her friend.”
Wendy: “And I’m there to pick her up when her lack of social skills knock her down.”
Nicole: “Awww, Wendy!” [ruffles Wendy’s hair]
Gilda: [smiles] “Now, where is the photo studio in here –” [sees it a few dozen feet away] “Oh! There it is.”
Wendy: “100 Washingtons for one hour. That’s a bargain! You got the money, right, Gil?”
Gilda: [pulls out a Franklin] “Right here!” [and a Tubman] “Plus a tip for the photographer. Because it’s polite. And let’s be honest, corporate would replace them with a robot if they could.”
Wendy: “I like your thinking, Gilda! It’s important to do good and share with others, it’s debts like that which –” [realizes Nicole isn’t standing with her] “Where’s Nicole?”
[Wendy hears Nicole laughing, and turns her head to the direction of her laugh; the elder Wyler sister is placing her feet on an upward-moving escalator]
Nicole: “Haha! This is fun. I’m totally running down.”
Wendy: [runs up] “Um, no, Nicole. You’re in heels, you could hurt yourself, or –“
Nicole: “That’s what makes it more fun! Down I go!” [starts running down escalator] “Woooooooooo!”
Wendy: [facepalms] “Oy…”
Gilda: [walks up] “Wendy! What’s the holdup? And why is it oy?” [Wendy points and Nicole, who is barely down the escalator steps] “Che cosa. Sto. Guardando?!”
Nicole: [still running] 🎵 Runnin’ down a dream, goin’ wherever it — 🎵 [steps too far over one of the stairs and trips] “Wh — WHOOOOA!”
[Nicole falls down the stairs, and into a patron carrying a coffee and a tote bag. Gilda winces and Wendy looks concerned as the impact occurs, coffee spilling and shirts flying. Slowly, the escalator carries Nicole and the patron up to Gilda and Wendy’s floor. Both Nicole and the patron look embarrassed, but when the patron sees a coffee stain on their shirt, they fly into a rage]
[patron]: “Goddammit! Coffee! All over my shirt!” [looks over at Nicole] “What the 🦭 is your problem?!” [throws empty coffee cup at Nicole, which bounces off her head] “You 🦭ing idiot! Stupid little punk! You oughta be sent to juvenile hall!” [runs off]
Nicole: [eyes welling up] “I was only trying to have fun…” [sits down at nearby bench and starts sobbing]
Gilda: “What did you think was gonna –“
Wendy: [covers Gilda’s mouth] “Gilda! My sister’s sensitive to others yelling at her. Let me take this.”
Gilda: [muttering to herself in a sing-song tone] “She kinda had it coming.”
Wendy: [sits next to Nicole and puts an arm around her] “Sorry you had to put up with that. That guy doesn’t understand you like I do.”
Nicole: “But juvie?! He said my autism is something for me to be thrown in jail for! Do you know how that feels?! To be told that you should be thrown out like trash for just trying to exist?! Locked in a cage despite the fact you’re not hurting anybody?! No you don’t! But that’s how I’m seen! A stupid troublemaker with a mental defect!” [sobbing louder]
Gilda: [muttering to herself] “He did not say anything about autism. And also, ‘mental defect’? That’s just offensive.”
Wendy: “You’re not mentally defective, Nicole, you were just doing something you shouldn’t have been doing at the time you were doing it. I tried to warn you something like that could happen.”
Nicole: “But did I deserve to be yelled at for it?”
Gilda: [muttering to herself] “Yes!”
Wendy: “No, you didn’t. But next time, actually listen to me when I tell you not to do something like that, okay?”
Nicole: “…okay.”
Wendy: “Now let’s go have our photo taken, what do you say to that?” [tickles Nicole’s chin, making her smile]
Nicole: “I’d… I’d like that.” [beat; tickles Wendy’s whiskers]
Wendy: “Hey!” [laughs; Nicole soon joins in as well] “We’re gonna need to fix up your eyes, though, your makeup’s running.”
[Gilda’s scowl at the scene (and Nicole’s behavior) turns into a smile]

[in the photo studio, Wendy and Nicole are already sitting down, the latter’s makeup being fixed by Gilda]
Gilda: 🎵 Don’t mind me, I’m having my picture taken, having it taken! 🎵
[photographer]: “Bob Geldof! You know Bob Geldof, little miss?”
Gilda: [puts makeup kit into purse] “Of course I do! Geldof’s awesome. Best Glirish rocker not named Bono or Angus Hynde.”
[photographer]: “Are you sure you’re a middle schooler? That’s my parents’ generation’s music.”
Gilda: “I’m homeschooled, but yes, I’m middle school-aged. I’m 11. Born 30 years after I should’ve been. And that’s not your parents’ generation’s music, that’s every generation’s music. The best music transcends generations, and U2, Boomtown Rats, Myxoma, that is the best music.”
[photographer]: “Well, that is certainly one way of putting it.”
Gilda: [hands Tubman over to the photographer] “Here’s your tip, by the way. Haven’t seen the work you do, but I already know you deserve it.”
[photographer]: “Oh. Well, thank you.”
Gilda: “Now, this first photo’s just gonna be of my friend and her sister. I was thinking for the first one, do a landscape photo, they both stand up, and Nicole could hug Wendy –” [Wendy hugs Nicole instead] “Or the other way around, that works too! Dio mio, this is so cute, Wendy’s ears are actually perked up! Oh, and Nicole’s eyes are sparkling! Might be because she was crying a few minutes ago, but oh, this is so adorable!”
[photographer]: “So, uh, you want me to take this photo?”
Gilda: “Yes! Do it now! Before Wendy’s ears fall back again! Take it take it take it take it!” [the photographer takes the picture] “Oh, we’re definitely printing this one out. This deserves a 32 by 24!”

This is just a little piece I made for #NationalRetroDay this year. And before you say it’s late, no it’s not. I uploaded it to Twitter yesterday, February 27th. It’s only a day late here, because the opening script took so long to write. I was going to draw a comic of Sally and Shaun set during their childhoods, but the scope of it turned out too big to finish by the end of National Retro Day. So I decided to instead draw another artwork of the Wyler sisters bonding, and make the Ketcham twins piece one of the March artworks.

There isn’t much to say about this artwork’s production, other than that I filtered the colors and added noise to make the artwork appear like it was a photo taken on film, like it would be during Sears’ heyday in the 1980s. Other than that, it’s just another cute scene of Wendy and Nicole bonding. It’s always special to see Wendy smiling, she doesn’t smile as often as the rest of the Tetrad do. But her sisters (the speccy ones, anyway) do bring out the best and happiest in her. Roz and Maddie are the kind of individuals who would only take interest in neurodivergents for their advanced knowledge, and would take advantage of their social weaknesses to learn what they know. Wendy is the kind of individual who would actually make the effort to befriend neurodivergents and aid them in their social life, and any knowledge she learns from them is just a bonus, like crumbs on a muffin or frosting on a cupcake. And it’s because Wendy is such a strong ally to neurodivergents, the Aaron to their Moses, the Anne Sullivan to their Helen Keller, that she has such a strong bond with Dolly and Nicole.

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

DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW ME ON OTHER PLATFORMS:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
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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 link me to it.
“Runnin’ Down a Dream” was written by Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Mike Campbell for the album Full Moon Fever, owned by Universal Music Group.
“Having My Picture Taken” was written by Bob Geldof and Pete Briquette for the album The Fine Art of Surfacing, owned by… (looks at Wikipedia article) …damn, that’s a lot of labels. But I’m gonna guess Universal Music Group, since most of these labels are closely related to it.

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

Sisterly Bonding II

Original DA Upload Date: November 30, 2021

[Afternoon on a weekend. Wendy and Nicole sit on a bench in front of an ice cream store, eating ice cream cones. Wendy has chocolate and cocoa bean, while Nicole has mint chocolate chip]
Wendy: “Mint chocolate chip, huh?”
Nicole: “Yeah. What about it?”
Wendy: “I don’t know, never really took you as the kind that likes mint chocolate chip. I thought you were more of a… I don’t know, maybe peanut butter or cotton candy kind of sow?”
Nicole: [laughs] “Nah. I do like those flavors, though. But mint chocolate chip is the best. It tastes like chocolate toothpaste! And you know how much I love brushing my teeth!”
Wendy: “Just curious, but… why do you like brushing your teeth?”
Nicole: “What do you mean?”
Wendy: “I mean, why do you like brushing your teeth so much? It’s a weird thing to like doing. Especially for somebody who wears braces.”
Nicole: “Well, I love the taste of the toothpaste, for one. It feels… clean. Clean and refreshing. I don’t know how else to describe it. That’s why I’m eating this ice cream that tastes like it.”
Wendy: “Huh.”
Nicole: “And two, it’s just really relaxing. You’d think it’d be boring and tedious, but it actually helps keep my mind off things. Like my teachers and how they hate me.”
Wendy: “School’s rough for you, isn’t it?” [licks ice cream] “I wish your teachers understood you better.”
Nicole: “So do I.” [pause] “At least I have you, though. You and Dolly.” [Wendy smiles. Nicole smears some of her ice cream on her little sister’s nose] “Ice cream boop! Heheh!”
Wendy: “Oh, Nicole.” [pokes Nicole’s cheek with her left index finger] “You’re so cute sometimes.”

This was mostly just drawn as a test of my abilities. Most of my artwork is traced from artwork I’ve already drawn before, ensuring that it stays on model. This time, to make sure I’m not going soft, I decided to draw this piece without tracing. The result? Well, I’d say I still got it. Perhaps the line work does look slightly funkier than usual, but it’s not enough for me to say that I’m losing my skill.

Aside from the Wyler sisters here, I’d like to talk about the background. As anyone following my artwork would know, I’ve recently been using stock images in my artwork, especially for brick walls, which I’ve always hated drawing because mine always look so fake. This is a continuation of that trend, refined a bit further. The stock image used for this one didn’t have a watermark over it, but the bricks were still selectively chosen, to appear more random. You may have also noticed that the brick wall here is more seamless than before. This is partially due to the use of ASP’s ‘inpaint’ tool, which randomly generates pixels in a selected, blank area of a layer, based on the pixels that are around it. From there, I selected other areas of the image with the clone stamp tool, and used their pixels over the inpainted areas to make it look even more seamless. The result is… the background you see before you. Which do you prefer? Stock images or my own bricks? Because I think I prefer stock image bricks at this point. Perhaps it’s not as professional, but I’d rather my bricks look realistic than like some cheap-looking trash.

Also, I decided to dial up the contrast on this artwork, since, as all of you know, Grunvale is meant to take a lot of inspiration from pre-digital technologies, as well as early digital technologies. What does this have to do with the color? That’s easy; I’ve observed that works shot on film have more vibrant color than those shot digitally. And I feel turning up the contrast on this one really made the colors pop, more so than usual.

Finally, the reason I decided to make this artwork ice cream-themed was because, yesterday, I bought some Neapolitan ice cream, with a coupon I got from Winn-Dixie after getting my Moderna booster. I’ve never tried Neapolitan before, but I found it to taste delicious, so much so that I can’t believe I haven’t tried it before. Even if… well, it is technically three flavors I have had before. That everyone has had before. I decided Wendy should have chocolate, and Nicole should have mint chocolate chip. Because, let’s be honest, those would totally be their preferred flavors.

Anyway, that’s all for this one. I know it’s a short description, but I don’t really have a lot to say about it. Also I want to get this piece out on DA when it’s still the final minutes of November of 2021. So, until next time, take care, and Happy Hannukwanzmas.

DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW ME ON OTHER PLATFORMS:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
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DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/phoenixofgrunvale
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCEtCO…
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 link me to it.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 3996×2160 (aspect ratio 1.85:1).

Gaming in the Gild-ed Age

Original Twitter Upload Date: February 16, 2022. The script below was originally posted to DA on February 25, 2022, and has been revised to add story context and fix keyboard errors present in the original version.

[The Tetrad are approaching the arcade, dressed in Victorian-era attire. Gilda looks excited to enter]
Margo: “Ugggggh! I hate this outfit! It’s so heavy and itchy and… British-feeling!”
April: “Ah loove it. Makes meh feel like a ladeh. Ah knoo what ah’m wearin’ fer All Hehloo’s. Dinnae ken what it’s gotta dae wit’ th’ ahcade, thoo.”
Wendy: “Yeah, seriously, Gilda. Why did you make us dress like this? You know how I feel about being a blonde!”
Gilda: “Like a prettier and cooler version of me?”
Wendy: “Yeah! Like a prettier and –” [blushes, smirks, and lightly punches Gilda’s shoulder] “Oh, you flatterer.”
Gilda: “Heheh, even with your cheeks made up I can see them flushing.” [pokes Wendy’s cheek; Wendy smiles] “Anyways, the reason I wanted us all to dress like this is because I wanted us to get into the mood for the cabinet that just came in.”
Margo: “Cabinet? You brought us here to look at furniture?!”
Wendy: “No, Margo. Cabinet like arcade cabinet. Machines for arcade games are called cabinets.”
Margo: “Really? Are you sure they’re not just ‘machines’?”
Wendy: “Yes.”
April: “E’en ah knew they’re called cabinets. An’ I play vidayah gehms less ‘an a quartah o’ th’ time Gilleh daes!”
Margo: “Cabinet, machine, whatever. Gil, whatever game you’re gonna show us, it better be one we all can play. And I don’t mean taking turns, I mean together. All of us!”
Gilda: [pushing door into arcade open] “Well, Mar, Dub Dub, Scotty. Just you follow me in and see.”
April: “Whatever ye seh, Luigi!”
Margo: “Luigi?”
April: “’cause she’s Istallion an’ wears green.”
Margo: “Oh.” [she and April chuckle]

[The Tetrad walk into the arcade; Gilda leads them to the arcade cabinet she’s excited to play.]
Gilda: “Okay, here it is, girls. Sunset Riders! The four-player masterpiece from Konami!”
Margo: “Oh yeah, I think I’ve heard of this one. Isn’t there a version on Sega Genesis that’s –“
Gilda: “THERE IS NO VERSION ON SEGA GENESIS!” [Margo covers mouth] “If you guys are familiar with Contra, this game plays very similarly. Except it’s set in the Wild West. Which is why I wanted us all to dress like this. It matches the time period of the game’s setting.”
Margo: [pouting] If I knew this was a Wild West-themed game, I’d has dressed as a cowdoe.”
April: “Ah, shut yer geggeh, Mahgo. Sapphires look bonneh oan ye an’ ye knoo they dae.” [repeatedly flicks one of Margo’s earrings; Margo grabs April’s tail and tickles her nose with it, causing her to sneeze] “Li’l bastid!” [raises hand to slap Margo, only for Wendy to grab her and Margo’s hands]
Wendy: “That’s enough, you two!” [throws Margo’s and April’s fists into each other’s faces]
Gilda: [applauding] “Very good, Wendy. Just for that, I’ll let you choose first which player you want to be.”
Wendy: “Player one! I choose player one!”
Gilda: “Player one? Are you sure?”
Wendy: “You said I could choose which player I want to be, right? I choose player one! What, you got a problem with not being player one?”
Gilda: “No, I don’t. But that’s the controller for Steve. He only shoots two bullets at once. Trust me, you want to be either player three or four, Bob or Cormano. They’re the most fun to play as, they fire a whole spread of bullets and –” [Margo and April quickly take the controls for Bob and Cormano; Gilda facepalms] “My big mouth.”
Wendy: “Ah, let ’em take them, Gil. I prefer to be challenged anyway.”
Gilda: “You know what? Good thinking, Wendy. So do I. It’s Billy time!” [takes the controls for Billy; Wendy takes them for Steve]
April: “Ye got quahtahs, Gilda?”
Gilda: “Four for each of us. Four credits each. Same as the maximum allowed on Super Nintendo.” [takes sixteen quarters out of a reticule and gives four each for herself and the rest of the Tetrad] “Any extra credits are on you.”
Margo: “Fine by me. I always bring like a hundred quarters with me when I come here anyway.”
Gilda: “Good luck playing the console version, then. If you ever do.” [the Tetrad insert their quarters into the machine] “YEE-HAW! Let’s go!”

This artwork has been a long time coming. I started drawing it in November of 2021, around the time I posted Strolling Victoria-sly in ye Ole Part o’ Town, and before I redesigned Margo to have glasses and shorter hair. So if she looks closer to her older design here, that’s why. Because I originally drew her asset with that older design in mind. After retconning Margo’s design, I did add small, Victorian-style glasses to her asset, being prepared just in case I decided to finish to this artwork. However, I ended up not revisiting the PSD for several months afterward, and thought of deleting it.

That is, until the recent HBO series, The Gilded Age, premiered. My mother recently got into the show, having been recommended it to her by my ex-girlfriend’s mother, who lives near where the show was filmed. Around the time she started watching it, I decided to do some research on the Gilded age. Not the show, but the time period… which, after doing some research, I’ve learned is comprised of the latter decades of the Victorian era, and, like many time periods, the exact years are debated. The years that make the most sense to me, though, and what I’m going to go with, is 1865 (the end of the Civil War and beginning of Reconstruction in the United States) to 1901 (the assassination of William McKinley and the death of Queen Victoria). Since Gilda’s Victorian outfit was designed with the year 1887 in mind, I felt stupid for not knowing that ‘the Gilded age’ is a term for the latter Victorian era. Had I known at the time I drew the original Victorian Gilda piece, I definitely would have made the ‘Gild-ed age’ pun. But then I remembered that I had this artwork saved… which meant I still had an opportunity to make the pun. So I took it.

Yep. That’s the reason this artwork exists. For the purpose of making a stupid pun. And also because the idea of drawing the Tetrad playing a game famous for supporting four-player play was too good to pass up.

Anyways… onto the artwork. Actually, on my opinion on Sunset Riders, for those that need a refresher.

The version of Sunset Riders I played first, was the Sega Genesis version, the first Konami game on a Sega platform. And as you could probably tell from me using Gilda as a voice for my opinion in the introductory transcript, I do not think highly of that version of the game. It shows very clearly that Konami was unfamilar with the Genesis hardware, and basically thought that developing for the system was like the NES with more colors. The game was released on a 4-megabit (512KB) cartridge, pitifully small for a fourth-gen system in 1992, especially with some games like Streets of Rage 2 coming in as large as 16 megabits (2048KB/2MB). 4-meg carts were mostly relegated to single-screen puzzle games such as Columns III and Zoop by the middle of the fourth generation. So imagine trying to make a run-and-gun as famously colorful and sprite-heavy as Sunset Riders in such a small amount of space.

You can’t. So what you get out of the port, is a game that should be regarded as Sunset Riders in name only, with none of what makes the arcade original so acclaimed. Dull visuals, only two playable characters (Billy and Cormano), half the bosses being removed… basically, it’s a port that only does the bare minimum to be called Sunset Riders. If even that. But I could forgive all the cut content if the game was at least playable. But Sunset Riders on Genesis truly does play like an NES game, with all the traps and cheap deaths people hate about run-and-gun games from the third generation. The original arcade game based much of its difficulty on one-hit deaths, and that carried into the Genesis version as well. But here, it was handled much worse. The bullets don’t flash like they did in the arcade version, and I swear there’s more of them as well. This makes the bullets hard to see and even harder to dodge, and will waste you entire continues just to get through one stage, even if you set the life count higher in the options.

Sega Genesis Sunset Riders is a game that really could’ve used infinite continues, in tandem with sending you back to the beginning of the level once you lose the continue’s last life. But no. You get five continues, and once they’re gone, you’re back to the title screen. The game even lets you keep going right where you left off when you use a continue, as if the devs knew how cheap the game was and tried to save face by making it seem less cheap than it really is. I mean, come on. I know Contra had limited continues, but Castlevania and Tiny Toon Adventures had a continue system that worked like I just described above. This game really could’ve used that if they were gonna make the game this cheap with its difficulty.

The soundtrack I will admit is a redeeming quality of this version; the tracks here are slightly-scaled-back versions of those in the arcade version, mostly removing the samples and leaving just the synthesized bits. I don’t miss the samples too much though, they’re the least of the cuts made to the port, and the tracks sound perfectly fine without them. But that’s about all I have to say positive about the Genesis version of Sunset Riders. Outside of the soundtrack, it’s a dull-looking, unbalanced port that should only be regarded as Sunset Riders in name, and makes the hardware it’s running on look weaker than it actually is.

Several months after the porting disaster on Sega Genesis, Sunset Riders would be ported to the SNES… with much better results! This time, the game was put on a proper-sized 8-megabit (1024KB/1MB) cartridge, much more appropriate for a game of its genre and era. This version still recieved cuts; not all the level layouts are one-to-one, the scaling sprites are gone, and although all four playable characters are present, it still only goes up to two players. I can forgive the last part since there wasn’t any multitap for the system at the time, but this port still would’ve been a good opportunity for Konami to make one.

But these minor cuts aside, the SNES version of Sunset Riders is the superior home console port by far. It’s just as colorful, the bullets actually flash again, Steve and Bob are added back in, all the bosses are here (and with their spoken dialogue that was also cut from the Genesis version!), it redeems itself for all the sins the Genesis version committed, as well as being as great a port the SNES could possibly offer. Minus… still limited continues. But I’m willing to overlook that. I prefer how the continues work here anyway, them sending you back to the beginning of the level when used. Call it artificial difficulty, I say sending you back to a checkpoint/beginning of the level should be how continues/lives should work anyway.

Unfortunately, for some reason, neither home console port of Sunset Riders saw release in Japan. Which is strange considering both versions were developed in the country. I wonder what it was about the game that made them think the Japanese wouldn’t like it.

As for this artwork, aside from it being months in the making, there isn’t much to be said. The crazed expressions the Tetrad are making I thought up late into the linework process, I had this fun idea that certain cartoonish faces run in the families of the Grunvaliverse. The Grimes and the giant, bloodshot eyes, the Hyndes and the Invader Zim-inspired eyes and teeth, the Wylers and the target eyes and angular smile, and the Lowrys and flushed faces. Of course there’s more than this, and sometimes there’s overlap, but these are the cartoonish faces I’m establishing as the main face for each family here. On a side note, Ezmanify stated in a Twitter chatroom that the Tetrad here look like they’re going insane. And to that I say, well, that’s what playing Sunset Riders does to you. It’s a very difficult game that, considering how often death comes in the game, is made for multiplayer, multiple players to get through and suffer through together. It has the kind of difficulty that can indeed drive someone insane. And there’s no first few easy stages like in Battletoads or Ninja Gaiden; Sunset Riders is relentless from the moment you start playing.

Finally, that “IT’S TIME TO PAY.” text you see on the bottom of the screen? That’s not pixel art. That’s an actual asset from the SNES version of Sunset Riders. I played the game on the BizHawk emulator up to the point where it shows up (at the beginning of the Simon Greedwell battle), took a screenshot, erased the area around the text in GIMP, and finally, scaled it up in such a way that the sharpness of the pixels would be kept. It’s a touch I thought any fan of the game that came across this artwork would appreciate, even if the text wasn’t present in the arcade version, which is the one being played here.

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

Check out the blooper thread for this artwork here!

DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW ME ON OTHER PLATFORMS:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StormyAdlerPoG
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoenix_of_grunvale/
DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/phoenixofgrunvale
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCEtCO…
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 link me to it.
Sunset Riders is owned by Konami.
Dragon’s Lair is owned by Don Bluth.
This artwork was made at a resolution of 5076×2160 (aspect ratio 2.35:1).