Hey all, I made a Patreon. I’ve been feeling a bit listless about the MLP AU, despite having all these ideas and (supposedly) motivation, as I start to finish school and begin my job-search. So, I wanted to open up an avenue for support to keep it going. As of now, I’m putting all sketches, WIPs, and previews for any art (including GG20s) there. I’m also putting NSFW art there, which will be uncensored and exclusive to my Patreon (they will not be posted anywhere else!).
$1 tier gives access to all SFW posts.
$5 tier gives access to all posts (SFW and NSFW).
$10 tier gives access to all posts, participation in polls (i.e. “which mlp character to draw next?), and will include your name in the credits of future animations/videos (i.e. the fake gg20s movie opening).
Any and all support is very much appreciated and will go into continuing GG20s. Of course, use your discretionary spending money and all finished SFW pieces will be posted here publicly. To keep things simple, my Patreon is only open to +18. Whether you decide to become a member or just continue following me here, thank you for your support!
Been MIA for a bit because I had to move, partner came to visit, and I’m currently working on a really cool project for a freelancing job that will hopefully get announced pretty soon.
No art unfortunately. Wish there was something, but all the discourse surrounding the recent indie animated shows has inadvertently discoursed me even more from wanting to focus on my own art projects, even if it’s only a certain crowd acting up.
While I’m here, I wanna get back up on my shipping soap box because I’ve finally cracked the main Deadlock game mode and I’m obsessed, so I’ve been thinking a lot about the characters.
Holliday x Silver (or Silverbullet) is still peak. Cowgirl x werewolf. Trainwreck x Carwreck. Masc x Masc. Sheriff x Bounty Hunter, both going after the same criminal. Not enough people take advantage of the fact that they’re canonically rivals. Celeste x Silver and Mina x Silver are great, but these two have the sauce. I haven’t drawn much yet, but I want to do more of them. These two are on par with Rarijack for me.
Been MIA for a bit because I had to move, partner came to visit, and I’m currently working on a really cool project for a freelancing job that will hopefully get announced pretty soon.
No art unfortunately. Wish there was something, but all the discourse surrounding the recent indie animated shows has inadvertently discoursed me even more from wanting to focus on my own art projects, even if it’s only a certain crowd acting up.
listen i’m a character designer and animator. i get the distain for cartoon characters getting hit by the gritty realism beam.
but sometimes gritty realism beam looks cool as hell and is intentional as hell. especially if it’s to fit a specific genre like 1980s space opera, or explore creative design choices like incorporating digitigrade legs or winged arms for your anthro characters. your jokes about “ewww they look like gross rotting animals” bore me.
like just look at the costuming and little personal touches!
check out the detailing on fox’s leather pack straps and how there’s a small seatbelt buckle right above the belt buckle, presumably so he can easily buckle his entire body and pack into his cockpit without extraneous straps getting in the way.
look at how the zipper extends all the way up the jacket’s collar, the star wars comlink device on the jacket’s utility loop, the gun metal nylon material, the corduroy texture on his pants.
notice how the zipper on falco’s jacket doesn’t extend up his collar, maybe to account for his beak and give him more range of motion. look at falco’s emblem pin, the rubber ribs on his jacket sleeves, the layered pauldrons on his shoulders to mimic feathers, the dual-wielding leather thigh holsters connected to his belt buckle, and how the straps extend up his flight suit and under his jacket.
everything feels so practical, so lived-in, and clearly intentional. and it’s not to say a cartoonier style couldn’t have included these details, but i think going for more realism allowed the designers to fully explore and implement these details and personal touches without feeling limited by a more basic anatomy and face.
and goddd look at the bird wing decals on falco’s arwing!!! that’s so fucking cool!!!
listen i’m a character designer and animator. i get the distain for cartoon characters getting hit by the gritty realism beam.
but sometimes gritty realism beam looks cool as hell and is intentional as hell. especially if it’s to fit a specific genre like 1980s space opera, or explore creative design choices like incorporating digitigrade legs or winged arms for your anthro characters. your jokes about “ewww they look like gross rotting animals” bore me.
Grrrr… I watched the Mario Galaxy Movie and I wanna script doctor these two movies SO BADLY. I can pitch how to fix these movies, I KNOW I can.
Ok, the one big thing that the Mario movies are lacking is a theme and character arc. You could argue that the first movie’s message is “Pick yourself back up and keep fighting for your friends/what’s right” (Mario is beaten by Bowser but picks himself back up), but that’s not a character arc because Mario’s always had that quality throughout the story (he’s beaten by DK but picks himself back up). He doesn’t really change emotionally. Another arc could be Mario making his father proud, but it’s so paper thin because his father is never a driving motivator for Mario to change. It’s more of a set-up/payoff than an arc. ANOTHER could be Luigi becoming brave (jumping in to save Mario), but we don’t see the development that gets him there.
The arc for the first movie should have been Mario and Luigi learning to become heroes. The theme should be something like, “Being a hero means being brave and sacrificing yourself for others who need your help.” Luigi should stay a coward, but make Mario a Toy Story Woody type protag. He’s a good guy, but can also be selfish and reckless, only doing things that serve him and his brother and refusing to work with others (“Nobody gets me like you, Lu…”). His redeeming quality is how much he loves and protects his brother (keep the playground bully flashback scene). They would follow a classic want vs. need arc (A want is a driving force for the plot that the character consciously works towards. A need is an emotional, subconscious requirement for the character to reach growth and resolution).
Act 1:
I’d set up the arc with the confrontation at the pizza place with Spike. Spike is angry at Mario for abandoning their demolition business to start a plumbing business with his brother. Later at the family dinner, when Mario seeks his dad’s approval, his dad tells him that he’s disappointed in Mario for quitting on his former friend Spike and potentially tanking his livelihood to chase some pipe dream. When Mario shoots back that Spike’s a jerk, his father scolds him (“We have to look out for everyone, even the jerks. That’s the Mario family way.”). Mario storms off. Here we get the protagonists’ identities. They’re underdogs trying to prove themselves; Mario’s brave but brash and Luigi’s a coward. They love each other dearly, but Mario is irresponsible towards others and doesn’t like working with them. We also get Mario’s want: he wants to be a success, to prove his naysayers wrong, and he wants his father’s approval.
Inciting Incident/Point of No Return:
Mario and Luigi find their big break to prove themselves to their family and the world. They find the problem pipe flooding Brooklyn and, this time, they fix it! Maybe a news camera crew or some workers follow them and see their success. The flooding stops, but just as they’re about to celebrate, they’re whisked away through the warp pipe and are separated.
Act 2:
Pretty much the same as the movie. But establish that Mario does not really care about Peach’s conflict with Bowser. His second, additional want is that he wants to save his brother and get back to Brooklyn, where they belong. He tags along on the adventure only because it’ll help him achieve that want, but on the way, he bonds with Peach + Toad and falls in love with this new world. Peach sees potential in Mario becoming a hero and helping stop Bowser, but Mario repeatedly rejects her because that’s not what he’s here for.
Meanwhile, Luigi is captured by Bowser and imprisoned. Mustering his bravery in the face of death, he manages to lead a stealth prison break through a comedy of errors. The other prisoners commend him for his supposed heroism and start to give him the confidence he needs.
In this act, Mario and Luigi HAVE to be separated because they’ve been too reliant on each other (Mario’s line to Peach, “We’ve never been apart for this long…”). Luigi’s been hiding in Mario’s shadow and Mario hasn’t had the chance to meaningfully bond with others. But now, they’re learning to be more independent while also strengthening their bond with each other. Now, they’re forced into situations where Mario HAS to work with others, and Luigi HAS to be brave. And they’re doing so by going, “What would Mario do…” “What would Lu do…” Maybe the negotiations with the Kongs aren’t going well, and Mario thinks of what his brother would say in this situation, and it ends up working. Maybe in the prison break, Luigi imagines how Mario would jump over this pit of lava and just barely manages to pull it off. The DK gladiator fight is fun, but it doesn’t have structural purpose because we already KNOW that Mario’s tough and resilient. Act 2 should target the things that he’s NOT and show how he develops himself.
In doing so, they’re picking up and learning each others traits and strengths to balance out their own flaws. Mario’s bravery balances out Luigi’s kindness; Luigi’s sensitivity balances out Mario’s recklessness.
Low Point/Want vs. Need:
Then Act 2 should end with a new low point: the plan fails, the Mushroom Kingdom and Peach are taken, and Luigi and his ensemble are caught. Bowser “shows mercy” to the brothers booting them back through the warp pipe to Brooklyn (“Go home. You don’t belong in this world.”). If we wanna make it juicier, maybe Mario makes a split-second choice to save his brother, sacrificing Peach and the others. A choice he immediately regrets.
Back in Brooklyn, the bros are treated as heroes! Everyone saw on the news how they stopped the flood, their phone’s blowing up with clients, people have been wondering where they disappeared to! Even Mario’s dad admits that his sons did good. Mario’s gotten everything he wanted: he’s back home safe with his brother and his business is a success. But he doesn’t feel like a hero. He doesn’t have what he needs. So rather than accepting this happy ending, he and Luigi return through the warp pipe. Mario will fight for the people who need help and Luigi will be brave for them. (Maybe to cap off their arcs, Mario tells his dad that there he can’t stay and that his new friends are in danger and need his help. His dad is truly proud of who his son’s become.)
Act 3:
Big all-out fight. Reunion scene, Mario saves Peach from the altar (“I knew there was a hero in you.”), Luigi frees and rallies his prison buddies. Maybe to really put a bow on Mario’s arc, have him reconcile with DK (mirroring his conflict with Spike) and admit his faults to inspire him to work together. Finish Luigi’s arc by keeping the scene where he saves Mario from Bowser’s flames. They use the super star to defeat him and decide to stay with Peach, giving up their business in Brooklyn to continue to serve the Mushroom Kingdom. The end.
What’s frustrating is that all of these elements are in the movie. You can literally sense a Luigi prison break b-plot that got cut. The potential is there, but for whatever reason, they just… don’t take it.
I’m much more frustrated with Galaxy though.
This is gonna be more of a rant. The Galaxy movie is baffling to me because (spoilers under the cut)
Grrrr… I watched the Mario Galaxy Movie and I wanna script doctor these two movies SO BADLY. I can pitch how to fix these movies, I KNOW I can.
Ok, the one big thing that the Mario movies are lacking is a theme and character arc. You could argue that the first movie’s message is “Pick yourself back up and keep fighting for your friends/what’s right” (Mario is beaten by Bowser but picks himself back up), but that’s not a character arc because Mario’s always had that quality throughout the story (he’s beaten by DK but picks himself back up). He doesn’t really change emotionally. Another arc could be Mario making his father proud, but it’s so paper thin because his father is never a driving motivator for Mario to change. It’s more of a set-up/payoff than an arc. ANOTHER could be Luigi becoming brave (jumping in to save Mario), but we don’t see the development that gets him there.
The arc for the first movie should have been Mario and Luigi learning to become heroes. The theme should be something like, “Being a hero means being brave and sacrificing yourself for others who need your help.” Luigi should stay a coward, but make Mario a Toy Story Woody type protag. He’s a good guy, but can also be selfish and reckless, only doing things that serve him and his brother and refusing to work with others (“Nobody gets me like you, Lu…”). His redeeming quality is how much he loves and protects his brother (keep the playground bully flashback scene). They would follow a classic want vs. need arc (A want is a driving force for the plot that the character consciously works towards. A need is an emotional, subconscious requirement for the character to reach growth and resolution).
Act 1:
I’d set up the arc with the confrontation at the pizza place with Spike. Spike is angry at Mario for abandoning their demolition business to start a plumbing business with his brother. Later at the family dinner, when Mario seeks his dad’s approval, his dad tells him that he’s disappointed in Mario for quitting on his former friend Spike and potentially tanking his livelihood to chase some pipe dream. When Mario shoots back that Spike’s a jerk, his father scolds him (“We have to look out for everyone, even the jerks. That’s the Mario family way.”). Mario storms off. Here we get the protagonists’ identities. They’re underdogs trying to prove themselves; Mario’s brave but brash and Luigi’s a coward. They love each other dearly, but Mario is irresponsible towards others and doesn’t like working with them. We also get Mario’s want: he wants to be a success, to prove his naysayers wrong, and he wants his father’s approval.
Inciting Incident/Point of No Return:
Mario and Luigi find their big break to prove themselves to their family and the world. They find the problem pipe flooding Brooklyn and, this time, they fix it! Maybe a news camera crew or some workers follow them and see their success. The flooding stops, but just as they’re about to celebrate, they’re whisked away through the warp pipe and are separated.
Act 2:
Pretty much the same as the movie. But establish that Mario does not really care about Peach’s conflict with Bowser. His second, additional want is that he wants to save his brother and get back to Brooklyn, where they belong. He tags along on the adventure only because it’ll help him achieve that want, but on the way, he bonds with Peach + Toad and falls in love with this new world. Peach sees potential in Mario becoming a hero and helping stop Bowser, but Mario repeatedly rejects her because that’s not what he’s here for.
Meanwhile, Luigi is captured by Bowser and imprisoned. Mustering his bravery in the face of death, he manages to lead a stealth prison break through a comedy of errors. The other prisoners commend him for his supposed heroism and start to give him the confidence he needs.
In this act, Mario and Luigi HAVE to be separated because they’ve been too reliant on each other (Mario’s line to Peach, “We’ve never been apart for this long…”). Luigi’s been hiding in Mario’s shadow and Mario hasn’t had the chance to meaningfully bond with others. But now, they’re learning to be more independent while also strengthening their bond with each other. Now, they’re forced into situations where Mario HAS to work with others, and Luigi HAS to be brave. And they’re doing so by going, “What would Mario do…” “What would Lu do…” Maybe the negotiations with the Kongs aren’t going well, and Mario thinks of what his brother would say in this situation, and it ends up working. Maybe in the prison break, Luigi imagines how Mario would jump over this pit of lava and just barely manages to pull it off. The DK gladiator fight is fun, but it doesn’t have structural purpose because we already KNOW that Mario’s tough and resilient. Act 2 should target the things that he’s NOT and show how he develops himself.
In doing so, they’re picking up and learning each others traits and strengths to balance out their own flaws. Mario’s bravery balances out Luigi’s kindness; Luigi’s sensitivity balances out Mario’s recklessness.
Low Point/Want vs. Need:
Then Act 2 should end with a new low point: the plan fails, the Mushroom Kingdom and Peach are taken, and Luigi and his ensemble are caught. Bowser “shows mercy” to the brothers booting them back through the warp pipe to Brooklyn (“Go home. You don’t belong in this world.”). If we wanna make it juicier, maybe Mario makes a split-second choice to save his brother, sacrificing Peach and the others. A choice he immediately regrets.
Back in Brooklyn, the bros are treated as heroes! Everyone saw on the news how they stopped the flood, their phone’s blowing up with clients, people have been wondering where they disappeared to! Even Mario’s dad admits that his sons did good. Mario’s gotten everything he wanted: he’s back home safe with his brother and his business is a success. But he doesn’t feel like a hero. He doesn’t have what he needs. So rather than accepting this happy ending, he and Luigi return through the warp pipe. Mario will fight for the people who need help and Luigi will be brave for them. (Maybe to cap off their arcs, Mario tells his dad that there he can’t stay and that his new friends are in danger and need his help. His dad is truly proud of who his son’s become.)
Act 3:
Big all-out fight. Reunion scene, Mario saves Peach from the altar (“I knew there was a hero in you.”), Luigi frees and rallies his prison buddies. Maybe to really put a bow on Mario’s arc, have him reconcile with DK (mirroring his conflict with Spike) and admit his faults to inspire him to work together. Finish Luigi’s arc by keeping the scene where he saves Mario from Bowser’s flames. They use the super star to defeat him and decide to stay with Peach, giving up their business in Brooklyn to continue to serve the Mushroom Kingdom. The end.
What’s frustrating is that all of these elements are in the movie. You can literally sense a Luigi prison break b-plot that got cut. The potential is there, but for whatever reason, they just… don’t take it.
Sorry for all the barebones doodle art lately. I’ve unfortunately kinda fallen out of love with drawing and am trying to pick it back up however I can.
