#artsy ramblings

[artsy-n-smartsy]

Pyroland

I have been wanting to explore Pyroland for a while. There's a lot of untapped potential here, and while TF2's canon is somewhat conflicting, I wanted to put together some pieces of information that are integral to not only Pyroland, but also to our beloved masked friend :D

This is a long post so I will be hiding it under the cut. I hope that it is interesting to you all! While I don't dive too much into theories (I do explain some of my own thoughts later in the post), I think what I have here could help fuel headcanons and such.

Let's get started :)

WHAT IS KNOWN

Let's go over the known inhabitants first. Besides our star, Pyro (more on him later!), we can get some information from Balloonicorn's in-game description:

"Oh my goodness! Is it Balloonicorn? The Mayor of Pyroland? Don't be ridiculous, we're talking about an inflatable unicorn. He's the Municipal Ombudsman. Between you and me, Balloonicorn's a joke down at City Hall. Gary Brottman, the inflatable Sewer Superintendent, is sleeping with Balloonicorn's wife. Anyway, when he's riding around on your shoulder don't mention ANY of this to him, because Balloonicorn is on a hair trigger and he's usually pretty drunk."

So from this, we have:

☆Balloonicorn; the Municipal Ombudsman (the entity in charge of representing the interests of the citizens within a town or district). According to his in-game description, he is "on a hair trigger" and "usually pretty drunk". As we know, he's an inflatable unicorn.

☆Balloonicorn's wife; her appearance and occupation are unknown. She is having an affair with......

☆Gary Brottman; the Sewer Superintendent (the entity in charge of the sewage system). He is an inflatable of an unknown species.

This would have been all the info here; however, I wanted to share an alternate/extended take on Balloonicorn's description, which could be found on multiple websites where the IRL piece of merchandise, the Inflatable Balloonicorn, was sold.

Aside from how Balloonicorn is portrayed as a moocher in the second paragraph...

"Gary Brottman, the inflatable Sewer Superintendent, was seen playing patty-cake with Balloonicorn's wife."

...Since we know from the original description that Balloonicorn's wife and Gary are sleeping together, this could mean that patty-cake is an equivalent to sex in Pyroland. Whether this is canon or simply a nod to Who Framed Roger Rabbit?—or both—is up to interpretation. (I'm choosing to believe it's canon because it's funny <w<)

Next up! We also know what Pyroland looks like, thanks to Meet the Pyro and to various pieces of concept art.

While the six images above are concept art, they bare heavy resemblance to, if not resembling outright, the Pyroland seen in Meet the Pyro, so we can safely assume it is canon. If anything, some of the concept art is clearer!

WHAT WE CAN ASSUME

Based on our observations, we can rather safely assume the following:

☆Pyro is the mayor of Pyroland. Rather obvious of a point, since it's in the name, but I did notice that one of the archways bear Pyro's resemblance, and so do the party streamers. Pyro is clearly an important figure here.

I lean towards Pyro being the mayor, as opposed to any other leadership title, because Balloonicorn's description mentioned there being a "mayor of Pyroland", while dismissing the idea of Balloonicorn fulfilling that role. It just makes sense for it to be Pyro.

☆Pyroland is made up of things that Pyro likes. If one can create their own city, why not truly make it their own? From this, we can assume that Pyro likes:

Music - his weapons are replaced by musical instruments, and "Do You Believe in Magic?" is quite literally about finding the magic in music. I'd be willing to bet that music is one of Pyro's all-time favorite things, second to fire.

Animals - specifically "cute" ones like kitties, puppies and hamsters (all inflatable animals we see during Meet the Pyro). This is also supported by the comics, as Pyro adopts a dalmatian!

Sweets - There are many candies and other sweets scattered around. In-game, medkits are replaced by cake while using Pyrovision.

Flowers - Big, bright flowers decorate the land, both in grassy areas and within the town itself. Plus, Pyro's purse (which can be seen in multiple respawn rooms in the cubbies) has a flower on it :)

Parties - There are party streamers hanging around the town, and medkits become cake while in Pyrovision. Also, Balloonicorn and the other inflatable animals (plus the unseen Gary Brottman) are all balloon-like.

[Note: from this point on, I delve a bit into theory territory and express my own opinions. I do keep it all backed up by evidence, however :>]

SOMETHING I NOTICED!

Upon a rewatch of Meet the Pyro, I noticed that the set of matches on the title card not only has Balloonicorn, but also text that reads "Est. 1956"!

If these matches, and thus Balloonicorn's likeness, exist outside of Pyroland and within the TF2 world at large, then what does this mean for Balloonicorn?

Considering how Pyroland has party elements (the streamers, balloon-like inhabitants, and cakes), it wouldn't be too far off to assume that Balloonicorn could be a party mascot, and the matches he's printed on could be for lighting birthday candles.

With the establishment year being 1956, and TF2 taking place in the late 1960s and beyond (taking the game and comics into account)...could it be that Balloonicorn was a key figure in Pyro's life when he was younger, and that's how he ended up with a prominent role within Pyroland? Perhaps; while Pyro's age is unknown, one can form attachments to characters at any time of their life.

Whether Balloonicorn's lore is a result of him taking on a life of his own within Pyroland is a mystery. Although, with the tone of TF2 in mind, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for their real-world Balloonicorn to possess those same qualities as well.

My Own Thoughts

Some people argue about whether Pyro is aware of what he does. I have reason to believe he is aware; in Meet the Pyro, he shut the present that the baby Medic hid inside of, while, in reality, Pyro had trapped the actual Medic inside the wooden shed and burned him. If Pyro truly believed he was playing with a baby...why would he so confidently encase the baby inside the box, and risk harming the poor thing? He knew what he was doing. He's playing with babies in Pyroland because that's what it feels like to torture his targets. It's similar to how Heavy taunts his opponents by calling them babies. (For that reason, I believe the babies aren't truly inhabitants of Pyroland, though that's just my opinion.)

I've always seen Pyroland and Pyrovision moreso as representations for how Pyro feels when causing carnage. After all, it seems fire is what fuels Pyrovision. It brings Pyro much joy. So much, that it quite literally restores the color to his life.

How I wish we were given a comic about the inner workings of Pyroland.

[maybe-a-gatto-or-a-catto]

UT Spamtenna win

Inspired by this post :]

[fishareglorious]

the momentary beef between kakania and greta before everything goes to shit is my everything. can i have twenty more of these two just at odds with each other over the arts.

[misticalnova]

Dude, am I crazy or does Yuwen lowkey have a theatre kid essence??

...

Just me? Okay. 😔

[artsymeeshee]

Thank you all for the excitement and interest in the Ford & Mabel bonding comic! :D I’m excited to share a story we desperately need. Or at least one for sure. Not too sure how many pages there is going to be but I know for sure it’s not going to be super long like Instinct is. Which leans into the next topic.

I know some are wondering what the state of Instinct is in. To answer probably the most important question: Instinct is not canceled. We are too close to the end of it for me to cancel it. The layout of the next pages is giving me trouble since they’re mostly dialogue heavy (that and brain wants to draw other things). But it will continue hopefully sooner than later!

[jacarandaaaas]

Mirabel Madrigal & Creativity:

So something I’ve realized after watching the movie a couple of times now is how mirabels story can easily correlate with the experience of someone creative when you’re only considered of use if you’re academically smart.

Not only do they refer to the magic as “gifts” and “gifted” very common terms associated with people who are considered academically smart but also the fact mirabel is shown as an artist. Our first introduction to her you see her room is plastered in artwork as a 5 year old and even after the prologue you still see she’s kept her artistic side. the thing is mirabel is incredibly talented she draws, she sews, she embroiders, paints, plays the accordion too! These are all incredible talents to possess and yet do we ever see her getting praised for them in the movie? not really. because mirabel doesn’t have a “gift” a literal magic gift yes but also could be interpreted for a creative as academic smarts. Creative thinking is something mirabel possesses and its quite literally the answer in the end but because she’s not smart in the expected way i.e academics she feels she’s not worth as much as others in her family.

I like to think making her an artist was an intentional choice as I know a lot of fellow artists have had people tell us it’s not a “useful” skill to have in the real world. It’s not worth taking the time doing when you could be pursuing medicine or law or something that uses your brain. Even in the ending of the movie mirabel tells them they’re “more than just your gift” which I feel can relate a lot to people who heavily rely on their academic achievements they can forget it’s ok to not do 100% every time and these ridiculous standards are just wearing you down.

So in conclusion I believe mirabels story resonates a lot with the experience of being a creative person but your skills not being seen as valuable. I just love that they made mirabel an artist to show how talented she actually is! she shows that creatives are valued and appreciated and needed and deserve to be encouraged not shot down! so thank you mirabel valentina rojas madrigal for being my favorite artist <3

[obsessedgames505]

Figured I'd make these art pieces public! WIPs of Ravi's and Orion's new looks and fits. I feel like what I'm going for is pretty cool, but what do you guys think?

[artisticallygay]

Spamtenna fankid based of those kids CRTs designed after popular childrens media in the works

[glowsticcc]

i like saying i ship mumscott so life series scott can ‘break the cycle of being in love with blonde men’ knowing damn well this is what mumbo looks like in real life

[artsy-n-smartsy]

I find it funny how Half Life is stylized as "Hλlf Life".. like yeah I love Hllf Life.

[maybe-a-gatto-or-a-catto]

So I read this analysis post and uh. i... why

[rayofmisfortune]

How did Tucker and Sam first find out about phantom? Was it just that some weird ecto shit was going on nearby and Danny sorta changed without trying to and all, and Sam and Tucker just kinda saw it going “what the fuck-“/silly

Okay and an add on to that, has anyone ever seen Danny change that shouldn’t have, since if he can’t really control it in this AU, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some close calls because Tuck and Sam found a way to cover him

Seconds after Danny leaves for the restroom, a ghost (the Lunch Lady) shows up. In the panic, Sam and Tucker run to check if Danny's okay. Or just generally, get his low blood sugar, close to passing out butt away from the danger zone.

As to how they find out? They rush into the closest restroom. And kinda see the idiot(s) passed out on the floor mid-transformation 👍

I fiddled a lil with the timeline so now the au is kinda no one knows? But Sam and Tuck find out the second the first big bad ghost shows up. In the Dannys' defense, neither of them had any idea what was happening.

Actually... not really? Since Danny and Phantom have Tucker and Sam to cover for them and the two are at Danny's side 24/7, pretty much no one has seen them transform. Wes is the no one.

[decayayhagfishh]

i'm still working on my kou drawing with his multiple outfits i gave him in tomodachi life,,,,have these doodles of him, a quick speedpaint and a few pics of my chocolate mint kou bag!,,,, featuring,,,,kiryu kazuma, muminpapa, super pochaco, niigo, ichigo and mały głód ^_^_^ ( im not polish, but an furrend of mine told me about dis yellow bastard and i hate him )

🐌🥬🥒🍅

[monstrousparalysis]

I really appreciate the JRWI fandom's commitment to not reducing characters to stereotypes! Instead of shipping the overemotional, artsy, genderfucky, unknowably old villain with the 19 year old boy he's obsessed with (😬 talk about bad rep!), or the same man that flirts with his sister (kinda suspicious 🤔), all of the ship fics with him on AO3 are about him and his sister! (no power imbalance or age gap! 😄)

[jade-efflorescence]

the passage of time is so disorienting. because all of a sudden the sun's out again and so many details i've prayed over are clicking into place and i feel the loneliest i've ever been because life keeps shifting without warning. a coworker left last wednesday and i found out about it this weekend. she hosted potlucks and holiday gift exchanges and made a cold, corporate building feel a little more like home. but i saw her get promoted to management and take on a bone-deep weariness, and i couldn't help but think this was the right choice for her. my sister is graduating this year. my heart aches thinking about past laughter and echoes of shared memories. i will most likely see her life through instagram stories and bereals and quiet words with my mom. my father is exhausted. he is not the man i remember growing up with as a girl. my younger siblings will discover a part of themselves when i am hours away, and i will come back and notice the shift. one of my dearest friends is hoping to move across the country. she's already talking about her senior thesis and a gap year and certification exams. i have a spot in my summer for a high school friend's wedding. she gave me lip balm for my sixteenth birthday. i handwrite well wishes in graduates' journals and tear up at their ceremonies despite the fact that i've never said more than hello. i look through photographed memories of a college experience i will never fully have and wonder if i will always look back to move forward. i am reminded of the old saying that there is nothing constant in life but change, and a part of me crumbles at the thought. how am i this young and struggling with the weight of it?

[obsessedgames505]

Good news, everyone! 54 sprites for the game has already been redone, as well as all of the CGs, BGs and Objects! If I don't count the sprites for the upcoming days, I only have 131 more sprites to finish before I can move onto Day 3 and 4!

I know this update isn't that exciting but I'm proud of myself!