goldenvulpine

[goldenvulpine]

Who said anything about blaming Azula?

I clearly blamed Ozai. You should do more of that.

You’re arguing against a monster you created. Leave me out of it.

I want to clear up a mistake people make with Azula and Ursa.

Ursa didn’t play favorites.

Ursa didn’t think Azula was a monster.

Ursa simply, unequivocally, just didn’t enable Azula’s worst traits like Ozai did.

Ozai’s favorite child was Azula, but Ursa still loved her more.

Because enabling isn’t love.

What did Ozai’s enabling do? It made Azula into the type of person to never have any loyal friends. It made the type of person that Mai and Tai Lee would betray at the risk of their own lives.

Ursa pushed Azula to be with her friends. To be with Zuko. Ozai pushed Ursa away, and both kids suffered for it. Azula became a sadist, enjoying seeing her brother get burned—while Zuko was pushed away because he cared for his people.

Azula thought her mom hated her because her mom was the only one who cared enough to tell her no.

[goldenvulpine]

Say Hello To The Fist

Toward the end of “Billy & Mandy”, after we finished Big Boogey, I’d come up with an “joke” idea of making the characters from Billy & Mandy into a superhero team as a spinoff.  So I sat down one night and cooked up a little bible for the project.  And the more I thought about it, it seemed less like a throwaway joke and more like a keeper joke.

It finally took form as a combination spinoff pilot/Halloween special.  By the time it got done, CN’s management had changed and they’d decided to switch over to making live action shows, so Underfist would never become a series or get a second special.  And despite some sluggishness in the second act, I’m still proud to have had it be the last thing I did for CN.

Most of the folks who worked on Billy & Mandy had transferred to Chowder by the time we started production, so we tried to streamline Underfist for a smaller crew.  And I think it looks better for it.  Bill Flores and Joe Binggelli are responsible for the cool stylized backgrounds, and most of the designs you see here were done by the lovely Andy Suriano (characters), the roguish Serapio Calm (vehicles), and the dashing myself (stuff).

Here you can see how the rough colored storyboard panel of Endsville translated to finished artwork:

Here are some rough board panels and production art:

It was fun while it lasted, and I think CN even plays it occasionally at this time of year.  You can also find the whole thing online at decent quality if you Google hard enough.

Underfist had already received a death sentence before picture even came back from overseas, hence the “All that work and nothing to show for it” at the end of the credits.  Most of the cards over the end credits are just jokes.  As much as I like “Underfist: Action Squad Miami”, that was never going to happen.  There were two cards that I legitimately had stories for, though.  Those were “Underfist -vs- The Dinosaurs” and “Underfist: Against the Astro-Vampires”.  

The first would have been Hoss-focused, linking back to his romance with the Goddess of Chaos, Eris, from “Billy & Mandy”.  Turns out Eris’ heart was broken, and when it split in two… so did she.  She became Naughty Eris and Nice Eris, each grappling (in her own crazy way) with heartbreak and an army of dinosaurs trying to prevent their own extinction.

The second would have sent Underfist to outer space, where they’d discover Dracula’s otherworldly origins and meet Nephthys, Egyptian Goddess of Mourning, who (in Underfist’s world) was determined to keep the undead in their tombs.  She’s the one with the scarab beetle jetpack chasing Irwin on his Fistbike during the main title/end credits.

Not everything is meant to be.  Sort of like this sketch of Irwin having a “Blade” moment.  Enjoy it for what it is!  

Happy Halloween Month!

[goldenvulpine]

In case you guys wanna cry a bit

[goldenvulpine]

I love the implication that Mushroom Kingdom citizens would canonically use a Twomp to depose Nobility.

Imagine the French Revolution but with the Twomp instead of the Guillotine.

[goldenvulpine]

Fan: How would you describe Littlefinger and Varys’ relationship?

George: Adversarial! Both of them know a lot about the other, including some very damaging things. They're essentially in a stalemate because they know that if one reveals what they know about the other, the other would reciprocate, and then they could both be destroyed. I think Littlefinger has a better idea of what Varys wants than Varys has an idea of what Littlefinger wants. Littlefinger is an agent of chaos who likes to be unpredictable and succeeds in that.

- George R.R. Martin, Penguin Random House México

[goldenvulpine]

Nightwing: I chose my name to honor Superman, and indirectly honor Batman,

Red Hood: I chose my name as a fuck you to both The Joker and Batman

Red Robin: I chose my name because I wanna still be Robin but Batman kinda kicked me to the curb for Damien

Nightwing: …

Red Hood: …

Red Robin: I’m open to suggestions tbh

[goldenvulpine]

I’m seeing a lot of religious conversions these days after the pretty atheistic 2000’s (which was the counter culture of the time as a reaction to 9/11 and evangelical Christians) precisely because a lot of people don’t like the uncertainty and nihilism you typically deal with on an atheistic world view.

It unironically is kinda like how Aang is very spiritual and tries to teach his kids about Air Bender culture, but neither Bumi nor Kya ever really vibed with it so Aang focused on Tenzin, which Kya and Bumi chalk it up solely due to favoritism due to the fact that Tenzin was the only air bender.

From a writing and character standpoint, I don’t believe Toph would be a cop or any member of a structured system.

But what is funny is that I can 100% believe her daughter becomes a cop. In real life, a lot of children rebel against how their parents raised them. If Toph ended up being more of an anarchist or nomad—her “rebellious” daughter might look for structure instead.

In an AU, I can see Lin becoming an enforcer of Law and Order just because her mom never gave her the stability she craved and likely needed—as Toph always had an aversion for it. This would ironically twist Lin and Suyin’s roles with the former actually being the “rebel” in the family.

This is the inherit cycle of human’s desire for rebellion and stability—as well as a key trait of “generational trauma”.

[goldenvulpine]

From a writing and character standpoint, I don’t believe Toph would be a cop or any member of a structured system.

But what is funny is that I can 100% believe her daughter becomes a cop. In real life, a lot of children rebel against how their parents raised them. If Toph ended up being more of an anarchist or nomad—her “rebellious” daughter might look for structure instead.

In an AU, I can see Lin becoming an enforcer of Law and Order just because her mom never gave her the stability she craved and likely needed—as Toph always had an aversion for it. This would ironically twist Lin and Suyin’s roles with the former actually being the “rebel” in the family.

This is the inherit cycle of human’s desire for rebellion and stability—as well as a key trait of “generational trauma”.

[goldenvulpine]

some of yall have your biases and it shows

[goldenvulpine]

Xander: “First day of kindergarten. You cried because you broke the yellow crayon, and you were too afraid to tell anyone. You’ve come pretty far, ending the world, not a terrific notion. But the thing is? Yeah. I love you. I loved crayon-breaky Willow and I love … scary veiny Willow, so if I’m going out, it’s here. If you want to kill the world… well, then start with me. I’ve earned that”.

Willow: “You think I won’t?”

Xander: “It doesn’t matter. I’ll still love you”.

[goldenvulpine]

Mister 9 & Miss Monday? Good for them.

[goldenvulpine]

Life is a fantastic thing. Often I feel like I’m wasting it. Not as smart as I want to be. Not as able to do things, be with people. Befriend them. I’m so lucky to be loved. I know I’m not easy. I’m grateful for having something I know I didn’t make the effort to deserve. I really want to be a better person than I am. I’ve wasted my youth as is. I don’t want to waste however many moments I have left being the worst version of myself. I’m trying. I feel like I’m trying. But I don’t know if I’m trying hard enough. I feel like I’m my own biggest obstacle. God willing, I just want to keep trying.

[goldenvulpine]

You can take Rodney Dangerfield’s entire comedic career’s worth of jokes and they can all apply to Hephaestus’ life since birth

[goldenvulpine]

Superboy and (kryptonian) nightwing

[goldenvulpine]

Brief late night Azula yap let’s go

Every single day I am so mad at Ozai for existing and having the audacity. One of the things that makes me truly upset when I think about Azula’s character is her perception that her father loves her and her mother doesn’t. It’s not uncommon for children to believe they have a “fun parent” and therefore also a “not-so-fun parent.” Almost everytime we see Ursa and Azula interact in canon Ursa is reprimanding her, whereas Ozai seems to basically feed her the belief that she can do no wrong. Ozai enables and manipulates Azula’s bad behaviors under cover of love and she believes it. Ursa was genuinely just trying to help her grow into a well adjusted person and protect her. But Azula being a young child cannot begin to understand the complicated nuances and relationships in her ever so fucked up family. Therefore, she believes her mother thinks she a monster because she disciplines her and her father loves her because he doesn’t.

[goldenvulpine]

basically how I feel about MAWS rn

Clark feels like a baby. Gets his butt kicked almost every episode.

I like Jimmy and Lois tho

[goldenvulpine]

MAWS saying Lois Lane was inspired by Vicky Vale is like saying Micheal Jackson was inspired by Justin Timberlake to make music.