#Centaur world music is so silly

[rvnsdrunk]

Just replayed Tspud

He’s so silly :)

[depravedangelbaby]

Hya bby!! Ily!! A couple of questions for u 💖

jasmine; what mythical creature do you wish actually existed? (Saying this one twice, horny and nonhorny)

primrose; what book does everyone right now need to read?

queen’s cup; what are you craving right now?

peony; share a small random book passage that means something to you.

sweet pea; who means the world to you? why?

hi bby !! I love u !!!!

jasmine: I embarrassingly still don't know many mythical creatures so the first thing that popped into my head was centaurs?? so we'll go with centaurs I suppose (cue jake saying "hey there centaurs") nonhorny: forest sprites I think!!

primrose: auuuugh embarrassing once more I Do Not Read Enough nowadays. can't remember the name of it rn but probably this book I read for an anthropology course that focused on how history is framed/written and discussed how often minorities' stories are forgotten/purposely erased from history (seems very fitting with the current genocides occuring/how social media has been portraying it). I'll have to look around in my storage n try to find it one of these days

queen's cup: health potions.. I need a fuckin health potion

peony: oh jeez more book questions!! (alright everyone send me book recs I need to fucking read more) okay I grabbed For Small Creatures Such As We by Sasha Sagan from the shelf, here's a lil passage:

"Nature is full of patterns and we humans love finding them, creating them, repeating them. That's at the core of language, math, music, and even ritual, which is the repetition of words or actions deemed worthy of representing something bigger than ourselves. Some rituals are very private, some are very public. Some are so commonplace we don't even think of them as rituals. My view is that all over the world and across time, these are all a form of art, an elaborate performance or a secret poem, all vital in their ability to help us face the nature of time and change, life and death and everything else we cannot control."

sweet pea: hehe y'all already know the answer to this one is my girl!! she's my best friend- my lover- my guiding light. I feel lucky to experience this silly little life with her, and to have lived so much of it with her is a blessing in itself. she's been my partner for roughly 1/3 of my life, she's seen and loved so many versions of myself, I've been able to love all the versions of herself. I just, couldn't imagine being around without her. good days and bad ones. to be able to continue to grow with her is like being able to breathe.

[kittlecat26]

intro post !!!

call me Kat or kittlecat 😋 I am an autistic nonbinary lesbian ‼️

interact if u like,

South Park

Endzone

welcome home

Music

Fnaf

Ocean life

animals

Drawing

Pokémon

Garfield

monster high

Mlp

toh

stranger things

Aggretsuko

the walten files

Ena

centaur world (underrated🙁🙏)

inside job

spooky month

there’s probably more but I forgot the rest so

intj

I deadass cannot online communicate but u could ask me anything🤯 But I’m jst here to post my art and be silly 🤷‍♀️

[dyedazombiepink]

TPFFIB Pt 3: The Silly Side Villains, and Candi & Lime (The end is nigh)

The Side Villains

(who aren't really villains but were moving on, their all a collective menace, also The Dead King hates them for no reason)

Maxwell Melodica

A purple dragon that stands on his hindlegs like he's some kind of human (even though they don't exist). He's a screech dragon, so instead of breathing fire, or controlling the elements, he has a very specific type of magic that lets him control sound and music, including his own roar which is like his big secret attack. The only problem is that's its really dangerous and has made people lose their hearing completely (and brake all their bones). Other then that, he's an insecure musical artist who hides is true feelings and perception of himself by over compensating with elaborate musical performances and trying to take other Golden Glade, which mostly means fighting Kite every now and again. And their relationship is basically just Kite watching Maxwell do a little show and complementing his musical talent, but then beating him up once he tries to attack. Overall he's a fairly charming, creative, and ambitious bipedal dragon.

Oaklyn the Ocean-centaur

Leaving her home out of spite of her kingdom after it turned into a democracy just as she was going to become queen, the ex-princess ditched her home with her trident (a weapon with the power to create storms and control water made just for her). And swore she'd make herself a queen no matter what, and get her justice. Besides her need to rule something, she very energetic and hyper, but easily distracted and her battles with Kite usual go from her having a clear battle motive (being to get inside), but then gets distracted by other stuff happening around her and even her own attacks, which is fair they are very cool. Though if I'm being honest the most dangerous thing she could do is damage property and drown someone. However her powers are surprisingly effective towards Kite, because she relies on flying and aerial maneuvers and was not built for swimming.

Slinky

He is a menace, pure and simple, he doesn't want to take over Pactor and rebuild it into his own vision, he just wants to watch the world burn and eat popcorn, before putting out the fire and letting everything heal, then lighting it on fire again. Suffering and misery is his high, it's what he wants. He'll befriend people just to find ways to plot there downfall and watch them crash and burn. Now.... In light of- all that, he has a few redeeming qualities, for one he's a tiger, which technically makes him a cat, and he has a lovely laugh and is so charming you forget how much a threat he is. Unlike everyone he has no powers or cool ability just a regular tiger, and when he first fights Kite, he was genuinely fighting for fun no scheme or plot. So yeah... that's Slinky.

Now that's I'm down with villains I can talk about Lime & Candi

Lime Leaf & Sugar Sweet

(Sugar Sweet is the pink one and Lime is the green, duh)

Both Sugar Sweet (also called Candi) and Lime Leaf, were born and raised in Golden Glade. They basically grew up side by side, and because of that they are basically the definition of best friends.

Lime is energetic and enthusiastic about almost every new experience, and biggest strength is building people up. However he dose struggle with determining his own self-worth from time to time. He still manages to be there for the people he cares about. His worse habit is probably his thick head, he's the type to react first and ask later which tends to get him in trouble.

Candi is also energetic like Lime, and she's very supportive of creatures when they need it. Her best trait would definitely have to be her compassion and honesty (she's really good at listening and is very understanding). However, she will never lie to someone about how bad something really is. Because she cares so much she can stop Lime before he dose something stupid, and tells him what's actually happening everything stays civil. Candi can also be very self-conscious at times, viewing herself as un-creative, or may think she's weird looking, and scrutinize little things about herself. Especially is someone makes a comment.

But that's where my boy Lime comes in to cheer his bestfriend up, 95% of the time when she's feeling down, he will build up, taking the things she said made her feel like a loser or ugly, and telling her what he thinks. For example: if someone says her bow looks stupid, Lime will say that he thinks it looks fantastic along with how it makes her look one of a kind and that she has way more style then whoever was mean to her.

Then when he's feeling like he isn't enough or feels worthless, she will tell him that he is more then enough. Or that when he feels dumb/can't do anything, she will make him feel better by hanging out with him and talking all the stuff he is good at, like sports and flying.

As for how they interact with Kite, their dynamic is basically detective (Kite) and friends/assistants/clients (Lime and Candi). The reason Kite becomes a detective is because after Ancient Feather gets imprisoned by the Dead King for her crimes against him, Kite temporarily became the leader of P.o.P before resigning and becoming a detective to solve crimes and problem, that don't involve impossible stakes and less fighting (because she did a lot of that).

AND I AM DONE. JOYUS DAY FOR ALL (specifically me). I can now have this off my mind and wait till I have more worlds and the oc's that live in that world to share. Have a nice day

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See he's confused because he thought I wasn't actually be able to fit it all in this time, or get lazy, and as a punishment he would eat me, WELL, looks you whos wrong now hmm Scratchy? yeah that's right.

[chimeride]

LA QUÊTE DES CHIMÈRES

An art challenge to celebrate the 4th anniversary of this project !

You can do one a day or spread it over months, you can use any style or media you want, you can interpret each word as you want or follow the precisions below, it can be just silly sketches if you want, make this challenge yours and the only true rule is to have fun !

Make sure to tag your work #chimeraquest so I can find them easily, you can send them to me or tag me too if you want to :)

Shitty cryptid : creature submitted on @shittycryptids​ (shittycryptids.tumblr.com).

Pseudophyta : chimeras that looks like a plant.

Shell : full of surprise.

Dragon : show us what a dragon is.

Pun : chimera based on a pun.

Ghost : flotting creatures with disturbing faces, patterns, teeth and tentacles.

Cephalopod : limbs directly connected to the head.

Centaur : hexapedal creatures with two or three distincts torsos.

Pseudofauna : chimeras that looks like another animal.

Bird : they are really cool if you look closely.

Merfolk : swimming creatures, front mammalian (not always) and rear sea creature.

Music : chimeras based on a music, or produce sound.

Vampire : blood-drinking chimera (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematophagy).

Bug : mostly based on arthropods.

Fae : flying insectoid, probably small.

The Known Ones : tribute to a creature design you like.

Pseudoartifact : chimera based on an object.

Reverse : classic chimera, but upside-down.

Goblinoid : mostly quadrupedal and mammalian, probably small, and considered “ugly”.

Metachimera : fuse two different prompts of the list (except 16 and 31).

Unicorn : creatures with one horn on the forehead.

Zooanthrop : humanoid with animal features.

Demon : can range from classical art and occultism to pop culture.

Pseudopaleo : chimera based on an extinct animal.

Homonculus : humans fused with humans.

Sea creature : seems more adapted to live underwater.

Suggestion : take a suggestion from somebody (a friend, your followers, your mother, that guy you see everyday at the bus stop, etc.)

Gryphon : winged hexapedal creature, front avian and rear mammal.

Sponge people : body horror from the seabeds.

Hellpig : twisted pigs and boars.

The Unknown : original creatures, unknown chimeras of our world until then.

Art challenges have been very important in the Éphéméride des Chimères, they helped me to find inspiration and to give me motivation to draw even more, I hope mine will help you too.

[mudzdale]

i think the thing that disappointed me abt centaurworld was that it didnt tell the kind of story it was cut out to be. or at least that it could have been. obviously the show’s primary gimmick was the clash of a cutesy, cartoony, largely nonsensical world versus the standard edgy, war-torn fantasy realm. so i figured it was going to be like a. who framed roger rabbit kind of thing. teaching Horse to find the fun in life thru friendship with zany cartoon-people

but then they introduced the taurnado and i was like OHO. now THIS is interesting.

this adds some depth to the world. suddenly wammawink’s insistence that they all just stay safe in the bubble makes sense. this world is lovingly hostile to its own inhabitants. its a zany, rainbow gilttery cartoon world that also wants them dead. theres something incredible about the concept of a sentient tornado made up of the very souls it’s taken, which actively hunts and desires to add more to its collection. and takes the form of a centaur as well

...but then they didnt proceed any further with that. all the dangers posed thereafter indeed seem to be only brought about by other centaurs, or brought upon them by horse’s grimdark fantasy world. the one whole episode that was largely a theater + cats the musical parody, like...... there was the, um, whaletaur who eats ppl who are, suicidal? which was an. interesting element to have in Zany Cartoon World. but even she was ultimately just some guy, not a malevolent force of nature

i guess i just think leaning into an Environmental Horror would have been fun, because it could have lent another angle to the roger rabbit kind of story i was expecting--just as horse needs to learn softness and friendship, the centaurs need protection and self-defense skills to make their home a safer place. which they also could have achieved by utilizing The War as a narrative element differently--that also felt like an incomplete arc that should have been seen to. why did the war come to centaurworld forcefully enough to leave wammawink an only-survivor war orphan, yet the rest of her universe has never even heard of it? how did that all come about?

heck, even the war itself is kind of a goofy narrative device IMO... the driving force behind it, the nowhere king, isnt some kind of malevolent, ancient power, barely held at bay by mortal forces across the centuries. he, too, is just some frickin guy! theres no way his reign exceeded 1, maybe 2 decades. not that his character/motivation etc was uninteresting per se. but it seems kind of silly that ultimately some dude who Wasnt Like Other Girls gets to take up the mantle of the ~Nowhere King~ with this totally bomb little lullaby theme, and hes not a Force of Nature or didnt make a Pact with one or anything. man just had a tragic backstory and built himself a nuclear reactor. downright odd, is all

anyways that digressed a lot but ultimately i just go back and listen to taurnado and im disappointed that was more or less the only song of its breed that came out of the show. its probably just entirely personal preference on my part. but i would have much rather had a show that explored a survivalist twist on the goofy cartoony universe instead of consistently dedicating songs to things like one of the character’s father-son relationship with his. own butt /:

[thelightfluxtastic]

Wandersong, Centaurworld and Consequences

This post is based on the song preview for Centaurworld season 2 released on youtube by Netflix Futures, and also the ending of the game Wandersong, so consider this your spoilerwarning.

In the game Wandersong, you play as a bard who wants to save the world. To do so, you need to collect several pieces of a Worldsong. It's told to you from the beginning that the world song isn't as simple as just the right musical notes, it's about the whole planet being in harmony. Through game design, in order to get a song piece, you generally need to help people in some way- reunite families, fix a toxic workplace, stop a brewing war. At the end of the game, you actually don't get the last song piece, but because you made the world more unified, everyone you've helped sings a new world into being. It is impossible to get a bad ending on a first playthrough. However, in a second playthrough, one already knows the songs and can sing them at the right ritual locations without doing the quests. So one doesn't help people or get the character/relationship development. In such a playthrough, the game just ends after you fail to get the last piece, because the world ended- it was in disharmony and you didn't fix it, even if you technically did the magic rituals. Based on what's been revealed so far in Season 2, I think Horse essentially inadvertently gave herself a Bad Ending. Consider the lyrics Waterbaby sings when describing the quest to get the key pieces: Those war tactics you know, they got no utility And the key to unlock the gateway that joins both our worlds Is to be a unifier A bridge who’d connect those rejecting what needs to be done Every piece is scattered, its magic unfurled And we can stop this war When you open the door, open the gateway Open your heart and your mind And that is the Key Convince each one of what needs to be done And each shard that they guard will be yours Waterbaby wants Horse to end the war. But she's not talking about key pieces. She's talking about being a unifier, a bridge, connecting other people, opening heart and mind, convincing and communing. Horse got the physical key, but she often didn't convince people of her cause. She broke the tree shaman, stole the sash. And from Horse's and audiences perspective, this is entirely reasonable at the time! She's on an important quest, all these other things are silly, or people are outright rude, mean or unfair (Horse did win the sash first before stealing it). But now, in season 2, the consequences are being reaped. The tree shamans don't want to help her with the war, neither to the cattaurs. (Why the merfolk don't is a mystery to me). Horse got the physical parts of the key without doing any of the unifying, so she got what she needed to open the rift but not stop the war. If she had found ways to convince and work with the centaurs she met along the way, she'd have both by the time the gate opened. And this is just a bigger version of the lesson Horse learns through season 1! In the Taurnado episode, Horse is so caught up in being Brave and Cool that she doesn't appreciate she's put others in danger and that they're risking themselves to help her. Horse learns this lesson- of not sacrificing others for her personal needs and goals- but she only applies it to the herd, not the background characters of the rest of the world. (Again, totally expected from a meta perspective- every story has ignorable NPCs). But I find it interesting. A very cool Into the Woods style 'consequences of act 1 in act 2, you can't just Act Like a Protagonist and expect everything to work out for you'. Looking forward to hopefully seeing this developed through season 2.

[duckyfruitbat]

Centaur World Has The BEST Villain Redemption Story I Have Seen (Spoilers)

Centaur World is a musical and a Netflix original series that premiered earlier this year.  Everyone who watched the trailer, including me, thought it was an acid trip.  It is a very silly show 90% of the time, even when in the war torn world the main character is from, there is a silly tone, with some darker humor.  Example of that is the horse Becky Apples.  The trailer and the first episode did make it clear that there is a darker tone present throughout the series.  So my 2010′s poisoned mind was worried that it will turn out like Steven Universe with clumsy metaphors and rushed villain arcs.  Then I watched the series all thee way through and my worries were proven wrong.

Here is where we get into spoiler territory so if you have issues with that, turn away now.

First least important point, the main villain actually gets what’s coming in a pretty tragic and satisfying way.  They did make one half of him a bit sympathetic, which I felt could’ve been explored a bit more throughout the series, rather than in a long sequence of flashbacks.  Nonetheless I did feel somewhat satisfied with the resolution.  Throughout the series it is clear that the Nowhere King has committed genocide, performed human experimentation, colluded to keep the wars going, and has topple many a kingdoms.  Naturally he was sentenced to death, by his own wife, who took it upon herself to be his executioner.  This scene between the two, was very heavy, because you can see the pain in her eyes as she finally ended the Nowhere King.  I need to emphasize that Avatar the Last Airbender couldn’t even kill off the Fire Lord, who had no redeeming qualities, but the Nowhere King was given a tragic back story full of betrayal and heartbreak, he was a man driven to madness by his own actions.  The writers knew that even with all that, there was no way to redeem such a monster, so it was either life in prison, or death.  Thus the most dramatic and tragic death I’ve seen in a kids show in the past ten years.

Now then, let’s get to the best villain redemption ever.  Not the main villain, no he dies in a ravine.  I’m talking about the lizard man that the character Rider stabs in the back in the season one finale.  This lizard gets kidnapped by the kleptomaniac Glendale, and as the punchline to a birthing joke, the giraffe Durpleton adopts the paralyzed lizard, who still has the knife in his back.

Throughout the next season, the lizard is named Stabby, Durpleton sings him lullaby's while caring him in a baby harness, even swaddling him to keep him warm.  Stabby’s attitude goes from “Help I’ve been kidnapped”, to “I guess I’ll stay with your guys”, eventually getting to the point of “This giraffe is my dad, and these other centaurs are my weird family.”  He even gets his own bedroom with posters.  This is the most hilarious and wholesome redemption arc, I don’t think I can state that enough.  Wanna redeem a villain, just adopt him, because it worked for the story of Centaur World. 

This is a show made for actual children, it is rated Y7, yet it gets redemption right, while shows for an older audience gets it so wrong, that it becomes a meme to criticize it.  

I went into this show thinking it would be a lighthearted romp through a candy colored world, with silly jokes and some fun characters.  I got that and so much more that I haven’t gotten since I was a child.  The main story came to a satisfying conclusion, and at no point did the darker tones take from the light hearted jokes, and vice versa.  To anyone who asks, yes give Centaur World a watch, you will not be sorry.

[cherryblossom-chopper]

The great year of 2021 is going to end soon. What are your thoughts on it so far?

This year was a roller coaster, honestly. I'm graduating college in literally five days, so that's scary. I'm applying for master's school, which is also intimidating. But I got my cat this year, too, which has been great, and I love having a little buddy. My partner and I are still together and doing well, which makes me happy. My friends and family are all happy and healthy and doing well. I've done a lot of activism this year too, which is something I plan to continue doing.

Something that's also been really great this year is all of you. I really appreciate the community I've found here. I can't thank all of you enough for supporting my work; all of you inspire me to keep writing and improving my skills. So I truly thank all of you for that.

I'm from America (RIP), so I'm not super stoked about how things have gone down this year politically. But that's a whole different bag of beans.

Like everyone else, I've consumed so much content this year, so I'm going to give you all some of my recommendations.

Helluva Boss (TV Show)

➵ A Youtube spinoff show based on Hazbin Hotel. Three imps and a Hell Hound, all living in the Pride Ring of Hell, run a company where they kill living humans for sinners.

➵ The first season has eight episodes plus a pilot episode. It's amusing, but it can be considered graphic/mature. I liked Hazbin Hotel, but I really love Helluva Boss. It's fun, thought-provoking, and has good music. It even has well-known actors such a Norman Reedus (Daryl from the Walking Dead) and Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice from Beetlejuice the Musical).

Miss. Kobayashi Dragon Maid (Anime)

➵ Kobayashi is a programmer who spends too much time at the office or at the bar critiquing the refined world of maids. On her way to work one day, a dragon appears at her door, insisting on being Kobayashi's personal live-in maid.

➵ With two seasons and a movie (currently), Miss. Kobayashi's Dragon Maid stole my heart. I'm a sucker for comedy/slice of life shows. It looks like just fanservice on the surface, but I promise it's not. There is some fanservice, but it is ignorable. The show does have some issues with it regarding the fanservice characters, but I'm at a point in my anime career where it's not shocking. It's a very cute, heartwarming show.

Centaur World (Netflix Original)

➵ A battle-hardened warhorse gets separated from her beloved Rider during an accident involving a magical artifact. Horse wakes up in a cartoonish land in which all of its inhabitants are centaurs in some form or another. Her mission is to find her Rider and end the war, but when a herd of silly-looking centaurs finds her, they are determined to become her friends.

➵This show looks goofy and ridiculous on the surface, but I really enjoyed it. It's one of those shows that takes a dark turn quickly. If you can get past some of the bad jokes at the beginning, I'm sure you'll enjoy it; as of right now their only two seasons (21 episodes in total).

The Goblin Emperor by Kathrine Addison (Book)

➵When his elven father and half brothers die in an accident, an 18-year-old goblin prince is forced to take the throne. Prince, now Emperor Maia, is forced to navigate a world full of eleven aristocracy who are all out to usurp the throne.

➵This book hit all of my boxes. It was so good. Maia is such a sweet character who you can see grow throughout the book. It's a great blend of my favorite genres; fantasy and political intrigue. It even has a splash of Romance on the side, just the way I like it. This book did come out in 2014, but I've only just now read it. I genuinely love this book and Maia. Usually, I'm not a fan of lengthy series because they can't hold my interest, but I wish there had been a sequel because I adore Maia. I think about him all the time and what could've possibly happened if a sequel was written.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood (Book)

➵A young orc girl is intended to be a sacrifice to the Unspoken God, but she agrees when a charismatic traveler offers her a life beyond a sacrificial lamb. Follow Corswe on her adventure to discover a great treasure for her master/father figure.

➵So firstly, the protagonist is a lesbian orc woman. Which is A+. Also, daddy issues. I really loved this book a lot. I like Corswe, and the author does an outstanding job of taking emotional advantage of the reader. Also, lesbian orc woman. The author is currently writing a sequel that is supposed to come out next year, so I'm excited about that. There's also a book that I haven't read set in the same universe, but I've only been able to find it in German. So I'm going to buy it soon and use it to practice my language learning skills.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (Book)

➵ Every day the prophecy for-telling the return of the Crow God is inching closer. Follow a merchant, a priestess, and a conduit on a unique adventure across a pseudo-Mesoamerican setting.

➵Shut up this book is so cool. It's a dark fantasy novel inspired by Indigenous Mesoamerican culture. How is that not the coolest shit ever?? Roanhorse took great care to research different cultures while writing this book and even has a references page. The setting alone was enough to immediately grab my attention. I'm begging y'all to pick up this book. It's unique, and there was so much love and care put into this book. This book also features a nonbinary character that is a prominent side character, who's actions affect the plot. It is a stand-alone book, but the author has talked about making books similar to this one. She mentioned using the Cahokia site for inspiration. (Cahokia is a Mississippian site in Illinois, USA, the Mississippians being an Indigenous Culture that appeared in parts of the American South and Midwest. It's super exciting stuff, so I linked the wiki page)

[ponyguru]

Tonight I watched all of He-Man: Revelations and most of Centaurworld (I watched the first three episodes like, a week ago?) and I have ... opinions. (And it’s 4:37am, might as well share them while they’re fresh!)

(Warning, this got very long and ranty, sorry for stretching out your dashboards if that’s even still a thing anymore?)

He-Man was entertaining, but it did feel like (as someone with like, less than a passing knowledge of the characters) someone’s super-angsty fanfiction more than like ... a continuing series. They killed off multiple well-known, beloved characters, to drive home the point of how SERIOUS and how HARDCORE this series is, and instead it felt like being a little kid in the 80s watching Optimus Prime get murdered to sell more toys. Like, WHY DID THEY DIE? Oh right, to show the viewer how SERIOUS the bad guys are! And to give the other characters things to angst over, to show you they’re no longer just shallow 80s muscle man stereotypes to sell toys! But then you gotta wonder, where will they go from here? Who’s even left to continue the storyline? Is it still He-Man if half the supporting cast is dead?

Like I said, I’m not a He-Man fan by trade, but aside from the pointless murder, it did seem like it delved into the backstories that a lot of people have probably wanted since the 80s, and it made some very interesting points. So, hey, maybe it’ll be beloved by its fans! And it was very entertaining, especially as someone who wasn’t a childhood fan so I didn’t have a lot of nostalgia that I had to watch die. It doesn’t end on a happy note, there’s definitely the ‘what if the villains WON’ theme going, so maybe my opinion will be less dour when the next part comes out. (I did like that it focused more on the female characters, which was a very unexpected change, and in that aspect I felt it was very well written; that could explain why I’ve heard other screechingly negative feedback elsewhere online, heh. He-Man fans probably don’t appreciate the heavy preference paid to Teela.)

Centaurworld was ... well, I watched the first episode with my mother, which was a Huge Fucking Mistake. I heard that it was a thrilling combination of something akin to Adventure Time and a more serious cartoon like Avatar, and instead I got 10 minutes of that, and then 16 minutes of continuous ass, fart, and poop jokes, combined with a couple of great tunes and a lot of tuneless recitative style “songs”.

If you follow this blog, you probably know toys; you know the Poopsie Surprise toys? The ones which were so obsessed with uncomfortably sexualized poop/fart/barf references that entire scholarly articles were written about the sexualization of children with scatology-themed toys? Yeah, that’s what Centaurworld felt like, almost the whole time. Like just ... an uncomfortable amount of poop/butt/fart “jokes”, to the point where it felt like it had to be one of the writer’s fetishes. Like, it was clearly not funny, and the main character is clearly uncomfortable with it ... and it just keeps going.

I say jokes in scare quotes because jokes are supposed to be funny, and a lot of Centaurworld just wasn’t funny. You could tell it was meant to have jokes, but it was very much dated early-2000s type humor, I want to guess? The kind where it’s not so much ‘setup-punchline’ but the more ‘awkward reference awkward reference awkward reference drawn out wooooord’ type of “jokes”. And most of those “jokes” were just - you guessed it - drawn out references to butts, or farts, or some combination of the two. I felt like an aged boomer watching it. I like to think I’m hip and with the times, but it felt like it should be aimed at a middle schooler - but like, an oversexualized middle schooler? It was uncomfortable to say the least. (One character talks to his farts, claims they talk back to him, and he addresses them as ‘Daddy,’ while another character expresses how uncomfortable that is, and implies he has “issues” to unpack. Because that’s hilarious, I guess?)

Centaurworld did, beneath the heavy layer of scatology, have an intriguing storyline. A warhorse from a LOTR-style world is thrown into a wacky Adventure Time-type land made up of silly centaurs, and has to try and find her way back home. It was thrilling at times, if you could slog through everything else that beleaguered it. There were some really good jokes! But I couldn’t quite muster up a laugh, because I was still wondering when the next butt reference would sneak in. After ten terrible jokes, the one good joke couldn’t manage to lift me from the depth of despair I’d sunken into. It really only felt like the show got ‘tolerable’ around episode 7 (out of ten!!!!), which was an episode heavily focused on cats. (Which, again; wasn’t the internet very much about LOLCats in the early 2000s?)

If six episodes of a ten-episode series is nigh-intolerable, is it a successful show? Should you bother watching something that is 60%+ garbage? (And DON’T FUCKING WORRY, the poop/butt/fart jokes continued UNTIL THE FUCKING FINAL EPISODE.)

I suspect that, if there was a “goal” for all of the fetish stuff (beyond fetish stuff for fetish sake), it would be to illustrate to the viewer how uncomfortable the main character feels in this strange new land, and for us to share in her discomfort. Which, fine, sure! Secondhand embarrassment is definitely a trope. But the sheer uncomfortable volume of the poop/butt/fart jokes clearly went way beyond mere discomfort, and veered into ‘why is this coming up so much, is someone getting off on this?’ territory, at least for me. A couple butt jokes an episode, fine, okay. Entire five minute bits devoted to farts and butts? Entire songs about butts? I start questioning why it’s such a beloved subject for you to write about.

Plus, and I may be reading into this too much, but several of the only Black-coded characters felt racist. I’m talking neck-snapping, tribal body paint type racism, although only one got the exaggerated “soul” type music to sing, which I guess is a relative win? (Waterbaby and Judge Jacket, if you’re wondering who I’m referencing. One of them is a literal hippo centaur, giving us shades of Madagascar.) It wasn’t obvious, but combined with everything else, it felt ... bad. (There are multiple other nonwhite voice actors who aren’t stereotypes, so maybe it was just a bad case of ‘trying to represent different culture while being clueless white people’, who knows?) There was also some classic fatphobia, with one of the villains being shown as a fat neckbeard collector/nerd. Wasn’t that relevant in - wait for it - the early 2000s? They redeem themselves very slightly by having maybe two other characters who are visibly fat, but one of them is also viewed as an antagonist.

Anyway, I was disappointed enough with the show to feel like I should say something, so - there it is. Centaurworld did have some good moments, some lovely songs, and there was some really heartwarming and tender character development that I liked, sandwiched between huge swaths of discomfort. There might be a season 2 (there shouldn’t be, LOL) and hell, I will probably suffer through it because I want to see what happens to them. But I can’t recommend that anyone else do the same, in all good conscience. It’s not good. It’s just not. But if you have 5 hours to kill, there’s worse stuff out there?

If you want to watch one episode to see the best of the series, I recommend episode seven, “Johnny Teatime's Be Best Competition: A Quest for the Sash.” It’s themed after the CATS musical, and the extended number at the end gave me shades of MLP or Fashion Star Fillies. (I found an official clip of the song posted here.) There’s also other lovely songs in the series, but you’d have to suffer through entire bad episodes to see them. The lovely “You’re Okay” shows up in the very first episode, so if you’re curious give that a watch... just be aware it never gets better, only worse.

This series genuinely upset me, because I wanted it to be something much better, and there were glimpses of it; you just had to try and close your eyes to the obsession with butts and farting to see pieces of what it might have been.

One notable fact that I thought was kind of like ‘wow, oof’ was that Meghan McCarthy, of MLP:FiM fame, was a story editor for Centaurworld. And considering how MLP went downhill in later seasons, I gotta say I’m wondering if there’s a commonality there. Maybe her fetish is bad writing? There’s worse fetishes to have, AS CENTAURWORLD CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES.

[promptsausandshit]

Picture this; #387

A Month of Fantasy Prompts;

(Note; While the goal is to do one a day, please go at your own pace, this is for fun after all!)

1.  To keep their new human form they would need to return with the heart of someone who was loved by many, a task that was becoming harder to come to terms with as their time ran out.

2.  “Look, I’m sorry okay! How was I supposed to know those little squiggles were for more than just aesthetic?”

3.  They never thought they’d be haggling the price of their friends life with a sly spider creature, but that’s what happens when you get involved with barmy wizards.

4.  One person goes to the beach a few times a week to teach their new siren friend and their siblings sign language. They are very enthusiastic learners.

5.  No one realises that the prophetic statue is a bit petty and will spout the occasional falsehood for their own amusement.

6.  Archaeologists are exploring some interesting caves when they accidentally solve a riddle and walk straight into a dwarven stronghold in the middle of a feast.

7.  “Only you would willingly drink a truth potion with a silly-straw to prove a point.”

8.  A knight finds themselves in need of a florists knowledge to pass a test and complete their quest.

9.  They really wish that their reflection would stop singing whenever anyone said something close to a lyric, they also wish their flatmate stopped encouraging it.

10.  Turns out the lead singer of a famous screamo band is an actual banshee.

11.  They had been drawn to the other yet not known why until their eyes had met and they realised that their unusual colour was due to their eyes being made of actual gemstones.

12.  Werewolf farmer makes good use of their monthly transformations, leaving scent markers for themselves to follow in order to quickly and thoroughly plough the fields. Results tend to vary.

13.  They woke from their nap to find a baby sphinx curled in their lap and have no idea what to do about this.

14.  “Oh yeah, sure, give the mysterious arcane artefact to the dodgy professor with a very large collection of blood samples, what could possibly go wrong?!”

15.  Vampires don’t need green screen, as such they are quite useful puppeteers and practical effect workers.

16.  Self playing instrument has somehow gained knowledge of musical memes and uses them as it wishes no matter the time, place, situation or company.

17.  A shape-shifter makes a living out of impersonating princesses who are trying to avoid getting caught up in kidnapping plots, prophetic threats or strange marriage arrangements.

18.  Most thought unicorns where tall, lithe and shimmered like pearls but in truth they rarely grew higher than a humans knee, had thick curled coats of fur and came in a variety of earthly colours.

19.  Fae keep breaking in to their apartment to play with their collection of stim toys.

20.  There was once crystal that held the soul of one of the most powerful beings to have ever lived, this crystal has been split and embedded into a crown, a choker and a ring, those who wear them become possessed by the souls power and seek each other.

21.  A kid spending the summer at a camp is secretly investigating what in the lake keeps sinking their paper boats.

22.  Everyone knows that if you want something done right you hire a Wolpertinger to manage it.

23.  Aphrodite has discovered the existence of dating sims and is crashing at a mortals house to play them all, though failed to inform said mortal of this.

24.  “They can’t turn led into gold, but they can turn lords into jesters.”

25.  A tiny doll that was once a human is having a hard time getting their new owner to take them seriously due to how cute they are.

26.  The Goddess of Nature, having found their favoured hunter, bestowed their head with golden antlers and laughed as they struggled. Upon finding the most worthless prey, the goddess cursed them with a wicked poison and shivered as they thrived.

27.  One owl seems very determined to become the familiar of one very confused and very non-magical doctor.

28.  Centaurs are commonly hired as daily assistants to the disabled and elderly, their great strength, speed, mobility and wisdom allows them to not only be efficient helpers but good companions. Though stairs and small spaces are an issue.

29.  The novelty book they bought from a second hand bargain bin for a laugh turned out to be a very real enchanted book of spells that came with it’s own ghost author.

30.  “Dragons love heavy metal! Seriously it’s a perfect gift, trust me!”

31.  Mermaids all seem to have a time period that they consider the most fashionable, as such they have recreated those fashions and are keen to show off their outfits.

Completion Bonus!;

Do a one shot or a sketch for something you love that you haven’t had the chance to do for a while! Or read one chapter of an unfinished story! Or watch one episode or movie of that thing you like! Satisfy whatever urge you have right now, you have all the time in the world for this so relax and treat yourself, you did great!

[tinkkles]

Fighting for my life trying to convince my friends to watch centaur world yes yes it's a silly little show filled with fart jokes and musical numbers but it's so much MORE

[evangeline-perry]

Narnia 3: Peter x OC: part 7

complete series

masterlist

Coriakin and I walk out of the now visible, massive mansion.

���The Oppressor!’ - ‘The Oppressor!’ the creatures Coriakin had identified as Dufflepuds cried out.

‘Alexa’, Peter sighed relieved.

‘Your Majesty’, Coriakin bowed before Caspian and Peter.

‘Caspian and peter. This is Coriakin’, I told them, ‘It's his island.’ They both bow respectfully

‘That's what he thinks’, the dufflepuds objected, ‘You have wronged us, magician.’

Coriakin starts walking towards them, causing the puds to jump and run backwards, ‘I have not wronged you. I made you invisible for your own protection.’

‘Protection? That's oppressive! Oppressor!’

‘I have not oppressed you’, he says calmly.

‘But you could've’, they insisted, ‘if you'd wanted to.’

‘Be gone’, Coriakin says as he throws something.

‘It's a spell!’ the creatures cry out as they run away.

‘What was that?’ I ask the Professor.

‘Lint’, he laughs, ‘But don't tell them.’

‘What were those things?’ Eustace asks confused.

‘Dufflepuds’, he looks back at him while walking to the mansion.

‘Right, of course’, Eustace states sarcastically, ‘Silly me.’

We all walk through the hall, following the professor.

‘What did you mean when you said you made them invisible for their own good?’ I ask Coriakin.

‘It seemed the easiest way to protect them... from the evil.’ he explains.

‘You mean the mist?’ Peter questions.

‘I mean what lies behind the mist.’ Coriakin clarifies

We walk into the library, it looks different than it first did, the ceiling now looks like the night sky, and books flew and circled through it. Coriakin throws out a long map, 

‘That's quite beautiful’, Eustace breathes, ‘I mean, for a make-believe map of a make-believe world.’

A centaur on the map puts a war horn to his lips and blows it. We see armies rush towards each other on the map. I see it shows the battle we had fought against the White Witch the first time we had entered Narnia.

‘There is the source of your troubles’, Coriakin told us. The map moves itself to show an island wrapped in darkness, green and dark mist surrounds it. ‘Dark Island. A place where evil lurks. It can take any form. It can make your darkest dreams come true. It seeks to corrupt all goodness... to steal the light from this world.’

The thought about such evil made me subconsciously put my hand over my stomach as if that would for a barrier to protect it, even though I knew it couldn’t.

‘How do we stop it?’ I ask him.

‘You must break its spell.’, he tells us before turning to Peter, ‘That sword you carry, there are six others.’

‘Have you seen them?’ Peter questions.

‘Yes’, The professor answers.

‘The six lords’, Caspian asks, ‘they passed through here?’

‘Indeed.’

‘Where were they headed?’ Caspian continues.

‘Where I sent them’, the professor tells us, ‘To break the spell... you must follow the Blue Star... to Ramandu's Island.’

The images of the map move and turn to show another island.

‘There, the seven swords must be laid at Aslan's table’, Coriakin told us, ‘Only then can their true magical power be released. But beware... you are all about to be tested.’

‘Tested?’ I ask surprised.

‘Until you lay down the seventh sword, evil has the upper hand’, Coriakin explained, ‘It will do everything... in its power... to tempt you. Be strong. Don't fall to temptation.’

Coriakin walks towards me,

his gaze went from my eyes to my stomach insinuating that he knew. I quickly dropped my hand, looking a little startled at first but then quickly changed it back to a regular expression and hoping Peter hadn’t seen it.

‘To defeat the darkness out there... you must defeat the darkness inside yourself.’

We all looked down, avoiding coriakins hard gaze, before looking up to the blue start floating high above the map.

Back on the boat, there is a really bad storm going on, the ship sways left to right roughly.

Peter asks me to stay inside my cabin just to be safe as he goes to help Caspian in the maproom along with Drinian. I can hear some commands being shouted on deck.

‘Hold!’ - ‘Three spokes to starboard.’ - ‘Aye-aye, sir.’ - ‘More pails here.’ - ‘Pass it down!’ - ‘Heave!’

The night has already fallen, but Peter still hasn’t come to wish me goodnight yet, like he usually did since we couldn’t share a cabin due to ship rules. He is probably still in conference with Caspian, I thought. I was laying in bed, I take the paper from under my blankets.

‘‘Transform my reflection

Cast into perfection

Lashes, lips and complexion

Make me she

Whom I'd agree

Holds more beauty over me.’

I get up and walk towards the full length mirror. My reflection looks like a combination of Susan and myself. My nightgown changes to a blue dress with a black bow. Some impulse causes me to push the mirror open like a door. Music plays and I arrive at something that looks like a dinner party.

‘Ladies and gentlemen...’ a man announced, ‘Mrs Pevensie.’

Soft applause filled the air.

‘She's quite a looker’, I hear a man in army uniform say.

I feel someone loop an arm around mine, it’s Peter.

‘You look beautiful, my darling.’ Peter tells me sweetly, ‘As always.’

‘Peter!’ I say surprised.

‘Excuse me, miss,’ a man with a camera comes up to us, ‘can I get a photo?’

In the corner of my eye I can see a young woman passing by, holding a baby on her arm and a toddler by the hand, seeming to struggle a bit to control the toddler.

‘Smile.’ the cameraman instructed cheerfully.

‘ow what a poor girl’, Peter said as he looks towards the young mother, ‘Her husband left her after their second child was born, so I heard. Good thing I’m not leaving you any time soon, my love.’

I smiles at him, thinking I could tell him now. I put my hand on my stomach, but don’t feel the same warm feeling as I did before.

‘Alexa, what's wrong?’

‘Come on now, miss’, the cameraman insisted, ‘Nice big smile.’

‘Peter, I'm not sure about all this. I think I want to go back.’

‘Go back where?’ Peter questioned confused.

‘To Narnia.’

‘What on earth is Narnia?’

The flashes from the camera get more and more intense.

‘What's going on? Stop this!’

<- PREVIOUS / NEXT ->

[pindl3]

I feel like I'm being recruited into a new fandom but I'm all here for it, pls do tell me more

*agressively shoves the 7 fandoms I said I would catch up on/join under the bed*

Centaur world is... well, a kids show. 7+ rating and all- but it's so much more. The musical aspect just fits. Like it wouldn't be the same show without their random bursts of song, because they aren't random. And the horror part sneaks up on you. The depression of the main character sneaks up on you. The backstory of the "side characters" is important. Their ridiculous, silly powers come in handy in the most stupid of moments- and it fits. It fits perfectly. This show is spontaneous and parts of it leave you uncomfortable because you're experiencing it through the main character. The main character, who's been thrust into a new and strange and ridiculous world. You experience the discomfort, and the pain, and the shock and the confusion. You feel how strange it is, because this new world is so different. You get used to the weird parts along with the main character. You follow along, you feel the emotions, and it fits. It fits so stupidly well. The musical numbers and the magic and the crazy spontaneous choices come and go and you learn to accept things- with the main character. You experience everything just as much as the main character, some less, some more. But it fits. Centaur world is beautiful and wild and shocking and spontaneous and so little makes any sense but it fits.

[toonytoodles]

WIP - Info dump, [TBN project]

-

About the world -

It's similar to a ren faire, there's a mix of the midevial and modern worlds, where wearing a wizards cloak is as common as wearing a t-shirt and jeans, there's modern technology as well as old, and a mix of magic and science. Their earth is different than our own, they have two moons and a pink sky, their grass is blue and there are multiple species that inhabit the world, humans live there, but so do fairies, giants, elves, centaurs, manticores, and many more.

-

About the town -

Their town is known as Tradeskeep, it's a small town where travellers and adventurers often pass through, the town has a multitude of shops for anything an adventurer may need, such as potions, weapons, and more. There's also a tavern and an inn, so those passing through may rest. This town has older technologies and relies more on magic than science, and acts as a rest stop, it's sort of a small town, a good place to lay low during your travels, though beware of the wildlife, and know that all sales are final. The locals are all very friendly and used to tourists, but dont take kindly to thieves or those who incite violence.

-

Holidays/celebrations -

*Winter holidays:

*Fire festival - Cold blooded folks gather to celebrate fire, giving thanks to the warmth that helps them survive during this time of year. It's an ancient tradition hundreds if not thousands of years old, said to have started when dragons first began breathing fire. It's celebrated by gathering together in a festival, the festivities include fire dancing, shows, traditional foods and deserts, music, and games! It also includes watching the dragon migration that flies overhead the festival, and on the rare occasion a dragon lands to rest, it's customary to offer it food. Cold blooded families have celebrations in their homes, exchanging gifts and having a large meal known as "the feast of flames."

*Troploch - A day celebrated by all! On this day hundreds of years ago, the tribes of different species came together and made peace, exchanging offerings and having a great feast to celebrate. This holiday is very meaningful to everyone, the way different species and cultures have come together, it'd be hard to imagine life any other way, especially since most people now have friends and family of other species. This day is celebrated in a simple way, friends and family come together and appreciate that they can be together. This can be celebrated in multiple ways, many people give each other gifts, come together to eat a feast, some sing songs, some do all of the above! However it's celebrated, it's just important to appreciate those around you, as it hasn't always been this way. Many also participate in the traditions of other cultures, for example, a human and a draconic may celebrate both Gjivun and the Fire Festival together.

*Oge'hnn - A silly tradition started decades ago by a child concerned about their borrower friends, but now everyone does it. It's mostly a holiday for borrowers; food, treats, and small trinkets are left out in an offering for borrower families, ensuring that small families have full bellies during the holidays, and even the tiniest of children get a present.

*Jeidiku - A religious holiday, a week is spent fasting before a large feast is had, but it's customary to read from the texts before eating. This is usually a time to repent for any sins, forgive those who've wronged you, a make resolutions for the next year

*Gjivun - Another religious holiday, for this holiday, trees are decorated and presents are put under it for the entire family, there's also a large meal on this day. On this holiday, the day starts by an elder reading the text before beginning the festivities.

*Other holidays throughout the year:

Civirillii - Long long ago, giants were seen as savage monsters, often hunted or hurt for simply existing and trying to survive. They never fought back, many died, and the rest became good at hiding, leading many to think they were nearly extinct. It wasn't until a young human found and befriended a young giant that this changed. He defended his giant friend, and changed the minds of his village, leading to the idea that giants could be trusted. This small village ended up making a huge difference to giants all over the world.

Mjfnor -

A coming of age ritual, where one officially becomes an adult, celebrated by nearly every culture, but some have different names for it, such as Ednder, Giftnik, etc.,

Infinahgan -

A holiday celebrated by elementals, simply a celebration of life, where they tell tales of their ancestors and Infinahgans long ago

Celebrations:

Anniversaries are celebrated, days where couples first met or wed, days where one first came into the world, etc.,

Species notes (basically pokedex entries lol):

*Draconics:

The subtype [TBN] are one of the most common types of Draconics, their skin tones are typically a snowy shade of white, and their scale colors ranging from red-pink-purple, this species of Draconics are fire breathers, and are mildy venomous. Their tail tips are shaped like arrows, an easy way to tell if a Draconic is venomous. In this species, both the males and females have tails, but there's a difference between them; the males have short tails, whereas once females reach maturity, they typically have longer tails, another difference between the two is that only the males have wings. In this spieces, they reproduce sexually and lay eggs, the eegs are large and are often spotted like a sparrows egg. There's no way to know if the egg is male or female until it hatches, and the egg takes about 9 months to hatch, having to be kept warm at all times. Once hatched, they are quite large, about the size of a three month old, and are able to open their eyes, and though uncommon, some have teeth, ready to eat food, but besides those traits are raised like any other child. This sub species of draconics are cold blooded, and their temperature should be considered at all times, as it could mean life or death. Draconic scales are very strong, and it's said that if a Draconic should show you their underbelly while laying down (ESPECIALLY ABSENT MINDEDLY) that they trust you with their lives, as that is their biggest weak point, it means that they see you as family, and in certain circumstances, it could potentially mean that they see you as a partner.

[In the Draconic species, there are many variants, far to many to be described. There are various species of Draconic, some breathing fire, others ice, and even energy and electricity, some have wings while others don't, some have spines and different types of scales, but here I'm mainly discussing Avery's particular subtype, and eventually return to fill in the other variants/subtypes]

*Giants:

Giants are basically large humans, they aren't much different, they just require more space, food, & patience

*Fairies: Fairies are born about half an inch tall with small wings, having their wings grow with them as they age. They can get from 4-7" tall, and at age 15 can gain minimal size shifting, from their regular size to about 4-5' tall, this is exhausting and short lasting, but it's a good ability to learn. Fairies can't fly when their wings are wet, and can't change size when contained.

[This is for my own version of fairies, as everyone has their own interpretations of them]

*Anthropomorphics:

They walk up right, wear clothes and have poseable thumbs, they're a lot like people; but still look like animals, traits from their species, and at times have animalistic behavior. Examples of this include rabbits having good hearing, cats being able to see in the dark, etc., Animalistic behavior is mostly displayed at a young age, and is usually grown out of at a couple of years old. Though sometimes their animalistic (or "savage,") behavior comes out when it's triggered, often when feeling they're in a life or death situation, it's an adrenaline rush that is displayed differently in their species.

*Borrowers:

Borrowers are born very small, and with very protective parents. Typically young borrowers aren't even seen until they're 3-4 years old, as parents try to keep them safe until they're old enough to understand how fragile their species is. When around this species, be aware of your surroundings, your actions, your movements and tone of voice, from the perspective of a borrower everything you do matters.

*Elementals:

There are several classes of elemental; Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Cloud, Slime, Wood, and Electric. This species is genderless, and they have a strange way of reproducing, though as they get older they may choose to assign themselves a gender. Many go by they/them pronouns, and that's sort of the default, but many choose to go by different pronouns, it's sort of an issue among elementals. There's not much anatomy, they're entirely made up of one substance, they have no bones or organs, or eyes- so they sense vibrations to "see," they can't smell either, but they can feel and can sense movement. It can be hard to tell if a bucket of water is sentient- but in this world you have to be careful, when sleeping, elementals revert to the natural form of their element, for example, a water elemental becomes a puddle of water, often choosing to sleep in buckets, fishbowls, cups, etc., this is especially common for very young elementals, they'll sleep wherever they can, in whatever they can. Unknown to most, elementals have a "tether," something that holds them together, so if a water elemental is submerged in water they're not lost forever. Most elementals choose a small clear marble to be their child's tether, as it's not obvious where it is, but really anything can be used. If a tether is taken, the elementals form is lost. If a tether is broken, the elemental dies. So many choose a clear tether, or one not easily found, in an effort to protect their children, as it can be seen as a huge weakness, that some cruel individuals would take advantage of.

[More species information will be updated as it is available]

[artdjgblog]

Innerview: ? / STEP Inside Design

December 2006

Poster: DJG Design

Note: Interview about winning the STEP 100 for a poster.

0​1) Do you personally like DeVotchKa’s music? In other words, were you personally attached to this design? Or to the band?

First of all, if I wasn’t personally attached to my work then I would quit design altogether. This is why I skipped the whole real job format and stuck to my own no-money-making, yet, wealth-of-design-freedom GUNS… (A Little History) I was attending a concert by the great M. Ward a couple years ago in Omah, NE and was blown away by his opening act. It’s rare to experience something truly pure and straight from the source in person. I felt an intense passion and power displayed by DeVotchKa that night. Something that really came from deep inside​ ​the heart/gut and I longed to be a part of that. Immediately I wanted to marry my design to this band (I know this all sounds pretty big cheese, but I really feel an attachment with things that possess an actual soul). After the show I chickened-out at the idea of approaching the band. So, I stuck to my quiet ways and waited for them to come to my town. Eventually, they came to Kansas City, MO as an opening act again. I didn’t have enough notice to make anything for the show so I waited some more. They came back half a year later, headlining just a few blocks away from my house (this was my design chance that you now see in this magazine). And ironically, DeVotchKa is getting ready to take stage just forty minutes away from my fledgling writer fingers. Originally I was scheduled to attend tonight. Sadly, a lack of funds, a sick wife, house guests, a mountain of work and a Monday night keep me locked in the basement. DeVotchKa is blasting on my speakers and I can’t think of a better alternate place to be this evening. Oh well, the last DeVotchKa show was absolutely perfect and I’d like to leave that impression for a while longer. Trust me, the show was way better than my poster that represented it. ​0​2) What inspired you to make this design? The majority of the time a client can be linked to my posters. But, sometimes I just make them for the heck of it. Usually this is on occasion for bands/musicians that I really enjoy and wish to help spread the word about (and, I just like to make things). I found that some of my more memorable/enjoyable posters come this way. I DO work with a couple of venues/people first-hand, and carry a great relationship. However, for some shows it can be quite a shoestring to get to the bottom of making posters officially. I realize that some designers might think I’m working around the system a bit and possibly stepping on toes. But what’s the matter with just making something for the heart of it? There is no harm in that. It’s like when I was a ten and spent my hours penciling a life-sized, detailed drawing to commemorate Batman. It’s the exact same thing to me…me just really enjoying something and paying a tribute to it. The posters are also a self-promotion and more importantly help the venue and artists out. Everybody is a winner in my book. The Design Gods know I don’t make any money at the dang thing…all of those in declining favor can do ME a favor and find real world problems to moan over. Another thing is that I simply don’t have the time or resources to make the hundreds (or thousands) of posters that some promoters might request with a big show. I’ve had more praise than problem with making posters without permission…but, I bet some of the real hot-shot guys would hang me for it. Now, there’s a poster to get worked-up ugly over! Anyway, inspiration came from me liking DeVotchKa’s music along with my want to sit in the basement with a bad back…to pay them back in the only way I half-way know how to. ​0​3) Was there anything or one that influenced you? People have an easy-hard time wrapping questions like this one around my work. Like I said previously, I just felt like making this. I sat down and interpreted what DeVotchKa meant to me at that moment. Any other moment it would have been different. For instance, I made a poster for their show tonight. It consists of hand-cut, ornate, spray painted type that is overlapping 47 crudely-drawn, prancing ponies on lime green paper. It’s not very much like this poster (the one STEP picked), other that it’s really nothing special and it captures what I felt to be a moment in DeVotchKa’s music…or at least when I was listening/creating. It’s just where I felt like going at the time of departure. This image came and I grinned…problem solved. If I have to really work at something, then it becomes work. And you can always spot the ones that didn’t work for me. On influences…I got bushes and buckets of them (that’s another interview). In general I can’t go anywhere or do anything without absorbing in everything…it can be good and bad. I can read peeled billboards and restroom scribbles with ease, but I have a hard time with restaurant menus. Graphic design and so-called art saved and ruined me. But, it’s the only thing I really like to do (other than watch movies and listen to music…and eat junk). It’s important to me to just try and soak-up lots of things…especially the little, ordinary elementary things. A crummy day job has to be worked to keep the basement lights on. Though, I keep the actual design lights on 24-7. With a limited leash on my actual time to work on design, I don’t have time to mess around. This is where outside daily absorption comes in handy. Let’s say I need a centaur (like in this poster)…well, I just grab one from the place I keep the centaurs in my head. Which, is basically my Dad’s arms spread-out to coax a big ol’ bull into a pen…right before the bull kicks Dad in the gut and then he busts a fence board over that bull’s head. Growing up on a farm taught me to pay attention…and never make my dad angry. And I keep stockpiles of all types of things at arm’s length to reach and grab and just make and do. I like to have a good time with it. I don’t really consider it work. ​0​4) Does the conglomerative nature of DeVotchKa’s music influence the collage-like nature of the design, with all of its parts and motifs? Why did you choose this particular aesthetic? Very rarely do I make a premeditated aesthetic design choice. I’m very strict with not restricting myself. A lot of the time I’ll just have the idea in my head. I do-do sketches…but, they always ramble on and I tend to always go back to that initial idea in my head. So, then it’s all about putting clothes on it. Simply, I just go. It’s exciting to have an idea and then watch it grow. I’m sure that if America could design their children before pregnancy/birth (maybe even pick them off the shelf), we sure would. Personally, I like the purity of letting something develop. My designs are my babies. I like to hold hands with them and when they grow-up they are chosen to represent some design competition…and then I’m asked to bail them out by way of trying to answer questions. It can be pretty embarrassing. I like to just let them speak for themselves. But, people like answers. Yeah, I’ve been called a collage artist, an assembler. Mainly because the bulk of the designs are build with my hands. The computer is just a production tool for me (and a late night time saver/savior). I’m instantly encouraged to push things further if such “collage-like” labels arise. I have got to stay ahead of myself because I’m my only competition. But in the end, isn’t all design “collage-like” in some fashion? I guess the way I built this design ended up marrying to DeVotchKa’s music properly. Honestly, I never really thought about it. It just felt good and right to me. I suppose it did to you too? ​0​5) What are you most satisfied with regarding the design? This is a funny question. It sounds like I’m dying or going away (which, is sorta true in the grand scheme). I guess I’m just happy with the silly idea of being able to find a bit of time in life to do something like this. To slow it all down to the speed of a little Exacto blade slice, pencil scratch or thumb-print. Sitting by my self is very important to me. It helps me. A lot of people get bored when they are alone. I’ve never understood that. Some of my more wholesome life moments have come by way of sitting on my rear, making things for the heck of it. But, I don’t want to get into all that artsy junkyard talk. It DOES mean a lot to me whenever the work reflects well to others. I don’t care what you/they get from it. Just the fact that it speaked a spark of something, of anything, means so much to me. It’s nice to hand out brain smiles. Something of me has got to have some personality because me in person is pretty boorish (and not good to look at). Overall, I don’t find this design to be special or original. It’s probably been done a billion times before…and better. Posters are the same as pop songs. But, this is my blood…my pop song with a twist…and a wink. ​0​6) I noticed the messiness, the thumb-prints, the smudges. It gave it a nice kind of die-hard fan making a logo for their favorite band feeling. Was there a reason for this kind of aesthetic technique? Is this particular to or for the band and/or is this a DJG style? Is it to go along with the feel of DeVotchKa’s Music? As a child with many acres to roam in the country, I was dirty all the time. That’s carried over to now when I roam for answers at the design table. The difference is that thankfully my mom doesn’t hose me off at the back door anymore. (Fast Forward) In design school we didn’t jump to the computer right away. One day my friends were grumbling about how they couldn’t wait to start designing on computers. I told them that I was going to take the more hands-on approach…the route that didn’t need computers. I was dead serious. All of those previous years building things by hand and getting dirty, conditioned me to think this way. I even thought that typography was creating the layout of land by building map sculptures by hand (boy, was I disappointed). My friends thought I was a complete idiot and tried to set me straight. It’s really funny now because most of them aren’t even doing graphic design anymore and I sit and make most things with my hands and really love it. While learning computers I didn’t like how I couldn’t physically touch what I was working with. I couldn’t get around the screen barrier confidently. And the bulk of computer graphics and design firms felt so lifeless and seemed to lack passion and soul. I preferred something that felt like a human being was responsible for it. Computers are appreciated greatly, but they are just a tool. Smudges, marks, thumb-prints and so-ons are evidence of a human element. Hardly do I ever remove those elements. There is something pure, matter-of-fact, cave-like and very of-the-moment about them. They help narrate the story and reveal the process of life. Is this a DJG style? Well, I don’t know what that means. I’ll answer yes, I suppose. It’s nothing I strive to achieve or be known for branding sake. Each new day to me is a new style on my brain and soul. Whether its design, music or movies, I long for the attraction of immediacy (I suppose I’m using this word correctly?)…to me, its something that feels lived-in and instantly speaks in its own way. But, has a down-to-Earth familiarity to it that makes you want to really listen and come back for more. It’s something authentic and with a soul that shows it’s been spit-shined. I feel this way especially about the work of Saul Steinberg, Henryk Tomaszewski, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry, ElliottbSmith…and…child drawings, folk art, hand-drawn type/signs, cuts, scribbles and marks. (to name a few). …and I don’t trust a man with clean hands. Or a man that won’t let his kids dig up the yard. ​0​7) What is the explanation behind the cows? The Wine bottle? Why is the poor wine-bottle-girl stepping on her own head? Those are centaurs, not cows. While most centaurs have the body of a horse, mine have a cow!…and with big horns on their heads (at least in this depiction). I also tend to make my animals pretty meaty. I keep them well-fed! For some reason I couldn’t get the centaurs out of my head with this poster. I draw it to the whole animal instinct in human nature. Even better is that the wine bottle woman is a centaur too. She wears a skirt made of her ex-lovers’ hides, trophies of the ones she’s conquered (except for the couple that are getting away with some dignity left). She definitely means business. To flip it around, the centaurs can also represent the idea of climbing a mountain of struggle…it could be relationships, bad luck, a loss of faith or addiction. It’s all subjective, really. I enjoy hearing what others interpret from the design(s). The lead singer for DeVotchKa drinks from a wine bottle in-between each song. This image in my head from their live sets must explain the wine reference. I get the sense that he’s been through some battlefields with the ladies. With the woman spilling the skull under her heels…well, the band has a song called “Death by Blonde” (or something like that). I always get a good giggle at that mangled face on a stick! I don’t know much more about how it came along. I just sat and spit it up. I cut the start and the finish ribbons and was happy with the run. ​0​8) It seems as if you are referencing some mythology here. What is it? Did you create it? Or is it something the band references? I’m no scholar in mythology (or anything for that matter), so it’s definitely just a piece that I’ve pieced together in my own head and on paper…to make it part of my mythology. I just like a design that says something. Each design of mine tries to tell a story. It must be talking to you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. (I’m sorry to answer this question so short) ​0​9) What motivates you? What makes/how do you define good design? An aspect of motivation to me (like I’ve said before) is the ability to slow things down and sit alone…to simply make things. I’ve always been a big supporter of my own time. I get so much out of design by way of discovery. Not just for design-sake, rather it’s important for me to do it to help understand myself a bit more. If there is anybody to shovel and burn the coal in my world, well it’s definitely gotta be me. Though, all that time alone has caused me to acquire a major case of social inadequacies (among other things). But, I’ve always carried a heavy backpack ever since I can remember. I’ve also had to make many sacrifices in other areas of life. And I’ve also gained so much and am learning to manage things a bit better as I earn some years. Still, there are times when I’ve wanted to slice my design limb off, or maybe just do things for myself completely. Maybe I’m just too dramatic or need a vacation? I’m also my only competition/enemy. Even though my work ethic, excitement, goals, and bulky portfolio are over-exhaustive (to you and to me)…I still think I’m the laziest guy in my room. (I’ve touched base on the following too…) Good design to me is defined by something that moves me…something with heart and identifiable to the human spirit. True, it’s all subjective, but there is a fine line too. I’m just not a big fan of snobs and elitists. Most of the time I’d rather talk with an every-day person, struggling to work two jobs as a school lunch cook-office cleaner, than a group of fancy-pants designers with clean fingernails…it just feels more real to me. And I don’t mean to offend anybody here. Awkward as I may be…I will talk with anybody. I DO love talking about my work with interested people. But it’s good for me to get away from the work and talk about everyday things (I know I’m running circles right now, sorry). Good design has also got to have something to say, and the majority of the time it’s gotta have great humor! I like to get a giggle. It brightens my day to see something and say, “Look at that! It’s great!” And most of the time I’m referring to a crumpled shopping list, a great hand-made thrift store find, handwriting samples or a child’s drawing. I do have my art and graphic design heroes, but there is great everyday stuff that makes up the design of the real world. Whenever I go to most gallery shows, art and design ends up feeling lifeless to me for several days. A college professor once told me that there is no good and bad design, only smart and stupid. I tend to keep that in mind. I’m sure you are bored with this by now and are scratching at what I’m probably not really saying right now. Sorry to ramble on. But, I trust it helps understand a bit for you…it does for me. I thank you so much for your time, patience and interest. -djg