#I haven't giffed anything from the book group yet but I have the first series on dvd

[gottagobackintime]

hi! just wanted to thank you for your fantastic and committed job making gifs(specially the james lance ones 🤝🏻) Can assure you they are very appreciated 😌🫶🏻

Aww, thank you! I'm really happy to hear that people enjoy them. I feel like I'm spamming people haha. I love making gifs of him, because I get to stare at him for hours haha, no but seriously, I really appreciate your appreciation ❤

[xamag-draws]

BBR thoughts 2024

Since I mentioned that I finally dusted off an old project of mine and was ruminating on how I'd remake it, I thought I'd elaborate a little, now that I've solidified some concepts. For funsies

This is gonna be a bit of a long and unfocused one, but I don't share my personal thoughts here often, especially the stuff about my projects I always marinate in. And for once it's something that people have existing context for, so hey why not

So for anyone who hasn't been following me for a gajillion years, The Black Brick Road of OZ was a webcomic that I posted around 2013-2015, back when I was in highschool going on college (which is kinda crazy to think about). It was sort of a darker twist on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, although I definitely leaned a lot more into dark humor more than anything in those first few chapters

I don't think it's available to read anywhere anymore, and I know people have been asking me about it. So here's the full proper archive of BBR, as full as it can be with deceased Flash

I totally used it as an excuse to shamelessly and self-indulgently experiment. It had interactive pages and GIFs and was wayyy too overproduced for what I could handle or what was necessary, but I did have great fun making it while it lasted

Unfortunately, that excess and the fact that I've changed too much as a person by the time I was in college is what ultimately killed it. The direction I wanted to go in was practically unrecognizable from the original idea started back in 2011, so there were many old hold-ups that I felt ruined it

At the time I kinda wished I could start/rewrite it all over, but considering that I pretty much had the entire script done at that point, it felt like a pointless sisyphean task. So I just put it on a shelf and didn't look back for about 8 years, because I didn't know what else to do

Now to be fair, the nature of my art has always been iterative and cyclical; when I feel like my creative juices have run dry I prefer to leave a project to marinate and move on to something else; cycle through other old things and bring in new skills and perspectives into the mix when I'm ready again. Not very productive, but it is what makes me happy to work on my OCs; I'm doomed to hit a wall with them eventually and I need some time to be able to find a new direction

So that said, I'm glad that BBR was left to marinate for that long. I don't think I was prepared, emotionally or intellectually, to tackle it again until now. The Wizard of Oz book (and the entire series of them, really) has always been near and dear to my heart, but there's a lot of context around it that I'm only unpacking now that I'm older

I think I always inherently feel negatively about the stuff I've made in the past, like its faults always jump out to me more than the positives, especially the more time passes. I've never liked that, and I do really appreciate the kind things people have to say about BBR to this day. The fact that it still can be recognized and remembered is very sweet

When I left it, I already found it "kinda cringe", and that feeling only deepened with years. When I took my first look back at it, asking the question "how would I rewrite it now?", at first I took a very cynical approach, as in "everything would have to be torn down"

But the more I sat on it, the more I found that I still see some merit and charm in the ideas I was putting out; I just didn't know how to execute them at the time (not to pretend that I know what I'm doing now, but I certainly know more at least). Turns out a lot of my old concepts could be changed substantially with just a few small tweaks. So I'd say that's a nicer way to think about my previous work

If you haven't seen yet, I posted a first draft of my new designs for some of the characters (the main group, the Goods and the Wickeds). Definitely subject to change, but more or less how I see them now

I'm just playing with these concepts; by no means would I attempt to remake BBR right this moment. Call it a pipe dream among my other ones. But just for fun, this is the direction I'd like to take:

Nowadays I'd probably make it a visual novel, with more emphasis on the visual part than the novel because I'm no English prose writer by any means. It'd still let me play a little with the interactivity while helping cut some corners on the drawing part (only some, I imagine I'd go hog wild anyway)

I've always intended for some events inspired by the sequel books to take place in BBR's past. Stuff like Jinjur's revolt or Ozma's rule preceeds the main events here. So I think it would be fun to follow the past of a few key characters alongside the main story. One chapter focusing on the present quest to see the Wizard, then one focusing on the past events (that are maybe reflective thematically); rinse and repeat

I'm also sticking a little closer to the original text in some regards. Not everything that I enjoy from the books would be translated here, it's still just a very loose fantasy on the material; but I'd like to be closer in spirit at least

I like mature, wise and powerful Glinda, I like kind and vulnerable Tin Man, I like the Wizard being a pathetic yet loveable liar, so I'm sprinkling in more of that for example

I'd like to keep some whimsy, but make it more grounded and a bit more serious to be coherent in tone. I think the original TWWOOZ book was a more realistic fantasy in some ways, even for the standards of the time; I like its simple but vivid tactile descriptions and details like bringing attention that Dorothy needed to eat and sleep

I find it funny that Baum specifically was averse to making his books scary or unpleasant, finding that unnecessary for telling a compelling kids story, but they still can get pretty dark and disturbing, at least for our modern sensibilities. Let's just say that I intend to use the Evoldo and Chopfyt storylines for my purposes. In that way, I feel like a "darker" Wizard of Oz retelling can still mostly be tonally in line with the original and balance it with enough heart and occasional humor

I slowly grew to appreciate the quaint old-timey quality of the original series, as well. The first book is both timeless and very much a product of the 1900s. Originally I tried to give it a little modern or at least anachronistic spin, but it was moreso because it's what I knew best, so these days I'd rather intentionally lean into the time period. Still not fully historically accurate by any means, but at least directly acknowledging the influence

The events of the story span across 40 years of these characters' lives, so I'm drawing inspiration from the entire so-called La Belle Epoque: the time period around 1880s-1920s. Basically I'm cooking, and my soup is old Victorian fashion morphing into Edwardian fashion and slowly inching towards flappers

Some new Dolly outfits

Lots of crazy things, political changes and innovations were happening at the turn of the century, which I think is noted and reflected by Baum in the books as well; the character of Tik-Tok might not blow any minds now, but he was one of the first robot characters in literature at that point; and don't even get me started on Jinjur, etc. Plenty of really interesting stuff one could lightly ponder in an Oz adaptation these days

Aesthetically, art nouveau has always been a big artistic influence for me, and it'd definitely be its time to shine here. John R. Neill's illustrations of the Oz books often keep me company as well. Nouveau architecture in particular fits that fairytale whimsy extremely well imo

I'd allow myself a little bit of art deco here and there, but ultimately its intimidating geometrical splendor is an antithetical to the flowery nature of nouveau and I associate it with a completely different era. Definitely fitting some characters like my Wicked Witch of the West, but shouldn't be overused

One of my main problems with the original BBR was that eventually I lost track of what it was even about; and the original ending felt too mean and unfulfilling to be worth it. Now I'd like to stick to the theme of home and family as my main theme, but in a different, more bittersweet way than in the book

An interesting connection I made is that a lot of my aforementioned older key characters (the Witches, Jinjur, the Nome King, etc) all came from the same reformatory as kids, that's how they know each other. In my recent research I learned that in those reformatories it was usually frowned upon to release the children back to the families, which were seen as the original corrupting influence regardless of the circumstance. The reformatory did everything in its power to cut that connection and make itself the only family those wayward kids were supposed to know and love. That's an unexpected tie into the theme of home that I'd like to explore as well

So yeah that's the current state of it. I have a bunch of outfit concepts I'm slowly cooking, although I'm now sure whether I'd post them... But I do miss these funny guys, and I'm glad some people still do as well :)

[coffeekobold]

Mini Bio & Plans

Name : Evans

Gender : Male

Height : 1.8m or around 6 feet tall I think

Country : Greece

Picture I have as a background :

I have a lot since I like changing so here are some of them :

Where do you see yourself in 10 years :

As far as profession goes, if I continue the same line of thought, I will be either a software developer or another programming related profession focused in group projects. As far as myself in 10yrs. I wanna see me realized the dreams of me traveling the world. I want that "me" to have gone to London, visit Germany, walk through the beautiful Venice with my girlfriend and more.

If you could live/be anywhere else right now where you go? :

First of all London, even if I haven't gone there (yet) I still like the Moody weather and feeling it gives you. People I know and live there often tell me it's Moody and not sunny and bright like Greece. But I like Moody and rainy. I find it comfortable. And I don't like our warm-hot weather. Another plan would be LA but that would be from a economic and professional reasons, since I don't know much about it but I would like to live there.

Favourite Halloween Custome:

Last October (which was the first time me and my group of friends attempted a Halloween party) I made a vampire bartender costume . It wasn't anything extraordinary, it was the classic London bartender outfit, with pale skin, with the neck of the suit bloodied a bit. With a bloodied napkin in the front pocket. I was planning to accompany it with fake fangs and somewhat of a messy blood stain in the area of the mouth. I found the idea so appealing. Also I had thought of 3-4 Halloween spooky cocktails to make.👻

The Halloween party was canceled tho Q...Q 😭

The costume was a combination of these :

Favourite 90s show, series or show :

Lucifer and Harry Potter probably

Last Kiss: Ok it might not be the last but its the one I remember the most. It was the only relationship I ever had. It was the night, I had asked her out to go and watch a movie and after it ended we started walking, we found a small children's park and as we silly played we talked about our dreams and wants and as we kept discussing. I stopped her, went in front of her and kissed her. I was told and I admit it was a terrible and messy kiss. (well excuse me) after that I confessed to her and told her I liked her. I still remember myself jumping around like a 5yrs old when she said yes and I kept thinking about the kiss while I was walking home. It might not be the last kiss but I only have (fond) memories of the first kiss.

Have you've been stood up? : No

Have you've been to Las Vegas: No

Favourite shoes - I don't have so I will go with favourite clothes. It's this coat they often wore in London in the movies. I always wanted one

This style :

Favourite fruits: Lemons, tangerines, bananas

Stupidest thing you ever done:

Seriously this took a lot of thought, I think the most stupid think I ever done is the philosophy I had and still s Iomewhat have. I wouldn't call it "afraid to live a little" more like it was like if I lower my expectations and wants I would lower my responsibilities, and what's expected of me. Don't know if it makes sense tho. I am confused now🤔😣😵

Favourite song : Living in a world without you (Rasmus), Craving you (Thomas Rhett)

Favourite gif :

Favourite Book: the novel: I Shall Seal The Heavens

I TAGG :

@shadowglimpse I demand you write this

@an-introverts-tmblr I know Carina tagged you but I don't have a lot of people. Think of it as a join project from 2 people, a merge or smth

@nicokont your sheddule is empty nowadays come on.

@daidaragotsu if you feel like it