#putting more thematic tags on this because this an actual proper drawing. look at my art boy

[itoastedatoaster]

Next drawing for @bobovember! Day 18: Waiting :) giga my beloved

~ Commission Sheet | Ko-Fi ~

[varyupon]

destiel-honeypie replied to your photo “@destiel-honeypie Gonna answer your ask here and combine it with...”

It sounds like an awesome but sad story, could you maybe please tag me if you upload something from the story? But also it's really sad that you experienced something like that, I would like to help but I can't I guess. But if you need something that I can provide just ask me I'm happy if I can help.

@destiel-honeypie​

HONESTLY CURIOSITY TOWARDS MY ORIGINAL STUFF IS ALL I CAN DREAM OF! Especially since I don’t get to talk about them much. If anything, “Everyday Christmas” was the last project I thought I would be able to talk about, especially because of it’s subject matter and how much I put myself into it.

But also I’ve drawn JACK on it, so here’s legitimately all I have of the project development assets that I have thus far.

I’m not kidding when I say the project has a 2% completion status over on my original project lineup list but here we go.

I remember very clearly that I drew Ange way back in 2014 during US Government class in high school, but I’ve since lost that doodle and I hope to find it. TBH tho, not much has changed in terms of Ange’s design from their current counterpart.

Now the reason why I’m at a stalemate with even CHARACTER DESIGNS is because I honestly don’t know what design style this should be animated in.

Which seems like a strange sentiment, but I’m long past explaining my feelings towards handling art styles, so you can read that explanation HERE.

I drafted the screenplay way back in 2015 under the name “DIV-IN” (short for “Divine Intervention” as a temp title) and I printed it physically for posterity’s sake recently.

Around the time I attempted to do this, I still did not understand how screenwriting worked, since at this time I didn’t think about taking taking animation seriously. Much less screenwriting , since I didn’t value myself as a writer. At all. AT ALL.

Here’s a preview of what this temp script contains:

....You can tell a highschooler wrote this lmao. This script will most definitely be scrapped and redone from scratch sometime. Hopefully.

As for design works, since I was in high school with my IRL bestie @mmhinman​ at the time I legit could not for the life of me find the appropriate faces (not design--faces.) for these characters despite having the story down somewhat so I asked her to scribble something for me during passing period. (All I asked for was that these characters need to be fun and easy to draw since the story already hurts to tell, and most of my projects are complex AF in the design department so I wanted some leeway.)

She gave me this:

(The paper is so old, it’s starting to yellow lmao.)

So on the back, I decided to adapt it.

Here are the very first few developmental sketches of the “Boy” and “Mom” characters. (The dad, I have no idea but I have an inkling that I’ll mention in the next bit.)

And then after these sketches were done I put this project on the shelf to work on “The Fledgling.”

It wasn’t until 2017 where I started to get interested in drawing “DIV-IN” since I gained a lot of experience after “The Fledgling” and the preproduction of “Like Glass” began that I wanted to stray away from the original designated aesthetic to be more akin to the works of Yoshihiko Umakoshi (namely his stuff in Casshern Sins and Ojamajo DoReMi--the latter being a childhood favorite of mine.)

The one thing that’s holding me back on this aesthetic being the defining style for the whole project is that I’m super attached to how Ange themself looks--but the style of Ange harkins to my fascination with Lynn Okamoto’s work specifically the adapted designs of “Gokukoku no Brynhildr.” (And a little bit of “Pita Ten.”)

To this day, I’m still torn between the two aesthetics. I haven’t drawn the “Father” character yet because he will look in accordance of the mechanics of the chosen character design style.

If I go the “Umakoshi” route, he’ll probably look something akin to “Braiking Boss” from “Casshern Sins.”

And if I go the “Okamoto” route, then I might look into his other design works for inspiration

Idk if he’ll actually look like Bando specifically but the thought has crossed my mind.

The title was officially finalized this past year in 2018 when I sat down and simmered in trying to find an appropriate title to encompass the whole project on a thematic level. (Especially since I couldn’t take calling it “DIV-IN” anymore lmao.)

And that is literally all I have to “Everyday Christmas” at this current time.

My first mission if I were to deep-dive into it’s production and actually finish writing/drawing it in prep for animation I’d have to find that very first sketch I did of Ange since it’s very important to me, and then round out the final character designs of all the characters. And maybe find proper names for them unless I marry myself to the framing conceit that “this is a fairytale-like story” to heart.

And it may seem like I’m plugging this in a lot but it really is true. If you’re fascinated with “Everyday Christmas” on a writing standpoint, then I really have to mention that it’s a very....uh....straightforward in it’s character writing and themes. As in, there’s very clearly defined “categories” you can sort parties in. (PARENTS=BAD, KID=GOOD, ANGE=GRAY AREA)

Now if you’d like about the same kind of seriousness in the storytelling but crafted much more poignantly and have characters MUCH more nuanced and in grayer areas...That regard would go to the current project I’m writing, “Sow Don’t Sing.” 

I actually compare “Everyday Christmas” and “Sow Don’t Sing” a LOT because the two are the darkest stories I’ve come up with to date despite their mega differences in execution. They also both contain a lot of my own personal feelings and how I’ve come to understand them, especially with my family. 

Thank you again for your concern and support, and I hope my original works can continue to inspire curiosity. :)