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theromanticscrooge · 8 days
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Where can I find your comics? I've been seeing pieces of them on a lot of social media but I don't know where I can read them
You can read the comic at Lackadaisy.com!
Easiest way to start from the beginning is in the Archive where everything is sorted into volumes.
There are numerous mini-comics/standalone Lackadaisy comics in the Gallery as well.
You can also pick up the first Volume as a book!
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theromanticscrooge · 8 days
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I'm going on a short hiatus so I won't be posting anything new for awhile. I need time to sort out some real life stuff and want to make some progress on a few different projects before sharing them.
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theromanticscrooge · 12 days
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I'm adding Victor and Valentino to my watch list now. Thanks for adding that context! I didn't know Victor and Valentino referenced Mr. Gar.
Mr. Gar, a Fount of Masculinity and the Step Dad that Stepped Up
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Mr. Gar is introduced as this stoic, gruff picture of manliness. The most promising up-and-coming heroes at the Plaza, Rad and Enid, work and train directly under him. Most Boxmore threats are small enough that Mr. Gar trusts Rad and Enid to handle things but when the stakes get a little too high, he parts the clouds themselves and enters the fray. He's a slightly mysterious, larger than life figure; the pinnacle of role models and exactly who K.O. aspires to be when he's older.
At the start of the series, viewers only see the stoic facade crack around Carol. He becomes an anxious, tongue-tied wreck. Its an achievement if he's able to string together anything close to a coherent sentence around her. The first hints viewers get about their history together are the Silver Spark portrait on Mr. Gar's desk and the sub sandwich flashbacks. Everyone is aware of how he feels about Carol and even ship them together to some degree. Carol wants to talk to him and reconnect, even when she has to take the initiative in general conversations. So, the question becomes what's actually stopping Mr. Gar here?
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In the POINT flashbacks, the young Mr. Gar is the anxious, meek, tongue-tied luchador-themed hero El Bow. El Bow was very much a capable and talented hero. He was one of three hand-picked junior candidates to join the prestigious hero team POINT. Before that, he was known and highly respected for his lucha libre, as revealed and fangirled over by Punching Judy. Though these parts of his character are dramatically overshadowed by his seeming lack of confidence and self-esteem. The handful of screen time El Bow has are usually centered on how hard he's crushing on his coworker Silver Spark. He's so focused on drumming up the courage to confess his feelings that it takes a comment from Rippy for him to clock how obvious Silver and Laserblast are. Laser made a move the minute he met Silver. El Bow knew her long enough to develop a rapport and become close friends, but he was waiting for the 'perfect moment' to say something.
Because Laser and Silver were getting more serious, El Bow felt a 'now or never' compulsion to confess. During the three-man mission to discover what was going on with the donut shop, El Bow was focused on confessing over everything else. Seeing Laser flirt with Silver was agony. It was the final pin pull on the metaphorical grenade. The confession had to be now. El Bow still wasn't quite ready, hence the hemming and hawwing and stumbling over his words, but he finally had the momentum to follow through. He 'distracts' Silver long enough that she can't reach Laser in time. The donut shop gets sucked into a black hole. Laser is presumably dead. Silver and the entirety of POINT wrongfully blame El Bow for the tragic event, his friends ice him out, and he's unceremoniously dismissed from his position.
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Another dimension to El Bow is his cultural identity as a masked wrestler. A luchador is traditionally part of an established family stable and has a legacy attached to their mask along with their title. Lucha libre typically features teams of three, too. In El Bow's case, his stand-in for the classic lucha team were Silver and Rippy. They're as much extended family as they are friends and teammates. When El Bow loses his mask, its a dramatic visual signifier for the death of both his identity and former life. That's why Mr. Gar deliberately refuses to go by that previous title and refers to it as something separate or other. He had to completely rebuild himself as well as the parts, pieces, and meaning of his life from the ground up.
Mr. Gar has a literal wanderer phase of his life where he walks aimlessly long enough his clothes get tattered and his hair grows into a long, unruly mass. He's lost and confused, but always stops along the way to help people in need. Even without POINT or El Bow, he became a hero because of an earnest desire to help others and stop bad guys. El Bow was just a moniker. The essence of who he was is still there; the new journey is figuring out what to do now and who he wants to become. Then Mr. Gar meets the President of the Universe and is assigned a new mission that aligns better with who he is and what he can do: protect the glorb tree and build a supply chain store for heroes.
The President of the Universe could be seen as a fun, campy stand-in for a person finding newfound purpose through religion. Or someone reconnecting with their spirituality in general. Sometimes, the parables, teaching, and morals connected to a religious practice or diving more into philosophy give a person that feels lost and directionless a good foundation for introspection. It can be a line thrown out to sea that guides them back to shore. Its a starting line that gives them the means to start exploring and learning about the more abstract part of 'what is life' that leads to growth, change, and hopefully, self improvement. Mr. Gar building the Plaza leads to him becoming the hero and legend of Mr. Gar. He's not attached to POINT. He lives and sustains a separate venture that promotes a more independent, self-discovery approach towards being a hero. There aren't concrete benchmarks or specific guidelines, but Mr. Gar gladly gives advice and presents a great space to help somebody figure out what direction works for them.
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Enid in particular benefits from how much more open training at the Bodega is vs the more structured training and education at POINT. There's three particular classifications a POINT Prep student could be sorted into: logic, strength, or charisma. While the different areas overlap, there's still pressure to conform to titles like 'the smart one' or 'the charismatic one.' The charisma students, ala Elodie, are the most likely to be popular and well liked. In short, POINT Prep promotes and curates specific visions of what a hero should be like. With Mr. Gar, he pinpointed Enid and Rad's respective strengths and encourages their next moves or training based on what makes sense for them individually vs a strict, one-size-fits-few curriculum. Enid ultimately chooses Gar's Bodega over POINT Prep because his more free-form approach as a mentor is a better fit for her. She's still trying to figure out what kind of hero she is and wants to be. As it was, POINT Prep is a better match for someone that already knows who they are and what their ultimate goals are (hence why Elodie thrived in that environment).
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While Mr. Gar eventually recreated himself, he still bottled up and buried El Bow, Laserblast, and POINT. He refuses to confront what happened and as a result, has stilted, awkward run-ins with Carol. Talking to Carol in a deeper, more meaningful way than "How are you?" means he has to unpack his guilt over Laserblast's demise. Carol has processed what happened, realized that if she had run in she might have 'died' along with Laser, and that she lost an important friendship. She learned to live with what happened, in large part to be an aware and active parent for K.O., and is trying to live as full and satisfying a life she can now. Yes Mr. Gar built the Bodega and became an impressive, respected figure in his own right, but part of him is stuck in the past on that horrible night.
In his mind, he might as well be the one that killed Laser instead of the black hole. The angry, upset Carol in the constantly rewound tape of his mind's eye is more tangible and immediate than Carol in reality. Mr. Gar is so scared that if he actually tries to talk to her, it would be an instant means to transport him back to that painful transition period between losing El Bow and who Mr. Gar is now. Its a weird balance: the tragedy rules his life to the point that it makes it difficult for Mr. Gar to be vulnerable but admitting it happened would supposedly shatter what peace and status quo Mr. Gar managed to achieve otherwise.
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Traditionally, men are encouraged to ignore and bury trauma. Its presented as a simple obstacle that can be overcome with enough will power. Instead of the overcome by willpower tack, the dramatic slow-mo sandwich drop and ensuing story beat build towards similar 'talk things out' deconstruction that toons like Steven Universe regularly visit. One particular episode depicts Mr. Gar cowering at the sight of a younger Carol on a giant flying sub. It shows that Mr. Gar's attempts to ignore that particular event and the heavy emotions around it have been ineffective. He's a lot more self-confident and actualized. He can handle rude customers, tough bad guys, and most things that come his way, but brute force will not overcome trauma. Its something that haunts him like a ghost. Posing this as his greatest fear helps paint just how overwhelming trauma can be if not the importance of recognizing its effects on mental and emotional health period.
When Mr. Gar finally does talk to Carol, it's like opening a pressure valve. Its a release. Carol reassures him that he's not responsible for what happened with Laser and that she's sorry for blaming him. Hearing someone say this out loud, even if Mr. Gar had come to that conclusion himself, makes this concrete. Now he fully recognizes that the Carol in his mind is a projection; nowhere close to the present-day reality of the person he's talking to. After they finally talk, they start to reconcile, grow close again, and even start dating.
Their romance is a more in-the-background slow burn with the exception of the cute picnic date, but its rewarding to see play out. If anything, it shows that Mr. Gar is working through his trauma to the point that he has more meaningful and deep conversations with Carol. He trusts her enough to fully let his guard down and honestly let her in. Granted, it'd be nice to see a more detailed conversation between them about her still working for POINT in secret. Though, its not too much of a stretch that they built a strong enough foundation to work through that and fully talk things out later.
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After working at the Bodega for awhile and Mr. Gar dating his mom, K.O. openly admits to Mr. Gar that he sees him as a father figure. At first, Mr. Gar looks baffled, but he ultimately decides to fill this role as best he can. Employing K.O. started as a favor to Carol. Through his general interactions and one-on-one time with the kid, he comes to care about him as much as his other pupils Rad and Enid. He recognizes the gravity of the role K.O. is asking him to fill. As far as they both know, K.O.'s bio-dad is dead, Carol's immediate friends and clients are other moms and older women, and Mr. Gar's pupils/adoptive family are pretty much K.O.'s older siblings anyway. K.O. is expressing his need for an older male role model; not just the ambiguous figure of Chip Damage he only ever gets cues from through TV appearances and action figures.
Mr. Gar is right there. He's reliable, he's a powerful hero, he's an enthusiastically Carol-approved symbol of masculinity. He's the picture of what K.O. wants to be like. The montage revealing that Mr. Gar and Carol started dating features happy, domestic scenes with Mr. Gar filling the role of 'dad' well enough that K.O. reflects on that with a smile. That particular scene with K.O. and Mr. Gar on the Bodega roof for a stake-out is the result most blended families hope for when a new parent enters the scene. The new parent, in this case Mr. Gar, has organically meshed with the existing family and carved out a spot that's unanimously accepted.
Considering how Mr. Gar is written and presented, he's an example of a positive masculine role model. He's tough, he's stern, and he kicks ass, but he's also patient and learning how important it is to be open and vulnerable. In the very last episode, its a mark of how much of an impact Mr. Gar had when an adult K.O. not only takes over the Bodega, but also his spot for an aerial attack from the clouds.
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theromanticscrooge · 13 days
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PSA: Don't use Open Office
I keep seeing people recommending Open Office as an alternative to Word, and uh... look, it is, technically, an open source alternative to Word. And it can do a lot of what Word can, genuinely! But it is also an abandoned project that hasn't been updated in nine years, and there's an active fork of it which is still receiving updates, and that fork is called LibreOffice, and it's fantastic.
Seriously, if you think that your choices are either "grit your teeth and pay Microsoft for a subscription" or "support free software but have a kind of subpar office suite experience", I guarantee that it's because you're working with outdated information, or outdated software. Most people I know who have used the latest version of LibreOffice prefer it to Word. I even know a handful of people who prefer it to Scrivener.
Open Office was the original project, and so it has the most name recognition, and as far as I can tell, that's really the only reason people are still recommending it. It's kind of like if people were saying "hey, the iPhone 14 isn't your only smart phone option!" but then were only ever recommending the Samsung Galaxy S5 as an alternative. LibreOffice is literally a version of the same exact program as Open Office that's just newer and better – please don't get locked into using a worse tool just because the updated version of the program has a different name!
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theromanticscrooge · 16 days
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BOX ART!
Super Lucha! Playmat/Box Design by me. Some familiar rudo faces in there...
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theromanticscrooge · 16 days
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Loved that part of the episode! It's disappointing Mr. Lancer didn't have any more scenes/characterization like this. He'd be so interesting as a teacher that played favorites as a sports fan, but was still very involved as someone that loves literature and became a teacher to pass on that literary interest. He could and should be both.
I would've loved to see Lancer or another teacher become a trusted mentor or adult that Danny could talk to or confide in. It's probably because I'm in my 30's now, but I really appreciate cartoons with protags like Danny getting to see adults as flawed, nuanced figures rather than just "obstacle" or an "All adults just suck" thing.
The most surprising thing about rewatching "Teacher of the Year" was how invested I was in Danny's subplot with Mr. Lancer. I haven't had much opinion on Mr. Lancer until now, but I like how his relationship with Danny is explored in this episode.
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theromanticscrooge · 18 days
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I'm thinking about writing fan fic-y stuff like this again
Voxman Ship Meme (REPOST)
(Note: This is adapted and edited from a ship meme pulled off of a long-deactivated blog. The newer edits include my take on K.O. visiting Professor Venemous on weekends.
Big thanks to @enlightenedrobot for saving one of my personal favorites of the asks I received. I’m still in love with the idea of bite-sized speculative fiction about the hypothetical domestic lives of two dumbass mad scientists and their big adoptive family.)
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Who snores?
When Lord Boxman snores, it sounds like a chorus of chainsaws chopping trees. It drives Professor Venemous crazy, but he can’t complain. Apparently, he grinds his teeth with the ferocity of ten cats dragging their claws down chalkboards. These two have to sleep in separate bedrooms or they’d murder each other.
It pains Boxman since he loves to-no, needs to-cuddle. Boxman will chug two energy drinks and screw up his sleep schedule for a week if it means getting to spoon with his sleeping husband for a few hours. He has ample competition, though. Fink, Raymond, Darell, and even K.O. take turns sleeping in Venemous’ room to assuage nightmares or just because Venemous is the warmer, more affectionate parent. Raymond, Darrell, and K.O. tend to accommodate Boxman and gladly include him. It takes Boxman awhile, but he eventually comes to enjoy the family huddle pile (even if this includes K.O., but he’d never openly admit it).
Fink is the exception. She’ll snarl and bark like a guard dog until Boxman reluctantly retreats back to his room.
Who takes out the trash?
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At first, Venemous and Fink take turns taking out the trash. After a bitter argument about unfair chore schedules, Boxman was supposed to take over that chore. Instead, he delegates it to Darell, Shannon, and Raymond. Between the three bots, hope that Darell or Shannon lost the latest no-holds-barred tussle for who has to do it. If it’s Raymond, the trash just sits there and rots.
The headache stops entirely once K.O. starts visiting on weekends. He gladly picks up the chore, as well as many others, leaving Boxmore just a little cleaner than it normally is. K.O.’s cleanliness is almost enough to sell Boxman on the idea of eventually recruiting the little goody-goody full time.
Who hands out candy vs who takes the kid(s) trick or treating?
A week before Halloween, Boxman buys out all of the best candy. On Halloween night, Boxmore is a hotspot for trick or treaters because he hands out jumbo candy bars, homemade caramel apples, and even popcorn balls. He knows kids by name, takes requests, and has a waiting list of clients two miles long. His rationale? The bigger and flashier his Halloween offerings, the less foot traffic Gar’s Bodega gets. He’ll quash Gar by cutting his bottom line. (That’s Boxman’s cover story, but really, Halloween is just his favorite holiday).
As if this weren’t enough, Darell, Shannon, Raymond, and others ambush the Bodega all night with over-the-top Halloween related pranks or attacks. Gar usually works these shifts by himself since it’s an important family holiday for Enid, K.O. will probably go trick or treating with Carol, and Rad would find endless excuses to sneak over to Boxmore anyway.
Venemous is the trick or treat chaperone. He loves the holiday because it tends to be his best opportunity to bond with Fink. He lets her go nuts: She terrorizes unsuspecting citizens, steals kids’ candy, and threatens people at the door for their entire candy stash. While Fink brings home an ungodly large stash, Venemous refuses to let her eat all of it at once. He’s still supposed to be a responsible boss/parent in some capacity after all. K.O. tags along with Venemous and Fink on one Halloween after the big reveal. Apparently, Halloween is a good enough excuse for a truce between Fink and T.K.O. The results were so disastrous both Carol and Venemous agree that K.O. exclusively spends Halloween with her or his friends. No exceptions.
Who goes to parent/teacher conferences?
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Venemous attends parent/teacher conferences more than he likes to. It usually boils down to: He nods and smiles for an hour, then bribes the principal to clear up Fink’s record. When he starts dating Boxman, he forces him to tag along to make the experience more bearable. Of course, Boxman acts as obnoxious as possible while Venemous pretends to be the embarrassed and utterly mortified “Excuse my buffoon partner” parent. After the fourth parent/teacher conference with Boxman, Fink’s boarding school just gives up.
Carol encourages Venemous to attend at least one of K.O.’s parent/teacher conferences in an attempt to “better include him in K.O.’s life.” It goes surprisingly well, despite some of Venemous’ catty comments; well enough that Carol, Venemous, and Mr. Gar can coordinate to go in each other’s stead if one or the other gets too busy. Venemous insists on getting a full report of K.O.’s progress every time, brags about his “smart little boy” for weeks, and makes Fink very jealous of her step-sibling.
Who packs a lunch for the other to take to work?
Boxman makes a point of preparing a lunch for his ‘gorgeous, successful’ partner everyday. He’s a terrible cook. A nightmarishly terrible cook. But, Venemous takes the heart-shaped boxes with burnt pot roast and limp greenbeans anyway because he appreciates the gesture.
Who leaves clothes all over the floor/in the laundry basket vs who puts them away?
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Boxman has a giant “dirty clothes” pile in the corner of his room. The only clothes he’s very careful, even anal, about getting thoroughly cleaned and professionally pressed are his theatrical costumes. Costumes and presentation are actually a key bonding point between he and Raymond. Venemous encourages Boxman to go out once a week with Raymond clothes shopping and getting suits pressed or whatever else. Raymond is eternally grateful to Venemous for this, but he’s still trying to convince his more fashionable dad to join them. It’d be nice if Raymond had backup to get Boxman to back down on some of his more questionable fashion choices. 
In contrast, Venemous is very careful about hanging his turtlenecks and lab coats, knows the best dry cleaning locations available, and gets the high-grade laundry detergent he can find. He doesn’t mind stains since he usually ends up with mud stains or crayon marks on his clothes after spending quality time with Fink. He just likes to make sure he’s presentable for clients and rivals alike.
Who organizes the DVDs and books?
Venemous has an extensive personal library he organizes alphabetically and according to how ‘evil’ the subject matter is. He’s particular about where he places books and DVDs in his private collection, but he lets everyone else keep ‘organized chaos.’ He only makes comments or asks them to clean up if the mess is in the main room or a tripping hazard.
The way he sees it, happy minions and families should be able to keep their private space and belongings arranged however they please.
Who has a million magazine subscriptions?
Boxman is notoriously bad about signing up for any flashy-looking magazine or service out there. There’s so many that come in every other week Venemous has to sort through them to pick out which are salvageable and which are garbage. Most ends up in the trash, but he does keep POINT gossip rags in the bathroom cupboard for grins.
Boxman is just barely trumped by how many teen-girl magazines Shannon orders. Every time a new magazine comes in, Venemous gets a death glare from Shannon until they figure out if it’s Boxman trash or her precious new Tigerbeat.
Who has a name for the stray neighborhood cat?
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Venemous keeps tabs on the stray neighborhood cats to protect them from Fink. He’s been at it so long he named them to make it easier to keep track. At some point, Boxman joined in and started naming cats, too. He also turned their nightly antics into a needlessly complex and dramatic soap opera.
Venemous rolls his eyes every time Boxman ‘recaps’ the latest episode of Alley Cats to him at the breakfast table. And, every time, Boxman sneaks a look at Fink before winking slyly at Venemous. When Venemous does his Captain Picard facepalm, he feels like it’s a miracle Fink hasn’t found out about his watching out for the cats yet. 
When K.O. discovers his dad’s soft spot for cats, he melts and goes on about how he knew Venemous had a heart somewhere. Every time, Venemous shuts him down with a cruel comment about handing over one of the cats to Fink. If K.O. pushes too much, he describes what Fink might do in horribly graphic, gruesome detail.
Who walks around naked at night and forgets the living room window is open?
Every Saturday evening, Boxman claims the living room to himself to watch his shows (a very melodramatic and sappy soap opera he doesn’t want anyone to know he watches). At exactly 8 pm, Boxman shuffles towards his kitchen for a snack stark naked. He always forgets that the living room curtains are wide open. Or, more accurately, he leaves them open because he ‘likes the breeze.’
Rad and Enid dread Saturday night shifts. They fight over who gets their 15-minute break at 8 pm to avoid the sight that’s the stuff of nightmares. Rad usually loses whatever game they picked to decide and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t look away when Boxman does his weekly snack shuffle.
The snack shuffle abruptly ends when Fink decides she wants the TV at that exact day and time to watch wrestling. Boxman gets out-voted and overpowered by everyone, including K.O., making a family night out of it. Sometimes, even Gar and Carol join in on the fun.
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theromanticscrooge · 20 days
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Good Evening, Friends and Neighbors
(TW: Alcohol, Explicit Lyrics, Cursing)
It's finally up, my own little foray into the world of Vtubing and Video Essays.
If you like Pop or Hip Hop, come on in. The cycloptic bartender Tavern Barz has curated a little playlist following the themes of sampling. Come and learn a little something and enjoy the music. Or turn it on while you study. It's a little bit of Weezer, some Pharcyde, just a bit of Childish Gambino... and a few other surprises.
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No Requests: Live from the Tavern is an adult-focused edutainment series meant to discuss art and media in a casual, un-pretentious way. It's a cartoon, a radio station, and a podcast all at once.
If you enjoy this, stay tuned. There's more episodes to come. Plus, I'll be posting the soundtrack in the oncoming days. Feel free to follow if your interested, or check out my links on the show's Carrd page.
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theromanticscrooge · 25 days
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I underestimated how big a project a video would be after 6+ years away from video editing software. I'm sorry, but it's gonna be a smaller project first to figure out wtf I'm doing before trying for the Voxman video or anything bigger.
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theromanticscrooge · 29 days
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So here’s a project I’ve not advertised at all. No Requests: Live! From the Tavern is an Adult focused Edutainment series focused on discussing Art, Music, and Media. Each episode is broken up into segments that work together in a playlist including various other videos on Youtube. This means Music Videos, short films, and other video essays, curated together with extra commentary from the host of the show, Tavern Barz.
That’s a weird and unnecessarily complicated format, why are you doing this?
It’s really easy in this day and age to use Youtube videos as a replacement for other content. I mean, why watch a two hour movie when you can watch a 20 minute recap? 
This is a bad habit. Critique is important aspect to a good media diet, but a diet consisting solely of critique misses the point completely. In order to talk about media, we must also experience it. 
This format means we don’t directly compete with the art featured. Rather, Tavern Barz acts as a museum curator, and the other media in the playlists serve as the actual art itself. The original videos will get their view, and… as a nice little bonus, I get to avoid the copyright bots.
Why are you using a cartoon?
I mean, I’m an animator. I don’t know what else to tell you. Why does the Chocolate guy use chocolate when clay will last longer?
But also, I don’t really have any desire to host the show as myself. There’s a hundred and ten other Youtubers who will get on camera to talk about stuff, and like, I don’t have the room for that. 
Besides, Tavern is a character distinct from me. As a writer, I have full control over the narrative I want to tell, and placing myself in the center of that just feels weird. Tavern’s allowed to act and be weird and hypocritical. Tavern is allowed to grow as a character in ways you can’t really depict through the lens of literal documentary filmmaking. 
So that Cyclops character isn’t just your rantsona vtuber avatar?
I mean, in a very literal sense, Tavern is a Vtuber. They are a virtual character serving as the host for a real show on Youtube.
But Tavern’s also an OC with lore and a planned Story Arc. The pilot is admittedly pretty bare bones with all this, but I intent to incorporate more story elements as the series goes on.
Alright, so what’s the lore then?
Tavern Barz is the Cycloptic owner of the Tavern Barz Tavern, a fifth dimensional divebar thar exists all across Time and Space. After several eternities of service, Tavern thinks they know it all.
This is not true.
Is this project family friendly?
Not really. The main character is a bartender, so there's a lot of alcohol focus. Plus, a lot of the featured videos will also contain plenty of adult themes.
The pilot is pretty mild. There's some swearing, but nothing too serious. But the non original videos might have adult themes. I have some later episodes planned, including one focused on The Male Gaze, and in those cases, I can't in good conscience recommend these videos to minors.
All in all, I like to call the tone of the project comfortably adult. I'm not going out of my way to be edgy, but I'm also not censoring myself. If this were an actual TV series, it's probably be TV-14. Edgier than the Simpsons, not as edgy as Rick and Morty, so about the level of Futurama.
When will this project release?
April, 2024. As of the time of this writing, the first episode is basically finished except for the credits, but I also need sometime to compile my sources, write descriptions, and make some thumbnails, as well as advertise the project.
Follow Me on this Account if you wanna keep up with the project. You can also see my other links at https://norequestslive.carrd.co/
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theromanticscrooge · 1 month
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Update from the Luchaverse
I'll just leave this here...
It's been a hectic few weeks...pitches/presentation videos, character designs and descriptions for the Super Lucha! boardgame. Plus I was a full time dance chaperone for the past week as my daughter was performing in the Sussex Festival Of Performing Arts 100 Year Anniversary Gala with 524 other dancers from all over England!!!
And I still managed to eke out a rough for Rudopolis (I always have to have a project going).
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For those interested, some details...
Socorro and Chilandokko Gumi Strong Style Mash Up! have been pitched and presented to a US streaming network. Waiting on a decision. It's all good so far, but you really can't count on anything until a contract is offered. I'm hopeful, but have had assurances in the past...let's wait and see! :)
I have completed character designs for Super Lucha! The company producing this uses Kickstarter to get their projects off the ground, so there will be a page up and running soon where everyone can see what shape and form this is taking. Having seen the first version of the page, it is VERY ML!-inspired. :)
Looks very probable that Los Campeones de La Lucha Libre may be also streaming at some point. More details if this actually happens!
So a lot of maybes and probables...but that's how life in animation has been for me for 24 years now! Let's see what the next few weeks bring...I'm realistic about everything, but can't help being excited!
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theromanticscrooge · 1 month
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I just finished a couple of bigger art commissions and want a few days to wind down. After that, I'll get started on the Voxman video. Its gonna be a beefy project since I have to get reacquainted with video editing software, but I'll attach the finished video here after everything's done.
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theromanticscrooge · 1 month
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Currently working on art commissions. I'll be back to regularly scheduled El Tigre, O.K. K.O., and various other posts soon.
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theromanticscrooge · 1 month
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Mr. Gar, a Fount of Masculinity and the Step Dad that Stepped Up
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Mr. Gar is introduced as this stoic, gruff picture of manliness. The most promising up-and-coming heroes at the Plaza, Rad and Enid, work and train directly under him. Most Boxmore threats are small enough that Mr. Gar trusts Rad and Enid to handle things but when the stakes get a little too high, he parts the clouds themselves and enters the fray. He's a slightly mysterious, larger than life figure; the pinnacle of role models and exactly who K.O. aspires to be when he's older.
At the start of the series, viewers only see the stoic facade crack around Carol. He becomes an anxious, tongue-tied wreck. Its an achievement if he's able to string together anything close to a coherent sentence around her. The first hints viewers get about their history together are the Silver Spark portrait on Mr. Gar's desk and the sub sandwich flashbacks. Everyone is aware of how he feels about Carol and even ship them together to some degree. Carol wants to talk to him and reconnect, even when she has to take the initiative in general conversations. So, the question becomes what's actually stopping Mr. Gar here?
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In the POINT flashbacks, the young Mr. Gar is the anxious, meek, tongue-tied luchador-themed hero El Bow. El Bow was very much a capable and talented hero. He was one of three hand-picked junior candidates to join the prestigious hero team POINT. Before that, he was known and highly respected for his lucha libre, as revealed and fangirled over by Punching Judy. Though these parts of his character are dramatically overshadowed by his seeming lack of confidence and self-esteem. The handful of screen time El Bow has are usually centered on how hard he's crushing on his coworker Silver Spark. He's so focused on drumming up the courage to confess his feelings that it takes a comment from Rippy for him to clock how obvious Silver and Laserblast are. Laser made a move the minute he met Silver. El Bow knew her long enough to develop a rapport and become close friends, but he was waiting for the 'perfect moment' to say something.
Because Laser and Silver were getting more serious, El Bow felt a 'now or never' compulsion to confess. During the three-man mission to discover what was going on with the donut shop, El Bow was focused on confessing over everything else. Seeing Laser flirt with Silver was agony. It was the final pin pull on the metaphorical grenade. The confession had to be now. El Bow still wasn't quite ready, hence the hemming and hawwing and stumbling over his words, but he finally had the momentum to follow through. He 'distracts' Silver long enough that she can't reach Laser in time. The donut shop gets sucked into a black hole. Laser is presumably dead. Silver and the entirety of POINT wrongfully blame El Bow for the tragic event, his friends ice him out, and he's unceremoniously dismissed from his position.
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Another dimension to El Bow is his cultural identity as a masked wrestler. A luchador is traditionally part of an established family stable and has a legacy attached to their mask along with their title. Lucha libre typically features teams of three, too. In El Bow's case, his stand-in for the classic lucha team were Silver and Rippy. They're as much extended family as they are friends and teammates. When El Bow loses his mask, its a dramatic visual signifier for the death of both his identity and former life. That's why Mr. Gar deliberately refuses to go by that previous title and refers to it as something separate or other. He had to completely rebuild himself as well as the parts, pieces, and meaning of his life from the ground up.
Mr. Gar has a literal wanderer phase of his life where he walks aimlessly long enough his clothes get tattered and his hair grows into a long, unruly mass. He's lost and confused, but always stops along the way to help people in need. Even without POINT or El Bow, he became a hero because of an earnest desire to help others and stop bad guys. El Bow was just a moniker. The essence of who he was is still there; the new journey is figuring out what to do now and who he wants to become. Then Mr. Gar meets the President of the Universe and is assigned a new mission that aligns better with who he is and what he can do: protect the glorb tree and build a supply chain store for heroes.
The President of the Universe could be seen as a fun, campy stand-in for a person finding newfound purpose through religion. Or someone reconnecting with their spirituality in general. Sometimes, the parables, teaching, and morals connected to a religious practice or diving more into philosophy give a person that feels lost and directionless a good foundation for introspection. It can be a line thrown out to sea that guides them back to shore. Its a starting line that gives them the means to start exploring and learning about the more abstract part of 'what is life' that leads to growth, change, and hopefully, self improvement. Mr. Gar building the Plaza leads to him becoming the hero and legend of Mr. Gar. He's not attached to POINT. He lives and sustains a separate venture that promotes a more independent, self-discovery approach towards being a hero. There aren't concrete benchmarks or specific guidelines, but Mr. Gar gladly gives advice and presents a great space to help somebody figure out what direction works for them.
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Enid in particular benefits from how much more open training at the Bodega is vs the more structured training and education at POINT. There's three particular classifications a POINT Prep student could be sorted into: logic, strength, or charisma. While the different areas overlap, there's still pressure to conform to titles like 'the smart one' or 'the charismatic one.' The charisma students, ala Elodie, are the most likely to be popular and well liked. In short, POINT Prep promotes and curates specific visions of what a hero should be like. With Mr. Gar, he pinpointed Enid and Rad's respective strengths and encourages their next moves or training based on what makes sense for them individually vs a strict, one-size-fits-few curriculum. Enid ultimately chooses Gar's Bodega over POINT Prep because his more free-form approach as a mentor is a better fit for her. She's still trying to figure out what kind of hero she is and wants to be. As it was, POINT Prep is a better match for someone that already knows who they are and what their ultimate goals are (hence why Elodie thrived in that environment).
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While Mr. Gar eventually recreated himself, he still bottled up and buried El Bow, Laserblast, and POINT. He refuses to confront what happened and as a result, has stilted, awkward run-ins with Carol. Talking to Carol in a deeper, more meaningful way than "How are you?" means he has to unpack his guilt over Laserblast's demise. Carol has processed what happened, realized that if she had run in she might have 'died' along with Laser, and that she lost an important friendship. She learned to live with what happened, in large part to be an aware and active parent for K.O., and is trying to live as full and satisfying a life she can now. Yes Mr. Gar built the Bodega and became an impressive, respected figure in his own right, but part of him is stuck in the past on that horrible night.
In his mind, he might as well be the one that killed Laser instead of the black hole. The angry, upset Carol in the constantly rewound tape of his mind's eye is more tangible and immediate than Carol in reality. Mr. Gar is so scared that if he actually tries to talk to her, it would be an instant means to transport him back to that painful transition period between losing El Bow and who Mr. Gar is now. Its a weird balance: the tragedy rules his life to the point that it makes it difficult for Mr. Gar to be vulnerable but admitting it happened would supposedly shatter what peace and status quo Mr. Gar managed to achieve otherwise.
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Traditionally, men are encouraged to ignore and bury trauma. Its presented as a simple obstacle that can be overcome with enough will power. Instead of the overcome by willpower tack, the dramatic slow-mo sandwich drop and ensuing story beat build towards similar 'talk things out' deconstruction that toons like Steven Universe regularly visit. One particular episode depicts Mr. Gar cowering at the sight of a younger Carol on a giant flying sub. It shows that Mr. Gar's attempts to ignore that particular event and the heavy emotions around it have been ineffective. He's a lot more self-confident and actualized. He can handle rude customers, tough bad guys, and most things that come his way, but brute force will not overcome trauma. Its something that haunts him like a ghost. Posing this as his greatest fear helps paint just how overwhelming trauma can be if not the importance of recognizing its effects on mental and emotional health period.
When Mr. Gar finally does talk to Carol, it's like opening a pressure valve. Its a release. Carol reassures him that he's not responsible for what happened with Laser and that she's sorry for blaming him. Hearing someone say this out loud, even if Mr. Gar had come to that conclusion himself, makes this concrete. Now he fully recognizes that the Carol in his mind is a projection; nowhere close to the present-day reality of the person he's talking to. After they finally talk, they start to reconcile, grow close again, and even start dating.
Their romance is a more in-the-background slow burn with the exception of the cute picnic date, but its rewarding to see play out. If anything, it shows that Mr. Gar is working through his trauma to the point that he has more meaningful and deep conversations with Carol. He trusts her enough to fully let his guard down and honestly let her in. Granted, it'd be nice to see a more detailed conversation between them about her still working for POINT in secret. Though, its not too much of a stretch that they built a strong enough foundation to work through that and fully talk things out later.
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After working at the Bodega for awhile and Mr. Gar dating his mom, K.O. openly admits to Mr. Gar that he sees him as a father figure. At first, Mr. Gar looks baffled, but he ultimately decides to fill this role as best he can. Employing K.O. started as a favor to Carol. Through his general interactions and one-on-one time with the kid, he comes to care about him as much as his other pupils Rad and Enid. He recognizes the gravity of the role K.O. is asking him to fill. As far as they both know, K.O.'s bio-dad is dead, Carol's immediate friends and clients are other moms and older women, and Mr. Gar's pupils/adoptive family are pretty much K.O.'s older siblings anyway. K.O. is expressing his need for an older male role model; not just the ambiguous figure of Chip Damage he only ever gets cues from through TV appearances and action figures.
Mr. Gar is right there. He's reliable, he's a powerful hero, he's an enthusiastically Carol-approved symbol of masculinity. He's the picture of what K.O. wants to be like. The montage revealing that Mr. Gar and Carol started dating features happy, domestic scenes with Mr. Gar filling the role of 'dad' well enough that K.O. reflects on that with a smile. That particular scene with K.O. and Mr. Gar on the Bodega roof for a stake-out is the result most blended families hope for when a new parent enters the scene. The new parent, in this case Mr. Gar, has organically meshed with the existing family and carved out a spot that's unanimously accepted.
Considering how Mr. Gar is written and presented, he's an example of a positive masculine role model. He's tough, he's stern, and he kicks ass, but he's also patient and learning how important it is to be open and vulnerable. In the very last episode, its a mark of how much of an impact Mr. Gar had when an adult K.O. not only takes over the Bodega, but also his spot for an aerial attack from the clouds.
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theromanticscrooge · 1 month
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Missed opportunity in O.K. K.O.: I want an awkward elevator scene with Professor Venomous and Mr. Gar. I know them interacting is unnecessary but I want the polite chitchat of "Hey...how's the kids?" "You're dating my archnemesis...Neat."
How could you set up the interconnected web this show has where Boxman is technically K.O.'s OTHER STEP-DAD?!! and not play with it.
I grew up with the make-your-own-soap-opera kit with Pleasantview in Sims 2, okay? There's a part of me that loves this shit. Especially when it subverts expectations.
I'd be the asshole that got PV and Mr. Gar stuck in that elevator together and they'd develop a weird frenemy dynamic.
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theromanticscrooge · 1 month
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theromanticscrooge · 1 month
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This is really out of pocket but I love the head canon that Mr. Gar from O.K. K.O. was a graduate of the foremost, internationally renowned school of lucha in Mucha Lucha. O.K. K.O. is a fantastic springboard for crossovers and the show itself is a patchwork of countless references, homages, and love letters to other media period so its not too out of place. Mucha Lucha could easily exist in the same world as O.K. K.O. with a few tweaks. No crossover portals needed.
I'm kinda itching to write out what Mr. Gar taking K.O. on a tour of his old school might look like. It'd totally just be an excuse to show what Rikochet, the Flea, and Buena Girl are up to years later, though.
They'd be former students/mentees of Mr. Gar. If I set up that ML takes place in the early '00s, Rikochet and co. would be in their early 20's on O.K. K.O.'s 201X timeline. I don't want these three frozen in time, especially if it's a continuation on the main series. It's a me thing, but when it comes to continuations of older properties, I strongly prefer it stays in the time period the series was originally set in or ages up the existing characters and follows them as adults or follows their kids instead. Otherwise, just make it a full-blown, disconnected reboot (this will be a separate, rambly post at some point).
It'd be fun to see them team up with K.O., but since this is my ridiculous fan project idea, they're teaming up with Mr. Gar against something Boxman and Venomous cooked up. Mucha Lucha had plenty of monster of the week opponents and Boxman is the default bad guy for in-universe crossovers. So, yeah, I have a few tent poles for what I'd want, but I'm still thinking of what would actually work.
(Thinking about the Mr. Gar character analysis I'm wanting to write also got me thinking about Mucha Lucha, heheh. That was my favorite cartoon when I was 10 and I still hold a soft spot for it now.)
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