#missionoth2

As an update to their designs, Hoodie Heather is back and RJ doesn't look like a generic 2000s Dreamworks protagonist anymore (but he can still hella dreamworks face)

A lot has changed since I first drew them in 2020

To be clear, this is not the movie's RJ and Heather anymore. This is my RJ and Heather. Consider this to be what they definitively, absolutely look like in my canon going forward (until I inevitably change it).

How are they different from the movie? For one, they're inseparable. RJ being the only one with an age close to Heather's who isn't Hammy, she relates to RJ and has naturally become something of a raccoon admirer. Consider it an identity crisis.

My version of RJ is based on the fact that the movie's narrative between the "old blood" Verne and the "young blood" RJ makes the most sense if RJ actually is young. So like, only recently coming of age by the time of the movie. He's still the eldest of the young group (the porcupine kids, Heather, and Hammy), but he's nowhere in the realm of the older adults like Stella, Ozzie, and Verne. The movie was about him finding out who he wants to be after growing up and being on his own, and my story will continue this by bringing Heather into the picture.

This is gonna be a big summer. Stay tuned

Skye is a pure cardinal diva. She and Rufus meet under some *unforeseen* circumstances in the very VERY far future from where I'm at in the fanfic right now... From the looks of things, they're getting along a little too well.

I have such an obsession with drawing characters with 'masks'.

Also yeah, unfortunately, many of the new characters I have in mind to design are characters that aren't entering my fanfic for quite a while (like, maybe even a few years). I'm trying to get back into writing because I'm REALLY behind with all the fanfic stuff.

This is the first pure OC I've drawn in a VERY long time. The fact that I got this done in just a day making a character purely from scratch is a sign of good things to come. I don't wanna say too much about Skye herself because she doesn't come into the story until one of the last couple episodes. She is a fairly important character, though.

We're bringing the birds back to Over the Hedge

Going from probably the smallest character I have in my OTH canon to the biggest was really confusing.

Whether Dottie is an OC is a hard debate I've had. Almost everything about her design was inspired either by Dotty or Waffles, but they're mashed up in such a unique way that she's not exactly an adaptation of either of those characters anymore

Nonetheless, I love seeing how as Dottie has gotten dottier over the years, she's progressed from being a pretty generic poodle to being RJ's 'prequel' nemesis. And considering Dotty's short history as the 3rd Over the Hedge character, I think she makes the framework for an incredibly cool successor to Vincent.

Dottie is by far the most difficult character to make art of. There's SO much going on with this character. All her body and hair proportions are an insane balancing act. It's a struggle. Someone better than me could do a lot with her

I visualize Dottie easier when she's sitting or standing on hind legs. It's like she was meant to be anthro even though she's ironically one of the few characters in OTH who isn't

Again with polar opposites, Tilda is on the complete other end of the spectrum when it comes to fighters. This is like Dottie if Dottie didn't have any mental control or physical limitations.

Designing a character who's meant to walk on both 2s and 4s was a new challenge

It was less different than I thought, though. Her body shape wasn't anything out of the ordinary. The way I designed her wasn't much different than the way I'd design RJ, for instance.

It took a bit of a mindset shift though, because I couldn't give her a normal neck or normal arm/leg proportions. Her arms had to be the same length as her legs. I made her arms as bulky and short as possible without looking unnatural when she's standing up.

The Final Anthill

Word count = 8k

Do I have any male OCs?

Talk about such a simple glow-up.

Somehow I knew that Hoppy was gonna look way better in my new style even though I had no plans for her. She's one of those characters who benefits super heavily from simplicity and neat geometry.

The first time I made her, I was just trying to make her look like a holland lop because she was a hard character to visualize. I had more room this time. Then I decided to give her a poof hair and move her ears behind her head and everything else came together.

Caged

(Word count is 13k)

Embeds for AO3 used to work, idk why they don't anymore. You have to click the link