#some work comics... sketches... more fan stuff...

Usually i don't post masterpost before the comic itself, but, as you may guess, this comic is a... special case. The cover sums up the AU pretty much, and this isn't type of thing that i usually do. Usually i try to avoid sexual topics at all, because it makes me uncomfortable, but i guess the fact that Hazbin is an adult show and doesn't shy away from sexual topics, it kinda also makes me think about it too? And lately i felt like all the ways i torture Alastor in my works just isn't enough.

At first i didn't even want to draw this idea. But when i told it in my discord, several people got really excited about it, and wanted to see it, so, i decided to make this comic. But i thought, i'd just leave it discord exlusive, because it felt too dark and too out of character for me to make something like this on public.

And then i learned that apparently April is Sexual Assauls awarnes and prevention month and this comic fit right in the topic. And here's the thing, usually i rarely make occasion/event themed stuff in time (the pride series was an exception), so, the fact that i got this idea right before the month made me think that it wasn't a coincidence. Maybe someone out there needs to see this.

And trust, if not me, than my discord folks, that i didn't sexualize of romanticize any of this stuff and bad things are portrayed as bad, and not downplayed.

This comic is rather short, compared to my other long running comics (only 65 pages) (trust me, it's a small comic, considering that Forced broadcast may have over 200 sketched by the time of writing this post), and Alastor WILL get out of this situation, i know for some people that can be deciding factor on whether or not read the story. And no, this isn't smut. This gets as graphic as episode 4 of season 1, but nothing more. This comic may later get additional content, dedicated to Alastor dealing with trauma and his healing process.

I'm not putting tw tags on this post, but I will be tagging parts of the comic with TW tags for SA, especially those with most graphic scenes, and i will try to hide graphic pages under cut.

Sooo reason for this peice, I was feeling somewhat down for a day, anxiety and shiz, won't go too deep into it, so I decided to push through it by drawing an idea I had. Just something wholesome. I won't say much as to let you make your own interpretation! ^^

But I did base this off of this scene of an Undertale Anniversary fan animation by Imogens cool vids on YouTube! This shot specially.

I really hold this animation close to my heart, from the gorgeous art style and animation, but also the great representation of the characters, just a genuinely beautiful video.

As for the explanation for the setting in my art, I can imagine it being a reworked callback to q*est, where the group get lost and separated in a crystal cave.

Anyways! Um have some other sketches! 2 are older and you may have seen before, but are cute still.

Anywho, that is all, I hope yall enjoy!! Sorry that I haven't been as alive lately, just been busy, and trying to focus on 2 different ideas I got rn. One being Undertale X Motm stuff, and the other being Silent hill inspired lol both of which have been a challenge in the sense of trying to get the character work right. But it has been really fun brainstorming ideas.

Hopefully someday soon I'll get them done and get to show yall! But yey, in the meantime, hope yall enjoy, take care! And have a lovely day!

And ofc! The art is inspired from the comic @myth-of-the-machine by Flygutzz & Nortsauce! (give it a read if you haven't and are interested! It's really good!)

This is actually a personal project that’s been in the works for years, and when I say years I mean like five or more! But the other day, a friend finally encouraged me to share at least a little bit about this universe I’ve been planning in my head. Oh boy, I’ve got a lot of stuff: drawings, mini comics, animations and a 30-page fan fiction story that’s still a work in progress! At the very least, I’d like to share a small fraction of what I’ve done for this alternate universe (AU) that I’ve created. WARNING: THIS IS NOT ZADR! You could interpret it that way, as I'm aware that the way I write and portray them can give off weird vibes. But I swear they're just good friends!(Yes, im aware that I sound like a historician) Anyway, I don't mind if you see it that way — the story is and will be ZADF. I’ll also be uploading some sketches and other things that I’m not too embarrassed to show!HAHA

If you can't read what it says, it's because I have the bad habit of writing like a toddler! Here's what it says!

DIB:

When Zim leaves Earth, Dib is 15 y/o and losing it. He can't believe that's the reality. He finally "accepts it" and spends the rest of his teenage years studying and trying to be like his dad, which he is pretty good at! ---- he's only really miserable in the process. At 19 y/o he finally decides to leave Earth and explore the stars (He is just running from his dad). He ends up finding the resistance and believes it is a good cause, mainly because he still has this super hero complex, he spends the next few years training to be the best of the best in the resistance. And he does at 21 y/o! just that he ends up at the best team they currently have... He finds Zim again and loses his mind. he spent years searching for him, and he resents Zim for leaving him alone on Earth. He has abandonment issues... And to make matters worse, Zim is now his new boss! He denies reality and truly believes Zim is scheming something. He looks cool as fuck and believes himself as nonchalant and a hero. But he's a fake idgaf-er he's still a loser with no friend or social sills. The only person he is close to at the beginning is Gaz who is currently on Earth- Dib calls her constantly and she is always the voice of the reason, but Dib's huge head is too big to listen to her.

ZIM:

In a series of events, Zim was banished from the irken empire. Zim left Earth when he was 16 y/o Hes currently 22 y/o on the timeline. With help of Skoodge and Lard Nard hes alive, and joined the resistance againts the Irken Empire- He despises them now. He becomes the new commander of his own troop (Nepho Baby) called the "Special Irken formation" and he is very annoying about it- His PAK is failing, so he is not as resistant as before. He needs to sleep, eat and basically act like a mortal life form- HE HATES it Chronically depressed. Child soldier with PTSD trained to be a weapon, and now learning to be still and vulnerable... not good at it. Self hate final boss. Tak and Skoodge are like his siblings. He kind of find Dib annoying. But he did missed him a little bit

There are a ton of things I'd like to say... but right now I'm working on giving at least the first 5 chapters of the fic a quick read-through! So you guys have a little more context about what the heck is going on, hahaha. That's all for now... unless...

Some doodles + ONE animatic I've done,,, yeah I hope you enjoy it! I'm not sure if i will ever show this ever again,,,

Outline

before starting a comic, especially longer ones with lots of text like this, i like writing it out like real dialogue from the game first.

the original scriptures... wowie...

as you can see, not everything made it to the comic. this gets filed down and polished either separately or as i begin mapping out the panels. removing and adding things to match the flow. i also say these lines in character out loud (embarrassing!!!! but also very helpful...) to make sure it's somewhat believable.

doing it this way also helps me visualize what the scene looks like during each line of text, and how many lines i should include in each page.

^ and the answer to this is, well, however many lines are needed. i just went with what i thought looked and flowed the best. actually, the number of lines doesn't matter as much as the pacing does. for each page, i needed to consider which line i both started and ended with. it makes more of a difference than you notice. imagine if the line "it tells me everything i needed to know" placed at the bottom was moved to the start of the next page instead? there is no finality, and the weight of it is removed. the following "mweh heh heh" would feel less like a sans-flavored tonal whiplash, and more like an awkward follow-up.

Art Process

First Draft

i start vaguely planning things out. marking where the text is supposed to go, putting down all my ideas, that sorta stuff. for this idea, it was rather easy to translate it into a visual format, but that isn't always the case.

i kept most of the paneling standard. cool visuals are nice and all, but i didn't want to distract from what was most important (the words and expressions). a few things were sprinkled in just to keep it from getting boring.

Second Pass

i refer to this stage as my "second pass" instead of "lineart" because i often redo it entirely, only using the previous drawings as a guide.

i draw it like it'll be the final version. (i do this with my artworks as well!) after completing the sketch, assuming i don't immediately start rendering on top of it, (which, in this case, is something i was never gonna do lmao) i redraw it again and again and again until i'm satisfied. if i'm not, i'll scrap it, make something new, and go through the same process. over and over.

Font

i'm dedicating this section to complaining about much i struggled because dear goodness...

i spent HOURS scouring the internet for pixelated sans and papyrus fonts online. for some reason, the one that i had wasn't accepted by my art program, and defaulted to a different text.

ohhh, but string, you've used the fonts in previous art! what's up with that? what's wrong?

i used a site to generate the text. i copy pasted each image onto my canvas, and removed the background manually. not very convenient, but it worked, you know? that day, however, it was down. i knew i had to complete the entire comic the day of, else i wouldn't be able to sleep, but it wasn't working that day no matter how hard i try.

i went through multiple links and three social medias, and nada. i didn't want write it all out because that would take forever. i considered just sucking up and using the normal undertale text font that i had which did work, but that would have absolutely killed me inside.

and then i went back to the text generator site, and i scrolled down to see who they had credited for the fonts.

HOORAY!!! i can finally move on with my life!

right after i spend another two hours editing the text in.

(anyway, while integrating it the font, i prioritized readability. "if i don't click on the image and zoom in, will i still be able to read it?" this comes from my experiences struggling to read fan comics (and sometimes, even published ones) and breaking immersion because it's either the font or scale that made me have to open it separately somewhere else. it's just a slight nitpick that is largely inconsequential, but i wanted to make sure that i avoided this for my own art.)

Characterization

the comic helped be better solidify the type of character i imagine for sans in this version of a swap au.

to write sans' dialogue, i ended up combining and mashing a lot of stuff that were already said by both sans and papyrus from various routes. this is what led to phrases like "you're a freaking freak," which i had to cut out because it was a little too goofy... sadly.

overall, i had such a blast with this guy. he's a mixture of composed, threatening, and cute. i place careful emphasis on the cute, because it has pretty much become "fanon blueberry sans"' defining trait. and as much as people make jokes about him now, i still love him.

i think it's obvious, but my favorite things to draw were the little scarf tails.

they show a level of vulnerability that we never get to see with classic sans. this is vital for his new role as the brother who tries to dissuade you from killing through mercy.

just as important as that were the expressions themselves. there are the normal, cartoony, exaggerated expressions, and then there are expressions that are distinctly sans. by that, i mean the repetitive and undecipherable "look at you, look off to the side" Thing that sans Does. it forces you to examine the dialogue to discern what he's really saying and feeling.

and what exactly is he saying and feeling? it's usually made up of... suggestions. non-answers. sans talks like he's hypothesizing something he knows the results for. asking clarifying questions about things he already knows the answers to.

but i think you know that already, right? you don't have any intention of making friends, do you?

sans talks like the subtle difference between "reject the null hypothesis" and "failure to reject the null hypothesis." (if that?? makes sense?? it does to me.)

it fits, because even if "unprovable at best" is the language he's using, all while he's actively making the biggest leaps of logic through pure deduction and observation, he ends up right anyway.

he doesn't KNOW for sure that the human is a time traveler, but he makes that assumption.

he doesn't KNOW how many times we died, but it sure looks like we're pissed after dying a seventh time, so it's probably seven, right?

he doesn't KNOW if there exists an entity outside of comprehension and his ability to fight, but he entertains us like he does anyway.

he cannot possibly know what you are actually thinking or feeling, he's only putting out his best guess.

and he's right.

it's a bored intellect.

uh, you might just have to try harder than others. but, hey, i'm not here to judge.

he's softening his words for your sake. we both know he's right, but he's hiding it behind composure and a thin veil of "sorry, i don't know what you're talking about, and i don't actually know what i'm doing. i'm just saying things to say things, things that you should probably pay attention to, but you don't have to believe me, you know that right? my best pal?"

(and the "softening his words" bit is a little more obvious in canon specifically whenever he talks to papyrus.)

i can't guarantee that i won't dodge if you try to take a swing at me, so...

he WILL dodge if we take a swing at him. that's why he closes his eyes. because he wants to believe in you. he cannot look at you, because from your expression, he will know your decision immediately. he's trying really hard to believe in you, because it's what papyrus would want. more importantly, it's what sans himself is secretly hoping for. handicapping himself, FORCING himself to stay still, is how he shows that he's trying.

but it's a weird, illogical decision, isn't it? he has the power to try and stop you right then and there. even without the full effects of his karma attacks, he could still put up a fight.

but truly, think about it. what papyrus' role is in that route of the game. for all the people who aborted their no mercy runs, or avoid no mercy entirely mainly because of him, why did they stop at papyrus? ignoring video game logistics, if undyne's fight came first before papyrus, would they have still stopped at that same place? if sans' fight came first? maybe they'd get frustrated enough to quit, but there are still people out there who can beat them eventually but won't, because they will not go past papyrus. but why? it's not like undyne or sans' speeches are any sadder. so?

because papyrus' attempt to stop you hinges completely on being able to appeal to your emotions.

he is the only major character who will never kill you. we can speculate all we want about the true extent of his abilities ("Blink Motherfucker"), but the fact remains that we will never see him turn that against us. in his no mercy fight, he is entirely defenseless, because he trusts you so much.

it's a more successful tactic than people realize. if you were able to play the game and all its routes naturally and without any spoilers, i bet that a lot more people would hesitate on papyrus. they might kill him anyway, but they would still hesitate, if not quit/restart entirely out of guilt. the only reason at that point to keep going is curiosity, which the game actively punishes you for.

sans? he can't offer you such sincerity, even when he wants to. he can't bring himself to care so much.

so what does he do? what he does best: inaction. idleness. let YOU make the hard decision for him.

in this swap universe, you never get "the sans fight." not because he doesn't want to pummel you, but because he encounters you at a point where there is still hope. just like how, even in the worst of neutral runs, he lets you skedaddle away. even if you kill papyrus. he can't do that to you in no mercy, because by then it's no longer just a matter of dead monsters, it's the erasure of the entire universe. nothing will be left, not even dust. he can't allow that, but for now, he's allowing you this.

as he sees it right now, despite his lingering doubts, you can still change. you can still be better. he wants to see you be better.

he's trying his best, hoping that you will offer the same decency.

Visual Parallels

i intentionally made it so that some of the visuals are reminiscent of ones that can be found in the game. i'm particularly proud of this one:

Bonus: Snippets from the Original Rough Draft

IMAGE 1#:

i was told that chara looked like a lamp here. i replied with, "how convenient," hehe

IMAGE #2:

when i say rough draft, i mean ROUGH draft...

IMAGE #3:

this image has been weaponized against me too many times to count.

Inspiration

i've been into undertale for a very long time. swap sans has always been among my favorite sanses. "blueberry" was like one of those weird phenomena that has largely been phased out as members of the original fandom grew up.

i wanted to revisit it in its purest form. it's the reason i didn't completely change the design that has become fandom consensus, and the reason why i didn't remove his "cuteness." it would be something interesting to explore, and it's a new project to further develop my skills.

Other Stuff

if you're reading this, don't feel stressed about having to follow steps or anything. it helps, but it's not realistic. actually, more often than not, i completely ignore "planning" and just go with my intuition. this is just a summary and organization of my thoughts, not the whole picture. in reality, i would linger on some parts, then jump to the next, or work on multiple parts simultaneously. maybe even abandon it for a bit before inspiration strikes me again. creativity is volatile, it's useless to fixate on making the little things perfect. some of the stuff i mentioned here? happy accidents that worked out surprisingly well.

by the way, i'm not watching over the poll. i'll let the results surprise me at the end of the week, and then i'll go through with what i have planned out. keep the paranoia up.

have fun, everyone!