#variant art

'Storm' by Kris Anka.

Some 1950s inspired designs done for @bama_bayou_photography for his cause. I honestly love how these came out, especially fitting the overall '50s watercoloring aesthetic. The intention was to satire the old 50s Smokey the Bear posters and graphics along with The Country Bear Jamboree ads from Disney World! I wanted to give a sense of Americana to the piece itself while also flipping it on its head with possibly one of my favorite social memes that have come out in a while.

Slide by to check out the variations of the full half posters and the bear sporting them!

“I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.”  - Zhuangzi

Before I describe each Lance(s) who died, let’s talk about how the Traveller AU!Lance remembers the deaths of his counterparts/alternate selves.

He is becoming a TRAVELLER like Pyra.

Don’t throw the kitchen sink yet! I have not discuss about the types of TRAVELLERs and I’m gong to explain now!.

Okay, if some of you remember, from one of my old post/guide on this AU: TRAVELLERs - They are beings who can travel thru many Verses. They can be mythical beasts, aliens or just plain humans. They are immortal but they don’t have counterparts or alternate selves, making their existence to be unique.

But how does the TRAVELLER is created/born? There are three types:

First is the Natural-Born, these type of TRAVELLERs are born without any counterpart/alternate selves in a Verse. They are born in one reality in one Verse and have amazing abilities on the start. However, most TRAVELLERs considers Natural-Born as the weak type because they have no memories of the multiverse (AKA memories/experiences from their counterpart/alternate selves), and have to gain those by manually traveling to different places/realities. This type have the less risk of becoming a GRIFTER.

The next one is the Forced-Choice, these type of TRAVELLERs chose to be one and acquired their abilities by determination and sacrifice. They are not Natural-Born or have a spark, but they want to be TRAVELLERs. And in order to become one is to get the memories of their counterparts/alternate selves… by killing all of them in one go. It is risky as the one who wants to be a TRAVELLER can also die in the process, but those who survived have to endure the sudden onslaught of memories of the counterparts/alternate selves,,, especially on their deaths. That can drive them to self-harm and/or insanity, or becoming a GRIFTER.

Last, but not the least, is the Progressive. This type is born like normal beings and have counterparts/alternate selves, but only one have a certain spark. To become a TRAVELLER, the one who have the spark must be exposed to traveling into another reality/dimension/Verse or near another TRAVELLER. Once exposed, they first look at the lives of their counterparts/alternate selves thru dreams… eventually, the Progressive subconsciously perform skills that they have not learn/exercised yet they know how. And then, they’ll receive the memories of their counterparts/alternate selves, including their deaths, and the Progressive will question it’s own existence, whether they’re truly alive or dead or in a weird dream-like limbo. Compared to the Forced-Choice, the Progressive’s counterparts/alternate selves does not die in one go. They’ll die naturally as life goes on and their memories will go to the Progressive. While they also have the risk on becoming a GRIFTER, it is not as high as the Forced-Choice.

Traveller AU!Lance is a Progressive type, hence he is receiving memories of his counterparts/alternate selves, including their deaths. Both Forced-Choice and Progressive type TRAVELLERs need guidance from another TRAVELLER to lower the risk of becoming GRIFTERs. Which is the reason why Pyra took him as her student (because she saw the spark), and to prevent another GRIFTER.

I’ll explain more on the next post, so why don’t we check out the alternate Lance(s) who died. The one on the bottom left is a Lance who died by sickness, so he is hospitalized since he was a kid. Above it is a fantasy-medieval Lance who was stabbed by a HUGE blade, he is an archer… so, he’s not good at close combat… YIkes. At the bottom right is Lance drowning, he’s not a paladin in this reality, mind you. And above it, is Altean!Paladin Lance… getting his head chopped off by the enemy… Yeesh.

Now at the very top are Langst… as in these are very insecure Lance(s) who’s the team sees him as a goofball and never taken seriously. At the top left, is Lance sacrificing himself to get the team out and freezing to death. Top middle, is Lance got killed and none of his team mates notice that he is dead and thought he was goofing off (I can sense karma will be a queen bitch, when they learn that he is dead). And on the top right is Lance got killed and someone is screaming at him to hang on and not let go… unfortunately, he let go, Keith.