Update
Added 2022-10-09 15:21:59 +0000 UTCHappy Sunday, all! I'd like to apologize for the lag in content over the past week. I've been pretty busy with work. So busy with work, good god. Trying to set better work boundaries. In the meantime, why don't y'all tell me what kinda October content you want to see? Can be Halloween-themed or just vaguely autumn-ish, as spooky or cozy as you want. Fire away!
Comments
Oh I am aware. But just like you said, the fuzzbutts characters have gone way past their initial Pverse counterparts. Tbh I feel like very few characters now feel still "attached" to the idea of being just Pandoraverse "furry" expys (and I only think that just because they probably haven't had the chance yet to be on the spotlight and have their surroundings more fleshed out - like we've seen Priscilla and currently are seeing the pawberry family for example) I feel like anything is worth it as long as you enjoyed it. And gosh forgive me but I would have appreciated to personally shush u in the mouth for calling your work "mediocre". I know I can't blame you for having normal human emotions towards your work but the best way I can express in few words is that you've taken a mere kids cartoon and turned into amazing and impressive content and narratives. Honestly Lop, I'm pretty sure I'm not along among all people that follow you that I would >die< to see something like a cartoon, animation, movie or book you created. Your work is never going to have been just a few cartooney horses here and there, the depth and personality you've given your characters, the narratives, the stories, their dynamics... When I tell you you're one of my favourite artists ever if not the one and only, it's because your work always managed to touch me beyond being just rainbow horse melodrama, I feel like it always made me admire you beyond a random person on the internet scribbling horsies, it made me admire you as a person. Perhaps also because all of us have thought at some point that being adults that draw little horsies was something to be ashamed of, but damn the way you worked it and owned it like a PRO and made such compelling stories and narratives with it was always just breathtaking to me. It was always like the perfect balance between comfort and admirably interesting. Kinda like being able to enjoy more in depth themes and stories that kinda sync better with our age/mindset but still with the hint of happiness and magic of a little kid watching their favourite cartoon. I feel like you can think of MLP like maybe the "fuel" for your art for the past years, I mean, it's always more enjoyable to work on something when you like it, and you can't possibly tell me you've been drawing something you hate for over 10 years. And I believe it's never all in vain, I mean, I still remember when your drawings were just as simple and cartoon-ey, similar to the show style, and nowadays your range of skills and anatomy is really impressive. I think it's worth considering how much you've improved through the years, and one way or another, rainbow horsies or not, it was the work you've done that has helped you carve the path towards where you currently are. And like you said, it still has inspired over thousands of people, including me! Welp, it's a shame it's uncertain whether we will ever get to see the rest of the Pandoraverse main story. But I've somewhat grown to understand that (I mean I've definetely have been one of the people nagging you about next chapters I am absolutely sURE and I am SORRY) I only hope you're happy and proud of your art whatever path you decide to take with it!!!
Azure-Art-Wave
2022-10-18 21:02:52 +0000 UTCFuzzbutts is kind of a spin-off of the pandoraverse, but also not really. FB is obviously inspired by the Pverse, right down to me straight up exporting my pony OCs into Fuzzbutts- but ultimately, the characters tend to end up going in new, different directions from their original MLP counterparts. Priscilla feels different from Magnolia May, Skye isn't a Skyla expy anymore, Jude is not Phoenix, Savannah is not Rosemary, etc. As for how I feel about the pandoraverse....hmm. I don't know. In a lot of ways, I feel I've outgrown it. Some of the story elements feel childish and melodramatic to me now, and it all feels so HEAVY. Bloated. With Fuzzbutts, I can be silly and lighthearted. With the Pandoraverse, I have to e mindful of all the pre-established story and characterization and lore, every piece I made with written dialogue would always take me many hours of drawing, writing, research, and re-writing. It stopped being fun and just felt like this big slog. Not to mention, my audience, which started off small, quickly exploded into a massive following, which naturally came with the inherent toxicity of any big fandom- discourse, harassment, stalking, death threats. All over a fanart project I was mostly creating for free. Near the end, it felt like every post I made, no matter how innocent, was going to result in SOME form of nastiness and pushback, (I never really spoke of it publicly, but I dealt with some pretty awful harassment campaigns from Moondancer-obsessed weirdos, as well as several other groups). If I was going to be punished for creating, why bother? A lot of people would say I needed to grow a thicker skin and just deal with the expectations/abuse of a big audience, but after years of doing so, I decided to step back. At the end of the day, I had to rediscover that I must make art because I want to, not to satisfy strangers on the internet. In a way, FB is me re-doing the pandoraverse, and cutting out the old elements that make me unhappy (eg. the obsession with ships, the fanchildren, the melodrama). Perhaps it was foolish of me to sink so much of my time and effort into a fan story of a children's cartoon, because it was a given that it wasn't something I'd want to work on for the rest of my life. I've been making pandoraverse content for almost ten years. That's insane. My feelings about it vary wildly- sometimes I'm proud, sometimes I'm embarrassed, sometimes I want to delete it off the internet permanently, sometimes I'm annoyed that my artistic legacy is mediocre horse fanfiction.....and sometimes I see how my art and stories have influenced and inspired other artists, and I am touched. Sometimes. ....I still have ideas for the pandoraverse. I even have ideas I want to do now (halloween themed), quite soon, if I can find the time. I still have heaps of notebook doodles I want to share. The pandoraverse is not dead, not yet. But it is no longer my priority, my one and only creation. It is what it should've been from the beginning- a silly little side project, not a massive miserable obligation that devours every scrap of my creative time and energy.
Lopoddity
2022-10-18 20:01:00 +0000 UTCBtw Lop, this is just a comment so no pressure or anything, I just personally wanted to ask how have you been feeling Pandoraverse-wise? I know you've been really happy and excited working on fuzzbutts developing your own universe, characters and stories away from a specific fandom of a universe you don't own, so I just wanted to ask how have you been feeling towards it in general. Is it you're just more inspired and inclined on the fuzzbutts universe for the time being? Is MLP/The Pandoraverse something you feel like you're permanently growing out of? Do you feel like you still intend to continue with the Pandoraverse main story? (Again, no pressure, I know how you always expressed yourself that you can't just "mass produce" stories and dialogues that you put so much of yourself into and it's not just about followers claiming to have it done that'll make you feel inclined to do it - so again, no pressure!) I just wanted to ask you how you were feeling about it sorry if it's bothersome in any way!
Azure-Art-Wave
2022-10-18 14:50:22 +0000 UTCCan dogs eat chocolate? Could be a fun scene where they gotta trade Halloween candy with their friends to get rid of it or something idk
Melody Williamson
2022-10-10 14:33:33 +0000 UTC
