It’s taken me a while to finish, but here are the designs for Softboy Pillowman and Leo Lion, who will be starring in a future WITW animatic that I am collaborating on with @thescarletpaperback. Characters/designs/all the wonderful ideas belong to him and if you want to see more of his characters, please take a look at @softboy-pillowman!
This turned out beautifully! You always draw such wonderful artwork of this blog’s characters. :3
Happy New Year, everybody! Whether your year was disastrous, or only partly a nightmare with some good bits mixed in, I think we can all agree that a break from 2020 is long overdue.
This blog also needs a break. While I’ve had a lovely time making weekly comics since Leap Day, that took up quite a lot of my free time and energy. That’s why The Antics of Softboy Pillowman will be taking a two-month hiatus. I’ll still be working on Softboy stuff in the meantime, but it will be plans for an actual Softboy picture book or two. (And hopefully, at least one short story that’s unrelated to Softboy Pillowman)
Thank you for following my silly little toys’ adventures. I’ll see you all again in March!
There may be tension among the cast, but the show must go on! Now the Chrisville Theater Society can finally start rehearsals for their production of The Wind in the Willows. But can Dirk keep his antagonistic tendencies in his acting? And what made Softboy so distressed in panel 13? Only time will tell…
Fun fact: In panel 6, Dirk is referencing how, near the climax of the Wind in the Willows musical, the Chief Weasel gets in a fight with Toad and lands quite a few hits on him.
Also, when Softboy says he doesn’t have a brain, he’s not being self-deprecating. He’s just stating that he literally doesn’t have a brain.
This took me forever to finish and I’ve been working on it nonstop for a few weeks now. I wanted this done for his birthday, but looks like I made it in time for Christmas. I drew all of @thescarletpaperback ‘s OCs…or at least the ones with a visual reference.
I just want him to know how wonderful his stories and characters are and how much they make my heart happy. You inspire me daily and I hope you never quit creating beautiful, wonderful worlds.
So many Softboy characters! Thanks again for this absolutely beautiful artwork. I’m always so grateful to have your love and support.
Chrisville’s guest actor is Lucky Buck, Lorrie’s well-loved My Mini Mule toy. The Chrisville toys would know Lucky from IRL playdates with Lorrie, but those haven’t happened since the pandemic started. However, it seems like one toy isn’t happy to reunite with Lucky Buck after so long…
Fun facts: As you might have noticed, Lucky Buck is visually inspired by an existing toy horse brand, but she’s still very distinct from it. (Or at least, just distinct enough.) She is a mule, after all. The “soul brand” mentioned in panel 5 is the magical birthmark/label on her flank, which in her case is a four-leaf clover.
Looks like some outside talent will be visiting Chrisville very soon…
Fun facts: Just because we moved on to different musicals doesn’t mean the Chrisville Theater Society will be leaving Gilbert and Sullivan behind. Softboy saying “Here’s a how-de-do” references a song from The Mikado.
Also, we may not have seen much of the society’s production of HMS Pinafore, but we now know that their “female” chorus, which is supposed to consist of Sir Joseph’s sisters/cousins/aunts, had the bare minimum of three members. (Which wasn’t too big of a loss, as the female chorus in Pinafore does so little, it’s rather tragic.) This is actually based on a real production of HMS Pinafore that I was in, where we had to make do with one sister, one cousin, and one aunt.
The third chorus member, Mamma Hippo, is actually a guest star herself. She’s one of the toys from baby Zoe’s room, and plays a supporting role in the third book of the original Softboy thesis trilogy.
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