I give you a pause in my regularly scheduled xmen fanart to give you "ominous vending machine in the woods".
This idea has been sitting in my brain for a few years ever since I played Sevens Scarlet and saw the amazing background art by Takahashi Koya. But I only now got around to actually painting it. I was sitting in a meeting during a PD day at the school I've been teaching at and figured why not start. (The meeting didn't pertain to me as I teach an elective, not common core)
A companion piece to the one of cyclops, will also eventually be made into a mini print.
This one was an adventure, near the start of it I realized if I wanted it to truly match Scott's I'd have to draw it small then resize to make sure the brush textures still matched. So I drew it small first then expanded it to match the others dimensions.
Sorry for the long pause between updates for the Xmen Au, but it's probably going to be abit more. My dog just had to be put to sleep and I'm not really feeling drawing atm.
But idk maybe drawing will help me not think about it. Idk I'm just
Yeah sorry that this hiatus has been even longer then I expected, my grandma died about a month ago which kinda sent me back down right when I was coming back. Hopefully no one else dies and we can go back to our scheduled cyclops brainrot
Sorry for the long pause between updates for the Xmen Au, but it's probably going to be abit more. My dog just had to be put to sleep and I'm not really feeling drawing atm.
But idk maybe drawing will help me not think about it. Idk I'm just
Scott as he looked before and after arriving to xaviers as part of my AU.
As always more detail will be below the read more (along with more images this time, but one shows implied abuse so I figured I'd place it below)
[Pt.1 ] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 3 You're here]
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I wanted to get a feel for how Scott would look like before and after Xavier saved him. So I wanted to draw how he looked before running from the group home, while he's with Jack winters, then when hes at the X Mansion.
Let's start with talking about before he ran from the group home. He's roughly 10yrs old at that point, and the poor kid has gone from one bad situation to the next. Plus unbeknownst to him, he has just been handed to Mr Sinister.
While at the group home his hair would be kept short, as its easier for the staff to just give all of them buzz cuts then dealing with what the kids might actually like (and its easier to keep clean). His clothes are simple, but maintained well enough to keep up appearances as Mr Sinister doesn't want anyone getting suspicious and looking to closely. The wardrobe he and the other kids would have are simple t-shirts, jeans, and a few flannel shirts/ sweatshirts for when it gets colder. Most of the clothing items would be donations are things gotten used for cheap (Some kids might have some clothes from before the group home, but I imagine most wouldn't since sinster largely want kids with as few ties as possible to outside)
Leading up to his mutation fully manifesting I picture Scott's eyes slowly gaining a more red color and itch as the energy is starting to develop behind them. The energy build up will also start his migraines to get worse. And as time goes on Scott is going to start looking very worn down, with tired eyes, slouched posture, and being very low energy.
A large reason for his tiredness is going to be because he's unknowingly being kept up at night by Sinister. Each night sinster brings kids from the group home down into the lab for experiments. And once sinister realizes Scott has the x-gene he's going to be getting brought down there ALOT. So scotts definitely not getting proper rest, and what ever drug concoction sinister is using to make the kids forget what happens each night isn't great either and Scott's going to be getting alot of it. I'll go into all this more in a post dedicated more to sinister and Scott's time with him. By the end though Scott will choose to runaway after his mutation fully develops because due to how ofthen he's being brought down to the lab enough that even with the drugs effects he knows the place is dangerous.
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Moving on to after Scott ran away from the group home and when he gets picked up by jack.
Not having access to much he was stuck wearing the same outfit while on the streets, and Jack winters wasn't really interested in getting Scott new clothes, only really caring about scott to the extent on how he was useful. Over time the clothes will get pretty worn out, especially after being washed frequently. Similarly Jack wasn't going to change his baseline neglect of Scott to take the time to cut his hair, and he definitely wasn't going to take him out to get his hair cut. So Scott's hair is going to get alot longer then it was at the group home, and Scott is going to do his best, while functionally blind, to cut it himself. To mixed results.
Overall I want the design for his time with Jack to reinforce the idea that he doesn't view Scott as a person, but as a tool to be used. There will be alot more writen about Scott's time with Jack in a post dedicated to it, but for now I want to get across how much neglect and abuse Scott went through with before Xavier saved him, and then contrast it to how he looks post rescue. In both places (group home and with jack) Scott's agency and personhood was taken away from him, and both used fear and intimidation as a means of control.
As stated I'll talk more in depth of Scott's time with Jack later in a different post focused on it, but I do want to quickly mention Jack's telepathic powers and how he used them to torment Scott. The overall effects of the constant fear Scott's going through with Jack is going to heavily effect how Scott presents himself. He was already a nervous kid thanks to his history prior. But with Jack winters skimming the surface his mind to pick out his insecurities and fears, then using that info to psychologically torment him so that he's easier to control is REALLY gonna fuck him up. As shown in the art Scott's going to have been going to alot, and this is going to be the source of alot of his insecurities.
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Now finally let's move onto the X Mansion.
Alot of stuff pertaining to how he looks was mentioned in the last post [Pt. 2] showing Scott in the clothes he wears most during the present day sections of the AU comic. But key points for the child version of Scott are how different he is from how he was with Jack. Quickly saying some of the changes, hair is clean, he has a proper haircut, His clothes are new and not worn out, and the few pieces of clothes that aren't new are high quality. The outfit he gets when they first bring him to the mansion is hand-me-downs from Xaviers old belongings, but afterwards they buy him his own wardrobe.
Past those changes though there's a few I'd like to go into more depth with, starting with how the bandages he had been using to keep his eyes closed have been replaced with a sleep mask. The bandages got the job done, but weren't very practical. They crushed his ears to his head, weren't designed to last indefinitely, hard to put on securely by himself, and not the most secure. So after arriving to the X Mansion Xavier felt it was time to get something easier for scott. The sleep mask is designed to go around his ears so they won't be crushed anymore, and the elastic makes it easy for scott to put on by himself as its just a matter if slipping it on and off. Plus it's alot more comfortable for him.
I also have a very cute idea about how his hair gets cut. So I imagine cutting his hair is not anyone's first priority when they get him to the mansion, cleaning it yeah, but. not nescisarily cutting it. But as it gets longer it starts bothering Scott and he's used to trying to cut it himself, and he's not yet comfortable enough to ask for help, as everyone is already being so nice to him. So one day Xavier and Storm are out dealing with paper work about making Xavier Scott's legal guardian, and Logan is left alone with Scott in the mansion. Scott and Logan don't really know how to I tract with each other. for Logan he's not been around kids much, especially one who's gone through so much shit as Scott. And Scott's, firstly nervous around all of them, but he's abit scared of wolverine, he's gruff and has habits that remind him of Jack winters to a degree. Logan would never hurt him, but Scott doesn't know him well yet.
I also imagine Xavier would get Scott a cane to help him get around the mansion. Scott's mutation gives him extremely good spacial awareness (that's how he's so good at bouncing his optic blasts off things). so he is able to get around a place pretty well after he's given the time to explore abit (he also has an amazing memory). But Xavier wants him to have every tool at his disposal to make his life easier so got him one to help him be more independent. So he brings it with him where ever he goes and it does help alot, especially when he's in a new location or surrounded by people.
So while home alone with Logan, Scott's going to decide his hair is too long and it needs to be cut. So after some time Scott find Logan in the garage working on his motorcycle and asks "where are the scissors kept?" While poking his head in through the door.
Wolverine only really paying half attention as he's focused on his bike would respond "second drawer on the left in the kitchen" without thinking. Scott would then thank him and leave.
Wolverine would go back to fully focusing on his bike then after a min or two think "I wonder what Scott needs scissors for?" Then a few seconds go by and it dawns on him "OH SHIT HES BLIND" and he rushes out if the garage to try and find Scott to make sure he didn't just majorly fuck up.
Thankfully it's pretty easy for Logan to find Scott with his sense of smell, and he finds him standing over the trashcan about to cut his own hair. Logan running into the room startles Scott who almost drops the scissor, but does infact cut some hair. Scott's first instinct is to apologize profusely since he doesn't want to get in trouble and is still used to Jack. But Logan will calm him down and say it's alright he was just afraid he might accidentally hurt himself. After Scott calms down Logan will ask why he didn't just ask one of them to help him cut his hair, and Scott will say how he didn't want to bother anyone etc.
So wolverine will decide he's going to help the kiddo cut his hair. Wolverine isn't sure if he's going to be any good at it, but he figures he's been alive long enough maybe he does know how to cut hair. And besides it's bound to be better then what a blind kid would do. So after relocating Scott and a chair to the shower (easier clean up) Logan will start cutting his hair. (Turns out he's decent at it) he would start with the scissors but quickly give up on those and use one if his claws as he feels he has more control over it. And by the end Scott has a decent haircut and has bonded some with wolverine as theyd talk while wolverine cuts his hair.
Scott can't see his new haircut for obvious reasons, but he'd be really happy with how it feels, and excited to show Xavier and Storm his new haircut. I picture him giving wolverine a quick hug as thanks, which would surprise wolverine alot, and not used to being hugged he'd probably get kinda flustered going "it's no big deal kid, just happy to help" while awkwardly patting Scott's back, very thankful Scott can't see him getting embarrassed. He's also happy that Scott doesn't seem to be afraid of him anymore. (I also think Storm and Xavier would be very pleasantly surprised that wolverine helped Scott cut his hair. Wolverine would yet again be embarrassed but it's a good fluff moment for all of them)
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That's about it for now, sorry for how much time has past, the drawing of Scott hiding from Jack took awhile to figure out the perspective on, then I procrastinated writing all of this out lmao.
As always if you have any questions please let me know :D I love talking about this lol. Next time will either be more info about Sinister in this AU or more about Jack Winters it depends on which one I end up drawing first. If you want to be alerted to updates let me know and I'll add you to the tag list :)
Also as a bonus here's some art showing scotts height difference from age 8, 11, and 15. And some height comparisons of some other characters.
This is for my ongoing personal project which is a AU of the Xmen focusing alot on Cyclops.
[Pt. 1] [Pt. 2 You're here][Pt.3]
More details below the cut
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So the basic idea for Scott's casual outfits is that alot of it is based on the clothes he was given when he first arrived at the X Mansion. I'm imagining when he first arrived he didn't have anything with him after what he went through. (Which I will elaborate on further down) so Xavier would of had to get him clothes, some hand-me-downs from his own closet, alot new. And since he idolizes Xavier and views him as a father figure he became really attached to what Xavier got for him. So he kinda dresses like a grandpa.
The Sweater he wears most was a hand-me-down from xavier given to him the first night he was at the mansion after being saved. It means alot to him and, especially when he was young, acts like a comfort item to him. It was far too big for him at the time, and is still rather loose. By the time that he's an adult it will fit him more or less perfectly though. Also shown are his glasses for when he's not using the visor. They wrap around the sides of his head abit to make sure no energy leaks out the sides.
Generally he trys to dress very neatly so that he's always ready to be a good example. He views it as a way to help himself live up to xaviers expectations. (More about all of this will be brought up later in other pieces, especially ones depicting his early time at the mansion)
Okay some more general AU stuff
In my AU (which is mostly just what I'd do if I was incharge of a Xmen series that let me start for 0) I am keeping most everything that Scott went through before the Xmen, but I am shifting the time frames around abit. The reason I'm shifting the time line around is because I want to have Scott be abit younger when he first arrives to the mansion. I want the team to form roughly when Scott's 15, but I want some time before hand where it will be him recovering from the abuse he dealt with.
Scotts time line is roughly:
Age 0-7: Happy normal childhood
8yr old: Plane crash, causes his parents to die and puts Scott in a coma for 6 months
9yr old: Fully in the foster system and doesn't go great, gets placed in the group home that Mr Sinister runs and deals with that. His mutation starts showing itself around this time.
10yr old: mutation has fully manifested, he escapes from the group home and is functionally blind while living on the streets.
11yr old: runs into Jack winters who abuses Scott to try and force him to help him commit crimes. (Scott's more or less held captive)
11 or 12yr old: gets rescued by Xavier and Co. And is brought the mansion as the first student.
12 or 13yr old: Jean joins the school and slowly gets to know Scott. And awhile after Jean arrives Scott acquires his first pair of glasses that let him see again.
13yr old: Bobby joins the mansion and they start combat training
14yr old: They start going on simple missions to help Xavier recruit more students, as team is being fleshed out.
15yr old: Xmen form properly and start doing more crime fighting types of missions.
The exact timeline is pretty loose at the moment, but that's roughly the plan. The bulk of the comic will take while they are forming the team and after. But most of the current development has been on Cyclops backstory in particular. These time periods will get fleshed out more as more art is drawn.
The next batch of art will be depicting him when he's younger. Around the time that he got rescued by Xavier and came to the mansion.
Well that's all I can think of to say atm, but if anyone has questions I'd love to answer them :)
I'm planning a AU fancomic focusing on Cyclops and his time before and after joining the xmen.
More details will be under the read more. I'll also be posting more sketches soon, I have alot
(If any of you can think of a name for this AU let me know)
[Pt 1 you're here] [Pt 2][Pt.3]
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Firstly with the sketches shown above, these were me figuring out what his suit would look like and some other basics. I really wanted it to feel the inexperience hed have at the start, and be a suit design that could fit most of the team. I'm thinking as the team figures themselves out more the suits will get altered over time to be more unique to themselves.
The basis for the AU is mostly just what I'd do if I was ever allowed to run my own version of a xmen comic. Preferably were I could start from scratch with them all still being kids in highschool. As I feel the school aspect of the series ofthen gets left behind. The school tends to feel more like housing co-op then a school. So I really want to bring that aspect more to the surface in my version. So I'm going to pull alot of things from all over xmen media, comics, shows, the movies, and kinda just mix everything up in a way that makes sense, to me, while adding in my own ideas and fleshing out the character more. So they will all still be the characters we all know, just a different spin on them. A big inspiration for this is going to be the show "Xmen Evolutions" it's one of my favorite versions of the xmen, and has alot of my favorite versions of the xmen.
Currently the main focus of this AU is Scott and his growth as a person as he works through his numerous traumas (boy has really gone through the meat grinder 🥺) and figures out who he is as a person and leader. I think Scott is a really interesting character in xmen, with alot of potential, but he ofthen gets labeled boring/ uninteresting by people who haven't really paid attention to him. So I want to kinda help people see why I love his character so much and give his character the time needed to really shine.
I do intend the fan comic itself to be more of an ensemble piece were everyone does get focused on. But during this drafting phase I'm definitely focusing extra attention onto Scott (as he's also the character I have the most brain rot for lmao) and he will definitely be one of lead characters. As I want to explore his growth as a leader, and how his ideals eventually shift and change compared to Xaviers and Magnetos ideologies, as I really like the idea of Scott's beliefs eventually shifting to be sort of a middle ground between the two. And I want to show his growth and thought process that leads him to his beliefs. (Especially since at first he's very dedicated to Xaviers beliefs, and has more or less placed Xavier on a pedestal)
There's alot more I can say but, as this post is more just a general kick start/ intro to the AU mostly just showing the xmen suit idea, I'll save most of the specifics for the next few post that will really go far more in depth on the characters history/ characterization.
See ya next post! Also if you want to be tagged for updates let me know, also ask any questions you might have I'd love to answer them!
I've been thinking alot about xmen recently, and what'd I'd do if I ever became the writer/ artist for the books. It'd definitely have to be a elseworlds story since I'd want to start from 0, and pull aspects from across different media.
I feel it could be a fun exercise since it's been so long since I used my 2nd degree (comic creation) for anything and I feel rusty 🤔
Come check the game I was an artist on for the GBJAM12!
It's a Mashup drawing / horror game!
You play as an art student who hasn't finished their assignments yet and needs to pull an all nighter to get it all done. But there's a looming feeling of being watched, as if something is right outside the window....
Can you get your assignment done while making sure you survive long enough to see it?
I had alot of fun working on the art for this! The game is still rough around the edges but we plan to work on it more after the jam is fully over.
Don't you hate it when you're alone in your room and you feel that someone is watching you
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