Go to @dandelion-sun-comic for new stuff! Story got a title change and everything. This blog is gonna be up until I move everything over. AKA, for A Long While.
Main is @esteebarnes94 | Old blog for this story is @halboro1994
Living in a tiny outback town is often boring. Halboro's parks and ice cream parlour sound quaint, but after years of living there, many of its residents have grown sour. The only people who seem to have any sense of fun are the youth. In particular, one group of teenagers have learnt that fun must be made, not found.
Renee, Lucas, Ally, Mary-Anne, Lola, and Jack refuse to let their tiny town limit their adventures. The days seem long, but between being stuck in a tree to participating in an eating competition, there's always something to do. You just have to have the courage to start it.
However, with every year comes new challenges. When 1994 rolls around, it brings with it the stress of starting high school, strains between family members, and conflicts which threaten to tear the group apart. Along the way, the fellow members of Halboro must learn the same tried and true lesson.
Growing is painful, but it's never too late to start.
(Intro stuff below the cut!)
Hello and Welcome!
I'm @esteebarnes94, and I'm the creator of Growing Pains: 1994 (GP1994). This is the dedicated blog for the story! I'm happy to be here.
GP1994 is my darling. I've had it for many years. However, due to the massive size of the project, it is very, very much a work in progress. While I sort out the writing and comic stuff, I'll be posting art, rambles, and GP1994-related reblogs.
Character Intros
Coming soon! Here are the protagonists' names for reference. They do have a ton of stuff in their tags. I'll hyperlink these to their intros when I've posted them.
Renee
Lucas
Ally
Mary-Anne
Lola
Jack
In the meantime, have this artwork of the Hal Street Six (protags)!
Links
I have the old version of this blog kept up for archival. It uses the old title. I also briefly had a newer version of this blog because my posts weren't showing in the tags. Turns out, there was a stupidly easy fix, so that blog is gone.
@halboro1994 (<- the archived blog)
@ask-halboro (<- the currently inactive GP1994 ask blog. Expected to undergo a major renovation)
@esteebarnes94 (<- my main, again)
@estees-attic-storage (<- my reblog account in case I accidentally reply with this)
Tags
All GP1994-related tags start with "#gp1994". Some unique tags to keep a lookout for are:
#estee's talking time (<- non-GP1994 posts)
#gp1994 tag the oc
#gp1994 year eight
#gp1994 hal street six
#gp1994 aesthetic
#gp1994 ice cream
#gp1994 dandelions
Other
I do not consent to my works being reposted cross-site or onto new OP posts. Reblogs from my posts are appreciated!
I do not consent to my works being used for any kind of learning model or NFT.
Don't use my art as an icon, banner/header, or anything else of the sort.
Living in a tiny outback town is often boring. Halboro's parks and ice cream parlour sound quaint, but after years of living there, many of its residents have grown sour. The only people who seem to have any sense of fun are the youth. In particular, one group of teenagers have learnt that fun must be made, not found.
Renee, Lucas, Ally, Mary-Anne, Lola, and Jack refuse to let their tiny town limit their adventures. The days seem long, but between being stuck in a tree to participating in an eating competition, there's always something to do. You just have to have the courage to start it.
However, with every year comes new challenges. When 1994 rolls around, it brings with it the stress of starting high school, strains between family members, and conflicts which threaten to tear the group apart. Along the way, the fellow members of Halboro must learn the same tried and true lesson.
Growing is painful, but it's never too late to start.
(Intro stuff below the cut!)
Hello and Welcome!
I'm @esteebarnes94, and I'm the creator of Growing Pains: 1994 (GP1994). This is the dedicated blog for the story! I'm happy to be here.
GP1994 is my darling. I've had it for many years. However, due to the massive size of the project, it is very, very much a work in progress. While I sort out the writing and comic stuff, I'll be posting art, rambles, and GP1994-related reblogs.
Character Intros
Coming soon! Here are the protagonists' names for reference. They do have a ton of stuff in their tags. I'll hyperlink these to their intros when I've posted them.
Renee
Lucas
Ally
Mary-Anne
Lola
Jack
In the meantime, have this artwork of the Hal Street Six (protags)!
Links
I have the old version of this blog kept up for archival. It uses the old title. I also briefly had a newer version of this blog because my posts weren't showing in the tags. Turns out, there was a stupidly easy fix, so that blog is gone.
@halboro1994 (<- the archived blog)
@ask-halboro (<- the currently inactive GP1994 ask blog. Expected to undergo a major renovation)
@esteebarnes94 (<- my main, again)
@estees-attic-storage (<- my reblog account in case I accidentally reply with this)
Tags
All GP1994-related tags start with "#gp1994". Some unique tags to keep a lookout for are:
#estee's talking time (<- non-GP1994 posts)
#gp1994 tag the oc
#gp1994 year eight
#gp1994 hal street six
#gp1994 aesthetic
#gp1994 ice cream
#gp1994 dandelions
Other
I do not consent to my works being reposted cross-site or onto new OP posts. Reblogs from my posts are appreciated!
I do not consent to my works being used for any kind of learning model or NFT.
Don't use my art as an icon, banner/header, or anything else of the sort.
Guys! I finally drew the protagonists! Ahh! I'm so proud of myself!
Reblogs and nice comments are highly appreciated! I also welcome asks about these guys (even the most basic things!). GP1994 is my main story, so ask away :]
Tumblr immediately shot the image quality in the foot, so click for better resolution.
Don't repost or use.
I'm so fucking proud of this, oh my god. I did it! I drew them and they look like themselves!
I'm going to make two more rows for the rest of their class. Then, I hope to make some for their families and teachers and whatnot. I could even design Viviani...Woah!
Hope you guys don't mind the tags, but @artsandstoriesandstuff and @lotsa-cats-in-a-trenchcoat! It's them!!
freak4freak is always so awesome but another character dynamic that i think is really great is freak vs freak. you're the only person who understands me and i'm the only person who understands you. unfortunately this also does not stop either of us from hating each other and in fact it might even make everything significantly worse for everyone involved
Not paying a whole lot of attention. She'll listen and do the work to the best of her abilities, but she is usually distracted by fiddling with her pencil or something of the like. She tends to stab her rubbers with them and then create giant holes. Also, she reacts a lot to whatever bullshit other students are doing (most often, it's negative).
Lucas
Not paying attention. He doesn't care. Sure, he doesn't want to fail, but he's not doing his homework. He thinks he's too stupid to bother studying, so he does the bare minimum. Then, when his grades suck, he takes that as proof. He definitely has difficulty with school in general, but he makes it worse. Anyway, he's chatting to people, doodling something, or playing pencil races with himself.
Ally
She tries to pay attention, but her attention span is terrible. She's always getting distracted whenever someone makes a noise or walks by outside. Every time someone asks a question, her mind finds a way to jump on a train of thought away from the lesson. She rereads the posters on the walls a lot. However, she always finds a way to study afterwards or scrapes together enough context to understand. If not, she just asks her friends for help.
Mary-Anne
Absolutely pays attention. She's a model student. That is, of course, when she isn't drawing something in her book and not zoning back in in time. She thinks she's one of the most locked in people in the class, but she gets distracted by drawing far more than she'd like to admit.
Lola
Pretty average. She's paying attention, but it usually bores her. To pass time, she'll draw little things in her book or fiddle with something in her pencil case. She also stares out of the window a lot or into space. However, she never stares in the direction of other people. She always snaps back in time to answer questions. She's good at listening while doing something.
Jack
He pays attention because he doesn't want to get in trouble and because he's scared. He fears his teachers snapping at him. He fears his bullies making fun of him even more. That said, he does tend to enjoy some subjects and just takes a genuine interest in the content. When he's not paying attention, he zones out. He consciously chooses not to zone out in the direction of people so he doesn't make things awkward. However, he instead zones out staring at his desk, looking horrified or very sad (he's not).
Barneby
Barneby does not give a fuck about work. He's actively goofing off. He likes to have pencil races with Russell. Being at the back of the class, he does get away with more. However, he wastes this by being a nuisance, if not just a bully. He does stereotypical stuff like throwing paper balls at people and insulting the lesson. He also just messes with stationery, such as seeing if he can throw his pencil into his desk like a dart.
Russell
Pays more attention than Barneby, but still doesn't give a fuck about it. He will know when someone is referring to him and acknowledges their comment (although rarely nicely). However, he's always finding something new to mess with. He's better at not getting caught, but he's still a thirteen-year-old who has a big reputation about him. Leans back on his chair a lot.
Haylee
Pays attention, but is so bored. She doesn't ask questions, answers questions when asked, and says nothing for the rest of it. She does the bare minimum that still gets her a good participation grade. She's very good at picking up ideas and teachings, so she breezes by. Even so, she avoids conversations with people. The only conversations she has are notes she passes to Kirsty to gossip. They are rarely caught.
Kirsty
Paying attention sometimes. She loses her head in the clouds a lot. In these moments, she lets her guard down, so it's easier to gauge what she's feeling. She tries to whisper to people, but is either caught by teachers or shut down by students. When she passes notes, she's very cautious about being caught. This has lessened over the years, but she still looks suspiciously careful.
Kirsty also takes a long time to write notes because she's so focused on her hand writing. She dots her "I"s with hearts.
Tom
Paying attention because he thinks not doing so is stupid. He doesn't want to pay attention--he doesn't even want to be at the school--but he thinks others are unwise for not. He takes highly condensed notes and his eyes do not meet the board unless they must. Usually, he's half off in his own train of thought, half taking in what's being taught.
Jason
Not really paying attention because he doesn't find it super important. Asks if things will be on the test. He knows he can ask questions and if they are embarrassing to ask, he'll wait until after school or during break. If he knows he really needs to listen, he will, but he's much more content doing his own thing. When he's distracted, he picks at the peeling paint on his desk or his rubber.
Barbara
Pays attention! She's a good student. She does like to do stuff with her hands while listening. Usually, she's making a chatter box, paper plane, crane or another origami craft, or folding scraps of paper into springs. She figured out that you can only fold a sheet a maximum of nine times by doing so over and over again in class. She tries to encourage her peers to listen, but also doesn't really care if they don't. She is most concerned that her friends pass, but they also all pay attention, anyway.
Hanna
The most locked in student in the class. She's asking so many questions to make sure she's got everything covered. She does extra reading to be sure she knows all she needs to. She asks the teacher about the homework if they haven't, so some people celebrate when she's sick (mostly people who don't do their homework). Sadly, some teachers find her annoying, but they all appreciate her paying attention.
Aaliyah
She pays attention most of the time. If there's an interesting conversation going on, she'll join. She's also not too fussed about getting in trouble for being distracted. In the end, she's not talking enough to get detentions. Still, she likes to chat. Barbara gives her the origami things she makes, and Aaliyah puts in orders for certain ones. She likes to give them funny faces.
Erik
He wants to talk to people, but pays attention anyway. Frankly, with his extensive cello practice, he really doesn't want to do any more work. His parents don't expect him to get straight A's, but they do want him to do well. His biggest issues come from behaviour summaries on his report cards being a little low because he's always chatting. Ironically, when given the opportunity to chat, he sometimes doesn't because he doesn't want to get in trouble.
Michael
Not paying attention. He's not always trying to distract others and rarely the whole class, but he does anyway. He's swinging back on his chair, throwing and catching things, spinning his pencil on his desk until it inevitably flies off, flicking his pencil too hard in pencil races, and more.
People like Mary-Anne and Hanna find him annoying. Brett finds it fun. Most people don't give a shit if it doesn't interrupt what they want. Nobody enjoys the constant stories from teachers about that one kid who injured himself severely by falling off his chair.
Brett
Not paying attention. Like Ally, he has a poor attention span. Like Lucas, he doubts his capabilities to learn anything taught. He tends to laugh along at whatever conversation he overhears. He also tries to join Barneby and Russell in their antics, but is rejected unless it's a way to make fun of him. He tends to overhear a lot of conversations, so he knows way too much gossip.
