Finally finished the thing I started in September! Reference images and bonus comic under the cut.
So first thing to bring up. I headcannon Spamton having "birthmarks" on his chin that resemble ventriloquist dummy lines. Then they became real after the incident. Regular addisons are muppets to me (lanky, fuzzy, bright colours). So Spamton, even in his BigShot era is a dummy in my mind.
Yes I know the phone is black but I'm copying Chris De Burgh album where the phone is red. To avoid having too much red we have Spamton wearing a purple blazer or not wearing one at all.
I think the overlap between Deltarune fans and Chris De Burgh enjoyers is me. Man on the Line is one of his albums and while the album is fine and really 80s (Patrick Bateman would have loved it if it did well in America). I always found the album's imagery very striking. The Z-rank room reminded me of it and I wanted to make some Spamtenna artwork like it. I personally consider one of the albums songs "The Ecstasy of Flight (I Love The Night)" as a Spamton song. Particularly pre-BS Spamton having a fun night out to briefly forget about his job and then discovering the phone. Don't know why the music video is Chris having a Charles Dickens style rager. Looking at the "Don't Pay the Ferryman" music video, I think he just likes having an excuse to wear period piece clothing.
I used these as a reference so I did end up making a Spamton D Burgh homunculi. I hope you like the strange goblin I have created.
It took 5 months to make this but I did this comic in two days. So whether you love it or hate it "Lady in Red" is Burgh's most well known song. And it has played it's part in starting the Vapourwave genre. So this is inspired by both "Lady in Red" and "nobody here".
I put a lot of thought into what flowers to use in this. My explanations are under the cut. This is Alphonse Mucha's Flowers but it's Tenna.
I will be referring to Victorian flower language, Hanakotoba and other flower symbolism cause I think it's neat.
Roses
An iconic flower symbolic for love. A popular choice for any bouquet. I went with dark pink cause I thought it would look nice with the dog rose. I also picked it for it's VFL meaning, which is gratitude. In Hanakotoba all shades of pink roses mean trust, happiness and confidence.
Dog Rose
I added a single dog rose to make a parallel to Tenna himself. He's a 3D render sprite in a game full of 2D sprites. He really stands out so I wanted to represent this with adding a different type of rose to contrast the standard rose. Dog roses have stamen that look a bit like antennae! In VFL, they mean pleasure and pain which I think suits the bittersweet nature of Tenna.
Daises and Buttercups
To me these two (and the dandelion) are the flowers of childhood. It's what's easy for kids to get their hands on and I have fond memories of picking them and making flower chains. While the Yellow Flower in Undertale is it's own thing, it's design is invoking Daisy and Buttercups to me. I used these two to invoke both childhood and the flower associated with the Dreemurr family. Given Tenna is the TV the kids grew up with.
Daisy in VFL means innocence, loyal love & gentleness. In Hanakotoba, it means faith. In Hamlet, they are related to Ophelia.
Buttercups in VFL mean childishness. Other sources state it means childhood memory. In the Irish legend "The Cattle Raid of Cooley/Táin Bó Cúalnge", Cuchulainn (cool-cull-en) is described as scattering his enemies as "buttercups in a meadow".
Lavender (insert James Pokémon saying "It's Lavender!" here)
Very simple, I wanted a purple flower to compliment the orange Lily. It worked out as Lavender has it's connections to the LGBTQIA+ community. Otherwise, VFL= loyalty, love and devotion. Hanakotoba = Faithfulness. Other folklore sources = Distrust or confession.
Lily of the Valley
OK! In VFL they mean "a return to happiness". The flowers look like little cartoon ghosts and I choose pink. This flower represents Tenna finding happiness with Mettaton BABY!!!! Wooooooo!!!!
In Hanakotoba they mean sweet.
Orange Lily
The lilies in Mucha's original piece are the some of the more visually striking and they got stamen. (once again the stamen - antennae visual).
So in Hanatoba they mean hatred and revenge. I love Tenna a lot. One of the reasons I love him is while he's silly and genuinely cares about Kris. There's some anger and resentment in the fella, he says some biting comments (looks at "Couples fight all the time, tell em Kris"). And you know, his history with Spamtom. I wanted a flower with an intense meaning to represent that.
Compared to VFL is pretty simple, orange Lily means wealth. Other sources say passion.
Marigold
So why is there one Marigold behind Tenna's head? you may ask. So I'm being evil with this one. In VFL, it means grief, despair and jealousy. So they tend to be bad news. Bones fans may recall Pelant giving "Bones" Brennan a Marigold as a threat on her life. Hey we all remember Tenna getting sliced by the Knight from behind. I'm invoking the hints of death that Tenna can't see. It's death clues.
Rushes
To make a long story short, Rushes have some significance in Irish culture. We use them to make Brigid crosses, they are iconic, they are a stable in many homes. By all means look up Saint Brigid and her connections to the pagan Goddess Brigid and Imbolc, if you have the time. I chose rushes for one important reason. It actively has a cultural connection to TV. The Irish Television broadcast company RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann) used a St Brigid's cross as it's logo for decades (they dropped it in 1995). So I had to include rushes for Tenna. A TV logo plant for everyone favourite Telly. Is breá liom TV!
Here's a clip from the 80's were changes to the logo were discussed. It features RTÉ logos over the years featuring the cross and an actual St Brigid's cross for comparison.
OK but what are the flowers in the corners?
They are rose done in a flat style. I made them and coloured them like that to resemble an RCA connector. I used those bad boys to connect my PS2 all the time. They match Tenna's colour scheme, I thought it would be nice.
It's the Chick Tract sins but with Lupin III.
In 2019 I was in America and saw a Chick Tract with my own two eyes, this was the inspiration for this. You can look at the original under the cut.
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