Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

A collective of miscellany and mirth. Also sometimes I draw stuff.

[modmad]

TPoH: Update!

Read the new TPoH Update here!

Read this free freaky comic called TPoH from the start here.

If you’d like to support me and my art you can buy BIG BEAUTIFUL BOOKS of TPoH and much much more! Head on down to Topatoco town and introduce yourself to my store!

support me on patreon for little extras! Even one or two dollars a month makes a big difference to me :D

[orteil42]

given the current climate this pride especially i feel i must mention that i love my trans friends, i stand with trans people in the fight against transphobic legislation and those who would enforce it, and this blog is not a good place for you to be if you do not vibe with that

[odyver]

alright I've got to do some quick math to explain attitudes towards AI to my boss.

we're looking to create an AI policy, and when we were talking about this, my boss (older millennial) was genuinely shocked to hear that younger people do not (seem) to view AI positively (a la the recent commencement speakers being booed)

please rb for larger sample size!

Question 1/3

What is your age, and do you feel AI is a net positive or net negative in our lives today?

under 18, AI is a net positive

under 18, AI is a net negative

18-29, AI is a net positive

18-29, AI is a net negative

30-45, AI is a net positive

30-45, AI is a net negative

46-60, AI is a net positive

46-60, AI is a net negative

over 60, AI is a net postive

over 60, AI is a net negative

Remaining time: 5 days 13 hours

[odyver]

Question 2/3

How often do you visit or interact with museums/archives (whether in person or online)?

Frequently (multiple times per month)

Often (multiple times per year)

Occasionally (a couple times per year)

Rarely (once every couple of years)

Never :(

Remaining time: 5 days 13 hours

[odyver]

Question 3/3

If you saw a museum was using AI in exhibits, marketing, research, etc., would you be more or less inclined to visit that museum?

under 18, more inclined

under 18, less inclined

18-29, more inclined

18-29, less inclined

30-45, more inclined

30-45, less inclined

46-60, more inclined

46-60, less inclined

over 60, more inclined

over 60, less inclined

Remaining time: 5 days 13 hours

Thank you for helping with this data collection. Please rb for as big a sample as possible!

🫶

[weirdmageddon]

have you guys seen this guy haunted daily by randomly placed white rugs on dream islands yet

he’s started posting daily rug sighting updates now

[weirdmageddon]

update: apparently he’s not the only one

(notice the timestamp on that photo was from march)

it doesn’t seem to happen to everyone

[dogpuppy]

[squirrelly-13]

they got married btw

[visit-me-here-in-wonderland]

oh you’re not kidding

[modmad]

yoohoo- it's new Who! Three new pages of Into the Inkwell just landed!

HUGE thank you to @lizzybeanbutt and @celebi9 for collaborating with me!

read this entire Doctor Who fancomic (which does not actually require you to know any Dr Who...) you can start at the beginning here!

[topatoco]

Happy world bicycle day to our baddies on bikes 🔥😎

🚲 Topa.to/everything 🚲

Bicycle baddies featured in the graphic: @kinucakes, Lucy Knisely, Kate Beaton, @evandahm, Brandon Bird, & @davidmalki!

[modmad]

yoohoo- it's new Who! Three new pages of Into the Inkwell just landed!

HUGE thank you to @lizzybeanbutt and @celebi9 for collaborating with me!

read this entire Doctor Who fancomic (which does not actually require you to know any Dr Who...) you can start at the beginning here!

[elfstrogenized]

You are perma tf'd into the first pokemon you generate on this website, how happy are you wit your new form

[dreamyfreakout]

hell yea..

[nathalia-sod]

Yeahokaysure!

[modmad]

I mean for a cartoonist this is pretty much ideal

[mangled-by-disuse]

in happier pride news i actually found this deeply heartwarming

that's solidarity baybeeee

[lgbtlaughs]

Further context: Durham city council (Reform UK) cut funding and support for Pride. The Durham Miner's Association and other trade unions raised enough money for Durham Pride 2026 to go ahead - a direct call back to when Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) raised money for mining communities when Margaret Thatcher seized union funding during the miner strikes of 1984-85.

At the 1985 Labour party meet, the motion to support LGBT rights as a party was passed due to a block vote from mining unions.

Stephen Guy, the chair of the Durham Miners’ Association, said that when it became apparent Durham Pride was under threat, he took it upon himself to “encourage the trade union movement to step up and do the right thing, and stand shoulder to shoulder with the LGBT+ community […] They not only raised funds for us, but came to our communities, uplifted our spirits when they were down, and showed their solidarity.”

[butterflypeaflowertea]

trees are very 🥺 because sometimes i’ll stand under the shade of a tree and look up at it and it’ll sway its branches about in the wind and i’m like oh my God i’m alive and YOU’RE alive. we are alive together and made up of the same starry stuff and standing right next to each other in this moment on this earth. do u feel it when i reach out and press my hand to your trunk? can you hear me? i think you’re so neat. and then the sunlight filters through its leaves just so and that lovely green color leaves me dazzled. it’s just very nice to be an alive thing next to a different sort of alive thing

[h4nds4ndwich]

“It’s just very nice to be an alive thing next to a different sort of alive thing” I’m in love

[jay-rayart]

FLY is a story about a boy who gets a second chance. Help his story take flight June 9th 11am EST on Kickstarter. Thank you for being the wind beneath my wings I hope this story lifts the world to a brighter place.

Coming soon: FLY : A Magical Black Boy Series - Pilot Animatic

A coming of age story about Black kids who finally have power to fight back against systems designed against them.

[blondebrainpowered]

[animusbell]

celestia is such a funny character like she's constantly manipulating twilight and friends to do shit instead of just asking and you could arguably frame that as being bc she's a "god" and pushing fate to her design or whatever, except that she engages with the group like a normal and relatable person, which makes it more like villainous machinations, except 90% of this manipulation goes towards things like "I don't want my party to be boring shit again. put my little country girl blorbos in there with zero prep so they fuck it up bad"

[animusbell]

you think you've fucked anything up around princess celestia and she's like heh. no worries. all according to keikaku

[jukashi]

Celestia instantly makes more sense as a character when you ignore the princess stuff and remember that she's a 1000+ years old wizard. Of course she does manipulative trickster stuff to teach moral lessons and/or cause chaos to amuse herself, that's classic wizard behavior. Of course sometimes she's actually socially awkward and bad at personal relationships and has bad ideas that she thought were good that result in her eating shit embarrassing style, that's classic wizard behavior. Of course she lets the aristocrats and nobles run around being assholes she's still running on wizard advisor programming, she's basically trying to merlin the entire upper class of equestria instead of just a king and some knights. "Yeah uuhhh we'll release the incarnation of chaos himself from his ancient prison because we think this shy girl can be friends with him", terrible plan if you're thinking like a ruler, amazing plan if you're thinking like a wizard. Just look at Canterlot 'Castle' for five seconds and ask yourself if that's in any way a castle. No. Wizard tower, yes. Wizard.

[animusbell]

You are so right actually

[endcrys]

@crabussy

[tockthewatchdog]

this scientology hq as real life roguelike is hilarious

[ally-gator-animator]

"Making Mr Ring a Ding" notes Thank you so much to Elpida Kyriakou and Standish Millenas for hosting. This was a very informative webinar!

I'm going to keep all my notes under the cut because it is a LONG list, but I look forward to seeing what my mutuals will be posting too (shout out to @aangussca for staying up super late to get notes and @artscheese for getting some great screenshots!), I can't wait to compare notes! Get ready for a whole lot of trivia!

Some backstory - Framestore started off working on music videos before going on to create effects and animation for multiple productions. As we're focusing on character work here, I'll highlight their work on Rocket Raccoon, Baby Groot, Winnie the Pooh, Paddington and, my personal favourite, the Wild Things in "Where the Wild Things Are."

Elpida specifically works on modelling, texturing and lookdev (seeing how everything reacts in-scene). Notable credits include Tom and Jerry, Sandman and Cowboy Bebop (live action).

Elpida worked very closely with Ian Spendloff, director of character design, when working on Lux's 3D look, which made the transition a lot easier (still not easy due to the translation between styles, but good communication goes a long way).

Ian also painted over the 3D model to see if it translated well.

When concept art began, the main information given for Lux was blue skin, a piggy nose and "we don't know what he is."

The only parts decided prior to production was a general design and his height, specifically for eyeline and so the actors had an idea of what kind of creature they would be responding to.

Animation was done in London by both in-house animators and legends of the craft (Neil Boyle was named specifically, but also shout out to Tim Watts, Michael Schlingmann, David Lochhead, Julien Van Wallendael, Carlos De Faria and Dani Tomlinson).

The team went through many different concepts (including a less rounded look, a moustache and even a cow nose at one point)

Lux's antennae were originally strands of hair on his balding head. Inspirations listed for the 2D look (stage 1) were Betty Boop and Popeye due to being somewhat unsettling and having good ink work.

Unsurprisingly, the smile was a HUGE part of the design, to the point that it was a big focus when modelling his 3D look in stages 2 and 3 too.

"His eyes need to look like he's always having an episode."

References for the cuter 3D stage we see for a shot (stage 2) were Pixar and even stop motion to an extent.

There was lots of insistence to keep him cute and round here, no visible creases on the face or pinching of the lips. A lot of the essence of his 2D construction is still there with how his mouth moves to keep it appealing.

Elpida often thought how it would feel to hug Lux to see if that was a good indicator that he still looked cosy.

Turntables showing how the model looked from all angles under different lighting helped to highlight any potential changes needed, and even then some were spotted later into animation.

Colour codes were used in the storyboards to show what stage of rendering was to be used at each point.

The aim for the realistic look (stage 3) was to push the realism to the point of scaring children, but not too gory (Elpida did say if the show had been 18+, she would have pushed a little more as it's always fun to do that with a design).

Main references were modern Spongebob, as well as photos of rotten teeth and skin damage (also horse teeth specifically).

"He needs to look like a man who hasn't slept, lives in his mother's basement and has never seen the sun."

Ironically, he does have a lot of sun damage in this form, as well as smoker-lines and a big ol' vein at the side.

So much dandruff, spider-leg ear hair, translucent skin, hairy antennae.

Thanks to one question somebody posed in the Q&A, I now know that they rendered his entire mouth. Props for dedication.

His shirt is also stained with an unknown substance EXCUSE ME?!

ET was used as a reference for his neck.

Made to look more boxy to highlight the difference from his bean body in stage 1.

His suit is specifically made to look like the velvet from the theatre curtains, old and dusty. His hat also no longer floats.

I just wrote the word "MOIST" at one point and I know that wasn't a direct quote but boy did they try to make this blue gremlin look vile and wet!

King Charles' hands were the primary reference for Lux's bloated, gross fingers and that is incredibly funny to me.

There is a fully rendered Lux out there with complete anatomy and this fact will haunt/amuse me for the rest of time.

The crew were all listed under the Framestore umbrella in the credits as so many people worked on the show. This sadly means they were not individually credited and I hope I've done my part in sharing the names of those I know of.

There is no confirmed plans for Lux to return, but the team are more than open to the idea (it's just not their call).

Sunshine Sally sadly did not have a larger role planned (that they knew of).

They know about all of the fanart ("Into the Inkwell" mention in the Q&A, very cool) and are amazed by just how much love the character has received (I know the 2D team were engaged with the fan reception, but it's nice to see that extend to more of the crew). They are also thrilled by the concept of the dingles. They know about us, guys! BE AFRAID!

[ally-gator-animator]

Hey Dingalings, the full webinar is now available for free on YouTube

Now you can hear everything I wrote straight from the source (although the trivia from the Q&A is absent, so I'm glad I wrote notes from that) Enjoy, dingles!

[viralfrog]

[dragongirlbunny]