#playing the fools

[dredreadsdrawing]

Uh-Oh the Accident Prone

Size: 50 cm

Extra: The 14th clown of 42, Uh-Oh is a clumsy downer. He’s the depressed clown that didn’t want to get adopted in GiGi’s backstory, lol. He’s a bit bigger than GiGi but still a tiny, round man. His reluctance to leave the shop proved to be founded as he’s one of the first clowns to die. Now he mopes in Hell with the rest of his brethren.

[noodlenibblescribble]

Clown Posse Thing Untitled lol

I tried putting all this AND character descriptions in the same post but uuh. It just seems easier this way. @peapod20001 hun, here’s the backdrop of these clown peeps:

In a time of innovation, maybe a fantasy-industrial age of sorts, the toy market has been booming and the competition is getting stiffer. Toys that move! Toys that talk! People are moving away from traditionally made to cheaper, mass produced and more modernized toys. A quaint little toy shop just can’t compete anymore. The man running it is furious at his creations going unnoticed. He’s poured his entire life into perfecting his little clowns, only for machines to ruin his business! He won’t settle for this. He mistakenly summons the devil while drunk and sells his soul to make his creations more exciting. The devil, with a grin, cuts it to pieces and gives each of them one. Twenty-two in total. Before leaving, he tells the man to be wary of making more. He’ll be burdened with pain, but it will worsen if he creates any more.

Needless to say, toys that are alive? Immediately piqued the public’s attention. They weren’t just toys anymore! Pets! With no feeding or clean-up needed. Little companions to make you happy now and forever. He was a hit, making an absurd amount of money. And the greed kicked in. He can make a few more, right? Little by little, he was losing more soul, making more money. It was a cycle of lunacy he couldn’t break. And all in all, the final count of clowns was fourty-two before his body couldn’t handle it. He died a shriveled-looking old man at the age of only fourty. But his creations lived on.

Many lived in proper homes and were beloved. But others weren’t as lucky. Children aren’t the most responsible beings. Clowns would crack. Clowns would burn. Or families would just get bored. Fourty-two clowns and they were shrinking. Decades passed by and only a few remained. Most of them, abandoned now. Homeless.

By sheer luck, a band of five found each other throughout the years. They’ve grown a bond; they’re family. But the wear and tear of life without a home is tearing their bodies apart. And they are starving. See, their creator always advertised them as needing no care, but the little clowns had realized too late what they needed to survive. Laughter. Without it, the piece of soul inside them was slipping away.

Interacting with humans was a chance. They would make little performances, just to get a few chuckles. But they never ended as well as they hoped for. Desperation’s getting high. While scavenging one night, Laugher is attacked. By some miracle, they survive and the attacker is knocked out. Laugher could just run away, but their frustration takes over. They take out their anger on the unconscious body, and the more they hurt it, the better they feel. It isn’t until they start to walk away, person still alive but heavily beaten, that they realize their limp is gone and their vision is back to perfect. They were healed. Lightning cracks and the wind picks up. A figure shows up and surprises Laugher.

Quick to scurry, they hide behind a tree but are picked up from behind and raised face-to face. Laugher claims innocence, saying the attacker was already unconscious when they found them, but the figure only laughs. They don’t care about that. They only care about Laugher. “Would you like to hear a story?”

The stranger is the devil. And he has a plan. He explains how he’s gotten bored of just watching the clowns die without a fight, so he will graciously give them more of a chance. “Hurt humans. Kill them, even. The more they suffer, the better you’ll feel. And your body can continue living on.”

He disappears without letting Laugher speak and Laugher is left alone to process the information. Alone to explain to the others.

They return to their little camp and the other clowns crowd them with worry at their lateness. And they take in how much better they move. They question Laugher. Laugher responds. They have found a way to keep everyone alive and well.

And with this, they will be saved.

~~

As time goes on and more incidents occur, they will get better at being tiny terrors but small changes will appear as well. Their souls getting more and more corrupted, their bodies start changing. And the huggable and cute original designs of the clowns will be a thing of the past.

[dredreadsdrawing]

I really craved drawing cute relationship art of clowns I havent yet even talked about one day during class but I never posted it BECAUSE I never talked about them before but HERE WE ARE I might as well post them. I think I’ll babble a bit about em... Names are Left->Right:

Hyuk/Snort: Snort is a clown that was made to be brainy, now working with scientists to experiment on three discarded clown subjects. These experiments border on... cruel. They are to test their soul fragment’s resilience with the question, ‘What can a clown survive?’ being their purpose. While these harsh conditions have left two subjects bordering on mad from the pain, Hyuk has been a peculiar case. Nothing has broken him. He continues to smile. This has made him a fascinating subject for Snort to spend extra time on, to see how a clown can have a will as strong as his. Hyuk has tried to reveal the secret, but it’s fallen on deaf ears. The cartoon fell in love at first sight with the nerd. It’ll take a long time for Snort to realize these strong emotions are what he’s missing in his equations.

Huffie/Poof: Huffie is the very first clown ever made. As such, she was given to the most prestigious and high-class circus known to the world. She was their main attraction. The crowd loved her, her peers respected her, and she was lavishly worshiped. She was a diva. Poof is the third clown. She was given to a company that was known to be the planners of the best top-quality parties. There, she was a mascot and a worker; she was clever and went on to inspire new party trends. As the first batch of clowns were finished being made and given to elite groups of people, Poof felt she wanted to get to build connections with them. She made a club and sent them invitations. Only one didn’t show. The six became akin to business partners, but Huffie and Poof were closer than that. As they kept interacting, their friendship continued to strengthen, blossoming into something more, and they realized they could only ever truly trust each other. Then Huffie began being pushed out of the limelight for the next novelty. She could only cling to Poof and cry, fearing a future without attention. Something helped give her hope; a proposal from the Devil himself. A new chance at life. To be human. Huffie wanted it. And though Poof herself felt content where she was, she promised she would do whatever it took to make that wish of hers come true.

Chuckle/ Bawl: Chuckle and Snort were purchased separately, but raised together in the same household. They became like brothers. Chuckle took on the role of an elder brother, being protective of Snort but he was not above teasing the odd bookworm. Their relationship was solid, until more changes came to their lives. Their master brought more clowns and started building labs. Snort, with his natural knack for learning, became a part of their team of scientists. Chuckle was given a job as well, doing oddjobs and spywork, but the business didn’t keep him from growing resentment. Snort hardly even looked at him anymore. His little brother was leaving him behind. The Master brought another clown one day. Bawl belonged to his new donor and romantic interest. She wasn’t meant to be a test subject. He reassured his beloved she would be a valuable asset to the team, but handed her off unceremoniously to Chuckle. “You’ll figure out what to do with her.” Chuckle wasn’t pleased. As the first other clown she got to meet, Bawl was like an impressionable kid, clinging to him, putting him on a pedestal and wanting very hard to impress him.  Most of her efforts would end with her almost getting hurt and crying up a storm. Chuckle did everything he could to avoid her at first, finding her annoying, but eventually, her persistence and his brotherly instinct to take care of someone won. He begrudgingly started teaching her how to do things properly, how to spy and how to hurt others. Her enthusiasm was contagious as she’d always be full of hugs and praises for Chuckle. He hates to admit it but she’s grown on him... and now they’re inseparable. 

Snort and Chuckle’s wonderful designs were made by @peapod20001. I love em <3

[dredreadsdrawing]

Welcome to Happy House, a place where clowns without a home can come and form a family! *coughs into the mic* This is. Incredibly old. Should’ve posted this ages ago, honestly. Since like... maybe 2019 holy crap. I even made this BEFORE I actually drew the clown chart with all the 42 clown designs! Anyways, I lost the long story I typed that was going to go along with this piece in my old phone *sobs* so TLDR.

Araya is a widow living alone and far from town. She was miserably lonely with only her child for company, until a group of clowns asked her for shelter. Now she takes in clown in need happily, loving the joy they brought to her life. If only her husband were still... she can’t dwell on that thought. Not yet. Not when the clown’s beloved leader, Popa Chortle, is still missing.

How could a clown so big leave no trace?

[dredreadsdrawing]

Sketches I drew while in the hospital a while back. Am still thinking of how to design the clowns. Blabber may be ceramic. Humph is a soft plush with cotton insides. Poof is likely made of wood and given ball joints.

[dredreadsdrawing]

request if you’re still doing them! GiGi the lil clown c:

YEEEESSS

YEEEEEEEESSSS

YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK, BUDDY! I really appreciate it! I wanted to do a series of doodles showing GiGi's dynamic with the group better uwu He's everyone's mom.

I also threw in GiGi's introduction because 🥺 Of course he'd win anyone's heart like that.

[dredreadsdrawing]

can you believe i designed 37 clowns in two days? 

*flops to the floor*

These are 42 clowns from Playing the Fools. The red line cuts the original 22 from the rest. 

..... i had so much to say about this while making this and now that im posting, i’ve lost all thoughts i had smh. Um. Designing so many was super hard? I kept running out of ideas lol. 

Tell me if any designs catch your eye plz :,o

[dredreadsdrawing]

I have a story called Playing the Fools and it has 5 main characters. They are toy clowns with snippets of their creator's soul. They've each got distinct personalities so uh

I hyperfocused today on creating this for no reason. smh, oof.