22: to childfree or not to childfree? (1/3)

december 23rd, 2024

this is the first of a three-page sequence about my current thoughts on having kids when I’m older! featuring kid me, current me, and me from that time in high school I had to care for a little toy baby that cried and things for my Child Development class and I loved it :3

huge shoutout to Parents Magazine; I found my parents’ copies of it incredibly interesting when I was younger! the goofy title here is in reference to younger me wanting a gender-neutral equivalent of “Mom” or “Dad” and deciding I would use “Pear” as a shortening of “Parent” <3 tbd if I’ll ever use it for myself now, but I’d love for it to be used by anyone else who likes it!

art-wise, I continue to be a bit unsatisfied with my current coloring system — I love the monochrome look and it’s very easy to do, but I think I’d like to play around and do some research over the next handful of comics and see if I can get the foregrounds to stand out from the backgrounds more clearly. I’m also thinking of giving Blobic a different color hair than his fur tone, and I like how it looks here!

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transcript:

recently, I’ve been reconsidering having kids when I’m older!

I’ve always been fascinated by the art and science of parenting,
[young Blobic, with long hair and a bow, lays on the floor happily reading a copy of Pearants Magazine. “Pearants” is spelled like pear the fruit, and the cover features a large smiling pear next to two smaller pears]

and I love spending time with kids,
[present-day Blobic, with short hair and a scruffy beard, is standing in a pool and twirling around with a kid hanging from each of his arms. one child is an anthropomorphic rodent-y kiddo with curly hair and whiskers, and the other is a kid (aka a young anthro goat). the first kid cries, “faster, Mr. Blobic!!” and, grinning, Mr. Blobic replies, “alright, I’ll do my best!”]

and therefore I’ve always assumed I would love being a parent.
[teen Blobic, with a ponytail and long bangs covering one eye, cradles a baby doll that looks vaguely uncanny. Blobic is softly smiling down at them and thinking, “I love you, robot baby! one day you’ll be real”]

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