Heartbroken Tuxedo Mallard [part 2 eventually here]

Tell me why
Ain’t nothing but a heartache
Tell me why
Ain’t nothing but a mistake
Tell me why
I never wanna hear you say
I want it that way

“I want it that way” – Backstreet Boys
Though I don’t care for the band itself, it’s this song that sticks in my head haha

[Crossy Road update trailer here featuring Ruby’s feature art!]

Mallard keeps getting hurt like this – while Chicken is just a chaotic soul 😔

As mentioned in the fanart’s caption, I created the character art for the game’s update featuring:

• Tuxedo Mallard (he’s the character for the update!)
• Bridal Chicken
• Wedding Officiant Unihorse
• designed the Mallard family
  • grumpy dad with the brows,
    • I like him very much so I didn’t expect people to love this guy too
  • super tall mum
  • sister with the giddy expression & eyebags
    • yes I have eyebags too since teen years…😭
  • yes I tried doing accurate female brown patterned mallard character art for the mum and sister but it didn’t read like Mallard’s family anymore
• Chicken’s cousins as wedding guests
  • Hampshire Chicken, Silkie Chicken and Rooster
  • I mean I made these chickens too haha
• environment art – wedding arch, hedges, flowers, bouquet

Fun fact – it was I who originally started the wedding themed Chicken and Mallard in Jan 2025 with their roles swapped around because they can wear what they want and it’s cute! ;P And then I reminded the team about it for this year’s Valentine’s! I’m happy the team ran with it hehe

I did not come up with the “left at the altar, heartbroken Mallard” narrative but it really makes you feel for Mallard and how he’s doing his best :’)

In reality I haven’t been to weddings for ages because it’s not really for me and it’s too overstimulating (and expensive) since it’s a huge social celebratory event :< Well I won’t ever have one myself ;P

All the same, I’m happy with the update as it is now! It’s much thanks to the help, hard work, feedback and support of the Crossy team and art team (Brendon T. and Ruby) in making this happen!!

Thanks so much to those who played and enjoyed this silly, dramatic wedding update!! 💐

Yes there is a part 2 to my fanart when it’s closer to actual Valentine’s Day ;D

Leonie rambles about…

• You don’t respect yourself (oof)
  • I struggle to speak up because I’ve had to pick my battles and then they’re always “right” anyway
    • they don’t care if they’re wrong/mistaken/accusatory/rude/loud, they double down or they act like nothing happened
  • I’ve often faced battles that wasn’t worth sacrificing my mental health and voice for so I just keep quiet to keep the peace for my sanity
  • so it becomes a conscious thing when I need to speak up outside of this dynamic
• out of date menus – phone camera is spying on you so how to turn it off
  • it should be off by default
• why young people are getting colon cancer – what to look for (under 40)
• Therapist shares how your answer this question signals if you have adhd, autism or auDHD
  • I agree – as an autistic person,
    • I feel like I have to over-explain to be accurate, to not be misunderstood
      • typing it out helps me process how I want to communicate things better
    • always trying to get better socially when I’m inside my own mind a lot
    • I struggle to communicate/understand subtlety and what people don’t explicitly talk about :’)
  • I’m finding that I am around adhd and auDHD people haha
    • so I have to chase them up a lot of the time
      • it becomes draining on my end when I’m juggling too much and it feels too one-sided
      • I don’t mind it if they are putting in the time/effort too in other ways though
      • and if we’re working together through our shortcomings (I am flawed too)
    • so it’s really up to me if they don’t have a system they can rely on to remember things
      • some of them do have their ways though!
      • I have my own reminder calendar system haha
• amazing Hugh Morris / Bubbles got so big from Tomadachi directs!!
• Kpop boy groups are like this skit??
• Psychology of People With Few or No Friends
  • I have few friends so that’s me! I have limited energy :’)
• Why is Everyone So Wrong About AI Water Use?? – Hank Green
  • it was this complicated and messed up???
  • it’s still terrible for the environment indeed
• AI writing is “bad”… so now what? – Mina Le
  • rejecting genAi is my stance too from the beginning
  • it won’t stop people using it out of convenience, cost cutting and due to the lack of time
    • it shows lack of care, valid research, legal sources for training, awareness, effort and respect for people who create art/music/writing/visual media/voice acting/performance/etc
  • it is a plagiarism machine that uses too much environmental, power and water resources and an excuse to take away jobs along the way for the sake of “money goes up” and at the expense of the product/service itself
    • it’s also even more work to make it useful…
  • people abusing it to create disgusting (criminal) deepfakes and genAI slop that’s rampant over the internet too
  • it sucks and feels disrespectful, demoralising and depressing to me when people use genAi images and writing, etc as reference and in their product/service
    • I understand why people use it because it’s fast/easy for them but it’s not that useful, creative, helpful nor inspiring for me plus I don’t want to use it as reference/influence/mood if I can help it
    • it’s not the reason why I create art
  • not that we can avoid genAi when many services/software/companies keep pushing it
• I just finished Kirby and the Forgotten Land DLC (star crossed world) recently!!
  • wow the deep, sad, dark lore
  • it was fun and also frustrating because it’s harder!
  • I used a guide so I didn’t stress about missing out on collecting everything
  • I had fanart of NEILCEL sketched when the Kirby concert happened
    • I guess I have to dig it out again one day!!
• Simple Habits to Reduce Burnout After Work or Class
  • I am trying really hard to “reset” and not be productive but I keep on having things to do!! UGH
    • or I end up doing an unintentional reset because I am not functional anymore…
    • like I have to do this blog post and I had to postpone writing about other things in future posts ;P
  • burnout is where it’s time to do low effort things because you are already empty
    • ah that’s me after working and commuting in person…
    • I stocked up on tea if I need to stay alert but it’s still very draining by late afternoon
  • low effort things mentioned:
    • play game
    • or do art (but art in my case is both learning and work…)
    • move your body
      • stretching, slow walking, shaking your tension off, standing,
      • deep breathing, meditating
      • massaging
• watched the demo of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
  • the 3D & animation is amazing
  • that guy looks like a character from team america haha
• watched some Nioh 3
  • it’s not my kind of game though and I wasn’t paying attention haha

Nintendo Direct – Partner Showcase

• interested in watching
  • Resident Evil Requiem
  • Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse
• interested in playing
  • The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales demo
• happy for the fans
  • Goemon collection
• everything else, not really for me…

Personal update

• ate some junk today and oof I need to avoid oily junk for the rest of the week
• Man I’m just procrastinating on health appointments…
  • I just want to protect my downtime and energy 🙁
  • also they’re not cheap…
• also a few accounts have joined my discord and then they’re not actually active accounts so they’re gone again :’)
  • I do try to share resources if I come across them and things that interest me because it’s my server ;P
  • I hope discord doesn’t get worse since there’s only Stout as a possible alternative
  • there’s not a lot of good places to post and share art…
  • even bluesky for me is a mixed bag for me since it’s just not as bad as twitter and I hear problematic things about the people currently in charge
• Currently I am making an effort to sleep better and stick to a winddown time if possible
  • but it’s proving difficult when I am hyperfocused on work, task, art, distractions, admin and so on…
  • I know I will struggle with consistency but I will keep trying
  • getting 7 hours sleep more often is my goal and if I can make it a regular (if not daily) thing eventually then it’ll be great for my energy levels and headaches from fatigue!
  • I’m going to talk about this when I need to remind myself – it’s an ongoing practice and struggle
• my jaw pain is back stronger and it must be the stress 🙁
  • this is why I need better sleep and enough of a winddown so I can relax and minimise my crooked clenching…
  • something I have to practice and fight for day by day too because I get carried away by other things
  • I’m trying to massage and relax but it’s hardddddd
  • if it gets worse I might need to take a mental health or rest day for my pain…
• I always feel like I’m putting in so much time writing these blog posts
  • but it’s my little journal where I’m rambling to myself
  • and it helps me process some thoughts and think over things about the week or so
  • and a small handful of people may/may not actually read nor remember ;P

Speaking of I need to stop things here because I don’t have much time left tonight! If I don’t then I can’t do the other things I need to do and sleep!! Wah! I feel like I might lack sleep again…

So thank you for reading!! Please take care too!

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