Grab. Smack. Grab. Smack. Grab. Smack.
With his DeviantArt page gone, you’ll have to go to Pixiv to find TheJesterMime’s work nowadays. Thankfully I archived most of our 2023 collaborations, so in the event that he didn’t save them, I would’ve had them. This particular piece ties into that Smash Bros. set he is doing.
Oh yeah, it’s continuing. You can’t rush art.
This was the original concept for his Ice Climbers drawing. He decided to scrap it for a complete redo. Just for fun, I decided to take a crack at finishing the original sketch. It was harder than I expected. Even though I was mostly tracing, I wanted to emulate his detailed shading style, and that still causes me trouble.
Even if the skill gap between us remains obvious, this version has some elements you might prefer. Like the fact they’re actively yanking off their boots and just look exhausted rather than sultry.
They’re trying less hard to turn you on, which might make the effect stronger.
I don’t have history with the Ice Climbers. I never played their NES game, and it looks one of those single-screen arcade games that’s fun for a half hour but lacks longevity. I’m not trying to be mean, as those can be fun. But it feels more like an Atari 2600 game than a proper NES title. When I think of the NES, I think of full adventures like Mega Man, Kirby’s Adventure or Contra.
Because of that, Popo and Nano have always felt like a weird choice for Smash Bros. Don’t get me wrong; I like that they’re included. Unlike a large amount of fans, I wish SSB would pull more obscure and side Nintendo characters instead of leaning so heavily into unrelated DLC.
But if the goal was to represent the entire NES era with one character, this pick failed.
It’d be like Sega trying to represent the Saturn era and picking Bug instead of someone from NiGHTS or Virtua Fighter. See, you don’t even know what Bug is, which proves my point.
[This is the final piece he went with. Continuing...]
Like Pit, the Ice Climbers’ SSB redesign looks nothing like their original art. It’s definitely for the better since they look way cuter here, even if the lack of noses is distracting.
As for how they play in SSB, they’re a mixed bag. Back when I tried Brawl, I hated playing as them; I was only good at Mario. Nowadays I can use them more competently, but they’re still mostly a joke pick. If I’m playing at my best, they’re too unsafe to rely on, especially once the partner gets knocked out.
As for the age-old question: are they siblings or friends? There’s no confirmation, but I like to interpret them as siblings in love. It’s funnier to me, especially given how goofy they look. It adds this strange appeal.
I don’t have a strong preference for either or. I’d only lean towards Nana because she’s a woman.
I’m starting to notice a trend: every time TJM is disappointed with a rough sketch and scraps it, I think it’s fine and sometimes prefer it. That was definitely try for his Mii Fighters piece, where I much preferred the original take with the stock Mii faces.
In this case, however, I think his revision for the Ice Climbers was stronger. Still, I like how this first draft came out, and I’m glad I took the time to finish it.
Now let’s all hold hands and wait patiently until we see Byleth.
『Ice Sitters』
I've completed an early sketch that TheJesterMime made for his SSB series.
Basically he resketched his Ice Climbers piece in 2023, and that's what came out then. See the alt text for the explanation. www.pixiv.net/artworks/108...
#feet #footfetish #feetsky #stinkyfeet #popo #nana