We are four months into the new year, which means that creative projects are well underway. For me, this means I must formally announce my next animation.
After the relentless 2-year production of Dragon of Mar, and the more relaxing sprint that was Violet vs Dummy, I’m now ready to continue Gildedguy’s story. There are some important differences with this project, a notable one being that this will be the first story with the end in mind.
I explain what this entails, alongside my use of a certain character, further on in this post.
Please read on.
What is it About?
This new story will be formatted differently from the previous ones – instead of focusing on a battle, it’ll be solely story focused. It takes place roughly one year after the dragon battle (as seen in the happy epilogue of Story #8).
Gilded Life/Castle
A big part of Gildedguy’s life was his humble wooden abode. It’s been a familiar setting for us for years, all the way up until the ending of the previous adventure. But being a dragon slayer comes with perks, one being a massive gold fortune, which Gildedguy has invested into his castle. Story #9 will heavily feature the castle, and it’ll give us a glimpse into Gildedguy’s new daily life, which involves managing the estate, giving Violet (his castle guard) orders, seeing visitors, and meditating upon the star in his towers.
That last activity will actually get a lot of screen time in this animation, since it does align with my real life.
Burnout & Aimlessness
We are at a crucial point in the Gildedguy series – our hero seemingly has everything he’s ever wanted. Everything – except true understanding of the green star, the Stellapent. We’ll be seeing Gildedguy wrestle with this aimlessness, now that he’s without a mountain to climb.
Flashbacks
I watch a lot of behind the scenes footage of my favorite movies and shows. And although their finished pieces look like works of genius and perfection, the productions are often really messy. Especially in the writing stages. I’ve noticed that when the creators are stumped on the story they ask themselves “What was the initial vision”?
It’s certainly a difficult question to answer. Over the years I’ve had to mold and distill my animations into their purest forms. It’s mostly a matter of practicality for the production (animation is expensive), but it’s also an effect of the passage of time. I can easily lose sight of the “ultimate end goal” for my stories.
This is why Story #9 will feature a flashback to the Life Factory from Story #0. In order to end a story, we must remember why we started.
Forsaken Creations
Long ago, I was once a mere lurker in the stick fight community. And by long I mean like 10 years (which is a century in internet time). Back then, I didn’t really battle anyone with my OC, opting to make Slush Invaders content.
But I certainly consumed plenty of stick fights. From Stickpage’s Xiao Xiao all the way to FluidAnims & early Dojo days. And in the early Dojo days, there was a character that I loved.
Yupia
Who is she?
Yupia is/was* a stick character created by X (aka Xtreme). Creator aside, the character itself has been described as a blade-wielding homicidal cyborg with a wave-length visor and pink scarf. She grew up as a girl named Mary-Rosa, but was transformed into a robotic experiment by her parents. Note that this is only my understanding of her general lore.
Sounds blatantly edgy in text-form, but at the time she was being animated, there was (unironically) an aura about her. I’ve written about her in the past, and how influential Erase Humanity was thanks to Yupia’s irreverent personality.
If my Story #7 is a tribute to RHG and Dojo Duels, then Erase Humanity is the antithesis. Yupia has a disdain for others, fights dirty and brutally. It is not a surprise that people have been wanting and anticipating an official “Gildedguy vs Yupia” for years.
*Was
X killed-off/deleted Yupia in a final animation (Erase Humanity 2), and has laid the character to rest. The “ownership” of Yupia has traded hands, and was even declared public domain in a deleted post by X. About 4 years ago, I asked him permission to use Yupia for my work. Although he said I’m ultimately free to do as I wish, he heavily advised against me depicting her.
For the record, I haven’t contacted him since, and don’t plan to.
Taking into account the multiple fan renditions of the character, this places the authorial identity of Yupia in an odd state.
For those unaware, X was permanently banned from the community back in 2017 for a series of malicious actions, so it’s taboo to talk about him. Despite all this, fanart of his stick figure, Yupia, still keeps being made. Like, lots of it.
I find that super interesting.
Creator vs Creation
Characters as Avatars
Why do I go through the trouble of telling you guys about the creators behind these stick figures? I mean, it’s all fiction at the end of the day. Why don’t I just say “separate the art from the artist” and call it a day? And it would certainly benefit me to just tell others to do that for all of the characters I feature in my work.
However, I understand that for some people, the moral character of the creator does matter. There’s the notion that, even if you remove a violator, that featuring their persona gives them attention and power “from beyond the grave”.
I kind of get that. Like, technically, we give exposure to the X name every time someone watches “Erase Humanity”. Or draws a piece of Yupia fanart.
As much as I appreciate the character, I’m aware that X has done awful things – it’s a part of the community’s history, and I will be taking it into account in my depiction of Yupia.
Story #8
This is not the first time I’ll be using a character with a controversial creator – Story #8 had IRL inspirations, and we received a fair bit of backlash when the project was announced. There was skepticism, disappointment, and even anger.
But some of those who were firmly against Mar’s inclusion in Story #8 have come around and given it their approval, and have even apologized. In addition, I think an overwhelming majority of people saw value in the animation. And under many video reactions and reuploads of Story #8, there is a comment who provides background context of Barthimo and how it related to the animation’s themes, which makes the meaning behind it all the more richer.
To anyone frustrated with the potential use of Yupia, please allow me this consideration:
I’m sorry about how X treated you or your friend. My aim is not to merely glorify Yupia (or X) in a naïve way. I wish to authentically animate an character, that I am inspired to depict, to finish a story that I am committed to telling.
If you still disagree, then I wish you well. Feel free to judge my work once it’s out on YouTube.
To everyone else who understands what I’m going for (or, just doesn’t care, i.e. “why are you stressing, it’s just a stick figure”), thanks for being patient with the lengthy explanations above. Just getting these thoughts out now is important for the hundreds of hours of production ahead of us.
My Hope for the End of the Series
Wow, controversial creators, community history, fanart, and authorial identity? That was a lot of non-story-related information to digest!
Actually, it all very much relates to Story #9 (and beyond, because this is going to take several more stories to tell). I thought very hard about how I want to end the series and its themes.
There’s something very important about how we remember others when they’re out of our lives. It’s impossible to recount every detail about them, so do we keep the good, the bad, or something in between? Or do we just forget them entirely?
Is it right to remember someone who wants to be forgotten?
And more personally, how do we want to be remembered when we are gone?
These are the golden questions that I want to artistically explore, and I hope the effort will be worth your time and support.
(◙◙)
The Stellapen & the Eraser (Gildedguy Story #9) Project page
14 Comments
Mix · April 13, 2025 at 7:07 pm
No way you love Yupia too haha. I guess it makes sense since it shows in your character’s design. Honestly, I don’t think you’re honoring X’s legacy at all. I’ve always seen Yupia as part of the stick community (excluding the creator). The fact that she’s still being included in recent stuff, like the RHG pack for Yomi Hustle, shows how much she’s a part of the community. At this point, I feel like Yupia belongs more to the community than to X. Obviously, having an edgy killer robot lady character would gain a unique fanbase.
I don’t think there’s any way to completely disassociate Yupia from X BUT I do think that immortalizing Yupia as a reminder of what X did, is poetic justice. Obviously, may the victims find peace. As for me, you’re not honoring X, you’re honoring Yupia’s legacy and the community’s legacy. The character doesn’t even belong to her anymore.
That’s my two cents :<
AMz · April 13, 2025 at 2:39 pm
I understand it’s important to acknowledge what a characters history is and the artist behind that. And with a character that has so much history and arguably importants in the stick fight community as a whole. It’s a dangerous slope either way . But I also believe that taking something that is controversial and people wanna like, but can’t do so The artist ruining it for one way or the other. I’d like to hope that this could bring closure almost and allow people to not feel guilty for liking the character. That even if the character Is to a horrible person that people could take it and make it a force for good despite it to not ignore what it has done, but to move past it to be better. I’m not defending the original artist in anyway nor do I think it’s not important to think about the people it affected and what it might do to bring a character like that back. But I think that as long as the intent is not to do harm That even if it upsets Or may hurt people That people should be allowed to make art because Art should be something that makes us consider it, and the emotions with it. Because I trust Gilded guy to be respectful of the community he has spent so much time with. And the community here has brought so much joy, passion, and inspiration too to handle this . to anyone out there who feels anxious, angry, or even betrayed I implore you to remember everything Gilded guy has done and remember anything, regardless of what it was can be better.
Concerned Fan of GG · April 12, 2025 at 9:13 pm
You should not use Yupia at all. The character is and will always be associated with the person who made her, a rotten POS who has harmed and bullied countless people. Please reconsider this decision.
If I’m being real with you, their popularity should not justify their involvement in an upcoming duel, this is pretty much a spit in the face to all the people harmed by the original creator of ‘Yupia’. I understand the nostalgia and influence this character brought to you, I understand the eagerness finish a story that involves 2 characters having juxtaposing personalities and all the ways you can play with that visually, I understand the anxiety of wanting to stick to that idea and not wanting to drop it no matter what because you may not come across these ideas with any other character, but if one of the characters you use is associated with an artist/creator who has done real harm to real people, you are reminding the people who experienced that harm of that trauma they’ve been through, you are undermining the real harm the creator of ‘Yupia’ has brought to real people by bringing up something that is and will always be associated with that POS. It doesn’t matter how much you acknowledge the history associated with Yupia’s Creator or how honest you’re trying to be when engaging with the topic, involving the character is still glorifying the person who created her in the first place. If you’re still passionate about telling a story there, please consider a different character that isn’t ‘Yupia’. I say this because I care about the people making the art and I care about the people who are victims to abuse.
I honestly don’t believe anyone involved with the GG Project or even GG himself are doing this out of badness, I don’t doubt you’re all lovely people, passionate about the craft and just bringing back characters you loved when growing up. I respect all the work, effort and love you put in all your projects and I’m only making this comment because I genuinely care, I care about the Animations you guys make, but I also care about the people who have been a victim to X’s abuse. It was strange to see one character used associated with a controversial creator, but I understand the time it takes to make animations to this scale, but to do it again before production really begins to kick off, it’s irresponsible. Again, all respect to the artists involved with GG Animations, I do believe you are all wonderful people, but I urge you to reconsider. All the best!
— Also, I want to add a point about the idea of “Separate the Art from the Artist”; Art is and always will be the expression of the Artist who creates it. I don’t entirely disagree with the notion of “Death to the Author” because obviously sometimes it’s fun to indulge in your own interpretations of someone else’s expression or characters, but if the artist associated with the art is genuinely a rotten person, then there should be a boundary to not give that artist’s work (their words) any consideration and I feel the case of Yupia’s Creator meets this standard. There shouldn’t be any consideration to their art since they’ve done real genuine harm to people, the kind of harm that scars you for life. An artist like that shouldn’t ever be given any consideration until the Victims decide to forgive them, but at this moment, no forgiveness has been given by the Victims. —
RA · April 13, 2025 at 2:27 pm
I think something to also think Is that at some point in this case a character can become more the creator in this case the original artist did things I am not defending in anyway. I believe they could take a character that is known to be of that artist and maybe make something new and better for the character itself since it does have a relatively big history in the stick fight community . And maybe this could make this character not be tied down by baggage that is also not the characters itself fault, and the people who love the character not knowing about the artist itself and what happened with them. go with this I do believe you have to be careful, respectful, and do it in a “tasteful” way that does not necessarily ignore or demerit what happened . But also one of the beauties of Art as a medium is the ability To tell a story To shape worlds and most importantly, tell someone something Art Is something That not everyone will agree with or enjoy, but that is a part of it So I think Acknowledging it And moving forward making it so people could like the character Despite what Their original creators may or may not have done . I think what GG Could do Is amazing Because I believe in his vision And I know he is respectful and considerate Which I think is no doubt shown in his community at his love for it. But lastly You should never Not be able to make art because one of the foundations of it is creative liberty Good or bad Expression of Oneself , and I don’t say this Because I agree or disagree with separating the artist from the creator. But I like to believe That maybe It could enclosure to the character for the people who loved the character So that whenever they think upon the character, they don’t think of the bad that the artist did They think Upon What good could be drawn from it Despite that . Because As long as the intention Is not too harm Or ignore. I think That even if it upsets Or may hurt people That people should be allowed to make art. Because it’s one of the most beautiful things in this world . So did everyone I just say keep that in mind Because we can make things better
fried cod · April 13, 2025 at 5:33 pm
I’ve seen this point of view floating around a lot and I find it interesting… I absolutely see where you’re coming from, as a victim of grooming myself, having found myself in situations juxtaposed across people like X who were attempting to take advantage of me. However, I also think that this… it’s almost censorship, really, is also potentially something that may benefit X.
A lot of people actually don’t know how badly X has impacted the community— the stories are sickening and the wounds are still fresh. But if involving YUPIA as a character creates an honest-to-god consciousness about how artists can hurt people in a respectful and compassionate way… then whatever comes out of that project is worth more than the hurt one person put into a community.
I think we gotta take GG’s words to heart and judge the animation at face value once it comes out. That said, I hate seeing the power that X has over people… hopefully, story 9 leaves some room for processing and healing.
Helgar the Crow · April 12, 2025 at 5:21 am
Alright. YUPIA! BRING IT ON! Oh, boy, my first ever animation was about Gildedguy vs Yupia fight. You can check it out on my channel named Gildedguy vs Yupia Teaser. That said, Don`t worry about a thing! You wont be canceled or be a bad guy for giving ”Bad guys power”, whatever that means. Yupia is not a self insert of X, in my opinion. She is really engaging character, like the most engaging in my opinion in the whole Hyun`s dojo. Mystery, anger, cruelty, beauty, sadness, humanity or lack of it. And her eyes, man. Beautiful, but hidden behind the visor, last remain of her humanity, hidden behind a visor. HOW can you not like that character? So go on, draw, animate, even sing about her, but please, dont ever be scared, or be hurt by what other people will say to you. There are creators, and consumers. And consumers should NEVER dictate what Creators create. If they wont like it, they move on, but if you listen to them more often than nessesery, you will be forever changed. And you will lose track of who you are as a creator. Godspeed to you, Gildedguy! Create what you want! Always!
Helfa · April 12, 2025 at 5:09 am
Dude
Ananda · April 12, 2025 at 12:26 am
Sounds like some people here didn’t read carefully… Anyway GG if you see this I’m the kind of person who will 100% support an artist who wants to tell the story exactly the way he wants it to be. Too much polished thoughts in these days where anyone can be offended by anywhatsoever thing they saw or heard for 1 minute in their life to which they’re most of the time not even concerned. Just do your artist job, you don’t reffer to society or people’s wishes, you’re referring to yourself, therefore please, follow your ideas and don’t stop on this kind of comments who tells you not to add X or any kind of stick figures (even tho i’m pretty sure you won’t, you’re too good for doing that ^^). Anyway I’m so happy to be in the reality where I know your animations, they make me happy and they made me understand how much I love these types of animations!
Au revoir 🙂 !
I hope the comment actually uploads this time · April 11, 2025 at 11:26 pm
This kinda stuff is stuff I think about every day. I think it’s one of the reasons I don’t make art much anymore, like if I were to start publicly showing stuff online and one day my name were to get tainted, it’d ruin everything I’ll have ever made for everyone. I also have a hard time trusting people because of those fears.
JC · April 11, 2025 at 8:48 pm
You do bring up a good point that separating art from artist is not always so simple. It’s especially strange when you’re working with characters made by other people. Creators tend to bake a part of themselves into the characters they make. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s not, but I don’t think Mar or Yupia is an exception to this. That connection between creator and creation can never be fully erased, so it’s really a matter of how much of it you wish to acknowledge.
Acknowledging both the good and bad sides of a creative legacy seems to be a recurring theme in your stories, and I’m excited to see you explore it further. Everything so far has been handled beautifully, and I have full faith you’ll be able to stick the landing going forward.
FF · April 11, 2025 at 6:16 pm
I… dunno about this one, man. With the last story it was like “Oh well, production had already started by the time stuff about this guy came out. It’s cool that GG was able to pivot and adjust the story without wasting the existing work.” But now picking *another* character by a person you fully admit isn’t great (making it two in a row for GildedGuy stories) on *purpose* this time… I mean you can say that you’re trying to make an “authentic animation” about an “inspiring character”, but you’ve also talked a lot about how your work is meant to honor the creators, the passion, and the history of the community. Why are these the people you’re honoring? Why is this the history you’re enshrining? Like… there wasn’t ANYONE else who could have filled the same role in the GildedGuy story? It doesn’t look like you’re glorifying Yupia or X “naively” by this point, it looks like you know full well what you’re doing. I think it’s fine if you think the situation with X was unfair (I can’t find a damn thing about the history of the ban, so I don’t want to come down one way or another!), but I think you’re probably better off just saying it rather than doing this… weird corporate-speak.
Henrique Santos · April 11, 2025 at 7:12 pm
(this text is going to be long and you probably won’t even read it, but here goes) yes, gildedguy respects the characters and wants to honor their creator. a great example of this? oxob. i LOVE oxob and he was EXTREMELY respected in the gildedguy animation, and i loved it. in this situation, the creator of oxob was appreciated and his fan was respected. now, i’m also a big fan of yupia, those of us who like her will never be able to see a gildedguy animation against yupia because her creator is controversial? i saw what happened back then, i was on the hyuns dojo website when she was banned, it was sad to hear about that but i didn’t stop liking yupia, i know that many people can’t separate the work from the author. but does the other part of the fanbase have to be deprived of this duel? Michael always makes it clear that he does not agree with the authors’ actions and does not even give credit to the original creators. You also said that Michael could exchange Yupia for any other character, man, I want to see GildedGuy fight Yupia, this is a duel that I have been waiting for literally for YEARS, like I said before I have to accept that it will never happen? And you said that Michael is honoring the wrong people, man that is extremely dishonest he always clarified things and said that he does not agree with what they did. And he always repudiated what they did
Elquelees · April 11, 2025 at 6:11 pm
Yo sabia que estas animaciones tenían bastante trasfondo en sus personajes y sus creadores. Pero nunca creí que esto fuera tan profundo.
Hagas lo que hagas siempre te apoyare, y no me importa que hayan hecho otros creadores con sus vidas. Para mi, eso nunca arruinara la esencia original de un personaje (excepto cuando el propio autor lo arruina, independientemente de lo que haya hecho en su vida).
No quiero ser controversial, pero, como ejemplo pondré a la creadora de Jade, que hasta el día de hoy ella sigue dibujando y haciendo animaciones. Yo de vez en cuando veo sus animaciones antiguas y nuevas, pero eso no significa que este de acuerdo con los errores que cometió, ni busco justificar esas acciones.
Se que no es tan simple como eso, ya que hay muchos factores más que pueden arruinar a un personaje debido a su autor, pero al menos en esta situación, creo que no hay que despreciar o ver mal a un personaje o a una obra completa solo porque su autor cometió un error, independientemente de que tan grande o pequeño sea ese error.
Henrique Santos · April 11, 2025 at 5:13 pm
In my opinion, these characters that are loved by the public like Mar, Yupia or Nomar shouldn’t have a taboo about them. If someone makes an animation or art of these characters I don’t think it’s right to criticize the artist, we like the characters not their authors (of course you can also like the author but that will depend on what he does with his fame) I love Mar, he is my top 3 favorite duelists losing only to Jade and Alpha, but to this day I’m afraid to make an art of him and get hate and it gets hard when my duelist OC is a child. I’m looking forward to it, since my childhood I’ve dreamed of this duel, and I know you’ll do your best Michael. Good luck 🙂