REC: Untitled Daisuke and Monty by Julia Stark (Cloudward Ho!, Daisuke Bucklesby/Monty LaMontgomery)

[delphi]

Fandom 50 #23

Untitled Daisuke and Monty by Julia Stark
Fandom: Dimension 20: Cloudward, Ho!
Relationship: Daisuke Bucklesby/Monty LaMontgomery
Medium: Art
Length: 1 piece
Rating: SFW
My Bookmark Tags: slice of life, happy ending, established relationship, then and now, clothing, nostalgia

Description:

Two full-colour images of Daisuke and Monty, one in the present and one in flashback to their younger days. The first is fully saturated and features the two walking close together with Monty in the lead. Daisuke's hat is tipped forward over his eyes as he looks down with a faint smile and puts away his flask. Monty is watching him over his shoulder, likewise smiling and seemingly mid-conversation with him. Above them, larger and more faded out, is a memory of them sitting together decades ago, Daisuke speaking while Monty watches him with soft-eyed attention.

I could have tagged this a variety of ways, but with the whole "Everyone's fallen in love with Daisuke at some point" bit in episode 6 where Van says it's happened to her and Monty says it happened to him twice, I'm going forward with my idea that all of the OG Wind Riders have hooked up over the years (and that it's just a matter of time before Max and Olethra get inducted into the polycule).

This piece is just so sweet. The whole "getting the band back together" element of Cloudward, Ho! has been right up my alley, and I like that their separation was more about losing something that was holding them together rather than a big falling-out that created any ill will. It's made for a great story so far about some highly competent older characters reuniting warmly with old friends and working well together because of their shared history.

I love how the artist has captured this. The flashback looms large over the two men, creating a sense of those past conversations fuelling their present ease with each other and shared direction. It spot-on conveys Monty's wonderful attentiveness to people and suggests a lot in imagining the usually laconic Daisuke so engaged in talking to him. As someone who loves the aesthetics of this season, I'm also very much here for the details in their outfits and the little ways they've changed over the years.

Comments

[summerstorm]

I love that (and I loved that bit in ep 6), thanks for the rec!

[delphi]

Happy to share! The speed and seriousness of Lou's "Twice" was some A+ yes-anding.

[walgesang]

For a split second I was so hoping this was an AO3 link because the author's art is amazing!! I did see this on the subreddit though and am thrilled to see it again. Absolutely love everything about it that you mention above. Fantastic alt text too, btw!

[delphi]

Still not an AO3 link, but I've updated the post to link to the artist's ArtStation account. When I first posted, it looked like it hadn't been updated in a while, but it just got several more D20 pieces!

[walgesang]

I discovered their ArtStation as well belatedly and love their work! Especially thrilled they drew for CH, which hopefully means there will be more.

[scintilla10]

I haven't caught up with the latest episodes, but thank you for reccing this art, it's fabulous!!

It's made for a great story so far about some highly competent older characters reuniting warmly with old friends and working well together because of their shared history.
Yes! This is such a charming ensemble, I'm loving them. <333