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Description
One aspect I barely use in my art is the idea that Ruben is some sort of reluctant ladies man. In the sense that he has all the muscles, the charisma, the money, the feats, the overall charm that macho douchebags say attracts women so hard that their panties fly off from sheer G-force.

The only thing Ruben doesn't have in terms of that cliché is the overwhelming confidence that comes with it. Or any confidence in his romantic ability. Given the fact that Ruben is literally just a persona of myself and I've never felt brave enough to walk up to a woman and try to work a charm on her. And over the years, that made me think of this concept of Ruben; where he's incredibly charming to women, but it's awkward for him.

Sort of a reverse Johnny Bravo. A "ovarB ynnhoJ", if you will.

I just find this scenario really, really emotionally satisfying for me and the reason why is obvious: for almost my entire life, I was mocked by other men for not being the typical macho man. Because I grew up in the age where men were either the embodiment of toxic masculinity or simply labeled "gay". Like that one time when a bunch of macho men in high school tried to pull me into their stupid ideas of womanization like "what if you could use date rape drugs and get away with it?" and "what if she gave you permission to rape her?" and "what if we just ignore what the word 'rape' actually, fucking, means?"

So I guess coming up with this idea is just my way of coping with that and making fun of the BS outdated concept of manliness. That and, and I'm being honest here, the idea of a man charming tons of women is a cliché so old and boring that it puts me to sleep just thinking about doing it straightforward. And the only characters I ever care about that fit into the category of macho manhood are characters that are straight up subversions to that cliche.

On one hand, you got the aforementioned Johnny Bravo and Gaston from the Beauty and the Beast: 2 guys that do embody those macho men mentalities, but neither of them are on in the morally right. Hell, Gaston is the literal villain of B&TB.

And on the other hand you got Dave the Barbarian, Kronk and Dan Danger: also macho men but have more of a sensitive side to them.

Ruben is obviously closer to the latter than the former and if anything, that one character I made; Luis Lotshot, is closer to the former than Ruben will ever be. And that's because the problem with Luis' romantic skills isn't that he's not buff like Ruben: it's that he's a womanizing jackass who is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I.E all of Johnny Bravo's personality but none of his muscle.

So, in short: I just think of scenarios like this because it's funny, because it's against a cliché that's older than time itself and also because screw everyone in my life who said I wasn't a real man because I don't view women as objects.

The only thing I have in the works for this concept are 2 comic strips, but expect stuff like this to happen in Ruben's main stories. Like, before he met Savannah and actually fell in love, he was someone who was uninterested in romance because of the exact scenario in that picture up there. Or because women only wanted him for his money and fame. OR or because people only saw him as an extent of his family's legacy and not for who he is a person.

I could do a lot with this concept, but I feel like I haven't done a lot with it as of late. Hopefully, that'll change in the near future.

Characters (C) Me, 'cause I am one of these characters!

Description
One aspect I barely use in my art is the idea that Ruben is some sort of reluctant ladies man. In the sense that he has all the muscles, the charisma, the money, the feats, the overall charm that macho douchebags say attracts women so hard that their panties fly off from sheer G-force.

The only thing Ruben doesn't have in terms of that cliché is the overwhelming confidence that comes with it. Or any confidence in his romantic ability. Given the fact that Ruben is literally just a persona of myself and I've never felt brave enough to walk up to a woman and try to work a charm on her. And over the years, that made me think of this concept of Ruben; where he's incredibly charming to women, but it's awkward for him.

Sort of a reverse Johnny Bravo. A "ovarB ynnhoJ", if you will.

I just find this scenario really, really emotionally satisfying for me and the reason why is obvious: for almost my entire life, I was mocked by other men for not being the typical macho man. Because I grew up in the age where men were either the embodiment of toxic masculinity or simply labeled "gay". Like that one time when a bunch of macho men in high school tried to pull me into their stupid ideas of womanization like "what if you could use date rape drugs and get away with it?" and "what if she gave you permission to rape her?" and "what if we just ignore what the word 'rape' actually, fucking, means?"

So I guess coming up with this idea is just my way of coping with that and making fun of the BS outdated concept of manliness. That and, and I'm being honest here, the idea of a man charming tons of women is a cliché so old and boring that it puts me to sleep just thinking about doing it straightforward. And the only characters I ever care about that fit into the category of macho manhood are characters that are straight up subversions to that cliche.

On one hand, you got the aforementioned Johnny Bravo and Gaston from the Beauty and the Beast: 2 guys that do embody those macho men mentalities, but neither of them are on in the morally right. Hell, Gaston is the literal villain of B&TB.

And on the other hand you got Dave the Barbarian, Kronk and Dan Danger: also macho men but have more of a sensitive side to them.

Ruben is obviously closer to the latter than the former and if anything, that one character I made; Luis Lotshot, is closer to the former than Ruben will ever be. And that's because the problem with Luis' romantic skills isn't that he's not buff like Ruben: it's that he's a womanizing jackass who is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I.E all of Johnny Bravo's personality but none of his muscle.

So, in short: I just think of scenarios like this because it's funny, because it's against a cliché that's older than time itself and also because screw everyone in my life who said I wasn't a real man because I don't view women as objects.

The only thing I have in the works for this concept are 2 comic strips, but expect stuff like this to happen in Ruben's main stories. Like, before he met Savannah and actually fell in love, he was someone who was uninterested in romance because of the exact scenario in that picture up there. Or because women only wanted him for his money and fame. OR or because people only saw him as an extent of his family's legacy and not for who he is a person.

I could do a lot with this concept, but I feel like I haven't done a lot with it as of late. Hopefully, that'll change in the near future.

Characters (C) Me, 'cause I am one of these characters!