Webcomic / Sweet Lullaby

Clockwise from the bottom:
Flaky, Flippy, Fliqpy, Tiger General, Shifty and Lifty
Art by FennecSilvestre

Sweet Lullaby is a fan-webcomic created by Silvia Torres (FennecSilvestre) and Rayo Guarneros (Nihil-Zero) based on the Happy Tree Friends web series.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night when a mysterious figure ran into a forest. He stumbles and falls, whereupon he reveals a much darker side. The next morning, Flaky, a shy red porcupine who lives in the forest, comes across Flippy, a green bear who's injured and brings him back home to treat his wounds. The two live peacefully for a while, but little does she know that danger is just around the corner.

Sweet Lullaby establishes its own lore by adding some magic and fantasy elements. It also features characters from HTF's Ka-Pow! series, most notably Tiger General and his Tiger Soldiers who serve as the story's main antagonists, and Buddhist Monkey assisting the heroes.

It was initially published between 2008 and 2012, during the height of Happy Tree Friends' popularity, and was received positively by the fandom, but the comic went on an abrupt hiatus due to personal troubles that prevented any further progress. It was then restarted in 2017 and has been slowly but steadily updated since. The final page was posted on September 29, 2023, ending the story with seven chapters overall.

The comic has its own DeviantArt group page and is available there. It's also available on Instagram and Webtoon, as well as on Patreon, which included early access to new pages for $2.

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Provides examples of:

• Adaptation Expansion: Characters in particular are given different interpretations as well as backstories, such as Pop being a retired general, how Tiger General received his permanent injuries, Shifty and Lifty's childhoods, and others. This even extends to the world the tree friends reside in, like the presence of forest guardians tasked with delaying the Tiger General's plans to conquer the forest, and the addition of "spirit birds" aiding their still living loved ones.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Pop used to be a general of the army opposing Tiger General's forces and gives helpful information to Flaky and her team to take them to the island where the Tiger Army is keeping Flippy. A far cry from his Lethally Stupid and Bumbling Dad antics in the original.
  • Shifty and Lifty, instead of one-dimensional thieves, are actively working under Tiger General to hunt down Flippy after he managed to evade capture. Chapter 6 shows they have a much more noble side when they hear Sniffles is in trouble and manage to put up a good fight against the ants and Char Sui. And did we mention Shifty has special powers that allow him to see through walls, and Lifty was able to activate his magic with the use of his late guardian's weapon?
  • Speaking of, Sniffles, of all people, shows a lot of spunk when he sees Lifty about to be torn apart by ants, so he starts eating them, causing the ants to retreat.
  • While it's rather lowkey, Mime also proves useful thanks to his knowledge of magic, which allowed him to decipher Flippy's past via the music box he gave Flaky.
• Adaptational Heroism: Flippy's Split Personality stops short of killing innocents, and most of his casualties are the Tiger General's soldiers and the Generic Tree Ninjas working for said general, especially after they end up hurting someone he cares about.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Even though Lifty and Shifty are working with the antagonist, they show more loyalty towards each other in spite of their sibling rivalry. Unlike the original, where the latter would have had no qualms about leaving his brother to die, he shows a protective streak towards Lifty big time even if Lifty doesn't appreciate his methods, though he makes it known he loves him too. Lifty, for his part, is shown to care greatly for Sniffles, whom he considers a friend.
• Animesque: It has a lot of anime influences, especially on the redesigns of the characters, complete with big sparkly eyes and chibi-esque proportions. This is more prominent with Nihil-Zero's art during the first two chapters as well as their chapter covers. The comic's overall composition also emulates Japanese manga.
• Arboreal Abode: The Great Tree, located in the middle of the forest, seems to act as a place where all the tree friends congregate, with small businesses operating within, and doubles as a sanctuary if need be.
• An Arm and a Leg: An explosion courtesy of Mouse Ka-Boom results in the loss of Tiger General's right hand along with his right eye, which explains his metallic claw and missing eye in the present.
• Armor-Piercing Question: A two-fer with each question Tiger General asks, Pop (also a general at the time) over his side of the war. Subverted at first, since he easily shoots back with an answer, but played straight afterwards since the flashback implies that Pop didn't or couldn't give him an answer.
  Tiger General: How can you so fervently defend the people of the forest? After all they have done to us?!
  Pop: Because "they" are "us". We're all the same. But I see that you still don't understand it.
  Tiger General: How can we all be the same... if it was them who never stopped reminding me of how different I was?
  (flashback ends)
• Art Evolution:
  • For a comic that started all the way back in the late 2000s, this is inevitable when you compare the first pages drawn ten years ago to the 2017 remake. The lineart is cleaner, color combinations are more vibrant and appealing, and panels are more streamlined and dynamic.
  • This can also be said about the art for Chapter 3 and Part 1 of Chapter 4. Since these pages were more or less just "retouches" of existing pages posted in 2010 and 2011, FennecSilvestre's earlier style is still pretty visible, with characters having a more plush look to them as well as thicker outlines and uniform colors. Come Part 2 of Chapter 4, the character designs and the coloring become much sleeker, with Chapter 5 adding full-on shading.
• Art-Style Dissonance: Don't let the cuddly art style fool you, this is still an HTF fanwork at heart and, as such, features many instances of blood and violence. That being said, it's portrayed a lot less comically, with death and injuries being taken seriously when they happen.
• Asshole Victim: The army of ants in Chapter 6 who threatened Sniffles with Cold-Blooded Torture until Sniffles starts eating them, making them realize who and what it is they're really messing with. Lifty also ends up beheading their leader after annoying him with her constant monologues.
• Big Bad: Tiger General is the main antagonist, and he plans to Take Over the World by exploiting Flippy's skills as some sort of Super-Soldier.
• Big Bad Friend: Pop and Tiger General were best friends growing up. After reminiscing about how much had changed between them, he remarks that they're still somewhat the same.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Averted. Fliqpy's massacre of the tiger soldiers and tree ninjas didn't go beyond slicing them up and letting them bleed to death. Any subsequent killings are more or less not as over-the-top when compared to the source material. This is done to keep the tone more grounded.
• Dad the Veteran: Pop used to be an army general, eventually being succeeded by an unnamed Rhino General by the time Flippy had joined said army in the flashback.
• Darker and Edgier: Zig-zagged. The absence of cruel and unusual deaths befalling random characters for the sake of dark humor makes any of the blood and violence in the comic seem tame in comparison, but the addition of an ongoing plot that involves the Tiger General seeking to spread his "survival of the fittest" ideology to the entire forest signals that the characters are in a bigger threat of having their way of life changed forever, if not outright destroyed.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Chapter 6: A Tale of Two Brothers" focuses on Lifty and Shifty, including a flashback to their past.
• Dude in Distress: Flippy, after he is kidnapped by the Tiger Army in Chapter 3, spends the rest of the story in captivity.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Hahaha, no really. The yellow bird who stole Flippy's beret in Chapter 2 is revealed to be Mouse Ka-Boom's spirit bird in Part 2 of Chapter 4.
• Eye Scream:
  • A Generic Tree Ninja claws out one of Flaky's eyes when Tiger General's soldiers capture Flippy. Fortunately for her, Buddhist Monkey heals her with a special power of his own later in the story.
  • In a flashback, it's revealed that Tiger General lost one of his eyes after a time bomb thrown by Mouse Ka-Boom exploded near his face.
• Fantastic Racism: Tiger General was a target of this when he was a cub, what with being the only predator in a forest full of Woodland Creatures. It's hinted that Pop was also a victim of this, but due to sharing a species with multiple characters (e.g., Flippy, Pop & Cub, Disco Bear), he seems to have emerged from it relatively unscathed, whereas the more overt prejudice the Tiger received left him so bitter and angry that he plans to take over the forest as a form of revenge. Their differing experiences and ambitions led to the end of their friendship.
• Freudian Excuse: It's revealed that the reason Tiger General has come to loathe the forest and is currently waging war against it is because its inhabitants shunned him for being a tiger.
• Funetik Aksent:
  • Mouse Ka-Boom talks with a French accent, as seen in his speech bubbles.
  • Russel's "pirate talk" is also written this way.
• Gratuitous Japanese: The green music box has two kanji characters written under its lid: "seikatsu", which is Japanese for "life". The red music box owned by Pop has a kanji symbol, "ai" which means "love". The three other music boxes have yet to reveal if they have their own inscriptions.
• Healing Hands: Buddhist Monkey has this ability, freeing Flaky from her bandages once he uses it on her wounded eye.
• Heroic Mime: Literal, non-video game example. Mime, also known as the Mime Magician, uses his magic to help Flaky several times and never utters a word to anyone.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sneaky and Mouse Ka-Boom die protecting Flippy after Tiger General and his soldiers ambush them. They are brought back as spirit birds and continue to protect Flippy, even helping him escape after he was first captured by the tigers.
• Inevitable Waterfall: When Flaky jumps into a river in order to avoid getting captured by Lifty and Shifty, she goes over a waterfall, leading the brothers to think she's as good as dead. She's rescued by Mime not long after and is taken to the great tree where she comes to.
• Killed Off for Real: Unlike the original, characters stay dead when they are killed, such as Flippy's army buddies. But not always...
• Lighter and Softer: With regard to the blood and violence, it's not as gory as the cartoon's. Instead, it's mostly shown in large spurts being sprayed all over the panels without any flesh or wayward organs being spilled in the process. Ironically, the more serious treatment of death and injury makes it an easier read since no characters are being subjected to excruciating torture leading to their demise.
• MacGuffin: The green music box, which is just one of five. Buddhist Monkey explains each box contains great knowledge that only it knows who is worthy enough to share their teachings with the world. Flaky ends up finding the white one possessed by Buddhist Monkey's Old Master, Sensei Orangutan; Shifty has the purple one he inherited from Mei, his and Lifty's master/caretaker who also died years ago; and Pop has the red one, which he uses to put Cub to sleep with its lullaby.
• Officially Shortened Title: SL, as in Sweet Lullaby.
• Our Spirits Are Different: It uses birds to symbolize the souls of those who had fallen. When Sneaky and Mouse Ka-Boom sacrifice themselves to save Flippy, they are reincarnated as green and yellow birds, respectively, and appear regularly to help the main characters stop the war. Pop also has one in the form of his deceased wife, and another in the form of Russell's late sister.
• Purple Is Powerful:
  • Mime's color scheme is purple, which includes his magic powers whenever he uses them.
  • Shifty's powers manifest in a bright purple hue, thanks to Mei's powers being passed down to him through her music box.
• Ship Tease:
  • Flippy and Flaky. Downplayed, since the creators have gone on record to say that the story won't be focusing on any romance of sort and the two would simply remain very close friends who love each other. Not that it stops readers from interpreting it another way.
  • Oddly enough, this might be the case with Lifty and Sniffles, as the two have had more tender moments with each other compared to the two main leads, with Lifty being quite touchy-feely with Sniffles when things get tough.
• Suddenly Voiced: Everyone of the characters who, in the original, usually spoke gibberish. Even Mime is shown expressing himself through thought bubbles for the reader's convenience, but he can only interact with the others through gestures.
• Sugar Bowl: The setting is a colorful forest full of equally colorful creatures. But Tiger General's war threatens a future Sugar Apocalypse.
• Talk Like a Pirate: Russel the Pirate (duh), but with the addition of an exaggerated "pirate accent".
• War Is Hell: Tiger General's plan to conquer the forest through warfare affects everyone. As the story goes on, apart from Buddhist Monkey recalling how his Old Master was killed for refusing to share his skills with the general, other characters like Pop and Russell both have loved ones who end up dead because of all the fighting.
  Buddhist Monkley: War... can only cause tears.
• We Used to Be Friends: According to the beginning of Chapter 6, Pop and Tiger General were both abandoned by their parents in the forest as cubs, which became one of the things they bonded over, and the two considered themselves brothers. But as their ideals start to diverge, they end up becoming generals of opposing armies, with the ensuing war destroying their friendship as well as killing Pop's wife, leaving Cub without a mother. Pop wonders whether she could've survived had he stood by Tiger General.
• You Dirty Rat!: The Rat (from "Mole in the City"), who serves as Tiger General's flunky, and is always seen standing by his side. It's then revealed he used to be one of the "Guardians of the Forest" along with the Mole and Mei (Pop's wife/Cub's mom, and Shifty and Lifty's guardian), and their job was to protect the forest from any danger until the Rat ends up betraying them by joining the tiger's cause, making him a rat in the figurative sense as well.
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: Flaky and her friends arrive at Komodo Island and make it to Tiger General's lair, where Flippy is being held prisoner. After Lifty and Shifty fight off an army of ants and Buddhist Monkey slaughters Char Sui, they enter the building only to see that everyone has already fled, including Flippy, much to Flaky's horror. Tiger General and his soldiers were aboard a battleship, sailing to a mysterious location that's eventually revealed to be the home of the Dark Lord, the Greater-Scope Villain in the Buddhist Monkey shorts.

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