#For the most part there will be fanarts based on the game of the same name

[slightly-unsure-buryatwoman]

Lately I've been catching hyperfix on THIS piece. And sometimes I remember the old hyperfix

old meme

[sleepy-n-thinkin-stuff]

Saying this as both an Outlast and Mouthwashing lover.

A lot of people in the Mouthwashing fandom would not be able to handle it in the Outlast fandom, especially when it comes to liking characters.

Especially on tik tok, it seems the Mouthwashing fandom is so strict with what it does and doesn't allow, like I hate Jimmy as much as the next guy, but it's not a crime for someone to draw him or include him in the cast. He's an IMPORTANT part of the plot. The tik tok fandom also seems to say Mouthwashing shouldn't have a fandom point blank period because it's "too deeply thought out" and fanfics, ocs, and such shouldn't exist because it "ruins the story".

Meanwhile Outlast is a horrific, well thought out game with several installments, and the fandom is (mostly) chill. Like it's abundantly clear these guys aren't good people or even conventionally attractive to most people, yet they're adored and people make silly jokes of them all the time and make tons of fanfics, aus, and ocs. Hell, 90% if the fandom's favorite or second favorite dude is a guy who cuts people's dicks off and then kills them.

This isn't meant to say you can't have boundaries or things you like/dislike, but much of the Mouthwashing fandom overpolicies the fandom, and some even say Mouthwashing shouldn't have a fandom period because it's "too serious and dark" while Outlast is serious and dark yet no one cares what you do in the fandom.

Both are horror games with great stories.

Both produce gorgeous fanart and deep theories, and it's clear love is put into several art pieces and theories.

Difference is, a majority of one fandom can't handle fandom ACTING like fandom.

-------------------------------------------------

Mini edit: Honestly this could be about fandom as a whole nowadays but given they're both horror games, albeit different types, with fan bases, that I love, I decided to compare them. Lets try to be civil please in discussion.

Edit 2: Okay, this got a lot more attention than I thought. TO AGAIN CLARIFY, its okay to have boundaries and personal reasons you may not like a character but like another. Same goes for certain aspects of fandom culture. But there's also the aspect of "block/scroll and move on". Frankly, my examples from Mouthwashing were things I have personally seen that you may not have, hence why some of you may be confused.

[seangardnerxiv]

Shadow and Maria's Complex Relationship

FOR DISCLOSURE: this thread is going to be discussing the complexities of Shadow and Maria’s relationship based on many different factors. Though I will be including the romantic interpretation (NOT a sexual one – I do not support nor condone sexualizing these two, nor most of the characters in Sonic, as they are almost all minors) as a potential, I will not be arguing to assign a definite label to their relationship – I will, in fact, be doing exactly the opposite (I am also not interested in engaging in shipping discourse over Sonic the Hedgehog characters). I would simply like to disclose that that will be discussed in case the topic upsets you and you would prefer to stop reading now. I accept this post may not be received well by some.

SPOILERS FOR SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS

So I've had to break out my Tumblr for this - my usual haunt is Twitter/Bluesky, but those don't really allow for longform posts. This is also a major departure from my usual FFXIV posting, so apologies to anyone who follows me for that.

Sonic x Shadow Generations recently dropped, alongside the short animations “Dark Beginnings” as well as the (non-canonical) manga “The Jet Black Hedgehog: Shadow the Hedgehog.” With it, discourse surrounding Shadow and Maria’s relationship has kicked up again, largely in two parties – that Shadow and Maria held a sibling relationship, or that Shadow and Maria held romantic feelings for one another (some people have also argued that Shadow is her uncle, or Maria is his mother, but I won’t be discussing those views). There are arguments for both drawn from a variety of sources – I will do my best to present both (if there are others I've missed, please feel free to comment and I will add them).

For siblings:

This Twitter post of artwork for Dark Beginnings has the following alt text: “Shadow and Maria reach out for one another in an infinite abyss (as long-lost siblings would) with the Moon and the Space Colony ARK in the background."

The manual for Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) describes Maria as “like a sister to Shadow.” I have also seen another screenshot of a different manual that states that Shadow as "like a brother to Maria," but I've been unable to find which manual it is. (EDIT: It’s a Prima Games manual, not written by Sega)

Gerald refers to Shadow as “son” during the climax of SxSG.

For romantic:

Maria saying “I love you” in the Japanese version of SxSG uses the kanji “ai shiteru,” whilst her “I love you” in the Japanese version of the manga uses “daisuki.” Whilst it can be used for familial relations, it is apparently very uncommon for both of these to be used outside of romantic intent.

Shiro Maekawa – the original creator of Shadow and Maria – based them (or at least parts of them) off of a romance manga known as “Please Save My Earth” (with Maria sharing the Japanese voice actress for the female lead from the anime), and has frequently supported them together, often retweeting romantic art and posts of Shadow and Maria.

In a recent interview from Sega, Maria touching Shadow’s face in Dark Beginnings was equated to Beauty and the Beast.

For Tanabata – a Japanese festival celebrating the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi, and the separation of them as lovers – Sonic Channel posted artwork of Shadow and Maria reading the story beneath the stars. Sonic Channel has also published fanart for Valentine’s Day relating to Shadow and Maria (although they publish a lot of fanart).

Before I go any further, when the topic of Shadow and Maria in a romantic lens comes up, many of the same criticisms arise that I do not believe are fairly levied – namely accusations regarding their age, species, and familial ties. I would like to address – and debunk – these three before we go any further. Keep in mind while you read these – this is not meant to convince you that their relationship was one thing over another, but only to provide validity to a subjective point of view I feel is unfairly stigmatized.

“It’s incest because Shadow is Maria’s brother/uncle(?).”

While there were notions of family stated by both Maria and Gerald, Shadow was grown in a tube with alien DNA and has zero blood relation to the Robotnik family. Whilst there are abstract labels of “like a sister” or “sibling coding” that are only ever applied in a meta sense, neither of them define their relationship in such a way within the lens of the universe. And it is not as if the topic never arises - in Shadow Generations, Maria herself likens young Abraham Tower as akin to her little brother, but she makes no such distinction with Shadow.

“Sibling coding” is ultimately a nothing statement, and unless a proper adoption is made, it does not magically turn romantic feelings towards the two involved into incest. Frames of reference are often informed by what young people are familiar with, and they sometimes lack the proper tools to acknowledge that their feelings towards each other are more complex than they first believe - to say that this is something that potentially occurred with Shadow and Maria is not outlandish, and not a concept unique to Sonic as a series.

Similar examples to this include Clive and Jill from Final Fantasy XVI (Jill is accepted into the Rosfield household and raised alongside Clive and his brother, only to later enter a romantic relationship with him as an adult), Nero and Kyrie from Devil May Cry (Nero is fostered by Kyrie's family and considers Kyrie a sister initially, only for her to become his love interest as adults) and Sidon and Yona from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Sidon grows up perceiving Yona as a sister, only to realize his feelings for her are more complex later on). None of these are incestuous relationships, nor is Shadow and Maria’s were it to be romantic.

“It’s bestiality because Shadow is an animal.”

Bestiality is applicable to regular animals that do not hold human sentience of thought, as they are unable to consent to a relationship, like a dog or cat. Shadow is not this, nor are any of the anthropomorphic characters within the Sonic games - were you to change the anthropomorphic animals in Sonic into humans, basically nothing about the series' content would change. All of them are completely sound-minded beings that are essentially just people who look different. Shadow is not Maria’s pet, he is her fully sentient friend that holds the same degree of thought as she does – given that Shadow’s entire arc is about finding his purpose in life, degrading him to simply a lab animal rather than acknowledging he is a person defeats that entire arc (something the manga also touches upon).

A lot of people also cite Sonic and Elise from Sonic ‘06 (namely the scene where Elise kisses the deceased Sonic) as a reason why Shadow and Maria should not be done - while I think it’s valid if you didn’t like watching a human girl kissing Sonic the Hedgehog, I maintain that a good chunk of that disdain stemmed from two major reasons:

Elise was very poorly characterized in her game. She existed to constantly get kidnapped and be saved by Sonic, and so both the relationship and the kiss came off more like pandering than something earned.

Sonic '06 had a bizarrely realistic artstyle for the human characters, whilst all of the animal characters retained their cartoonish appearances. This clash of artstyles looked its worst when Elise kissed Sonic at the game's climax.

Maria, however, does not fall into these pitfalls. She does not exist to be purely a love interest for Shadow - she’s certainly not someone for him to save, as the entire inciting event of Shadow's character is his inability to save her when she saves him.

For a frame of reference, Shadow is more akin to an alien from Star Wars – a setting where humans also exist. It is not bestiality for a Human to hold a relationship with a Twi’lek, as both races are fully anthropomorphic and sentient. On a similar note, Beauty and the Beast is not considered bestiality either, even though the Beast bears obvious animalistic traits. Some people have also entertained the notion of Rouge and Topaz from Sonic X, even though the latter is human. This is all the same principle, and none of it is bestiality.

“It’s creepy because Maria is young.”

Shadow – while said to be ageless – is not an adult, and to imply that he is one is a fundamental misunderstanding of Shadow’s character – whilst there are many instances where he demonstrates maturity on some levels, he has shown much immaturity since his inception in Sonic Adventure 2 (his desire to destroy the world out of revenge for Maria), and his most recent storyline in Generations involves his naïve desire to change Maria and Gerald’s fates (or rather, an initial indifference to what it will bring). Not only that, but his time on the ARK was mired in confusion over the point of his existence – Maria was the one that helped him field through his confusion, and was arguably the more mature one between the two of them. We can safely say that Shadow is not an adult character, nor is he ever presented as one in the lens of the game.

As the closest thing Sonic likely has to an equal in both body and mind (Sonic holds his own immaturities similar to Shadow), he can likely be placed mentally close to his age of fifteen. This is reinforced by the leaked transcript of Sonic ‘06 that refers to Shadow as 15 (the red squared text in this image).

Maria has no canon age established in game material, but Sonic X lists her as 12. 15 and 12 is the same age gap as Sonic and Amy respectively.

In addition to that, many people have claimed that Shadow is over 50 years old, but this is only true of his chronological existence, not the time he has been conscious and aging. He spent 50 years stuck in cryosleep, and awoke exactly how he was when he was placed in there.

A similar example would be Aang and Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender - Aang was frozen at the age of 12, and awoke 100 years later. Nobody, however, tried to claim that he was 112 years too old to kiss the 14 year old Katara, as Aang was physically and mentally still a 12 year old upon awakening - most people who watched the show were also actively rooting for these two characters to kiss, which they did at the show's finale. It's the same principle regarding Shadow - he is 50 chronologically, not 50 in mind or body.

If we’d like to really get into it, I would point out that nearly every character in the lens of Sonic is in and around Maria’s age range (according to the Sonic Channel). As stated previously, Sonic is 15. Amy is 12, Knuckles is 16, Rouge is 18, Blaze and Silver are 14, etc. Nobody bats an eye at notions of romance between any of these people (not that I’m saying they should inherently).

Romantic intent between minors is not inherently viewed as a bad thing - see the examples of Aang and Katara or Clive and Jill above, or for an in house example, consider the canonical (to Sonic X at least) relationship between the 8 year old Tails and Cosmo - yet for some reason when it comes to Shadow and Maria, a relationship is stigmatized.

To reiterate in the wake of the last point, my discussions of romantic intent ARE NOT SEXUAL IN NATURE. As I acknowledge these are minors, any notions of that are completely off the table, and I do not agree with anyone who would imply their relationship was a sexual one. I want to make that unmistakably clear.

My major takeaway from observing both the Sonic fanbase and those on Sonic Team seems to be that in western circles, Shadow and Maria as siblings is the popular perception, whilst in eastern circles, they are more commonly perceived romantically. But ultimately, Shadow and Maria’s relationship seems to have many contradictory signals that makes it hard to pinpoint a concrete definition, especially in the most recent releases – and I believe that this is fully intentional.

Shiro Maekawa has stated in DMs has stated this regarding their relationship when asked if he saw them as siblings or love interests (translated from Japanese):

“I think they have a special bond that is unique to them that doesn’t fall into either of those categories. Just my personal opinion.”

From the way that the two are written post-Sonic Adventure 2, this appears to be a sentiment that is fully carried forward – their relationship is more nuanced than a canonical label would make it. Maria was the only person who made Shadow feel loved, and Maria unquestionably loved him back. What kind of love that was is up to the viewer, especially given that Maria died when they were both young, before they even had a chance to expand upon their relationship, if that was ever on the table – not that they needed to, given that their bond seems to have transcended both labels. Maria was the only one who acknowledged Shadow as more than an experiment or a weapon, and Shadow was her rock in an environment where she was isolated away from her family and home. Maria was Shadow's person, and still remains that in death.

To disclose for me personally (in case it was not obvious), I have always interpreted their relationship as romantic - or at least having romantic implications - ever since playing Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Shadow the Hedgehog when I was a kid. I have both a fiancé and a sibling, and the way they treat each other is far more evocative of how I treat the former than the latter (especially in Dark Beginnings – I do not imagine my sibling through a shoujo filter while I wistfully think about cuddling them in a field of flowers). I do not take the awkwardly placed alt text verbiage from the Sonic Twitter account, used to fake-argue with the Wendy’s Twitter account, as gospel for anything, and I think that treating it as a damning disproval is silly. Had she lived, I believed the complex feelings they held would have been identified as romantic down the line. The relationship always just read as too intimately charged for me to perceive as siblings (it still does especially in the wake of seeing how she touches and speaks to him), even before I had a serious relationship. I think that arguing the nitty gritty over Twitter alt text and translations is silly, as all it took for me to takeaway that the relationship was still romantic was to play the game, watch the animations, and read the manga for Shadow Generations - but that's just me.

That said, I will concur that if you are weirded out by romantic notions between the two of them, that is completely understandable, and I would never argue that you should not feel what you feel for yourself. The sibling viewpoint is also wholly valid an interpretation, with or without word from a meta source. Though she had her grandfather and later Abe, she was largely alone on the ARK away from a family that she clearly loved and missed, and it’s not unusual to presume that Shadow filled in the role of a brother for her. I will also acknowledge that many things I have not mentioned - such as Shadow blushing at Maria calling him cool, or her saying "I love you" in general - are not inherently indicative of romantic intent, and can be read as fully platonic interpretations, and I find those that try to state that the romantic interpretation is the objective one just as irritating as those that state the sibling interpretation is the objective.

My intent is only to dispute the idea that romantic interpretations, and the people who hold them, deserve to be scrutinized. The pairing is completely innocent, and the treatment people have received for believing them to be romantic is obscene. Sweeping blanket statements have been made to insult all who do (some going as far as to wish death and harm upon them), all just based on subjective viewpoints held by people who see them platonically. The fact that there is so much discourse surrounding this topic, and that there is evidence enough on both ends to make an argument, means that Sega has intentionally left the relationship up to interpretation - including the romantic take.

Everyone unclutch your pearls.

But with all that said, I will reiterate that this post was not meant to convince anyone of one thing or another, but rather that both interpretations of their relationship are valid, as it is essentially a secret third thing that transcends both labels and is special only to them. Strictly defining their relationship as “siblings” or “love interests” (even as someone who perceives them romantically, I would never want that to be definitively confirmed for this reason) is deconstructing what is perhaps the most nuanced part of a series that does not always tend to be terribly nuanced, and a definition matters far less than acknowledging what Maria means to Shadow in the present – he is who he is because of her, and because of that, he is now living a life for himself. Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) ended in a way that had Shadow let Maria go, and Shadow Generations ends with him carrying her forward with him after accepting her loss. She was, and will always be, the person who loved Shadow - however you define that love is up to you.

Nothing has ever been hard confirmed by Sega, no matter how much either side wants to pretend it has been.

In summary, both points of view regarding Shadow and Maria’s relationship are simultaneously true and not true – it is a matter of interpretation according to the viewer what their feelings towards each other were, yet their relationship in the lens of what it is now after the tragedy of their existence (even before Maria died) is purposefully indefinable, and it should remain that way. Nobody should ever try to say that Shadow and Maria are definitively something - that goes for both points of view. I doubt it will, but I hope this goes towards removing the stigmas towards one of the more nuanced parts of this series, as nuance in Sonic the Hedgehog - frankly - does not come along very often, and it would be nice if that were encouraged rather than smothered.

Thank you for reading.

[burningcheese-merchant]

I notice that you give Shadowspice alot of shit because of how it's based off of shallow fujoshi stereotypes and how they would be miserable with eachother if you regarded there canon personalities (which is lowkey valid), but that makes me surprised you like burningcheese because you do remember that burning spice tore off cheesy's wings, threw her off a cliff, kept her wounded in a prison for sadisms sake and threated to destroy all she ever treasured before the queen turned the tables and have him his rightful beating.

Most burningcheese fanart I have seen depicts burning spice as hulking and towering and smiling down at golden cheese freaking as if that isn't basic straight ship stuff, I'm not going to cry about "abuser x victim" or how your a "proshipper" but a decent chunk of the Fandom portrayal of burningcheese ignores golden cheese's dominance and how powerful she is and I'm invested in how you think golden cheese will get romantic with the dude who tried to take everything from her with sadistic glee, all of that aside have a good day.

Turned out long as fuck lol my bad

Gonna start by saying I appreciate you being polite/civil. Ngl I started reading the first sentence and immediately assumed it was a ShadowSp1ce fan come to start shit or something lol. I'm glad that's not the case. As unhappy as that ship makes me, I'm really not out to get anyone who likes it. You do you, it's not my business. I mean it when I say I'd rather never speak of ShadowSp1ce again if I don't have to. I'm a happier person without it in my thoughts. Again I ask "where is the memory gun from Gravity Falls when you need it" lmao

To address your other concerns. No I did not forget what Burning Spice did to Golden Cheese lol. That's a pretty important scene in the story, I don't really have a say in the matter. But really, what he did is just what villains do. It's horrible, but not out of the ordinary for someone like that. It shouldn't be downplayed or dismissed but I also don't think it needs to be blown as far out of proportion as I've seen so many do. Video game villain. There are far worse ones than Burning Spice, who have done far worse things. Promise.

Maybe it's just my luck, but I've never really seen anyone portray BurningCheese the way you describe. Not on here, at least. I just see Burning Spice simping really hard for the golden goddess and smiling when she steps on him lol. Or them just being genuinely happy together. Plenty of angst, sure. But nothing I would really say is out of character (that I recall off the top of my head). I don't doubt that such shallow, stereotypical portrayals exist, and I lament that they do. I myself don't subscribe to that. Yes, he hurt her, but she doesn't take it (or anything he says or does) lying down. She gets up and fights back. And that's what he loves about her most of all. She fights back. To make her the meek, doe-eyed little church mouse secretary to Spice's domineering CEO or whatever the fuck in service of some puddle-deep hetero-flavored gooner shit à la 50 Shades is boring and flanderization. Burning Spice is tough but so is Golden Cheese. They are equals in every way. Let them kick each other's asses. Spice would never love a person who couldn't stand up to him anyway. Who isn't strong, physically and mentally. Which is what she is and always should be.

But my MAIN canon. The canon I operate on. The one my little fankid critters exist in. THAT romance goes like this:

As for how I ascribe romance to them... Let me start by saying that I ship them in multiple ways, through multiple lenses. I ship BurningCheese where it's a toxic one-sided crush/obsession on Spice's part (and his behavior is condemned ofc), because exploring that kind of darkness within a fictional setting is interesting to me. I ship BurningCheese where Golden Cheese gives in to despair, same as Burning Spice once did, and corrupts, and they become a villain couple (got a big fic in mind for that lol. That will be fun to write eventually). In a similar vein to that is the AU I've been playing around with on here where Spice is basically her pet serial killer and brings her severed heads and other things as tokens of affection (he is absolutely fucking deranged in this AU), and because she herself is... kind of a broken person in this story, she starts responding to these attempts to stroke her ego and win her favor, leading her down a rabbit hole of guilt and shame and denial and unhealthy attachment, where she eventually ends up as insane for him as he is for her (I know it sounds crazy, but... it's fun in a dark and disturbing way lol). I ship BurningCheese in that time travel AU (that I'm still cooking btw! That will be real fic! I'm working on it with a friend of mine!) where Golden meets Spice while he's still the Herald of Change, with all of the trials and tribulations that brings. I ship BurningCheese as a standard forbidden love affair, where she's good and he's bad and neither is willing to change for the other, but are willing to set aside those differences to be together, even if only for a time and away from prying eyes and judgment. I like them all sorts of ways, because I just like them, you know? I like how they click. How they complement and contrast with each other. They're both very alike and very different. They have a lot to give each other and a lot they can do together. And they're soulmates, that's canon, they are canon (at least in some way), whether anyone likes it or not. So I win no matter what lol

Slow burn. Very, very slow. Post-canon, after Dark Enchantress has already been defeated and order restored to the world. There's nothing left for the Beasts to really do anymore, Burning Spice included (they are not resealed in my canon, they all remain free indefinitely). They can't go out and cause chaos without their Ancients coming and curbstomping them immediately. But... Burning Spice likes that Golden Cheese does that, so he manages to forge an agreement: if she indulges him and spars with him a few times a month, he'll stay out of trouble. And she agrees, for everyone else's sake. She certainly doesn't want to be around him any longer than she has to.

They grow a little closer through these fights of theirs, albeit unwillingly on Golden's part. They bicker and banter while they exchange blows, and afterwards while they tend to their own wounds. Do you really have a choice, when you end up stuck with someone in such a way?

Burning Spice is in love with her. Always has been. But his love is selfish, toxic. He's more attached to his idea of her than the real her, because he doesn't truly know her, despite his insistance plus their soul bond. Golden Cheese hates him and considers him a menace to society, and indulges his whims purely to protect and serve the public. So long as he's focused on her, he can't hurt anyone else.

He hits on her all the time. She rebuffs him all the time. He doesn't necessarily mind; as much as he'd love it if she returned his feelings, he's content with her refusal as well. He likes her bite, her wit, her anger. And he has her, at least in some way. Has her attention. Has their battles. That's enough for him

Slow burn redemption arc on top of the romance. Really, Burning Spice's redemption is mostly an accident. Golden Cheese wasn't trying to fix him (at first) and he was never looking to be fixed. They both believed he was damned and he didn't care, and that was that. And it really was, for a while. But eventually, gradually, he started to... mellow out. Enough that he started becoming a little more approachable, in her estimation. Thus they grow closer still, which in turn makes him mellow out more.

He starts opening up a little bit, here and there. Bits and pieces about himself. His past. General personality things. She does the same in turn. She starts to recognize him as more than just a heartless monster. He starts to acknowledge things he'd otherwise leave buried forever. There's some sort of trust and understanding forming.

Spice gains a measure of clarity. Not quite remorse, but... regret? Is it regret? Is he really able to say he regrets anything about his life? Has he gotten that soft? That pathetic?

... He regrets how he treated her. That much comes to be true. And he apologizes to her. It's not much, he's no good at apologies, but he's at least sincere. It's shocking to her. She takes it to heart, despite not really forgiving him (she will not do so for a long time still). It marks a little turning point in their relationship.

She lets him into her life and world a bit more. She relaxes a bit more around him and vice versa. They're not even so strict about their scheduled duels anymore; sometimes he comes by just because he wants to see her, and she obliges. He's still an asshole but less of one. She's still begrudging but less so. It's clear something has begun to change within him. She's not sure what it is, but it's there. And it's... meaningful, at least to her. Because she never thought she'd see it

Don't want to get too deep into it because I want to talk abt it more later. But there's at least one suicide attempt by Spice bc he's gotten really depressed (more than he already was) and Golden stops him, and in doing so realizes that she's come to genuinely care about him as a person and doesn't want him gone, even despite his misdeeds. Another big turning point, especially on her part

They become genuine friends. Bit of a weird friendship, he's still a bad guy, but even so. She's honest about enjoying his company. She talks to him like she does everyone else. And he likes it. He likes that she's so casual now. That they're so used to each other now. It's pleasant

The more he spends time with her and gets to know her, the deeper in love he falls. But no longer is it that corrosive sentiment it once was. With time, it evolves into a healthy affection and respect for her. He's still smitten as always and forever, but in a more normal way lol

The more time she spends with him and gets to know him, the more she comes to see that... He's really not so bad, underneath all of his... issues. He's intelligent. Thoughtful. Creative, even (ironic). He's very handsome. He makes her laugh. He keeps her on her toes. He's not so different from her, in some ways. With all of that, and what he's willingly revealed to her about his life, she believes that... he can be fixed. He can get better. Somewhere within the dark chasm of his soul is man with some worth. There's something worth salvaging inside of him. One little ray of light, flickering in the dark. He can change, if he wants to. She truly believes that now.

So she starts making an effort to help him along. Starts pushing for him to interact with others. Do good deeds. Participate in society, in life. He tries to push back but ultimately gives in, if only to appease her. She's the only person he tolerates still, everyone else can keel over and die for all he cares. Just because he's not actively hurting anyone doesn't mean he cares about them.

But... it works, little by little. This war of attrition she wages. Of course she can't force him to change; he has to want that for himself. But she can at least show him the merit in doing so. And she does. Slowly, begrudgingly, he starts to actually talk to people. Hang around them. Do things of his own accord, not just to make her happy. He does not say so, but he's learning to enjoy and appreciate life again

That's when she falls for him. It was already in motion for a while, but it's watching him improve and become more of the man she thinks exists deep down inside that does her in for good. Of course she's embarrassed. She grapples with the moral implications. But in the end, she can't help herself. He's charmed her. He won.

They're happy together. They marry. He is gladly accepted by the GCK as their king, for they have embraced him by then. They have those two kiddos. He's forged new, genuine friendships with the other Ancients plus a few other people, and rebuilt the old ones he had with the other Beasts. He's... not a hero, no. He never will be again. But he's abandoned his evil ways. He's made peace with himself. He's been reintegrated into society. He's happy. They're happy.

No one approves of them besides Pure Vanilla. Throughout all of this, Spice has been regarded with fear, hatred and suspicion. (He doesn't really care much, to hell with what others think of him.) Though he's improved and some have relaxed around him, for many it's not enough, her friends included. They worry for her safety, for her sanity. She vouches for him, his character and their relationship. Only PV is on her side from the start; he's overjoyed for her, for him, for them. He's happy he's changed, as PV always hoped all the Beasts would. He wishes them well. He hopes for a similar happy future for himself and Shadow Milk. Everyone else comes around eventually, some sooner than others. (Smoked Cheese excluded. They will never be cool)

It's important to note that I came up with this for them because I enjoy exploring morality and redemption and forgiveness, and what that might look like for certain characters. Even if he's become a better man, does Burning Spice really deserve the happy ending he got? Does it undo anything he did? Does a man like that really deserve forgiveness?

The way Burning Spice would answer those questions is... no. No, he doesn't. He's done too much. The blood on his hands will never wash out. Golden Cheese can only forgive him for what he did to her specifically, not for what he did to the world. And he knows he isn't worthy either way. Should he ever die... well, he's certainly not going to Heaven, that's for sure. So he makes peace with it the best he can and just tries to be better. He can't change the past. All he can do is try to make it a decent present. He's not perfect, no. There are some things you'll never get back after living such a cursed life. The Herald of Change is long gone; perhaps he never truly existed in the first place. He can only be Burning Spice, with the weight of all his sins bearing down on his shoulders, and try. Try to do better. For his wife. For his children. For his comrades. For his people. There's nothing else he CAN do. He can never truly fix what he did. He has to live with that forever. But he's still managed to find happiness even with it, and that makes it bearable. And it's all thanks to her, in the end. Her and the kids. They make it all worthwhile.

I'm sorry I wrote a Bible lol. And also probably derailed at least once. I just hope I answered your questions well enough. This is ultimately how Merchant thinks Golden Cheese will get romantic with Burning Spice. The end

[stickylizardcave]

Admin AU Masterpost

saw some other masterposts for aus and thought "you know what, I'll do that too" because I have no control over my life

SO, BASICS:

The Admin AU/Admin Kinger AU is a (mostly) PRE-CANON AU that revolves around the theory that Kinger was part of the programming team for the Digital Circus. It's very much headcanon-based and incredibly self-indulgent and basically just for meeeeeee

It's also very heavily kingleader/royalteeth focused (with past leaderboard) bc I'm gay

The basic story is that Kinger and Queenie, along with 3 others, were the original team responsible for the development of the game "the Amazing Digital Circus". It was supposed to be an early experimental VR game, with a self-learning AI host. They all had Admin access to the game during development. But then, Some Things Happened and whoops now noone can leave, etc etc you've seen the show you know how it be.

Most of this is literally just me doing silly rough comics for funsiessss

THE ADMIN TEAM:

Much of this is still "in development" and by "in development" I mean that I am haunted by this AU that was only supposed to be a single gay comic that has latched onto my brain like a parasite.

All of the everything:

everything is tagged under #admin kinger au

the initial comic (caine has a glitch)

kinger ref (slightly outdated)

Admin vs GM

sketches of queenie

Admin Team Lineup (slightly outdated)

Caine's Name Origin comic

Don't insult his AI he'll fucking kill you

Don't worry, I will forget to update this :)

Q&A (not that its needed fhsdgju)

So what about the current circus group?? Literally the same as canon. This AU only really covers pre-canon, and a little during-canon things. None of the other circus members have admin access, only Kinger. And only then through a backdoor code lmao

Isn't this just a Gamemaster Kinger AU rip-off?? I MEAN,,, I won't say I wasn't inspired by that AU bc i love it just so fucking much but I am trying to steer the Admin AU off in a (hopefully) different direction. The biggest differences are the Timeframe (GMKinger is during?post????-canon, Admin AU is Pre-Canon) and some logistics (GMKinger is part of the game/became part AI; Admin Kinger is NOT. He's still 100% human.) But yeah, if something seems suspiciously similar to the Gamemaster AU, well it was probably inspired by it (im so fukcing sorry chezzy)

Fanart? Writing? Ideas? I doubt that anyone but me is gonna do anything with this AU but yeah sure (pleaspleasepleaseplease) just uuuhhh tag me I guess? Also throw any questions at me

Comic Dubs? lmaooo I highly doubt this'll ever get asked but yes, go for it. but only if you aren't using AI-voice dubs. Otherwise no and also fuck you

[burr-ell]

If it's alright, can I ask why you like the Golden Deer house more than the Blue Lions or Black Eagle houses? Like, what caught your eye about them over everyone else?

So I actually got into FE3H through a friend of mine, @dar-draws, who I already knew through mutual good taste (Dickkory), and fanarts like this one, this one, and this one plus the way she talked about Claude and Claudeleth caught my attention. I watched a couple playthroughs of the Golden Deer route on YouTube and absolutely fell in love (before finally getting a switch just to play it myself, for which I was violently bullied here). So like, I was already going into the game biased, which is part of why when I got it I went ahead and played through Golden Deer before doing all the other routes in turn; it was genuinely important to me to personally see all sides of the story. But even as I've played the other routes and replayed SS and AM and gained even more of an appreciation for them, I'm still always sort of drawn back to VW and the Deer.

I think it's ultimately vibes-based, but I'll try to articulate it. I'm not really a big fan of "cozy" sorts of games—I've played and enjoyed ACNH, but the things I most enjoyed about that game were finding things to do and goals to complete, like completing the main quest line or filling up the museum. So it's not so much that I find the Golden Deer to be cozy so much as adventurous. They're not inherently personally invested in the conflicts of White Clouds (they don't know Lord Lonato or Miklan, and their house leader isn't [gestures generally]), but they're also not just ping-ponging through the story. They go through the same events as the other two houses, but they're coming at it from more of an outsider's perspective, and their choice to get involved and react and respond feels more active.

The Deer also don't have any real reason to follow Claude, either, and in the early game they make sure he knows it; none of them are really all that concerned that they're speaking to the future Grand Duke of their country. Lysithea snaps at him, Leonie shoots the breeze with him, Raphael is jovial with him, Lorenz undercuts him, Hilda is blase with him, Marianne tries not to talk to him, and Ignatz gets into theological debates with him. Over the course of the game, they develop the same loyalty to Claude that the other house members already have for their leaders almost by default, and it feels a lot more earned because we see it happen. And that in turn makes scenes like the one at Myrddin, where Claude reveals his true goal of opening the border with Almyra and embracing foreign cultures and the other Deer are surprised but trust Claude and follow his lead, that much more satisfying.

I was a little surprised, when I played through the other three routes, that aside from the designated talking-with-the-cast scenes every route gets, the characters who aren't house leaders or retainers don't really have all that much to do in the story. On Verdant Wind, you pretty consistently have members of the Golden Deer appearing in other cutscenes and giving their two cents; there's even a unique scene where Lysithea realizes there's something up with the Empire's mages because of her backstory and approaches Claude and Byleth about it. It's nothing too obtrusive—they do still have to accommodate the potential for character death—but it's those small details that make a difference to me. Every house has a particular dynamic with odd silly quirks, but the Deer being just that little bit more integrated into the story really helps sell the idea that they belong here and they're making this story their own.

There's also the matter of where specifically their adventure takes them. I respect the choice to focus on Dimitri in Azure Moon, because it does handle his character and arc very well and I think also does the other Lions justice (with the exception of Dedue), but it's also focused largely on Dimitri's personal arc and the Tragedy of Duscur and doesn't really follow through on a lot of the events of White Clouds. (Which some Blue Lions stans have been okay with because they think the Agarthans are bad villains, which...that's valid, but stories still have to like, address plot elements they set up.) Verdant Wind, by contrast, does actually pull back and try to figure out the real impetus behind the whole conflict, and it ends with them beginning to properly lay Fodlan's true problems to rest.

So while the route isn't flawless and I do think there are issues with how characters are written that are part of larger trends within the game and the series as a whole, there's a very specific kind of fantasy adventure energy with the Golden Deer that I enjoy. I think the stories I'm most drawn to are the ones that keep their eyes on a specific goal but still make you feel like the characters would bring that same energy to goofing around with each other, and I think that's something Verdant Wind does very well.

[skeletwinsauaskbox]

Behold! The twins in their current state! (Not height accurate) I thought I'd give you a guide just in case you want to draw them or have them make an appearance in your comics and fanfictions (which I'm more than happy to allow you to do as long as you credit me)! With that out of the way, here we go!

Just to let you guys know that Snowdin Adventures takes place in the past, 2014-2015. Which would mean the boys would be 29 turning 30 in the present, but DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT. They're 19 (turning 20 in August 2015) right now, okay??? (Also, their aging process freezes at 21 so...) Basically, Sans' iconic hoodie and Papyrus' battle body? They don't have those yet.

For reference, in this series, Frisk falls on 15th September, 2015 as a nod to the game's release. As of chapter 16 (the chapter I'm currently writing), it's January 2015 in the story.

They change outfits every chapter, and these are only just one of their outfits. The only things that remain consistent are:

Sans will always have his arms covered. Hoodies, jumpers/sweaters, and long sleeved tops are fair game.

Sans doesn't like wearing shoes with laces. On the rare occasion he does, they're always untied because every time he tries, he gets his phalanges stuck in them. Papyrus doesn't have the same issue due to his gloves.

Papyrus will always wear his scarf and gloves. He wears his scarf for comfort and his gloves because... well... reasons.

Papyrus also prefers to leave his arms and legs uncovered, but is okay with wearing long trousers/pants and sleeves sometimes, as long as they're not tight.

Other than that, if you want to make fanart of them, feel free to give them any outfit you want!

Now onto their personalities and behaviour!

If you want to write them, then you can use Sans and Papyrus' profiles as a reference for their skills and personalities. Here are some extra little tidbits just in case.

The twins are both autistic. I might make a separate post explaining their autistic traits and how they play a role in the story, but it's not the main focus and they're both unaware that they're autistic. If someone talked to them about potentially being autistic, Sans would play it off with jokes while Papyrus would genuinely consider the possibility, but then forget about it once the conversation ends.

I think compared to most of the multiverse, these two are rather young. So they still have a childlike wonder to them. It's not unusual when it comes to Papyrus, but for Sans, it's apparent. That doesn't necessarily make them naive or stupid, but they are fairly "innocent" in some ways. They are still adults, however, and act like adults for the most part. They're just very goofy. Please don't infantilise them.

Neither of them really acts like "the older brother" or "the younger brother". They're just... brothers! Though sometimes they tease each other about the 4 minute age gap, it's all in good fun.

They're twins, so sometimes they like to play up the twin stereotypes for a joke, but otherwise don't go by them. Honestly, they just act like normal brothers.

They're very close, not just because they're twins and therefore been together since birth, but also because they're trauma-bonded. They don't like to talk about their past. Sans keeps his issues to himself while Papyrus legitimately forgets about his trauma. Though that doesn't mean it doesn't affect them.

And finally, I've been talking with @mimimuta (creator of the Outbound AU), and they came up with nicknames for the twins. You might have seen them around, but I'm making it official now!

Sans' nickname is Lento.

Papyrus' nickname is Presto.

Feel free to use these nicknames if you want the boys to interact with your AUs.

They are music-based nicknames which allude to their ability to trigger musical numbers, which is an ability I haven't seen any other Skelebro pairs possessing. The twins REALLY love their music, and Presto in particular is really into musical theatre.

Lento is Italian for "slowly", particularly in a musical sense, as in "played slowly". Considering Sans' even-tempered personality, I think it suits him well.

Presto means "quickly, with a quick tempo," especially on a piano. It definitely matches Papyrus' fast-paced, energetic nature, I must say! It's brilliant for him!

Anyway, I originally meant for this to be a post showing off my drawing, but I guess it just turned into something else. Overall, I think the best advice if you want to portray them is read my story. That's only if you want to, though. You don't have to read it if you don't want to, but it helps! You can also refer to the answers on this blog too!

Take care, you guys!

[blazehedgehog]

After watching SAGE's 2024 trailer, you ever get the feeling that most people want to be making indie games instead of fan games nowadays,? Every year there's been less and less fan works there.

This is the first year I've really felt it in any meaningful way.

There have been attempts for more than a decade to rename SAGE to drop the "Sonic" part. I've always pushed back against that and at this point the branding is too strong to give up, I think. People know about and come to SAGE because the brand is strong. Renaming it would be a death sentence.

Taking off my business hat, it's a bummer to see fangames in the minority here. Everybody wants to hop on that indie game gravy train and chase the success of Pizza Tower (seriously, count how many Pizza Tower clones are in the trailer this year) or Freedom Planet or Spark the Electric Jester or whatever.

And it's easy to congratulate people for striking out on their own and making original games. I was one of the many voices urging Sabrina to divorce Freedom Planet from the Sonic franchise and make it into an original game she could sell. So she ran a crowdfunding campaign (multiple, actually), was successful, and now we have two Freedom Planet games. And that's great!

But... does that mean all fangames should go away forever?

The example I lean on the hardest is comic books.

A lot of the guys who created the biggest super heroes aren't around anymore. They gave up control long ago or are straight up dead now. These books are effectively officialized fanfiction now, as are the $300,000,000 movies based on them. An ever-increasing number of people writing, drawing and directing these characters today were not alive when they were originally created.

But people still keep writing Batman stories, officially or otherwise. Because there are some stories you can only tell with Batman. Now, you could break off and make your own character that's similar to Batman, build up this history for him, and then finally tell your original story with that character. And maybe that's satisfying, to have built something of your own like that.

But for one: that's a lot of work. Batman is interesting because he has decades (almost a century now) of history behind him to play off of and work with. There are people out there who will tell you to just start writing your dream story and forget about building up to it first, but that's more about motivation and confidence than the idea that stories don't need historical context.

And two: that's already been done.

There's a good chance you know who Rob Liefeld is from his, uh, "distinctive" art style. He also created Deadpool, a katana-wielding mercenary assassin that dresses in red and black, whose real name is Wade Wilson. But before Deadpool, he created Deathstroke, a katana-wielding mercenary assassin that dresses in orange and black, whose real name is Slade Wilson.

Here is a guy who has built a career on copying his own work (and the work of others) over and over and over again.

Did it make Rob Liefeld rich and famous? Technically yes, but he kind of got rich because other people made better work using his characters, and he's famous for being kind of a hack.

So which is better?

Creative output you can do right here, right now, today, but is considered "fanfiction" or "fanart" or a "fangame", which may or may not lead to you being the person handling the official thing at some point down the road...

Or spending years of your life toiling to bring an original concept to life, and even if you struggle through all of the boredom and hardship of getting your original product out the door, it gets lost in the noise of now-million other creators trying to do the exact same thing. And then, at the end of your launch, after 2, 3, even 5 years of working and working and working, you've only made enough money to cover rent on your apartment for a month and a half.

Or, to put it another way:

Are you ditching fangame development because you have a legitimately great story you want to tell, or are you just doing it because you can't make money on a fangame?

Are you just creating another Bloodstrike?

As someone who has struggled to justify putting lots of hard work into a fangame myself, and have both made very popular fangames and some not-so-great original games, I don't know if I have a definitive answer for you. But I do wish there were more fangames at the fangaming event, and I will say, as always, if I could get paid a livable wage for making fangames, I would drop everything and do it in a heartbeat.

[nerdyfan1]

Meta Aware Meeple Discussion

So recently I saw a comment on a post on here (credit to user illumanart for this btw) that reminded of a thought I’ve actually had for since Meeple’s in game release and I got to hear their voice lines. That I’ve surprisingly don’t think have acknowledged on here till now.

Ok see the comment was on a post on Meeple fanart where they bring up Meeple’s association to reddit. The first one the obvious acknowledgment of the “my subreddit would love this” voice line in game. Yet another thing it made me realize was well Meeple was technically acknowledged as canon before they even was revealed or announced.

That Halloween mini arg thing. Meeple’s reddit account is like the only poster in that r/donttap subreddit. The account literally their name.

Now on its own this is cool but this now combined with how Meeple actually talks in game gives me the impression of something else. Does that mean Meeple is like self aware of our existence? Aka is Meeple aware of the fourth wall and the fact they might not actually be real?

Their voice lines acknowledge things they only know if they knew they in a brawler style online multiplayer game. Like one that is Meeple complaining they were killed by a “bot”, a brawler being broken or them acknowledging “the meta” which in that context would mean like the competitive meta.

And in the comments they made in r/donttap they clearly talking directly to the reader. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to get to that subreddit so Meeple being the only one there posting so interesting. I’m not an active Redditor but I’m pretty sure this is the case if a specific subreddit is private.

At least to me this is heavily implying Meeple specifically knows we like, exist. Outside the game. That Meeple knows they are indeed a videogame character. Which is really cool to me cus it caused me to speculate a bunch of things about this character and how they might feel about this. Now based on what I have to work with I’m gonna assume Meeple is actually not too bothered being a fictional character. Despite how that fact probably freak out most ppl Meeple just seems so content with this. Unlike someone like 8 Bit who definitely came off way more bothered by his situation.

Now this also left me with another thought tho and that is while I don’t think Meeple minds the being a fictional character thing at all given how much a part of their personality is tied to a social media site that Meeple might also be aware of the wider fandom. Like compare even more so to any of the more aware characters in the park. It kind of made me think that Meeple was aware of how the community reacted to them when they were initially revealed in that one brawl talk.

I did low key theorize with a friend the copious amount of redesigns trying to fix Meeple’s character design were seen by Meeple through reddit and it slowly started giving them body dysphoria. You know given I’m also trans and have body dysphoria sometimes I know for certain if I was in this dude’s shoes that definitely would have made me think the same way. That one I wouldn’t take as an attack on any of those artists btw just me like having thoughts from Meeple’s perspective.

Tho yeah it kind of funny to wonder if Meeple uses like other social media and just lurking around reading posts about themselves cus they too self absorbed. I wonder if they’ve seen all the ship art ppl made involving them or the Meeple thirst and had opinions on that lol

[obey-moi]

I wanna imagine that the cards are a real thing in-universe. Like, the brothers, royals, Solomon and Thirteen all get put into a trading card game just because they’re all very popular individuals with their own fanbases Everyone’s card art is a little different from their actuall looks bc the actual people aren’t involved in the art production, so everone gets washboard abs and clear skin. It’d also be considered defamation of any of them are portrayed with a single blemish lol.

Of course Asmo collects ONLY his own cards and MC’s cards, even if some of them look off. “This one’s hair is too brunette but I love the SHINE they put in my lipgloss!” Or something silly like that. They go into a photo album binder where he gets other pieces of fanart.

Leviathan collects SO many card and knows the rules and decimates everyone at the games, but he absolutely refuses to collect his own cards. “Can you imagine if I played my own card as if I were actually cool? Like I had those powers, or l-looked as dashing a-as they portray me?? None of my cards would actually be good?? I’m JuSt An OtAkU??” Never plays the holographics of MC. Those get framed but never displayed. (MC finds them and they do the same to him since they both avoid their own cards. In fact they do a daily dropoff where if there’s an envelope under their door they can usually expect it to be the others’ cards.) He’s also a master of making different decks, like he has a deck for every sin, every person, etc. The Royals+Angels deck and the Envy deck are his favourite ones.

Mammon thrives on the Devildom TCG market. Rare cards go for a ton of Grimm! And also you wanna know why he keeps trying to sell pics of Lucifer, right? He knows one of the official card artists. “This was the outfit this card was based on, yeah? Here’s the followup of him rolling his sleeves and loosening his tie! And I bet you’re gonna love THIS one! Nobody can ever seem to get his angry smile just right until they see it in person, but this picture comes pretty close. Doesn’t it give you shivers? I can start at 1500 grimm. Also, could you tell whoever is making THESE cards to stop whitewashing the GREAT Mammon? Plzkthx :)”

Satan’s not much for card games unless a friend challenges him to a different, more classic game, like rummy or liar. But he does keep the trading cards he likes the most. Art is art, what can he say? They’re also perfect bookmarks. His fave is probably one of MC that captures them perfectly in his vision.

Lucifer thinks the whole TCG is just silly and doesn’t really participate in any of it........... But Priddy Boy’s gotta be ✨Perfect In Everything✨. The man has canonically been stated to be good a video games for the simple need to be good at everything, you think he wouldn’t study strategy and play like it’s chess or smth? That and in his Dad Wallet where he keeps pictures of his brothers (and MC), he keeps his favourite cards of them behind each respectful photo.

Beel doesn’t really collect or know how to play, but Beel has autographed many a card after fangol games, so he can at least understand it’s a collectible item. He tried learning from Leviathan how to play this one time, and it made sense to him for the most part. Card has Life Points, Attack Points, and Special Skills. Beat up opponents' cards and win. Not too different from most other card games. But there are complicated rules to it that he forgets or mixes up. He’d much rather use the cards like dolls and make them “talk” to each other.

Belphie also doesn’t play or collect, but he does enjoy getting his hands on the holographic cards. One day Levi was sent to look for Belphie to tell him it was dinner time. He found the youngest in the attic cutting up the cards into shapes and gluing them back-to-back, hanging them up like a mobile. Levi fainted backward down the stairs and refused to look at Belphie for two months straight.

Solomon really likes these cards! Like Satan he uses them as bookmarks, but specific Sin Colours and People get paired with certain books. Green Satan cards are used on cursed tomes or books about curses, blue Satan cards are used in art history books. Pink Asmo cards are left in Seduction Spell books, while yellow Asmo cards are for books about venoms from creatures. Etc. Makes categorization much easier!

Barbatos doesn’t collect, but he does know how to play. He referees for the Young Lord sometimes whenever Diavolo gets a chance to have fun.

Y’all know ya homeboy DIAVOLO is one of the biggest collectors! He and Levi are both DAUNTING on the “battlefield”, though Dia doesn’t take things so seriously like Levi does sometimes. He’s even commissioned actual paintings of himself and everyone so that those portraits can be made into cards. They’re the rarest ones, there only being one of each person out in the world. As much as Dia would have loved to keep those cards, he likes to watch the chaos of others scrambling desperately try to obtain an Ultra Rare Royal Painted Holographic. Besides, he still has the original paintings! (Also he likes to collect the DevilWendy’s kids meal toy versions of those “cards”, which are actually those plastic “gold” plated cards inside of “”””pokéballs””””. Adorable!)

Some Thirteen cards have special abilities based on real traps of hers. Some of Thirteen’s traps are based on some of the cards. She likes to tape some cards up like stickers to some of said traps as decorations. Or as part of the trap. She once tried to entice Solomon with a card, but Levi fell for it instead and nearly got impaled in a tiger trap she called “Super Duper Rare Double Dare #106”.

Mephistopheles says he doesn’t care about such childish playthings. But once the Diavolo released those Ultra Rare Royal Painted Holographic, and ‘Phisto got highest bidder on the Diavolo card, SUDDENLY he’s become Maximillion Pegasus and his signature deck is the Diavolo deck.

Luke isn’t really one to play, but he does like the art of some of them! He’ll put some in a scrapbook! It’s also another bookmark technique, where certain people’s cards get bookmarked on their favourite recipes. He got the idea from Solomon’s method of bookmarking.

Simeon also doesn’t play but mainly collects. Got a little hooked on it before Raphael moved in and the room was being used for Levi’s spare collection stuff. He was even given many of the Common ones for free (what Simeon did with common cards, Levi didn’t nearly care as much, and trusted him more with cards than he could trust Belphie with holo’s...). He’s collected all the Seven Lords themed ones. It’s a nice, low-key hobby, like stamp collecting. He donates the ones he doesn’t need to MC or Levi.

Raphael neither plays, collects, or knows anything about them really. But he does still have an annoying familiarity with them, thanks to Michael wanting him to buy several packs, nay, BOXES of packs. Michael needs to be the number one Lucifer Card collector. Bro misses his bro... ;(

[someprettyname]

🥁TA-DA!!🥁

Making my best friend i.e @moonlightjo rate blue lock boys just by their looks part 1 (do we make her rate other boys and coaches? Anri?) 😌↕️

no but the ratings are HILARIOUS I've been cackling for the past half hour send help

Her initial thoughts : "Heyyyy. I'll rate them but I have taken an overview and OOF I CANNOT RATE ANY ONE OF THEM LESS THAN 9 OR 10 LIKE WHAT??!??!?!!"

Hehe lmaooo pretty boys they are ikr?!

Anyways.

Let's start this ladies and gentlemen, I'll be using the same photos i sent her ☕💆🏻‍♀️✨

I tried my best to not be partial with the fanarts cough Kaiser cough okay?

Ratings under the cut 😌↕️ texts in purple are my thoughts and that's pretty obvious ik shh

1) Alexis Ness

Cute very cute. But looks like he would ACTUALLY kill me 😭. (Accurate vibe typing pt.1) Like that is a killer smile, literally. (He's just a Lil silly, don't go near kaiser you'll be good ^_^)

7/10

2) Tsurugi Zantetsu

OH MY GOD IDK WHAT I HAVE FOR HOT MEN IN GLASSES BUT OOF. LIKE SIR WHY ARE YOU NOT STEPPING ON ME RIGHT NOW? (He's too respectful for that actually 😔)

10/10. (Yes I'll send her the sauna photos dw)

3) Kurona Ranze

HOTTTTT. and cute at the same time somehow. Looks freaky (that's an interesting vision)...I like it 😏.

8/10

4) Karasu Tabito

OOOOOOOOHHHH. HOTTTTT!!!!! Looks like he would bully me (he has a feet kink by the way 👍🏻 and a voice kink he'd love you lmao) but i would still want him to fuck me so 🤷🏻‍♀️.

9/10.

5) Kunigami Rensuke.

Oooh that is a damn good picture of him. Like he looks so innocent and cute 🤌 (who will tell her? Sigh) but also is SO HOT. I would actually wanna date him. (I'm so proud of my woman.)

9/10

6) Barou Shoei

Looks like he would tie me up in a dungeon....and i would like it. (You would love it, yes. Accurate vibe typing pt2 lmaoooo) Smash all the way dude 🤌.

8/10

7) Shidou Ryusei

NOW THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE HE WOULD ACTUALLY KILL ME 😭. (He would <3 accurate vibe typing pt3) But ik he won't. SO DAMN HOT AGHHHHH.

8/10

8) Chigiri Hyoma.

He is so pretty 🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌 GIVING ME TRUE BI PANIC OOF- (again, HOW do you vibe type so accurately. You witch? Pt4)

10/10. (DAMN LILY. I'M SO PROUD OF YOU MY SWEETHEART.)

9) Nagi Seishiro

Ooooohh looking cool, nonchalant. I don't think I have seen a lot of him. Or if I have then not in this outfit. (Yeah guys dw I'll make sure to torcher her with hot nagi panels <3)

8/10.

10) Reo Mikage

Prettyyyyy (yeah pretty gay he is). So many pretty boys on here man. Damn he's wearing chains and shit.

8/10

11) Isagi Yoichi

He's giving main character (he is I think? 😭) Oh he looks like a determined boy. A very beautiful boy.

8/10. (How TF did she even catch that. Accurate vibe typing pt5)

12) Itoshi Sae.

What a gaze 🤌 ENOUGH TO MELT ME UP OOF-

9/10

13) Itoshi Rin

HOTTTTTT!!! Like in this picture he is really giving webtoon Suho.

8.5/10

14) Bachira Meguru

Ooh looks very passionate about his game. (Accurate vibe typing pt6 HOW DID SHE DO IT THIS TIME) Looks like he could kill me. LOVE IT.

8/10 (who will tell her about the demons)

15) The infamous (yes I've pestered her thirsting over him in the past more than once LMAO SORRY) Michael Kaiser.

He is like actually so sexy. Like that is a sexy man 🤌🤌🤌🤌. THE TATTOOS ESPECIALLY IN THE SECOND PIC. So damn hot.

10/10 (chapter 260's waiting for you sweets)

P.S - No offense to these beautiful men. These ratings are solely based on their looks and how I felt about them. The ratings just made sense to my brain when writing it down. They might and will most definitely change in the future I think. And just because I rated someone low doesn't mean I would fuck them....(🤷🏻‍♀️😭)

Thank you for this opportunity. Regards.

🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

Hehe that's it for today ladies and gentlemen, see ya! 😂❤️

[divider from @/enchanthings]

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond!: Character Charts

Today, I'd like to introduce you all to most of the major cast line-up for Into, Across and Beyond!.

BLUR GANG

The Blur Gang is a bunch of multidimensional heroes from many universes all ganged together with the equal purpose of keeping things safe. The members of this team include:

OMT!Tails (the Tails of the Sonic.exe One More Time games by Mr. Pixel Productions)

CR!Sonic (an alternate version of the blue blur by @becdoesthings)

OMT!Mina (an alternate version of Mina from a parallel timeline to Tails)

Mini Sonic (from the Sonic the Hedgehog Parts 1 & 2 game)

Mr. Needlemouse (a cartoon-like Sonic made by @mcgamejolter)

EX!Alice (an alternate version of Xenophanes' right-hand girl by AetherAsterisk) and her robot mech, E4-R6:3

D-Sides Mighty (from the FNF D-Sides mod)

BK!Amy Rose (an alternate role swap version of Amy for Sonic and the Black Knight, conceptualised by @sstorminghearts)

CU!Sonic and CU!Sonia (a father and daughter from the ChaosIIUniverse by ToonsiteComics)

Nine (from Sonic Prime)

Nitro (my own original character)

Antho (from SFG1235's Mobiverse AU)

Ex-Prince Brian (from the Mobius' Freedom Fighters AU by jordangaming101 and @becdoesthings)

Hog the Tenrec (a bootleg Sonic character by Jack Gore on Twitter)

Wacky the Hedgehog (another bootleg Sonic character by danicorelove on Twitter)

Devy the Rabbit (character and sprite by NotSoDevy)

Trip the Sungazer Lizard

QUILL SOCIETY

The Quill Society are a group of multiversal characters responsible for protecting the very fabric of the Sonic and SEGA multiverse. Note in advance that only five of its members are on a bad side, and most of them are solely good. Their members include:

Lost Memory Sonic (from What if Sonic Lost his Memory? by The Sega Scourge)

Amy Rouge (from that Sonic Adventure 2 mod with everyone wearing Rouge's outfit)

Turbo the Alien Hedgehog (that one alien rival from the Fleetway comics)

Fiona Fox

Tekno the Canary (from the Fleetway comics)

Zonic the Zone Cop (from the Archie universe)

CD Alt Ending Sonic (from Sonic CD: Alternative Ending by Lucsan 2015)

Underground Sonic

Emperor Metallix

Errorverse Sonic (from the same AU Nitro originates from)

LEGO Sonic

Sunky and Tlels

Carol Tea (from Freedom Planet)

Sarah Henderson (from the Needlem0use series by ShutUpJojo)

Barry the Quokka (from The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog)

E-21 (a modified robot from the Movie universe)

Milly Prower (by SallyAc63038470 on Twitter; SFW in this AU)

Blitz!Tails (from the Sonic/Avalice Blitz AU by BobTheGUYYYYY on Twitter)

Sonic.RAW (a Sonic.exe character made by randidesu)

Superstars / Discovery Omega Amy

OVA Knuckles

Rob o' the Hedge

Water Sonic (from that one Sonamy fanart based on Elemental; designed by @xblueshin)

Fleetway Amy

Stella Hoshine the Cat

Pana Der Hejhog

Bunnie Rabbot

Nicky Parlouzer

Somari

Warrior Feline Honey

VILLAINS

These are the various villains present throughout the stories. These include, in the Spider-Verse set:

Eggman Nega

Shadow Emerl / Uma Arachnis

Zeera the Zeti

Surge the Tenrec

Johnny the Shark Robot

Snively

Crimtake (the EXE from NotSoDevy's SONIC Lost Drive trilogy)

Gemerl / Anti-Miles

Dr. Beeman (Mr. Needlemouse's arch-nemesis)

The More than One Universe set includes:

Shalian (an alternate version of Toxinfect)

Crossover Realm Corrupt

Talrareth

Animator vs. Animation Corrupt

Richard Ambersilve

Sonath

Curse (my version of the character)

The Into the Sonic-verse villains include, from this list:

Dr. Finitevus

The Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad (Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts)

Scourge the Hedgehog

Rosy the Rascal

Walter Naugus

And finally, we've some members of the AU's supporting cast, those being the OMT versions of Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Sally, Cream and Robotnik, alongside three other OCs of mine, Lucia, Karilvatch and Amelia, and the Mobiverse version of Tails.

Other supporting characters include:

The Errorverse counterparts of Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Eggman

Exeller (from the Spirits of Hell duology)

Team Lilac

Extraterrestrial Encounter Sonic / XE!Sonic and Xenomorphic (this AU's version of Eddie Brock and Venom)

The FNF trio from the Errorverse (alongside Bentonly/Bently Forceloyed and Isabella Fondsmith from New Identity, New Life)

The Prower Kids (Melody and Skye Prower)

The Errorverse's version of Benjamin Fairest/Softie Benji

Fellow SEGA and Capcom characters include:

Alex Kidd

Ristar

NiGHTS

Opa-Opa

Arle Nadja

Billy Hatcher

Mega Man / Rock Light

Over the next days, I'll drop some bios to explain who all these people are and their role in this AU. Do note that NONE of this is canon to the pre-existing AUs or official universes unless their creators deem it as such.

I apologise in advance if your favourite AU or a favourite OC didn't get in, but do know that this is only the surface level of how massive the multiverse can be. And just remember the one golden rule of the multiverse:

In the multiverse, everything is canon!

Yeah, we don't talk about THAT stuff, though.

Sprite credits:

CartoonsAnimate22 (OMT!Tails, OMT!Sonic, OMT!Knux, OMT!Amy and OMT!Robotnik)

Nebula / Cylent Nite (CR!Sonic and Lost Memory Sonic)

Cylent Nite (OMT!Mina, Tekno and Warrior Feline Honey)

jrm10071322 (Mini Sonic)

Octluigi (Mr. Needlemouse base; edit by Pico231)

deltaConduit (EX!Alice and CD!Sonic; edits by Pico231)

Sergey E.S.N. (front-facing Big Arms sprite)

??? (D-Sides Mighty); @becdoesthings (palette changes)

Mod.Gen (BK!Amy, Nitro (edit and design by KoolTimYT, BroadwayBash123 and Pico231), Wacky (edits by Pico231), Fiona, EV!Sonic/Tails/Amy/Eggman/Knuckles, Bunnie, Snively, Scourge, Rosy, Naugus and the Prower Kids)

paveldechev0604 (CU!Sonic; edits by Pico231)

SEGA (CU!Sonia, Crimtake and Shalian bases; edits by Pico231) (SS!Amy)

Deebs and Xeric (Alt Mod.Gen Tails sprite; edit by Pico231)

@mcgamejolter (Custom Nitro, Amelia and Bently sprites, alongside original sprites for AVA!Corrupt and Richard)

Antho and BECDoesDA/JordanGaming101 (sprites for Antho and Brian)

Jack Gore/darck12exe (Hog sprites)

Gavin’s Golden Entertainment (old Hog sprites; tweaks and edits by Pico231)

NotSoDevy (his character’s sprite)

miniluv73 (Trip sprite)

SuperGoku809 (Amy Rouge sprite)

RatherNoiceSprites (Turbo, Somari and XE!Sonic sprites)

khalifax10 and Xeric (Zonic sprite)

Deebs (UG!Sonic and OMT!Sally sprites)

DerZocker (Emperor Metallix sprite)

LegoLoco7 (LEGO Sonic sprite; recreation by Pico231)

Miles The Duck (Sunky and Tlels sprites)

GalaxyTrail (Carol and Lilac sprites)

SFG1235 (Antho, Barry and MV!Tails sprites)

KostyaGame the Fox (E-21 sprite)

JunkeyBot (Milly sprite; edits by Pico231)

Nebula (Super Tails sprite; edits by Pico231)

randidesu (RAW sprite)

Gardow and Overbound (OVA!Knux sprite)

Gabriel_aka_Frag (Rob o’ and OMT!Cheese sprites)

FlewayAmysprite (Fleetway Amy sprite)

TheCrushedJoycon (TTS sprite; edit by Pico231)

MarkeyJester (Pana sprite)

NickyFan7 (Nicky sprite)

Shinbaloonba (Eggman Nega sprite)

Xeric (Uma sprite)

Willosonic (Zeena sprite; disguised form in one mockup based on a sprite by Teh2Chao2)

ManiaMadness91 (Surge sprite)

Lone Devil (Johnny sprite)

mtallic (Sonic.OMT sprite)

Rosabelle (S1 Extended sprite; edits by BECDoesDA and PrimalKoopaPictures)

NotSoDevy and NightAkio (Talrareth sprites)

paveldechev0604 (Original Sonic 1-based sprite; edits by Pico231)

Louplayer (Ohshima Eggman sprite; edits by Pico231)

Tonberry2k (S.S.S.S.S. Squad sprites)

Smoke-the-Pyroling (OMT!Cream sprite)

KoolTimYT (Dr. Beeman and Exeller sprites)

LiefBnuy (SMA Milla sprite)

HyperTails12 and LillyDragon (Carrie sprite)

NICKtendo DS (Time Eater sprite; edit by Pico231)

RaulHedgeBomber (FNF trio sprites’ palettes)

Hyperknux6 (custom NiGHTS sprite)

[eijiroukiriot]

Maya did you hear? That last fanart you reblogged makes references to some panels of the chapter 431 of mha. Apparently bkg and kiri are still good friends in the future, seeing him having shotgun and eating in bkg's car?(He is so pretty too <3 my baby's face card and big lashes never declained hell yeah) they are besties :') knew they were hanging out and doing their thing "behind cameras" im so happy for that that's all i wanted at this point.

Gonna miss the kids man mid ass shounen manga but the characters are so dear to me still, hope things are going good for you take care.

HELLO!!! i'm back from months of silence on this blog!!! thank you for the message, i hope you're doing well! i live in shock and awe that krbk's deep, inexplicable friendship was confirmed all the way up to the end of the end!!

i somehow managed to delete twitter JUST before leaks hit but was still using other social media for another day or so, which is how i reblogged that art not knowing it was based in canon at all!! i even remember thinking "aw i'm happy pa/unchsalazar comes back to krbk every now and again". back in august i was underwhelmed w how cramped the original/"true" ending was, so i was really enthusiastic abt an epilogue that could give the characters (especially izuku) a little more time to speak. however in noooooooo way did i expect any sort of krbk interactions, let aloooone to the extent that we got!!

my own personal krbk anniversary (january 15th!!) came around this year for the 7th time - i have always been mega mega deep into krbk but this chapter really threw me for a loop. hopefully this stays in my krbk tumblr containment chamber but i think realistically this is the most krbk ending we could've gotten so in my heart i kind of see them as supported by canon. and if that sounds far fetched then let's get into the question of what is krbk anyways? an anime ship? a "bond between equals"? a strong friendship between two boys that, no matter how far their stories converge, always gets circled back to? i think honestly the gray area of them having a really admirable friendship that also makes you think "if they're just friends then what the fuck is going on" has always been part of why i like them so much and what is more "what the fuck is going on" than bakugou using the kanji from kirishima's hero name in his own hero title, despite all language norms and for no feasible reason. their weird friendship grew up with them. i love them.

i agree that lol i am going to miss the distinct lovable flavor of mid that bnha provided - that really hit me in the chapter where deku finds uraraka on the cliff and calls her his hero, then the entire class finds and joins them. it's equally odd and pleasant imo that bnha has been winding down as i've been preparing to leave japan. i feel really lucky to have been here for most of the wind down and to have gotten to buy its very last chapter in jump and visited a lot of the victory-lap events - on that note here's a picture of when i got to take krbk to the tokyo tower collab:

(the tokyo tower collab is the source of this character art and alongside lots of merch and collab drinks the main event was a "mystery game" where you solve a packed of puzzles using clues on the character standees scattered around the tower. i found it totally delightful and also really challenging at times - i partnered up with another foreigner girl and we muscled through the final stage together and still needed the help of a verrrry kind staff woman to complete it)

...and i'm going to try to make it to as many events as i can before my time is through!! next weekend i'm attending my first doujinshi market!! and a lot of krbk artists i've known for a long time are gonna be there!! in that same weekend i also want to check off the tokyo skytree collab. it's funny because i was never interested at all in going to tokyo tower or skytree but then randomly because of bnha i'll be knocking them both out in the span of 2 months. lol. i'm also really excited to go to the final art exhibition and will report back on if bakugou "gets too shy to talk about kirishima" in the audio narration this time around

that ended up mostly being about me and my life but seriously thank you for the message!! i hope you're doing so well!! i really love this revived era of krbk the epilogue has thrown us into and i wish a very prosperous february of krbk to all of y'all with all the art and fics people have so lovingly been posting. as of this afternoon i'm done with my grad school apps so now i can tackle the wips i've had sitting in my drive since this summer!! and hopefully be back to talk to y'all soon!!! if anyone is still reading i'd love to know what you've been up to and what krbks thoughts have been on your mind. and other than that i really do hope you have a nice day!

[cassiefisherdrake]

Ya know. Reading that last article has reminded of how much I've been thinking that I miss fandom recently - or, at least, the types of fandom communities that I used to participate in. I feel like my last "actual" fandom of this sort was Mass Effect back in like 2015ish, where I was deeply ingrained in the m!Shep/Kaidan and general ME community, writing and reading fic, reblogging as much content as I could get my hands on, and actually forming friendships and ties with other people in the community.

Instead, for years, I've felt strangely disconnected from most fandoms I've been interested in, both from a "I can't seem to break into the community in the way that I want to" and from a "I don't feel as insane in the brain about [current fandom] as I did about my previous fandoms" standpoint. I feel as though I've just been constantly skirting the edges of the community-at-large, trying to engage and being acknowledged but not... let in? An accessory to the community, a grateful fan of the community, but not made part of the community? So I just keep slinking back, waiting for my next opportunity.

But even with something like Uncharted, where I'm one of the BNFs of the public server and have been for years, it's not the same. I think it feels that way partly because it's more of a discussion-based, reddit-esque community, rather than a fanfic, fanart, intense fan engagement community like I used to participate in. The other part is that I don't feel that intense drive to make fanfic, fanart, etc. for it that I used to, back like I did with Mass Effect, Dragon Age, CSI, etc. when I was younger. I was INSANE about those fandoms, and even though I'm Insane about Uncharted, there doesn't really feel like as much community to engage in those aspects as I want.

Even Destiny, there's my clan, but otherwise? I'm mutuals with quite a bit of the fandom, but I've never really felt like I was in the fandom like how I wanted to be. I poked and prodded the edges and never really got what I truly wanted in return, I suppose? Because I never felt that need, the unshakeable urge to make and enjoy fan content the way I did before. And now that my love for Destiny is sliding out with my distaste for the current state of Bungie and how that has affected the game itself... idk. I just kind of Go Here anymore, man.

I don't feel the way I used to about fandoms... and I miss it. I miss the drive to be in it. I sometimes feel like I'm on the search for something to consume me and to really feel like I'm part of something like that again.

[gacha-incels]

I think one of the reasons it’s hard for people to cold turkey drop being fans/consumers of a piece of contemporary media is how these “fandom” spaces on social media have been set up. you’ve got generalized spaces online (sub-reddits, tumblr, twitter, etc. I would put even those book and film review websites here and imageboards) where you can “join” a pre-existing group of friends completely based on specific pieces of media.

for those who are post-college years and perhaps more introverted, it’s easier to talk with people online in these places and you can log in 24/7. instead of making friends in a physical schooling atmosphere where you’re surrounded by other people daily for 12+ years, you can log in and make friends digitally by being surrounded by people who all consume the same piece of media as you. so your friendship is completely dependent on this piece of media for the most part.

for younger people growing up now I think this also ties into “finding yourself” where they will see consumption of a piece of media as a core tenet of their personality. I believe this is part of why there have been multiple posts about the Project Moon/Limbus Company situation that say “don’t worry whatever you choose you’re not a bad person either way.” This is also reinforced when people online comment “xyz fan” if they want to call your judgement of something into question. They have in effect assigned you a personality based on your consumption a videogame, for example. When the creators do something so ideologically opposite than what the work presents, it’s extra shocking to those fans who considered consuming the work as part of their personality. I think this way of consumption is also why, at least from what I’ve seen, there has been such a drive to label and categorize “aesthetics” into words you can search hashtags for or put in your online profile. This also has got to be a reason why people go so hard in their defense of whatever media, because they feel like when someone criticizes the media they consume they are in effect criticizing the person who consumes it. They are essentially trying to defend themselves.

When something shocking like the kowtowing to misogynistic men situation with Limbus Company, in a sense the way these “fandom” spaces work online now makes it harder for people to completely drop the game. The consumer now has online friendships and is in entire communities based completely on this media, maybe they have also even created fanart and fanfiction. For some of them it’s part of their personality. If they drop it completely they are also losing these online communities , friends and even a sense of self. I think this is a reason you will see a lot of fans ask “what fandom/game should I get into next”, they want to fill this void ASAP.

As a gacha game, Limbus further complicates this by getting the consumer into a routine they now have to break. Every day they have logged in, done the daily gameplay, even the events and gambling banners have a set schedule. These types of games typically have an ensemble cast with specific set types of personalities so fans can choose their favorite(s). As long as they make money they will keep making stories (just look at FGO), so it’s like having a never-ending story with your favorite character. It’s like a series of movies that always end with a teaser for the next one. It’s easy to get addicted, not just from the gambling aspect.

I was confused at first why other fans were having such trouble completely dropping the game because for me, it was like a switch turned off and I was able to stop caring completely. I think it’s amazing how some Korean fans have completely deleted all their fanart and even taken their fan merch back from the restaurant. But looking into how “fandom” works these days it seems this makes it harder to drop something completely. I’m not saying these are the only reasons, but it’s interesting how this works positively for companies that make these pieces of media that are up for public consumption.

[davisexplainableart]

Alright, allow me to explain what's going on here, as this is something I've never brought up before (aside from one time back in January).

This morning (April 4, 2025) marks the 20th anniversary of Great 5 Productions' online preschool block for Cartoon Network known as "Cartoon Preschool". The block would run from 2005, all the way to the beginning of 2021 (New Year's Day to be exact).

Not counting programs from the 90s such as Big Bag and Small World, this marks the first time that CN has delved into the world of preschool programming (launching a few months before Tickle U).

The block was created with 2 rules in mind:

Always deliver programming that parents and teachers not only trust, but can utilize to help enhance and improve the skills of children both at home and in school.

NEVER abbreviate the block's name, no matter what!

In hindsight, that's probably why my logo ideas were always rejected.

With that out of the way, let's talk about some history involving the block.

The block would begin as an interactive slideshow/playlist with lessons and topics for preschool teachers to utilize in a classroom setting, featuring episodes of 8 different shows.

These slideshows would be added to the Cartoon Preschool website every weekday at 6am, just in time for teachers in school to begin setting up their lectures at 8am. Here were the shows in question...

6:00 AM - The Learning Show: While the main title was a bit basic, the idea was simple and easy to pull off. The host, named Edlen (at least I think that's his name, I can't remember), would guide the audience through a different topic each episode, whether it be arts and crafts or learning simple words from another language (pretty much any topic safe for preschoolers could be the subject of an episode). Oftentimes, at least early on, the topic of the episode would continue to apply to the rest of the shows for that particular day. While the show would end in 2016, it would still start off nearly every broadcast of Cartoon Preschool's run.

TL;DR - Guy with weird name talks about a topic.

6:30 AM - Hi-5: It should be noted that much of Cartoon Preschool's programming, especially by the late 2010's, would be acquired from other networks (due to partnering with many different companies and channels). Case in point, the Australian TV series known as Hi-5. To quote Wikipedia, "The series is designed for a pre-school audience, featuring five performers who educate and entertain through play, movement and music, which is an integral part of the series. The segments of the show are based on an educational model." While the block would start out including the full 30-minute episodes, these would be shortened to about 22-minutes by 2010 (around the time that the block began broadcasting in the form of livestreams) in order to save time.

TL;DR - 5 Australian people encourage movement through music.

7:00 AM - PBS Kids: The Adventures of Dash & Dot: Now THIS one definitely screams "we were only allowed to make this because we partnered with the copyright holders". While this show would mainly focus on the titular brother and sister characters, there would also be instances of other characters (most of them can be seen in this piece of fanart by user LuxoVeggieDude9302) getting the spotlight at times. While their names in the 2020 semi-reboot would originate from cast members from the PBS series ZOOM (the same names that the fandom has coined for them), the original series would give them their own names. This is also the first series we'll be talking about that's interactive, with the characters engaging the audience in order to help solve a problem that a character is having. While the series would end in 2012, it would eventually get a spin-off series in 2016 (based around the online game "Kart Kingdom"), as well as the semi-reboot in 2020 that I mentioned earlier (retaining a similar art style, but with stories and topics for a modern audience). By 2017, the block would often rotate between reruns of the original series and its continuations (i.e. an episode of the original series would air one day, and then an episode of Kart Kingdom might air the next).

TL;DR - Interactive adventures with green characters.

7:30 AM - Childhood Cartoons: Yet another one with a strange name, but also another one with interactive elements. The show is set in "CC Studios", a radio station with 2 hosts guiding the audience through music. Their names are Jean, pronounced "John" (a guy with dots for eyes, but also a silly haircut), and Luc, pronounced "Luke" (a guy with squares and straight lines for a body), a duo of friends who not only play music, but also show segments (2 in nearly each episode) of kids going through different problems that the target audience may go through as well. The segments are almost always shown from the POV of the child figuring out the problem, and the 2 shown in each episode would always focus on a singular topic or idea. Instances of music numbers would also be included via the 2 radio guys playing them from their studio. It should be noted that another significant aspect of the show is the dynamic of Jean and Luc, which would be expanded upon in later episodes (most notably the show's Christmas special, which I might talk about at a later date). While the show would end in 2014, the series would continue to air on the block for the rest of its run.

TL;DR - 2 guys host a radio show, but only sometimes play music.

8:00 AM - The Wiggles: Yet another acquired program, and also yet another one from Australia. I mean, do I even need to explain who the Wiggles are? They're probably one of the most well known children's bands out there. While the block would begin airing the band's TV shows (introducing the later ones when they came out), they would eventually start airing the group's made-for-video specials (usually saving them for special occasions).

TL;DR - Any online source like Wikipedia or the official website will have a better explanation of who the Wiggles are than I could ever come up with.

8:30 AM - The Reaching Show: This one is often considered the black sheep of the original Cartoon Preschool lineup. That name is definitely warranted, because this show just sucks. It's a show about... reaching for things... wow, I'm thrilled. The block tried to justify it's existence by claiming it was useful for stuff like stretching exercises, but no one was convinced. It was just a show about reaching for things, and absolutely no one cared about it. By the beginning of 2007, the higher ups at Great 5 productions were fully aware of the poor reception and pulled the show from its lineup in late May. After this point, the show would never be mentioned by the network ever again.

TL;DR - Dumb show that no one cared about was cancelled and forgotten.

9:00 AM - Emmy + Dave: Just like PBS Kids, this show featured a brother and sister, and had 2 11-minute segments in each episode. Unlike PBS Kids, this show had limited dialogue, aside from a narrator and the siblings' parents. The show is about the 2 titular siblings (who later became the hosts of the block as they got older) learning about the outside world in different ways (whether it be their backyard, the school playground, the beach, etc.), while also learning morals and understanding how to be a good person. Despite overall positive reception, the series would be pulled in 2013. Part of this is because of the siblings teaching the same lessons as hosts for Cartoon Preschool, which left the series mostly irrelevant. However, this is also because the show only lasted 1 season with 13 episodes (26 segments total), so the series was dropped to make way for another show that we'll get to later. That said, the show would still have a webpage on the Cartoon Preschool site for the rest of the block's run (unlike the Reaching Show).

Before we move on, I should note that this show is an early instance of a show being filmed in the Cartoon World, as shown by the inclusion of a talking little yellow octopus named Otto, who the siblings befriend after he's found washed up on the beach all alone. The octopus would also make appearances during Emmy and Dave's hosting segments, suggesting that he has an extended lifespan (just like other cartoon characters).

TL;DR - Hosts of the Cartoon Preschool block encourage kids to touch grass.

9:30 AM - Traveling Adventures: Lastly, we have this show. Once again, this one is a bit weird. It's about a boy named Markus who, one day while walking home from school, comes across a mysterious girl who can't seem to remember where she's from or where her parents are. However, she does seem to have a love for Geography, and that she isn't malicious at all. After bringing her home to his mother (who is skeptical, but willing to trust her), she reveals that her name is Gianna (Gia for short), and that perhaps traveling the world could help her rediscover her parents. She reveals that she has a necklace that the person wearing it can use to teleport to other locations (if they want to go back, they simply take it off). Since Markus isn't a fan of his school's Geography lectures, he figures that this could make it more interesting (and fun to learn about).

But who and where are Gianna's parents? Well, near the end of season 1, Gianna accidentally finds out that she can shape-shift into different animals (don't worry, there was plenty of foreshadowing beforehand), giving way for speculation regarding her origins. At the end of the series, it's revealed that her parents are talking elephants living in the African savannah. It's also revealed that Gianna's elephant (which had made a number of appearances up to that point) from was actually her main form this whole time, which had been shown by her personality traits matching that of an elephant (sometimes bold, sometimes shy, curious or afraid, etc.).

While the show was well-received, lasting 2 seasons, it would later be pulled from the lineup in 2014 (being cancelled in late 2012). The reason being that despite the positive reception, the show was clearly meant for a slightly older audience than the other shows on Cartoon Preschool. Despite this, reruns of the show would later return for special occasions.

TL;DR - Boy and elephant travel the world.

That's it for the shows that were on the block at the start. Now let's move onto the later introductions. For the sake of time, we'll just be looking at the 3 original shows that were introduced (I'll save the acquired stuff for when I create a page for the block on the CN Fanon Wiki)...

8:30 AM - A Kid's Life: Introduced on May 26, 2008, the series A Kid's Life would air in the Reaching Show's old time slot (pushing Emmy + Dave and Traveling Adventures back to their old time slots, after they were moved back half-an-hour in 2007). The series followed a kid named Jack and his father Charles. The episodes would be about Charles guiding Jack through everyday life. While the show would mainly be from Jack's POV, certain episodes would follow Charles as he tried not only to prevent talking down to his son, but to also show Jack that he cares about him. While the show's reception was somewhat mixed at first, it soon became a worthy member of the block's lineup (especially compared to the Reaching Show).

TL;DR - Father teaches son about everyday life.

Moving onto 2010, Cartoon Preschool would make 2 changes on May 29 of that year. The first was changing its logo (the same day that CN introduced its Check It rebrand)...

The second change was introducing a proper broadcasting format, in the form of livestreams on the block's website (which then began also streaming on YouTube a year later in 2011), with the block now properly running from 6am - 10am. While there would be a few technical difficulties at first, things did eventually get sorted out.

This leads us onto our next show...

9:00 AM - Big and Little: Introduced on May 27, 2013 (the same day that Cartoon Preschool started airing commercial breaks), Big and Little would air in Emmy + Dave's old time slot. The show centers around 2 aliens from outer space, a giant named Big One (who is rarely shown from the waist up) and a young creature with a bean-shaped body and no arms or legs named Little One (who uses telekinesis to carry things around). The 2 creatures live together and spend episodes learning that "there are some things that only big guys can do, as well as things that only little guys can do."

It should be noted that this is actually a joint production with the British company BBC, as shown by the instances where the duo get in contact with the British duo Big & Small in order for them to solve a problem that they're having.

TL;DR - Giant creature and small creature with no arms or legs do tasks that fit their respective sizes.

Lastly, we have...

9:30 AM - Hello World: Introduced on March 24, 2014, Hello World would air in Traveling Adventures' old time slot. We have 2 siblings (an older sister named Jackie, and a younger brother named Edward), who discover a magic wand in their new bedroom that they can use to travel the world. It's somewhat like Magic Tree House in a way, mainly since the one who created the wand is an enchantress (named Madison, or M for short). While she seems kind and trustworthy in the first few seasons, she's soon revealed to actually be greedy, eager to steal the siblings' family's money for her own gain. After she is dealt with in the special "M's End", her much nicer husband, Lionel (or L for short), takes her place.

I actually brought up this show once before. Back in January, I talked about CN Fridays' January 13, 2017 show, in which I mentioned that the M's End special had premiered during this show.

Despite the series ending in 2019, reruns would continue for the rest of the block's run.

TL;DR - 2 Siblings travel the world using a magic device.

Hello World would be the last original series that Cartoon Preschool released. Everything that was introduced afterwards would be acquired from (or based around something from) other networks.

As for the block's reception, while it was well received for it educational aspects (especially compared to Tickle U), it was also panned by some for having live action shows attached to a channel meant for cartoons (i.e. Hi-5 and The Wiggles).

That's about everything I have time to talk about, I'll be saving the rest for-

*ahem*

*sigh* Fine, I guess we have time to talk about one more show.

On September 2016, The Wiggles was temporarily removed from the lineup. The group's then-upcoming 9th TV series (Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle!) was still in production, and the show wouldn't return until it was ready to air. But that wasn't the only reason the show was briefly dropped...

8:00 AM - Blue's Clues: In honor of the show's 20th anniversary, Cartoon Preschool began airing reruns of Nick Jr.'s Blue's Clues in its place. To quote Wikipedia, "The show follows an animated blue-spotted dog named Blue as she leaves a trail of clues/paw prints for the host [Steve (and later Joe)] and the viewers to figure out her plans for the day."

The show, airing in mostly chronological order (aka production order), would run from September 5, 2016 - October 6, 2017.

Similar to airings of the show during the late 90's and early 2000's, Cartoon Preschool would air one episode of Blue's Clues 5 times a week. When asked why, it was stated that kids learn best through repetition.

Despite being removed in 2017, the show would return on several occasions starting in late 2019, and would once again become a mainstay the following Spring.

TL;DR - Look up Blue's Clues' Wikipedia page. The show was acquired by Cartoon Preschool and aired in place of The Wiggles, at least until the band's newest series was finished.

Alright, once again, I'll be saving the rest of Cartoon Preschool's history for when I get around to creating a page about the block on the CN Fanon wiki.

Please let me know if I made any grammatical errors on this post, as I'm too tired to check for myself.