#I can't say the same for any FEH art

[randomnameless]

Re about the FEH vs Cipher rant from the last day...

Back when Cipher was a thing, we could have gotten this fanart.

Sure it's only fanart and all, but this is, imo, better at "making the characters live between the games" than releasing a very sad'n'lonely about a goddess whose only wish is to bang you.

Silly and fun things were supposed to be the theme of seasonal banners, imagine if we got some sort of "trying to emulate heroes they look up to" lizard banner, with Y!Tiki using a sword, Myrrh trying to use a lance, Kana using a cardboard Yato, and, idk, Fa trying to use Igrene's bow (their sprites being something like Amelia's trainee sprites where she tumbles with her lance or something weird, like Billy's animations, maybe instead of stabbing with the lance, Myrrh throws it and it falls, dealing damage, on the opponent, something like that) -

Sure we would have the obnoxious fans rant about "characters getting alts" again, with extra salt from the A!Tiki stans - but just think of the fun and cute interactions in a multiverse...

Instead, we have "orientalism : the festival" banners, "bunnies for those who are horny!" banners, the "bridal harem!" banner and a bunch of non interesting stuff.

Tea-time last year might have been something nice - 1st gen Jugdral parents meeting their children and trying to make up for, well, not being there in the second gen - but it had to be Fodlan'd (with Mercedes suddenly forgetting she left Adrestia) because gods forbid we have no Fodlan unit on a banner or FEH devs miss on an occasion to remind the world Lysithea loves sweets.

(I wouldn't have meant a Ferdie backpack to, idk, Siggy or something, where he could say that those ceremonies are common in Fodlan, and an occasion to spend time with people you care about instead of saying those weird "let's have tea breaks while we're invading people because taking a break is more important than their lives i guess" nonsensical lines, that would, honestly, make any Jugdral character from this banner reduce him to 1 HP).

Anyways,

While Cipher had its share of lewd designs - it also showed more care and love the for characters of the franchise than FEH - or maybe the artists had more leeway in FE Cipher than in FEH, I mean, Daisuke Izuka draws awesome units in FEH, but on his X channel, he drew... Riev T-Posing, or his anniversary arts always feature badasses (Hardin vs Hardin, this year's league of super villains, Sharena's parents being in luf and dancing while smacking bandits right and left, etc etc).

Given what we get in anniversary artworks...

(yep, even Cleobulus and Cyril being a weird match up)

I'd more interested in having those ideas than another "but she is forced to do evil things by an evyl figure and is very sad and very lonely and just needs your luf" shit of a story.

[deathbirby]

What does Sothis's dragon form look like?

Title speaks for itself. I'm here to speculate what Sothis's dragon form looks like.

These posts come from my Reddit account! I'm reposting them here. However, I'm also editing these posts with newer information. You can consider these to be the "final" versions.

Let's unpack!

Surely you can't be Sirius

In a post on reddit, I talked about how Sothis could be connected to the wolf-beasts that guard the Blue Sea Star. Why?

Sothis is the Greek version of the Egyptian goddess Sopdet, the personification of the star Sirius.

What's so special about Sirius? The Blue Sea Star is likely meant to be the star Sirius. Sothis's special in FEH is called Sirius. Seiros is an alternate name for Sirius. Rhea's theme is called Gazing at Sirius. It could not be more obvious.

There is one small issue with this: Edelgard's note in the advice box. She says that it's been calculated that the light of the Blue Sea Star would take million of years to reach the planet. MILLIONS. Sirius is like 9 light-years away from Earth. Sure, Fodlan could just be on an entirely different planet, but that's boring. Sirius isn't going to be the brightest star in the night sky on just any random planet. Not that it really matters if Fodlan is on a different planet.

So, I did a little bit of digging, and Edelgard doesn't say millions of years in the Japanese version. Instead, she says it takes the light tens of thousands of years to reach the planet. Looks like it's just a translation issue.. Moving on.

What's so special about Sirius? It's known as the dog star. A good boy, if you will. Now here is where it gets interesting. Aelfric says that the Ashen Wolves got their name from the beasts who guard the Blue Sea Star. Rhea named the house herself. This could just be Rhea making up some random bullshit, but I'm gonna take the plunge and say that she's speaking some kind of truth here.

Sothis is Sopdet, the personification of Sirius, the dog star. The Ashen Wolves get their name from the beasts who guard Sirius. Beasts that look like wolves. Dog Star. Sopdet. Sothis. You get it. Sothis is connected to these beasts in some way. She could be one of them, or she created them and then went off on a little adventure.

All of this leads me to believe that Sothis's dragon form has canine features. If you're still not convinced that Sothis is a doggo, then take a look at this:

They're the same picture

Going back to the OST for a moment. There is a track called Scales of the Goddess. SCALES! Alright alright. We're getting there. Sothis's dragon form also has scales. We've got more of an image here. The Goddess's true form has canine features and scales.

...Would her transforming in her amnesiac state result in a puppy dragon?

Oh my god. We need more information!

Your momma so fat, she created Fodlan just to sit on it.

So, how big is her dragon form? It can be anything ranging from the size of the Immaculate One:

Exhibit A: Immaculate One concept art

To the size of a meteor:

Oh man, that star is getting real close

Exhibit B: Opening cutscene flashes (Seasons of Warfare Collectors Edition)

To the size of the fucking planet:

Exhibit C: Ashen Wolves banner

So... pick one of three! Option B is the most obvious one. She's called the "Fell Star" by the Agarthans. That could mean that she's evil as in the "Fell Dragon", but it could also mean that Sothis came to Fodlan as a falling star (a fucking meteor).

Still, a planet-sized wolf-dragon sure is an image. It would put Grima to shame and adds a whole 'nother meaning to Sothis saying she cannot reveal her true form in Askr.

But what else do the Agarthans say about Sothis? Well...

DAMN, that's an ugly sonofabitch!

You might have read the book in the Shadow Library called "Romance of the World's Perdition". If you haven't, don't worry. I've got this post that translates it from Japanese: https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemThreeHouses/comments/hd82ec/jpen_translation_comparison_of_the_abyss_shadow/

Here is what it says:

In the land of Thinis, where the old god(s) was/were supposed to have lived, at last the one who is not god awakens. The grotesque monstrosity resurrects to sink the world to watery depths.

The book is presumably from an Agarthan's perspective. It says that the False God is a grotesque monstrosity. Are they talking about Sothis's human form? Hell no! Have you SEEN mural Sothis? Anyone who calls her a grotesque monstrosity is in denial. 99% chance they're talking about Sothis's dragon form. Of course, you can't ignore the fact that the Agarthans are EXTREMELY biased.

One more thing to add to this. Remember how Rhea goes absolutely batshit in the ending of Silver Snow for some unknown reason? Yeah. Her dragon form is burning from the inside out and she's covered in vines. It's fucking horrifying and disgusting. But what does the game say?

"This child of the goddess, revealed in her truest form, possesses power beyond humanity's understanding."

That is Rhea's truest form.

Another piece to the puzzle! Sothis's dragon form has canine features, scales, is most likely the size of a meteor, and is grotesque to (some) onlookers.

What else?

Exteeeeeeeeeend

We've all seen the Sword of the Creator. It's made out of Sothis's bones and looks like a spine, but some speculate it's made out of the tail.

It can also extend... I guess that means Sothis can just stretch out parts of her body REALLY far? Huh, no wonder the Agarthans call her an abomination.

There is also the possibility of her being an Eastern Dragon! They do have long noodle-bodies. Personally, I think she's some weird eldritch being, but you can always come up with your own theories!

I can paint with all the colors of your wardrobe

COLORS ("COLOURS" if you prefer it that way)! What about the look?

This is where it becomes 100% speculation. There is no information here. None. She can have natural colors like her children (brown/yellow, white, grey), or look like she fell into a bucket of paint.

Obviously, I'm picking the bucket of paint option. The Immaculate One is white, right? Her Japanese name is "The White One". Is there white in Rhea's design? Yes! She ALWAYS wears white. So, the outfit might give a hint to the dragon's colors? Quick! What is Sothis's color scheme?

Purple/dark blue, black, pink, white, and gold. There is also green, but we're ignoring that because none of the Nabateans have any green in their dragon forms. All the green goes straight into their veins when they transform.

So, Sothis's dragon form has a mix of purple/dark blue, black, pink, white, and gold. I guess that makes sense? Sirius is sometimes called a rainbow star because of how it shines with different colors. All of the colors I just mentioned are colors that have been observed in Sirius.

Guess we cracked the code.

TLDR: Sothis's dragon form is wAIT

WAIT

HOLD ON, I JUST FOUND SOMETHING Y'ALL. SOTHIS'S TRUE FORM HAS CONCEPT ART! AND THEY HID IT FROM US.

I'm gonna find it. I'm gonna find it and...

Oh dear god

[gascon-en-exil]

Anon says as if FEH isn't using the few Male OCS to sell muscle. Bruno literaly became a meme and then there is the deer men of book VIII

Those are not remotely equivalent. Bruno hasn't been consistently relevant for years, and despite having been in the game since 2017 has all of two alts - neither of which are particularly sexy. The new deer guy is currently just background art; the internet only started thirsting after him so hard because we've been so starved of male OCs, especially after Book VII.

Further, the attempt to deflect from how female characters are objectified in FEH and similar properties by pointing out overly muscled male designs has always been a deeply flawed one. One exists for straight male titillation; the other exists as a straight male power fantasy. There is absolutely a point to be made about how hypermuscular bodies in media promote unhealthy ideas about what men should look like, but that's an entirely separate conversation from the one that frames characters as sex objects. Gay/bi men are best in a position to appreciate the issue from both sides, and the solution we most often pose when discussing such things is to show a wider variety of male bodies in states of (potentially eroticized) undress - a solution that I imagine would not go over well with the sorts of straight men who like to bring up muscular male characters as a gotcha.

The shirtless muscular guys of most media are never framed or positioned in the same way that even more modestly-dressed female characters often are when they're being marketed based on some kind of sex appeal. Gay porn games are the only type of animated media I've seen that treats male characters at all in the same way as female characters are handled on most of FEH's seasonal banners. As an example, let me revisit a point I made about a week ago, in reference to the new winter banner.

Here is Claude, wearing a reindeer-themed holiday outfit.

Now here is another character wearing a reindeer-themed holiday outfit, this time from the gay dating sim Camp Buddy: Scoutmaster Season.

A bit excessive? Yes, but I've got a point to make here. Let's talk about the differences. We've got

a crotch bulge, as well as a small treasure trail. Contrast summer Lorenz and his speedo with Ken doll anatomy.

extensive muscle definition, including pronounced tits pecs. Contrast summer Ephraim, summer Dimitri, and others.

visible nipples, something the internet also went crazy over when they randomly appeared on Fargus back in November. This isn't merely about being anatomically correct; nipples are an erogenous zone for some men, and to include them in a bare-chested design indicates that this character is not just a slab of muscle (as the power fantasy angle would prefer) but has potential erotic vulnerabilities.

a harness that greatly resembles bondage gear, and is in fact used in that way later on.

most obviously, about as much skin on display as the average female unit on summer banners

and while not apparent here, a willingness to commit to the inherent silliness of the bit in the subsequent sex scenes, which employ a flurry of intentionally bad holiday-themed puns and have the characters act out a reindeer-flavored variety of pony play.

But that's far too horny for a winter banner, you say? Don't tell that to Edelgard's thigh-highs and upskirt. Isn't that specific combination a fetish in its own right?

Or Yunaka with her cleavage and camel toe and strategically-placed bits of bare skin.

Or just look at the Byleths side-by-side. Only the female version is baring her shoulders and midriff in a form-fitting top...surely that's for entirely innocent reasons.

And again, check out any given summer banner and see just how far FEH will push its rating with its female cast.

Of course this is all from a gay male perspective; I can't speak to what women find attractive in animated male characters. Anecdotally the most popular options are characters who are already prominent and popular (so...not Bruno or the unnamed deer guy). Also, there are times when women in the fandom pick up on stuff about these guys' bodies that I wouldn't have even thought to eroticize at first, like Dimitri's proportionally small waist. Others can feel free to add onto this if they like.

TL;DR, if FEH truly wants to sell itself on sleaze (which of course it does, and already is), it seriously needs to step up its game with its male cast.

[moe-broey]

So I’ve been loving all your FEH stuff! Your art is very very pretty it looks like candy and I want to eat it to become all powerful. But now I got a question! Got any thoughts on Anna? She also gets pretty sidelined by the plot which is a damn shame because I find her dynamic with Askr siblings FASCINATING. With all their complications with making friends, Anna seems like the only friend Alfonse and Sharena have successfully made and I would kill to know how that happened.

EXTREMELY THRILLED TO HEAR THIS HAHAHA esppp thank you!!! That is SUCH a compliment... deeply honored to have my art achieve edible-looking status 🫡

ALSO. I'VE. BEEN ROTATING THIS IN MY BRAIN SO BAD. The unfortunate thing I'll be upfront about is that I don't have a lot of thoughts about Anna, aside from like, appreciating her gimmick and finding her funny.

But I DO agree she does have a fascinating dynamic with the siblings. Like. I think it's so interesting to see how Anna is their superior, as the commander and leader of the Order of Heroes, while at the same time Alfonse and Sharena are literally the prince and princess of Askr. Which IS par for the course for the Order of Heroes to have royalty in their ranks, but still!! It's a dynamic I can't quite put words to, but it is SO interesting to see how it plays out. (Also worth mentioning though, I feel, Alfonse and Sharena wanted to join the order not as royalty but as themselves, as people. What they stand for, believe in, and want for the future, ect -- so their status doesn't always play a huge role, but, you can't erase it completely, esppp as they ARE the prince and princess Of Askr)

AND ALSO. All that said, Alfonse isn't afraid to call Anna out when he feels her schemes are getting slightly unethical LMFAO. Despite each of their status/titles/roles, they do feel like they're on equal footing. And with Sharena, her relationship with Anna is very friendly -- but I feel like that's also just how Sharena is LMFAO.

In my head though, the way I see it, each of their relationships with Anna do feel professional in nature? Which isn't to say it can't be personal as well, I do think each have bonds with each other. But espp when I've revisited Book 1, I got the sense that Anna is more of a boss and mentor to the siblings -- esppp when Sharena starts crying recalling the disappearance of Zacharias, Anna is quick to resolve it in a professional way and also take the responsibility she felt as the commander to all three of them (WHICH. ALSO. WILD TO THINK ABOUT. Like what IS the timeline here???? I WANT TO KNOW SO BAD.)

(also also that moment Was from Book 1, so maybe I'm not accounting for character development here, I only revisit books when I'm feeling VERY autistic about something specific in particular LMFAOO)

AND HONESTLY IF I. THINK TOO MUCH ABOUT THAT I go insane, like. I know it's just a consequence of Zenith being In A Mobile Gacha Game, and the point isn't really the world of Zenith itself it's to get all the guys from the mainline games to make money LMFAOO BUT. Askr feels so lonely and empty, actually. Like I feel like we have a more fleshed out/more world building for Embla than we do Askr! A LOT of fascinating family stuff there actually. But in Askr it's just Alfonse, Sharena, their parents, and Anna. That's it. And honestly I HAVE to wonder, like! Where did Anna come from, anyway? I know each Anna has their own lore, so I suppose she could just be from Askr, herself. And I guess it wouldn't matter any which way, but I am just so. I WANT. LORE. AND TIMELINES LIKE. When did Anna become the commander. How long has she been the commander. You've given me a whole new thing to violently chew on wood over HAHAHAH

[yanderefairyangel]

Ok so I just need to rant for a bit.

So for some time I saw people bringing back a discourse surrouding whether or no Priam is really Ike's descendant and while I don't really have a stake in this... can I say, how dumb it is ?

I see so many people doing mental gymnastic to find any plausible explanation for Priam exisiting that are all crazier then one another just because people see him as the proof Ike ended up with a woman and honestly....

I really don't get that at all ?

So first off, people genuinely try to argue that Awakening create a character that is a perfect copy of Ike character design and writing wise only for him to be a scam, like Shannam

Let's see what Awakening says about Priam

Ok so Priam bears several elements that are iconic to Ike's design : his blue hair, his red cape, his bandana, his sword

Now in typical Fire Emblem fashion, Priam seems to be older then his own ancestor (doesn't help Ike is only 20 in this art)

Priam's class is Hero, promotion of the mercenaries class in Awakening which is again a wink to Ike

He isn't as muscled (or maybe it's his armor that makes it seems so) idk

In jpn, his name is Paris which was originally going to be how Ike was going to be nammed so you clearly get Priam is an hommage character

Personality wise, MS paint made a recent video about him but he embodies pretty much everything Ike represent

He likes fighting and he likes meat. But he is also kind of an idealistic and while the guy cannot stop talking (a wink to Ike's rather taciturn nature I guess) in normal times he is kinda solitary which we ca see in his support with F!Robin. in the paralogue Chrom remarks :

Priam is capable of uniting different people under the same banner... oh. Remind me of someone I KNOW.

Yeah, basically Priam is pretty much an Ike clone except his more talkative, not as bright and... has a dubious hygene

And while I wouldn't reduce his character as being an Ike clone since he still got his own personality and story and relevance (sadly outside of Awakening's story) you can kinda get why I don't think it make sense at all that he wouldn't be related to Ike in some way

Plus character-wise : Priam wouuldn't lie about such a thing which bring me to the second point.

Priam's relationship to Ike. I see people argue that Priam himself never makes the claim, well, Heroes fixed that since he introduce himself as the descendant of the Radiant Hero. Plus, see Awakening's text

People often focus on this line

Well... Priam is quite literaly just refering to the hypothesis Chrom and Robin were making about him... not his relationship to Ike

If he did, he would answer "this assume he would even fight for you" or any of this.

and if you read his heroes desc

Yeah, like they were defo gonna make him his descendant and it being genuine

But also... I must say this. In all of Awakenign. His lineage to Ike is mentiooned only ONCE; Yeah. Once and it's the begining of the Paralogue... wow..

So let me recapitulate : you really believe IS would create a hommage character that they would present as a popular lord's descendant and even include this in Heroes but mention it as the most minor plot point only to leave it ambigious on whether or not Priam his is scam ?? you can't be for real

Other people point at his lack of Aether skill... yeah, you do know that Ike learned Aether right ? It's not an heridatary techinique, it's one you learn. Priam has Luna and Sol to make up for it so it's likely due to balance limitation imo. After all Lucina and Chrom have Aether so unless you wanna join me on my insane theory that all the blue haired lord are one big family, I don't think it counts

Also in Radiant Dawn Ike literaly needs to wait till he promotes to Vanguard to be able to use Ether again, even though he learned this skill in PoR after promoting to Lord

Then there is Ragnel being able to break... well, he and Ike's FB bond in FEh literaly explains why. Seeing how the team who work on Awakening is likely different then one who worked on Tellius, it would'nt surprise me if they made this recton to justify Ragnell being able to break to not make the balance of Awakening too easy

After all, in Awakening, all legendary weapons can break safe the Falchion

Now there are people who argue he is related to Ike the same way Marth is related to Anri and I am gonna be honest, I don't care whether or not Mist or Ike is his direct ancestor cause that would make him Ike's descendant anyway, but I ain't entirely convinced cause like : Mist doesn't travel to another world in either of her endings. Ike does however which is how Priam existing is being explained and Chrom's dialogue with the Einjenhar and comment on the Paralogue indicates Tellius is part of Awakenin's foklore. And if we count the Heroes desc, yeah... they were defo thinking of Ike as his ancestor and not Mist

So from what I gather the main reason why people even do this whole gymnastic is because they view Priam has a proof of Ike's sexuality and contradicts the ending he has with Ranful and Soren.

Ok so : who, the heck, look at a character that is said to be descendand from someone and goes "oh that means he opened the beast cage with a woman !"

WHO ??? Priam is his DESCENDANT not his kid, for all I know with the large gap between Tellius and Awakeing, this is hardly a proof of sexuality

Second. Even if Ike did had a relationship with a woman so what ?? His sexuality hardly matters in Tellius proper. Y'all act as if that would mean the world was in flame. I don't think his relationship with this woman that doesn't exist in official sources but only in fan speculation has much weight on the canon.

While Priam is there and they can't retcon (?) his existence, the reason he came to exist doesn't, the "woman Ike might have had an affair with to have a child etc till we get to Priam" is not a canon scenario, there is hardly any reason to panick over it even if it was any evidence of it at all (doubtful)

Thrid : how the heck is Priam proving or disproving Ike's sexuality when there is a good chance the writers didn't even though of that when writing either of those characters ???

Also regarding the Ike ending. Ike doesn't have paired endings. Look

However, Soren and Ranulf DO have 2 endings, one solo and one paired ending with him.

So what happens is so simple. That's the same thing they did to indlude Severa, Inigo and Owain in Fates.

They took the solo ending into account to make Priam and unlike Awakening who like the GBA games had endings changed when there are paired one, in RD, the characters still have their own ending while only ONE character's ending is changed?

Example : Micaiah has one solo ending and it's her ONLY ending. Sothe has 2, one solo ending, and one paired ending with her. But whether she is or not paired with Sothe, Mica's ending doesn't change.

So saying Priam invalidate those endings is wrong because those are Soren and Ranulf's optional endings, not Ikes !

And finally : are you really fighting over this in a franchise with freakinf multiverse ??? You cannot be for real

Also, I saw people taking away from the FB he has with Ike that Priam isn't a real descendant but a spiritual one because of Ragnell and... that's not what the conversation was about.AT.ALL.

That was just those two dorks bonding over the sword they love, sorry but Ike's true love are his sword and meat.

And like, of course Priam wouldn' t mention the descendant thing. Ike is someone who doesn't care about titles and lineage. Priam too. This convo is literaly Priam being Priam. As a matter of fact I am only half surprise the dialogue didn't end up with a dialogue where Priam goes "Oh crap, I forgot to tell him we are family"

And it's very ironic that out of all character you focus on the one character that doesn't care about lineage or sexuality, that wouldn't change Ike at all. He is a ficitonal character whose sexuality hardly matter for the text of Tellius. I get you have your own ships with him but you shouldn't read the canon as invalidating them

"But IS ship tease him with Soren"... are you new ? Is does the same with Chrom and Robin even though Chrom is married and with a child. IS giving Ike a descendant while ship teasing a lord with his tactician is nothing contradictory, it just how they are.

Plus I'd argue that Ike doesn't need to have a specific sexuality to be or not be interested in romance, it's just a minor part of his overall character... maybe even a non existent one.

So does Priam indicate something of Ike's sexuality ? NO.

He is just a character that was made to hommage another, there is no need to make all those jumps and theory over a character that is not plot relevant in Awakening and whose lineage is mentionned only ONCE. And is not even a major part of his character. Viewing him as a proof of something when he exist for the same reason that Anna has "sisters" is the stretch of the century

[pioneeroverc-my-5000th-sideblog]

FOUR MONTH ART IMPROVEMENT RATE COMPARISON - May 2023

art block: 2/19 (from 2/19)

personal: 19/19

study/figure drawing sessions: 12/129 days(from 32/105) check numbers on these

Same goals as yearly - absolutely not, I've really fallen off on these. Currently re-evaluating whether these are actually doable

Finish DAB Lesson 7 - no, but I did make good progress on it last month!

1 finished piece with 2pt+ perspective plotted background (or two sketched screenshot studies with same) - I assume this was supposed to be 'per month'… I did five things with actual perspective in the entire four month period but two of them were just sketches and most of them were very plain and undetailed. NO WONDER I'm not getting better at this lol

one screenshot study per month - can focus on any area (perspective, expressions, colours, composition, etc.) - I DIDN'T DO THIS AT ALL

In May, I will have even more mileage drawing hands interacting with things and have experimented with different ways of ideating on composition thumbnails - actually true!Definitely not anywhere near good at drawing hands yet but my 3D sense improving is helping me draw interactions. I tried a few ways of doing thumbnails but nothing has really stuck more than my painful 'just draw a bunch of stuff and try to fit it together afterwards' process. At least I tried

Studies done: FIGUARY, DAB stuff, breakdowns for some random objects I needed to draw, Proko ribcage and shoulder bones, lots of tracing (boot opening contours, heads to see how eyes fit in at 3/4 view, stylised hair/outfit trims to see how different artists do them), one fold study, some form intersections

Ups and downs here, with periods of Good Study interspersed with (more) periods of I Am Too Unmotivated To Do Anything. Whenever I am struggling to draw something, I end up just not drawing anything at all, even stuff that's unrelated and should be fun for me. This is something I really wish I could overcome because it ends up making me more stressed out overall when I have The Thing I've Been Putting Off and then all my other fun ideas AND STUDIES in the back of my head that also feel like they have deadlines on them. I'm still having trouble drawing stuff that isn't a character staring blankly off-screen with a solid colour background.

I started drawing a bunch of fake FEH alts during this period, and although I've really enjoyed designing them and getting to do more in-depth inking and rendering for once, I do feel like my time could be better spent drawing full pieces with backgrounds and, like, any thought for composition (since I'm hitting my skill ceiling with perspective and anatomy in particular for the alts - and the full pieces look 5000x more impressive). I still have a bunch of time-sensitive ideas for them, so I'm really not sure what to do here.

IMPROVEMENT METRICS

Anatomy/gesture: I am CERTAIN that my figure drawing improved because of Figuary but none of my actual finished stuff reflects that… I'm going to say same as last year just because I literally can't tell

Backgrounds/perspective: Much worse than last year lol

Composition/storytelling: Thinking about negative space more and still trying to add supporting elements. Worse than last year though

Colours/values: still having problems with stuff being too dark but also still working on it. Screencap studies could probably help this. Starting to get better at controlling saturation. Actually better than last year! Woo! Not a total failure!

Lighting/rendering: better than last year again, CAN I PLEASE TRADE THIS POWER FOR SOMETHING THAT'S ACTUALLY USEFUL??

PLAN OF ACTION FOR NEXT FOUR MONTHS:

Re-evaluate yearly goals

Finish DAB Lesson 7

one screenshot study per month, focussing on values first

two object studies per month

In September, I will have a better understanding of how the parts of the body fit together and be better at manipulating them, as simplified forms, in 3d space.

[childofaura]

Amagaitaro

I'm so sorry, I fell asleep last night before I had a chance to answer this one D:

Ah, ok... I will be 100% up-front and honest with everyone about this one, because I don't wanna come off as biased against Amagaitaro without any kind of explanation.

So let me clarify my opinion real quick:

Amagaitaro is a great artist who has put out great artwork.

... But I don't really like their art that much. Something about the style just... I ain't feelin' it, Mr. Krabs. But that doesn't detract from the fact that Amagaitaro is a skilled artist who is good at what they do.

So now that I got that out of the way, I'll get into the critique:

Amagaitaro's the artist who drew Catria/Easter Catria, Genny/Picnic Genny, Brave Lysithea/Christmas Lysithea, all three Ninos, Amelia, baby L'Arachel, Hot Spring Sakura... Basically they've drawn a LOT of characters, lol.

And they ARE an artist who has shown visible improvement. Look at their first character, Nino:

To their Duo Ninian/Tiki:

Incredible improvement in their coloring skills, use of color schemes, and style improvement. As an artist in general, they've usually had some pretty on-point posework that seems to illustrate the character's personality really well. Like Halloween Myrrh, and Christmas Nino:

And obviously IS has been happy with the artwork they've been putting out, since they have a pretty dang good repertoire of characters.

Now... The issues that I've had with their art... Again, keep in mind this is all just personal stuff. Their artwork feels the same for each character. Each girl looks too similar to each other. And I get that in an artist's style, they'd look the same, but even looking at an artist like Enkyo Yuichiro, you can see differing eye styles and facial expressions. Amagaitaro's girls all kind of look the same. I think the one that bugs me the most is Kjelle. Kjelle is Sully's daughter, and in her Awakening portrait and artwork she's always looked more mature and grown up:

Amagaitaro's artwork, however...

I'm sorry, but she looks too much like a little girl. And head looks weirdly big compared to the rest of her body, and I KNOW it's not the pauldron piece. I just think they were a really bad pick for Kjelle, and it's sad because I LOVE Kjelle; she was my best armored unit in Awakening because I paired Vaike and Sully, she was a menace. But I just can't get past the art.

Additionally, there's not a lot of character variety with their artwork. I hope that maybe in the future they'll get a chance to try their hand at boys.

Despite my feelings though, Amagaitaro's artwork is an 8/10. Not a lot of FEH artists can say they've shown visible improvement, but Amagaitaro did.

[cursedcreator-pat]

BaTW x Fire Emblem Heroes: Ambrosia

So sometime yesterday while I was unable to sleep, I was playing Fire Emblem Heroes and thought, "Hey, what if some of the Beauty and the War characters were in this game?" And I immediately knew who I wanted to create first- Ambrosia!

Of course, I am aware I am one of few (or none) that play fire emblem, so I'll do a bit of explaining and try not to geek out too much. (I can't promise you I won't, though.) So, without further ado...

Here is Ambrosia in her Fire Emblem Heroes form! (With the art drawn by yours truly.)

Of course, Ambrosia is an infantry staff unit. Although Ambrosia does not use a staff, she also doesn't use any other weapons. So the staff is the best choice for her. Her title is the one she's given in the BaTW universe, the "Lady in Red".

Let's move on to her stats, shall we? The "HP" (Health Points,) "Atk" (Attack,) "Spd" (Speed,) "Def" (Defense,) and "Res" (Resistance,) things listed on the left side. (I used Sakura, another staff unit in FEH, as a reference for her stats.)

Most healers do not require HP or Def, because they will not (or should not) be in a position to be attacked or be counterattacked.

(And I'd like to mention Ambrosia's Def stat is significantly lower than most units, because... well, have you seen what she's wearing?)

Her Res, however, matters somewhat. It is the stat that protects against tome/magic users. Because tome users have a range of two spaces, they can easily go hit other allies and attack your healer. This could be life threatening or even instantly KO your unit. And trust me, that basically decides the winner of the battle when you lose your healer.

On the contrary, her Atk and Spd are vital. I can already hear you asking, "why Attack?! Ambrosia's not a fighter!" You probably asked why her attack was the highest stat, too. Allow me to explain...

Look at her support - the words next to the lil' blue shield. "Phoenix Blood." What that does is restore ally's HP = 60% of Atk + 5. Can be used once every other turn. (Minimum of 15 HP. Cannot be inherited.)

Hold on a minute.

"Restores ally's HP equal to 60% of Attack."

Of Attack!

With forty one attack (plus five, so really it's forty six,) Ambrosia will basically heal any unit back. To. Full. Now obviously this is a bit overpowered, so to balance it out she can only use it once per every other turn.

Now I would add that it heals her, too, as some staff users can do that. But I remember Crown Ruler saying Phoenix Blood does not heal the wound on it's way out. So I've decided Ambrosia is unable to heal herself. (Plus it would just add to the ridiculousness of this support.)

Her Spd, although very low, can allow her to attack enemy units twice if it is five points higher than said enemy unit. Of course, at 33, the chances of that happening with any enemy units (other than armored, who have low Spd) are low, but hey. 33 Spd isn't terrible.

Now we get to move onto her weapon: Gravity+.

What it does, is:

"After combat, if unit attacked-" (meaning if you inflicted damage, not if damaged by enemy unit) "-inflicts status on target and foes within 1 space of target restricting movement to 1 space through their next actions."

Now, that's just gravity without the +. WITH the +, however, the bonus "foe cannot counterattack" is added. Meaning Ambrosia can slow enemy units down without being hurt!

Of course, she will still be in range of said enemy unit. But that's when you get an allied unit to use "Swap" with Ambrosia and boom! She is safe now.

Next we have her Special. Ironically, it's nothing special. All Imbue does is restore an additional 10 HP to target ally.

Finally, we have her seals. The things with "A," "B," "C," and "S" beside them.

Seal A, "Spd/Def Bond 3," grants Spd/Def+5 to unit during combat if adjacent to an ally.

I know I said her defense does not need to be boosted or leveled up by nature. But look at that speed though.

Seal B "Live to Serve 3" is... well:

When healing allies with a staff, unit also recovers the same amount.

...yeah, she can heal herself, now. BUT! She is still easy to kill. This doesn't really change much.

Seal C "Drive Def 2" Grants allies within 2 spaces Def+3 during combat.

Note this isn't herself, it's her allies. And if she isn't around her allies... what are you even doing, to be honest?

(Sacred) Seal S "Breath of Life 3" which is:

If unit initiates attack, adjacent allies recover 7 HP after combat.

Because MORE HEALS!

Alright, finally finished! I'm not sure if I'll do any of the other BaTW characters, but for now I'm happy with Ambrosia's FEH variant!

(I do want to make her an alt using present-day Ambrosia, but I'm not sure I'll do it yet.)

@poisonappletales Hope you enjoy this! Hopefully I didn't nerd out too much.

[gascon-en-exil]

Dark Deity Pre-Release Character Opinions

This isn't actually a tier list, but someone helpfully created a template for this game and it's as good a way as any to do a little visual showcase for this cast. Characters are listed by their class sets, which are fixed but offer a nice variety in terms of promotion options. My opinions on each are as follows, from left to right in each row. Most characters have introductory profiles written up on the DD subreddit, if you'd like to check them out yourself.

Warriors

Alexa

You know those buff female blacksmiths in Echoes and Three Houses that some people wish were playable characters? That's pretty much Alexa. Can't say I'm too hyped about her myself, but warrior + tomboyish female character will do that for me...or not do it, I suppose.

Benji

Seems to have been written to become a meme, and I still can't decide whether that's clever or stupid. Kind of like Raphael only with a bigger emphasis on training than on eating, and with brotherly devotion replaced with brotherly angst that might theoretically go somewhere if the character isn't reduced to being a goofy joke all the time.

Fenton

Doesn't have a character profile, so as far as I know he's just a generic dwarf because DD swaps out its inspiration's loli dragons and other vaguely fetishistic shapeshifters for the two most cliché non-human races in Western fantasy. I wonder whether his VA will voice him with a Scottish accent, to go all in on the (ironic?) laziness. There are a handful of elves in the playable cast, but Fenton is the only dwarf so for better or worse he's representing.

Helena

She's the embodiment of the FE exotic swordswoman archetype, but curiously DD seems to have turned that broad ethnic brush inward. Helena's last name is apparently a Japanese verb, her art shows her with a spear (as in the association of the naginata with women), and she studied and trained in a monastery that seems to blend elements of Buddhism and Shintoism. Not sure how all that fits into the larger setting yet, but at this point she's still got more background development than Petra.

Irving

Our Hero, the one front and center on the cover art. He sounds a bit on the blander side as far as lords or lord equivalents go, with his most promising hook for me being his established friendship with Garrick (see the ranger section). At best I can hope for a bit of a romantic friendship dynamic, although they sound a bit rougher overall as they're military academy schoolmates I wonder why DD went with that instead of lordlings of different territories.

Rogues

Brooke

Looks like Camilla; has a backstory like Niles. Cleavage aside though the sexual element of both is toned down here, and there might be some sapphic bodyguard shenanigans to be had as her current employers are a pair of highborn sisters further down this list.

Cia

For some reason she reminds me of Tressa from Octopath Traveler, only bustier and a bartender rather than a merchant. She's still just a small town girl with big city dreams, and this being a tactical war game following those dreams will inevitably involve stabbing people.

Corvan

Hard to judge him at the moment, as his profile was only the second written and so isn't terribly detailed. He's a moon elf with scholarly interests, apparently. Still, as of right now he's the only rogue who doesn't slot loosely into either a ninja/assassin or pirate aesthetic, so that's kind of neat. Also, he's one of several characters to have FEH-esque beach fanart made of them already, so clearly someone's into elf twinks.

Ford

A former officer at the military academy Irving attends and a smuggler who dotes on his niece, Ford has major dad energy. Per developer reveals he's also bi, and as I mentioned before I'm totally fine with that. More bear sex, please - but what guy in this cast would hop in the sack with Ford? Only time will tell. His personal skill makes him extra dodgy, which combined with the mug of booze in his art makes me think of WoW brewmasters who dodge-tank through the power of being wasted.

Wren

Like Brooke, he's an assassin from a foreign nation - in his case the same one as Helena so presumably he's a not!Japanese ninja. I'm not really feeling him at the moment. What is it about Hao'Fen (the city/territory he and Helena come from) and massive families? That comes up in both their backstories.

Rangers

Caius

I feel like this is the third or fourth character to grow up in some slum or other; at least they've all been in different towns so far. The relative rarity of noble characters is certainly different from FE, but it reduces the political stakes which leaves me wondering a bit about the story. Anyway, Caius is a small town desert hunter who learned how to make arrows out of animal bones. How aerodynamic is bone, I wonder?

Garrick

Irving's BFF and seemingly the Hector to Irving's Eliwood, only with more flirting (his intro doesn't specify that Garrick is flirting with women, but I'm not going so far as to say that indicates anything). He's the academy headmaster's son, with a strained relationship with his father for some of that hotheaded lead tension. Notably, his VA is the one I'm most familiar with in this cast, as he's the voice of Revali from Breath of the Wild as well as love interests in two different erotic gay dating sims I've played. In other words, I know what this guy sounds like making awkwardly simulated sex noises...and I have no idea what to do with that information.

Maeve

She's a half-elf with a very storied background, so much so that it's all rather hard to follow her exploits when little of what's being described has been fully revealed yet. I'm expecting her to be a mid/lategame recruit, unless she's dropped in early on to reveal that (sun) elves exist or something.

Rose

Imagine if Bernadetta were a commoner, although we can only hope they'll be less screaming. Alternatively, Neimi without an obvious boyfriend. She won the beach contest so now she has official swimsuit art, which I guess makes her a top-tier waifu in the eyes of players who care about such things.

Sophia

A ranger in the "has animal companions" sense, although whether that will come into play mechanically aside from her personal skill - Butter the ferret can attack with her! - remains to be seen. Her preference for the company of animals is explained by a lack of social graces, so prepare for klutz-related humor. Of note to those interested in F/F is that her introduction specifically brings up her connection with Sloane (see the mage section) and how close the two of them are.

Clerics

Faust

Doesn't have a profile yet, so not much to go off other than his decidedly unhinged look. The cleric class set does feature some darker-flavored options, so presumably he's more naturally aligned with those. His VA was announced to be the YouTuber behind So This is Basically Fire Emblem and other similar videos, so I'm picturing a kooky and somewhat demented Henry type.

Lincoln

Also lacks a profile at time of writing...clerics get so little love. The Discord has identified him a bland blond paladin sort, but as we know from the likes of Perceval and especially Dimitri that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be boring (or not gay).

Maren

The soft-spoken healer type, and also a childhood friend of Garrick although her intro sibling-zones him but then this game is inspired by FE so who knows if that'll stick. She may have some interesting thoughts on the theology of the setting, as there seem to be several faiths and she's said to have a complicated relationship with her own. I will be utterly shocked if she's not either Irving or Garrick's eventual love interest.

Samara

One of two princesses of the country of Aramor, which appears to be loosely inspired by the Middle East. Heaven help us if the Khalidstans ever get wind of this game. Unfortunately aside from her bond with her older sister (in the mage section) and the knowledge that Brooke has been hired as their bodyguard there's not much to Samara at the moment. Hopefully the clerics all do some comparative theology in their bond conversations, and this isn't like Sacred Stones where none of the clergy characters from different countries ever compare notes. The succession crisis involving Samara and her sister vs. their less-loved cousin the king's son might be a major plot hook? It's still too early to tell.

Vesta

Much like Maeve her backstory has entirely too much going on to really follow at the moment. Basically she's a human who grew up in a sun elf city because Reasons (seriously, I don't know what they are) and was called to a clerical vocation and also something about taking a journey. Has an unfortunate case of silly boob armor, which unlike a certain other character probably won't be rectified this close to release.

Mages

Alden

Maren's precocious younger brother, also basically Ricken up to and including the comically oversized hat. As a unit he follows the tradition of Donnel, Mozu, and Cyril of having a personal skill that buffs his stat gains, so it's safe to say he's a growth unit. At least he'll probably join early.

Liberty

Comes with dead brother angst and a connection to the "aspects" system that will hopefully make more sense once I've played the game and know how it functions both mechanically and from a storytelling perspective. Otherwise she looks to be a busty older - as in, not a teenage - mage in the vein of Calill.

Monroe

Got the first ever character profile, so it's really short. He's the son of a duke and sounds like a bit of a snob, albeit one that can make explosions happen to back up his haughtiness. He's got some scarring around his eye that surely must come with a story. Someone also made featured fanart of him in Heroes summer banner style, so I guess he's got somebody horny already.

Sara

Samara's half-sister, with comparable fantasy Middle Eastern flavoring. Has an interest in discovering magical artifacts and being a just ruler in the event she winds up on the throne (so, almost definitely), and she and Samara travel around with the assassin Brooke as their bodyguard. There's maybe some lesbian possibilities there? Either way, Sara has enough development where I could see her as a major supporting character.

Sloane

Comes with a genuinely fascinating backstory involving manipulative double-crossing parents, an education in the cruelties and deceptions of social life (reflected in her personal skill), and disinheritance - and yet it's all likely to be overshadowed because she may go down as DD's equivalent to Fates's face-touching. Her initial art is even more revealing than Camilla's, and while the developers later gave her a more modest redesign after negative feedback I get the feeling that this controversy may live on. Her introduction mentions her hunting for both heirs and heiresses and she's now been linked to Sophia, so safe to say she's another confirmed bi character.

Adepts

While the other class sets are standard fantasy fare adepts require a bit more explanation. They have innate magical abilities and appear to be feared and distrusted most places in the setting. Functionally they remind me of adepts from the Golden Sun series, if anyone is familiar with those games. The classes in the adept group tend more toward physical/magical hybridization than those of other sets, so that will probably be their mechanical niche. Oh, and their default weapon type is lances, which is a plus in my book.

Aurima

Along with Caius and the royal sisters, he's another one from the desert nation of Aramor. An arena fighter who got touched by a god in what I assume was a non-sexual way and came out of it with a new appearance and adept powers. Also, he's confirmed to be over 40 - how often do you see that in games like this?

Bianca

Looks like a more carefree Mathilda from Echoes. She's a ranking officer in the Delian army which sounds like it'd sit uneasily with her adept powers. Her profile describes Lincoln as her close friend, which is still about the most we know about him at this point.

Elias

This guy's writing plays more into the fairly standard coding that comes with adept powers, as we know they manifested shortly before he was going to confess his feelings to a male paramour and afterwards he was forced to flee his homeland and wander the world. He also spent time among dwarves, so insert short bear jokes here? In the present he's attached to Cia in what seems to be a platonic way; maybe she's a fruit fly, or maybe she just likes having a friend who can light drunken assholes on fire? Elias is definitely into guys, but I would still be a little surprised if he turned out to be totally gay as that's such a rarity in these sorts of things.

Iris

Oof, another lengthy and rough backstory. Iris had better parents than Sloane, but she also had to deal with permanent facial scarring (hence the mask) after a bandit kidnapping and the stigma of manifesting as an adept pretty much eliminating the prospects of her making a good political marriage. Also, she and Elias both come from Neullais, which is prominently featured on the continental map on the DD subreddit but doesn't seem to come up all too often in backstories. I think it's a not!France? Hard to tell.

Thae'lanel

A World of Warcraft blood elf, flowing anime hair and apostrophe'd name and all. I like WoW so that's not terribly grating, but as he has no profile yet there's little else I can say. Thae'lanel is mentioned in Maeve's introduction as a member of a sun elf group called the Exiled, which I'm guessing is tied to his adept status in some way. He and Maeve form yet another adventurer/bodyguard duo.