#I don't know who was the first to draw those stripes on them but I just followed like a sheep bc I think it looks cool

[soullessseraphim]

!!! Blood !!!

Wake up babe, the Nile turned red

Just an idea that wouldn't leave my mind and that I had to execute in some way. Don't be shy, join them :>

It's their birthday apparently? or like today's Valdemar day, like the 5th of May? idk-

[delopsia]

Thinking about Rhett, who isn't as big of a sex addict as the town of Wabang has chalked him up to be.

It's not particularly difficult to draw such a conclusion; between the countless times his momma has opened his bedroom door and gotten flashed by a woman she's never met before and all the one-night stands, it makes a lot of sense.

To Wabang, Rhett's just one of those guys. The town bicycle. Willing to follow anyone into a cheap motel room for a bit of fun, regardless of who they are, what they look like, or if he'll ever see them again. His buddies joke that he just can't keep it in his pants, and Cecelia's bible group whispers that the devil has his claws in deep.

That's not the full story; it's a tale that Rhett's been denying from the moment he realized it. For a period of time, he does manage to push it into the farthest depths of his mind, too weary of what acknowledging it may do to him.

But then you come along, with your sweet smile and eyes that glisten at the sight of him, and it comes rumbling right back to the forefront of his mind. His friends love to drunkenly joke that he must be having a hard time holding himself back, but it's not that at all.

To tell the truth, his sex drive isn't as wild and rampaging as everyone thinks it is; he doesn't have that crippling obsession with having a nameless face beneath him; in fact, his hand and imagination are usually more satisfying. It's always with him, no worry of another officer noticing his truck rocking, paying for a motel he won't stay in for longer than a few hours, or waking up alone.

But there's just something about the concept of people wanting to sleep with him. Man, woman, something in between; it's never been much of a concern to him. All it takes is that lingering, hungry gaze to get him weak in the knee, heart pounding in his chest. Too eager to fall into that fleeting feeling of being wanted, even if the sunrise dissolves it into the familiar, grimy sensation of feeling used.

In all honesty, he's not even sure what to do with that information; how does one even bring that up? What difference does it make?

You don't mention anything about it until after you go through a sudden period of wanting him multiple times a day, riding him before he goes to work, sneaking over on his lunch break, just for a taste, luring him in after that night's rodeo and then again in the shower.

It's to the point that even you are surprised that he isn't beating you back with the broomstick. An intrusive thought suggests that he's pushing himself because he doesn't want to tell you no. So you do the only thing you can think of; you pull out of an impromptu kiss and confront him about it.

And Rhett flounders.

Stuttering the beginnings of a confession that he doesn't know how to tell, tripping through every little word until it all rolls out in one jumbled mess.

"I likeitwhenyouwantme."

It's so rushed and poorly put together that he's got to grab your hand and press it against the bulge in his jeans, the only way that he knows how to convince you that he wants this. He loves this.

Piece by piece, it all clicks together. The way that his eyes always darken when you cradle his face in your hands and kiss him before he can speak. How easily he falls into tandem with you when you start whispering into his ear, or that time he went from yawning to nearly eating you alive, all from you pulling him by his tie.

You think it's something that will fade with time, but it really doesn't. It's a card that almost always works on him. One little look or the brush of your hand up his thigh is enough to have him falling into you.

God forbid you start whispering about how much you want him, the things you love about him, and how good he is for you. The first time you do it, he cums before you can finish licking that first stripe up the underside of his cock.

Nobody ever expects for cowboys to be whimpering messes in bed, especially not the champion bull-rider with a winding, blue-collar pedigree. And to be fair, he probably wouldn't be this way if you never took advantage of his weaknesses, but you just can't help yourself. It's a habit that you can't break, whispering into his ears or letting your wandering hands do all of the talking.

The only times he ever tells you that he's no are when he's at an extreme, injured from a rodeo, worked to the bone, or wrapped up in a horrible mood that he just can't shake. Even then, he does often seek you out when he's feeling better; there's just something about it that makes him so damn happy.

It's the intimacy, your hands in his hair and his name on your pretty tongue. It's the overwhelming fact that you want him and all of his flaws. Nobody else will do. He loves being with you, and feeling you, and making you happy.

It's the trust that you are willing to share your most vulnerable moments with him. The way that you treat him with just as much care as he treats you with. He's given and been burned so, so many times, but you treat his beaten soul as if it's made of glass.

There are so many better men out there, but of all those people, you've picked him, and it's something that will never not get his heart racing in his chest.

[anchorandrope]

some updates of louis' first performance since larry at euros just to keep track of:

he played 13 songs at the main square festival (july 4, 2024) and at the ruisrock festival (july 7, 2024) and now he played 17 songs at the meo mares vivas festival (july 21, 2024). he added: bigger than me, just hold on, angels fly and saturdays to the same setlist he used in the two previous festivals.

his jacket was pale blue with blue and green stripes.

he read a fan-sign that said they [the fan] will owe louis a shot if he sings 7, he said "you owe me a shot" after singing it and then he took the shot with the fan.

a (kinda unrelated) funny one:

he reacted to england losing against spain at euros due to some fans referencing the euro finale with a spain flag.

my personal thoughts:

the song's additions are probably because he was able to sing more time in this festival in comparison to the other ones so he chose these songs to perform. the four of them have a patron (regarding lyrics) and it's not inherently larry related. if he needed to add songs to the setlist i think it make sense he chose this ones, not only because they are fan favourites but because they're not "larry coded", if he would have performed something extremely obvious (like imagine if instead of angles fly we would have had always you, for example) that would have been a situation™️. so yeah i think they represent the current louis perfectly and they didn't create chaos. nothing to look much into it here tbh.

the jacket one is self-explanatory, like those two adore bluegreening. also louis is the one who performed with a t-shirt with an immense "H" in his first ever livestream, so no one should be surprised.

the 7 one is interesting. 7 was already on the setlist, so singing it didn't have the same impact as if he hadn't sung it before and added it to the setlist today. that is the reason i find the whole shot situation amazing. in the end he literally took a shot in honour to 7. he saw a sign knowing damn well he was gonna sing it, he decided to read it out loud, reference it again after the song to finally doing the shot. almost as if he wanted to draw attention to it and pay the tribute it deserves 💋 king !! thanks louis for loving larry called a load of smoke in as much as we do.

acknowledging the euros in this situation means nothing imo (due to context). could he have ignored it to avoid pointing out that day, knowing what it means to part of his fandom? yes, but he loves football and its not the first time he reacts to england loosing, so i don't think its actually relevant, added it because its actually funny how he said "well played. thats all you're gonna get" 😭

my conclusion:

as i said, i really don't really believe this means something (larry coming out/1D reunion/etc) but i really like to keep track of stuff just in case. in this specific situation, i do believe the stuff that happened in the festival was related to euros, but not because euros mean something and they're continuing to do whatever the fuck they're doing, i just think they know we larry-ed hard that day and he wanted to make sure we know he supports that (as he always do <3) so he wanted to made subtle things. nothing more! the jacket one is undeniable, the setlist and the euros mention im betting they mean nothing, regarding 7, i do believe he wanted to point in some kind of way to the song (like to highlight it) and he found this way spontaneously, since he does shots with fans in his tour and that wouldn't be surprising.

[rogueddie]

Steve has always loved his little Christmas town. The snow, the chill, the lights. The little elves are sweet too. Everyone in his town is just... lovely. He can't think of another word for it. They are simple lovely.

But Steve is... curious.

They are all told to stay in the town. They are all told about how bad the woods are. They are all told about those who would wonder in and never come out. Rumors of monsters and man eaters...

But Steve is curious. The stories only make him want to see what's inside even more. And the more he thinks about the woods, the adventure, the curiosity... the more dull his little town seems.

Christmas is lovely, Steve knows that. Steve loves that. But Steve is bored of that.

So, he goes into the woods.

For a while, they're just woods. Steve starts to wonder if the rumors are just that- rumors. He starts to wonder if the stories were made just so people wouldn't go looking for made-up things and get lost.

But, a few moments later, he comes across a clearing. It's just a big, round, empty space. There's twelve other paths, leading in different direction. They all look vaguely the same- though a couple do look bright, just like the path Steve just came down, and one looks dark.

The dark path stands out in stark contrast to the others. It makes Steves curiosity raise it's head once again.

The path is normal, at first. Just a little dark, shadowed. But the longer Steve stays on the path, the more macabre it gets.

The trees start losing their leaves, bare dark branches curling out into the path like clawed hands. The shadows seem to move, dancing around him with what looks like curiosity. The orange leaves on the floor get louder, more frail... more dead.

It feels like a shorter path. He reaches the end faster than he thought he would and when he does...

The town at the end of the path is as opposite of his little home town as he never could have imagined. The first thing he sees is a graveyard and, hiding behind a tree, a ghost dog floating by. There's cobwebs and dead flowers on the graves.

But, given the look of everything else, he suspects those things might be respectful here.

He creeps around the edge of the woods, until he reaches the buildings, which are easier to duck behind. He makes his way deeper into the town, slowly, trying to stay hidden.

He's not exactly surprised to be caught, but the throat being cleared behind him still makes him jump.

The person is about the same height as Steve, but that's where the similarities stop. The person has pale, near white skin. Dark eyes that look almost sunken, circled by black shadows. Their long, dark hair only makes them look more pale in contrast. The fact that it's moving, without any wind, adds to Steves intruige.

He's never seen an outfit like the one this person is wearing either. Almost completely black, only small amounts of blood red, greys and silver chains to contrast. The jeans he's wearing too have so many tears, but there's markings on the skin that peaks through.

"You look a little lost," they say with a smirk.

"Oh, uh, sort of? I'm not... from here."

"Obviously," they snort, eyeing him.

Steve looks down at himself and... yeah. A white polo with pastel stripes and pale blue jeans? "Right, yeah, sorry. It is pretty obvious."

"How did you get here, lamb?"

"The woods."

"You went into the woods?" Their eyes widen, leaning forward.

There's a quiet hiss, drawing Steves attention to the ends of his hair- to the snakes starting to raise their heads, turning their eyes to Steve.

"You- you have snakes for hair?"

"Yeah! They're lovely, you don't need to fear them."

Steve looks them over for a moment. Before raising a hand a little. "Could I... touch them?"

"Of course."

"Are they ok with that?"

They make a noise- a sort of low grumble. And, for a moment, Steve worries that he's said something to upset them. But they step forward, closer, the snakes curling forward into his raised hand. They curl around his hand, seeming to rub against him like a cat would.

The person is smiling.

"Thanks," Steve says, clearing his throat when his voice cracks, face flushing. "They're... very nice."

"You're scared of them," they say, but they're grinning, excited. "I'm Eddie, by the way. Local weird guy, even in this place."

"Steve," he gestures to himself. "I'm just, uh, the usual in my place."

"But you're... well. Anyway. You probably shouldn't stay too long. If little ol' me made you jump, this place might give you a heart attack."

"You're not that scary," Steve straightens up, defensive, frowning.

Eddie snorts, fingers brushing Steves cheek. "Anyone else around here would take that as an insult, Stevie."

"Oh... uh, sorry, I just-"

"No, don't worry. It's sweet." Eddie clears his throat, gently coaxing the snakes into letting go of Steves hand. "Come on, let's get you home."

It's easier to sneak back to the woods with Eddie. He often presses up behind Steve, blocking him from sight with his own body. It means they don't need to keep ducking behind cover every time.

But, by the time they reach the woods, Steve is... he's not sure how he's feeling. But he doesn't want to leave. Not yet.

Eddie gently pushes him into the woods, along the overgrown path, keeping a gentle hand on his lower back. He walks alongside him, probably making sure Steve does actually go back home.

"What if it's not safe?" Steve stops. He hopes he doesn't look as desperate as he feels. "Maybe... maybe it'd better if I stay here for a little bit. Until we're sure. Or something."

"Steve-"

"Just one night! Like... it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"Steve. You don't need to worry. I'm gonna stay with you, ok?"

"But when-"

"I'm gonna stay with you."

Steve stares at him for a moment. "The whole way?"

"The whole way."

"Ok," Steve says quietly, continuing to walk, ducking his head to hide his smile when Eddie puts his hand on his back again.

Steve struggles to start making small talk but, thanks to Eddies unusual responses, he's easy to talk to. And it's not the same boring, repetitive stuff those in his home town would fall back on. Although, Eddie seems just as curious to hear Steves response to those, turning his questions back on him.

It feels like no time at all until they reach the clearing.

"Have you gone down any of the others?" Eddie asks, turning as he eyes all the different paths.

"Just yours." Steve glances at some of the others. "We could come back... check out the others?"

"Fuck yeah. You wanna try and check them all out? One a day? Wait, which is yours?"

Steve looks back to Eddies path, counting back. "This one."

"How much am I gonna stand out?"

"A lot... you don't have to come the whole way, you know?"

Eddie scoffs, bumping their shoulders. "Nah, I'm committed now. Plus... in all honesty? I kinda like the soft shit. Like, that's why I'm the weird one. Spooky and scary and dark is great! Don't get me wrong, I love creepy stuff. I love my snakes. But... sometimes a warm sweater or something clean, or light, or... soft... that's nice too."

"Yeah... yeah, I know what you mean."

"What, you like spooky and soft stuff?"

"Why do you think I went into the darkest path there is?"

"You just get more and more interesting..."

Steve is sure that the path home is shorter on the way back. He's not sure how, but he's sure that it is. He doesn't say so to Eddie, just makes a mental note of it.

Eddie is frozen at the edge of the woods, eyes wide and mouth open, looking around at everything.

"Uh," Steve clears his throat, bringing Eddies attention back to him. "Merry Christmas?"

"Is it like this all the time?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Oh, Stevie, it's so pretty." Eddie laughs, a little breathless. "I was so fucking right, holy shit."

"Right about what?"

"You are far too lovely to be the usual, even here."

part 2

[maryellencarter]

ACNH creator showcase #8, Mia from Reverie! Creator code is MA-0190-3505-4239. Mia has a solidly incredible eye for fashion and design. The Moon Magic series up there clearly has every single piece designed separately, none of the copypasting to different shapes without adjusting waistlines that you see from some prolific designers. Fortunes Foretold is one of the most accurate Victorian pieces of its type I've ever seen -- I can practically hear the fringe of jet beads jingling when it moves, and feel the texture of the sheer lace apron on Sunset Maiden. The hints of pintucked yoke texture on the bodice of Garden Walk... seriously, I can't. The kind of precision it takes to do this sort of art with joycons.

Do you see the hem stripes on Autumn Cheer? The way they follow the wiggles of the skirt edge? That doesn't happen. The game cuts a curve into the lowest pixel line of your skirt on that design. Mia had to draw those stripes *curved*, following the lines of the curve the game was going to cut, in order to make them look like they were appliqued parallel to the hem. I don't think I can possibly express how much I haven't seen that done anywhere else.

October Dreams is on a kimono pattern, but when you walk, the way the skirt moves around your legs gives the illusion that it's a jumpsuit, with the costume bones placed exactly where your legs are under the fabric. Custom jumpsuits don't exist in this game. Mia faked a jumpsuit with the power of design.

People who know Breath of the Wild have probably already gotten the utter genius that's the Revali's Gale design, but for the rest of y'all -- Revali is an anthropomorphic bird. Mia's using the flappy sleeves of the kimono design to create his wings, and the same visual trick as on October Dreams for his fluffy gray-feathered legs. The colors and textures are a perfect match. Just, the sheer artistry on display here!

(Seriously. Using the kimono sleeves for his wings. I'm not gonna be over that one for A While. It's one of those strokes of genius that seems like it should have been perfectly obvious, and yet there it is and you didn't think of it first. They're the right shape and everything!)

[cherrycola27]

afterglow

Series Warnings: Language, alcohol and drinking. Military inaccuracies. Allusions to and smut. Friends to lovers. Mutual pining. Unrequited love. Minors DNI. 18+. Banner Credit: @thedroneranger

Masterlist Previous Part Next Part

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Chapter 2: Who Burned Us Down

There were exactly three defining things that you knew about your relationship with Jake Seresin.

One, you two were one of—no—the best pilot and WSO team that the Navy had seen.

Two, Jake knew every little thing that made you tick. He'd been able to play your body like a fiddle ever since the first time the two of you slept together in Lemoore.

Three, you couldn't keep doing this with him. It was wrong on so many levels, but it felt so right.

"Jake, inside, now." You panted out before disconnecting your lips from his. He nodded wordlessly before climbing out of your car and following you inside. You slipped out of your wet clothes and left them in a pile by the door before ascending the steps to your bedroom without a thing on.

Jake stood there in the doorway, watching your naked form glide up the staircase. Halfway up, you turned and looked at him over your shoulder. "Well, are you coming or not, Jacob?" You asked him before continuing your climb. He'd never striped so fast in his life.

You laid down on your bed. The crisp white linens enveloped you as you propped up against the pillows and waited for him. A wicked thought crossed your mind.

You could hear Jake bounding up the stairs, and when he burst through your bedroom door, he was met with a sight that had his breath catching in his throat and him fumbling over his words.

"What's the matter, Jakey? Cat got your tongue?" You asked him innocently. But there was nothing innocent about the sight before him. Your sun-kissed skin standing out in stark contrast to the white duvet that covers your bed, your legs splayed open wide, and the sight of your absolutely dripping center had his head spinning.

"What are you waiting for, Jake?" You goaded him.

Truthfully, he didn't know what he was waiting for. This was a dance the two of you had done many, many times. Each one better than the last. If this truly was his last time with you, which you both knew it wouldn't be, he wanted to make it count.

"What? Can't I admire the most beautiful girl for a few minutes?" Jake says.

"You've already got me naked, Jake. You don't have to try so hard." You shoot back. Jake shakes his head before coming to stand at the foot of your bed.

You look up and him with expecting eyes. He cocks his head to the side trying to decide his next move. Then, Jake grabs both of your ankles and slides you to the edge of the bed like you weight nothing.

He sinks to his knees and loops his strong forearms under each of your thighs.

You meet his eyes, and he sends you a wink before licking a broad stripe from your weeping slit to your throbbing clit.

He wraps his plush lips around the sensitive bundle of nerves and sucks on it before swirling hid tongue around it. It's something that he knows will drive you crazy, and it does.

He repeats the action a few times, and you're bucking up off the mattress trying to grind your core against his face.

One hand clutches the sheets while the other threads through his hair, holding him exactly where you want him.

But you didn't have to hold him there, truthfully, there is no place Jake would rather be than on his knees for you. Licking, sucking, swirling, and tasting you.

He could spend hours like this, drawing out those sinful cries from your pretty mouth, and drinking the sweet nectar that you give him.

Jake buried his face deeper into your core, fucking his tongue into you and shaking his head, causing his nose to bump over your sensitive clit over and over again.

"Jake." You gasp out. "More, please, more." You already sound desperate, and he loves it.

He pulls back and laps at your clit before giving it a harsh tug with his teeth, then laves it over with his tongue.

He uses two fingers to split your lips open for him before spitting on your center and sinking his middle and ring finger into you.

Jake curls them upwards, just how he knows you like it, to find your gspot and massages it over and over again.

His thick digits work in tandem with his mouth, drawing your closer to the edge. Your body feels like it's on fire with the heat of a thousand suns and the cool metal of his Navl Academy searing against you with each stroke of his hand only adds to the overwhelming sensation.

Jake knew that you were close. He knew your body better than any flight plan he'd ever flown. He knew all the signs, the hitch in your breath, the way your nails dug into his skull, the way your walls fluttered around him.

"Can feel how close you are, darlin," Jake drawled out.

"Look at me. I wanna watch you fall apart for me." Jake commanded.

You groaned, and you forced your eyes open. You looked down to meet his. His pupils were blown wide, only a thing ring of emerald green visible around them.

"You always have to show off? Don't you." You gasped as you held eye contact. "Such a fucking exhibitionist." You panted out.

"What can I say? When you're good, you want to show off." He shot back.

"Now cum for me." He told you, and cum for him you did. You arched your back off the mattress and came hard again his face and hands, calling how his name like a prayer.

When he was sure you were sated, Jake climbed on top of you and kissed you breathless. You could taste yourself on him, but you didn't mind.

He lined up the far head of his cock with your slick entrance. He slipped into you with ease and guided your legs over his shoulders as he drove into you with hard, steady, purposeful strokes.

One thing that Jake loved about you was how easy he could get you to cum for him a second time after he got you off once. You were like putty in his hands, and he could mold you how he saw fit.

You were so far gone in your pleasure, you could barely register his praises of how good you felt, how pretty you looked beneath him, how he felt like you were made for him, and how you were such a good girl fir him.

You were so keen on his words. They made you feel special, cared for, loved.

But you knew he would never say that last one aloud.

All too soon, your second high washed over you. Jake fucked you through it, until you were in the blissful afterglow. But you were vaguely aware that Jake hadn't finished.

He stilled his hips and met your eyes.

"You've got one more still in there for me. Don't you, sweetheart?" Jake asked as you came down from your high. He was still rock-hard inside you.

You basked in the post orgasm haze and nodded your head furiously. You'd give Jake anything he wanted when you were like this.

Smiling at you, he rolled his hips into you again, driving into you with purpose, determined to pull a third orgasm from you.

Your breath came out in needy pants, and the only words you could form were broken cries of his name. He looked down to watch how your face twisted in pleasure.

You looked so beautiful beneath him, your hair fanned out across the pillow, your whole body flushed with heat and need. Your skin was glowing from the light sheen of sweat that covered both of you. Your lips were pink and swollen from his kisses, your eyes glazed over with desire, and you wore the most beautiful, blissful smile on your face.

The longer he looked at you, the more Jake could see it. A future with you, a life with you outside of the four walls of your bedroom. He could see the two of you growing old together with kids and a dog, the whole nine yards.

The more he stared into your eyes, the more he wanted to say it. That four letter word was dancing on the tip of his tongue and threatened to come out.

But he couldn't. He couldn't say it, and he couldn't keep looking at you like this. He couldn't watch you look at him like he hung the moon and stars. So, Jake abruptly pulled out and flipped you onto your stomach. He manhandled you onto your knees, pushing your head down and ass up for him.

One hand gripped your hips tightly as the other held firm at the base of your neck. Jake pounded into you ruthlessly as he tried to drive those thoughts out of his head.

You clenched around him, cumming for a third time. Jake groaned as he emptied into you and collapsed on the bed. He paused only for a few minutes to catch his breath before he began his well versed getaway routine.

He had just swung his legs over the side of the bed to get up when you spoke.

You weren't sure what possessed you to say it, but as you floated in that space between euphoria and sanity, the words tumbled out of your mouth. "What if you stayed?"

Jake paused and looked at you once again. It was a mistake, and he knew it. Seeing you like this, in the afterglow of the incredible sex the two of you had just had, made him weak.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he answered you. "Okay, I'll stay." He told you before curling up next to you.

You cupped his face in your hands and kissed his nose. "Thank you." You whispered.

You laid your head on his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heart as he drew lazy shapes on your back. Your eyes felt heavy as you came down from your time with Jake. Soon, sleep overcame you.

Jake laid there, looking at the ceiling, listening to the sound of your breathing. He took in your sleeping form and admired your beauty. You were so fucking perfect that it hurt. You deserved the world. You deserved so much better than him.

As you continued to sleep peacefully in the dark, Jake let the thing he was most afraid to say in the light of day come out. "I love you, Glow. I love you so much, Y/N." He whispered before slipping out of your bed and leaving, just like every "last time" before.

Taglist: @thedroneranger @roosterscock @shanimallina87 @desert-fern @teacupsandtopgun @mayhemmanaged @lovinglyeternal @lovingbradshawafterdark @wkndwlff @roosterforme @daggerspare-standingby @dakotakazansky @startrekfangirl2233 @hecate-steps-on-me @cassiemitchell @na-ta-sh-aa @milestellerlover @katieshook02 @mak-32 @je-suis-prest-rachel @soulmates8 @ohgodnotagainn @diorrfairy @eli2447 @xoxabs88xox @potato-girl99981 @djs8891 @roosterbruiser @roosters-girl @sebsxphia @roostette @rosiahills22 @dempy @olliepig @seresinsweetie

[votederpycausemufins]

And here's my Evil X gemcyt design sheet thing. I already posted the Xisuma one, so check that one out too.

the whole gemcyt au got kicked off by @chrisrin so make sure to check out their stuff and all the stuff they reblogged if you haven't already.

Another version of the sheet above but with more notes on and for it is below the cut.

Alright! I had a lot of fun figuring Evil X out, probably bc of him being one of my blorbos.

Evil X has a lot of 'theories' surrounding what he is and I've seen some variations. He and X are siblings, they're X's clone, he's a glitched version of X, they're X's hels. etc etc. And so trying to figure out what to do for him.

While I already borrowed sweetest-honeybee's design in the second part of my Zed/WM gemcyt post, I didn't want to do like that and make him corrupted. I know the gemcyt stuff seems to play with corruption a little looser, but it still didn't feel right. So, I went researching and found a fun lil mix that seems to fit well.

First off, the closest thing you can get to a glitch in terms of gems is being off-color. I mean technically you glitch when you're cracked, but we're not doing that. Anyway, off-color gem Evil X, which is why there's the gem comparison. Next, the clone/hels part. I don't mention it on the sheet, but specifically, I think of this Evil X as a sort of gem experiment. No wait wait don't leave let me explain!

We saw that there were gem experiments of some type on the show. They were more fusion experiments using shards, and were experiments for the cluster (which technically don't work since they only emerged slightly before the cluster so there was no telling if they worked and if then the cluster would work). Also on the show, we're told that there's a resource problem on Homeworld which results in 'Era 2' gems like Peridot, who don't have all the abilities a normal gem would have. Also also in the show, when Steven and Lars are with the off colors on Homeworld, we see the kindergartens there. And while there are normal holes, there are also holes that overlap, as well as holes that look like there's been a chunk scooped out of them.

The analogy I could think of was like when you're making cookies. you roll out the dough, get a cookie cutter, and get all the cookies, but assuming you weren't using a square cutter, there's extra dough left between the cuts. Instead of just leaving it, usually you reroll it to cut out more cookies. Well, why can't Homeworld try the same?

Evil X is meant to be an experiment on if Homeworld can successfully do that. They scooped out extra rock from a kindergarten or two, compressed it into a new boulder, then used an injector on it. Eventually after a long while, out came Evil X. And that whole thing also leans into the clone thing because I imagine some of the scooped rock was from part of where Xisuma emerged.

Anyway, with all that, I originally thought about making Evil X look similar to Amethyst's pseudo buff reformation, but trying to draw that was a mess. I meant to go back and make him look a little more lopsided, but you'll have to just imagine that. Whoops. At the very least he has the funky stripes. I imagine that's probably from where the different rock pieces met or something, and since it wasn't as solid as regular rock, he was like that.

Coloring him was tough, but eventually I just copied Xisuma over, inverted his colors, and then shifted the hue to be more red. I considered making the green parts more black, but it didn't fit, so they're just more purpley to show that Xisuma connection or smthn.

Speaking of his gem, I show what I picture a normal Cuprite to look like. Meanwhile Evil X's is a bit misshapen, as well as that darker area that mimics the one reference I had. specifically that darker bit is chrysocolla, but he's still just cuprite.

Instead of a mask, he's just got a visor similar to what we've seen with Peridot and Doc and technically those zircons. And also instead of a mask he has those... blade things. Look, the best name i could find for them were blade gauntlets, but they look more like sword brass knuckles to me so I don't know. Also yes they are based on a weapon a digimon had, what of it?

And then, he is hella amethyst coded. Popped out of his rock thing in a chamber under the kindergarten (similar to the other experiments in the show) with no one around. He was an experiment and uses rock from different gems and is off color, so he doesn't know what he's for. Doesn't even know what diamond he should belong to, so that's why he's got a grey one on his chest. And there's a lot of little things and ideas for him that are inspired by Amethyst's characterization on the show, to the point I was planning a screenshot redraw even before I had his and Xisuma's designs even close to finalized.

I also have a fic I'm working on with him and Gemsuma, as well as that quick Jevin design plus a few teeny tiny references to other people's gem designs. If my adhd allows it, i should post that 1 shot fic tomorrow.

[odessa-castle]

I'm bouncing around a larger post about Nishiki and the mortifying ordeal of being known, but in the meantime I'm thinking about Nishiki and Kiryu and how the clothes make (or don't make) the man. Like, beyond my visceral horror that Kiryu begged Nishiki to pick out a safe and boring suit for him in Y0 and then said he was envisioning something purple with gold stripes.

I'm thinking about Nishiki's incredible sensitivity to image and his need to control how he's perceived. I'm thinking about Kiryu's inability to let go of the past. I'm thinking about how KIryu dresses like who he thinks he is, and Nishiki dresses like who he thinks he wants to be.

There's some interesting incidental dialogue between Nishiki and Kiryu in Y0 while they're en route to the men's suit store. I wish it wasn't so easy to miss, because there's a lot to unpack here. (I'm just transcribing the English in-game subtitles here; I don't speak Japanese so I have no idea how loose vs. direct the localization is in this part.)

NISHIKI: …now that I think about it, you've been dressing like an old man since we were kids. KIRYU: Have I? NISHIKI: Yeah. The few times we got to pick our clothes, it was always like, "you're choosing THAT?" NISHIKI: I wouldn't say you're a plain guy…You'd pick shirts with weird prints though. KIRYU: Guess I forgot all that. It's weirder to me that you haven't. NISHIKI: Well, confession time. You're why I started caring about fashion. I swore I'd never go out dressed like you. KIRYU: Come on, I'm not THAT bad. [we have already discussed why kiryu is, in fact, that bad.] NISHIKI: [laughing] Aww, did I hurt your feelings? NISHIKI: Well, this time you've got me with you. I'll see my bro gets taken care of. KIRYU: Heh. What an honor. NISHIKI: Leave it to me.

Nishiki doesn't bring up Sunflower Orphanage much; when he does share memories of his childhood, those memories are kind of painful (see: "do orphans not get to dream?"). Kiryu's surprised that Nishiki remembers how they dressed as kids, but it makes sense that wearing a limited selection of hand-me-downs stuck with Nishiki so strongly. His clothes announced his poverty, and they weren't even his -- he had to share them with the other orphans, so what he wore showed he belonged to yet another stigmatized group. And I'm sure people picked up on those visual signals, especially other kids. Kids can be vicious, and appearance is an easy and immediate target! We don't know for sure how young Nishiki interacted with his peers and teachers, but given what the Morning Glory kids go through in Y3 (and given, like, everything about Nishiki), he probably didn't have a great time.

Kiryu frames his childhood as poor but loving, and places much more emphasis on the latter. There might be some rose-colored glasses at work there -- let's look at the flashback where Kazama tries (and fails) to violently dissuade Kiryu and Nishiki from joining the yakuza.

KIRYU: I owe you everything, but this isn’t about that. [...] We’ve looked up to you for all this time. Your car. Your confidence… The way everybody bows to you. We idolized you. I want that life, too. Is that so wrong!?

Nishiki doesn't really speak in this flashback, but like, Kiryu uses "we" enough for us to draw some obvious conclusions about Nishiki's own motivations. That being said, I don't think Kiryu's being dishonest or disingenuous when he describes his childhood as happy, and himself as well-loved. He's not ashamed of his upbringing, and he doesn't hide where he came from. Nishiki seems to have the inverse view. It's not that he doesn't love (at least some of) the people he grew up with, but what comes up first for him is what he didn't have. He didn't have money. He didn't have respect. He didn't have a cure for his little sister. He didn't have a lot of choice, right down to the clothes he wore.

(There's a whole other essay here about why Kiryu's and Nishiki's perspectives diverge on this, but I'm trying to limit the scope of this post. Suffice to say that, while I don't think game canon gives a timeline, I do think Nishiki was a little older when his parents were killed -- old enough that he actually remembers them, at least.)

The same mindset fuels Nishiki's interest in fashion. Yeah, part of it is that he's ribbing Kiryu, but I think it goes deeper than Kiryu wearing ugly shirts. Nishiki doesn't want people to look at him and see what's missing. Fashion isn't a means of personal expression for him, really. It's a message. It's the interplay of knowledge and resources and presentation: knowing what clothes read as successful and trendy and expensive, being able to afford those things, and convincing people that your successful important outfit makes you a successful important person. And he's not wrong about the social dimensions of fashion.

NISHIKI: Try sporting a suit that runs 500 grand for once. Trust me, you’ll see the world in a whole new light. KIRYU: Fashion’s not my thing. Besides, Kazama-san never wore flashy clothes. NISHIKI: You do realize he’s the family captain, right? Number two in the whole Dojima operation? You get to that level, you can wear whatever you damn well please. But for the rest of us, “flashy” is part of the business. KIRYU: So that fancy new car you bought was just “business”. NISHIKI: Yeah, and that fancy lighter of mine, too. Which you still haven’t given back. KIRYU: You want to play the rich guy, quit being so stingy. NISHIKI: But you get what I’m saying, right? People see the expensive car, the designer jacket, and the gleam of that little Dojima pin, they pay attention. A yakuza’s only as good as his image. [...] Take your buddy today. These squeaky-clean idiots, borrowing money just to blow on tits and booze… Nobody in this town gives a crap about substance. What you see is what you get.

That's our first take on one of the major themes of the game: what does it mean to be yakuza? Again, there is truth to what Nishiki's saying here, particularly in terms of the ethos of the eighties. I'm not an expert on the bubble era, but the worldbuilding in the game speaks for itself. People hail taxis with 10,000-yen bills. You punch money out of punks during random street battles. Nishiki keeps a personal bottle of high-end booze at a bar he's visited twice, mostly because he "can’t stand being taken for a bum." The act of spending is important, not what you're spending it on.

Nishiki's outfit in Y0 is perfectly suited (heh) to that outlook. And look, I might be inviting controversy here, but in context, I think it's a werq. Yes, it's loud. But the silhouette -- squared shoulders, single breasted, thinner peaked lapel -- is right on trend for the time period, and it fits him well. The colors look good on him. The bold pattern (no, it's not animal print) under the solid maroon is a risk, but he pulls it off. And excess aside, he knows when to pull back on the accessories. It's bright and confident and memorable, and boy would Nishiki like to be all of those things.

Also -- and importantly -- Kiryu would never go out dressed like that. Because we can't talk about Nishiki and Kiryu without talking about Nishiki's Mt. Fuji-sized inferiority complex. Mastering image doesn't just make Nishiki stand out; it makes him stand out from Kiryu. Let's go back to the beginning of the game.

NISHIKI: I’ll admit, though, you’re finally starting to look the part. You make a pretty convincing yakuza. You’re done with collections today, right? KIRYU: Yeah. NISHIKI: Good. That should put Kazama-san’s mind at ease a bit. KIRYU: Heh, dunno about that. But he always knew all I could do is fight. You’re the one who’s good at the dance.

Nishiki then calls attention to the "rags" that Kiryu's wearing, which...is not an unfair assessment. (TUCK IN YOUR SHIRT, KIRYU. HEM YOUR PANTS.) As the two of them walk around Kamurocho, Nishiki offers Kiryu plenty of hot tips, from meeting girls to making big bucks to cozying up to the brass. But even when Nishiki's opining on his area of expertise, there's a competitive edge to it. "You asking me to pick out clothes for you means you admit you have terrible taste," he tells Kiryu on the way to the suit shop. Kiryu tells him to shut up, but there's no actual hurt behind it. Kiryu doesn't really care that his taste in clothes sucks. Fashion isn't important to him. Most of the things Nishiki knows so much about don't really matter to Kiryu. And that makes Nishiki feel more insecure! Because if Kiryu rolls out of bed looking like a yakuza, if Nishiki's image counseling sessions aren't helpful or meaningful, if Kiryu can skip the dance and get to the top on the strength of his fists and convictions, then who cares about Nishiki's 500 grand suit or his hourlong hair care routine? If image isn't what makes a yakuza, what does that make Nishiki?

At the end of Chapter 6, Nishiki tries to look out for Kiryu again -- this time, by granting him a merciful death before the Dojima Family drags him to the Hole. It's one of my favorite scenes in the game. Nishiki's crying too hard to aim the gun properly; Kiryu tells him to man up and shoot. Finally, Nishiki collapses.

NISHIKI: Can’t do it… How could I shoot you!? Without you, I’ll always be nothing. Can’t make it as a yakuza… No. I wouldn’t even still be alive now if I didn’t have you beside me! I’m just… If you’re not with me, I’m useless! Nothing means anything!

Mastering image hasn't granted Nishiki anything of substance. At the end of the day, Nishiki's playing dress-up, and he knows it.

And I'm almost certainly getting into overthinking-this territory now (if I haven't gotten there already), but I kind of like the spin this puts on Nishiki ripping his expensive suit off in Chapter 14 when he decides to fight the Dojima Family at Kiryu's side. Like yes, ripping off your outer layers to get at the naked (so to speak) truth -- your irezumi, and what it represents -- is just Yakuza Storytelling 101. It's decisive, it's kind of dumb, it's great, it gets me hyped every time. But I like that Nishiki's honest answer to "what does it mean to be a yakuza?" isn't about looking the part. I am genuinely trying not to end this paragraph by saying that Nishiki must become like a dragon, but like...you get where I'm going with this.

Of course, Nishiki's back to playing dress-up in Y1/Kiwami. I'm not the first to call the Patriarch Nishikiyama look a glow-down (though I like the patterned white tie). Like, fashion-conscious Nishiki would look good in a Hedi Slimane/Tom Ford-esque skinny black suit. But he picks a silhouette you'd expect to see on a much older man, torso-swallowing pants and all. The slicked-back hair doesn't help. He's just so transparently trying to look bigger and broader and older, and he doesn't pull it off. Big Bad Patriarch isn't a good look for him, in any sense of the phrase.

A final thought: Kiryu's clothes, and Nishiki's commentary on them, are the subject of their first conversation in Y0 -- and of their last. Kiryu's costume progression in Y0 is a pretty obvious commentary on his journey, to the point where Kiryu and Nishiki explicitly call attention to the color connotations in their final exchange. As a Dojima grunt, he wears black, and it doesn't look good on him because "brutish thug who keeps his head down and does what he's told" isn't a role he's comfortable with. He wears white when he works in real estate, but the change in color isn't enough to sell anyone on his transformation into a civilian. Although it's a little rich for Oda "Red Clown Shoes" Jun to chide someone for not wearing a proper suit. At the end of the game, Kiryu's in his classic grey suit, and well, the game spells it out:

KIRYU: I��m not feeling black or white these days. This is where I’m at right now. I chose it myself. I’m making it a fresh start. NISHIKI: Fine, fine. See if I care! Wear it the rest of your life!

Nishiki, dismayed, tells Kiryu that the grey suit already looks dated, but for Kiryu, "fresh start" doesn't mean "on trend". His image might be out of step with how other yakuza view themselves, or want to be seen, but if he's always going to look like a yakuza, he might as well stake his claim on what being a yakuza means. Still, it's telling that, even as a young man, Kiryu looks like a throwback to an earlier era. As the series progresses, the games hammer this home more and more. How many antagonists tell Kiryu that he's out of touch with the modern world, that he represents a version of the yakuza that no longer exists, that it's time for him to make way for the next generation?

"Wear it the rest of your life!" is a funny little in-joke, yeah, but...it's a little sad when you think about it, isn't it? Kiryu gets new outfits from Y3 on -- and in every game, he ultimately puts the suit back on and heads to Kamurocho. It's exactly of a piece with how Kiryu views being yakuza. We, and he, can debate the exact extent of his retirement from the Tojo Clan's affairs, but the yakuza isn't a career for Kiryu, it's a set of beliefs he carries with him. He wears the suit the same way he wears the dragon on his back: as an indelible part of his self-image.

[bonefall]

This is a bit of a vague, broad request (so sorry about that!) but do you have any more info on the Dappletail extended family that hasn’t made it to our ears yet? Any masterposts about them or about individual cats like Darkstripe? I loved the Cricketclaw post a lot and I’d love to see more of these complicated goobers!

Sure! But it won't be comprehensive-- I need to make them a whole post like I did for the Dragonkin family over in RiverClan.

I've been calling them Dapplekin lately, but if we zoom out a little further, I've been calling the whole family the "Tawnyrain" line. I think we could call them Rainkin for the example here.

The Rainkin family descends from Rainfur and Tawnyspots. Tawnyspots is now the FATHER of Dappletail and Thrushpelt, bringing him in line with the statement that he was an old deputy when he retired.

Tawnyspots was an old friend of Sunstar. I imagine he also had a ton of apprentices, he was a responsible and nurturing kind of guy.

Rainfur was gorgeous. She was light golden with those lighter "dapple" stripes you see in Dappletail and her kits.

She is also where the humor came from. She loved the CORNIEST jokes. For some reason I just find it very funny that every cat in BB whose prefix is "Rain" gets a sense of humor.

Tawnyspots: "Hey Rainfur!! What did the tired honeysuckle say to the oak? Leaf me alone I'm bushed!"

Rainfur: (WHEEEEEZE)

The family gets the mane from Tawnyspots.

They were just NICE people, y'know? I think Bluestar looks back at them fondly, they were like the super sweet neighbors in the apartment next to you who would bring over extra food in old, stained tupperware.

And that extended to their kids. Dappletail and Thrushpelt are extremely meaningful to Bluestar, the both of them are sweet as overripe blackberries.

Dappletail has a really BAD case of resting bitchface. I channel a bond villain when I draw her or think of her voice.

She loves telling stories and explaining things, because she is good at it.

When Ravenkit and Dustkit's mother died and their uncle was extremely sick, and she'd just lost Featherkit and Darkstripe skeddadled with Graykit, she looked after them.

I think Ravenpaw's love of storytelling comes from her. Unfortunately though, she gave him a great power, as a kid he had a bad habit of Making Shit Up.

It definitely comes from Dappletail, who never says "I don't know." She will hypothesize, speculate, and seek answers, but doesn't use idk.

"Dappletail, where is the tunnelbun?"

"I saw it last shift, Graystripe had it. He probably took it."

Her kits all actually have the same biofather. I don't know who it is though, I imagine she met him after Rosetail told her a secret story about her honor sire in Chelford, but it might be a Clan cat. But he's monochrome gray; all of her kits are the same color as him.

THRUSHPELT meanwhile, ALSO a ball of sunshine,

I wrote a joke about him saying howdy ONCE and it became a core memory. Guy who says howdy.

Thistleclaw: "THIS IS ENGLAND WHY ARE YOU SAYING HOWDYYYY"

"Well howdy doody thistleclaw"

"AUUUGH"

He definitely says Hello in some weird way. Guy who answers the phone with Yellow. Man who says shucks unironically

And then surprises you by being one of ThunderClan's strongest fighters. If you swear in his good Christian Minecraft server he'll fucking gut you

Dappletail is not the stronger twin. Thushpelt is as thick as a twig but you get in a fight with him and you hear Dark Souls

That's part of why Bluestar could never allow ThunderClan to get taken over by Thistleclaw. The strongest fighter... goes on the front lines.

Moonflower was the strongest fighter too, once.

Unlike Dappletail, Thrushpelt also never needed to know the full story. Bluemoon ADORED him. If she was ever about to overshare for his sake, with the thought that he deserved to know, he would stop her.

"If I should know it, I will learn it in StarClan."

When Bluestar picked her first deputy, she knew it had to be him.

And he was a fantastic deputy, and a great uncle. Super supportive guy, calls you Sport and ruffles your mullet.

He got taken out a few weeks after Featherkit, which was devastating to Dappletail. She is comforted, however, by the idea that Thrushpelt can look after her.

I got into Cricketclaw and Darkstripe recently so I'll try not to repeat too much

Cricket and Dapple were actually extremely upset that Graystripe halted the fight over his kits.

Cricketclaw especially, she doesn't give a shit about Crookedstar and his sadness, she would have invited him to Cry About It, "MY nespring"

Dapple is 50% more diplomatic; "Silverstream is gone. Stormkit and Featherkit's family is here."

Feathertail's name makes them both Emotional, she actually has a tail pattern a lot like Dappletail's

On that note, yeah. They both did not want Featherpaw and Stormpaw to go back. They were both actually pretty upset about it

Cricketclaw got in a FIGHT with Mistyfoot for saying they could go home

How dare you even SUGGEST that actually, go back to the Clan that WANTED TO EXECUTE THEM???

I don't think Cricket could compose herself enough to say goodbye, and she was FURIOUS at Featherpaw for taking the offer. Her final words to them was probably just at Stormpaw alone;

"Don't let your sister decide your whole life for you. You'll always be OUR family."

I don't think Stormpaw actually appreciated it much. Stop making this harder! I know this is a bad idea! I have to be there for Featherpaw when this shit all goes south, god damn it!!

Dappletail and Graystripe are sad but supportive of the twins' choice. Cricketclaw is maaaad

And Stormfur and Feathertail... man

Feathertail sees the good in everything, to a fault. She believes it will all work out if we stick together, and that everything that happens is meant to be.

Stormfur does not agree

He watched his whole ass mentor get wasted, PARTIALLY by his uncle.

He saw people he thought where his friends watch his execution, some curious, some cheerful. All of them just watching.

People don't die clean. His blood didn't anoint the earth, it just gushed and choked. There's no such thing as a noble murder

Everyone rejects the Dishonor Title they gave Stonefur, saying that Tigerstar was not ordained by StarClan.

Stormfur doesn't see how that matters. The stars watched, too.

It was Deerfoot, Swansong, Jaggedtooth, Wetfoot, Mosspelt, and others who saved him... and it was normal cats, just like them, who built the Bonehill

So again; what does it matter that Tigerstar wasn't given the authority by StarClan to change his name?

His mentor was named Heartworm. And that is the only angel he prays to.

If they hadn't gone back to RiverClan, Feathertail never would have been chosen for the journey. Never would have died.

And the destruction of the Forest killed his family in ThunderClan. Devastated them. Even Graystripe was taken.

So when Leopardstar nodded at the "sign" Mothwing claimed she saw, when RiverClan hardened in TNP, and when it kicked out the pawful of Tribe cats who had come to help these ingrates get set up in a new territory...

He was done with Clan Culture. There was nothing left here, for him.

I don't even plan for him to be in love with Brook yet, going to the Tribe was about getting the fuck away from all this.

Yes Feathertail's grave is there too, but I think his feelings are super complicated.

Cricketclaw was right, he let her decide his life, and because of her he didn't get to say goodbye to his family. He would have been in ThunderClan, maybe even been able to save some of them.

At the Tribe, he lives in the Cave Ward. The least populated ward, and practically a temple-town.

At first he thought he would be more of a hunter, but he quickly learned he really doesn't like how you hunt in the highlands. It's a VERY leggy activity, lots of hiking, running, coordination. It was different than he expected.

Anyway I'll stop there because I could write an SE on how Stormfur adjusts after his immigration and I would actually be interested in doing it. Like, really take the chance to show how the BB!Tribe works and explore the feelings of moving to a new place.

It's a theme that's personal to me as a writer tbh.

Graystripe meanwhile... he never gets over Silverstream. Not even with Millie. I don't think he realizes it, but he really is always looking for the glimpse of himself in a happier timeline

And boy oh boy does it fuck up his next litter.

I've spoken about them all before and I plan to collect it all in one place at some point, but briefly,

Graystripe can't ever take a side when Millie treats Briarlight poorly, and just ends up enabling Millie's ableism

Millie is frantic over Briarpaw's injury, and says some AWFUL things right to her face, making the entire situation about herself

But Graystripe will be like, "your mother says things she doesn't mean :( she loves you, you know"

He can't deal with the possibility of losing Millie, too. Or any of his kids. It's something that Briarlight and Blossomfall come to realize, with time and wisdom.

Bumblestripe meanwhile... he's not really smart enough to ever realize that. He just keeps breaking himself on trying to get Graystripe to see him

But Gray is ALWAYS seeing his first litter, and comparing them. No milestone goes by where he's not cheerfully bringing up some story of how their older siblings were, how he wishes they could see them.

That's where he goes, in the end. After extreme carnage from the Impostor, Graystripe decided that he wanted to spend the last of his life with Stormfur in the mountain.

(Graystripe's Vow is now Ferncloud's Parting, FERNCLOUD is gonna go confront her brother)

Thankfully, Briarlight had her mentor Honeysnake to help her realize her worth... but Blossomfall and Bumblestripe meander for meaning into really toxic, dangerous places for their whole lives.

Blossomfall trains in the Dark Forest because she feels so alienated and disconnected from the Clan at large, only stopping in the BOTTE in the last wave when she faces up against Briarlight

She confronts Briar, and she just... cocks her eyebrow. "ILL END YOU" "no you won't."

Squirrelflight actually tried to tell Bramblestar to make an exception with his Dishonor Titles for the DF trainees, realizing that that Blossomfall's problem was alienation.

She wanted Blossomfall to be put into a Secondary Apprenticeship, specifically for the Construction Patrol since Dustpelt was killed. Something where she'd see her work pay off, and she'd be helping to take care of the Clan.

But Bramblestar rejected it, because it would be unfair. If everyone else is getting Dishonor Titles she will get one too; she shouldn't be REWARDED for what she did. It's a punishment.

So she was Shredbloom for a while. None of her problems were addressed and she ended up joining The Kin later, eventually being rescued by Heathertail and her plan.

Returning to ThunderClan was on her family's vouch, bringing the kits she'd given birth to in The Kin with her, and she was on THIN ICE

She mouthed off at the Impostor in typical Blossomfall fashion once, early in his reign, and she got hit with a DEVASTATING second Dishonor Title; Clearface.

"Because it would be better off if we could see right through her."

Bumblestripe became one of the Impostor's favorite lackeys, exploiting his failed relationship and resentment of Dovewing

Briarlight was murdered in the dog attack that Sparkpelt barely survived, and Stemleaf is killed in the assassination attempt on the Impostor.

Bumblestripe accompanies the old people, Ferncloud, Cloudtail, and Graystripe, during Ferncloud's Parting. He says goodbye to his dad in the mountain, and finally meets the Famous Stormfur...

And learns that he's just some fucking guy.

You live your whole life trying to hold up to this standard of a distant, unknown brother in the mountains, and then you learn he was Just A Dude all along.

He went further south with Cloudtail and Ferncloud too, to make sure they were safe. They are old and it is a long journey.

And that's where they all are to the current point of BB! In ThunderClan, the active Rainkin Family is Bumblestripe, Blossomfall, Plumstone, and Shellfur, and all of them want to support Spotfur as she raises Stemleaf's children.

They refer to themselves as "Graykin" currently; their last relevant ancestor. In Clan Culture, families tend to split at a grandparent or great-grandparent.

[3ofpents]

Fresno Nightcrawler Houndstooth // Fabric Design for @shapeshiftersvt and The Cryptid Collection

Remember way back a few weeks ago when I posted the Squonk poster and I said that once I'd designed the fabric to go along with it I'd start posting the fabric designs here? Well guess what! It's time!

For those who don't remember or who didn't know, I am the co-owner, site manager, and graphic designer for @shapeshiftersvt. 2024 marks our 10th anniversary and we wanted to do something big and special and new to mark the occasion and my partner, co-owner, head tailor, fashion designer, and founder, Eli, pitched a fashion line themed around cryptids. We call it The Cryptid Collection and it features six of our and the internet's favorite cryptids: The Fresno Nightcrawler, Mothman, the Jackalope, the Jersey Devil, Champ, and the Squonk.

My parts of the collection were designing the posters, and creating fabric designs for our very own, truly Shapeshifters designed chest binders and sports bras. But since we utilized Spoonflower to have those fabrics printed, they're also available through the Spoonflower marketplace for anyone to buy for their own sewing projects.

And now that all of the fabric designs are done and uploaded and proofed and listed, I, as promised, am posting them here to talk a bit more in-depth about them, the thoughts and inspirations behind them, and the design process.

Starting with the Fresno Nightcrawler.

Part of the reason I'm starting with the Fresno Nightcrawler is because this was the very first design that I finished. When we were planning out the fabrics, it was the most solid design concept I had that wasn't just adapting the poster design to fabric (mostly because ... I hadn't done the poster yet). It was the first one I really came up with, the one I was most excited about, and the one that pretty much stayed the same from concept to execution.

I love houndstooth. Which is weird to say when I don't think I've ever owned a single garment or accessory in with a houndstooth pattern? But I do, I love it. I love the teeny tiny classic version of the pattern; I love a blown-up graphic version of the pattern; I love plays and variations on it. So when I was trying to brainstorm what kind of fabric pattern I could make inspired by a creature with such a simple shape whose only colors were white and black, the idea came pretty quickly: A houndstooth. Or a Nightcrawlertooth, if you will. It was a trick, though, and a real learning experience, especially with this being my first design.

Getting a pattern to repeat smoothly is a skill unto itself. Basically you have what's called a tile, and the tile contains the part of the pattern that you want to repeat. Then, when your pattern is created, the original tile just gets essentially copy-pasted over and over so 1) you don't have to draw the whole yard of fabric, and 2)all of the repeated parts of the design are identical. But by doing it this way, you have seams you need to take into consideration. If you think of putting the pattern together, it's sort of like making a basic quilt: You start with one square (or rectangle), then attach four more squares to each side, and then just keep doing that. Each one of those seams (top, bottom, left, right) is a place where the pattern might not match up, which means when it's applied to a yard of fabric, it's not going to look like a smooth, seamless pattern.

Of course there's ways to avoid this altogether. If you're doing a simple stripe, using the line tool in your drawing software will keep your stripe a consistent thickness, and holding SHIFT while you draw it will keep the line straight. Or, even easier, you can create a pattern where the part that repeats doesn't straddle a seam; like a polkadot pattern, where the dot(s) can be centered on the tile and seams only cut through a solid background.

The trouble with a houndstooth, though, is that not only does the tile need to repeat, it's made up of repeating figures that interlock. I can't just center the white Nightcrawler on the tile and call it a day, because then the black Nightcrawler straddles the seam. On top of that, they needed to be shaped in such a way that the negative space between the white Nightcrawlers left a shape that was also recognizable as a Nightcrawler and similar enough to the white one that the pattern is mostly seamless.

I fully admit that I was not able to do this on my own. Enter: Eli. Eli is, among other things, a math nerd who enjoys an excuse to break out the graph paper. They found a tutorial online and got to graphing and shaping and, in just a couple of hours, had gotten the shapes down. I took that tile, illustrated it, cleaned up the seams (shoutout to Eli for also finding an easier way to do this than just manually copy-pasting), and voila! A Fresno Nightcrawler houndstooth.

Now, you might look at that image up there and say, "Well that's all well and good, Pents, but they're kind of blobby and the lines are wobbly and it's all a little uneven." To which I say ... yeah, that's true. It's also kind of intentional. Like, I'm not gonna sit here and claim I got the basic pattern done and wasn't exhausted. But also I could've left it and come back to it the next day to clean up the lines and shapes a bit more, make everything really smooth and even. But, like. Look at this guy.

He's just a weird kinda blobby little dude. So I left the pattern kinda weird and blobby.

Even if I'd cleaned it, it's such a blobby little shape that's so at odds with the classic houndstooth that's all straight lines and sharp angles. So I made a deliberate choice to not polish it up. To kind of lean into the kodama vibes:

I am really so so proud of and pleased with this design. It came out almost exactly how I pictured it; it was really the most true design collaboration between Eli and I; and I'm just so pleased, after a lifetime of being a houndstooth lover, to now also have designed a houndstooth.

If you'd like a custom-sized, handmade, made-to-order binder or sports bra in this houndstooth like the one in the photos, you can find those listings (as well as the poster listing) here, on the Shapeshifters website. There are three pattern size options, the classic teeny tiny version; a somewhat bigger medium size; and a super graphic large size. Our binders are the most comfortable and effective on the market thanks to our finely graded internal sizing system. Because we're a small operation that makes every garment to order, both our binders and sports bras are highly customizable, and can be made to ALL measurements with flat pricing across sizes.

If you'd like to purchase the fabric yourself for your own sewing projects, you can order it through our Spoonflower shop, where we have it listed in the same three pattern sizes.

[morningmask27]

Dimitrescu sisters catified references

I posted a few drawings of these three in cat form and I thought I'd share the reference drawings i made for them. I wanted to add little traits that they share, but while also making them all unique.

family traits:

all three have a stripe that leaves from their eye.

beige chests and bellies (aside from Bela who only has a lighter chest)

a white marking that represents something about them (kinda) + one stripe going in the direction of that white spot

the ear tufts (Bela's are shaped differently, but she still has ear tufts)

their jaw structure is all about the same (square-ish), Cassandra's is just hidden by the fluff

Bela

I wanted her to be smooth. she takes great pride in keeping her fur clean, but there is ONE spot she can't tame and those are her fluffs right above where her front legs begin. (it makes her so mad)

I am mean I gave Bela a lot of heart-shapes everywhere; her ear tufts, the "shoulder" tufts, the white spot, her tail being a three in one, her dorsal stripe ending in one, ...

her tail is always droopy.

she's technically the same size as Daniela, but because in my mind she slouches a lot (It's a slightly more defensive posture), Daniela always seems to be taller than her.

her white spot is, as previously stated, a heart. It's very on the nose, but I never said I'd not hammer on that little detail. Her stripe there does do an interesting thing: before Miranda takes away her heart, the stripes don't cover her spot, just like with her sisters, but as soon as Miranda did her thing the stripes move slightly to now end on the heart. once she gets her heart back the stripes move again, away from her marking.

she has one scar and that is her nicked ear. it fully got rid of her (also heart-shaped) ear tuft. she got this when Miranda took her heart. (~symbolism~)

her eartufts are fully shaped differently than her sisters' and mother's. It is my favorite way to draw ear tufts, but that's beside the point.

I imagined her as looking the least like Alcina. I don't really know why exactly, but I did. I also decided to give Heisenberg's dog for the same eyecolor as her and beige markings that mimic these of Bela and her sisters. he's family and Alcina hates it.

(well actually I kinda have the idea in my head that she's kinda the daughter that wasn't really good, a first draft if you want. she's the elders, but her younger sister recieves more attention than her and I just find it striking, so I made her look the least like Alcina to make that distance between the two more tangible)

I did not have the courage to draw her cult ending form. I didn't want to cry.

Cassandra

spikey, and she likes it that way. her fur is groomed, she just keeps it more natural. she thinks (and she's kinda correct) that it'll make her more charming and attractive (to some)

I pretty much had wolves in my head while drawing her, I wanted her to be a bit more canine-like than her two sisters. Misunderstood, seen as dangerous and solitaire beasts, but actually very caring to those they love. But also imposing and grandiose. whereas Daniela is just a cat, chilling and Bela is a cat and tbh she's tired, Cassandra hogs the spotlight and demands attention.

I wanted to make her makings sharp. nearly all of them have pointy ends. you have to handle her with precaution or you'll end up hurt. she doesn't do this intentionally though;

star-shaped chest marking, because she is a star, obviously. She flaunts about it everywhere she can, much to everyone's annoyance.

no scars because this diva will never try to get into actual trouble. She cries at the first sight of (real) blood.

her ear tufts are very similar to Alcina's and she's very proud of it. she is a mama's girl after all.

she's not all fluff, there are some muscles underneath the fur, but her fur is pretty long still. she can hide small items in her fur if she wants.

shortest out of the three sisters (like in the game). stands as tall as she can to still appear taller than Bela. she's got basically the ebst posture just to win against Bela.

Daniela

somehow, despite her activities, she has the smoothest and cleanest fur (Bela is very jealous, but will never admit it). she says she just cleans it and there is no secret. Bela swears she'll one day understand how she does that.

very muscular because she's always off doing sport of whatever. due to this she's also the strongest out of her sisters and very much able to win a fight against them, but she doesn't want to actually fight with them, so this fact doesn't see much use.

the scars she has are from the occasional accident. running a bit too fast and tripping for example. They're all very funny, albeit embarrassing stories that her sisters Love to share.

she's very round, shape wise. aside from a few sharp angles or straight-ish lines, everything is softened out; she is very friend shaped. unless she's angry and then you realize she's a lot stronger and taller than most.

her chest marking is the one I kinda dropped the ball on if you want my honest opinion. It's oval-esque and could be seen as her board since she loves skateboarding, but it's also just because it flowed better with the rest of the stripes I gave her.

round, friendly (and slightly curious) eyes. she's very cute and will convince you of anything when she wanted to, yet she doesn't really look very kit-like.

as tall as Bela, but obviously looks the tallest due to Bela's grumpy slouching. she teases her sisters about that.

her heart tufts look like a between part of Bela and Cassandra's. it was an accident, but it's cute so I kept it.

the freckles and heterochromia were obviously brought into this design. I am an avid fan of both.

[diviningrodtv]

Oh yeah, NSH Time.

I've been holding this post back for like a week😅

I absolutely love how NSH came out and I think he's currently my favourite rain world model that I've done! (Sorry Pebbles, I'm going to upgrade you later anyway :]

I also made his scarf easily removable so you can see how the stripes aren't just on his head! The stripes and his irises also glow, but a bit brighter than the areas on Five Rotten Pebbles.

His antennae are pretty similar to how I did Sliver's, especially considering I did his first! XD They're separated from his head a bit.

Also if you've noticed in my art that his eyes are the exact same as in the model here, that's because they are! I tried finding a way to draw them how I usually might, but I just couldn't get the same vibe! So I said, "Fuck it!" and I've been drawing over his model ever since XD

NSH is also who I used to make the "umbilical arm" model! So if you saw those posts, that's why the textures are all messed up!

And here it is in all it's glory!

It's mostly made of ball joints with a flexible joint attached to the back. The last segment also twists just like your forearm bones!

Also..... lore shit below cause I have, plans™ so-

If you don't want to know why NSH is acting strange on my blog yet, read no further!

(there's also some downpour spoilers, and some other disturbing things)

*slaps top of can* This bad boy can fit so much fucking insanity in him. (cw: self-harm yeah you heard me)

If you haven't figured it out already (I did drop hints :) NSH's structure is damaged! His legs are giving out because a group of scavengers thought it would be funny to transport all of their explosives at once.

So he's in a bit of a pickle!

This is when Looks to the Moon and Five Pebbles' communication tower is repaired! During their first conversation in a very long time, NSH finds out about good ol' Hunter long legs, and is rightfully distraught! He feels like a total failure, that he wasn't experienced enough to properly create his messenger.

That's what this whole post was about!

But, experience is something that can be gained.

NSH figured if Five Pebbles was able to leave his can, then he should be able to as well, but that requires solving the three problems I mentioned in the Five Rotten Pebbles post:

The self-genome modification barrier,

A general lack of puppet central brain matter, and

No material processing within the puppet.

I'll talk about my umbilical lore for this AU here since it's relevant.

Either the "cord" or the "arm" can be disconnected, but not both. This is for ease of repair by administrators. Disconnecting them both would leave the unfortunate Iterator fully functional. Although, they would be blind in the visible spectrum (apart from overseers), unable to speak directly to someone in their chamber, and would otherwise have their workflow be severely impaired. They would effectively be trapped in their own head.

NSH realised that even if the barriers existed, they could still have the intentions, to break them. So what would happen, if he broke one? Not by writing it out of his system, Five Pebbles already proved how risky that method was, but instead by setting his actions in motion faster than any barrier could stop them? This was something to test, and wasn't that what Iterators were built to do anyway?

Umbilicals can only be disconnected by administrators, but what if he were to do it anyway? He needed to leave his can after all, it wouldn't be much of a loss if he was stuck on the floor of his chamber or floating aimlessly in zero gravity for a while.....

So what if he just ran fast enough to rip himself off?

What if he moved his arm back at the last second, could he gain enough inertia to pull it out of his back? Even if it took a few tries?

What other choices does he have? Perfect Five Pebbles' method until he collapses and continue even then? He had time, but not enough for that, and The Hunter certainly did not have any time for waiting around. NSH had to fix his mistake, he had to.

So this bastard goes and does exactly that, and short-circuits his entire system.

Not just breaking the umbilical maintenance barrier, but every other one in the process.

And it all hurts like hell.

But that's the first problem solved, and now he can help keep himself afloat longer. So that now, he can figure out how to solve the other two problems with precision.

Of course, the others won't like any of these plans, but, after what Five Pebbles did, they wouldn't dare disturb him if he stopped responding, right?

And maybe, he could even hijack their communications array, to look for help.

>:]

yeah so NSH is not sane

[tanuki-kimono]

First of all- thank you for your work with this blog. I really enjoy the information you share, and the kimono designs are wonderful. I have a question- I know you've talked about how 'men don't/didn't wear Bright Colorful Designs' is more complicated then people assume! (Which makes sense- saying 'in X period men Never Wore Colors' isn't true about, say, the Victorian era either!).

But to get to my point- I happened to be reading a very old collection of mysteries called "The curious casebook of Inspector Hanshichi". In them, a young Hanshichi is described as wearing a very bright red and yellow striped kimono that made him 'look like a merchant'. At the time I assumed this implied he was dressing a little flashily- I'm curious if I was right about that!

You most welcome :D

And the parallel you draw with Western men fashion is pretty accurate: we tend to think menswear was always pretty dull (arf modern business suits) when in fact this tendency is quite recent!

As to your question about fashionable Inspector Hanshichi (for those who don't know: hero of early 20thc detective novels with "supernatural" elements written by Kido Okamoto), I think you are right. The "look like a merchant" is probably a mix of:

He's dressing below/above is condition. I don't remember Hanshichi exact social status (is he a yoriki? a doushin?), but samurai class were supposed to dress differently from merchants for ex.

He dressing flashy - "nouveau rich" style. Merchant class was at the bottom of social order BUT hold in fact all financial power in Edo period. Some merchants tried to emulate samurai dress (=conservative), while others didn't hesitate to show their wealth and dictate new fashions.

He is dressy flashy - dandy style. Hanshichi is a wakamono (young) and probably fashionable man, following whatever trend he likes - a late Edo heritage of early Edo kabukimono (flashy young samurai)

[ratsandfashion]

@SHOFARSOGOOD SORRY TUMBLR WOULDN'T LET ME REBLOG???

BUT

OH MY GOD YOU HAVE OPENED THE FLOODGATES HNNNGH

Okay, so you're in France in the 1760s. Specifically, you're a peasant in the Gevaudan province.

AND SOMETHING IS KILLING THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYBODY

It's described as being "like a wolf, yet not a wolf" and these people, they're shepherds, they see wolves ALL THE TIME, so if they say this thing WASN'T a wolf, I trust them. But the problem is, we don't know WHAT it was. Descriptions vary a LOT, probably owing to the people who saw it being terrified and trying to get away, combined with a typical "game of telephone" deal where the thing got changed each time someone told someone else about it, combined with people just lying and SAYING they'd said it, combined with the fact that if it was an exotic animal (more on that later) people just had no idea what they were looking at. But some fairly consistent traits are that it's BIG, it's got a long tail with a tuft, and it's a reddish color with a black-striped back and white underbelly.

Sounds like a tiger, right? That's a common theory. A lot of nobles kept zoos of exotic animals that peasants would never have seen before and have no reference for, so the fact it's a big furry predator on four legs was probably enough to make it "like a wolf but not a wolf" if it wasn't a bear (and we don't think it was a bear because people also knew what bears looked like) Some good candidates are a tiger for the aforementioned reasons, a lion (tufted tail, some drawings have a mane), and a hyena (wolf-like, has the bite force necessary for decapitation, as many of the corpses had the head removed from their bodies, another unusual feature)

So this thing just fucking runs around the countryside savaging peasants. And they can't do much about it because it's illegal for peasants to have guns. If you ever have to make an argument for the right to bear arms, bring up the Beast of Gevaudan, gurantee no one will see that coming!

Some peasants made do with what they had though. A group of boys managed to save their friend with, iirc, sharpened sticks, though they did not escape unscathed. One had his cheek basically TORN OFF, and as a result the king funded his education for the rest of his life, which was a big deal for a peasant boy who wouldn't ordinarily receive it. And a girl, Marie-Jeanne Valet, successfully fended it off with a homemade spear (she described the beast as a large dog) A statue still stands in her honor today.

Speaking of the King, the news about all this was reaching him. So he started sending out hunters and dragoons (a type of cavalry that would dismount to fight) to get the wolf. But, to no avail! They couldn't seem to kill it. And when they DID finally get a great big wolf, as well as a female wolf with unusually large pups that had traits not normally seen in wolves (ex: double dew claws, which some large dog breeds have, indicating wolfdog hybrids) the killings stopped for awhile. . .and then started again.

This became one of the first international news stories; other countries thought it was HILARIOUS that the King of France and all his men couldn't handle one little WOLF!

Eventually, it was brought down for good by a local hunter named Jean Chastel. Legend sprang up that the beast, which was said to be immune to ordinary bullets, had been felled by a bullet which had been made by melting down a medallion of the Virgin Mary. At the time, the fact it was killed by a holy icon was what was significant, as some people thought it was a werewolf and those were seen as creatures of the Devil at that time (rather than innocent people afflicted by a disease/curse as in modern media) but the fact the medallion was silver may be the source of the modern "silver bullet" myth which isn't from any real werewolf folklore and seems to be an invention of Hollywood.

The royal notary examined the animal after death and recorded in what is known as "The Marin Report" that "This animal which seemed to us to be a wolf; But extraordinary and very different by its figure and its proportions from the wolves that one sees in this country." and details a "monstrous head", unusual body proportions, aberrant morphological characteristics, and unusual fur colors. The report also includes the dental formula (number of molars, number of canines, etc) of the animal, which does seem to indicate a canid of some type. The report is preserved in The French National Archives.

So, this wasn't an unsubstantiated cryptid. It was pretty darn meticulously documented.

Unfortunately, photos didn't exist then, and by the time the corpse was taken to Versailles, it was so rotten and badly decayed that no one wanted anything to do with it, and it was in all likelihood dumped somewhere like garbage. I reckon everyone was just happy to be done with it.

While the beast was dead (or at the least, the attacks ceased) the speculation never has. Some people think it was just a big wolf or wolves, but like I said, I think these people knew what a wolf looked like. Other people think it was a wolfdog hybrid or family of such, which would account for the large size, unusual features, and lack of fear of humans. This, I think, is the most likely option. The escaped exotic animal is the next most likely imo; I remember that there's no records of. . .it was either of any such zoos themselves at the time or of no escapees, but like, if I was a noble and my tiger got out and it was eating people, I don't think I'd say anything.

Then there's more fringe theories. The werewolf thing, of course, but also the idea it was a conspiracy against the king, or some big political plot, often involving Chastel (the hunter who shot it) or his son, or that it was a serial killer dressed in animal skins, or a serial killer that had trained a dog to hunt with him as his method of killing. I...kind that pretty unlikely, just because I've never heard of a serial killer doing anything like that, like using an animal is just not 'intimate' in the way serial killers seem to like to be? But I'm no expert.

My PERSONAL favorite Unlikely Fringe Theory is that it was a mesonychid. See, some descriptions of the Beast claimed it had hooves. And while no modern carnivore has hooves, there is a prehistoric class of carnivores called mesonychids who are often described as "wolves with hooves" and whose appearance---monstrous head, longer tail---do match up pretty well with a lot of accounts.

Now, is it likely that a breeding population of huge prehistoric predators just...survived THAT long into the present and just NEVER got noticed by humans except this ONE time, and no other remains to indicate their survival have ever turned up? Yeah, no. But I really like the idea! That and the werewolf are my FAVORITE options, but in all likelihood it was a wolfdog(s) or escaped exotic.

[adobe-outdesign]

I don't think you've done a review for flittle + espathra yet! Love the murder ostrich

Flittle always felt a bit odd, mostly because it's a bit hard to tell what's going on with it at first. It's supposed to be a tiny bird chick, but it looks like either a squid or an amorphous blob. Elements like the triangle on the head (meant to connect to the triangles on Espathra's wings I guess, but Espathra's are way more subtle) also feel kind of random. It does make sense when you see what it evolves into and the shared elements of both, but it alone feels a bit loose conceptually.

Otherwise, it's okay enough visually. I don't see the reason for the pink in the design—it could have easily been purple or white—and the forehead feels too smooth and round despite the white "hair". I'm also not the biggest fan of the eyes or beak for reasons I can't quite place. However, with that said, all the elements at least tie back into Espathra, and you at least can't say its boring.

Also, side note: I do find it a bit jarring that this line goes directly from Ambiguous Floating Blob to Murder Ostrich; Espathra is so much more complicated and has so much anatomy compared to Flittle that it feels like too much of a jump. I think a middle stage could've benefited this line. It doesn't even have to be an ostrich fledgling; it could be a different, smaller bird, like an ibis or something else native to Egypt.

All that said: Espathra is fantastic. I don't know how they managed to make Egyptian-cloth-psychic-ostrich work, as none of those elements have anything to do with each other, but they did. It's just such a pretty design with an excellent flow, and the colors and repeated elements really make it stand out in my brain.

The blue eye pops and the ring-like look gets across the psychic typing nicely. The neck leads into its wings, which have this lovely layered, ruffled look to them that really looks beautiful. This idea of patterning is reflected in the neck and legs, which have striped, slightly three-dimensional rings. The ruffles on top of the head reflect the design of the wings and also loosely invoke ancient Egyptian haircuts.

My only real nitpick with it is that something about the colors feels vaguely off—I think it's that the neck is orange on purple but the legs are white on purple. I think having the neck be white would help draw more attention to the wings, which are the focal point of the design, and would better match the legs. Also, it has one of those bothersome under-the-head mouths that I always dislike; I would've much preferred it just having a weird proboscis beak instead of having a mouth at all. Both of those are minor, however, and as a whole I really like this design.

(Side note: The above art is from Hitoshi Ariga, who designed the line. I love knowing which artists created what 'mons and seeing their original art of them).

So overall: Flittle feels a bit half-baked and is fairly underwhelming, and it feels like this line needed a middle evo. However, Espathra more than makes up for it with an elegant design and unique theming. Definitely worth catching this one if only for Espathra.

[shallowoak]

Design Chatter - MLP East Blue Crew!

>> Link to the art here! <<

I've seen some fellow MLP au artists talk through their design ideas, so I thought I'd share my two cents and ramble a bit! Fair warning this will be long and there will be spoilers!

I kept a few simple guidelines for myself in mind:

Keep it fun and surprising, in the spirit of the original!

I draw in the G4 style, but features from every gen and toy line are fair game

Anypony who appeared in the comics as a cameo is not immune and has been redesigned for my selfish needs

I love back card / blind bag style character blurbs. I live for crumbs of worldbuilding XD

I've purposefully not included cutie marks because I suck at drawing them and I'd never finish a piece if I had to draw them :v (maybe a post for another time?)

🌅 Luffy 🌅

In-universe:

"Friendship isn't so much magic but a mandate for those this pony captain likes! This joyful newbie idolises Shanks, a fellow flightless Pegasus pirate. Though rubber wings are useless for flight, his ultra-lightweight body means he is still adept at aerial combat- falling slower and flinging faster. He passes the time between islands gliding by the mast with the gulls."

Design:

I'll level with you all; I'm not huge on red and black ponies. It's nothing personal to anyone who uses the scheme; it's just not my bag. The contrast is a bit harsh on my eyes. (And that every brony in 2015 slammed ponies with the scheme, forever ingraining that bias into me)

Rather, Luffy's scheme is based on his shorts! Light blue and white evoke the shoreline and sky, two limitless places where he spends a lot of time. A softer scheme allows me to draw his vest and hat without them becoming lost on his fur, and I feel it gels better with his light n' bright attitude to life. There's no way he's edgy enough for red and black-!

The swirls on his wings (and hoof fluff) are from the G3 depiction of Pegasi. It's such a gosh darn cute way to draw wings. It's also a fun little nod to the pattern on his fruit and Gear 5 form later on. Ponies are always skirting around the idea of destiny. For him to be a Pegasus was an easy pick for me, the wings symbolising both freedom of movement and spirit!

💚 Zoro 💚

In-universe:

"This aloof Zebra spends all year saving for Apple cider season, where he promptly blows all his bits in under a week. He often unknowingly intimidates those he meets; a bias unaided by the three swords he wields with magnets embedded into his front hooves."

Design:

I'm weak. I couldn't resist the alliteration of Zebra Zoro. You can blame Zecora for starting that. You can also blame her for the parallel of people misunderstanding Zoro's personality based on first impressions. I Pinkie-promise he's a big softie really.

Before I'm bashed, I'm well aware Zoro is Asian. In this instance, you can view that his being a Zebra just connotes that his ancestry lies outside of the East Blue rather than drawing any real-world correlation.

It's the little things that make this version uniquely Zoro, though. His stripes are sword-shaped, come in threes and neatly avoid his back. Hoof magnets were a popular play feature of G3 ponies before kids kept eating them 😶 But I think it's a fun way for Zoro to retain that Earth Pony-adjacent strength whilst still being able to hold all three swords. His stance has always looked weird, anyway.

🍊 Nami 🍊

In-universe:

"A light-footed, citrus-scented Pegasus who gambles with the best in Klugetown. Nothing escapes her- not even the bits from your purse! After a decade of being on high alert, she's more in tune with the weather than even other Pegasi. The sight of rainbows stretching across the sky makes her think of home."

Design:

Honestly, it's nice that we don't know anything about Nami's birth family. When she was adopted, she was just a baby, even younger than Sanji. Belle-Mere (Mare…) and Nojiko shaped her entire life. To that end, I wanted her design to be free of speculation and to focus on what we know for sure.

Her being a Pegasus was influenced by a few things. In G4, Pegasi often have an affinity for the weather and sky. Like Luffy, her wings symbolise the emphasis on freedom in her story. Farming is traditionally an Earth Pony job, so it also shows the disconnect between her passions and current situation.

In this case, the clipping of her wings doesn't stop her from sailing away any more than it does in canon. But it adds to the feeling of control Arlong holds over her, another physical reminder of her duty and self-sacrifice.

Despite what the timeskip art style wants us to believe, Nami is pretty but also really... normal. Normal proportions, face, hair, profession. She's weird for an OP character in that way. To reflect that, I decided that her coat should reflect the colour of the maps she creates. Unique from the pastels around her, but not super stand out, much like her orange mane. The darkened ends of her fur walk the line between showing hard graft and dirtied hooves 🥲 I expanded her tattoo to be a full leg design- 'cuz why shouldn't she show off the symbol of her life truly beginning!?

🎱 Usopp 🎱

In-universe:

"A young, apprehensive Changeling who often lives disguised as a Pony. He uses his transformations to bring stories to life and dazzle those he meets! When danger arises, he shifts into the form of a smaller animal and hides..."

Design:

The choice to make Usopp a Changeling speaks to his insecurity. Why present yourself as a village foal when you could be a great pony of the sea? Or anyone else you could dream up? It also speaks to my own insecurity as an artist, not touching the idea of drawing his nose on a horse face with a 10-foot pole. It's not happening, nuh-uh. It's a horn now for a reason, trust me!

But it also allows for some very literal metamorphosis as he grows throughout the series. His horns grow larger and change shape as the slingshots he uses evolve. (Yes, he absolutely does use his horns to fire things from!) In Pony form, his cutie mark changes to reflect which part of himself he identifies with -or has the most faith in- at any one moment. As an artist, I bet he has great fun drawing up new marks to use.

Rather than becoming a muscly bug after the skip, his wings literally break out from his shell. It isn't the end of his development, but it signifies his change in outlook and newfound faith in himself. Followers of God Usopp view his Pony form as one they, as "common folk" can easily comprehend, rather than his true nature.

He's the only one I drew as his timeskip design, just because it was the most interesting to me. Hyperfixation does strange things to a man.

🍥 Sanji 🍥

In-universe:

"A hot-headed Unicorn who breaks expectations, he fights rude customers with kicks that match the strength of a true Earth Pony! His unusual tail is a hot topic of speculation for off-duty chefs at the Baratie- but he won't speak a word about his past. Maybe try asking about his specials instead?"

Design:

Classic Unicorns are calm, refined and beautiful. Everything that Sanji is... on the surface. I love how Sanji constantly plays with our expectations; who says a creative can't kick ass? Further to that, Sanji's magic skills are wholly unimpressive, with a grand repertoire of two spells. It helps separate him from Robin, the actual magic scholar on board. As an Earth Pony unable to teach him, Zeff has always felt guilty.

His blue coat reflects the shirts he often wears, sure, but blue feels so appropriate for someone who loves the sea so much. It also allows for his fluffy black socks to stand out, coining his epithet. (If horse Sanji wore pants, would he wear them like this? Or like t h i s?) Not naming any names, Luffy he's the only fighter sensible enough to wear horseshoes to protect his feet and often visits Farriers when they make port.

His tail isn't hairless, but is covered in a thin layer of fur like his body until it reaches the tip. It's useful for working in the kitchen as it's easy to wrestle into a hair net. In the Baratie, he's often seen with a red bow decorating it, warning customers that he'll kick if provoked. This style of tail is a largely lost trait of old Unicorns, now most commonly seen in nobility who care a little too much about bloodlines. It's not a feature he's proud of, especially when it calls into question the nature of his relationship to Zeff- a pony he otherwise closely resembles.