#had to redraw this before finally liking it enough to post

[frootbyethefoot]

the loudest brain in all of revachol

+ some practice hdb's i like enough to share

[heck-theo]

Okokokokok- ignore how rough and messy some of these redraws/sketches are - but it's apparently also dinosaur month?? (WHY did no one ever tell me it's Jurassic June? I love dinosaurs) And like. What if Rise but dinosaurs?!

I don't often post such loose sketches but I wanted to show these off cause I really like some of this.

Design choices and dino species + the reasons I picked them bellow (looking for potential Donnie dino suggestions):

Clothes: Without the shell they really need clothes. They'd all have pretty much the same pants to keep some unity, except maybe Mikey (I decided they should all have the same pants after I finished the Mikey sketches, not sure if I'll keep the shorts or change to pants). Accessories are a mix of pre and post finale.

Raph - I think would keep it simple and practical but would also wear nice jackets and stuff when in casual situations. I need to work on giving him an alternative outfit and tweak his accessories a bit.

Donnie - An oversized pull-over hoodie cause we already know he loves that shit. We see him wearing it all the time. Easy enough. He wears a comfortable singlet underneath so the straps of his battle sail don't rub. Nice soft fabric, tight fit so it doesn't move around, tucks it into his pants, etc. When he wears the battle sail he won't overheat so he can wear hoodies basically all year round.

Leo - He's in one of those shirts with obnoxiously large arm holes and make it cropped cause 1. I think he would 2. I want it to be different from Raph and Donnie's singlets. He usually wears the shoulder strap off his shoulder but pulls it up when he needs to. He has some of the black bandages over his mid drift atm but I might just make his pants super high waisted in the final version. He'd probably wear a bomber jacket (also cropped?) over the top for cool weather, but doesn't like to hide his feathers.

Mikey - I think he'd mostly wear hand me downs when he's younger. He definitely goes through a stage of rebelling and wanting to pick his own and would find a middle ground of appreciating sharing some of his brother's clothes and modifying them, as long as he has the choice of his own available. Not sure if that would be before or after this design. At the moment he's got Raph's old shorts (from a loooong time ago), Leo's old shirt, and Donnie's old zip up hoodie. He does have his own accessories though, including pins instead of stickers.

Dinosaurs: I kept them all as non-avian dinosaurs, AKA not including animals that are colloquially considered dinos but aren't (like pterosaurs). I wanted to keep an even split of herbivore vs carnivore just so one wasn't the odd one out. I wanted to keep most of their body structure, colours and distinguishing features the same as canon. Obviously I added tails cause, yeah, of course haha. I did want them to be recognisable as different species of dino using distinct characteristics that their species is known for. I did ignore a lot of differences though, like size and bipedal vs quadruped (although the quadrupeds might be more likely to go to all fours, especially when fighting or afraid). Leo and Donnie are carnivores so have sharper teeth and claws.

Raph - Some kind of Ceratopsian (likely Triceratops or something very similar) and he was the first idea I had for this and I'm really happy with it. I think it just suits him. Trike Raph just came to me in an unprecedented moment of genius. His spikey frill replicates his spikey shell. His sturdiness, protectiveness and willingness to kick ass when needed, all scream trike to me.

Donnie - Spinosaurus but looking for other species recommendations. More details below: So I wanted to figure out a way for him to have tech with a similar function to his battle shell (in the sense that it's something that helped him in day to day life) and so I went with spino cause one possible theory about a function of spinosaurus' sail is temperature regulation. So his battle sail has heating/cooling systems as well as other tech. A spino's sail was probably not fragile but the battle sail would also help protect it from being targeted during fights or crushed during extreme impacts. It was also thought to be used for display, and what's more of a display than a battle sail? The only problem I have with this is that it's lacking part of what makes Donnie's battle shell so great, which is that it is essentially a prosthetic. Not quite the same as how prosthetics are used in people of course, just in the sense that it is replicating the functionality of a body part that he doesn't have (I can't think of a better word). Well he does have a shell but it doesn't function in the same way that his brothers shells do, which leaves him with less defense than they have, hence a big reason for the battle shell (I hope I explained this well, it was hard to try and word properly). I can't think of a good way to do this with dinos. I was thinking of a carno or something with tiny arms, then Donnie could have tech enhanced arms but I'm pretty much ignoring body structure in the others so it would be weird to have just Donnie be affected by a difference in limb structure/functionality. I was thinking prosthetic tail but every non avian dinosaur had a pretty substantial tail. Except therizinosaurus but even they hade pretty obvious tails. I'm open to suggestions for this one if anyone has ideas. It does have to be an extinct non-avian dinosaur (anything not in Avialae), preferably carnivore but if someone suggests a really good herbivore or omnivore then I can try and swap Mikey for a carnivore. I want there to be an even split. I also wanted to give him something different on his face, like his brothers, and that could only be a little spino crest and it crowds the top of his head but I can't put it anywhere else...

Leo - A type of Dromaeosaur. I was tossing up between this and a dilophosaur where his red stripes were part of the dilo's crest, cause I wasn't sure about giving him feathers. But dilo Leo was so plain compared to the rest and the crests were hard to get looking right so I went back to raptor Leo. I can definitely imagine him literally and metaphorically preening his feathers too. You can't really see it but he does also have that big raptor claw. Raptors were smart, tactical and worked in packs so I think that suits him. I wasn't specifically referencing how some artists draw Leo's stripes coming off his face (I was just trying to replicate his stripes somehow, even though it doesn't make a huge amount of sense) but I realised afterwards that it kinda looks like that and might have been subconsciously inspired by it.

Mikey - Is an Ankylosaur. I'm pretty happy with the species but I need to work out the design of his armour plating so that it looks interesting, cool and protective but isn't too chunky, too pointy or super lumpy looking. I went with an anky cause Mikey is often hiding in his shell and he can't do the same here but he could curl up in a defensive ball. Plus I could imagine him using his tail club in his razzmatazz fighting style. A little like his kusari-fundo or nunchacku/nunchucks (not sure on proper wording).

[keiksy-cake]

Lunatic Blue Ch 9 (Gore TW || Hetalia Doujinshi)

YEAHHHHH AFTER 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS. 4 YEARS.

木綿ﾄﾞｩﾌ does it again with another very incredible chapter~ I missed this series so much! The wait was definitely worth it, this chapters as great as the others! I wish I could've finished it faster, I even put My Arika on hold lol, but I had assignments and such D;

There's no gore in this chapter but it's still full of horror and suspense!

If you haven't read this series yet, I HIGHLY recommend it, definitely one of my top top favorites, idk if I like any other more than it. Altho, I started doing a lot to "clean" the pages, which I didn't in the beginning. How much I've grown in both cleaning and translating within this 3 year gap is greatly exemplified in this series... Which is great, but in other words, that also means the first chapters are very drastically... I've been saying for a long time I want to re-do them, I started re-doing the first chapter a couple years back but never finished lol but finally the other day I decided to update it, posting what I have at least. Lets hope my renewed motivation is enough to actually finished...

Since it's been so long, I recommend even those who have read this series to re-read it before reading this one. Anyway, sorry for the long intro! Please enjoy! Here's a list of the prev chapters too:

Lunatic Blue 1

Lunatic Blue 2

Lunatic Blue 3

Lunatic Blue 4

Lunatic Blue 5

Lunatic Blue 6

Lunatic Blue 7

Lunatic Blue 8

I was too lazy to actually redraw this last page, sorry >.> Look at him mad broody tho lol

Also, I accidentally made this and thought it looked cool so I thought I'd add it in lol:

Notes:

Rather than "sir", child Alfred calls Arthur "nii-san" which means "older brother", but it's also largely used to refer to any older young man.

Rather than "the excitement" (of space), America says "romance", but I was afraid any young and/or American readers wouldn't get that it's meant in an excitement sense, not like love kind of romance.

I'm still not that great at translating, I had to guess for a lot of the sound effects bc English onomatopoeia sucks D;

The expression I tled to "prideful" literally is "hates to lose"

If anyone wants to make a clean version

I did not make this series, I'm just your friendly neighborhood translator~

[genopaint]

Doesn't get much fresher than this, here's week 50 that I JUST completed!!

Updated it to add today and yesterday's dragon, so it bleeds a little into Week 51. However, the rest of week 51 and week 52 will be combined together in one final post :)

As always you can follow me on twitter where they’re posted daily

And read more info on each of them below the cut

Daily Dragon #350 / #351 - Mega Charizard X & Mega Charizard Y

It's been irking me a little that the yearly Charizard kind of won't count for this challenge. But I figured I can still include my favorite Pokemon on a technicality!

I VERY rarely draw these mega evolutions. But they are both REALLY cool in my opinion. I like Y for being a little more simple and a little more fantasy looking, it has nice shapes. And I like X for being just so edgy and over the top and extra. Mega evolutions genuinely rule imo

Probably won't make it into the challenge but maybe next year I can draw Gigantimax Charizard and potentially even the Terestral Charizard. I've never drawn either of them... Cause they kinda suck imo lmao

Daily Dragon #352 - Snowdragon

A dragon made completely out of snow, stones, and small things the creator used as accessories! Most notably, within it are enchanted gems from a dragon's horde, allowing the Snowdragon to come to life!

This is a slightly less ambitious redraw this time lol. This is a dragon from maybe around 2014-2016ish?? I wanted to wait and see if it would snow irl so I could make a REAL Snowdragon. But it's becoming apparent to me that's not happening lol. So I just redrew this instead :)

Daily Dragon #353 - Damnation

“As there is life, I am death. As there is hope, I am despair. As there is light, I am darkness. I am true hatred incarnate, no power shall stand before me.”

This is Damnation, the Evil God Dragon! This was the big finale to my Monthly Dragon challenge in 2020! They're the grand final boss of your adventure, are you ready??

Here's his original design from 2020!

I tried to unify the color scheme a little bit more cause I thought all the red looked cool? I hope you agree!!

Also this is the other dragon I REALLY wanted to get done during this challenge! Alongside the Fruit Dragon, but they were so complicated I didn't think I'd get it done in time. But I cleaned up the design a bit and while it's hard to tell what's going on imo... Its cool enough

Daily Dragon #354 - Grey Greaver

One more anthro dragon before the challenge ends, why not? Grey works as a Bar Tender. He's very powerful and loves fighting, beating up people who cause problems in his bar!

Daily Dragon #355 - Gorosaur

Large and aggressive monsters that can release powerful blasts of electricity from their bodies! They can concentrate the power through beams from their mouth, or release it as a powerful blast from all over their bodies!

Daily Dragon #356 - Midgardsormr

A dragon I've been meaning to redraw LONG before this challenge. It's finally time to do some Dragalia Lost fanart once again :) This game was so cool and had some wonderful dragons. This was really fun to do!

When Dragalia Lost was just announced (so like 2018?) I drew Brunhilda and Midgardsormr cause I was SO excited for it, of course I was, it had dragons in it. So the redraw was between the two of them, but I went for Midgardsormr cause I have protagonist disease.

Here's how I drew him in 2018!! How time flies...

This game was really cool and I'm still sad it never got a proper console port or anything in Smash Bros. I never finished the story when the game closed so I should sit down and watch it soon. Listening to Cinderella Step while drawing this made me a little emotional lol

Daily Dragon #357 - Heartless Wyvern

I've done a couple of dragons from different RPG series. And it just felt appropriate to do one more that's been left off: Kingdom Hearts! This is my favorite Heartless, and I wanted to do it WAY earlier but really struggled with it until now

Well, to be honest, I still struggled with this a lot. Particularly the head and surprisingly thick meaty legs on these guys. But I think it came out alright. I hope you like it!

Also, this is the last fanart dragon of the Daily Dragon Challenge! Everything from here is original

Daily Dragon #358 - Silver Comet

That's it!! The last popularity poll dragon for the Daily Dragon Challenge! Thank you all SO much for voting not only this month, but every month this year!! Sit back and enjoy the last 8 days!!

Here's the results:

Silver Comet - 4 Votes Snow Dragon - 3 Votes Drupesaurus - 3 Votes Gaia the Dragon God - 2 Votes Grey Greaver - 2 Votes Polaris Dragon - 2 Votes Bahamuknight - 1 Vote Gorosaur - 1 Vote

I'm not surprised Comet ended up winning, but I am surprised with how much people seemed to love them when I posted their art a while back! Thank you for all the love!

He's my favorite of the month too. All the big redraw dragons were my favorite but he came out the best imo

Again thank you all SO much for indulging me and letting me do all this during throughout the year. I know I didn't get a ton of votes every month but I seriously appreciate everyone who participated in ANY of these polls, even if you just voted once.

Tomorrow begins the last 8 days of the year and the finale of the Daily Dragon Challenge. Thank you all so much for your support through this, it's been messy. But I hope you like the last 8 dragons :)

[anzuhan]

anzu feels like anzu has to talk about anzu's recent growth in art because it seems as though there's a lot of misconceptions on the topic at hand, so anzu wants to give anzu's own opinion on how anzu's art 'suddenly got so good' as of late. long post under cut 💛

anzu has been an illustrator for 5 years or so now, and it's true anzu's art wasn't always this great, however it also wasn't that bad either; anzu was still able to make pieces that are incredibly well made as far back as, anzu would say, 2021-2022. below are two examples please check alt for more info

anzu has just been very prone to changing styles and experimenting a lot, and anzu has to say, whatever anzu is into at the time also Always has played a very big role into how anzu's art looked at the time. Though, for now, anzu really wants to have a style reminiscent of 2005-2013 era of fanarts that were very common back then, as well as also breathing new life into the style with a few changes to the formula (such as how anzu likes drawing thicker lineart) ;

something that was not talked about at all when anzu had mentioned the growth was mental health. anzu has been in a very steady decline in it the entire year of 2024 until anzu has discovered len-hai 💛 which has made anzu the happiest anzu has ever been in a long time. anzu's most popular works are sadly from the early 2024 period, in which anzu was severely depressed, and it shows harshly in the arts; they are unclean and all rushed, only posted for the sake of 'they'll do well anyway so anzu does not have why to have them look better'. anzu hates all the art from that period. there is no love put into it. examples in difference below

- drawing of shiori during that time vs after anzu would say anzu has rediscovered anzu's self

- anzu's most popular piece vs the redraw of it now in this new period

- two large pieces with a lot of characters

it's not like anzu had forgotten what skills anzu had prior, and it's also not due to the fact that anzu wanted to try new things, yes, that was a thing but it does not excuse the lack of care put into the drawings from back then ; anzu is also not being harsh on past anzu now, it's simply that anzu just was in no well headspace at all back then compared to now.

so no, it's not that anzu had gotten so obsessed with len that anzu's just drawn len enough times until anzu's art got to immaculate levels, anzu had already long obtained these skills, anzu just was nowhere near this happy ! and anzu just got all the much happier over time due to len-hai, so that's why even len compared to the first ones anzu's drawn last year are much better looking now. anzu enjoys drawing every piece, anzu loves drawing, anzu loves making other peoples lives happier as well through them, and anzu takes the time with each piece now so it can look the best it can be !

not only that but, besides feeling like anzu finally has a place where anzu belongs now, anzu has also just simply never had an art style of anzu's own before — whether it was to mimic the style from a game series or another artist anzu has liked over time, it was always apparent. but now, anzu just has anzu's own style which is exactly what anzu has ever wanted it to be ! anzu always wanted to draw with more exaggerated proportions, with larger eyes, anzu likes drawing things cute... anzu likes taking inspiration from all those fanarts from all these years back with the many patterns and the collage feel to them ! anzu also managed to both keep the thick lineart anzu loves working with and attain a general clean anime style and feel to it that would not make it too cartoony, which anzu is very happy with.

thank you 💛

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Update 247 Review

I was puzzled as to why the translation for this was listed as a redraw, as the previous chapters had covered the entirety of the ninja arc to date before the hiatus. Then I realised that it was the numbering foolishness messing with the translators. EH! Not my problem. Shall we go on?

Summary

The chapter opens with Suiryu being discharged from hospital. He's been given a huge bouquet by the nurses and wished a speedy return to hospital, something he understandably has no plan to do. As he makes his way down the road, his attention is attracted by screaming, which turns out to be coming from a woman about to be eaten by a monster giant anteater. He splits it in half with a single chop, noting with satisfaction that his strength has returned.

He turns back to the business at hand, that of finding the Hero Association and Saitama, and is surprised that every online search for 'hero' brings up the Neo Heroes. Things have definitely changed... but he doesn't have much time to muse on it for he is nearly flattened by the enormous head of what had been a much bigger monster giant anteater. Could Saitama be out here? No, the person who'd sent the monster's head flying was an idol. She introduced herself as Webigaza, and that she was back from her hiatus to work as a Neo Hero as well as sing. She pauses to take a deep drink of water -- she's thirsty -- and then encourages people to support the Neo Heroes before flying off.

Suiryu stares after her like a cat seeing baubles hung up on a Christmas tree. Come to that, maybe he's a little thirsty too. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to check out the opposition first... after all, he can quit right away. Elsewhere, we see an unamused Suiko surprised that her brother has discharged himself without telling her. Her concern quickly turns to outrage when she reads the note he's left for her and realises that he's stuck her with the bill.

He's just the nicest guy, isn't he?

Suiryu arrives at the Neo Hero tower and is quickly ushered into the testing facilities. With difficulty, he gets squeezed into a power suit, all while muttering to himself about how uncool it'd make him if he approached that girl looking like that.

Once on though, he feels the enormous surge of power it brings. Excited, he flexes, and the suit crumbles like a badly-baked biscuit. Worse, he now need to pay for it. Five million, which is more than the three million he earned in the Superfight.

If you break it, you've bought it. Love the detail of Suiryu flexing hard enough to break his remaining armband.

The chapter closes with a weeping Suiryu being introduced to Metal Bat. He's stuck in Neo Heroes until he can earn enough to pay off his debts.

Oh yeah, one final detail. Has McCoy handed in his notice before he started moonlighting for the Neo Heroes? He better have, the rat!

Phew, thank goodness this wasn't longer! Shall we do some meta?

Meta

We're a week on, so the outraged whines of fans expecting a showdown between Blast and Void have died down. It's totally par for the course. All I will say is this:

If you were around when this chapter (chapter 67) was first posted, you'll know that it was well over a year (in chapter 77) that we got to find out what happened.

Yup, ONE reserves the right to go 'Meanwhile...' and go somewhere else, sometimes for extended periods of time. Deal with it.

Saturation Bombing

Well, now we're back to the Neo Hero storyline, and man, when they launched, they launched HARD. They've sopped up all the SEO real estate to crowd the Hero Association off the first page of the search engines. Their TV and billboard ads are everywhere. They've even bought up the storefronts around around their headquarters. And all in the space of days. The wallets bankrolling this venture must be abyssally deep (I will return to this in a sec).

A leopard doesn't change his spots

I won't lie: Suiryu is the character I've had the most trouble seeing the point of. I've tried, but I'm still of the opinion that this lazy, feckless, superficially charming, and not-at-all-nice guy gets given way too much real estate. Well, he may be serious about wanting to be a hero but he's still as feckless as he ever was. Yes, he won a considerable sum of money just before being hospitalised and so had no chance to spend it. Yet, true to his nature, he fucks off and sticks his sister with the bill. And true to his nature, he decides to take a pass at an idol (someone who will have hell to pay if she's even thought to be dating), fully intending to cut and run as soon as he gets what he's chasing after. Well, the wheels were always going to come off sooner or later. Might as well be now. Good.

Chef's Kiss

I know that many people were a bit disturbed to find how... normal Webigaza looks but I think it's FANTASTIC. Why? Well, a slightly creepy idol isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they'd be someone's shot of whiskey, unusual and thus not interchangeable. It's a recognisable brand she'd have been able to build on. That worked *against* Webigaza's stated desperation to stand out and gain lasting fame.

Anyone into the 'creepy doll' look really, really is into it, and won't be substituting them for another.

By making her an absolutely normal-looking idol, loveable but totally replaceable, Murata has understood the brief. I can 100% believe that this Webi is desperate to be different in some lasting way when she looks exactly the same as a dozen other idols. I can 100% believe her when she's obsessed with Sweet Mask and wants what he has when she knows that the crowd that cheers for her today will cheer just as enthusiastically next year for someone who looks and sounds almost exactly like her. That she'll be forgotten despite having poured her entire life into entertaining. And that she'd rather die than see it happen.

Because she looks generic, it makes sense that she's painfully aware of how replaceable she is.

This works. This really, really works.

Let's talk cash, pt. 1: suits of contention

As many sharp-eyed readers have noticed, that suit that Suiryu got given looks awfully familiar. It's a dead ringer for the ones that Tongara's team got given by Narinki.

And once those suits hulked out...

... they looked an awful lot like the ones Hammerhead's crew got their hands on.

No prizes for guessing that this Neo Hero thing is most probably a front for one of the most successful conspiracies in fiction, The Organization. Successful because they're able to work to achieve their aims without anyone blabbing prematurely.

Let's talk cash, pt. 2: debtor's jail

It probably shouldn't surprise us too much that Suiryu is in such good shape after leaving hospital. After all, it wasn't just any hospital he went to but a Hero Hospital, a place where exceptional effort is expended in healing people rapidly. Also a very costly place, as McCoy pointed out to Mad Devil Yankee.

The drop of realism that sells the fantasy harder: yes, there's medicine and technology to heal up incredible injuries and illnesses super fast. But the price is steep!

Oh yeah, the apparent throwaway is becoming quite relevant now. I wonder if someone will point out to Suiko that joining the Hero Association would be a quick way to discharge her brother's medical debt?

I wouldn't mind this brewing Neo Hero saga to stick around a little longer. But I'm easy -- I've long since stopped expecting a particular thing to happen at a given time. All will be well in the end.

[snowsdelulusketches]

I have a new obsession...

Uh, in case y'all ain't interested in my new obsession (lol). I'm alive! I forgot again to exist, but I will try to post more regularly now that my life might be a bit more balanced. 🫡

There is an art piece below that is Six related! (Long-ish post ahead.)

WARRIORS. GODDAMN. I watched the movie purposefully, just to absorb some knowledge before listening to the album. The album is a complete and compelling hit without the context of the movie.

Swercy is so tragically iconic. I agree that Mercy in the (concept) album comes off a bit direct, always inserting herself into the situation. But I think the musical is a lot of "supporting women's wrongdoings." Okay, I'm joking. But, for the record, it is how it went in the movie. Mercy (in the movie) sees this group and wants to follow them, and she does. They... almost taunt her (?), and Swan takes her in (as a generous way to put it).

Definitely not controversial opinions aside, I love Cleon. I love drawing her, and I love every song she sings in. Still Breathin' is one of my favorite songs, she liderally fits the leadership role so much.

I love how Cochise is kind of vague. You can interpret her character as you wish, and it is sort of refreshing. That way, you get to redirect how she impacts the rest of her sisters and how she takes certain events and deals with them.

Cowgirl... they could never make me hate you. You have been severely traumatized by that "hot dude", it's okay. Nah, Cowgirl is very relatable in the sense that she almost goes with the flow and is a loyal but fun woman (that's how I saw her, but please, add your opinion)!

Holy shit, Swan would be such an unreliable narrator. She is so insecure but immediately snaps into any role she needs to be. Leader? Head to the graveyard, I'll get a plan cookin'. Girlfriend needs a compliment? You're more than beautiful! More than what they made you out to be, and whatever lies ahead doesn't define you! Sister? When we get somewhere safe, that's when I can finally let myself process everything and lower my guard just enough to see how scared you all are. But she is also so scared of not doing enough. She "knows" Mercy's first instinct is to leave, to find something new, something better. She most certainly double-thinks every single thing she does during the events of the album. Her heart is heavy with pain, but she's got a silly family and a sillier girlfriend.

Rembrandt and Fox's friendship and little moments mean way too much to me. The fact that they both share the "when you woke up today you didn't think you could die, neither did i" line in Derailed hurts. It hurts because only one of them makes it out, and neither of them thought the other would be lost in this uncomfortable night. Rembrandt is so hesitant and on-guard during the Bizzies' group song. Fox realizes a little later that, yeah, it's a trap. Poor Cowgirl and Cochise...

Ajax is so amazing. Like, you ball of anger and aggression, I love you so much. When she and Mercy start singing Mercy's "solo" in Sick of Runnin' my heart like... shattered or something. I could be completely wrong, but if Ajax and Mercy had met in any other circumstance, Ajax probably would've found her hilarious. Ajax is relatably impatient. Every time Swan does something, she has to ask, and when she doesn't get an immediate answer, she pushes more. She's great.

I drew a comic for the finale, but I really don't like the way it turned out (I used a different drawing app), so I might post my redraw of it? I don't know how long that'll take either. Uh, I might have some art lingering, just so y'all aren't drained of any snow-art.

Not yet, Cathy. Anyway, this strange arrangement is merely due to the fact they are both called "The Survivor," and this was the first thing I thought of.

I imagined Cathy explaining her story and Ajax going through all the emotions, all of them.

Thank you for reading, if you got this far.

[snowsetdeer]

What a year we've all had! For the first time ever I can post a fully digital, fully completed yearly art round up post. It's been so awesome to see my style change and develop around my interests this year. All of the pieces (and some commentary from me!) will be posted in full under the cut :)

January, Shampoo from Ranma 1/2 (Citrus Shampoo) The doodle that started it all! I was really busy with school starting back up so it's not the most polished piece in the world, but I really love the colors I used and I'm thinking about revisiting this piece in the new year.

February, Krystal from Star Fox (I can just draw anything isn't that amazing) Although this is only a doodle February is the shortest month so...

March, Faye and Falco from Star Fox, Miffy from Miffy (What are they looking at?) I was making a lot of 3D Miffy models and such for one of my classes this month, and I was still super into Star Fox, so I decided to just mix the two together! I really like doing art that puts random characters together like this in my sketchbook, maybe I'll do more crossover pieces next year :)

April, Falco, Peppy, Slippy, Fox, and Krystal's Arm (N64 collab over on Newgrounds) This was my first ever collab, and I'm really glad I pushed myself to join! This is a redraw of one of the covers for Earth Defense Girl Iko Chan, I reference a lot of Iko Chan pictures and media when I'm drawing lol.

May, Sonic the Hedgehog with the Beam Kirby Powerup (submission to the Sonic anniversary collab on Newgrounds) This was another collab, and I wish I had been able to put more detail into the background for the final piece, but the collab only required a clear background png of your assigned character so I really focused in on Sonic.

June, The prince and The King of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy (LEAKED 2009 DS EXCLUSIVE DATAMINE aka Hold Out Your Hand Son) The beginning of an era. This 20 minute doodle gifted me a ton of creative ideas and passions this year! The Katamari I drew here and the background (a cropped free Katamari wallpaper) are used in almost every single Katamari piece I made this year as a way to tie them all together (and a way to save time!)

July, The Prince from Katamari Damacy [And technically The King but I did not draw him this time lol] (Katamari Kart!) My sister is a competitive Mario Kart player, and while watching her I thought the Prince would be a cool addition to the roster. This was made before I played the We Love Katamari level where The Prince has his little ducky car or else I would have incorporated it here!

⭐August, The Prince and The King of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy (Katamari Creation) Side note this is my best performing piece, and I'm so glad I decided to make it!!! It is a redraw of a guy pretending to be a wizard by floating an apple between his hands. I was originally going to draw the prince hiding between the apple slices when you find him in We Love Katamari, but decided that the hands were impressive enough that I could reuse my own Katamari lol.

September, The Queen of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy (Selfie trend) There was a trend on twitter where a cosplayer put her phone over her face to show the character, and I thought that was so cute I just had to do it with The Queen. I made this to be my pfp on here, but just wasn't quite satisfied with it (it was literally my first digital drawing of the Queen ever lol) SO-

October, The Prince, The Queen, and The King of All Cosmos from Katamari Damacy (He likes to feel tall) This is my actual current profile picture! It was originally made for both here and discord, but discord's circular crop completely removes the King from the picture whoops. I'm really proud of the King's hand and the subtle glow around The Prince to draw the viewer's eye to him, took a lot of trial and error to get both of them just right lol.

November, Ulala from Space Channel 5 (She's Stardust Chic,,,) November I actually had 2 pieces made, but this is the one I intended to be my big monthly piece. I got back into Space Chanel 5 something fierce over the course of the month, and I made so many of my friends play it with me lol.

December, The Queen and The King of All Cosmos (and the Prince really tiny!) from Katamari Damacy (Katamari Christmas) And now we're done! My most recent piece, inspired by family photos turned into Christmas Cards. I also really liked drawing the King and the Queen being cozy. The King's longer hair and more scruffy beard was really fun to play around with too. That's all from me this year! I grew a lot as an artist, but also a friend, mentor, student, and researcher too! I achieved a ton this year, and I can't wait to hit the ground running next year Now it is time for my once yearly "I'm putting one million tags to boost my views and engagement" giant tags section lol

[py-dreamer]

Hey would you look at that!

They don't look like porcupines anymore!!

For context, here's the previous one:

I had tried so hard to differentiate these two monkeys especially since they had such similar hair but i just couldn't get it right!!

MAC LITERALLY LOOKED LIKE A PORCUPINE AND I HATED IT

I do much prefer the redraw, the sketch looks so much softer and I was finally able to give mac the long hair I wanted to before

Im sad the tails curling together isn't as prominent but hey, you win som you lose some and I tried my best to make it somewhat noticeable

I think it was mainly lack of experience and I needed to observe how others drew him

But anyway what do you think?

Im a bit burnt out rn tbh, I have a lot of ideas and wips in the making but I'm bit tired from the 10 day art challenge and schools started picking up again so....

To any mutuals who've tagged me in a post, I'm sorry I haven't responded much, I'm just a little tired....But ! I will try my best to reply soon enough

But until next time my lovely marshiemallows!

(Click photos for less sh!tty quality)

Reblogs > likes

(But any feedback is appreciated)

[toxic-potions-productions]

His savior (Post demon slayer) (KNY s4 redraw) (Light TW???)

Yeah, you can tell this was edited in FireAlpaca cuz it was too big for Pixlr E I think it works for Yukari's kimono patterns, though, since I love the vines for her obi

Anyways, I think I almost had a full blown stroke trying to do this, from the position to the editing to me figuring out why a brush wasn't doing the color I picked for a second, so this better be worth it

Yeah, I bet half of you are surprised to see a tiny little thing like Yukari hoisting Kazuramaru onto her back as if it was nothing. She doesn't have the same muscle density as Mitsuri, but she's still stronger than she looks

Anyways, onto the story: Kazuramaru just escaped the Iguro estate. By this point, Obanai was already born & about two when Kazuramaru finally got word, & so he was gonna have Kazura's cage while he was going somewhere different. But, he was also ecstatic to know a boy was born, but when he went to go see him, two of Obanai's aunts & his elder sister stopped him. The elder sister said: "You will only poison his mind by convincing him to leave. There is no longer any room for you here." & Kazuramaru LOST IT

He was already getting to the breaking point with everything he experienced years prior, & when he still went to go see Obanai, one of the aunts smashed a vase over his head. This is important for later

After that, he was restrained for a bit, but eventually ran into Scylla's offering room where she & his "wife" were. Hebiko, being the "tender & loving wife" she is (Not really), cleaned any blood that was there. Although, he eventually noticed something weird near Scylla's cusions.

I like to think at least one daughter of the Iguro clan realized just how fucked up that family is, & the ones that do, get killed & fed to Scylla so they don't "hold them down". & this is what happened to a daughter that Kazuramaru wanted to escape with, & we will call her Natsuko

Natsuko met her "father" years prior, & when she finally came to terms of her awful family, wanted to escape with Kazuramaru. But, her skull was right there near Scylla's cushions & the other skulls there. Along with a bloody seafoam green kimono. She was only 15

Seeing that made Kazuramaru break completely. The one daughter he promised to take with him when he escaped was gone. Hebiko tried to comfort him with that usual gentle facade, but Kazuramaru wasn't having any of it, & attacked her. Making Hebiko feel the same things she made him feel (Deserved, TBH)

Scylla grabbed him, threw him onto his back, & was about to feast due to "hurting his wife". Now, normally in canon, this is where Kazuramaru dies, but since this is the Astarte au, he & Ruka are both alive since they deserve to be happy. I'll make an entire post of what's different with the au I put Astarte in soon, don't worry

Anyways, Kazuramaru thankfully had a dagger in arm's reach to help him, so he grabs it & slices Scylla across the eyes. Not a big deal since she's a demon & can regenerate wounds, but this was a perfect opportunity to escape. He felt bad for leaving Obanai there, but he WAS going to come back for him. He just needed a plan to do it properly

Now, he was just there in the forest of Hachizo island, only wearing a tattered & dirty black robe, & ONLY a black robe, a dagger, & a sense of freedom knowing he's out of there for a bit. But, he was finally out of there! So, he shoves the dagger into his robe pocket & walks around to see if there's anything or anyone sane enough on that island to help him

But, due to the vase being smashed over his head, the years of SA, abuse, & being trapped in a cage, & all injuries he currently has, Kazuramaru's vision was fading in & out. He tried to stay awake & fight back against that feeling due to the adrenaline wearing off......but, he eventually lost that war. The last thing he thought of before blacking out was Ruka

He laid there for Jesus only knows how long. Thankfully, Yukari eventually comes by & sees him. Being the angel she is, she wasn't going to leave this poor man here so a criminal here can take advantage of the vulnerable man or a bear comes by & thinks he's carrion. So, filled with determination (Whether that was a nod to Undertale or not is up to you), she hoisted Kazuramaru onto her back to take him to her home. Even though he unconsciously winched a bit from being placed on there, but it was a sign he's still alive. Even though she felt kinda bad for it, oops. & with that, Yukari takes him to her home

& that was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship, & who knows, maybe something even more a few years later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I never wanna draw this pose ever again, don't make me regret this I was so close to crashing out, so don't even try it-

But, these two cute as fuck, though

Here's the original scene, BTW:

Hope everyone who celebrates it had a good start to Lunar new year yesterday, & if you're still celebrating it, I hope you enjoy the rest of it! Cheers from Michigan 👋🏻

Anyways, you gotta love these two. I'll try & make reference sheets for them soon ------------------------------------------

Kazuramaru Iguro & Yukari Miko by: Me

Demon slayer by: Koyoharu Gotouge

Do not steal, trace or copy. (Cuz this almost made me crash out-)

[getvalentined]

Was talking on the twits about how "not mine" isn't a source, and how you shouldn't be posting other people's art in general but definitely shouldn't be posting other people's art without at least linking back to them, and thinking about the most egregious example of this that I have personally experienced. I haven't really talked about it to anyone because it seems almost petty compared to the rest of the related situation, but bothers me more every time I think about it.

I think most of the people who know me are aware of my old in-character askblog, @askvincentvalentine; I'm redrawing all entries to eventually release as a solo anthology, but I have a lot of anxiety about it and it's going very slow. I think this hesitation (I might even call it apprehension) is in large part connected to this unspoken experience, and maybe finally talking about it will help.

A month or two before we broke up, I found out that my abusive ex had reposted every Ask Vincent Valentine entry to his personal Facebook, starting years before we really met, never linking back to Vincent's blog or to mine. He'd reposted a lot of my art, actually, and treated this like a totally normal thing, saying it wasn't a big deal since we didn't know each other at the time.

Looking back, it's a little...creepy. We met properly in 2020, but I remember him showing me a screenshot of a post he'd made in like 2015 where he reposted a piece of mine drawn in 2005, posted on my original dA account, under a different handle that is pretty much completely unconnected to my current online identity. I'm not saying he was stalking me for years or anything (I'd seen his fanfiction on AO3 for ages so it's not like we were unaware of each other's existence), but it still feels really fucking weird.

On top of that, by reposting it to that particular platform, he allowed my work to eventually be scraped to train multiple gen/A/I models without my consent. As if he didn't mistreat me enough during our relationship, he'd apparently been taking advantage of my work for years before that.

The more I think about it, the more it bothers me. Like...what the fuck, honestly. I don't have any other way to quantify it other than "what the fuck."

Just...why would he do that? And he didn't tell me about it until years into us knowing each other. When I said (as gently as possible) that I didn't like it, he said that he couldn't ask me back then because he didn't know me, so it was okay—and it would have been okay by now anyway, since we were in a relationship, so it wasn't like I was gonna tell him to take the posts down.

I don't know. It's bothering me a lot recently. Reposting other people's art without even trying to credit is bad enough, but this just feels like some next-level bullshit.

[thelegendofstella]

you have to wake up.

how?

you turn on the light.

(click/tap for better quality. closeups, notes, etc. under cut)

EDIT 4/9/2023: Image alts updated with IDs as per asking/request! I was way too tired to even think about doing them when I first posted this, lol, my bad

Closeups:

I CAN'T BELIEVE I MANAGED TO FINISH THIS IN TIME FOR THE FINALE. OH MY GOD

I've been working on this for ages (read: procrastinated until the last few days) and I can't believe how good this turned out in the end. For my standards, anyway. I just had to get this out somehow before the finale aired and I actually made it,,, Yay ;u; (1:30 AM on the day of is close enough, man fgyusdgshfsddsf)

This is basically kind of a redraw of one of the scenes in the WaD trailer we got a couple of weeks back that implied Amity and co. were attacking Luz because they thought she was Belos, because wow that was sure something. But I really have to give credit to this post for being my main inspiration and reference—that combined with the analysis posts of the trailer that have come out since then just really got my drive going.

I surprisingly don't have much to say about the process of this other than oh my god it was so hard to get all of their base colors??? Especially Willow's eye color, can you believe they've never shown her open eyes without glasses in natural light. I can, I looked. Besides that I am woefully unpracticed in shading so I just kinda winged it as best as I could here fdhjsdf.

(Please appreciate Belos' hands here, it took me fucking ages to get them right in the sketch. Perspective hands SUCK)

This came out to 3000px width by 1200px height, the largest canvas I've ever done so far. The .kra file of this has 981 layers, including folders (of which there were a lot because I am stupidly organized like that), and more filter layers than I know what to do with lol.

[ctcomix]

DYNAMO HEROES HERO WATCH ISSUE #1

22/11/24 - Prologue & Chapter 1 Retrospective

Hello! My name is Andrew and I’m the creator of a webcomic called Dynamo Heroes! Recently the first chapter of the comic ‘The Medallion’ finished uploading onto Webtoon and Tumblr, and I wanted to take a moment to look back on the past few months. I’ll also be showcasing my favourite comments and dropping random lore and doodles cos why not. Mostly I’m gonna dump a load of thoughts I’ve had lately!

Random Thoughts

WHAT THE HECK - 30 subs in three months on webtoon??? Won’t lie, I thought that I’d get little to none during the first arc, or at least the first few chapters. Maybe my dreams of getting 50 subs by next summer will actually happen?? My overall goal is 100 subs altogether so!!!! It’s happening!!!

Oh, I wanted to clear up some things about the comic’s structure cos i’ve planned out a good chunk of the story. This first ‘arc’ is about 10 chapters long, and most of the comic’s arcs are about 10-20 chapters long with the longest written so far being Arc 8 with 19 chapters. As of this newsletter, I’m in the middle of writing Arc 9, and the last chapter I finished writing was chapter 131 pfff

This is prose written btw - not like comic script which is a format I’ve looked into before, but prose writing is just easier for me to adapt into comic since I can really go into the character’s headspace and do appropriate expressions and body language.

Also! I found this old photo of working on the chapter back in 2022, feat. Sushi

CHAPTER ONE THOUGHTS

The Medallion (and Prologue) is done and out there, and I have a lot of regrets… I mean, I’m kidding - I’m just a bit shook by the artwork quality. In case you missed on that one random post I did on Tumblr at like page 22 or so, a majority of these pages were created over a year or two ago - especially the prologue which i worked on in 2021… when I decided I had a large enough backlog (about 150 pages) I had gotten SO much better at art and creating comics, so I decided to redraw the Prologue, which the original looked SO bad compared.

Original Prologue:

New Prologue:

Yeah, I'm glad a redrew it lol. I also redrew the first scene of chapter one (pages 17 to 21), and wanted to redo a few more pages, but my partner convinced me not to so I can actually upload the dang thing… This comic has been in production for at least three years after all. If I just redrew all the pages again, it would NEVER see the light of day. Truthfully, I was procrastinating. I was scared of posting.

Alas, here we are. Sam has the medallion and Chester (Puppet) is being difficult about the whole thing. There’s not really much more I can say, the story hasn’t really got going yet. I can say though, that you can probably tell I was so obsessed with Chester while writing this arc lol. Also Circe. I love Circe.

Comments

Of course, I have to shoutout the first ever comment Dynamo Heroes received:

‘Request: please give Sam prehensile hair powers please?@@’

Thank you, Nable#. Your comment was truly a gift. Unfortunately, Sam will not be getting prehensile hair powers, but that sounds like a cool concept! I’ll definitely consider it for a future character!!

Next up I want to shoutout and thank brotheboss for being such a BRO and leaving a comment on almost every page so far - I’m always looking forward to hearing your thoughts, even if it’s just ‘uh oh.’ (that being said, if you’re reading this brotheboss, please don’t feel pressured to comment! Comment and read if and when you wanna :)) I think my favourite brotheboss comment in this first chapter was:

‘puppets ponytail goes crazy ngl’

This comment gave me a crazy big smile. It DOES go crazy doesn’t it? Thank you!

Finally, I'd like to thank Dr Everlasting for the shoutout to a TV show i’d never heard of called ‘The Greatest American Hero’ - I’m definitely gonna check it out, looks super charming!

Thoughts of the Future

I’m going to try keeping this whole newsletter short, obvs i haven't been able to stop yapping so far, so I’ll fill this section with sections I want to add to the newsletter once the comic perhaps has more of a following. I’m sure whoever’s reading this rn isn’t that invested in myself and this comic to keep reading past the first couple sentences, so if you’ve made it this far thank you! Or you’re my partner, to which I say hi honey : P

A section I’d like to add maybe is a script to screen type comparison - where I compare a section of the original prose to one of the pages and explore my thought process with changes and creation and such. I’m not so sure about adding this one, we’ll see.

Another section I’d love to do someday is popularity polls - y’know like in shonen jump? This comic is going to get SO many characters and I’d love love looove to see who’s peoples favourites from arc to arc, or like favourite moments/scenes etc. I think it’d be super fun! I think I’d like to hold a popularity poll when we get to 100 subs!! Let's make it happen!!

CONCLUSION

Ummmm,, that’s it! For now! I’m gonna be writing another one of these at the end of chapter 2 so hope to see you there! Thanks!!! To end off here's some random out of context teases of chapter 2:

Thanks again! Have a good day! TODAY'S STATS:

Views: 2179 Subs: 34 Likes: 226

[poupeesdecirque]

Posting by Queue, or: why I need some distance from my crafts

It has been some time since my last hobby meta blog entry, it had different reasons and one is that I need distance. Like, yes I of course enjoy crafting and sometimes I am like a little child that runs everywhere to show off things.

But it got ... less intense. And I learned I do better when I keep projects or at least details to myself to sit on them for longer. That the first euphoria is purely mine and not to be shared.

Like for my photos I have a buffer of several weeks now. Yes, I know past-me would have kind of hated that. But I learned I do better when I have a time buffer. I do take photos weekly but sometimes they don't feel special enough to get the weekly photo feature?

Friday & yesterday I went out for photos and while I like the ones from yesterday way more than the ones from friday I am not sure if the set from yesterday will get the feature or not as it's only a hand full of photos giving me that certain spark.

Other than that I am a very emotional artist, I sometimes really fuck up my art and hate it at the moment I worked on it, but then, sometimes, after a few days or weeks I can look at it and just wonder about what was my problem the day I made it.

Another thing is that I, myself, enjoy my art. The process of it. And I like to see my blog updating, sometimes I forget what post will go online and then I check the blog and think "ah yes, this was that thing!", and it reminds me why I made the blog overall, to show myself I had progress and that every tiny step counts.

Which leads to another reason why I hold back in regards of posting. Yes, I do share some snippets in my stories over on insta but not always and not all. I sit on over 300 drawings from the last two years alone nobody ever will see, I enjoyed drawing but it's nothing for the public eye. I will maybe go back and redraw some and share the redraws then, who knows?

But wait, there is actually more reasons.

The biggest or main reason is ... i sometimes go really wild on projects. In January I finished so many dolls it was insane, I worked on Cosplays and other crafts in an incredible speed, I have literally no idea where I found the time but I somehow did and doll parts arriving every week did the rest.

I keep the blog running with partially 2 month old stuff but .... to be honest I don't have doll stuff aside photos to do anymore. All I can do is wait for bodies to be shipped (or dolls even) and arrive. There has been no movement since January. Aside Iza getting the shipping notice for our Split, might take a while until its at her place and I can't really start on the Akuma until I got the body (which I at least have finally ordered this month) as colors need to be matched and mods to be made.

I am truly itchy to do something else than sewing all the time, I do enjoy cosplay but you know how much I like sewing (hint: not at all). So to remind myself of the fun I had in the past weeks I have mixed my blog to bless me with some progress I had which was maybe not sewing all the time. And well, the Cosplays have deadlines and I do get some ideas aside purely sewing while doing them, so that keeps me going for now.

Yes, I could start redoing dolls like Alastor or Erwin. But you know what? IT'S ALMOST ALL SEWING. Urgh.

Aside that real life is pretty good at eating me up and I just want to enjoy crafting. Right now drawing feels like stress relief but I hate the results and just scan the pieces and put them away to never look at them again, I have a bunch of posts queued up without any captions, a wip entry of a current project only has two photos but I lack the spoons to actually get them done. But since those posts are so far back it's fine (yes I know drafts are a thing).

In general I enjoy having my art to myself to get used to it before I put it out into the wild as I just recently got reminded I do bad with direct comparisons still and it hits some triggerpoints from the past and makes everything harder, I don't need that.

I literally have no idea if this blog makes sense even, lol. I just am tired of sewing and stopped working on my current project around lunch time and have drawn so much today and I walked way too much the whole week my friends urged me to stay the ef home and at least try to relax. But I'm restless as my body is too stressed (I know it all I'm a certified relaxation trainer so eh), so, have an over the place blog entry.

[ask-knowledgekeepers]

"Wisteria...?" Noir called out to the mismagius seeing the face as he gulped "You are wisteria correct ?" he asked almost carefully the feeler reaching out to the ghost type giving soft caress on cheek "What happened...?" he was stunned to see the emotionless pokemon before shaking his head pulling Ivy in a gentle hug "Sorry, I didnt mean to ask so bluntly... I feel like you need this..." he chuckled softly "Im here for you, you know ?"

Ivy seemed to calm down at the Sylveon's reassuring words, she just nervously looked away and muttered a faint "I'm sorry."

She cringed as his ribbon touched her cheek, for some odd reason, the ghost was expecting something worse. Though she wasn't sure why. From what she could recall about him, Noir wasn't a cruel or mean Pokemon. Though she couldn't be sure, her memories of them were a bit hazy.

Ivy instantly backed away at the question, she looked like she was about to say something but quickly went silent. Her gaze fell to the floor as she refused to answer. Noir didn't seem to push the matter either much to her relief. However, She didn't have time to react before Noir pulled her into a loving but firm hug.

She quietly sniffled as tears began streaming down her face, it'd been so long since she cried. Years even, now that she was she couldn't seem to stop herself. As all the memories began to flood back Ivy cuddled into Noir's hug, despite the sudden emotional pain she was hit with, she was glad someone she knew from the past was here to at least soothe it.

→ Ivy will now respond "normally" to those who know her as Wisteria. → Noir has been added to her [Family] on the Relationships Page. → Ivy is unavailable for asks until further notice.

- Mod note below -

For those who do not know who Noir is, Noir is one of the Pokemon who adopted Wisteria (Now Ivy) on @ask-north. She considers them to be one of her parents. Wisteria cared a lot for Noir, her one wish was for him to not forget her.

If you would like to see their interactions here is a list:

Original Noir and Wisteria Interaction

Original + Noir's Reply

Reply 2

Noirs Reply 2

If you enjoyed this post even slightly you have Sleepy to thank for that! They're the one that originally came up with the interaction. They were even kind enough to doodle it out then send me this ask, I just adapted it into my own style and added my own flare to it.

This post has been in the works since January of this year, I had to redraw this twice due to being unhappy with my style and the flow. I'm very pleased to finally feel confident enough to post it.

=======

I'm also happy to say this will be the last Ivy-related ask I will be answering (for now). For those sick of Ivy, I'm sure you're very glad to hear that. I love her a lot, and I'm very annoying about it. I understand. I know you've all stuck with me this long and I'm very thankful for that, especially with my ups and downs of returning only to disappear into the void again.

I did have a majority of the "Pretender" arc drawn and sketched and ready to go but I scrapped it due to a random sudden hate for how my art style looked. I unfortunately still have a lot of confidence issues with my art that I'm trying to work through. I just want y'all to know all of your love for my art and story really helped me gain it back. Knowing people like my content brings me so much joy, I hope I can continue to share the world and story I've built with everyone here.

And also, I assure you there are only Klaus-centered posts from here on. Well... until after a certain event happens that will bring the Pretender act to a close. Then I have to drag Ivy back in, Sorry not sorry! She doesn't sit in the Main character's box for nothing. /lh You'll get to meet her granddaughter very soon along with a little gremlin cat. 🤭

[jayextee]

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

(including Dragon's Curse/Adventure Island)

So, apart from the Brazilian release Turma da Mônica em: O Resgate, I believe I've played through every version of this game now. Spoilers, they're all 5/5 bangers.

In essence, one of the OG MetroidVania games before the genre was codified, in its year of release 1989 this was absolutely amazing and truly made me have no regrets growing up as a SEGA kid. I believe I've waxed lyrical in my review of the 2017 remake, so I won't gush too much. Heh. So instead, some notes about the three main versions before that.

The original Master System version needs no introduction. It's a solid romp, probably the best game for the system. Looks great, sounds great (with PSG or FM sound!), and is a nice 2-3 hour distraction when I need it. No notes.

The PC Engine version, known either as Dragon's Curse or Adventure Island (confusingly, given the series' spaghetti-ball of a lineage) is a fair enough game. Because it's the Master System version. Kinda. Apart from some changes to Lizard and Piranha Man, plus Lion Man being replaced with Tiger Man, you'd be hard-pressed to see any difference between the two outside maybe one or two recoloured skies. But I assure you, there's more shading on almost every visual element here.

This may sound like a diss, but despite it not really 'feeling' like PC Engine fare it's still good. It does run at a full 60fps though; double the other two versions here.

My initial impressions of the Game Gear version were basically to the tune of 'oh dear, oh dear me'. I wasn't impressed. Rather than redraw a whole game's worth of assets to compensate for the smaller screen real-estate, the game is instead crunched to a tiny space with simplified layouts in places. Combat is tougher as a result of the reduced visibility, but it's nothing that can't be adapted to. Oh, but I'd have killed for a camera that looks ahead in the player's facing direction. Alas.

However, as I played further, stubbornly due to my want to play all the versions of this childhood favourite, I started to notice changes that really improved things on a fundamental level.

For starters, the 'charm point' system is gone (buy what you want, when you want! As long as you've got the rubies, uh, coins), as with the 2017 remake. Unlike that version, however, the charm stones have been replaced with teleportation gems that serve to return the player to the main village on use. And there's plenty of them; perhaps a quality-of-life measure with the Game Gear's poor battery life in mind? Either way, it's welcome -- even if the lack of 'home' doors post-boss was initially sorta confusing.

But. Also. Due to the game essentially having a small-scale redesign to accommodate the crunched screen, certain areas have a particular new 'flavour' to them. It's now impossible to accidentally stumble into the lava canyon area before you've access to Piranha Man's swimming now, for example. There are a few interesting screens in the final dungeon as well, and the pyramid's key is now in the sphinx at its far side. Et cetera, and so on, and so forth.

Actually that made this version totally worth playing through, and I think it remiss to not have paid homage to some of the changes in the 2017 version. Ah well. Had it a look-ahead camera I'd actually call this tiny handheld version the definitive one of the pre-remake versions. But it's not to be.

Either way, I told ya. Three absolute banger versions of a great game.

5/5