#i haven’t drawn sonic characters in ages

[mothpendragon]

Here, have some sonadow sketches

Outfits are based on my build-a-bears

[angelicdudles]

I’ve come to the conclusion I am heart and spiky shaped

[citkatdrawz]

[DO NOT REPOST MY ART! Shares/reblogs appreciated instead!]

Art dump of my first contributions back into the Sonic fandom! I haven’t been here in ~10 years, and I’m so glad I’m seeing people appreciating these characters! (Yes, Shadow is my favorite and has always been)

-

Also, Shadow is drawn here at 25 yo for preference. Any art I make of him at his canonical age, it will be noted!

[icekingofhope]

(Enjoy this meme here-)

so the Sonic 3 trailer is out and I decided to go on and make a silly post and a small announcement

I have decided after much debate I will start officially making sonic art NOW KNOW I am new at drawing the sonic artstyle so the characters may look like something out of the shining or something cause I’m getting used to drawing them I done the same with the lmk style until I perfected it

Anyways I decided to ramble my thoughts on the trailer and why I love Sonic

now I am a sonic veteran I have drawn sonic before but when I was way younger but Sonic has stuck by me I remember back in the 2000s I used to watch sonic underground a lot on Netflix that’s how long ago it was I always loved sonic I loved the video games even own some sonic games myself!

my first one was sonic unleashed one of my favorite games I always loved and still love to this day the time where he was a werehog and sometimes I even wish he can go back to werehog sonic and plus it introduced me one of my comfort songs endless possibilities

I got way more into Sonic thanks to the anime Sonic X I didn’t watch the whole series cause it started to get weird but it was how I was introduced to shadow one of my favorite characters

I remember I was so intrigued I tried to find other content and then I found YouTuber named animebromii (who unfortunately is a…well piece of shit to sum it up he was one of those found out to get to close to kids type of YouTubers category but that was found out right after I stopped watching him) I remember his Sonic videos always made me filled with joy and made me love the characters more

although I stop getting into Sonic as fans started to get a little to weird for my taste and such and Sega didn’t know what the fuck they were doing

what rekindle my love for Sonic was well the Sonic movies and as I watch I remembered the joy I had for it and started to slowly get into Sonic again and explore more of it due to being more mature and such I turned out to have well a lot of unpopular opinion that I know will have a mob of angry Sonic fans chasing me with pitchforks

Just Some headcanons and ships I don’t agree on and such even some dislike on how Sega is going about like trying to make sonamy now NOTE I don’t mind sonamy hell as a kid I was one of the people who ship it or more specifically the werehog sonic x Amy (i saw so many AMVs and one of those story shits….you have no idea how much of a huge werehog sonic fan I was) but the reason it makes me uncomfortable cause I found out Sega have gave the group canon ages at one point….

which where Amy is 12 and sonic is 15 NOW I don’t know if this is true I haven’t seen proof and out of all honestly I personally think the ages shouldn’t have been confirmed cause well it feels like to me it fucks up the lore and a lot of ships people love and you could have your own headcanons and such for their ages and to me Sonic doesn’t feel like he is 15 to me like hell when I was younger I thought he was ALEAST 18 or 16

There is only few ships I feel comfortable with that is Elise x sonic and sonia x knuckles

now admittedly yes I maybe not the biggest Sonic fan I haven’t read any of the comics i haven’t played all the games hell sometimes I don’t know half of the characters sometimes but still I love Sonic with all my heart and I hope you guys enjoy this little adventure of mine of Sonic the hedgehog

[string-worm-jester]

Tell us more about the ATLA Au!!!!! Pretty please with a cherry on top! 🙏🍒❤️‍🔥

Well since you asked so nicely :]

So here’s what I’ve thought of so far regarding characters

- Sonic- air bender

- Tails-earth kingdom or fire nation boonies, non bender

- Amy- kyoshi warrior, non bender

- Knuckles- earth, wrestler *cough* the boulder

- Shadow- avatar, water tribe, elements come easy except air as it’s the element of freedom and letting go

- Rouge - fire nation rogue, non bender, blue spirit vibes

So now onto the different versions this first is a little more lighthearted and goofy like atla and the one I’ve given more thought to

Cut because it got long

In this version Shadow is the avatar and a very talented healer living with Gerald and Maria in one of the poles. Maria is still very sick, she and Gerold used to travel the world more when she was younger but had to stop as the the cold and quick access to healers helped slow her condition but never healing it. Luckily after adopting shadow and discovering his talent in bending Maria actually seemed to improve with his treatments. But then at sixteen we discover that shadow is the avatar and must journey to the other nations. Shads is not happy to leave Maria behind even with her condition improving it will surely decline without him. He makes a deal with the sages to be able to visit his tribe every couple of months to keep Maria’s sickness at bay (ie he wouldn’t have gone otherwise).

Anyway time passes shads is studying in the earth kingdom and is making his usual trip back home when finds his tribe had been under attack, there were many casualties including Maria and in his distress he ends up forsaking the world and closing himself off to it and going into the avatar state sealing himself and his village in ice forever trapping them in this moment.

Years (50) pass and a traveling monk, sonic, and his brother, tails, come across the frozen village and shadow, in his frozen state, not yet realizing it’s an actual mobian, in their travels. Tails gets very geeky and wants to do some exploration and excavation on the “perfectly preserved utopia”. (Sonic finds himself gravitating to the “statue” a lot) So they end up staying a while something happens and the ice breaks freeing the avatar. Shads still hates the world and would prefer to go back in ice but can’t call upon the avatar state again. As someone who’s very drawn to the world Sonic is determined to reignite his love for the world meanwhile shadow can’t figure out why this air bender won’t leave him alone. They part ways a lot but somehow always manage to run into each other.

Still working on the antagonist side of things

Fun facts:

Maria is the one who liked to string beads into his quills and made his other hair accessories (even if it was a bit more feminine) and he never stoped wearing them

Shadow is also a very talented ice/speed skater and uses it and a combination of the other elements to help him in his races with Sonic

Even with avatar abilities he sometimes still has trouble with beating sonic in a race

Sonic has been an air bending master from a young age and prefers to travel the world

Sonic does become his air bending teacher

Alright in this next version I think it’s a little more Korra like and a bit more true to sonic canon but I haven’t put too much thought to it, the two have fairly similar characteristics to the first. Sonic is the avatar while Shadow is a creation between Gerald and Vaatu (aka black doom) becoming like a “dark avatar”.

That’s about all I got of that one, tho it might just get absorbed into the previous version tbh. But yeah I might post a least more character designs later.

[pyxilate]

An HSR OC I may or may not have made to date SW.

EVERYTHING ABOUT HER (except what she actually looks like because I haven’t drawn her yet):

Name: Nyx

Affiliation: Antimatter Legion

Age: Between 17-21

Path: Harmony

Type: Lightning

Quality: 5 Star

Trailer Name: Speed Me Up

Relations: Nanook (parental figure), Seele (biological sister), Silver Wolf (best friend/crush)

Home Planet: Punklorde

Planet of Birth: Belobog

Hair Color: Red/Purple/Black; Can turn Blue

Eye Color: Violet

Accessories of Note: Butterfly behind her right ear; giant scythe, also butterfly themed; Sonic the Hedgehog pin in her hair

Important Actions of Note: Elio cannot predict her; beat the Sonic the Hedgehog Speedrun world record with an in-game time of 8m35s on PC; emanator of destruction; Infiltrated the Stellaron Hunters under the guise of allyship, betrayed them, and got out unscathed; nearly accidentally died when young due to following around a butterfly and being lost in the fragmentum of the underground; was temporarily abducted by aliens for a brief time period before their planet was blown up by Nanook; Seele’s younger sister and a diehard Bronseele shipper- an efficient wingwoman indeed.

REGULAR STATS

LVL 0:

HP 134

ATK 156

DEF 69

LVL 80:

HP 1842

ATK 2978

DEF 237

RESTING STATS:

Max Energy: 95

Speed: 120

ABILITIES:

Talent: I Am Starchasm (Battle-imitating strike that applies lightning DOT to all enemies and deals a small amount of Quantum DMG to any enemies with that weakness)

Technique: Gotta Go Fast [Enhance] (Immediately raise Nyx and her allies’ speed so they will, no matter what, be faster than the enemy in the next triggered fight)

Basic Attack: A Simple Game (Nyx hits the enemy for simple DMG. One stack of ‘Normal Speed’ will be applied to an enemy up to a maximum of 5 times. A single stack of Normal Speed will increase the enemy's speed slightly but also greatly increase their vulnerability)

Skill: For Nanook and Bronie [Blast] (Nyx will hit the target enemy before her with her scythe and apply one stack of ‘Normal Speed’ to it. The enemies to the side will be hit for an equal amount of DMG but not be applied with any stacks of ‘Normal Speed’)

Ultimate: This is Not a Drill (Nyx will run extremely fast, striking the enemy several times with an attack based on her running so fast it doesn’t look like she’s running. Increase her and ally’s speed by 15 instantly, and increase allies’ crit rate by 15%)

Follow-Up Attack: Snow Hill Zone (Once per charge, requiring two turns to charge up, if at any point on there fight Nyx’s speed exceeds 135 a follow up attack is initiated after every Basic ATK, dealing Lightning DMG equal to that of the character. If the 135 speed threshold is not met, Snow Hill Zone will take an extra 2 turns to be charged. An exception to this is an enemy with 5 or more stacks of ‘Normal Speed’)

Signature Light Cone: Runner’s Meta

RUNNER’S META

Path: Harmony

Quality: 5 Star

Increases the user’s base speed by 10/12/14/16/18, and Break Effect increases with a base chance of 10%/13%/16%/19%/22%.

It is said that the most effective tactic available to a runner is to run like you’re being chased by a monster. This is of course totally made up, as that running style is generally inefficient for competitive racing, however, it’s possible it could help someone one day. 

LVL 0:

HP 64

ATK 73

DEF 14

LVL 80 :

HP 904

ATK 1286

DEF 193

Secondary Light Cone: Seele Onee-Chan!

SEELE ONEE-CHAN

Path: Harmony

Quality: 4 Star

Increases the user’s base speed by 1%/2%3%/4%/5%. Increase Break Effect by 7%. If used with Seele on the team, double the amount of speed boost given to the character using this light cone.

This light cone is perfect for little sisters who miss their big sisters! Once they run fast enough, they can finally catch up to their big sisters with lots of nice and shiny achievements to impress her with.

LVL 0:

HP 38

ATK 41

DEF 14

LVL 80:

HP 984

ATK 989

DEF 206

TRACES

Bonus Trace 1: Find Your Flame (Upon entering battle, if Nyx is the first character to act, the use of a basic skill will enhance every other team member’s turn to repeat once after their first action)

Bonus Trace 2: Aria Math (Once Nyx breaks an enemy’s weakness with 3 or more stacks of ‘Normal Speed’ from her Skill, immediately trigger her follow up attack as well as an extra turn for the character with the highest speed other than Nyx)

Bonus Trace 3: Dream in Drive (The use of Nyx’s ultimate will automatically increase the Crit Rate and speed of the ally with the highest ATK by 15% and 12 respectively, and increase the Crit Rate of the ally with the lowest ATK by 25%, while also refilling any follow-up attack gauges by 1 required turn)

EIDOLONS

E1: Minecraft (Break effect is increased by 17% in a single fight every time she lands a single crit and resets outside of the fight)

E2: Undertale (When Nyx’s health gets below 50%, once, on a single battle, increase her speed to the 135 threshold. If already there, cause her to automatically go next two times in rapid succession)

E3: Hollow Knight (Increase the DMG dealt by the ultimate times 6.78% of Nyx’s break effect)

E4: Sonic the Hedgehog (Every time Nyx uses her Basic ATK increase speed by 10 in a battle up to a max of 170 total speed)

E5: Scarlet Nexus (any Antimatter legion enemy will take 15% less DMG from Nyx’s skill, but all other enemies will take 30% more)

E6: Honkai Impact 3rd (When another character executes a follow up attack, automatically trigger her follow up attack regardless of speed or charging point. This includes enemies)

BEST RELIC SET:

Head- Iron Cavalry’s Homing Helm (HP%)

Body- Iron Cavalry’s Silvery Armor (ATK%)

Gloves- Iron Cavalry’s Crushing Wristguard (Break Effect)

Feet- Iron Cavalry’s Skywalk Greaves (SPD)

Rope- Talia’s Exposed Electric Wire (Break Effect)

Sphere- Talia’s Nailscrap Crown (Lightning DMG Boost)

VOICELINES:

First meeting: Hey, (Trailblazer). I guess we’re working together from now on. How ironic.

Greeting: Hey there, Speedy. How’s your day going?

Parting: Leaving so soon? I’ve barely had enough time to run circles around you.

About Self (Trust): I don’t trust easily. Don’t expect you to be any exception.

Chat (Plushies): Silver Wolf once got me a stuffed Saber Tooth for our two-month friendaversary. I can’t sleep without it.

Chat (Nicknames): I give everyone nicknames. Sometimes they’re ironic, like yours. I call you Speedy, but you’re actually quite slow.

Hobbies: Speedrunning video games and playing Super Smash Bros with Wolfie.

Annoyances: Whenever someone interrupts my speedrunning, it’s so irritating. Unless it’s Wolfie or big sis. Then it’s okay.

Something to Share: I call Silver Wolf ‘Wolfie’. At first she hated it, but after we got close she seemed to get kind of mad when I didn’t call her Wolfie. She’s so cute.

Knowledge: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your experience playing Honkai: Star Railed? :P

About Wolfie: She’s so calm and chill all the time. It’s a nice change of pace from how Punklorde is always loud and busy. She reminds me of Belobog sometimes, in that way.

About Seele: Big sister is amazing. She does so much for the underground and she did so much for me back before we were separated.

About Bronya: She’s my future sister-in-law, I tell you. Mark my words.

About Sparkle: It’s kind of weird to have a yandere obsessed over and evil clone of you, y’know?

Eidolon Activation: I’m ten steps faster and one step closer.

Character Ascension: Update running!

Max Level Reached: Top score any% glitch less speedrun! I’ll always be one second ahead.

Trace Activation: These were hell to make, you know. Show some respect and put effort into them!

Added to team with Wolfie: Wolfie! Hey, how are you? Wanna come over and play video games later?

Added to team with Seele: Hey sis. Glad to see you again.

Added to team with Bronya: Break my sister’s heart, I break your neck.

Added to team with Sparkle: Oh. *It’s you again.*

Battle Begins - Weakness Break: Faster than ever.

Battle Begins - Danger Alert: Gotta be ready to run.

Turn Begins 1: I could do this all day.

Turn Begins 2: Nah, I’d win.

Turn Idling: Could you hurry it up already?

Basic ATK: So slow.

Skill: I am all I am.

Hit by Light Attack: Is that all you got?

Hit by Heavy Attack: Dangit. I shoulda dodged that one.

Ultimate - Activate: They’ll know your name, burned into their memory.

Ultimate - Unleash (x2 Speed): So break through it all!

Ultimate - Unleash (Normal Speed): Override and overrun the competition.

Talent: Nyx does not feature any Talent voice overs.

Downed: I… wasn’t… fast enough.

Return to Battle: Nyx does not feature any Return to Battle voice overs.

Health Recovery: Finally got to keep up.

Technique: Disappear among the sea of stars!

Battle Won: I’m reaching far across new frontiers.

Treasure Opening: Nyx does not feature any Treasure Opening voice overs.

Precious Treasure Opening: What a gift. Hey, can I have it? I wanna give it to Wolfie.

Successful Puzzle Solving: Well that was quick.

Enemy Target Found: Let’s break em’ down.

Returning to Town: Back home in the green hill zone.

ASCENSION MATERIALS

Lvl 20: x5 Thief’s Instinct

Lvl 30: x10 Thief’s Instinct

Lvl 40: x6 Usurper’s Scheme, x 3 Void Cast Iron

Lvl 50: x 9 Usurper’s Scheme, 7 Void Cast Iron

Lvl 60: x 6 Conqueror’s Will, 15 Void Cast Iron

Lvl 70: x 9 Conqueror’s Will, 27 Void Cast Iron

Y’all, I’m so sorry, I had to put the Sonic references in there. I don’t know why, it was just a compulsory urge that I gave into. On a scale of 1-10, how would y’all rate her chemistry with SW?

I’m not telling y’all all her lore. Let’s just say she’s been thru it :/

[fleetways]

chimera baby fact of the day: why you should vote for Mira aka Chimera Baby. An essay by me.

@sonic-oc-showdown

TLDR at end.

When it comes to original characters on the internet, there is perhaps no example more infamous that those of the sonic the hedgehog franchise. Since the franchise’s very inception, original characters have served as a cornerstone to the series’ identity, and everyone who could call themselves a web-user during the 2000s/2010s knows exactly what I’m referring to when I say “Sonic OC.”

Sonic, in general, has had gained infamy on the internet for being one of its favorite punching bags, and nothing exemplifies this attitude more than the reaction to the hundreds of thousands of original characters for the franchise that exist across the web. Everyone knows them, and everyone knows the common tropes: traced Sonic-X screencaps, crude deviantart bases drawn over in MSPaint, mary-sues that our main characters are hopelessly in love with, characters that are just mish-mashes of existing characters, and of course, fanchildren.

To the average person, the existence of Sonic OCs is a spectacle, a hilarious and cringe-worthy spectacle to the point where it’s become a game to search up “(your name) + the hedgehog” and spend a couple minutes laughing at how bad the results are.

Now, I’ve been a casual sonic enjoyer since I first watched Sonic X back in the mid-2000s, but I didn’t really get into the series as a fan until around 2015. If you don’t know, the early to mid 2010s was a point where Sonic’s reputation was straddling the fine line between “complete joke” and “complete irrelevancy.” The disastrous Sonic Boom had just dropped following a lackluster reception of Sonic Lost World, and the social media and marketing angle of Sonic had shifted entirely into “they’re not laughing at us, they’re laughing with us!” territory. The official Sonic Twitter account became a meme in itself during this time, and I believe is one of the earliest examples of a corporate social media account taking a “How do you do fellow kids” approach of using popular internet memes and hip lingo to appeal to an internet-savvy generation.

(^this last tweet is still up, btw. i will be getting back to this)

With the social media going full “sanic, gotta go fast, haha kissing princess” and the games mostly abandoning its serious tones and stories for a greater focus on meta-humor, Sonic had official entered what has been come to be known as the “Meta Age.” The public may see Sonic as a complete joke, but it’s okay because we’re in the know that he’s a complete joke! Wink wink. (—Sega marketing circa 2015-2017)

I’m getting away from myself. “John Fleetways,” you’re asking right now, “what does this have to do with Chimera Baby or Sonic OCs??”

And to that I say this; I am currently soaking in the bathtub and thought I would use my day off from work to finally air some of my thoughts regarding the era of Sonic the Hedgehog I’m most familiar with. But also I think providing context is helpful in understanding why I think it’s so cool Chimera Baby made it this far in a poll like this. Moving on.

In 2015 I was in middle school, a horrible period in many of our lives. Middle schoolers are at that perfect age where they’re old enough to know cruelty but haven’t quite fully grasped empathy yet, so as the “Sonic Kid” during this time I’m sure you can guess how popular I was. Genuinely, I was very ashamed of my love for Sonic. This very blog I’m writing on now started in 2015 as a quarantine for me to keep any inclination of my fondness towards the series hidden away under lock and key. I reblogged fanart with no commentary, lest others think I was some kind of weirdo who had OPINIONS on SONIC THE HEGDEHOG. It took months for me to work up the courage to post my own art, and any shipping art was absolutely out of the question (because now THAT was cringe!!).

With time, I became more involved in the Sonic Tumblr community around 2016-2017 leading up to the release of Sonic Forces (which could be a whole essay in itself). There was one thing above all else I noticed at this time—something unique to the Sonic Tumblr scene as opposed to other Sonic communities on the internet. That is, of course, how much less homophobic it was.

Homophobia (and transphobia) has been a notorious problem in the Sonic fanbase, particularly in the mid 2010s. It’s an issue I’ve talked a little about on this blog before, but it’s really hard to describe just how prevalent it was on every site outside of tumblr unless you were there at the time. Folks, it was bad, especially in comparison to other fandoms. Much like the simple act of making a Sonic OC, “making Sonic characters gay” was “cringe” in itself. Hugely popular Sonic fanartists and bloggers (some of which are still active on Tumblr to this day) would openly express their opposition to “homosexuality” and the depiction of it, and this was a fact no one seemed like they wanted to address (or if you did, you’d be accused of “starting drama.” Sonic Tumblr was better by a long shot than any other site for queer fans, but it definitely wasn’t perfect).

The worst part was that the official Sonic social media team seemed to have no problems reinforcing these attitudes. For those unaware, “identifying as an attack helicopter,” as seen in the tweet above, is a transphobic joke that was used by right-wingers and edgy 4chan users to invalidate transgender and non-binary identities.

The Twitter takeover following the release of Sonic Forces included questions regarding two Sonic ships. When proposed with the concept of Sonic and Amy in a romantic relationship, the voice actors act coy, embarrassed, but in a good-natured manner. It’s a clear hint-hint wink-wink nudge moment trying to appeal to the fans of a popular pairing. As for the equally popular gay pairing, though, it doesn’t quite get the same treatment. No, when presented with a question about Sonadow (one they did not have to answer, they chose to answer this question out of hundreds of others) the actors can only respond with disgust and horror.

There was some backlash on tumblr following this exchange, but for most people it just made sense that Sonic Official would treat it like a joke. After all, this was Sonadow! A lot of people hated Sonadow because it was gay! Sonadow was a joke because it was gay! It was hilarious to a lot of people that Sonic Official seemed to know just how weird it was, and in turn those people felt validated by the company for their hate! And just to cover my ass here, I am not saying that people who don’t like Sonadow are homophobic. didn’t even like Sonadow that much at the time this stuff was happening, but no one is gonna tell me it wasn’t homophobic as fuck for them to pull that shit. And as a young queer fan who was deeply hurt by a lot of the homophobia surrounding a series I loved, it left an impact on me that I feel to this day.

Luckily, today things are much brighter as far as lgbt-friendliness goes than they were a few years ago, from both the fandom side and the company side of things. The days of Sonadow being treated as only a joke are pretty much gone, and regardless of your opinion on the pairing, it’s awesome to see that the official sonic sources seem to be taking steps to treat their queer audience and queer pairings with respect. In addition to this change, mostly gone is the era of self-referential, punching-down humor of the mid 2010s, and instead what I’ve seen is a new resurgence in genuine love for the franchise and it all it has to offer, including original characters!

And now, we have the Sonic Oc Showdown—a tournament whose purpose is to celebrate the original characters that for nearly 30 years have been considered the butt of the joke of the internet, aka “peak cringe.” Upon examining my history with the fandom, starting off as a kid horrified by the prospect of enjoying Sonic even in private, I’ve recently begun to strive to wear “cringe” as a badge of honor. Yes, I am cringe, but in the words of some tumblr user at some point: “I may be cringe, but I am free.”

This year has been particularly freeing for me. Like a lot of people, I made fanchildren back in the day. There’s something undeniably fun about taking two blorbos and shoving them together and drawing the resulting hybrid. There’s a reason fusions, like fanchildren, are such a popular trope in the Sonic fanbase. One result of there being so many fanchildren, however, is how tropes begin to emerge within the tropes. For example: A lot of Sonadow fankids look the same. It’s just the truth. Black hedgehogs with blue stripes or blue hedgehogs with red stripes, an amalgamation of recognizable traits from both parents that immediately tells you exactly all you need to know about the character (but still manages to be more creative than the offspring present in official sonic media [looking at you Archie]). I am no exception to this rule.

Circa 2018, I had made my own Sonadow fanchild. She was a blue hedgehog with red stripes named Maria—it really doesn’t get more cliche than that. Over the years I had completely forgotten about her, only to remember her once I stumbled across some crude sketches of her on some scrap paper I found while cleaning my room. There was an earnestness when I looked at them, a nostalgia I think we can all relate to when we look at our old art, and I took some time to whip up some redesigns and leave it at that. “Maria” faded to the back of my mind once more. I moved on.

“Maria” c. June 2022. Like Shadow had Terios and Silver had Venice, this was Mira’s beta design in a way^. Yikes. Look at those McDonald’s shoes.

And then, everything would change at the end of 2022 when I first found that image of the bootleg sonic and shadow plush. It was incredible: a design that perfectly encapsulated every cliche I could think of when it came to designing Sonic x Shadow fanchildren. The concept of a chimera character followed shortly after, and mainly on a whim I took some old sketches of “Maria” and turned her into the chimera baby we know today. I decided to post her on my blog, and to my shock, the post blew up. And soon, I found a familiar feeling creeping over me as more and more people gazed upon her.

“Uh oh, am I gonna be known as the sonadow chimera kid guy now?”

Suddenly I felt 14 again, hiding all my sonic stuff in a side blog where no one could see it. It was a little embarrassing, but the thing is, a lot of people liked her! Just half a decade ago, I could see this concept being submitted to one of those “cringe” blogs dedicated mostly to making fun of mostly young and beginning artists trying their hand out at an oc for the first time. But instead what I got was a lot of love! People saw this oc i made based off a joke, a bootleg plushie of Sonic and Shadow sewn together designed to be a parody of all the common fankid tropes and said “this rules.” And you know what? It did rule.

I would now like to address the elephant in the room. I know there are some who are not happy Chimera Baby made it this far into the competition, and that’s fine. As a fankid, and a “joke” one at that, some may not see her as being worthy as some of the ocs she beat. It’s tough to see, but that’s the thing about tumblr polls—you never know how or why people are gonna cast their vote. Over the course of these weeks, I’ve had to root against some fantastic characters, and now, Mira is here, but she’s not the same character as she was at the start. Yes, she is still a parody sonadow fankid based off a bootleg plush, but before she was just a concept more than a character. Now, I can say she’s a character with a backstory and hobbies and skills and weaknesses and a personality and relationships! This is the first time I feel like I’ve ever had a fully fleshed-out oc, and it’s been a blast to share her with the world. She’s become real—you, dear voters, have made her real.

In a tournament like this, a tournament celebrating Sonic ocs rather than making fun of them, I think it’s incredibly cool that a character who epitomizes a lot of the aspects considered by many to be “peak cringe,” (fankids, fusions, and lgbt shipping) managed to make it this far. I want chimera baby to be a bastion for all those who like me, were once too embarrassed to share their oc designs, fankids or otherwise for fear they would be seen as cringe. I’m here to tell you that no, you are NOT cringe. It rules, and I want everyone who ever made a silly little fankid especially to know this.

So while Chimera Baby making it this far is already a big win for folks like us, I think her winning this would genuinely be a great Fuck You to the years of fun and whimsy cringe-culture tried to take away from us. Also I think it would be really funny.

ANYWAYS THATS ALL VOTE FOR CHIMERA BABY SONADOW NATION AND ALLYS AND PPL WHO WANNA CAUSE A LITTLE CHAOS RISE RISE RISE!!!

Tldr: sonic OCs have been the poster child for “cringe” for like 30 years so it’s cool that a fankid based off a lot of these “cringe” concepts has made it this far in a tournament celebrating the positive side of sonic ocs, and I think it would be a great fuck you to cringe culture if she won and also really funny

SONIC OC SHOWDOWN FINAL ROUND

Mira belongs to @fleetways

Squabble belongs to @sonic-adventure-3

Find out more about them below!

Chimera Baby "Mira":

Chimera Baby is a chimera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)) and the oldest child of Sonic and Shadow. Mira was raised in the Chao Garden where she ate fruit and engaged in frequent karate matches and races and was very happy. As a young child she was very sweet and loving to her fathers but as she got older she has begun to experience latent Black Arms patricidal urges (exclusively towards Shadow).

Mira is the slowest in her family (but faster than you!), but has a very strong connection to chaos energy making her quite the powerhouse. However, she still has a long ways to go before she can actually hope to defeat Shadow. In her teen years Mira has become somewhat of a delinquent, speaking very little and preferring to get her messages across through action alone. She is the older sister of Mochi, who often acts as a mediator whenever she randomly tries to attack Shadow in the Costco.

Squabble the Pigeon:

incredibly cheerful untrained pilot and mechanic for a trio of freelance postal workers/hitman. LOVES airplanes and explosives and tinkering and package delivery, is a chronic pipe bomb maker, and has a boundless joie de vivre. she operates on cartoon physics, and has a messenger bag that functions as a hammerspace where she keeps her exposives, revolver, second identical revolver that pops a flag, bazooka, and everything else including the kitchen sink. incredibly cheerful and completely lacking in common sense or a coherent moral compass. about twelve, and on the short side.

[seagull-scribbles]

@rose12sworld sorry this took so long :)

I Normally won’t change Metals facial structure but Widening their eyes seemed like the best choice here….. may have to experiment with him some more x

I sent your comment in as an ask from my main so it would be the same format as the others, idk if you’ll get the notification though

[Ask meme here]

[shipadeeyah]

Oof I haven't drawn sonic in ages. Just wanted to do some art of Sonic referencing the pose off of the Sonic Rush box art. The soundtrack from Sonic Rush is freaking amazing especially for it being on the DS and each level was so fun and repayable!!! I'm ashamed to say that even after many attempts throughout my life that I am still stuck on the giant robot near the end ;m; . I tried playing Sonic Rush 2 and I really didn't enjoy having to find and travel to the islands so I stopped playing that after like stage 2. I absolutely adore early 2000's Sonic as Sonic rush, Sonic X and reruns of Sonic Underground were a huge part of my childhood. My favourite characters were Amy and Shadow <3 . Don't talk to me about Sonic's current state, it hurts to think about that. I'll at least always have awesome memories from the adventures that the game and shows gave younger me. ( ^ w ^ )

[royaljellysandwich]

It's about time we had "The Talk" (RE: 'Aging-Up')

Anyone who's commissioned me, or gave to my Patreon, or are thinking of commissioning me in the future should read this carefully and take note: --I have a serious message for all of you. This is a tough decision but I've put it off for too long. It's time to come clean and make some changes. I'm sure most of you have seen a lot of talk about a particular subject matter from the kink-art community in the past year or so, but I can assure everyone this has been an issue that's bothered me since I began drawing kink art. Specifically--underage characters involved in kink art. Now I'm not trying to single out any person or persons, I don't really believe anyone who's drawn or commissioned kink related content, and/or still does, is instantly a pedophile or anything like that. I am also aware of "aging up" characters (which I've done) but to be honest I don't see that as an acceptable excuse any more--in fact I kinda never really did. I was always uncomfortable with it, but I still went ahead with it anyway without acknowledging it, because I needed the money. In retrospect I should have turned it down or asked for changes. If this ever bothered you personally, I am sorry and it's not gonna happen again. You may have seen me bring this subject up before but then not act on it--I should have. It's time to stop kicking this can down the road and put my foot down. This is for the sake of my mental health. From now on I will not draw "aged-up" characters in expansion/kink art if they're not canonically 18 or older, regardless of whether or not the art involves sex or nudity. I also won't do any characters that ARE of age, yet are drawn to look underage. I will reject any commission or Patreon reward requests that do so. Please take note of any character's age and take the time looking it up BEFORE sending me a commission request. --Now I know I hear a lot of counterarguments to this: "They're 18 if the artist says they're 18" "It's not technically porn" "It's not real/only a drawing" "Age of consent laws differ depending on region", etc, etc... I'm not trying to dismiss those statements or say anything negative or judgmental about people who say/believe that, I'm just saying I personally am making a choice not to do it any more. It always gave me a badly anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach even thinking about it (I'm feeling it right now while typing this). I'm not doing this to "avoid getting in trouble" or kicked off any platform. This doesn't have anything to do with the rules and TOS of Deviantart, Patreon, FA, or any similar site, or any recent "crackdowns", or any other artist or user who has recently decided to do this. This is something I've had an issue with PERSONALLY, and for quite a while. I am under no outside pressure to do this. This is MY choice. If you're one of the people who've commissioned/patreoned something like this before, PLEASE don't feel bad, or think that I don't like you or don't want to do business with you any more. I don't think there's anything wrong with you, never did. I also realize this is going to really limit a lot of the characters I can draw--a lot of them characters that I really like. It counts out many Sonic characters, anime characters, etc. but I just have to deal with it and stick to my principles. I hope you all understand. --You might be thinking, does this mean I'll be taking down old art? As of right now, I haven't decided. I don't know if I'll end up taking things down or not, seeing as how a lot of the art is stuff someone paid for and it might not be fair. We'll see how things go. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your support. --RJS

[m-0-ths]

I haven’t drawn my sonic characters in ages so

Bird lesbian time

[mobius-prime]

162. Sonic the Hedgehog #94

Okay, okay. I know. I know how many of you just put your heads down on the table in complete exasperation. I get it. But just stick with it. Bear with me here. I had the same reaction when I first read through the comics - the reaction of why the hell does a Sonic the Hedgehog comic have a back to school episode?! - but in the end, it does tie further into previous points I've made about Sonic's character as well as the state of the war. That said, Spaz, what the hell happened to Mina up there? Why does she look… like that? Sonic and Tails look totally normal but Mina looks like she was dragged straight out of some badly drawn early 90s anime that only aired once in Japan and was never even officially subbed because it was so low quality. I know you're a better artist than that, Spaz, we've seen your work before! Come on!

New Order

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: FRY Colors: Frank Gagliardo

So right away, we've jumped forward a month and a half from last issue. That's one hell of a time skip, especially for a comic that doesn't usually do big time skips.

Of course, Sonic is not at all happy about being confined to Knothole. We’re talking about a character whose entire personality has always revolved around being able to run free and fight back against anything threatening his friends, who's now stuck hanging out in his room all day. Worse still, the entire time he's been in Knothole, he hasn't seen Sally once, having been prevented from seeing her by a combination of his house arrest and her royal duties. He still finds himself thinking about her, however, and she in turn has been thinking about him.

I honestly really like the use of Art Mawhinney's art to indicate that she's looking at a photo from when they were younger, given that his cartoony style contrasts with the more anime-like style that the comic has been going for lately. Also, while it's great that Sally has her family back at last, it's still concerning that they've been monopolizing 100% of her time lately so she hasn't had any time to see her old friends, even though they live in the same village. Sonic has also found his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the Overlanders he failed to save, who are still stuck inside Robotropolis for the time being, with shadow-bots enforcing nighttime curfews on them and keeping a close eye on their activities. Colin, exploring the palace, finds his brother working on something in the lab, and in the interest of keeping his dealings secret Eggman overenthusiastically invites him, along with Agnes and Hope, to spend some time together as a family. Hope, to her credit, seems very suspicious of Eggman, officially making her the smartest Overlander here despite being only fourteen or so (at least, the wiki has extrapolated that age from the dates of other significant events like the Great War and the length of the first war against Robotnik, though I'd personally put her at more like twelve). Eggman, to deflect from questions concerning how much he's changed over the years, asks Colin to describe why he and the other Overlanders were apparently just hangin' out in space for the past ten years.

Really, this entire interaction seems like something that should have happened right after the Overlanders' first entrance into the city, not six whole weeks afterwards, but eh, whatever. Anyway, Sonic finds himself unable to sleep properly the night before starting school, and gets irritated when Tails teases him about Sally being in looooove with him and wanting to get married in the future. The next morning, they find themselves roughly awakened by an earthquake, and immediately spring into action, falling right back into their routine as heroes.

At least Sonic is still able to keep his heroic actions up even when confined to the village, eh? In Robotropolis, Eggman visits Snively in his prison cell, and Snively begs not to be roboticized for being caught out after dark. Eggman agrees, in return for his loyalty of course, as well as zipping his lips about Eggman's true intentions for the Overlanders. He even decides to give Snively a little more incentive, in the form of a promise of revenge against his father Colin for not recognizing his brilliance all those years ago…

After breakfast, Sonic and Tails meet up with Bunnie and Rotor. Amy, if you'll recall, is still back in Mercia with her cousin Rob, and interestingly, Antoine isn't part of the crowd heading to school at all, suggesting that by now he's past high school age, making him the oldest Freedom Fighter. Sonic is concerned and disappointed that Sally is nowhere in sight, and reluctantly parts from Tails to go to his own class, since Tails is with the younger kids. However, back in Robotropolis, Hope has found herself becoming too suspicious of Eggman to ignore her concerns any longer…

Uh oh, Hope, you may have seen something you weren't supposed to see… better get back to safety before Eggman finds out about that and silences you. Tails is heading toward his class with the other kids when he realizes he's lost his bookbag somewhere, and in retracing his steps to find it, he suddenly finds himself confronted by the ghostly image of Athair, who tells him that he's needed as the Chosen One immediately and teleports him away, to the bafflement of a watching turtle in the hallway. Sonic gets to his class, and Mina is happy to see him there, thrilled that they're sitting near each other. Bunnie arrives as well, but when Sonic tries to introduce her to Mina she only gives her a cold "howdy," her mood suddenly turning quite chilly. And then, their teacher arrived, and class begins…

So this is what I was talking about before. We've already been over in previous issues how when it comes down to it, Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters are child soldiers who have never known a day of peace in their life. At least back when Robotnik was thought to be defeated permanently and the king was trying to get the kingdom back to a state of relative normality, Sonic was able to partially come to terms with the idea and find happiness in being able to settle down with his family. But now, the kingdom is back in a state of active war, and here he is, the spearhead of the resistance, forced to stay out of the conflict and learn physics and algebra in a standard high school setting. It's obvious that it's getting to him in a big way. We sort of end up stuck in this strange position where on the one hand, yeah, children and teenagers shouldn't have to be the ones on the front lines of a war, and should get a chance to just act their age and have a childhood, but on the other hand, Sonic the legitimate war hero is now stuck in Knothole with his hands tied, twiddling his thumbs while everyone else, even the others his age and younger (remember, he's the only Freedom Fighter on house arrest), are free to go and do whatever they like. It doesn't even seem like anyone has had the idea to try and get the Sword of Acorns back from Eggman, even though that's what started this whole mess. Honestly, I just feel bad for him. Once class has finally ended - after one hour of agonizing boredom for Sonic - he and Bunnie approach Nate, asking why they haven't seen Sally at the school yet. They're shocked to hear that she is instead receiving private lessons at the castle, only further isolating her from everyone else…

The Best Laid Plans…

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Rom Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Unlike the previous story, there's no time skip at all between last issue and this one - I'm just going to presume, honestly, that the disappearance of the Floating Island is an event that happened during that time skip, and the main story has only just caught up to it, because otherwise the timeline makes no sense. Nic is surprised to find Nack returning to her without Knuckles in tow, but is quite pleased when he tells her they got their money and a bonus to boot, and can wash their hands of the whole affair. As they leave, they remember that they left Charmy and Saffron further into the woods, but decide not to worry about it, as in the end, what can a couple of little bees do? Charmy and Saffron, meanwhile, begin to realize that they've been left alone, and immediately spring into action, hoping they can reach Knuckles before anything bad happens. Unfortunately, that's not really in the cards, as Knuckles has already been hooked up to the Chaos Syphon, with another echidna linked in on the opposite side, presumably to act as a conduit for the energy being sucked from Knuckles so it doesn't just explode into the air. At least, that's what I'm assuming, because it doesn't really specify, but this echidna does become important later on, so I figured I should mention him. Gala-Na again offers a weak non-apology for what she's about to do, before ordering the syphon switched on.

So, this is torture. This is just straight up an actual torture scene. Gala-Na is knowingly, willingly, torturing a sixteen year old because she's afraid of the power he wields despite him not even asking to be born with it in the first place. If anything, Locke should be the one facing punishment for what he's put Knuckles through, but of course, we know Penders would never let that happen. Knuckles starts screaming uncontrollably, and to the shock of the echidna onlookers, begins trying to resist the power of the syphon, making Gala-Na worry he might actually break free. The other echidna on the receiving end of the energy also begins to feel the pain, yelling that he thinks he can't handle any more, and while the others try to encourage him to hang in there, Charmy and Saffron happen upon the awful scene. As Knuckles finds himself actually reduced to begging for it to stop through gritted teeth and Gala-Na gives another "apology" to her "young friend" (can you guys tell how much I hate her? Is it too obvious?), Charmy and Saffron dive in towards the operators, hoping they can stop the syphon before Knuckles gets hurt too much more. Of course, this is Penders writing, so he can't resist throwing in another weird, stilted 90s feminist comment somewhere.

Earth to Penders: women don't actually talk like that. Also, oh yeah, remember that whole "flight mode" thing where apparently bees can turn small or big as they please? I almost forgot about that, but I guess that's what's supposed to be happening here. With the device shut off, Knuckles breaks free of the syphon, but only seems more powerful than ever, with his irises replaced by pure white eyes, and as everyone watches he disappears in a flash of energy. Gala-Na, aghast that her plans seem to have only made things worse (GEE, YOU THINK, GALA-NA?), tries to contact the weasels once again before they get out of range, but they witnessed the entire thing from the air and refuse to get involved any more than they already have, leaving a horrified Gala-Na to stand over the now-unconscious echidna on the receiving end of the energy, wondering what to do next…

[deepestuniversallove]

Selfship Positivity Day

So I heard that today is a day for some selfship positivity! I want to also thank a few people for tagging me in their posts!

I have joined the self-ship community on tumblr in early 2018. I have really started self-shipping when I was around 7 years old and fell in love with Bonkers D Bobcat, who was my first crush, but I promptly gave up on him when I saw that he had a crush on Fawn Deer in canon (as a kid I thought that canon was what was real, so....). I had a few minor crushes on a few other characters as well (like Johnny from S.O.S. Croco), but never actively self-shipped with them, I just found them really cool.

Then at 11 years old, I went to see the First Pokemon Movie and fell in love with Mewtwo at first sight. After Bonkers, he was the first character I actively started to self ship with, and he has been a great inspiration and help for me; I was raised in an emotionally abusive household, emotionally neglected, starved for affection that I never got. Plus my mother has narcissistic personality disorder and only sees me as a living plaything and extension of her - which this is no fun way to grow up. Add to this that I was pretty much the social outcast at school, and you would probably understand why I always had suicidal ideations, depression and eventually developed avoidant personality disorder. So yeah, seeing Mewtwo, neglected by the scientists who refused him warmth and him going against Giovanni... I wanted to be like Mewtwo, just as strong as him. Daydreaming of him in the evening was what kept me sane and gave me the feeling that at least someone loved me, even if he was fictional. Plus, through him, I learned about genetics and science and decided I wanna go into science (which led me to being a Biology PhD student today) - which led me into choosing Biology, Chemistry and English as my majors in our german school system.

I have always drawn the occasional self ship picture or sketch with Mewtwo, but back then, I mostly focused on shipping other pairings from other franchises. I came to the internet for the first time in 2005, when I joined Deviantart through other self shippers who had their sights on various Sonic characters and shipped their own OCs with them. In fact, I have made my own OC named Jamai Dark to ship her with Shadow the hedgehog.

The first picture with Mewtwo was one that I tried to trace from “Mewtwo Returns”. Though I still focused more on shipping other pairings and on the Sonic franchise. In any case, the Mewtwo artists back then were a huge inspiration for me.

My first fanchild with Mewtwo, Kunai, was posted online before I ever posted any of my selfship pictures, and even then, I avoided outright saying that she was supposed to be the daughter of me and Mewtwo because of the backlash I feared. I simply enjoyed watching the more daring artists who outright were able to profess their love for Mewtwo, which I didn’t have the courage for at first. My first other self shipper that I found was @desert-fairy-vixen, who had remained a loyal friend ever since I started out on Deviantart.

At 16, I became involved with a boy around my age and entered a relationship with him. He forbid me Mewtwo, stating that he wasn’t necessary any more, so I tearfully bid Mewtwo goodbye, writing him a poem as well as drawing one goodbye picture.

However, my relationship with my boyfriend was not that good, and without Mewtwo, I simply felt lost. My frist boyfriend belonged to a religious cult and was homeschooled; he was also heavily brainwashed that religion trumps over all, so I tried for years to reconcile his religion with my science, only finding that it was impossible. I have still stayed with this guy for 6 years, when he had started to control me even more with his abusive grip. I ended it with him then, and was heartbroken, feeling that I didn’t deserve Mewtwo after having left him to be with my boyfriend. So I couldn’t jump back into self shipping. Instead, I shipped certain pairings from the YuGiOh series, as well as Digimon, in the meantime. It was actually when I hit the Digimon stage that I started to self ship with Arukenimon. I also had a crush on Eridan Ampora.

In 2013, I had a dream in which Mewtwo fought and protected me from zombies. That was the point at which I decided that I want to be with Mewtwo again. Why deny myself this? Why hide?  And so I drew my first comic in which I tried to remember my past with Mewtwo, and this is how I met my first self shippers on Deviantart who also self shipped with Mewtwo. In fact, @sweetwhitechoco was one of the first I openly talked with when it came to Mewtwo. I have watched Lullaby-of-the-Lost and Kokoro-Tokoro from afar and didn’t dare to talk to them because they were out of my league, but seeing other people post self ship Mewtwo art made me want to do the same.

I only found out about the self shipping community on tumblr in 2017, after having had haters who told me that my self ship is vile and bestiality. Finding an entire community of self shippers was a blessing after having gone through such shit. I think I am still not over the fact that I have tried to give up Mewtwo when I came together with my abusive ex-boyfriend for the first time. Sometimes I wonder if Mewtwo would really want to be back together with me, or I feel unworthy of him. I can only hope that I may overcome this one day. Or it’s just a symptom of my AvPD, because I tend to push away those I love to not taint them with my imperfections.

In any case, onwards to the shippers I met on here!

@star-platinums-wife was one of the first self shippers, and through her and her followers, I got to know more self shippers. Though the concept of having a self shipping blog is what I have seen from @gamzeeismyboyfriend for the first time, and this was actually when I decided to post my selfship art on my blog too.

@asa-de-ouro is one of the best friends I could have hoped to find, and she is the mom friend for sure!

I also got to know @husband-of-lucoa, who is also a great friend and really loved by both Lucoa and Palutena! They both told me so!

@lightningsconsort Your love and devotion to your queen Lightning is such an inspiration, I wish you both many happy years together for the future!

@slyvivi has such a cute self ship with Necrozma, it is always a delight to see someone who also self ships with a Pokemon! You and Necrozma are so cute together, and I am sure that he sees you as the Light of his life. And @come-along-here-and-spin-with-me, you and Oracion are also such cuties together!

@lildreamysoul, you are an absolute Queen, and I kind of count you in as “above my league”; I love the ideas you have for self shipping! Making your own self ship mugs? A book with collected artworks? Acrylic charms? Like dang, you make me want to try this out as well!

@mrs-rock-light You reminded of the time when I found Zero so cool! :D I am glad that he found someone to be happy with in you! God knows after all his fights, he certainly deserves some happiness for a change!

@charles-self-inserts I am so honored that you wanted my self ship to be included with yours in a comission! ;__; thank you so so much for that!

@only-mewtwo Highfives! You and Mewtwo are so cute together!

@malt-tango :D I love all the discussions about details for fanfics that I can have with you, and I love your idea for my fanfics. It is thanks to you that I am now even attempting to write my self-insert more true to myself which I didn’t have the courage for before.

@plucky-belmondo AHH, you and Richter are so cute, and I love all the awesome designs that you made for your self-insert for Smash Bros! Amazing!!!

@goldenworldsabound  :D You, Spock, me and Mewtwo need to go out on a date together. :D

@rulersofthekoopakingdom You and Bowser are so cute! *_* <3 <3

I hope all of you had a great self ship positivity day! :D If I haven’t mentioned you in here, I am still probably watching you from afar and being too shy to say anything. ^^;; whoops.

[imnobodyuknow]

“And finally...”

“Whoa, hang on...  Where are my words?  I haven’t been shadow banned, have I!?”

“Oh!  There they are.  Whew, that’s a relief.  They’re usually in a word balloon above me somewhere.  That’s why I was confused.”

“Ahem.  And now, without further ado...”

Let’s take a trip back in time, shall we?

A large ship floats gently across the sea.  The growing waves begin to beat against it, making it rock slowly, as a storm gathers in the distance.  A small band of pirates quietly board the ship, only to find not a single soul in sight.  At first glance, it appears they’ve hit upon an abandoned ship, but before they have the time to celebrate...

“Surprise, me laddies!!”

Down swings a young sailor girl at the speed of lightning!!  (Appropriately, a bolt of lightning happens to strike behind her at that very moment.)  And before they know it, those pirates have a force to be reckoned with on their hands!  Heaven help anyone who ends up on the wrong side of her boots.

So, if you’ve been following this blog for long enough, you might remember this spry young lass from around a year ago.  I’ve only drawn head shots of her before, but now here she is in full costume and full color!  *grins*

The details of her story and personality are still “under construction” in my mind, but I can share some basic ones: she was born between the 1660s an 1730s (the age of sailors and pirates), she has a hot temper, and she prides herself on being a Jack (or Jill in this case) of all trades -- she can tie knots with lightning speed, fight like a maniac (using ropes to her advantage), navigate a ship through nearly any body of water, and dance like there’s no tomorrow.  Her hat happens to be an heirloom from her deceased father, who once owned the ship on which she now serves as a crew member -- and a vital one at that.

Also, let me once again give a shout out to a fellow artist, whose character’s hairstyle I borrowed for this one -- wonderfulworldofme!  I didn’t realize at the time that she was actually a two-tailed fox with a borrowed human form, but that's just a great big whatever.  X )

So, why my sudden interest in ships and sailors?  Good question.  I honestly haven’t been a huge fan of the subject before now, but some time ago I was watching Charriii5′s “GamingSins” videos (I was bored, so don’t judge me), and there was a part of the Sonic Colors one where he said “Pirate is now a language.”  This got me to wondering: where exactly did pirate speak come from?  So I did some brief research and discovered that they may not have spoken the way most people today imagine them to at all.  Go figure.

An even more interesting discovery for me, however, was the history of the word “buccaneer.”  It apparently comes from the French word “boucanier,” which translates to “barbecuer.”  This might sound odd unless you know precisely what a buccaneer’s job was -- to start a fire on a pirate ship in order to disguise it as a merchant ship; then, as soon as the first unassuming captain and crew took the bait, they’d come out from hiding and ambush them.  This is basically the same kind of strategy my sailor girl had in this picture, the only difference being that she used the element of surprise to stop a band of scurvy pirates in their tracks.  Needless to say, their thieving days were brought to a lightning-quick end.

I had some fun experimenting with perspective this time around.  The front of her boot was the very first thing I drew, hoping I’d be able to accurately draw the rest of her as she swings rapidly toward the viewer (i.e. you).  Lo and behold, I somehow pulled it off!

The top part of her classy outfit was inspired by a pirate costume I found via Google search (which, in retrospect, is sort of ironic).

The rest of her wardrobe -- her belt, pants, and boots -- was mostly ad libbed, but her gloves, as mentioned before, are carbon copies of those belonging to one Kay Faraday!

I don’t know if gloves like that existed in those days, but if you ask me, every stealthy heroine deserves a pair like that.

Finally, there’s the background.  To be honest, this picture probably would’ve been finished much sooner if not for all the minute details I felt like including from the picture I used of a sailing ship (or facsimile of one, most likely).

The cannons were the toughest part, with their concentric circles in the back.  The thunderclouds, lightning, and sea were also difficult to recreate with colored pencils, but I’d say they turned out okay for my first try at each of them.

One last thing I want to mention is how happy I am with how well her facial expression came out.

I originally intended for it to be a confident grin, but it turned out as a mixture of confidence and anger -- two things she has in bulk.  I also love the way her hair and earrings swoosh back as she swings.  Capturing momentum properly is a challenge, but it’s definitely rewarding when it works.

God only knows where and when this character of mine will be setting sail next (and when I’ll have a proper name for her), but for now, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into her sea-faring adventures!  Trust me, this girl’s going places.

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows Vol 2 #10-12 Thoughts

Previous thoughts here.

Even though issue #10 is a done-in-one and issues #11-12  two-parter, to all intents and purposes the three issues form a three parter, issue #10 acting as a kind of precursor to the latter issues.

  First things first the elephant in the room to address is Ryan Stegman as the writer and by extension the artists filling in for him.

  Whilst neither Stockman nor Level are the measure of Stegman, they both do respectable jobs, with Level’s art in particular being a better compliment to Stegman’s. This isn’t to say Stockman’s art is ill suited because like in issue #5 his style excels at expressive almost Rugrat looking child characters and issue #10 features one such character as the lead.

  Stegman for his part, whilst he may be working off of ideas leftover from Conway, does a surprisingly good job. There are some problems with issue #11-12 I will talk about later, but issue #10 is great and over all his dialogue, pacing and handling of the characters is solid, shockingly solid for someone who I do not believe has much (if any) writing experience. This applies to his writing contributions to issues #8-9 too.

  His work is not as layered or as nuanced as Conway’s but it’s still good, still cuts to the heart of this series (family) and still delivers on the emotion when needed.*

This arc as a whole provides a decent enough wrap up to the over all subplots across the series and the 12 issues as a whole did a good job in the pacing department.

I despise decompressed storytelling but RYV up to this point has handled it really well. The first 4 issues were the guiltiest in this department but their style of pacing was justified. Beyond that it’s been done-in-one stories or else two parters or in this case a pseudo three parter. This keeps things nice and breezy and makes you feel like things have actually advanced quite a bit since issue #1.

Of the three issues though it must be said issue #10 was the strongest and most interesting.

I said back when I covered issues #8-9 how I appreciated that each story across the series was mixing up which characters get the focus (last arc being Peter and more noticeably MJ) and that continues here. Whilst technically Normie is the lead character of issue #10 it’s Peter and Annie who’re the Parkers getting all the focus here, and it’s adorable.

  This is something we haven’t seen before outside of that back up from issue #1 and it’s nice to call back to that (along with the fact that Peter pumps Annie full of sugar when MJ’s away). The clever part of the story is how the focus upon Peter and Annie is complimented by the Lizard and Billy’s opposition to them. This recalls Mr. And Mrs. Spider-Man #1 from 2009 but also emphasises the key point of this story: Normie’s loneliness.

The whole issue is an exploration of Normie, his attempts to live up to his father and grandfather’s toxic legacy and how that quest and their absence in his life has left him alone and unprepared. He thinks he’s grown up to cope with the challenges facing him but he is still ultimately a sad little boy who misses his family.**

In particular in this issue and the next two Normie’s problems are highlighted when contrasted to Annie. Annie expresses gratitude for having a loving family like Normie lacks, calls out Normie on the depressing state of his young life and behaves (comparatively) more like a real child of around their age.

But it is also Peter’s treatment of him with small sympathy that highlight’s Normie’s childishness and pitiful emotional state. We see his anger is born less from a desire to honour his legacy, or even plain old revenge but more a childish anger about just not having his parents (specifically his Dad around). And Stegman and Stockman just sell it!

You see the shades of Norman and Harry’s vendetta cropping up in him but just from a different angle. This permeates through the arc actually and both directly and more subtly recalls DeMatteis and Buscema’s Harry Osborn arc from the early 1990s.

It’s not just fun or coincidental references either it taps into the idea of how family legacies can be toxic which is contrasted nicely with the family dynamic of the Parkers.

This comparison and contrast between the Osborns and Parkers deepens in issues #11-12.

The most obvious example to bust out is the one already drawn (but done better here imo) from the Venom arc. That of MJ and Liz Allan both being mothers who will go to extremes for the sake of their children, with their confrontation in this arc being pretty juicy.

But we also see it in Peter’s protectiveness over Annie too. In another potentially genius call back to Spec #190 by DeMatteis and Buscema (and possibly RYV vol 1 #2), a rage fuelled Peter beats the crap out of the Rhino due to him threatening his family. This is both a realistic reaction for a parent to have and also very true to Peter’s established character in both RYV and the 616 universe, and something not displayed much in RYV vol 2.

In a way this arc marries (if you pardon the pun) the kind of extremes Peter was shown to have regarding Annie from vol 1 with those MJ had been given in vol 2 as the story shows both becoming aggressive in pursuit of rescuing Annie.

In having Peter hunt down Annie, Annie confront and attempt to redeem Normie and MJ get to the bottom of her Venom situation with Liz, issue #11 does a great job of closing out the over arching story of volume 2 by having the Parkers all equally be the focus. Issue #12 kinda does the same thing by involving the X-Men and similarly the use of a Regent power draining mech helps tie-back into the original RYV.

Issue #12 in regards to balancing out the family has a few more mixed results, but it depends what you want out the conclusion.

The story again provides us with a nice change up in the dynamics as it’s more Annie and Normie’s story than it is Peter and/or MJ’s. So it’s something different, but for a wrap up arc maybe having the Parkers fight all together was more thematically appropriate.

It certainly isn’t poorly done though. Annie comes into her own, Normie is believably redeemed and the story has a great message about how words can sometimes win out over fists.

There is also a great twist (kind of) in having the background character Ms. January wind up as the main villain, allowing for Normie to be redeemed and allowing him to break the Osborn Curse of which the arc is named after. It also ties back into the theme of family as Ms. January’s actions stem from a kind of motherly instinct towards Normie.

The action is pretty decent as are the stakes.

Giant robot = Bad.

Giant robot vs a powerless Spider-Man and Mary Jane = Very bad

Giant robot vs a powerless Spidey and MJ whilst it also has the powers of four of the X-Men = How ARE they gonna get out of this one?

Speaking of the X-Men, the arc handles them in a way I appreciated. Not only does their presence recall RYV #1 but it also ups the stakes whilst not allowing them to take away any of the spotlight from the Parkers.

Specifically Annie who comes into her own as I said and this then leads into a pretty organic transition into the new 8 years later status quo.

So...all great right?

Well...not exactly.

Let’s put aside how the Goblin mech having the X-Men’s powers was somewhat underutilized. Let’s put aside even how as I said it maybe should’ve been better if all three of the Parkers were involved in bringing down the threat.

Let’s instead talk about the three big elephants in the room.

Elephant #1: Venom

When I finished RYV #9 even though MJ was still wearing the symbiote I presumed that she’d beaten it and was going to get rid of it. Seemed like the obvious and natural ending to that arc right?

Right...except that didn’t happen.

I was truly surprised when I saw MJ in the suit during this arc. It got me thinking her absence and trip to the hospital in the prior issue made more sense.

But narratively it served little purpose here. It gave MJ something to do in issue #11 I guess but equally MJ could’ve gone to confront Liz without the symbiote simply to learn why  Liz had done what she did.***

So why did MJ keep the costume? My suspicion it was purely to justify her still wearing it in Venom-Verse and thus milk MJ in the suit more given how the marketing department (or whoever) were the people who pushed that onto the series in the first place.

It wouldn’t be much of a problem if not for the fact that it’s disposed of so cheaply and easily in issue #12 and you have to No. Prize why she couldn’t have gotten rid of the suit earlier.

The Fantastic Four were mentioned in issue #10 and since they were the guys who got Peter and the symbiote separated in the first place you’d think this wouldn’t be a problem. The ONLY explanation I can dream up (and this isn’t present in the story mind you) is that the symbiote was altered somehow by Liz to be resistant to fire and sonics, hence why in issue #9 MJ punches a flamethrower or something with no problem.

Elephant #2: Ms. January.

Conceptually a background character turning out to be a villain in a twist is great. Problem is we never learn why.

At first it seems like Ms. January just cares for Normie that much but not only is this an offhand motivation in the first place but more poignantly Harry (not Normie) is brought up more than once by Ms. January in issues #11-12.

So it has something to do with him but we never learn what exactly.

She just switches on everyone, goes nuts and it’s because of Harry.

????????

I think this is an example of Stegman being an artist more than a writer tripping up, it may well have been Conway’s original plan for Ms. January to be the final boss but he hadn’t fleshed that part out and Stegman just plugged it in.

Elephant #3: This arc takes waaaaaay too much stuff from Spider-Girl.

I love Spider-Girl. She is my second favourite Spider character behind Peter himself. Her series was a triumph and an underrated all time classic.

And one of the key parts of that series was Normie Osborn being a sad lonely young man self-destructively trying to live up to his father and grandfather’s legacy as a Goblin, and avenge what he perceived as his father’s death due to Spider-Man. The subplot wraps up in Spider-Girl #27, my favourite issue of the series, in which Spider-Man’s daughter is captured and at the mercy of Normie, calls him out on his BS, expresses sympathy for him and with kindness talks him into changing his ways, finding redemption and becoming an ally to her.

Sound familiar?

Here is the thing, putting aside how Spider-Girl did it better, there is nothing wrong with repeating the same ideas to an extent.

But it is the fact that they repeat the redemption part and the manner in which it happens that is the problem. No Normie isn’t borderline suicidal in this story but he’s still on a path to destruction and still has Annie at his mercy and she still is the one who redeems him.

It would’ve been a better take had it actually been Peter who talked him down.

The comparisons to Spider-Girl are not helped by many fans feeling RYV and Annie supplanted Mayday in certain respects and more poignantly that from here on in the series would be borrowing waaaaaaay too many elements from Spider-Girl, starting with the epilogue to this issue where Annie becomes a teenager.

So...in a lot of ways this arc had the weakest writing of RYV up to this point, but I think it’s strengths in spite of it’s weaknesses combine to render it stronger than the X-Men arc and thus only the second weakest arc of the series thus far. In particular I have to commend them for making so much of it work as they did in spite of Conway leaving.

I doubt I’d be complaining this much had I read these at the time of their release though simply because back then these would’ve still been infinitely better Spider-Man than Slott’s clownshow.

Were I to give issue #10 it’s own grade it’d be an A-.

But the 3 issues collectively get a B-.

  Good, worth a read but very flawed nevertheless. 

  *Which is very damning when you consider Stegman, an artist, was a better Spider-Man writer in 3-5 issues than Slott was across 10 years.

  **Also the story explains why Normie seems more intelligent than he should be, it’s because of the Goblin formula which helps resolve what otherwise would’ve been something of a contrivence.

  ***Speaking of which how did Liz know Spinneret would’ve taken her bait about the symbiote? Not saying there is NO explanation but we don’t really get one ever.

  P.S. How the Hell can this random orb contain Peter’s powers? His powers stem from being altered on a genetic level!

[inksandpensblog]

“If you allow yourself to become chained up to one thing, you get this, like, numbing fear of losing everything. You become chained to these obligations that you don’t really have.”

That part of the video stuck out to me, because that’s exactly where I was my first year in college. For a good decade of my life at least, I had been telling everyone that I wanted to bake for a living. Come high school, I did well enough in vocational classes that everyone was convinced, including me, even though I had started to not enjoy it to the degree I had as a preteen. The household kitchen wasn’t really the best place to bake, so my lack of experimentation at home was taken as a lack of resources instead of a lack of interest.

Then college started and the expectations were so much higher and the environment was so much more industrial. This wasn’t my grandparents’ kitchen. This wasn’t even my cousin’s local artisan business. Not only had it stopped being fun, but even when I consistently put all my effort into my work, I couldn’t seem to meet my own standards, even if I met the standards of the school. And when I failed a class, I fell hard. That one failure is still my biggest regret. Partially because I lost my scholarship, but mostly because I was failing at what I thought I loved and had convinced myself I’d be doing for a livelihood. I’d been telling everyone I knew, and telling myself, for ages, that this was what I enjoyed. I didn’t think I could just change my mind.

I’m so glad my parents noticed how unhappy I was, and encouraged me to really think about what I wanted. Mom reminded me that what people do when they have nothing else to do, is what they enjoy.

I never baked when I had nothing else to do. I doodled. I made up story premises. I wrote out character concepts. I tried to edit pictures and trace my own pose references in MS Paint because that was the only program we had. I made my own Sonic recolor once on my dad’s crummy old laptop and I was so proud of myself. I traced an anime screenshot and then printed it and redid it with colored pencils. When I did cook, I was more concerned about how the food looked in the photo than how it tasted.

And you know what? I was curious about the graphic design world. I looked up a lot of digital paintings. I found certain styles I liked. I was amazed that something done on a computer could look like it was done with oils. I watched Flash animated videos. I picked up the differences between how rigged puppets move and how hand-drawn characters move, even though I didn’t know anything about how animation worked. I could tell anime was different from the other Saturday morning cartoons I watched before I even knew that English wasn’t the original language.

The more I discovered, the more curious I got. I would’ve loved to try my own hands at it.

But I never asked for the means to. Because I thought I’d be baking for a living.

And the sad thing is that my everyone else picked up on it before I did. I had so thoroughly convinced myself, that I thought I’d convinced everyone else. I thought that if I changed my mind, I’d somehow be letting them down.

Thankfully that was not the case. I’m studying graphic design now, and loving it. I haven’t decided what specifically I’d like to do in this field, and in a way that’s liberating, knowing that I can explore all my options. But I’m still kicking myself for not figuring it out sooner.

Whew, that got long-winded. Point is, Mark’s right.