#i just love it when people draw sonic characters with more animal like feet

[saline-coelacanth]

Jungle designs for the Chaotix! Like with last time, I'm gonna put a majority of the notes under the cut.

Like in New Yoke, the Chaotix aren’t actually a team to start. The only ones who know each other are Vector and Espio, and they are enemies until Charmy comes along and gets them to stop fighting each other. Also their whole plotline takes place in a more swampy part of the jungle, long away from Thorn and the Scavengers so they don’t get bothered by them.

Vector is know as “The Lizard”, a name Espio (or Arrow as he’s called in this world) gave him. He lives along in the swamp, constantly driving off intruders as he doesn’t trust people. He constantly fights with Arrow, the two of them being sort of rivals with Lizard attacking Arrow first as he was trying to defend his territory. The Lizard is notably much more aggressive compared to his prime self.

Espio goes by Arrow in this world, a fitting name considering he’s an archer in this world. He lives a pretty simple life in the swamp, hunting when he needs to, but he ended up getting involved with The Lizard after he wandered too close to his territory. Since the initial fight, Arrow and Lizard started fighting constantly and Arrow started spending a lot of time figuring out how to defeat the dreaded crocodile of the swamps. Personality wise, Arrow is pretty similar to prime Espio without any major personality differences.

Charmy is called Stinger and he’s pretty similar to his prime self as he’s an impressionable kid who just wants to have fun. He doesn’t really talk much, only ever repeating things that others say. In fact, he takes Charmy’s trait of occasionally mimicking Vector and cranks it to 100, constantly mimicking others all the time. He initially befriends Arrow who finds him and starts to take care of him since the jungle is not a safe place for a child to be wandering alone, and Lizard is able to warm up to him due to the fact that Stinger just is not afraid of him at all

Personally, this is probably my least favorite of the three universes (at least with the Chaotix stuff I’ve come up with) but I still enjoy them a lot. Stinger in particular is really fun and I like him a lot. I’m really excited to get to the Pirate stuff tho so hopefully you guys are looking forward to that.

[raeloganthesonic06fangirl]

His ego knows no bounds

I love how it's literally just him with a beak and no ears. Silvani did a fantastic job capturing the essence of Sparrow boiled down to basics. 👀

I mean, I have sonas too. I wouldn't call myself a traditional Furry, but I'm certainly Furry Adjacent, when I have sonas that are from Sonic and other anthro franchises. I even have a Poké-sona that's just a Raichu with glasses called "Rae-chu" that I made up over a decade ago for fun. There's nothing wrong with Furries as a whole, it's just like any other fanbase, except it's lore is entirely user generated and is constantly evolving. I really hate when people try to drag them like that just because there's some adult stuff happening, but tell me, what Fandom DOESN'T have that??

Silvani definitely is a better artist than me, at least. His line work is consistent, his inks are really good for the sketch pages, and he does do characters like Stitch and Beast really well. But I really don't like how he makes QuackerJack look too bulky, too much teeth, too small eyes, too focused pupils, too big of feet, just overall he seems... off. His posture especially doesn't feel right to me and I feel like I'm looking at a doppelganger that's going to reveal that the real QuackerJack is trapped in a gooey pod somewhere and this is an invasion.

I don't expect a 1-to-1 recreation of the original art, I can let that slide, but my problem is that he doesn't carry himself like the QuackerJack I know. At least with Darkwing and Negaduck, thier posture is generally the same as it was in the cartoon, with Darkwing flashing bravado and Negaduck hunching over like the scheming evil twin that he is.

QuackerJack is generally rather, for lack of a better term, "animated". He's thin and gangly, and his costume sort of makes up most of his shape, which I'm sure is supposed to be loose fitting. He doesn't have much muscle mass, and that just makes it all the more hilarious when he does things like throw a version of Herb Muddlefoot over his shoulder in one swift movement or holds an anvil over his head. 👀

... Seriously, QuackerJack and the main adult cast is like easily over the age of 38 canonically, does it really matter if people want to draw him and Megavolt snogging? QuackerJack canonically knows what the word "fetish" is, has alluded to knowing swear words ((such as him saying to MBB "There's a name for people like you!", and yes, he totally means "Smart Ass")) and him calling Darkwing a "fop" was just an archiac way of calling him a metrosexual, Sparrow needs to stop acting like this show wasn't made with an inherently provocative undertone, need I remind y'all about the Darkwing's gas gun melting gag? 🤣

I'm 32. I try to keep my account somewhat clean because I'm aware that children roam the internet and I have a fairly accessible page. I don't specifically make content that would be considered provocative, but I certainly support everyone's right to be allowed to do what they want as long as they're not hurting anyone or as long as they aren't including kids in this. We're all just trying to have fun here.

Yeah, honestly, I'd totally be willing to open our circle to anyone who used to be a Sparrow fan, or even if they are still a fan of his work but don't like his behavior. Maybe they have some cool art they want to share or got some awesome collection they want to show off or they got ahold of a rare piece they want to share? Maybe they sculpted a cool figurine or make a neat cosplay. Who knows? They're probably out there somewhere and I'd like to see that. :)

Life's too short, why spend it being angry, I want to see the funny cartoon animals.

((I did see that Sparrow did comment a few times about considering buying copies of the 2011 comics in bulk so he could give them out for free at the local children's hospital, which is honestly a nice sentiment since those books are expensive now and maybe some kid in the hospital might actually enjoy those and they get a start on being part of the Duck Fandom that way. That's... not a bad idea.))

The funniest thing, really, is that I technically could just appeal to Twitter to get me unbanned from Sparrow's page, because I haven't even done anything to warrant the ban other than the screens I showed y'all, and that's not even that bad. I haven't harassed him, I haven't threatened him, all I said was essentially "I wasn't a fan of how QuackerJack was written here."

I could bring that debate to Twitter and probably get unbanned if I actually cared to, lol.

He really didn't win anything. That's the same as yanking the cord out of the game console because someone was doing better than you at Mario Party.

That's honestly kinda sad, ngl.

Anyway, guys, don't bother him, he's not worth the time

[worldviewcast]

The Origin of Worldview

So this is going to be a semi-personal, but also a semi-explanation post about alot of the background info regarding Worldview.  Yes it’ll be a long somewhat boring wall of text for many of you, but to ME it’s words I feel need to be said and it would mean the absolute world to me if people would take the time to hear me out.  Even if its only gonna be the five of you that continue on after this. Anyway...

Worldview technically started forming in my mind when I was probably about fifteen. (For reference, at the time of writing this, I’m about half a year to thirty-one) I was really into doing comics, I had done probably a hundred pages of a really dumb fantasy comic I came up with when I was TWELVE, a Sonic fancomic, and every morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I would upload my micron inked and colored pencil story about some DnD characters into the school scanner to post on Drunkduck which is probably all still there today. Adventure’s Guild is missed in my heart, for sure.  But in between looking for my first job, the constant writing and doodling I was doing, and my schoolwork I was tossing another idea around in my head. A really DUMB idea, cuz ya know I was FIFTEEN. And I wanted to call it ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’. At the time I was influence by all the dumb anime I was watching and my best friend at the time who always wore black and stood about two feet over me. I don’t know if he’ll ever read this, but trust me if he knew I was talking about this he would recognize this story right away.  Well. My first job came around, along with my post secondary college work, and then a tech school I paid for, and.....life really started to get in the way of development. I was more focused on drawing Adventures Guild and other doodles for a long time, and soon enough taking care of my daughter took precedence over everything, and then I started sewing, and doing conventions....and the idea of ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’ was just stuck in the back of my head. Sitting. Waiting. Forming slowly as it waited for its existence - its time in the sun.  And at some point I decided I wanted Android/Robotic like characters too...some of my FAVORITE series are Kikaider : The Animation and Chobits (the books, not the infants show they try to pass a a fully written anime) - things like that. So I KNEW long before Worldview had a proper name I would be writing robot characters with a twist. But I couldn’t figure out what that twist was, what would make it work. The whole idea was still....building. It needed a push.  Right around the time My Hero Academia came around everyone with a creative mind seemed to be suddenly struck with a similar idea - what if unique powers WEREN’T so unique in a world?  This is fairly common now, but at the start of MHA I remember finding it weird that suddenly every half the new shows out had a whole population of super powered badasses in a world where living daily life with it was more the norm than the exception.  And I remember finding it REALLY weird this all came out the same time I evolving a similar idea for my own thing.... I wish I could prove I was evolving this ideas before I saw em but I can’t. I have a much deeper theory about the evolution of cultural art and how influences drive creative minds to similar conclusions but that’s a LONG mental dive for another day.  ANYHOW.

So my original idea in ‘My Big Brother the Ninja’ was the Ninja would be the weird super power in the normal world.  NOW I wanted the NINJA to be the ‘normal’ one...and the younger sister would be the WEIRD one because she DIDN’T have some sort of power or ability.  I fell in love with this new dynamic and now things were REALLY starting to come together in my mind, what kind of powers were people gonna have, just HOW mundane was it gonna be, how many fantasy elements did I want to have?  Because I already KNEW another element I really wanted to include was modern day Paladins - and YES I WILL be covering modern-day style Paladins in Worldview proper, but this meant the universe needed a Deity system, a hierarchy or pantheon.  And the world just started to grow....but something was still MISSING, the binding, the elements of what all I wanted to do -  Aaaaaaaaaand then came UNDERTALE.  And yes this ENTIRE long post is just me mini ranting about how WV came to be so people can TRULY understand just HOW much is inside MY universe so we can stop tagging it as part of the UT Multiverse please and thank you - it’s not that I don’t UNDERSTAND the confusion, but here is your ultimate ‘for the record’ post regarding mine and @little-noko ‘s personal frustrations. Undertale was obviously a HUGE part of pop culture, personal experiences, my life, MANY of my readers lives, I GET why the emotional connection is there and why its the first thing that comes to mind - but the ONLY part I truly was fascinated by with Undertale was the way the Souls were.  PHYSICAL Souls - an actual magical entity that represented a person - THIS idea.  This was my missing piece.  To say artists get inspiration from other artists is beyond an understatement - even Sans and Papyrus are references to Helvetica, right? If not references, inspired by, or ‘great minds think alike’, whatever your argument there....its not uncommon.  And Souls being PHYSICAL was the element I wanted to play with - the idea I wanted to expand on, and so much more I want to go into detail about but don’t want to go into spoilers yet so I’m not going to - and the absolute CRUX of my frustrations when dealing with ‘WV is just UT with different characters’.  Worldview has.....humans. Only humans, divided into four race. Mechanoid. Masic. Skeleton. Metazoan. (The last one exclusively because I wanted an excuse to draw cute cat girls, so sue me)  A pantheon of Gods. It’s own world map. Special BIOLOGY that I have developed to work specifically with the races I have built. Ability trees (diagram to come, don’t worry, we’re just still working out the kinks).  It’s own countries, nationalities, and even it’s own tangible form of afterlife which I blame watching WAY too much Supernatural on but HEY Reapers are freaking COOL man.  It’s absolutely gut wrenching painful to have people argue with me over a world that I have nurtured and slowly tended to for a good fifteen years...now that it finally, FINALLY gets a chance to exist and be worked on....I feel like the one binding element I finally found and played with and tried to expand on is the ONLY element that people care about. As if absolutely EVERY other element that I want to show just - doesn’t EXIST. We started with Finch because its a good transition from the old projects to the new and it’s the earliest event in the timeline - nothing more than that. But I’m almost starting to feel like that was a mistake because it’s TOO familiar.  There’s no going back now, and thats fine. But it does make me anxious to move on to the next ‘chapter’ we’ll be delving into.  MAN.  I hope that helps clarify a few things.  I love answering questions (those that I can) about  WV...so my ask box is always open.  For those that made it, thanks for listening. :) 

[bltngames]

The Balan Wonderworld demo came out yesterday. If you haven’t been keeping up with this, it’s a game by Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, two of the original creators of Sonic the Hedgehog. A lot of that original team has gone on to do solo work outside of Sega, but this is the first time two former members of Sonic Team have gotten back together to make a new game.

If the demo is anything to go by, Balan Wonderworld (which I keep trying to type as “Balan Wonderland,” because it has a much nicer rhythm to it) is a game that lives deep in the shadow of NiGHTS into Dreams and Sonic the Hedgehog. It is very clearly trying to be an “Old School Sonic Team” experience, which it... sort of succeeds at, for better and worse.

This feels like a game they ripped straight out of 1995, warts and all, and remastered it with modern-ish graphics. I say “modern-ish” because in broad strokes, I think Balan looks pretty good. The character designs are charming, the level themes are interesting, but if you really stop and look at the game, it’s honestly pretty ugly, with simple lighting, limited detail and blurry textures.

One gets the impression maybe that’s because Balan is on everything -- Playstation, Xbox, PC, and even Switch. The gross texture work could be to squeeze the game down for Nintendo’s handheld, but apparently it runs extremely poorly there. On the PS4 Pro, it sticks pretty closely to 60fps, though there are occasionally hiccups here and there. Nothing worth fretting over, honestly.

But how does it play?

This is where the shadow of Sonic the Hedgehog looms large. Balan is designed to be simplistic to a fault: You get one button to control your character. Or, more specifically, every button on your controller will do the same thing (for the most part). This is right out of the Sonic handbook, as that game was also designed to be operable with only one button, as well.

Now, what your one button does can change. Scattered around levels are different costumes for your character to put on, and each costume has its own unique ability. The full version of Balan promises 80 different costumes, and there’s probably half a dozen in the demo. Each one serves a unique purpose, and some of them don’t even have the ability to jump. Which is fine, mostly, because you can carry a stock of three costumes with you that you can swap between sort of like the team mechanics in Sonic Heroes. Once you finish a level, those costumes get added to your dressing room, allowing you to customize a loadout of costumes at any checkpoint.

On paper, that much sounds fine. But this is where things start getting weird.

Costumes are not freely available to pick up. The jewels that hold costumes are locked with a key. This creates an obvious gameplay loop: find key, unlock costume, use costume to solve puzzle, right? Right.

Except that, at least in the demo, most keys are only a few feet away from any given costume jewel. On top of that, keys respawn. Crack open a costume jewel, grab the costume, but hang out for a little while and eventually the key will reappear. In doing this, you can stock up on keys early on in a level, smoothing out the process of acquiring new costumes as you go. I’m not sure why Balan does this. The time between key respawns is a few seconds too many -- just enough that it starts to feel tedious. But, as far as I can tell, there is no penalty for farming up a bunch of keys from the first key spawn point, either. It’s the worst of both worlds. If it was trying to be convenient, keys would spawn more quickly, but if it was trying to plan puzzles around acquiring keys, you can completely side step that by just waiting it out and hoarding keys early on.

You’ll not only want to hoard keys, but hoard costumes, as well. If you’re unlucky enough to take damage or even die while wearing a costume, it’s gone. You can build up stocks of costumes so you’ll always have spares to pull out of the dressing room, but that requires you to specifically go out of your way to get duplicates and bank them. If you don’t, you might find yourself at a puzzle that requires a specific costume that you simply don’t have anymore. When that happens, your only recourse is to backtrack in the hopes of finding a crystal that contains the costume you need, and characters in Balan aren’t exactly fast moving.

The chances of you losing a costume seem pretty low, admittedly. Balan Wonderworld doesn’t really seem like it’s aiming for anything resembling difficulty. Enemies exist, but only in very small numbers, and they’re easily dispatched. Most of the game is more about exploring the dream-like environments and playing around with the various costume abilities in order to solve basic puzzles.

You aren’t working against a clock, there isn’t a scoring system, and you usually aren’t being graded on your performance. Talking it over with some others, the vibe is that this could be a good game for young children. It requires little in terms of controller dexterity and is generous in every sense of the word.

The primary complaint against that, I guess, is that Balan Wonderworld is a weird game. Like, “Elsa and Spider-man Finger Family Youtube Video” weird. Every level is packed full of gently dancing ghosts that phase out of existence once you get too close to them. They’re all the creatures your costumes are based on, but they don’t exist as NPCs in the world for you to touch and interact with. Like I said, they’re ghosts, and they disappear the moment you get within a few feet. Those same ghosts will suddenly materialize when you touch certain checkpoints, throwing you something of parade. They interrupt the level music and everything just to play their own special celebration song. Move more than a few feet and they will fade back out of existence again, taking their special parade song with them, never to be seen for the rest of the stage.

It lends a strangely “uncanny” feeling to the game. I think the dancing characters are meant to add a sense of carefree fun, but they look like people wearing mascot suits, doing the same basic scripted routine over, and over, and over, for eternity. They don’t look like they’re having fun, they don’t appear to be choreographed to the stage’s music, and yet there they are, eternally dancing the days away. It’s kind of eerie. They were performing before you got here, and they'll keep performing after you leave.

The demo pits you against a single boss, which is notable for being someone who has the same powers you do, but combined and amped up. Seeing the same costume motifs come up in the boss as they draw from the same abilities that you have is actually a really fun idea, and the game rewards you for getting creative and swapping between costumes when you deal damage.

Balan Wonderland is a very odd game, and I’m not sure what to make of it. It took me a while to start wrapping my head around its aesthetic and vibes. It contains shades of something like Super Mario Odyssey to be sure, but it feels like it’s trying to elevate itself above that. Again, it’s a game living deep in the shadow of NiGHTS and Sonic, and in particular, it feels like it borrows NiGHTS’ penchant for putting artistic expression at the top ladder rung. Balan often feels like a very inscrutable sort of game, but in a way that seems to be reaching for some kind of greater meaning beyond simply gameplay. Everything in Balan feels like it might be conveying a message of some sort, even if it’s not immediately apparent. Its ideas do not come from a vacuum.

But here’s the deal: even though a lot of people couldn’t grok NiGHTS into Dreams, I did. I love that game to death. But with Balan Wonderworld, even I’m often left scratching my head. Despite its dead-simple gameplay, it may be just a little too high concept for its own good.

But at the end of the day, it’s not a game I hate. It’s strange, and charming, and even if it feels sort of impenetrably "artistic," at least that makes it interesting. The simple gameplay works its magic, making it an easy game to drop in to even if you don’t necessarily understand what you’re looking at.

Like, what’s the deal with the “Isle o’ Tims” between levels? It kind of has the vibe of a chao garden from Sonic Adventure, but the individual “tims” creatures don’t seem to have statistics or anything like that. You feed them so they crank a wheel, which builds a tower that helps them crank the wheel better. It turns in to a bizarre sort of perpetual motion machine. To what end? I don’t know. And what exactly is Balan himself, anyway? Some of his visual cues call to mind character designs for NiGHTS, but he appears to be a different sort of creature altogether. There’s a rather lengthy intro FMV, as you can no doubt see from the Youtube embed, but it’s more about swirling colors and hyperactive animation than conveying what’s going on or who Balan is. How much of this is even really happening, and how much of it is purely metaphysical? It’s very unclear.

I’ll be interested in seeing how the full version of Balan Wonderworld fares. I get the distinct impression that this will be another NiGHTS -- a game beloved by a core audience of hardcore fans, but shunned for being “too weird” by the populace at large.

I’m not quite sure which group I belong to yet.

[steve0discusses]

S4 Ep 39: Pharaoh Can Fly (Selectively)

Guys, they’re back

Best storyboarder is back, and the visual difference between last episode and this episode is like when your art teacher picks up your charcoal and just fixes everything wrong with your gesture drawings. It’s like...I mean look at this:

I just really love and appreciate how illustrative this storyboarder is. And I say just storyboarder because this had about the same budget as the last episode--there wasn’t that much actual animation as per usual. But, all of the scenes were drawn so well, like panels out of a good manga. They just...they always nail it when they’re at the helm and I don’t know why they’re on Yugioh, but bless this storyboarder.

Plot wise, everyone got pulled into the dragon by gooey tentacles that came out of it’s stomach, don’t think about it.

Meanwhile, all of the minibosses could communicate with them and beg for help, yes, even the same miniboss who may have dressed up like Pegasus and catfished Seto Kaiba.

(keep reading under the cut)

The whole process of getting absorbed into the Orichalcos demon was a whole lot of symbolism and it was...kinda gross. Also kinda sketch. Also, for Kaiba it is a neat little nod to S1 when he had a vision that his brother was absorbed into a dragon mass.

I don’t think that the makers of the show remember S1, but either they just really like goopy dragons, or it’s a coincidence or I dunno, on purpose? Probably a coincidence.

And like I made this joke and realized...what if they actually meant to make that parallel though? This is the America crossover season, and they have referenced America’s love of trickster rabbits before with Pegasus but do they know about Br’er rabbit in Japan? Do they know? It’s a pretty Americana Deep-cut, and I have no idea how common this folktale is outside of the states.

I see anime busting out absorbing goopy masses all the time so I’m gonna assume that there might be a Japanese folklore I don’t know about which uses a similar structure (although I’m also assuming it has an extremely different history and association ((which I won’t be going into because I don’t feel like putting a trigger warning on this recap)).)

And looking at Wikipedia, there’s people that think the original reference to moist, absorbing creatures could have even come from as far as India. Which is...fascinating to how it also developed in Africa, and then the Cherokee also made the same story independently and then it fused together here in the States to make it what was eventually made into a Disney movie that will never be released again--this is just a really old ass story, all in all, possibly like over a thousand years old.

And a FASCINATING google deep dive I won’t go into for obvious reasons but knock yourself out.

Also, lets get distracted for a sec and see how well this storyboarder drew a fitted jacket at that angle. Dear Lord, did they get reference for that or did their brain just already know that those folds would be there? You can even tell that Pharaoh has just a little bit of padding at his shoulders. Ugh. Guys this storyboarder is so freakin good at these little fitted jackets.

So, once Yugi and his friends are absorbed into the mass, where they should have died...and maybe some of them did, but I don’t know if I should add that to the Death Count because like...they could have held their breath in the amount of time they were stuck in there...maybe...Anyway, they are saved by being tossed into the figurative briar patch--by the souls all hanging out in the Leviathan’s stomach--which again makes me wonder...did they pull a folklore on us? Again, I have no idea.

Like a lot of the people in this dragon have been thorns in their side this entire season, they’ve all tried to kill them at one point--all the minibosses, Mai, Pegasus--but now they have decided to team up with Pharaoh (along with the rest of the human race) and offer whatever they can to free them from the grip of the gross dragon mass.

And like, the ending of the folk tale is that the thorny ass briar patch is also where the rabbit lives usually. It hurts everyone else, but the rabbit--the rabbit can deal with it. And likewise, Pharaoh is freakin dead. He’s at home here. He’s surrounded by spirit power, his friends and their friendship power, this is like his zone, and now he’s crazy powerful for it and will be for the rest of the episode.

And like Yami is a very trickster God (especially Season Zero Yami) so like...it does make sense that he would mirror a folk tale based on trickster Gods, even if it is by complete accident.

So Pharaoh imagines everyone’s tears as individual drops in a glass or something--it’s not a literal glass or anything--it’s just there because the only thing actually happening on screen was his hand hanging out of this dragon’s weird puss skin.

And he’s now a fully charged Sonic the Hedgehog and no longer needs Kaiba or Joey at all. Just gonna grab his God card demons and take charge of everything else from here on out.

By first exploding his buddies right the hell out of this lizard and across hundreds of feet of open ocean.

Joey decides to remind Kaiba that he lost the Battle City tournament.

Seto’s roast was actually in the show, PS. He is not super excited to be reminded that Yugi owns every card that he spent 2 seasons failing to get.

And then Pharaoh did something really, really...

...just really really wild.

OH OK.

YEAH JUST TAKE OFF.

GO AHEAD THERE’S NO REASON THIS WOULD BOTHER ME.

I mean he IS super powered right now but like...

Like...WTF?

4 SEASONS. 4 SEASONS I thought this guy was glued to Yugi like Peter Pan’s Shadow and apparently--he can bounce.

Can Pharaoh do this every time Yugi asks Tea out on a date and tries to instead make the ghost in his head do all the work now? Can Pharaoh just be like “NOPE” and then phase out of the house, leaving Yugi to actually do the hard stuff?

It really adds a level of complexity to their relationship if Yugi can get a room.

(If not a room for romance, but at the very least a room to poop in.)

OR has he been able to allow Yugi to wicked poop in peace this whole time, but the show just never felt like telling us because they felt like it wasn’t important (although it is crazy important)?

Either way I am just...floored at this character development.

Yami just let Yugi out of his sight for like...I want to say 8 full minutes. Just incredible amount of trust on Yami’s part. Incredible. Knowing Yugi’s track record, he should have died in those 8 minutes but...he was being babysat by both Kaiba and Joey.

So Yami summons the Gods and they shoot lasers--you kinda expect this sort of thing.

And this is...probably...the real reason why Dartz didn’t bother trying to attack Pharaoh 5,000 years ago.

I can still think it’s because of Bakura but like...this is probably the real reason. It felt pretty chump to just shoot a laser at the bastard. Pharaoh just had to be reminded that this is a thing he can just do. If he felt like it.

Which he never feels like doing, because he’s too busy watching Yugi’s every move, and getting distracted by High School shenanigans.

After this happens, the giant snake falls to the ocean, splitting into just sooooooo many ghosts.

Over 7.8 billion ghosts, if we’re to assume that this is most of the population on Earth.

(thinking the weird-o in the hat is probably a Duel Monsters card? The duel monsters were throwing themselves into the Leviathan at one point so this is probably like a dark magician boy or something...I just don’t get very attached to the monster cards so it was like...whatever. The cards die like constantly so who cares?)

It is a pretty set dressing. Like Christmas lights but...dead people.

We also find out that the lost family of our minibosses Alister and Raphael, have indeed spent the last many years inside the Leviathan stomach, which is pretty tragic. We get a bitter sweet conclusion to Alister and Raphael’s story--although it’s not a full on ending for either character. Their life still hella sucks, they are in therapy for basically forever.

Where is Gurimo?

I don’t know what sort of job or life these two are qualified to have now, but youknow...Marik’s boat probably has jobs available.

Hold up. Can we talk about the windows?

I know absolutely none of you care about this, but I do, not to be picky or condescending to an overworked art team, but because I just want to know what they were trying to aim for.

There’s an iron stained glass style windowpane thing going on and that’s what’s really getting me. Like...I know these guys were technologically advanced, but why did you use this WW2 background? What happened to Ancient Greece that you were doing before?

Like doing a super past with future tech is so cool to me--I love that sort of concept art. That’s going into like Black Panther stuff where you’re referencing the earliest stuff in Africa and then blending it with stuff beyond our science. But Atlantis is a real big shrug and a “listen we ran out of time and had to press print,” and it’s such a shame. It feels less cohesive than even when this show does Egypt.

And yo this show and how it draws ancient Egypt--I feel like I’ve already talked about that. I have a feeling I’m going to talk a lot more about it next season. I’ll get to it when we get to it. I’m hoping that they have more time and budget to actually DO Egypt for once. (I say knowing they won’t)

Like it’s one of those things where this isn’t a history show, like at all, and it’s very much a fantasy. I’m not going to be like those sewing people on youtube that get annoyed because their TV show doesn’t have handsewn stitching in their Victorian bodices they rented from the costume department from an LA discount warehouse. Because, yo, it’s TV, and I can stretch my own imagination because it’s acting. (although I confess, I watch every single one of those videos).

But...the potential, y’all...the potential.

Anyway, Dartz isn’t dead. He was just taking his toot sweet time getting down the steps of his Gazebo.

This is where things get very anime. I get this problem a lot with anime, I really do--and maybe it’s just me. But like...sometimes it feels like anime changes the rules during the boss fight.

That happens a lot, right? Where suddenly the final boss reveals something that like...should have been addressed way earlier? And he’s alive but you don’t get why?

Anyway, Pharaoh reacts by getting maybe way too attached to his newfound independence.

Which like...I can understand Tea forgetting that Yugi is one people that is two people all the time, but the writers as well?

And what’s kind of great about this scene is that Dartz does see Yugi as two people here. He doesn’t look at Yugi, he looks at both. When Pharaoh is like “Leave me, Yugi!” Dartz heard all of that.

Just kind of a neat thing that we finally have a dude that can just...see Pharaoh for what he is, but it probably won’t matter because there’s like only one more episode left of this season.

Anyway, Pharaoh and Dartz have a chat about where evil comes from...and like...it’s some Yugioh lore, all right.

So before the show decides to give us the Genesis on Yugioh and reveal where the evil of the Orichalcos comes from, or if all evil was created by Orichalcos itself (which is IMPLYING stuff about Orichalcos) the snake shuts him the hell up.

As it should. Leave that Pandora’s box freakin closed. That’s going into extended universe of Star Wars books territory (RIP.)

As an aside--pretty sure that Yugi is standing outside that tornado. Maybe it was just the editing of the episode but like...

Yo I’m pretty sure Yugi is just standing there. For the first time, it’s not his nuts getting roasted. Wow. Tables have turned so much since he was dead.

Anyway, here’s the link for new people so you can read these in order

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

There’s only one left! We can do it! We can finish this season in 2020! And actually get back to recapping Full Metal Alchemist! ~~Woooo~~

Oh man that movie better still be on Netflix or I’ll have to buy it lolol.

[zoocross0vers]

ZOOTOPIAN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG BRAINSTORM TIME DAY 3

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER ROLES

The Heroes Concept

Sorry for delay but I finally showing topic that what character would fit into character and how their roles would look like (I explain in here)

As an example let’s start with main cast:

Sonic as Sonic - since he’s the main character of the story there’s no need to change his character role since those are key-important for the plot like in movie

(here’s his profile just in case: https://sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(Paramount)#Cast_)

The only in his case would be the change of place and  comunity: he’s in world of anthromophic mammals with no powers and certain prejudices and stereotypes, and sometimes certain paranoias, which that makes his anxietes harder since he is also a mammal/hedgehog but still different: blue, prefers shoes, glowes instead of clothes and has powers. And it could be possibility that when he arrived on Zootopia (not sure how if their planet is called Earth or not) the missing mammal case was happening and distrust towards mammals was growing, give him reason to not show up after what happened last time. There could be also small possibility he helped stopped the Bellwether takeover although unknowingly (or maybe not? who knows) and some two pair of eyes probably might noticed him even briefly though if you know what I mean. But for the record he decided to hide in Green Hills where he meet Nick and Judy and you know the rest.

Nick Wilde as Tom Wachowski

Tom personality

Kind-hearted and hard-working, Tom actively pursues the chance to help other people and is dedicated to his duty as Green Hills’s sheriff. He is very brave and is not afraid to get physical if the need arises and is protective of those he cares about. Despite his sharp tongue and an occasionally dark sense of humor, he is very sweet and gentle and frequently goes out of his way to assist others. Tom enjoys telling corny jokes, whether he is alone or with company. According to Sonic, Tom often talks with donuts and eats them if they “do not listen him”.

He dislikes boredom to the point that Green Hills’ lack of action nearly drives him out of his hometown to pursue work in San Fransisco. Tom shows open skepticism when presented with a situation that seems odd or fabricated, such as when he first met Dr. Robotnik. Although Tom is not afraid to fight, he prefers to avoid resorting to violence, shown when he tried to leave the Piston Pit when confronted by angry bar patrons.

Nick personality

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Nick_Wilde

Since those two are pretty much different when it comes certain things but have still lot in common like bad pun jokes and sense for justice.

It was not easy to make it right. I wanted him fit into Tom’s role but also keep his Wilde charm he has. Thankfully I was able to do right somehow so here it is:

Nick was actually born in Green Hills and was friend with Judy Hopps in childhood after incident with Gideon, but after incident with Ranger Scouts where she was present in this case ashamed for certain actions he decided to move (or run away) to Zootopia to live as shifty fox, unaware of him been targeted by Bellwether. But Judy whose also decided to study in Zootopia find and trying to make up to him and bring him back to Green Hills. After studying, while dating, they return to Green Hills get married and Nick follows footstep to became sheriff be a better person (unaware of him also been followed by small certain blue guardian: take a hint of what I mean by it). After hearing of Bellwether case he wants to try be a cop in Zootopia to find a purpose (instead just leave Green Hills out of boredoom he wants to prove himself be better). He sympatize with Sonic more since he knows what is like to feared of what you are and been haunted by a past. I still need to work on that.

Judy Hopps as Maddie Wachowski

Maddie Personality

As a veterinarian, Maddie cares deeply about living creatures and enjoys helping them to heal. She scolds Tom not to shoot the raccoons that get into their trash with her dart gun and gets annoyed with him when she finds out he shot Sonic with it. She also shows sympathy for Sonic when she sees that his feet hurt because he wore through his sneakers. She works well under-pressure and shows emotional and intellectual maturity. She is very loving and supportive of her husband. She made him a cake to congratulate him in case he got the job he wanted in San Francisco and another cake in case he did not get it. She also tells him that since he has made sacrifices for her, she is happy to sacrifice for him.

Judy Personality

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Judy_Hopps

They sure have more in common aside for job. She cares for her husband since childhood despite of what happened, she even go after him to make up to him, save him from wrong path and ask for forgiveness, since she feels responsible for it, even though none of both was fault. She was born in Bunnyburrow but always visited her relatives from mothers side in Green Hills where she also first met Nick (inspired by my life, I really love to visit my relatives) She wanted to be cop but could not, but also found a passion in medicine and that is why she became vet after she moved in Green Hills with Nick (those two make a really great team, also it is nice callback from concept of Zistopia where Nick pretented to be vet). She also shows connection with Sonic and in this case has less problems with his “nudity” considering she always has to check her patients without clothes. (trust me I know what I talking about)

Again still need to work on that. I hope you help me grinding with this. For now that is all but I promise there will be more. Also think you can pictures on those description since I dont know how to do that along with your opinions? (you can use my drawing for that if you want ;-D)

And also:

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY ZOOTOPIA

...

Hi Guest! I’m so sorry for taking forever to get back to you on this. Hope you had a great 5th Zootopia Anniversary! I watched the movie again that day and even after 5 years, I still love that movie!!! <3 <3 <3 

But anyhoo, on to this lovely Sonic crossover!

When it comes to the setting, do you think Green Hills should actually be BunnyBurrow? Or do you want Green Hills to remain it’s own thing?

I guess I ask because the way Nick is being set up, he kind of reminds me of this one fic that Helthehatter wrote called, “Blueberries”, where it’s an alternate story of how Nick and Judy met. In that fic, Nick is a deputy in BunnyBurrow and his police partner is Finnick and Nick is pretty bored because not much happens in a small town like BunnyBurrow (that is until he meets Judy, who never became a cop before meeting him). 

I picture Nick would be something like this where he and Judy weren’t the ones who solved the Bellwether and Nighthowlers case, but Jack and Skye. And he wants to have an exciting adventure like that and be a hero, do something important, but nothing ever happens in BunnyBurrow/Green Hills. 

I could still see Judy being his partner on the force, but unlike him, she’s actually pretty content being a cop in a small town. Though, if you like the idea of her being a vet better for this then I could work with that ^^

Personality wise it shouldn’t be too hard to give the characters similar traits since they seem to have enough in common. 

Would it be okay if Judy does at least try to get Sonic to wear some clothes, it still feels like something she would do, lol! ^^” But of course, in a nice understanding way rather than in a panicky manner.

When it comes to Sonic, rather than Nick just forming a sort of best friendship with him, maybe Sonic can kind of look up to him and Judy like parents? I mean, Sonic is still a teenager and Nick and Judy are full grown adults. That way at the end, he really is joining a new family. :)

I think I like the idea of this Nick having been born in Green Hills/Bunny Burrow rather than Zootopia, because that makes his desire for a new and bigger setting more important. If he grew up in Zootopia, left it, then wants to go back to it, then it kind of takes away that feeling of wanting more.

In regards to Sonic, maybe he decided to hide not just because he’s a blue hedgehog, bust also because he’s basically walking around naked and maybe when he first showed up he walked like that in front of some old ladies and he scared them. Ever since then he decided to observe the animals from afar. It’d be a good reason too why he had a disguise too. Here not to blend in as a human, but simply to cover himself up?

I say let’s just call the Zootopia world Earth. It’s easier ^^

Not sure yet, if Sonic should’ve had an active role in the nighthowler incident, but maybe he did manage to see the fear and chaos it caused in animals via Nick and Judy’s TV and by observing animals from afar. If he did decide to help solve it though, maybe he probably just helped Jack and Skye grab the concentrated pellet and handed it to them like a blue blurr and then with that evidence in their grasp, it proved enough to arrest Bellwether and they got the credit since nobody saw him.

This is all I got so far. Does this work for you? Is there more you’d like to add or change?

[inevitably-johnlocked]

i like your art! i dont mind what you think feels off like mouths or noses or feet (heh, bug i find it funny that people complain about the way you draw feet). i havent been here for long so i dont know what your art looked like before but all i can say is that i like it :)

(referencing this post)

Hey Nonny!

Hahahhahha Ahhh, back in my Sonic fandom days, I drew a LOT (more than what I have on my dA) and the “Sonic style” I developed with the crooked tails and big feet carried over into my furry and chibi art... It’s still one of my fave styles I go back to when I draw furries. But when I came over to humans, I didn’t like the style on them so I tried to go back to a mix of my old anime / Sailor Moon style. It turned into characters with big huge weird heads. Took a lot of work to fix that, LOL. And I’m still working on it. I find noses really hard to draw so I often trace over a nose in a position I need and it still looks bad. I think I just need to simplify it. And I think like the other Nonny said, because of the way I shade / colour, my mouths look really weird in my coloured work. My BW work looks less... forced?... and more loose. Perhaps I should switch to it for awhile.

But thank you very much. Personally I like how much I’ve improved since I first came online in like 1995 (I have an old Side7 account too that I haven’t touched in literal years, and before that, a FAN account [it was the site that people who got rejected from Yerf! went to]). LOL. So I’ve been around LOL. And I love drawing, and it makes me happy :)

ANYWAY. THANK YOU Nonny. This is very sweet and it makes me happy that my art does make others happy <3

[shemakesmusic-uk]

Pop artist Nadia Vaeh has dropped her new music video for her powerful track 'Anxiety'. The video reflects on her personal mental health struggles and how she copes with the highs and lows of anxiety. The video shows Nadia alone at home coping with what the real and raw effects of anxiety look and feel like. As an advocate, she hopes her music can inspire people to embrace the conversation of mental health and be a reminder that they are not alone.

Babeheaven, the project of West Londoners Nancy Andersen and Jamie Travis, share their latest single, 'Craziest Things', along with a video from the award-winning illustrator and animator, Sacha Beeley. The track is taken from the duo’s much anticipated debut album, Home For Now, which will be released on November 20 via AWAL, and follows the singles 'Cassette Beat' and 'Human Nature'. About the track, Nancy said: “On 'Craziest Things', I explore my anxiety and insomnia, not being able to make sense of my emotions and running around in a state of mania.”

Moscow-based multi-talented avant-pop artist Kate Shilonosova aka Kate NV has just unveiled a video for 'Lu Na', a track taken from her last album Room for the Moon. Drawing from “unlived memories of 70s and 80s Russian and Japanese pop music and film,” the project also comes with vintage and surreal conceptual videos inspired by the shows she was watching as a child. In these new Gina Onegina-directed visuals, she introduces four dancers voguing in pinky cats outfits. “‘Lu Na’ was originally planned as a dance clip consisting mostly of one repetitive loop—simple pattern where cats walk in a square one by one,” she stated. “This pattern was hugely inspired and based on [Samuel] Beckett’s piece Quad which I love. Originally I just wanted the sun to appear slowly behind those cats while they walk. All of the dancers were wonderful, they brought so much life to the characters of those cats!” [via High Clouds]

Kississippi, the increasingly pop-minded project of the Philadelphia musician Zoe Reynolds, have released a new single, 'Around Your Room'. Kississippi got their start making wispy and hypnotic folk reveries, which opened up into more muscular fare on their debut full-length, 2018’s Sunset Blush. 'Around Your Room' is their most unabashedly pop song yet, a strobing synth that pulls from Lorde’s Melodrama providing the main thrust for Reynolds’ gauzy lyrics about memory and its inexorable pull. Reynolds cowrote 'Around Your Room' with Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties, according to a tweet from Tudzin. “This song tells a story of yearning and infatuation. It’s about being hopelessly enamored in a way that took me back to my youthful perception of love,” Reynolds said in a statement. “It represents those moments where you’re fully infatuated with someone and they’re all you can think about. I’ve written about love in a cynical manner in the past and this song was written as a reminder of the magic and euphoria that comes with it.” 'Around Your Room' is the lead single from a new Kississippi album due out next year, Reynolds’ first for Triple Crown. Watch director Josh Coll’s video for the song above. [via Stereogum]

Tank and The Bangas have announced a new EP called Friend Goals. Due out November 20 via Verve Forecast, the six-track, guest-heavy release is being previewed with the track 'Self Care'. The New Orleans-based group are known for their collaborative habits, having this year teamed with the likes of Jacob Collier and Fantastic Negrito. Friend Goals, as the title might suggest, brings together a number of artists Tank and The Bangas have befriended over their career. The follow-up to last year’s Green Balloon LP features guests like CHIKA ('Mr. Insta'), Duckwrth ('Fluff'), PJ Morton ('TSA'), and Pell on the title track. Lead single 'Self Care' actually touts three collaborators: Jaime Woods, Orleans Big, and Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph. The track itself is exactly what we need in 2020, an ode to being with yourself and being damn okay with it. “Chillin’ all by myself/ Netflix, eatin’, cheatin’, by myself, all by myself,” Tarriona “Tank” Ball spits, clearly enjoying her alone time. “Nobody else/ New people to the left/ What is there left but myself?” “‘Self Care’ is THE quarantine song to get you moving,” Ball said in a statement. “It shows that some of the best things can come out from solitude, especially when the beat hits this hard.” Take a listen above via the song’s Fat Happy Media-directed video. [via CoS]

New Zealand’s platinum sensation BENEE unveils the official video for her latest single 'Snail'. For the visual, BENEE and director Anita Fontaine deliver a lush and larger-than-life fantasy befitting of the track. In the colorful clip, BENEE wakes up to feed her giant snail roommates and slides around their slime trails before heading to work in her secret elf lab. Soon, she’s cycling out of her home—a concrete replica of her own head—out into a storm. After being struck by lightning, our heroine turns into an elf and cruises through a mushroom wonderland under the glow of an aurora borealis-style blanket of colors across the sky. Reflective of her personality, it pops off as her biggest and boldest video to date. Of the inspiration behind the video, BENEE says, “I knew I wanted the vid to be a weird fantasy story involving snails! I said to Anita that I wanted to be an elf with long braids riding a bike and have giant mushrooms somewhere in the vid...She came back with the treatment, and I loved ittttttt! Her imagination is supa whacky in the best way, and I’m so happy with how ‘Snail’ turned out!”

Bebe Rexha has returned with her new anthem 'Baby, I'm Jealous', which features Doja Cat. 'Baby, I'm Jealous' is Bebe Rexha's first single of 2020, following on from last year's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil track 'You Can't Stop The Girl'. The new track marks the debut collaboration between Bebe Rexha and Doja Cat, and is accompanied by a Hannah Lux Davis-directed visual that stars Charli D’Amelio, Nikita Dragun, and Avani Gregg. Bebe Rexha says the new single is "about embracing my insecurities", and adds, "It’s about the way social media has heightened my jealousy which can affect how I feel about myself. We are constantly flooded with the highlights of other people’s lives, and at times I find myself comparing my worth and beauty to others. It’s part of the human process to experience jealousy - ultimately, this is an anthem to embrace those feelings as a form of empowerment." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Making her grand return to the scene with a striking new single is Brighton-hailed singer Fable, with her new tune 'Thirsty'. With otherworldly tones and harmonising vocals, the singer serves us with a sumptuous genre-bending tune that has us headbanging at every chorus. Known for her bold and atmospheric sonics, the singer accompanies the song with an attention-grabbing video with juxtaposing images of ethereal nature and mental destruction. Speaking on the single, the singer said, “'Thirsty' is about taking the beauty of life for granted. How overtime we write off profound stuff as mundane because it’s a constant; the sky’s always there, but it’s weird and beautiful that we even exist under it. It’s playful at heart but it’s about my realised depression and learning how to reset my perspective through mindfulness,” Having disappeared from the scene back in 2016 due to a personal tragedy, the singer has reconnected to her artistic side and is ready to step back into the spotlight. [via Wonderland]

With the enticing line-up of Joe Lonie (Supergroove), Milan Borich (Pluto), Jol Mulholland (The Reduction Agents) and Morgan Leary (Cindy), Tāmaki Makaurau supergroup Kathy Bates Motel share their latest ear worm 'Cool Your Heels'. The class act's second single, following up debut track 'Damaged Goods', is dangerously catchy, with killer harmonies from vocalists Lonie and Leary. 'Cool Your Heels' will have you moving your feet and hankering for a dance, a need so perfectly met by the Footloose inspired, Joe Lonie directed visuals. Everybody cut foot loose, the weekend and 'Cool Your Heels' have arrived. [via Under The Radar]

Up-and-comers Wargasm recently dropped their fifth single, ‘Backyard Bastards’, and now they’ve released a video to go with it. Shot and edited by Olli Appleyard, the video sees sees Sam Matlock (guitar, vocals) hunting down Ryan Cornall (session drummer) on a manic murder spree that finds its peak in an epic showdown between the two, all the while being cheered on by Milkie Way (bass, vocals) and her dancer squad. You can check out the video for ‘Backyard Bastards’ above. [via Dead Press]

Atlanta-based glam punk rockers Starbenders have released an energetic and evocative music video for their new single 'Can’t Cheat Time' off most recent album Love Potions. 'Can’t Cheat Time' is available now as part of a bundle featuring the original single and an acoustic version. 'Can’t Cheat Time' perfectly pairs frontwoman Kimi Shelter‘s incredible vocal shapeshifting abilities with electrocuted guitars and heart-pounding rhythm for this stand out rock ‘n’ roll anthem. Speaking to the inspiration for the single’s music video, Shelter adds: “‘Can’t Cheat Time’ is a personal favorite amongst the band. This single has a wicked string arrangement reminiscent of Jeff Lynne from ELO’s production style. It was so rewarding hearing all of it come together with the live string players. The accompanying music video is a love letter to the mom and pop businesses that have shaped and supported our very existence. These businesses along with the touring industry have been devastated by the pandemic. We filmed in locations around Atlanta which include the local greasy spoon diner, the record shop, the independent guitar store, the watering hole, and the divey small music venue. While mega-retailers did not close down for even one day, 60% of small to medium-sized businesses in the USA that closed will never reopen. These places are vital to the social and economic health of our cities. We encourage our friends to go to saveourstages.com. Sign up to push legislators to help independent venues though the updated Heroes Act. So many are hurting and on the verge of financial ruin from lighting to sound engineers, musicians, DJs, security, bar staff and venue operators. Our hearts are with you all.“ [via The Girls At The Rock Show]

[brendancorris]

Thundercats Roar thoughts...

So a friend of mine showed me this trailer a few weeks ago, and for a second I didn’t believe it was real. But, before I get further into my thoughts on this thing everybody else on the internet has already covered, let me go into my history with Thundercats.

Despite never drawing much fan art for the series, Thundercats is a property I love, and one of the biggest parts of my life in my earliest years. Born in ��86 with three older siblings, I was just in time for the original Thundercats. My family already consisted of die-hard fans, so it was naturally one of the first franchises I got into. From the time I was born to when I was about 4, Masters of the Universe and Thundercats were what it was all about. It wasn’t until ‘89 that I got my first TMNT toy, and about a year later that was literally all I cared about. 

But before my TMNT obsession, there was Thundercats. While I do have many fond memories of watching the show, my most beloved memories of it are simply being a fan. Collecting the action figures, listening to my siblings talk about the show, and playing Thundercats. Not a video game, though. On nights when my Mom was out, my Dad would host He-Man or Thundercats games where he’d be either Skeletor or Mumm-ra, my oldest sister and brother would be She-Ra and He-Man or Lion O and Cheetarah (while my other sister would be... somebody) and I, being the baby, would always get stuck being Orko or Snarf. All us kids would wrestle our dad and beat up on him as he’d try to defeat us. Epic stuff. Some how the younger of my two sisters would usually end up horribly injured after each game, though...

Simply put, Thundercats was the real deal with my family when I was little. The action was great, the evil beasts were awesome, the toys were a blast, and Cheetarah, along with the He-Man girls, made me feel things my tiny self wasn’t yet ready to feel. 

It wasn’t until I was in high school that I revisited the show, and, honestly, I was surprised how much it held up. Especially considering in high school I was “too cool for everything” yet I still acknowledged its quality. Yes, it was corny in the way all old children's’ shows were at the time (I have nothing but love for that tone, but I can see how it would be hard to digest for later generations), but it still had great, smart, sophisticated writing for its time, amazing animation and artwork, good characters, and one of the most hype intros ever.

In 2011 a reboot was made. This reboot was far darker and more built on political commentary. It was an understandable progression. The fans had grown up, so the franchise did too. While I wasn’t a huge fan, I can respect the quality of the writing, art, and over all work that went into it. It was a sophisticated piece of art. I felt it went a bit too extreme with the tone it was pushing, and as a long time fan of the original, found lots of the changes and design choices hard to digest. But again, it was a good show, and I respect what it attempted to accomplish. 

However, the show was canceled before season 2 could air. This left a lot of fans mad, confused as to whether it was low ratings, low ratings as a result of its switched time slot that was far from ideal, or just a business decision to sacrifice a popular show just to make way for a potentially more popular future show. While I can understand the upset from fans 100%, I didn’t feel it as I wasn’t a regular viewer. 

So, fast-forward to earlier this month when my friend shows me this trailer. As I said, at first I thought it was a joke, like College Humor or something. Then when the realization sunk in that it was real, I hated it. But, quickly I told myself that I don’t know enough about it yet to fully judge. I haven’t seen an episode. Sure, it looks awful from what I’ve seen, and I can clearly see the “monkey see monkey do” going on here with the copying of other successful modern cartoons. But, again, I haven’t seen it. Before I get into my final thoughts thus far, I need to address the elephant in the room...

...the similarities everybody has seen in this and Teen Titans GO!

While I wasn’t a die hard or anything, I did watch the entire first two seasons of the original Cartoon Network Teen Titans series when it was new, and I did like it. I thought it was very well-written, well-acted, had great characters, great character development, great stories, and great action. The characters worked off of each other beautifully. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I had some issues with it.

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS AHEAD - PREPARE TO HATE ME

Since its release I have always found the art style to look very under-developed and unappealing. It looked like an awkward imbalance of the (already bland in my mind) Justice League cartoon style and a newbie anime style. The best way I can describe it was it resembled the artwork of a junior-high kid who just started drawing anime. Also, I found a lot of the anime-inspired elements to feel forced. When characters would mutate into chibi disasters or tropes like sweat drops scrolling down their faces would happen, it was always a bit cringy and out of place. It felt like it was shoehorned in rather than rightfully fitting in.

But the most notable thing about the show was it was a pretty huge departure from the original DC comics. Gone was the realistic art style of the comics. Now the characters all had big, round heads, twig-like limbs, huge hands and feet, and big anime-eyes. Everything was very simplistic, sharp, and jagged. There was far more comedy, some great, and some that cringy chibi stuff I mentioned. The integration of anime tropes and far more kid humor was a huge departure from the comics. So, basically, despite being a good show, Teen Titans, the show, was a huge departure from its source material.

Then comes Teen Titans GO! and overnight it becomes one of the most hated (and most popular) cartoons of this age. I didn’t quite hate it, but wrote it off as crap without seeing it. It is a shame that the original show was canceled before it got to be finished, but putting fans’ anger towards that aside, the creation of TTG makes perfect sense. The characters proved extremely popular and marketable, largely because how comedic they could be when bouncing off each other (and the original show had been canceled. Continuing a canceled show years later is a difficult task, regrouping the team, dancing through the legal BS, and finding enough staff and people to fund it to be on board, as well as a network to accept it). More simplistic art styles were becoming more popular, and after the post-Adult Swim days, hyper, wacky, odd comedies have become the norm.

To be honest, any time I have seen Teen Titans GO!, which has only been about three episodes or so, I laughed. I don’t care what people say, the show is legitimately funny. Is it the greatest show ever? Not by a long shot. Is it better than the last TT show? Probably not. Is it a shame it exists while the original never finished? Kinda. But is it a bad show? Honestly, no. 

TTG knows exactly what it wants to be and delivers. It may not be the sequel show old fans wanted, but if you put aside the hatred, you’ll see it’s not only a funny cartoon bursting with energy and very well-defined and appealing character designs reminiscent of shows like Dexter’s Lab, but also a huge love letter to the Titans, the last show, and all things DC. It is clearly made by DC fans. I may be biased because I love Weird Al and The Golden Girls, but, man, this is funny right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ICmOMLX3rQ

Admittedly, even the movie trailer looks funny, and I’ll likely see it, despite not really being a fan of the show. Just like the 2011 Thundercats, I see what the TTG team is intending to do, and I appreciate how well they do it, despite not being a regular supporter of it.

And, well, that brings us back to ‘Roar’. Will I like it? Based on what I’ve seen so far, likely not, but who knows. It could end up being the next Sonic Boom. I do strongly dislike the art direction for Thundercats Roar, and the footage shown thus far did not make me laugh (except Mumm-ra learning about the cats being on Third Earth by reading it in the newspaper. That actually got a chuckle from me). But, as much as my gut is telling me to hate this show, I won’t pass judgment until I’ve at least seen a couple episodes. It’s definitely not the Thundercats I love, but to be honest, I didn’t want a TC reboot. I was fine with it just being as it is. So if somebody’s going to reboot it for a new generation, I’ll be glad to see my favorite franchises get passed down, so long as it is done lovingly. If the show truly is a love letter to the history of the franchise as it claims to be, and if it’s a decently quality product that obvious care went into, I’ll be fine with it.

It would be so easy to tear it apart and hate it, but as I get older I find myself growing more accepting of such change. I’m not EXPECTING to like it, but who knows, I also wasn’t expecting to like Sonic Boom. Basically, so far I’m not digging what I’ve seen, but I’ll keep an open mind and stay hopeful. Here’s hoping they can change my mind with the final product.

The End

[nickyvmlp]

My Top 10 Characters I Want in Smash Ultimate

I got a couple of requests for this in my last Smash reaction video, and I didn’t want to make it a full video, so it’ll go here, HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOOO.  (Also, none of my top 10 need to be echo fighters, but I’ll throw in a few echos near the end.)

10) Alex Roivas from Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

This will not happen, especially with Simon and Richter filling the horror game niche, but I can dream, darnit.  For the unaware, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem was a 2002 GameCube exclusive psychological horror game; it’s basically Resident Evil meets Call of Cthulhu, and it’s my favorite horror game of all time. In the game, you play as Alex Roivas, a few of her ancestors, and few other schmucks across history unfortunate enough to stumble across an ancient book called the Tome of Eternal Darkness, which drags them into a conflict that could destroy the world.  Alex ends up using the knowledge she’s learned from the Tome to stop the rise of three ancient deities, each bent on world domination.  So in Smash, she could have the Tome at her disposal and could even carry it into battle like Robin does.  Her standard attacks can involve normal weaponry she uses like guns and knives and stuff, while her special attacks can all involve using the Tome to summon something.  For her Final Smash, she can hit everyone in a set radius around her with a huge sanity effect that adds 100% damage and breaks the shield of anyone caught in it, leaving them wide open for a heavy attack and a KO.  Plus, more strong female Smash characters, never a bad thing.

9) Decidueye from Pokemon

Every Smash game has a new Pokemon rep, and there’s quite for few on the rumor mill.  Gardevoir and Gothitelle get brought up a lot, but they’d draw a lot of comparisons to (and may end up being an EF to) Mewtwo, especially in Gardevoir’s case.  They could also throw in a currently unannounced Pokemon from Gen 8 with that being right around the corner.  But, Decidueye makes the most sense to me.  It’s got a cool design and there aren’t many characters that uses arrows in their arsenal, basically just the Links and Pit.  Plus, his Flying type would give him really strong recovery, most comparable to Charizard’s.  For his Final Smash, give him Zelda’s FS from Brawl, a giant arrow that KO’s everyone in a straight line.

8) The Eeveelutions from Pokemon

If you like Pokemon, odds are good that you like at least one of the Eeveelutions.  Espeon’s my favorite Pokemon ever, and Jolteon, Umbreon, and Sylveon are up there too.  And there’s eight Eeveelutions at the moment (not counting Eevee) and eight alternate costume spots for each character, so here’s what I’m thinking.  You reveal the Eeveelutions in the next Direct, and put up a poll on the Smash website: Who is your favorite Eeveelution?  The winner of the poll is the default character, while everyone else are the alt costumes.  This does mean that the Eeveelutions will have to be virtually identical, but that shouldn’t be too hard, a Flamethrower can look like a Hydro Pump, a Thunderbolt, a Psyshock, etc. with some small cosmetic changes.  And their Final Smash could either be similar to Mega Man’s where everyone joins in for a giant combined attack, or if you wanna get cartoony, have them get into a big dust cloud fight with other Eeveelutions joining in before the victim gets launched offscreen by it.  Plus with Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee coming soon, it’s a great time to give Eevee’s family some love

7) Black Shadow from F-Zero

You know me, I love F-Zero GX more than I love three square meals a day, and at the moment, there’s barely any Smash representation for the GREATEST RACING GAME OF ALL TIME, so let’s change that.  Samurai Goroh is already an Assist Trophy, so how about Falcon’s other main rival, Black Shadow?  Taking a quick look at him, he’s obviously a big, strong character which makes him well-equipped to be in a fighting game.  But taking a second look at him will make you chuckle, because he’s kinda goofy looking.  He’s wearing a full-body black spandex suit, with bull horns, cloven feet, and a cape.  Yea, he’s a sadistic monster in the games and the anime, but still he’s a little hard to take seriously.  And that can work in his advantage.  In Nintendo Directs, they like to use villains that you can kinda take the piss out of in certain places, like Dedede, Wario, and surely in the future, K. Rool.  Black Shadow can exist in a similar role, and maybe the four can form some evil alliance if they decide to make Subspace Emissary 2.  (Please make Subspace Emissary 2.)  His Final Smash can be identical to Falcon’s, hit your opponent with the Black Bull, works just fine.  Plus, maybe a new F-Zero character could build hype for a new game in the series?  Please?

6) Paper Mario

I’m not sure why some people want Paper Mario to be Mario’s EF?  Wasn’t the point of Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam to show how different those two are?  Anyway, Paper Mario has a bevy of ways to attack that would help him stand apart from his 3-dimensional counterpart.  His standard attack can involve his hammer (which Mario doesn’t have), with the directional standards involving various badges like the Hammer Throw and the Ice Smash.  His special attacks can use his various buddies.  Parakarry can be his recovery, Vivian can be a Down-B defense tool, you could even use Thoreau as his throwing mechanic.  And the final Smash could involve one of the realistic items from the new games, like the electric fan blowing all the opponents offscreen.  I don’t know much about the newer games, they didn’t look as good.

5) Shadow the Hedgehog

This is another one that COULD be an Echo Fighter, but Shadow plays pretty differently to Sonic in their games.  He skates instead of runs, he uses weapons whereas Sonic just uses his speed, Shadow has a FUCKING GUN, there’s plenty that you can do with Shadow to separate him from Sonic.  Particularly involving his Final Smash, Chaos Control.  When it’s used, everyone on screen freezes for ten seconds.  In that time, Shadow can use one heavy attack after another after another, and when the time runs out, all the damage and force from those attacks hit at once, and that character will go flying.  It’d be kinda like Link’s Stasis from Breath of the Wild (which should be Link’s FS, but oh well)

4) Spring Man from Arms

So, Arms wasn’t as big of a hit as people were hoping.  That’s a bummer, it looks like a fun game.  How about we give it one last shot in the arm (teehee) to try to boost its exposure?  Put Spring Man in the game, and have him focus on long-range attacks and throws.  His recovery can be a long whip that grabs ledges like Olimar’s.  And for his Final Smash, give him a big winding tornado throw that KOs whoever he grabs and damages anyone who gets hit by the swinging arms in the process.  Show what he can do in Smash, and maybe it’ll entice people to see what he can do in Arms.  I just want that game to be successful.

3) Rayman

I was shocked that Rayman didn’t get into Smash WiiU, since it seems like Nintendo and Ubisoft have been on great terms for a long time, like how Rayman Origins and Legends ended up on Nintendo consoles when it had almost no third-party support.  Rayman even had a trophy in WiiU, so it was really surprising to me that he wasn’t one of the DLC characters.  Let’s fix that.  His unattached limbs would give him some good range, he’d have some magic that he could use at his disposal for special attacks.  And for his Final Smash, how about summoning a swarm of mosquitoes to fly across the screen, doing massive damage with each hit, like a super-powered version of the Beedrills from Smash 64?

2) Geno from Super Mario RPG

I’m not a huge Final Fantasy guy, but I’m so glad Cloud got into Smash WiiU/3DS, because it throws the door wide open for other Square characters.  A lot of people think this will lead to Sora from Kingdom Hearts getting in (doubtful), but I want Geno to finally get in.  He did get an outfit for the Mii Gunner in the last game, but seeing him actually in Smash, not just as a Mii, would be so great.  Mario RPG is criminally underrated, and it laid the groundwork for the Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi games.  He’d, of course, be a long range fighter, using his finger cannons as his main attacks, and for his Final Smash:  the Geno Flash, which would be like a combination of Pit’s and Jigglypuff’s FS.  You’d go offscreen and aim a point on the map.  From that epicenter, a giant blast grows, trapping and damaging anyone who gets in the blast radius, before launching those victims off the stage.

Honorable Mentions (Echo Fighters)

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat brought Funky Kong back into the fold, and he’s got a very similar body type to Donkey Kong, so that makes perfect sense to me.

Hyrule Warriors could use a representative, and since Midna’s already an Assist Trophy, how about Impa?  She’s got a great look and could borrow Sheik’s moveset quite well.

I never bought Wart as an Echo Fighter, since the characters he was usually attached to (Bowser or Dedede) didn’t feel similar enough.  But K. Rool, on the other hand, fits just right.  K. Rool looks like a caricature of Wart.

People seem to like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so let’s add to the Xenoblade cast in Smash.  I don’t know a lot about Rex, besides his goofy pants, but I’m sure he’d be a great fit.

This might seem odd, but how about Andy from Advance Wars as an Echo to Bowser Jr.?  Andy could ride in a tank and shoot projectiles while using the turret as a short-range melee attack?  Could work.

1) Sans and Papyrus from Undertale

No, but could you imagine?

1) Crash and Coco Bandicoot

This would be the kind of Internet breaking character that you put as the last character added to give one final hype boost to the already unstoppable Smash hype train.  The N. Sane Trilogy is already out on Switch, so the publishers already have their foot in the door, so let’s just go for it.  And as an added bonus, you could announce Coco Bandicoot at the same time (like Simon and Richter) for added excitement.  (I would absolutely main as Coco.)  Their standard attacks could revolve around their spin attacks, while their specials would involve using their various powerups like the fruit bazooka and the belly flop.  And the Final Smash would involve using Aku Aku to turn invincible for a brief time.  Yes, they’re kinda doing away with that kind of FS, maybe they could make a cutscene out of it and cause an instant KO or something.  I don’t know, just gimme Crash in Smash, please. 

[rosesmith18]

(PnF) Headcanon #15 TnMtober Pt.1,3,4,5 and 6

For those who aren't aware, this month is the official Marie and Thomas month, with a event calendar and everything(you can find the calendar here https://twitter.com/MartitaSketches/status/1445413673585942532/photo/1) Most people are drawing things for this month, but I can't draw. So I decided instead to post some headcanons for each day. I'm a little late, so this post with contain days 1-6(Excluding 2 which will be a whole post on it's own). Enjoy! Day 1: Video Games A)Haven Hologram is an improved version of Phineas and Ferb's gaming console from season one. It is controlled via a headset, hand controllers, and feet controllers. It connects to all sense except for touch so that the wearer won't experience physical pain while playing. It's akin to controlling a hologram of whatever character your playing in whatever game your playing. B)I came up with gamertags and favorite Smash Bros. Ultimate characters for the main group of Marie and Thomas. Jasmine's gamertag is RicksRollsRoyce cause she is a meme queen, and she likes playing with Solid Snake cause kickbutt personality. Destiny's gamertag is NautUndercover as a reference to Psychonauts and she plays as Banjo and Kazooie which was her first plateformer, she is a gamer through and through. Xavier's gamertag is Barrell_Roll, and he plays Star Fox cause that is his favorite game of all time. Fred's gamertag is Fred-T-Noobish(he used a random tag generator cause he doesn't no the first thing about gaming), and he plays as Kirby quite a bit. Maria's gamertag is the same as her email address which is MadameE, and she likes playing Sonic the most. Lastly, is Thomas whose gamertag is TheGame, and he likes to play as Princess Zelda. Day 3: Kids A)I've always headcanon'd that Maria was born with diabetes instead of just getting super hyper from sugar(it's also what I headcanon as having ended the life of Phineas Father; Phelan & Phineas and Isabella's first child; Vincent). So, when she's a kid, I always imagine Maria being very isolated due to specifically her father's fears which is why she's not good around others and usually becomes insecure or nervous. Most kids she grew up with didn't feel comfortable around her as they were children and had a difficult time controlling themselves enough for her to be safe around them. Thomas was really the only person allowed around her that wasn't afraid to treat her like a normal kid, and he was the only one her parents really trusted to be safe around her. I headcanon Thomas was not only a quiet kid, but a very curious one as Ferb is shown in the show to be up for almost anything for curiosities sake. Thomas found Maria to be interesting considering she was the only kid in their close family to be younger than him, he(Feb. 27th, 2024) was four/five-ish months old when she(June. 3rd, 2024) was born. Their parents, of course, spent quite a bit of time together meaning so did they. Thomas' mother and father loved Maria like their own daughter, and his aunt and uncle loved Thomas just the same. He got to help his Aunt 'take care' of her when she was basically helpless, and as Maria got older she felt most comfortable around him. That was true for him too as he didn't really feel like their cousins(Amanda, Xavier, and Fred)understood his desire to ask questions or test limits. Day 4: Favorite Movie A)My personal favorite movie is a tie between Ponyo & Clueless, but I decided to just pick movies I thought would be the main crews favorites. I would say, Jasmine's is something like 'The Banana Splits' movie based of the TV Show of the same name due to the fact she deals with horror the best and is a jokester. Destiny's would be something like 'Detective Pikachu' as it's like the best video game movie of our time, and Jasmine & her think Ryan Ronald's is hilarious. Xavier and Fred both like the movie 'Horton Hears a Who' as the Flynn-Fletchers love Doctor Seuss. Maria's favorite would have to be 'The Care Bears Movie' when she's young, but becomes 'Clueless' when she's older(as she falls in love with the book 'Emma', tell me it isn't a perfect metaphor for her and Thomas' relationship. I don't mind the Phantom of the Opera, but I think Emma/Clueless is a WAY better fit-And healthier.). And, Thomas' favorite is no doubt 'The Illusionist' with it's detailed plot and deep characters, ya know the philosophical stuff. Day 5: Terror A)When it comes to fears these characters have I already made a list for Maria, Thomas, and Jasmine. Jasmine is afraid of having no free will & is claustrophobic. Maria has a fear of woodpeckers and of being a failure(I made this whole new dimension where I turned these characters into animals/insects, and made Maria Monarch Butterfly like her mother, this is where I headcanon the fear of Woodpeckers came from cause they eat butterflies.). Lastly, Thomas has Sociophobia(is good at hiding it), Pistanthrophobia(More Familial than Romantic, but both are fears), and Phonophobia(Specifically gunshots). I have explanations for all these fears, but I won't rant about them here. Day 6: Candyland A)Again, I can't draw, so decided to think of what the main crews favorite candy would be. Jasmine's I went with the treat 'Kismi Toffee' from her home country of India. Destiny was given 'Bamsemums' a Norwegian candy made with marshmallows and coated in a light layer of chocolate. Xavier and Fred both got 'Twix's' as their favorite candy. For Maria I kept her canonical favorite Swiss Chocolate. And, I gave Thomas 'Katjes Licorice Cats' which are a German candy shaped like cats and made of real black licorice(he likes the salted kind specifically). That's it for days 1,3,4,5 and 6. I'll get around to day 2(Second Dimension)at some point it's just that that post will basically be a summary of a story idea I've had for years now. Anyway, please leave a comment about anything you wish. I enjoy hearing others thoughts and headcanons. *Xavier and Fred belong to Dan Povenmire & Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh *Thomas belongs to Melty64 *Marie belongs to angelus19 & sam-ely-ember *Destiny was inspired by the character of the same name who belongs to xiomicchi on deviantart as well as Breanna Van Stomm who belongs to KicsterAsh on deviantart

[freespiritcreations]

The Long Lost Diary of Teenaged Yaya

Hey guys, how have you all been? As for me, for the past few weeks, I’ve been watching a lot of films pertaining to youth culture. I’ve seen all of the episodes of HBO Max’s “Euphoria” (2019), along with the movies “The Breakfast Club” (1985), “Mean Girls” (2004), “Mid-90’s” (2018), and “KIDS” (1995). Although all of these films take place at different times periods, their portrayal of youth culture is not too different from my reality. 

 I can definitely say that there were some characters who go through certain life experiences that I can relate too. Especially Kat Hernandez from the tv series Euphoria. Kat is a chubby girl who struggles with receiving and accepting love from other boys. She is also insecure about her weight, and confused about her identity. I personally know how it feels to grow up like Kat.

First of all, I too had that one summer as a middle schooler where I came back twenty pounds heavier. Most of the boys in my former middle school found me repulsive because of my size.

Also, like most girls, I was curious about the concept of human intimacy. There were times when I would express my fantasies through creating explicit drawings and writing odd stories. However, my drawings never pertained to any acts of sexual activities. Instead, they were drawings of sensual looking sonic characters. 

Most of the time, I would draw a specific character that I named Miu. Miu was supposed to be a cross between a lion and a wolf because those were my two favorite animals. 

I choose to draw anamorphic characters because it was like I was creating a world where everyone was imperfect and perfect at the same time. Every time I would draw, it felt like I was escaping to a world where everyone was a mess. But, we were all beautiful creatures because of our differences inside and out. 

In a way, Miu was drawn to be who I envisioned to look like and to become. I was incredibly insecure about the way I looked. Unlike Kat, I stopped growing when I was only twelve years old. So, I will forever be four feet and eleven inches tall. And, being fat and short at the same time doesn’t mix so well. Because of this, consistently drawing Miu was comforting to me.

As far as my stories, they too were also a bit different from Kat’s writings . I would often write fanfiction novels that were based off of my own life. For example, I would write love stories about me and whoever I had a crush on. In those stories, we could be in the world of Pokemon, Inuyasha, or any other anime shows. Yeah, I know, I was a very weird yet creative pre-teen. However, I didn’t have the balls to post them like Kat did.

As far as my stories, they too were also a bit different from Kat’s writings . I would often write fanfiction novels that were based off of my own life. For example, I would write love stories about me and whoever I had a crush on. In those stories, we could be in the world of Pokemon, Inuyasha, or any other anime shows. Yeah, I know, I was a very weird yet creative pre-teen. However, I didn’t have the balls to post them like Kat did.

As I got older, I had similar experiences in promiscuity too Kat. Just like her, it felt empowering to have some type of sexual control over guys. In fact, the more I felt that way, the more my identity started to change. I went from looking like a geeky nerd, to looking like a 80’s high school dropout, and finally I look like some kind of urban looking goth chic. My identity change increased my confidence over the past years.

However, that type of lifestyle does have its drawbacks. Similar to Kat ,after some time it became harder for me to recognize boys who actually had genuine feelings for me. I would try to push away those who showed me a lot of affection because I often feel like it’s a set up. Because of this, it is difficult for me to accept that kind of attention from guys. Overall, I can relate to most of Kat’s youthful experiences.

In addition to Kat’s personal experience, I’ve noticed a few common themes that these films share. These themes include teenage rebellion, drug abuse and dealing with relationship issues. Although these themes were portrayed in a fictional setting, they do resemble traits of contemporary youth culture. I can even relate to these themes from my own personal adolescent experiences.

I’m pretty sure most teenagers go through the challenges or phases at one point or another. Just like in the films, there was at least one character that had gone through these issues. For instance, Bender from The Breakfast Club had a reputation of being a bully and causing trouble. His behavior resulted from his unstable home life. Rue Bennette from Euphoria started abusing drugs once her family was breaking up. Stevie from Mid-90’s started hanging around a rowdy crowd because had no one else to look up to. Maddy from Euphoria continued to stay in a toxic relationship even though she was aware of it’s conditions. In a way, my adolescent life was similar to theirs.

 I can say that I definitely went through a rebellious phase by the time I was in high school. However, there were certain situations that lead up to that point that were similar to Rue Bennette from Euphoria and Stevie from Mid-90’s. When I was about ten years old, my parents had gotten into a nasty divorce. Not too long after, my step dad Fritz came into my life. His presence had felt threatening at first because I feared that he was going to replace my dad. Around the same time, I was diagnosed with bipolar depression. At the time, my mom treated me like another mental patient. My dad wasn’t really around, and my step father didn’t understand my mental illness. My moods started to become so unpredictable that it was extremely hard to hold onto friendships.

 By the time I was fifthteen years old, I started to smoke weed, sneak out at night, sneak boys inside my room, get into physical altercations, steal from others, and unexplainably start irrational arguments. It seemed like the only thing I didn't do was let my grades drop. Somehow, I was able to maintain a high GPA while acting like a tyrant. 

By that time, I had an estranged relationship with my family. My mom and I would constantly fight almost every other day. Although my step dad tried his hardest to earn my trust, I continued to resent him as my father. My little sister was so hellbent into tarnishing my reputation, that she would vindictively tell my friends and her own that I was crazy and to stay away from me. She would also purposely pick fights with me in front of her friends, so I could respond irrationally in front of them. She would do this just to further prove her point about me.

I felt so alone when I was a teenager, so I decided to look for acceptance elsewhere. I started to sleep around with boys who I knew were emotionally unstable trouble-makers. I also started to hang around gang affiliated teenagers with no ambition to better themselves. It had felt like my family, friends, and even my own teachers had seen me as no different from them because of my mental illness. So, I thought that that was where I belonged. They lost hope for me, so I began to lose hope in myself. I didn’t care where my actions would lead me, I just wanted to be a part of something. Even if I had to hurt or deceive others just to feel like I mattered to someone.

That’s what I thought at first, until my rebellious behavior caught up with me. When I was seventeen, there was one guy who I had a friends-with-benefits type of relationship with. He pretended to be interested in me, so he could find out where I lived. He had teamed up with my so-called “friends,” and they all robbed my family while we were at my brother’s wedding. That was the same day that I found out my step father’s cancer had gotten worse, and he was going to die soon.

Fritz died the day before Thanksgiving that year. His passing inspired me to better myself. I stopped being around a bad crowd, and began to improve my behavior.

That’s when I met the love of my life Cristian in my late teenage years. We had gotten so close because we both lost a parent to cancer the same year. As well as that, we both suffered from bipolar disorder. It actually felt like someone understood me for once in my life. I was finally receiving the love I’ve been longing for. What made things better was that he actually loved me for who I am and not just for my body. He even accepted my past as well.

That’s when I met the love of my life Cristian in my late teenage years. We had gotten so close because we both lost a parent to cancer the same year. As well as that, we both suffered from bipolar disorder. It actually felt like someone understood me for once in my life. I was finally receiving the love I’ve been longing for. What made things better was that he actually loved me for who I am and not just for my body. He even accepted my past as well.

However, because neither of us were receiving professional help for our disorder, we would often engage in violent fights and arguments. Eventually, we were engaged to be married, but our relationship was falling apart at the same time. I started to smoke weed nonstop. It felt like for the entire two years I was constantly high. I can’t even remember a time when I was sober for an entire day back then. I even started to experiment with other harder drugs, such as ecstasy, cocaine, and LSD. I was in denial that my life was falling apart. I wanted to num the painful thoughts of losing my father, my family’s trust again, my relationship and my mind.

Eventually, I stepped out of the relationship which ultimately ended it. I began to rebel again which pushed people away from me even more. When I had gotten arrested and was facing pending charges, that’s when I vowed to myself to regain my life again no matter what challenges I faced. I started to seek professional help, and I even regained my family’s trust again. I was gaining back the friendships that I had lost, and I started smoking weed only once a day.

It had seemed like my life was getting back to normal, until I saw Cristian again. The last time I had seen him, we had gotten into a very bad fight which stopped us from communicating for at least a year. When I saw him, we cleared the air and squashed any kind of bad blood we had for each other. He wanted to get back together with me, but I declined his advances. He was still persistent in wanting to at least regain a friendship again. So, we decided to work on that. That night, something inside of me told me to hug him, but something was preventing me from doing so. I wish I had given him that hug because he died two weeks later from a drug overdose.

The night of his candle lighting ceremony, his best friend told me that he had seen him the same night he passed away. He told me that Cristian was talking about me that night. Apparently, Cristian was telling him that he was excited that him and I were friends again. He also told me that Cristian’s plan was to get back together with me. That was the last time someone had ever loved me.

So yeah, my adolescent life was an absolute mess. To be honest, this entire experience was incredibly traumatizing for me. But, after watching those films, it made me realize that somewhere in the world, I’m not the only one that goes through hard times. I truly believe that the themes from these films resonate with the ugly side of contemporary youth culture.

On another note, the soundtrack for Euphoria had greatly impacted the narrative of the story entirely. I mean, what doesn’t go well with music nowadays. Soundtracks have a way of further emphasizing the focal point of a story. Especially, when the lyrics and meaning to a song matches perfectly with the situation at hand, as well as the movements being seen in the film. A soundtrack with these qualities emotionally connects an audience to the characters in order to empathize with what they are going through.

If I could pick ten songs to put on a soundtrack based on my adolescent life experiences, they would all be songs that were made at different time periods, including the ones that weren’t out yet at the time.

The first song I would choose for my soundtrack would be “lovely” by Billie Ellish and Khalid. The song is about being in a dark place in life and wanting to get out of it. This song is a perfect example of how I felt when I was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder. During that time, I was battling depression because of my parents divorce. Not only that, I was being severely bullied while I was in middle school for liking anime. Other students would harass me and leave death threats in my locker. They would do this because they also accused me of being a lesiban just for watching anime. My mental illness had gotten so bad that I was in and out of hospitals, homeschooled, and then eventually placed in special education classes just for having a mental illness. I was at the lowest point of my life and often had thoughts of suicde. I wanted so desperately to be happy again like how I was when I was kid. I wanted to live a life of no worries and  live shamelessly, but I didn’t know if I was ever going to overcome my depression.

The second song of my choice would be “Drop the World” by Lil Wayne and Eminem. The song is about letting out your frustration on society  by reatulationg on the world around you. Like I mentioned before, by the time I was in high school, I went through a rebellious phase. I made careless and risky decisions because of how isolated I had felt from society. I didn’t have anyone I could talk to about how I felt, so I would bottom up all of my emotions until I would lash out on people. After a while, my behavior became a part of me. I turned into a selfish narcissistic person who wouldn’t listen to reason. I was so full of anger because of how I was being treated, so I began to treat everyone around me horribly in retaliation.

The third song of my choice is “Under the Influence” by Chris Brown. This song is basically about the feeling of being high while undergoing sexual intercourse. It also explains how his sex appael had gotten his partner lustfully addicted to him. Obviously, I won't go into too much detail, but this song describes exactly how I felt during my promiscuous adventures. For the most part, I was extremely high during those circumstances. I did it in order to not feel so guilty about my activities while feeling extremely relaxed during the process. In a way, it was just another addiction. It was also just another outlet for me to num the pain. Even so, the guys would not get enough of me.  For some reason, they just keep coming back for more even years later. Somehow, I became extremely desirable amongst the boys in my class despite my weight.

Anyways, the fourth song would be “idontwannabeyouanymore” by Billie Ellish. In a nutshell, the song is about how girls negatively envision themselves based on discouraging criticisms of their appearance. After the robbery situation, I began to reevaluate my life and who I was becoming. It took me sometime to realize that I did not like who I was becoming. I had even heard numerous rumors about myself regarding my sexual prerogative. A lot of people started to call me a whore, and I started to become ashamed of myself. However, I didn’t want to change that specific aspect about myself. I didn’t understand why it was okay for boys to be sexually active but not for girls. I wanted to change my behavior, but I didn’t want to completely change who I am. I wanted to accept my interests while becoming a better person.

My fifth song of choice would be “Heaven” by Beyonce. The title itself is pretty self explanatory, but overall the song is about losing a loved one. My step father was one of the best guys I’ve ever met in my life. He stepped in to be a father figure when my biological father walked out of my life. He was a smart, kind hearted, and considerate man. When he passed away, I was in denial about his death for about three months. Once I came into terms with it, the only way I was able to handle it was by telling myself that he was no longer suffering or in pain. Additionally, this song was already prior to his passing. Therefore, I found a lot of comfort with this song while I was grieving his loss.

The sixth song for my soundtrack would be “Love Yourz” by J. Cole. For a long time, I used to compare my appearance and life with other students who I thought were better than me. During my first healing process, I was starting to become grateful for the challenges I was beginning to overcome. I also tried telling myself that things could be worse off, and I tried to love myself for who I am while I was trying to improve myself. This song relates to a lot of what I dealt with during my healing process.

The seventh song for my playlist would be “How to Love” by Lil Wayne. The lyrics in this song remind me a lot of a reflection of my earlier troubled teenage life. If you listen to the song, the rapper talks about how men play a role in the way women view themselves and behave. Looking back, I can say that the lack of affection from my biological father had definitely impacted my life negatively. It had shaped me into becoming the person who I was. I honestly didn’t realize how much that had affected me until I started going to therapy. That goes to show how much an absent father can affect a young woman's life.

The eighth song would be “Losin Control” by Russ. This song elaborates how a toxic relationship affects the way a woman handles a stable one. When I first got with Cristian, I didn’t know how to accept his love and affection. I would accuse him of similar accusations that the previous men in my life have committed. However, Crisitan remained as patient as he could with me. Even when we would argue, he also made sure that we never went to bed angry. At the end, Cristian really did love me for who I am. He also didn’t know how to handle it because of his past trauma.

The ninth song for my soundtrack would be “WE ARE CHAOS” by Marilyn Manson. The gist of this song is that people are naturally a mess, and there’s nothing we can do about it. When my relationship with failing and my life was spiraling out of control, I started to lose touch with reality. Because I was constantly high, I didn’t feel like I was living. I felt like I was existing. It was like I was no different than a piece of furniture. I was there but I am not here, if that makes sense to you.

The final song I would choose for my soundtrack would be “Keep Holding On” by the cast of Glee. There are a couple of reasons why I choose this song. The first reason is because of the meaning of the song. This song inspires me to continue to move forward through bad situations. It also reminds me that I’m never alone, and that I have people in my life that have my back no matter what. The second reason is because the show Glee is one of my favorite comfort shows. That show has helped me overcome a lot of obstacles in my life. This also includes the episode when the characters had performed while singing that specific song. That sentimental moment has helped me so much when I used to watch it in high school.

Well that’s enough blogging for one day. Thank you for taking the time out of your day by reading what the hell I had to say. This blog post really lets you inside of my personal past, so please do not judge me for that. I am who I am. And, I’m no longer ashamed of my past. I hope this post inspires you and others to live your best life unapologetically no matter how you grew up. Don’t forget to not let your past or any mental illness define you as a person. You are more than that, and that’s what makes you special. Talk to you guys another time.

[garloszeczek-blog]

What we liked most about Aladdin

Colourful figures in Aladdin is directed by guy Ritchie and it's the latest Disney live action remake. This time retelling the original 1992 animated classic of the same name. And it tells a story of a streetwise thief name, a Latin who comes across princess. I was very curious when I first saw Aladdin's trailer. Jasmine meets a genie and fights the evil Jafar. Seriously, though, before I get into the review of this movie has been met with so much online criticism because will Smith is blue.

And people just thought that was so goddamn hilarious. And I guess it does doesn't really look that good. Having seen the actual movie. I have some things to say about it, but yeah, it's not like Sonic the hedgehog where like, as soon as I saw the trailer, I wanted to actually burn all of my Sonic games in retaliation for the horrific thing that I was witnessing.

It wasn't like that. I still liked the original Aladdin. It's funny though, having actually seen the movie will Smith has the least of my concerns. If anything, he actually kept the movie more charismatic than it was whenever he wasn't on screen. The music was composed by Alan Menken. I can't really focus on the music and say the music is this great highlight because it's just the songs from the original.

Yes. There's some new material and yes, it's all good. But I'm just having a hard time getting excited about these Disney live action remakes, because it's essentially taking something we all love already and saying, Hey, let's look at it through this light. Sometimes that works. I really did like John fibrose the jungle book and the Cinderella film.

The cast, nothing special

Wasn't too bad either because those films, I can see how they could be real life. A boy in the jungle, there are animals. Yes. They talk and stuff. But at its core, I can picture that in real life. We've had so many adaptations of that story. Anyway, same with Cinderella. It's something I can picture in real life Aladdin.

That's a little hard. We have this over the top, genie, the princess with her friendly Siberian tiger. You know, like it's kind of hard to picture some of these things in real life. And so that's a struggle. This film has because the movie is trying too hard to evoke the feel of the animation for one thing, the animated film.

Is 90 minutes. It's tight. It's contained, it's compact. It works. This film is two hours and eight minutes. There's a lot of new stuff and you can feel it. You can feel the story. Start to get stretched. And you can feel these characters getting stretched to the point where they don't have anywhere else to go.

One of my biggest concerns with the film though lies in the performances, namely the Aladdin character. At times, he feels like he's trying too hard to be like the animated version, that nervous, cute, anxious quality that Aladdin had in the first film where he was trying to be something he wasn't, that works in animated form.

Aladdin 2, or Aladdin replaying

But when you translate that exaggerated elements of performing to live action. It comes off very cheesy. And I felt that most of the acting in this film was very bland. Will Smith is fine as the genie. Once you get over the fact that you're looking at will Smith as this giant genie, he's actually the most entertaining part.

The film. In fact, when he wasn't on screen, I found myself. Relentlessly bored. As far as the other characters go, I would say Naomi Scott, as Jasmine gave the best performance, she felt like she was really trying with this role. The film is defined in the family category. And I'm sure the actor who portrayed Aladdin was also trying. I have nothing against these actors.

You guys know me. I actually, I really am uncomfortable. Speaking negatively about actors, because I know how hard their job is. And it always makes me feel icky every time I do it. But I really do think that most of the performances in this movie were very weak. The worst though is Jafar. And I've seen this actor in another film called what happened to Monday with Numi Repas it's on Netflix.

And he was really good in that movie. So, yeah. This leads me to believe that there was something about the way this film was directed by guy Ritchie that just kept everything very stilted and wooden it at times does feel like a low rent stage play version of Aladdin. Even down to the way it looks. The costumes look so clean and perfect.

Colourful figures in Aladdin

They don't look dusty or dirty. There's no sand or dirt on them. There's, there's a few scenes where they're, they're literally rolling around in the sand. That's different, but when they're walking around the city, they just look like they were freshly laundered. It kind of reminded me of Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull. Just Five Feet Apart didn't have such a great sound, but it could still move.

One of my biggest issues with that movie was just how clean and glossy everything looked. Whereas the original three, they just felt like they were shot in the backyard somewhere. They looked so, so gritty. This movie, everything looks clean. So relentlessly perfect looking that it really did feel like I was watching something shot constantly on a sound stage.

I never ever had that disconnect with reality. I always felt like I was watching something that was filmed, never got into the movie. There were some sequences that were entertaining. Most of them being really over the top Jeannie songs. It also feels like, like guy Ritchie may have been uncertain about how to approach them musical because some of the sequences were characters are singing.

Are just very bland. The camera just follows them around as they walk. And there isn't much movement. There isn't much flare to it. Every time Jafar was on screen, I honestly felt like laughing his look. He looked like he was in a power Rangers episode. I mean, he's got this big Cobra staff and there are just certain things that work in an animation and they just don't work in a live action.

Songs during Aladdin

Whenever you do a remake of something that was in a different form before four, you have to look at that and say, what. Works as a drawing and what doesn't, because just recreating what we liked in animation form clearly just doesn't always work. But in regards to will Smith, he had a major uphill battle with this character.

I'm sure he was probably horrified at the potential of, you know, inhabiting this character. There are a few Disney characters as renowned as the gene, and there are even less. As synonymous with their actors as Robin Williams is with the genie. Those two things are almost inseparable. I mean, Simba is probably a more famous character than the genie, but when you think of Simba, do you think of Matthew Broderick?

Probably not. But when you think of the genie, you think of Robin Williams, it's impossible not to. Does he trample all over that character? No. No, he's fine. It's just that you kind of have to get over the fact that it's. This giant CGI will Smith dancing around. It just, it doesn't always work when he plays himself, though.

I thought he was really charming and he did a good job in the movie. He's easily, honestly, the best part of the movie, which is funny because he was the most widely scrutinized aspect of it before. There are times where you can feel like the actors are trying to break free from whatever control they're under.

Who is the actor playing Aladdin

And they're trying to just be a little more lively, but for the most part, yeah. Some of the dialogue and some of the performances are cringe-worthy. The CGI is very noticeable and the sets look like sets. Is it as bad as the interim? I thought it was going to be, I guess not. I mean, the thing that everyone was worried about was probably my favorite part of the movie.

It's everything else around it, the stuff that people just assumed would be good. That I thought was bad. I'm going to give a Latin, a C minus guys. I just want to say thank you for continuing to watch my videos. It's awesome. I appreciate it. I, every once in a while, I just want to remind you guys that I really appreciate that you guys are here.

[shannonallaround]

Wow, I totally forgot to ask you: What other AU's do you have?

Well, since you asked… *cracks knuckles*

(Ok first before I start I am SO SORRY this response took me like, a month. Thanks so much for waiting!)

This person is asking specifically about au’s I have for Mickey and Minnie. My Sonic au’s are a different post entirely! :D

I have three main mice au’s that I regularly visit. My sister Marian, or @marian-ette , is my brainstorming partner in crime. 

The oldest of the mice au’s is my Nutcracker Verse. This au started out in 2012 as basically a recasting of the “Barbie in The Nutcracker” movie  (I honestly love that movie and still watch it every holiday season for nostalgia). Then over several years it became ‘losely inspired’ by that movie and took on a life of its own. I still revisit it just for fun every December. Several REALLY old drawings based on this AU are in my DeviantArt gallery. Here’s the link to one of them plus a few others I haven’t shared before (these are really really old fyi. There are lots more but these are some of the best)

https://shannonallaround.deviantart.com/art/Sweep-you-off-your-feet-425877421

The second au is what I call the Candyland Verse. As you can probably guess, this au is inspired by the Candyland board game.

In the 1950s, Mickey works as a storekeeper and apprentice to Ludwig Van Drake, an incredibly gifted/famous candy-maker (and Mickey’s basically-adopted-uncle). One day, Ludwig is missing from his candy lab, which has been trashed. Mickey goes in to investigate… and through some crazy magic ends up in Candyland. He meets many friends in this new world, but as he searches for Ludwig, things may be less sweet and far more sticky than they seem… trouble is brewing in the Molasses Bog. 

I haven’t shared ANY pictures from this au anywhere yet so here are the first glimpses of the Candyland Verse! It’s a much newer verse so even though it’s extremely developed in my head I don’t have very much art for it yet.

The third au is called the Sandman Verse.

Goofy is the Sandman and Mickey is one of his many many assistants. Each person has a sandman which is assigned to them during their lifetime whom crafts dreams for them. Mickey has been assigned to Minnie since she was born. One particular night, Minnie’s dream malfunctions, becoming a nightmare (something that, strangely, has been happening to more and more people’s dreams recently…) When the usual protocol fails, Mickey is forced to follow emergency procedure and enter the dream himself in order to shut it down. He defeats the nightmare and is about to leave Minnie’s mind when suddenly, Minnie talks to him. This is normally not possible as dreams operate in a person’s subconscious, and it is then that Mickey realizes Minnie is a lucid dreamer.

I haven’t shared any drawings for this au before either, so here is the first peek! It is also very new and so is sadly lacking in the art department too.

Mickey and Minnie are the two main protagonists of all these au’s. All of the sensational six are there two plus other friends from their world (i.e. Panchito & Jose) as well as Oswald and Ortensia. 

In addition to these three main au’s, my sister and I regularly indulge in an incredibly fun activity we call “casting”. Basically, we take our favorite old movies (mostly live action) and re-cast them with the characters of Mickey’s world. Sometimes we add extra roles or alter characters slightly to make everyone fit nicely. The only au that has characters that aren’t in Mickey’s world is The Apple Dumpling Gang— we use the three main rabbit children from Disney’s animated Robin Hood for the orphans in that one. We figured it worked with the same logic as Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

Casting is SO. FUN. Here’s a list of some of the movies we’ve cast so far!

Summer Stock

Singing in the Rain

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, starring Errol Flynn)

The Mark of Zorro (1940, starring Tyrone Power)

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966, starring Don Knotts)

That Darn Cat (1965, starring Hayley Mills)

The Apple Dumpling Gang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (Dreamworks)

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

National Treasure 

Next on the list: The Seahawk (w/ Errol Flynn) and Disney’s animated Atlantis 

The asker of this question also prompted the creation of a new au called the Boxing Verse not too long ago. I’m gonna share a lot more detail about what happens in this one:

Minnie Mouse is training beside her best friend Daisy as a boxer under veteran boxer Donald Duck. Mickey is a janitor at the venue who doesn’t box but is OBSESSED with the sport. He, of course, is totally fascinated by Minnie who has the opposite of a typical boxer’s personality and body type and yet is also a complete boss in the ring. Donald used to be a boxer, but one fateful day against his biggest rival Gladstone Gander, he lost his temper while attempting to defend Daisy’s honor and beat Gladstone to a pulp. Gladstone then used this to slander Donald’s reputation. Donald felt so dang bad about the whole thing (especially the fact that he thinks he embarrassed Daisy) that he retreated from the competitor’s ring and now only teaches. Pete was Gladstone’s sponsor and has it out for Donald. He plans to make full use of the opportunity Minnie presents having been trained by him…

Anyway, there’s the very-long rundown of my mice au’s!

[sonicpositive]

Just wanted to say thank you for coming up with the Fancharacter Friday concept! It’s a great way to show the creative side of the fandom. Anyhow, here’s my own character. (Hope I’m doing this right. ^^;;)

Credit to @benignmilitancy for this wonderful artwork. :> Although some minor details have changed since the time of this drawing, the biggest change being that her trousers and glove cuffs are now brown.

(Gonna tuck the bio under the cut just because it’s a long one, but it was a joy to read! I love seeing fan characters that are respectfully and unapologetically integrated into the canon/having friendships with the established characters, and it’s honestly great to see a chronically ill/disabled character!! I think the research involved can be intimidating to a lot of people, so it’s rad to the result of that time and effort.

- Mod Omo)

Name: Lutrudis Hadeer

Nicknames: “Trudy” for Sonic, “Aunt Lutrudis” for Cream

Age: 18

Species: English Thoroughbred Horse

Gender: Female

Height: 102cm (3'3", or 3.34 feet)

Weight: 36kg (79.3lbs)

IQ: 126

Marital Status: Single

Family: Ararinda Hadeer (Mother) Edmund Hadeer (Father)

Birth Place: Sapphire Tundra, Viridonia

Current Residence: Lime Shores, Viridonia

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Friends: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower, Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit, Rouge the Bat, the Chaotix (Espio the Chameleon, Vector the Crocodile, Charmy Bee).

Enemies: Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik and his mechanical minions (although she expresses sympathy towards Orbot and Cubot), Chad Basher and his gang of hoodlums.

Alignment: Good

Likes: Sewing, reading, music, video games, Chao and other cute things, caring for animals, good food, learning about wildlife/science/history, going for a walk to clear her mind when she feels up for it.

Dislikes: Extremely low temperatures, darkness, polluted areas, injustice, hospitals, bad smells, people who harbor any form of prejudice, people who express cruel tendencies towards Chao or other innocent creatures.

Personality Traits: Gentle yet firm, calm and mellow, cautious, motherly, a good listener, has a knack for dry snarkiness (although it’s usually limited to antagonistic people), very affectionate with her friends, occasionally veers into sesquipedalian territory with her use of vocabulary, has a rather goofy side once she opens up to someone.

Physical Traits: Her body is very fragile. Because she’s a horse, she’s actually pretty strong, and she can run reasonably fast, but she rarely shows any of this off due to not wanting to put too much strain on her body.

Design Process: Most of Lutrudis’ design comes from the simple fact that many parts about it haven’t been done yet in the game universe. She’s a horse because there has yet to be a horse anthro in the games, she is green because there has yet to be a green female anthro in the games, and her attire is mostly blue because there has yet to be a female anthro who wears a lot of blue in the games.

Her overall colour scheme also highlights her nature-loving side, as well as her generally cool yet warm demeanour.

Name Meaning/Symbolism: “Lutrudis” is a German name that means “strength of the village”, while “Hadeer” is an Arabic term for “wanderer”. (Ironically, Lutrudis herself is British.)

This highlights how she’s one of the most moral individuals in Viridonia, how she’s stronger as a person than she thinks she is, and how she desires to go out and do more with her life.

Backstory: When it turned out that Lutrudis had Type-3 Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, her parents were unsure of what to do due to the relative obscurity of the illness in question. As such, she had a very sheltered childhood, and while her mother had nothing but good intentions the whole way through, her father turned out to be a neglectful sort. All this led to Lutrudis being very shy at a young age. She’s grown less outwardly shy nowadays, but she can still be rather cautious and diffident at times depending on the situation.

When she got older, she moved to an ancient castle that was being sold off due to no one living in it for centuries, her reason being that a castle would accommodate someone with her condition. When it became her new home, the outside of the castle remained the same in all it’s ancient beauty, but she gave the inside a more modern and elegant redecoration.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of widespread info about her condition, some of the people in Viridonia are avoidant and standoffish around her. Whether they believe she’s faking her illness, exaggerating it, or using it as an excuse to live a lazy yet luxurious life, they’re not that sympathetic towards her. Lutrudis knows this, which is why for years, she felt alone and isolated. It was common for someone to glance disapprovingly in her direction just for using an elevator instead of the stairs, because as far as they can tell, she doesn’t “look” ill.

Not helping matters is a local by the name of Chad Basher, a literal red bull who is a notorious leader of a small gang of troublemakers, and who clearly has a thing for her. Despite her continued insistence that she has no interest in him whatsoever, Chad is fully convinced that she’ll come around to returning his sentiments soon enough.

With all that in mind, combined with her inner doubt about being able to do what she wants to do with her life, Lutrudis has had a very stressful time, though that’s not to say she hasn’t had her happier moments. Little does she know however that her home is about to be visited by a certain blue hedgehog and his foxy friend (and several other comrades), and what was intended to be a simple vacation for those heroes, will end up resulting in an experience she’ll never forget…

Miscellaneous Facts: -Unlike most female anthros in the Sonic universe, Lutrudis isn’t too bothered about people asking for her weight.

-Lutrudis has a keen interest in the mystical, and as such, she asks Amy a lot of questions about it due to the latter’s talent with tarot cards.

-Partly due to the mockery and contempt she’s had to put up with for her condition, she never judges anyone for their physical appearance or traits alone. Even in the case of Robotnik, she refuses to insult him for his obesity, as she firmly believes that the source of contempt in his case should be the fact that he’s a despicable human being, not his weight.

-Sometimes, when she’s wary of someone she’s unfamiliar with, or when she’s talking to someone she doesn’t like, she’ll cover up her lower face with her bandana. It’s not entirely clear why she does this other than it being a quirk. (A side-effect of this quirk is that Cream thought she was a ninja when they first met, which is very blatantly not the case, but Lutrudis can’t bring herself to dismiss the rabbit’s comments about it because she thinks it’s too adorable.)

-Due to how Vanilla isn’t with Cream during the latter’s time in Viridonia, Lutrudis does her best to make Cream’s experience as comfortable as possible. This eventually leads to Cream looking at Lutrudis as an auntie figure, much like Tails with Sally in SatAM.