#i still think my favorite design wise is the very first one. I have so many cats I’ve gotten who’s design I loved but I am OBSESSED with

[front-facing-pokemon]

[thatoneluckybee]

I’m just gonna brag on my current Clan’s genepool because?? THEY’RE SO PRETTY AND FOR WHAT??

[yamujiburo]

Hello, I’ve always been impressed by your design decisions so I wanted to ask: are there any Pokemon or trainers that have really spoken to you design-wise? Not necessarily your favorite, but left a strong impression on you.

Hope the rest of your day goes well! ^^

Aw thanks so much! I love character design, it was my first passion before storyboarding actually

Here's my faves:

RYME!!!! They nailed that older gen rapper look. Backwards cap, sequins, lots of gold and a puffy jacket! Also I'm not quite sure this is the intention with her shoes but they kinda look like grillz which is sick. I'm a sucker for a limited palette so the black, gold with turquoise accents in her nails, mic, earrings and eyes spoke to me. Also OF COURSE her hair (you're gonna se this pattern for the next two LOL). Making her locks look like a skeleton??? Genius. I love the hand bone for the front and the hip bone for the back. Literally one of the coolest trainer designs pokemon's ever given us.

GRANT! Just an immediately readable design. Oh, he looks like a rock climber, must be a rock type gym leader. Simple fit, I love a sleek black top. The carabiner, climber straps and chalk holder add a little more complexity to the design but not too much. It's a smart choice with how wild his hair is. I feel like if you do too much in the fit AND the hair, you risk your design feeling overdesigned and busy. I love that his hair is meant to look like a rock/cliffs with the holds! The holds add a nice dash of color without being too much.

AMARYS <3 It's the fact that she's in uniform but still has a design that immediately caught my eye. But to her being in uniform, I find it really cool that the other Elite 4 members really alter theirs or have accessories that make the uniforms feel like their own or really different but Amarys doesn't really. It goes to show how rigid she is and gives you the impression that she's a very "follow the rules" kind of person. Her main accessory seems to be her boots which just LOOK heavy, and sleek and look like they have bolts in them. It really makes her design feel bottom heavy and grounded which I feel is appropriate for a steel type trainer. Now, hair. Look at her hair. SO GOOD. I loveeee that pokemon is utilizing black hairstyles like this. Her hair being screws that kinda resemble banto knots is so CUTE. The could have left her hair at that but the braid across her forehead adds a nice asymmetrical aspect to her design. It's so cool that it mirrors her pocketwatch chain, creating a focal point on the school crest. And lastly her glasses! Super cute, I think it's cool that it gives the illusion of bottom lashes which makes her eyes feel a little more droopy or sad than they really are. It just really brings her facial features all together and helps sell her personality.

[bynineb]

my favorite & least favorite Pokemon from each generation!

GEN 1

FAVE: VENONAT

my lovely buggy boy! this is partly for nostalgic reasons as my very first slot car i built with my father was called VENOM, and had a little Venonat figurine perched on top. but the design is also precious, a Kuriboh style fuzzball gnat in a whimsical purple. also when it runs it hops!!! like a bunny!!!

Runner Ups: Nidorino, Poliwhirl, Porygon, Charizard, Haunter

LEAST FAVE: GOLDUCK

a wet fart of an evolution that loses all of psyduck's walleyed charm and replaces it with... nothing. it has no identity. even its pokedex entries are lame - it can swim fast and that's it. usually the simpler gen 1 pokemon still appeal to me just due to sugimori's art style, but no such luck for the duck.

that being said, i don't completely hate it. it just needs more to latch onto design-wise

Runner Ups: Rapidash, Hypno

(the rest is under the cut!)

GEN 2

FAVE: FLAAFFY

once my all-time favorite pokemon, although that has since been ceded to Venonat, i adore Flaaffy to bits. it has that perfect amount of cuteness and patheticness that endears me to some of my favorite designs, said patheticness owing to its stubby arms, mangy coat, watery eyes, and peculiar bowed stance when it stands up. i love the striped horns and tail, the colors are very pleasant, and the wool gives it a je ne sais quoi that the otherwise similar Ampharos lacks, almost like a wooly muffler and hat. (not knockin Ampharos btw, love it too). there's a reason Fynn took so much inspiration from this fluffy fellow!

(also, the rental Flaaffy in Pokemon Stadium 2 had Thunder Punch and Fire Punch. considering the sorry state of rental movesets in that game, and my lack of an N64 link cable, Flaaffy carrying me through those fights may have helped cement our bond!)

Runner Ups: Skiploom, Dunsparce, Forretress, Unown, Magcargo

LEAST FAVE: TYROGUE

not only does it not really resemble the hitmons - maybe hitmonchan? - it's just not a flattering design. the bandages and ear guards give it some definition and trainee-like character, at least, but the colors are gross, and frankly it just looks too much like a human being. in general i dislike pokemon that too closely resemble humans and Tyrogue is one of the biggest offenders. even its name is dumb! it's not roguish at all! what a hitmonchump

(also the beta version was so much better imo. linked art by @racieb)

Runner Ups: Qwilfish, Smoochum, Noctowl

GEN 3

FAVE: DUSKULL

aww duskull... what a charmingly spooky spirit. the single red eye behind the skull mask is a killer design motif and i love its fishlike phantom body, arms tucked behind its back in eternal contemplation. so halloweeny!

Runner Ups: Trapinch, Lunatone, Illumise, Shedinja, Tropius

LEAST FAVE: DELCATTY

it lacks in personality, and i don't think the color scheme looks good. its head shape also freaks me out the longer i look at it... but i do like that its neck resembling a pincushion, that's clever

Runner Ups: Castform

GEN 4

FAVE: REGIGIGAS

hey look, it's game freak's favorite whipping boy! i'm a sucker for hulking construct-type designs and regigigas is such a thoroughly excellent example of one. the black runes and mossy accessories give it a feeling of ancient, unknown significance. unlike a lot of gen 4 legendaries, it doesn't feel overly busy but still feels complex enough to have that "legendary" impact

Runner Ups: Giratina, Carnivine, Torterra, Bastiodon, Gliscor, Drapion

LEAST FAVE: AMBIPOM

i have to say gen 4's designs usually feel distinct, particularly the new evolutions for older pokemon, which go out of their way to differentiate themselves from their previous form, for better or worse. not so for Ambipom, though!- which is just Aipom but worse in every single way. its once nimble fingers reduced to swollen udders, its cheeky grin slackened into a vacant smile and marred with an unpleasantly singular nostril, that dreadful haircut, and even the introduction of elbows to its vestigial arms that further emphasize the seeming impracticality of those wretched bulbous tail hands. and maybe even worse, it doesn't evolve the base concept in any way, aside from doubling the number of party balloons that limply float behind it, possibly the least interesting iteration on the existing concept

nothing unique to it is good or interesting, and that to me is way worse than a design that tries something new and fails

in terms of what i like about it... i guess it does seem like a pretty friendly guy. maybe he does tricks at parties. and it's nice that they can hold hands with one another in a group

Runner Ups: Gallade, Lopunny, Magmortar, Glaceon,

GEN 5

FAVE: HAXORUS

god if this thing isn't cool! the exquisite color palette, the subtle contours of its armor, the bloodred axe-tusks... elegant simplicity in a terrifyingly brutal beast. it feels out of time, jurassic yet medieval...

Runner Ups: Roggenrola, Heatmor, Scolipede, Cofagrigus, Mienshao

LEAST FAVE: GURDURR

there are very few pokemon that make me feel disgusted by looking at them, but here's one of them. its creepy lumpy head and bulging veins make me deeply uncomfortable. i must give credit for the base concept of a clown-ogre-construction-worker... that's ambitious, at least, and i think it pays off pretty well in Conkeldurr.

Runner Ups: the monkeys, the genies, & the musketeers... the fillerest of filler

GEN 6

FAVE: GOURGEIST

SUCH a fun design. it blends a candle and a jack-o-lantern into its own original creature with a very unique shape, and what a cutie at that! it coming in multiple sizes like a real pumpkin would just seals the deal. another perfectly halloweeny 'mon, it and Duskull would be best friends

Runner Ups: Avalugg, Barbaracle, Clawitzer, Espurr, Trevenant

LEAST FAVE: VOLCANION

one of the pokemon i forget about the most, and i am never happy to remember it. what a waste of the first fire/water type! its face looks constipated, its colors are lame, and it doesn't do jack-all with the concept besides the most obvious "it can shoot out steam." at the very least, though, i can say it has a unique silhouette. i think the design has potential, it's just that a lot of the particulars are very clunky and lame

(also, give me the fireball seal from the beta game freak!!)

Runner Ups: Hoopa, Braixen

GEN 7

FAVE: CHARJABUG

BEEP BEEP!!! oh how i adore this little battery buggy. i didn't think much of it back when it was first revealed, but as soon as i heard its cry i immediately fell in love. it really is unique, too - no other pokemon has this shape. even cooler it has a support-based playstyle unique from its evolution based around its Battery ability, improving its allies' damage passively. thanks charjabug : )

Runner Ups: Type: Null, Celesteela, Bruxish, Stakataka, Melmetal

LEAST FAVE: LYCANROC-DAY

i don't particularly dislike Lycanroc really (Alola's designs are bangers), but the rock typing is so thoroughly phoned in. and if you get rid of that you're just left with a wolf, an animal i don't care about. midnight form is fun though!

Runner Ups: Passimian, Toucannon

GEN 8

FAVE: SNEASLER

this pick is probably not too popular, but i can't help but love Sneasler because it looks so much like what i would doodle in my high school notebooks, monster people with huge claws and wicked eyes. it's a cringe OC and that's badass. it carrying you around in a basket is also just precious...

special mention also to legends arceus for making the diamond/pearl legendaries look way cooler. to me, anyway, i just think they're so much more fun in this surreal state

Runner Ups: Carkol, Cursola, Falinks, Ursaluna, Hatterene, Toxtricity

LEAST FAVE: CINDERACE

i generally don't care for the set of designs made for sword and shield. (my favorite gen 8 mon isn't even from sword/shield!!) it feels like over half of the dex is either a guy with a job, or tries way too hard to be "memetic" and funny. cinderace falls into the former camp, an uncannily humanoid and unnatural design. i also don't like the colors used... that being said, it's going for a very different aesthetic than what i prefer, so i can imagine some people loving this design just as much as I dislike it.

i think the idea of kicking a pebble that becomes a blazing fireball is rad though, and Court Change is a sick move

Runner Ups: Boltund, Eiscue, Kubfu, Coalossal, Skwovet, Greedent

GEN 9

FAVE: GLIMMORA

this perfect angel was one of the most unexpected delights of my scarlet playthrough. i love how otherworldly and surreal it is, its beautiful flower-like blooming petals that conceal its deadly poisonous nature, and its barreleye-fish-like-eyes that are at once adorable and haunting. it's amazing that we're 1000 designs in and game freak's artists are still able to create wholly new feeling concepts that are this cool...

Runner Ups: Slither Wing, Espathra, Houndstone, Ogerpon

LEAST FAVE: RELLOR

WHY DO YOU HAVE THE FACE OF A HUMAN, RELLOR?! WHY!?! i am begging gamefreak to stop giving so many pokemon mustaches and beards. i also don't like the weirdly smooth dunkin-donuts-lookin' dung ball and how none of its colors match the bug's colors... that being said, it does at least have personality, i can't deny that...

Runner Ups: Iron Jugulis, Frigibax, Iron Crown

well that was cathartic! to end on a positive note, i must say that I think Pokemon's overall design track record is very good. most designs have a likeable quality to them, and so many are bursting with creativity and charm. honestly even the ones i just criticized are probably some people's favorites, and they're not wrong to think so. thanks for reading!

[idolomantises]

First question, will we be seeing Asmodeus and Lilith again soon? Second question! Do you have a favourite redesign and who was the hardest to redesign?

Yes!

I think my Beelzebub redesign is my favorite. I really love drawing bugs in general and it was really fun trying to rework her design to look more bee-like and less… furry. I actually liked the design so much I decided to repurpose it for my own character who’s Beelzebub’s daughter. She’s not as nice as Helluva’s Bee, very Regina George lol.

I actually got really excited working on her. I just love designing bugs and demons so getting a chance to do both was very enjoyable for me. I actually had even MORE sketches planned for her but I realized I was getting way too involved redesigning a character, so some concepts just became my own thing. Like I was like “I don’t mind that Beelzebub is nice, but she doesn’t feel like a Sin at all”, so I had some bonus sketches of her being like that really cool but toxic friend who just keeps enabling you.

Hardest to redesign though? God. Maybe Angel Dust? In fact even after my most recent redesign I’ve never really been fully happy with (it was very rushed compared to nifty). I enjoy doing Hazbin/Helluva redesigns but one major issue I have with these characters is that they’re WAAAAAY too bloated story wise, and Angel dust might be the worst example of this. Like fitting a drag queen, sex worker, celebrity and mafia boss into one character is a bit of a challenge because you basically have to look at Angel dust and understand all those things about him.

Maybe I’ll do a fifth one if I ever do Hazbin redesigns again LOL, but likely not. I always planned to stop early but the fandom kind of solidified it. These stop being fun knowing that there are people who monitorsmy account waiting for my next redesign to drop so they can harass me and tell me to kill myself. Not fun! I’d rather draw other things.

(Also to be clear, even if the fandom was really nice to me, I still would have stopped. The creator’s constant controversy was the main reason I quit and only did Nifty and Angel Dust after a request. But the fandom meltdown was the nail in the already deep and buried coffin)

[wyzzze]

One (slightly horrifying) thing I've learned from playing ZZZ is that the staff is VERY good at making characters that look one way but act in a completely unexpected way that has the ability to charm me.

For instance, before I started playing, I thought I wouldn't like Nicole. I thought she was going to be an overly shallow, snotty type that would be very "ohoho~" and annoying in a tropey way. And..she is "ohoho~" af but she's actually in a very delicate balancing act of being an absolute queen and a huge girlfailure and she steals the show whenever she's around. She's indeed vaguely all of the things you expect her to be but she does it in such a...charming way that she has me laughing and I'm ride or die w her now.

I didn't expect to like Lucy either! I thought she'd just be a normal tsundere but the one thing I've always really hated about typical tsunderes is their inability to be reasonable and how out of pocket they can be and Lucy...isn't like that. She's actually super reasonable and she sorta drives that ship. Calydon as a faction balances her traits out so well that when she barks orders it's like "ok yeah finally someone with common sense 😌✨️" if anything. She's still a princess-y tsundere but she missed the one trait I can't stand and that's kind of impressive to me tbh.

I didn't expect to dislike Seth per se but I didn't expect to like him that much either...he's a cop (his biggest sin) and he's...peppy. Which...isn't a sin...but it makes me (who is fucked up and evil) soooorta wish for him to uhh. break. 😇 Just a little bit! As a treat!! But he got me too okay....like fuuuck whatever! Whatever!!! Wet sad catboy with No Friends and his family problems that keep making him say "is my family normal? 🥺 it's normal right?" whateverrr!!! Just get in the car, loser!!! 🤧 god!!

I didn't think I'd like Harumasa! I have complete trust issues with characters that look like him! I expected him to be more of a ~sunshine on the outside but dark on the inside~ yandere-leaning kind of trope based on looks. But he's actually one of my favorite character archtypes instead...he's literally a sleepy guy with a billion nuanced problems and a fucked life. My favorite fucking food!! I owe you an apology, Mr. Harumasa!! I wasn't familiar with your game!!

But perhaps the most surprising twist of fate is me liking Wise. Like, I did NOT have high hopes for this boy, okay. I was NOT a believer. I didn't expect either one of them to have that much personality. When I first saw Wise's design with my working eyes I thought ZZZ devs fucking hated him. I thought he was going to be stale bread in terms of personality.

But like, Look! Look at us now!!

He's like a brother to me.

On god, the other day I blocked somebody for saying he was ugly with no love in their voice.

This game is so dangerous is what I'm saying bc the writers know how to get me to like characters that I have an allergy for. I am a Hateful Hateful person and it just keeps happening. They're like my little meow meows now, watch out or it could happen to u!

[3gremlins]

feel like im having a DA2 experience again where I really liked it and was in my little "this is good" cocoon where i played it many times only to emerge from underground and find everyone else hated it (i mean ive found the other da2 cicadas since but at the time it got really slammed). i've been really enjoying DA:TV so far ( lol tho obvs have notes) here's an early thoughts review, may be a bit spoilery, def rambley, trying to stay vague on stuff still (i think i'm about half way maybe? im trying to not look things up and doing it blind on my first run through. it's hard to tell b/c i went hard on all the side quests and am now way over level for the msq)

the combat system is a little jarring at first and i still miss at least being able to switch to and play as party members if your character dies (instead of the god of war style of full wipe), but i've gotten used to it (it's more annoying for boss fights, regular combat it's very zippy and fun). the targeting at least on controller is kind of annoying sometimes- i'll think i'm pointing at one enemy only to have rook turn and fire at nothing or companions to hit an add instead of a boss. I wish we at least had more control over how it queued who it was hitting. some of the arenas are obnoxious design wise - there's bosses that teleport to you and they give you like a tiny little box to dodge around, not the most fun. i do like that you can punch way above of your weight class sometimes which reminds me of DAO a little bit (like how you'd just wander into a fight or hit a gong and be like oh no, those enemies have skulls over their heads, oh well YOLO). sometimes it doesn't work out but when it does it's very satisfying. It's nice to be able to conquer something mechanically even underleveled (smol fromsoft vibes) Having always been a big fan of the strange composition parties (i.e not just war/rogue/mage), i like that this is now even more viable (and not just me being cheeky "we're having a leather party!" of all squishy rogues). but like the main thing about bioware games is the companions/interpersonal shit and i'm enjoying the heck out of that .i only do main quests to get more side quests from companions (or more side quests in general so we can troll around for more banter). i like petting griffons (and cats and dogs) and playing games with manfred*. I wish the gift system was more interesting like DAO or DA2- i was so excited to see it again and then it was a little disappointing to have them barely react when you get them stuff.

my current fave party are rook and the poison boys (emmerich and lucanis) since they're a rogue too and we just stack necrosis, bleeds and other elemental effects on things till they disintegrate. i like the lighthouse, it feels much cozier than skyhold. I love that you can just wander up to companions having convos and awkwardly eavesdrop. I do miss the little interactions/quests you could get with cole esp*** i think the animations are a little lack lustery? Idk there's something with the face model morphs that sometimes feels weird but the voice acting is strong enough that I don't notice too much. i do miss some of the more bioware-y cheeky things like item descriptions or weird notes near random silly environmental tableaus (there's a little but i just want to read all the notes! there's some in the grey warden areas where i was just like WAIT I HAVE QUESTIONS but there was no plaque about them T.T). where are the stacks of cheese (i do appreciate the fereldens love cheese jokes tho and harding getting so excited when someone says something nice about ferelden) i was esp bummed that there were no random things to read in the black emporium and it's all codex entries instead (that's my favorite tiny bit in DA2 where there's junk you can click on and xenon says weird shit to you). i also wish more had been done with accents of npcs- like i wish all the antivans had similar accents or your crow rook had an antivan accent, stuff like that (having a lot of "ferelden" generic british accents everywhere is disappointing. takes you out of the immersion a lot) My biggest gripe is probably the pacing - I wish it had more horror/mystery pacing like dao and da2 had- the reason we're all scarred by the brood mother is b/c the build up to that was so so creepy (also the necromancer bit w/hawke's mum in DA2). They gave us time to be unnerved or afraid and I do feel the evanuris reveals have been a little rushed so you can't really feel that worried about them (some of the side quests get close to this but still not quite there**). I wish they'd let them breathe a bit more instead of rushing from one giant world changing event to the next. Some of the reveals have been not so great- like lore that the fandom has poured over for 15ish years explained in one line?? i wish there'd been more build up of rook as a character too, maybe even a time skip from a prologue to finding solas kind of thing. the first trailer made it seem like that's what was going to happen but then it in media res'd us in a strange way. the first 10 hours of the game are probably the weakest imho, it took it a bit to get rolling and feel more natural. I appreciate that the first major decision doesn't really let you scum save for it (bit of a jump scare for me lol).

I also don't really need this much varric anymore, i kinda wish we had a different narrator if we have to have one. He feels really awkward to just have there and not doing anything(and not just kill off or have something happen to him? he got stabbed by the dagger and harding only touched it is what i'm saying). at least let him get better pjs and slippers or something Idk it does feel like bits of previous iterations they were working on are still there and they don't completely serve the plot well. And ofc there's the decisions not meaningfully carrying over thing- which is a huge bummer. But in reality they've never been good at that- the characters from previous games we see in new games don't really carry through their plots/arcs that much (it's more like cameos or they're a new person now) and the world states are usually effectively the same just with aesthetic faction swaps. I was sort of hoping we'd get some solavellan SOMETHING but it doesn't look like we will get much at all past the stuff in minrathous. i feel like if they were going to only include the one choice it really should have had more impact on the story. (i am also still a clown and want to talk to solas constantly still even tho he has no reason to talk to my rook at all, i do not care, i love a sad woof. i wish we could just casually visit him in the fade. i wish we could switch to lavellan and visit him in the fade, idk something. need more gareth david-lloyd pls) the interpersonal character decisions have been the only ones that mattered much and then only within the constrains of their own games- the bigger world changing stuff is usually the illusion of choice. It would have been nice if they let us have one protagonist carry through but i can also see why they liked changing it up and felt stuck in that format. tl;dr: i'm really like it for what it is but it's def got flaws. Parts of it feel super polished while other bits do not- i think knowing how game dev works that they had to make decisions on what was going to get prioritized and some of it works while others not so much. I wish the pacing was better for sure but i love the characters/companions which is generally what bioware is best at. sad it won't get meaningful dlc, i don't really care about mass effect 5 tbqh. So far I like it better than inquisition for the most part- it feels like a bigger/more polished DA2 in a lot of ways if that makes any sense (with similar budget/pacing issues, but the environments are more fun). as i mentioned in my other post, i really appreciated the trans/non binary inclusion into the story/cc tho. like that can't be discounted, even if the rest of the game has issues. (all the holes in the narrative make me want to do fan art and fan fiction tho so idk, maybe that's an okay thing. maybe dragon age is best at inspiring us to sandbox around in it)

*side note, i am surprised at how much i like emmerich like holy shit what a lovely soft nerd of a man! going to have to play through a few times and romance him and also bellara for sure (romancing lucanis this time round) i find myself shipping my companions with each other more than i normally do too. I just want them to be happy! I wish they'd let us have polyamory, like i could see little polycules in this squad so easily. i need to give bellara hugs and lucanis head pats. taash deserves head pats too, but my rook will need a ladder.

**i am going to cry if they do with the griffons what i think they're doing with the griffons. like straight up, feeling like it was a cursed wish to have them now T.T *** do we think the caretaker is cole? the character design makes me wonder (like the hat/silhouette is very cole like but maybe not. maybe i just want it to be cole lol) there's def characters i want to see show up that aren't going to and then bioware is like "what about this fan favorite??" and i'm like "eh".

[were--ralph]

some hades 2 thoughts mostly spoiler free

originally did not enjoy it but its pretty fun once you lose the rhythm of the first one and learn the new one

Aphrodite is still insanely good

Apollo is also pretty good

Haphestus is like. Situational but has some good stuff

Hera has the worst boons, theres no reason to get them

same with Zeus except like one

Hestia is only ever good with the Flames

the Flames/Torches are literally the most broken weapon in the game (i do not really like them though)

Poseidon is interesting, Double Up is one of the best boons in the game

Demeter hardly ever appears for me so i cant say much

The skull is not fun at all

None of the weapons feel.....fun to use? They all feel samey, which is kind of just mash the attack button, the exception being the axe

Chaos is always a fun time

I wish you could reroll the hammers

the hammers feel very.....lackluster compared to the original, which changed the way weapons worked entirely sometimes

the Flames/Torches are so fucking broken man like its crazy

Narcissus is probably my favorite character just dialogue-wise

Haphestus is the hottest character in the game we all knew it

Heracles is a decent second

Fuck Eris like for real we all hate her

i fucking LOVE Chronos like he's such a good fucking villain

I'm not really into the werewolves but the satyrs are kind of hot

I really want a weapon similar to the Bow with a powershot mechanic because i feel like it was fantastic and no other feature in the game has it. it forces you to play the game completely differently and it's so good.

Hammer and Chaos are my favorite keepsakes

I still think the bow was the best weapon design in the series

i hope the full release is more difficult by default or extreme measures returns

i have about 40 hours in it now and im still not bored

[silly-circus]

pookie your persona is so freakin cute. Like the little hat around her head?? I wish i could have a persona that literally wasnt demon like goth

but like with penny its so much cuter😭

Thank you so much ^^! I was actually working on this piece recently to change up just a few things and make another version as well so yippie! I also have a big project in the works that I’ll be releasing some info about later!

I’m also going to go ahead and kinda explain the design choices I made when coming up with my clownsona below <3

When I first designed Silly String, she didn’t look….anything like this. I was really going off of a vibe that was opposite of Pennywise and I wasn’t really focusing about the other things I like that make me up as a person. So her first design was,,,shit honestly because it didn’t feel like me when looking at her. So when redesigning I took into consideration the other things I like and then something that would contrast Penny! Stars are my favorite so that was definitely one of the first things I considered as I was designing her suit! I also tend to like things that many could view as childish or immature for my age, so i wanted to incorporate a color palette that screamed childlike wonder or something of the sorts to represent kinda my connection to younger me and that I really haven’t changed much interest-wise! My favorite color is actually blue, so originally her main color was going to be that, but I decided to make it a lesser color so say “hey! This is one of the things that make me, me!” so silly string is literally all different parts of me represented in her design! And I chose a clown because clowns are a big part of who I am. I collect them, I love everything about them, and I even dress up as silly sometimes teehee. I also love horror a lot but that part of me really isn’t represented in silly herself, but with Pennywise since he’s my favorite character!

So drawing them together all of the time(like seriously, it’s usually the only thing I draw) is really just me drawing all of my favorite things and my personality into one piece! Drawing them together is my outlet from the stress and anxiety I struggle with and really it feels like I’m being myself. Even though some days I struggle to draw them, not really correctly but in a way I like and somewhat consistently, I still enjoy trying nonetheless(if I could actually draw and animate all of the things of them i make in my head y’all would be cooked /j)

It’s why I really appreciate all the nice comments about Silly and Penny, because to get so much love on something I felt so stupid and embarrassed for, it just makes me really happy that it’s hard to put into words. I’m actually considering making a tik tok just for them when I gather up some more courage so I can start sharing them on more media other than tumblr. The continued support I’ve been getting from everyone has really been helping me gather up that courage and all of you guys are really awesome and I hope to become closer to you all as time moves along! :o]

Thank you everyone again I feel like I don’t say it/show it enough 😭🎈

Also fun fact the stars on her hat jingle! They sound exactly like a very certain vintage clown doll, I think made by Douglas?? Almost like wind chimes! I wish I knew how to work tumblr so I could share an audio of it shsjrhbdb

[halastar05]

Y’know what? If you’re a Studio Investigrave fan, reblog this with your personal rankings of the games (add reasons if you can but if not that’s fine)!

Here are mine:

1.) Cold Front ( I’m VERY attached to these boys and their friendship, genuinely top tier comfort characters. I’m a big fan of metaphors and phycological horror, might be my favorite art wise, both endings hit VERY hard in different ways, especially once you get both. It’s also in my opinion the funniest SIG game.)

2.) Elevator Hitch ( I love time loops and escape room games. The humor in this game is also fantastic, all the characters are interesting and fun to think about as well. I love all the capitalism metaphors in this game as well, trying to interpret this game, company and lore is very fun. In my opinion this game is visually the scariest, but I love the horror and trauma my boy goes through.)

3.) Dead Plate (Really like the story in this! Especially with the metaphors (how surprising), I also really love each of these three idiots. I do like Rody and Vince’s dynamic a lot, however even though the gay jokes are fun to make, I do prefer them platonically (I also really like Rody x Mannon, especially with how complex it is once we see that ending cutscene). The art direction in this game is great, especially the colors! I also love the dialogue and comedy in this game, the characters are very well fleshed out, even the one we don’t get to properly meet!)

4.) Eloquent Countenance (Way too underrated ngl, sure it’s the oldest and it’s a tad confusing, but damn it I love this storyline, lore and characters. Angelica and Forcas are way too fun, both together and by themselves. It’s got such a good twist at the end as well and the lore of this game is just fun to think about. I also like the vibe of the game and how even the good ending is more open ended. The only reason it’s this low is because it is kinda confusing at times and the puzzles aren’t the most exciting, but I still adore this game and I really think it deserves more fandom love!)

5.) Rot in Paradise (This was the first SIG game I actually got to play myself! The character designs in this game are probably my favorites, not to mention I love friend groups in media and these guys are super fun! Not to mention the tone of this game is fantastic and does a really good job of setting things up and making you feel for the characters. It does a really good job at the creepy factor as well! I do like how the metaphors tie together, and how we don’t get to know everything about “the rot”, it adds to suspense. However admittedly my lore loving brain kinda wishes we got more about the strange curse. After a while this game will probably get higher but for now I’m not as attached to the characters as the other games yet.)

6.) Married in Red (It hurts to put this game last but I do love this game, art, and story! I think it’s mostly that these characters are probably the most boring out of all the SIG games to me (I do adore Myeong Hoon), I do still get brainrot of them don’t get me wrong! I also think in general this is the the most boring SIG game, cleaning up a crime scene and framing someone is a fun premise, but it’s a bit tedious and I just kinda wish there was more character focus.)

I PROMISE I GENUINELY LOVE ALL THESE GAMES AND THEY WERE SO HARD TO RATE BUT I HAVE TO BE A LITTLE CRITICAL SOMETIMES 😭

Anyways, hope you guys have fun with this, I really wanna see your guys’ opinions!

[masterj]

i'm kinda new to the chuggington fandom. i used to own the episodes on dvd but idk where they went. anyway! I figured it'd be cool to hear the thoughts of someone invested in the show, to get a new perspective on it, so i myself could become more invested! do you have any thoughts you'd share to an amateur train appreciator??

OMGOSH 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀WELCOME ABOARD!!!!! 🚅🚄🚈🚃🚂🚂🚂😄😄😄

I've been into the show since 2011-2012 I think... pretty sure before Cars 2 came out- or maybe after... memory's a bit rough in that area. I was first exposed to the show by my younger cousin who watched it on Disney Junior, or at the time, Playhouse Disney, and also had the DVD Let's Ride The Rails, which I now own, playing in my auntie's van one morning on our way to school. I would later track down Disney Junior myself to find the show.

It was pretty much the main reason I've hung around Disney Junior. As a kid who loved trains because of already being a Thomas The Tank Engine fan, it just to captured my interest so quickly and I was hooked.

I'd say the characters and designs are mostly what I love about Chuggington. While there aren't really antagonists in the show they all have their own quirks and distinction from each other which balances it out well.

Wilson is both my favorite to draw and favorite overall. While I haven't gotten to making my own scripts for my planned fanseries yet, his ADHD personality is just pure spirit animal energy when I look at how he's characterized by the show and by myself. I also relate to him to an extent in some areas. He's practically my son lol

The episodes are mostly well written, and miles better than Thomas was at the time... (*COUGH* SHARON MILLER *COUGH*)

Chris McHale's music for the show some of the most unique I've ever heard and the fact we don't have more of the show's score available in high quality than we do is a crime.

Production slowly went to hell since Season 3 onwards, due to investors pulling out for unknown reasons, resulting in S3 being cut from 26 to 14 episodes, Season 4 being rushed and strictly formulated towards the advanced training agenda, (but the episodes were not by any means terrible) and S5, while better than S4, was entirely funded by TOMY resulting in only 10 episodes. After that, Ludorum Entertainment was on the verge of bankruptcy resulting in the show being on hiatus for five years until Herschend Entertainment purchased them, but things weren't that much better.

Season 6 or Tales From The Rails is sadly where Chuggington truly dropped in quality due to Herschend's low budget and their inexperience with the show. Many characters and locations were written off and a number of the voice actor recasts were not too great. Not to mention occasional mischaracterization (mostly Brewster), continuity errors and overall rather shifty writing quality. The merchandise also plummeted in quality and the pandemic caused several delays, and this whole disaster ultimately led to Season 7 being cancelled as of November last year... 😔

While Season 6 was a failed comeback and is NOT fit to be regarded as canon to the first 5 seasons, it still has a decent number of episodes that are good to okay enough at best, and I do plan on rewriting the misfires of season 6 at some point.

Despite all the hardship this show faced, production, performance, and reception-wise, Chuggington is still very much an enjoyable and mostly solid series. I commend both Ludorum and Herschend for not going down without a fair fight and I've very much grown to love the show just as much as Thomas.

To the point where Thomas content is not my top priority anymore and hasn't been for some time now, seeing as thousands of people do Thomas content already while Chuggington content is very scarce and slow going, even with more people finally appreciating and warming up to it, since there's far worse out there nowadays... media ain't what it used to be so good f---ing luck... 😑

With all the moping and mourning aside, thank you so much for joining us, you don't know how much it means to me to have another person hyperfixating on this underated and criminally disregarded series, but it's important to remember that you don't choose the hyperfixation. The hyperfixation chooses you >:3

I am an artist, editor and headcanon writer, and slowly pushing to write up my own fanseries which takes place after S5, and I even have my own roster of original characters and locations in progress, one OC I've already revealed, and another that was actually created by a Tumblr buddy of mine, @lomotunes2008.

So make sure you follow my art account, @masterjarthub - with notifications on, cuz I may pump out surprises over there!

But for until then, welcome to The Chugger Cult! 🚂🚄🚅🚈😄😄😎😎

Enjoy your stay. 😊

[apopcornkernel]

i dont know if there's even a ppop presence on tumblr but i do also want to promote ALAMAT, a 6-member idol boy group from the Philippines. Its members comprise of Taneo, Mo, Jao, Tomas, R-ji, and Alas. They debuted in 2021, and their creative direction centers on championing the Filipino identity and culture through their music.

sorry that ^ was a copypaste but it's a very useful and concise copypaste LOL but onto my own promo:

(note: also most of these videos have english subs!!)

(extra note bc this issue always pops up whenever locals encounter alamat: mo is always wearing black hairstyes bc he is blasian and not bc he is appropriating from black culture hdfjhdf)

KASMALA, the inverted Tagalog word for "strong" (malakas), is the MV that really did numbers on social media iirc. The video direction focused on the "human zoo" in the St. Louis' World Fair of 1904 (which included Filipinos specifically Igorots), and a general theme of anti-Filipino racism by white people (who are represented as ominous figures literally dressed in all white)

personal opinion: the music video is great but i personally think they have better songs, music-wise. and i'm going to give you an example of that by introducing you to my ALL-TIME FAVORITE ALAMAT SONG!!!

ILY ILY, a transliteration of "Ili-Ili Tulog Anay", incorporates the melody and lyrics of the Ilonggo lullaby it derives its title from. The MV and lyrics both work together to portray the experience of being an OFW/having an OFW parent. OFWs, or overseas Filipino workers, refer to Filipinos who go abroad in search of jobs that have better pay, so that they can remit money back to their families in the Philippines.

personal opinion: this is their best song THIS IS THEIR BEST SONG EVER OF ALL TIME and lyca gairanod is such a perfect singer for this. her ethereal crooning really gave me chills the first time i heard it UGH

DAYANG, the term for the wife of a Datu, is one of their most earworming songs ever. It's a gorgeous love song and what I would recommend to newbies if they want to get into alamat <3

personal opinion: The MV is kinda ass because it's just a super long extended ad for DITO PH (in terms of story and also bc they really missed out on doing a vid that drew more on culture esp bc dayang is a historical noble title and they used tausug words and designs for the graphics an the dance itself already incorporated pangasik dance which is also from the tausug people LIKEEE?? they've always promoted other cultures of the philippines i know they can do it but because of CAPITALISM--). But the song bangs so severely, as a pop enjoyer this is peak pop for me.

OH I ALMOST FORGOT DAGUNDONG

DAGUNDONG, a song basically recounting the colonial history of the Philippines from Spain to America, is just so fucking good you should watch/listen to it rn. There's EN subs don't worry you won't miss out on the context. This is colonial rage it's so satisfying I still remember where I was when they dropped this.

personal opinion: FOREVER OBSESSED WITH HOW THEY SAY "dahil puso mandirigma di papakutsa di papapugon" you guys have no idea how much i sing that line to myself sooo satisfying. Instant earworm this song i swear.

OK ONE LAST one last and i'm done. okay.

MAHARANI, a Sanskrit term for the wife of a Maharaja (translated as "great queen"), heavily features singkil, a Maranao dance which uses bamboo poles like tinikling does. The song also uses SEAsian instruments like kanun, gamelan, and gangsa. Also BINI's Jhoanna plays one of the main characters here!!!

personal opinion: this is their most pop-sounding song, which i think is slightly carried by the video i'm sorryyy. it's catchy though!! and i looove the part somewhere halfway where alas starts his verse, singing it in a more spoken-word way

___

okay 5 songs is. probably enough. this post is already kinda long shdfjskdff but yeah. pls check them out if you can hehe <3

also ppop idols are just really funny. there's no concept of an idol image so they just tweet shit. alamat jao gave out his genshin UID after a fan tweeted about having co-oped with him in genshin, and then after that he started answering questions with the hashtag "#canceljao" making a lot of magiliws (alamat fans) confused, and then he posted a classic iphone notes apology like this 😭

i'll do a bini version after this my girls deserve more international hype. they occupy a more girlcrush pop genre but they're just as chaotic as alamat if not even more 😭 there are entire THREADS on twitter of them just being hilarious jdhfkshgf i love them so much

thanks for reading <3

[foggycrusadepenguin]

Okay have you ever done something so self indulgent you think you actually need to explain it.

Well i did, i did a whole Au because of some honestly delusional type thoughts.

BUT if you actually read you may see where I'm coming from.

Sincerely if you take away the randomness of it you may find a incredible Au idea, a really wacky au with time travel, dimension hopping and forced found family left and right. Sounds awesome doesn't it.

Yet in every place there has to be a start and well this is kind of me rambling and being a conspire about how my favorite childhood movies prepared me to ship corabug but I also explain the Au so if you're ready let's go.

So let's say I tell you I have a character he has blue hair, large red nose, has a complex about his appearance and has streak of good bad luck.

Who am I talking about?

Buggy you say?

This guy?

Yeah?

No, actually no I am talking about this baby here.

They both have blue hair (Well plastic? For Doraemon but you get it)

They both have large red noses (Doraemon jus has a big head for his nose)

They both have a complex about there apereance, Buggy with his nose, Doraemon with being mistaken for a raccoon (He is robot cat! The best one to!)

And well about there luck they both kind of live out of coincidences even if Doraemon tends to have a better luck.

So you are going to say okay you have a taste for favorite characters, whats the problem?

And I will say have patience my little grasshopper for I still have not finished.

Doraemon has a girlfriend, or well his first love, Noramyako.

Now she looks like this now.

And well there's not really anything similar to Corazon right? This was about Doraemon having codded me to like Corabug and apart from the pink they don't really look similar do they?

Well i never saw this Noramyako, I saw the one from the special the begining of Doraemon.

And she looked like this.

And well now she is pink and tall (I love this design, she is a dancer and she looks so pretty when she spins, Doraemon also only gets up to her waist which honestly Corabug right there)

it's way more coincidences than my brain needed (Apart i think it's funny she is gracious and he is clumsy has they come, opposites but similar, and both cuties that could probably kill you! What else do you need?! Nothing that's what.)

I could also mention Doraemon was blonde at the start? And Buggy is posible going to be blond (I'm not up to date with the manga but i did see some people mentioning it and drawing it)

That being said, Doraemon has one of the wackiest type worlds to exist (I'm basing myself in the movies has I have never seen the series)

There is time travel (Doraemon is from the future, apart that they always jump in time)

Dimension hopping (No that much but the amount of time they end in random ass no way is this earth type things is pretty high)

A wacky timeline that constantly jumps around (They have broken there timeline a lot of times but nothing ever happens so ┐⁠(⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠)⁠┌)

And a lot of convenient artifacts from the future with so many cool uses.

There also a time mafia, a time police and ect.

So if I said there is a way to put the usual madness of one piece in to Doraemon it's because I can.

But how?

Drum rolls please.

Time pirates!

So to transverse time they use a type of machine that flies through space. Why not make it a ship, can you imagine robbing all types of items from all types of places and time periods? Wouldn't that be awesome!

All while traveling with flying ship? (Like the treasure planet movies ones)

Yes It would and you are right.

Apart from that having a lot of liberties timeline wise because there is the time travel gimmick.

Things happening in order but In such different time periods is magical.

There's a spot for everything, marines? Time police.

The world government, some high rankings future people or even the sky people ( Yes they exist)

Like the incident of flevance could very well be the world government abusing a community which they knew was going to diaper anyway but could give them rare materials.

And this is how we get into the au idea I was saying.

So Law survives flevance like always but thanks of the intervention of the time police in the extermination of the people he finds out about the time travel and even travels with them when they are leaving.

In the future he gets recruited by a robot in the shape of a tall cat that has serious narcissism problem Doflamingo who manages a small time mafia know has the family and who only wants to create chaos.

Doflamingo gets all type of people that shouldn't be alive, that shouldn't exist, robots humans, others, he recruits everyone he can get his claws on.

They are all from different time periods, different tragedies, different species, all of them hurt by the injustice of the world.

Law is still dying and there is no know cure, people believe the people of flevance had a thing like the black plague and because they all died no one bothered to find out more about it and those who did try and investigate where quickly dismissed by the world government.

He doesn't have time and he has a lot of anger, he wants people to hurt like he has.

At the same time there's Corazón a robot cat that works for the time police and is undercover in the mafia, believing it is his duty to end Doflamingo has one of the only two existent Donquixote robots after there creator was brutally murdered.

They both are brothers, the only two models done by the scientist Donquixote, they are more resistant, more intelligent and unique.

When he sees Law at first he wants to drive him away, no child should be left under the care of the family.

Yet he also kind of sees his 'mother' who died thanks to a unknown illness one he wants able to find a cure for he wants to help and when he find out Law is a D well he makes a decision.

The D are time anomalies, people believe anyone with a D is destined to change the very seems of time which is why they are considered dangerous and Doflamingo fears them.

So he steal a time machine and kidnaps Law, he will save him no matter the cost.

The comes Buggy another cat robot, but this one is a mass produced one, a pirated version actually who manages a small group of rebellious pirate robots who also double function has a small four person? Robot circus.

Buggy is a malfunctioning robot, he can separate in to parts and his synthetic hair grows a lot to the point he can't really cut it because it grows back to being long.

Nobody really knows why of his malfunction has it happened years ago, they do know it has something to do with some red hair though.

Anyway he ends up accidentally roped on to Corazon and Law small crew when they rob his smaller ship one he had been using while his crew went and did something flashy elsewhere.

He can't leave not with the time police so close on there trail and well he may be a little to easy to have a change of mind when treasure is mentioned.

So he stays and while he had promised himself to not get close to humans again they weren't worth the pain, they weren't worth the bitterness or the hollow feeling they left when they where no longer there.

He does become invested in helping Law, they don't have a good relationship in anyway but he kind of wants to help.

Though he does end up becoming closer to Corazon, they both get each other even when they have small fights and difference in morals, they understand each other.

Which is why he uses his crew to look out for any cure or saving possibilities.

Things get interesting when they find out about a devil fruit they may use, one that could mean salvation for Law.

It's going to be hard has devil fruits are special confections that seem to be timeless, they have been from the start and no one in the future know who did them or even if some did them but there effects are unstoppable.

Things get vague after that they get the fruit thanks to Corazon but they don't know his ending if he was killed or not and Buggy ends up separated from Law thanks to a problem with the ship in there scape.

Funnily enough Buggy ends meeting a face he hasn't seen in decades, a face that's not quite how he remembers, a face far to young he meets Ace.

Ace the son of his captain.

We could also talk about the weird kid with a familiar straw hat that Buggy absolutely despises or the weird kid that obviously is not a time traveler who didn't do his homework about what period of time he is soupose to be in.

Or the fact he is trapped with them thanks to the fact his own time device is broken and doesn't work.

The fact he doesn't know if Corazon is alive or if Law managed to scape, if his crew is alright or what does it mean that the straw hat child even has the hat.

There also the fact the kids shouldn't be in the time they are in but who is counting anyway?

Now having finished have some extra art I did <⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠>

[ultrajtb]

Okay so my biggest problems with how the Steve Saga base color steves were designed are that they don’t match and they aren’t as vibrant as I’d like, sometimes even looking kinda muddy. Green and Yellow especially.

So I’ve redesigned all 5 to ease my brain, and will be adding descriptions of how I’d change them lore-wise (excuse me if the ideas seem jumbled, I’m not very good at compiling my thoughts coherently)

First there’s Red Steves

In terms of design I basically just brightened it up and made it shinier

The original lore had them be incredibly dumb. While it’s a fun gag, I would prefer if they were closer to average

So in my idea of a streamlined Red Steve, they’d still be pyrokinetic with anger issues, but they wouldn’t be boneheads. The original had them using redstone as a power source, but it was never really explained, so to expand on that, their ability to create fire demands they consume mass amounts of fuel to function. So lots of food and burnable items can help them. Alternatively, redstone blocks contain a similar level of energy that they will feed on to fuel themselves more efficiently.

Next Blue Steves

Honestly the best of the original designs. Once again, basically just brightened it up and made it shinier to match the more overhauled ones.

So, these guys are hydrokinetic as well as the smartest, strongest, and wisest of the 5. Not much I want to change there. I do want to add on to them that they have a level of hubris comparable to the SCU Red Steves, which does lead some to less than desirable fates

Now the first majorly changed design, Green Steves

The original green steve design always bothered me because it was the most different from the other base colors. In short, it’s just way too bright. The green just doesn’t really pop. So I actually darkened it a bit so that it matches the other colors better.

We never really learned much about the green steves in the steve saga. From what I know, they were all fairly timid and pretty weak.

Obviously I’d like to at least tweak that. So my ideal version would have them be Chlorokinetic, meaning they can create and control plants. I feel this could give them a bit more character by having them be more connected to nature.

Now for my personal favorite of the redesigns, Yellow Steves why doesn’t tumblr have a yellow text option 😭

My gripes with the Steve Saga design are that it has a lot more contrast than the others, has weirdly colored highlights, and is just a sickly shade of yellow. So I fixed the contrast and highlights up and made it a more golden yellow

These guys were known for being electrokinetic speedsters in the original. Honestly I like that about them, don’t really wanna change anything there. I do think it’d be interesting to make them drawn to metals because conducting electricity, and weak to resisters like wood since electricity can’t flow through stuff like that. They’re the only ones who actually fight using lighting. The other 4 will at most have lightning while using their own abilities, but won’t be able to use that lightning for actual combat

Lastly, we have Purple Steves

So the original was missing some highlights, and I didn’t really like the shade of purple. Pretty easy fixes

The power these guys were known for was being able to teleport basically anywhere at will. Pretty cool power, not gonna change it.

Personality-wise we only saw one in the series and he was brain damaged for most of it. I think a good general trait for them is that they don’t like staying in on place for long, both because they lack any real attacking abilities and they just instinctively want to teleport to new places as a means of avoiding people who’d want to harm them.

Lmk your thoughts and what you think I could do differently with the ideas or if you have your own that you think could be cool to add. I will be keeping an eye out and will add anything that I like (with credit obviously). I have some more complex thoughts for the upcoming prominent steves so keep an eye out for that.

Have a good day/night!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hey Raven, are you going to watch the upcoming new Disney movie "Wish"?

I've seen mixed reviews, but i'm lowkey excited since we get to see a new Disney villain, especially since Disney got really lame villains after all the old classic movies!

Have you seen the trailer for the movie? What are your thoughts so far?

I saw Wish with a friend recently! I'll give my thoughts on the trailers here (in case you don't want spoilers for the film itself) and put my full thoughts beneath the cut (if you're okay with spoilers).

Looks-wise, I think Disney was definitely trying to go for something more stylistic and painting-esque for this?? And while I commend the effort, it definitely doesn't look as interesting as Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish. The humor also definitely isn't for me, it feels very "quirky" and "so relatable" (Asha reminds me of Mirabel in that sense), and other times too juvenile (like the goat butt joke). I do like the idea of the villain passing as a good guy in-universe and actually being vain and selfish, especially since the marketing is making it clear who the bad guy is rather than making it a "twist" villain scenario. Not sure if I like Magnifico himself though??? All the ads with him in it feel like Disney is trying too hard to make people thirst for him. From just the trailers, Magnifico does seem interesting and like more of a return to the traditional "villain" rather than the protagonist having to deal with an existential dread or concept.

***Spoilers for Wish beneath the cut!***

Right off the bat, my first impression is the narrative is SO ham-fisted. Within the first 5 minutes alone we're establishing so much information and in such a clunky, unnatural way. Like... Asha says hi to her friends but then they robotically have a dialogue where they overtly call each other "friends" just so it's clear to the audience (when in reality no one talks like that). It's telling instead of showing, and this happens sooo many times early in the film.

Could not for the life of me remember the friends or their names. There were just too many of them when 1 or 2 would have been just fine to move the plot along and to help Asha. (Yes, I know they're a reference to the 7 Dwarves but it's STILL not necessary to have so many just for a reference.)

Bruh, the makeup in this movie is on point. Every time there was a close up of a character, I was staring at their eye makeup (especially Asha and the queen's).

Asha as a protagonist was... fine? She feels very close to Mirabel and at times Rapunzel in her character. I didn't dislike her by any means, but she didn't reinvent what it means to be a Disney protag. Her motivations also come off as… really “out of nowhere”. We’re told she “cares too much”, but she initially only wants to save the wishes of her mom and grandpa; she randomly decides she has to free ALL wishes midmovie and that was jarring. There could have been a smoother transition. Instead, it was abrupt and Asha didn’t change in any meaningful way. Even her “I want” song was vague (what exactly is “to have something more for us than this”?) and didn’t connect well with her character.

I do really like her design though! Her freckles, earrings, and how her hair moves are my favorite details.

Valentino was not as annoying as I thought he would be. Still didn't care for his sass and brand of humor, but at least he helped out a few times.

I called it, the film is trying so hard to make Magnifico "hot" 🤡 I don't get it but okay, Mouse. I see your effort.

Loved his fit!! Very cool cloak and diamond/star motifs everywhere! His lab and study was also fun to look at.

I quite liked the moments when the queen talked to her husband and tried to smooth things over with him. “I can fix him energy”— Their relationship seemed very genuine at the start of the movie.

NOT THE WISH NEPOTISM...

If they were going for “sympathetic” with Magnifico, it didn’t work. He gave this backstory about how he was traumatized before + left as the only survivor of a great tragedy and so now he wants to use his magic to prevent that from happening to anyone else. Thing is, we only ever know about this via his word and staring at a half-burnt tapestry. We never see the event on screen, nor what was left of the tapestry. I was expecting a twist where it’s revealed that he lied all this time about his backstory and rewrote history so he could more easily manipulate the people of the kingdom he founded and live out the fantasy of being worshipped as a “good guy”. That was such a missed opportunity!!

Something else I was thinking of (this was during “This is the Thanks I get” was??? Maybe Magnifico started off genuinely good but became worn down over time as people’s wishes grew more selfish and they became ungrateful for what they had?? Then he could have become bitter and disillusioned by the behavior of his people.

Another idea is maybe Magnifico was “villainous” only in Asha’s eyes, since they don’t agree on how to best handle granting wishes. This would be more of a clash of ideologies rather than the traditional Obvious Evil vs Obvious Good that Disney is so known for, but hey, it could be a neat evolution of their storytelling from classic fairy tale roots.

This is to say that there were so many more interesting directions they could have gone with Magnifico’s motives, character, and portrayal 😭 but the second half of the movie never commits to any of these, they just blame his complete insanity and turn to the dark side on Forbidden Magic which is such a cop-out.

The trailers gave away the twist that Magnifico was the villain. It wasn’t revealed until like the second song into the movie. Would’ve worked better as an on-the-spot reveal rather than part of the marketing, in my opinion.

When they showed the wishes, the TWST fan in my was shouting, "OMG IT'S WISH UPON A STAR, THE LIMITED TIME STORY EVENT FROM THE HIT DISNEY MOBILE GACHA GAME TWISTED WONDERLAND!!!"

As Wish is Disney's anniversary film for 100 years, there were tooons of easter eggs scattered throughout. (I had fun looking for them!) Some were visual (I saw Aurora's dress, Snow White’s well, Peter's Pan's costume, Ursula's green smokey hands, Asha's robes resembling those of the Fairy Godmother, etc.) or extended imagery/scenes (Asha recreates Mulan's dinner and “Reflection" scenes), others were more overt lines of dialogue (Magnifico says the "Mirror, Mirror" lines along with others, a deer named “Bambi”, Valentino mentions an animal metropolis in reference to Zootopia, etc.).

In theory, the wish magic sounds cool but has so much that isn't explained??? And yeah, it's magic so it technically doesn't have to be. However, there are things not explained even when it is important to the plot. For example, Magnifico crushes some wishes and seems to absorb their power for himself (including the wish of Asha's MOM, so you'd think this would be important)? The consequence of this is that the wish's owners... become sad??? Okay, what are the long-term effects??? Why isn’t this fully explored?? But then later in the film we see the same people whose wishes were crushed... regenerate their wish??? So what, he has to keep reaping them??? And why are the wishes only taken at 18 years old? What if a wish changes? Ironically, the townspeople of Rosas have a scene where they question the technicalities of this wish magic. Magnifico essentially tells them to shut up, and it kinda felt like Disney was telling us to not question their lore www

It was weird that they never fully explored the ramifications of going without your wish. You’d think they’d show us people without ambition or hope (which would incentivize Asha to return their wishes), but everyone seems blissfully happy without their wishes?? The only exception is Asha’s friend that betrays her (cannot for the life of me remember his name), and that’s namely because his asshole friends keep ragging on him for it.

I thought the movie was going to go in a “you can make your own wish come true!!” direction but NOPE, turns out it’s just magic. Felt like Disney unintentionally wrote a whole movie about "wishes not coming true unless some big powerful entity allows it to come true” (Asha literally becomes the fairy godmother of Rosas at the end, making her ultimately no different than Magnifico)… ie a metaphor for how Disney owns so many properties it practically owns our childhoods www

"The power of friendship saves the day" ending 🤣 It was very Paper Mario ending-esque...

A song saving the day though?? It’s giving the Illumination Lorax film…

I was right about the humor. Too "quirky" and/or juvenile for me.

Animation was alright? Nothing awful about it, it just didn't feel as detailed or as experimental as other films with a similar style.

Songs were mid, which checks out with the recent Disney music excluding We Don't Talk About Bruno--

Some of the lyrics however were awful. “I let you live here for free and I don’t even charge you rent” is redundant. “So I throw caution to every warning sign” means you’ll show more caution than usual, not that you’ll forego caution. The correct expression is “throw caution to the wind”. Etc, etc, etc.

There was a cute after credits scene where they reveal that Asha's 100 year old grandpa (same age as Disney omg) wrote the "When You Wish Upon a Star" theme, which was sweet since his wish was "wanting to make a mark".

THE BEST PART OF THE MOVIE WAS STAR!! It was very cute (partly because it couldn't talk and just jingled and giggled, I was dreading another annoying mascot animal voice) and reminds me of my own pet… The way Star infused everything with glitter and formed unique shapes with the red twine was so fun 😭 I'M A STAR STAN, IT WAS ADORABLE AND KINDA BRATTY AND I'M LIVING FOR IT

Decent ideas, "meh" execution. Enchanted and Shrek did it better in terms of self-aware, fairy tale defying stories. It felt as though the movie was trying to deliver a profound message but got lost in the sauce of making as making Disney references possible and didn't fully commit to actually saying something meaningful. As a result, the film feels somewhat… hollow.

That one friend betraying Asha was the biggest surprise in the film but I still saw it coming 😂 I do get where he’s coming from though (being worried that his wish won’t ever come true) but it also felt like his conflict wasn’t resolved??? It might have gone better if the movie actually fully tried to push the “you can make your own wish come true” message (to reinvigorate the traitor to make his dreams a reality on his own) but they don’t 💦

Wish didn’t end up being “the wishing star’s origin story” because not once did anyone question where Star came from or why it was different from other stars (or what the significance of Magnifico blotting out the other stars was).

I think the people that would enjoy this movie are the people that are already highly invested in Disney and the nostalgia of it.

... Anyway, stan Star 🤩 (and the talking mushrooms 🍄)

[j-ad1]

who would you say is your favourite of branch's brothers? and who would you say is your least favourite brother?

I think it's just easier if i rank them and why. clay is my favorite because he seems to be the only one with a valid excuse and reasoning, he was with the putt-putt leading with viva and scared of the bergans. as soon as he finds out his brothers are alive and need him he's willing to abandon everything for his family. he was a great leader as seen with viva and was the only brother to be seen apologizing. he even acknowledged branch changed during the fight scene. he only loses points for abandoning viva the way he did and leaving branch when he didn't really have a reason to with jd gone. Bruce is next, is this were ranking them as branch's broz instead of as characters he'd be below jd but he's higher because he's seen living his best life with 13! kids and a wife. design wise he's still a heartthrob but just kinda a dilf now lol. he seems pretty chill and mature now i mean he runs a restaurant so like i said living his best life. however he loses pionts for never apologizing to branch. leaving branch, never trying to come back and also for the "don't be a baby" comment that made me want to slap him. jd belive it or not it not last. he is the only one who know came back, not sure when but he did. he was put in charge of taking care of his brothers as a kid and kept them all alive. i don't think he actively knows what he's doing is hurting his family. not for how he loses points, he left everyone, put unneeded pressure on everyone, and when he reunites with bruce and clay starts up everything again. the wedding crash scene really peaved me cuz not only are you ruining someone's day but the first thing you do is embaress the little brother you haven't seen in over 20 years with a butt slap! WTF JD?! ok please don't hate me but floyd is last. i know, i know but he's just so....[insert reason you're obsessed]. and i get it i like him too but from what little we actually know about him i can't really mark him any higher. we mostly see him trapped in a diamond about to die, trying anything he can to get out. even trying to bond with veneer and crimp. he knows the perfect family harmony is the only way he can get freed that's why he suggested it. but as ive said before it's widly accepted he spent 2 months in that diamond. what about the other (20 x 12 = 240 , 240 - 2 = 238) 238 months? he even made a promise to branch he'd come back. he never is seen apologising and was the last one to leave. the only saving grace i can give him was he said a heart felt goodbye instead of 'goodbye forever' like jd or nothing at all like bruce and clay. do i still like his design? yes. do i like him being the gay emo troll we all need in our lives? yes. do i love reading fanfiction where we get more hc? hell yes. BUT! what we now to be cannon is very little about him.