#love looking at redesigns for this event they’re so good

[ct-multifandom]

Miraculous s6 Trailers Breakdown

Before I get into it, if it calms anyone’s nerves, I think this poster is a case of questionable graphic design. The weird official render style makes the characters look different from normal, plus Chat, Carapace, and Rena are all squished to match Ladybug’s proportions on the poster. This is an interesting choice from the designer: making the smallest character in the group take up the entire height and corresponding width of the poster and then awkwardly smushing the others in next to her. That’s why Carapace looks more short and stout than usual, and why Chat and Rena are kinda elongated. It doesn’t help that they shrunk Rena to accommodate her fox ears.

I’m liking the little updates to the hero suits. I honestly wasn’t expecting to see change for anyone but Ladybug and Chat, so now I’m excited to see everyone else. I love the changes on Carapace. They took his old, pretty simple suit and added a lot of new textures like the chest plate and wrist guards, and they gave him fingerless gloves and neck speakers. This gives me hope that they’ll update other designs that get criticized for just being a bodysuit with a decal on it like Ryuko and Viperion’s into something more interesting.

Rena is very similar, but her ears are bigger and pointier, the flute has been redesigned, her palms are white now, she has big poppin’ eyeliner, and her tail seems to be dark. Some people noted that they seem to be making Alya’s skin look darker after accusations of whitewashing her, so I hope they’ll finally give Pegasus the same treatment.

I’ve seen people say LB and CN must’ve taken influence from their reverse selves for their current designs, and CN seems to have some PV nods like his new shirt collar. Ladybug’s design feels more mature and is probably a response to criticism of her looking too simple as a character with a fashion interest among other superheroes with more detailed designs.

I didn’t include the poster of Marinette’s outfit, but overall I like it. I agree with people saying the bow on her shirt feels extra, but I like her emonette jacket. Her tights under jorts remind me of Mylene’s outfit, making me wonder if there’s some character influence there, or if they’ll be changing Mylene’s clothes so they don’t look too similar.

First look at Alya! Yay! I love her new haircut. It reminds me of Haru from persona 5. She seems to be wearing the same shirt, which is lame. Maybe the rest of her outfit has changed, or maybe they’re not fixing what isn’t broke. It’s disappointing, though, that Adrien’s outfit looks the same. I can only dream that they’re leading up to a makeover scene where he realizes he’s allowed to pick out his own clothes now, but alas.

Here Adrien is jogging with a new character (?) who has a prosthetic leg. There’s no good look at their face and even this screenshot sucks. If this is the same scene as Marinette with binoculars, then we might be getting a rare moment of a new character being introduced through Adrien rather than Marinette, perhaps someone he knows from rich people stuff or whatever nebulous and dubiously canon sports he participates in.

This frame appears after a camera pan right from a modernized remodel of the school. Before, there were average city blocks around the school, so whatever this is might be part of an expanded campus built for Bustier’s utopian academy.

I think I’ve written in a post before that I hope ML does something to commemorate the Paris 2024 Olympics, so I’m thrilled to see an Olympian akuma in the trailer! Perhaps this character is a celebrity cameo, but idk anything about Team France and its stars. It’s possible this scenario will be a special episode as well, but maybe more like the plastic special than the world specials. I hope they have to beat her by competing in games like Penalteam but with less cheating. It’d be awesome if the other heroes helped represent events that fit their characters. An episode like that would be a fun and light way to introduce the new animation and hero designs without diving into deep overarching drama and lore.

Perhaps the character jogging with Adrien is connected to this episode since they have a prosthetic running leg and seem athletic.

Here’s our first look at Lila’s akumatization. Her mask thing is very pretty and soft looking compared to Gabriel’s sharp, geometric, simple one. It reminds me of a masquerade mask with all the swirls. Maybe there’s some visual symbolism here of Lila being a more complex butterfly user than Hawkmoth. We also see her shooting some sort of beam at CN from the mask, maybe separate from the akuma’s power. I hope they’ll revisit the somewhat-retconned bloodbending power we saw Hawkmoth use on Evillustrator and Pixelator and explore the full extent of the butterfly’s power over their akumas.

Tomoe? Astruc said he wants Kagami to fight her and take her down further down the road, and I believe she may be a bigger villain than they’re making her out to be now. Lila is great and all, but an adult threat who owns a tech megacorp and is one of the only surviving members of Gabriel’s creepy billionaire sentibaby cult seems like a scarier enemy than the pathological liar from class. We don’t know Lila’s deal yet, but I imagine her villain motives are probably something deeply personal. Meanwhile, Tomoe might be trying to reach some greater goal that Gabriel failed to achieve. Both she and Lila practically had all the fruits of his evil labor fall into their laps without lifting a finger, so they might have an interesting dynamic as rival villains or fake allies.

Okay this is from the London special. The synopsis says someone found Ladybug’s identity to take her down, and she and Bunnyx have to solve the mystery and reverse the events. This masked person looks like they may be the enemy, and their design is themed after the rabbit miraculous. People have been kinda assuming that it’s just Lila, but everyone in the audience knows she’s the next big villain right now, so it feels like a cop-out to frame this special as a mystery. It could still be her, and it’s just a mystery to the heroes, but what if the enemy is someone else? If they’re using the rabbit miraculous, Lila wouldn’t have access to it during season 5 unless she stole it somehow and gave it back unnoticed.

My theory is that the villain is Tomoe who got the miraculous from Gabriel. The trailer shows catbug looking in on Adrien and Kagami in their white rooms, so maybe during that time, Gabriel sent rabbit!Tomoe after Ladybug to ensure his victory in the upcoming finale, and maybe she has her own motives as well.

I recall Zag releasing concepts of some hero or spy characters from London a long time ago, and I thought they’d be for the London world special like Eagle and Lady Dragon, but maybe they’re for a different show or got scrapped in favor of focusing on the main miraculous plot (which honestly, good. Please focus on the existing characters)

Finally, poor Nooroo in Lila’s creepy catacomb bunker. I hope her jumpscare reaction at the end of s5 wasn’t just the sight of him. It would feel odd after the latest of Marinette’s hero friends were totally chill seeing kwamis for the first time. He’s in some bubble here. Maybe it’s stopping him from sharing things he’s not allowed to say, or maybe Lila is forcing him to stay put? I’m also curious about the angle and what that metal bar is a part of. Is Lila sitting under a table?

Anyway! TLDR I like the new designs overall and I’m excited to see everyone else. I’m also excited at the prospect of an Olympics episode and I think Tomoe may be the next big villain next to or even surpassing Lila.

[thunderstomm]

The Newmans Redesigns (Early Draft) + Ideas

I love the Newmans- but that’s not much of a secret. And just like most people who love them, I’m always just a little disappointed that the show didn’t really do much with them- I mean, Kim and Konnie barley spoke at all! Plus, I personally don’t love that they look almost identical to their GB counterparts, I think a little variety is nice ! So for the longest time, I’ve been trying to nail down some redesigns that I think really work for each of these characters. And while these are not the final designs, they’re just a potential mock-up- I still wanted to share them, as well as two hypothetical ideas for how these looks come to be.

I don’t want to pretend they just always happened to look like this, canon gets to stay intact in the idea that they looked like Grojband, until a certain point. But I’m not sure what route to take to result in the change- whatever I pick will be used and referenced in my Grojband fic, Peaceville’s Pink Star. (Follow my side blog @peacevillespinkstar , more chapters soon I promise !

So instead of just getting stuck in my own head, I figured it was better to type out both options, and kinda scope what other people think is better. There’s nothing like a good peer review !

(Under the cut because it’s long- thank you so much for choosing to read it if you do!!)

General context: these designs (or whatever final copy I end up making) exist in a post-series environment. AFTER “hear us rock”. The look change is spurred by one of these two options:

Option 1: The Rebrand

After the events of “hear us rock”, the newmans are in hot water. Because of how similar they look to Grojband- Aka the band who saved Peaceville- people keep booking them thinking that they are GrojBand, and then getting upset when it turns out they aren’t. Upset greatly by this, the newmans decide that enough is enough, and that if it’s the only way they can stand out and be better, they’ll have to take the leap and completely re-invent their looks, and their sound. So the Newmans leave town for a little bit, and return sporting their shiny new duds, and a sound that’ll blow Grojband out of the water.

Option 2: The Lawsuit

After the events of the Newmans’ last appearance in the show, Kon-fusion, things don’t go well. While Grojband is unharmed by the de-fusion process, the Newmans ARE harmed (not majorly, but still enough that it’s clear), and things aren’t the best for them. While medial professionals are able to get them back to being healthy, the Newmans still end up looking a little bit different as a result. The Newmans Sue DJ-Fusion and win, which covers the costs PLUS gets them enough to buy new outfits (and maybe instruments) to match their looks.

I’d love to share my headcanons for each of the Newmans at some point, and how I think their personalities differ from the band, as well as possible friendships. Again, will probably end up on my side blog, because this particular lore will be used within my fic.

Please share which of these options you prefer if you can! It really helps !

Bonus redesign draft with notes explaining some of my design choices and picks !! (:

[blowflyfag]

WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT/FEDERATION MAGAZINE: OCTOBER 2011

THE CULT OF CM PUNK

“All it took for The Straight Edge Superstar to turn the world upside-down and ignite the WWE Universe was one microphone. HEre we’ve given the “Voice of the Voiceless” another soapbox to explore his many issues with WWE management, his epic match at WWE Money In The Bank, his fellow Superstars who deserve a better shot, and what, if anything, is going to change now that he’ back for good. 

By JOHN MIHALY PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL, DIGITAL IMAGING BY ERIC HEINTZ

[The Second City Saint reveals his cult of personality, and shows off his new T-shirt and WWE Championship during his unexpected return to WWE a week after leaving with the title (Raw, 7/25/11).]

In your estimation, what do you feel is wrong with WWE right now, and what would you do to change it?

What’s wrong with WWE right now is that there isn’t enough youth. Most of the ideas are old. They worked in The Attitude Era or in the ‘80s-and I'm not necessarily saying that they’re bad or they’re wrong-but they need updating, they need tweaking. There needs to be some young minds spinning the webs, so to speak. I’m sick of seeing people who are excellent wrestlers get passed over for people who have abs or who were good-string linemen in a European football league. I think there are a lot of people who, on their own terms, have made their own personas and perfected their craft simply out of love for what they do. They’re not trying to be bodybuilders or football players who fail miserably and then call their uncle or their dad and say, “Hey, I’ll give that wrestling thing a shot because I suck at everything else.”

Why do you think it’s such a strike against guys who-like yourself-are fans but aren't from a sports or bodybuilding background?

Now, this is complete speculation. I can't even tell you what somebody else is thinking. I can only say what I think works. And I'm not going to be right 100 percent of the time just like they're not going to be. Somewhere along the way I think we lost the Midas touch. This whole thing became uncool. I think people who love it aren’t going to go do something else  if they get fired. Like Colt Cabana. He’s a perfect example. He is a wrestler. If he gets hired and it doesn’t work out, he’s wrestling somewhere else the next day. He’s not trying to shoehorn himself into an accounting job. He’s a wrestler. He’s always going to be here. So I just think if you love wresting sometimes-maybe-you’re punished. You’re placed last in line. The attitude is: You’re always going to be here,  maybe we can use you later if we need you, but right now we’re going to use this guy because he was good at college football, and he didn’t quite make it in the NFL.

Another one of your gripes is how the WWE Championship looks. How would you redesign the title? What is the definitive look of that particular championship for you?

Oh god. How long is this interview? Honestly, I think old Dwayne used to have a cute little blue cow on his title or something. Then, of course, Stone Cold had the Smoking Skull title. I don't know. I think I could Straight Edge the hell out of that thing. A couple of “X”’s might make it look good. Make it look like a title should look like, and not make it look like some sort of weird, rapper bling. I feel the definitive look, though, is what I like to call “Bret Hart’s Title.” I think everyone likes to call it the “Winged Eagle Title.”That’s a little bit redundant. I’m pretty sure most eagles have wings. That’s the one that always sticks out in my mind.

This anger with your job has been festering for a while. Was there one moment backstage when you felt that you’d had enough?

I can name one off the top of my head. How about main-eventing a pay-per-view as the World Heavyweight Champion against Undertaker and then, a few months later, being in a dark match against R-Truth at WWE TLC? That’s pretty ignorant in my mind. This is the problem. We do this too many times to too many of the Superstars. It’s a start-stop kind of thing. The company likes to spotlight certain people. Like, “This week, Kofi’s cool,” and then, the next week, “We changed our minds-we like Dolph this week.” It flip-flops back and forth ad nauseam, and the next thing you know, the people couldn’t give a crap about either guy.

When did the powers that be really begin to take your leaving WWE seriously?

I told them probably a year out. They would say, “Hey, how about we talk about your contract?” And I would just say, “No, I don’t really feel like it.” And they would say, “Ok, back off. Punk’s crabby and temperamental.” We’ll get him next week.” And the next week it would be, “Hey let’s talk about it.” And then maybe eight or 10 months out, it was, “Hey, I really want to sit down. We really need to sign you a new deal.” And that’s when I straight up said, “No, I’m not interested.”

[CM Punk perches on the top rope to hear out The Chairman’s final contract offer (Raw, 7/11/11).]

Take us back to your title match at WWE Money In The Bank. What did you do differently that day knowing that could have been your last day on the job?

I don’t think I did anything different that day. I’m a man of my word. I wasn’t going to skip out on my contract earlier. I was going to let it run out. These to do, and I was going to let it run out. These are the terms. I agreed to and the dates I agreed to do, and I was definitely going to finish up. But I think I talked so much about everything and everybody that all eyes were on me and it created a high-pressure situation. Thankfully, I thrive very well in those situations. I’d say I pulled it off. All this stuff i talk about, about ebony the best in the world, I certainly proved it that night. The match went near the 35-minute mark But i wrestled for 93 minutes one time back in 2002 or 2003 in a Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match.

You mentioned on the Bill Simmons B.S. Report podcast that you had made the decision to come back and resign at WWE Money In The Bank. Do you think your decision was at all clouded a little bit too much by all the emotion going on that day?

I can definitely put it aside. I can be a robot if I need to be. Resigning was something that was on my mind day -in and day-out whether I was at the gym or sleeping. I was dreaming about it, I was really trying to figure out what was the best decision for the company as a whole. I love what we do. I ‘m not going to get along with everybody I work with. I’m certainly not going to agree with everything all the time, But at the end of the day, I want everybody’s voice to be heard. I want this place to succeed. So I had to weigh my options. 

[The conquering hometown hero wins his first WWE Championship (To add to his three World Heavyweight Titles) at WWE Money In The Bank (7/17/11).]

They say  a man’s refrigerator is a window into his soul. When you Tweeted a photo of the WWE Championship inside your fridge the night you won, we couldn’t help but notice that there was a jar of peanut butter in there. Isn’t peanut butter meant to be stored at room temperature?

Is it? Why? I'm not saying we have to end the interview now, but here’s a good wrap-up for you: WWE has stored their peanut butter at room temperature for over 30 years; I'm putting it in the refrigerator now. It’s time for a damn change. I don’t eat my peanut butter like everybody else, I suppose. I don’t spread it on anything, because I try to stay away from bread and all that, so if I’m eating peanut butter, i take a spoonful of it, and i eat it like ice cream. It tastes better a little frozen. 

Another thing we noticed is that you used the “W” word a lot in your tirades these last weeks. How much do you dislike saying “sports-entertainment”?

I don’t hate it as much as you would think, but I really do think it’s ridiculous when you’re not allowed to say “wrestling.” At the end of the day, that’s what goes on in that ring. That ring is our stage. What we do on that stage is we wrestle. I’m not playing grab-ass. I’m out there fighting to win. Wins and losses mean something. Wrestling happens to be damn entertaining.

So is it weird to call yourself a “Superstar” as opposed to a wrestler?

I don’t think it’s weird. I think we’re all Superstars. Absolutely. I don’t think there’s anybody else who can be called that. Would you call Brad Pitt a Superstar? Do I think Brad Pitt can do what we do? Absolutely not! Brad Pitt gets scripts and lines to study months ahead of time and he has a very controlled setting in which he looks the best he possibly can. He has makeup on, there’s lighting, there’s people doing the sound and everything. We go out there on live TV every Monday night and kill it. That’s where the entertainment part comes in. It’s more entertaining than a Brad Pitt movie. There are no retakes, you know? There’s no Take 1, Take 2–”I screwed that up, let me do it again.” IF we screw up, we screw up. That’s the entertaining part. 

Entertaining was your baseball analogy equating John Cena to the Yankees-which caused him to punch you. But let’s follow that analogy a bit further. Earlier this century, your Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox were quite similar. Then the Red Sox were quite the equivalent of baseball’s nouveau riche, effectively placing that franchise and fan base in line with the Yankees. Won’t the same thing happen to the Cubs when they win? And what about you? If you continue to win, wont you in turn become what you hate?

Possibly. We’ll have to wait and see. Is the same thing going to happen to me? It’s quite possible. That’s life, though. I really think it depends on the person. Am I going to change? Absolutely not. I'm not changing anything. Will the WWE Universe maybe get sick of me? I think the people get sick of anything if it's shoved down their throat. I think free-thinking people like variety, and they like change. There’s no reason why multiple people can’t be marketed correctly and in everybody’s face constantly so there’s a choice. 

[Punk ruffles the feathers (and tie) of new COO Triple H (Raw, 8/1/11), and hopes for a retro design akin to, in his words, “Bret Hart’s Title” (above left).]

One thing you did change is your entrance music, to Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality.” Did you consider anything else?

No, that was the one. It was a throwback to my Indie days, but it also just fit. I have tremendous guts, I’d like to say, and it was just a gut feeling that this was the right thing to do, to change my music now. Did I like my old song? Absolutely. Was it recognizable? Sure, I had it for five years. Was it time for a change? Was it a risky thing? Yes and yes. But ultimately, I think it was the right move. I haven't been able to get the song out of my head since last Monday. It’s a song that came out in 1989, when I was on my little league team, and now it just jumped into the iTunes Top 200. That’s powerful. That should speak volumes to the WWE management. They should say, “Holy crap, this kid has the power to do something like that. Let’s see what else he can do.”

What’s really different now that you’re back? What are we going to see that’s not status quo?

I don’t want to ruin any surprises, but i will tell you that when the Ramones were voted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. This is, after all, the establishment that shunned the entire band for its entire career, and he wanted nothing to do with it. He was extremely adamant that, “No, you don’t get the privilege of having the Ramones in your little club.” My good friend, Lars Frederickson [of the band Rancid], got on the phone and said, “Marky, listen to me. You almost have responsibility to the underground to accept this award and be in the Hall of Fame to show that you are as big as the Beatles, you’re as good as Led Zeppelin, all these mainstream bands that the Ramones maybe never got credit on the same level as.” And that’s kind of how I feel about WWE right now. I’m a guy who, for all intents and purposes, never should have even made it to WWE. Then I had roadblock after roadblock thrown in my way. Not only did I get past those roadblock thrown in my way. Not only did I get past those roadblocks, I did it while flipping off the people who put up those roadblocks. I feel I have a responsibility to the younger wrestlers on the roster, the ones that aren't signed yet, and the future of wrestling as a whole, to help make this place better, and to change this place. I certainly can't change it by sitting on my couch in Chicago.

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] Event | Devil Maid’s Holiday | Episode 8

Yuki: Sakuya and Muku, Taichi and Azami, Citron, and Arisu. Looks like everyone’s here.

Yuki: Alright, here they are.

*Paper rustles*

Muku: That’s…

Citron: Ohh, it is the costume rough drafts! You have already thought of this many new costume designs!?

Taichi: That’s insane, way to go, Yuki-chan!

Homare: You truly overcame the scene of carnage.

Citron: Yes! They are all the loveliest~!

Yuki: Obviously. I’ve double-checked with the client about the direction of the costumes and they’ve given me the okay, so I’m going ahead with this.

Yuki: Actually, let me explain things again. I told you guys that the play request the troupe got wasn’t gonna happen, but then Sakuya and the Director negotiated with the person…

Yuki: So now, they’re gonna remake their decision about requesting us to perform after watching our play.

Yuki: So I redesigned the other costumes to match the first costume I made because those are the costumes we’re gonna wear for the play. 

Azami: Gotcha. So I’m gonna hafta come up with makeup to match these.

Yuki: Right, by the way, you’re gonna be wearing that one, Azami.

Azami: Wh…

Muku: If you look closely, you can see each of our names by the rough sketches.

Citron: What does that mean?

Yuki: Because those are the costumes you guys are gonna wear.

Taichi: We’re the ones wearing these…!?

Yuki: I did the same thing I did with the butler costume ideas. I decided on the casting first because it was faster for me to decide on whose costumes to make by doing that.

Yuki: Each of the costumes is tailored to your body types, ages, and acting styles.

Yuki: I put a lot of the things I personally like into them, but I also put a lot of thought into them to make sure that they’d fit the people who’d be performing in them.

Citron: Even our ages and acting styles… That is amazing.

Yuki: I AM the one who made them, after all.

Yuki: That’s why I want you guys to wear these and for us to all put on a play together.

Azami: …Gotta be honest with you, I never woulda thought we’d hafta wear something like that.

Azami: But if that’s what you want, then I’ll hafta suck it up. Let’s put on a play and show them what we’ve got.

Muku: Yeah! I’ll do my best, too. I hope they’ll end up loving both Yuki-kun’s costumes and our play.

Citron: I will, of course, do that too! We will surprise the commissioner. And then we will turn them into one of our regular fans!

Taichi: We’ll def make them wanna commission MANKAI Company!

Homare: Just leave it to us. Let’s wear Yuki-kun’s splendid costumes and put on a play that’ll convince the other party.

Yuki: Alright, if nobody’s got any objections, I’ll get started on making them. …Right, Sakuya?

Sakuya: Yeah!

Sakuya: We don’t have much time before the client sees it, so let’s all divide things up and start preparing!

Azami: Aight, I’ll take the rough drafts as they are and start thinkin’ up ideas for makeup. I’ll check in with you again once the costumes are done.

Yuki: Sounds good.

Homare: Well then, I shall ask Tsuzuru-kun about the script. How about we slightly change the theme from last time? Does “Devil ✕ Maid” sound good?

Yuki: That is the general concept of the costumes, so that should be good.

Citron: You will also need costume materials. Muku and I will go shopping!

Muku: Yeah! I’m willing to help with whatever I can!

Yuki: Okay, I’ll send you a list later. It’s gonna be a lot, so are you sure you can handle it?

Muku: We’ll do our best!

Citron: If we need to, I can call the Itaru Taxi!

Muku: Wait! You don’t have to… I don’t want to be a bother…!

Citron: Should I call the Masumi Taxi then? Or perhaps the Chikage Taxi.

Yuki: Are you sure you’ve got it?

Yuki: …Well, whatever. I’ll start working on the costumes. Dumb Dog, you’re up.

Taichi: You bet! You’re finally relying on me!

Yuki: Quit yapping. You’re gonna be stuck working for the next few days. Be prepared.

Taichi: Hiie! I-I’ll do my best…!

Sakuya: If we do this… Then I’m sure we can get our play across to them…!

Yuki: Well, don’t just stand there doing nothing then. You’ve gotta help out too.

Sakuya: I’m… gonna talk to the Director and Banri-kun about the stage direction.

Sakuya: I want to show the client the actual stage as closely as possible using the equipment we’ve got…

Yuki: …This better be a success. Especially since you’ve been going on about things so recklessly. 

Sakuya: Yeah. We’ll definitely be up there standing on stage!

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[quibbs126]

So I probably shouldn’t have been drawing these last night and this morning, considering I have schoolwork to do that’s due by tonight, and I won’t be back home until 6, but I have, so here we are

So I’m really not sure anyone remembers, considering the last time I drew them was around 2 years ago, but these guys are some of my old Evoland 2.5 (I guess) characters, specifically Juno and Jovi

They’ve been percolating around in my head for the past while, as well as these two new characters, and with my work sketches I decided to finally get around to redesigning them in full. Or at least, half up

I do feel like Juno and Jovi look the best, but that’s probably also because I’ve never drawn the other two before. I only had vague ideas for the other two. But I do like how the siblings turned out

Solus is definitely getting a redesign though

Anyways, how about I explain them to you? Since you don’t know who they are

So basically they’re supposed to be from a vague centuries later future of Evoland 2, but also not really considering time loop and all that. So the events of Evoland 2 sort of happened, but also no time travel or time loop

I’ve rewritten Juno and Jovi’s backstories multiple times, but it has now swung back around to making them Demon royalty. But I never like having Juno be the actual crown princess, so that’s what Solus is here for. Solus is the crown prince of the new Demon kingdom (it isn’t called Demonia anymore, though it is still the last name of the royal family), with his father as the king. Juno and Jovi are his cousins (Juno is the older one), with them also having royal blood as their mother was the younger sister of the current king, their uncle

The pair of them live with their uncle and cousin since their parents died when they were children. Juno is a young adult, around her 50s, Jovi a teenager in his 40s, while their cousin Solus is around his 80s or so

Oh and also by proxy of being the royal family, these guys are then Menos’ direct descendants via Reno

I have this vision of Solus wearing sunglasses, which you see here, but honestly I’m not sure if I should keep them. Maybe they’re a bit anachronistic

But the reason he wears sunglasses is that Solus is in fact blind, and he has been his entire life. He’s had to work around his blindness in some areas, like the fact that he can’t really read or write in the conventional sense, but he’s plenty capable. He also I think throws knives, which might not sound safe, but he can do it fine. He doesn’t really like people knowing he’s blind, so he doesn’t tell people, and he wears the sunglasses to avoid the problem of no direct eye contact

And then we have the last character, who I cannot for the life of me name. I just don’t really know what to call her. But she is a Troll, so for now I’m just going to call her Troll Lady

She is in fact the fiancé of Solus, and while there is political value in their marriage, they’re doing it because they want to, they are very much in love. She also runs a factory and is a good 9 feet tall or so (Solus is around 6)

To explain worldbuilding, first let’s start with the Demons. So in this world they did not die out after the Great War, managing to pull through just barely (they might have used the Magi Lab, I’m not sure). But for a time, all Demons lived in the Temple of Menos, which is also known as the Sacred Temple. Eventually their population grew large enough, as well as the Great Flood having already happened and the world settled, that the Demons came back down to the surface and started living in the remains of the old kingdom Demonia, though some chose to stay in the Temple instead. The Demons basically live in a giant tower below the Temple (considering they used to all live in the same building anyways), at the top of which they can access the Temple. Some have moved outwards into the rest of the world, or just more space in the old country, but most live in the Tower

To be honest I haven’t really decided what their culture is like, between the Past/Present Demons, the Temple of Menos Demons, and whatever might have occurred in those next centuries and how they would have evolved. But their outfits are supposed to be inspired by the Temple of Menos outfits, I know that

Moving on the the Trolls, basically my idea is that unlike the Wikings, Humans or Demons, they never really had any sort of cataclysmic event to decimate their population or set them back a lot (the Flood did have them seal up caves so they don’t die, but they were already living underground anyways), so they really flourished and evolved in the next centuries. Currently, they’re very skilled metal workers and inventors, being spearheads of what’s basically an Industrial Revolution in the world. They also don’t really kidnap people anymore, they’ve moved past those days

Though one random thing is that they still think Demons are really hot. My idea is that they’ve got particular beauty conventions, and so to them Demons are just gorgeous. It’s basically supposed to be how like in fantasy, elves (and/or vampires) are considered to be these ethereal beauties, and just naturally very attractive. That’s how the Trolls see Demons, they are their elves in that sense. I don’t know why I have that, but it is

Troll Lady wasn’t originally going to be a Troll, I think she was originally going to be from a separate group of Demons that splintered off from the main ones sometime after the Great War. But then I later thought that maybe she should be another race entirely, considering she’s supposed to be incredibly tall and everything (her two tenants were that she was 9-10 feet tall and that she wore a mask to cover her face), and I was going to make one up like Orks or something when I remembered “oh wait, the Trolls exist”. And not only that, but our encounter with them literally already had them kidnapping a Demon because they thought he was attractive, it’d be perfect to have be our new Demon prince’s fiancé. And so yeah, she’s a Troll

So now let’s talk design things, since I still want to say them. Mostly with Solus

I’m gonna be honest, at this rate I’ve forgotten that we don’t see any Demons with orange hair and that I gave Juno that hair color to be unique. But the artbook has some Demon concepts with orange hair, so I’ll take it. Same thing goes for Solus having his dark purple skin. The artbook told me these were possibilities, so I am going to run with them. We didn’t see enough Demons to know otherwise

But I also feel like Solus and Juno look too similar. Yeah, they’re cousins, but between the three of them, I feel like it’d be far more believable to assume Juno and Solus are the pair of siblings while Jovi is their cousin, when that isn’t the case (also Juno and Jovi are now bio related instead of Jovi being adopted)

Part of the issue, at least when it comes to the hair, is that Solus is supposed to have a sun motif, at least with his powers, his colors, his name and also the fact that he’s blind. So I wanted to give him orange hair, and I’m not sure any others would work (especially as I consider yellow hair to be specific to the “Super Saiyan” mode for Demons). But Juno already has orange hair, so they end up looking really similar

I suppose the best solution would be to just change Juno’s hair color, but her hair’s always been orange, it feels wrong to change that. But it gets rid of the problem, so I should. But what do I change it to then?

Also, I really don’t know their color schemes right now, at least outfit wise. I think Jovi’s looks fine, but I’m struggling with Juno’s and Solus’. I just kind of slapped stuff on

I guess what they need is more concept designs for me to flesh them out. But I don’t know how easy that’ll be

And then as for troll lady, her outfit colors are fine, but I didn’t really know what to do for her colors other than just the regular Troll colors from the cards. I mean, I guess it works, but I also feel like I should do more

I also feel like her anatomy needs work, but that’s fair enough. She’s supposed to have a different build from the Demons (and Humans) due to being a different species, but I haven’t quite fleshed out what that would entail. Or what she looks like under the mask

Maybe I should do some Troll practice later on

But I think that about covers everything, so I should stop now and go get ready for work. And I suppose in the meantime, take these

[cabbage-shack]

Ranpoe Wedding Idea

So I had this concept for Ranpoe’s wedding. 

I feel like they would go off on a normal case and one day they come back with matching rings. No one really notices except for Yosano. When the three of them are alone, she asks about the new jewelry and they tell her that they’re engaged. Poe would be generally happy/shy/giddy about it while Ranpo would be like “It was bound to happen, it’s no big deal” but also he’s really happy and proud. 

Yosano asks about what kind of wedding they were planning on. And they realize, they really never thought about the actual wedding bit. Without hesitation, Yosano brings out a big’ol book that has “Celebrations” on it. On the off chance anyone in the agency were to get married or have a life changing event in need of celebration, she and Kunikida set up a variety of potential plans for the occasion. From weddings to funerals, this book has it all.

Ranpo is A-ok with this as he doesn’t really want to go through the hassle of sitting down to plan a wedding. Poe is initially a bit overwhelmed by the concept, but is flattered by the thought being put into it. Still, he’s a bit hesitant saying that it could be alot and for Yauno to not worry about it too much. She insists it’s fine and the plans begin. 

Kunikida is in charge of the various bookings as well as the event schedule, Atsushi and Tanizaki are in charge of the guest list, Kenji and Kyouka are in charge of flower arrangements and decorations, Dasai and Yosano are in charge of food, and Ranpo and Poe can make any alterations as they see fit. 

Each agent had a little adventure with their tasks (Atsushi and Tanizaki getting into trouble trying to see if any of the guild members could come, Dasai not only thinking of poisoning the food but messing with Kunikida’s scheduling, as always, Kenji and Kyouka trying not to pick flowers that symbolize bad luck, lost love, death, or any bad omens in flower language, etc.), but ultimately had a lot of fun in the process.

Poe, a bit overwhelmed by it all, asked if he could be in charge of the outfits, specifically the ones he and Ranpoe would wear. Yosano had no objections and a little life seemed to return to Poe.

As everyone is running around trying to get this wedding together, coming up and asking Ranpo and Poe for inputs for themes, cakes, music, etc., It's becoming more and more noticeable to Ranpo that Poe is becoming uncomfortable, overwhelmed, and withdrawn. But Poe insists he’s alright and that he’s glad everyone’s having fun. 

Their wedding is to take place in the evening, a sunset wedding. The day of, Poe still seems off but is happy to give Ranpo his outfit. It’s so last minute because Poe kept making something, redoing it, redesigning something, adjusting something else, just wanting it to be perfect for his fiancé. He even made a little tie for Karl.

They get dressed in separate rooms, but they do meet one more time before they meet everyone who is waiting for them in another room.  When they see each other they are caught off guard by how beautiful the other looks. 

As Poe gazes at Ranpo, his nerves finally catch up to him. Ranpo asks if he’s ok and Poe finally relents and explains how all of this seemed a bit much and happened so quick and how he’s happy that everyone was supportive and kind and put in so much effort for their wedding, but he feels guilty for not wanting to go through with it, not that he doesn’t want to get married, it’s just..

At this point he has to prop himself up on the nearest desk to keep his legs from giving out.

Ranpo sighs, crosses his hands behind his head, and smiles. He walks past Poe saying “Did you know, all it takes to be married is to sign a few papers? Who even likes going to stuffy weddings.”

Poe looks at Ranpo. 

After a brief pause Ranpo continues, “I say we skip to the good part and find where they hid the cake.”

“But they did so much planning..”

“And they had fun planning. But it is our wedding…” Ranpo picks up Karl from nearby and puts him on Poe’s head with a soft smile. “And I say that makes us in charge!”

Poe slowly relaxes and begins to smile remembering how happy everyone was doing their tasks. 

With a deep breath, Poe agrees,“O-Ok.”

Yosano’s not even angry they didn’t show up to their own wedding, but it did tick off Kunikida. The rest of the agency was a bit concerned and went searching for the grooms. They later found the two eating the cake, slightly covered in it as they had smashed each other's face in the cake already.

--------------ALLL OF THIS TO SAY-----------------

I drew some Ranpoe based on this fic idea I have no energy to fully write.

[whentherewerebicycles]

with work stuff I am going to try my best to set good boundaries around when I’m available—like really striving to keep evenings/weekends as no-work zones except when we have events (and then adjusting my weekly schedule so I’m not working extra hours). but I also want to really try, in this first month or two, to say yes to as many invites to attend classes/talks/events and to see my primary job as building relationships with people and mapping the institutional landscape. I think in my previous program job I self-isolated a lot initially because I was worried about whether I was qualified to do the work and was scared that if I talked to too many people about what I was doing they’d be like uhh how did you get this job. then of course the pandemic derailed everything just as I was starting to settle in, and by the time we got back to campus there was an end date on our grant and I couldn’t really do the type of long-term networking I finally felt ready to do.

I don’t want to make that mistake again! what I learned in the later stages of that job was that if I had started talking to people earlier I could have oriented myself in the role a lot faster and made better use of other people’s insights/expertise in redesigning our program. things still turned out okay (and maybe had to unfold that way so I could learn this particular lesson!) but I’ve learned it now lol and I want to apply it in this new job. like I can already feel those first tendrils of panicky self-doubt… like what if I talk to a bunch of people and they’re all like “wow… how did they hire you when you don’t know anything about [insert random niche topic my brain has chosen to fixate on that day as the thing that will lead to my Unmasking].” but also like probably that won’t happen haha as I am a qualified professional and a capable person with a good track record of not making a fool of myself in my past jobs. AND ALSO I want to really push myself to model the behaviors I am always working to instill in my students, such as:

do the thing that scares you

do it little bit before you’re ready

talk to everyone! and be open with everyone you talk to about what you’re trying to learn or discover or figure out or build

assume that most people love to feel useful & especially love to be able to use their insight or connections or expertise to help you

don’t front! don’t front! don’t front! ask for help & advice easily, casually, and often. never pretend you’ve read the thing you haven’t read or know how to do the thing you haven’t learned or are confidently able to navigate the thing that feels murky and confusing to you. as one of my kids wrote in his end of year reflection letter: the more you ask for help the less you end up needing it, because you have so many people you can casually talk to or enlist assistance from that you’re typically able to solve your problems or challenges typically get solved before they become big scary paralyzing roadblocks. so don’t front! don’t perform! be honest and open about your own learning or the things you’re grappling with in ways that make the people around you feel like it’s okay for them to drop the act too and let others see when they too are in the process of learning something new

we are social creatures we are networked creatures we can’t do everything on our own we flourish when we build relationships with people who have skillsets and ways of looking at the world that are different from our own it’s okay/good/healthy to not be able to do everything and be everything on your own. build a really good community both of people who are skilled at the things that don’t come naturally to you (they can help you/teach you/introduce you to different ways of working) AND of people who are skilled at the things that you are good at (they will spark new ideas while pushing you to keep growing and learning).

anyway I am saying all of this aloud to myself because today I have gotten a bunch of very nice emails from faculty inviting me to attend a bunch of talks & end-of-semester student events and my first reaction was YIPPEE I CAN’T WAIT and my second reaction was what if I embarrass myself by not knowing enough and they’re all like wowwwww yikes and I am now gently steering myself towards my third reaction which is: gosh how incredibly lucky am I to have landed myself in a job where I’m going to have SO much room to grow as a person and a professional. I don’t know everything but I can reframe that fear for myself: if I knew everything there would be nothing left to learn! and I was born to learn!!!!! learning is where I thrive!!!!!!!! so even as I want to be thoughtful about what I take on (to preserve a non-work life for myself lol) I am also saying yes to every single invitation that involves talking to new people and learning more about what they do and building relationships that will help me thrive in this role. PHEW OK and now it’s time for bed

[kettlovahr]

Kett’s 2022 Art Retrospective

I have definitely drawn things this year. I wanna show it to you!! Let’s take a look back together!

This is a long post! Separated month by month. If you wanna join me, just keep reading!

January

This January I have decided Kett should wear something, at least one time, just so they could feel it and gauge if they liked it or not.

They did not quite like it.

February

During the middle of January, I caught covid and felt miserable. So I wasn’t really feeling it in regards to drawing. I still did some experimentation, however and doodled up a little comic sort of thing

Abstrakett was initially developed as a form of representing myself even if I fell into a particularly bad slump. I was in a particularly bad slump in February, and I believe this was a form of rejecting it.

It didn’t quite work, because I hadn’t drawn much else for this month. And I didn’t draw the next month, either.

April

For April I decided to become bunny

I also took TWO commissions during this month, and worked on some personal projects, such as an alphabet for a language in my setting

Looks like I was back in full swing. Let’s not lose the momentum.

June

Looks like I lost the momentum. I may have not drawn in May.

For June, however, I put this out:

This is a drawing I’m still happy with. A little bit of playing around with perspective! I like this drawing so much in fact that I have made it the background for my website after I finally committed to redesigning it!

July

July is an important month for amateurish internet artists like myself, it’s the month during which Art Fight takes place. And this year I beat my record for submissions during the event, at an astounding... five.

And I believe this is my absolute fave submission for this year’s Art Fight, featuring @wytchwoods​‘ character, Maggie. It is certainly the most experimental, at least, and I’m happy with the result.

Of course, this was also the month I smooched @floralope​.

I also took a commission this month. So THAT was definitely one of my most productive months this year.

August

My month. I didn’t really do much, but I started drawing Kett with shinier eyes. I simply started to like the look.

September

Wasn’t a very good month for full colored drawings, but I did sketch a bunch, with a particular focus on Teal.

I love my little four-eared creature. I want to make a game that stars them. Hopefully I’ll be able to.

For now, they’re just a cute design.

October

🎃🎃🎃 SPOOKY MONTH 🎃🎃🎃

I am usually not passionate about Halloween at all, but I felt like I had to try something new this year. So I designed Ghost Kett!

I am REALLY happy with how they turned out, so much so I did PLENTY of doodles of them over October.

They do not care much about your privacy, but they’ll ask before possessing you.

November

Was a HUGE month for me

It’s when the Total Fluff Eclipse struck.

I also.

Cried like a little bitch soft boy.

It’s good for you!

December

Oh hey, it’s December right now. The year is almost over. I don’t know if I’ll still draw anything this year, but I know what I have already done.

And honestly? Pretty satisfied with it. I haven’t done such painterly work in a few years but this blows any such work I have done out of the water. Probably the best thing I put out this year.

Hopefully much more to come in 2023.

And that’s a wrap!

I’d like to believe my output has taken a hit ever since I started working. Taking a good look at it, however, it’s easy to see that’s not the case. I have drawn a lot and put out work I am satisfied with. I have been a little harder on myself than I should.

My mood has definitely skyrocketed over the end of the year for whatever reason, and it shows through with my latest piece. I tried to go past the comfort zone I dug myself into and got something I’m proud of off of it.

If you’re still reading through, thanks a bunch for sticking around! I hope you’ll continue checking in on whatever I put out over the coming year, and I hope I’ll continue drawing and sharing it for the foreseeable future.

It was definitely fun taking a brief look over some of what I’ve done, maybe you should do the same? ;)

[taiblogcomics]

The Sequel No One Asked For!

Hey there, fourth-dimensional thinking. So we finally finished Avengers Arena! That's good! But there was a sequel. That's bad! However, it was only ten issues! That's good! It's so bad that it was cancelled at only 10 instead of a full 12, and teetered on cancellation as early as issue 6. That's bad. It's not about child murder anymore! That's good! It is instead about the question of whether any of the survivors will instead slip into villainy over the incident. That's bad. But there will be catharsis for the previous series. That's good! But it'll still take all ten issues to get there. That's bad. ...Can we just get to the review now?

Here's the cover:

The covers will at least be a bit better than Arena's. They're actually relevant to the issue instead of being unnecessary movie homages. And, like, these covers are pretty cool. Very moody and lit dramatically. It's a pretty good cover that'll certainly draw the eye. Plus you put an actually notable villain like Baron Zemo front-and-center, that automatically pulls in a lot of points for the story's potential. Can it live up to this cover? Well, I guess we'll find out...

I will, however, take a moment and say that everyone's costume redesigns suck here, though. Like, I'm sure it's amazing and life-changing for Hazmat that she doesn't need to be confined to a suit anymore, but it was also a pretty striking and iconic look. And sorry, Cullen, but even if yours glows, you will never be as an iconic skull-wearing asshole as the Punisher. Even I can admit that. Anachronism's just spent all night on a Braveheart cosplay. And I've heard some costume changes within the story are even worse~

So we open with a news report to catch you up on the events of the previous series. In short, X-Men Z-lister Arcade was tired of being a joke, so he instead kidnaps 16 teenage heroes and does a Hunger Games. After thirty days on Child Murder Island and several child murders, the kids get rescued, the incident comes to light, and Arcade gets away with everything. Worse, according to this news report, he's a "household name", and the incident has over 2.5 billion views, which is bullshit. First of all, no way are that many people interested in what is essentially a Survivor snuff film. Secondly, that's gotta be breaking some TOS, c'mon.

So this whole news report is playing over what appears to be a public food court. As we cut away from it, a couple teens watching express disgust that the TV is interviewing Chase Stein yet again. One of the teens loves him, the other thinks he's the worst. They join a third friend, who instead has a third opinion: It's actually Hazmat who's the worst. As he rattles off his Top Ten Reasons Why Hazmat Sucks, it turns out--uh oh!--the actual Hazmat has been sitting two tables away, listening to this whole thing. And to express her annoyance, she nukes their table and storms away. Might've frightened them, but I think it's the restaurant who's going to be more annoyed by that...

And hey, speaking of Chase, remember when I said there were even worse design changes inside the story? Yeah, Chase's terrible mohawk, studs in both ears, and mirrored shades look awful. Like, Chase has always been more like... if he didn't make it as a surfer or rock star and went out for football instead, but kept the long hair. You feel me? Like straddling the line between "rock" and "jock". Now he's fallen off that line and landed squarely in "douchey biker stereotype". The leather jacket doesn't help, but it is at least the least awful part of his look~

Anyways, Chase is on a talk show, playing up how he's the most vocal of the kids to talk about the incident. And while his look is awful, his personality is at least fairly accurate. Chase does seem like the one who'd milk his chance at 15 minutes of fame. He even admits it on the air. Which is when a sudden power surge pops the lights and overloads the camera. It's Nico Minoru, and she's come to collect her pal. She's pissed that Chase broke the promise they made not to tell, but as he retorts, Arcade posted it all online and took credit. So what's even the point of keeping the secret anymore?

And while the pair of them finish up their argument and teleport away, we cut over to a SHIELD lab that's running diagnostics on Deathlocket. One is very clinical and excuses herself to run some tests. But being treated cold and technical is what Locket is used to. What she's not used to is the other guy, who starts gushing how she was his "favourite character" on the show. But it wasn't a show, it was her life. And she's the hero, right? She killed the bad guy. But she didn't do that, she just shot her best friend. And so she decides to leave. She's the one with the big cannon after all, who’s gonna stop her?

So we cut over to Anchorage, Alaska, the only time this has ever happened in fiction. It's a meeting in a town hall, and from the tone, it's clearly an Alcoholics Anonymous type meeting. Up on stage is Cammi's mother, and she's talking about how she stayed sober lately. And what it boils down to is that while other people would try to drown their worries, she could see Cammi out surviving on Child Murder Island. And seeing what a survivor her daughter is gave her the strength to do the same. Cammi, who is attending as emotional support, blushes and slinks lower in her chair.

As the meeting lets out, Cammi lets her mom know that she has somewhere to be that night. And no, she means somewhere else, shedding her parka to reveal an updated spacesuit underneath. It's not too bad. Her old one was like a big orange NASA-approved astronaut suit. This one's more of a form-fitting space-ranger type deal, with glowy accents and a belt with an insignia and everything. Her mom, in tears suddenly, says Cammi has to let that stuff go and live her life. Cammi replies that she's working on it, jetting off with her rocket boots.

So now we cut over to Cullen Bloodstone--or more specifically, a video by him. Of course, Cullen is a vertical video dingus. So his whole video is him with a huge plasma cannon and Arcade's address. And he blows up the house! But he doesn't find Arcade's charred remains in the wreckage, so he gets pissed and kicks the camera over. Ah yes, a very legal video, I'm sure. Though I guess if Arcade's whole 30-day Child Murder Island series didn't get flagged, I don't think there's any limits in the Marvel universe's Youtube.

Cammi lands at Bloodstone Manor, and Anachronism greets her at the door. The rest of the group teleports in with Nico, and that's our cast. Just the seven of 'em. Darkhawk, Reptil, and X-23 won't be returning for the sequel. They're the real heroes here. Anyway, Cullen isn't actually here, despite this being his house. But we've seen him out doxxing Arcade and putting it on video. He's fine. In fact, that's why they're here: Anachronism called them because Cullen dropped out of school, and when he went looking at home for him, he found... Well...

He opens the door to (presumably) Cullen's bedroom, and it's exactly what you'd expect from a stable individual who shoots videos in portrait mode. The place is covered in newspaper articles and other printouts, some of Arcade, others of his known associates. Worse, if that's not crazy enough, there's just big letters of "KILL ARCADE" written overtop in spraypaint. Even a little doll dressed up like Arcade, hanging from a little noose. Well, at least he's creative. Anachronism's take is that Cullen's lost it a bit, and I can't say I disagree~

If all this isn't compelling enough evidence, Anachronism shows them another video--and this one's actually shot in landscape mode, so maybe Cullen's not as far-gone as they think! But the gist of it is that he's in the nation of Bagalia, known hangout of Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil. Since they've palled around with Arcade from time-to-time, Cullen figures this is the only place left that they can be. So he takes off his ring and goes full monster, preparing to wreck up the place until they cough up Arcade (or at least his hidey-hole).

So that was three weeks ago. Understandably, Anachronism is a bit worried since he hasn't heard from him since. And as a cutaway shows us, he has a good reason to be. Baron Zemo and his cohorts (Hellstrom, Constrictor, and Madame Masque) have taken control of Monster!Cullen and are wrecking up some SHIELD base somewhere with his power. So even if they don't quite know what they're saving him from yet, the issue ends with our remaining six heroes resolving to go get their pal and bring him home. And that, at least, I can root for~

Well, I’ll certainly admit, this is at least a much more interesting set-up than the previous series. It doesn’t start with a smug douchebag killing off a popular teen character, so it’s a strong improvement. And hey, as dumb as revenge is, it is at least also a relatable motive as well. So I can hardly hold that against Cullen, even if he’s gone a little cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Given the worst sin of this issue is Chase’s ungodly awful redesign, it’s easily better than any issue in Avengers Arena. Dunno if it can keep that momentum going, but I live in hope~

[ixiraider]

For the last few years, since JumpStart’s ownership, Neo has been so fucking difficult. The year-long lag episodes, the permanent closing of major site components that players loved (like Habitarium, Keyquest, Petpet Park, etc), the laying off of every damn artist on the site (and it has ALWAYS shown), the constant broken ass events or events just not happening at all, multiple instances of art theft, lying without remorse to players (people glossed over the “we can’t make UCs… actually we can but only for staff… OKAY we can for everyone but only if you pay microtransactions” thing sooo quick), etc etc. It’s been a nightmare & I have been stupid enough at points to try to defend it and stay optimistic. I stayed optimistic when I literally couldn‘t play for months because that one purple cloud event broke every webpage for me and caused it to lag so much it would crash my browser. I downloaded all the dumb shovelware apps and really gave them an earnest shot. Maybe Neopets Scrabble™️ will be fun! Lmao.

I’ve been a player since 2003. I still have my account from 2003. I still have pets that are nearly 20 years old. Some of my most beloved OCs, including ones who have been featured in work I’ve published locally and plan to put into upcoming novels and such, originated from Neopets. My parents faxed in the parental consent forms for me for my birthday when I was 11. I always bought shitloads of merch. When the Darkest Faerie came out I begged my parents to buy me a whole PlayStation 2 for Christmas JUST for that. I ate the Neopets CEREAL religiously until it was discontinued. I had Neopets merch I don’t even see people talk about, like Neopets school supplies lol. I have Neopets Zazzle shirts from middle school that I still wear as pajamas. I have spent an embarrassing amount on NC and I will even admit to resorting to black market illegal Neopet purchases in the past, not the scummy account hacking kind but the “hey, you have more NP than me and I want this item, I’ll give you some cash for it” kind LMAO. Hell, as annoyed as I am at TNT for flat out lying about UCs, I even said myself that I think that making UCs a microtransaction is a good idea and to be honest were it not for the NFT garbage I’d have most likely bought some. I also went on about how cute the Neopets Pride merch was! Even if just a rainbow capitalism cash grab, I thought it was really nice. I have IRL friends who bought some. I have always been “a consumer” when it comes to this site. I love it.

When Neopets first unrolled the HTML5 site redesign I even defended THAT. I thought it looked a little Fisher Price-y but I don’t think it’s awful. I like that it feels more immersive, I like that it’s pet-centric, I think it’s generally user friendly and cute. It’s not perfect, but it’s a respectable beta that makes the site feels dynamic in a way I can get behind. But my fucking God, as a whole this site has gone to shit and I don’t feel like it’s salvageable unless it was basically restarted from scratch. A hard reset with whole new upper management. There’s just no fixing this.

I keep saying it and keep saying it but I am just fucking shocked that a site entirely based on VIRTUAL PETS still cannot LOAD. THE. PETS. The pets themselves, except for on the main page and in their static “miniature” version on the side of the unconverted page layout, have not been converted from Flash. My own pet’s lookup looks like this:

But every week they’re able to release new microtransactions and lootboxes? Give me a break. This shit is insane.

We still can’t play the hundreds of games the site boasted (also the easiest way to achieve quick currency) beside like 5 poorly converted games that hardly work. We still can’t see any of the world maps (not even a placeholder unclickable image? Like 75% of the site maps weren‘t even flash to begin with?). The pages that have been converted do not work well and often freeze and glitch, which would be understandable as the site is supposedly still in beta form but I honestly do not have faith that these smaller kinks will be worked out and fear that these issues will just go unresolved. Hacking and security breaches are still a massive, constant issue.

And I’m still hung up on the fact that this is a virtual fantasy animal site with no competent artists. We joked about the Advent Calendar’s terrible quality last year but honestly, how was that acceptable.

Small things have (IMO) signified to me for a long time that the site was dwindling. Implication from staff behind the scenes that they are barely holding things together. The downgrade to only one new pet color per pet day. The lack of new plots or events. The death of flash felt like a nail in a coffin that has led to a much more rapid and pathetic death than before. I have gone from encouraging people to try Neopets, telling them that it’s not dead and it’s still around and fun, to straight up not recommending the site. I don’t even log in anymore. I tried to find things to do while waiting for the HTML5 conversion to be “finished,” or at least made less broken, but I could not respark that excitement, especially when half the pages I was going to were inaccessible without having to Google something convoluted and go through Jellyneo or something and the pages themselves would be half-converted and covered in tombstones. It’d be ironic if it wasn’t so sad.

I’ve been saying this for awhile but it’s very clear that Neopets does not care about its userbase. I used to think maybe they were just out of touch, but I have to believe at this point that JumpStart/NetDragon truly does not give a damn. TNT maybe — I do think this is largely an upper management issue. But it’s just not tolerable anymore. They will listen to some amount of pressure & frankly know how to placate people with short term friendly gestures, like lifting the LGBT ban or removing dated offensive terminology from certain pages. These are appreciated, but what do they mean on a larger level when the site is still lying to users, stealing from people, and refusing to listen to any substantial criticism that would require more effort to fix? What does it mean when JumpStart chooses to prioritize selling THOUSANDS of NFTs over converting THE PETS THEMSELVES on the actual damn site?

The NFTs are just too much for me at this point. I can’t continue to engage with this shit until/unless major changes are made. I still love Neopets for the nostalgia it gave me for like two fucking decades of my life. But I don’t really have any passion for the site anymore. I’ve moved over somewhat to PonyIsland, which is pay to play but so much better run, with a small but active player base and mod team, frequent events, just as much (if not more) customization but minus the microtransaction/lootbox nature and artificial scarcity, etc. And, y’know, I can actually see my pets. That’s a plus. Just goes to show that I will literally throw real money at websites if they can actually deliver a product that is worth it to me. Neopets has not done that for YEARS.

I really do encourage people to boycott the site. Cancel your Premium memberships. Stop buying Neocash. Get an Adblock app if you don’t use one already or (better yet) just log out for awhile. We all make fun of people who think that Neopets can die, y’all know perfectly well they’ll be fine while you’re inactive. Send in your complaints. I know that Neopets has always been Gambling For Babies but y’all can stop doing dailies for awhile in the name of Not Destroying The Environment with half assed pixels of cartoon animals bought with Monopoly money, right? Right?

[nim-lock]

Art Career Tips, 2021 Edition

Here’s an edited version of my 2019 answered ask, because... this feels relevant. 

It is a problem of capitalism that folks equate their income as a judgement of their value as people; and let me preface. You are worth so much. You have inherent value in this world. Your income is not a judgement on who you are (plenty of billionaires are actively making the world worse). LARPing self-confidence will go a long way to helping you get paid more for your work, because clients will believe that you know what you are doing, and are a professional. 

& real quick—my own background is that I’ve been living off my art since 2018. I went to art school (Pratt Institute). I work in a publishing/educational materials sphere, and a quarter of my income is my shop. Not all of this information may apply to you, so it is up to you to look through everything with a critical eye, and spot pick what is relevant. 

So there are multiple ways of getting income as an artist; 

Working freelance or full-time on projects

Selling your stuff on a shop

Licensing (charging other companies to use your designs)

This post primarily covers the freelance part; if you’re interested in the other bits there is absolutely info out there on the internet. 

IF you are just starting (skip to next section if not applicable) dream big, draw often (practice helps you get better/more efficient), do your best to take "a bad piece” lightly. You’re gonna RNG this shit. At some point your rate of “good” works will get higher. Watch tutorial videos & read books. A base understanding of “the rules”; anatomy, perspective, composition, color helps you know what the rules are to break them. This adds sophistication to your work. One way you can learn this stuff is by doing “studies”—you’re picking apart things from life, or things other people have done, to see what works, and how it works. 

Trying to turn your interests into a viable career means that you are now a SMALL BUSINESS; it really helps to learn some basic marketing, graphic design, figure out how to write polite customer service emails; etc. You can learn some of this by looking it up, or taking skillshare (not sponsored) classes by qualified folks. Eventually some people may get agents to take care of this for them—however, I do recommend y’all get a basic understanding of what it takes to do it on your own, just so you can know if your agent is doing a good job. 

Making sure your portfolio fits the work you want to get

Here is a beginner portfolio post. 

Research the field you’d like to get into. The amount people work, the time commitment, the process of making the thing, the companies & people who work for them. 

Create work that could fit in to the industry you’re breaking into. For example, if you want to do book cover illustration, you draw a bunch of mockup book covers, that can either be stuff you make up, or redesigns of existing books. If you’re not 100% sure what sort of work is needed for the industry, loop back into the portfolios of artists in a similar line of work as whatever you’re interested in, and analyze the things they have in common. If something looks to be a common project (like a sequence of action images for storyboard artists), then it’s probably something useful for the job. 

CLIENTS HIRE BASED ON HOW WELL THEY THINK YOUR WORK FITS WHAT THEY WANT. If they’re hiring for picture books, they’re gonna want to see picture book art in your portfolio, otherwise they may not want to risk hiring you. Doesn’t have to be 100% the project, but stuff similar enough. If you aren’t hired, it doesn’t mean your work is bad, it just wasn’t the right fit for that specific client. 

If you have many interests, make a different section of your portfolio for each!

Making sure you’re relevant 

Have a social media that’s a little more public-facing, and follow people in the career field you’re interested in. Fellow artists, art directors, editors, social media managers; whoever. Post on your own schedule. 

Interact with their posts every so often, in a non-creepy way. 

If you’ve made any contacts, great! Email these artists, art directors, editors, former professors, etc occasional updates on your work to stay in touch AND make sure that they think about you every so often.

Show up to general art events every once in a while! If you keep showing up to ones in your area (when... not dying from a sneeze is a thing), folks will eventually start to remember you. 

Industry events & conferences can be pricey, so attend/save up for what makes sense for you. Industry meetups are important for networking in person! In addition to meeting people with hiring power, you also connect with your peers in the community. Always bring a portfolio & hand out business cards like candy. 

Active job hunting

Apply to job postings online.

If interested in working with specific people at specific companies, you could send an email “I’d love to work with you, here’s my portfolio/relevant experience”, even if they aren’t actively looking for new hires. Be concise, and include a link to your work AND attached images so the person reading the email can get a quick preview before clicking for more. 

Twitter job postings can be pretty underpaid! Get a copy of the Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines to know your rate. I once had a twitter post job listing email me back saying that other illustrators were charging less, and I quote, “primarily because they’re less experienced and looking for their first commission”. This was not okay! For reference, this was a 64-illustration book. The industry rate of a children’s book (~36 pages) is $10k+, and this company’s budget was apparently $1k. For all of it. 

Congrats you got a job! Now what?

Ask for like, 10% more than they initially offer and see if they say yes. If they do, great! If not, and the price is still OK, great! Often company budgets are slightly higher than they first tell you, and if you get this extra secret money, all the better for you. 

Make sure you sign a contract and the terms aren’t terrible (re: GO GET THE  Graphic Artists’ Guild Handbook Pricing & Ethical Guidelines) 

Be pleasant and easy to work with (Think ‘do no harm but take no shit’)

Communicate with them as much as needed! If something’s going to be late, tell them as soon as you know so they aren’t left wondering or worse, reaching out to ask what’s up. 

And if all goes well, they’ll contact you about more jobs down the line, or refer you to other folks who may need an artist, etc. 

Quick note about online shops/licensing and why they’re so good

It’s work that you do once, that you continuously make money off of. Different products do well in different situations (conventions vs. online, and then further, based on how you market/the specific groups you are marketing to), so products that may not do well initially may get a surge later on. 

Start with things that have low minimum order quantity and are relatively cheap to produce, like prints and stickers. 

If you are not breaking even, go back to some of the earlier portions of this and think about how you could tweak things as a small business. Ease of access is also very important with this; for example, if you only take orders through direct messages, that immediately shuts off all customers who don’t like talking to strangers. 

Quick resource that you could look through; it’s the spreadsheet of project organizing that I made a while back 

Licensing is when people pay you for the right to use your work on stuff they need to make, like textbooks or greeting cards. This is generally work you’ve already made that they are paying the right to use for a specified time or limited run of products. This is great because you’ve already done the work. I am not the expert on this. Go find someone else’s info.

“I am not physically capable of working much”/ “I need to pay the bills”

Guess who got a hand injury Sept 2020 that messed me up that entire month! I had a couple jobs going at the time that I was terrified of losing, but they were quite understanding when I told them I needed to heal. So:  Express your needs as early as you know you need them. Also do lots of stretches and rest your hands whenever you feel anything off; this will save your health later. Like, the potential of a couple months of no income was preferable over losing use of my hands for the rest of my life.

This continues to apply if you have any other life situation. Ask for extra time. Ask for clarification. If you tell people ahead of time, folks are often quite understanding. Know how much you are capable of working and do your best not to overdo it. (I am.. bad at this)

Do what MAKES SENSE for your situation. If doing art currently earns you less money than organizing spreadsheets, then do that for now, and whenever you have the energy, break down some of the tips above into actionable tiny chunks, and slowly work at em. 

The original ask I got in 2019 mentioned ‘knowing you’re not good enough yet’. Most artists experience imposter syndrome & self-doubt—the important thing is to do your best, and if anything, attempt to channel the confidence of a mediocre white man. If he can apply to this job/charge hella money for Not Much, then so can you! 

Check out this Art Director tumblr for more advice!

Danichuatico’s Literary Agent guide

Kikidoodle’s Shop Shipping Tutorial

Best of luck!

–

Once again disclaimer this post is just the ramblings of a man procrastinating on other things that need to be done. I’ve Long Posted my own post so that it turns into mush in my brain if I try to read it, but I wrote this so I should know this content. If you got down here, congrats. Here’s a shrimp drawing.

Yee Ha. 

My reference post tag My tip jar

[crystal-moon-101]

Managed to do another redesign with rewrite notes, this time my second favourite character in Ben 10, Azmuth The First Thinker. And just like Ben, he's canon self is such a mess that I wish to fix in my own way. The other Galvans in this picture are his family, with his father from the movie "Destroy All Aliens", his nephews mentioned by DJW, and their mother who is Azmuth's twin sister. So let me get into the notes and rewrite ideas of mine!

-Retaliator-

Yes, I am aware that this is most likely not his name, but I could not be bothered to make up my own at this point, and I also find it funny to have a Galvan dad called this, so I'm sticking with it. So Retaliator is the father of both Azmuth and Divi, a very humble and calm old galvan, who has seen a lot through his years, now retired and mostly just trying to keep the family together through small things.

Retaliator has the rare gene of having aqua/turquoise eyes, a recessive trait in galvans, similar to human with the red hair gene.

Retaliator looks younger than he should be, and that's because he is, in a way. You see, right before Azmuth vanished to start working on the watch, Retaliator fell ill to an disease with no known cure, and this caused the family to...kind of break down. A lot had happen up to this point (Things that will be noted throughout this), and none of them wanted things to end like this. So Azmuth did something he know he shouldn't have, as such a thing takes so much time and resource, and generally frowned upon, and ended up creating a new young clone body for his father's brains to be transferred too. By the time Retaliator woke up from surgery, his son was already gone, off in hiding. It this was event that really made Retaliator realize he may not have been the best father for a long time...

While he is retired now, Retaliator use to do work based around energy stuff.

Since he's family's back together, he likes to host game or movie nights, or even little dinners and get togethers.

He adores his grandsons, and loves to share stories from his past to them, and he's one of the few people they calm down around.

He will admit that he did...go a bit wild when he thought Azmuth died, fighting Ben in the Galvanic Mechamorph suit, but him and Ben have since made up, and the old galvan likes talking to the young lad often.

He has most defiantly embarrassed both of his kids by showing off baby photos of them.

He met his wife through work, like most galvans, with her being a much higher up worker. Surprisingly, despite their statuses, it was his wife who asked him out first, having found him very charming.

Retaliator can never thank Ben enough for convincing his son to come home, and despite their bickering, he enjoys seeing Azmuth's bond with Ben, as the two have a way of balancing each other out.

While he may be in a younger body, his mind is certainly still that of an old galvan, and can often act like his body is older than it really is due to the mental age of his brain.

-Azmuth-

Ahhhh, dear old Azmuth, how I love your character concept, and yet get so frustrated with your actual canon self...There is a lot I have changed in terms of his placement and behavior on the show, and while I can't note all of them down there, the major theme behind them is that he is not a complete jerk in them. Don't get me wrong, Azmuth would still have flaws and issues with his off-standing nature, but he would act in a way that feels more natural, showing his growth and change while mentoring Ben. He genuinely wants to help and is a good person, it's just...he still has a lot to work through. In terms of his slight redesign, I'll like to mention that if you look closely, his outfit is a mixture of his first original outside, crossed with his UAF outfit.

I did mention that I couldn't note all changes of him in series plots, since most boil down to be him being nicer and more realistic, but I will note one change because it's big enough to mention. For the Diagon/Forever Knight Arc, Azmuth did not create Ascalon, because I while I get he's smart and created things like the Omnitrix, I don't think he should be such a big source of dangerous artifacts in the series so often, especially ones that cause trouble. So instead, Ascalon was a weapon crafted in Ledgerdomain, to help fight Diagon who orientated there, and at the time had been trying to conquer earth, and Zenith leaving Azmuth happened because of miscommunication and issues between them instead.

That being said, Azmuth does get involved in the Ultimate Alien Diagon arc when Ben himself calls Azmuth over, needing his help knowing he can better understand Ascalon, and eventually entrusted Azmuth and the Galvans to keep it and the trapped Diagon safe.

Azmuth and his sister had a very rebellious phase as teenagers/young adults, this being the age that Azmuth said he was a lot like Ben, though admittedly, Azmuth was slightly more of an ass than Ben ever was. They were going through a tough time, and Azmuth reacted negatively too it all. Funnily enough, the one thing that seems to make him doo a 180 degrees in personality was his massive swooning crush over Zenith.

He won't ever admit out loud, but he does find Ben's trait of nicknaming his aliens kind of funny...

He shares a mentoring role towards Ben with Grandpa Max and Tetrax, with Max handling the more emotional and human side of Ben's problems, Tetrax handling the physical training and teachings, and Azmuth handling the more logical steps and hard truth Ben needs to hear. He's one of the few people to give Ben the smack of reality he needs from time to time.

That being said, Ben is also one of the few people able to handle Azmuth right back, and give him needed talkings to when the man is losing himself to a bad habit.

Mostly due to the fact that Tennysons seem to have a habit of making people very close to them like family, E.g with Ben seeing Kevin and Rook like brother figures at times, there seems to be subtle hints between Azmuth and Ben that there might be parent and child like moments between them, though both would deny it if brought up.

It doesn't help that Azmuth ends up taking it upon himself on making sure Ben is healthy and happy, based on scans from the Omnitrix he reads daily. Of course, he'll just say he doesn't want the boy he entrusted his watch with to die in a stupid way, but people close to either of them know that Azmuth really does care deep down.

He has said both "I'm too old for this" and "I'm too young for this" many times.

Azmuth has admitted that he's nervous around the Omnitrix, and doesn't like putting it on. He's not good at handling the idea of becoming something he's not...

The Malware arc for Azmuth was...a lot more complicated than canon. Azmuth really did try to fix Malware, but for some reason he couldn't, and it scared him that one, this might be the first problem he can't find a solution too, and second, he just came back from hiding and had been wanting to make changes in his life, so to fail and hurt someone already? He didn't know what to think. It didn't help when Malware started refusing his help and ended up endangering the lives of others, including galvans and Azmuth's own family. And despite it all, Azmuth kept trying over and over again to let him help Malware, but the villain always refused, until Azmuth eventually had to accept that he couldn't do anything. When Malware was finally killed, Azmuth went quiet for a good while, and needed time to recover from his mistake.

Due to some past issues, Azmuth mostly refers to his father by his real name, and only calls him dad or father during emotional or quiet moments.

Whenever they're hanging out, Ben likes to bring him and Azmuth cricket smoothies to drink together.

Despite how they seem to bicker often, Myaxx and him play off each other rather well, able to dry wit each other every day.

Azmuth and Albedo's relationship is also very complicated. Before Azmuth returned, Albedo was an outstanding Galvan and protégé, being praised every single day. This, unfortunately, made Albedo develop a prideful nature and his close minded views on the galaxy, as he rarely was ever put down or critiqued. His ego also got a bit of a boost when the great Azmuth took notice of him, and made him his assistant, and while he loved it at first, some issues started to arise when Azmuth wasn't like the other Galvans who praised Albedo to no end. That isn't to say Azmuth never complimented him and liked his work, but he was an honest man who knew no one was perfect, and especially wasn't going to worship someone, knowing what kind of ego that could make in someone. It doesn't help that Albedo just can't understand what Azmuth sees in Ben, and how the two bond, despite Ben's young careless nature, and being human. It ends up making Albedo want a lot more from Azmuth, the man he looks up too, and when he's denied that he eventually turns his back on the First Thinker. Azmuth can only hope that being able to turn into other aliens, and being stuck as human, will teach Albedo that Galvans, including himself, aren't what make the galaxy function.

Azmuth is typically one of the must unfazed people you'll ever meet.

Given most Galvans have an issue of seeing themselves as the top race, Azmuth is kind of fond of Blukic and Driba for being very open and helpful to outsiders, and was even the one to suggest them to join the Plumbers.

Zenith and Azmuth too meet up again eventually, and while they don't get back together, they do make amends.

Azmuth was fairly small for a Galvan for a long time, until he finally hit his growth spurt late into his teen years, something his sister use to tease him over.

Greymatter's DNA mostly comes from Azmuth, meaning Ben actually looks like a Azmuth when he was young, his family having made comments about Ben being his "Clone".

-Divi-

Here we have the twin sister of Azmuth, Divi. A dry wit, no nonsense, sarcastic and feisty single mother of her three chaotic sons. Unlike Azmuth's father and nephews, she was something I had to completely make up from the spot, since Azmuth was said to have nephews, that meant he had to have a sibling, so it was fun to create someone with an interesting dynamic with Azmuth. She is, after all, one of the few people to exhibit some of those petty family squabbles out of him. So I hope you enjoy her and her sons.

As mentioned before, Azmuth and her went through rebellious phases after some downfall in their family life, with Divi jumping around jobs and never settling for one, and even dating another Galvan that neither Azmuth or Retaliator approved off. When Azmuth first left Galvan Prime to go into hiding, Divi and her boyfriend had still been dating. However, when he finally came home, he found the boyfriend to be gone, and Divi now a single mother to three sons. Azmuth never got a clear story what happened to the boyfriend, but he knows that the break up was nasty, and that the boyfriend isn't on Galvan Prime anymore.

Sometime after Divi had her children, she eventually settled for a job in the nursery/incubation centre on Galvan Prime, looking after eggs and newly hatched tadpoles before they go home with their parents.

Divi is quite a blunt and honest woman, who has no time for dragging things on, and while she may sound harsh, she ends up just wanting the best for people. In fact her open nature of speech is how she gets people to listen and see reason.

Her and Azmuth had a...bit of a dysfunctional relationship growing up. Azmuth was actually a slow learning when he was young, and Divi had a habit of picking on him. They did eventually mallow out, until tragedy struck their family and they entered their rebel phases, and the bickering and arguing come from both sides. They have made up since Azmuth returned, but the two have their squabbles here and there, but they're mostly just playful banter or family habits.

Her and Myaxx get along quite well, and the two like hanging out with each other.

She's also fond of Ben since meeting him, and the two like chatting whenever he plays with her sons, he's even babysat for her a few times.

She has no interest in dating again anytime soon, and is proud to be a single mother.

She's the one who points out Azmuth and Ben's family like roles to each other often, mostly due to the fact that she understands what a paternal feeling is like, and because she's blunt about it.

She got her wisdom feet first out of her and Azmuth growing up.

While Azmuth was off in hiding, Divi reconnected with his father when looking after to him after surgery. So, unlike Azmuth, she mostly just calls him father and dad.

-Trapez, Cieven & Aegls-

The three mischievous nephews, sons and grandsons of the family. Left to right, Trapez, Cieven & Aegls, who are the triplets of Divi. The three are like glue, and are often playing or up to little tricks, creating chaos around Galvan Prime. While they mostly look the same and are all tricksters, they do have personality differences. Trapez is the best when it comes to emotions and the phycology behind it, something most Galvans struggle with, and can come across as the kindest of the three. Cieven has a lot of traits from Divi and Azmuth, being fairly intelligent and wanting to be a lot like his uncle someday, though does have some of their sarcastic nature as well. Aegls is the most energetic of the three, hype up often and quick with crafting and thinking of ideas. When you combine all three together, you get a force of endless chaos.

Their mother has been honest to them about who their father is, and why he isn't around, but the three have grown up fine without him, and will forever be grateful for the work their mother put into caring for them.

They were born while Azmuth was away, and so have been building up hype about their missing uncle for most of their lives, enough so that when Azmuth did come back, they all tackled hugged him while he was still understanding the idea that he was now in fact an uncle.

They love Ben and the Omnitrix, roping Ben into some of their pranks and shenanigans, and while Ben mostly tries to stare them into the right direction, he can't help himself half the time and joins in on the chaos, much to Azmuth and Divi's dismay.

They do become a part of my Ben 10 Next Gen Series, given Galvans take forever to age, and will finally be young tweens when the Next Gen takes place.

The three each have different dream jobs for the future. Trapez wants to be a psychiatrist or doctor, Cieven wants to be an inventor, and Aegls was to deal with energy based matters like his grandfather once did.

Never give these kids sugar or coffee, it will end badly.

The three...had a bad encounter with Malware during his rampage, and for a while were scared around Galvanic Mechamorphs...They get over it eventually, but Malware does haunt them for a long while.

They once picked up some colourful language from Azmuth and Myaxx when overhearing them once. You can imagine how Divi took that.

-The First Thinker Family-

The traumatic event that struck the family was in fact the death of Azmuth and Divi's mother, who was killed by someone who was after Galvan Tech. The family fell apart after that, with Retaliator falling into a deep depression and being distant from his kids, and Azmuth and Divi going wild in their teen/young adult years to distract themselves from the grief. They've all come together now and have been taking the proper sets to honor her memory, and become a family again.

While no one has outright said it, Ben has kind of become part of this little family in a few ways, and after a while Azmuth stops being survived when the boy shows up for family dinners or game nights.

They all live on Galvan Prime, though Retaliator is known to take trips here and there around the galaxy, wanting to see more of it during his retirement.

On the outside, many Galvans treat the family as there wise people, who have sage advice. And while that isn't wrong, once you get to know them they're a very chaotic family...

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Cast Interviews From 1986 vs. 2016

So, I’ve found a podcast that’s been interviewing various Cats cast members and superfans. Most of the interviews come from the cast of the Broadway Revival, but there are also several interviews from US Tour III which went from 1986 to 1988. So we’ve got a bit of both old and new. Here’s what I’ve learned about how things have changed over the years and why the Broadway Revival is such a confused mess:

In the interviews of US Tour III cast members, it seemed like everyone was told the story of the play and had a pretty clear idea of what was going on. Some actors were given backstories for their characters, but the amount of detail varied. Actors cast as Munkustrap and Tugger were told that their characters were brothers and the sons of Old Deuteronomy. Actors cast as Demeter were given a full backstory for the character. However, Grizabella’s story remained vague. Bombalurina, Mistoffelees, and Sillabub also had no confirmed backstories, and most of their characters were improvised during rehearsals. Also, since this tour was from 1986-1988, a lot of cast members don’t remember a lot of what they were told. It’s been a while.

Out of the backstory and character information provided, Demeter’s was the most consistent. She was kidnapped by Macavity, escaping shortly before the events of the play. She’s an outsider to the tribe, but she knows Bombalurina and stays close to her. Bombalurina also had some experience with Macavity, but she enjoyed it more than Demeter did. This lines up with what Jacob Brent said about Demeter in the 1998 version.

Some character dynamics are different from more modern versions. Alonzo is Demeter’s love interest, as was typical with Broadway-based productions. Also, in most productions, Alonzo doesn’t get along with Tugger, but he’s a fan of him in this version.

Outside of Alonzo, it was made perfectly clear that Mistoffelees was played as a full adult, the same age as Munkustrap. The actor who played him throughout the tour, Randy Slovacek seemed to have made up most of Misto’s characterization in that production by himself. Misto was friends with Grizabella in the past and wasn’t upset by whatever she did to upset the others. When she first appears, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, taking the place of Coricopat and Tantomile, who were cut for the tour, run up to her and try to chase her away. Misto calls them off, but Munkustrap won’t let him do anything else to help her and he respects his authority too much to try anything.

The interviews of the Broadway Revival cast tell a very different story of what was going on behind the scenes. Apparently, they were rushed for time and there weren’t as many rehearsals before the show as there usually are. That, combined with the new choreography meant that nobody really knew what they were doing. Munkustrap and Tugger were confirmed to be siblings, but very little backstory information was given outside of that. The few cast members who worked with Gillian Lynne seemed to have a better idea of what was going on with their characters. Andy Blankenbuehler was still figuring things out and wasn’t able to offer similar clarity. The few times anyone was told anything, it was usually by Trevor Nunn.

Basically, Nunn and Lynne invented Cats, and nobody else seems to know how the fuck any of it works.

Tyler Hanes and Sara Jean Ford knew each other before being cast and they came up with a lot of backstory for their characters, which everyone else got drawn into. Ford played Jellylorum as the same age as Tugger. Since the actors are best friends, so are the characters, even though that makes little sense with their personalities. Jennyanydots, Bombalurina, Demeter, and Grizabella were in that same age range as well. It appears that nobody was anywhere between Munkustrap and Old Deuteronomy in age, for some reason. Jenny and Skimble are a couple in this version, so Skimble’s probably also in this group. They have kittens together. Electra and Rumpleteazer are among them, though nothing was said about Mungojerrie. The merge with Coricopat and Tantomile in the US Tour implies that they’re twins in that version. In the Broadway Revival and the tour based on it, they’re apparently unrelated.

Grizabella ended up with a far more detailed backstory, all made up by the cast. She’s Jellylorum’s sister and she stole a man away from her and Jelly never loved again. None of the kittens are Jelly’s, though she’s sort of the nanny to all of them. Griz also had some sort of affair with Tugger and broke his heart, which is why he doesn’t do commitment. Then, Griz ran off with Macavity, got dumped for Bombalurina, and then she got dumped for Demeter who decided that Macavity was bad news pretty early on and ditched him. The relationship was abusive, but no one mentioned a kidnapping. After leaving Macavity, Griz was no longer welcome in the tribe, even though Bomba and Demeter were because Reasons. Forgetting that these characters are not human, she then got addicted to drugs, was driven to prostitution to support her drug habit, had a bunch of kids, and then left those kids to be raised by Jenny, who resents her for it. Nobody says which kittens are Grizabella’s. Portions of this backstory were used in the 2019 movie.

Also, I can say that some of the characterization issues with Tugger were, in fact, a direct result of the choreography changes. Tyler Hanes wanted to play up the sexuality of the character in a way that the new choreography didn’t allow. If Gillian Lynne’s choreography had been used for the number, Tugger’s characterization probably would’ve turned out very different, but the changes meant that what Hanes knew about the character, and how the audience perceived the character, were altered by the new choreography putting emphasis on vanity instead of sexuality.

So, that’s the story so far. Compared to at least one early production, the Broadway Revival was rushed and poorly thought out. The actors were given little information and left to fend for themselves, and they prioritized their bonds with their irl friends over what made sense for their characters. Interviews of cast members from both the revival and the following tour reference Andy Blankenbuehler as the one who had all the information, who the cast looked to for instructions. But, he had no idea what he was doing and couldn’t really help them.

Most of the problems can be traced to Blankenbuehler not knowing what he was doing and never really figuring it out. Though, some blame has to be placed on the cast who, left to their own devices, had a lot of bad ideas. Hanes and Ford in particular, though it was good that someone was trying to take charge, created a bit of a mess. None of Jellylorum’s character resembles any other Jellylorum characterization I’ve ever seen, and it doesn’t even come across clearly on stage. The young cast all seemed to struggle with the idea of playing older characters and nobody told them that they couldn’t age them down. The generation gap between Tugger and Jenny and Jelly is character information that’s now completely lost on the audience. You need older characters disapproving of Tugger to show that he’s a controversial figure to the tribe, not just an annoyance to Munkustrap.

But, some of the worst characterization problems were not entirely the fault of the cast. As I mentioned before, Tugger’s characterization was changed by the choreography. Grizabella had already been aged down by her redesign. Since Demeter’s kidnapping backstory wasn’t explained, this affected how Demeter was portrayed. Her sympathy for Grizabella came from having been on that side of town as Macavity’s prisoner and seeing the condition she was in. Without that backstory, Kim Faure may have not known that Demeter was supposed to have sympathy for Grizabella and interpreted her part differently. This was the result of unclear direction.

What We’ve Learned Today:

1. In the 1980s, Mistoffelees was, in fact, played as older than Jacob Brent played him in the VHS.

2. Munkustrap and Tugger (and not Mistoffelees) have pretty much always been the sons of Old Deuteronomy.

3. The backstory Jacob Brent gave for Demeter was the standard backstory for the character well before the VHS was filmed.

4. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were considered twins in the 1980s and most likely continued to be seen as such until the revival era, though I haven’t exactly checked in with every single production.

5. The Broadway Revival was a behind the scenes and nightmare and it’s mostly Blankenbuehler’s fault.

6. Gillian Lynne wrote Cats. Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a concept album.

7. There are no middle-aged cats in the 2016 revival. I think Sara Jean Ford started it.

8. The idea that Grizabella’s backstory involved Macavity started with the 2016 cast improvising.

9. Kim Faure’s Demeter was most likely OOC due to a removal or lack of explanation of backstory.

10. Sometimes it’s okay to do things the same way they’ve been done before.

[terrific-togekiss]

Rewriting Sonic Characters into other Continuities: Cosmo The Seedrian

With the 18th anniversary of Sonic X not too long ago, many fond memories of the anime started to resurface, as a question begun to ponder...

What if Cosmo The Seedrian was in other Sonic related media?

She was one of the most memorable parts of the show in my opinion, mostly due Season 3 of Sonic X being an original story. With that out of the way, let's get started!

These are just rough ideas and I would love to see some feedback!

Classic!Cosmo: About a month after the events of Sonic CD, Little Planet appears above Never Lake for its monthly visit to Earth. Sonic and Tails decide to visit and are surprised to find a growing population of plant people known as Seedrians.

As it turns out, Dr. Robotnik used the power of the Time Stones to reverse the Seedrians into the Miracle Planet flowers and seeds, before they had a chance to fight back.

Now that Dr. Robotnik is gone, they live in peace and praise the blue hedgehog that saved their people.

As Sonic is enjoying the festivities, Tails bumps into a shy Seedrian known as Cosmo. They become quick friends, bonding over sciences (Cosmo is more a botany genius in this continuity) and Tails even takes her for flight on the Tornado.

Sonic and Tails promise to visit her every time Little Planet comes back to Earth, to see their new friend.

This Cosmo is more quiet and keeps to herself, but the moment you get to know her she talks all the time.

Modern!Cosmo: The Cosmo of this era is a lot older and more independent, as she now leaves Little Planet on her to explore the Earth more, fascinated by this planet.

I'm addition to other Seedrians being NPCs in any open world Sonic games.

This becomes a running theme for Sonic games where she's off exploring and being in awe of the planet's flora, or just hanging with either Tails, Cream or Amy.

During Sonic Heroes, she would form a team with Might, Ray and herself. Since the three of them love nature so much and would be known as Team Naturals. Mighty being Power, Ray being Flight and Cosmo being Speed. The Team Blast involving the three of them homing attacking a series of giant seed bombs.

In Sonic Riders, she has an extreme gear board called "Mother Nature's Embrace", when you unlock her.

During Sonic Unleashed, her and Tails were testing Gaia energy on the local flora and fauna, to see if stopping Dark Gaia was the only cure to possessed people.

With small lovey dovey moments between her and Tails in the games, since we all know about the mandates. Or just a friendship if they're that strict and carry over to other characters.

During Sonic Generations, she's the NPC for the stage "Tidal Tempest" from Sonic CD and remarks if Sonic found the Time Stones again, if Classic Sonic saved her.

During Sonic Forces, she's in charge of food production in the Resistance, due to her power over plants.

The Cosmo of the Modern Sonic games is more akin to her in Sonic X, except with higher self esteem and doesn't have motion sickness. She can be rather clumsy, very kind, gentle and quiet, with a preference for not fighting unless necessary and a bit of a temper. She has a huge passion for botany and medicinal sciences, with gardening being a hobby of hers.

Unfortunately, she doesn't always know her own strength, as Seedrians are born with tremendous strength for housework and helping environments.

SatAM!Cosmo: A ship full of an alien species is soaring through the galaxy, with one mission in mind: find a new home.

They are known as Seedrians.

Once they arrive on a planet that reminds them of the a Mobius Strip in its composition, only to be attacked by robots.

Dr. Robotnik intercepted the space ship transmission and plans to roboticize these innocent aliens.

The Freedom Fighters intervene later on and are only able to save the kids, as the adults are all roboticized into robots. That destroy nature, ironically enough.

Cosmo becomes quick friends with the Freedom Fighters, relating on being orphans and absent parents that are now robotic slaves.

She doesn't really get out on the field like the rest of them, but she does help liven things up for the other kids at Knothole.

Underground!Cosmo: A forest spirit that takes a liking to music along with her sisters, as Sonic Underground makes their trek through Mobius.

I can see a single episode where Robotnik wants to use their powers as ornaments for a fancy gala... only for Sonic, Manic and Sonia to show up and save the day.

Fleetway!Cosmo: There is a legend of a race of warriors that travel across time itself collecting the finest flora, knowing of their extinction in the present day.

They are known as Seedrians.

These legends are found on Miracle Planet... a home to them for a couple of centuries.

Dr. Eggman of course desires this time travel technology for himself and for better use than "flower collecting."

Unlike the time Eggman gained control over all time via the Omni Viewer, he uses the time traveling alien technology to make up a fake history of him as an ancient, prophesied warrior to all of Mobius.

(It's also revealed that the Seedrians disappeared mysteriously and Cosmo has been working like crazy to carry on their work and find her people)

Only for Cosmo and the Freedom Fighters to put a stop to Eggman.

The Cosmo of this continuity is a lot more business oriented and moves from one task to the other, with little time for not following a structure. Underneath it all, is a scared girl that just wants to see her family again, that would never wish anything like that on others.

She bonds with Knuckles over losing your people and spends most visits with him.

Archie!Cosmo: In the Pre-Super Genesis Wave Universe, The Seedrians are seen as a myth to all of Mobius. Mostly due to Little Planet only appearing above Never Lake once a year every month.

The people Albion know of their existence, due to the Time Stones and The Seedrians both being a closely guarded of theirs.

The Seedrians of this continuity are more of a race of peace keepers and warriors, training under Nicholas O'Tyme and the mysterious Knights of Kronos.

Cosmo's father, Lucas develops a curiosity for Mobius and leaves with many other Seedrians to discuss alliances. With Lucas and his wife Earthia meeting the Acorn Kingdom.

Which goes as well as you would think.

Only for Dr. Robotnik to show up he seizes his grip over the planet.

Cosmo and her sister Galaxina go into hiding, along with many other children of the Seedrian adults. Earthia calls upon the powers of nature to to create an entire island, that exists outside of time.

Dr. Robotnik picks up the strange energy waves and attacks the island. With The Freedom Fighters showing up and turning the tide of battle on Robotnik.

Cosmo and Galaxina join the Freedom Fighters, with Cosmo becoming quick friends with Sally due to looking up her confidence and being in a similar situation, but choosing to stand for what's right.

Galaxina is more a mathematics genius and becomes good friends with Rotor and doesn't always get along with Antoine since he always wants play hero and she prefers a more grounded approach to things.

The Cosmo of this universe loves to explore, is a botany and medicinal genius and has a habit of casually mentioning random historical events, due to expose to the Time Stones. She's very kind to others and comes off as very quiet, but doesn't stop talking when you get to know her.

Due to her plant like nature and physiology, she loves Rock and Roll music, leading to her bonding with Sonic.

Her and Tails have a bit of thing going on, but are both shy around it and Tails doesn't have the best experience with relationships. The two of them hookup during Sonic's voyage/"death" in space with Tails' parents being in full support.

A rift is formed between her and her father, as him and many other Seedrians want to keep and redesign Robotnik's technology, while she sees it as ghosts of a rather scary past.

She also discovers the Krudzu and her kind nature surprising leads to her quelling the Krudzu, turning it on the side of the Freedom Fighters.

After the Super Genesis Wave, Cosmo is a resident of Little Planet that leaves to help the Freedom Fighters fight Dr. Eggman. Her personality is more or less the same as the old universe. Her parents stay back and organize Seedrian-Earth relations.

Nicole causes her to remember various events from the old universe like helping prepare for Bunnie and Antoine's wedding, the disagreements with her father, when she first kissed Tails, "befriending" the Krudzu and almost dying by saving most of Knothole and turning into a Chaos energy filled Tree.

[hufflesocks]

Tf2 Mercs playing Portal/Portal 2

Scout:

-struggles to get into the games, so he just decides to watch Miss Pauling play

-during her play through of Portal he would let Miss Pauling destroy the companion cube. Despite her warnings he got attached to it and even named it Scout Jr.

-I like to headcannon that the two play a lot of video games together. So when she finally manages to convince him to do the co-op mode with her he just does a bunch of goofy stuff like placing one portal directly above the other and just messing around in general

-and while she is meticulously trying to figure out the puzzles he just accidentally solves them by screwing around

Soldier:

-Struggles a lot with the game, often getting stuck on the puzzles

-keeps going to Engie for help to the point where, he just decides to walk him through the games since he’s already finished his own play throughs

-refuses to listen to Wheatley because of his British accent

-“Engie I can’t go down there because the little robot told me to!”

“Soldier that’s the only way you CAN go.”

“America fought good and hard for its independence! I won’t take orders from the enemy!”

-when Wheatley betrays hims he’s like “I told you he couldn’t be trusted!”

-enjoys the boss fights the most, especially Wheatley’s

-thinks the turrets are neat, and likes their signing

Pyro:

-Pyro is pretty decent at the game, and likes to try and solve the puzzles by themself. But if they’re really stuck they’ll go get Engie

-thinks GLaDOS is mean, but they forgive her. They really enjoy her songs

-is genuinely hurt by Wheatley’s betrayal

-and even more heart broken when they had to destroy the companion cube. Actually they weren’t even the one who did it in the first game, they had Engie take control and do it for them

-feels bad whenever they have to kill a turret, so they try to avoid. This usually ends up with them solving the puzzles in very unusual and creative ways

-loves finding the hidden drawings made by Rattmann

-plays a lot of community test chambers with Engie

Demoman:

-had to wait to sober up before playing the game, because it made him a bit motion sick

-got through the puzzles fairly easily

-wasn’t expecting Wheatley’s betrayal, but he really didn’t mind losing the robot

-was a little disappointed though when he had to put the companion cube in the incinerator

-really likes how at the end he gets to shoot robots with explosives

-full heartidley agrees with Rick’s explosion day

-has memorized the two songs and will occasionally belt them out when drunk

-when he and Soldier play co-op mode they spend the entire time figuring out ways to kill each other. One can often hear them yelling at each other from their rooms

Heavy:

-enjoys the critical and creative thinking that the puzzles require

-it took him a minute to get used to the mechanics but now he is really good at “thinking with portals.” One can occasionally hear him mutter to himself about a good portal spot on the battle field

-found Wheatley pretty annoying. Scout one time walked in on him playing and Heavy said, “look leeltle Scout, tiny robot ball talks to much like you.” Scout was very offended that day

-thought it was really funny when GLaDOS was put in a potatoe

-also really liked the end songs

Engineer:

-One of Engie’s favorite games. Will gush about them to anyone who asks

-found the puzzles to be a lot of fun and very creative. He has even tried making a few community test chambers when he has free time. Miss Pauling tried one once, but got stuck on it for four hours.

-Loves all of the robots, and may or may not have developed something resembling a crush on GLaDOS

-teared up at the end

-after playing the games he tried to redesign his sentries to sing like the turrets

-has a blue print in the works for a portal gun, but it’s a very secret project that he will do anything to prevent the BLU Engineer from finding out about

Medic:

-thought the games were ok, again he would rather be working on his own experiments then playing video games

-if Heavy asks nicely then he will play the co-op mode with him

-what he really likes is the science behind putting a human conscience into a robot

-after finishing the second game at like 11:30 at night he rushed into Engie’s work shop ranting about experimenting to transfer someone’s intelligence into a computer. The two proceeded to stay up all night making plans for it. They are still deciding who should be their first test subject at the moment it’s between one of themselves and Scout. Actually the Administrator found out about the project and demanded that she be transferred onto a computer in the event of an “emergency”

Sniper:

- thought the game was fun, but wasn’t into the puzzles that much. Did enjoy exploring the areas “behind the scenes” and places like old Aperture

-his favorite parts were the times when he had to stratigically place a portal to hit a turret with another object. Found that to be the most like sniping.

-When playing co-op, he likes to grab turrets and shoot at whoever he is playing with

-enjoys the soundtrack and will occasionally listen to it in his van if he is trying to relax.

Spy:

-Only plays them because almost everyone else on the team was bugging him to at least try it

-thought it was fine, and thought the puzzles were ok

-did enjoy GLaDOS’s commentary

-called Wheatley’s betrayal in the few minutes of encountering him

Bonus:

Miss Pauling:

-really likes the game, like a lot

-thinks the puzzles are super fun, loves the soundtrack, thinks the graphics are amazing, and loves the game mechanics

-REALLY and I mean really likes GLaDOS.

-For some reason Miss Pauling feels like GLaDOS sounds like someone and she can’t figure out who. She pointed it out to the others but they didn’t really notice. One day for fun she and Engie where playing with her voice settings. After a while Engie had altered it so that it would sound less robotic. That day Miss Pauling found her answer and both agreed to never mention it again

-wasn’t really surprised when Wheatley betrayed her, and was very happy to put GLaDOS back in charge

-like Engie she also cried a little, especially during Cara Mia

-Didn’t mind having Scout watch during her play throughs. He added some funny commentary; such as offering to punt Wheatley like a “soccer ball” to the moon during his betrayal scene. Does wish he would take the co-op mode more seriously though

I know some of the headcannons make it sound like I don’t like Wheatley, but I swear I do

[ribbonetteart]

I redesigned Rouge!

A LOT of notes about her redesign below:

Again, much like the Cream redesign, I’d like to start with the disclaimer that I don’t hate Rouge’s current design! I think her current look is cute but I did take some issue with it here and there, and here was the checklist I had in mind when redesigning her:

Put some red on her! Her name is ROUGE

Ditch the jumpsuit. I get the impression that the “sexier” aspects of Rouge make her appear older than she is, so I wanted to try making her look more like she’s 18.

Wing arms!!! There’s nothing wrong with putting the wings on her back but I wanted to emphasize her being a bat.

Give her a new alt outfit. In Sonic Heroes, Rouge got a new outfit that was quickly retired. I wanted to give her a debut outfit and a new outfit that would stick around.

Switch out the heart motif for a diamond motif. I think the heart motif is cute! But I think making diamonds Rouge’s thing is more fitting since she loves jewels more than anything.

Rouge’s Body

The 1st reference sheet is Rouge’s bare body. She’s still got white fur, but her body is gray. I actually came to the decision to give her gray body fur last-minute; I wanted to give her a white belt in her 2nd outfit, but her white midriff made the 2 things blend and I needed some contrast. I drew (ba-dum-tssh) lots of inspiration from Honduran white bats, and thus I gave her a little bat nose and smoky colored wings (I actually wanted a more gray-ish purple wing color, but my scanner gave me this gray instead. the gray-purple is more noticeable in the other reference sheet though).

I gave her a furry body because I thought it was weird that other Sonic character’s bodies had fur and Rouge was just all skin, save for her head. She has chest fur now because I thought it made her look more like a bat and because I’m not that comfortable with an 18 year old baring visible cleavage all the time, so this hit 2 birds with one stone. I kept her arms and legs furless, again, to make her look more like a Honduran white bat. I also wanted some more body diversity within the sonic cast, so I gave Rouge a plumper body and wider legs since she usually uses her legs in combat.

I wanted to keep her skin tone similar to the one she has in Sonic Adventure 2, but I ditched the eye color. I really wanted to put some red on her somewhere since her name is Rouge, and making it her eye color means that she has red on her all the time, so I thought it was perfect. On one final note regarding her body, she’s got visible nails now! Her old, beta name before it was “Rouge” was “Nails”, and I imagine she uses her nails for digging or combat so I made them more prominent.

Rouge’s Clothes

“That Government Spy Rouge the Bat”: SA2 G.U.N. Agent Rouge

Her 1st outfit would be her outfit in her debut appearance while she’s an agent for G.U.N. I still wanted her outfit to look trendy without looking too much like a uniform as she is supposed to be an undercover agent in SA2. The decision to use a blue analogous palette was to make it look even more like a police uniform.

Her gloves are short, half gloves. With arms on her wings, obviously her opera gloves weren’t gonna fit comfortably. The cropped gloves fit more comfortably on her hands without bothering her wings.

Rouge’s uniform is a sleeveless turtleneck and a “skort”, or, shorts with a skirt on it. The skirt flap has a pocket where she stores anything that won’t fit on her utility belt.

She’s also got piercings now! I think they suit her for someone who’s obsessed with jewels.

Her boots aren’t flashy, but they’re a chunky heel with metal soles to pack a harder wallop in her kicks.

Fly in the Freedom: Post SA2 Rouge

With this design comes with a bit of a rewrite. Rouge no longer works under G.U.N., free-lancing or not. After the events of SA2, she’s quit and gone on to do her own thing (however she’s still a grade A thief).

Overall, her new post SA2 look is rather asymmetrical compared to her more uniform look in the 1st design. I thought the asymmetry would convey her new rebellious, independent status and contrast more with the uniform she sported prior to when she took order from G.U.N.

I wanted this design to look more cohesive with team dark. Her Sonic Heroes outfit made her stick out from the other team members as she had a more purple and pink color palette compared to Shadow and Omega’s red, black, and gold. For her palette, I wanted to incorporate more of those colors to really make her look like the leader of Team Dark. The reds are mostly located on her diamond motifs, and the gold on her is on any metal she’s adorning.

Her outfit includes a cropped leather jacket, dark purple-ish black form fitting pants, white knee high boots, and white leather utility belt and cropped fingerless gloves. Since she no longer has a skirt flap or pocket to store extra items, I gave a her a little fanny pack at the back of her belt. I gave her a cropped jacket to make her look a little more rebellious, seeing as her teammates are rebels of their own. The leader of an edgy team has gotta look edgy herself, I figured! The dark make up is also to help with her new, bold and edgy look.I also wanted to show off Rouge’s chest fur and the deep V neck of the jacket does that well!

I thought Rouge’s heart boots were cute, but since I’m replacing her heart motif with diamonds, I wanted to adjust it to fit the diamond motif. She’s now got diamonds at the toe of her boots as well as the sole. I made them wedge heels because I imagine they’re easier to run in.

Inventory

On her utility belt, she’s got a flip phone: good for quick contact and disposal. She also has a few pouches, probably to hold smoke bombs or something. I also wanted her to keep her treasure scope from SA2, so it’s also got a place on her belt.

Other inventory items include her compact, perfect for touching up her make up or finding pesky lasers (which is a spy trope I think? It’s probably not scientifically sound but whatever it helps her find lasers).

And of course, Rouge’s bat bomb! It functions much the same as Rouge’s bombs have throughout the series (Sonic Battle, Sonic 06, Sonic Forces: Speed Battle), I just adjusted its appearance to reflect this redesign.

I also decided while I was at it to take the guns away from Shadow and give them to Rouge; I don’t see why the ultimate life form needs a fire arm when he can shoot powerful concentrated beams of energy from his hands while the secret agent (who is more likely to be equipped with that kind of weapon) would be without it. She has her pea shooter on her leg holster concealed by her boots (Which is why I tried making her boots a bit bigger than her legs as opposed to being tight fitting).

Hair

Finally, Rouge has got some new hairstyles! For her SA2 look, I wanted to keep the trademark Yuji Uekawa spiky hair he tends to draw on his sonic characters, but I definitely wanted to change her hairstyle; I just personally wasn’t a fan of her current style. I wanted something that looked mature and chic, so I gave her a layered bob. It’s also symmetrical to fit the uniform look she’s wearing.

And Rouge gets another haircut for her post SA2 look! It’s much wavier, and she’s got bangs now. For this style, I was inspired by 1. the Finger Waves hairstyle, 2. those little curlicues that agent Honeydew has from Dexter’s Laboratory, and 3. Marilyn Monroe’s curly hair. I wanted to add some elegance to Rouge’s look and I think the curly hair really brings that aspect of her character out.

If you’ve made it to the end of all of this then like holy crap thank you so much for reading all of this and I love you