#my super cool art lookit

[ashitpos-t]

Remake of an old valentines card I made :) actually drew it this time instead of using a png <3

[yeloenk]

‼️‼️ YOO U ALL SHOULD CHECK OUT BWAMBOS COMMISSIONS RIGHT NEOW!!

i got a sketch of my girl vellum for $15!!! such a steal... AND SHE LOOKS SOOO COOL LOOKIT HERRR RAAAGH IM FLIPPING OUT

he was VERY nice throughout the process and communiated perfectly!! if you want some super pretty art AND wanna help a cool person get out of a toxic environment, GO GO GO !!!

or reblog/boost their emergency comm post 2 help out :3

[mileymint]

I keep forgetting I'm friends with THE @electrozeistyking and then proceed to get jumpcared seeing her in my notes. Like holy crap guys look at my awesome popular friend who's super good at art, I'm just a little guy but they think I'm cool too

Idk how to explain this feeling but yeah I'm definitely feeling it

This applies to a very large amount of my mutuals also. I love you all so much and this is honestly insane to me. I'm gonna throw up and cry /affectionate

I WILL be annoying and brag about having yall as friends, I can't even put it into words how much everyone here means to me

Like GUYS look at @yadchi-i-guess and @leefl00f , these guys are so cool

Lookit @cherrysandcats ‼️‼️ LOOK AT EM‼️‼️‼️

LOOK AT @sweatertheman AND @mirror-ralsei AND @pap03 AND @zixzs-ajk AND @itslilacokay ‼️‼️

I HAVE SO MANY COOL FRIENDSFJABDKANFK!!!!!!

[da3dm]

I am shaking u ur art is super cool

I'm not sure where this suddenly came from but thank you very much <3

But bc of that, lookit my most recent drawing:

Concept art of a Villain outfit for reversing Vara and Irza's roles

Haven't done Irza's hero one yet but I did Vara's villain one!

[somebodysaidimpulsive]

✧✧ smth smth intro post wooo ✧✧

hello and welcome to my random horde of cool fanart and other stuff I find neat! I'm Impulse, (or whatever other names I have on my list,) aroace agender gremlin, and my pronouns page is https://en.pronouns.page/@Feral_Gremlin !

✧ tag system ✧

#the gremlin answers - answers to asks!

#random shit - exactly what it says on the tin; various random shit that falls out of my mind and winds up here somehow.

#gremlin psa - stuff I think is important, helpful, or a good message to spread!

#lookit this persons art!! - cool art reblogs!! Because I like giving validation and compliments to whatever random artists I think are neat.

#sentimomentos - wholesome or poetic posts that hold a special bit of sentiment to them! (yes, it's a play on a spanish word for sentiment. no, I do not speak spanish. It started because I thought "oh, that's a great play on the word sentiment!" then looked it up and found out it was an actual word in a different language. so I changed it to be different enough and never spoke of it again. can you tell I'm not the most observant gremlin.)

#my silly lil guys - stuff related to my ocs or about them!

#pinned posts - stuff i have pinned or wish to pin, but tumblr says I can only have one :< so they go in this tag instead

#fucked up shit - things that are actively bad news or disturbing things (e.g. fucked up world news), but things that I do not wish to go unnoticed. If you're sensitive to stuff like this, please either block this tag or just move on with your day. Give it a signal boost if you can, but if you absolutely cannot for your own mental well being, I'm not here to cause more suffering. Just to spread awareness about already messed up stuff that deserves more eyes on it.

✧ other blogs ✧

My writing/art blog: https://www.tumblr.com/the-horde-archive

✧ DNI ✧

sexists

racists

aphobes

transphobes/terfs

homophobes

Literally any kind of bigot. Get out, or get blocked. I will not welcome that kind of attitude here.

MAPs/p*dos

Most NSFW/18+ blogs (Nothing against it, ofc, I'm just not super into that kind of stuff and would prefer not to see it popping up on my dash thank youuu)

candy corn haters (/SILLY)

that should be about it! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely lovely day :]

[tamamatango]

YAHOOOO SQUEALING POINTING EXCITEDLY Super happy everyone gets to see this now!! It’s so pretty!! Lookit!!! It’s also been embedded into the beginning of the fic as a story cover! It’s like a real book now whoooooa so awesome so cool

People in this fandom respect my opinion for some reason so my next opinion is you should take a look at more of Expo’s art especially if you like orikero!! Go my psionic warriors go

commission for @tamamatango for their swagful fic! it was fun to work on!! go check out their fic or ELSE

[booflies]

first batch of OCs!!! these were so fun to draw

Ceupid - @wepperoni Arrow - @toldentops Salla - @igneouskit Fionn - @donkeykongismyfavoritemarvelhero Skitter & Catti - @lecattycat Eek - me (-:

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #186

This motherfucker.

We’ve built gods before. Kings. Entire freaking wacky races, each with their own special kind of vehicle. Why the fuck is this guy’s spear the most difficult build I’ve done so far.

There’s so few ways to add other physical damage types to a weapon in D&D that I’m going to have to make up a weapon just so we can do it. It’s just “spear, but deals slashing damage”, but given the fact this build literally would not work with any other kind of weapon. I’m just grateful he isn’t a saber. Honestly DW, what the hell? Casters can travel to other dimensions and stop time, but giving fighters multiple types of damage is too much?

Okay. Spear-induced breakdowns aside, Houzouin Inshun is a Kensei Monk for hopefully obvious reasons, a Battle Master Fighter for an even fancier spear and a bunch of ASIs for feats. We need so many goddamn feats, it’s ridiculous.

Deep breaths. We can get through this.

Build breakdown below. Character sheet over here.

Next up: To be fair you have to have a very high IQ to understand Shinkage-ryu.

Race and Background

No mincing words, Inshun’s a Variant Human, ‘cuz we need all the feats we can get. He gets +1 Wisdom and +1 Constitution, proficiency with Survival to help with the whole “wandering monk” schtick, and the Slasher feat, which gives you +1 Dexterity, and when you deal slashing damage you can reduce the speed of the creature you hit by 10′. Also, scoring a critical hit with slashing damage forces disadvantage on that creature’s attacks for a round. He’s also an Acolyte for his Religion training. It also gives him proficiency in Insight for some Knowledge of the Sowa.

Ability Scores

Make Wisdom first. You’re so good at reading people you can point out the flaws in your inner demon’s technique after a single fight. Make Dexterity second highest, you’ve got to be able to fight that inner demon too. After that is Strength, if you couldn’t tell from that full ascension art, Inshun’s pretty ripped. Your Constitution’s also pretty good. I know it technically wasn’t you in Shimousa, but getting your head cut off and surviving is going to give you a couple points no matter the circumstances. Your Intelligence isn’t bad, we just need other stuff more. That means we’re dumping Charisma. Despite being one of the first servants we summoned, I couldn’t tell Friend Point Spear Guy and the Shimousa character were the same character until I ascended them. A petty reason to dump his charisma? Probably. But he’s also given up on alcohol and meat, so he’s probably not super fun at parties.

Class Levels

Monk 1: First level monks get Unarmored Defense, giving them an AC of 10 plus your dexterity modifier plus your wisdom modifier. I mean, it makes sense. Lookit them abs, I bet most people just avoid hitting him on principle, like not messing with art. Ooh, speaking of, you get Martial Arts! It lets you use dexterity when you’re using monk weapons, and they all deal at least 1d4, which grows as you level up. Also, you can use your bonus action to punch people! You have to attack with your action to do that, though. Monks also get all kinds of proficiencies, like Strength and Dexterity saves, Athletics, and History. You’re good at working out, and you’re literally history. Easy picks.

Monk 2: Second level monks get Monk Level Ki points per short rest so they can do all sorts of cool things on their bonus action, like Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or attack twice with their fists. They also get Unarmored Movement for extra speed while not wearing armor (this also levels up as you do), and you can turn one non-monk weapon into a Dedicated Weapon! This lets you pick one non-monk weapon to use as a monk weapon (as long as it isn’t two-handed or heavy) at the end of a short rest. Now your homebrew not-spear is totally okay in the eyes of your DM. Maybe, IDK your DM.

Monk 3: Third level monks can Deflect Missiles as a reaction to reduce damage from arrows and those sorts of things. If you reduce it to 0 you can even throw it back for a ki point. You also set down the Path of the Kensei, which gives you all sorts of bonuses! You can pick certain weapons to be Kensei Weapons, which will be used for the rest of the class’ features. We just care about the spear, but you can pick others too! You can make an Agile Parry if you slap people while holding a spear, adding 2 to your AC for a round, or a Kensei’s Shot as a bonus action to make all your ranged attacks do more damage. You’re also good at writing now, I guess. You know the Way of the Brush.

Monk 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Polearm Master feat so you can slap people with the but of your spear as a bonus action. This deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage, but since it’s a monk weapon it’ll grow as you level up like your punches. You also could just use your punches, but we’re trying to fit all three damage types into a weapon, dangit! We’re not taking the easy way out! Plus, now you can make opportunity attacks when someone enters your range, not just when they leave it. You can also Slow Fall as a reaction for less falling damage, and you can use Quickened Healing as an action, spending a ki point to take a quick break.

Fighter 1: Bouncing over to fighter real quick for a Great Weapon fighting style, re-rolling 1s and 2s on two handed weapons. You like handling your spear with both hands  and a lot of your damage comes from slapping extra dice onto an attack, so it works for you. You also get a Second Wind once per short rest for even quicker healing. I don’t think there’s a lot of time between “head come off” and “dead”, so you’ve got to move quickly.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge once per short rest for an extra action on a turn. It’ll be a while until we get our extra attack, so just... hang in there buddy.

Fighter 3: Third level fighters join their martial archetype, and the Battle Master archetype will let you do things with a spear most people can’t do with a whole armory. You get four Combat Superiority dice per short rest, which you can spend in a couple ways. If you make a Precision Attack, add that d8 to your attack roll. For more precision. You can also make a Pushing Attack to add that d8 to the damage and push a large or smaller creature 15 feet away if they fail a strength save. Finally, you can make a Trip Attack, adding the d8 to damage and forcing a strength save on the target. If they’re large or smaller and they fail, they get knocked prone. You’re also a Student of War, so you’re even artsier than before. Go nuts.

Fighter 4: Since we used your last ASI to add bludgeoning to the jumonji spear, this time around we’re grabbing the Crusher feat, for +1 Constitution to round it out and get some more HP (remember, it adds retroactively, so you get 8 extra this level). Also, once per turn you can push a creature you deal bludgeoning damage to 5 feet away if it’s large or smaller. Also, dealing a critical hit with bludgeoning damage grants advantage on all attacks against that creature for a round. Almost like blunt trauma to the skull isn’t great for your reflexes.

Fighter 5: Okay, almost halfway through the build, and we can finally get an Extra Attack. You attack twice per action, good job.

Fighter 6: We’ve got slashing with our homebrew, and bludgeoning with Polearm Master, but  that still leaves piercing out of the mix. Thankfully, there’s an old UA that will help us out here. Grab the Spear Mastery feat from Unearthed Arcana: Feats to beef up your spear even more, and grab that last damage type. You get +1 to attack rolls made with a spear, and its damage dice change from a d6/d8 depending on stance to a d8/d10. You can also use your bonus action to receive a charge, targeting a creature 20′ away from you or further. If that creature enters your reach, you can attack it as a reaction, dealing extra piercing damage. Also using your bonus action, you can increase the reach of your spear by five feet for your turn. Since your weapon is literally “spear, but slashy”, I’m pretty sure it counts for this feat. At least that’s what I’m going to say to keep my sanity. It’s either this or we multiclass into ranger for really dumb stuff.

Monk 5: Fifth level monks get their own Extra Attack, but it doesn’t stack so it’s not in bold. They can also turn those strikes into Stunning Strikes, forcing a constitution save by spending a ki point per attack. If the target fails, they’re stunned for a round. They can also take Focused Aim, spending ki points to add to their failed attack rolls, possibly turning it into a hit.

Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki-Empowered Strikes for magical punches. Kensei monks also become One with the Blade, which turns your kensei weapons magic, and you can use a Deft Strike to add your martial arts to weapon damage once per turn for a single ki point. So now you can tack on Favored Foe damage, a Deft Strike, and a Superiority Die to your attack, and all those dice can be re-rolled if they’re 2 or less. I’m not sure how good that damage is yet, but the act of rolling it should be satisfying.

Monk 7: Your last monk level gives us the ever popular Evasion for supercharged dexterity saves. Fails reduce damage by half, successes reduce damage by all of it. You also gain a Stillness of Mind to purge mental debuffs, like charming and frightening.

Fighter 7: Bouncing back to fighter lets you put that insight to good use by Knowing your Enemy, spending at least 1 minute to learn two things about a creature in comparison to yourself. You can learn about its physical ability scores, AC, HP, or total/fighter levels. You also get two more maneuvers and a fifth superiority die. A Sweeping attack deals extra damage to the first target, as well as a second target within 5′ of the first. You can also make a Riposte as a reaction when a creature hits you, making a melee attack and adding the die to damage.

Fighter 8: Use this ASI to complete your trilogy and grab the Piercer feat, rounding our your Dexterity for stronger attacks and a better AC. You can also re-roll one die of piercing damage per turn, and critical piercing hits get an extra die of damage. It’s a bit niche since you only deal piercing damage as a reaction, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a nice surprise if it activates.

Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, so you can re-roll a failed save once per long rest. Getting your head chopped off is automatically at least two failed death saves, so make sure you keep this handy.

Fighter 10: Tenth level fighters get Improved Combat Superiority, making your superiority dice d10s instead of d8s. You can use these new embiggened dice  on a Lunging Attack to add 5′ to your reach, or a Parry to reduce incoming damage from a melee attack.

Fighter 11: Eleventh level fighters get another Extra Attack, and this one does stack, so you get three attacks per action now!

Fighter 12: We’re finally done with all those fighting type feats. Now we can use this ASI to bump up our skills. Wait, he has a skill that lets him always get the first move? Dammit. Use this ASI to grab the Alert feat. You can’t be surprised, hidden creatures don’t get advantage on attacks against you, and you add +5 to initiative. Okay, the next one for sure, I swear it’ll be stats.

Fighter 13: Thirteenth level fighters get another use of Indomitable, for up to two re-rolled saves per long rest. It’s not flashy, but given your stats, they’ll probably come in handy. Don’t worry though, now that all those damage type feats are done, we can finally use next level’s ASI to bump up stats properly. What do you mean we’re at level 20?!

Pros: 

For a mostly mundane fighter you have a lot of flexibility in combat, with options for moving enemies around, weakening foes, and preventing them from getting to squishier teammates. You also get the most out of your weapon of choice, but can fight without one if necessary.

While using your Jumonji Spear, however, you can deal pretty consistent damage, with plenty of ways to add extra dice to your attacks, and the great weapon fighting style evening out their rolls.

While fighters aren’t known for their skills, you bring just enough to the table to surprise people, which is exactly how you want to use that insight of yours. You also get a bunch of artisans’ proficiencies, which are more niche but good for character building.

Cons:

Literally every ASI we took this build is a feat of some kind, and most of them don’t even offer half bonuses. That wouldn’t be too much of an issue, except a few of them are completely useless rules as written. Polearm Master is either incredibly niche or something you can already do by being a monk. Piercer only works by spending your bonus action and reaction for a single attack, which probably isn’t your best use of time.

Your maneuvers and kensei features are built around superiority dice and ki points respectively, both of which have very limited uses per short rest. Plan your fights carefully, or you’ll find yourself sputtering out fast.

We’re just using a spear here, they’re not known for their range. If you really have to you can throw it, or use a bow as a kensei weapon, but playing to character will not be fun against flying enemies.

[twilightofthe]

Visions 7: The Elder (subbed)

K, gonna confess, I’ve probs been looking forward to this one the most ever since I saw the trailer, idk just something about the design of the old Darkside man, it Intrigued Me

Oh, this is the other Trigger one!

Hwoah totally different art style than The Twins

SHIT FUCK ANOTHER HOT MASTER

BRUH STOP IT MY EYES CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH

FUCK

Lol already enjoying this Master and Padawan dynamic

Dawww Dan is a sweetheart and a good boy, I hope he turns out okay!

pffff lookit this old fucker’s lil’ Sith hovel ship xD

idk why but it reminds me of Eeyore’s house from Winnie the Pooh

Ooooh yep the Sith character design is GOOD

I adore the saber animation in this

AHHH FUCK NO DAN I SPECIFICALLY SAID FOR YOU TO BE OKAY xD

oh PHEW he’s not dead

THE RAIN HISSING OFF THE SABERS AHAHAHAAAAAA I LOVE THAT I LOVE THAT

oh cool finishing move

daaaaaamn that bitch DISINTEGRATED

oh phew Dan is okay

ooooh i’m liking the whole inevitability of death thing this one’s got going on in the theme

the parallels of the elder generations teaching the younger ones and training them to take their places and learn from their mistakes

Don’t worry old master guy you’re not TOO old yet and still V Hot <3

OKAY OKAY I’M DONE

No but really this was a good episode!  A bit subtler than expected but I did like what was going on!

The Master/Padawan dynamic was exquisite, it felt so familiar to the other ones we’ve known but at the same time completely unique!!!!!

I just realized it didn’t have super dramatic music.  Most was subtle, like the plot and the actions driving them.  I appreciated that

Trigger is a very flexible studio if I compare this to The Twins, which I hardly can as they’re so different!!!!!

[colourful-void]

hondew, oran, and yanche!

Hondew. Who’s your favourite rival from the games, and why?

HAU HAU HAU MY LITTLE GUY MY DUDE THE SON OF ALL TIME EVERYIONE LOOKIT HIM

THATS MY BOY!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!

But fr I love Hau a lot, friendly rivals are really fun and I like his energy and story and stuff it makes me all kfjsdklfjsl!! my little dude..

Oran. Favourite Mega Evolved form?

I never played any gen 6 so i don't have many thoughts on mega evolution. (my only other expiernces with it are the anime in which only really alain did it and i was never a huge fan of him, and ash's lucario which is Neat! but that's basically all my thoughts there) however imma say Diancie!! because the design looks super cool!!!!!

Yanche. Do you have any Pokemon merchandise? What’s your favourite thing you own?

YES YES I DO.

off hand i've got a decent selection of cards, plush of eevee, popplio, cosmog, and scorbunny, these little plastic figuirunes of the kanto starters plus pikachu and eevee, a button of cosmog, pins of a pokeball, popplio,necrozma solgaleo and necrozma lunala, a puzzle of alola, assorted stickers, plastic pokeballs that open (a pokeball, a great ball, a timer ball, and a sports ball), a goh hoodie, and the first two english editions of the pokemon journeys manga.

Moving into stuff i or my friends made, there's my lillie cosplay, printed offical art on my walls, printed fanart my friends made for me also on the walls, a handpainted rock, cross stitch of poipole and cosmog, a second cross stich that's still in progress, and a few other in progress physical fanworks!

My favourite things I own are the puzzle (ITS SO PRETTY), the goh hoodie (you know it doesn't actually have a hood), the cross stitch, and the printed fanart! I know that's more than one but i have a lot of love for them okay!! ><

from the pokemon berry ask game!! send me a pokemon berry and ill answer an associated question!

[ashitpos-t]

omg hes smoking... so scandalous gabe.

[junikshanasar]

bnha chapter 325 thoughts

If last chapter was blowing everything to smithereens, this one was just picking up the pieces to start building our next part of the story.

As usual, I’ll go through it~

Horikoshi just giving Mineta wholesome scenes because he knows we all hate him lol. Seriously speaking though, if this disaster has woken him up and gotten him to mature (which I’m sure it has for the entire class), I don’t mind standing behind him as a character.

Awww this was cute, the role reversal, and it ties nicely with the realization we have going on here with the people helping the heroes who help them. Kota is someone we know Midoriya has rescued personally, so seeing him come to tell Midoriya the same words that saved him is heartwarming.

Also, you can just see the recognition and pleasant bewilderment on Mido’s face, why are the expressions in the art so lovely-

This is so sweet tooooooooooooooo! why is this whole chapter so sweet

But oh man, we see glimpses of discrimination again, most notably against those with mutant quirks (˘･_･˘). It has been brought up before, and hopefully will be again because I found that we see more about discrimination on people with dangerous/unconventional quirks and are usually emitter or transformation. 

Mutant quirk discrimination has been more background until now: just hints of stuff, like how people are scared of Gang Orca, or how Spinner felt rejected for his appearance. I think there was a villain mad about how people hated him for his appearance in the second movie (?), but I haven’t seen it so I don’t really know.

IT’S OUR MAN, MIDO’S FIRST FAN!

that rhymed, nice.

But he puts what Ochako was saying in terms for these dumbfounded civvies to understand, and it’s kind of cool to hear this whole theatre analogy from him, as someone we’ve seen loves watching hero fights as though he were watching a movie (I reread the first chapter for last week’s chapter XD)

Ok but for real, what were these three doing inside UA? Like Shouto was with his classmates to bring back Mido, so what was he doing inside while the rest of his class was outside? I can only assume they were discussing the plans for Touya, considering this comment from Shouto and the Dabi flashback:

Ha ha he’s so cute dammit, I don’t know why but as soon as he showed up this guy became my favourite character. I’ve adopted him, he is my child

This takes Hawks’ attitude about being a hero and puts a wholesome spin on it. Hawks sorta has this lazy, unambitious mask (I don’t want to be Number 3, I wish I had more free time) which pretty much everyone knows is fake, but the notino of having ‘time to kill’ here is now less ‘lazy’, and shows that what he means is less crime, less hate, and more acceptance.

Also lol, Kaminari’s always been super brave man, and now lookit him, not even a bit scared of Bakugou anymore:

Bahahahaha I don’t think any of Class A really is, now. Actually, someone commented on the chapter that Bakugou is glaring at the jerk who was yelling about how sucky heroes are:

lollll, in any case the entire panel is wholesome in general. I’m glad All Might Shirt Guy came around, and Inko finally got to embrace Midoriya

Also!

Aizawa lives! Well obsvly, but we only saw a glimpse of his back earlier and I was starting to miss our favourite teacher

Yeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss I was wondering if they were just keeping Kurogiri locked up and hoping for Oboro to somehow emerge, but it’s nice they’ve already gotten started on trying to bring him and the Nomus back to the people they used to be!

I wonder if they’ll retain their memories or if it will be like waking up from a coma for them.

Totally did not consider this, but I’m glad the heroes did lol. I’m actually looking forward to seeing Toga again, she’s such a delightful character, and her story + conflict with Ochako is def not over yet.

Brooding All Might

I wonder what’s on his mind. I mean, obvsly the situation with Midoriya, but it also seems like he’s walking away from UA? He’s leaving right as Midoirya is arriving? Either he feels guilty for not being able to take care of Midoriya (which I feel isn’t exactly it), or there’s something he needs to take care of. 

Perhaps he’s initializing the first step of this ‘payback’? On the other hand, there’s not much he can actually do in his current state. Well he’s certainly off to do something, but I’m 90% sure it’s on his own. 

Yeah, I have a bad feeling.

[inkymaws]

lookit,, it enderboy,,, ranboo my beloved

i see so many ranboo designs that r practically human so i decided it was enderwalker time. let the boy unhinge his jaw like a snake! its what he deserves!

(this def isnt a criticism of u guys! all love :] i adore every bit of ranboo art i see. all of us who draw ranboo r inherently sexy and awesome and super cool and sexy and awesome)

[changeling-rin]

ART!

DLinktober Day 2: Deity

Drawn by the lovely heathers-blogging-blog!  Lookit you guys, it’s Hylia and her OG Champion and they’re so cute together.  (My headcanon is that the Fierce Deity is actually Hylia’s original Hero and thank you Heather for drawing them together!)

The summary, in Heather’s words: “ok listen,, sometimes you're the goddesses first chosen hero,, and ur like, "dang she's really cool" but then you die before you can really get anywhere with a relationship,, so then you gotta become a war deity so death can't affect you anymore and you can be happy with your super cool goddess gf (plus, now you can pick her up!)”

[jaybug-jabbers]

My Favorite ACNH Villagers by Species

Hey all. I recently was gifted the new Animal Crossing game and have been playing it like mad. I decided to judge all the characters in the game and choose my favorites.

This list is extremely opinion-based, reflecting only my personal tastes. Also, I’m very picky. You’ve been warned.

As a final note, the list may be subject to change as I play the game and meet villagers and experience new stuff. Thus, this is a snapshot of my current impressions.

Alligator: Drago

Standing out among all the other gators, Drago’s appearance as a mythical beast plus a laid-back attitude wins my affection.

Anteater: Anabelle

Anteaters are cool creatures, but pangolins, which Anabelle is based off of, are even COOLER. Her cheerful peppy personality is also a plus.

Bear: Klaus

The designs for all the bears, for some odd reason, seem to universally repel me, except for Klaus, who somewhat intrigues me. I’d never have him in my village, but I appreciate the distinctive design.

Bird: Piper

Finding a Bird that I like is surprisingly difficult. Sparro’s design is nice, but he’s a Jock, which is kind of a killjoy for me. Piper just seems like a nice standard bird.

Bull: Rodeo

While the bright-blue Bull Stu is also a very pleasing design, Rodeo has to be the winner here. His terrifying appearance is at odds with his relaxed personality.

Cat: Raymond

Yes, he’s the super-popular among the popular; the truth is, I love him too. He’s a very striking character.

Chicken: Ken

While Becky and Egbert are also nice-looking chickens, Ken must win for his beautiful dark coloration and the fact he’s a ninja chicken.

Cub: Maple

Judy is immensely popular, due to her beautiful gradient coat and her intensely sparkling eyes, but I’m not sure she’s won me over. I think I prefer the plain, ordinary-colored, cute little Maple. Stitches is another popular Cub, but the stitch-eyes unnerve me terribly.

Deer: Erik

There are so many Deer characters I love! Erik, however, is the sweetest for me.

Dog: Shep

Most of the Dog characters don’t do much for me, just being rather ordinary dog designs. I’m not much of a dog person, anyway. Shep has that cool sheepdog fringe, though, and seems like a pretty cool dude.

Duck: Molly

I’m repelled by all the Duck designs except for Molly. They really went a little nuts with the weird faces for the duck characters, y’know? The popular Ketchup was not selected because I don’t usually like food-based creatures.

Eagle: Amelia

There are a ton of cool Eagle characters! I basically love them all, but I need to pick Amelia because she’s based on the fabulous Caracara.

Elephant: Cyd

Tia is a very popular Elephant, for her adorable design based on a teapot. I admit she’s very cute. But Cyd is … I’m not sure what Cyd is. He’s really weird. I can’t help but be drawn to him. LOOKIT THOSE EYES MAN.

Frog: Jeremiah

The frogs look kind of bad to me, overall. Their gigantic bulbous heads unnerve me. I know the art is a chibi-style, of course, but the heads of the frogs seem oversized even for chibi. Maybe I’m crazy. I dunno, I just don’t care for them much. Ribbot is a popular frog, and I kinda dig the uniqueness of the robot concept, but he’s a Jock, so ehhh, pass. I chose Jeremiah simply for his appealing colors and his name.

Goat: Kidd

I love goats in real life, and I thought I’d like more AC goats, but I don’t really. Sherb is a very popular goat right now, and while he’s cute and all, Kidd seems the coolest to me. He’s purple with nice hair and a well-contrasting horn color.

Gorilla: Boone

I do not like monkey and ape characters. I never have. So I’m very biased here. Boone seems the best of the Gorilla bunch, though, with his bright, eye-catching baboon markings and almost dignified presense. I wouldn’t have him on my island, but he’s the most tolerable.

Hamster: NOPE

There’s something about all the hamsters that troubles me greatly. I could never have any on my island.

Hippo: Bertha

I think it’s hard to make a stylized Hippo character that isn’t at least kinda ugly. They have oddly-shaped honkin’ faces, and it’s awkward. But Bertha is a pretty sweet hippo gal.

Horse: Victoria

There are a lot of horses in the game, including a Zebra, a sparkling Unicorn, a creepy dark horse, and a princely Colton; but I’m choosing Victoria soley for the racehorse motif. This may change over time, but for now I find it charming.

Kangaroo: Walt

While they experimented with a number of eye-catching designs for the Kangaroos, Walt’s understated slate blues and intense face wins me over. Also, he has a cool scar and is a cranky boy.

Koala: Yuka

The enormous noses and widely-spaced eyes of the Koala characters make it difficult to make them cute, but Yuka seems pretty sweet.

Lion: Leopold

I definitely do not care for any of the Lion characters except for Leopold. Leo is a magnificent, regal-looking fellow I would want to have a cup of tea with.

Monkey: Don’t like any of ‘em

I mentioned previously my bias against ape and monkey characters. I can’t possibly choose a favorite from them.

Mouse: Chadder

As with the Hamster characters, I also do not like the Mouse characters. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with the body design, but … hm. Most of the faces for them are unpleasant. Chadder’s face is actually quite neat, though, and I like his little suit. The cheese motif is kinda cute, too.

Octopus: Marina

I love the idea of having an Octopus villager. Octopi are awesome. It will take me time to adjust to the mouth they went with here, though. I think I would have preferred a beak, which is what actual octopi have.

Ostrich: Flora & Julia

I adore almost all of the Ostrich characters. I would be thrilled with any of them. (Except for Queenie. Yuck.)

Penguin: Hopper

Penguins are sweet birds, adored by many, and rightfully so. Hopper is definitely king of the bunch, though–based off the crested penguin, the eye-catching, cranky little fellow will waddle his way into your heart.

Pig: Boris

I’m not normally a fan of pig characters. But there’s something about Boris! What presense he has! What magnificent fangs! What lovely colors and impressive attitude!

Rabbit: NOPE

They sure went all-out on trying out a wide variety of wild faces on these rabbits. I honestly hate ‘em all. Mira comes closest to being OK, but no.

Rhino: Merengue

I previously noted I don’t really care for food-based characters. So I feel quite mixed about Merengue. Animals that are also food disturb me. But her design is admittedly well-done and very cute. She won’t be on my island, but I understand why people like her so much. She’s certainly the most interesting Rhino character.

Sheep: Dom

OK. I know I said how much I dislike Jock personalities. (The reason is simply because it gets tiring to hear them talk about nothing else but working out.) But Dom gets a pass. He’s the only one I will tolerate a Jock personality for. His character design is screamingly adorable and pleasant to look at, and the contrast between a tiny, fluffy cute little sheep wanting to get crunk is hilarious.

Squirrel: Marshal

There are several cute Squirrel characters, including the very lovely Poppy and the skunklike Tasha, but the highly-popular Marshal is popular for a reason. His sweet little grumpy face and simple but effective colors are wonderful.

Tiger: Rolf

There’s something rather dull in the Tiger designs. I don’t know what it is, exactly. Rolf seems to have some attitude and toughness about him, so I chose him, and white tigers are pretty. But overall, the Tigers underwhelm me. This is surprising since I am a big cat fan. I dunno … I think it’s the snout in the big cat design I don’t like. It looks weird.

Wolf: Skye & Kyle

The wolves look really nice in AC, and I like a surprising number of them. I could not settle on a single one, so I chose both Skye for her gorgeous coloration and cute eyes and Kyle for his pretty Wild Dog colors.

[benisasoftboi]

Gushing time.

Rune Factory 4 Special arrived a day early, so my entire day has been consumed in nostalgia. The original Rune Factory 4 was the first video game I ever bought on release day - I remember saving up all my money and making my mum drive me to like three different shops trying to find one that had it. I was already a fan of the franchise - before then, Rune Factory 3 had been my favourite video game, across the board. Aside from a playthrough of the first game last year, I haven’t played a Rune Factory game in a long time, certainly not RF4. But just starting up the game and hearing the music again, it was like it was suddenly seven years ago. Running around Selphia and seeing all the characters again - I love JRPGs, have played a lot of them, and I can think of very few that have characters that have stuck with me this long. And the aesthetics - the best thing about the Rune Factory franchise has always been the aesthetics, the music, the scenic and character design, just the general world. It’s a beautifully whimsical balance of urban and fantasy, and it’s the only JRPG world I think I’ve ever come across that I would genuinely want to live in. Rune Factory may no longer be my favourite game franchise - but I don’t think there has ever been another series that has felt so much like home to me.

Here’s a very long selection of personal highlights from the art book (by which I mean photos of the art followed by my rambling opinions):

Yeah, see, here’s the thing - Rune Factory 1 is not a good game. I could write an entire essay on why it’s bad (I actually started and got pretty damn far before realising no one’s interested in my two thousand word review of a game that came out over a decade ago - the short version is ‘Misty Bloom-fucking-Cave’. Anyone who’s played RF1 knows exactly what I mean). Don’t get me wrong, it has good qualities - excellent boss fights, for one, and also, as with the rest of the franchise, it is aesthetically wonderful. But ultimately, it feels less like playing a video game, and more like playing a proof of concept for a game. Which I guess it kind of was - and I can’t hate it because we wouldn’t have the rest of the series without it.

But it literally ends with a dragon spewing plant breath on a tank to make a turnip grow out of the gun. ‘Profound’, my arse. 

It’s Raguna! The “master sowrdsman!” (that is not a typo on my part that is a direct quote from the ending of Rune Factory 1 this game’s script had so many issues-). And Mist! My favourite of the ‘canon’ love interests!

Best girl! When I was a kid, my favourite love interest in RF1 was Rosetta. As an adult, it is Tabatha. I don’t know what it is about her that I find so likeable (she’s as lacking in personality as any other RF1 character), but... idk, I just like her a lot.

Camus’s big ambition is to leave town like even once. He will never achieve it

Fun fact about Melody is that she’s extremely depressed, a fact that comes up once in an optional side quest and is never addressed again. It’s incredibly dark for an RF game

Fun fact about Lukas is that he sucks (he’s one of those ‘obsessed with talking about how hot all the girls are’ characters, an archetype that thankfully doesn’t show up again in these games). But also, interestingly enough, thanks to one of RF1′s many, many script errors, if you marry Rosetta (the girl Lukas is the most obsessed with), he’s supposed to express disappointment that he lost her to Raguna - but instead, he implies that he’s disappointed to have lost Raguna to her. The translators typoed their way into giving him a sexuality change. Which is honestly kind of amazing.

LOOK AT THIS SLIME THIS IS SUCH A COOL SLIME LITERALLY EVERY OTHER JPRG SLIME GO HOME DRAGON QUEST GET FUCKED (jk I like Dragon Quest a lot and its slimes are cool too). Wish you could see in-game that this is what they’re meant to be like.

I just generally love the monster designs, they’re really charming

Rune Factory 2! The RF game with the most weirdly mundane protagonist name (Kyle. In the main four games of this franchise we’ve got Raguna, Micah, Lest, Frey... and Kyle). The two generations thing was actually very cool, but when they say ‘each chapter captures a different lifestyle’, what they really mean is ‘the first half is a weak Harvest Moon I’m sorry, STORY OF SEASONS game, and the second half is a pretty good Rune Factory game’  

lookit this little fuck

Yue Yue Yue! I love Yue so much, she’s great. She’s kind of like a much chiller version of Anna from Fire Emblem.

It’s really cool that we got to see grown up Cecilia (she was in RF1). I have this silly headcanon that if Kyle doesn’t marry Mana, Nicholas (her friend in 1) comes to visit Cecilia one day in the hazy-post game future, and meets Mana, and they get together. While Yue is my favourite, I do genuinely like Mana a lot, and I just want her to find love, I guess.  

Here’s original Barrett! There’s a reason he was popular enough to make a reappearance (well, aside from the whole grumpy pretty boy thing he’s got going on) - he was a great character in this game. His and Dorothy’s relationship is also definitely the most compelling of the rival romances. Bonus Max, who also has a little shout-out in RF4 (check the diary in what will become Dylas’s bedroom at the start of the game)

Ray is male, but apparently he was originally going to be a female character, as he has an unused portrait in a wedding dress. My friend and I agree that this makes him a Trans Icon

Monster designs remain excellent. Especially the goblins

Skipping over Frontier (and also Oceans later), as I never got to play it growing up due to not having a console, and still haven’t got around to it - might try this summer. Except I do need to point out that these guys should be memes. I don’t know in what way. But they should.  

Rune Factory 3! My first RF game. The transformation thing was very cool, even if it was basically useless outside the main story. My friend and I spent hours mucking about in the WiFi dungeon. I loved the desert settlement and all of the dungeon designs in general, and man, RF3 is just great. I hope it gets a remake one day.

Raven Raven Raven! I LOVE Raven (as do most). Her story with Micah is the first time I can remember getting genuinely invested in a video game romance. I’m so glad she cameos in RF4. I love her. She’s wonderful.

I have an odd fondness for Marian. When I was about twelve, I decided to do a playthrough where I deliberately romanced the least popular bachelorette. After poking around on forums, I determined that character to be Marian, and did a run with her. And... I actually came to really like her. I find her endearing. I get that people find her annoying and don’t like her... unethical medical practices, but doing that run has still made me a pretty protective of her. It’s been a long time since I played RF3, so maybe I’d change my mind if I replayed now, but currently, as far as I’m concerned,  Marian’s a good’un.

I think I also used to low key ship her with Collette lol 

Pia’s official art has always been super weird to me because it’s so not what her character is like in-game. She’s a ditzy airhead. This makes her look so serious

RAINBOW! Another character whose art makes them look way more serious than they actually are. Daria is great and would be a meme if this game was more popular. I think she’s also implied to be a relative of Margaret. 

I’ve always been super confused about what Kuruna’s skirt is meant to be. Is it fur? Is it part of her shirt? Is it even a skirt at all?

Check it out, it’s the guy everyone would ship Micah with if this game was more popular

I want Zaid to make a reappearance and interact with Doug. Pretty sure it’s canon that they’re from the same clan? Think it would be very interesting.

RF3 definitely had the coolest farm. Also, still love the desert settlement.

This is from Oceans, so I have no context, but it’s just so cool that I had to share

Rune Factory 4. Culmination of the series is right - when I was playing it for the first time, I remember being blown away by just how much it is a true love letter to the franchise. I have never come across another game series that so consistently grew and improved from entry to entry. RF4 was a perfect ending.

Not that I’m complaining about getting RF5. Quite the opposite.

But if it had been the end (as we all thought it was until about a year ago), well, like I say. Perfect. 

Well. Aside from soda can nipples. Can’t believe they didn’t fix those. Though in some ways, that would have made me sad too

Dolce has such a cool design, in both human and monster form. I’ve always kind of crack-shipped her with Margaret, for no real reason at all

Vishnal! I love Vishnal. Vishnal is pure as heck. Marrying him this time around.

Doug! My choice from last time around. Another character who looks more serious in his official art than he is in-game (well... most of the time)

And then there’s Dylas, who looks much happier here than he does most of the time. Kind of looks like he and Doug swapped bodies, actually. There’s a fanfic prompt for you.

Their ship name is Dyldo. I love them

Leon is nostalgic for me mostly because my friend and I used to get into a lot of arguments about whether or not he’s the hottest character in the game. She maintains that he is, because muscles. I maintain that muscles aren’t actually that attractive. It is a rift that divides us to this day

(He looks oddly... younger in this art though? Weird)

Sechs Empire is such an unfortunate name. Seriously. How rushed was RF1′s localisation team? All those script errors, and then this (the Sechs were the antagonists in the first game, and were only referenced in passing in the rest until RF4 - so it was a bit of a ‘sins of the father’ situation by then).

Seriously, try saying ‘Sechs Emperor’ out loud and tell me you can take this man seriously 

I??? Love??? Them???

I??? LOVE??? THEM???

Still confused as to why Kiel, Xiao Pai, Arthur and Margaret are on the cover now. Don’t get me wrong, I like them, but... Amber, Dylas, Dolce and Leon made way more sense? Even the Archival Cover makes more sense (Vishnal, Clorica, Forte), as those three are all kind of Lest/Frey’s servants (well, Forte for the whole town, but still). Of those first four, all but Arthur basically lift right out of the game with little-to-no impact on the story

NO HAT TABATHA NO HAT TABATHA

I’ve always really loved this Raven picture

And I am thankful for you <3