#not really redesign yet just me putting my head cannons in

[startuxi0]

Huskerdust/stolitz double date! Part one(you’re here), part two

I saw this lovely post by @loserschmoozer and it’s been stuck in my head ever since, so have this comic that helps me forget how much the full moon absolutely destroyed me!

I also decided to split it into two parts, mainly because Ive already spent nearly 20 hours on this (I work like a fucking snail) and I don’t know how much free time I’ll have in the next two weeks :’) so the last lil bit should be coming sooner or later!

[lepiota-cybe-yippee]

I present to you all my Rarity Redesign!

Now to RANT Rarity came really easy to me. her og design was basic and it felt so- lack luster. I wanted her to really feel ELEGANT. so I put her hair up in a bun with a bow and gave her a pearl necklace with a diamond on it and a comfy yet chic shirt that she made herself. her hair is naturally curly in my au/redesign. I gave her a similar tail to luna because I think that there can variations in unicorn tails, same as Pegasi.

head cannon:

Rarity never really had self-confidence as a filly until she designed an outfit for herself that made her feel... spectacular. When she was old enough she then founded the carousel boutique, she knew her destiny was to help others find themselves through FASHION. thus far she's on a roll. I also think she'll visit fluttershy when she's stressed and just hangs out with her and her animals.

[nana-mizu-shiki]

Some fanart I've drawn for Mlb like 3 months ago!!

These are just redesigns of her costumes but I'm also putting the sketches that came before the final product, in all of them I did age her up so she's like 15/16.

👇

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《♡Marinette Dupain-Cheng♡》

Traits:

Clumsy

Kind

Bashful

Easily flustered

Helpful

Likes:

Pink

Baking

Sewing

Drawing

Designing

Mlle. Mendelieve

Dislikes:

Hawkmoth

Lila Rossi

Spice

Liars

Tricks

Chloé (?)

Mlle. Bustier

Notes:

Most of my drawings will have hints of my own headcannons but I don't remember most so I'll list whichever I do, Ex. this one I know I included MDC Fashion Designer Mari, her hair also looks like their in buns but I just wanted her pigtails poofy, if you like the buns though they can also be that. Honestly don't have much for this one but her hair is black just has a blue tint, I guess. Yeah, she's just a normal civilian and your everyday ladybug. p(^^)q

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《◇Multi-Mouse◇》

Traits:

Heroic

Mischievous

Small

Short

Clever

Aggressive

Quite

Swift

Agile

Flexible

Chaotic good

Independent

Likes:

Cheese

Kwami

Mullo

Pink

Grey

Mischief

Puzzles

Small spaces

Being alone/ small groups of people

Dislikes:

Hawkmoth

Open spaces

Rats

Poison

Being pinned/restricted

Lots of people

Notes:

I made this design first just because I didn't like the Multi-Mouse costume so it inspired my other MLB sketches. The buns on her head and the puffed-up sleeves are supposed to be like mouse ears and her weapon is the tail jump rope in cannon but it disconnects into two whips. Her hair is a black/grey color here with no blue, and her eyes are just black and white but the iris' are heart-shaped purely because I thought it would be cute. I liked the idea of her costumes being more styled to her mother's culture than the skin-tight onesies they have. I feel the Multi-Mouse episode was really underrated and I just loved how op she was wearing All of the Miraculous at once.

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《♧Lady-Luck♧》

Traits:

Heroic

Confident

Strong

Kind

Clever

Flexible

Agile

Leader

Stern

Independent

Likes:

Kwami

Tikki

Red

Black

Order

Creation

White butterflies

Ladybugs

Marigold flowers

Spring

Chát Noir

Ryoku

Cookies

Pastries

Vipeirion

Eiffel tower

Spring

Dislikes:

Hawkmoth

Akuma

Lila

Volpina

Black/Purple Butterflies

The cold

Winter

Bunnix

Notes:

Listen LadyBug is such a basic name for her and she's blessed by Tikki, plus Lady Luck just sounds better to me ok? I know she looks like a knight or something but, again, I hate those skin-tight suits. Her hair is fully blue here and put in a bun which you can see in the sketches, her hair clip/tie also has these antenna-like things that stick up which I thought were clever/cute. You can see in the first sketch how the wings work, I mean I just wanted her to have ladybug wings honestly. She can fly in them though, they aren't just decoration or anything. Her eyes are lighter blue than in the civilian sketch as I wanted to show that the magic of the Miraculous was stronger in protecting The Chosens identity by changing specifics of Chosen rather than just, 'Magic', like in the show.

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《☆Lady-Noir☆》

Traits:

Heroic

Confident

Kind

Sassy

Flexible

Fast

Agile

Tall

Intelligent

Independent

Likes:

Kwami

Plagg

Cheese

Jokes

Chaotic Good

Chaos

Destruction

Mischeif

Black

Green

Neon

White butterflies

Tikki

Rooftops

Running

Occult

Dislikes:

Hawkmoth

Akuma

BugaBoy (Is that his name?)

Lila

Volpina

Sweets

Bright colors

Tight spaces

Notes:

I really like Lady-Noir's eyes here, they're like Chat Blanks glowing blue. She's a kitty with claws and I just really liked this design. I made her really sharp, and I think she'd be more independent and sassy as Lady-Noir. She has a lot of spikes on her and her ears would be more realistic to work shaped like this. I find it funny that I vision her to be the tallest yet she's the only one I zoomed out with when drawing so I could make her boots, making it look like she's supposed to be the smallest.

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Anyways thanks for reading!!!♡☆♡

- [-Nanashi{♡}Mizuki-]

[kouomi]

hi, ik you haven't posted my first request yet, but I was wondering if you could write a soukoko fic where Dazai and Chuuya have been dating for a while and Dazai wants to propose to him, but everytime he thinks is the perfect moment, they get interrupted? Also, I love your work and I'm looking forward to all of your posts <3

Trials and Errors

Warnings: none!

Word Count: 1,364

A/N: this definitely took me way too long to get out. I had to put the beginning like a head cannon because I knew if I didn’t I would’ve made this wayyy too long!

Blog Directory

Posted: December 20th 2021, 6:26 PM ET

so

Dazai has had the ring for literal months, just sitting in the pocket of his overcoat

He bought it one day after seeing Chuuyas eyes linger on the jewelry shops windows a second longer than they normally did, his gaze directed towards the engagement rings. It was subtle, but it was enough for Dazai to pick up on the hidden desire.

It took a few days and Kunikidas reluctant advice, but he had finally bought the perfect ring

And proceeded to not use it

Now, it’s not as if he purposefully kept postponing the proposal

No, it was more like outside forces were so determined to continuously set off his plans that they forced him to repeatedly reschedule and redesign

The first time they were going on a stroll through a park, not really doing anything just being together. Dazai looked at Chuuya and it was like something clicked in that moment.

He reached into his pocket and called Chuuyas name, his fingers curling around the small velvet box

Just as he began to lower himself so he get could down on one knee a phone rang

His, to be exact

Atsushi had never been more scared of Dazai than he was when he answered that call

Literally thought he was going to die

The second time he’d managed to drag Chuuya to a restaurant

Don’t ask him how because even he doesn’t know how, it was one of very few times they’d ever set foot in one together

So he took this as some kind of sign and decided to propose there

After they had finished eating he inconspicuously stuffed his hand in the pocket the little velvet box sat in, nodding along to what Chuuya was saying as he did so

Right as he pulled it out and started glancing to the side to get out of his chair, clapping breaks out across the restaurant

He looks towards the source of the commotion and has to stop himself from complaining out loud, his expression immediately turning sour

A few tables away a couple was smiling at each other as the man slide a ring on his now fiancées finger

Dazai quickly turned away and dropped his ring back into his pocket with a small grumble

He couldn’t propose immediately after them, that ruined the whole idea of it being a special thing for the two of them

So he waited for the next opportunity

It came, but was interrupted by Chuuya suddenly being called into a meeting

Then the Guild showed up

Then the Mafia attacked the Agency (they got into a fight after that one)

Three other attempts came and were shot down before they could even begin, and by that point Dazai was fed up

He wanted to propose so badly, the urge building up like a fifty pound weight weighing down on his shoulders that only got heavier the longer it was prolonged

He was going to propose, there was no doubt about it

Dazai let out a heavy breath as he stood outside Chuuyas door, rolling his shoulders as he feels nerves roll over him. He had felt like this every time he went to see his boyfriend following his decision to propose, tossed between a constant state of nervousness and confidence on nearly an hourly basis. It was like being in a ship on the high seas during a hurricane, the ship being made of the box that continues to make its home in his pocket and the storm the events that continued to keep it in there. It was beginning to come to a breaking point, seasickness ruling over his gut and the bow of the ship beginning to crack and pull apart.

He had originally come to Chuuyas apartment with the intent of dropping in to say hi before they were pulled back to work for an unprecedented time apart, but he had a sudden determination to propose here and now. There may be no other chance to do so, considering how anytime he had decided to commit to the looming idea something managed to ruin his plans. Here, right outside his apartment with nothing and no one else around, it was impossible to be interrupted.

Yes, he decided as the front door opened, he would be proposing in this exact moment.

Chuuyas eyes meet Dazais for a split second and he opens his mouth to say something but is ultimately cut off by the man across from him kneeling down. He stares at him incredulously as he reaches a hand into the pocket of his overcoat and pulls something out, something that looks ridiculously similar to a engagement ring box. Dazai smiles up at him as he holds it out and gently opens it, revealing the ring that sat inside in between two plush velvet cushions.

“Nakahara Chuuya,” He begins, ignoring the gaping expression on his face, “Would you do me — and you — the pleasure of marrying me?”

Chuuya doesn’t reply, only continues to stare with wide eyes and his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he attempts and fails to reply. Dazai keeps his cool expression and smug smile while trying to ignore the way his heart beats faster than it ever had before. He was more nervous in this moment now than he had been in the moments before the multiple times he almost proposed all put together, dozens upon dozens of unclear thoughts running through his head as he awaited Chuuyas answer. They continue to stare at each other, their eyes locked onto one another’s as if searching for some hidden answer, something telling them how this would turn out in the others irises but find nothing other than the same eyes they had been looking into for years. Maybe, they thought, that was the answer; they found nothing but each other because that was all they were meant to find. Maybe that was the only thing they needed, the only extra push required to come to a decision.

Chuuya straightens his back and brings his feet together to stand fully before Dazai, blinking down at him once more before opening his mouth to reply.

“I-“

Dazai leans closer as he waits for the rest of the answer as if leaning on the edge of his seat at the end of a movie, but it never comes. Instead, Chuuya is interrupted by the gentle ding of the elevator down the hall shortly followed by a pair of footsteps approaching the apartment.

“Chuuya, you’re needed-“ Akutagawa starts, but is ultimately cut off when Dazai lifts one of his legs to kick him back down the hall. He doesn’t look towards him even after a large crash is heard, only wipes his face of the sour expression it had taken on when he’d heard his voice and replaces it with a smile as he looks back to Chuuya.

“You were saying?” He asks.

Chuuya blinks a few times and glances out into the hallway for a few seconds before clearing his throat and crossing his arms over his chest.

“You know I’m not wearing that ring around, right?” He says with fake annoyance, turning up his chin only to glance back down at him.

Dazai can’t resist the grin that tugs at the corners of his lips as he stands, looking down at Chuuya with nothing but cocky adoration.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do this.” He says quietly.

Chuuya looks up at him with confusion but Dazai doesn’t answer it, instead looming closer and pressing his lips to his. This made it all worth it, he thought, the multiple failed and interrupted attempts at proposal were worth it for the amount of joy and warming love that flowed through him in this moment.

Dazai takes a few steps forward as the couple stumble into Chuuyas apartment and closes the door with his foot, ignoring Akutagawa who stood outside watching on with horror-filled confusion.

Masterlist

if you liked this consider following! :)

[ssnakey-b]

Square-Enix announces FFVIII remaster. I wish I could be excited about it.

Me desperately trying to convince myself that I'm happy we got some acknowledgement of the 20th anniversary.

So Square-Enix just announced that Final Fantasy VIII is getting a remaster and first things first, in case you haven’t seen it yet, here it is:

Many of us FF8 fans are of course very excited about this announcement and even though I made sure not to set my expectations too high when I first heard the rumours, I too was happy to learn that Square-Enix was acknowledging the 20th anniversary of our favourite game, and that it was finally getting some recognition outside of crossovers and the occasional cameo or reference.

But then, I watched the trailer again and as the euphoria of the original announcement faded, I started noticing some things I was less than impressed by, and within an hour, I came to the realization that... I just plain don’t like the direction where this thing is going.

Let’s look at the characters one by one and let’s immediately address the elephant in the room:

Squall’s stupid Dissidia face. This was an immediate disappointment. At least they stuck to his original outfit, I suppose, but man, I cannot comprehend this decision. Why? Why can’t they leave the original design alone? Everyone loves that design, even the people who hate Squall. And why mess with the character’s design in a product that’s made solely as fanservice for long time fans?! Why must Dissidia replace every. Goddamn. Thing whether the fans like it or not?!

That’s actually a joke I made to myself. “Man, can you imagine if at E3 they announced that they’d just replace Squall’s model with the Dissidia one! HA HA HA!” and I actually didn’t even bring it up in the Discord because I didn’t want to be obnoxious with yet more bashing of Squall’s Dissidia redesign. And yet, here we are, they actually fucking did it. They actually just took the original FF8 and fucked it up by putting Dissidia Squall in it. Guess I am justified in my bashing (and I do like the Dissidia games a lot, make no mistake, I just can’t stand that stupid and pointless redesign of Squall).

And it’s not just that it’s different, and it’s not just because it’s blatantly a recycled asset that’s been retooled slightly, it really does look terrible to me. I really don’t like his overly thin face, his overly soft features, and the fact that he generally looks like he’s 14. Yes, I know he’s a teenager, but he’ still not THIS young, and his original design really gave you the impression that it was someone who trained to be a professional fighter, as opposed to a shoujo manga character.

The hair also looks off. It looks less like hair and more like a plastic helmet or something.

And I know people made jokes about how spiky it was in the original game due to the technical limitations of the time, but it still looked good in my opinion, and it was designed in such a way that it actually looked like his biggest bangs rested naturally on his ears. Here his hair just makes weird solid spikes because... I don’t know, he’s related to Phoenix Wright, now? I used to joke that Squall must be the type of guy who spends hours making it look like he spends no time on his looks, but here it really looks like the dude is just slathering his hair in gel to create these spikes and make them fashionable.

And speaking of the bangs, I have no idea why they thought making the ones on the sides of his head all curvy was a good idea. To me, it just looks like armpit hair, or really unkempt sideburns. I’m just amazed by how not a single strand of hair on that model wants to obey the laws of physics.

These changes are especially jarring to me considering they apparently haven’t touched the CGI cutscenes, making it blatant that it’s not what he’s supposed to look like. So at least it’s creating inconsistencies that didn’t exist in the original game, so that’s a bonus.

Also, looking at the folds on his jacket, they... really don’t look good. Looking back at the original model, they really knew how to work with the limitations of the time, so the folds are more understated, yet at the same time, there was more of a contrast with the rest of the jacket, making it again look more real in spite of the lower resolution.

Oh and it looks like they gave him skinny legs like in Dissidia because Heaven forbid that a professional mercenary looks like received para-military training.

Next on the list is Quistis and she does look a lot better than Squall. I especially like how serious she looks. All business all the time. But again, the hair is where it falters. It looks weirdly... poofy, for lack of a better word, compared to her original self and much like Squall’s jacket, the texture of it feels far less sharp than originally, especially when you look at where the bangs meet the pulled back part of her hair. It really feels like there should be a bigger contrast in the shading to highlight the shape of it and give it more volume.

Again, compare with the original, which had a much sharper contrast between the shadows and the highlights, and so made it look a lot more voluminous and lively. Also notice that there was more shading on the original model, giving it a more defined shape. And much like with Squall, the hair gives me that weird impression of just being clipped on and not actually connected to the head, which wasn’t a problem with the older models. This will continue to be a trend, but more on that later.

The same goes for the clothes. Again, in spite of being lower resolution, you can see folds and you can easily imagine the texture of it, but in this trailer, everything is completely smooth and flat. It really takes away from the personality this outfit shows.

Then, there’s Linoa, and she too I’m pretty sure is based off her Dissidia design, though there’s a bigger chance they actually made a new model seeing how Dissidia NT models have a much higher polycount than the PSP games. Now, I actually liked her Dissidia redesign. It wasn’t quite the same as in the original game, but I liked how they made her look more mature and even a bit curvier, which makes sense since it’s set after the events of each character’s game.

So even though the rounder face seems a bit odd in the original game, I can could have been happy with it and besides, there seemed to be quite a few differences between her CGI model and her battle model in FF8 anyway, so I’m not gonna complain about it looking a bit different. But then, once again, there’s the hair...

So... what happened to her caramel strands? You know, the signature part of her looks? If you look veeeeery closely during the video, there’s what might be a couple very faded strands, but the fact that I’m not sure should tell you everything you need to know, as they’re pretty much gone. And overall, the modeling just isn’t very good and much like with Squall, her bangs just look weird, overly stiff and spiky. Unlike with the original model, it feels like it was cut out that way like cardboard or something rather than naturally following the shape of her head.

One positive I’ll give it is that we can clearly see the two rings on her necklace, and I’ll give them bonus points if there’s only one before Squall hands her his ring.

On to Selphie.

...

She actually looks fine and is definitely the one who comes out the best from this whole thing. No complaints there, even though we don’t get to see much of her. Even her wristband/bracelet thing is more detailed, which will come in very handy for fan art.

Next is Zell. Now, I’ve seen people mention/complain that they gave him a babyface, but I actually don’t mind that. Zell’s whole deal is that he’s trying to act tough and dangerous even though he’s clearly a loving mama’s boy, so it fits in that he’d look more youthful and innocent. Hell, one could even argue it explains why he wanted to get a face tattoo. No, I have far more of an issue with everyone else having baby faces as well.

And last but not least, we have Irvine. Now face-ise, I don’t have much of a problem with it, looks pretty good. The bangs are a little weird and again give me that cardboard/wood cutout feel, but still, doesn’t look bad.

What does look bad is Irvine’s shotgun:

The barrels look weird, right? Well that’s because as you may have noticed, the texture for the holes isn’t aligned with the 3D model. That’s also why you can see a bit of wood texture on one of the cannons. And you can’t see it very well on this screenshot, but the chamber also has mismatching textures.

That’s right, in the trailer announcing a remaster that's supposed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the game, a product whose only purpose is to make the game look better, they felt comfortable showing us graphical issues that weren’t present in the original game.

Now sure, this will probably be fixed by the time the remaster gets released (at least I hope it will) but I cannot stress this enough, the one thing this remaster is supposed to do is make the game look better and the big announcement trailer cannot even promise us decent texturing.

It also says a lot about the different treatment of fandoms that on the same day, FF7 fans get more insight on an awesome remake of a game that’s already been ported to pretty much every current system in existence, has had multiple sequels, spin-offs and adaptations and constantly gets referenced in other games, with all the love and care that one should expect from a major AAA project but for FF8 fans, proper texture mapping is too much to ask.

It just boggles my mind that a major publisher would create a trailer blatantly showing broken graphics, but to do so for a remaster is just incomprehensible to me.

And speaking of the textures, this leads me to my main issue with these models, which is that they just plain don’t look good. Final Fantasy VIII had a really strong visual identity and compared to the rest of the games, it looked extremely realistic, to the point that even the more recent games that do go for a more realistic feel, like XIII or XV, still have a more overtly fantasy feel. And FFVIII pulled off that realistic style amazingly well. Even though it was made using technology that wasn’t anywhere near as advanced as what we have to day, they still felt like flesh and bone people, and that made them that much more relatable.

But here, that strong identity has been completely neutered. Everything looks way too soft and clean. The textures have no definition to them and are overly smooth; they look airbrushed. And look, I’m not gonna pretend that the characters in the original looked gritty or anything, they were still pretty boys and girls, but they were believable pretty boys and girls. There was still something about them that made it feels like they could be people you’d meet in the streets. Here, their uncannily smooth and featureless skin looks like plastic. They look like action figures.

These models not only look bland and boring IMO, but they just do not fit with the style of FF8, which is going to be especially jarring considering they apparently don’t intend to upgrade the backgrounds. Hell, these models don’t even fit with one-another, as Squall and Linoa really don’t look like they belong with the rest of the team, IMO.

To really ram home how badly this remaster fails to understand FFVIII’s aesthetic, just look at this comparison, which just made me go “Urgh!” when I saw it. Just look Squall and Quistis don’t fit in with this environment. See how especially out of place Squall looks. Behold how stiff and awkward his hair is. Marvel at his collar made of crumbled up tissue paper! Admire how his once intense expression now looks bland and boring! Behold how what few folds left on Quistis’ overly smooth outfits no longer follow the shape of her body! Gaze in wonder at how lifeless these soulless mannequins look.

It’s just so sad and what makes it worse is that just a few months ago, we had the FF8 Mobius event which gave us an HD version of Squall and Ultimecia and that looked amazing! Now obviously a full game with that look wasn’t gonna happen, but I really would have hoped that they’d at least use it as a guideline for the direction to take the art in. Instead, all we get for the 20th anniversary is a remaster that can’t even promise to look as good as the original.

It’s just so sad, and some people are already defending it by saying that we should be happy we got anything at all, or that we shouldn’t be “ungrateful” about it. No! We shouldn’t be content with mediocrity just because it’s better than nothing, especially when I’m not convinced it is. It’s a terribly apathetic to have, and I’m pretty sure it’s the exact sort of attitude AAA companies want to cultivate: be happy with what you get because you ain’t getting anything else.

As for being ungrateful, that’s just laughable. They’re not giving us a present, people, it’s a re-release of a 20 year-old game and as far as I can tell, all they’re doing is change the 3D models, and we’re still gonna have to pay for it. It’s a glorified mod and yet it barely competes with fan-made ones.

Add to this how quickly slapped together the trailer blatantly was, using what is hopefully an early build of the remaster and being half made of CGI footage despite the fact that they don’t appear to have done anything new to it, and it really doesn’t give me the vibe of something made with love.

Honestly, I used to think I was gonna buy it either way, partly because I still wanted to see how it was, partly because I wanted to support Square-Enix but honestly, seeing how this is shaping up, I don’t want to support this any more. I already bought the game on PS1 and PC, why should I buy it a third time in a worse-looking version?

Look, I really wanted to get excited for this. I really wanted to celebrate some new official FF8 content with everyone, but I can only judge it from what I’m seeing, and what I’m seeing is an unfitting art direction, recycled assets and mismatched textures. I just cannot bring myself to cheer on something that really doesn’t seem

So unless they really show us stuff that blows me away before release, I think I’ll stick with the PC version (or maybe the PS1 version on emulators if I’m feeling REALLY nostalgic), even if there is no good reason why it should still be doing such a better job of improving the game’s graphics than an official remaster. Oh and by the way, let us not forget that this is something that console players don’t get the luxury to do since FF8 was infamously not ported to modern consoles, unlike all the other ones. So if you play on consoles and want to play the original without the remastered graphics, fuck you, I guess.

Yep, still the best looking guy here.

[jewishlensnart]

So it’s the holiday season, which in a lot of households means presents. You know who has more merch than almost any other Flash villain (1. being Reverse Flash as of my last count)? Captain Cold!

Have a Len lover in your life? Need to give your family gift ideas? Peep this list, y’all!

I used to own...basically everything with Len on it. I had the largest Flash collection in the southern US until about 3 years ago, when I sold the vast majority of it, and gave away even more. These reviews come from in-hand experience. Let’s start with the Original Lad:

DC Direct Captain Cold

Holy macaroni, was this figure terrible. Yes it was comic-accurate at the time, but you could not pose it, you could not keep it standing, and the face when you removed the glasses? Nightmare fuel. Still, it was a figure from 2001, and they really were doing their best, so I’d have to rate this guy a 2 out of 5.

These next two came out around roughly the same time, but could not be more different in quality. First up, DC Direct Justice Captain Cold

Strictly speaking, this figure was beautiful. Yeah it was in the hyper-realistic style of Alex Ross, who I’ve never been a fan of, but it was toned down in a way that made it less uncanny valley. The figure had stubble painted on, and if you removed the hood (which you technically could but shouldn’t), he had hair under there! But still, this was a DC Direct figure from 2008, so it had all the same flaws that a figure from that time period tended to have: absolutely a bitch to pose, hard to keep upright without the base (I let mine lean against the wall whenever I needed the base for even more precarious figures), joints prone to snapping if you worked him too hard. Still, by far my favorite of the DC Direct/Collectibles Len figures, if not my favorite full-size figure. 4.5 of 5.

Meanwhile in big box stores across the nation, DC Universe Classics was releasing their best wave yet, wave 7. Man, I had that whole thing aside from Aquaman; Big Barda, Flash, Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and of course, Captain Cold

This is the ugliest Len figure. Hands down, the least visually appealing. Which is a shame, because it’s also one of the best! Completely comic accurate until you hit the upper torso/head area, a ridiculous amount of articulation, with the single best cold gun of any of these figures...but jfc that expression. The weird poncho/hood always bothered me too, because while it was almost comic accurate, something just threw it off the track and made it look more ridiculous than cool. 3.5 out of 5.

After the New 52 hit, DC Collectibles released 2 Captain Cold figures in rapid succession, one that was packaged alone, and one that came as part of a 7-figure set

Can you spot the differences? There’s just one: the Len from the 7-figure set is in a dark blue suit, and doesn’t come with the ice mace and ice dagger. Like all DC Direct figures before them, these DC Collectibles figures are pretty to look at, but offer very little in the way of articulation. They could be hard to keep upright, which was annoying, as neither came with a stand, and do not try to take off the hood. Nothing under there. Still, they were very pretty depictions of a popular redesign, so I feel alright giving these guys a 3 of 5.

DC Collectibles spat out a final Len figure for the CWverse line back in 2015

As a big fan of Wentworth Miller and his face, I feel this figure could have been better. I mean, I’ve seen Arrowverse figures that are spot on, and this one just is not. Maybe it’s because the goggles obscure a good portion of the face, I don’t know. That being said, I love this figure, and it’s actually one I re-bought at a convention recently, along with the Heatwave figure from the same line, that hadn’t been released when I’d started selling off all of my toys. The costume is show-accurate, the figure comes with an extra set of hands, and the gun is just really cool. This is a solid 4 of 5 figure.

These next toys aren’t action figures per say, as they don’t do much in the way of action, but they’re cute and I like them, for the most part.

Funko took over the market and the world back in 2010 when it first introduced the Pop Vinyl figures, but it took a hit TV show to get Flash villains other than the Reverse Flash into production. There are 3 Captain Cold Funko products currently out, the two Pop Vinyls and a Re-Action figure

Now, I love the first Pop Vinyl. The round, lifeless black eyes of the Pops have freaked me out for a long time, but with Len in his sweet goggles, this Pop is perfect for me. I actually have him on a shelf in my closet. The variant...look, I like how they included the actual real-life hairline Wentworth Miller has, but those creepy eyes just kill it for me. The Re-Action figure, by the way, is garbage. They’re supposed to be based on the lines of toys that came out back in the 80s, but all that means to me is little to no articulation, weird molds that look nothing like the character they’re supposed to be, and few if any accessories. Why is he wearing a tie??? Just. The worst. 5 of 5 for Pop 1, 3 of 5 for Pop 2, and 1 of 5 for the Re-Action figure.

There are a bunch of figures that came out before Funko’s reign that have little to no articulation, and here they are:

Action League Citizen Cold, from the Batman: The Brave and the Bold line

I love a good boy??? 5 of 5, absolutely perfect. No you can’t pose him, but he already comes in a dynamic, interesting pose. This is my absolute favorite of all the non-poseable figures, and I miss mine all the time.

Imaginext, a line of toys for very young superhero fans, made a New 52 Captain Cold a few years back

Honestly, Imaginext toys are ridiculous, and I love every single one of them. They’re great toys for little kids, and yeah, Len is completely bald underneath that hoodie and ice gun backpack, but he has a snowball cannon to compensate with, so who’s the real loser?! 5 of 5, beautiful.

Did you kno w that back in 2011, McDonalds put out a line of Happy Meal Young Justice toys featuring Captain Cold??? Did you want to know? Too bad, you know now.

My dad’s dog chewed up his ice projectile, rendering the actual immobile figure completely useless...but I still really like it??? Like, it’s a toy that came with food that I sweet-talked the counter guy into giving me. It’s a worthless little nothing of a toy...but I still like it. 3 of 5.

Pocket Heroes were a weird little line of 3-inch figures that came in two-packs. One of those packs contained Flash and Captain Cold

You can basically only move their arms and legs, and while this figure comes with a cold gun and a remarkably ripped set of abs and pecs, the design never really appealed to me. 2.5 out of 5.

I collected MiniMates once upon a time. 2.5 inch figures that were basically fancy LEGOs? Deal me in! ViniMates are uh. Not that.

ViniMates are 6-inch figures and I Do Not Like Them. Being made of vinyl makes them almost completely free of articulation, so the post you get them in is the one they stay in. Also, this one is based on the show-interpretation of Len and it seems to be smoldering at me. Don’t like that. 1 out of 5.

On the other end of the vinyl spectrum, the Mini-Mezitz line from Mezco is simply delightful.

Mini-Mezitz were 2-inch figures with articulation in their arms, legs, and neck joints. I love mine, and they have been hanging out on the top of my bookcase for like 7 years now. 4 out of 5, absolutely weird-dorable.

Eaglemoss once put my blog on the front page of their website without telling me, back when I was actively snapping pictures of my Flash collection. The Eaglemoss lead figures, once you get past the fact that yes, these dudes are made of painted lead so maybe handle with care, are a good staple in any collection. Captain Cold got two

Both Eaglemoss figures came with information booklets about Captain Cold, though the chess piece New 52 version focused almost solely on his New 52 history. They’re both very detailed, and I really like them. 3.5 out of 5.

I never watched Thomas the Tank Engine as a kid...but I saw this weirdass thing in a HomeGoods one day and just kinda. Stopped and stared.

He’s a train. Len is a train now. Don’t like it. 1 out of 5.

So there’s this company called Kotobukiya. They’re most famous for their bishoujo statues, but they make guys too. I had the Flash Kotobukiya statue, back in the day. I was not collecting Flash stuff when they made a Captain Cold one.

I’m actually apparently getting this as a gift from my boyfriend for Hanukkah. He finally got access to my wishlist. This statue is based on the Francis Manapul New 52 redesign, and it is what we call Big Sexy. Frankly, I give it a 5 out of 5.

No offense to Wentworth Miller, but my favorite Captain Cold TV appearance is always going to be his role in the JLU episode, Flash and Substance.

The JLU figures were all godawful, but hell if we as a fandom didn’t gobble them up back in the day. I had all the available Rogues, Len, Heatwave, Captain Boomerang, Weather Wizard, “Justice Lords Flash” (who was really just Reverse Flash, let’s be real), Mirror Master...it’s the most complete set of Rogues you can get, actually. But they were terrible figures; the Dorito-like shape of the shoulder to waist ratio combined with the narrow feet of the figure guaranteed that these toys would not stay upright without a stand. They had no articulation, and most came without weapons. But you could get three-packs of them in Target for like $12, and they were designed with children in mind, so. 3.5 out of 5, because frankly, the Timmverse designs will always tug at my nostalgia strings.

Captain Cold is available in two official LEGO forms

The first is from the Mighty Macros line, and features Len vs the Flash in a racecar vs snowmobile race. It’s very cute and easy to build. The second is the more challenging Gorilla Grodd Goes Bananas set, which also includes Flash, Grodd, and strangely enough, Batman and Wonder Woman. I never owned that set, and it’s pretty hard to find these days, regularly running $80 and up. Both sets are a 5 out of 5, though, because LEGO does not mess around when it comes to quality fun.

I saved my favorites for last. In the 70s, there was a line of toys called MEGOs, which were plastic-bodied toys with cloth suits. Mattel, and later the Figures Toy Company, would both do their own versions of Captain Cold

The first version, by Mattel, is amazing. Mine is literally sitting next to me as I type this. I took him to Universal with me when I won a trip to Halloween Horror Nights back in 2015, I take him to the movies with me when I don’t have anyone else to go with, he’s my little buddy. My dad’s dog, again, chewed his left arm completely off at one point, but I don’t care. I love him. As for the Figures Toys version, I actually won a fairly cheap auction for him earlier this week, so we shall see! I don’t know if I like how he has the whole “Super Friends hypothermia Len” look going on, but I do like how his costume isn’t just cheap, tearable vinyl. We shall see what’s under that hood soon. I give the Mattel one a 5 out of 5 for the years of joy he’s given me. The Figures Toys one is pending, but I’m gonna give a tentative 4 out of 5, because it really does look nice.

You could get Len in other forms, like as a game piece in the Heroclix and Dice Masters games, as a paintable figure for a Batman tabletop roleplaying game, as trading cards, as a set of guitar picks, as a card holder, as a very hard to find but still lovely statue from DC Direct, in official pin form from Funko and Fansets, on an old 7-Eleven cup, and of course, in the pages of the comics...but I’ve always liked toys, so that’s what I decided to go over. Hope y’all enjoyed this, and maybe got some ideas for your own collections.

[theicombaticon]

📌 7 and 🎇 14

Sure!

📌 7. Do you have characters that you know you’ll never use, but can’t bear to get rid of/recycle?

Most of them aren’t per say ones “I’ll never use” but more “ones I haven’t found a place to use them in.” Like putting aside random head-cannons/reinterpretations for some characters from other franchises (which I don’t think really count here), the main one I can name of the top of my head is Eva (this was the only drawing I have of her/them up on here atm), who started out as a redesign/characterization of my player character from Yugioh: Duel Transfer, ho then got turned into a charatcer from various different ideas for a Yugioh continuation, who then has occasionally popped up in other story ideas, and just in general has been around for quite some time doing quite a number of things. I just can’t seem to let her/them go (part of it being the fact that drawing her/them helped get me comfortable with my drawing abilities again after a long period of self-doubt/hatred). Seriously she/they WILL find a story…it just hasn’t been found yet.

🎇 14. When writing for specific characters, is there anything you have to do to get into the right mindset?

Not especially most of the time? Like sure, I’ll sometimes listen to music or something that makes me think of them, but honestly just pacing/going jogging is what helps me figure out basically everyone/thing I write equally. I’ll think over scenarios multiple times during it, and I’ll add on/take away from them the more I sort them out, but it’s that movement and sense of literally moving forward that helps me out a lot (even partially acting it out during this helps…as long as it isn’t visible to anyone else, of course)

[dumbbellpony]

The Bestest Granddaughter-

“Grampa, grampa!”  Cherry was fierce like a lion, wriggling and scrambling out of her father’s clutches as she half ran, half glided over to the older stallion who stood in their front lawn. She jumped up and clung to his green polo shirt in the smallest yet mightiest bearhug she could manage.  Bow had the filly tightly in his arms, with any other foal, the hug might have been too tight.

“Ah, there she is, the greatest grand kid ever! The great, the mighty, and most amazing little fire brand to fly the equestria skies graces me with her presence. How’ve you been, rocket?”

 “It’s been great! First, I made a ton of new friends! Like a whole classroom full, and I got an awesome new camera, I'm learning how to swim, there’s a big forest with a lot of big monsters in it , a bowling alley, apples for days, and I almost got my head chewed off by a red ant!” Cherry Bomber’s wings flittered excitedly. “It’s been crazy!”

Bow Hothoof chuckled deeply. “So you’ve been  having fun without me, huh?”

For a moment Cherry paused, as if caught in a lie. “But it’s not as fun without you here!”

Bow smirked. “You don’t have to tell fibs for my sake, sweetness. I’m glad you like it here, I feel a lot better knowing you’ve settled in to Ponyville, the place where all of your mama’s finest memories were made.”

 “What,” Dumbbell walked up, interrupting their chat. “What was that about ants and chewing off your head?”

Cherry’s cheek’s puffed out in concentration. “Um, the teacher said I wasn’t supposed to tell nobody about that. Sooo...I’m not gonna say.”  

Bow looked down at his grandchild then up at his son in law, who looked down at his daughter with a look of bewilderment. Cherry sunk down in his arms, cheeks still puffed, trying to stay resilient.

“I brought those firecrackers you wanted to see.”  Bow said.

“YEEEAAH!” Cherry launched up, like a literal rocket, she even did a flip before plopping down onto his shoulders. “Can I see em? I wanna see them!”

“Let’s wait until later tonight, hun.” Bow answered as he tickled his granddaughter’s belly. “These babies look their best at night. Fountains, spinners, sparklers, got a few repeaters in there, we got the whole ninie yards really. And I even tried a few of your ideas, I think you’re gonna love them.”

 _ _ _

Parental Glidance is the best episode this season has put out  so far.  I love Dash’s parents so much.  There was a brief moment where I was conflicted about using them or keeping my headcanon parents for Dash. But her folks are just too adorable. I love how Dash is just like her parents but is in denial about it, from her crazy fangirling to her unpredictable moodiness, they are truly peas from the same pod. So adorable all around.

I have this headcanon that Dash's  parents are/were like the ultimate losers who put every ounce of their pride and self worth into their child.  Like at prom if there was a prize for whatever the opposite of prom king and queen is, they won it.  But they likely didn't care. too busy being  nerds in luv.  This likely means Dash got her actual talent from somewhere else. So as far as my headcanon Dash mom is concerned (Aerheart)  I think I’ll turn her into an aunt. I’d just recently given her a redesign and everything so I would feel bad to trash her now.

I know the fandom gushes all over Windy Whistles but my heart goes with Bow Hothoof. I was sold with him when he revealed his Rainbow Dash shirt, and won me over again with the angelic door thing, and then AGAIN when he ran out of the locker room crying “Is there nothing you can’t doooo.”  Like omg he is the cutest stallion to ever be on this show.

What clinched the deal was the part where they start shooting fireworks out of that cannon, almost exploding the Wonderbolts.  My headcanon for my now defunct Rainbow Dad (his name was going to be Spectral Rays) was that he inherited a fireworks factory from a crazy brother, and the Rainbow Dash family tree is filled with people who are either “Gotta Go Fast” or “It’s time to blow stuff up” with Cherry being the latest in the “blow stuff up” side of the family.  So when I saw Dash’s parents throwing dangerous exploding fireworks at their daughter I was like  “Well dang...that’s basically Cherry Bomber right there.” So I’m accepting the show’s canon and simply infusing it with my own headcanon.

This pic happens maybe a year or so after Hightide has been born. Cherry's grandparents decide to fly down to Ponyville for a visit.  Cherry is a pony after Bow's own heart and she has missed him dearly.