#probably in a chibi style of some sort

[egg-baby-official]

I drew this months ago but never posted it. Baby children

[gracefireheart]

Did some fanart of @lenny-link TF2 x SU AU, 'cause I just went haywire for it :')

So have one drawing of me attempting to do a Heavy + Medic fusion (which I chose an Andalusite for), who are being lil' shits towards Scout. And one drawing of Peridot!Engineer in my more chibi-like style :]

(some small ideas I had below the keep reading line)

So, first off, I couldn't really see what gem Medic was, so I decided to just go with Red Agate. Mostly 'cause it's a gem that's a mix of red and white colors.

Now onto the lil' idea I had, which is Medic's power. Sure, it could be fun that he had just straight up healing powers (even if it's probably just Diamonds that have that power, but let's ignore that), but I thought about something else: An ability to enhance other gem's abilities. The ability only works when close to/touching the another gem, which- at the beginning- would mostly be gems that had moreso elemental, psychic-esque powers, or something else long-range rather than the gems who's prowess was mostly their brute strength or speed.

However. When fused with another gem, that enhancement ability of Medic's is way stronger. For Heavy, he will be way more physically powerful than he would be fused with anyone else. For Sniper, his arrows will not only multiply, but home towards their target or have some sort of elemental effect to it. Etc. Etc.

[timbit-robin-art]

I am loving your x-men art atm!! It is all so good and so cute!! Especially your chibi versions!! And I am very intrigued by your recent band au too! Logan as the reluctant yet supportive teacher is perfect! I'd love to hear more about that!! Xxxxxxx

More about Mr. Logan? Let’s see.

I think it’s a very funny idea that his backstory is the exact same despite it being an X-Men-less universe. He’s still Weapon X and did military work, it’s just that once he decided he was done with it all, he decided to become a teacher at the private school. You find this out when he’s whisked away for S.H.I.E.L.D shenanigans while the band is doing some mundane activity. Cue everyone trying to get Kurt’s chemistry grade up periodically interrupted by Mr. Logan going through actual hell.

I mentioned before that I think he knows the bass. It’s just a hobby of his, mostly to take his mind off of things, so no one else really knows he can play. Except for one specific alumni;

Mr. Logan actually recommended Rogue to Xavier’s mutant education scholarship after having a chance encounter with her. While she refused to take residency up in the Institute, she eventually gave into Mr. Logan’s urges to at least attend the school. This is the start of their delinquent-child-who-gets-adopted-by-the-gruff-old-man dynamic. Mr. Logan eventually teaches her the bass, and she really takes off with it. I can see her being a part of her own southern fem punk band after she graduates.

(I think it goes without saying that Rogue is the group’s vodka wine aunt that makes her occasional appearance. When Mr. Logan is preoccupied, leave it to Rogue to recklessly drive them to their gigs.)

Also, while we’re talking about the band universe, I think I figured out the eventual 5th member;

Meet Kitty Pryde, the freshmen that joins as their second guitar. She also knows how to play piano, but she prefers the mobility guitar grants her (she cannot stand still when she plays music). She probably met Kurt first in the music room while she was practicing for a piano recital. Though Kurt can recognize the musical talent she has, she can tell her heart isn’t into it. So now there’s a montage of Kurt and Kitty messing around with other instruments. Neither of them really know how to play anything besides piano, they’re just trying to see what feels right for Kitty. And that’s how she finds her interest in guitars.

I think it would actually take a while before she gets used to guitar. Hank would try to teach her, but Kitty’s learning style just doesn’t match well with Hank’s teaching style. So everyone thinks that she’s just not meant to play the guitar until some sort of epiphany happens, and suddenly she can absolutely shred.

She rounds out the group quite well, don’t you think?

[lightandfellowship]

Here's my take on a Halloween Town Vidar. He's a gargoyle with a wolf skull mask.

Design notes under the read more:

I previously mentioned in my Halloween Town Vor post that when Nomura designed Sora, Donald, and Goofy's Halloween Town designs, he took inspiration from two different creatures for each of them. Sora is inspired by vampires and imps, Goofy is Frankenstein's monster mixed with a werewolf, and Donald is a mummy and invisible man. I once again took a similar approach here, though instead of using an even mix of motifs like I did with Vor's fairy + sphinx design, I went down more of a Sora route. IMO, if you look at Sora's Halloween Town design, it mostly reads as vampire despite lots of overlap between vampire and imp design elements, with the exclusively impish details really only being his imp/pumpkin mask and maybe his clawed gloves. For Vidar, he is mostly gargoyle with the wolf motif coming primarily from his wolf skull mask, but there's some overlap of creature motifs with the claws and fangs.

Now, why did I choose to make Vidar a gargoyle? Here are my reasons:

Made of stone. References how Vidar tries to harden his heart to the harm he's potentially causing the worlds. The cracks in the stone represent his slowly crumbling will and the eventual abandonment of his plans. As well, I think him being a living statue well represents his somewhat stoic demeanor and the mythological Vidar's title as the "silent god".

Gargoyles serve as guardians of the buildings they adorn. Throughout the game Vidar was trying his best to protect people and prevent anyone else from dying, especially Baldr.

Water spout gargoyles collect rain water and divert it from the walls and rooftops of buildings to prevent damage to those buildings. Water is sometimes symbolic of darkness in the KH series (for example, the KH1 opening where Riku offers his hand to Sora and gets enveloped by the darkness the waves). So, in my mind, this function of gargoyles represents Vidar's attempts to preserve Baldr by removing the darkness from Baldr's heart.

Gargoyles are commonly found on cathedrals and churches, and I think that religious aspect of them fits Scala society and Vidar's commitment to Light fairly well.

If Vidar were to visit Christmas Town via Halloween Town, I imagine his gargoyle form would change into a sort of "guardian angel" form, but keeping some of the more demonic elements such as the horns for a more Lucifer-esque angel. Sort of like how Christmas Town Sora still keeps many of his Halloween Town elements despite donning a Santa outfit.

Reason why I chose the wolf skull mask:

Probably the most well-known event in the Norse god Vidar's mythology is his battle with the great wolf Fenrir, who he kills by ripping its jaws apart. Thus Vidar wears the top jaw of a wolf skull as a mask, as a sort of "trophy" and reference to this mythology. Of course the "real" Fenrir would be much larger than a normal wolf, but the mask is just a representation.

Now, I'll explain all of my individual design choices from top to bottom:

Gargoyle Horns: There's many styles of gargoyle horns, but I decided to give him more realistic-looking animal horns to add more detail.

Gargoyle Ears: I quite like this type of gargoyle ear with the multiple rounded segments even though I couldn't find many examples of it, and I think it nicely differentiates the ears from elf/demon ears. Vaguely Rochelle Goyle from Monster High inspired, as well.

Wolf Skull Mask: Already explained, but I tried to go semi-realistic here, once again to add more detail and make it more clear what kind of animal skull this is. If this design were to actually appear in a Kingdom Hearts game, I could potentially see this mask being stylized in a more cartoony way (especially if put into the chibi mobile game style.)

Gargoyle Wings (Feathered): I originally gave Vidar the more typical style of gargoyle wing which looks like a bat wing, but I felt that style of wing in conjunction with the horns, claws, and elongated skull mask made him look too much like a dragon, which wasn't what I was going for at all. So I changed it to the other common stye of gargoyle wing, a bird-like wing. I think this also better reflects his role in the game as someone sided with Light.

Stone Skin and Hair: As mentioned, he's made of stone and covered in cracks and nicks. He's pretty much all stone (except his eyes? I guess?)

Shoulder Pads? (Don't know what else to call them): I made them more pointy and curled up at the edges for that Nightmare Before Christmas look.

Shoulder Pad Design: I turned the square design on Vidar's shoulder pads into crosses. One, to reference gravestones, but also again to reference back to cathedrals and that religious aspect of gargoyles. Also, it's a subtle detail, but I added a stitched seam to the side of Vidar's coat as well.

Bandages: Vidar's original design features bandage-like cloth underneath one of his gloves, so I took that detail and just put it all around his arm. Weathered and torn for the creepy look.

Wrist Bands: In Vidar's original design, he sports two asymmetrical gloves. Here, the bandages take the place of the more complicated glove, while these two black bands take the place of the simpler glove, which was just a black, fingerless glove comprised of a main glove and two straps above it.

Gargoyle Claws: Not much to say here. Can sort of double as wolf claws, but obviously without the fur.

Scala Emblem Chain: I changed the chain from a bead chain to a more grungy link chain for that Halloween look. Also, I wasn't able to depict this in a way that satisfied me, but I imagine the metal of the charm and chain being a little tarnished and scratched up.

Dirtied Sash and Coat Edge: It's not blood, just grime. Grime, tearing, and weathering for more creepy factor. His coat is pretty long anyway so I could see it getting dirty in the streets of Halloween Town pretty easily.

No Boots: To show off his gargoyle feet. In his original design his pants tuck into his boots, so I don't really know what the bottom of his pants are supposed to look like. I just cinched them at the bottom to maintain that puffed-out look. Is it weird that his feet only have three toes but his hand has three fingers and a thumb? Yeah. But I couldn't get four toes to look right. Just assume he's supposed to have four.

I decided to draw this Halloween Town design in black and white this time, but if I had colored it, you can imagine the color scheme of his clothes being darker and less saturated than his original design to better match Halloween Town.

Also, this was just a coincidence, but both Vor and Vidar's Halloween Town designs feature wings, claws, and fangs, and have a sort of cat (sphinx) and dog (wolf) theme. Which I think is cute and makes them feel more like a duo. :)

That's it. Thanks for reading.

[loryn-art]

I'm having too much fun doing this please someone stop me

I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do with Chibi, to me he is that bro/friend you want to have if you play D&D or like movie nights with pizza <3 I was a bit less inspired with Mina, at first she was supposed to be Yugo's age and go to the faculty with him, but the plot took an interesting turn when I thought about some of the stolen eliatropes Dofus.

What if she had been raised in a secret lab, studied as an alien being for her high psionics (eliatrope ) powers ? (I have so many ideas for this but I'm still not sure how and when...)

Let's see my headcanons now :

Mina :

Given age - 7 / Real age - 7

Has grown up in a lab, so everything about the world fascinates her. Mostly plants and flowers, like her mother, she has special interest in every living thing on earth.

Tattoo on her neck indicating a certain number ?

Phaeris as a rabbit is still her mighty protector and this makes me laugh so much.

Has a joyful and curious spirit. Very talkative.

I still have to develop this character a bit... I don't have much more about her.

Chibi :

Given age 30~ / Real age 64

Stuck in his 80's era.

Plays electric guitar, and D&D.

Thinks his van is his second home and has probably slept in it way too much.

Works as a mechanic, so he knows how to fix all sorts of things.

Has a collection of 80's stuff of all kinds in boxes that he keeps in his small flat. (Nora often goes crazy over it)

Brave, optimistic and kindhearted, he also has an impulsive nature sometimes.

Grougal' is an Iguana. I like the idea of him fixing people in total silence and sometimes licking his eye. Also Chibi loves to give him cool styles with tiny accessories he finds.

I'm so happy with the comments and reactions you sent me guys <3 I'm not sure if I 'll ever draw or write something serious about it but I'm glad you like my AU !

[decepti-thots]

I would like to hear about which characters would use which kind of fountain pen 👀

okay, so with the caveat that all of this is coming from me researching pens in my quest to become slightly a 'pen person' and not like. being one. (but also from the perspective of watching my friend talk extremely in-depth about this for many years, and cribbing from her, in my defense.)

here are some random character-pen matchups and headcanons bc why not!!

first off. minimus, obviously.

there's a few things i think about this: he's fundamentally conservative in his tastes i think (no wild experimental designs), someone who would not want to spend an Excessive amount of money but also someone who would definitely have a higher-end one quality wise, and he'd have really nitpicky taste about shit like quality control. with this in mind, the guides i read that were offering opinions on higher-end 'beginner pens' consistently brought up the Pilot Custom 74, which is like, the platonic ideal of just a functional good quality Fountain Pen TM:

look at it. that sure is a ~£190 fountain pen! it's classic, functional, a solid 'name', expensive enough i feel like a person who grew up well off would be like 'oh this is my everyday pen' and i would be sort of like 'the fuck that costs half my rent'. lmao. but not like, someone splashing out a thousand quid or more expensive, yknow. he's probably had this same pen for like. the equivalent of twenty years or more. i'm sure he has more than one but this is his 'workhorse'.

here's another one i immediately am like 'oh i know what to pick' about. this one less in terms of specifically 'this character would use it' and more like 'this character reminds me of this pen'. it's rewind! and the pen is a Tombow Zoom 828fp because. well. look at this.

MINI PEN. CHIBI LITTLE FOUNTAIN PEN. there's apparently a chinese pen that is a lot cheaper you can get of this little chonker's basic design, and i'm very, very seriously tempted to get one and call it 'rewind'. lmao. short and charmingly proportioned! i don't think rewind probably actually uses a pen but maybe this was one of those spousal in-joke gifts pre-war or something like 'haha this reminded me of you'/'are you calling me short' or whatever idfk. the point is. TINY PEN.

nautica got riptide a Jinhao 993 to cheer him up when they started doing lessons in that one issue towards the end of MTMTE/pre-DotL and he's finding it difficult maybe. "why would a fountain pen cheer him up-" THIS IS WHY LOOK AT THESE

my pen friend got the pink one of these for a fiver or something, bc i pointed out it was a pink shark and therefore a Nimona pen. haha. anyway. that's why riptide has a fountain pen.

rodimus is having a mid life crisis, and also magnus will probably think he is Mature and Good At Work if he shows up with a fountain pen, he figures one time, so he wheedles money off drift and buys this monstrosity, which to be clear costs EIGHT THOUSAND EUROS and is supposed to look like a cool racecar themed... thing. montegrappa is so fucking overpriced and tacky and they're invariably hilarious to me whenever they release some godawful tie-in thing.

now prowl. prowl doesn't have a fountain pen because prowl is the sort of person who insists on constantly having fucking. Gadgets TM. you know. the man thinks a smart fridge is a necessity, for some fucking reason. if it's electronic it's Better. however, LAMY, i found out, in addition to its wide range of pens, also makes like... high-end digital pens? you know, in the style of their most well known fountain pen design (LAMY safari) but like. a stylus. buying a brand-name pen manufacturer's stylus bc you want to have a fountain pen but also refuse to do anything not on a tablet or something is. 100% prowl to me.

and i think that drift would have a LAMY 2000. look at this thing. it's somehow so slick and modern looking in a way most fountain pens aren't without feeling weird or like it isn't one. it's also a really well regarded pen across the board and so many people swear by this thing. (my friend does indeed have this one!) he's got it because he (canonically) journals, obviously, he is whipping this bad boy out after meditation to Chronicle His Emotional State (usually um. bad. moving along.) it's one of the nice things he bought himself after he somehow acquired all that money (stole it on his way out from the decepticons).

sidenote: megatron doesn't use a fountain pen, despite being a canonical writer. his handwriting is fucking atrocious and he would break one pressing too hard if he tried. he privately thinks they're sort of pointless, but lets minimus endlessly explain nib types for the sake of indulging someone he likes and who clearly is used to being told to shut up.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

OK KIYORA NOTES!!! These are all from the game I kinda wrote them summary/LN style because the act of typing it all out in dialogue format takes me like three times the time to type out and I got lazy oops

Anyways lmk if anything’s unclear! I basically broke it down into some main themes I noticed

- Karasu anon

Breakdancing: He really likes breakdancing, both Otoya and Bachira end up asking him to teach them, to which he essentially says yes but that he doesn’t really know how to teach and kinda just tells them to try and copy his moves

Otoya interaction: Kiyora originally says he doesn’t mind teaching but questions if Otoya can keep up. After Otoya restates that he’s a ninja descendant Kiyora seems to acknowledge him more

Bachira interaction: He asks to be taught thinking that it “seems fun” to which Kiyora replied with “not just seems fun. It IS fun”, Bachira also does it wrong (aka just tries following along bachira style) but Kiyora still acknowledges his potential

Player interaction: mid training, he asks the player if it’d be ok to integrate dancing into his training regimen. Player agrees but asks why. He explains that before coming to bllk he’d always participate in dance battles and liked dancing. When the player responds saying how they know of dance battles Kiyora immediately goes “oh nice let’s have a dance battle now then” to which player has to say “I know OF them not how to actually dance…” to which he says “oh well, can’t be helped if you don’t know how”

Voiceline: …my interests? Break dancing. Lets go (dancing/dance battling)

Karasu “rivalry”: He seems to have a sort of one sided rivalry with Karasu, constantly irked by Karasu underestimating him.

Interaction: Karasu acknowledges Kiyoras vision and borderline detection, essentially praising him for surviving in blue lock but still comments on kiyoras complacency and how Kiyora can’t survive just by riding on others’ success (probably referring to the second selection team). Kiyora responds by telling Karasu not to underestimate him

Voiceline: Karasu treating me like an idiot seriously pisses me off. I’ll crush him someday.

Nagi rivalry: Another rivalry although less one sided. Pretty obviously inspired/taken by their first meeting in epinagi

Interaction: similar scenario where they both end up reserving the same practice room but they actually did reserve the same room so instead they end up “battling” each other to win the room (even though they could share, they want the stakes present to motivate the match). Kiyora continuously refers to Nagi as “tall white”/“white beanpole” and Nagi continues calling Kiyora “chibi”

Voiceline: …I have some free time now. Maybe I’ll go challenge that white beanpole to a battle.

Height and underestimation: Is very aware that he is short and doesn’t like being underestimated because of it

Voiceline: Just now, you were thinking that I’m a shrimp weren’t you? Save the excuses, square up/let’s go.

Voiceline: Crushing those who underestimate me is the best, gets me hyped

Player interaction: Player approaches Kiyora after practice saying that they wanted to adjust some of the practice regimen after observing kiyora. They say they want to try hyping him up against strong opponents and suggests he play some one on ones. Kiyora is surprised at how well the players thoughts align with his own. He accepts saying there’s no reason to turn down a strong opponent, and that most of the bllkers underestimate him because of his height, so crushing them would be like fulfilling his wishes.

Player interaction: The player complements his weapon of shitting a low trajectory shot with a tight spin and that it’s even more impressive up close. Kiyora responds by asking if it’s amazing just because he’s “a pipsqueakl. Player denies this saying they were just admiring his shooting technique and that it has nothing to do with him being short. Player asked what he’d do if that was the case, to which he says “don’t underestimate me, I’ll crush you”. The player then thinks internally that they should be careful not to be too conscious of his short height.

Misc. voicelines and etc.:

“I’m the one who decides the battles on the borderline.”

“Aight, Ai-ght, etc.” many variations of “aight”

Player interaction: Kiyora starts to have doubts about if the player is actually capable of making him number one, so he wants to see for himself if he should continue following their plans or if he should drop them. Player thinks it’s naturally since they’re a soccer noob and asks what they should do. Kiyora tells them to continue as they’ve been doing for one week. In that time, he’ll follow along and if they plan something that he acknowledges he’ll continue working with them. Kiyora says that this is their borderline. If they want to continue working with Kiyora, they need to prove it and go beyond the borderline he’s defined.

Player interaction/assessment of Kiyora: Kiyora’s grounder techniques (wtv those are) are top class within bllk. Within those skills are his passes and gameplay senses. He’s able to take advantage of the large range of the field, cutting in and passing and shooting as needed. Those are the weapons that have helped Kiyora survive. Developing his dribbling skills and the ability to move around more himself is the best option for him to improve.

He’s stated that he also got into soccer because his older brother would force him to play with him, and if he lost he’d face a punishment so that was his motivation to improve LMAO

Generally he’s quite spunky, but mainly on the basis of not wanting to be underestimated due to his height. Also has a strong sense of self and ofc has the whole borderline thing going on where he enjoys being the deciding factor of things. I’ll come back with more updates if I see more interesting voicelines LOL

THANK YOUUU i think i actually did a fairly decent job at getting him!! hehe i already finished the one shot before you posted this but in the fic he’s kinda moody emo but also kinda cutie pie?? I GOT HIS OLDER BROTHER BEING THE ONE TO GET HIM INTO SOCCER OMG so proud…also got the height thing…his borderline thing ofc…his dancing is briefly hinted at towards the end but eh good enough for me!! in the au i wrote for he’s kinda uh violent (he used to be a street fighter because his older brother got him into it for the money but then he quit because he didn’t rlly like it) but it’s not like crazy or with people that don’t deserve it so hopefully it doesn’t feel ooc?? idk we’ll see…to be honest the place i ended the one shot at is definitely one that requires a part two for any elaboration/further characterization but considering idek if the anon will like the au i just left it there and i’ll add that i’m more than happy to do a pt2 if anyone’s interested but i didn’t want to waste my time if not 😭

also wait the one sided karasu beef is so funny LMAOAOA new sibling duo unlocked ⁉️ it’s giving roderick and greg from diary of a wimpy kid somehow 😭 the way kiyora fucking hates him and karasu just does not gaf…😓 that also makes that panel in bm vs pxg where it looks like karasu is using kiyora as a chair sm worse FJSLDJSJ that was probably kiyora’s thirteenth reason omg

[chibishortdeath]

General Simon brainrot sketch page :3, as per usual, explanations under a cut. Apologies if my posts tend to be kinda huge and difficult to scroll past, I try to do the cuts to make sure they do the least inconvenience to anyone! (>-< ;)

Just the whole page in full ft. My thumb lol

Expression practice! Simon is feeling the weight of his situation rn alas :(. I’ve always imagined him being panicked the whole game; the overarching entire game timer really gives a pretty good feeling of dread imo. The two doodles at the bottom were attempts at multiple ideas I’ve seen floating around about the curse, but they’re kinda bad in execution looking at them no tbh. But the first one is based on the idea that the curse gives some vampire traits like sharp teeth and would probably lead to proper vampirism if he were to die from it. The second was general attempt at like skull practice and comparing facial features to skull structure, but oh my god the page kept smudging and I tried making it look ok with some random blood on there but it just made it look even sillier 💀.

These next two are based on two random like liminal space images I ran into on Pinterest and I drew them mostly because I suck at backgrounds and idk Simon’s Quest itself is like Castlevania: Liminal Space Edition a lot of the time, so it fits X,,,,D. The first one I really liked the composition of the path on the far side contrasted to the trees. Imagine the water is the purple cursed swamp :3. Hopefully Simon has laurels just standin around in there.

This second liminal space for Simon to be in was this neat nighttime photo of a graveyard! Trees are HARD TO DRAW, especially just in pencil and a solid black background. There’s blood on the ground and stuff cause he was just fighting some monsters, probably those two headed lizard guys. It’s the awkward stillness after clearing out an area of enemies.

The pose for this one is based on the LOL~lots of laugh Miku figure lmao 💀💀💀

Simon is very fun to put in exaggerated poses! Especially cause you have to exaggerate them more to get the same ratio of pose to negative space because muscles and armor. I had no idea how to make metal belt armor thingies sit in a like legs up floating sort of pose like this so they kinda bend a little weird but eh he looks cute otherwise. The other doodles present are one that says “brainrot” which is kinda making fun of my own dedication to an NES character 💀 and also cause haha rot like the curse. Also, teeny tiny Simon with a heart!!! :3

Yippie! Simon posing again! I think the first pose was inspired by this like random old anime style angel figure??? Idk I think she was just an original character figure and the pose was pretty different, I just used the reference mostly for the arm position. Anyway, he’s vibin, just sitting curled up and momentarily comfy. Alas, the horrors persist in the second doodle that was an attempt at showing how the curse kinda deteriorates him but he just kinda ended up having a scarily snatched waist and it looks more stylized than like sick. Also the armor kinda bends around him in a way that makes it look like it shrunk with him which is so dumb lmaooooo (XwX). I’ll have to revisit the concept eventually idk, just look at his face for this one XD. Hahaha tiny doodle based on Larval Rin on the left there, nothing to see here—

The main doodle is just Simon looking into the distance bewildered and holding the whip, standard stuff. There’s also a side profile doodle and an attempt at drawing crying again cause I was getting kinda rusty at both of those things.

Simon Belmont but if he was 2000s anime lol. A fun little style experiment, I might keep this as like another secondary art style. There’s also some doodles of a hanged man skeleton, the eyes of Vlad, a skeleton hand, and a couple little chibi Simon’s of various expressions.

More 2000s anime Simon, but in a more silly way like the art style change for joke sections. One is him just goofily holding up Dracula’s head, but it’s contrasted immediately with a more gritty usual art style doodle of him with harsh shading lol. Get you a man who can do both I guess 💀

I gotta practice more on backgrounds and composition and stuff, probably also get some curse effects consistent augh. Lately I’ve been on and off working on random things or just staring into space tired, getting back to using social media is hard and an exhausting uphill battle unfortunately (_ _ ;). Sometimes I feel like I should probably split these up into multiple posts to make things more visible and to put more focus on specific drawings, but idk I don’t really want to, it just feels weird to me breaking up a doodle page like that, if that makes sense??? Eh idk.

[sepublic]

Again, what frustrates me about Federation Force's mech gimmick is that it's rendered useless by scaling up every enemy as well. What's the point of saying you're using a mech, if you don't feel like you're using one; You're still the same size as enemies. Hell, even the environment is scaled up, and I'm talking about manmade structures! The doors are conveniently your size, as are railings, various devices, etc.

It just utterly breaks the illusion of being in a giant mech; You can only really tell because of the cutscenes where the mechs are actually contrasted with the pilots, and that one level where you're forced to leave your mech and sneak around those giant pirates as a normal-sized human. That IS good, but it's just one level!

And again, why is every door sized up??? Like from an in-universe perspective, the amplification beam made an entire army of pirates gigantic, so they probably needed tech and architecture to accommodate this new size. But from an artistic perspective, it just makes the whole mech angle even more pointless, especially when the mechs look like regular humans in armor; Their proportions match the human pilots, so for most people who only know Federation Force by a glance and osmosis, they probably don't even realize it's a mech game! I was one of those people for a while!!!

Even the Metroids, one of the series' most iconic and recurring enemies, the titular mascot, for whom we DO have a consistent understanding of relative scale... is also sized up, instead of being used as a reference point. It's one thing to have a new alien enemy be conveniently gigantic from the start, but the pre-existing Metroids being made that way just feels like you couldn't be bothered to consider how being in a big mech would change the way you interact with the Metroid universe, compared to how Samus would; Especially when your arsenal and gameplay mimics Samus'.

There's no art direction, is what I'm saying; The environments, the enemies, they aren't designed around the idea that you're in a giant robot. It's just another regular environment. One of the things I remember learning about VFX is that adding more details can help create the illusion of something being bigger, because it has more space for more detail, that sort of thing. But this is a game on the 3DS, plus it's a simplified chibi art style that throws off the proportions in general.

It'd have been cool if there were a lot of small doors and hallways that you couldn't access because you're too big; Imagine levels in buildings being designed around the idea that you're navigating giant hangars and all that. The immersion is lost if every room is conveniently enormous for these mechs. The doors themselves could’ve been different from the typical ones in Metroid, for example they’re clearly gateways, to differentiate them from smaller barrier-operated doors. Sometimes you just create doors by smashing through walls because you're a giant mech!!!

It's lazy. It's half-assed. There's no thought put into it; It’s generic. The mech aspect of the game feels tacked on, last-second, like the mechs were supposed to be regular-sized humans in special armor, but someone felt like there needed to be some gimmick to make the game seem more interesting. So they threw in some cutscenes with smaller human models, and one level where you have to sneak around the bigger pirates. But everything else fails to reflect the idea. Why.

The art direction could've been so fun, the gameplay could've revolved around your titanic size, and maybe synergize mech gameplay with gameplay as just a regular pilot who can get out and back in whenever you please. And that could play into the larger teamwork aspect, you could make puzzles based on your pilot having to leave the mech! But noooooooooooo! I was ambivalent towards Federation Force until I found out the player characters are supposed to be mechs, and now I'm pissed. You could've had a really fun concept to mix up the Metroid formula and stand out from other games, make this spin-off take advantage of and embrace that it's so unusual. BUT YA DIDN'T. Metroid Prime Pinball is unironically more creative and thought out around its core gimmick than this.

[lawlietscaramels]

Hey, uhm... hi!

I had seen you have reached 210 followers which is wonderful! Great job, both your art and your writing has brought me some happy moments over the course of the last few months I've been here.

Can I ask you about your art journey? What's your relationship with drawing? Did you like drawing as a kid too? I'm currently struggling with learning how to draw (despite having graduated from "elementary" art school, lol) and I like your style, so I thought it would be interesting to get to know how you got here.

Sorry for bothering, and even if you don't answer (which is totally fine) have a nice day/night!

WLAHHH HI THANK YOU SO MUCH I'M GLAD YOU LIKE MY STUFF !! I'M GLAD IT'S MADE YOU HAPPY!!!!! <333

My art journey, huh? It's so weird to be asked about it!! Not in a bad way, I just never expect these sort of things.

As a kid - I don't know. I took an art enrichment and elective at different times from years 5-7 and I absolutely hated that. It was all "draw this piece of paper with the lights turned off" and "draw this vase with negative space".... But at the same time, I drew (bad) sketches in the margins of all my textbooks. So I guess I enjoyed "doodling".

I got into art when I got into anime 🙇 ... Yeah. Having an OC I really wanted to draw as if they were part of the media, and seeing other people do that, really motivated me. That's ... still what motivates me. I don't necessarily want to mimic the anime's style so much anymore, but I have the most fun when I draw Rie, even if it's silly!!

If you like my style, you should know it's had many many identity crises. I've tried (with my limited skills):

Watercolour (ish) (the background took 15 hours)

Anime (got pretty good at it, if I say so myself)

an obsession with chibis (I never get the facial proportions right)

semi realism (please give Rie her heart ahoge, Lei. this is Not Rie.)

whatever this is, that I only managed to do one time and kinda want to do again

and many many more, all different, some with only subtle changes, some with drastic. There is a lot of super ugly in between as well! I feel embarrassed sharing it hajajsj but believe me: I don't think what I have above is perfect, but it's some of my best work. I've improved a lot because I've drawn a lot.

I've settled on this, for now. And I like it, for now. But it'll probably change again, when I don't like it or when I like something else more. Maybe it'll be better, maybe worse.

But really it's just a lot of experimenting, picking out what I like from a thousand other artists, practising, changing, practising again... By changing style so much I've learnt a lot. I don't know, I was drawing in a different way for months and then I went back to anime and drew it the best I ever had.

I had a brief stint of teaching myself the human bone structure too. That was helpful. I should do more of the art class stuff, the colour theory and muscle and light and shadow.... but I don't wanna BDBSBZBXN

And I do it all to draw my Silly Little Characters <3

Sorry for the giant ass answer and good luck drawing!!

[pianokantzart]

Where did you get the idea for the Mario animal AU? It's just so adorable and it looks like an anime sometimes and I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. Fluffy animal Mario brothers for the win!

Thank you! Honestly, I saw the tanuki suits and Luigi's kitsune suit and it just sort of clicked, y'know?

It probably also helped that I'm reading "The Wind in the Willows" again for like... the fifth time. That book to me is like a hot cup of tea and a fuzzy blanket, so that probably had some effect on my psyche. Glad you're enjoying it so much! There's more to come. That psuedo-chibi style I chose for them is super fun to play with. Very shaped.

[ruthlesslistener]

Ghost really is like a Asian mascot. Even the official sources treat them like one (see Fangamer Japan's exclusive merch of them!). Heck, Ghost even looks like one San-X (Japanese company that makes mascots to sell in merch) franchise of mascots. Sentimental Circus! Check them out on Google and I promise you the semblance is uncanny. That's why I agree that Ghost not only doesn't look, nor act like a child. They look like a adorable mascot character. Even a pokemon lol. And mascot characters aren't always kids. Some are literally just creature with unknown origins. Rilakkuma for instance, is hinted to simply be a... costume... a man in a costume... or just a costume come to life. Japanese mascots have such varied backgrounds! So don't be surprised when a lot of Asian people don't really see Ghost as one.

That's really informative anon, thank you for telling me! I genuinely had no idea about it (and now feel really bad because goddamn I was an ass. Like, we already know that, but fuck dude). It does give me a lot of insight into why people might have that interpretation of them and has unironically helped me understand a lot of fanart that sort of blew over my head before. Like, straight-up I didn't understand why chibi characters were a popular thing until now, which is embarrassing to admit to- I thought it was just a quick way of drawing a character in a cute manner vs like, a wholeass art style. In which case, yes, Ghost fits that criteria exactly.

As context for why I didn't make that connection at all: I had zero information about how mascots worked in Asian countries, that they were actual characters and that there was a preset understanding that they aren't child-coded because of proportions. I knew that they existed, but I assumed that they were more like branding mascots and sports mascots (which I also don't know about jsyk, so I'm probably sticking my foot in my mouth here), where they're just a face to stick a name to for better recognition of that company or team, ie designs that have no actual characters to them and thus no meaning beyond 'product' or 'sports team'. I was also working off of the (very westernized) art idea that certain proportions were used to indicate ages instead of it being a stylistic choice, which further limited my understanding. That there's way more to it and a far different perspective is super cool

Either way though, I appreciate the insight and thank you for explaining it to me! It opened my eyes to a new perspective on art and I will be sure to remember it in the future.

[cutiecorner]

Commission Updates

Hey y'all. Sorry I keep talking about commissions - I started a new job but I don't get paid for a month, so I'm strapped for cash. I also want to save for next year, and maybe even help out my family with some expenses if I can. All that being said,

Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to up my prices. I really try to keep them low, but the amount of work I put into them is really not matching what I'm being compensated right now. They used to be so cheap because it was a less labor intensive style, but since I stuff started going more toward my regular style, they've gotten a lot harder. I'll probably change them to $30 + $20 per extra char.

However, I still really want to have commissions available that are affordable. I just like being able to provide that for the community. I'm gonna make a commission masterpost so people can find other artists if my comms are out of their price range, but I'd also like to offer a lower priced option for my art. So I have a few options.

The two things I'm thinking are offering uncolored sketches and/or a chibi style. I don't like doing half ups/icons specifically, it's harder for me for some reason. So: the sketches would be the current price, $20 + $15 per extra. The chibis, in sort of the second style below, would be $15 + $10 per extra. Examples of each below.

[bvannn]

Weekly update March 22, 2024

I’m still exhausted beyond words. I’m also on a bit of a spiral where I’m worried about the quality of my art and about my output, but it’s okay because I’m chipping away at old big projects still and as soon as classwork is subsided I’m going to try to learn a new skill, because any time I feel insufficient I learn a new skill so I can be better. Classes have been kicking my ass mostly but hopefully big things will be coming sooner rather than later.

I’ve been doing a number of drawings to time myself and update my comms. Turns out I’m a lot less consistent than I thought so it’ll be a bit longer till I get prices sorted out but it’s coming along. Also good chance I’ll add more on to it later once I sort out more things I can offer. My usual drawing style will be the main one, but I’m hoping I can also add the epithet erased style, the chibi dnd mini style I do sometimes, options for backgrounds, and eventually also music.

Problem with music though has been my exhaustion. The only music stuff I’ve really been drilling at has been bigger projects, but I’d like to just sit down and do a small beat as well at some point. Once I catch up with classwork I might try. I have been chipping away at a couple instrumental pieces, as well as the larger vocal cover and I did some lyric writing today for the two ‘finished mostly’ ones I’ve been sitting on. I did have to scrap and redo a character theme for the second time this week but once I have some time with a clear mind I can reroute that one and use the melody I wrote for the last draft. In development right now are an ambient character theme, a 16bit-ish instrumental theme, a Zelda medley, a song cover with Kyo, a small gabber song with no affiliation to anything, the two original vocal songs, one symphonic rock and one EDM, and a handful of others that I haven’t been actively working on. As soon as I have significant time I’m going to try to finish off some of them.

Once the music is finished I’ll have to throw visuals together for them too. I really want to put in effort to make animation rigs again but I don’t have the time or energy. I might do one for the vocal cover song since I could be reusing the character but I’m not sure it’ll be necessary. Once the cover is done I’ll storyboard something and decide then.

Comic is also still going, I haven’t had a ton of time to do thumbnailing/writing, but I should be down to the last scene. No guarantee I won’t have to add more after editing, but it’s getting there. Once that’s done I’ll try to post roughs of specific panels so it’s a bit easier to keep track of where it’s at. The thumbnailing is a big bottleneck right now because it takes a lot of brain power but it’s almost done. If I get myself together this next week it should be done by the next update. No promises though, I have a lot of classwork.

Last couple things, a good amount of my exhaustion is the result of insomnia, but I’ve been using that time to plan out TTRPG campaign stuff. I think I have some really fun creative encounters. I think I probably will try to write it out and find a way to release it, just in the interest of getting more people to play the anime campaign system (or whatever they end up renaming it to when the epithet erased version of the rules drops… eventually). I might throw together art for that too, but that’ll be a ways off, after the writing and encounters are done. Plus ideally I’d want the module to be available for free, so I don’t need to add too much anyway.

Last thing, as I mentioned I’m a bit unsatisfied with where I am with art stuff. I want to thank everyone who has been sticking around, I am trying to make it worthwhile for you too. But whenever I am unsatisfied with myself I need to learn a new skill, so I may be dipping my toes into pixel art soon. I do have that 16bit ish instrumental song I mentioned, that’s been on the back burner since January but I’ve finally been hit with the inspiration to finish it, and a little pixel animation would be nice to go with it, but that would require me to learn pixel art itself first, so I’ll try to do that in the coming weeks. Idk how soon though.

This next week will be primarily dedicated to clearing up schoolwork and fixing my sleep problem. After that I’ll try finishing up that cover song, finishing up comic thumbnailing, and finishing up that instrumental song, in that order. Anything else is a bonus. Will class work and insomnia get in the way? Probably, but I’m still doing my best.

[spinningbuster98]

Mega Man Zero 2 Part 3: Elpizo

Leviathan’s stage is one of those that is entirely held up by its aesthetic and music, otherwise, like the train level, it’s too simple with some questionable enemy placement (especially at the end), but it’s still ok.

Also those snowball throwing enemies are based on enemies from Chill Penguin’s stage in X1

Fefnir’s stage is pretty tough but also fun

The frog’s stage is...the Forest of Dysis act 2, it even has the same miniboss. Granted Fefnir’s stage also reuses Phoenix Magnion’s aesthetic, even starting from one of his generator rooms to give a sense of continuity, but here it really feels like an alternate version of a previous stage. Still good though.

The boss can be an absolute bitch though, especially if you let him eat those golden tadpoles (?)

Harpuia’s stage is probably my favorite of the game, mostly due to its gimmick with the differently colored crystal platforms.

It’s also the best stage in which to grind E Crystals thanks to those infinitely spawning red and blue insect enemies

So unique to this game is the form system: basically by performing a certain amount of actions in a stage (which the game never tells you about), such as killing X amount of enemies with a dash slash, or with the buster etc you can unlock different “forms” for Zero which will have slightly different attributes, like more power to the buster or greater speed etc

I never use them for 3 reasons:

1) The requirements can only be met during a stage that you have yet to complete and usually require you to stop and grind some enemies for a while

2) Each form also comes with a downgrade of sorts: the X form, which powers up the buster, also nerfs the sword for example, so I don’t think they’re that practical

3) Each form changes Zero’s color and they look kinda fugly imo

Speaking of Zero’s design I guess this is as good a time as any to discuss the Zero series’ artsyle right?

I wasn’t in the fandom back when these games were coming out but I can imagine that the artstyle must’ve caused plenty of people to bitch, especially Zero’s redesign, because this is the kind of hard shift in artstyle that usually causes fans to bitch, and to be fair: it is completely different than previously

From what I can gather the only real reason why Inti Creates opted for this style was to further give the series its own distinct sense of identity, which I can respect

Now personally the only real issue I have is that most of the characters are...pretty much dressed the same. Like they all wear a variation of that midriff exposing “shirt”, even Zero who’s supposed to be 100+ years old, so either fashion style has really gotten homogeneous or these clothes are not to be taken literally but more as “approximations” of clothing due to the somewhat chibi-fied artstyle

Furthermore most boss characters look like chuncks of metal shaped like animals with very little expressiveness.

What I do like about this style is the sheer amount of detail in the artwork and in the backgrounds (especially in the later games), not to mention how the sleeker designs lend themselves very easily to much more dynamic poses than previously, which helps the characters look just plain cool and stylish

For better or worse one can’t imagine the Zero games without Toru Nakayama’s artwork, it just wouldn’t be the same.

[someonelookingpraediti]

Sanderson Unboxing

03 - Cytoverse March 2023

Well, this was a vast improvement on the first box. But that isn't exactly saying much - it's still a huge waste of money.

This was the theme I was most looking forward to, because Skyward is my favourite series. I had some really high hopes before I received my first monthly box, but obviously I have since lowered my expectations.

The last box was just a handful of assorted logo-ed office supplies. This box actually contains the sort of things I would expect to find in a book subscription. But... only three.

Considering that this costs more than your average subscription box, and DOESN'T come with a book, I really would expect a minimum of six or seven items of this quality.

The first item is a silicone mould. This, apparently, can be used for ice, chocolate, wax, resin, etc etc etc. It's in the shape of Doomslug, and I'll have a go at making something. My speciality is wax melts, but from experience I really doubt the fine details would come out in anything soft. For resin it would probably work, though.

The next item is a deck of playing cards. It's billed as a "Go Fish" deck, but it's literally a standard deck of cards. Each suit features a different type of slug, and the different denominations feature different foods. These are actually really cute, and the first item I've liked from this subscription so far.

The last item is a diecast replica of M-Bot, the ship Spensa flies in the Skyward series. In my post about my hopes for this subscription, the one thing I said I didn't want was figurines - I'm including figures of non-human beings and objects in this classification. They're so not my style, I just don't want them lying around my house. That said, I can't deny that this is good quality, and there's a lot of Sanderson fans who will lose it over this.

The character pin in this box is of Steris, from Era 2 of Mistborn. I'm really peeved that they're trying to pass these off as box "items"... they were included because a set of 12 character pins was one of the Kickstarter "thank you" gifts. These were not originally planned for the boxes, they were meant to be an extra. To include them in the "value" of the box is not justified - it's not a gift if you're paying for it. Also, I really hate these chibi-esque cheap pins - they're such bad quality and they're just really... dorky?

Honestly, I feel so ripped off by this whole scheme.

The boxes are not even close to being worth the price that was charged for them, and they charged international shipping at three times the rate it should actually have cost for such a small package. I can only assume they're pocketing the rest.

And January's item - the first book - still hasn't even shipped.

This actually just feels like a huge con, one that Brandon Sanderson and his team have made millions on. He's been one of my favourite authors for over a decade, and now I've just completely lost faith. To make such an offer to your fans, to ask them to buy into a project like this, to pay hundreds of pounds up front - and then not to deliver? To just fob them off with, frankly, an embarrassment of a product? It's a betrayal of trust.