#shantae concept

[katlimeart]

If you’ve seen this anywhere else, I posted it back on my deviantArt when it was made.

Mario girls cosplaying as female characters from the Shantae franchise

1 - 4. Shantae

5. Rottytops

6. Sky

7. Risky Boots

[nova-prowler]

Been busy, have some Blue Moon concept art

I'll post my artfight stuff here once that's over. But for now, have some art of things that may or may not eventually happen in my silly little fanfiction.

[mr-glove]

sketch of Neo Risky island

In my AU Risky has found a new island between Revenge and Pirate curse. It's not on exact scale but it's something to keep in mind. The island is hard to find if you don't know where to look but it's close to Sequin lands for Shantae to take her own boat there and be there within ¼ of a day. The numbers are locations on the island itself.

Is Risky's new shipyard. It's a hollowed out cave where Risky docks her ship when she's not using it. It will also have a giant gate to keep out seasonal storms.

A beautiful beach

A castle that used to be haunted, but after Shantae pays a visit it will be Risky's new base, fortress and pirate castle

There's a magic cave, I wonder what's inside there?

is the cave from the win screen in ½ Genie Hero. One of Risky and Shantae's love spots on the island

A makeshift village made durring the time Risky couldn't enter the castle

The rest is a jungle and somehow has strong teak trees

[bulletblade]

What are the odds of Freddy Fazbear actually joining Super Smash Bros.?

Now, many people will say he shouldn't join, me being one of them, whether that's because he's seen as a meme character, lack of moveset potential, or just blind hatred is not the discussion. No, we are asking if it's actually possible for Five Night's at Freddy's to join not only Super Smash Bros. but the other "Challengers of Smash" (posts every Monday) as well.

Can Freddy join Smash?

Starting with Nickelodeon All Star Brawl, No, just no.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl has a variety of reasons that they won't add Freddy. The first is that it's a Nickelodeon game, and given that all of the characters are Nickelodeon characters and Garfield, it's highly likely that Nickelodeon won't add them to keep with their brand aimed toward kids, despite most of FNAF's fan base, behind the scenes controversy and the fact that canonically most of NASB's roster will either No Diff Freddy, see this as another Saturday or will be completely ignored by him/her. Maybe if this was Viacom All Star Brawl or if it took up the name of its predecessor: Super Brawl. Then, the odds would rise to being slim.

Rating: Ha, no/10

Next up is Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Unlike Nickelodeon, the question isn't because he'd feel out of place due to the entire cast having differing themes and art styles. It's not because Freddy isn't a Playstation icon again due to the roster of the previous game. In this case, Freddy seems just as likely to join as Crash Bandicoot or Gubble. No, the main reason is because PSASBR is dead. The game came out in 2012, a decade, and 2 console generations ago.

Rating: Dead Game/10

Multiversus is up next and...I'd say 50/50. Yeah, unlike NASB and PSASBR, Multiversus is more based upon popularity, moveset potential, and whether WB has its head stuck up it's a__.

Rating: 5/10

The penultimate game is Fraymakers, being an indie based Smash Bros. Crossover makes Freddy a likely contender. The question is, either McCleoud or Scott Cawthon ready and/or willing to let him join?

Rating: More likely than you think/10

Finally, we reach Super Smash Bros. and I'd have to say Spirit or Mii Costume at best. Five Night's at Freddy's is a horror game, a pretty ok horror game, but one none the less. Compared to some of the other "horror" franchises in Smash Bros., we have Luigi's Mansion, which is more of a Scooby-Doo scary rather than actual horror, Castlevania despite being some level of violent is more so Fantasy Horror and Resident Evil, which is a "modern fantasy" version of horror, if that makes sense. And while yes, Eternal Darkness and Fatal Frame exist, they are in because Nintendo was involved in their games. Five Nights at Freddy's, on the other hand, has literal on-screen atari style, child murder as a legit feature, and while there is a chance that some of the other franchises previously listed have some degree of child murder as well, you forget those franchises are multi-generational AAA games. Indie games do have a presence in Smash but to a much lesser degree than the big companies, and Freddy has some tough competition in that department, Shovel Knight, Shantae, Zagreus, Sans, and CommanderVideo already appearing in Smash, and outside you have characters such as Hat Kid and The Knight from Hollow Knight as viable options. So, while Freddy has a chance due to multiple factors, including whether Smash will continue to expand the roster or if it will reboot. Sorry, this is just a party you probably won't be rented out for.

Rating: Sorry, Freddy/10

But what do you think, does Freddy have a chance to join Smash or its challengers? Let me know in the comments. I do have actual roster design ideas, but they felt kinda samey, so I decided to mix in some Roster Chance Ideas into the mix, so i'll take turns with both concepts.

[raindingrandom]

My 2nd dream about an animated Shantae series

Remember the dream I had back in July of 2023, where I saw an animated Shantae series in the style of a 70's adventure cartoon?

Well apparently my subconcious wants a animated Shantae series just as much as my awake brain does, because I had ANOTHER dream about the concept last night!

In the dream, I was watching what I believe were Disney cartoons on television, when suddenly a Shantae cartoon showed up. The series had the Seven Sirens art style, and "Rise and Shine Shantae" was it's theme song.

Later in the dream, I looked on the internet and read that the cartoon had done very well and that more episodes were in production.

Unfortunately, that's all I really remember from the dream. I wish I got to watch more of the show before I woke up to see what wacky scenarios my brain would've dreamt up for it!

I know it will probably never happen, but I would love to see an animated series of Shantae. The characters and setting would make for a great comedy-adventure series. (it probably shouldn't be a Disney cartoon though :P )

[drale251]

Mermaids for Mermay '24

Alexandria and Shantae as mermaids for this year's Mermay. Relatively simple concept, but I am pleased with how it turned out.

Anyway, for Early Access, Hi-Res and other exclusive things, come check out my Patreon!

Still working on the Subscribestar situation. Should hopefully have that soon!

[electriopenguin-21]

Concept for a Shantae Animated

Many video games have shows based off of them, both animated and live action. I was thinking to myself, what if Shantae got a show, as I feel like shantae has a ton of potential for a TV show. I mainly decided to make this theoretical show animated for two reasons:

A: the opening of seven sirens looks like it would be an amazing cartoon opening

B: I feel like with the transformations and creatures like the tinkerbats, animation would work a lot better than live action.

For the show, let's say it is 3 seasons with 13 episodes per season, because the show would most likely be on a streaming service because cable is basically dead and 13 episodes seems to be an average number of episodes per season

The first season would be a bit more episodic compared to the other 2 seasons and would be about Shantae and her friends going on many half genie adventures. The first episode would be about Shantae moving into Skuttle Town and meeting with her uncle Mimic, Sky, and Bolo. Soon, Skuttle Town is invaded by Risky Boots and Shantae has to prove her might. The second episode would be where Shantae and the gang are introduced to RottyTops when they investigate at night to inspect zombie sightings and spot RottyTops and her group of traveling zombies. After episode 2, most of the rest of the season would mostly be there own self contained stories with episodes about Shantae stopping Amo Barron from taking over Skuttle Town, Sky attempting to enter the dating scene, or even an episode about Shantae needing to restore everyone's memories. The final episode of the season would be about Risky Boots invading Skuttle Town with a giant Tinker Tank. The episode would end with Risky being Thwarted and Skuttle Town going back to normal, only for a post credits scene showing Risky teaming up with a shadowy figure that we find out in season 2 is the Empress Siren.

Season 2 of the show would feature the sirens as the big threat like they were in Seven Sirens. Due to how powerful the Sirens are, Shantae will have to team up with other half genies from around the world that will teach her their special transformation techniques. The season ends with Shantae and the other half genies losing their genie powers to the Empress Siren, which she uses to make herself super powerful. She would blow Risky out of the building and challenge Shantae to a fight. Shantae wins and is able to return the genie powers to all of the half genies, unfortunately, her genie powers still remain dormant due to the battle. The season would end on a post credits scene where Risky is Retreating only to spot her tinker bats mutating, knowing that the Pirate Master will soon return.

The third and final season will take after Pirates Curse and feature Shantae and Risky teaming up to stop the pirate master. Due to her powers being dormant from last season, Shantae will have to think of ways to stop the pirate captain and the corrupted tinkerbats without her powers. This season could also see Risky going through a character arc, realizing that she can't just order everyone around and learn to work with others. In part one of the two part series finale, Shantae will end up getting corrupted by the pirate master, becoming Nega Shantae and gaining her powers back. Sky, Risky, Bolo, RottyTops, and the other half genies will have to work together to snap Shantae out of the corruption which works and allows Shantae to gain her powers back to fight the Pirate Master in part 2. At the end of the final battle in part 2, the pirate master will be defeated by Shantae and everyone of her allies, as well as Risky. After sealing away the pirate master for good, Shantae passes out from the battle only to wake up I'm the genie realm. She is offered to stay in the genie realm and become a full genie, but declines as she has made some amazing friends that are like family to her, so she returns to Skuttle Town. The finale scene of the series would have Risky attacking the town again but this time seeing Shantae as more of a friendly rival. We get one final battle scene between the two over the song "Dance through the Danger", with Sky, Bolo, and RottyTops joining in. The End.

So, what do you think of my idea for a Shantae animated series. Anything I could improve on? Let me know in the comments.

[terristarstrike]

Sprite De La Rosa

Character Lore:

Sprite De La Rosa is a vivacious, pint-sized 17-year-old Mertilian born of Dominican and Haitian descent. She was born within the Caribbean Sea near Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but her family swam to the Pacific Ocean near Westshore when she was 10 years old.

She enjoys being a hairstylist for her friends, especially Terrina. She loves to moisturize Terri’s curls and she loves to give her ponytails and afro puffs.

Sprite speaks with an American accent, and her Spanish has Dominican dialect.

Sprite has scales on her back that give her the ability to breathe underwater in her human form.

As a Mertilian, she transforms into a human when she's out of the water, and back into a mermaid when her entire body is submerged in water.

Alongside Bailynn Lo-Shanta, she often participates in social justice activism to help improve her community. She speaks out against issues like racism, genocide and slavery.

She is surprisingly knowledgable in human history. She knows about the Taino genocide in the 15th century and enslaved Africans being imported to the Caribbean in the 17th century.

Sprite is fluent in English and Spanish and she doesn't play when it comes to speaking Spanish. Having spent her life near Haiti and the Dominican Republic, she knows that Dominican Spanish isn't the same as Mexican Spanish, or Castillian Spanish.

“Deja que fluya” is her major moral, it means “go with the flow” in English.

Sprite and Izzy are the ultimate tag team, they love to sass their enemies and throw comebacks at them.

Her parents named her Sprite because she reminded them of fairy figures from the surface world’s fairytale books.

Her favorite books are romantic fiction and fantasy.

Mertilians are free to roam the ocean on their own once they turn 13. Her parents are deeply protective of her safety, but they’re trying to let their daughter enjoy life in Westshore.

She LOVES to dance when she's on legs, mostly to salsa, boogaloo and hip hop.

Sprite can talk to sea creatures like dolphins, whales and fish, but she can't talk to land animals.

She has a special Siren Song that hyptonizes those who hear her singing voice. She rarely uses it at all, but she only uses it for when she needs to save her friends.

Sprite is skilled in playing the guitar and the harp. If the Terrestrial Kids were a band, she would play the bass guitar.

She is fascinated with the concept of peanut butter, and she loves to spread peanut butter on everything she eats.

Sprite is the biggest cheerleader to her team. She loves to encourage her friends to prove their worth even when they’re faced with impossible challenges or foes.

Terrina has a huge fishbowl for Sprite to swim in for when she brings her to El-Doe.

Her favorite treats are Dulce de Coco (Coconut Sweets) and plantains.

Her body constantly smells like the ocean. It's mostly a pleasant smell of coconut and sunscreen. She often "stinks like seaweed" after swimming in the ocean in mermaid form, but she covers it up with perfume.

One of her favorite places to visit are the islands of Puerto Rico, Haiti and the beaches of Florida.

She hates the bitter cold of winter on the surface land. Sure, she can handle cold waters, but not cold air. Expect her to wear a huge puffy coat in the wintertime.

Mertilians have different concepts than humans: When a Mertilian dies, their bodies evaporate into seafoam. Their bodies are strong enough to withstand the pressure of the underwater trenches, and they're even stronger than humans when they're on land.

Sprite has a crush for Izzy, but she doesn't know how to express her feelings for them. The two are currently in a situationship in which they are crushing on each other, but not interested in a serious romantic relationship.

Sprite yearns for independence from her parents to spend her life in Westshore, but she is learning to hold a job so that she can be able to financially support herself as a human.

[eyeballtank]

Might as well write something related to what happened with Skullgirls just because.

Some of the changes even affect Kickstarter stuff and the concept art, which comes off as revisionism and is a punch in the face to anyone who backed up the game years ago.

The "desexualization" still applies to characters that are legal like Cerebella.

They could also easily retcon Fillia's age to 18 but even then, it's just a number randomly slapped to a made up character and people thought Shantae was 16, while Yoko Littner from Gurren Lagann is like 14.

If people even thought SG had "evil content that had to be removed", why even support it in the first place? Same thing with P3P having the Ken social link: Why even support Atlus after the fact?

Maybe these people will always attach to Skullgirls and Persona because of the "waifu" appeal, meaning they only easily boycott Hogwartz Legacy because they think Harry Potter sucks and has no "cute 2D girls", not because of JK Rowling.

Otherwise, if Hogwartz Legacy had a 2D art style or even looked like whatever mobile game came prior, it wouldn't be just /v/ that'd talk about Merula Snyde.

Goes to show when someone calls anything "CP" they don't take it seriously and might as well associate it with "mildly annoying/thing i don't like".

They even changed a story moment displaying police brutality… don't people want cops to be portrayed as the bad guys? (Or did they gave up on that part because of that one time Mike Z made a "i can't breathe" joke?).

The Black Egrets only had the Nazi-like looks to show off their moral ambiguity in the setting, it's not like Alex Ahad was secretly promoting some Neo-Nazi messages (He even stated that they're not as bad as actual Nazis) but i guess these people LabZero wants to pander to never read JoJo or even European comics where Nazis are there for the sake of moral ambiguity based roles.

(Because Nazis will always be seen as assholes in history and most of this modern sentiment people have towards them is from 2017 culture war shit and associating them with the alt right: Don't be surprised if a Breadtuber dismisses the Holocaust because he thinks "Jews hate Nazis the WRONG way" in some video).

But i guess the cameo of a furry who jacks off to guro is fine, who even shat on Mike Z when he was getting cancelled (Probably karma for Mike Z in the first place but also means that a snake would be more fitting for this e-sports player's fursona).

Seeing Zone-tan defending this is funny for obvious reasons, from the fact that people will still shit on him for being a porn artist involved in the game to the fact that Zoomers made the Ankha animation into their own version of 2 Girls 1 Cup.

Another porn artist i saw defending this was a guy that does Persona NTR shit, which is no loss. There's plenty of better artists to associate with Mitsuru anyway.

People say "it's only censorship if the government does it" as if they would say the same if it applied to a game they cared about more and affected specific things they'd like. It's honestly a statement on pair with "it's only prejucide if THIS specific group does it" where the meaning of a word is revised by making it as if only a group can do the act.

"It's their game, they can do whatever they want" the actual creators (Alex Ahad included) aren't present anymore, so this whole "they own it" part lines up with the notion that IP's matter more than artist: Part of what Martin Scorcece talked about with MCU movies.

It's pretty clear that Skullgirls (And a lot of media people attach because it's always a topic of discussion online) was made for and by "perverts".

Even the people that claim to be ok with these changes probably got into it for the same factor ("Sex sells" etc) and now, most reviews are turning negative on Steam and most positive ones are from years ago.

Maybe the problem with Skullgirls is that it's technically an indiegame but it didn't have that much of a "indie spirit". What i mean is the "goal" of it landing on EVO, since the competitive fighting game scene became corporate and i occasionally draw a line between that and when they started to tone down the panty shots from years ago. Because people already assume that other companies get rid of fanservice and sexy stuff for the sake of approval (Meanwhile, SNK is owned by Saudi Arabia and Mai Shiranui is still safe). It's a similar sentiment people have towards that Boxtown cartoon for being indie yet having the same animation style as most modern cartoons or that one Dinomites "when you encourage an artist" comic involving someone's dream of a Pixar mascot character and a Katy Perry music video. "Indie" isn't just a status in terms of economics or publishing, i like to think it reflects on the actual creativity and risks.

And this is also because Skullgirls has its fair share of references and influences to other stuff, which might've come from media by artists who had to say "no, i want to make this". Take a look at various artists, writers, game devs, movie directors, composers etc that you like: Chances are they had moments where they had to stand up for their works. Some even have their own varied political beliefs and still managed to upset both sides.

Even if they're notorious in certain industries and praised by some nerd media sites, they still have content that you know people would lose their shit over if it came today.

Anyway, if i were to make a fighting game, it'd just use it as an excuse to "mechanically expand" my characters and say "look, they have attacks and abilities" and not give a fuck about a competitive scene. And i don't really hide the fact that i'm a pervert, so if my current game's art improves, i'll still retain a certain easter egg. Maybe i'm too wary over things like "Troll's Remorse" but i know it's possible for someone to still make stuff and retain somethings in a creative field.

Not like anybody cares who i am and i still consider myself at a very early phase.

There's still some lessons to learn from this event.

[katlimeart]

Made in 2020

If you’ve seen this anywhere else, I posted it back on my deviantArt when it was made.

Daisy cosplaying as Shantae (Shantae franchise)

[mr-glove]

Another ½ transformation for Shantae/Tyger hood

I was brainstorming for abother transformation for Shantae's pirate persona. And with her hood and equipment she got during GW2L I really wanted to give her some more assassin/ninja transformation. But I also tend to switch from arcs and volumes to avoid myself from losing intest.

And so as I was adding some stuff for ½GH pirate race (the carpet race doesn't appear in my AU), and there's a giant mountain. My brain went: Isn't there an animal that's called the ninja master of the mountains? And I immediantely went to the ibex as the prime animal for the new transformation.

But after I full had the concept in my head I went "wait this feels familiar" and then I realized I was making Haiji Gotou from Killing bites. But since I'm already too deep into the idea,

But just imagine she wears a jacket with a face mask like this

[evanwhosjusthere]

Video Game Artist Spotlight: Lindsay Collins/linzb0t

Lindsay Collins, also known as "linzb0t", is an artist from Canada. Specializing in character design and illustration. She tends to be associated with WayForward and there games. She also co-created the game Dodge Club Party with WayForward game designer James Montagna. And she is also the lead artist on Cat Girl Without Salad and Vitamin Connection.

Her Tumblr

Her Instagram

Her Twitter

Games Worked On:

Cave Story+ (2011) - Artist

Adventure Time: The Secret of the Nameless Kingdom (2014) - Portrait Illustrator

Descendants (2015) - Character Artist

Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero (2016) - Additional Character Design

Dodge Club Party (2016) - Creator, Character Design, Artwork

Dodge Club Pocket (2018) - Artist, Box Art

Cat Girl without Salad: Amuse-Bouche (2018) - Art Director, Animator, Illustrator, Box Art

Double Cross (2019) - Character Art, Concept Art, Artwork

Vitamin Connection (2020) - Lead Artist

Mutant Mudds Collection (2017/2022) - Box Art (Limited Run Games)

XeoDrifter (2022) - Box Art (Limited Run)

Dawn of the Monsters (2022) - Additional Concepts

[magicalgirlagency]

I get the problem with the police magical girl concept but why would genie magical girls be controversial?

Because orientalism, that's why. Genies are rare in Magical Girl media, mind you. There are like, only five series that utilize this gimmick/theme:

I Dream of Jeannie;

Shantae;

Yobarete! Tobidete! Akubi-chan/Akubi Girl;

Shimmer & Shine;

Pixel Pinkie*

Considering Japan's rocky relationship with black people and whitewashing in anime, a Genie-themed PreCure would be problematic, so it's best to drop the idea, to avoid any sort of migraine...

*In the case of Pixel Pinkie, it's actually modernized and different from the popular idea of a genie, with even Pinkie herself declaring that she isn't particularly fond of the "genie" moniker.

[incorrectshantaequotes]

'Tis The Season to be Spooky

So, seeing as Halloween is coming up, I had a fun little idea to properly celebrate the season beyond the usual quote.

That being: what would the Shantae cast's costumes be?

This is going to be a long one, so be ready!

Heroes

One note before we get into specifics - for the most part, the costumes here would be handled by Canonical Cosplay Connoisseur™ Rottytops! Who is not only 110% up for doing that, but by the time Shantae comes around to be like "hey you want to do our costumes?", Rottytops already has costumes for everyone. She's just that enthusiastic about the whole thing.

Shantae: A pirate captain! After all, she already has a bit of experience with the role - even if a certain actual pirate would disagree - so what could be better? While Rottytops handles most of the costume here, Shantae does contribute the bandana she swiped from Risky's wardrobe back during Pirate's Curse.

Sky: Vampire...but not the traditional kind! The idea Rottytops went for is a vampire that turns into a crow rather than a bat, and adjusted the classical vampire look to fit that concept. She has the classic suit and fangs, sure, but she also has a cape of black feathers instead of simple fabric, and has birdlike talons at the end of her gloves. Sky honestly loves the whole thing.

Bolo: A knight! Rottytops didn't have to do much work for this one, because Hypno Baron had a bunch of armor sets lying around his lair for aesthetic purposes - so, she just had to go to where her brothers moved them, grab one, do a bit of refitting via magic, and voila! For his part, Bolo appreciates it...but does think the armor is a bit heavy. Doesn't stop him from wearing it, though.

Rottytops: Werewolf! Sure, she COULD go as herself, considering she's already well-suited to the season, but Rottytops decided that would be boring, and so went with a classic werewolf. A werewolf in green, sure, but still classic. Plus, she figured she and Sky could do some fun shenanigans with their costumes, going off the traditional "vampire vs. werewolf" rivalry, and Sky is perfectly willing to play along and do some friendly banter.

Uncle Mimic: Mummy! He actually did his costume himself initially, and then Rottytops took one look at it and went "hang on I can do you one better" and presented him with a High Quality mummy costume. He was very flattered about the gift.

The other half-genies also happen to be visiting via Lobster Siren's teleportation powers, and as such, they get costumes as well, starting with...

Harmony: Scarecrow! Which was actually Harmony's idea, leaning into the idea of her role as a town guardian. Going out as a group is a bit new to her - in her town, she's usually helping run the Halloween celebration, not being an active participant in it - but she manages well enough.

Zapple: Frankenstein's Monster! Perhaps a bit predictable, given her electricity powers, but it's a classic for a reason.

Plink: Witch! Also a bit predictable, but she still enjoys the look, and really leans into her costume to set the proper mood.

Vera: Mermaid! A costume she actually handled herself; since she lives right next to a bunch of mermaids, she was able to get some tips and pointers to make sure the costume was accurate. It's so good, in fact, that Rottytops immediately approved upon seeing it.

Lobster Siren: Ghost! This is her first Halloween, period, since the sirens never really celebrated it in the depths beneath Siren Island. Rottytops offered to handle her costume, but Lobster Siren thought it'd be fun to do it herself, and ended up with...the classic bedsheet look, which doesn't quite fit what she was going for, but everyone else thought it was fine.

Villains

Risky Boots: If you were to ask Risky, she'd deny participating at all...but come Halloween proper, if you were to happen to spot her ship, you'd see a lively party between the Tinkerbats, with Risky as the host. She goes for a more casual wear during said party instead of a proper costume, but that's effectively the closest she'll get to it.

Ammo Baron: Wears a duo costume designed by Techno Baron, that being the Headless Horseman, with Techno Baron as the head! As for the horse? Well...

Armor Baron: Rather than make a robot horse or something similar, Techno Baron tricked Armor Baron into wearing a horse costume. He absolutely hates every second of it.

Twitch and Vinegar: Another duo costume, this time being a pair of mobsters! They actually join in the festivities at Scuttle Town with Ammo Baron's permission.

Barracuda Joe: Igor. He certainly feels like a madman's assistant, so he thinks it fits rather nicely.

Hypno Baron: Doesn't have a costume, but does set up half a dozen haunted mansions and spends the night running between them to scare the hell out of anyone who goes in!

Squid Baron: Shantae! His costume is more just a wig than anything, really, considering how his body doesn't lend itself to wearing anything, but that's good enough for him.

Empress Siren: Doesn't give a shit what holiday it is, and in fact actively tries to attack Scuttle Town once she realizes it's vulnerable...only for Risky to cut her off before she reaches shore and fight her off herself, under the pretense that she's "not letting her get a shot at the genie brat that easily." The ensuing scuffle ends up drawing the attention of the local heroes, letting them arrive just in time to see Risky win...and then promptly drag her into the festivities as thanks, whether she wants to be there or not.

[dreamerkitty]

Guess who got The Art of Shantae for Christmas! It’s so good, im ecstatic to be able to see concepts for the earlier games, especially the gbc one

Since I’m pretty obsessed with the sprites of the first three games, I wanted to see what sprites were different in the sprites section of the book. I hope I didn’t miss anything! :P

The upper kick for Shantae’s first fighter’s move has this shadow below it, dunno if it was just added for the book. Since the screens ingame are usually flat, I see no point for this shadow. Maybe it was just to determine height. Her trousers are more poofy and her hair is more curled

A talking sprite that dooooesn’t quite match up with anything. Shantae never closes her mouth with this animation

A slightly altered hair whip. I think the final works better with the movement

Another talking sprite. I swear I’ve seen her with this expression before but it seems to be nowhere on her sprite sheet, hm. It’s kinda a mix of her angry expression and the bashful one

A celebratory pose. Another I feel I’ve seen before but can’t find. It gives me ‘pose before transformation’ and ‘victory against rottytops’ vibes but is ever so slightly different. The ‘pose before transformation’ sprites also have her hands open so it’s more ‘victory against rottytops’. Her expression matches ones seen when Shantae is dancing

Multiple falling/hit sprites. It looks like they go with the running game sprites. An altered fall with the final being rotated 180, same goes for the third one. The ‘looking up in shock’ is a different pose. The concept one fits with the others since she falls on her front but in final she falls on her back. I feel like the concept one would’ve been smoother than the final since it’s closer to her fall. In the final she falls down and instantly sits up in shock.

Spider time! I’m always so confused which sprites are right, the ones with black outlines or darker coloured ones. I haven’t properly looked at gameplay in a while so that might help sort it out. An unused spider in some kind of relaxed pose. Perhaps used as the base for the walking animations.

A concept for genie Risky. Both concept and final are shown in the art book. It just seems like they were experimenting with her design. She has an earring and no curls at the sides of her face. Perhaps the final was less obvious it was Risky.

A very strange Rotty in genie gear sprite. Makes me think of genie Risky’s ‘opening the dungeon’ sprite. Was Rotty originally the one to trick you? It’d make sense since she was originally one of the main villains before Risky. The trousers look like a perfect match for the Shantae dance sprite shown and the arms are from Risky’s genie sprite. I’m wondering if this sprite was just a placeholder where the right sprite is the one they actually used. They just used Shantae’s existing sprite for a base to work from. Rotty’s outfit also looks a bit different here: the bottom hem on her top is more noticeable, she doesn’t seem to have straps on her top and you can see her skirt buckle. The shoes however look less detailed than final.

An expression for Rotty. She doesn’t emote at all in final.

Some unused and altered minor enemies. The snake is simply a recolour though I’m hesitant with the recolours here because the gbc and gba versions had different colourings already. The fucking creeshur seems to be an early spear mole (what a fucking thing) though it seems very similar to the small bats. And finally a small eagle/bird that makes me think of Mario 2. The closest thing I could find is the eaglemen that use the same theme and colours. It just seems like an unused small flying enemy.

This chest(?) that totally baffled me. Gave me a massive brain fart wondering if there were actually chests in the game. Still can’t remember lol and can’t seem to find any sprites to match it. Otherwise, I’m thinking they might have something to do with the magnet men? Not sure.

Early heart container is a little bit fatter and has no face. Final is cuter :)

The adorable dance hall girls. Here’s another that I feel like I’ve seen the girl with blue hair before... she also has a different coloured earring. The reclining girl’s veil is shorter and has an earring in concept. I prefer the final where she seems to have longer hair and a few strands sticking out.

Some Tinkerbats. The landing/crouching is more dynamic in concept but I get that the movement could’ve been too much for the actual animation. As for the second sprite, couldn’t find a matching one anywhere... they do have bombs but I don’t believe they ever carry them like this.

A beautiful lady for last. I was going to say she’s completely changed but then had an idea. And yes, she does indeed match the bat girl in ice in Twinkle Palace. How strange! She appears a bit slimmer, you can see her teeth and the light pink is white.

[theindiandanceclass]

The Spiritual Aspect of Indian Classical Dance

Indian classical dance is much more than a performing art; it is a profound spiritual practice that connects the dancer to the divine. Rooted in ancient traditions and scriptures, these dance forms are a blend of intricate movements, expressive gestures, and symbolic storytelling, all imbued with deep spiritual significance. Bharatanatyam classes near me This blog delves into the spiritual aspect of Indian classical dance, exploring its origins, philosophical foundations, and the transformative experiences it offers to practitioners.

Origins and Philosophical Foundations

Ancient Roots: Indian classical dance has its origins in the temples of ancient India, where it was performed as a form of worship. The Natya Shastra, a foundational treatise on performing arts written by the sage Bharata Muni around 200 BCE to 200 CE, outlines the principles of dance, drama, and music. According to the Natya indian classical dance classes near me Shastra, dance was created by the gods to educate and entertain humans, blending spiritual and artistic elements to achieve a higher purpose.

Bhakti (Devotion): At the heart of Indian classical dance is the concept of bhakti, or devotion. Dancers dedicate their performances to deities, embodying stories from Hindu mythology and scriptures. Through dance, they express their reverence, love, and surrender to the divine. bharatnatyam classes This devotional aspect transforms the dance into a sacred ritual, elevating it beyond mere entertainment.

Symbolism and Spiritual Expression

Mudras (Hand Gestures): Mudras are symbolic hand gestures that convey specific meanings and emotions. Each mudra is a prayer in itself, used to narrate stories and invoke spiritual energies. For instance, the Anjali mudra (hands folded in prayer) signifies reverence and humility, classical indian dance classes near me while the Abhaya mudra (hand raised in blessing) represents protection and reassurance.

Rasa (Emotional Essence): Rasa refers to the emotional essence or flavor that a dance evokes in the audience. According to Indian aesthetics, there are nine primary rasas: Shringara (love), Hasya (joy), Karuna (compassion), Raudra (anger), Veera (courage), Bhayanaka (fear), Bibhatsa (disgust), Adbhuta (wonder), and Shanta (peace). Through the depiction of these rasas, dancers connect with the audience on a deep, emotional level, creating a shared spiritual experience.

Chakras and Energy Flow: Many Indian classical dance forms align movements with the body's energy centers, or chakras. indian dance class The dance acts as a form of moving meditation, balancing and activating these energy centers. This alignment fosters a sense of harmony and well-being, facilitating a deeper connection with the self and the divine.

Transformative Experiences for Dancers

Mind-Body-Spirit Connection: The practice of Indian classical dance fosters a harmonious connection between the mind, body, and spirit. The rigorous physical training strengthens the body, while the focus on rhythm and coordination sharpens the mind. online bharatanatyam classes The spiritual intent behind the dance nurtures the soul, leading to a holistic sense of well-being.

Meditative Practice: Repetitive practice of movements and rhythms in Indian classical dance has a meditative quality. The dancer becomes fully immersed in the present moment, experiencing a state of flow where the distinction between the dancer and the dance dissolves. This meditative state brings about inner peace and a sense of transcendence.

Emotional Catharsis: Through the portrayal of various emotions and stories, dancers experience and release their own emotions. This emotional catharsis has a purifying effect, helping them process and transcend personal struggles and experiences.

Spiritual Experience for the Audience

Collective Participation: In a traditional Indian classical dance performance, the audience is not merely a passive observer but an active participant. The shared experience of the performance creates a collective sense of unity and spirituality, where both the dancer and the audience are transported to a higher plane of consciousness.

Invocation of the Divine: Dance performances often begin with invocations and prayers, setting a sacred tone for the event. The presence of the divine is invoked through the music, movements, and expressions, creating an atmosphere of reverence and sanctity.

Conclusion

The spiritual aspect of Indian classical dance is a testament to its depth and richness. It is a practice that transcends the physical realm, offering profound spiritual experiences for both the dancer and the audience. bharatanatyam dance classes near me By blending devotion, symbolism, and expressive storytelling, Indian classical dance serves as a powerful medium for connecting with the divine, fostering inner peace, and experiencing the sacred in everyday life. Whether as a practitioner or a spectator, engaging with Indian classical dance opens the door to a world of spiritual beauty and profound transformation.