#tbh not digging her design hope that's just concept art

[gae-bolg-alternative-dot-exe]

Lucy Edgerunners becoming a character funniest shit ever. Actual out of left field cameo.

[gren-arlio]

So. Fia and the Mysterious School.

So uh...Yeah, I know I'm seriously late to the party when it comes to this stuff, but I realized that this was mostly done and it was in drafts, so I might as well post it. This might just be filler for the big post, but enjoy nevertheless. ----

Madou 4 is... looking pretty cool, I'm not gonna lie. Really enjoying the art direction they're going for. And the designs of the characters? Amazing.

Like genuinely, even if it doesn't get an official English release, I'm down to watch and learn about it.

(They're so...silly...)

Even the screenshot of the overworld is very charming to boot.

I heard a pal say "It looks like Gen 6 of Pokémon" and I could see it, but we'll have to wait and see for the true experience of this game.

I'll make what I think of the characters a Read More thing. Imo, looking amazing.

You can read about the stuff right here.

---

Fia:

The newest silly girl on the block. Besides me thinking that Witch finally got her name chosen, I genuinely love the design they went for, since small hats are peak character designs.

Apparently she's a bit of an airhead and I'm all for it. Let her get involved into dumb stuff because she's dense and clueless and stupid. We love that in this world.

---

Will:

Tbh, besides the whole crop top thing he has, I absolutely dig the design and color choices they went for. And also excluding the fact that his name is Will in a fantasy game, I do find it curious that he has a twin brother, Roy, who's apparently a teacher.

Oh, and since this is making headlines: Apparently he's got a mix of Lagnus and Rulue in him. So he HAS to be peak.

---

Leena:

I really dig the design, I won't deny it, somehow they made almost all blue look really, really nice. The site says that she's calm and collected, but struggles with speaking to people, which I will most likely hope is just her being shy to talk to people, rather than the whole "She just sounds like a pervert," like Schezo does.

She also apparently reads a lot, if the glasses and the shy personality didn't point at her being quite the reader. So with that, she might be peak.

---

Totto:

Green mage with white hair that covers the eye? Where have I seen that before... Jokes aside, he does open his eyes compared to someone we do know, and he's pretty different. According to the site, he's someone with a lotta info...you just gotta pay the dude for it. So like Anna from Fire Emblem.

Also apparently, there's some promise he made to someone? Who knows about it for now?

---

Eska:

Now this design is pretty unique, yellow and white with pink eyes is an interesting choice of coloring they went for. I genuinely like what they went for with her, AND she's half dragon? I wonder what they're gonna go with her.

She gains interest to Fia (It google translates to Fear, so uh...yeah.) after the start of the game, and she doesn't really have common sense, which is gonna be interesting.

---

Roy:

Besides the fact that he is NOT our boy this time around, Roy is Will's twin brother who went the teacher route in life rather than the hero route. He's basically the antithesis of Will; Cool-headed and prefers to be realistic to Will's optimism.

Also, I think he visually looks better than Will, but eh, that could change in due time.

---

And finally, Jurk:

Besides his kinda bad name IMO, I like his design a lot. A guy who simply travels the world is always a fun concept in any game, and his design is honestly one of the best I've seen from the game. He's also friends with the headmaster of the school, which could be interesting.

My main concern is the person he tags along with, Mew. She's probably going to be an alright character, but I don't have super high hopes of that. Plus, her design isn't selling me at all, it just doesn't look right.

---

But yeah, those are (at least for now), my honest thoughts for the game RN. Maybe when more is covered and shown off sometime. But that'll be all for today.

[lanatusnebula]

I Want To Like Aeolus

I'm going to type "Helios" because I played a fan translated version of the game so I could avoid the eng voice actors. (I refuse to buy anything else Capcom releases related to Megaman because I physically own most of this stuff anyway LOL)

So, so good points about Helios;

he has a cool head on his shoulders (deisgn-wise)

he had model H (my favorite MMZ character is Harpuia and ZX I love Model H big)

I like his face and hair! It's super silly but the more I look at it, the more he reminds me of SOMEONE I can't actually put my finger on. It's funny. And he has... one earring? Hanging off the ear mechanic things? Not sure what to call them... audio enhancement device? Vestibular Enhancement Piece? I wish they got some nerd to official label the reploid/cyborg body parts...

He's pretty neat in that regard, haha!

Model H is super fun in ZX! I enjoyed it in ZX. In ZX it is my favorite! So good on him that he's a biomatch for pocket Harpuia.

--

From here downward i will slander Helios's name and everything he will ever stand for.

nb4, "dude if you dont like him, then ignore his existence like you do with everything else you dont like" bro you dont understand this is a struggle i must endure for the sake of my own completeness (self-torture)

This whole this is biased and abandoned by reason, but I will put on a brave face and embarass myself anyway...! ò 0 ó

Points to touch on;

his design

his writing

his personality

biomatching with Model H

background

moveset

Design

I hate his design so freakin much. He has a sleeveless vest (ok), the weird skin-tight extra padding (sure) a skirt attached to ABSOLUTELY NOTHING (ok) and PANTS (dress pants). Each of these things on a character in the Z series would be like "eh whatever". But looking at how everyone else dresses, I always wondered "what happened HERE???". I'm hoping that it was a mistranslation of the concept art to the official marketed stuff, and they added volume to the skirt when it was supposed to be attached to the torso piece. I just can't mentally comprehend his layers otherwise? Like I'm picturing he and Ciel had the same thing going on, except he has dress pants instead of tights.

I'm more than aware that fashion in the Z/ZX series is a bit unhinged and abnormal. That it might even be lore related or somehow touched on by the fact that every human is a cyborg. Maybe he's a reploid and we can't see it? I'm holding onto the hope that Atlas and Helios are reploids who hide this fact. (Unlikely)

His Writing

Because I am an ugly Harpuia fan, I was expecting more than the game actually gave. This section is my personal gripes that have no real basis for complaints. They are, as a whole, completely unnecessary and ignorable.

Siarnaq has a backstory that is briefly mentioned in his little disk thing. Okay!

Thetis has some sort of motivation that hints that something else could be there, but doesn't have a backstory in in the disk thing. Okay!

Atlas has a backstory that is briefly mentioned in her little disk thing. Okay! (she has been ruined by the fanart in select places and thus she does not exist to me LOL - same with Ashe tbh)

Helios has... a shallower motivation than even Thetis *and* lacks a backstory. I mean, sure I guess? I am biased towards Thetis because I figured for a reploid to have that much of an interest in oceans - something *happened*. It isn't even suggested that anything did happen, it's just... a good set up for me to fart out fandom crap. But Helios... I... man.

Man.

"Everything is imperfect and full of foolish fools I will kill everyone." His personality is so god damn bland. Harpuia was the highlighted guardian for most of the MMZ games and I ended up really enjoying how he evolved and how he struggled in the drama CDs. There was a lot to work with! Part of me thinks, "yes well Fefnir had jack shit going for him and you'd die for him". I DIG HIS DESIGN A REALLY LOT. But THIS GUY I simply struggle with! I want to like him because bootleg model H biomatch but I got nothing to workmwith! And that frustrates me. :(

Bland personality (I like Death the Kid ffs), shit motivation, no background - I know this is grounds for "blank slate, do what you want" but I just don't operate like that for this guy specifically.

His Personality

This section is biased.

Helios's personality doesn't really go beyond "I am a pretentious snob." He has... four lines? Maybe? I can recall four instances of dialogue off the top of my head.

"I don't have time for this lol"

"Fuck you, you imperfect crackhead" (I played as Grey).

"Fuck everyone on this planet for being imperfect."

"Self sacrifice is beautiful for friendship."

Maybe I can work with these? They are not obviously direct quotes, and are obviously played up for the hahateehee, but... I dunno man. It Should be enough to work with but I can't get into mindset of doing something with it.

Biomatching With Model H

This one is a little tricky. I assumed the biometals were either broken, muted somehow, or ditched by whatever personalities lived within them. Model Z kinda suggests to me that it IS the original inside of the biometal, but it's pure speculation based on a few lines.

I understandnthe relations some of the MegaMen have with their biometles, right

Atlas is powerhungry, which can loosely be connected to Fefnir in a very idiot way

Thetis has a "childlike innocence with attached cruelty" that we can poke ourselves in the eyes and say Leviathan had. Also ice water go brr

Siarnaq is a freaky little somethin ninja who is the complete opposite of what we assume Phantom is like based on the extremely limited dialogue he gives us. (but is substantially more to work with than what Helios gives us)

For Helios, we have to accept the "pompous homogeneous ruler mentality" as Harpuia's link. Which I don't get. What is the point of the entire Z series then? Aren't we supposed to look at Harpuia's growth and go "oh he actually is dedicated to his cause but was stuck in some muddy circumstances"? He had pride, absolutely (thinking about his post-repairs in Z3) but it's such a small part of who I thought he was personally? Granted, I did not write the game. I have no say in this; pride could have been his very essence. I just thought it was... justice.

We can say Helios is very much connected to justice - that he feels there is a sense of justice in nuking the flawed beings off this planet. (which is somewhat skewed by the fact that humans get bot'd after a while - what age? 13??? - and are basically cyborgs or robots themselves. So in a sense, they're already leaving behind their imperfect bodies) But... the super secret ending - the fact that he is present AT ALL makes no sense. If the goal is to put an emphasis on human bodies in the future, then... why is Helios present for this? Humans are the epitome of imperfection - we know this. It's blatant. It's why they do these mechanical enhancements to begin with.

Helios can't even commit to a cause right? I know all the MegaMen are exceedingly braindead and that's cool. But at least the others COMMIT to it. Thetis doesn't go "I'm gonna eliminate an entire race for the ocean" and then piss in the sea. Atlas doesn't go "Power is everything." and then break down crying and throwing away her biometal to embrace her weakness. Siarnaq doesnt go "HYPERFOCUSING ON TASK AT HAND" and then hold hands with everyone at the amusement park with a smile. THEY COMMIT.

Helios is stupid. He doesn't commit. Not if that is the truest ending leading up to this ZXC they planned.

His Background

Helios has no background. Okay. That is fine. Thetis doesn't have one either. Two focusing on the present and two focusing on the past.

But what could his background have been? Aristocrat? Poor? Feral child? Living in squalor? No parents? Abusive parents? Was he training to be one of the Sage Trinity? Albert came out of nowhere right? Maybe anyone qualifies - clearly they don't do background checks on anyone.

Maybe he was a sword enthusiast? Maybe the sword plays a part in this? Maybe he idolizes Thomas and felt his methods weren't extreme enough? I feel like the sword is very important to him as a character.

But why didn't they elaborate? They spent so much time making the Floating Islands a Shit Stage and Ouroboros absolutely mind breaking they didn't think to go "maybe we should add a line about his sword that he never actually uses." Are the writers andnstage designers different people? I don't actually know. Might be in the credits. Sure doesn't feel like it in ZXA.

His Moveset

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

why is model zx's reach so short

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[fannishcodex]

Another thought before I watch the new He-Man/MOTU:

-I am genuinely interested! It started with spop and Hordak/Entrapta, Imp, Emily, Horde Prime, Wrong Hordak (Kadroh), Horde Clones (Entrapdak/Spacebat fandom); and then I’ve started watching original ‘80s She-Ra and I’m genuinely enjoying it, and I’ve read up more on MOTU, and now I’m even more curious about checking out more MOTU. Like, the sense that the new show might be closer to original MOTU? That interests me, because original MOTU seems to have interesting concepts that have potential/could be explored more.

Also @shadsiethewriter @emperorsfoot @pennamesmith have gotten me interested in more MOTU too.

continued under the cut:

-I heard some neat casting news--Mark Hamill and Sarah Michelle Gellar, and I’m so here for that. Mark Hamill as Skeletor sounds like such a good idea given what I know of Skeletor, especially Skeletor from the original ‘80s show; and SMG is making me nostalgic and bringing back all my Feels for Buffy, especially Buffy the Character and looking back I wish spop had centered Adora as much as BtVS centered Buffy Anne Summers, like BtVS really made me love Buffy the Character and I felt it centered her pretty well from what I recall of the show.

-Orko’s design has just always looked very cute to me. He reminds me of Vivi from Final Fantasy 9 and the Heartless in Kingdom Hearts. And he’s still looking cute in the new show’s trailer, and apparently he gets some cool animation scenes, which I’m also here for.

-That first trailer just looked so fun and good to me. I was digging the animation and the action scenes and the art and the choice of “Holding Out for a Hero” as the trailer music!

-I appreciate how it seems like all the characters are just adults. 1) Again, another tidbit that seems like they’re exploring more of the original MOTU show from the ‘80s, which is neat. 2) And also it makes me think of--kinda dipping into another topic here tbh: now, there are animated shows I like with largely younger main casts (hey AtLA!), but I don’t like seeing the idea of “all-ages animated shows need younger main casts, they can’t have too many adult main characters, and the main cast definitely can’t just be adults.” I’ve found myself thinking more about some animated shows I watched before and thinking how they were foundational for me, and they were meant to be all-ages shows but they really did have adult casts--Beast Wars, Gargoyles, Justice League (Unlimited), Spider-Man the Animated Series, Reboot to an extent, etc. (BW/Gargoyles/JL/Spider-Man/these shows still had their like younger adult characters too, but they weren’t literally kids.) They were still deeply entertaining animated shows, and it seemed like they didn’t feel like kid characters were necessary to reach an all-ages audience/they weren’t intimidated by having largely adult casts in fantastical worlds meant for all-ages audiences. I think part of it was that I felt like that one Tumblr post I saw once (I forget by whom though)--it was nice to see adults having fictional adventures too (at least I believe that’s what that post conveyed; either way, it’s also something I just like to think). But honestly, I don’t really remember thinking of how I was watching adult characters when I first saw the shows--I was watching Dinobot and Goliath and Hawkgirl being really cool and interesting characters. Now, having said that, I think the new He-Man/Motu isn’t necessarily meant for an all-ages audience. (Something to Google I suppose.) Either way, I appreciate how the new MOTU show is apparently keeping their adult cast and seems more willing to explore concepts from the original MOTU stories. 

My hopes/expectations for new He-Man/MOTU:

Right now just pretty casual, I just hope it’s genuinely entertaining. If it turns out to be great to me, cool! If it’s just genuinely entertaining, that’s fine.

[rocks-tumbled]

there’s a lot to love about she-ra but also a lot that seriously bugs me about it. there are a lot of dudebros criticizing the representation i’m sure, but has anyone talked about the pretty serious writing and animation issues (like the tracking on adora’s sword spanning multiple episodes... i’m not nitpicky about much, esp things that make animation fun, but that was an outright error. and it was distracting and confusing to see her sword disappearing in so many shots before i realized it was a mistake! other stuff like repetive/lazy shots and stiff animation i could accept bc of the budget and how anatomical the models are but.. eep) ?? there’s a lot about the writing that i kinda wanna unpack tbh... the exposition dumping in dialogue i could understand because it’s a netflix show (although so was hilda and they executed a lot of complex concepts much more efficiently) and there were so many character and tone moments where i was like... why did no one catch this? even the nods to taz and some of the queer relationships (and queercoding/subtext with chars in m/f relationships) i was like... not digging entirely, idk. like some things felt poorly handled or half-assed even, while there were aspects of the show, like the art, that showed me how much love and care some of the crew put into it

it’s sad because they could have had a stronger writing team and i know netflix is notoriously bad about the animation budget for its original shows but wow, some of the stuff i wish someone had caught/pushed more ? at the same time it’s a great example of how to reboot and glimmer is super well-handled fat rep, and i adore the character designs and the premise is super cool, some stuff is rly well-executed. but ye... did anyone else take issue with stuff in she-ra? i just don’t super understand the hype, maybe because i went into it with such high hopes because of how nice the art and design stuff is?

[sternbilder]

the games i played to completion in 2017, ranked in order of how much i liked them

mostly for my own reference and i’m gonna try to keep this out of the tags but read on if you want to read about me getting super excited about video games i guess

p/ersona 5 - look i know this wasn’t a perfect game like there are Several Large Complaints i would like to file regarding plot and pacing and premise even but this was. still my favorite game of 2017 and just such an enjoyable 120 hours to have spent holy fuck?? like everyone’s always talking about how stylish p5 is and goddamn are they right like it’s such a gorgeous game!! the loving detail they put into every aspect of the UI, the beautiful character sprites, that effortlessly cool contemporary tokyo vibe that oozes into every aspect of the game!! and the gameplay (which i played on normal difficulty, being a series beginner) was both challenging and rewarding and both the dungeons and the school life segments (considering the sheer variety of Shit You Could Do not to mention all the charming-ass characters with compelling sideplots) were just. an absolute treat?? plus the soundtrack to this game was just killer so there’s also that

n/ier: automata - SPEAKING OF GAMES WITH GR8 SOUNDTRACKS. i think this game’s soundtrack probably ranks up there with my favorite video game OSTs of ALL TIME FOREVER like seriously. it is so so good. anyway friends it took me four (4) days to beat this game and another full 24 hours just to process this game like. y’all know i’m always a slut for sad robots and BOY HOWDY did this game have that thing. not only is the game itself gorgeous but i’m pretty much in love with the Entire cast (but especially 9S, who is my special son) and i’m crying,, eternally,, about the c/d/e routes and even though it probably wasn’t the Most impressive and best written game Ever it had a lot of good twists and revelations and a real sense of weight and suspense esp. in the later playthroughs which i am ALL ABOUT. not being much of an action RPG person i never really fell in love w/ the combat but it was fun enough even though it got kind of repetitive and too hack-and-slashy for my taste after a while?? actually fuck the bullet hell hacking minigame tho if i’m gonna be real

f/ire emblem fates (birthright, conquest, and revelation) - listen i know this game was like objectively garbage but i’m still trying to justify having spent a literal 1/3 of my year playing it so bear with me for just 2 hot seconds. first of all hi yes there’s a running theme here bc i dig the shit out of fe14′s OST?? also even though the plot was kind of a mess the characters and supports still grew on me a lot after a while and actually the gameplay was really fun?? maybe it’s bc i played it on hard/classic (as opposed to fea which i played on normal/casual) but i really enjoyed the combat a lot more in these games than fea--actually i do think there’s actually a lot of actual improvements here, especially with all the new classes, the improved dual guard/dual strike rules, and no fucking weapon durability, etc. as well as a lot of the more unusual victory conditions (in conquest and revelation, not so much in birthright) like i feel like there were a lot of highlights and i genuinely enjoyed the battles in fe14 a lot and sure the whole waifu nintendogs concept is creepy as hell and babyrealm is a fucking joke but i still thought this was a Pretty good or at least enjoyable game so you can fight me on that front

d/anganronpa v3 - ok let me me the first to admit that i honestly?? don’t really like dr as a franchise very much and the only real reason i got into it in the first place is to fill the ace attorney-shaped hole in my heart in between releases thereof (as well as superficial similarities to other games i like, like ze) and while i still enjoy the gameplay and investigating and mystery-solving parts of it and those aspects i still find very enjoyable and well-written a lot of the rest of the games really kind of fall flat for me?? like tbh i’m not a huge fan of the art style, the sense of humor and localization don’t really do it for me, the characters are cute but kind of over-the-top and not super relatable to me personally, and honestly the whole ~evil mastermind did it for the lulz~ trope being played super straight disappointed me a lot about the first game especially?? that being said i know this is a bit of a base breaker but i actually really liked the direction that sdr2 took with its ending and it made me hopeful for the sequel, which brings me to drv3 which surprised me in a lot of pleasant ways?? like personally i think it’s the best dr yet and while i can see why people would be disappointed with the ending and feel like it may be a cop-out i think it was still clever enough that i appreciate it for trying?? or maybe it’s just bc i didn’t like the original so much and the departure from that felt like kind of a breath of relief but that’s just me idk

f/inal fantasy x - guess who was late to the party and played her first final fantasy in this year of the lord 2017!!! it’s me!!! honestly i was expecting more from this game overall in terms of plot just because it’s such a Classic and all but fwiw i still liked it?? i didn’t super love any of the main characters and the story was a little predictable and even though i played the remaster it’s still an obviously dated game but NEVERTHELESS it was still just a solid RPG and i genuinely enjoyed playing it!! i should play the sequel sometime but. i’ll get to it after i clear out this massive backlog i have currently as we speak sobs

the witness - i don’t talk about this game enough bc honestly it isn’t the kind of game that can have a real fanbase (no real characters or plot, etc.) but i still enjoyed the fuck out of this, holy hell. i mean it’s i guess kind of an open-world exploration-slash-puzzle concept which sounds kind of boring but the world is gorgeous and the way the game presents these puzzles for you to solve and teaches you the rules in a way that’s entirely self-explanatory and intuitive but still super difficult and ultimately rewarding is just so gratifying and i was just so so impressed at how creative they got with these puzzle designs and the way the world seems to unfold itself the more you unlock its secrets?? anyway i know this is near the bottom bc i do love me a video game story and this particular game doesn’t have that but PLAY THIS GAME IF YOU LIKE PUZZLES IT IS JUST SO COOL AND FUN AND GOOD

the n/onary games (999 only) - this is a replay but still worth mentioning i think?? obviously 999 is one of my favorite games of all time and i was super pumped about the remake and while i didn’t quite enjoy it as much as the very first time i played 999 on my DS it was still a good game!! tbh i mostly just played this game for the voice acting which i was pretty impressed with, and also i got to pick up a lot of the bilingual bonuses i obviously missed while playing my localized copy of the original game which was cool!! i wasn’t as impressed with the updated sprites unfortunately, i felt like their quality was inconsistent and some of them looked like kind of a rush job to me but ymmv i guess?? i think overall i still prefer the DS version even with improvements like the flow chart in the newer version, mostly because 1. i actually appreciated having to literally replay parts of the game in the former bc i feel like it’s more in the spirit of the game if you know what i mean, and 2. some details near the ending that they changed, which you definitely know what i mean if you played the game. still, i appreciate that it’s made the game more widely accessible and if you haven’t played the game pls go play this game i’m literally begging u,,

u/mineko (question arcs only) - ok the only reason i have this 8th on this list is just bc i haven’t technically finished it yet and BOY am i the kind of person who lives entirely for that sweet sweet payoff but there really isn’t THAT much i can say?? like thanks to the ps3 patch the art is pretty decent i guess?? i’m liking all the characters so far?? there’s a whole lot of Bullshit that doesn’t make any sense at this point but i’ve been promised metagame and mindfuck in due time so i guess i’ll just have to see?? yeah this is more of a tbd review than anything i don’t really know what to say besides i’m just so eager to play the other half of this game and get the answers to all these gotdamn MYSTERIES already

braid - i mostly just played this bc i knew it was made by the same person?? studio?? as the witness and while i liked braid and i really enjoyed the puzzles it was just too short for it to have really made an impression on me?? like i know that there is a story and a Twist but it didn’t really do much for me with how abstract it was and just in terms of sheer volume of content it doesn’t quite compare to the other games on this list like don’t get me wrong it was still good!! and if you need a way to kill an afternoon i still highly recommend it but it just wasn’t as memorable to me as p5 or nier was unfort

[peppermint-rat]

Gonna do a lil relationship meme about @eldritchcupcake ‘cause I don’t want to start my day yet

1) What's their name? Damien/Dee/Rotten

3) Do you get along with this person all the time? Of course. We might not always agree on everything but we never fight 4) How old is the person? 24 5) Have they ever cooked for you? Oh yes, when they have the spoons (thats not a cooking pun feck off). They make some fantastic food including orgasmic baked mac & cheese 6) Is this person the same age as you? Older than me by a year and one month. Timed just in time for them to be in ‘92 and me in ‘94 7) Have you ever kissed this person? I smooch them all over the second an opportunity arises 8.) Have you ever laughed for longer than 2 minutes? Of course 10) Are you really close to them? I should hope so, given our 4 year anniv. is next month lmao 11) Nicknames? Bee/Honeybee, Darlin’, Bae/Babe/Beeb/BB, Honey, all that jazz 12) Do they have a nickname for you? Bean (cutest nickname ever), all that jazz mentioned above 13) Have you and this person been outside the country? ...UM... actually I don’t think we have. Anywhere we’ve traveled together has been in the province 14) Do you think they will repost this? If they have time, probably, I know they’re just as much a slut as I am for these dumb little surveys  15) Could you live with this person? Lived together about 3 years with no issue, so I daresay yes <: 16) Why did you pick this person? I wanna say that I didn’t exactly pick them. I did, for sure, after I knew they liked me too, but that’s not really how it went at first. When we finally met for real (rather than being pseudo-acquaintances in high school), and I was so nervous to meet them, and they were kind and gentle with me, I felt the butterflies and was like “ohhh shit. I really really like this person.” And from there I just wanted to be near them all the time, because they were and are just such a meaningful presence. I couldn’t stop thinking of how nice it would be if I could just once tell them how beautiful and radiant they are. And then one night (after pausing Fern Gully lmao) our first kiss just kind of happened, like the tension building up to it just broke. At first I thought I couldn’t be with them for a number of reasons all having to do with me and my upbringing in the church, so the few days after that first kiss were riddled with some of the most unbearable heartbreak I’d ever felt. And then finally, I did pick them, because I knew that even though I was scared, I had to, if you’ll forgive the cliche, follow my heart. And so they walked over to my house in their reindeer pjs and leather jacket and we kissed again, only that night I went to bed smiling and curling my toes, rather than mourning a chance I thought I was too chicken to take. And that remains the best chance I ever took, because it led to the best thing in my life. /endsappystory 17) How long have you known this person? Known OF this person... jeez, 9 years? Facebook friends for like 7? Actually been friends with them, more like 4.5 years-ish 18) What's your favourite thing to do with this person? Binge-watching shows and movies together while picking apart the construction of them (writing, character design, plot devices), snuggling up naked under the blankets to cuddle-snooze, taking fancy baths together, just lying around and lazily smooching and touching, experiencing new things together. And of course, playing videogames together (whether its both of us playing or one playing and the other making sassy remarks).  19) Can you name one favorite memory with this person? I have so many. I always mention the Bro Strider date here, but it was just so good (they asked me out in cosplay so that they could ask me out without /actually/ asking me out it was amaze). Marching in the pride parade together (minus the grueling walk back up and blistering sunburn after). Playing through Silent Hill 3 together. Staying up until like 2 AM baking Christmas cookies. Flying up to their hometown with them for the holidays. Dancing together at Caravan Palace and Excision. But tbh my real favorite moments are the ones where we’re doing basically nothing together, and we can just be at peace. 20) Have you ever joint bought something? We go in on most major purchases together, there are too many to count 21) If you ever moved away would you miss this person? At this point it would actually be physically impossible for me to live apart from them. Even spending one night away, I don’t feel whole. 22) Have you ever written a song with this person? Apart from dumb little affectionate jingles we chat at each other, nope 23) Have you ever done something really stupid or illegal with this person? We’re pretty safe people, we don’t tend to do anything illegal unless its pirating movies 24) How many piercings does this person have? Sssseven right now if you count them individually, three that have been taken out/healed 25) Would you date this person's siblings? Lmao no? What kind of question is this? Though admittedly when I was very small in high school their brother’s awful scene hair fascinated my tiny awful tastes, lol. He’s more of a brother to me now than my actual brother though. 26) Have you ever made something with this person? Hell yeah, we bake together sometimes, and we’ve come up with stories/characters together. We also keep talking about doing an art collab when we’re not fuckin busy all the time 27) Have you ever cried with this person? Many times 28) Have you and this person ever got into a fight? Fights, no. We aren’t always butterflies and sunshine, but if either of us has a problem with what the other is doing, we talk about it respectfully. There are tears sometimes just ‘cause emotions are heavy things, but we always come out better for each other after talking it out 29) Have you gone skinny dipping with this person? Nope. I’m not too keen on getting pond scum in my vagina 30) Write something only they will understand. “Booty go WHAT??” “Princess Kitty, with ribbons in her whiskers, and sparkles in her tail.” “Dooo you hear the beeple sing, singing the song of angry bees” “Do ye find me sexeh” “Well we’re about to get even colder... because I have some bad news for you. We have to swim to shoOOAHAHHWHH -splutters-” “Ah, I’m ovulating” “-hands bath bomb- Do the Rock Dance!” &many many more inside jokes... 31) What's something special you share? Too vague. Our whole relationship is special lmao.  32) What's the nicest thing they've ever given you? If we’re talking physical objects, any time they’ve made me breakfast in bed. Also a quartz necklace because they knew I was in an art block. Also the moonstone ring they gave me at New Years.  33) Have you ever worn this person's clothes? We share clothes pretty frequently 34) What's this person's favorite food? Me  Sushi, almond things, fish n chips, most things with butternut squash, high quality rare steak 35) If it was "freaky friday" would you switch bodies with this person? Pretty sure the concept of Freaky Friday is you dont have a choice in the matter. First things we’d do is lie on the floor moaning, as I wouldnt be used to their chronic pain and they wouldnt be used to my giant knockers 36) Have you ever heard this person sing? All the time, they have such a beautiful voice 37) Do you and this person frequently get drunk? Nah, even when we did get drunk together it wasn’t that frequently. We’re both too old for that shit now lol 38) Have you ever stolen anything from this person? Their HEART 39) Have you ever gone dancing with this person? Yup, me badly 40) If this person were a colour, what would they be? Deep violet or seafoam 41) Whens the next time you will see this person? In a few hours when they come home from school 42) Does this person have brothers and/or sisters? One brother, one step sister 43) If you could spend a day anywhere in the world with this person, where would you go? Jeez. Too many places. Stockholm. Japan. The Danish fjords. Hawaii. Italy. I wanna go everywhere with this nerd. 44) What are you looking forward to doing with this person? Going to see Game Grumps live with them next month! 45) What makes this person feel happy? Peaceful spaces, going for walks, doggos, baths with me, being productive, Destiny, the Witcher, Pokemon, Steven Universe, fat frogs, bad puns, making me laugh/tickling me 46) Do you and this person talk a lot? We talk to each other more than we talk to anyone else 47) Can you describe this person in one word? Precious, as in invaluable. Their worth could never be stated because they just keep becoming more incomprehensibly lovely every day 48) If you were to make a film of this person's life, what would you call it? Nerd 49) Do you want to go out with this person?

Idk, maybe thats why we’re in a relationship

50) Do you want to be friends with them forever? Of course 51) What are your names? Bitch the fuck 52) What's your song? Love Like You - Rebecca Sugar 53) What is your movie? I don’t think we have one?  54) What is an accessory you both wear all the time? Our....piercings.. 55) How long have you been together? 3 years 11 months 56) What are your favorite animals? Doggos and kibbens 57) Okkkkk, What are your hobbies? I feel like I mentioned this in the ‘favorite things to do together’ section. Apart from that, drawing nerdy things, sometimes for each other 58) Do you own any pets together? Apart from the Corrupted Jasper doggo plush, no -weeps- But we spend a ridiculous amount of time planning our future pets 59) What's your favorite books? Lots of them. Idfk. I wouldnt call it our favorite but we both read Horns around the same time and loved it 60) Favorite bands? Dee really digs Madeon, Porter Robinson, and Halsey right now to name a few, I really dig most of Dee’s music tastes but I listen to Radical Face alone bc it spurs up Dee’s hyperempathy 61) Are you in love? -new yorker voice- Nahh I just write these sappy notes for my health here 62) Where was your first kiss? In their mom’s basement, on the Original Couch of Wonders (tm) 63) How you you hold hands? Entwined fingers or non? Almost always entwined, otherwise it feels like shaking hands 64) Anything unique about your relationship? We’re fucking furries and like to talk about how hot animated characters are 65) Can you guys sing? We sing together a fair bit, not too much though as I’m too self conscious to sing genuinely in front of other people 66) Dance? If you mean nerdy booty shaking to our favorite songs then yes

[jnrichards97]

Mat Pringle Interview

Questions

Where do you get your ideas from?

Music and films are a huge part of my life and have been since my spotty adolescence so these both play a huge part in my inspiration and can often generate ideas for artwork.  Also from old books about folklore, horror movies, bestiaries, cryptozoology, the occult, flora and fauna.  

Do you work for commissions or more freelance?

I'm freelance but I do commissions. Commissions are good for earning money but can be quite restrictive.  I like to juggle making my own prints, books, comics etc and do occassional commissions that appeal to me.  

How do you go about pricing and selling your work?

Badly.  I've always found it tricky and I tend to underprice my work.  I'd sooner sell out of a run of prints for a bit less cash than sit on a huge pile of them for the rest of my life.

What are the more difficult aspects of being an independent illustrator and printmaker?

Generating income.  It's hard to get my work out there and for people to see it.  That said my biggest obstacle atm is my 11 month old daughter as I look after her full time so finding time to create artwork is very limited.  

How do you access printmaking facilities to print your work?

I work out of a studio in Woolwich where I have my own small press for linocut printing.  There's also a print facility attached to the studio complex which is excellent.  I was doing all my screen printing there for a while but I'm focussing on linocut atm as I like the freedom of being able to do all the cutting/printing in my own space.

How do you go about attracting more clientele?

Occassionally I send out emails with a ink to my website and relevant work attached to potential clients that I think would dig my work.  I'm not one for sending out mass emails to all art directors, I'd sooner focus on people/businesses that have shared interests.

What advice would you give to a young illustrator just starting out?

Put the hours in and draw, draw, draw.  Focus on drawing things you have a genuine love for rather than trying to create work that doesn't mean anything to you.  Don't expect to make a lot of money.  Don't copy other artists and don't be a dick.  

How did you find your style and how has it changed since you started?

I used to obsess about my style and worried I didn't have one.  I work across a few different mediums too which doesn't help me to have an instantly recognisable style but it's okay because I'd rather work in linocuts one day, then draw a comic the next etc rather than be 'typecast' doing exactly the same shitty drawings for the rest of my life. It's tricky though as a lot of art directors want illustrators who do exactly the same shitty drawings day after day...  

I think my style has changed a little over the years; I used to hide behind a lot of detail when I started but I'm more confident with my drawing skills now so I don't do that so much.  

Can you briefly explain your creative process?

Depending on the brief I'll do some research into whatever I'm supposed to be illustrating then do a bunch of tiny sketches.  I tend to let those skecthes gestate in my mind for a few days and ponder over them whilst doing other things.  So my brain will be gradually developing the concepts and ideas as go about my day eating a bagel or hoovering or whatever and then I'll come back to the brief a few days later with a better idea of what I want to achieve.

Once I've got a good idea of what I want to do I start sketching it out in non-photo blue pencil.  Then develop it further with a regular pencil.  Then dipping and and Indian ink the final linework.  Then I'll scan and clean the work in Photoshop before layering and adding [usually quite limited] colours.  

Other than printmaking, what types of media do you use?

I'm really digging watercolours atm.  Good quality ones though.  And contemporary dance.  I just love to dance.

What inspired your work?

Similar to the ideas question so music, films, books and comics.  

How frequent are your commissions?

It depends; full time child care has meant I'm turning down work right now plus  I've got two huge commissions on atm that take up all my drawing time but they're quite drawn out which is good given my current situation.  Before my daughter was born I probably got maybe a medium/large commission every couple of months and a few little ones per month.  

How long did it take you to become established?

I'm not sure I am tbh!  I've not done any solo shows as yet.  I don't get enough commissioned work to pay all of my bills but I'd sooner be making my own books (like FOLKGORE) and doing my own thing anyway so I'm quite happy with where I'm at. A solo show would be great though.

How did you get into illustration, have you always wanted to do it?

I really went around the houses to get where I am; studied geography at University, got a role as a Geographic Information System tech person which is exactly as dull as it sounds, became a fireman - hated it and eventually went back to study Digital Design at the LCC.  Flash forward a few years of being a Design Assistant and establishing myself as an illustrator/printmaker and here I am.

I think I have always wanted to do it but when I was at school it wasn't such an established career choice and I wasn't convinced I could make a living at it.  

What are your favourite things to illustrate?

Animals are hecka fun to draw.  And plants and flowers.  Organic things.  I'm not crazy about drawing straight, clean lines...

Hope that's okay!

Mat