#the character designs in this show are SO fun i'm gonna have to check out the comics someday hmmmm

[kayvsworld]

why did no one tell me invincible was good......

[a-suspicious-number-of-ducks]

Hermit-a-Day May, Day 15: FalseSymmetry. Today's style/medium is She-Ra and the Princesses of Power! My thought process for this matchup wasn't particularly profound--I knew I wanted to do someone in She-Ra style, because I adore the show, and the queen of hearts, heads, and body parts seemed fitting for a series about a bunch of strong, terrifying women, one of whom wields a frick-off giant magic sword. Details and references under the read more!

So... I don't really have specific references I can point to, because I just turned on season 1 of She-Ra and watched almost to the end of season 3 by the time I was done with the drawing. Any time I needed to check a style thing, I would just...let the current episode play until I saw an example of the way the animators drew that specific thing. That being said, False's face was primarily referenced from Adora, her knees from Glimmer, and her hands from Entrapta because Entrapta was the first person to have a good shot of their hands while I was looking. Here's a couple pictures of the general style, if you want to judge for yourself how I did at emulating it:

Additional references include False's Minecraft skin (of course) and several pictures of myself doing the pose, complete with sword.

She-Ra's style is very smooth and relatively simple, with broad stretches of plain colors. Shading is rare and usually only for temporary lighting effects, so I left my drawing unshaded. Everything is just so clean, because...it's an animated show and animating fiddly details sucks. I really enjoy She-Ra's character design and art style, so it was a ton of fun to get to try it out for myself.

I had to pay extra attention to the eyes and ears, two of the most distinctive She-Ra style hallmarks in my opinion--as well as the iconic solid shaded blush across the cheeks and nose, but that part was easy. I also had to use a smoother inking brush than my normal toothy ink pen, which meant that inking/lining took forever. That is why this is nearly two hours late. Don't look at me.

Fun fact if you read this far: Catra is around 72% of the reason I finally realized/admitted I was bi at the tender age of like.... 17. She was just too pretty for me to stay in denial.

I feel like I'm forgetting something but it's 3am so I'm just gonna hit post. Cheers!

[princess-of-the-corner]

Okay, I've been sitting on that bit by @tumblingxelian with Zoe meeting Chloe at her new boarding school because a) it was awesome and b) there was a bit that really struck me.

Almost nothing about Chloe in the show is original. It's all pulled from the various bad adults in her life.

And it caused me to really think and examine what it is that I think screams "Chloe" that can't be attributed to Audrey, Andre, or someone else.

Almost all of it is derived from fanfiction: she's a weeb. She's brutally honest. (canon!Chloe has no issues lying, even if she's bad at it a lot). She's into girls and mad about it. She's at least a bit of a jock, despite her assertions about sports and physical work being gross and sweaty and beneath her.

But there is one thing my brain LASERED in on from canon: Her blue eyeshadow. This isn't something that comes from Audrey. As a matter of fact, it's not something that appears on ANY other character in the show. It's a bit of design uniqueness to make Chloe stand out.

And it does make her stand out. It shows off her bright bright bright blue eyes and shows off how bold she is. No other characters regularly wear visible colored eye shadow as part of their regular look, although a few have it for akuma costumes (no miraculous users have it, I checked). And even though it doesn't remain in her queen bee look, the way the black and yellow on her mask splits does still look like eye shadow in a way that isn't seen on anyone else, including Vesperia.

I think this is all significant. Like, I'm gonna put on my clown shoes and read too deep into it for a moment, but this is probably why I associate Chloe, especially a post redemption Chloe with a sky blue color. Not royal blue like the peacock, but sky blue. Yellow is still present and more dominant, but the blue is there. It makes me think that a Chloe who has some more time to grow a personality outside the context of her abuse would embrace a lot of very fun very "tacky" very bold and colorful makeup. I think she'd be one of those people who looks like a very visibly queer femme. I can soooooo easily picture Chloe with glittery dyed hair and multicolored nails and body art.

It makes me wonder where Chloe discovered that style of makeup and what made her choose to pursue it, and why she'd risk Audrey's scorn with it when every other part of her outfit is so clearly DESIGNED to cater to Audrey's personal tastes. Just some thoughts or fanfic fuel or something.

See now just feel bad for switching up her makeup pallet in my aus.

[littlebloomclan]

Hello! Been following BloomClan for a while as part of the silent majority and I’m loving it so far! The characters and designs are so interesting, and the art is beautiful ^^

I have some questions though on the process of running this blog though :0

1) How do you go about taking notes? Do you write everything down or only what you want/what you think is important

2) How do you avoid burn out from drawing or playing the game too long?

thank you thank you!! I'm having lots of fun with this so I'm glad others like it too

1 - I take a bunch of screenshots each moon and decide what I'll show or work with. I go in order from events, check each cat, and then patrols. I dont usually screencap relationship stuff unless I think its important for me to remember. usually things I note are high negative/high positive. or I just think its cute/funny/can make a character moment of it

2- Let yourself take breaks! I have other hobbies (video games mainly, and I foster tiny kittens) so I don't draw every day. I only draw when I feel like it, since it is 100% a hobby for me. I dont really do coms or anything cause I just want it to be fun. Also to avoid burn out dont be afraid to change things up. I change how I do little details on characters a lot (like the eyes change constantly lol) I'm gonna play with some different brushes. Dont commit to things too hard. the more rigid you are I think the more it starts feeling like a chore instead of a fun project, at least for me. plus the community aspect helps! Having people also excited for your project, and reading others comics and stories, is so inspiring

In the end tho I'm just here fora good time. I'm an adult woman who likes to draw cats and tell lil stories, if people like it, then that's even more cool

[ofmdrecaps]

07/12/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys Darby; Samba Schutte; Vico Ortiz; Rachel House; Nathan Foad; Kristian Nairn; Minnie Driver; Gypsy Taylor; Nathan Foad; You Bear Fine Thing Well; Articles; Non Binary Awareness Week; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

== Rhys Darby ==

A LIVE Cryptid Factor show has been announced at ther Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023! August 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th! Unfortunately it looks like they sold out within the first few hours. Hopefully we'll see some more lives soon! Grats boys on the quick sellout!

Source: Rhys Darby's Instagram

Rhys also posted multiple tiktok videos today regarding a new character I assume? "Brief Moments of Genius: The Doug Thandwich Pamphlet"

Source: Rhys Darby's Tiktok

== Samba Schutte ==

Samba made it safely to Florida Supercon! Annnnd apparently the hotel didn't think about his height when getting him set up in the deluxe rainfall shower!

Source: Samba Schutte's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

Vico also made it to Florida Supercon safely (with Jack!)! Are you going to be seeing them this weekend?

Source: Vico's Instagram Stories

ALSO -- more OFMD S2 BTS (as well as exclusive other BTS from their other shows, etc) from Vico on their Patreon! Check out the new video here!

Source: Vico Ortiz' Patreon

== Rachel House ==

Rachel was out at a showing of &Juliet getting to meet one of her heroes, Keala Settle!

Source: Rachel House's Instagram

== Kristian Nairn ==

As mentioned before - Signed copies of Kristian's book are on pre-sale now! Apparently some of the signing is happening now because Kristian posted a video of some signatures happening! They've also hit the Barnes & Nobles Best Sellers list!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

REMINDER: Adopt Our Crew was kind enough to put together his list of where you can buy Kristian's Book! Reminder-- bookshop is great if you want to support your local bookstores!

Barnes & Noble

Amazon US

Amazon UK 

Bookshop.com

Source: Adopt Our Crew's Twitter

== Nathan Foad ==

Nathan once again out with friends <3. I'm so happy we're getting to see him have so much fun this summer!

Source: Nathan Foad's Instagram

== Minnie Driver ==

Our fabulous Anne Bonny, Minnie Driver is playing Elizabeth I in Serpent Queen Season 2! Which just so happens to premier today on Starz!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Min. (@driverminnie)

Source: Minnie Driver's Instagram

== Gypsy Taylor ==

Our darling costume designer for s2 - Gypsy Taylor has received a special gift from one of our fan crews-- Our Flag Means Daddy! She received a special jacket with the name Sea Gypsy embroidered on it! Congrats Gypsy and thank you Our Flag Means Daddy crew for continuing to bring joy and recognition to our dear OFMD Cast & Crew!

Source: Gypsy Taylor's Instagram

== You Bear Fine Things Well ==

Today was the final day for #YouBearFineThingsWell! @adoptourcrew asked fans to share their favorite bear puns Rhys came up with for the Hungry Games! I have to say mine was "We asked Cassanova if he had any types... he said brunettes".

Source: @adoptourcrew's Twitter

== Articles ==

A few more mentions of OFMD this week!

Source: Collider Article

And thank you to @adoptourcrew for bringing this screenrant article to our attention!

Source: Adopt Our Crew Twitter

== Non Binary Awareness Week ==

Another article from Pink News -- this time recommending 11 Must Watch Films/TV Shows Starring Non-Binary Actors! I already know several I'll be seeing once they're available. Check them out!

Source: Pink News Article

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies! Happy start to the weekend! I truly hope you've had fun this week in some capacity. There's been something for everyone and hopefully we continue to see some hype coming up in the up coming weeks.

Today I wanted to remind you of something that I know you've heard before, but like anything in this life, repetition helps to solidify things so I'm gonna say some of it again. You don't need to prove to anyone your worth. You don't need to beg for anyone to love you and you certainly don't need to be someone you're not for someone else's sake. We all have demands from outside forces every day-- work, school, etc, and a lot of those demands are things we have to cope with in order to function in and be a part of society. Those demands aren't always in our best interest, but for the most part they're at least somewhat reasonable. However, there are going to be times that others have demands on you that are completely unreasonable. Maybe someone expects you to fall into a pretty little category. Maybe someone expects you to understand them when they aren't being clear. Maybe someone expects you to bend over backwards and change for their benefit, but not provide you with the same courtesy.

Whatever unreasonable demands you're dealing with, I just want to send you a reminder that you are allowed to say no. You are allowed to set up boundaries to help minimise that kind of behavior. You are allowed to just be you, and to continue to shine being you. Nothing is black and white, so it may not be easy, and may not be viable, or safe for some people-- I absolutely get that, and you should always keep your safety and security top of mind. But if you have the wiggle room, and you can set up those boundaries, remember there's nothing wrong with wanting to continue to be you, the way you are and defending that you.

You are wonderful lovelies, and we all have things in life we can improve on, but you being your beautiful, unique, authentic self is a right, and you have every right to protect the parts of you you hold dear. You don't have to prove to anyone that you are worthy of love just being yourself-- because you already ARE worthy of love, and light, and good things.

You don't have to fit into a neat little box to be loved, or valid. You are already both of those things, and sometimes it's hard to see it in ourselves-- so this reminder is from me to you, from the crew, to you, that you are wonderful just the way you are. Rest well and be kind to yourselves lovelies, you deserve it.

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Tonight's theme is shades on a couple of cool dudes! Gifs courtesy of two of the most fabulous and talented gif makers on the internet - @ofmd-ann and @bizarrelittlemew!

[chronic-shinposter]

who the fuck is this guy?? (daima speculation post)

Because I am desperately clawing at information and checking the news every 10 seconds compulsively, I thought I'd put my energy into speculating what Dragon Ball Daima is going to bring us because oh my god i'm so excited So my object of my interest is this person, who is very clearly the same species as the Supreme Kais. Here are my very cool, totally high quality screenshots (they are not)

The safe assumption is that this is a Makaioshin, a Demon Supreme Kai, which I think is likely true and likely the route they're gonna go. All fingers point to Goku and Shin's adventure taking them to the demon realm, and the demon realm is also a topic we've seen Shin have a ton of knowledge in (some reasons unfortunate)

BUT WHO IS THIS??????

So okay I have 4 theories, some I believe a bit more than others. insert my very cool art that I spent several hours on (i did not) ---

1.) The person in the trailer is Shin's twin or sibling and poses as his natural opposite. This is one of the simpler theories and also my favorite. It would be a lot of fun for the narrative, because it brings a lot of personal weight as to why Shin would want to be a part of this journey and also possibly give some insight as to why the majin/folks from the demon realm seem to have it out for the Supreme Kais so badly anyway. We know that this person likely holds a grudge from the Buu Saga ordeal, but the contempt for the Supreme Kais seemed to predate Bibidi and Buu invading the Sacred Land of the Kais. It would be interesting if there is family drama and jealousy is a factor, maybe this person was meant to be a Supreme Kai's apprentice anyway but Shin got it instead. It could be Shin's fault that they're in the demon realm at all. The possibilities are endless! (Also I would really love on-screen lore about their species)

I also really like this theory because Beerus also has a twin brother and the design differences I find very amusing. Also it would track that Beerus's twin hates Beerus because one time he ate a cake or whatever, but Shin's twin wants to eradicate everything Shin knows and loves because he looked at him wrong or something ---

2.) There's some interdimensional timeline bullshit happening and the person on the screen is actually a Shin fusion. I feel like there'd have to be a lot of plot shenanigans for this to work, but the idea that this person is actually a fusion has been thrown around some and I think it's neat. Most notable to me is that they look VERY SIMILAR to Shin but with some key differences, mostly that he's tall and has a different nose. Eye shape and hair are pretty similar and I also found it interesting that the coat is very similar to Shin's palette in Super, though with sleeves/pants/boots matching Shin's Daima palette. It is totally possible this is just a coincidence, especially since Kibito has pretty much the same palette as Shin in Daima but they're not connected at all

So, narratively, what would this do? The timeline placement for Daima is a big point of debate because we're given conflicting information: the two biggest points people point to is Shin and Kibito being defused which only happens around Battle of Gods, and Chi-Chi and Bulma's hairstyles which we only see after Buu Saga in DBZ. It is extremely likely that Daima is canon especially because Akira Toriyama was heavily involved in the story and characters, but how it ties in to the canon right now is a big question mark. It's totally possible that a very huge fuckup happened to cause a "fall from grace" that couldn't be fixed with dragon balls, maybe even the very same adventure that Goku and Shin are on at that point in the anime, and the character we see here is trying to prevent it while working in the demon realm. It's possible he's not actually a villain either and has multiple motives. He shows contempt after seeing Shin on screen, possibly lamenting past actions. I don't really think this theory is that likely (I think a lot of the similarities can just be explained with someone who knows Shin), but it goes down a thread that I think is pretty cool. ---

3.) Entirely new character with no connection to Shin other than mirrored occupations. I think this is the most boring option and probably also the most likely one. I'm down for new characters but I just find them having a more personal connection would be way more fun. Still, he seems to hate Shin (and it's likely that Shin knows him) so it'll be interesting to see what's going on there!

Even if this theory is the one that's the most likely, I still think it'll be a great time and I think would still open an avenue for us to learn a lot more about the Supreme Kais, the canon Demon Supreme Kais, and the demon realm as a whole. I really hope they can deal with this in a great way that doesn't cause any imbalance with the God of Creation/God of Destruction stuff ---

4.) Shin and this character are LITERALLY two halves of the same person who changed in their environments, kind of like Kami and Demon King Piccolo. I feel like this isn't the most likely route either because it would kind of dampen Kami and Piccolo's whole thing AND it would make no sense because Zamasu is an evil little bastard and their species is shown to have their own morals/values on a spectrum of good/evil, but I think this opens up an interesting can of worms that maybe the Supreme Kai's species can split themselves in order to fulfill certain roles for the universe (considering they can also split entire planets/duplicate life)

No one I know of has talked about this and it's driving me crazy but I think there's going to be a subplot about Demon King Piccolo for specifically for two reasons: 1.) BLUE DRAGON BALLS 2.) This screenshot

WHO THE FUCK IS THIS DUDE????? THAT LOOKS LIKE A NAMEKIAN TO ME Also he's DEMON KING Piccolo, he was the demon king (I assume) before Dabura, who our mystery character likely served as well. However, it's also totally possible I'm speaking out of my ass and Demon King(tm) is just a nickname for Kami's other half pre-our Piccolo, but I think that would be kind of lame so I like to think he was an actual demon king.

This is to say, maybe Kami learned how to expel all the evil from himself by seeking guidance of the other gods, and it's something that the Supreme Kais have done before and kind of need to do to keep tabs on the demon realm. OR this is just Namekian stuff and I desperately want to combine lore. You decide!

It is certainly fun to think about though! I think even if this route is possible, it doesn't mean that Supreme Kais are always going to be inherently good; their experiences shape them, and we also see this happen with Kami's evil half in the newly reborn Piccolo. Characters born to be evil do not necessarily stay evil, and characters born to be good do not necessarily stay good. Even so, I think this route would kind of fuck a lot of balance that the story tries to establish already so I think the Namekian stuff will probably be separate from who this character is. Still, I wanted to throw this out there

---

IN CONCLUSION... I dunno I still think the twin route is the most fun but I think there are really interesting plot threads that could happen. I feel like Daima will be lore heavy even though it's framed as a lighthearted adventure, so I hope to learn a lot. I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, but when news is scarce I can't help but speculate the shit out of what we have. Feel free to let me know what y'all think!

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Animon Stories

When am I gonna get my digivolution into Indie TTRPG of the Month?

Genre: Shonen, Mon Catcher (kinda)

Touchstones: Digimon, their new expansion seems to be pokemon themed

What is this game?: Animon Stories is about kids and their monsters exploring a strange and mysterious world

How's the gameplay?: Animon works on a system where players have to roll multiple D6 and count how many results of 4 or more they've rolled, then check the amount of 4+s they rolled against the task's difficulty, the amount of D6s is based on Traits and Talents, Talents are the abstract terms that represent specialized knowledges like academics, sports skills, juggling, etc, while Traits are less abstract numeric abilities, specifically Reflex (Physical aptitude), Logic (smarts), and Spirit (Willpower and Charisma), Kids are defined by their playbooks which show which role they'll take in the story, a brainiac, a jock, an older kid, a rich kid, etc, kids also get Bonds (which represent how close they are to their critter), and a Virtue (a positive quality they embody, think the crests from Digimon Adventure). Meanwhile, Animons are a different story, creating an animon is a whole thing, but the main things are Classification (what their design most resembles, demons are Infernal class, ghosts are Nightmare class, flowers are Plant class, etc), a Type (there's 3 individual type advantage triangles that don't interact at all, they're pretty simple to memorize), Nature (their personality, always has an upside and a downside), Base Stats (self explanatory), Qualities (physical traits that give them advantages), and a Signature Attack, Animons will also evolve throughout the campaign gaining new qualities, so don't sweat your first quality too much!

What's the setting (If any) like?: The setting isn't hard-set, but there's 3 universal constants: 1: Animon are intelligent and can speak to humans just fine 2: Animon can evolve into stronger (but temporary) forms with the power of friendship 3: Animon are not from this world, but an interdimensional other otherwise, everything is for the players and GM to decide!

What's the tone?: Well, its digimon, its cute, kid friendly, hopeful fun! That's not to say darker stories aren't possible, those who have played Digimon Survivors know that Digimon stories can get quite dark! but overall, its fun all around

Session length: Animon is not a particularly complex game, so 1-2 hours is realistic

Number of Players: 4-6 is recommended

Malleability: Animon's lack of setting mean that as long as you're willing to abide by the baseline rules it has, you can run any number of stories in it, the focus on child characters might also be restrictive but honestly the only thing aging up the cast would do is make two of the playbooks feel a bit weird

Resources: Foundry VTT has an add-on for Animon, so i'm sure you could find a sheet on Roll20, there's also form fillable sheets and a book coming out that focuses more on catching multiple animon instead of just one

the vibes of Digimon are usually less popular than Pokemon, since Pokemon is by far the more popular franchise, but if you're willing to go outside your comfort zone for a little bit, Animon is a great game to replicate the vibes of early Digimon, even if it falls short in a few places

[pstelwitchcraft]

It's safe to say I am losing my mind over the new animated intro. There's something so satisfying abt seeing these characters I love so much animated in such a truly beautiful way and all the little moments had me gushing over them even more.

That being said i just HAD to make a little scene by scene 'review' of everything on 0.25 speed.

(I didn't want to go over tumblr's stupid number of images rule and there was so much I know i've missed some stuff so you're welcome to reblog with your favorite moments if i missed them, I tried to narrow it down as much as i could and even then this is still gonna have 2-3 parts for sure.)

My Scene-by-Scene of the new intro (part 1)

- We start off with the legend himself, had to put this in bc I love seeing how they honor matt in things like this and it's always fun to find his little cameos + we get to have a look at some of his amazing npcs

- starting off with some allies, Xandis and Ira, who both look just as cool as I imagined

- i love NK's whole design, he looks real svelte + his little shark teeth freak me out which is great

- Xandis is real hot surprising no one... i want them back 🥺

- We get into the villains now with Otohan, Lilliana and Ludy boy

- I love that lud gets like, half a second screentime, he'd be APALLED

- otohan and lilliana!!!!! (Kinda want them to step on me but be nice to bells hells pls)

- writing this i sort of realize that i'm 1000% more scared of otohan than lulu which is kind of funny but also totally justified since the last time we saw her it was like- the worst day of my life

- this made me tear up!!

- get all your tissues girlies we're crying in the club

- ITS WILL 😢😢 and DERRIG!!! 😭😭😭

- god liam why do u do thissss to meee

- All of our lost friends standing in the red storm 🥺

- the lumas twins, bertrand and eshteross...

- hot daddy orc come back to me 😭 I miss your cookies 😩

- love that we get this little nod to the silver sun and the *checks notes* FIFTY NINE times they were flung off of it in the very short time they owned it

- also... watcha doing there fearne? Stop stealing from ashton! (Or maybe dont its kinda hot)

- the girlfriends falling in each other's arms 🥺

- they are honestly so so cute i would die for these sapphic witches

- the ammount of little nods to them was also really really sweet, they're c3's fav ship and it shows

- we won besties 😭

(part 2)

[scope-dogg]

What mecha shows did you enjoy but would not recommend to people (flawed personal favourites, shows with high entry barrier, etc.)?

Several come to mind.

Blue SPT Layzner: TV run got shitcanned prematurely and has probably the mast slapdash ending of any mecha show save maybe the TV run of Ideon. OVA adaptation opens with rushed compilation of first half of TV series that's dull to watch and not especially coherent on its own before it gets to the altered and much improved ending. Feels like there's no right way to watch it, you have to do both and piece it together in your head. Definitely one to check out after you've seen Takahashi's better work like Votoms and Dougram, though it's infuriating because the series has banger music and mecha design, and the hypothetical ideal version of the plot that you don't have to basically kitbash together in your head is really good.

Dancouga: Production values are amazing in first episodes and then turn to complete dogshit shortly thereafter, like they literally spent their whole budget up front and then had to pay their animators in loose change and leftover fast food. Very strange pacing. However I've always really liked the main protagonist Shinobu Fujiwara whose voice actor honestly carries the show on his back, and I've had a soft spot for Dancouga the mecha itself for a long time - but it doesn't actually show up until half way in. Yet somehow I can't deny the charm of the show despite how slapdash it is thanks to its interesting approach to the super robot formula, and it leads into Requiem for Victims which is the true ending for the TV plot and a followup called God Bless Dancouga, both of which are banger OVAs (and then another kinda shitty one after that but who cares.) Unfortunately they all make no sense without watching the TV run. It's a franchise for hardcore mecha fans only, though IIRC the 2000s sequel Dancouga Nova is basically disconnected and stands on its own, for better or worse. I've yet to watch it.

Tryder G7: 80s super robot show that's kind of like a part slice-of-life anime, honestly ahead of its time in a lot of ways. Would be my go-to recommendation for 80s super robot shows if there was a decent fansub. The one that exists is a Russian translation of the official Italian subs that then got translated into English and it's as disastrous as you might expect. Not only is it incoherent but even as a non-Japanese speaker I can tell it's often inaccurate. Frustrating because I can tell it's a good show that deserves a proper English sub for fans.

Cross Ange: Notorious show by the Gundam Seed creators. The concept and lore of this show is batshit insane, the mecha are cool, the main character turns out to be interesting and likable despite very negative first impressions, however there's no denying that it's buried under a thick vaneer of shallow coombait and it runs itself off the rails with zany plot at points. Honestly better than its reputation suggests but hard to recommend without looking like a pervert.

Shinkon Gattai Godannar: Basically the same thing, coombait super robot series, fun action, not a bad story. At the same time if you've ever seen a gif of absurd breast physics in anime from the 2000s there's a decent chance it's from Godannar. Good show at the end of the day, better than it has a right to be, artstyle is gonna be a big turnoff for many people and I don't necessarily blame them.

Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise: Probably the weirdest of the build series, also IMO the best. Downside: you have to suffer through the profoundly mediocre original Build Divers to get the most out of it and I'm not sure that price is worth it.

Probably more that I could add. Honourable mention has to go Gundam Seed Stargazer because you have to suffer through Gundam Seed Destiny to get to it, but I hear that the new Gundam Seed movie that's also set after Destiny is good so perhaps the cost-to-benefit ratio of suffering through Destiny has changed.

[saelterlude]

Gushing About Zhu Hanbin and Jing Yanqiao in The City of Musicals S2

The City of Musicals (S2, at least) is kinda like The Voice. 24 musical actors, 3 troupes, covering musical numbers, elimination every episode. Season 2 focuses on young/fresh talents.

I was on a Zhu Hanbin(LG musical actor) binge and got really into this show once I found out his frequent CXS counterpart, Jing Yanqiao, is there as well. Now seems like the right time to make this post since JYQ's birthday is soon (April 13th!) and everyone barely knows him so, to begin here's a cute interaction they had on weibo after what I can only assume is a Link Click rehearsal.

You can access the full episodes here. But I'm going to discuss and link each performances under the cut.

Oh yeah, before I start. I have notes of the context of some performances (not including them bcs I only researched some and not all), so if you like any of them and would like to dive deeper or just wants the context in general just ask and I'll share what I have. (That said, the 10th is Ied so I might be busy and took a while to answer)

Scouting stage (Ep.1-2)

They are sorted into groups of three and perform together as the same character.

For Forever from Dear Evan Hansen

Performed by Sun Tiecheng, Zhu Hanbin, and Wang Haoran. I love ZHB's expression in this performance, it's very innocent and hopeful but also with a hint of hurt? It fits the vibe of the song. It's a really nice, soft and hopeful performance. ZHB's expression really paid off since he got scouted into 2 troupes. Funfact, ZHB and Wang Haoran are classmates lol, they didn't know the other auditioned on this show before they got sorted together. Their third teammate felt very awkward lol.

Dans Le Noir Je Vois Rouge from Le Rouge et Le Noir

Roughly translated to "In the dark, I see red" performed by Alladin, Jing Yangqiao and Tian Ye. It's very good, dark and angry vibes. It's from a French rock musical so yea I really like it. I know I wanted to highlight JYQ but the original rap that Tian Ye (right) arranged is definitely the best part of this performance. The three of them worked really well together. Also, Jing Yanqiao was asked if he felt pressured performing with his seniors (he's still in school) and he answered yes, but most importantly he was intimidated by their heights. so cute lmao. Don't worry JYQ, you're still taller than ZHB. This is also 1 of the only 2 groups where all three performers get scouted.

Sidenote: I found the original song and I've been translating it to practice my French lol. In fact, I found a recording of the whole original musical.

Round 1 (Ep.3-4)

Each troupe prepares 2 Duo performance and 1 solo performance.

No Longer Human from No Longer Human

Performed by Sun Sankai and Zhu Hanbin. Yes, as in the Osamu Dazai novel. ZHB played Yezang (Oba Yozo) the protagonist of the novel and Sun Sankai played Osamu Dazai the author. So this is an existential conversation between author and his character. That's probably why this set design is creepy, but in a good way! An amazing duet, very powerful vocals from both of them, a very nice listen. But damn those hands are wobbly and every time I watch them climb up it, I worry if its gonna fall. Also, camerawork feels like something out of a 2nd Gen K-pop music show lol. And ZHB is barefoot for some reason... If I caught it properly it's bcs he's scared of falling off the hand? I need to double check but understandable.

Therapy from Tick, Tick..., Boom!

Performed by Jing Yangqiao and Feng Difei I couldn't find the cut version of this performance so you would have to do with the timestamped link of the full episode. This is such an adorable and fun performance. I love the cutee original phoneline choreography they have and how their voices work together. Also, JYQ and Feng Difei playing couples and going on a date bcs the coach tells them it would help their chemistry. Why are they lowkey kinda cute though. The post-performance interview of this reads like a blind date interview istg. The interview keep asking questions like what JYQ got her for her BDay and if they have made each other mad like the characters in the musical, etc.

Round 2 (Ep.5-6)

There are 2 troupe duo performances, and 2 cross-troupe trio performances.

The Other Side from The Greatest Showman

Performed by Sun Sankai and Zhu Hanbin. This one is so good, soooo good. I already liked the song before but their voices fit this song really well. Then you get to see, ZHB can dance y'all. I like how energetic this performance is, they really ran around the stage and walk across the table. Special mention to Sun Sankai who practiced that hat kicking trick to perfection, he got to a streak of 100 successes during practice. And to the bartender too, I love his expressions.

In A Crowd of Thousands from Anastasia

Performed by Jing Yangqiao and Feng Difei Yes, it's these two again, playing a couple again lol. Yes, they also went on a date again to prepare for this performance. (In fact, they're paired in a new musical "Love Myth" airing next month) Truly giving off a romantic, magical, and almost fairy tale-like feels. I love how sweet it is. The mini-them also did a good job with their performance. Fun fact about this one, JYQ played in Anastasia musical before this show and is still currently playing in Anastasia, both as Dmitri, just like he did in this performance.

It's Not Me It's You from uhh pretty sure it's an original rap based on disney villains. So it's from Disney, I guess.

Performed by Jing Yanqiao, Zhao Qianlong, and Zhou Mohan. I can't take this performance seriously, not with those outfits LMAO. JYQ as Gaston looking like Winnie the Pooh instead, I can't. That said, the rap is really good, I like the flow, I like the beat, it's great. I jusst, those outfits lmao. Even JYQ posted on his weibo how the outfit simply wasn't it. I can add the photo he took in the rb but pls just watch the performance.

Round 3 (Ep.7-8)

Each troupe prepares 2 duo performances again.

Disappear from Dear Evan Hansen

Performed by Jing Yanqiao and Zhu Hanbin. Yes, they both performed together in this one! I couldn't find the cut version again, sorry. IDK why, maybe it's copyright? For now, timestamped link. I can't explain why, I really like this performance and I really like their dynamic. Their voices also goes nice together but I know that already from watching them together in the LC musical. So yea, this is good. Though, ZHB being projected as JYQ/Evan's hallucination of Connor is kinda goofy looking. Also, so far ZHB has been kind of type-casted as the innocent boy or bright-eyed young man in need of guidance type so to see him playing a more aggressive/leading character (though not by much) is nice.

(JYQ doesn't have that problem, literally he was scouted by the troupe bcs they feel 'he's young and thus can be molded into anything'. ZHB did have to help him perfect the anxious boy act for this performance.)

Quarterfinals (Ep.9)

A trio performance from each troupe, along with a single cross-troupe performance.

Believe in Miracles from Ultraman (yes, the superhero show)

Performed by Sun Sankai, Zhu Hanbin, and Jing Yangqiao. Original skit. Both JYQ and ZHB act as students to Sun Sankai's teacher. The song sounds vaguely familiar to me, maybe that's why I like it so much. It's very fun, rock vibes. JYQ intentional voice crack in the beginning cracks me up. It's a very energetic song too, makes me want to pick up a guitar and jam along. (No, IDK how to play the guitar beyond the basics lol). It honestly looks like they were an idol group or something. (LC Idol AU anyone?)

Goodbye Cassini from Cassini

Performed by Zhao Qianlong, Zhu Hanbin, and Tian. I'll be honest, not a big fan of the skit, it is better enjoyed as just a goodbye song to a beloved space probe, but I am a huge fan of the song (Original ver. here with subbed lyrics, it a got more opera? vibe to it. both ver. are very good though.). I've been randomly humming 'Goodbye, my Cassini~' for days. I am so tempted to make a fic based on this song. Tian (the girl) really carried this performance with her angelic vocals, it's so great and heartbreaking. Her heartbreak at having to leave her friends behind and knowing full well they're never going to meet again. If you're watching this one, I highly recommend you wear your headphones. Trust me, it will cleanse your ears. And if you want to skip straight to the song? 5 minute mark.

Semifinals and Finals (Ep.10)

The semifinals are duo performances of an original musical number. The finals are a solo performance from the top 2. They are available on spotify and youtube music.

The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman

Performed by the top 4 contestants: Zhu Hanbin, Miao Mengqing, Jing Yanqiao, and Zhou Mohan. I don't have a lot to say about this one. Really nice performance, a bonus to a great episode. Yeaay, both of our LC boys got into the top 4!

Assassin

Performed by Jing Yanqiao and Miao Mengqing To be honest, not the biggest fan but maybe that's just me not being a fan of historical drama in any form. JYQ used a fake facial hair, so that's something too I guess. That said, it's pretty nice to listen to and the dance/sword fight choreography is really cool. (Though as someone who used to do choreographed fights, I feel kinda dissapointed it's more sworddance rather than swordfight.) Miao Mengqing's voice is really powerful, just listen to her. Unfortunately JYQ was eliminated here, but he reached the top 4! I'm proud of him. He also learned the choreo and to play the uhhh (it's 1am, lookup instrument nme later) in only a week. So that's cool.

Don't Believe him

Performed by Zhu Hanbin and Zhou Mohan. This one I highly recommend. This song is an emotional banger and I've been listening to this on loop for days. The choreo and staging is good too, although there's one part that I think is a bit goofy (thankfully it's not too distracting). The fight/struggle choreo they did here have more power than Assassin so I really like it. Really cool, makes you wanna punch a bully, I love it. ZHB played a bullied kid and Zhou Mohan plays ZHB's 'perfect' dream self who wants to keep him in this dream world and away from the hurtful reality. This song (as well as Assassin) is available on spotify and yt music, but the live version is 10x better because it captures the emotion better. You can hear ZHB's desperation and sadness as well as Zhou Mohan's anger and frustration, it's great.

Lonely Mountaintop from The Devotion of Suspect X

Performed by Zhu Hanbin. It's good, I enjoy it. Though as a final song I do kinda wish he picked a song with more power? IDK. It's still good though, it's emotional, I love the build up, the set design is pretty, and the song fit his voice really well. ZHB won 2nd place with this song. Congrats on your hard work!

Miao Mengqing won first place and honestly? She deserved it, she's so good. But this post is focusing on our LC actors ZHB and JYQ so uhh. Please watch her final performance singing "I Have Nothing" here, it's so great, she's great, I love her voice so much.

Fun fact, JYQ did not vote for ZHB in the finals lol, he did it right in front of ZHB too and I'm pretty sure at that point they were already announced as cast in the LC musical. (Sorry ZHB, but I too would vote for Miao Mengqing there)

Last bonus (which I'm not gonna link) before we end this post. In the 3rd episode, around 20minutes in Zhu Hanbin and Jing Yanqiao did an advertisement for their water sponsor together and they're very awkward, it's funny to me.

[lilywily143]

Welcome my friend,

I see you've stumbled across the welcome to Dreamworld arg? It's a shame your device doesn't let you play through it but if your wondering what it's about or like character designs and are just interested.

It's actually a web series made by rainbott! It has a season and a half of episodes ranging from 12-40 minutes about queer robots fighting against a demon guy who's been killing them. It's a wonderful story and fun whatch!

Our fandom for this series is very small and so I thought I'd reach out to encourage you to whatch the full show! We'd love to see some new fans around here!

Of course no pressure or anything, if you find out you don't like it? Fair enough. Or if you don't have the time? Then that's ok.

I just thought I would judge you closer into the series full direction in case you were still interested despite not being able to play the arg! Here's a link to the season one playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC_CzlKomRxzrkFgM150tPnbyhIaeI0ni&si=KarxmKBeHuCuoKVq

hehehe i'll give it a try when I'm more motivated to binge the series. I have no clue why but I struggle getting into new content. But I found the channel through a crossover with one I already knew of. And I liked the welcome start video.

I'm not sure if I'll be into it AS MUCH as my current hyperfixation [geniaunly I have a lot of ideas for Murder Drones I'm trying to get out of my head so they aren't forgotten], but I hope it can take my mind over. I love the sun/moon one and the tiny trio the most so far, and I haven't really seen their personalities. Just look cute

i'm just surprised to see a random ask in my inbox giving me an essay about the series I barely checked out /positive It makes me excited and think it's gonna be good quality and worth watching. Thanks :]

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #1

- Ready to listen to what (I can only assume) is a brand new theme song, and check out the animation style for the first time since a glimpse in the first trailer.

- I should also mention I haven't read any of the synopses for episodes or even for the show itself. My understanding is that this is set in the future, in a non-Dimmsdale city, and rumor has it there's time travel in here somewhere?

- I also saw an early story bible glimpse of some kid who does ASMR, and that's about the end of my knowledge. I'm very nervous about that one because the description I saw for him did not set me up with the belief the writers knew what they were implying.

- Looks like this is a double-part first episode, so I might stop after watching this one today.

- The new animation style SHOULD mean new background characters. However, if I see Steve time-traveling for the second time, with or without the rest of his clones, you WILL know, and I will NOT be happy.

OKAY! Let's start this theme song.

---

Dimmadelphia? Got it, okay. Literally the first thing you see when starting the theme and honestly, that's really smart.

I had to rewind, that tower in the background... oh no.

I like how "pop"-y the city is as it appears. This is fun.

This city is super pretty. It's got storefronts and stuff? This is gonna be a fun place to set fanfics.

Ya Boix drinks? Oh, thank goodness we're getting in-universe products again. If this turns out to be a plot point because it comes from a magical business and it's foreshadowed within the first 2 seconds of the theme, I'm gonna lose my mind.

!!!!! It starts with a car drive and her name? Like Timmy's theme starts with the bus and his name? Love that.

!!! The fire hydrant!! All the details are so cute. A lot of love went into this.

Her whole life changed with a... bet quite strange? Bed?

Oh, this is a BEAUTIFUL callback.

I'm glad he's a dork, look at him...

??? Fish guy? Hazel, what? What is this? Is this where your imagination just went, or is this a reoccurring character from a comic book? ... Hmm. That's a wild design to throw at you with bright colors and no context.

PENNY-FARTHING DIRT BIKE??? I like this kid.

Okay, I love that theme. We're set up nicely with a nice, friendly callback to the old show and an implication that it is remembered and it is loved.

lol, no more head gags. I cannot blame them even slightly.

Theme done and here we go~!

(Oh, Hazel doesn't have a blog tag yet. I call Timmy #perfect pink beaver boy and Chloe #rebellious golden child. I'd like to give her a funky one too. I'll leave her alone for now and come back and tag her when I have something suitable)

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

Inside Out 2 was decent (possible spoilers)

Okay so I don't really get hyped for Inside Out 2 as much as everyone else does, but I'm not denying that it was a cute movie, it had it's pros and cons. It's nothing special, though. I enjoyed the fist one and I love the new characters in the sequel. I'll start with the pros because there's more cons.

Okay, so I mostly love how they didn't push any romance tropes, other than Disgust hitting on that video game guy (that i noticed Anger and Fear kind of checking him out as well) and personally I think giving Disgust a love interest was out of character for her, but it worked. I mean, she's usually disgusted at everything but seeing a hot purple hair anime warrior calms her down. I actually LOVE how they had Riley crush on a video game character an not a boy at her school, I was so happy about that. Those of you who wanted Riley to be lesbian, I'm so sorry! I'm okay with that personally, even though I support LGBT, because I think it's more relatable for me the majority of girls watching that they didn't make her a lesbian. Maybe Disney will make a lesbian protagonist someday? And if not, maybe a better movie company will! Also, there's no romance between any of Riley's emotions, yay! It doesn't make sense if there was! Also, I like how they referenced to Dora the explorer in a funny, lighthearted way, instead of making fun of it in an offensive way. I hate when people make fun of innocent kids shows to be offensive, I really think they referenced to Dora just for laughs. Also, Anxiety's a decent character. I like her, personally. I like the idea of Disney not having real villains anymore, because not everything is just pure bad or good. Anxiety was just an antagonist and it's okay, she also got redemption too.

Now for the cons... and this is gonna be long. Okay, I DO NOT SUPPORT DISNEY! I mean, I don't think this movie should be the thing that brings Disney/Pixar back from their dark ages, but I'm not hating on the Inside Out 2. I do think it's overrated. My biggest complaint was the fact that THEY STOLE CHARACTER DESIGN FROM ANOTHER MOVIE and here's the pictures to prove it

Yeah, that dark secrets character looks almost exactly like Dark from Orion and the Dark, a movie that came out BEFORE Inside Out 2! and those of you saying "but they were working on both movies at the same time" WRONG! The movies were released at least 4 months apart and Disney does often rush their recent projects like they rushed the making of Wish! Another thing, the human animations in Inside Out 2 looked a little less rendered, while the emotion animations and facial expressions were PERFECT! Also, is it just me or does Riley sound younger in this sequel than she did in the first one? Which it doesn't make sense since she went through puberty, right?

In conclusion, the story is pretty decent but I don't think it's worth spending money to see in theaters. If you really desperately want to see it in theaters, fine! I prefer watching it online and don't forget that the free websites exist. The illegal copy of the movie (you know, the hidden camera recorded version with the slot machines) is on the free websites like Actvid and Kisscartoon. Go ahead and watch it on there if you're like me and you're just watching it because of extra free time, and you don't really want to give your money to the Big D.

Anyway, I'm basically neutral on this movie, feel free to state your opinion. Again, I'm not a Disney fan and yet I'm not denying that this was an okay-ish movie. I just don't think it's worth seeing in theaters when you can watch it online for free and Disney won't be robbing you.

[howdy-folks-its-showtime]

It's Showtime! - June 2024 Devlog

Howdy! Cobalt here, for another devlog over It's Showtime. This month was actually really swell, especially since I got more of my adhd meds recently. So I should be getting way more done in the coming months, yippee!

Programming wise, not a lot was done this month I've mostly spent it changing a few things about the way the map is built. Particularly I'm gonna need to rebuild most of the first floor. However in the long run it should be for the better, for stuff like performance and making it easier to add more to it. I also just needed a break after all I did last month. I have created things like the base for the main menu, a proper testing room and a lot of coding for the cut scene system though!

Writing wise, a ton of progress was made. Most of the major writing for Chapter 1 is done! Or at least on a great first draft. So very soon Chapter 1 will be done writing wise. [For the record currently the in depth writing for Chapter 1 is 7,122 words long] Chapter 2 also had a significant amount of its in depth writing done, almost all of the 'intro' is written out but obviously I'm trying to focus more on Chapter 1 right now. Speaking of the other chapters and such. Chapter 2's summary is almost done, with some things just needing some elaborating or bridging with other parts of it. Chapter 3 has 3 thousand words written in its summary currently, so a lot of what goes on in that chapter has been written out. I recently had a ton of revelations about what is going to happen in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 has also had a lot added to its summary. Sadly, writing wise, I simply cannot reveal much more without getting into spoilers.

I've also been learning Blender a lot lately. I'm working on a few models, none of them for It's Showtime quite yet. [well besides the walls and floors for the first floor] However soon I'm gonna be trying to make Henry's first model and animations for the game. Probably won't be the final one used for the project, or even the one you'll see upon chapter 1's release, but we'll see. Sadly, a lot of this process is simply tutorials and looking things up, then double checking those things to make sure they can be used in Unity, aren't performance heavy and will work with the systems I've already got in place. Art wise, me and my partner have gotten a lot of fun concept art done.

We've also started a sketchbook purely for Encore! related drawings. We've got so much fun stuff to show you guys when more is done, but for now, I'd love to show off a proper look at Henry's design.

Here we have Henry's reference, specifically for his in-game appearance.

The sketchy reference made for modeling him out. Yes, he is tastefully nude in this appearance. That's just the way it has to be.

Then finally a rough run cycle I animated to show off his character and as practice for when the proper 3D gets made. I'm really proud of how this came out and I hope it gives you guys a good idea for what to expect from him character-wise. As always, feel free to ask any questions about this project and its story if you'd like. I'll do my best to answer them without giving too much away! See you next month!

[mrultra100]

I know that I haven't talked about this show on here alot, but I feel like the original run/canon of Dr. Crafty, even after being canned, still has its own charm. And while his artistic work has been slower now due to him being a streamer, Crafty is still a pretty good artist and character designer. What I'm going for here is going over the main Dr. Crafty cast, sharing my thoughts about 'em. I have some personal thoughts on especially a few of these peeps, and it'll show as we go on. With that said, let's get Crafty.

(WARNING; Spoilers for Dr. Crafty are gonna be brought up alot. If you haven't seen this show, check it out)

Given how they were the main duo of the series, along with being at the center of its conflicts, I wanna start with Dr. Crafty and Nurse Worse. The chemistry (Pun not intended, I swear) between these two easily makes for some of the best character interactions in the show. Between the light banter they had in Season 1, and the more serious bits of personal trauma and flaws that the show in later seasons (Crafty and his past with Sasha and how it's negatively affected him after she left, and Nurse's trauma from Mindstein), they're some of its more fleshed-out characters. If there's anything that might be considered a flaw, the show ending so soon means that these characters aren't gonna have their arcs completed. As someone who stuck around in the show's early years, that kinda blows. And as much as I understand why the series ended the way that it did (The show being too expensive for more episodes to get made, along with the voice actors moving on to other projects), I feel like something could've been added for these peeps.

As for the main duo themselves, I feel like Crafty is a very good mix of funny and complex, and Nurse serves as a good co-host-type of character. As someone who's a big monster geek, I can really get behind the idea of a mad scientist and a cute Frankenstein girl running a web show together. Overall, Crafty and Nurse are a nice duo of protagonists.

Out of the show's roster of co-hosts, Pepper is the one that I have the most to say about. Between both of her designs (The one that was used for the show, along with the recently revamped one made by Blue-Paint-Sea, Pepper and Pickles' creator), they both do an amazing job showing off this gal's traits. A gentle giant, BBW octopus lady who's also a chef and has an air-breathing sea cucumber as a lil' buddy is a pretty out-of-the-box idea, but it works so well. Pepper is basically the biggest sweetheart of the cast, and her mannerisms, looks, and personality all help with that aspect. And while he's only one part of this duo, Pickles himself makes for a interesting character in his own right, with part of his charm due to how there's no other character in the main cast who's similar to him.

If there's any aspect that these two that I love the most, it's how even after Dr. Crafty as a show has ended, they're still around! Due to how Pepper and Pickles also fit in as characters made by the aforementioned Blue-Paint-Sea, they're still gonna be around as part of their own story. If you haven't seen Blue's work already, I highly recommend it, especially if you're a huge fan of Banjo-Kazooie.

Debuting alongside Pepper and Pickles in the same year, Messibelle was the third co-host to join the cast. While I don't have nearly as much to say about her as I've had for Pepper, Messi herself is still a fun character to talk about. Similar to other characters in this series, Messi's very concept is one that's rather unique. A lesbian slime maid who's thirsty as all hell is a fun character concept that the shows goes all-out on showing off. Her being the youngest out the bunch is another aspect to Messi's character that's shown off pretty well, as well as technically being Crafty's daughter due to how he himself was responsible for creating her after dumping a bunch of cleaning products down the sink.

Aside from how she's changed and matured as a character in the later seasons due to how some people had a problem with how she was written early on, my final note for Messi is how she was voiced by the incredibly talented Toxicsoul77, who appears to be one of my favorite online artists. The woman has plenty of talent when it comes to these sorts of things, and it definitely showed here.

For what I've got to say on Crystelle, I feel like she's a fun character that didn't get enough spotlight due to the show being canned. Don't get me wrong, she's had a good amount of moments ever since she was introduced in Season 3, but part of me feels like if there was a chance to fully flesh her story out alongside everyone else, it should've been taken advantage of. Aside from that, Crystelle's design is one of the best and most creative out of the entire cast. A fortune teller is one thing, but having their own head be a crystal ball is a very neat idea that I don't think I've seen elsewhere. Aside from that, the Questionable Qloest spinoff is my personal favorite of the main show and its various spinoffs. There's just something so chill and calm about it that I very much like, as Crystelle is not only the perfect host for a show like it, it plays a big part of this show by sharing out bits and pieces of lore about the greater Crafty universe as a whole. It's sweet, I like it.

I honestly feel like Stylene was the character that was done the dirtiest by the show's cancelation. I'm not saying that it was the show runners' fault for this, I'm just saying that they were cooking for this witch is gonna be banging. Even with how her story is gonna remain unfinished, Stylene herself was still a pretty dynamic character. And as someone who likes redesigns of characters, she basically speaks to me on a personal level, considering that's basically what her spin-off show was all 'bout.

As for what else I could say about Stylene? Well, it's my personal headcanon that she's definitely gay on some level. Probably bi, if we're honest. This woman is the pure definition of be gay, do crime.

Now that the Crafty Crew's taken care of, we can move on to essentially my favorite character of this entire show. Sasha is absolutely GREAT, y'all, and it kinda feels like she would’ve been the type of character to get popular onto her. Not only is this a very effective design for a cosmic horror, nor how she's adorable in both of her forms, how she's written very well as a character that plays in a huge part in Crafty's past, has gotten plenty of character development, or how she fits well with the other characters she's on screen with personally (Including a certain hunchback old lady(?) that we'll get to shortly)... she's just that versatile as a character in her own right. There's basically two sides of Sasha that perfectly capture what I'm trying to say here...

(Remember, these two designs are from the same exact character. One side is a terrifying eldritch abomination capable of permanently erasing you from existence if she wanted to, and the other is a goofy, lovable nerd)

If I can be real here, I honestly feel like gushing about Sasha on here is something that should happen more. This absolute goof of a lovecraftian horror is one of my personal favorite characters in fiction, and she deserves alot more love these days. The last thing that I wanna say about this woman for now is if there was some sort of way to easily deal with the whole conflict of who Crafty eventually falls in love with... Have him, Nurse, and Sasha be in a polycule together. Nurse has been hinted to be bisexual alot in the show, and she even blushed upon seeing Sasha in her human form for the first time, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to be into both Crafty and Sasha. And Sasha would feel like she would be absolutely bi. Again, alongside Messi being a lesbian and Pepper being grey-asexual, the other Dr. Crafty characters would certainly fit with the IGBTQ+ community.

What I'm trying to say here is this: let Sasha be gay, dammit.

Regarding my feelings about Mindstein.... Well, in my very humble opinion, Mindstein is kind of a mixed bag, if I'm really being honest. On one hand, she's got quite a bit going for her; Pretty good design that highlights her personality well, Oliva Steele doing a great job with her voice, as she's a horror buff, and being very horrifying as an irredeemable monster. On the other hand, however, I feel like she could've had more as a character. I'm not saying that she shouldn't be as much of a bloodthirsty, power-hungry psychopath that revels in the chaos and terror that she causes, as she was in the show whenever she showed up. All I'm saying is she should've been a bit more comedic, if that makes sense for this lady.

I get that this lady came about in the first place as a potshot towards White Diamond and how the show that she came from literally had no problem with redeeming a literal dictator, but I feel like Mindstein had a sort of weird silliness that could've been taken advantage of. With a name like DR. MINDSTEIN., that would definitely be the moniker of a villain who's both funny and threatening at the same time (Think something like Jack Horner, but a mad scientist lady). If it was possible, I feel like making this blue-brained bitch a complete nutcase and girlfailure who's absolutely petty as all hell would've been very fun. Have this woman be annoying the ever-living hell out of her victims as torture, getting into the most petty arguments imaginable on purpose, get herself into trouble when her plans blow up right in her face, and having Screw drag her out of it, much to her chagrin, go into mad fits of insane-induced laughter, taking the chance to toy with her victims personally for pranks while not working on her evil plans, and just being an absolute bratty gremlin to deal with, all while keeping her power-hungry motivations and sadistic tendencies. This would also fit in with being a sort of dark foil to Crafty. She's absolutely rotten to the core, she shouldn't be trusted anywhere near divine artifacts, she's in possession of far too many needles, she probably has rabies (and probably more than happy to bite you to get you infested), she knows she's the most insufferable bitch on the place...

And she's very proud of it.

Getting a legacy is only second to her biggest drive in life; Being an absolute troll.

To be honest, I don't have alot to say about either Screw or Metal Crafty. I like how Screw had a redemption arc planned for her after Season 4 (Sadly, due to how the show's canceled, we'll never see it happen), and it's been revealed she herself secretly planned the coordinates for UA High when punching Crafty off into the distance, ensuring that he'll find help in wherever she sent him to. Again, going back to the dark foil thing a bit, Screw would absolutely be tired of her master/mother's bullshit.

As for Metal? I'm really gonna be honest, outside of him being introduced in a few Sonic-based episode to highlight Mindstein fucking with the Crafty Crew, he really doesn't have alot going for him. Again, maybe that could've turned out differently for him had the show continued, but that's just how the ol' ball bounces. Also, the guy who voiced him was uncredited due to how he was caught being a transphobe, getting fired in the process. Thought that would be something to point out.

What was originally a running gag character, Disgustilda has gone to be hinted to be alot more important to the show's plot than she was letting on. Yeah, she's definitely a buffoon, but given what was planned for her later on if the show didn't end, you'd be very surprised.

See this? The suspiciously-looking Infinia-like abomination that briefly appeared at the end of Season 4's Sonic Month? The original plan, according to the show's What Could Have Been page on TV Tropes, was to not only reveal that Disgustilda was an Infinia. Get this.

DISGUSTILDA IS SASHA'S MOM

I have no idea what would've happened if the show fully revealed this twist, but whatever it could've been, it could've been a McFuckin' spectacle. Given how the castle that the Crafty Crew lived in was revealed to be hers, Disgustilda already had alot layer of plot brilliance to her. I can see her both helping Sasha with expressing her feelings and wanting to make up to Crafty for leaving him behind in the past (along with having her ask Nurse out), but also smacking the ever-living hell out of Mindstein when her full form was revealed.

All and all, Dr. Crafty was a crazy experience to someone like me, and I feel like it certainly fits the confines of this blog well. While Crafty himself has moved on to his V-tuber career (hope that goes very well for him), I wanted do justice to the original show's canon and characters by talking about them. If you haven't seen this show on Youtube, give it a watch.

Still tho, Crafty, Nurse, and Sasha should've been in a polycule. They deserve each other, dammit.

[onceuponalegendbg]

Alright, so. I've had some time. Let's see if I can gather my thoughts.

I always have this problem with series finales. This feeling that I wanted so much more than the show was able or willing to give. I think it's because I just don't like the idea that shows have to end, even if I know that they obviously should. I had that feeling with most shows I've watched that did end up reaching their natural conclusions. So trying to separate that knee-jerk response from my genuine feelings is a bit of a hassle.

I think a lot of my complaints really just boil down to the old tried and true 'we needed more time' honestly. Or things I'd rather have spent time on than what they did. I understand, for instance, that the hextech/arcane was central to the main plot, but honestly I was way more invested in the personal dramas than whatever was going on with that. And that's not really the shows fault, that's just my preference.

This one might be divisive but I think there were too many music video segments. Don't get me wrong, it was all great but... it also just felt like maybe we didn't need two in every episode. I think in the first season only eps 7 and 9 had more than one song (technically episode 1 as well if you count Powder singing at the beginning).

I still don't like Jayce. ....I couldn't tell you why I'm so apathetic to him, I just am. Every time he's on screen I can feel myself checking out. It's wild.

Let's see.... I think that's it....

Okay, so on to the good stuff. Honestly it's more of the same from season 1: The animation, the music, the characters, the story, the way each act was designed specifically to hurt me personally for some reason.

Jinx's arc especially was so fascinating to watch over these two seasons. They really took some turns with her I couldn't have called and I think they nailed it. She's not dead, by the way. I'm willing to bet money on that.

I love Vi and Cait, both together and as individuals. As someone with younger siblings, Vi's relationship with Jinx was enthralling. Imagining being put in any of those scenarios really just broke my heart and made me want to hug all of my siblings. Vi in a lot of ways was cursed like Jinx. Every good thing she tried to do, every attempt to fix something, to hold on to something, was usually violently torn from her. Vi has such a big heart, and watching it get stomped on over and over was not fun.

And Cait. Oh my girl Caitlyn. She is definitely an element of the story I think needed just a bit more time. I'm not gonna sit here and say that the writers handled her return from hell perfectly. There's definitely some hurdles we jumped two at a time, but I also think they left enough for the audience to pick up on that it's not entirely jarring. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, her having a few months to distance herself from the immediate fallout of Cass' death probably did help with perspective, and then it was just a matter of finding a way to break off from Ambessa without getting killed all while still wanting Jinx dead. There's a lot of complicated emotions and logistics that needed to be juggled with her storyline this season but overall... I think I'm okay with it. It's not my favorite storyline this season (despite being the one I was most looking forward to going in) but it's good. I see it. I get it.

Ekko, my underappreciated king and ultimate best boy. I love this kid so much. He's never done anything wrong in his life, ever, and I will die on this hill. ....No but for real, I love Ekko and I wish he could have been in the show more.

Mel was also a surprise hit for me. I liked her in season 1, no doubt, already in the first act of this season I could not wait to see how it was all going to play out with her mom. While her storyline was obviously setting up for future installments in this world, I got to say, seeing her go all out was fantastic.

You want to know who I genuinely did not expect to fall in love with so much this season? Sevika. My girl. Again, I liked her in season 1, but she really stepped up this season and every scene with her (and Jinx) had my rapt attention. Sneaky fav of the show goes to Sevika.

I don't really have many thoughts on Viktor. I'm not apathetic to him like Jayce but I also just... wasn't entirely interested in his plotline. Like I said earlier, the hextech/arcane stuff wasn't my focus and that's essentially a lot of what his story was. The visuals with him were gorgeous though.

So, yeah. I really loved this show. It's not perfect, not even season 1 was perfect, but with how much time and effort and ambition was put into this thing, I'd say the crew have something they can truly be proud of. I had a good time, and for me that's all that actually matters.