#the design is just cute and the concept is hilarious

[justanotheryellowsoul]

Apologies that these aren't fully accurate, I didn't pull up any references till I was nearly done

[linagram]

[ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜' 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 ]

here they are!! finally!!

okay, so at first i thought that i should add something like "part 1", since this post will include only the guilty trio's side characters, but i thought about it and.. i don't really think i should make profiles for other side characters too? most side characters are just the family members (like asahi's adoptive father or eiko's mother) or they're those prisoners' friends (riku's friends/bandmates, reina's friends, etc) and i don't want to make profiles for all those friend groups.

but we'll see! maybe i'll just drop some family/friends lore when i feel like it.

Side character 001: Saito Arata

Name: Saito Arata (斎藤新) (his last name means "purification, worship" and his first name means "fresh, new")

Age: 17 y/o

Gender: Male

Birth date: March 23rd (Aries)

Height: 176 cm

Blood type: AB

Occupation: High school student (first year)

Personality: Arata is an interesting and unpredictable person. It's hard to tell what's going on inside his head, but he always looks like he's up to no good. He does whatever he wants and whenever he wants and he doesn't care what others say. He's very chill and relaxed most of the time and there's only a few things that can make him angry. He's very talkative and outgoing, but he still has no friends.. Or maybe he has one, if you can call that boy his friend. It's hard to impress someone like Arata, so if you manage to do that, don't be surprised if he suddenly becomes obsessed with you and starts basically worshipping you. But also.. don't be surprised when he just as suddenly decides that he doesn't find you interesting anymore and leaves you. His interests change all the time, he can't control it. And also, even if you are like a god to him, it doesn't mean that he will forget about everything else. He's not as loyal as he likes to make people believe. Also, what's the point of being so obsessed with someone if he actually has more power than anyone else here?

Trivia:

Arata's grades aren't that good and one of the reasons why he started to like Akio is the younger boy agreeing to let him copy his homework.

Arata doesn't look exactly like Riku, but they share some other traits, like age, zodiac sign, blood type, being taller than Akio and having dark hair. Also, Riku not looking like an exact copy of Arata and Akio still liking him because of how much he reminds him of his follower can be explained as Akio missing Arata too much.

Arata is a year older than most of his classmates, but there's not any particular reason for that.

Arata really likes animals that are considered to be weird, dangerous or scary by most people and he was obsessed with insects and dinosaurs when he was a child (he still is). He also has a huge shark plushie in his room, but it's not cute at all and it's actually kinda creepy. When Akio found out about that interest of his, he tried to find as much information as possible, so that he could impress Arata with his knowledge later.

Arata actually didn't care about Akio that much when he first met him, he only had to spend time with him for reasons I can't talk about yet, but as he kept learning more about him and what kind of person he is, he started to admire him and be truly supportive of him.

Arata knew Akio's victim well not only because of them all being classmates, but also because Akio's victim really wanted to be friends with Akio and that annoyed Arata even back when he wasn't interested in Akio (or at least he thought so). When he fully turned into Akio's follower, he did everything to make his victim's life worse: from stealing his medications to "accidentally" pushing him down the stairs. Akio actually didn't need to try and "manipulate" Arata to kill the poor boy for him, Arata would do it anyway sooner or later.

If you remember, the silhouettes' eyes in Akio's MV were green (meaning envy and jealousy) and only one of them had pink eyes (meaning love and genuine support). Yes, those other figures are Akio's classmates and the pink-eyed figure is supposed to be Arata.. but only in this particular MV (symbolism, am I right), because in real life, as you have probably already noticed, Arata has heterochromia and one of his eyes is pink, meanwhile his other eye is green. And yes, I've made his eyes like that on purpose.

Remember how Akio mentioned in his interrogation that he's okay with anything his mother cooks, but something was crossed out? He actually wanted to write "anything Arata cooks", but quickly changed it to his mother, because he found it too embarrassing and he didn't want the guards to ask about Arata. The funniest thing about this is that Arata actually can't cook at all and he just bought random food and then he was like "Yeah, I've made it for you, do you like it? <3". It worked though and Arata had to hold his laugh every single time because Akio genuinely believed him.

Side character 005: Mikazuki Ruka

Name: Mikazuki Ruka (朏 瑠日) (his last name means "crescent moon" and his first name means "lapis lazuli" and "sun")

Age: 21 y/o

Gender: Male

Birth date: May 19th (Taurus)

Height: 164 cm

Blood type: A

Occupation: Unemployed

Personality: Ruka wishes people would just.. ignore him or pretend he's not here. He doesn't like talking to people and finds it exhausting. Even simply being around people is too much for him. No, actually, everything is too much for him. Getting up in the morning or even simply eating or breathing is too much work for him. It would be nice if he had someone who could just.. do all of that for him. He'd be okay with doing anything in return for that.. well, if it's not too exhausting. Ah, and if this doesn't sound too weird yet, Ruka has this interesting habit of saying that he's actually dead if anyone asks him to do something he's too lazy to do or simply asks him a question about his past or how he's feeling right now. He often says something like "'Cause I'm dead" in the end of his sentences. He never explains why he does that and it seems much more serious than just him trying to come up with an excuse not to talk about something or not to do something. Maybe it's because he genuinely feels like he's actually a corpse and that's why he's always so tired?.. Ah, but don't think that he's always so cold and emotionless. He's actually very expressive, but only around one specific person.

Trivia:

Ruka's voice is very androgynous and most of the time people have to ask him about his gender. It doesn't help that he has a unisex name as well. And when someone asks him or thinks he's a girl, he simply shrugs and goes "I'm dead anyway, so it doesn't matter". He often wears skirts and dresses too.

Speaking of that habit of his, at first Kei thought that Ruka suffers from "Cotard's syndrome", a condition in which the person thinks that they're actually dead or don't have any blood or organs, but he has soon found out that Ruka knows perfectly well that he's alive, he just likes to think that he's dead, a walking corpse or even a zombie.

Ruka stopped growing when he was 14 years old and he still looks very young and people often mistake him for a teenager. When Kei first met him in a night club, he actually got worried and wondered how this kid was allowed in here. Ruka kinda likes the fact that he looks so young, since "it proves that he really has died and stopped aging".

Ruka is much more talkative around Kei in general. And just so you understand, he wasn't a "poor innocent guy who Kei has kidnapped and tortured in his basement", he was free to go anywhere he wanted to (without leaving the house, of course) and do anything that he wanted. He even made fun of Kei and made jokes like "Ah, do you like me for my childlike appearance or something? You're even more of a creep than I've thought" (Kei punched him right after that and made him take his words back because even he got uncomfortable after hearing that) and "Just beat me up and take as many photos as you want already, I wanna go to sleep as soon as we're done". He even teased him and said things like "What, is this everything you've got?" while Kei tortured him. Kei absolutely did horrible things to him, but Ruka still had more freedom than it was shown in Kei's MV and even though he's still a victim of kidnapping, he actually kind of enjoyed the process because he thought he was finally about to die for real.

The outfit that he's shown wearing has sun and moon motifs which is a reference to his name meaning. I wanted his name to be related to both sun and moon to show that he's Kei's "sun and moon", that meaning that he's Kei's everything.

According to Ruka, he doesn't have any parents or siblings and he also hates when people ask him about them. He still had a friend group (he didn't care about them at all) and he actually was basically forced to come with them to that night club from Kei's MV. They have still spent a lot of time explaining that he really is an adult This is how Kei and Ruka met and Kei went "Oh.. He's just like me fr.."

It's hard to explain what kind of relationship Kei and Ruka had, since it's hard to call them friends and they weren't really a couple. Their relationship had platonic, romantic and sexual elements, but they still had no idea who they are to each other and they mostly just treated each other like an artist and a muse at first before they started to become closer.

Side character 008: Kanasawa Takame

Name: Kanasawa Takame (金沢喬女) (her last name means "gold" and "swamp, stream" and her first name means "high, noble" and "woman")

Age: 31 y/o

Gender: Female

Birth date: November 16th (Scorpio)

Height: 170 cm

Blood type: O

Occupation: Maid cafe manager

Personality: Takame is a polite and gentle woman who is always very kind to everyone, especially her employees. She has a very good reputation and everyone knows her as a caring and understanding person who never lets her employees overwork themselves and if she sees someone making them uncomfortable, she will make sure to take care of that and protect them. She's quite passionate about anime, manga and games and that's.. uh.. one of the reasons why she decided to open a maid cafe. What about the other reasons? Haha, you don't have to know that. Maybe this woman really does have a dark side, but only one of her workers knows about it. And that worker still loves her no matter what.

Trivia:

Takame secretly has a thing for cute girls in maid outfits and that's a second reason why she opened a maid cafe.

Takame really does have a secret second job and her being a cafe manager is just something she does to hide her secrets and make herself look like a normal person who doesn't do anything illegal.

Unlike other two side characters who actually liked their prisoners, she didn't have any feelings for Yurika and just manipulated her because she knew that Yurika is the only worker who would agree to help with something like Takame's second job and she knew that Yurika really needs someone to rely on, so she promised she will take care of everything that Yurika has problems with. She thought that Yurika is cute, but that's all.

Takame really does like anime, manga and games and that's not something she made up. She believes that no matter how old you are, you should still do what you like, even if other people judge you for it.

She knew everything about Yurika's past and her problems and she knew about Yurika's relationship with her victims. She used that information to make Yurika trust her, but no matter how manipulative she was, she actually did protect Yurika from her stalkers and people who harassed her. Of course, that made Yurika like her even more, but when Takame did that, she genuinely wanted to protect Yurika because she didn't want her to go through anything like that.

[meo-eiru]

*cracks knuckles* here I am again. this time with Micah as my victim

so at first,

you definitely should add some more story to him. so far, if I'm being honest, he feels a bit too plain to me. but oh boy, what a potential I see here!

alright lets begin

omg look at him! such a hypocrite! how smart it is, to put all blame on MC while being just as (actually even more) sinful. and he sure hides well; it's your fault, isn't it? oh you and your sinful mind.

buut despite him not really being my cup of tea, I still do like a good old concept of ugly insides, hidden behind a beautiful shell (if that's the vibe you were going for).

Micah seems so pure, so holy, almost like an angel (you played smart by adding a lot of white in his design) – but behind that pristine facade? he's ugly. and that shell eventually starts to crack, because no matter how pure he may seem, Micah is just as human as we are, and definitely not a good one. and what are we, if not a bunch of cruel, egotistical animals? and deep inside he's exactly that, sickeningly human. with that in mind the very first comic you did abt him is actually pretty hilarious to me. your desires? what about his desires, which are strong enough to ruin your whole life?

I kinda feel like he's also a little pathetic in his own way; if he can't make you fall for him, he will break you. isn't it like a very cowardly move? he wants you badly enough to use whatever method it may require to have you, but will never admit it.

but let's talk about that strange desire to destroy MC's purity. why? to make you just as dirty as he is? cute, but doesn't seem like a full explanation to me. he's a priest, right? and even despite those dark insides of his, I feel like Micah still kept at least some of the priest mindset. I mean, they're raised and taught with a very strict discipline. so I feel like deep down, he feels bad (not ashamed, but in a "how dare they" way) for his attraction to you, and punishes you for that attraction. it's not your fault, of course, but who cares? you managed to destroy his perfect, clean facade, which he was methodically building for his whole life with simply your existence. isn't that unfair? so now you must fall into the depths of hell with him.

I like how we can't justify him. Micah is perfectly aware of what he is doing. and of twisted nature of his feelings too, I think, yet still chooses to indulge in his desires, even if it hurts you, the person he was supposed to love and cherish. he makes me feel an absolute, poetic rage, and I love a character I can hate. (don't get me wrong, it meant to be a praise)

and I absolutely adore his design. also if I was on point with the idea you meant for him, that is wonderful too. if a character makes me feel something, I like that character. but girl, you really should add more details about him. because everything I've written here is, basically, just my own brainstorming and bare theories. Micah needs to have more meat on him for a full character analysis >_>

but anyway, I actually have a question.

what if MC wasn't in any way pure? what if they're a complete opposite of that word? count it on my love for hunchback of notre dame

unlike the nun MC, I suggest a MC who fully embraces their sins. like an evil succubus, they enjoy the joys of being tainted. they know what influence they have on their dear Father Micah, and isn't ashamed of that. I feel like that would make a pretty interesting story

(cough cough draw him blushing and moaning and my life is yours darling)

Another absolutely incredible ask I'll have a field day answering.

I do agree with him being a bit under developed at the moment. Micah was a bit unfortunate as in he was never meant to be an actual character. He was just a momentary creation who existed for me to study color theory. A beautiful man of flowers who didn't have an identity.

Then he joined the cast when I was busy with working on commissions and the 5k celebration comic so I didn't have the time to draw his introduction comic with the things I had planned for him, though I've been trying my best to explore him a bit more thru asks like this one. The fact that I don't want to spoil the stuff I'll draw in his comic is also holding me back a little.

I think Micah is evil, but not completely bad. A man who was born twisted, who was raised into goodness, and even with all the love he received never truly got rid of his inner darkness, but just once, just for one moment, I think he had good in his heart. And that is when he first saw you.

With all his twistedness, all his evilness, all his darkness, I think that love he felt for you was truly pure. Because in his eyes you appeared truly beautiful, like a pure lily.

But Micah isn't a pure man, neither does he want to be. So he prefers to pull you down to his level, so that you two can be sinful together. A truly impure way of feeling that pure and innocent love.

I have gotten asks about him with a more rowdy darling, one who isn't a nun or one who is more sinful. I've been really brainstorming about it but I don't think it would work. Not because I personally can't force the story into being like that but because I think it was just not meant to be like that.

You see I do come up with the characters, but I don't control their actions. If the character is unwilling I can't shape the story to my will. Because that story is their life and they control it. The best I can do is to try to fill the gaps I can.

I might prefer submissive yanderes, I might want Micah to have a more sinful darling instead but it wouldn't be Micah's story anymore. That's one of the reasons why he's so different from the rest of the boys. I'm not super into very dominant guys, I could probably count the ones I have with one hand, it wasn't my intention for Micah to be the way he is, but I don't think he could've been any other way.

Micah was just meant to be manipulative, a gaslighter, a dirty man who'll pull anything to push you below him.

I guess me looking at my stories from an actual novel or manga perspective also contributes to this. Father Micah exists to shine with a darling who he can soil.

Now the darling can maybe go against him in the future, she might rebel or give in to his sinful ways, but that's a different story.

[padawansuggest]

Real take: I like Star Wars. I like the prequels because they have more fleshed out world building than the originals. I like the originals because it has a compelling storyline and character building. I like the cartoons because they do things that live action cannot. I like the children’s show Young Jedi Adventures and I think it’s both cute, extremely full of world building, and it’s designed to bring back the cartoon storyline of learning a lesson every episode that young children can relate to. I like the Mandalorian because it took a species with exactly two known people from it, and added a third, but made them a baby, and they were cute, and it shows the morals of Mandalorian adoption and love for children. I love Ahsoka because it took a favorite cartoon series and not only brought it to life, but also it’s funny and very full of world building for both the New Republic Rebellion scene, as well as more Dathomirian nightsister lore. I love a lot of other Star Wars off-shoots because they gave good storylines, they try to bridge plotholes, and a lot of amazing characters and new places to play with. I adore, fucking love, would give my life for Star Wars Visions; the lore and new concepts alone have captivated me and I can and HAVE made posts about things Visions did that no other SW series has touched and I’m so obsessed with the force and it’s aspects as well as just species and such you have no idea I would sell any of you for SW Visions. In fact, I would sell any of you for Young Jedi Adventures too. The worldbuilding alone for those two series is enough to have me vibrating with excitement with every episode. Sometimes I rewatch episodes of them just for random juicy facts that I can use for fics.

But you know why I don’t tell people I like Star Wars in real life? People always lookin at something they hate, and the most incel take on it is that it’s got too many women now. But irl non-fandom people who just want to ‘enjoy the ambiance of the original trilogy’ and me do not get along because they actually hate Star Wars. They genuinely hate Star Wars.

I can give you 50 plot lines in various sections of canon and legends that boiled my blood (tho not that one time Anakin at 12 literally boiled a man’s blood inside his body, that was hilarious his eyes turned black like a demons I’m so obsessed with him), but I’m not gonna talk about those.

Aren’t you exhausted? Wouldn’t it be nicer to gush about how amazing a certain costume design was? How the implications of a certain species makes you so excited you could burst? Wouldn’t you like to talk about how that one character just doesn’t get enough love and it wasn’t because they were fridged it was just because they didn’t get enough love from the fans for being black or female or disabled or something?

I am going to tell you this now, and you’re gonna hate me for it but I’m right: if you didn’t like Mortis because you think the force Doesn’t Work Like That? You don’t like Star Wars.

I’m tired of interacting with comments on commercials because it’s full of idiots crying about more women, a black character, the fact that ‘oh that wouldn’t happen’ as if the High Republic era didn’t literally have some sort of fucked up midichlorian vampire roaming the outer rim killing anyone force sensitive. Obviously they def would have acolytes set before the prequels shove it up your ass.

Anyways. Stop talking about what you hate. Yes, I get it. We are tired of rote pumped stories, but that doesn’t change the fact that there will ALWAYS be someone who hates the story you love, and loves the story you hate. You cannot please everyone, and I for one have found just about all off-shoot SW series individualized and compelling in some way or another.

You know what I did when I starting hating about 90% of all new Marvel movies? I stopped watching them. If I want back in the fandom I have older ones I can watch or simply only interact with fics.

Because Marvel, as much as they Need To Calm Their Shit, isn’t about me, and it isn’t for me anymore.

But I think a lot of you hate so much Star Wars content that you truly need to stop interacting with the series. It’s not for you anymore. And just because you didn’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not real SW. Not sorry, but this ain’t your scene anymore and you need to find a new one.

[theaxolotlkween]

Next up is Caesar Salazar, or as I spell it for this redesign, César Salazar because just. Just look at him. He looks more like a César.

His actual design in the show has never made any sense to me because it doesn't really tell anything about him as a character, and as a character he is extremely silly. And in flashbacks he wears a nice shirt and tie and neither of his looks scream silly but unintentionally dangerous science guy, which is his character. I feel like my design does a good job with making him the kind of guy that if Van Kleiss said that you couldn’t trust him, you’d go “really??? This guy???”

César also reads as autistic to me so I essentially just defaulted to my signature silly autistic guy design thing and gave him sweatpants with little to no other clothes that actually go with sweatpants. I swear I’m not trying to project, sometimes characters just have the vibe of something I would do. I also gave him a LEGO brick shaped chewing stim necklace because I thought it would be cool to have a little thing that neurodivergent people tend to use as a sort of “I know what you are” thing.

I tried to keep his colour scheme close-ish because it does fit him pretty nicely, but obviously with a big fluffy cardigan instead of whatever his outfit is. Tiny little fun fact, I did actually make him and Rex have slightly different skin tones. Colour pick them, I dare you. You cannot convince me that César has ever seen the sun. The doodle of their whole family was a way for me to sort out what traits César and Rex get from each parent while still making them look very obviously like brothers. Also I think it’s pretty cute.

Now the biggest thing to me in César’s redesign is that he seemed like the kind of guy who would wear socks with either crocs or sandals in a lab setting, because César and lab safety are mutually exclusive concepts. It also gives him an easy-access chancla to smack his unruly experiments. The idea is that it could potentially lead to a running gag that every scientist he’s ever worked with has gotten super pissed off that he doesn’t wear covered shoes in a lab setting and he doesn’t see why he has to and just. Keeps doing it. The mental image of Van Kleiss especially losing it and going off on an off the rails rant when he realises that César is STILL not adhering to basic lab safety is absolutely hilarious to me.

I feel like I put a little more conscious thought into his design than Dr Holiday’s, but the design I have for Dr Holiday just felt correct and it just popped into my head as it was. Next in the design thing is going to be Circe. It might take a minute because even though I have come up with a design for her in the past it needs a bit of tweaking.

prev || next || masterpost

[spnfanficpond]

July 2024 Angel Fish Awards

(Angel Fish design by @slytherkins!!)

Every month all of you fantastic writers work your asses off to post some truly incredible stories. Our Angel Fish Awards are the way for all of us, as a community of writers and readers, to lift each other up and give praise to those who have captured our attention and deserve a few kind words. (Click here to learn more about how to nominate a fic for an award!)

Nominated by @heavenssexiestangel

A Stairway to Nowhere by all_the_kings_ham (AO3)

Everyone knows there is a lack of some good Ducifer fics out there, due to it being a rarepair. This one is still one of my faves and I love the humanity and trauma shown in some scenes. It's truly worth a read.

Apple Pie and the Apocalypse by @ladyknightskye

I'm still reading it but I've read quite a few new chapters and I'm absolutely loving it. There are some hilarious scenes and some more serious ones (sometimes they're together...) and I really can't wait to see how it ends

Like an Open Book by @butiaintgonnaloveem

I am trying to get into x Reader fics and there truly is a lack of Ketch oh my G-d. Anyway. Although here the reader is... Way too dominant to be me lol... I love Ketch showing his softer side and reader helping him to relax. I shall leave nsfw thoughts untold 😫

Nominated by @annahmiraculousmillenium

Let's pretend I'm dead by evitably (AO3)

I love possession fic.

Nominated by @charliethealpaccaso

Woof by morrezela (AO3)

I tend to hunt down all sorts of transformation based fics of all kinds if it peaks my interest and this one caught my interest at the start. I want to make sure more people check out the tag or get some ideas. For this fic what if jensen got turned into a dalmatian. How is he going to deal with his new form and does he ever get back to his human self that is up to you to figure out

Like The Fairy Tales by Icefire149 (AO3)

As the one trying to seek out some great animal transformation fics we got this one where sam is turned into a frog. I thought this was a cute fic and worth a read if you like to check it out.

Regarding Sam by AllHallowsEve (AO3)

For me Regarding Dean was a great spn ep and when I found this I wanted to see what would happen for Sam. The story for the ep plays the same with some added bits more leaning on the Sam side of it all along with his relationship with Dean.

Home For a Stray by 3oclockrock (AO3)

This one was a hard read for me with the topics but it did peak my interest a bit in its concepts. If your interested in a strange read with more mature topics dealing with struggle and recovery check out this fic.

Faithful Companion by brokenlittleboy (AO3)

I'm still hunting down as much transformation fics that peak my interest and this was one I thought was a great read. Sam's powers go out of control causing him to change into a dog and Dean take a bit of an advantage on him giving him a pink collar.

Nominated by @glygriffe

Did You Hear? by cacholady (AO3)

This is a sweet outsider (mostly school related) POV on Dean. He might not be a dad, but he sure has a way with children! And I love that Bobby John Campbell was a part of this story.

Nominated by harrypotterfanatic1 (AO3)

amoralism by @artyandink

I'm nominating this because it's just caught my eye. It's an AU, based in the world of the FBI and the smut is just AAHH and the sexual tension and all of it is so damn GOOD! There's also a plot around a crime syndicate which includes as many major characters as possible and it's overall a read which I would recommend everyone to check out and leave their feedback on as there's so much to go. Aah, can't stop talking about it! It's the characterization as well, all the characters leap off the page and are so accurate. Definitely felt I should nominate this.

Nominated by @leatafandom

Wingman by cas---2y5 (AO3)

I love Sam's fascination with wings and Gabe helping him organize the bunker. I love how their relationship changes and the how Sam just can't help himself. Plus it's also just so steamy.

we sons of hell and heaven by @gay-destiel

This was such a great read! I love the word usage and descriptions so much! It was so enthralling and the relationships were amazing to watch bloom.

Nominated by @masoena

Living in a Haze by @girlsvmonsters

The story has well thought out plot, smoking hot smut, lots of Dean whump and a red thread of humor that compliments the trauma, angst and comfort perfectly. It is also polyamorous and A/B/O.

Nominated by @rainythursdaynight

Crashing In by @followyourenergy

I'm an angst girl through and through, but sometimes I just really need some fluff and comfort. That's what this fic is, hot chocolate on a (not 2024) cold winter's day, snowed in with a good book. Single parent Cas and kid Jack fics are always so lovely, as are the fics where Dean comes in when Cas needs it most. Even if in this fic it's a literal crash into them, it's fluffy and sweet and heart warming and cozy and everything you could ever want out of a read.

And This, Your Living Kiss by @asecretvice

I'm a sucker for well written stories about well written in-story works. Poet/Writer Dean has some beautiful works sprinkled throughout this fic that the author does so much justice to, his story is heart wrenching in the leave-your-chest-aching-despite-knowing-the-outcome-is-okay-kind-of-way, and I love me a fic about hidden identities. The tension, the prose, the energy: this fic is beautiful, if I only could describe it in one word it'd be that: Beautiful.

Heroes for Ghosts by @pantheonofdiscord

I think I haven't felt such deep yearning as I have felt conveyed through this fic. It reads so tense, like you're waiting for a small crack to let out some of the building up pressure and anxiety but still waiting, and waiting, and aching the way Cas does. And then when that pressure is finally relieved, god is it worth it. The waiting was worth it in the end. This fic is also a masterclass in writing interactions that aren't direct, none of TFW can speak to each other or see each other, but they still move and talk like they can, even if its out of desperation. It acknowledges the empty spaces in each of their lives during the fic, and reminds you in equal parts that they are connected even if the thread is invisible.

The Benjamin Franklin Key-and-Kite Experiment by @deanology101

I'm a sucker for not only time travel, but pre-season 4 deancas meetups. This one hit all the marks. It was tense with mystery, with energy, with passion and secrecy. It left the reader and the characters in equal levels of dark as to why things were happening in the way they were. And it kept characters alive that the show couldn't bother to, and gave the Winchesters some meaningful friendships to boot. This setting IS if Faith Healer had an extended cut, rainy and dreary and electric, but with occasional bouts of light peeking through the clouds. And Dean's Journal Entries? His little doodles? His analogies? Dean's voice was PHENOMENAL in this fic, I highly recommend it to any Dean fans, period.

The Sinking Ship by @crack--attack

I'll offer the note that I wrote down when I bookmarked this fic the first time. "Like bearing a part of my soul open and shining sunlight on it. I ache, but there are new flowers here. There are new flowers and a gentle breeze." This is a story about sacrifice, and love so intense it shakes the planes of the world. It's about story telling and eternity and history inundated by loss and a ticking clock and forgiveness and moving on and love. It's everything I could ever want in a piece of literature. Please, if you have even the slightest interest in Deancas, give this story a read. I read this not even acknowledging some of the ships in this fic but found myself pleasantly surprised by them. Even if you don't like or are impartial to deancas, or sam/rowena/gabe, or claire/maggie, please please PLEASE give this fic a shot. I'm so so glad I did.

The Neighboring Perspective by aileenrose (AO3)

A story about loss, grief, and healing. About loving unconventionally but loving fiercely and fully. About opening old closets and airing them out with hope. It's a shorty so I won't write much, just that if you're interested in moving on from loss, in finding new family, in learning how to love again, give this fic a shot. Plus baby!Ben Braedon is adorable throughout!

Out of the Deep by @riseofthefallenone

This is a behemoth of a fic, and popular if the hits are anything to go by. However, if you haven't read this yet and you're into heavy Mermaid lore, I highly recommend giving it a try! It's heavy at times. Cas is caged and sometimes no matter what they try to do, things don't work out for the protagonists. But they try again, and again, and again and the payoff is very much worth it in the end. Plus there's a whole lot of cathartic payback and BAMF Cas, Dean, Sam, and Jess that makes the high action points of this story edge-of-your-seat fun! And the calmer points much more magical, mystical, and hopeful. I loved it for its found family, for it's incredible lore, and it's fierceness. And when I have the time, I know I'll go back in for a second read.

Nominated by @samanddean76

My Brother's Keeper, My Father's Prisoner by @xpurdyglambertx

An Omegaverse story that starts dark with Dean being trapped by his duties and obligations. It follows him as he struggles to break away from those that are more intent on hurting him, than helping him to grow. With help, he does escape. And he goes on to find a relationship with an OC that you will love and adore. They grow together, while Dean works through all of the pain and trauma that was inflicted upon him by the one that should have protected him. It concludes with happy endings all around, and the possibility of hope for the rest of his days.

Nominated by @sardonic-the-writer

B-Clean by EliDeetz (AO3)

i'm nominating this story mostly because the descriptive nature had me hooked, as did the accurate characterization of gabriel, and the relationship between him and the reader was really enjoyable without feeling forced

Nominated by @spn-fanfic-reblog-writes

The Cherry Pie Club by zation (AO3)

>.< It’s so hard to explain. It’s a great story with angst, fluff, a bit of violence that is an after the fact type description so not too bad imo, and a hopeless romantic story. Zation does it again, ok? They’re an amazing writer and destiel is just *chef’s kiss* for them. I have yet to read a story of theirs that I haven’t enjoyed. I swear! Did I mention a bunch of well written kinky smut that also shows the developing relationship between the main characters and Dean coming to happy terms (with loving support) with his sexuality too. I highly recommend reading!

Stars in Your Eyes by Cigarettes_and_Valentines (AO3)

It is so, so good! It’s perfect. It’s perfect and I love it. Relaxed, Endverse-like Castiel is an amazing Alpha for Omega Dean Winchester, a career-focused man that loves his job. ❤️💙💚

Stars Above, Earth Below by @hellhoundsprey

It’s a love story that is technically a slow burn. It’s so sweet and well done. I love how the author gets Jensen and Jared finally together. It has a lot of A/O vibes imo, which might be why I love it so much. The secrets that come out and how it ends up actually helping in the long run, shows just how dedicated they are to each other. There is some angst but a good amount of smut that is actually necessary for the story. Pay attention to the details or you’ll miss it. 😊

For Appearances Only by @lotus820

It’s an amazing amalgam of urban fantasy, billionaire romance, one-sided enemy to lovers with a decent slow burn, and then everything gets fun, sexy, and dangerous. The love that Castiel has for Dean just keeps showing and showing so easily. Dean can’t help but falling for the being that is Castiel. I love this! This is a new comfort fic. It is amazing. You gotta read it. The title is half the story. 😊

Nominated by @thoughtslikeaminefield

The Fear That Remains by @stusbunker

This fic is nearly 4yrs old, and I've read it multiple times because the characterization is perfect (as Stu is wont to do) and it feels like I'm in the room, whether as a spectator or as the female reader. It's sumptuous and heartfelt, sexy and so, so Dean.

(Divider by @glygriffe)

THANK YOU ALL, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, AND AS ALWAYS, HAPPY WRITING!

- From your Admins and Manta Rays, @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @heavenssexiestangel, and @spn-fanfic-reblog-writes!

[shadowfreak98]

PART 1 of ART TRADE

I am doing a trade with my buddy @tepidti and I decided to do a little more for him than just a simple exchange of oc x canon digital drawing(s). I decided to make Shrinky Dink keychain charms for him as a little extra bc he is my oldest online buddy, and he deserves a lot of nice things uwu

Disclaimer: Plz do NOT request art trades with me. Trades are exclusive to my friends. If you would like art from me then plz check out my pinned post for commissions. That would be greatly appreciated :')

DETAILS / PROCESS

Sooo, I was there for the conception of Dragonsteel (OC featured above), thus he holds a very special place in my heart. I LOVE how beautifully disastrous MegaSteel is... I cannot get enough... They are just SO CUTE and HILARIOUS.

As for the process, I am gonna make posts about each one I do, that way everyone can see the WIP... this is also so my buddy knows my process without me text dumping on him in our DM LOL

Redesign - I tried not to change too much on him. All I really changed was the positioning of his horns slightly, as well as some details on the helm itself, but other than that, I wanted the silhouette to be roughly the same. Dragon's art is a pretty simplistic style already so he was really easy to adapt into another style.

Color - I leaned closer to a more purple primary on Dragonsteel. I added some blue in and blended it to give it a more cool undertone, as well as to better shade the piece (dunno bout you guys but shrinky dinks are really hard to shade with pencils on qwq). I also opted to make the glass on his chest pink like his optics to balance and diverse the colors a bit more. I think the touch of yellow in the pink optic really help balance the look too. (I actually hadn't noticed the yellow in his ref sheet until I started to REALLY analyze his design and colors. I worked so seamlessly o.o)

Technique! Technique! - So I basically just started on normal printer paper for the sketch, and then transferred it to tracing paper, and lined/traced that onto the Shrinky Dink sheet.

NOTE: You can technically line with permanent marker on the slick/glossy side of the shrinky dink sheet, and it gives you a really NEAT look of 3D when it comes out cleanly, but it's such a risky process bc even the perm. marker wipes off/smears too damn easy. Doing it on that side will likely ruin the design altogether, so I suggest lining on the rough side.

Colored pencils grip to the rough side excellently, but once you start adding layers of color, it proves to be quite challenging because of how smooth the surface gets. It's easy to erase the colored pencil on them though, so mistakes are easily remedied in that regard.

[stardustbuck]

Honestly -

Most of these ‘fans’ do not like Buck for Buck. They have created a version of him in canon and anything he does that doesn’t fit it it’s OOC for them, even if it is exactly how he’d act (case in point: The BT scene on 710). They, somehow, cannot accept Buck has changed and matured and is not the same guy he was during S2/S3. Hell, he’s grown alone during S7 alone. Discovering a part of himself has done wonders for him.

Likewise, I truly believe the only representation they care about or want is if it comes in the form of Buddie. They cry on how Henren is being ignored and how it is BuckTommy’s fault, but when have they ever shown care or interest for them beforehand? They use them as part of their argument without giving them proper attention. They don’t care we now have great mlm representation on screen in a show like 911, they’re just mad because it is not Buddie.

And I do suspect they became this mad this fast because they do see the potential of BT and they know this can very well be a LTR for Buck. Ofc we don’t know what will happen, but if we look at it from a neutral POV, we all can see the seeds being planted for Tommy to be there for a while. They’ve made creative choices with him that they haven’t made with no other LI that really sells it for me, to be honest.

(Including giving them a particular sound for everytime they have a moment, but I digress)

I do agree with you - I care about Buck being happy. I was quick to get on board with BT because I have never seen Buck act so giddy and into someone. And so far, I think Tommy is matching him really well. We’ll see what happens in Season 8, but I would be surprised if they break up during it, even more so if it is ep 3/4, which arguably will be right after the start of the season (assuming they go for a multi eps opener)

If I'm being honest, the toxic side of that part of the fandom feels very reminiscent of certain subset of another fandom I'm apart of that I do not want to delve into because I've already done so many times.

get ready for a long response

I came into the 911 fandom as bvddie shipper, I still love the ship itself, idc if it ever goes canon because fanfic exists, edits exist, fanart exists. I love eddie and buck as separate characters respectively and I do not need them to be together enjoy their relationship whether it's platonic or romantic.

I think a lot of the loud, toxic shippers cannot separate them. Listen I think the co-parent jokes are hilarious and cute, but when it comes down to it in reality of the show, buck is not chris' parent. he's like an uncle, so many ppl grow up with their parents friends as their "aunts and uncles" and that's exactly how I'm viewing chris and bucks relationship ever since I've come down from the bvddie high of analyzing everything and putting meaning behind every little piece of dialogue or set design or just like anything. I can acknowledge 911 is not a blockbuster franchise that has months or years of thought put into meaning behind set design or clothing choices like other fandoms I'm apart of that absolutely have so much thought and time put into them for things like that.

bvddie in itself is a great concept. absolutely you can read into scenes as being romantic even if they never were intended that way, that's what we do as fans. I completely understand why ppl see them as endgame because they're absolutely allowed to think that. but us bucktommy shippers are allowed to also talk about why we think bucktommy is endgame. I think that's another issue ppl are having is being able to curate their own feed, if you don't want to see people talk about one of these topics then block accs, block tags, keep your peace!

buck and tommy absolutely feel as though they have been written to last from what I've seen so far so tommy leaving so quickly would feel weird and like a punch in the gut to the journey buck as made. he made the effort to be with tommy even after everything went south. tommy made the effort to show up for buck. we are shown them being on very good terms by the season finale, like, we are probably intimate with one another and are in our cute honeymoon phase type of good terms. having them break up so early would be another Ali/Natalia moment and like, I just am tired of the same story being repeated for buck.

If they really were going for bvddie endgame, I think it would have been done this season. tommy wouldn't have been brought in at all or wouldn't have been involved in the plot outside helping rescue bobby and athena. they didn't need kim there, they could have built on eddies catholic guilt for his queer arc, they could have written what people were theorizing with the bachelor party where buck and eddie ended up kissing while drunk which could have spurred their relationship to begin and still have eddie go through a crisis and found a way to have chris still leave for texas (if they wanted to stick with a cheating arc, it could have been marisol & chris walking in on buck and eddie kissing) like there's so many things people theorized that genuinely would have been great ways to have bvddie be endgame but literally none of those things happened and instead we got buck in a stable, happy relationship with tommy that has been set up in a way that absolutely can have them going through all sorts of things from strengthening their relationship to testing their relationship. tommy can absolutely be integrated into the plot as much as karen is if not more. all I can say is why throw away such potential when you already had the other potential there?

also as an eddie diaz defender, they can never make me hate eddie diaz, I just want to see him not feel this constant need to find a new mom/wife when he's never had time for himself EVER. he needs therapy, he needs to build back trust with christopher, he needs to stop searching for this perfect woman because if there's someone out there for him they will find him eventually. I really want eddie to focus on chris and himself and stop worrying so much about what his life should look like per his family/what society thinks his life should look like.

I truly cannot stress enough how much eddie needs to fix himself and his and chris' relationship before jumping into another romance, whether it be buck or anyone else.

on the other hand, buck deserves to be loved ANYWAYS. tommy is already showing potential to just love buck anyways despite anything that happens, that he'll do anything for him, that he can be his rock. gerrard can definitely be smh to shake them up, no couple in this show is safe from anything no matter how in love and happy they are. it's time for buck to have his madney, bathena, henren moments with his own love interest. buck deserves to be happy with tommy, to go through the hard times with him, for someone to love him no matter what and that absolutely does not take away from how important buck and eddie's friendship is. people cannot seem to grasp that unfortunately and it's sad.

in other words, im so tired of people acting like they are superior over ships. I truly am.

[transamus]

Also here's my thoughts on the various aspects of Mario Eclipse, major spoilers though- I recommend going in blind if you plan on playing it at all.

Il Piantissimo feels phenomenal to play as. Not having FLUDD is compensated with a double jump, and the increased speed & jump height is insane. Luckily, you cannot choose to play as him in any episode where you would not be able to accomplish your goal. Additionally, the presence of water bombs for all characters when not using FLUDD works really well to make him still viable.

Luigi feels like the perfect middle-ground between Il Piantissimo's faster movement / higher jumps and still being able to use FLUDD. I choose to play as Luigi more often than not.

Warship Isle was full of tedium, my least favourite new level: however, where all the new levels do have some tedium, the tedium itself fit perfectly into the game. Nothing was more tedious than what Nintendo themselves asked of the player, and so it kinda ended up balancing out pretty nicely.

Lighthouse Isle had some camera issues, but overall starting the level stormy was a great choice, the custom boss battle was really well-done, and I enjoyed it a lot. My only other criticism is that the soundtrack was more "Grant Kirkhope" than "Koji Kondo", but none of the other levels' soundtracks had this issue.

Erto Rock was a beautiful level and a great way to interpret the concept from the cut content. I'm not a huge fan of how often, though, in new levels, you start with a mission that has a timer; I'd prefer personally to be able to take my time exploring the new levels first rather than kinda have to take it all in as quickly as possible. It's also nice having a more vertical level that feels simultaneously like it takes advantage of the Rocket Nozzle where the base game did not, as well as not making it entirely mandatory either.

Hotel Lacrima is a hilarious way to interpret the cut content; they chose to make it mafia based, because... hotel la-crime-a. That's really funny. The organized crime didn't feel out of place for a Nintendo game of this era, either, weirdly enough. The level itself is designed in such a way that the camera feels accommodated for really nicely, despite the inherent issues with the game's camera.

All of the new transition levels / areas feel really cute, and the vibes are immaculate.

Needing to beat shadow Mario in all of the new levels as well was unexpected, but I felt like it fit really nicely. This is usually one of the biggest criticisms of Mario Sunshine itself, but I think the amount of post-game content makes up for this.

Starting the game at Peach's Castle was also a really great choice; in the base game, you have all of 3 seconds to familiarize yourself with Mario's moveset before you obtain FLUDD. Having even this small change I think fixed that issue really well.

The ability to enter Corona Mountain pre-flood was a really nice touch; I do wish that it had been expanded into a full level, though. The attention to the cut detail of it being a Shrine was very appreciated.

I'm only just moving into the post-game content, but having it based around Daisy's Cruiser is a really adorable touch. The post-game content genuinely feels like Official DLC for the game, expanding the map outwards off of Isle Delfino rather than continuing to pile onto the island.

As a Blue Coins enjoyer, I'm really glad that they didn't remove the Blue Coins from the game, and in fact added some to every single new level. I've always stood by the fact that I'd rather have Blue Coins as a "portion of a major collectable" than distort the value of major collectables by throwing them literally everywhere (looking at you, Mario Odyssey).

While the original plan for Eclipse was to restore the beta Delfino Plaza, the beta plaza is nowhere to be found. On one hand, I wish they would have, and put it maybe on the north side of the island or something? but on the other hand, not restoring it does feel like it honors the choices the developers made more, making the mod feel, again, like an Official Product. I think the beta plaza would have stood out design-wise, and- like in the base game- was probably not included for good reason.

As someone who is super autistic about Super Mario Sunshine, this really feels like it hit every single thing I would've wanted in a theoretical remake- it feels like this is the game Nintendo's team would have made if they had been given unlimited time and budget to do so.

[summertaters]

OH MY GOSH ARE YOU KIDDING THESE ARE SO GOOOD!!! I love love love your old stuff!!! The little grouchy faces are hilarious 🤣 and watching your style growing in each picture is so cool!!

My favourite was probably the aggressive Kacchako kiss, that’s how I always picture their first, with Bakugou just going for it 💜💜 I’m assuming that’s from a BurnedStars777 fic (I also love their work and have read all of them so I can’t remember which one it’s from 😂)

I would LOVE to know what your costume redesign would have entailed, even just in words, I’m always curious about other peoples design ideas! Like what were those things on Uraraka’s shoulders? What ideas did you have for Bakugou? Only if you want to though, no pressure.

Thanks so much for these, I really appreciate your art so much as I’m sure you can tell!

I hope you keep enjoying drawing too, so if you ever feel like it’s too much pressure please feel free to take a break, I’ll be okay!! I just want you to know that I’m not expecting art from you, I never want it to feel like you have to draw something ya know?

Anyway Thank you so much again, your Art is such a gift and I’m so grateful you’re sharing it with us!!

Hahaha, thank you~ Glad you enjoyed seeing them!!

Yes!! I think I took dialogue from BurnedStars777 'The Art of Conception' and reworked it to be a first kiss situation? xD I could also be misremembering tho lol.

((I picture a very slow burn where finally Bakugou just GOES for it!! It's a bit awkward and rough, but so them~))

This post gets a bit long, so I've added a break-- Art Below~

Since you're curious- I went and did some new rough-ups of the general ideas I had back then.

^ Uravity redesign. Mainly white and blacks with small accents of pink.

A jetpack and boot/calf thrusters to maneuver in the air better. A bit more of a practical helmet with a cute 'halo' look. (Angel face)

She'd overall still have a very cute and round look, but just a lil different!

^ Dynamight redesign. Ripped sleeves, 'handles' on his shoulders + hips (for combo moves with Uravity). Mask slightly altered too.

Biggest change is the gauntlets and gloves that I gave him- open palmed gloves ('cuz the idea would be his explosions would be more potent that way lol. )

Asymmetrical gauntlets- Left side clusters of grenades that could be detached and thrown. Right side a smaller version of his iconic grenade gauntlet. Both gauntlets would have the sweat gathering tubes attached to gather his explosive sweat and store it.

They both would of course still have their matching dots u.u

They're very rough ideas, that I'm sure could be improved upon, but I had fun thinking them up :3

Anon, you are so kind and sweet. I'm so grateful for your support, it really motivates and inspires me- I have so much more art planned in the future! You really make me feel like I'm part of a community <3

I try to take breaks here and there to not overwhelm myself (particularly my wrist will sometimes flare up) So don't worry <3 I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and care!!

I hope you stick around to see what else I have in store for you, and I wish you well! xoxoxo

[zitrovee]

MH doodles and concepts

First just random fanart

I love sweet water lagoona im sorry shes so cute

Now then those are mostly designs i stopped working on for many reasons and i can barely find good images of them now cause theyre not even on my computer. Maybe i revisit them in the future but who knows

First something i tried together w the beach fan design- literally a gamer inspired line lol called gamer ghouls. i hate how drac turned out but the heart-shaped switch is something cool- i like frankie’s outfit and ghoulia is my fave here.  its funny cause something i always think when i make g3 designs is ‘’how can i include drac in this’’ cause realistically my line of thinking is ‘’would these sell’’ and drac sells. i also try to keep in mind materials and how well the items would perform as toys too. drac is hideous here tho.  the ghouls drinking monster was super funny in my head

drac in uniform sketch cause why not

this is a rough one. its for g1, i came up w the concept talking to an old friend, bonita and venus were her favorite dolls and i came up with the concept of a cybergoth inspired Bonita doll and a more slick also cyber inspired figure for venus (shes barely sketched there).

we had LOTS of creative differences (i came with a color pallete much, much different from that since i was inspired by cybergoth, focusing on neon and dark colors) and specially after some personal stuff i just gave up. i still like the concept but i cant really stand working with a concept in mind just to realize the other person isnt interested unless its their way. i wish i can revisit her in the future and apply the stuff i actually envisioned for her- but well, so far thats what we got. cant say im happy aside from the silhouette.

some other reaaally rough ideas for the beach line project for g3. i did most of those during my office work lol. those are for ghoulia. for her i wanted to keep in mind her 50s theme from g1 actually cause i love it so much. thats where the glam chill look came from. then i was like eh its nice but new ghoulia is way more rad and sporty so i tried to think of her doing surf (i also have sketches for deuce in surf attire so they would be fun) i have so many of those all over my house cause when g3 was barely launching i was so excited. and so bored at work. so i just got every paper note i could to sketch random ideas lol Also SILLY OC ALERT!!!

This was mostly a joke but i made her thinking of ET Bilu from a brazilian urban legend lol. thinking of her as a scary skinny legend w stereotypical and hilarious proportions common to old MH dolls was what inspired me at first but then also the whole 2012 pop diva look. Shes just a funny little gal. busquem conhecimento!

[otakween]

Digimon Data Squad (Savers) - Episode 14

Wow, this episode kinda popped off. I was skeptical at first because there were a lot of wonky/off model shots in the first half, but the fight animation was great! Overall this episode had super snappy pacing and I was on the edge of my seat. Looks like this arc's gonna be good!

Notes:

I can't tell if it's just my imagination, but sometimes it looks like they're using 3DCG for Agumon and Gaomon (outside of digivolution sequences I mean). I keep getting thrown off by how derpy they look. (Maybe it's just how they're shaded?)

It was pretty satisfying when Masaru's mom confirmed that she knew about digimon all along and that's why she wasn't that surprised about Agumon. Brings some perspective/context for earlier episodes and gives this season some rewatch value.

Masaru's dad face reveal! He has his son's curtain bangs lol. Their skin tone is the same too.

We finally see Yoshi at home. Her room is pretty generic. I was kinda hoping they made it a mess as a call back to what Lalamon said about Yoshi being a slob earlier

I find it funny that Sayuri's signature dish is just fried eggs. Finally some achievable mom standards!

Loved the chunky, clunky tools DATS came up with for the journey to the digital world. One of which looks like an 90s cell phone

Love Ikuto. First of all, we haven't really seen this "feral child" concept yet, so he doesn't feel like a rehash of past characters. His design is really strong (kinda reminds me of this obscure manga I used to read called +Anima) and his way of speaking is fun too. I like how he says "humon" in the dub, that's genius. Finally, his fight scene was just really fun to watch.

Can't decide if Peckmon is hilarious or awesome. Either way I got really excited when they revealed him. He's ostrich-sized and kind of like a weird, ninja chocobo. His hair and color scheme is giving me "1980s shounen" vibes. Fascinating.

Sunflowmon continues to be pretty worthless every time 😬

Still hate Jureimon. He's definitely up there in my "top 10 worst digimon designs" list that I store in my brain. At list his Nyokimon were cute.

Was that Gotsumon supposed to be possessed/brainwashed when he was attacking everyone? His eyes got all glowy so I assume that's what they were going for. ~Mysterious~

[rubykgrant]

No, it is actually hilarious how many things my super hero kids had in common with Miraculous stuff, but this was all from like 15-16 years ago, ML didn't exist yet, there is absolutely no way anybody involved with ML ever saw any of my scribbles (because it all just lived in notebooks in my room), there was no influence involved at ALL, in either direction. It really is a "I'd have four nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened 4 times" situation-

-A girl who is half Chinese, and is interested in fashion design (ENTIRELY different personalities though; Min is very confident in an easy-going way, cheerful and likes having fun, but not at all concerned with being awkward. she was always the "cute girl" of the group, and when I started to expand more with my concepts for character designs, I decided she has a chubby body-type. her powers are all connected to music and sound, and she uses her fashion skills to design the hero outfits for all her friends)

-A pretty-boy "prince charming" type who actually lives a pretty miserable life, has a dad who is evil, and his name begins with the letter A (the actual influence for the dad for my boy Andrew was actually Professor Tomoe from Sailor Moon, though I've decided to switch it up in recent years; he's got an evil science mom now, and the dad is the dead parent. lots of dudes being evil over their dead wives, time for some Women's Wrongs and dead husbands who are remembered fondly but have horrors committed in their names. Equality)

-Two sisters named Cloe and Zoe (slightly different spelling. I'll be honest, I got the idea from reading One Minute Mysteries, and a story had two twin girls named Cloe and Zoe, and I thought that was neat, so I kept it in my head for like 3 or 4 years, then finally used it for my own characters. My girls are twin red-heads, with opposite powers, one being a magic-user and the other being a knight with an enchanted sword)

-A "love square". No, I'm not kidding... though, I'd hope mine is slightly less annoying??? (two characters, Lisa and Andrew, have known each other since they were kids, and used to be at odds; good-goody boy and rebellious girl. When they start getting super powers, Lisa's friends become heroes, while Andrew and his friends become villains. they're not "evil", just brats/jerks/punks who have some angst to work through. Lisa as Supernova and Andrew as Geoshock clash a few times... but there is also some of that "rivals" attraction going on. at school, Lisa and Andrew have discovered they kinda get along now, and start dating... they find out about the identities, and break up. THEN, they all realize the real problems are people who have been manipulating them all, so the hero kids and villain kids join together, Lisa and Andrew work things out, happily ever after~)

[mrmistopher]

ART FIGHT SUMMARY 2024, SUCKAHS!

Second year of ArtFight and the first year I went all in on it. As opposed to my 4 attacks from 2023, this year I submitted 13! Before that, though, I gotta share others' attacks against me.

First, of course, is the lovely @pixel-exchange of Team Stardust who somehow managed to pump out *4* banger attacks against me this year! We were in a heated revenge war, which he ultimately beat me at, but I don't mind much, with how awesome his stuff was. I love how each turned out. I think my favorite may have been "Alone on the Moon", featuring my astronaut dog gal, Laika.

Second person to attack was @headphones-lifeform of Team Stardust who made this adorable bust of my Star Trek OC, Nurse Telos! He just looks wonderful, mad shoutouts to them!

Third is from a mutual of mine who actually attacked me in 2023; Croconiles from Stardust! (Twitter/Insta) He drew my skunk OC, Stripes, and she turned out heckin' excellent! Love that eyeshadow and the big nose.

Fourth is this hilarious little piece for my boy Werner by fellow Trekkie, @lyroart of Stardust! Love how goofy and weird his expression here is. Perfect for him with how wacky he is.

And lastly, we got this cute wittle pixel art profile for Laika from RevlisFox on Team Stardust. (CharHub) Looks super cute and I could totally imagine having something like this for a little family chart or the like.

Now, to move onto my attacks, firstly I have my revenge war with Pixel-Exchange. Big fan of how the first 2 looked, but the third was admittedly rushed. Still though, mate has some sweet designs.

Second, I have my attacks against LyRo the goat. Drew some of their Star Trek OCs. Calvin had my favorite design (guess why) but I really enjoyed Ena's personality, so I attacked em both!

Next we have my revenge against Headphones. I really liked this design for Niph in particular (guess why) and I really liked the concept for a cave-dwelling crewmate. Felt weird drawing props for once lol.

Next revenge was for Croconiles, with his silly little OC couple, Darby and Animal. Felt like it'd be fun to draw two characters interacting, and I like how they look in my style. Plus I just love the slight texture on his art.

And, the last of my revenges here is one against RevlisFox with this art of a character whose name I forgot. 😰 SORRY the character page got privated, I gotta wait until it's back up again. In any case, this was my final attack this year, and though a simple one, idk I kinda liked how it turned out.

So, moving away from revenges, here's my plain ol' attacks against artists I like!

First are my attacks against Keiiphobix (YT/Insta) of Team Stardust! No joke, one of my new favorite artists on AF. Just wicked good, man! I drew his lil guy, Maurice (ISTG HE IS THE CUTEST FUCKING THING EVERRRRR) and Joy, who is the just spikiest fella ever <3

Next was Callum by PeculiarPossom (Twitter/Etsy) of Team Seafoam! Just a skinny freaky lil possum drummer boy. I can relate to his struggle of being a drummer with no band lol. Fun fact: I was in Canada when I drew this! Shoutout Quebec

After this is art of le bird boy, Matteo, owned by a YouTuber I watch, RedPanda Master! (YT/DA) I initially fell in love with them for their silly lil WoF shitposts, but I thought Matteo was just adorable, and a must-draw! They have some awesome fantasy designs, but a lotta them were too complex for me, so I naturally settled for the easiest and cutest one.

And finally, we come to the end of this longass megapost and arrive at my attack of @asrielwithans on Team Stardust, and no joke this may be my favorite attack I did. Aside from not really capturing the eeriness of Hollypaw, I love how this turned out. I first saw their Warriors fan content last year and I have been obsessed ever since. That Christmas Kids animation has been on loop in my brain for MONTHS. Their stuff is metal, seriously, Warriors fans and animatic fans, go watch it NOW.

Welp.... that's the end of my exhaustive post of my ArtFight activity this year. I definitely shoulda split this up into several smaller posts and I probably shouldn't have rambled so much in between the art but DAMN IT, I love all these artists and I needed to talk about each of em. Seriously, go follow all of them, go comment on their stuff, go share it around. I'm so thankful for the crazy amount of attention I got this year by those who attacked me, and I hope all the artists who I attacked loved seeing art of their characters. Although SeaFoam may have lost this year, I certainly didn't!

[canmom]

seasonal animes: 16bit sensation s1e1

i decided to give 16bit sensation a shot knowing not much more than 'at some point, the characters talk about dithering'

first episode impressions: ok I admit, this is very cute. it's funny to have an isekai anime that's about as close as it gets to being about my actual line of work. thankfully we are not on the 'milf hypnosis' level, like our games are technically ambitious and fun to work on, but I do share the protagonist's wish to create expansive, elaborate narrative-driven games that is just not really the sort of thing my company is here to make.

much like Eizouken, this is both directly about characters making things, and also an expression of love to a particular era of media. for Eizouken that was 80s-90s scifi anime; here we have 90s eroge for the PC-98, one of the most ambitious eras for visual novels. presentationally, this doesn't have Eizouken's level of charm (but what does?), but it is full of very cute little attention to detail.

for example, in this shot of games from the magical second hand game store - I'm sure someone's already made a list of all these and what they're punning on, but I love this set of slightly corrupted names of movies and PS2 games. the English ones are evident; in kana we've got some like Gorira, Radia the Secret of Blue Water, Michael Quest V, and my favourite has to be Higurashi: When They Don't Cry. Wish my kanji was better so I could pick up on some of the others.

this has got to be the anime sub with the most uses of 'MILF' I've ever seen (crunchyroll rip with halfassed typesetting). if you're wondering: 催眠 saimin = hypnosis, 人妻 hitodsuma = married woman (I assume with a similar connotation to 'MILF' in English). my dictionary's preferred translation for MILF is 熟女 jukujo, though!

overall, it's hilarious that 'the early 90s' is now old enough for a nostalgia-driven time travel isekai. and the 'look, here's a 90s thing' jokes are so cute and dorky. I mean they go over my head because I was a baby when this show is set, but still lmao.

That said, I wish they'd taken a more 90s anime style with the character designs and backgrounds. of course, we face the limit that today's digital compositing pipelines just do not give you the same feeling as the cel era without a ton of work, which wouldn't be economical for this 'niche form of autism' anime. it's all solid and there are a few really nice cuts, but this isn't a show that's selling itself on flashy animation in general.

think i'm gonna watch the rest of this. it's very much a high-concept 'can be summarised in a sentence' anime, but 'autistic himejoshi bishōjo-game otaku time travels back into the 90s' is something that scratches enough itches that yeah, ok, i will bite!

[buriedalienfma]

This week I got caught up with the first three episodes of the second season of 'My Adventures with Superman', and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. Last year, I reacted to each episode as it came out, but it felt like too much of a chore to do the same for the second season this time around. The show has become less episodic and more serialized in structure, so it makes less sense to view them one at a time, so I've decided to simply wait for more episodes at a time, and then talk about it.

Obviously, there will be spoilers here, so keep that in mind when reading this.

So, my first impressions of these episodes are pretty positive. This continues to be a solid and entertaining show, and though I have some nitpicks, they're not enough to dampen my enjoyment of the show. Here's some of my brief thoughts on these episodes :

"More things in Heaven and Earth"

I like that Clark still has some anxiety over being an alien. Would've been easy for the show to side-step that after the events of the first season, but that isn't just something you can just 'get over', so I like that it continues to serve as a source of angst as a character.

Clark trying to come up with a grand romantic gesture for Lois during Valentine's day is cute. I like the brief shout-out to the Donner Superman movie with Clark's little poem. The show finds a pretty clever way to resolve that conflict, with Clark showing Lois the Northern Lights at the end of the episode. 

Extremely hilarious that its Jimmy of all people who inadvertently pushes Lex Luthor into his turn into villainy. 

This episode has a lot of exposition about Clark's nature and of Krypton courtesy of the Jor-El hologram from the first season. Still not a fan of the concept of the 'Kryptonian Empire' and how the Kryptonians were shown taking other planets. Makes them fall into the rather generic alien invaders trope when they're usually depicted in a more nuanced way in the comics and other media.

I do, however like that Clark gets to bond with Jor-El in this episode. It's nice that Jor-El gets to have some dad moments here, especially with how he scolds Clark over putting Lois in danger. What's funny is that this is echoed an episode later, with Lois's dad scolding Clark for the exact same reason. And the final goodbye between Clark and his dad is quite touching.

The show is still struggling with its villains. It really says a lot that I can't even remember the name of the dude with the Mech suit in this episode. Thankfully this is mitigated by the fact that the main villians are written well for the most part.

Overall, not a bad way to start the season. It sets up some intriguing new plot points while seamlessly continuing to follow through on the ones that were set up in the first season.

"Adventures with my Girlfriend" 

Lots of cute moments between Clark and Lois here. I especially like that little bit when they're messing around by the elevator shaft at the penitentiary. It's such a tongue in cheek call-back to the ending of the fifth episode in the first season, especially with how much people blew that moment way out of proportion. 

I like the complicated relationship between Clark, Lois and her father in this episode, with each character trying to reconcile their differences with each other. Would've been easy for the show to make the father a one note antagonist, but he has his fair share of sympathetic moments that make him a lot more nuanced. 

On the other hand, the villain of this episode, Atomic Skull, is rather under-developed. I have also noticed that the character designs for some of these villains are unfortunately somewhat uninspired. This is especially true of the characters that have suits of armor, as they all have the same hexagonal-metal-robot aesthetic, and thus none of them really stand out on a visual level. 

I love the little visual gag of showing how much money Jimmy is spending each episode. Also like how Jimmy's little side story flows into the main plot, with Jimmy helping Clark and Lois rescue her father and the other inmates at the end. 

Having Luthor casually knock down Parasite in this episode when he was such threat to the heroes in the previous season is a really good way to establish Luthor as the new top dog this time around. 

"Full Metal Scientist" 

As a Full Metal Alchemist fan, I very much approve of the title of this episode. Also fully recommend the Full Metal Alchemist anime and manga to anyone who hasn't checked it out yet. 

It's so funny that Lois's dad still hasn't figured out that Clark is Superman despite how obvious it is. Really like that the show continues to play with that secret identity trope. We all acknowledge that Clark hiding his identity behind a pair of glasses really stretches the suspension of disbelief, but its still such a fun idea to play with even if its in a tongue in cheek way. 

We get our introduction to John Henry Irons here ! I do wish that his suit of armor had a more unique flair to it, as its a little generic looking, but it's still cool to see this show's take on the character. 

Final fight at the end of the episode is a little underwhelming. The Metallo robots in this episode are nothing more than canon fodder - just a bunch of faceless goons that Superman and Irons can beat up.

So with all that said, this might be one of the more weaker episodes. There's some intriguing new plot points with Superman's new powers manifesting in this episode, and the rivalry between Lois and Vicki culminating with the latter offering the former a new job offer, but the main plot itself is a little under-cooked. 

In spite of my complaints, I will stress that the show continues to be entertaining, and I love how it keeps trying to come up with fresh and unique takes on these characters and concepts. I'm still a fan and am looking forward to the next few episodes.