#they need to make chibis no longer fun and easy to draw because I want to do serious art

[lunar-inkclipse]

girl help instead of doing anything serious I'm drawing more goddamn chibis 😭 (ramblings under the cut)

Here are my takes on proper designs for these two! Why did I make them chibis? For the bit. Which is half my motivation for any creative decision I make tbh. For Logico- I showed the sketches to my irl best friend, who said that Logico had "plaid vibes" and showed me those drawings of Sherlock that had the plaid cape over the shoulders and I saw the vision. Plus, it gives a little more spice to his design while preserving the integrity of Logico being a Seltzer Water Flavored man. I also gave him blue jeans and sneakers since he's out and about a lot solving murders, and that's probably the most reasonable (and budget friendly) option for him. Were his sneakers white once? Yep! Are they greyish now from dirt and wear and tear? Yep! For Irratino- I'll take any excuse to deck a character out in purple. Also I fw the tailcoats on his ostentatious ass vest. The buttons on his vest are moon phases, because who woulda guessed tumblr user Lunar Inkclipse loves moon stuff- plus if I had that much money I would get custom moon buttons. For his name, I actually wrote it myself and copy/pasted some letters for consistency vs just typing it out and its the one instance of my handwriting being legible. And yes, the upper right corner is indeed a garnet pin >;)

[canarysage]

…make reply icons?

reply icons (or as i call em, replycons) are a weird kind of edit. they’re in the same genre as rentry or carrd graphics—i.e., that you can do whatever you want with no real rules. that said, these are some guidelines i follow

i. make your canvas much wider than it is tall

there’s no exact measurement for this. my reply icons for this blog are 600x150, but they’re fairly uniquely small. the general consensus at least amongst my peers is about a 4:1 or 3:1 ratio will work best.

the reason why your replycons should be wider than longer is because it keeps them from taking up a lot of space. here’s mine as an example:

enough space to be visible, but not so much as to be obnoxious. that should generally be your goal.

ii. collect a wide variety of expressions

this’ll be limited depending on your characters, but it’s best to have a good variety of expressions. i also save my files with whatever the expression is to me for easier searching but you don’t have to do that LOL

also, i feel obligated to mention it, but you don’t have to stick with just one character. you can use a whole group, either an in-game group (i.e. leo/need) or a visual group (i.e. blonde characters.) they don’t even really need to match, though it’ll look better if they do. with this blog and my old ones, i used a variety of characters with the same color palette so i could get the expressions i wanted.

iii. just make the damn thing

ah, the worst part of all editing—actually editing. god fucking damn it. now that you’ve got your canvas and your character(s) it’s time to grit your teeth and make some replycons

first thing i usually do is narrow down a theme. this can be as simple as a color or as complex as something like “cybercore” or whatever -core scratches your brain. for these replycons, my theme is just attempting to match the rest of my blog layout. god fucking speed.

it can sometimes help to make a thumbnail like this ^ but that’s 100% optional. i like to do it for tutorial purposes and it helps me to get my thoughts from my brain and into photopea. your thumbnail need not make sense nor be cohesive. it’s just for you to know

a good way to start is to make a shape and make it interesting—i usually make a shape and give it a border and some fun lines, rp style, but you don’t have to do that. all of those things can be done with just the shape tool. you can also find existing icon masks on tumblr or resource rentries (make sure you credit properly!!) and you can find some templates, like mine!

once you’ve got a theme and a base, start adding shit.

^ pretty easy base. i pixelated the lines around her eyes and added eyes, and added a stroke and drop shadow to the shape to make it easier to see! if you’d like, you can stop there. but i think it needs a background and some details so i’m going to keep going

background complete! for this i just used a color fill and went rasterize > filter > noise > add noise but you can add whatever you like—patterns, wallpapers, solid colors, etc. it’s up to you! i also added a small stroke around my character png so as to distinguish her from the background a little further :)

this one is a little blank on the left side so i’m gonna add some text and details!!

there we are. i added the cd png to break up the monotony of my base, added text because it’s my personal preference, and added a chibi so the text is distinguished! if you do add text, make sure it’ll be readable in any modes—light and dark. i typically add both a black and white stroke for this, and a drop shadow can help a lot, too!

an important thing to note here is any extraneous images of the character you add can’t be too distracting to the main image. if i had, for example, done this:

the new png is obviously too distracting, right? it takes up too much space and completely draws the eye away. this is even more true when the base and the png have conflicting expressions, like so:

because now i can’t tell what emotion you’re conveying—is the replycon happy or sad? what part do i focus on??

so it’s best to keep any extraneous decals pretty simple, for the sake of clarity. it’s also best to remember that english-speakers read from left to right, and native speakers are conditioned to interpret most things that way. you’ll want to draw the eye in that direction as you work, and not the other way around. hope that makes sense lmfao

iv. save as a psd

once you’ve got all your layers and details situated, make sure that you save your replycon as a psd. this is imperative, because it enables you to make new reply icons as the occasion arises, or you can recycle the basic components for a new theme!

if you’re unsure on how to save as a psd, click file in the upper left-hand corner and then ‘save as a psd.’ i recommend labeling it so you can file it more easily; i’m naming this file cobaltpegasi replycons, which is an easy template—just stick your url in instead.

once you’ve done that, keep adding expressions until you have a suitable amount of replycons! i usually made about five to ten to start with and then add new expressions as i see fit, but you can do whatever works best for you.

also, when saving your replycons, it helps to sort them by what emotion you think they convey. for example, my canarysage replycons are sorted by character and then by emotion—so this one is labeled “len smug” because that’s how it seems to me

you don’t have to do that, but i find it helps a lot when trying to find specific ones, especially if you have a lot.

v. go forth and use them

now that you’ve got your replycons done, you can use them! go forth and clear out those week old requests in your inbox (🤨) or whatever it is you want to do with them. that is all. canarysage signing off <3

…so that’s how you do it.

[nutslovesdolts]

Qrowin week submission day 1

Family feast

Winter sat alone in the cold empty Atlas base. She was tasked with keeping it secure during the Non-descript winter holiday while the rest of the troops and supplies were moved back to Atlas.

The base was a relatively small one just south of Vale and not that far from the island of the Xiao Long home, nevertheless it used to be a pretty important stronghold before the fall of beacon, now it was moot point. They had already moved most everything out, Her main objective was to prevent looters and scavengers from taking what was left.

It wasn't that she had anywhere to go anyways, there was no way she would ever go home and risk scrutiny from her father as always. Being in the military they usually held a short gathering where there were festive rations and decorations, nothing like the overly extravagant parties her father would throw.

No, she was alone.

The only sound coming from the small empty halls was the ticking of a clock that was left for some reason down the hall. This was the life she had chosen, and this is how it would be.

She had planned to spend this year with Qrow at the Xiao Long homestead but she knew deep down it was too good to be true.

She was cold

--

As soon as Qrow’s foot touched the porch of the Xiao Long home he was instantly tackled by Ruby seeming to materialize out of nowhere.

Qrow -Hey easy there kiddo, you hit harder than most Grimm hehe

Ruby -Uncle Qrowwwwww!... hi

Qrow -Heya kid, where’s your dad? Who else is here?

Ruby -Dad is helping Yang in the shed, Weiss, Blake and Jaune are here, Nora and Ren are upstairs getting ready, thats it so far.

Qrow -haha no Winter? It’s not like her to be late…

Ruby -You didn’t see her letter? She has to watch some old Atlas base, she can’t come.

Qrow looked over the note and frowned a little bit, at least if she had some other troops or something there he would have felt a bit better, but alone?

It's not that she couldn’t take care of herself, Boy does he know she can, but being alone… it was something that both he and Winter finally could be without.

--

They had only finally confessed to each other during a duel which left them both breathless and at a draw. Winter’s cold hard deminer finally broke down as she started to laugh, it wasn't a shrill cockey laugh as he had expected, it was a beautiful warm laugh that seemed to make the world brighten up a little. It put Qrow at ease and the uncontrollable urge to laugh as well washed over him.

Qrow -Hey Ice Queen

Winter still laughing a bit -hmm?

Qrow -how much longer can we keep this up?

Winter -I…

Qrow - we are evenly matched, all we do is fight, your laugh is perfect and I don't think I want to keep fighting a flock of angry mini nevermors every time I see you.

Winter -Oh I definitely had the upper han.. Wait what (a look of curious surprise came over her face and He saw a slight twinkle in her eyes), you think what?

Qrow smirking -I just don’t think that was proper form hehe, you wanna grab a drink or something? (he said reaching out his hand to help her up)

Winter (grabbing his and and pulling him down to her) -I think we’ve earned it haha

--

Qrow handed the letter back to Ruby

Qrow -thanks pipsqueak (he said with a melancholy smile)

Ruby noticed this and grabbed his arm -come on in its cooollldd

As the two walked inside and was created by the warm house with smells of holiday food and cheer filling the air (*1)

Later Tai and Yang came back in dressed in ugly holiday garb with lights flashing through the santa grimm laden sweaters,  with overszed bells, causing Ruby to fall out of her chair laughing, making Weiss crack her first real smile of the evening.

Qrow seemed distant for the entire event which was unspokenly noticed by the Tai, Yang and Ruby., the three huddled together and hatched a scheme.

--

Winter had thought of calling Qrow to see how things were but the tower was already taken down by the Atlas soldiers earlier that day.

She sighed, there was just enough rations and her own personal supply of hot coco (*2) to make a nice warm meal to pass the time, she was a terrible cook as She and Qrow had learned the hard way… The thought of him made her a bit sad actually, she hadn't expected it being a hardened soldier, but there was a freedom when he was around, she could be herself and not be reprimanded for it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang that echoed through the empty base followed by the shuffling of feet in one of the halls.

Great, she thought, more scavengers… at least this will keep my mind off things

She rose to her feet and placed the coco on the table next to her. Grabbing her weapon she headed for the door.

It made a loud creak as it was opened, surely heard by the invaders.

Before she took her first step a OOF and a thud were heard through the halls, causing winter to pause in her tracks.

--

After Blake had tied up the scavenger Qrow snuck up ahead to see Winter standing frozen looking in the opposite direction

Qrow,you know Ice Queen… I get you have an image to uphold but you could always turn on some heat in here jeez

Winter spin around and immediately attack without a second thought charging forward until she saw who was standing there.  She tried to stop but ended up tackle hugging Qrow and pinning him against the wall, her sword clambering down next to her.

Winter- QROW HOW DID YOU, (she turned beat red as she realized she still had him pinned to the wall

Qrow Smirking *3 -you know, I would have waited till the bedroom to pin me to the wall, but this’ll do hehe

The rest of the party tried to hide their giggles but couldn’t contain themselves (except Weiss who was glaring at Qrow menacingly)

Winter quickly got off Qrow and brushed her self of trying to maintain any scrap of professionalism but dropped it with a sigh, she could be herself now, surrounded by friends

--

After an hour they had set up a nice cozy gathering in the mess hall, tiny lights and food and all,

Qrow looked at Winter laughing with Weiss who was still a bit red in the face from her and Ruby’s Mistletoe mishap (*4)

He had never been so at peace himself, even just in her company he felt warm and welcome, he walked over to where Ruby Yang and Tai were sitting

Qrow -hey… I just wanted to say.. Thanks, you guys really did me a favor tonight

Tai, oh Qrow, she's almost a part of the family already, just don't make ME and uncle too soon alright

This caused Qrow to turn beat red

Winter overhearing this walked over and wrapped her arms around Qrow and placed her head on his shoulder

Winter - no promises mister Xiao Long, wrapping tighter around Qrow making him turn even more red

--

Over by the Atas fire place (*5) in the corner

Jaune turned to Nora and Ren,

Jaune -huh, I always figured Qrow would be making Her blush

Nora - Oh please you saw her stand on his sword in that one fight, pg euphemisms are CCrRAAZZYY

Jaune -wha..?

Ren -don’t even try

--

In the closet the scavenger squirmed against his ropes,

Scavenger - mmmmph mph mmph hmhpmh mhh pmhmh (*6)

--

In the end all gathered around the table and had a great evening, when it was over the family loaded up everything back into Tai’s car (before it was destroyed in that one chibi episode) and headed off

Qrow stayed behind to help clean up a bit more and of course to stay with Winter a bit longer

Winter stopped what she was doing and looked up at Qrow with tears in her left eye

Winter -Qrow…. Thank you, you don’t know how much I needed this

Qrow -It was Tai yang and Ruby’s idea… but I’m just glad to see you Snow angel (he smirked) ((jaune internally screeching in the distance))

Winter -You don’t have to go you know… I mean I am allowed to have guests, if you want to…

Qrow stopped her with a kiss

Qrow looking deep into her eyes -I’m not going anywhere

Winter turned deep red and seemed to melt in his arms

They stayed like that for a bit until Winter snapped up and tightened her grip on him with narrow eyes and a demanding pose

Winter -If you think our last “fight” was tough, you aren't ready for this one she said walking towards what was at the time her room gesturing Qrow with one finger

Qrow now legitimately kinda frightened for his safety -ooooohhh boy hehe

With a swig of his flask and a quick hop to the door, (((I leave this part of the story because tumblr and morals and i'm writing this so I don’t have to study for my AI test)))

--

Back at the Xiao Long home the gang was unpacking the car

Ruby -I think we really did a good thing for Uncle Qrow

Tai - hehe I haven't seen him that happy or embarrassed over a girl since Beacon

Yang -where is he anyways, I thought he was just saying goodbye

Weiss had the realization set in that not only were her sister and Ruby’s Uncle likely tearing down the atlas base, but that she could be Ruby’s Aunt soon

She immediately dragged Ruby back under the mistletoe

Weiss -No way am I waiting till this is even more weird come here

--

Back in the closet of the base the bag falls off the “scavengers head”

Oscar -Guys… I just wanted to join you… hello…

Ozpin -I told you we should have brought Fruit cake

Oscar -...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So this train wreck is my first ever fic and yeah hope you like it or not whatever its for Qrowin week so yeah this kind just went on and on sorry about that, i'll get better the more I do have a nice day and yeah

Authors notes? What even

*1, what the heck does “holiday cheer” smell like? Cookies? Eggnog? Idk BLood? Eeh its up to you,

*2 I HAVE ALWAYS SPELLED IT THIS WAY AND YOU CAN’T TELL ME DIFFERENTLY MUAHAHA

*3 because what else (insert Lenny face)

*4 would literally anyone read that cuz it could be fun

*5 just roll with it

*6 he’s is apparently the pyro from Team Fortress 2

I didn’t re read this or proof it so sorry if its trash

[kaiserdingus]

MegaMan PSP Games - Powered Up / Maverick Hunter X

The Mega Man series has always been tough for newcomers to dive into. Its a series based on challenge, skill, and memorizing stages and patterns. The original series was restrained by the technical limitations of the time, so they look more cartoony and kid friendly. The Super Nintendo’s Mega Man X series was a sequel intended to carry the torch and bring the Blue Bomber into the 16-bit era with a new look, new moves, and a new, more mature storyline.

In 2005 Capcom announced a pair of simultaneous releases for Sony’s PlayStation Portable handheld console. Mega Man Powered Up and Mega Man Maverick Hunter X were remakes of the first games in the Mega Man and Mega Man X series that utilized the 3D capabilities of the PlayStation Portable to render new ways to experience these gems of gaming. Both were remade with the idea to be accessible to newcomers, and plans were in the works for sequels to both games based on Mega Man 2 and Mega Man X2.

Unfortunately, sluggish sales would lead to both sequels being canceled. Today we have the Mega Man and Mega Man X Legacy Collections to give us our fill, but these titles were more than just ports. There were new features, new bosses, they were practically their own games worthy of their own discussion. That’s why today we’re going to be taking a look at Mega Man Powered Up and Mega Man Maverick Hunter X.

MegaMan Powered Up

It’s said that when designing Mega Man, Keiji Inafune wanted to use a “super deformed” style for the characters. Big heads on little bodies for a funny, cute look. The problem was that the technology of the time made it difficult to portray this style, so a compromise was made. The characters were still cute, but the proportions weren’t as exaggerated as originally intended. Inafune would get his chance to try his “chibi” designs when Capcom announced Mega Man Powered Up in 2005, a complete remake of the original Mega Man, updated for Sony’s new PSP handheld.

Gaming had changed a lot between the 1980’s and the mid-2000’s. Before, game design was influenced by arcade trends. Challenge and difficulty were added to games of the time to hide the fact that these games theoretically could be beaten within the span of a few hours. The original Mega Man games came from an era where rental services like Blockbuster made it easy for someone to spend $5 instead of $50 on a game for the week. If a game could be beat in an afternoon, then there was no reason for the gamer to buy the game. This was also helped by the lack of save features in these early games.

In the mid-2000’s, however, these tricks were irrelevant. Game development had reached a point where games had enough content. There was no longer a need to pad a game with challenge to keep them from beating it in a single sitting. With this in mind, Capcom sought to re-work the original Mega Man series for the next generation of kids who hadn’t grown up with the originals. Now there are multiple difficulties to cater to different kinds of players.

The premise, characters, levels, music, almost everything in the game are based on the original Mega Man, but now everything is expanded upon. Characters pop-out in 3D, and the levels follow the same designs, but now the world feels more alive. The story is played out through character dialogue and little cutscenes. This game would go on to influence the story and characters in the Archie tie-in comics.

Two new characters were created specifically for this game, each with their own unique level. Time Man and Oil Man bring the game’s original six Robot Masters up to eight, in line with the rest of the series. Oil Man’s design would cause controversy as it closely resembles the “Blackface” stereotype, with his black skin and big red lips.

For some background, Japanese artists are influenced by those who came before them, and a lot of the original manga artists learned from American cartoonists. Blackface portrayals were prominent in American cartoons and comics, which were imported to Japan after World War II. The average person in Japan doesn’t have any context for the history of Blackface in America, which doesn’t excuse the depictions. Because of this cultural misunderstanding, Oil Man’s skin was turned dark blue and his lips were colored yellow.

My favorite addition to this game is the ability to play as the boss characters you defeat. Each boss has their trusty weapon as their base weapon, and now the empty hole they left in their stage has been filled by a rogue Mega Man who’s looking for trouble. There are other playable characters, but I won’t spoil them for you.

I’m disappointed that we never got to see any sequels to Powered Up. It seemed like the perfect formula for Mega Man. Remake 1 through 6 in this style, maybe 7 and 8, then they could’ve done 9 and 10 too. Every time I see a new trailer for 11 I just think of it as a sequel to Powered Up, but with a more streamlined design. Don’t get me started on Mighty No. 9, the unfortunate “spiritual successor” to the Mega Man series.

Mega Man Powered Up is one of the best PSP games, and possibly one of the best Mega Man games. It’s unfortunate that it came out too early in the PSP’s lifespan to really take off, maybe if Capcom had ported the game to the PS2 or Gamecube it would have fared better.

MegaMan Maverick Hunter X

Maverick Hunter X, the companion title to Mega Man Powered Up, is a remake of the 1993 Super Nintendo classic Mega Man X. Unlike Powered Up, which completely redesigned the classic Mega Man, Maverick Hunter X stays relatively true to the original design and style of the Mega Man X franchise. It features anime cutscenes, similar to those used in Mega Man X3 and X4. One could argue that the animation and voice acting are noticeably better this time around.

While Powered Up was designed to be accessible for anyone, Maverick Hunter X is designed to be a more mature challenge. There’s no Easy Mode this time, only Normal and Hard. The first Mega Man X was never as challenging as later games in the series, but it wasn’t a walk in the park. Maverick Hunter X isn’t easier, but it does feel a little tighter to control.

The MegaMan series has never been strong on plot, but the Mega Man X sub-series does have a surprisingly strong lore. This has only ever been casually hinted at, with little exposition besides a few animated cutscenes or slideshows. Maverick Hunter X delivers a decent story in the form of an animated opening cutscene, as well as character dialogue between stages. Each boss battle opens with a back-and-forth between X and the boss in question where they explain their perspective before jumping into the action.

Once you beat the game you unlock what’s probably the coolest bonus a video game can have: a 25 minute animated film. The Day of Σ is a self-contained animated special that ties in with the game. The special is a prequel that ends where the game begins, and it tells the story of Sigma and the other reploids going Maverick.

This approach to video game storytelling works surprisingly well because it doesn’t interfere with the gameplay. Most story-driven games feel bloated with unending cutscenes, other games don’t feel fleshed out enough when they don’t include any cutscenes. Maverick Hunter X including an anime OVA is similar to 2003’s Dot Hack series from Bandai, which also came with a four part animated mini-series. 2010’s Dragon Ball Raging Blast, also from Namco Bandai, similarly featured a 20 minute special called The Plan to Eradicate The Super Saiyans.

Fans of the Mega Man X series have noted some inconsistencies with Maverick Hunter X and The Day of Sigma compared to the rest of the franchise. These story inconsistencies wouldn’t matter if Capcom had gone through with their plan to reboot the X series. Had they continued the groundwork started by Maverick Hunter X, future games would fill in the blanks, and re-tell the original stories in new and exciting ways.

As far as fan speculation goes, we can draw all of Mega Man’s problems in the late 2000’s/early 2010’s right here. Mega Man Powered Up and Maverick Hunter X were great games, but for one reason or another neither title was very successful at the time of release. What’s worse is, Maverick Hunter X was available digitally on the PlayStation Network Store when the PlayStation Vita debuted, but Mega Man Powered Up couldn’t get the same treatment due to technical issues.

Both games are great and it's a shame that they’re lost to time, trapped forever on a long forgotten handheld. I have nothing against the Mega Man Legacy Collections, but I miss the days when developers attempted to remake their classic games for later generations. While there’s no arguing against the value of preserving original games and making them available to be played as originally intended, I think the world would benefit from more modernized remakes that take advantage of today’s technology to do things they could never originally do.

I hope one day Capcom releases both Mega Man PSP games. Possibly alongside other mid-2000’s curiosities like Mega Man X Command Mission and Mega Man Network Transmission. There are enough oddball Mega Man spin-offs to fill a few more Legacy Collections, I think.

Where to Buy

Mega Man Powered Up (PSP)

Mega Man Maverick Hunter X  (PSP)

Mega Man Double Pack (PSP)

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