#(and some elements of other designs but mainly that)

[baeshijima]

the way i want to play [gui long chao (归龙潮)]/ [returning dragon tides/return of the dragon (en translations)] so badly but i just know my pc wont survive this since its already considered out of date for wuwa (i still play wuwa despite it but oh well + maybe will be upgrading it soon... maybe...) and now im considering whether to quickly change my apple stuff to cn just to download it and then change it back to my local country again....

the concept is so cool (mc being a film director iirc and we form a crew with other charas and go through the nine districts + has quite a lot of fantasy elements implemented which are so nice !! mainly loving the dragon elemts to it eheh), the voice acting??? love it ;w; the models are really nice + the character designs is one of my fav aspects of this game so far, the ART is so lovely???? the f! and m!mc designs are also quite nice and it being a sidescroller game as well??? ALSO !! the gacha animation is one of my favs like,,,, the (at least i think it is a) koi fish swimming overhead the streets and turning purple/gold... ourgh.... pls i actually love it so much

bc like????

some of the characters/character designs i love already:

zhu -> yubing -> zhaixi -> chenxiao

AND THEN WHOEVER THIS IS FROM THE OFFICIAL TRAILER

and zhu in-game model..... ourghg pls i am genuinely so obsessed with him and his design....

and then these are some official arts/chara splash arts (i think) from in-game and ourgh...

AND THE MCS !!!

HELLO???? it looks so good so far and it released like,,, last week in china.... the osts are also really nice and aaaa i wanna play it so bad 😭😭 will probably end up waiting for a possibly global release if they either manage to get the funds to release it outside of china or decide they want to release it outside of china... pls do... pls....

official website link

[fletchingbrilliant]

It's Only a Crooked Moon, Chapter One

•••

Read it on AO3!

So I started a fic all by my onesies. Let's see how this goes.

Highly canon divergent, but many many same elements as canon. Some geography changed. Many lore liberties taken.

Many ships will occur, probably. But it's mainly Radiodust. Go figure.

•••

“Come out and face me, Radio Demon! For weeks you have evaded my assault, but no more! I have ensured that you'll have no choice but to accept my challenge!”

Gears whirred, pistons whined, and steam erupted in a sharp whistle, Sir Pentious’ newest machine of destruction taking one lurching mechanical step, then another, gaining in speed as it went. It was a proud moment for the serpentine Sinner, debuting such an impressive marvel, a creation that could one day rival his own precious War Machine. It was large, clearing the height of a two-story building, bearing the form of a sort of robotic giraffe, yet possessing many jointed brass tentacles in the place of its legs. They wound around each other, the base of each hitting the ground hard and cracking the already ruined pavement that made up the streets of Pentagram City. From the head of his newly finished weapon, arranged as a cockpit designed exclusively for his use, Sir Pentious gave a hard pull on the lever that raised the giraffe’s horns, making their internal chambers open wide to charge their vicious attack. He grabbed onto the horn that amplified his voice down the street.

“I know you are here, Alastor! It is no use to hide!! Vengeance will be mine!!!”

“Vengeance for what?”

Sir Pentious squacked and flew backwards as the sight of the Radio Demon materialized on the other side of the viewport, perched right on the tip of the giraffe’s nose. He was bent over at a sharp angle, leaning on his staff.

“Alastor!!” Pentious hissed, sweeping upright again and righting his distressed top hat. “Just as I intended, you have come to do battle! I will now prove once and for all that it is I who truly deserves to stand as the most feared Sinner to ever stalk the streets of Hell!”

To Pentious’ dismay, Alastor tilted his head far down to his shoulder. “I'm sorry… who are you, again?”

“Wha– I'm Sir Pentious!! The architect of destruction! The engineer of disaster!! The mechanic of doom!!!”

“My my my, with so many impressive titles, it's a wonder that I've never heard of you!”

“You insolent wretch!” Pentious shouted, forcing back the foul and bitter taste of once again going unacknowledged, unseen by those he aspired to stand beside. “I swear to you, Radio Demon, that by the time I am done with you, you will remember the name Sir Pentious!!”

The dual horn beam finished its slow and steady charge, and Pentious grinned manically at the befuddled Overlord.

“This will be my greatest revenge!”

“This will wha– oh. Oh my.”

He saw Alastor’s eyes widen for a moment, then nothing but blinding light as his laser blast shot down at his creation’s own nose, hitting his opponent squarely in his chest. When the light cleared, Pentious followed the trail of smoke down the narrow street. Alastor was bouncing, tumbling over the ruined pavement like an abandoned rag doll, landing in a smoking heap.

“Yes yes yes yes!!” Pentious cried in pure joy, throwing his fist into the air. “Feel the power of my wrath, Alastor, and know that you have finally met your match!”

The giraffe lurched forward, tentacled legs closing in on their helpless prey. The deerlike demon was not moving, not even a twitch. Was Pentious’ new weapon truly powerful enough to completely incapacitate the Radio Demon with only one blow?

This, of course, was not the case, and Sir Pentious preemptively cursed himself for allowing even a moment of such blind optimism. He brought his mechanical marvel directly in front of the unmoving demon, released one of its flexible tentacular ‘arms’ from its housing, brought it to bear down onto Alastor, ready to grab him. But in a moment that stirred utter dread within the serpent, Alastor’s hand shot up while the rest of his body lay unmoving. The Radio Demon seized the tendril, which coiled about his arm in response.

Then his body twitched and writhed, undulating and rising like liquid back to his feet. His clothing, his face, his hands, were all singed by Pentious’ weapon, smoke rising from his maniacally grinning visage.

“I suppose, little goose, that you think you got the bulge on me,” he said, his voice sounding detached from his own body. It was practically leaking into Pentious’ mind as though seeping through his pores as a wicked vapor, the crackle and static of radio waves prickling his skin. “I’ll certainly give you credit for your moxie, and no mistake. But…”

He closed his fist around the tendril, then gave it a mighty tug. Sir Pentious, stunned with disbelief, was pulled forward with the force of it. The entire machine was pulled from the center where the cavity that housed the arms was held. It must have been a nearly humorous sight, such a small man folding a massive tentacled giraffe in half with a single hand. But Pentious was not laughing. He was currently busy trying to keep from losing a fang by way of facial collision.

Suddenly, everything jerked to a halt. Sir Pentious pulled himself up to look out the viewport again, peering down at where his prey-turned-predator was still standing.

He was laughing. No, he was cackling. His head was thrown back in delight, and with dread Pentious saw that his antlers were beginning to twist and writhe like some wicked crooked tree that would bear no fruit. Like a living faerie tale the monster grew, Pentious’ great invention soon becoming dwarfed by Alastor's rapidly increasing height.

It was in moments like this that Sir Pentious, passionate and inspired inventor though he was, was left to marvel at the seemingly unknowable power that dwelt dormant within the tormented flesh of the Sinner. It was a power so natural yet so corrupt, limited only by each soul’s own unique nature. He could spend even more lifetimes than he already had trying to truly harness that untapped potential only to barely graze the surface, to dip his proverbial toe into those sweet and addictive waters. 

He wasn't sure whether the feeling raised him up with inspiration or crushed him into the dirt with hopelessness.

Alastor, the Radio Demon whose legend began such a relatively short time ago, lived up to the nightmares recounted by Sinner and hellborn alike. His eyes became endless black voids, pitiless, hungry, ready to suck up any fool who gazed too long into their infinite depths. His grin, a permanent fixture on his terrible visage, grew wider and wider still, beyond what any gentle nature would allow. Yellow and brown teeth curved as they grew, stained with the viscera of every victim he devoured, gums black and breath foul, hiding a gray and slimy tongue, as long and winding as Pentious’ own tail. The vibrant green stitches that appeared on Alastor's face and pulled at his cheeks, covering the edges of his lips, seemed to be both keeping something out and keeping something in. His joints popped, his limbs stretched and contorted, their positions growing more and more unnatural as the demon's size increased. His crimson claws glimmered in the low light, each now roughly the size of scythe’s blade. Pentious was staring into the face of truest horror, truest evil… and he could not look away. 

“So you desire to have the Radio Demon know your name, little wyrmling?” Alastor said, the pits of his eyes flickering red as he spoke, his mouth unmoving, audio distortion warping the sound. If Sir Pentious had suddenly gone deaf, he was certain he still would have heard it.

Alastor's giant hand grabbed onto Pentious’ machine by its neck, lifting it to bring the viewport to his eye level. Sir Pentious could only cling onto the main console in a bid to remain upright. He was suddenly extremely grateful that he had not made accommodations for his Egg Bois in this design, but in the same moment wondered how they would survive without him to look after them.

All Pentious could see through the glass was the Radio Demon’s horrific face. “You'll receive an even greater honor,” he said, “as a proud new member of my radio chorus!”

Pentious felt something strange, a sort of tugging that felt at first like there was a metal ball in his gut, and a magnet was trying to pull it out. But that dull pressure soon gave way to terrible pain, rending, tearing. Something vital was being torn from him, his very essence was being ripped apart!

There came with this pain a sort of weightlessness, perhaps an out of body experience, and Sir Pentious became aware that he was no longer screaming. In fact, he was quite lucid, his awareness now sharp yet utterly calm. He knew he had only moments before Alastor would devour him completely, he had only one chance to escape a fate far worse than any death could be. 

Still clinging to the control panel, Pentious freed one hand to grab onto the black lever on the left hand side. He looked up into the void once more and he did not flinch. This was not how his story was going to end. 

He pulled the lever. 

There was a jolt, a deep rumble within the earth, the scream of audio feedback, a flash of blinding green light, then nothing. 

•••

“Are you bitches ready to have the biggest damn party this side of Hell?! Lemme hear you scream for me, babies!!!”

The crowd did scream, and Velvette grinned, flipping her glittering microphone in her hand. It was a fairly small stage, but it was sleek and it made a statement, and it fit just so between the shabby buildings of the street she'd commandeered for this event. And the mob did not care. They packed the place, a swarm of sweaty and smelly plebeians desperate for just a whiff of everything she was. Their hands slapped the stage, reaching and grasping to touch her. Every time one got close, she stomped it with her heeled boot, and was sure they'd cherish the scar she'd gifted to them. 

It wasn't as large an event as Velvette wanted, nor as grand as she had been promised. She hadn't been with the Vees long, fine, whatever. But Vox had made her one of them. That was supposed to come with a better setup than what she'd been working with before. When she had to scrape and claw and work her ass off for a handful of Subscribers (her affectionate name for the souls she collected). He told her to be patient, that she had to settle into her place at VoxTech. But Vox needed to get in on social media, like, ten years ago, and she was his answer to that problem.

It wasn't wise to piss off the person who basically controlled the internet of Hell. 

“That's right, duckies. You'd kill for it. I know.” She didn't let those frustrations show as she worked the crowd into a greater frenzy, blowing kisses and flipping birds, making them go nuts the less effort she appeared to put into her performance.

Those fuckwits have no idea how much effort this actually takes.

With a nod to the crew, the music kicked on and she started her next dance, singing whenever she felt like gracing her fans with a bar or two. They were frothing at the mouth, so desperate and sad. Verosika Mayday wished she could work a crowd like this. They were going to be lined up around the block to sign themselves away. Velvette wondered how many gigs like this it would take to possess more souls than Vox himself.

“Now who wants to have it all?” she barked. “Who wants to be like me?”

They all did. This was so much easier than selling influencer courses.

“Then c'mon baby dolls, GIMME ALL YOU GOT!!”

They surged, Velvette could practically taste all these new contracts…

…and then everything went tits up in five seconds flat. 

One of the intersections her impromptu block party was cutting off suddenly lit up in a green blaze that totally clashed with her red and violet light show, accompanied by a booming sound that soon gave way to the crackle of static. The high pitched wail of audio feedback came right after it, then every one of Velvette’s speakers blew up, sending fire and electricity and potential Subscribers flying all over the place. The screens projecting her face to the back of the crowd went next, sparking and crashing onto the stage. 

Velvette whipped her head around to a panicking crew member. 

“You! Figure out what the fuck that is and fix it right the fuck now.”

The frantic demon was stammering something completely fucking useless when another loud crash came from the block that had at least stopped glowing green. Her audience was so densely packed there was no way they'd be able to scatter quickly enough, and could only flail around as the massive form of something collapsed onto a large swath of them. Desperately the rest of the crowd scrambled to flee, though Velvette noticed with no small amount of pleasure that several of them were filming the carnage on their phones even as they backed away.

She hopped off of the flaming stage and parted the crowd in waves with only a touch of her finger to the shoulders of flabbergasted fanboys. In a matter of moments she made it to the wreckage, which was somehow quite a bit smaller than it had looked only moments ago.

It was still large, larger than the handful of fans who were squashed under its heavy metallic girth. The thing was a machine of some sort, but its aesthetic was totally ancient. Either that, or someone was just way too devoted to Steampunk roughly a millennium since it was even remotely trendy. If she had to guess, Velvette would have described it as… an ugly fucking mess.

Velvette snapped a few pics herself, zooming in on key parts that looked like joints or busted control panels. She moved around to where the remains of a cockpit appeared to be, large shards of glass from a window littering the ground. Whoever was to blame for this mess shouldn't have been too far away. Clouds of smoke were still billowing up from inside the cockpit, illuminated in an eerie way by a small green fire that had no clear source. Was this where the blast initiated? And if so, did the machine do it, or was it that massive thing that somehow vanished the moment it hit the ground?

Tired of waiting for the smoke to clear, Velvette turned to her still-captive audience, projecting over their panicking little heads. “Who wants to be a big help to their favorite babydoll?!!”

They all did.

“You're all such precious little things, oh my god you're so cute! Alright, duckies, all I need is the shirt off of your backs!! Now give ‘em to me!!”

Because people, Sinners, and especially her fans were disgusting wastes of carbon, Velvette was practically showered with shirts, jackets, even trousers and… how did they get their knickers off so fast nevermind I don't actually want to know. Her staff deftly kept the clothes from landing on her, and gave her the least offensive offerings while the crowd screamed, desperate to have their clothing chosen for a sacrifice. A couple of large coats and a skirt in hand, Velvette herself marched into the wreckage and threw the wretched crimes against fashion over the fire, stomping down to quash the flames. The sounds of the crowd and security keeping them at bay began to fade away as she squinted through the haze. She snapped a few more pictures, stepped forward, and–

squelch

The hair on Velvette’s neck and arms shot up and she grimaced as she stepped on something thick and slimy. She hopped back, looked down, and saw the long winding tail of a serpentine Sinner. A very familiar Sinner. 

“Ohhh, that's why the tacky steampunk looked familiar,” she said to herself, photographing the collapsed idiot who thought that he was more qualified than her. Apparently this idiot – whatever his fucking name was – had been here longer than Vox and even longer than the Radio Demon, and yet never got strong enough on his own to become an Overlord. So instead he begged to be part of the Vees. When he tried to raise a fuss about Velvette’s appointment, it didn't do much outside of making for a really funny side story to go along with her debut. And now he was giving her a part two. 

The smoke cleared enough that she could see the rest of him now. His Victorian chic was tattered and burned, the eye on his top hat closed along with the ones on his face, and the ones that lined his tail. She laughed and raised her phone to take more pictures. But the moment she tapped the screen, her phone shook in her hand, the screen flickered and glitched out, green artifacting taking over everything. Then it grew hot, really hot, in an instant, causing Velvette to drop it in surprise. It wasn't a moment too soon either, because the damn thing exploded just before hitting the ground. 

There were cries of shock and surprise, and Velvette turned away from the wreckage to see her staff members distracted by their own tech shorting out, phones and headsets catching fire. And the fans too, their phones jumping out of their hands as they popped and burst in a wave apparently radiating from the point where Velvette stood. 

“Okay, I'd really love to know just what the fuck is–” Velvette turned back to the unconscious snake, but was struck by what she saw in his place. 

“I can not say that I bear much surprise, to see thy presence at the center here.” The long and tall figure that seemed to be made of shadow itself loomed over Velvette, bright green eyes narrowing at her. “Thou art well appointed, and no mistake, to stand alongside the Voice and the Moth.”

“Cut the poetry reading, Zestial,” Velvette said, successfully glaring up at the old fuck now that the initial shock wore off. The same couldn't be said for the Sinners around her, though. There was renewed screaming as the weak-willed started freaking out at Zestial’s mere presence. “This right here is a private issue, on my turf, so back off. Unless you had something to do with this?”

To Velvette's irritation, Zestial smiled. He looked like a fucked up jack-o-lantern. “I possess not the desire to destroy such a marvel as this. Thou wouldst be wise to demonstrate some small shred of humility in the face of a power so great.”

“You're telling me that you think this scrap heap was something special?”

“Indeed I do, but it is not to Sir Pentious' marvel that I speak in this case. Rather, I would advise thou to regard the force that brought both of these titans to heel.”

“Titans? You're calling that slug– wait, both?!”

But Zestial wasn't paying her any more attention. He turned away, and leaned down over Pentious’ unmoving body. Velvette couldn't see what he was doing, and some force – perhaps just her sense of self preservation – kept her from interfering. He lifted Sir Pentious from the ground with one arm, and with the other he was picking up… something else. Shadows swept up around him, swirling into a frenzy until she could only see the other Overlord in patches. He turned as the darkness enveloped him completely, meeting Velvette’s eyes. For only one fleeting moment, she saw the other figure Zestial was holding. The long and tattered red coat, small and twisted black antlers, nasty crooked teeth fixed in a permanent smile even while unconscious…

The whole world was suddenly plunged into total darkness, then seconds later the light returned, and Zestial was gone. But echoing around her, or maybe only in her own mind, she heard his voice. 

The nights of Hell are darker still

Than all thy scheming could fulfill–

Powers thou could Never know

Are frothing, teeming, Deep below.

In fleeting moments do they rise,

And beg for newfound sacrifice.

A glimpse is all I was allowed

'Fore even I was rendered cowed;

Yet thou, thy Triad, seek to hone

These forces thou could Never own.

What happened here is but a Taste

Of what I Fear shall only grow.

All that you treasure is but waste

To the Laughter in the 

          Deep…

                    …Green…

                              …Glow.

Velvette looked around, dizzy and disoriented, infuriated and confused. But Zestial was gone, and he took Sir Pentious… and the Radio Demon… with him. Those left after the chaos were gathering around, hoping that their idol could give them any guidance, protection… something. 

I couldn't even if I wanted to, duckies.

Whatever the fuck just happened, it's really going to shake things up around here.

In spite of herself, Velvette smiled. 

I can't wait to tell the boys about this.

•••

The waning moon was high in the sky, a crooked smile of pale red against the spilled red wine that made up the night sky. The sky of Hell. Or just the sky of Angel Dust’s Hell, the Hell of Sinners. But what other Hell mattered? It was the only one he would ever know. His ankles hurt, an impressive feat given how long he could last in heels of any shape or size, in any position. The problem was that he was usually dancing, or doing something that wasn't quite so repetitive the way that walking was. And he had long since lost track of how long he had been walking. It had been at least a day, that much he had figured. The one baggie he'd had on him when he left Val's place was empty, all the adrenaline spent, and now he was just running on fumes. His scalp itched, his eyes hurt, and he probably smelled awful.

Last time he gathered his bearings, having any idea where he might be, he had taken a turn out of the entertainment district into one of the five large slums that made up the ‘points’ of Pentagram City, lovingly referred to as the Sloth Districts. It was easy to get mugged or raped or whatever in these dark and somehow even more miserable corners of the city, but it was also easier to pass by unnoticed. Angel Dust was no stranger to the slums, both in life and in death. And anything that could possibly threaten him here was nothing – nothing – compared to what he was running away from. 

“Go ahead and leave, then! You really think you can last one day out there without me? Those snarling, drooling beasts will devour you. And no matter how loud you scream, no matter how much you beg, I won't come to save you. 

Is that what you want, amorcito?”

Angel Dust gritted his teeth and scoffed at the memory. He didn't care. He didn't need him. He said as much, screamed it, dodging insults and threats and grabbing hands. The smell of Valentino’s foul breath, that oozed through every fiber that made up his den of sweet promises and seductive lies, lingered in Angel’s nostrils, making him gag even now. That wasn’t what he needed anymore. It had never been what he needed. He was better than that. Or at least, he would be. He would be.

I’m gonna be better. That was the mantra he repeated in his mind over and over, with each step reinforcing it. He had successfully removed the tracking app from his phone in preparation for his escape, but heard it ring, felt it vibrate, as Valentino continued to press him, trying to convince him to return. Turning notifications off worked for a while. Then he got the nerve to block him. But finally, as his legs threatened to give out and he realized he was running out of street, he made the choice.

After one more turn, headed north, Angel Dust skittered up a wall and hopped over it to find that he was on the outskirts of Pentagram City. There was hardly anywhere to go here, the land stretching out barren and dry, leading to a sheer drop into nothingness. The space between spaces lay beyond, so they said, and no Sinner could hope to successfully breach those outer limits of Hell. Still he was overcome with a maddening rush of emotion that had only one possible outlet. He let out a guttural cry that soon turned to hysterical laughter, and he ran. He ran with a new burst of energy that made his legs burn, all the way to that drop into nowhere. He skidded to a halt right at the edge…

…and he hurled his cell phone into the chasm, laughing all the while.

“FUCK YOU, VAL!! I AIN’T NEVER, NEVER GONNA BE YOURS! NEVER AGAIN!!!”

Tears flooding his eyes and spraying into the air like jewels, Angel Dust fell onto his back and continued to cackle, the sound becoming high and deranged and not at all like his own voice. But he let it go. He was free.

He was free.

How long he lay there, staring up at the crooked smile of the moon, he didn’t know. It wasn’t as long as he’d spent walking, but was longer than he’d meant to. Maybe he fell asleep. The crooked smile moon looked like it was moving. Then a pair of wide and unblinking eyes appeared above it, and the crooked face began to sing. Angel Dust smiled back at the face in the sky that had become his new companion, and he sang along with it.

This was nice. But all nice things ended way too soon.

“It’s alright. No, Dad. Yes. No. No, it– that’s fine. Please, you don’t have to. Okay, I’ll call you back– right. Bye.”

Angel turned his head away from his crooked-smile-face-moon-friend towards the voice. Just who in the fuck would be walking around this nothing space was beyond him, and when he saw her, he was no less confused.

She was fairly tall, it looked, wearing a cute little number in red and black, with the thickest, platinum-est blonde hair he’d ever seen, tied in a black ribbon and flowing like water behind her. She was just hanging up her phone, looking completely done, stuffing it in her pocket while carrying a whole shitload of boxes balanced precariously on her other arm. Following her course with his eyes, Angel saw her destination. There was a hill, of a sort, that kind of jutted out over the chasm, and on that hill was a building. It looked old and sort of faded, like a photograph from when he was alive. A hotel, if he had to guess. He was weighing the pros and cons of bailing before she noticed him when she started to really struggle with her burden. Before he could question himself, he was on his aching feet, hurrying over to her and catching the boxes seconds before they fell.

“Woah there, Little Miss Overachiever!” he said, collecting four boxes in his lower arms. “It’s okay, you got the part.”

“Oh! I– wha– thank you so much!” she said, turning to look at him with a very white and very flushed face. Her eyes were huge and too cute, save for the sharpness of her red pupils and how wickedly sharp her fangs were. From this close he noticed that she was balancing all this on narrow pointed feet, probably hooves. Maybe she’d been dead long enough to really get a handle on them.

“Don’t worry about it,” Angel said, raising an eyebrow as he continued to assess this completely bonkers situation. “What are ya doin’ all the way out here, anyway? Not exactly what I’d call safe to be traipsing around outside the city all by your lonesome. There’s like, boogiemans out here or some shit.”

“Boogie… what?” She blinked at him in utter confusion. “I don’t know what that means. But I’m okay! I’m just getting the hotel set up!”

He gestured to her and they started walking toward the spooky old place together. “You own this weird old creep shack? The fuck you want with a place like this? Who even built a place like this??”

“Oh… my dad,” she said, her voice falling a little flat. “He’s helping… I mean he sort of… I’m taking it over, fixing it up, since he wasn’t using it for anything anymore.”

“That’s… weird and vague,” Angel allowed, really feeling it in his thighs as they worked their way up the hill. “Expecting to get a lot of guests all the way out here?”

“I’m hoping so! I have a special mission in mind for the hotel, and I think a lot of people will really respond to it!”

“Yeah? And what mission is that?”

“I’m going to help Sinners find redemption!”

Angel Dust stopped several feet from the front doors, turning to give her the most withering stare he could manage. “You’re gonna what.”

“I’m going to help Sinners– oh you heard me.” She looked no less enthusiastic, however, delivering what must have been an oft-practiced speech. “Things in Pentagram City just keep getting worse and worse for everyone, and with the exterminations, so many Sinners feel like they have no hope for a future of any kind! So I thought that if I could provide a place for Sinners to come together and learn to change their ways, however it is they wound up getting sent here, then maybe they could be redeemed, be brought up to Heaven! And then there wouldn’t be any more overcrowding in Hell, everybody would be able to be in Heaven, and be happy, and everyone will be better off!”

Angel took several moments to process the lunacy he’d just heard. “And this is a thing you thought of with your brain, and your brain told you it was a good idea that would definitely work?”

“Yup!”

“...You’re not a Sinner, then, huh?”

“Oh! No. No, I’m not,” she said.

“Then why would you give a single fuck about us?”

“Well… because you’re my people. Oh! I should introduce myself!” The weird, weird demon scurried to the doors, set her boxes down on the doorstep, then scurried back and extended her hand. “Hi! My name is Charlie Morningstar!”

“Charlie Morningstar. You’re Charlie Morningstar? The fucking Princess of Hell?!” Angel nearly dropped the boxes he was carrying.

She didn’t drop her hand. “It’s nice to meet you… Um…?”

“Oh. Uh. Angel. Angel Dust.” He took her hand tentatively, wondering just how this is where his life had led. “Nice to meet you too, uh, your Highness.”

“Nooo, no no no, please not that,” Charlie said awkwardly, giggling in a very un-princess-like way. “Just Charlie. I don’t want to be treated like I’m any better than anyone else.”

Angel Dust shook his head slowly, finally setting down his own burden. “You ain’t never been seen in public since you were like, a little kid or some shit, least that’s what they say, and now you’re just setting up shop in some shitty hotel in the middle of nowhere… wait, so this is Lucifer’s place? The fuck’s he got a shithole like this for?”

“I… honestly don’t know what he did with it before,” she said, sounding forlorn. “But it’s mine now, and I’m going to pursue my dream! It’s basically all done up, now I just need to find some guests!”

Angel looked at the hotel. Then at Charlie. Then at the hotel again. It was dingy. It was dark, probably damp, looked like it smelled funny… but it wasn’t Valentino’s place.

“You know… I happen to be a really famous po– uh. Movie star!” Angel Dust said. “Okay, porn star, but that’s as big as it gets down here. Maybe you’d be able to draw in some clientele if they knew you had a real A-lister settin’ up shop here.”

Charlie’s eyes widened, sparkling with an eager joy that instantly made Angel Dust feel a little guilty. “You want to try to get redeemed?”

“Well, let’s not go that far, but, I mean… I’ll try anything once, baby.” He gave her one of his most winning smiles with a dashing wink.

It seemed to work. She blushed and grinned, and clapped her hands together, and then – to Angel’s shock – threw her arms around him in a tight hug. “Oh I’m so glad! Thank you thank you thank you this is going to be so–”

Just what it was going to ‘be so’, he never found out, because in that moment, the red sky suddenly turned completely black, and they were both thrust into total darkness. He felt Charlie pull away, but he took hold of her shoulders and kept her grounded lest she float off into the nether. In another handful of moments the darkness was gone, and there was a tall and imposing figure standing in front of them, even taller than Angel was himself. Taller than Valentino, maybe.

“Good evening to thee, sweet young Charlie,” said the Sinner, one Angel Dust knew only by reputation. The spooky guy with the top hat, spidery in some ways Angel was, and in some ways Angel wasn’t. He was an Overlord, a super old one, and one the Vees really didn’t like. “I do hope I am not intruding upon some clandestine meeting ‘twixt thee two.”

“No, Uncle Zestial, not at all! It’s so good to see you, it’s been so long!” Charlie said. Angel Dust was flummoxed. He half expected her to hug him too, but she held off. “Is… is everything okay?”

“That I cannot say for sure. But perhaps…” he tilted his head toward Angel Dust for a second, and he felt all of his nerves suddenly tense up in a weird and unnamable horror. Then he looked back at Charlie, but the chill remained. “...Perhaps I might ask, if thou art willing, for a favor, small I hope, large I fear.”

Charlie smiled. “I’ll help in any way I can. What do you need?”

“An incident occurred this very night, under conditions still I cannot say. Two Sinners, wayward, found some plight, and need a place where they might stay. Perhaps for respite, perhaps for change.”

“Well, that’s perfect!” Charlie said, while Angel tried to parse what exactly this Shakesperean fucker was trying to say. “I have plenty of space for anyone who needs it.”

“Even if those Sinners are… quite deranged?” Zestial’s glowing green smile turned even creepier, and Angel shuddered.

But Charlie was undeterred. “No matter what, I won’t turn anyone away.”

Just where they had been stored, Angel had no idea, but Zestial spread out his arms and pulled from under his cloak two bodies. He laid them on the ground, gently, then took a couple of steps back. Charlie and Angel Dust approached, peering down at them. One looked like a snake man, wearing a top hat and a fancy coat. The other was a creepy, bony, angular man. His face was a dark and murky gray, his hair as cherry red as his tattered suit, and he had two tiny black antlers on his head. Two large tufts of hair looked almost like ears. Maybe they were his ears. And even though he was unconscious… he was smiling. They were both badly singed, and injured in several places.

Both of them started to rouse at the same moment, slow and groaning at first, but when they both blinked their bright red eyes and took stock of their surroundings, they both shot up like bolts of lightning, locking their gazes with each other.

“Alastor!!” The serpent hissed, surging upright with remarkable fluidity. “What happened? What have you done to my beautiful machine??!”

The deer man hopped up too, his angular joints cracking as he did. “It went precisely where I’m going to send you, no doubt! It was… Sir Pentious, wasn’t it? Well, Sir Pentious, say hello to Oblivion for me!!”

As Charlie let out a startled cry and made to intervene, the one called Alastor flung his hand out into the air, clearly with the intent to do some kind of magic shit or something. But nothing happened. His smile, which was wide and yellow and gross (and made Angel think of the crooked moon) sort of cracked, and his ear fluff flattened on his head.

Sir Pentious stared ahead. “You… you were going for something there, weren’t you?”

Alastor glared. “I bothered to remember your name, don’t ruin it by mocking me.”

He pulled his hand back, then jutted it out again. Still nothing happened.

“Maybe you’re just not doing it right,” Pentious suggested.

“Maybe you’re not doing it right!!”

“But I wasn’t–! Oh… maybe you should try it like this…”

Sir Pentious stuck his own hand out this time, doing a fancy little flourish that Angel Dust found hilarious. And then, to the shock of everyone – especially Alastor and Pentious, it seemed – a flash of black energy swirled around Sir Pentious’ hand, turning acid green for just an instant, and then a staff appeared in the serpent’s grasp. It looked kind of like an old school microphone, with a big red eye set into the base.

For several moments, no one said anything. No one even moved, or breathed. Then Alastor straightened his back, his hair bristling.

“What the fuck??!”

[totally-not-an-awkward-okapi]

On earth-616, The Outlaws are a short lived team of reformed Spider-man villains (Prowler, Puma, Silver Sable, Rocket Racer, and Will o’ the Wisp or Sandman) trying their best to clean up their acts and be heroes.

…But what does that make them on an earth with no Spider-Man?

[justanotherbirdbrain-blog]

A Workshop for Creating Magical/ Fictional Crystals: A Guide from a Geologist

Hi folks, its me, here to talk about fictional writing again! Today I'm just tackling the idea of magical stones/mana stones by looking at existing minerals today and some neat properties that they have, and how you can apply these things to a fictional world. The goal is mainly to help you if you are stuck trying to come up with a unique magic system, or a unique identification/characteristic of your mineral.

First Things First: Mineral Shapes

I am exhausted, petered out, down-right fatigued by seeing every mineral depicted with having the crystal structure of calcite and quartz. There are soooooo many cooler, more interesting crystal structures, don't you think you would stop and take a look at a perfect cube in nature? It is completely unsettling.

Second: Color

Color within minerals can either be really important, or not important at all! It is your choice to decide if color is going to be something that means something to your mineral. But what are some times when the color is important? Well.... there are some elements that are called chromophores, this classification just indicates that these elements, when present, will determine the color of whatever they are in. So, if you wanted to treat mana like a chromophore, you could say, "Oh everything that contains mana turns green!" This could mean that regardless of the mineral, if that mineral is a specific color, it means it contains mana. This concept is exciting because you can just stop here and use minerals that already exist! You can also use it as an indicator for a magical ore! Chromophores are typically metals, so if you are making a new metal weapon, making the ore of that metal a unique color would make a lot of sense!

However, your mineral can also just be every color of the rainbow like quartz and perhaps that's what makes identifying your mana stones elusive and create an illusion of scarcity that your character can solve.

There are other things that can change the colors of minerals, like radiation damage, and electron exchange, but I think that is beyond what would be helpful! So lets talk about some unique color properties that happen in nature that seem magical in the first place! Maybe you don't need to design a mana stone, but you want a unique gemstone that only the royal family passes down or something (IDK).

The first one is the alexandrite effect! This is where a mineral can change color in natural light vs. incandescent light. (the mineral itself is not changing, but the lights contain different amounts of different colors that then get absorbed by the stone). Even if you don't use electricity in your fictional world, you could have the colors change in the presence of light magic. This could create fun misunderstandings about what the mineral is reacting to!

Pleochroism

Pleochroism is something that most minerals have, it is frequently used to help identify minerals in thin sections, however minerals are usually not pleochroic enough for it to be visible to the naked eye! Pleochroism is just a fancy name to describe the change in how light is absorbed based on the angle of the mineral! So if you scroll up to the first image where I showed a lot of crystal shapes, most of them have angles where they are longer and shorter! This will effect the way light travels in the crystal. Tanzanite is a popular mineral that does this.

Photochromism

This is when a mineral will change color (in a reversible way) when exposed to UV light (or sunlight), I am not going to go too into the details of why this is happening because it would require me to read some research papers and I just don't feel like it. The mineral that is best known for this is Hackmanite!

Alright! These are all the really cool color effects that might inspire you or maybe not, but now I am going to talk about how you might find your minerals within a rock!

When I see a lot of magical caves/mines, typically I see them with some variation of a geode honestly, but most minerals are not found like that! Now I am sure most of you guys have seen a geode, so I will not really talk about those, but I will talk briefly about porphyroblasts which is when the mineral grows larger than the minerals around it, this happens in metamorphic minerals!

sorry random stranger, but this is an image of garnets inside a finer-grained rock at gore mountain in New York!

Another way you might find minerals is in a pegmatite! This is when all minerals are really large! This is a formed from really slow crystalizing magma!

But something else to think about is that your mineral might just be massive, it doesn't have to have distinct crystals, it may be similar to jadeite where small grains grow together which leaves it looking smooth and seamless! A note about all of these is that you would have to mine into the rock to find these, there would not be any natural caves in these rocks! Caves are only ever really formed in limestones and maybe marbles (rocks that react with acid).

How can your characters identify these minerals?

Typically when you are out in the field you will look to see what type of rocks the minerals are found in (The overall texture of the rock will tell you how it formed). If you know how the rock formed, it will narrow down the amount of minerals you need to think about by quite a bit! Next, you are going to look closely at it and observe its crystal structure, does it have an obvious crystal? if so what is the general shape? If it is broken, how did it break? Did it fracture like glass or did it break along uniform planes. Some minerals have a thing called cleavage (breaks along planes of weakness). If a mineral exhibits this habit, it will again help narrow this down. Next we can look at color. Color can be misleading, because minerals like quartz can be any color imaginable, but minerals like olivine will always be green! The next thing your character can do is test for hardness, minerals all have a specific hardness that can help identify it as well.

After you go through all of this, your mineral might have some special property! This could be magnetism, fluorescence, reactions to acid, or any of the color changing effects I mentioned above! Other than that, your character can take it back to a lab and do a number of things to identify it, but the most typical thing would be for them to make a thin section (very thin piece of the rock) and observe it under a cross polarized microscope!

On that note folks! I hope this helped in some way in thinking of new magic mineral properties! I have other guides that explore some different fictional worldbuilding issues you might run into, but if you have any topics you would like me to cover please that I haven't mentioned already, let me know!

[where-does-the-heart-lie]

Revolutionary Army Punk AU

Ft: Luffy (not punk)

Steampunk is cool but i think just straight up punk would be cooler. I just think what they stand for lines up a lot better

Design notes:

I did some research and talked to a punk friend of mine for these as i am not a punk, myself, and I dont want to look like a poser. I think i did a really good job translating them and i want to explain my thoughts!

Sabo was first, of course.

I not only wanted to make the characters punk, but i also wanted to crank their designs up about 20 notches, so i gave Sabo’s scar one hell of an upgrade. In this version I tried to make it very clear that that cannon ball hit him head-on. I think it works really well with his punk vibes because under-cuts and shaved parts of the head in general are very popular in punk culture.

I largely tried to keep the silhouettes the same with this au, and It was really easy to keep it with Sabo because of the fact that he already has a lot of design elements that translate well to punk. His big pants into tall boots were perfect to translate, crust pants and steel toed boots fits him well. Trench coats arent a staple in Punk, but i couldnt take the coats away from him… him or Belo. They deserve it…

I threw away his cravat for a choker, i replaced his vest with a red tank top and his undershirt for fishnets, Patches up the wazoo, he looks very cool.

Belo Betty was next, she was super easy to translate. She’s already in the punk spirit with her tits out, we love to see it. Her hat was really difficult to translate, along with all the other hats, but a red knitted hat that has those two points cuz it’s essentially a scarf sewed together looks nice on her.

My punk friend suggested i give her a bunch of nets and harnesses and i really agreed that was her style, so i gave her red tie to Morley, slapped some harnesses on her and just overall just turned her sexy up like 50 notches. I think i was clever how i adapted her striped stockings here with how they have runs in them.

Karasu is almost the exact same. I just threw out his dinky little cravat and gave him a bandana and harness. I also gave him piercings. That’s the only difference. In the words of my Punk friend “hes naked and wearing a spiked mask, He can hang”

Speaking of what my punk friend said, he said that Lindbergh would get “demolished” in the pit, and that he looks like he’s scared of bees. The consensus was that he couldn’t hang. But also i still had to make him punk, so then he suggested CBGB punks:

Redneck, bluegrass, southern american punks. I was really in a rut with his design, I didn’t know what to do to keep the silhouette of his backpack. But everything changed when I chance got the idea of a guitar. And then everything flowed from there

Morley was really really fun. Punk friend suggested i make him Pop Punk, inspired by this pic

Mainly Lindsey way with this plaid skirt and tie

He was so so fun to draw, i love his fucked up eyes.

For dragon, i didnt change much at all, even though it’s only his bust that’s shown. Imagine everything is the same, except now he has piercings. Dragon isnt concerned with the punk fashion, but the punk cause.

For Luffy, I wasnt trying to make him punk, but he felt a bit plain looking like base Luffy next to punk Sabo, so i just did the “turn design up 20 notches”, and just gave him a more visibly tattered hat, bangles and waist beads.

That’s about it! Ive been getting a lot of comments and asks lately saying that you guys like when i go on my design explanations, and i realized that i didnt do that for the last few AU’s, so i thought id type this up :)

Thank you for reading!

[kozachenko]

Finally decided to play around with my old lineless style again! Also figured out a way to draw Reimu that I actually really like!

Artist's Notes;

I've mentioned in a few earlier posts that I've been wanting to draw in my lineless style again for a while as a way to test what I've learnt from my previous style in regards to lighting. I did the face first and then for a while was thinking about doing a full body illustration of Reimu just to draw her outfit again. I'll talk about the face first since that's the first drawing I did in this batch.

For the longest time I really couldn't find a way to translate Reimu's face into my style. I was able to make her clothes work out well, just not really her face. I did like elements of how I drew her face a few other times, namely the tiny eyebrows and her pupils, but they didn't really feel like Reimu to me, or at least how I imagined her in my head. I then realized that it was less of a problem with the entire face and moreso the eyes, and it took me quite a bit of trial and error to make something that I was happy with. Also, as much as I thought the tiny eyebrows were cute, it didn't really make sense with her character. Like, from what I know about Japanese history, plucking your eyebrows was something that nobles (rich people) would do, and since Reimu is...neither of those things, I decided to just give her some thicker eyebrows instead (I will be saving the plucked eyebrows for another character though, so they will return). After I got to a face I was happy with, my next challenge was the hair. I did the front part first and liked that enough to continue, and then after more trial and error I realized that deep down I was a short-hair-Reimu-is-best-Reimu-truther this whole time because once I gave up on the long hair and gave her shorter hair something just clicked in my brain. And so, after drawing her outfit in again (this time without the yellow tie which is kinda sad but I'll find a way to incorperate it into future designs because it just was not making sense to me in context with the rest of the outfit) and finnicking around with the bow, I came to a version of Reimu's face that I actually liked. I thought that it made more sense for her character to have her cut it short, mainly because she's doing a bunch of Youkai extermination and she has to keep her hair out of her face somehow. I still wanted to make it kinda messy though, as Reimu is probably too lazy to clean it up herself. I think another reason I like it so much is because in Forbidden Scrollery, Moe Harukawa gave Reimu short hair and that really suited her, so I guess that was just a subconcious reason as to why I liked it so much. I also think that the shorter hair helps to separate her a lot from Marisa, as I think Marisa looks really good with longer hair. Speaking of, now I wanna do a drawing of her and Reimu together to really solidify how I draw them (unlike the previous version where it was just them standing). As much as I do like the face, I am concerned if she looks too much like how I drew Keiki now, but that might just be a product of the stylistic choices I made with her eyes and I might just be overthinking it. I am hyperaware of same face syndrome so that's probably the reason I'm so concerned about it lol.

Now for the fully body drawing. I was struggling to think of a good pose for her, so I just took a picture of myself and used that as a reference while still making slight adjustments for readability's sake. This is another case of, "I've looked at this too long and can spot every single issue with it" but this time I'm still happy with the final product mainly because this was a test drive for how I want to develop my lineless style in the future and for what it is I am more than pleased with the result. The main reason I deviated away from my lineless style was mainly because I was having a hard time with the lighting and making it interesting, and I am so glad that I've finally found a way to make it work! I'm especially happy with the clothes, as I think clothing folds are really fun to draw. I was somewhat inspired by the works of J.C. Lyendecker and the way he draws clothes, though admittedly it is not a one to one, since I mainly wanted to try implying the shading of the clothing folds with shapes (I do really want to do a study of his style one day as his art is incredible). So for the sleeves, I drew in a bunch of triangles where I wanted there to be a strong highlight, roughly coloured in the inside, and then blended them all so it looks like a more subtle. On both of these drawings, I also added in a noise filter to give it some texture (as that's what I used to often do with my drawings) and while I do like it, I might want to experiment with making it more subtle in the future, as it's pretty noticeable in both these drawings. Overall, I'm really happy with the lighting and colours of this drawing, and while I could nitpick several aspects of it (her hand holding the gohei looks too tense, I tried making her look like she was standing on the balls of her feet but the positioning of her Gohei's trail of papers ends up making it look weird, and I could've put more effort into the hair and bow and so many more things), this is more of a piece for me to experiment with my style again, and I'm excited for when I get a new idea for a piece, as I really wanna try some more stuff out with this style!

[gigizetz]

Aeolus character design process!

(disclaimer: my writing sucks and I'm not good at explaining things so if it gets a bit weird just know I'm trying my best)

a lot of people have been saying very nice things about my character design for Aeolus in EPIC, and that makes me really happy! So I decided to break it down to show you guys my full process in designing them! :D

When I first listened to the snippet of Keep Your Friends Close I was very excited that this old bearded god man was going to be interpreted by a girl, so the first concept I had was to maximize this contrast by also making my Aeolus appear as a child. Aside from the contrast thing, it would also tie in with their playful personality. Here are some of the sketches I did at the time (around 2022):

Since the beginning I always had the clown aesthetic in mind. Not sure why, just thought it matched the cute playfulness of the character. It was fun combining wind/cloud stuff with the clown aesthetic, like the cloud around the neck and wrists, which was supposed to resemble those ruff thingies that clowns usually wear.

I experimented with a lot of elements, like the headband and the cropped shirt, but I decided to remove and recicle them in other EPIC characters (Odysseus and Circe). Their design was also more feminine, and since I was aiming for a more androgynous look this would be changed later.

I remember around this time I saw a video of Jay where he said he envisioned Aeolus having a more calm nature aesthetic, so I decided to change my design to better match what he had in mind. I made the hair wavier, with clean and smooth lines, made sure that Aeolus would act less clown-like, rarely stand up and never abandon the cloud. These doodles better resemble the current design:

it was also around this time that I designed the island in the sky. My biggest inspiration was New Super Mario Bros. WII world 7, mainly because of the chill vibes and cute fluffy clouds. So I took that and threw the combined aesthetic of a child's playroom and ancient Greece temple on top of it and it was done.

Right now here's the full body reference of them:

I'm very proud of it, I think it matches the themes and feelings I had in mind while also translating their personality quite well. The color palette is a simple blue/yellow/red, but the simplicity helps to complement the childish appearance. Their outfit is comfy, cute, and something you'd like to sleep in. The round shapes makes them adorable. Overall a cute little gremlin that is also a very powerful god.

[osakanone]

Crew attire cosplay?

Lately I've been thinking a lot about "what would separate mecha crew equipment from that of a tank crew, or a fighter crew": A lot of military surplus stuff is already really close to what we're going for, and I realized "Motorcycle boots look a lot more like mech pilot stuff than military boots do", which got me thinking what other odd equivalences exist.

The one which really surprised me was how famous mecha live action SF Gunhed used a wetsuit as a stand-in for "generic scifi bodysuit", and that it worked weirdly well, actually?

"Why not latex?"

Latex rips too easily in contact with straps and hard elements, overheats far, far too easily despite having the looks. Thin neoprene works. really well.

So I kept exploring.

One thing I did seriously debate is other than rappelling equipment, would a pilot need something like a rigid knee-brace for hard landings to protect the ACL when they disembark from the robot which is common with high impact parachute equipment.

Some varieties also include counter-weighted springs which make it harder for you to close your knee, but make lifting heavy things on your back and climb much much easier during the ascent phase.

That led me towards Deck Crew helmets, which meet the hood requirement, and of all things, chin wraps which are really unobstructive and you can eat and drink while wearing one pretty comfortably (I say this as someone currently stuck wearing one)

So what we're looking at here is the HGU-24 and HGU-25, often worn by deck crews because it gets along just fine with the famous MCU-2/P AKA "Millenium" mask famous with drone communities as they're designed to be worn together.

Its literally the exact same mask with a minor paint adjustment.

"What's the difference between a drone and a pilot?" "One wears AXENT and latex, the other wears HGU-25 and neoprene." "Anything else?" "Drones have less sex and do as they're told"

Its got the bash-plates you want for an ejector-seat, but it also has the padded foam you want for an impact element, and if it latches properly and the jaw mechanism is well made enough, you could probably include a hans mechanism attached to the jacket which locks into a socket in the pilot's seat to stop a pilot from breaking their neck in a collision.

What do you guys think?

Any suggestions? What I'm really curious about is what you think pilots would remove, customize or alter for practical or decorative purposes.

This is basically the result of roughly a year of casual research into pilot attire, outfits and looks.

The helm and the hood seem to be where the most manual cosplay stitching and 3D printing work is likely going to be required, with the wrap and helmhood.

Addendum:

I've not gone into waste management systems (UCL/FCL human-factors engineering stuff with internal and external recovery systems), since I'm looking at this mainly as an attainable costume or ensemble.

Edit:

I am learning some of you use aquatic mecha and find this unsatisfactory.

And you won't shut up about how the coolant mass flow rate lets you do really wild shit with your weapons my "land-loving" platform even can't dream of

While I am jealous by your sheer tonnage and the output of your reactors, I've got you covered.

Behold: Immersion suits.

They also make surprisingly good sleeping bags, even if you're on water.

They're literally designed to keep you alive if you're forced to abandon an oil platform, and are known to include a radio and even rations and a water filter.

[imaginative-joy]

“In the south rim, there’s a planet way down on the river…”

Jedi Tiana lives in the High Republic era, mainly because I realized that the High Republic aesthetic is inspired by art deco, which was popular in the 1920s. Besides, Tiana is a classy gal, and I felt like the elegant style of the High Republic suited her well. With her irrepressible spirit and ambition, I could easily see her being a Master, or least… she’s almost there…

Meanwhile, Naveen is a little gorg, an amphibious critter native to Tatooine. There have been a lot of depictions of gorgs across Star Wars media, and not everyone can agree on what they look like! So I wound up picking out design elements I thought would work well for Naveen. I liked the tail and spots that are typically seen in the games and movies (Jabba eats a couple of these guys, so I imagine they’re the Star Wars equivalent of frog legs? Which implies that the frog hunters of the movie could be gorg hunters in this version of the story!). Terryl Whitlatch’s design for them features a wide face and tapered webbed feet, which translate well into Naveen’s character design. Also, instead of a ukulele, Naveen is playing a hallikset, like the one Cal plays in Jedi: Fallen Order! Also, I would not be at all surprised if there was some in-universe bedtime story called “The Princess and the Gorg.”

Tiana’s Jedi story isn’t as fleshed out in my mind as some of the other princesses I’ve drawn, but I imagine her being an incredibly hard-working Jedi, always going above and beyond in her assignments (she’s usually assigned to escort and protect Senator LaBouff and his daughter). But, much like Anakin years later, she’s denied the rank of Master. But when a gorg cursed by the dark Force user Facilier promises he can help her become a Master in exchange for a little smooch, Tiana is ready to throw caution to the wind… until she, too, gets transformed into a gorg!

Merida/Prints Mulan/Prints Belle/Prints Moana/Prints Raya/Prints

[loverofstufflof]

Six Ears design

because I am once again not doing alright!!

Some of you may remember my Wukong design where I just mess around to draw a cute monkey, and I am back on my BS yet again! The voices will not shut up about these stupid monkeys!!

I was hoping to finish the entire roster of primates this weekend, but unfortunately life is not yet done slapping me in the face, so here is the one that’s been rotting my brain the most.

Design notes!

Because of we already have a stone monkey, I am keeping things on brand and making all of the primates elemental! Obviously, Míhóu is wood! (More on this when I finish the other two)

His ears are leaves that correlate with seasons! Is it summer? Past ear will be spring, and future ear will be winter, so on and so forth. Yes, they still function as intended, just able to photosynthesize as well.

Same as Shíhóu, I took references from baby langur monkeys and rhesus macaques. I think it makes sense that they’d be approximately the same species, considering the plot.

I couldn’t think of any clothes for him? I guess it makes sense for Wukong to be the only clothing-wearer, because he’s the only one that contacts society, but it still feels weird drawing him nakey.

Little patches of lichen litter his wood-fur in random places (wherever feels cutest), though most notably on his tail. I’m considering reworking it slightly so they specifically go on fluffy/differently coloured parts of actual monkey fur.

Considering the fact that the only proper description we have for Míhóu is when he looks identical to Wukong (and also his namesake) I’ve decided to just ignore trying to follow canon in that right. Makes things more fun.

And that’s all my notes! Really sad I can’t get to Yuanhou and Mahou quite yet (I have so many ideas for them) but I hope I can get to them soon!

Other than that, I’ve made some small refinements to my Shìhòu design—mainly his staff. It felt a bit too Monkie Kid for me. I’ve always wanted to really lean into the “he’s just hulking around a large pillar” idea, so I did some research on Chinese pillar designs and reworked it to resemble a huabiao! Something I’ll likely show when I put out my Gibbon and Baboon art.

And that’s all I got! Have this concept sketch from months ago while I head out to scream into the aether :3c

[dicenete]

I repainted his face more times than probably necessary but something always caught my eye and still does, but it is done. is done. It's fine. xD IkePri Tagteam:

@scummy-writes @goustmilk @solacedeer @m-mmiy @mxrmaid-poet

@pawnkyyy @ludivineikewolf @violettduchess @floydsteeth @wistfulwanderingone

@sh0jun @lorei-writes

A little bit of rambling of him below the break, spoilers (Keith's route, and little bit of Nokto's route) and such :0 so you have been warned.

TL;DR: I enjoyed the route despite its questionable elements. MC is too forgiving at times, but other than that, romanctic route was cute. Licht, the third wheel, was funny but sad.

Okay first about Keith's visual design: I really love how his design is the most asymmetrical from the suitors. Like the jacket and the vest he has. The jacket is very interestingly layered, almost like you aren't sure which part is the main thing and what is the accent. The green or the gold? The host or the alter? : D Same with his vest. His duality is battling in his clothing too hahaha

Keith's route was interesting. I had heard lots of differing opinions about it and I had my own reservations.

One mainly about the portrayal of DID and how the route does it. First things first: I'm not an expert at all. I won't even humor the idea that I had any say in anything regarding it. But overall, it could have been worse? Of course it might be very extreme in the way Alter Keith is hostile towards Host Keith. And of course you shouldn't take this as the only way the alter systems work. But as I said: I'm not an expert.

I had heard that the dramatic route follows Alter Keith and romantic route host Keith. I picked the romantic one. I had my personal reasons for that tho. But aside from that, it was nice to be with Keith that who struggled with self-worth. It was nice to see him grow as a character and find that strength to stand up for himself. (The fact that the host Keith seems to think that he is inferior to Alter Keith and that people would prefer the alter over him. The amount of stress that will bring. )

Keith's uncle was your very generic villain/antagonist without any real depth. He was a spoiled noble and so on. But since this was more about Keith inner journey I thought it was fine that it was like that.

The drugging scene… Well. That's a… a topic. Hmm… Host Keith himself felt very guilty about it and was full of remorse. Not that it was his choice to do it. Alter Keith well… He might justify it because he was gathering information about a rumor that might endanger his home country and people if it were true. I kinda can see where he is coming from, but also...IT CERTAINLY WAS DESTROYING OF TRUST. Like that time when Nokto "accidently" gets MC drunk. but hey ho. Since there is limited time frame for the chapters, I do understand they can't really jam all the things there, but I wanted Belle be more angry with him with Alter Keith for longer.

Maybe that's what bugs me sometimes. That Belle/Emma/MC is sometimes too forgiving and too much of a doormat. It works in routes like Yves and Licht (from the routes I have played, Leon seems like the most respectable gentleman too), because they are not being insulting towards her. I would even think that she works with Clavis, tho I would love to see him with someone who shares his chaotic gremlin energy. But with characters like Chev, Silvio or Alter Keith the their "power" doesn't feel balanced. MC seems to be completely on their mercy even if they stand up to them in some way. (Gilbert is another can of nasty things.)(With Chev's route, well, that is also a rambling for another time. But I haven't finished his route yet. so I will keep my ramblings to myself for now.)

Is Keith's route more about acceptance then? Accepting the good and the bad of a person? Possibly. I would think that is a good way to put it. Both Keiths have good and bad sides. And it seems that they are working on them.

[captainamsel]

Ma Xiuying from the Radiant Emperor duology!

Design/research notes under the cut

The characters read 馬秀英 (Pinyin: mǎ xiù yīng), her personal name, and 孝慈高皇后 (xiào cí gāo huáng hòu), her name as Empress.

There's certainly no dearth of material on Chinese clothing history out there. That is, if you can read Chinese, which I can't, so everything I have is from secondary and tertiary sources and/or relies on translation software. Fortunately, we're dealing with historical fantasy here, so some anachronisms are not only allowed but encouraged.

While Shelley Parker-Chan takes many liberties, the books are still set in a very specific time period, which is both a blessing and a curse. Most readily accessible resources will tell you about dynasties, which can span hundreds of years, and the duology takes place in a transitional period. So how to dress a Semu girl from the Yuan dynasty who lives with Nanren rebels wanting to revive the Song dynasty and who later becomes the first Ming empress?

Let's go through them one by one. The best resource was this book which is on the Internet Archive. I disregarded Mongol and Semu influences for the design since clothing is very much political and a way to either stand out or fit in with the surrounding society, see for example Wang Baoxiang wearing a topknot in Khanbaliq. Ma, I imagine, would want to fit in with the Nanren around her, so she's pretty much wearing the attire of Han women under Yuan rule. For the hair I went for something that looks youthful while being plausible, though I found very little on hair in this period, so who's to say.

The next one is from a specific scene in the book, so there is some description to go on: red, long sleeves with gold embroidery, high hair, red and gold ribbons. Since this is the scene where Ma declares herself queen and future empress in front of the Red Turban, it has to be a very deliberate dress. It therefore takes inspiration from Song aristocrats' broad-sleeved gowns as well as from 翟衣 (dí yī), the highest ceremonial gown of both Song and Ming empresses. (Some examples for 翟衣 are in this post, which also features the bird shaped crown I just had to include, and this post.) Her hair still has the loops, but it's much more sculpted.

Finally, Empress Ma! This is mainly based on the two actual portraits I could find of the historical figure that Ma is based on, with elements taken from other portraits and paintings. It includes 凤冠 (fèng guān), the phoenix crown, 霞帔 (xiá pèi), the sash, and 禁步 (jīn bù), the jade belt. This video shows how Ming dynasty layers are worn, but it refers to a much later period so it's not quite the same as Ma's.

(Some additional, historically irrelevant notes: I realized too late that a right-to-left timeline might be more appropriate. Oh well! Also, how the colours photograph frustrates me, I swear I did not make her this deathly pale. And finally, some of the characters look a bit smudged because my cat spilled water on them. I did what I could to save them.)

[chiscribbs]

Updated Future Donnie Concept Art!!!

So, I've been hesitant to try my hand at designing an Apocalyptic Future version of Donnie for a while, for a number of reasons - mainly that I just didn't have a clear idea of him in my brain yet and the thought of attempting to update his already pretty perfect design was highly daunting - but I finally caved and decided to take a crack at it. A couple months and several revisions later, I'm actually genuinely happy with the result. I'd still consider this "concept art" more so than a final design, elements of it could definitely be improved, but I really do like the concept as a whole - I think it could work!

The main goals I had in mind while working on this were: A. Must fit the character/look like something Donnie would canonically wear and still be easily recognizable. B. Must work in the Rise world & style (i.e. not be overly detailed or have too complex a silhouette.) C. Must fit in with the other (canonical) Future Rise designs.

I was also thinking about what problems Donnie might be trying to solve, which is what inspired the belt (more info on that below). All-in-all, although there might still be a few kinks to work out, I think I managed to come up with a pretty solid base design for my favorite Warring Warrior Scientist (Jr.)

Some additional character tidbits under the cut.

Also, I can't draw mechanisms to save my life, so just pretend those vague ninpo-gun-things make sense lol

Donnie has a mechanical prosthetic leg. How'd he lose that leg? Up to interpretation - my working theory is that it was a minefield accident that occurred when he was trying to blow some Krang dogs to Timbuktu. Naturally, since it's Donnie and they are in the midst of an alien apocalypse, he designed the leg to do a whole lot more than just help him stand without falling down. It's a multifunctional tool that contains a plethora of secret uses - including, but certainly not limited to, sawing off ugly Krang faces. It's essentially his new tech bo.

Bonus leg tidbit: Casey Jr. saw him deploy the saw blade in battle once when he was little, he then proceeded to beg for a saw-leg of his own to fight the Krang with. Donnie, realizing that amputating a perfectly healthy child's leg is probably not that most morally acceptable option, instead made him his own "sawing stick"(AKA, his motorized hockey stick)...which the others then made him wait until Casey's 10th birthday to give him.

The belt that Donnie's wearing here is a prototype of his latest invention. Its intended purpose: to deflect the Krang's mystic-blocking attacks, allowing them to use their ninpo in close combat. It took a lot of risk-taking to collect the necessary information to create such a device, and he experienced a number of way-too-close calls (one of which may or may not have resulted in that large gash across his plastron), but he finally managed to crack the code and pinpoint the frequency of the Krang's sound waves. He's testing it out right now to make sure that it works and is safe to use, but once it's out of beta, he plans to mass-produce them for every mystic-wielder in the Resistance to use in battle. He believes it could turn the tides of the war...unfortunately, the device never makes it out of beta, as he dies before its completion.

Donnie's gloves are fashioned after the ones his dad used to wear in his Lou Jitsu days (with some modifications, for comfort and to make working with screens a little easier and less annoying.) The material they're made out of is far more durable, of course, since he's working with them near-constantly and under varying conditions. But maybe he designed them to look like this as a way of keeping his dad's memory close, similar to Leo's sword hilt?

Ironically, Donnie uses his ninpo probably the most consistently out of all the brothers (even though Mikey uses his to the greatest extent, hence his rapid aging). He's constantly using it to check on the base's security status and multitask while working on other projects. Because his ninpo takes a good deal of brain power to operate, it puts a significant amount of strain on his nervous system and this causes frequent complications. Seizures, spasms, and blackouts become a semi-regular occurrence - especially in the latter part of his life. Donnie does his best to manage them, but the workload makes it almost impossible to do so properly. Mikey is able to help with these attacks when they happen, but Donnie - not wanting his brother to overuse his powers any more than he is already - usually opts to just ride it out and save the mystic healing for people who need it. The exception to this rule being when he's in the middle of an extremely important procedure and can't stop long enough to let the attack pass naturally, then he has no choice but to accept Mikey's aid.

This is probably needless to say at this point, but much like Leo and his other brothers, he is a giant. Equal in height to Leo (if not slightly taller, even without the goggles.) The doodle in the top-left corner of the sketch page where he's next to April is meant to be them sitting, so don't take it as anywhere near an accurate representation of their height comparison. It is not, he dwarfs her by several feet, lol.

[emryste]

hihi hello is there anyway you can share your cuteguy /hotguy designs? or maybe share some notes about them?... im very fond of them and would like to draw em....

of course anon :^] thank you so much!! i'll also take this as an opportunity to share how I landed on their designs, if that's ok!

my initial sketch of them was done pretty quickly to throw around some ideas.

i wanted hotguy's to be reminiscient of his namesake (hawkeye) but different enough that it wasn't a direct 1 to 1. i also REALLY wanted to play with the idea of him using redstone leg braces and actor scar primarily using a wheelchair. originally i was thinking that they would've actually been made/designed by tango, though i'm not sure if that fits in with the finalized timeline/lore anymore. me and luna also talked very briefly about what the effects of wearing redstone so close to your body could do to you, but i dont think it ever went anywhere in lieu of Skulk taking more of a front role in that regard.

hotguy's design ended up not really changing much at all from this since i was already pretty happy with it, but cuteguy's definitely did based on a bunch of factors (the era of the zine we were in, character development, other contributor's designs etc).

thus begins the great Cuteguy redesign. i jest, but i was um-ing and ah-ing a lot over what i wanted him to look like, mainly because i wanted to keep him looking practical and less showboaty than hotguy. but at this point we had decided a timeline and i knew we were in the last era, so it felt important not have a design that looks like he quickly put it together or like something he'd be wearing in his early years as a vigilante.

eventually, i landed on these designs for them both! cuteguy matching hotguy's outfit as an established vigilante duo, keeping the casual elements of the hood and the joggers but having them more integrated into his suit, that all felt like a best of both worlds situation to me. i also switched the mask to a heart-shaped visor, both purely for cool effect and to match better. it isnt here, but additionally in the comic i switched his wings as cuteguy to a sort of maroony colour, as one of the things contributors played around with early on was the idea that he would dye his wings to hide his identity. i liked that idea as a failsafe if he was in a situation where couldn't hide them as a civillian, hence the change!

if you need any more info i'd be happy to share, or maybe even draw less messy references (i didn't think i'd be sharing these publicly LOL). thank you so much for reading the zine, and i sincerely hope you enjoyed it :^]

[amourcherie606]

Lucy Heartfilla Redesign pt! 1

So I grew up with Fairy Tail as a child (and i mean i literally grew as the show came out)! And I loved it, rewatching it as an adult has made me realize alot of interesting and emotional moments. its like im watching it for the first time again. - and now i want to redesign the entire cast as if i designed them <3

Rambling aside, i shall be infodumping about the design under the cut! I will be redesigning all of team natsu (technically i already have just have to draw them digitally) and a few other fairy tail characters, you could even suggest some!

I wanted to keep two key factors with Lucy and I shall be keeping this in mind when I redesign her other outfits that im calling Arc 1, 2 , and 3. This is Arc 1 Lucy, the Lucy who has spent a year on the run and is joining her dream Guild, Fairy Tail.

Lucy throughout the show dresses in feminine, more skimpy-like clothing. Occasionally she'll whip out pants and a shirt when she wants to be comfy but overall shes shows off her skin alot. Shes a cute woman and she knows it!

I wanted to keep that element with Lucy, shes someone who finally has control over her wardrobe, free from conservative, heavy gowns. Her large knowledge about fashion outside of fancy rich people is the magazines from sorcerer weekly! Naturally, she wants to dress just like her idols and knowledge of what others wear, and is completely comfortable with doing so!

Is it impractical? In a way, yeah it is! She can get cut easily, more noticeable, less storage, etc. But This is only the beginning of Lucy's journey, so she's embracing her new freedom still. I normally don't like saying this but she's just a girl <3. And she wants to look cute in her own way!

2. Next, I wanted to keep the Lucky Lucy Heartfilla motif with her. I feel like her mother would have called Lucy "her lucky lucy" while she was still alive. Its stuck with her and warms her heart it hard times, and in a way Lucy does bring luck to the Fairy Tail guild, to her new team. She finally united them! So I keep four leaf clovers around her.

Also note she has alot of accessories! Because I imagine she can't help but buy cute little trinkets when she can, especially when she finally gets guild work.

She has yellow freckles to represent stars and also hint towards her type of magic + what her mother had in store for her.

her pencil sketch! ty for reading so far <3 this is mainly very self indulgent as im hyperfixating on ft again

[batbabydamian]

The Boy Wonder #2 by Juni Ba rambling about Gotham's fearsome hunter

added Jason to this issue's collage since it was mainly from his perspective!

ramble for issue #1 here!

starting with the cover again, but now in contrast to the first:

Dick and Barbara are presented as statues in the bg for the first cover where they’re established heroes in a secure time in their lives, and Damian is obviously the highlight! For #2's cover, the autumn leaves motif returns, but this time featuring Jason!! Apparently, Damian isn’t the only one to go through a “season of change” in this series, as Jason takes his own steps forward by the end of this story 🥺 also the literal layers on Jason - his angry Red Hood helmet and the beaten down Robin head...

The issue opens with Joe the robber and his hostage "Merle"! The glasses feels like a giveaway that this is Carrie(??) narrating Damian's story, so the final issue could end with her perspective for where Damian currently is in his journey as Robin and where she plays a part.

Jason as the "hunter" of this fairytale is such a cool concept, especially upon his introduction pages!! He's surrounded by his recent "prey" with a nice contrast of their fancy jackets, pinstripe pants, and dress shoes to Jason's own tattered hoodie, pants, and sneakers.

Just like the past issue (or just Ba's work in general lol), THE BACKGROUNDS ARE SO LOVINGLY DRAWN. Makes Jason's stroll through inner Gotham so enjoyable from the bustling activity of the people, shop signs, and advertising to the quieter area of the cemetery. It's so lived in, especially feels like each citizen in the bg has a story to tell!

some bits of interest to me: is that scaly lil arm reaching for the rat supposed to be Croc LOL; just neat visual of old Joker posters leering over Jason; the name of the cemetery a nod to Kevin Conroy? and from T. Wayne - Thomas Wayne?

Despite showing how much of an intimidating and hardened exterior the Red Hood has, there's plenty of suggestion that he has soft edges! from his act of revenge for a beloved member of the community, his familiarity with the people even greeting him, and down to his chocobar...

might be my overthinking but the layers of that close up shot of the chocobar really got me 😭 it's like such a piece of innocence when seen in his scarred hand, especially when "Wayne Sweets" is visible - is it more emphasis of Jason clinging to a safer time and Bruce Wayne himself?? or is this brand just his favorite lil treat

EITHER WAY, incredibly funny to me Jason seems to hide it once Damian shows up

Seeing Ba's storyboards has me even more curious about his process with O'Halloran - like, it's a small detail but the traffic light in the foreground being red! added emphasis on the red theme this issue, or a warning for these two to Stop heading into a trap? ANYWAY DAMIAN HESITANTLY ASKING ABOUT HIS MOTHER I'M THROWING UP AWWGH

also love critically acclaimed animated film "The Cheetah King" haha! ALTHOUGH, Jason's story does line up with Simba's - a lost prince that feels like he's failed his father. Even believed to be dead for a period of time lol

Rok the demon's design is so slick!! Seems to take after a peacock with how fanciful he is, plus his tail details in his other form! A dapper demon definitely ready for the gala!

A GLIMPSE OF BA'S HEAVIER ACTION ART!! THE POUNCE!! the Robins being entirely made up of motion lines, even the details for Jason's helmet; and i'm always a sucker for those light streaks from the eyes!! THE PUNCH!! the quick panel of Jason's fist before arcing into that POW!!

and i say a glimpse, because in just the two other books i've read from Ba so far, he draws so much more action. lil Monkey Meat promo BUT LOOK!! have i mentioned how much i love his sfx lettering...that "AAAH" getting motion lines when closer to the camera...crazy...

dropping another small element from one of his books, Djeliya! just a really cool visual of casting magic!!

I love this sequence leading up to the Joker vision! The shapely flames that dwindle into the shape of TEARS!! We don't get the extent of how deeply the Joker affected Jason until this moment and the man is terrified.

First thing Damian does after getting shot is insult Jason, DAMIAN IS SO FUNNY. Also absolutely love the wiggly woggly lines of EVERYTHING in this panel.

Considering what Damian said earlier: "We both know you'd rather not have to explain your failure to father if anything happens to me that you could have prevented." As if Jason didn't already feel like a failure before this!! of course he'd turn into jiggling jelly realizing what he's done.

After 27 pages of a narrow-eyed Red Hood, including an early tease of him about to take off the helmet for his snack, this full page of Jason unmasking himself is such a heavy reveal. Adding the aching piece of dialogue?? BRUTAL

Damian responds in kind to the vulnerability with his own confession and something Jason really needed to hear after burdening himself for so long with the idea of being a failure.

After Damian leaves, the camera pulls back to show The Door in the dark of the room. Damian quite literally presents Jason a window of opportunity to face his past, and it goes so hard. Just like the buildup of frowning mask-to-face reveal, Jason's few expressions have mostly looked sad. So the shadowed eyes before the glare of determination makes this quiet moment feel extra epic!! also reminiscent of the Red Hood mask he wears!!

Beyond the door of Jason's "past life" is complete darkness. Jason has been hoping for Batman to pull him out of it (as further suggested by the newspaper clippings), but in the final page, the door is leaking light!! Jason finds his own way forward :')

The first issue introduces the Robins with specific labels, and so far the narrative either delves deeper into those claims or challenges it. Damian is unimpressed by "kind and brave" Dick and even forms some kind of rivalry. By the end, Damian’s learned how those simple traits are essential to becoming the person and hero Dick has become and gains a newfound respect for him.

#2 deviates from #1 by following “brash and rageful” Jason's perspective! Damian is under pressure from the legacies of all the Robins before him, and even if he relates to Jason the most there's still tension. This time around, while Damian does learn what lies behind the mask, he's the one to impart some knowledge to his fellow Robin.

ending ramble with a panel of the small beans

"Look Damian, everything the light touches is our kingdom."

TBH this ramble took forever to start because after reading Djeliya and Monkey Meat, i was so floored by how much MORE Ba has to offer. Everything i raved about from the first issue of The Boy Wonder...Ba's done it all in his previous work and MORE SO?? on top of writing, whimsical paneling and lettering, fun action scenes, deliberate coloring, kickass character designs and worldbuilding... the man does it all?? 😭

Monkey Meat 🐒

Djeliya: A West African Fantasy Epic ✌️

Mobilis: My Life with Captain Nemo

The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber

i may save the last two books for after The Boy Wonder ends because imagining the end of the series makes me so sad LOLL orz i may cave just because Mobilis is a pleasantly giant book...praying for DC to give the collected edition of The Boy Wonder this treatment...his pages are brimming with energy they deserve to be blown up with an oversized printing 😭