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otaku553 · 7 months

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As it goes with every new brainrot I have, it’s time for Kirby crossover again :)

Kirby in one piece! With one piece’s strong focus on dreams and found family, I thought it would fit for Kirby to be a pirate that dreams of sailing to the stars and beyond. Not that this is very achievable by normal means, but we know that it’s at least possible with Eneru and the Skypiea arc :D

More notes in the read more!

Kirby has the devil fruit power of the copy-copy fruit! A paramecia activated by contact and only able to copy one fruit at a time. It can copy logias and paramecias with no problems, though actual ability using the fruit’s powers is up to Kirby to practice and figure out. Zoans can only be copied to partial transformations and cannot be awakened. Kirby doesn’t have much of a mind for haki but has a lot of latent conquerer’s haki that he doesn’t realize— it’s one of the reasons he’s able to make friends so effortlessly.

Meta Knight in this AU is a retired marine, between Captain and Rear Admiral level. He has a bat model zoan fruit that allows him to grow wings, and is a skilled swordsman. He’s retired from the marines but acts a his own separate party that is neither revolutionary, marine, nor pirate, keeping his own fleet known as the Meta-Knights. Their actions are similar to pirates despite not flying a Jolly Roger. They claim territory to protect and occasionally fight other pirate crews, and they claim no allegiance to the world government. They simply go where they are needed. Meta Knight will sometimes sail with Kirby on his small ship, the Popstar, just to keep Kirby out of trouble and make sure the ship is well stocked and well-maintained and able to be seaworthy.

Dedede is the king to one of the small countries that isn’t represented at the Reverie. That means he has a lot more freedom to do his own thing, including setting sail while taking a crew of Dees with him and leaving the country in the hands of some administrative Dees. Dedede splits his time between exploring and sailing and returning home to run his country, with the help of his trusty second in command, Bandanna Dee. Dedede has a penguin model Zoan fruit, and Bandanna doesn’t have any devil fruit but is proficient in coating their spear in haki. They’re the designated save-the-fruit-user-from-drowning person when they’re on deck.

Kirby’s crew changes because a lot of the people he recruits tend to have their own responsibilities. His crew is also full of people he’s beaten. It’s not uncommon for Kirby to sail alone, though he gets into more scrapes than usual with bad weather and rough waves. It can hardly be called a pirate crew, but Kirby has collected all the most heinous criminals under his banner and as such, the world government treats it as a threat.

#kirby gijinka #one piece #kirby crossover #kirby one piece crossover #idk it’s just really fun to think about Kirby in different universes haha #this Kirby design is a lot more silly goofy than my usual designs for Kirby #I tend to go very soft and cute for Kirby designs but I think one piece in general has a pointier vibe #like kirby in this au is a lot more excited about fighting than my other Kirby’s #in the sense that with other kirby au’s that I make kirby tends to be neutral about fighting #like of course he will fight because he’s got the power to do so and has people he wishes to protect and such #but he doesn’t necessarily enjoy it so much as see it as a means to an end #kirby in this au kind of resembles gear 5 luffy a bit in the sort of whimsical vibes #if fighting is inevitable he might as well get some fun out of it yknow #anyways I just wanted to doodle a silly little guy #it’s been a while since I’ve rendered with the softer brush! I kind of miss it it’s a lot of fun

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heartsforhavik · 5 months

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yandere kung lao I’m begginf,,,,

self aware! yandere kung lao x reader pt.1

warnings: mk1 story mode spoilers, obsessiveness, gender neutral reader, ooc kung lao, self aware kung lao

summary: kung lao is aware he is in a video game, and he just loves you so much. he just wishes he didn’t have to be behind a screen.

a/n: anon im so sorry it took me a bit to get to this, anyways i decided to mix it up and make kung lao self aware bc i thought my yandere hcs were getting too repetitive and i am also a diehard SAGAU fan. (also sorry for my mini break, finals week is crazy man.)

part 2

- kung lao *hated* being stuck behind a screen. behind a stupid wall. away from you.

- you were just a regular mortal kombat fan. when mortal kombat 1 was announced, you were just so excited to get your hands on the game.

- you watched playthroughs before you could buy the game, and you were so happy when you found out that you could play as kung lao in the first chapter of story mode.

- when you got your hands on the game, you noticed that every time he had a funny one-liner in the story mode, he would look at the camera and wink. that’s weird… he didn’t do that in the playthroughs you watched… but oh well, it’s probably nothing.

- in the final battle you even chose to play as kung lao out of all the fighters. he was surprisingly easy to use, and his moves seemed to hit even harder than usual and the fights would be over in a blink of an eye. maybe he was buffed just for the fights?

- and when you finished the story mode and checked out all the skins and rewards you got, you noticed that you somehow had all of kung lao’s stuff unlocked. all of his palettes, skins, brutalities, etc. everything. you owned all of it. even the ones that weren’t out yet.

- you thought it was just a glitch, so you shut your device down and restarted it. but when you opened it again, his stuff was still there.

- and it got even weirder. when you tried to practice, the game only let you use kung lao. for some reason, you couldn’t use any other fighter. you couldn’t even use any kameo other than kung lao.

- he was still your favorite character and all, but that was weird. you tried to exit out of the game and restart it again, but it wouldn’t shut down. the game stayed on. it was frozen on kung lao. and he seemed to just stare at you. as if he knew you were there.

- you were starting to get creeped out, so you completely powered off your device and decided to leave it disconnected overnight.

- but over that little period of time, even though it was only a few hours to you, it felt like an eternity for kung lao.

- he felt hurt. a bit betrayed, even. did you not like him anymore? was he not enough for you? he gave you everything he could. he did everything he could to show his love for you, since he cannot communicate any other way.

- without you playing the game, he felt nothing. he couldn’t feel your warmth. it was nothing but a cold, dark space. he needed you. he needed you to always be with him. even if he couldn’t communicate with you, he’d figure something out.

- that’s why he was changing the coding of the game. he had to always be on your screen, or at least give you hints that he was self aware. he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if you weren’t looking at him. if you weren’t using him all the time.

- what do you mean you want to main johnny cage? or raiden? or even syzoth? what do they have that kung lao doesn’t?

- you liked the powerful fighters? no worries, he can just nerf everyone else and completely manipulate the coding of the game so he has the best damage.

- you thought the other fighters were more attractive than him? he’ll change the game so their designs were ruined and less pleasing to your eye.

- he would mend himself to your liking. he just needed you to use him. please make him feel important and useful. make him feel worthy of being your main. your favorite.

- if anyone became your favorite instead of him, he would go ballistic. he would rethink his entire existence. he’s so strong, and funny, and easy to use. so why would you choose anyone else? what’s wrong with him? is he not enough for you?

- if kung lao found out you wanted to start using a different fighter, he would erase them from the game. they would be nowhere to be found. their image in the game would be warped into a bunch of blurry pixels.

- if he has to erase the entire kast of fighters, he will. he needs your love. he needs your attention. if he isn’t your favorite, then what is the point of his existence in the game?

- kung lao needs you. and you need him too. why can’t you see that? he’s done everything he could to gain your approval. he was already so great, but he changed himself for you. accept him. please.

- the last thing he would resort to is bringing you in the game with him. what better way to stay by your side, than force you into the world of mortal kombat?

- at first, he didn’t exactly like the thought of taking away your freedom, but the more he thought about it the more he craved your company. why stay behind your screen when he can just bring you with him? now, you don’t have to turn your device on and off! he’s not going anywhere. and you aren’t either.

#mortal kombat 1 x reader #mk x reader #mk1 x reader #yandere mortal kombat #mortal kombat x reader #kung lao #kung lao x reader #yandere kung lao #yandere x reader #im back baby #yandere raiden next perhaps

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cor-lapis · 5 months

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I decided to have a go at doing my own redesigns because these three are my favourites and I love them very much. further notes + sources under the readmore (warning: lots of text). I did my best with the research, but if there's anything I overlooked, I'd really appreciate people letting me know :)

Tighnari:

My main source for Tighnari was this excellent thread, from which I looked up each item of clothing individually. Since djellabas tend to be quite long, and Tighnari needs mobility for forest ranger activities, I figured he would cut and re-hem the lower half. He also has a lot of clothing pieces that are traditionally multicoloured, but to keep his design cohesive I decided to use the same colours across different items, but using a larger palette of colours than I would usually. I like the bright colours on him a lot though!

There are also some minor details I just changed because I wanted to. The flower on his chest is now a nilotpala lotus, because I thought it was nice to include his acension material/the material he asks you to help gather. The dirt stains/scuff marks are because rainforests are muddy and I wanted the design to emphasise Tighnari being very practical and hands-on with his work (see also, the specimen belt).

Finally, I shrunk the magnifying glass on his back (because I'm pretty sure it's meant to be his first magnifying glass toy and that thing is very large for a child to handle) and gave him an undercut because it seemed right. Also, I merged his front and back trailing cloths into a scarf type of thing that he could wrap around his nose and mouth to prevent inhaling spores from mushrooms.

Collei:

COLLEI my beloved. I had a mild nightmare trying to figure out a specific source culture for her design, but nobody seemed to know specifics and her outfit wasn't matching with any traditional dress I looked up, so in the end decided to keep the overall look the same. Just in case I assigned her something else, but then it turned out I missed her actual inspiration.

Anyway, I made her shoes simpler (no fur, heels, and open toes in the rainforest seemed reasonable to me), and gave her shorts. I liked the green colour because it's pretty unique under a dark dress, and pairs nicely with Nahida's white dress + green undersides. Amber's tie stays, but I made most of her jewellery smaller since it felt a little clunky for a trainee ranger.

Her earring and necklace(?) are allusions to the Evil Eye and the Khmissa/Hamsa, both symbols of protection. Especially considering the fact they're meant to ward off evil, and very common across multiple MENA cultures, it seemed fitting for Collei to have them. Also, she has Eleazar scars, and I used the design for her stockings as inspiration for the combination knee braces (similar to those used for arthritis, since Eleazar also causes stiff limbs and I HC that people affected would probably still need some recovery support)/knee pads (in the case of a fall). I like the idea that Kaveh would have helped make them for her (tangent but the fic Here is the House explores similar ideas; it's really really good, I heavily recommend it). Finally, she has curly hair because I thought it would be cute.

Cyno:

Here's the thread I found for Cyno. The main critique was to do with the eras from which each aspect of his clothing drew inspiration, but I admittedly wouldn't be able to do much about this without a lot of research. One thing I did try and verify was the small strip of cloth on the left of his chest, and I found a few wall murals where the people seem to be wearing similar strips of cloth? (example here; rightmost figure) Therefore, I didn't remove it, but if someone wants to explain Ancient Egyptian clothing history to me I'd be really interested to hear it 6.6

I might iterate on the design in the future, but for now the changes are mostly HC territory. Cyno wearing his hair in locs (a protective hairstyle) makes sense for someone who does a lot of hiking after rogue scholars, and I also gave him quite old and faded top surgery scars because healthcare is canonically free in Sumeru (thanks for that information, al-Haitham)(though tbf Cyno makes bank anyway). I also adjusted the colours a bit, since Genshin tends to use desaturated shades for metallic elements.

I also considered giving Cyno more scars, but figured that it could indicate Hermanubis' presence that someone you'd expect to get injured a lot is relatively scar-free (i.e. some sort of godly healing factor/resistance to damage). However, we know next to nothing about Hermanubis, so Cyno having a lot of scars also makes sense. This paragraph is mostly just a cry for help cyno story quest 2 literally any more elaboration about the nature of Hermanubis' pact and the Temple of Silence.

Conclusion

I wasn't intending to write one when I started the explanations but this got REALLY long so if you made it this far, thank you so so much ToT please check out the links; the threads especially were a great resource, and I'm grateful that people take the time to make them <3 genshin's character design department are cowards but I'm glad I learned some new things through the redesign process

#FINALLY #IT'S DONE #I don't know why this took so long. maybe because I was trying new art style stuff #anyway I like how this came out!! my favourite guys #my main thoughts for each of them were like. tighnari <- kind of a chad. collei <- should get to wear shorts. cyno <- gap moe #<- i say having written 9 paragraphs about the development thoughts under the readmore. wahey #big shoutout to everyone who draws the archers ripped. you guys are inspirational #genshin impact #tighnari #collei #cyno #my art

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science-lings · 11 months

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okay this has been going through my mind for days and I have to get my thoughts out before I explode

Disclaimer, this is not talking about a specific artist/person and would never condone or participate in anon hate or online bullying for any reason but especially this one.

I get why people are mad about Link being portrayed as this buff, hypermasculine, tall guy. I am too (again don’t fucking attack people over it though) and it seems like such an infuriating way to change the character just to fit into some ideal of hypermasculine attractiveness or to make a ship fall into a more hetero lense by making him a decent foot taller than whatever girl he’s being paired with.

The world of video games and action movies and every form of media ever is extremely saturated with male characters that are swole and manly and whatever other descriptors people are trying to push onto Link that don’t fit into his actual character. There are so many characters out there that already fit this male standard and having a clearly androgynous elf guy was like a breath of fresh air.

Link was literally designed to be a character whose lines on gender were blurred, ‘a girl with a masculine touch or a guy with a feminine touch’ so that anyone could project themselves onto him. His physical design in botw/totk was specifically made to be feminine enough to wear a certain outfit to pass as a woman (which includes a nearly mandatory cutscene where he puts on the clothes and blushes after being called pretty, like you have to be blind to think that its an experience that he doesn’t like at all) and in totk there are a bunch of outfits made for Link that are blatantly gnc, ones that are practically dresses, include nail polish and lipstick, you can even dye his hair bright and vivid colors and that’s half way to giving him new pronouns. The whole reason Linkle isn’t included in more mainline loz games was because her existence would force Link into a gender dichotomy, if there's a clearly female version of the main hero, that means the main hero has to be a man, and they would rather abandon a potential reoccurring character than make Link conform to a gender binary.

So pardon me when it feels disingenuous and even malicious for him to be morphed into these clear masculine ideals, where he towers over any female romantic partner (even when in canon he is regularly depicted as noticeably shorter than her) or even in m/m fanworks he’s really beefed up, perhaps to make the scene feel more gay or something.

Perhaps it’s because his more twink-y/ femboy body type is so heavily sexualized (though obviously when people are sculping abs on him it’s totally not because they’re horny about it) and that’s an issue in itself that bothers me. But it’s just so tiring to see one of the very few popular main characters who is short and feminine and androgynous be molded into just another bland muscle-headed action hero over and over and over again.

I’m not mad at the creators for portraying him differently than how I like him portrayed, I’m mad because we really do get so few characters like him in good popular media, and to be honest, I really like him the way that he is. I love that he’s tiny and has long hair and has the option to dress any way the player likes. It seems a little distasteful to make him taller than a female love interest just because that’s how straight couples have to be, there’s just never been a real straight couple where the guy is shorter than the girl, that’s just Impossible! (/s)

#i doubt anyone read this all i just needed to get it off my chest and this felt like the best place to do it #again i don't think it's a reason to bully or even just say mean things to people over their portrayal of link #but i get why it's so frustrating to people #like... link is lowkey a hero for trans guys who aren't tall and aren't ending up as masculine as they had hoped #but he's still exceptionally capable and he's still there to be an image for people who see themselves in him #idk this is just a rant #rant #zelink #loz #botw #totk

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cherrirui-official · 7 months

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Friendlocke Violet Gijinkas (Part 1/7)

Since the edited episodes are starting to come out, I figured that bc of that and the fact that I've been keeping this in the back burner for a loooong while now, might as well complete all my friendlocke violet gijinkas!! Some are gonna stay the same while others are gonna have slight/ complete redesigns, so please keep that in mind!

I plan on posting them in order by groups of three, so there's gonna be seven parts in total, all of which I'll be linking here when done vvv

(Part Two) (Part Three) (Part Four) (Part Five) (Part Six) (Part Seven)

!! These will contain personal headcanons I have for the cast, little fun facts, and also spoilers for Friendlocke Violet (for both the edited vids and the streams) !!

@saltydkart-reblogs

And that's pretty much it, designs under the cut!

LARK:

HUGE nerd. spent most of his time during the Uva Academy studying different kinds of pokemon as well as different fighting styles he can utilize once he is able to go out on his own journey with his very own trainer! Too bad that didn't really help in the long run...

His entire wardrobe consists of McDonald's related outfits. It's fucking insane. He even has some from long LONG ago that aren't available anywhere else.

The bubble pattern on his hair is able to move and change. Nobody knows how this is possible, not even Lark himself. All Lark knows is that his hair looks incredibly stylish!

Speaking of bubbles, he has the ability to blow bubbles whenever and wherever he pleases!

Often keeps himself extremely clean and gets upset if even a small speck of dirt gets on him, despite this he somehow smells like McDonald's food and axe body spray. Disgusting. He's so cool!

Even after death he still likes to hang around the other team members as a ghost, often getting to know the newer members as well as reuniting with the old ones. Sometimes they see him, sometimes they don't. It usually depends.

SARA:

Due to being a human in her past life, Sara is able to actually speak with the other humans in the pokemon world. However she usually doesn't due to it being seen as extremely weird and out of place. She did slip up once while talking in the presence of Arven, who thought it was the weed making him hear things.

Oinkologne are usually unable to do much with their hooves but Sara spent nights practicing how to knit with her new hooves and now she's able to do it flawlessly. I don't know how she managed to do that but go queen!

When first joining the team she'd often have the urge to eat her food related companions. It was a strange time for Sara, but she managed to overcome it.

When Peppy gets sick, she usually is the one who nurses him back to health. She was a human once so she often is able to figure out whatever sickness Peppy has and treat it properly. I suppose she's like a second mother to him.

The bag she carries with her is full of thread that she collected from various Tarountula she encountered on the journey, as well as little things she knits together in her spare time.

For the most part, Sara forgives... but NEVER forgets.

Did you guys know that Sara has a new YouTube channel? Check it out!

Pastey:

Before joining the team, Pastey was a nameless wanderer. He's been down every road in Paldea and knows almost the entire region (except for Area Zero) like the back of his hand.

He's gotten hurt pretty badly throughout the run (ie. the Mikey fight, the Atticus fight, and ESPECIALLY the final battle), however, he does not gain any (physical) scars from those fights. This is bc he's basically an axolotl, and axolotls are usually able to heal without scarring.

Pastey's "arms" are, to put it simply, mud prosthetics. More info here vvv

Pastey HAS met Mall Bingo once before the run, however, he doesn't recognize her. The only reason he does not recognize her is bc she wears glasses. (You know how people somehow aren't able to recognize Superman bc he wears glasses in his civilian attire even tho his face remains the same? It's basically like that lmao)

Unlike the lightbulbs he eats, the gasoline he drinks isn't really mandatory to his diet. Gasoline is like alcohol to him and he drinks it like an absolute CHAMP.

He goes fishing when there's nothing else to do or when he can't sleep at night. He doesn't do this bc he thinks it's fun or anything, only bc it's a "good time passer" or so he claims. Other members of the team will often sit with him and vent out anything that's troubling them at the moment, and Pastey is always there to listen to them.

And that's pretty much it. Next is Joe, Hannah Ü, and Mykyie!

#I am a firm believer that Sara can and will beat ass #No i do NOT plan on making gijinka designs for Chatbike and Phil sorry guys #just getting that out of the way i know how much yall love phil /j /lh #Anyways it feels so good to finally start on this like holy moly #also idk when the others will be done... HOWEVER...#The sketches for Joe Hannah and Mikey are already pretty much done I just gotta make em digital #so ideally they'll be out pretty soonish I'd say... I hope #but yeah if anyone has any questions abt them feel free to send them in my askbox and I'll be happy to answer them as best as i can!#<- No anons tho sorry yall #Also I need to be honest here Lark's outfit kinda does look atrocious and I couldve changed it... BUT...#I honestly thought it was WAY funnier if Lark's attire looked weird on purpose so I kept it like that lol #Anyways sorry for the word vomit here are the tags #friendlocke #friendlocke violet #saltydkdan #should my gijinkas have their own tag...? Sure why not #Violet Gijinka Au #cherris canvas

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snaccpopstudios · 10 months

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Hi everyone! We're here with the long awaited post on our newest bachelor, Simoun. We know you've all been abuzz with questions about him so we hope to answer some of that in this deep dive into his creation. This post is in lieu of our usual Wednesday devlogs as we've been writing this over the span of several weeks, and was co-authored, edited, and reviewed by Tobias, Jude, ToyboxToonz, Primarvelous, and Sauce. The above image was drawn by @toyboxtoonz.

You can read the full post for free on Patreon, or click the readmore to see it all!

Personally speaking, some of my concerns since Simoun's debut are thoughts like "Do people think I'm making SnaccPop Studios push an agenda?" and "Do people think I'm going through a checklist while making new characters?" It's made it difficult for us to write this quickly because this is quite personal to myself and the rest of the sensitivity consultation team on the DachaBo team.

Concept to Creation

The story of DachaBo begins way before SnaccPop Studios itself was even a concept (that's Sauce's story to tell though). Early Patreon art of Simoun exists from November 2022, back before I was signed on to manage the Patreon and any other projects besides Sunny Day Jack. Sauce had some ideas laying around for several other characters in the DachaBo universe that didn't make it into the proof-of-concept demo:

I dug up an old draft for the DachaBo cat character we teased and it featured a story concept where the cat character was originally a female DachaBo character, referencing the original female design. And overtime he got tired of how he was being treated and decided to change his own self to reflect who he wanted to be, not the sycophants who collected the toys and whatnot ... It was shelved because I didnt have the means to sensitivity check it The designs are half cooked is all but he was supposed to be Indian ethnicity coded for no other reason than I've never seen a character like that

One thing that's important to note is that there definitely are Indian folks who are gender diverse (see Hijra on Wikipedia for a quick primer on one of the traditionally recognized nonbinary genders in South Asia) so it's not a novel concept by any means, but it's also not very common in media whatsoever.

Why The Long Wait?

One of the other contributing reasons as to why Sauce wasn't able to do much with the concept at the time is because we didn't have a VA for him confirmed yet, as I explained in May:

One thing that's rather unique to SnaccPop Studios in all of my experience as a game developer is the fact that all of our series involve coordinating with Voice Actors from the start, which means we need to take the VAs themselves into account when making characters. Adding another layer of complexity in hiring is the fact that SnaccPop Studios is a strictly Erotic Adult brand focusing on masculine love interests, and even if we focus more on the softcore, there's still the unfortunate stigma that any 18+ work has when attached to your name. All of these contributing factors make the potential talent pool that much smaller. This isn't to make excuses: I know SnaccPop Studios can do better on this front. While we can't make changes to some of the existing series' main cast (we don't want to put people out of a role they've been promised), we will do better moving forward to incorporate more diverse characters into our future titles, and that's a pledge

In the field of voice acting, it's best practice to cast actors with similar backgrounds to the character they're voicing, particularly for characters from marginalized populations (ethnicity, culture, gender, etc.), because it's a recurring issue in all professions where marginalized folks are regularly turned down for employment or career opportunities. You don't have to look far for instances where other voice directors failed to cast the proper talent for a character, even in the AAA sphere where they ought to have the resources to be able to find the proper talent; at SnaccPop, we wanted to avoid that situation at all costs.

Finding Simoun's Voice

So we had to confirm a VA first before we could do anything. Sauce, Reece, and I all tried to put private ads out for a trans masc POC (any ethnicity with dark skin) actor for a R18 game, which was largely met with silence at first, then responded to by folks who didn't fit the role in a full capacity (many only hit one or two of the criteria we laid out, some of them none at all). And it's not hard to imagine why: it's common knowledge that the majority of erotic works often fetishize marginalized people who are otherwise underrepresented in mainstream media. Things such as skin color, body type, hair color, age, etc. are treated as traits to be objectified, and on the off chance that queer folks or people of color might see themselves in porn… it's usually not for the most flattering or empowering of reasons. How could we, an exclusively Adults-only studio, convince someone who isn't familiar with us that we wanted to make something for people like them rather than something that turns them into mere masturbating material?

We were almost about to give up on the Catboy until I decided to take a chance on contacting a VA whom I hadn't had any formal and proper interactions with before. I'd been a fan of his work and knew him from an audition he sent in from a previous game I had worked on, but he knew me solely by name at best since we were following each other on Twitter. Still, it was a lead, and after chewing my nails for half a day, I shot off a message to Soren Viloria.

And what do you know? He said he'd give it a shot as his first NSFW role.

Naming the Lad

Soren is a Filipino VA, and despite the fact that I myself seem to be mistaken as Filipino by other Asians quite regularly, I'm actually not as well-versed in that culture as I ought to be.

There's actually a reason why we were so secretive with Simoun's name for a while: he didn't have one yet, so internally we just kept calling him "the Catboy." We wanted to pick a culture-appropriate name for him, something that was meaningful: Soren initially suggested "Siopao" as it was a common cat name (it's a type of Filipino Steamed Bun, so think of how many pets you've seen who have names like Cupcake or Nacho Supreme), but that didn't seem serious enough for a tsundere catboy like him. A few days later, Soren did a little research on a few well-known characters from Philippine media/culture that fit the bill a bit better:

Elías from the Philippine Revolution novel Noli Me Tángere (a required reading in the Philippines). Cat may like his radical tendencies for revolution and his deep, devoted connections.

Simoun from Noli's sequel, El filibusterismo. Holds revolutionary values similar to Elías, but far less noble and more of a loner. Violent at times, and will do what it takes to get his way.

Panday/Flavio, a very popular hero. Part of his charm is that he doesn't have special powers, but took matters into his own hands and forged a magical blade. Has been portrayed in both 'cool' and comedic ways.

Ricardo "Cardo" from the Philippines' longest-running TV drama Ang Probinsyano. Just a cool action hero dude who cares about family, but is also very ambitious and angy.

Seeing as how we already had an Elias Gallagher, Simoun seemed to be the perfect fit, and the name stuck pretty easily.

Simoun's Boundaries

Now that Simoun had a name, we were able to talk about him more seriously beyond the simple "tsundere cat" tropes. You've all already met Gil Finnegan, who we originally brought into SnaccPop Studios to handle the narrative design for DachaBo but was then onboarded to help with Sunny Day Jack, and those of you in the Patreon Discord server are familiar with our mods Tobias and Jude; along with me and Soren Viloria, that brought the grand total of openly trans masculine members on the team.

We all talked about our personal experiences as trans masc/AFAB people, what things we rarely saw reflected in both mainstream and indie media, things we wanted to see more of. Something we all agreed that was difficult to find was trans masculine folks in sexually dominant roles in erotic media, whether that was live video, audio, writing, art, or a combination thereof; there was only a handful of series we could count on our fingers as far as sexually explicit content that featured trans masculine people in roles that weren't exclusively submissive/bottoms, and the majority of us had already seen those or at least heard of them before (ie. Gummy and the Doctor and Sasha From The Gym were prominent ones). Either discovering this content was difficult due to Search Engine Optimization favoring depictions of trans feminine folks, or it simply didn't exist.

All of this, along with the backstory that Sauce had for Simoun, led us to determine that Simoun would be adverse to submissive roles in intimate situations. Simoun isn't the type to want to be penetrated either due to previous trauma surrounding his gender. Bear in mind that this isn't meant to imply or suggest that there is only one "acceptable" sexual preference for trans masculine folks, nor is Simoun meant to represent all of trans masculinity; he may be our first trans masculine character but certainly isn't the last, as we hope to feature more types of characters at SnaccPop Studios.

As an aside, it should be noted that the trend of erotic trans feminine content being more readily available doesn't necessarily mean that trans women have more positive representation per se; for every kinky piece of art created by trans feminine folks out there, there could be ten more works that fetishize and objectify their bodies. We probably don't need to tell you about the common derogatory slurs that have been used to refer to them; trans feminine and trans masculine people deal with varying levels and types of transphobia as well as situations that oversexualize (or even undersexualize) them, and it's important to focus on content that doesn't strip them of their autonomy.

There actually was a period of time between the release of his concept art after Soren was onboarded where the team observed comments both on Patreon and in the Discord regarding Simoun, and we discussed how we could avoid having people try to ship Bo and Simoun together; because Simoun hasn't had bottom surgery of any kind, we wanted to ensure that tokophobia (fear of pregnancy) or dysphoria wouldn't become a thing for any of us involved in the team or for our trans masculine Patrons. It was a bit of a chicken or the egg situation, trying to keep up with the evolving comments about Simoun to try and anticipate what people might accidentally say.

Debut Day Thoughts, & Moving Forward

We were quite happy with the general reception everyone had with Simoun, and we're excited to see so many people taking a liking to Simoun after his reveal. SnaccPop Studios has always strived to provide inclusive and diverse stories for those who don't often get represented in media, much less NSFW media, and the team was quite elated to see folks who were just as happy to see Simoun.

We hope that the love and care we put into building Simoun has shone through in this post and will continue to shine as we write more of him for DachaBo, because we're just getting started.

#dachabo #character design #trans masc #transmasculine #transgender #minors dni #gamedev

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captainmera · 9 months

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What are some other hairstyles you imaging the group in? Any fun ones that Hunter tried (or was forced into by Willow, Amity, etc) as his hair got longer?

THIS IS A LONG ONE (with art) SO I'M PUTTING IT UNDER A READ MORE! :)

first of all I think GUS would be the one with the most hairstyles, hats and drip in general - he loves the human world's culture and their way of using fashion to express themselves uniquely - including hair. I mean, he also has curly hair. So he would have durag styles, various protection styles, twists and braids. And, because his hair curls, he could vary between long and shorter styles.

I also think Gus would have styles that are more typically "feminine" too, as he is very gender-non-conforming in the crew's art of him.

Though, I will say, it works for Gus in-canon that he only keeps one style at first (narratively speaking, not realistic haircare - I think?) because then that would emphasise his time in the human realm later on to be an important developing arc for him (assuming they would actually give him various styles, as indicative of the bits we got of him in episode 1.)

I think, had season 3 happened, we would have gotten a more vibrant Gus. He wants to be an ambassador, he loves the human realm, whom else than GUS to be the one to have an arc where he explores and embodies the full-on SELFEXPRESSION!

Fashion and hair is a way to express the uniqueness of yourself. If Luz' wish as the main character is to be understood, then the (positive) characters around her will (one way or another) embody different lessons for that theme. Gus: Self-expression. (Fashion, style, hair, charisma) Hunter: Identity. (Confidence, self-love, self-respect) Willow: Inner self. (Vulnerability, self-care, self-acceptance) Amity: Outer self. (Presentation of your truth, pride of oneself.) Vee: Voice. (Standing up for yourself, perseverance) Camila: Support. (Union of group, accepting and giving love)

And I think their fashions/hair aka - character designs would reflect these various things!

On a more fun note I think the only reason Hunter could pull off his own unique style is because Gus helps him combine them properly.

Hunter really said dollhouse fairycore and Gus ran with it.

AMITY: Basic styles, probably thinking of her siblings to feel closer to them. Especially Emira's hairstyles. :) I think, because her mom was so controlling of how her hair presented, I think Amity moves away from doing too much with it and rather let it be adventurous and free.

WILLOW: Lots of braids and pigtails. I think she likes to have practical hairstyles as well as more "gentle" ones. The practical ones to reflect her jock-side, and the lose ones to reflect her more gentile and sensitive side! :)

HUNTER: I think just keeps his in a ponytail or (as in the canon) just loose and shaggy without much care. Showing his early stages of being a blank slate. Just let things have it's course to see what "grows" from it, y'know? And then he gets his iconic haircut scene and literally "starts over" with a new arc. :)

I think LUZ just keeps her iconic style that she's had through the show, with the additional tiny low-pinned ponytail that makes her look like a rouge adventurer! Kinda like Amity. I also think Luz hair grows a bit more wavy the longer it gets! :)

VEE is also someone who goes through the most changes, but in her body and face rather than fashion. I think her style would be of the alternative side, perhaps a bit of a concert-kid vibe and basic comfy stuff. She's visually been shown to have the opposite expressions of Luz, quite literally being from opposite realms and having opposite personalities. Where Luz felt hopeful Vee was quick to give up. Our basilisk girl also seem to fit in more with the human realm, enjoying being a normie - after all, her life wasn't normal up till that point. So it makes sense for her to seek it and even find her safety in her own baseline.

BUT YEAH!

I THINK THAT'S IT????

ENJOY MY THOUGHTS.

#toh #the owl house #art reply #toh gus #toh hunter #toh amity #toh willow #ask #asks #toh ask

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yearningaces · 4 months

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The concept of Nyx’s Partner being a hunter is so interesting to me. Like Nyx is in danger? Boom! Whatever animal is attacking is immediately dealt with. Nyx wants some clothes to keep him warm? He now has an entire collection of furs and coats at his disposal. I just wanna give him and his family all that I can offer~💖

- 🪩 Anon

And they will forever adore you- their own special human!

For some fun, little ideas I keep rotating in my brain:

Rabbit-hybrids are small, like... 3/4ths the size of the average human at best.

They tend to live in burrows together or at least burrow side by side(hobbit-esk design if you need a visual)

This means, the bunny-folks home is tiny compared to a human. And once Nyx's family gets to know you, how gentle you are with their Nyx and with them as extention? Well, that practically makes you family already! Not like Nyx will ever leave your side, everyone in his family can see how enamored he is.

So what do they do? They make you your own chair at the supper table, larger and stronger to support you. They make silverware and dishes that are more your size, grandpa bun even crochets you a blanket twice the size of his normal ones so you can be cozy when staying there too

Grandpa bun, ever the burrow bun(as opposed to house husband) will also try to learn how to cook different sorts of meats for you. It's clumsy at first, but Nyx(who's been studying this like he's in fucking Harvard) helps and Grandpa bun has a good steak and skewers and chicken cooked like a pro

The younger rabbit-hybrids want to play chase and who better to play than the big scary human that they know is super nice? They will swarm you. They might just grab onto a leg or an arm and hang on, just keep walking it's fine it's entertainment.

The elders will want to ask you about your instincts, ones that don't seem useful to you but to them is life changing. What do you mean you have standoffs with other creatures and the first to move breaks the standoff? What do you mean you just throw your weight around to get what needs done done. You can see in the dark? To an impressive degree to them. So if you were hunting and the prey did this what would you do? For no reason other than their own knowledge of course.

The buns your age can be the most weary, they're old enough to know danger, but too young to recognize peace without a plethora of proof. Give them time and you'll be part of the gossip group, it's worth the wait I promise

Nyx will have to fight his own kin away so he can have you all to himself... For a few minutes at least. Just hold his hand, let him sit in your lap and he'll be happy.

Also, humans are carnivorous leaning omnivores. Predators in nature we could say. Any big predator needs naps. The buns are energetic to the nines but the first time you've visiting Nyx's family and you fall asleep on that soft couch? Lounging across it, blissfully sleeping?

It doesn't take long for Nyx to find you, crawl up to lay on your toreso, curling up and falling asleep... Then the young buns gather around, some trying to lay on or next to you, some sprawled on the back of the couch. The young adult buns are next, laying a blanket on the pile, maybe one or two joining but most lounge around the couch. Eventually the elders join as well. Seated in their respective spots and relaxing too.

Human designated nap time is the unspoken burrow law now, so don't be too surprised when you wake to that whole situation.

Welcome to the family!

Oh, and Nyx is total burrow bun material. Learned to cook the foods you enjoy as a human, concerts your home into a nice mix of bunny and human styles for the most comfort, and is pretty much bouncing by the door waiting for you to come home so he can literally jump into your arms, and that's if he didn't leave the house with you.

#letters of yearning #x reader #monster boyfriend #gender neutral reader #monster romance #nyx the bunnyboy #🪩 anon has the best ideas

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box4brains · 4 months

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I just want to talk about Law…

Kinda hc-y, could I get other ppls opinions and views on these things?

So!

I hc Law as someone who has extreme issues with control. In fact, he knows he can be unreasonable and extreme when it comes to being in control, however due to his trauma he associates not being in control with the worst moments of his life and thus fear it more than anything else.

He can’t not be in control and not fear he’ll lose anything and everything he holds dear.

I know there’s a lot of jokes about how relaxed Law was before the time skip and while it’s possible that it’s just Oda not having cemented his character, I generally look at it as Law just… being a cocky little shit.

Law is someone I see as extremely cautious, strong and clever. He wouldn’t put himself or his crew in danger if he could avoid it. And in case he can’t avoid it, try ending it as fast as possible and in whatever manner is safest to him and his crew.

So unlike Luffy he never had any close calls all through the first half of the GL. He never encountered any truly strong marines or enemies the same way Luffy did.

I don’t think he’d go out of his way to be antagonistic or pick fights like Kid either.

Law is definitely still cautious, but the first half of the GL basically being a breeze would definitely make him a cocky little bastard. At least until the war between the WBP and the marines gave him a wake up call in the form of a metaphorical slap to the face.

But it it still doesn’t adequately explain his “new” personality in Punk Hazard (imo).

He appears to act hastily, is grim and severe and appears to be in the middle of a suicide attack. Seems weird and kinda ooc… at least without a good reason for it.

I generally look at it like this;

Law is acting more hastily than he’d prefer, because he knows he’s running out of time.

We know his original plan to take down Doflamingo wasn’t what he’d actually wanted to do. Law wanted revenge, he wanted to fight Doflamingo himself, not set up this elaborate scheme that basically used Kaido to do what he couldn’t.

So what’s the rush?

I believe that Law designed the Heart pirates logo/jolly roger and picked the name as a way to honor Cora’s memory, but it was also meant to send the message to Doflamingo “I’m your Corazon, I’m coming home”. That’s why the flag look so alike, remember, Doffy doesn’t know that Law was present when he killed his brother. Doffy doesn’t know that Law knows that Doffy means to use him to further his own agenda.

From Doffys pov it probably looks like Law disappeared only to appear maybe 5-6 years later as a pirate, practically wearing his symbol and carrying the title/name he raised him to inherit.

I believe Law would know Doflamingo well enough that Doflamingo would take it as a sign that he was (perhaps slowly and meticulously, just as he was taught) making his way back “home”.

Hell, Doflamingo probably was all happy and smug about it. His 3:rd Corazon was working his way up in the world, making his way back to his side, despite his own brother having done everything in his power to mess everything up.

Remember, Law was in no hurry to make his way into the New World. I think it’s because he knows he can only prolong his appearance in front of Doffy for so long if he did.

Now, I hc hard that Law and the Heart pirates deal in the black market, specifically because Law knows that Doflamingo is Joker, and he needs all the dirt and information he can get to try and stay one step ahead of Doffy, and to try to find his weak spots.

Well, he finds out about SAD, Smile and Kaido. Finally he’s got something he might use to his advantage. However, he also finds out that Kaido’s almost done creating his army of world domination. Maybe he gives it a year or so before the whole world will be dragged into a war guaranteed to change the world forever, both politically and geographically. And then all his knowledge will be useless.

And Law knows Doffy won’t wait another decade or so before he might be able to tackle Doflamingo again.

No, his only choice is to get in front of the storm brewing on the horizon, to take charge and use the pieces all around him to place himself in the eye of the hurricane and use the powers around him to accomplish his own goals.

He needs to use Kaido to take out Doflamingo. It doesn’t matter if Kaidos army of beasts is almost done, practically done or just a single person short. Kaidos temper is legendary, and his rage against Doflamingo failing to fulfill his duties would lead to a clash between them, a clash Doflamingo has no hope of winning.

A strong and clever pirate could sweep in after an stake his claim in the New World. The probability of coming out on top is abysmally small, but Doffys defeat is practically guaranteed, and the rewards of success is incredibly enticing. Not to mention he has no other choice.

Now Law is a warlord during this. He needs the contacts in the navy and he needs something to be a plausible reason for not turning up at Doflamingos doorstep with a smile and begging to be his puppet.

Law knows, Doflamingo likes useful pawns, but Laws biggest use is to die so Doffy can live forever, and Doflamingo isn’t going to wait forever, regardless of how much Law improves his abilities and allure as someone who’s usefulness is off the charts.

So he gets his hands on a eternal pose to PH and says goodbye to his crew… They don’t want to part, but they know that his orders are absolute, to disobey orders is to be kicked from the crew, so they go, and pray to anything that will listen to please let their captain come back to them.

And Law negotiates with Ceasar. He gives him his heart, his freedom, his most precious thing, what Cora-san died slowly and agonizingly to give him. And then… Luffy

For the second time in Laws life, Luffy crashes into his life, turning everything upside down and blowing all his carefully laid plans out of the water.

Luffy who’s freedom itself, Luffy who’s the very definition of the D that Cora-san spoke of. The storm that declared war against the world, the enemy of the gods that punched a celestial dragon in the face without a moment’s hesitation.

In the face of such an free soul, the invisible leach that Ceasar has around Laws neck chafe something terrible. Listening to the clown happily talking about how he made drug addicts of small children, something in Law finally snaps and he ends up hunting down Luffy with the goal of making an alliance.

Because some part of Law trusts Luffy, regardless of how much he hates it, swears up and down that he doesn’t, that he shouldn’t…

After all, Luffy and his crew are perhaps the definition of the type of people that he can’t help but open his heart for. (Strong-willed, happy-go-lucky and determined with a tendency to do everything in their power for those they care for). And that terrifies him. Because Luffy can’t be controlled, and therefore Law cannot protect him.

And Law just can’t handle losing a loved one again. Never again. There’s a reason he always makes sure to place himself between anything that would do them harm and his crew.

Anyway, I sure would like to hear other people’s thoughts and/or hc of Law and his character

… I spent most of the night writing this 🙄 oh well…

#trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law #trafalgardwaterlaw #character discussion #one piece #heart pirates #rant

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msfcatlover · 6 months

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Shadow Damian (Reverse Robins)

Shadow starts with Damian, and I am drawing huge inspiration from his Infinite Frontier design. In particular, this absolutely gorgeous rendition by DuhDude.

(I fucking love this look)

I'm also taking inspiration from @adoptedbybruciewayne's design, which just so happens to have a very similar silhouette.

As I've said before, I'm aiming for "sleek while still somewhat disguising his body outline." The goal is to make him a harder target to pin down.

Black tunic-vest, the part below the (utility) belt shaped mostly like the green design. Keep the puffy sleeves, though they're now also black & ever so slightly translucent; the under-suit is actually very dark grey, so you still can't really see his arms, it just does weird things to the shadows.

The hood is NOT part of the tunic, it's a separate cowl like this (sized similarly to the green design), held on by a single snap so that it never chokes him or holds him back if it gets grabbed.

No bandages, but the bottom half of his forearm does have a metal cuff for protection. Black gloves under dark red fingerless gloves, and the cuffs are the same red.

There is actually a single red stripe running down each arm like a ribbon between the cuffs/gloves & his shoulders, but I feel like if anyone drew it, those would be the first detail to go. In any case, those ribbon-lines sorta pour below the curve of his collarbones to merge into a red bat in front of a gold circle. (Referencing this chart, it's probably a combination of the "Batman: Dead End" & "Batman Beyond" designs.)

(Quickly thrown together in GIMP, though the colors seem to have gotten messed up... it should be redder.)

No domino; he wears a black half-mask/mouth-guard on the lower half of his face (kinda like the "muzzle" mask Jason's been wearing in recent years), and paints the remaining visible skin with grease paint to disguise his features (think Battinson, but it's the entire upper half of his face.)

The effect being Damian's mouth, jaw & nose covered, his face cast in shadow, his skin painted black, so there's no discernible features... just these two piercing green eyes staring at you from under the hood.

The pants are well-padded (same dark grey as the undersuit), and he has extra armor on his thighs, though a lot more in-line with modern sensibilities.

(This, but black.)

I also love Damian's knee-high lace-up boots, especially how they're drawn in "Son of Batman" where they are all the way to the knee, with a very de-emphasized kneepad. Practical? Probably not, but I don't really like how the protective cap they usually put over his knees change the shape of the boots. So he gets those, but black instead of green.

(It is weirdly hard to grab a good reference image for these; they never look as good on the covers, for some reason.)

So that's my... excruciatingly detailed explanation of Damian's Shadow costume. Look forward to future breakdowns of Damian's Nightwing costume, how future Shadows evolved the look, and basically every other costume in the family.

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lightandfellowship · 1 year

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Please Consider Him (my attempt at a Quadratum Vidar).

Design notes under the read more:

There were multiple elements of Vidar's original design that I wanted to maintain for his Quadratum look: his blue/yellow/black/beige color scheme, his black turtleneck, his asymmetrical top, and his partially uncovered arms. I felt these elements were essential to properly capturing Vidar's vibe, and changing or removing them would make him feel...well, less like Vidar.

For his top, I knew I wanted to simulate the asymmetrical jacket, where one side was longer than the other, and also give him something with a collar since his jacket kinda has a collar, so I thought a half-untucked button-down would do the job nicely. I didn't really want to give Vidar a typical coat or anything long-sleeved, even though that would be a natural route to take given his original jacket, because again, like I said, I wanted some part of his arms to be uncovered. So I made his button-down have rolled up sleeves that are secured in place by a button. I copied the beige lining design from his original jacket, of course, along with the square design on his shoulders, only facing out instead of in so that his collar doesn't overlap it.

I originally considered turning Vidar's sash chain into a pocket chain, since that seems like the most obvious way to translate it into a more modern accessory, but I decided not to for two reasons. One, Baldr's design already features a pocket chain, and I didn't want to pull from other characters' designs. And two, I thought it might conflict with the untucked shirt, making that area of the design too busy. So I decided to turn it into a necklace instead. I also gave Vidar matching earrings, but I mostly just did that for style, not for any specific design reason.

I was really torn about what to do with Vidar's yellow sash. Some options I considered were a yellow buckled belt or a yellow jacket tied around his waist, but I felt like these fashion choices would be too loud for Vidar's personality (idk, that amount of yellow looks fine for Vidar's more traditional clothing, but modern fashion in bright yellow just doesn't feel right for him). I eventually settled on turning the sash into a cloth bracelet. It maintains the knotted cloth look while also being more understated, just a small pop of color on his wrist. I paired it with a beaded bracelet that matches his necklace, and a plain black bracelet on the opposite wrist to resemble his original right glove design. I also noticed that Vidar has some white cloth wrappings underneath his left glove, and even though they're probably not meant to be bandages, I took inspiration from that regardless and gave him a little bandaid on his elbow.

I decided to translate the black obi underneath his yellow sash into a black buckled belt. His original left glove also has studding on the top edge, so I gave this belt some studs as well. I think it helps it to stand out from the black pants better, since they're so similar in hue/value. (Tangent--apologies for not adding belt loops to his pants, I couldn't get it to look right. So his belt is just kinda suspended there without anything securing it in place. Oh well.) I also let him keep the fingerless gloves from his original design but just made them shorter so that they'd be more practical to everyday living. And also so that there's more room for his bracelets.

His pants are basically the same, I just made them a little less poofy, for that jeans-tucked-into-boots look (even though these pants probably aren't jeans). And I wasn't really sure what to do with his boots (shoe design is an enigma to me), so I just took the belts from his gloves and put them on his boots to make them look a bit more interesting.

So yeah! That was my thought process for this design.

#khdr #kingdom hearts dark road #kingdom hearts #kh vidar #vidar kh #making kh art #making kh edits #khdr spoilers #kh4 spoilers

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mc-lukanette · 7 months

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The world was so loud. It was still loud, and Luka had gotten tired of explaining to people when they asked what he meant just to look at him like he was crazy afterward.

The simple explanation was that Luka experienced the world through music. He saw potential melodies in his environment and people always gave off their own particular tune. The latter was what made his life difficult, given that he didn't have any control over whether or not he heard them. It was just something he had to adjust to.

But if there was one thing Luka hated, it was a fake person: someone who behaved one way but was another inside. He remembered when he started to dye his hair and paint his nails, back when people would say that they liked it but the song he would hear was filled with displeasure over his choice of appearance.

As such, he had few friends in life. There just weren't many people he could trust to be fully honest with him without him pointing out that they weren't.

Not having friends also meant that he had no reason not to attend events with his rock star mother, Anarka Couffaine, though he would've happily come to show his support and approval of her anyway despite the atmosphere. Events and parties like the one he'd shown up for that very day were often filled with detestable people only out for money and had zero interest in the actual well-being of any clients.

He did his best to filter them out.

"Luka," Anarka whispered, leaning down and wrapping an arm around him. With her other arm, she pointed to a man across the room dressed in white and pink, noting, "that's Bob Roth. Remember him?"

One listen of the man made Luka roll his eyes, though smiling at the memory. "He offered you a contract when I was little and you threw him overboard."

"Aye." She stood up, her toothy smirk putting even sharks to shame as she called out, "Roth! Gone swimmin' lately?"

Bob turned around to look, Luka grinning as well at the way his face paled upon seeing her. One could practically see the memories flooding his mind, his face turning red with a mixture of shame and anger as he stormed off.

Anarka sighed as if having just come out of meditative therapy, giving Luka a nudge. "You haven't lived until you've thrown a scallywag overboard."

She didn't give much advice even as a mom, but he considered that one was a keeper. He would've liked to have done it himself had he not been so small at the time.

"Nanarky!" another equally non-subtle voice called from afar. "Chased away Bob again?"

Luka turned along with his mother to see Jagged Stone approaching, and had to suppress a big smile. He'd always been a big fan of Jagged's music - pure and untouched by anyone but Jagged himself - and since Jagged and Anarka were friendly rivals, they often met up at events.

"Hey," Anarka commented as Jagged walked up to them, "it's the first mate of rock and roll!"

"First mate?!" Jagged recoiled, a hand to his chest in dramatic fashion. "I'm the captain of this ship!"

"Ha! I can play circles around ya." She leaned towards him, flicking at the Eiffel Tower glasses near the top of his head. "Nice glasses, by the way."

Luka chuckled. They made for a fun duet together as well.

At the mention of the new glasses, Jagged's demeanor changed entirely. He beamed, bringing them down to his eyes properly. "Right? Got a young up-and-coming designer to make 'em for me."

"Young unlike you, ya sea dog," Anarka quipped.

Jagged turned his head away while pretending not to have heard her, though the pout on his face was obvious. Snapping his fingers, he called out, "Hey, frockstar! C'mere and meet the background musician!"

"Why I oughta—"

Luka heard the melody before the footsteps, though it was still a stark contrast to the ones belonging to both Jagged and Anarka. A teenage girl - certainly no older than him - came to Jagged's side, peeking up at him with a smile before being promptly squished against his side.

"Hello," she said, somewhat strained until Jagged let her go and gave her an affirming pat on the shoulder. She shyly bowed her head to Anarka. "I'm—

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng!" Jagged interrupted, looking all too eager to talk about her. Luka raised a brow, impressed by the amount of pride bursting out of each note on his song. "She's gonna design my new album, Rock Giant!"

"W-wha—?!" Marinette stared up at Jagged with a look that implied she very much had not heard about that yet.

"Nice to meet ya, lass," Anarka greeted. "I'm Anarka Couffaine."

"Oh!" Marinette gaped at her. "I know exactly who you are! I'm a big fan!"

"That right?" she asked, and Luka could see the glint in her eyes that she was about to start up their rivalry again. Thankfully, introducing him took priority, so she opted instead to say, "Well, then y'should know that this is my son, Luka."

Their eyes locked for the first time. Luka didn't necessarily need eye contact to get a feel for a person, but it helped. He was intrigued: her song was an entire mix of emotions both positive and negative, none of which she seemed to be hiding. There was an extra spark of curiosity and awe in her at actually taking him in - likely because he was the son of someone she admired - though he supposed the normal thing to do would be to politely—

"Wow, you're so handsome!"

Luka felt his cheeks heat up, completely thrown off by the blunt comment. Anarka and Jagged, though equally stunned for a moment, suddenly looked incredibly invested in this. They glanced back and forth between the two, waiting to see what might happen next.

As he was formulating a proper response, Marinette's words caught up with her. Her face turned even redder than his and her tune was all over the place. She turned away and tried to make a break for the buffet table to hide underneath the tablecloth, only for Jagged to hurry after her and pull her back.

"Nanarky," he said with a mischievous tone, tilting his head down and lowering his glasses to look at her. "What do you say to a little music battle, just the two of us?"

Anarka reflected his look back at him. "In the middle of this namby-pamby party? ...You're on."

Then the two were off, true party crashers even when they're already invited, and simultaneously leaving him alone with Marinette.

"I-I'm so sorry," she whined, rubbing at her face in embarrassment. "It's just—it seems like I always say the first thing that's on my mind, and the first thing I noticed was that you have nice eyes?"

His blush wasn't going away, that was for sure.

"Uhm!" She flailed. "I mean, not that you have nice eyes—well you do, but I don't mean nice as in nice even if they are nice." She huffed at herself, pounding her fist against her palm and clearly seeking a specific word. "...Kind! You have kind eyes!"

"Thanks," Luka managed after taking a deep breath, Marinette having just been upgraded from intriguing to absolutely adorable in his mind. He ran a hand through his hair, fluffing it slightly. "You can be honest with me, Marinette. I won't think it's strange. It's better, actually."

"Better?" She stared like she thought he was the strange one. "...A-ah! I know, here!"

She opened the tote bag at her side and reached in, digging around until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a CD and offered it to him, Jagged's signature prominent on the front.

"This is..." Luka gaped, taking it from her hands.

"One of Jagged's albums, signed by Jagged himself," Marinette stated proudly. "He said he'd personally sign any album I wanted, and of course I picked this. It's—"

"—the best one," he chimed in along with her, perking up at the sound of their voices speaking in unison.

She grinned, delighted. "Yes! You get it! I've asked every Jagged fan I know and none of them picked it!"

Luka, always one to return a gift, reached into his own bag and pulled out one of his mother's albums, also signed by her. He always kept at least one thing she'd signed in his bag as an extra - if private - show of support. "Here. It's—"

"—the best one!"

——

Naturally, they exchanged numbers soon after that, just before going on to watch the "rock battle" together. Luka had people he knew like his mother and Jagged Stone who spoke their minds without fear, but Marinette was a unique case. He couldn't quite put it into words - that's what he had his guitar for - but an attempt would incline him to say that it was a deceptively simple song upon first listen yet was so powerful as just to pour out of her when she opened her mouth. He could even see it in the way she moved, fidgeting and bouncing with energy while they'd listened to the energetic music.

She was also the first one to blurt out that she thought he was handsome and had kind eyes at their first meeting, so an unforgettable first impression if there were ever any. He was a little discouraged by the idea of texting her, where it wasn't as likely for her to just say whatever she was thinking. Still, he was fine waiting for her to warm up to him if need be.

Oh! You play guitar?

Guitar and violin, yeah.

I'd love to hear you play sometime! I'm free for you! I MEAN FREE TODAY!!

Luka let out a laugh. He didn't have to worry after all.

#queuekanette #lukaneventte: No Context November #Flower Arrangement Shipping #Pro LukaMari #Lukanette

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sunwarmed-ash · 1 month

Text

Thank you guys 🖤

for taking care of me yesterday, I really am feeling so much better. I've been SINGING all day. I dont remember the last time I feel good enough to sing loudly in my house.

As a treat I'm gonna give you an exclusive, tumblr only, sneak peak to the Eden club sequel 💙 (the title card is a spoiler so if you HAVENT read the eden club yet, be warned, below is spoiler territory)

Title Card WIP

Brothers-First Chapter WIP:

Em & Andrea's

“What the hell just happened?” Hank asks, appearing suddenly Gavin’s flank. Which is fair, Connor’s sudden mass exodus wasn’t exactly subtle.

“I dont know, he was freaking out and then he ran inside!” Gavin explains, still trying to understand himself.

“Well, we gotta go check on him!” Hank insists, huge stride already half through the doorway.

“Just, give him a sec Hank,” Gavin insists, stopping his boyfriend by his arm.

“What?”

“You shoulda seen him... He looked… phcking terrified. Somethin’ spooked him.”

“All the more reason!” Hank huffs, anxiety masking as fury. Gavin doesn't take it personally. He’s just as worried as Hank is.

But as it turns out, they didn't need to go anywhere. Connor was coming to them, a furious determination on his face.

“Con, baby?” Hank asks, but Connor’s eyes don’t move from their gaze ahead. In fact other than his feet, nothing else about him changes. He's a walking, stoic statue.

Connor makes no indication he’s heard Hank’s call and walks out of the party. and away from his two shouting and concerned partners.

The Eden Club

The since reattached door to Kamski’s office slams open with the full force of Connor’s anger.

The human inside doesnt flinch. Instead he stands almost expectantly in front of his desk, arms linked behind his back.

“Hello Connor.”

“You planned this, all of this. From the start!”

“Well,” Kamski smirks, “Certainly took you long enough.”

Connor scoffs reflexively, shaking his head.

“You’ve been using me,” Connor spits, and it’s not a question. “It wasn't Emily who texted me it was you.”

His creator's grin only grows.

“Yes.”

“WHY!?”

“Oh come now Connor, I designed you smarter than this. I practically hand fed you all the clues.”

Connor doesn't want to admit it, but he knows the answer. Probably knew it the whole time, just didn't want to accept the possibility it could be true.

“...Gavin.”

“Obviously.”

Connor’s furious enough he’s moments from snapping the shorter man’s neck. If he was sure he could get away with it, he would.

“But why me? You could have used any of your other androids!”

Elijah looks at him like he just said Thirium was purple. He gives the android another moment to correct his statement before exhaling a little irritably,

“Gavin isn’t in love with any of my other androids.”

That snaps Connor’s smart mouth closed. For a few reasons.

“H-How much have you seen?” Connor asks.

The smarmy grin that comes over Elijah's face has Connor’s artificial guts squirming.

“Everything.”

#the eden club #detroit become human #connor rk800 #gavin reed #elijah kamski #hank anderson #hank x connor x gavin #hankconvin #cop sandwich #hankvin800 #find me on ao3 #sunwarmed ash #links in pinned

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vermutandherring · 1 year

Text

One of my friends asked me by what criteria I choose games. I said there should be a pretty male character. He continued: "Of course, but what else besides a handsome man can you be captivated by the game?" No, my friend, you don't understand. A handsome character is often the only reason I pick up a game. I'm not saying that this is the only thing that defines for me such a complex work as a video game. But it is futile to deny the fact that we are living beings who like beautiful things and especially attractive bodies. Yoji Shinkawa understands this too. As well as the fact that the player spends most of his time looking at the protagonist's back. So why not make that back as attractive as possible?

At around the age of 19, Yoji Shinkawa entered Seika University in Kyoto. It is a private university known for its manga and anime departments, often taught by mangakas. Young Shinkawa's passion for art blossomed as he got acquainted with the books of his compatriots, illustrators Hikozo Ito (1904 - 2004) and Kashō Takabatake (1888 - 1966). Both graphics, the theme of a warrior is present in the works of both. As a technique, Shinkawa first chose gel pens. According to him, the reason he started using his brush pens was because of the influence of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. In junior high school Shinkawa read a book on how to draw manga and tried using a dip pen, which turned out to be a failed attempt.

Kakubei Jishi (written by Jiro Osaragi). Illustration for a Shonen Club serialized novel. Hikozo Ito, 1927

His desire can be understood. Drawing with a dip pen allows to create things of incredible sophistication and detail. Just look at drawings of another Shinkawa's inspirator Hikozo Ito. How detailed his works are, how accurately he conveys the mood and characters of the heroes on his works. No wonder they made an impression on Shinkawa. In further practice, he began to use a brush pen, which brought the future designer closer to the technique of his teachers Yoshitaka Amano and already mentioned Yasuhiko, who drew with brushes. Already at a young age, Shinkawa began creating his own illustrations for anime magazines.

After graduating from university in 1994, Shinkawa began working at Konami, one of the leading video game developers and publishers. Here he meets the game designer Hideo Kojima, whose brilliant star has yet to shine on the gaming industry. Maybe it wouldn't shine so brightly if it weren't for Shinkawa. The person who gave birth to a brilliant idea met the person who breathed life into this idea with his brush. One of the first projects that Shinkawa worked on was the game Policenauts, created by Kojima. In this work, one feels that he is still on the way to developing his style - his drawing is similar to anime and manga and lacks any personalized features.

At the same time, in 1995, under the direction of Kojima, Shinkawa began working on his Metal Gear Solid project. Significant changes in Shinkava's style are felt in the work on this project. Almost not a trace remains of the bright anime drawing from Policenauts. The design feels more grim, the characters themselves look more "western" than most Japanese games of the time. As Shinkawa himself noted, Kojima has provided complete creative freedom. The designer only described the intended characters to him in general terms, often indicating only the gender itself. This approach took more time to develop, but at the same time, freed Shinkawa's hands both as an artist and as a designer.

Design, no matter how many beautiful things it creates, is a utilitarian thing. It is not enough to draw 'pretty'. Your work should have practical significance. In the case of video games, character design is about creating an image that is easily remembered in the player's imagination and makes the hero unique. This uniqueness comes from the features of the character itself: his occupation, character, role in the game, relationships with other characters, etc. With space for imagination, Shinkawa tells their story directly on paper, conveying it in poses, clothes, facial expressions and the way their bodies are composed. In the world of Metal Gear, the player is constantly on the battlefield. The main activity of the characters is focused on their confrontation, so they must be in good physical shape. And Shinkawa emphasizes this in every possible way.

The figure of young Solid Snake, the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid, is very stable and tense, but not without flexibility. Shinkawa's line breaks like waves, drawing the relief of the body under the baggy suit. By adding colors on the computer, Shinkawa creates three-dimensional shapes that convey the roundness of muscles. Snake's entire body is covered. But even under the folds of a tight suit, you can see a well-built body.

Notice that Snake's figure is heavily shaded: you cannot see his face. In the first works, Shinkawa did not draw faces and eyes in detail, because the graphics power of the PlayStation did not allow to reproduce the textures in detail. Shinkawa smooths out the facial features, but you can definitely understand Snake's emotion and character.

Much more interesting and artistically opposite to Snake is the figure of Gray Fox. Shinkawa's vision of a character goes beyond just a form designed to perform a certain function. For Shinkawa, the body is another way to tell a character's story, to reveal his essence before the player discovers more information about the character. This is how the means of artistic expression in art work. Looking at a picture, you subconsciously note the things that the creator put into it. You can't always explain exactly what you see, but you always accurately identify the emotion that excites your mind in the very first second of contemplation.

Shinkawa plays with the player's imagination. Gray Fox is a cyborg, but in his image there is not the slightest hint of the artificial nature of his body. It is sculpted by the muscles that transmit the plastic to its exoskeleton. It seems to be pieced together from scraps and feels lighter and more flexible compared to Snake's living body. The designer goes deeper than just trying to convey the image of a ninja literally. He depicts a slender solid silhouette - only a shadow of a mercenary, in which the embedded image of a ninja can be clearly read. A victim of horrific experiments, he hides his mutilated flesh behind a cold cyborg body made in the colors of steel and human flesh. The gaze of the eyes disappears behind the mask with an eerie glint of a red sensor that resembles an eye. Shinkawa does not resort to excessive or even any careful detailing. The designer moves away from unambiguous and finished images. All superfluous and unnecessary details are cut out, leaving the content embodied in a fragile, fleeting form.

As Shinkawa noted, one of his inspirations is the French artist and author of comics Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius. Giraud is closely related to cinematography. He worked with Ridley Scott on the films Alien (1979) and Blade Runner (1982), created costume design for the cyberpunk film Tron (1982), was involved in the creation of The Fifth Element and many other projects. Although this fact may seem insignificant, it is still quite symbolic in Shinkawa's work. Kojima, with whom the artist created images for games, opened another means of artistic expression for the game industry, including elements of cinematic art in the game, namely cutscenes. Prior to this, narrative was part of the gameplay, presented in the form of long notes or short notes. Cutscenes made it possible to directly connect the gameplay with the story, making the work a single whole.

Illustration to Gordon R. Dickson's work Pour quelle guerre. Jean Giraud, 1972.

The large number of cutscenes typical of Kojima's games deliberately create an opportunity to examine the characters from every possible angle, revealing Shinkawa's genius. For the designer, this is a kind of art camera, where his creations are presented in various poses and lit up like curiosities, playing with the player's imagination. When I started playing Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance again recently, this became more apparent than I thought. Alongside cinematic scenes, there are plenty of close-ups with unexpected angles. The characters are not just pleasant to watch. You want to interact with them.

My favorite work of Shinkawa. Stylistically, it is very similar to the works of Yoshitaka Amano: a smooth silhouette that practically melts on the plane of the sheet. The composition is minimalistic, but very meaningful. With one sketch, Shinkawa conveys the character's name (in Japanese mythology, Raiden is the god of lightning), the plasticity of his young body, and the killer's concentrated gaze.

Raiden's design is probably my favorite. He appeared in the franchise with the release of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in 2001, via a fan letter to Hideo Kojima. Its author complained about the old characters constantly repeating themselves in Metal Gear. In creating the image of Raiden, Shinkawa moved away from the image of a strong, stereotypical male figure, inspired by the popular heroes of the 90s and the American superhero comics from which he took inspiration. The designer resorted to a more Japanese view of male beauty, which was used by the same Kashō Takabatake in his works.

Kashō Takabatake's work on exposition in Takabatake Kasho Taisho Roman Museum. Compare Takabatake's warrior with Hikozo Ito's one. Takabatake created advertisements and illustrated magazines in which the influence of modern is noted. The faces of his soldiers are very gentle and graceful. It was his unique illustrations of beautiful boys (bishōnen) and beautiful girls (bishōjo) that took the world by storm, bringing fame to the artist.

The concept of Bishōnen, or literally from Japanese "beautiful youth (boy)" characterizes not just a man with good looks. In the Japanese view, this is an aesthetic principle that transcends gender and sexual orientation. The roots of this concept stretch back to ancient Chinese literature, the homosocial and homoerotic ideals of the medieval Chinese imperial court, which are found since the Middle Tang Dynasty (~700s). Gradually, this concept penetrated into Japanese and other Asian cultures, and we can observe its examples in the realities of today.

The introduction of such a character did not cause much excitement among fans of the series. Overly refined and too androgynous, Raiden with his silly backstory looked out of place against the muscular Snakes with complicated pasts. However, analyzing Shinkawa's subsequent works for Metal Gear and the gradual change in Raiden's design in particular, it can be assumed that Raiden's image to some extent helped Shinkawa develop more deeply the idea of glorifying physical beauty, born in the image of Gray Fox. On the character concepts for MGS 2, it is noticeable how the designer focuses on anatomy. Raiden's suit fits his body tightly, revealing his supple muscles. Shinkawa leads the line very carefully, it feels taut and elastic, revealing a sculpted form to the viewer. The volume is complemented by the play of light and shadow, which slides along the curves of the figure. To enhance the impression, Shinkawa lengthens the katana, making it more curved to enhance the sense of tension in the composition.

Although we mostly know Raiden today as a cyborg ninja, in the sketches for MGS 2, Shinkawa makes his suit look like samurai armor by adding shoulder and chest plates.

In the work on Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (2013), Shinkawa continues the chosen path. During this period, the experience and acquisition of one's own style allow the designer to create incredible things according to his artistic solution, twisting the concept of aesthetics to the maximum. The image of Raiden evolves from a fragile young man to a brutal cyborg endowed with superpowers.

The flexibility of his human body is replaced by the monolithic heaviness of the exoskeleton. Shinkawa abandons the streamlined design used in the image of Gray Fox, which conveyed the ease of movement inherent in a ninja. He appeals to the "pure form", stripping the hero of even his skin as something unnecessary, and turning Raiden into practically a living Écorché (an educational figure showing the muscles of the body without skin). In his desire to get rid of the excess, Shinkawa goes even further. He does not depict a beautiful body, but what makes it beautiful - a skeleton and muscles - the initial form on which everything else is superimposed.

Ecorché. Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1776

Here I should explain what I mean by "pure form". Depicting a simple sketch of a character or creating a complex composition, Shinkawa draws as simply as possible. At the same time, it is important for him to depict not only the design of the character. In the figures of the heroes, attention is drawn not so much to their appearance as to their inner state expressed on their faces. Shinkawa did not specify the details. Characters in rough drawings are perceived as very conventional. Their images are personalized, but conditional.

Eva, Naked Snake, & The Boss. Art to the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Shinkawa avoids unnecessary trifles, preferring empty space. The artist's brush moves almost chaotically, revealing the smallest nuances of the image. With each subsequent game, his technique acquires clear features of traditional Japanese painting. In unfinished, at first glance, ink spills, Japanese artists sought to convey not the appearance of things, but to capture their spirit, to imprint their state or their own impression on the canvas. The artist lays down a minimum of lines and tones sufficient to recognize the form, texture and effects to be felt. Ink spills change in all possible shades of black, the vague outlines of the image make you feel the changeability and fleetingness of the moment.

Screen with pines and bamboo. Tohaku Hasegawa, Nanao Museum of Art, Ishikawa, 17th century

This approach to the image has advantages that could turn into disadvantages for the designer. Since the main point of Japanese painting is not the realistic accuracy of the surrounding world, its reproduction does not require a thorough knowledge of the anatomy or structure of objects. But there is one more thing that I deliberately did not mention before this. Despite the fact that Shinkawa appears as a graphic artist in his design works, he studied oil painting at Seika University. Painting, unlike graphics, is not characterized by vagueness and sketchiness. Shinkawa does not completely get rid of the influence of the acquired equipment. The volume of his figures protrudes beyond the surface of the sheet, creating the illusion of depth. But Sinkawa's best pictorial past can still be felt in his appeal to anatomy as the basis of the physical embodiment of the hero, the transmission of the story behind him. At the same time, Shinkawa's works are almost painterly, with a lot of color strokes, even if he uses only one color. This is a characteristic feature of Japanese painting, the flatness of which the artist transforms to his own needs. Thus, using the ideas of Japanese painting and removing the excess, Shinkawa exposes a pure form. And his experience in oil painting allows him to depict it accurately.

Raiden collectible figure Écorchéchisel. Paulus Pontius,

~1640. Engraving by Rubens

In the concept art for Rising, Shinkawa focused on finding the perfect representation of anatomy that would emphasize the athleticism of the character. From athleticism, in turn, comes sexuality, which Shinkawa instills in robots and cyborgs. Raiden is a killer machine. Even if his blade is an instrument of justice, he himself admits that in order to protect the weak, he kills the strong. His desire for battle, thirst for blood, and pleasure in pain - all find expression in his appearance.

Much more can be said about the work of Yoji Shinkawa. Maybe I would like to do a review on his metal gears themselves, where it's also possible to discover a lot of interesting things. Or about his concepts for Death Stranding and the game itself in general when I finally get through it. In this part, I wanted to share my thoughts on what most touches me in the designer's work.

So yes, it was review on Raiden's butt

Credits:

Metal Gear Solid galleries

The Art of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Art

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance Artbook

In the shadow of Kojima: Yoji Shinkawa, designer of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding

Gif used for cover image by Erica Anderson

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