#having fun putting my own spin on their canon designs

[camthecatchameleon]

ninjago and lmk fandom hear me out: if wu is sun wukong, then garmadon would be macaque.

#IT MAKES SENSE IN MY HEAD #obv i am. ignoring wukong and mac’s gay subtext for the sake of this comparison #ninjago #ninjago spoilers #i think #lmk #lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid spoilers #lmk s4 spoilers #garmadon #ninjago wu #screenshot redraw #having fun putting my own spin on their canon designs #guess who doesn’t know how to draw foreshortening!!! thats right its me

[welcometogrouchland]

Oh my god. The way that you draw toh characters is exactly how they should look and people should be taking notes when they see your art. My soul is going to leave my body and I will only imagine them as the way you have drawn them. Your art is amazing and I'm going to go internally (metaphorically) explode now (/gen) (positive connotations)

I had to wait a good while to answer this BC I've been busy out of town but now I have a moment's rest I can say:

[ID: four reaction images- one is an MSPaint doodle of a figure with big eyes looking up at you smiling, the second is a photograph of a dressed up monkey with its hand on its cheek, the third is a little girl crying with motion blur and heart emojis edited over, and the last an MSPaint doodle of a figure hunched over crying as heart emojis are edited over their tears. End ID]

#ramblings of a lunatic #asks #THANK YOU I really appreciate the kind words! I love drawing the little owl blorbos #and tho it's definitely not to the same extent as the last thing I made fanart for (a podcast #so literally the maximum amount of freedom #-when it came to designs lol) it's fun to think abt how to put my own spin on things. #I love pretty much all interpretations of toh characters in fanart that I see? #I personally make myself keep them as close to canon as I can (bc I just dislike the experience of getting lost in fanon/- #-disconnected from the source material) so I try to make all my decisions justified to myself. #so like #amitys hooked nose is based on her dad's #willows skin tone is something between both her dad's #(even tho I don't necessarily subscribe to the theory that they're both her bio dads?- #-but that's a whole can of worms that I don't actually have a strong opinion on.- #-i only subscribe to it in fanart bc I think it's fun is what I'm getting at - #-but it's not my actual interpretation of canon #if that makes sense) #and I give Luz curly hair cause in some of the pictures in reaching out- #-it looks like she had hair like that when she was younger? And so did Camilla? #I know hair texture can change w/ time but for now I HC her and Camilla just straighten it. But that doesn't mean I have to <3 #and then all of them get acne because they r teens and if i see another series that features teen characters and gives them no acne #i will scream! #(you can see this in my own ocs design. hits you with the cystic and hormonal acne beams) #all of this to say #thanks for appreciating and loving the personal touches i add to the toh characters! #i love canon but im not owned by disney and im allowed to flex my creative design muscles a bit more >:]

[unikhroma]

i got the idea to make a bingo thing for spamton fan designs after my friend showed me some bingos for other deltarune fan stuff :] basically i gathered a bunch of canon-divergent/not confirmed/otherwise notable* design aspects i've noticed in spamton fan art these past years and put them in. feel free to fill it out if you want!

addendum: this is mostly intended for your interpretation of spamton during or post ch2, which is why some things like "not even a puppet" are in there (it's p heavily implied that he wasn't a puppet at some point but is now)

*under the read more cause i'm trying to keep this section brief

filled out card + a lot of rambling below:

*obviously there's nothing wrong with being canon-divergent and putting your own spin/interpretation on a character, i draw spamton buff and with huge tits it's fine lol. i may have my opinions but it's whatever; i'm not an authority i'm just some guy. also i put in trans/gq in as a design thing since that often does factor into a person's presentation/looks

----

also here's my filled out card:

(i guess i should've put some images of him at first whoopsie)

----

did i rig it so i can win? technically yes but technically no

i wanted to arrange the card to have common traits that i saw together in bingo-winning lines, but i soon realized that it was impossible to get everything to fit together that way. especially with contradictory squares like tall and microscopic or puppet-exclusive features being in a line with the "not even a puppet" square

i couldn't fit in everything i thought of either. i actually wanted to have "100% canon compliant" on here cause i thought it would be fun. i think the people who stick really close to his canon design are just as interesting as everyone who does their own spin

idk i think this is all interesting! the deltarune fandom is unique in that everyone has to interpret character designs from a small size, so people almost Have to diverge from whatever may have been intended for a character, and that results in a lot of different interpretations. it's definitely helped me strengthen my own sense of character design as someone who used to be kind of a hardass about fan art accuracy

#my art and things #deltarune #spamton

[daedelweiss]

AHHHHHH!!! THE TRAILER IS SO GOOD!!!! I'VE ALREADY WATCHED SEVERAL TIMES!!!!

I can't wait to see this story unfold!

I have to ask, what was your favorite character to make a clothing design for? All of the designs look amazing, so I was wondering if you have a favorite.

i'm actually proud of all my designs and had a lot of fun figuring everything out! i wanted the designs to conform to canon and make it look like it can be in the show but i've also put my own spin and flare to it!

at some point, i'll make turnarounds of all the characters and detailed explanations of why i designed them like so but here's some bonus fun facts about the bros' design~

leo's design will always integrate all his brothers' colors. he's closest to canon because i want to keep the canon element of the show and not change too much.

raph's design is actually inspired from lou jitsu's fit! most especially the shoulder guards. just as a reflection on how much big mama wants him to be the next lou jitsu.

mikey's design is the one that lacks his color the most because his colors mimic draxum's armor and has his opposite color to show how much his authentic self is repressed. the only thing that represents him is his burnt orange sash around his waist.

donnie's outfit is designed to show as little of his turtle self as possible. when he has his mask on, the only thing that hints of his turtle self is the green on his gloves.

both raph and donnie's designs have M's all over it to signify how they are big mama's "property" and are treated as such.

#dae asks #rottmnt #life mission au #life mission rambles

[monstersandgirls-webtoons]

Was there anything you based your lore about angels and devils on, or did you come up with most of it?

Many of these characters are loosely based off of biblical lore I did while researching, and then put as much of my own spin as I can while still making it feel like it makes sense. I actually tried to use as little of Dante’s inferno as I could because it seems to be the more popular depiction of hell, and I wanted my own thing. Like the Succubi and Incubi, the only thing I kept accurate to the original lore (or the various interpretations that I read) is that they’re lustful demons and Lilith is viewed as their mother. But then the rest was my own thing.

I’d say my only other inspiration is Dorohedoro. More in terms of characters than the design itself. Specifically that I really love the approach of fucked up and scary monsters being… just dudes. They’re still terrible and torture people but like… they’re just guys ya know.

I’d say Luvart is my favorite example of this. She canonically kills and tortures demons, she’s full on killed angels and loves to make Powers day absolute hell. But at the same time… she’s kind of a dork? She gets jealous easily, she throws tantrums, she thinks of herself as the most beloved demon in all of hell, she has a love for armor and weapons, etc.

Not all demons are like this of course because I think it’s cheap to make every antagonistic character a goofy villain, but I like to make characters feel more fleshed out. Like these guys have a functioning society and a system, they ride trains and watch movies, some raise kids. It’s fun to humanize these type of characters, even fucked up and evil ones.

#ask

[carnation-damnation]

Here they are!! All my AU Shadow's!!

Some design info + small trivia bits under the cut:

Refraction of a Shadow:

Story takes place after Sonic Heroes but before SHTH 2005. Emerald and I go back and forth about how it's like Shadow The Hedgehog (2) in the sense that there's multiple endings but also like Sonic Adventure (3) where you'd follow different characters in overarching stories with different perspectives. It was, at first, a fun idea about what it'd be like if Terios (The prototype of Shadow during sa2's development) were to exist within Sonic canon. This rides off how Shadow NEVER joins GUN and as a result, they seek to create their own "Shadow" of sorts, as a basis for a robotic/organic army (Since Shadow never joined them, they view him as a potential threat, both politically in how they're responsible for the covered-up ARK deaths and shadow knows and physically, as the Ultimate Lifeform.) Shadow's design is close to how I'd draw him cemented into the Team Dark dynamic; he ditched the white gloves for fingerless black ones and wears red mascara. He's attempting to heal from his experiences and trauma, but this new threat is opening up old wounds.

Rumination in Saudade:

Oh this guy is just so fucked up

Sa2 but everything is so FUCKED amiRIGHT!! So uh. I'd imagine hurtling towards Earth and losing all your memories after this blue angel of a hedgehog tries to save you. That can kinda..fuck you up. Esp if you're a weird little alien thing. Like...Having to relearn how to be something, how to be personable, and mask (haha...autism) He doesn't remember how he was conditioned by Gerald and Black Doom to train and be the Ultimate Lifeform, and doesn't remember how he grew up with Maria, loving Earth and all the people in it. He doesn't have any of it. He's just a weird little freak of a guy. He's off-putting, doesn't know how to control his chaos energy and black arms DNA, and overall just...Trying his best to re-learn what it's like to be a person. No influences from anybody except himself and Sonic. His design elements are basically Sa2 But With Some Extra Bits. Thousand yard stare, singed from becoming a fucking meteorite, an extra eyeball, messed up little tail, 'n an awkward demeanor. So your average unmasked teenager

I Was a Teenage Werehog:

The anxiety and dread of not being able to remember anything but bits and pieces not your style? How about a werewolf au where I self-indulgently combine everything I love about werewolf stories and their tropes for shits and giggles? No please don't run awa-

Basically Unleashed..2. I was inspired by the zombot arc in the comics and was like "haha what if....werewolves" and it kinda went from there. Shadow is your typical Experiencing Werewolf Issues protagonist, except he's not patient zero. Like instead of the real werewolf protagonist dealing with the pain and turmoil of waking up in a mess of blood knowing that something horribly went wrong for some random joe on the street, you get to see what happened to that guy instead. Shadow keeps things to himself; he's the ultimate lifeform, nothing can hurt him! He fell out of space! He fought THE DEVIL !!! Sonic's fucked up werewolf virus will have no effect on him and his mobian/alien DNA <- Guy who is so wrong and incorrect. For design elements, I purposefully fuddled with his proportions to make them a bit less...?? Sonicy?? ig? To put everybody in clothes that didn't make my head spin in confusion. He's got the hot topic 'fit he's got the mascara he's got the RIPPED JEANS!! He's ready for a gritty 2000s teenage werewolf drama baby!!

anyway, thanks for reading this far! I like these guys they're cookin', these cats are swingin'

#shadow the hedgehog #sonic au #art from the den #artists on tumblr #sth #sonic the hedgehog #Refraction of a Shadow #Rumination em Saudade #I Was a Teenage Werehog

[bowties8glasses]

they hold each other during the night

commission for @theoneandonlyduskstrike's Nocturne being comfortably held by Luna

I LOVE DRAWING OTHER PEOPLE'S OC WITH THEIR FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS IT RULES (bonus doddle):

with this being dusk's third commission, I tried doing my warmup sketch of nocturne entirely by memory, there's some off details but dusk said I got her down pat, yay!

and then we get to Luna, now I could've made dusk hold a tiny silly bean Luna akin to how I drew ponies before (twiparkle :>) but yea no the idea was def to have something looking more like the character

I did a sketch of Luna that looked as close to the show design as I could make, one bit that I really got stuck on was the face, something was off and I couldn't figure out what

I kept touching up the snout think that was the problem but then realized, it was the eyes, I initially drew them like I would with any other snooty animal, when they should've taken nearly the entire face

it looks silly but the details are all there, and now with a better understanding of the design and the *MLP style as a whole), I can start putting my own spin on things

wanted to give a liiiiiitle bit of that nightmare moon vibe to the design, a little more cat-adjacent

now we get to the fun part!

after the first draft, I asked dusk for any ideas for how the two interact, they suggested Noct hugging from behind Luna's neck, but also said they like having Luna holding them, cause usually they are the one hugging her (they have a plushie)

ok so now the composition must involve a big Luna that hugs you, that is the only option given this information

I got a pose I was happy with quickly after, but redid it a few more times until I got a ideal size difference

once I had put the colors down, I realized my luna design wasn't that different from the canon model, so I made a alternative version with the extra dark spots removed

it also makes the remaining dark spot on the cutie mark darker since I don't have to worry about the lineart detail getting lost

dusk liked the extra spots more though so that became the one used at the top

#commission art #bowties art #other people's ocs #once again I'd rather not tag the character/franchise #kritaart

[canonically-a-genloser]

Please explain all the genloss characters to me

All I know is the stuff from the live I haven’t kept up with anything else

oh boy you're gonna have a TIME reading this one brother i'm gonna spend hours typing out the insane stuff the randy collective has come up with

okay so the insaneification of genloss started with sneeg. FANON IS WRONG ABOUT HIM HE IS WRONG IN EVERY FIC THE MASSES DO NOT UNDERSTAND HIM . so basically to be true to the canon sneeg mutual started actually talking about the trauma he would have and how genuinely fucked up he would be and that's how the randy collective started. anyways i touched on the whole being raised by showfall thing which ties into kids theory. charlie and sneeg would have been so so so codependent and toxic and they love each other and they're all over each other like animals but they'll also fight to the fucking death because showfall can just revive them. (there's a creature au as well that is very cool but i'll talk about that later if i remember.) frank was sneeg's boyfriend and he got permakilled for it and i will come back to this (but also. side note. yellow is frank's color. that's the color of the number code ran chose to put into the computer. maybe this doesn't mean anything but i think the yellow connecting to frank and the fact that he was dead was foreshadowing but take that as you will. moving on)

generation loss charlie. everyone talks about him. everyone loves charlie. they don't care about sneeg. charlie knows this and he will use it against sneeg any way he can. he's the favourite and he flaunts that at sneeg and knows showfall would kill sneeg if he said the word. at the same time sneeg knows this and he would be so fucking jealous of that. he would kill charlie for it. he'd regret it but that wouldn't stop him. it's the cain and abel symbolism and it could be explained so much better but i really really love this point so i had to mention it.

another thing about charlie being the favorite. charlie genuinely doesn't have anyone without sneeg. so when frank comes along and starts talking to sneeg and basically taking his brother away from him he gets jealous of that. there's multiple endings to this one but it was an interesting point.

last thing about charlie for now the charlie mutual made headcanons for transfem/transmasc charlie separately and they are so cool. i can't remember who had the idea of aroace charlie but we love that too. we spin him in the washing machine

i have my own version of ran as well. in all my post escape aus they use hearing aids and prosthetic eyes from where the box messed up their face. (SHOWFALL EMPLOYEE AUS GO SO FUCKING HARD WITH THIS ONE. TO ME. i literally cannot forget to talk about this later.) but yeah that's my basic design idea and the headcanons for this guy are crazy. one of my favorites is the one that sneeg and charlie were literally on top of each other all the time being brothers so ranboo adopted that kind of show of affection post escape. they're fucked up brothers your honor

hETCH IS NOT THE VILLAIN. HE IS A VICTIM TOO. the popular headcanon is that he's also gay for the founder and sometimes we like to think about how it would be funny if the founder were gay for him too but honestly hetch is most likely just their emotional support wet cat. but yeah charlie mutual started making headcanons about charlie and hetch being blood brothers and i was never able to erase that from my memory /vvpos . i love thinking about that dynamic too for so so many reasons. hetch staying with charlie and sneeg and basically raising them and there's just so much in there that i can't even get into yet because i haven't explained the employees BUT I WILL I PROMISE

niki is such a fucking fun one to think about too. i don't have much on her because she's actually characterized decently well from what i've seen but @/white-collar-cannibal has an au where she cuts off her hair and just. the butch niki headcanons. it's such a cool concept. because we've discussed her too and as popular hcs go niki was brought in as a teenager. i think we said 14-15 (but don't quote me on that i could be wrong). but the basic idea is showfall made her be pretty and she wants to be like sneeg. she wants to fight and be able to stomach stuff like all the gruesome stuff showfall fed sneeg and charlie as kids and ough. it's just so cool to think about i love her character

I'M GONNA REBLOG WITH STUFF ABOUT THE OC SHOWFALL EMPLOYEES (AND ANYTHING ELSE MAJOR I MISSED SO FAR) BUT I'VE BEEN TYPING FOR SO LONG AND THIS PROBABLY MAKES ZERO SENSE THE WAY I WORDED HALF OF THIS SO .

EDIT: tumblr notifs ate it but @/white-collar-cannibal actually came up with the transfem charlie hcs! my bad on that one i don't remember who does what sometimes!!

#toad <3 #im so normal i swear

[aerypear]

Hi hello? I heard you were the resident expert on Ratatosk :>

Any ideas/hcs on how he'd look in his true form squirrel coughhh anyway I am back to the DotNW fandom after 10 years and taking a swing at a fan design.

Your art is very beautiful 💜

Welcome to the Ginnungagap, how may I take your order? /lh

Your art is very beautiful 💜

Thankyou!

Any ideas/hcs on how he'd look in his true form squirrel coughhh anyway I am back to the DotNW fandom after 10 years and taking a swing at a fan design.

In the course of typing this out, this got very long, so it's under a read more for other's Dashboards sanity

I've drawn various versions in the past... oh god I'm old, this game needs to stop aging- 15 years. Imagined him in all sorts of ways. My favorite is personally the squirrel design another Artist made (I unfortunately don't have their username and nothing comes back when I reverse image search it so someone feel free to supplement that info if they know)

But we do know that on some level of Canon (Thanks to the manga), Ratatosk has a humanoid figure with a physique similar to Regal and Origin.

Isn't he sexy? /jk 🤣🤣

We also know, thanks to the manga, that the Sword Emil uses is not the same style blade Ratatosk is demonstrated as owning in the comics.

(Png Rendering I made ages ago for Cosplay referencing) Which leads to reason that Emil and Ratatosk developed a new fighting style over the course of the story and the only hints that the style Ratatosk knew are in Ain Soph Aur.

Emil likes to use the sword like an extra long fencing style sword, where Ratatosk winds up for the Ain Soph Aur attack like he's wielding a Back Handed Blade aka Reverse Grip sword. (which is just a sword with the grip handle that allows for it to be held backwards. You can see this technique in many Rogue type characters, and even in Naruto when they hold their knives backwards along their forearm) **Note that you can use backhanded blades forward like normal blades**

Richter mentioned (more like aqua but who's paying attention) that Ratatosk was very strong in whatever fighting technique he knew and that he had been injured going toe to toe with Ratatosk. And Before I go into my dissertation that Ratatosk would be an AMAZING volleyball player, I'll move on. >u>

Fortunately you won't have to labor too hard into imagining what Humanoid Summon Spirits look like as the First game gave us plenty of source material to work with.

As you'll see across the spread is that, except for Maxwell, Clothing is optional. Origin put on Boots and called it FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH. I also think it's interesting that Origin and Ratatosk have very similar looking blades.

Finally, I must Add that on the Centurions themselves (and I mean aqua and Tenebrae) you can See elements of their core on them. Color scheme, Markings bearing similar strokes etc. We also know that On Undine, Celsius, and Luna that they do have physical Markings.

We also Know what Tree Spirits look like thanks to Tales of Phantasia Narikiri dungeon.

Featuring Ratatosk's "Daughter" Norn. (She's made from the cuttings of his Tree)

So if you wanted to run off with a completely unique Idea, Here's a bunch of info that uses Canon source materials to help you along.

As for my Head canons... Cutie with red eyes, either Red or Raven Hair (but I like to draw him with white because that's fun too). Outfits I like to do a spin off of his Knight of Ratatosk attire that only the Darkness knows because I get the Sense Tenebrae fashioned it after something Ratatosk was comfortable wearing. Something that isn't super rough around the edges because Ratatosk's dissention into a harsh personality set was triggered by the death of his tree. Mithos (in Tales of the Rays) recalled him being a very Kind Summon Spirit, Seeing a lot of who Emil is in what he recalled of Ratatosk, but still sees that Kindness in Ratatosk. (That Ratty pants totally swears he doesn't have. And Nothing gets me more than Ratatosk having enough character growth to accept what happened and forgive his old Friend for what transpired. 😭I was expecting a hoe down drag out brawl and they gave me FEELS.)

I found One of the pieces where I based him more so off Norn's design elements. Old piece is old, made back in 2019. But I'm not seeing the other versions. I'll have to see if they are stored elsewhere.

#tales of symphonia dawn of the new world #tales of symphonia dawn #dotnw #ratatosk #emil castagnier #summon spirits #I cracked open my files like an ancient tomb of treasures which is only useful for art that isn't mine apparently #finding my own shit is like weeding through a sea of “1 2 3 4” “kajsdlfkjas” and “NameThatMeansNothingToAnyoneIncludingTheArist” #but also OMGAW blorbos #contains my art #but also contains not my art #the pear draws #tentative tag

[friendlyengie]

What were your design inspirations for the fem mercs?

A lot of their outfits at least are directly inspired by the concept art for female mercs that never made it into the game! Medic and Spy’s uniforms are almost direct pulls from said concept art

I also tried to keep spy’s resemblance to her counterpart by basing her hairstyle off of the most widely accepted fanon hairstyle for canon spy.

Part of my inspiration was also just spite! I really don’t like the older trend of hourglass-shaped 20-year-old-looking fem mercs, and wanted to put my own spin on the idea. And I wanted to make them separate characters so that I didn’t have to think about all arbitrary questions that come with making a fem version, mainly “why would I change anything about them.” If I was just “making the tf2 mercs women” Id slap she/her on them and be done with it. Making them their own characters gives me more creative freedom and is just more fun :)

#asks #fem fortress but they’re separate characters from their canon merc counterparts #Ottos fem fortress

[partyinthemysterymachine]

(design ask anon) Thanks for answering. It was cool to learn but I'm kind of confused now if they're so different why not make them original characters? I read a bit of your fic and it seems like its that way there too. What makes them be Harry and James if they're so different now? Sorry if it's blunt questions and thanks again. Hope you have a good day

chinhands.

anon. come here. come here come goooood and close and let me put my arm around you.

now, a lot of people might not like hearing this!! but i’m gonna letcha in on something, something that is the honest truth:

the moment that someone in fandom touches a character that isn’t theirs to do something with them - such as write a fanfic, draw some silly comics - they automatically become something of an original character.

you know why?

because the character isn’t theirs.

every single fanartist who has at all gone off the beaten track on character design, has ever made canonical story tweaks, made them trans, made them a different sexuality from canon, aged up or aged down, given different costumes, portrayed them with disorders not explicitly stated in canon, switched race, etc, has created an original character with origin elements in canon character.

every single fanfic author who has at all gone off the beaten track on character design, has ever made canonical story tweaks, made them trans, made them a different sexuality from canon, aged up or aged down, given different costumes, portrayed them with disorders not explicitly stated in canon, switched race, etc, has created an original character with origin elements in canon character.

and so what if they are?

[heather voice] so. what?

none of us own the rights to silent hill. none of us were there when the concept and game and stories were created. this is fan work. we create fan creations. we put our own spin on it! that’s why headcanons are called headcanons.

our fan versions of characters are automatically an AU. they are automatically original characters with elements of, and roots in [insert fandom here] because we literally cannot create anything 100% canon.

it’s impossible. you cannot create anything 100% canon because you do not own the character or the franchise, and thus you cannot safely say that they would say, do, or wear that, interact with x y z that way, go there first, do that last, react to that event that way, think that way, etc - and call it 100% canon.

what i’ve created is Harry Mason and James Sunderland. i have in the past often called them “my” Harry and James as distinguishers, and i know others in fandom do this with their own iterations as well.

and they are still Harry Mason and James Sunderland.

so i’ll be brave!! and i’ll thump my chest and i’ll say it loud and proud!!!!:

Harry Mason James Sunderland, Heather Mason, Douglas Cartland, and all others within GOOMT and all AUs besides are all my original characters with core elements and inspiration based in Konami Entertainment’s Silent Hill franchise.

and so is everyone else’s.

and good for them. :)

just try to have fun in fandom! because otherwise you’re gonna feel stifled, discourage other people from having fun and being creative, or even yourself! whether or not someone acknowledges canon, “acknowledges” that they made an original character with elements, goes far off the beaten path of what anyone feels is “acceptable” to still make that character “that character”, etc — not your business.

it literally does not matter.

are you enjoying the content?? yes? GREAT! stick around we got coffee and cookies and a whole bunch of fun activities planned!! are you not enjoying it? no? well thanks for stopping by, you have my card, take a water for your travels but don’t loiter.

the canon hasn’t left. i am not demanding anyone call my ideas canon. i’m not expecting anyone to find it gospel. i don’t want that anyway. if you don’t like it it’s fine; the canon is still there.

it’s okay.

at the very, very core of it all, it’s best and wise to remember:

who cares.

#ches writes #goomt

[ixtaek]

I know I’ll probably get killed for this but I have a theory why LU is the most popular Link Meet AU.

First off, if an AU is drawn instead of written, it’s going to be more popular, because strong visuals give people more stuff to latch onto. Especially if the art is really cool, colored, and distinctive. Each Link in LU has a distinctive design that makes them visually easy to tell apart and a unique skill-set they bring to the table. I know some folks don’t like that Wind and Four are composites of multiple games which are spread over several canonical centuries, but part of why it works is because the games they encompass have very similar looking Links (I’m sorry Spirit sweetie). Every character wears something that naturally exists in their game, but is visually distinct as “them”. Even Four, who looks the most different from his in-game sprites, is still modeled after the stained glass window from Minish Cap. An outsider to Link Meet AUs but a knowledge of Zelda games (like myself) can easily walk into the AU and say “oh ok that’s the Link from Twilight Princess and that’s the one from Skyward Sword” pretty much at a glance.

But there are lots of really cool well drawn distinctive Link Meet AUs out there, so why is this one doing numbers? I think it’s also because there’s very little extra headcanon attached to the LU boys in the comic itself. Everything about them is pretty closely tailored to their games, from appearance to skills to personalities. The only completely canon relationship in LU iirc is Malon and Time are married and Sky and Sun are dating. Most AUs I see add in some of the artists own flair or ships or identities into the Links, which is great, but it can create a more limited sandbox for others to play in. Like if an AU has RavioLi as canon or it’s definite that Link and his Zelda are related, then people who ship ZeLink can’t put their own spin on things. If you’re adding a gender identity or disability or something to your AU, then people feel uncomfortable trying to change that in fanworks, and may not engage as much because of it. And especially if you have like, a big extra non-game mechanic going on that runs how the Links are meeting that people may be intimidated by. Fandom lives in the ability to adapt and project a little. The more you make “canon” to your AU, the fewer wild ideas people will run off with linked to it.

Another reason, and I say this with all the love in my heart, is that because LU has become so intrinsically linked with the hero titles (ie the game names), some people wanna differentiate by giving their Links different names than Time/Twilight/Wind/etc. Which is totally fine and honestly really fun, but it’s not as immediately identifiable for some as the game names, which can be a barrier. And sure, if you know the lore well enough some are obvious—the one with pink hair is the one from ALttP, the one with a fairy name is probably the OG Link, the one with any sort of body of water referenced is probably Wind Waker—sometimes there are overlaps. Like OoT Link and OG Link could both be called fairy boy. Wind Waker and Link’s Awakening could both be island names. This isn’t insurmountable, but it’s a barrier that LU doesn’t really have.

This ain’t to say other Link Meets AUs aren’t great, cuz they are! I follow a few of them and enjoy them immensely, and several get a lot of engagement! This is just my theory as to why LU has become kinda the Ur example of the Link Meet AU, and why the fandom is so big compared to other options.

I’m not tagging this because I honestly don’t want to discourse. I just want to ramble.

[yogoodfella]

ARC-V Month Day 9: Light Across the Aether (belated)

@arcvmonth

Finally found something I could find as my favourite part of ARC-V. And I've got just the thing, I think...

The Maiami Championship Crescendo

Yeah, that's appropriate enough of a title. The start of the Maiami Championship really was the start of a series of banger after banger, with Duels and resolves being greater with each encounter, for a great first 2 days of the Championship. And it all starts off with...

Ayu vs Reira

Not the Duel you'd expect. You technically would start it off with Futoshi vs that Superhero Kid, but it hardly got any coverage. But Ayu was featured in the first full Duel of the Maiami Championship. And it's a good showing by both contestants. Ayu gets to be cute and fun, showing her Deck off and how her own Entertainment Duel spin with Aquaactresses, and how she takes care of the Monsters, rides them around for Action Cards, and is overall completely unbothered by Reira's moves at first, as long as they can make a Duel more fun (the copied Guppy). She's like... THE kid on the playground just having fun as best as she can, complete with basic mistakes.

But then it all takes a bleak and mysterious turn when Reira actually goes full throttle. I actually don't have too much to say on their part, considering it's an intro, essentially, and leaves more questions than answers at that point.

Yuzu vs Masumi

Peak Yuzu right here, folks. Peak Yuzu.

It's the culmination of the pinkette's character arc of a thing that her rivalry with Masumi, and coincidentally her role in the story is focused on.

Luster in Yuzu's eyes. Or rather, brilliance, which is synonymous to clarity.

By a clear lack of clarity Yuzu got into the situation that pushed her so low in the first place, being utterly confised by everything, starting from her "best friend". And it's... Symbolic that Yuzu still hadn't gotten that clarity until this point (leading to the basic mistake of putting Schuberta, a Fusion, in her main Deck.) But she truly wanted to get in there and know, and grow stronger to protecr her friends.

This match is the test for Yuzu, and admittedly its only fault is that Masumi could have played her hands better. Even that, though, is mostly justified. Rather, the Master Diamond with no effects is, as there was almost no way that Yuzu would get over that had she not learned Fusion (because Melodious sucked so badly they couldn't naturally get over a 3000 ATK beatstick seriously, in the anime using the whole hand for Mozarta and Canon was the BEST they could do).

Yuzu learning Fusion to BEAT Fusion really was a clear focus she had during her training, and the new Monster themselves showed. Soprano was designed for Fusion, Schuberta was very much anti-fusion (although that made her suck quite badly overall) and we have... This lovely angel.

Already did a mini-thesis on Bloom Diva so I feel I shouldn't really elaborate further... Except for one point I admittedly missed and COULD be an interesting parallel.

Yuzu definitely gained that luster, that clarity that she was lacking. And the Melodious Deck... Also seemed to have finally gotten clarity with the connection of the flower theme Yuzu would be later associated with. As for Yuzu this was the start of herself as an established Duelist with a clear goal, and the Melodious theme would be clear, ever spanning into the flower theme that was integral to the Bracelet.

I reckon people here would be on board with me with this, but if I showed this to Konami execs they'd laugh at me and kick me out.

Anyway, the Duel ended on the best Action Yuzu ever did, of fully trusting her Monster to catch her... Just to DENY an Action Card from Masumi, and bringing herself the win. This whole sequence (plus another thing) really brought me to form up my fanfic, and was just the peak of Yuzu's character. (At the cost of my cynical self taking over I have to be sincere. It sucks that Yuzu's peak was 1/5th into the whole show, despite her supposed importance. This wasn't supposed to be her peak.)

This monent also led to a new wonderful rivalry (that got cut shortly after because boy someone hated Masumi and Go Zappa left). (Also Lustershipping FTW. Day 7 entry. Don't care.)

Gongenzaka vs Ankokuji

Lordy I rambled on with that one. Just can't help it sometimes.

Admittedly, this one could be considered a step back, since the focus here is on this moment and day rather than an arc, though it has some history behind it that's somewhat tied to the whole Strong Ishijima fiasco as well as Yuya and Gongenzaka's friendship.

Whether this is better than Yuzu's Duel or not I feel is personal here. I have a much stronger connection towards Yuzu, of course, so I vastly prefer that one, but Gongenzaka's also solid for me, and that was a Duel that showed his own self pretty well: steadfast, sturdy, serious, and a loysl friend to Yuya, who he trusts dearly. Really, all you need to know from the guy.

Even in Ankokuji's side, it's quite a represented story of betrayal that gets ultimately nullified by the deep trust that pays off as Yuya gave the sacred sash back to Gongenzaka. An overall strong showing here.

Yuya vs Sawatari

That's what I meant by a Crescendo, because each Duel in these first two days is better than the last, with one exception that can be excused because the Prelude also tends to be strong.

A Duel that finally made Sawatari enter the map as more than a joke. While there were MANY tests done for Yuya's Pendulum and how Yuya became unique because of it, and that uniqueness is getting taken away by the minute... But this has to be the best one out of them. The Yosenjus make such a good contrast to Pendulum, being a repeatable, multiple Summon from Hand. And then... The reveal that they ALSO have Pendulums! And THEN how Sawatari skillfully managed his Pendulum Summons and Normal Summons to make sure his boss stays on the Field! This duel is a Crescendo of his own.

In Yuya's case... That also made him step up. Pendulum isn't unique to him anymore? He'll focus on what he's best at. Action Cards, by going for riskier and riskier acts for the audience, and playing games with the opponent with awkwardly specific cards such as the one that removes the Monsters' names if it leaves the Field. Yet again, another rivalry established not in bitterness.

Also Sawatari just playing the flute with a cheap costume is magical.

Shun vs Sora

There's not much I can say here that hasn't been said already. This is THE Duel that drew people in the fandom, and for many good reasons:

Strong overall back and forth in terms of skill between the two Duelists

Excellent subversion with the Duelists' placements on the splash screen, then their alignments

Constant rise in tension, each nove being more destructive than the last

Sora's meme faces

Shun's Rank-ups reaching a new high in power and destruction

Last but not least, the fact that it's the one Duel that unveils the Interdimensional War and makes you say: "OH, IT'S ON!" Yet, they don't reveal everything about it. It's yet again another mystery that the main characters have to solve. Heck, they couldn't know that it was between Dimensions yet. Yuzu and co. Would only know two days later.

In general, this whole batch of episodes really drew me in to the main plot in general, and I just went in because of musical fairies.

#yugioh arc v #arc v #arcvmonth2023 #arcvmonth #yugioh

[webbedphantom]

BEAT TACTICA!!

Took way longer than I expected, but that's probably because I'm an idiot and decided to do every quest-

Anyways, full spoiler breakdown below the thing

Okay, so I called a lot of the twists for the third kingdom ahead of time. Like the second I saw Eri, I was like "She's gonna die," and when they kept covering up the ruler's name in static, I was like "It's Toshiro's shadow"

But like even though I kinda called it, those moments still hit me hard. Like I didn't think the creepy principal would push her in front of a train, or that she'd survive only to have her spirit broken.

And while I kinda saw the God thing coming too, I didn't think the Shadow was a fake created by him, or that Erina would turn out to be TOSHIRO'S PERSONA LIKE WHAT???

(Though that does mean that my whole concept of Arsène becoming his own person is now substantiated in canon, so that's neat)

Also the Velvet Room becomes a Train because shut up it's cool

The final kingdom was a bit of a slog, though probably because I'd been marathoning the entire game for several hours with no sleep, but still doing a boss rush, broken up by lengthy combat arenas is like... like the most padding that has ever padding'd.

Still I did it, beat all those refights, and even did the bonus quests to unlock everyone's ultimate skill which was SUPER NOT WORTH IT FOR EVERYONE BESIDES JOKER AND TOSHIRO BECAUSE LITERALLY ALL OF THEIR GUNS DO MORE DAMAGE

(And I'm pretty sure Joker would've been in the same boat if I grinded to get his best weapon)

Granted, that's my fault for not putting points into the amplifiers, and spending a lot of time fiddling with Personas to get the best weapons possible, but still like c'mon! Why would you ever want to spend like 75 SP for a big blast when I could just use my gun and do like 10-15 more damage??

Granted, the AOE on those attacks came in handy sometimes, but because by the time I unlocked them for everyone (because yes you still have to put points in for them after doing the quests), I was at the final boss, so there weren't a lot of enemies to blow up

Final boss was a good time though! Had some fun gimmicks, a cool design, actually made me think for a bit, didn't last too long, had great music, all the good stuff you'd want from a final boss. Certainly better than Midnight Suns final boss, I'll tell you that much-

AND THAT ENDING FINISHER HOLY SHOCK

I thought Strikers had a good ending with them doing an All Out Attack on the final boss, but this-!! OH MAN, this a whole other level of cool

Literally an entire shonen anime fight scene to cap the whole thing off, everyone gets a moment to shine, Joker uses his grappling hook in some very Spidey-esk maneuvers, Erina has a Super Saiyan moment, turning into her Persona form to blast away some gears, it is EVERYTHING I could've ever wanted.

The ending was really sweet too. I had a feeling Erina wouldn't be coming into reality, as much as I wanted her to, but they had a touching good bye, Toshiro exposes his father's crimes and breaks it off with his "fiance" on live TV, the team has a cute scene in Leblanc, and then after the credits-

ERI SHOWS UP

We don't get to see much of her sadly, nor much of their reunion, but it still really tugged at my heart strings, as all Persona games are apparently required by law to do now.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Tactica. Is it worth $60? Honestly not sure. It's definitely short for an RPG, but there's definitely some extra content to keep you coming back. I'm looking forward to replaying the game on hard whenever I eventually save up enough to get my own copy (gotta play that DLC at some point)

So, while I do recommend it, especially if you're into Tactics games, maybe try to get it on a sale if you're planning to get the DLC. $60 was already pushing it, but $80?? Yeah, no thanks-

Strikers is still my favorite spin off though. Doesn't even come close.

PLAY STRIKERS I SWEAR TO GOD

#ooc - out of costume; #p5 tactica spoilers #persona 5 tactica spoilers #p5t spoilers #anyways ima go to bed now- #again four hours of sleep #I'm amazed I stayed up this long

[saradrewitt]

The Six Demons of Elsewhere

LUX "SON OF MIDNIGHT"

Fun facts and just little things I thought of when I began writing for IMIE (Copy and pasted from the IMIE Docs)

I think, for those who know, that I have a lot more ideas, concepts, and writings for my favorite demon Lux. I just think he’s really neat and just a character that I enjoy using for my own religious crises when I get them. Lux is definitely a character that relates to a level of family dilemmas I go through, obviously his experiences are dramatized in the name of his own character design but as a youngest member, still struggling with familial acceptance and expectation, he’s just the best in my opinion. The man got his own spin off comic so I don’t know if that says anything about his character.

For those who don't know he was based off of one of the characters in the Killer in the Mirror music video by Set It Off, and since there was not that much to go off of from the source material I put it upon myself to add him in IMIE for throwback purposes.

This is the guy from the music video btw

In the music video it gave me a mob/cult-like aura to it which was perfect for the plot of IMIE given all the other music videos I wanted to connect together into the story. Even when I went back to writing the official outline for IMIE he and a few other characters like Con and Azah were there for easter eggs. In development, Midnight was the only era that had a good chunk of lore and I needed characters that would give Cody, Zach, and Maxx a hard time in pursuit of freedom.

Some parts of his character now are from ideals I grew up with and just rejected because of my own religious dilemmas in life. Now he’s not a vessel in that nature, he’s just a guy just trying to undo the stupid shit he’s done while trying to get back any form or normalcy in his life. The man literally pitches a cult-like group to collect souls for Nox because that’s the only thing he’s familiar with like c’mon tell me that isn’t religious trauma. On top of that, he definitely was written for me to just also consider other forms of acceptance that aren't from negative people/experiences. I’m not going to lie I'm very proud of this character in terms of writing because I always loved designing characters that fight for what they used to have, only to accept inevitable realities (hence why now it’s important for Lux’s sake that Chlorine is canon in IMIE). Anyway Enjoy!

His official Elsewhere title is Midnight, the people of Elsewhere often call him the “Midnight Demon” or the “Water Demon”

Lux likes polaroid cameras and photography. Having a secret collection of rock magazines and posters of rock starts at shows under his bed.

The only thing he got away with wearing in his childhood was all black, he only owned two band shirts but they were Christian bands but suddenly lost them (no he didn’t he threw them out).

Complete animal lover (animal planet binge watcher). He had a Crocodile Hunter phase. 

In Chlorine he cannot stand the neighborhood kids that bother him. He will literally throw hands he dosen’t care, what are you going to do call the police on a dead guy?

Lux secretly owned a dog in an abandoned house in the woods, brought him food, toys, and a doggie bed for him (he named him Wishbone from the show). One day Lux could not find him until he saw him being held by a kid (tail wagging) as they exited a dog shelter. Lux came home happier than normal that day.

He wears eyeliner (prefers pencil) when he isn’t around family (wears it more often now as a demon).

Nearly almost drowned three separate times as a young child. Lux has aquaphobia with a mild tolerance of the ocean (thalassophobia). He cannot get behind swimming and only knows basic swimming methods for survival purposes. Do not expect him to go swimming or invite him to events involving swimming, pools, or large bodies of water. The only place he is fine with staying are the pools located in the abandoned school in Linoleum City.

Suffered from familial and religious abuse. Lived in a VERY religious household.

Lux is definitely left handed. Speaking of left handed, before he became a demon Lux had scars and joint problems from constant blows to it from rulers, belts, and even hardcover books. “The hand of the devil '' his mother would refer. Now those scars and pain have since vanished after his death.

He was neglected throughout most of his childhood, wasn’t a planned child and therefore gets shamed for it most of the time. He even was named after a random relative, who tf knows if it’s from his mother or father’s side he just knows that it was a family member no one talks about. His parents didn’t really care, a name is a name they already used up their planned ones.

Was forced to hide most of the secrets his family church were hiding, some of them involving stealing and laundering money from the church.

Mother encouraged his music interest as long it was for the benefit of his family and the church (absolutely despised his love for metal and rock, said that he would go to hell if he followed that dark and satanic path). Also scared him when it came to the rapture. Just doing her motherly duties by subjecting a 5 year old into a constant state of paranoia.

Father tried to teach him how to swim but grew frustrated with Lux and almost nearly drowned him, he tried to get his brothers to teach him but kind of the same thing almost happened. The first time he almost drowned was because a bunch of church bullies. They tried to push him into a river.

In elementary school he would get bullied, because he was the smallest and the loudest kid in class “my dad says you’re dad is going to hell!”. You would think his older brothers would be there to protect him willingly? No if their father ever found out that Lux got his ass beat and they didn’t do shit its ass kicking for all of them and then 2 weeks of church duties. 

Middle school he calmed down until he got into the rock and metal scene and it all started from his music teacher, Mr. Johnson (best fucking teacher in the world). 

He’s gotten bullied for getting dropped off to school then putting his mother’s eyeliners in his eyes to appear more grungy. A lot of new words were thrown at him since then. His parents were called one day because he showed up to school and spent an hour changing into his “true form” which was a rock band shirt he stole, some spiked bracelets, fake piercings, jeans and combat boots. His mother spend the entire weekend praying for her son’s soul. While his father beat the shit outta him in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.

In high school all of that increased until he graduated. Most of his stubbornness was helped by Mrs. Johnson the school nurse (and yes Mr. Johnson’s wife). She was like a second mother to him at that point and he grew very protective of her because she was a veteran rocker in her younger years. She also was there when Lux’s parents died just before his graduation.

After high school he cut contact with his brothers (they moved and left town) and remianed alone since, leaving behind the only two people he cared for and working a shitty office job. 

He wants out of Elsewhere so bad it’s like living with your parents. He admittedly missed Elsewhere when it was his era, when he was the top dog, but now it’s mainly because Lux is a punk at heart and current Elsewhere is just overstimulated eyestrain.  

If there was anything he fought for before and during the events of Chlorine, it was Cult Linoleum. The one thing that he gave up his life for was purpose and power, so when Nox handed Red’s duties to him he was just living off that high. 

He loved the siblings of the cult coming to him for “acceptance” and seeing the beauty in the night. Offering false guidance and relishing in worshiping the night (this was just something he wanted to further develop until Con came to interfere on Nox’s behalf).

 In the aftermath of Chlorine we find out that in desperation, Lux “borrows” Con’s ideas for a....church?

Lux practically overpopulated the souls he produced for Nox to the point where a bunch of souls were just crowded in a Nowhere to snack on, but after some disappearing members and sketchy excuses, those numbers went down which is why Nox is really frustrated with him in the beginning of IMIE. Hence the events when Cody, Zach, and Maxx joined. 

There was no telling what caused Lux to fail, it might have been growing suspicion, it could have been his own sloppy organization, or it could be someone who changed his motives... either way, he is getting back to earth no matter what…

#fan comic #imie #chlorine #chlorine spin it off comic #chlorine comic #it’s midnight in elsewhere #it’s midnight in elsewhere comic #sara jackalope’s art #sara drewitt’s art

[fountainpenguin]

Hey, just wanted to say I enjoy your fics! Any tips on how to do a good job portraying characters in a way that feels authentic but also unique to you? :)

Thanks for the message! <3

Not bashing will always be my top suggestion. Every character is someone's favorite character, every episode is someone's favorite episode, every line of dialogue or aspect of a character design is someone's favorite part of them.

Yes, even that "universally hated episode" or that one with "the character 'absolutely everyone' wants to vote first off the island." I remember in my younger years it was difficult to find content for my favorite characters, and what little content there was frequently involved bashing the character (Ex: Other characters mocking or bullying them), killing them, etc. and it was really sad because I just wanted someone to see the beauty in that character that I did. I still feel this way with many of my favorite characters and episodes, wheeze.

I'm not saying you can't dislike characters or episodes. You can dislike them, you can blog about disliking them, etc., I'm just suggesting you try not to let your dislike for them show (mostly if they're just a regular person, and not an actually despicable person).

Treat your story like it's going to be read by fans who love that character. Write for yourself, write something for the person who thinks the character is baby, and write something for the person who likes to pick at the character's flaws. Show a range of the character's emotions.

Taking time to discover your writing style is also a good start (and style can vary between projects, of course). I write almost all my stuff in a longform magical realism style where anything that could be considered canon is considered canon. The definition of what that means to me might vary in projects (for example, in the way that I portray cartoon physics), but I think understanding your style can play a big part in how you portray characters.

Some styles might be heavily introspective. Some may be very descriptive. Others might be snappy and witty, and others may be fast-paced and full of action. Mine tends to go light on describing scenery and heavier on dialogue and body language, and the overall feel I go for is "something to cuddle up for and read for a long time, hopefully feeling very connected to the characters in the process, and ideally feeling their emotions too."

There's also something to be said for the style that is "The thing I am writing is blatantly an AU but it's obvious I have a very good understanding of the source material and its quirky, goofy moments even though the thing I'm writing is much different (and darker)." There's a 'fic I might talk about at a later date that's a good example of this, though I don't want to link it in this post because the content can be triggering, so I'll probably find a different time to bring it up.

It can be fun to use different styles for different character ages as well. My OC Cavatina is a pretty good example for this, and while I don't want to show any previews of his story stuff, he definitely goes from being "sharp, observant kid with a positive outlook on life" and swivels to "cold, calculating guy with a negative outlook on life." Hate that for him :(

Put your own spin on characters and lore. Embrace your headcanons and silly ideas full-heartedly, but when you're writing a character, trying writing them with the passion of someone who loves them. Take the time to research them and find things to like about them. Once you become familiar with a character and how they fit in your writing style and story dynamic, they'll feel more natural to you.

If you're new to the character, you might feel like you're not doing it right, and that can be a struggle but it just might take more time and practice to place them in a scene that suits them well.

You can also try rewriting existing scenes from their book or show in your own style to get a feel for their dialogue and body language. I always recommend writing a cooking scene for practice. Cooking scenes have a natural beginning, middle, and end (obtain ingredients, use them, receive food) and having two characters in a small space trying to collaborate is a great way to bring two personalities that might conflict (or might flourish) into an everyday low-stakes scene. It's a good way to figure out who's a pain to work with, who has terrible habits, who has the system down, whose house is it, etc.

Chances are, people who dislike your character portrayal or ship are going to dislike it regardless of what you do with it, so go all out and make it self-indulgent for you and the people who want that content! Write for the audience you dream of having rather than writing for one you'll never be able to win over.

And just, y'know... enjoy the way that you do things, let other people enjoy the way that they do things, enjoy each other's things and be respectful :) You might be someone who loves to stick close to canon or someone who just use some parts of canon as a baseline and spins it in your own way, and both of those things are okay.

Just don't get upset with anyone who follows canon if you don't, or with those who want to do AUs and OCs and headcanons you don't like, etc. Fall in love with the way that you do things and be kind to others. That's a good way to be authentic I think.

Hope that helps :)

#writers on Tumblr #writing advice #fanfic advice #asks #Anon #ridwriting #Long post #Nice words #Sorry for leaving this in my drafts so long oops