Zombieman And Child Emperor From One Punch Man... I Love These Guys So Much TwT Finally, After All This

My fanarts of Mina from Genso Suikoden through the years!

Top sketch is from 2017, second to the left is from 2013 and it was meant to imitate the last one, which early teenager me drew... in 1998! It’s one of my oldest drawings that I’ve managed to keep, ha ha! 

I like showing people my old art, in special to fellow artists, because we all have days when we feel like no matter how much we try, others are just more talented, others can draw faster and better... in special now that social media is so prominent and “we consume more images per lifetime, per day, and even per minute than any culture before us.” so it often feels like we can’t provide quickly enough and like the public won’t appreciate how much time and effort we put on our creations.

But listen, we all started somewhere and I am absolutely not ashamed of any old drawings that younger me put a lot of work on. Old works are early steps in my path as an artist! Be self-critical, work hard but don’t be unnecessarily harsh on yourself... there are already too many other people ready to shit on you over every little thing, pal!

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Mitsuru Kirijo from Persona 3 (and Persona 4 Arena) because why would I draw any other Persona character when I can just draw her for the 209357 time sorry I’m a useless lesbian

Mister Reinhardt sir! Your Deathblow 4 A Skill + Deathblow 3 sacred seal sir! Please stop stacking those skills on your double attack you are breaking the game again! This pic was an experiement from early 2019 :D

A little something I made for my patrons last year c:

I really liked how they looked in my last comic /// LINK /// but tumblr isn’t great at displaying images that aren’t exactly the format they like so here you have this close up! I was also experimenting a bit with this new style.

Legends Arceus, 108 Wisps and Chinese Classics

I'm finally playing Pokemon Legends Arceus and I'm just realizing the game is somewhat inspired on the Chinese classic Shui Hu Zhuan, often localized as Water Margin, or as All Men Are Brothers, or also as (-The 108-) Outlaws of the Marsh.

*THIS POST MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILERS*

I have seen people comment on how Spiritomb and Typhlosion (Hisui variant) are related to the number 108 in various ways, as it's the novel I'll be discussing. To gather the Pokemon facts first, let's start mentioning that to get Spiritomb in Pokemon Arceus, you have to find the 108 wisps wandering around Hisui, and some of Spiritomb's Pokedex entries read:

'Exactly 108 spirits gathered to become this Pokémon. Apparently there are some ill-natured spirits in the mix.' 'It was bound to a fissure in an Odd Keystone as punishment for misdeeds 500 years ago.'

As for Hisuian Typhlosion, Professor Laventon says in the Pokedex 'Said to purify lost, forsaken souls with its flames and guide them to the afterlife.' Additionally, from the official Legends website we also learn the following:

'It emits ghost flames –said to number as many as 108- from the fires around its neck. These flames all attack the opponent, adopting the countenance of ferocious beasts.'

Some people already explained that the number 108 is significant in various Asian religions, but to be brief, it often revolves around the idea that there are 108 'temptations' on the way to Nirvana, 108 mundane 'feelings' in the way to purification, etc. and so, many rituals and traditions involve the number in some way (rosaries have 108 beads for this reason, temples sometimes have literally 108 steps, they ring bells 108 times, etc.)

Shui Hu Zhuan, or Water Margin, is among the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. JRPG enjoyers such as myself might have heard of it because of Suikoden or Eiyuden… being a Suikoden fan for as long as I've been a Pokemon fan, my impression is that this novel is not known to westerners, so allow me to explain further.

The plot revolves around the 108 Heroes or 'Stars of Destiny' seemingly inspired by the Taoist idea that everyone's destiny is tied to a Star. Generally speaking, this funny but also tragic brutal novel is about people from all walks of life, sometimes criminals, coming together to fight evil (mostly in the form of a corrupt disastrous government and the invading regions). It's about sworn family, about friendship, about repenting, about changing times… and about how beautiful women are evil because the novel is definitely a product of its time. A number of the adventures in the book are inspiration for the characters arcs in the game, as well as for the locations.

Back to the 108 wisps, Spiritomb and Hisuian Typhlosion; other than being possibly related to Hinduism and Buddhism, the way I think they can relate to the novel is explained by this Wikipedia quote that summarizes the lore of the books: 'The 108 Heroes represent 108 demonic overlords who were banished (…) Having repented since (…) the stars are released from imprisonment by accident, and are reborn in the world as 108 heroes who band together for the cause of justice.'

I don't have enough reliable sources to talk more about it and it's been some 15 years since I read this novel -a very mistranslated version apparently-. But I know for a fact that out of the 108 heroes/Stars of Destiny, there are 36 Heavenly Spirits and 72 Earthly Fiends. These 36 are generally higher ranked or more important in the novel, and if I'm not mistaken, there are 36 characters in Pokemon Arceus that are somewhat relevant, all being ancestors to other human characters in the series -including the antagonist-, a lot of them either officials of the Galaxy Team, Wardens and leaders of the Diamond and Pearl clans, or people of various 'mundane' talents helping Jubilife Town prosper… much like in the novel.

So yeah there are many little ways I which Game Freak seemed to take inspiration from Water Margin!

IOS users and Patreon. Big old heads up.

"Apple is requiring that Patreon use their in-app purchasing system and remove all other billing systems from the Patreon iOS app by November 2024. This means that starting in November, new memberships purchased in the iOS app will be subject to Apple's 30% App Store fee.

First, we want to be clear about one thing: this will not impact your existing memberships at all. Apple's App Store fee only applies to new memberships purchased in the iOS app beginning in November 2024."

Apple users, if you make your pledges through your browser you can dodge this fee.

This is just apple doing its usual nickel and diming to take a slice of every pie.

Someone come get this sassy lost child! My arm has been healing very well so after another long hiatus, here is a little experiment again!

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Ahhh old work... it was a lil experiment trying to draw without lineart... I’m sure most of you recognize him but it’s Sonic from One Punch Man ha ha

Papyrus knew from the begining that he liked puzzles... he just didn't quite understand rubik's cubes are not for chewing on!  A little close up from my last character sheet because social media is terrible at displaying art.