This is a soft-launch post about me starting work on my visual novel but also this will be a general monthly update blog post since I somehow almost forgot about this blog LOL.
I've started writing a visual novel about my OC universe, Aquamarine! If you know me at all you probably have seen bits about my OCs, I really love them and I've been working on them for about a year now. Aquamarine isn't necessarily the most narrative-driven story, I moreso have them to explore character dynamics and draw them for fun, but I've been thinking about making a short visual novel about them for a while now.
The VN is going to be called "Aquamarine: Doctor's Order", (or just Doctor's Order... AquaVN...) (subject to change) and it serves to introduce people to my OCs as well as make something with my characters. It's called Doctor's Order because the protag/narrator is Dr Lou Ambrose. She has appointments with the employees at Aquamarine, which will let the readers get to know everyone. It's nothing super serious, just fun!!
(Pictured: some starting screen concept art I made a few months ago. The title was "interview with the doctor" .... like the movie/show LOL)
So far I've written the first appointment (out of 4) and I've started to think about sprites. Writing takes priority of course, there's no 'novel' without it, but I haven't drawn my OCs as much lately because *cough*DRA*cough* so I wanted to practice again.
(Pictured: here's some sprite sketches I've done so far. Why is Nina half cut off? I drew her as a doodle but she ended up being a good size for sprites so she's there for scale...) (Drawing these also made me realize I won't be able to have height-accurate sprite scaling :,( The tallest characters would get cut off at the top/Dolly is too short next to them.)
This year I've played a few indie VNs that I really really enjoy and it's just super inspiring, so why not try to make my own? This includes things like the Danganronpa Another duology (which has completely taken over my life..), Of the Devil and Soul of Sovreignty. I highly recommend all of these titles! OTD and SOS are both currently in development, but have a few chapters available to play and have free demos to play! OTD episode 2 comes out next month and I'm sooo excited!
It might seem a bit odd, but I'm probably just going to privately release the VN (hoping I do finish it at some point!) between oomfs and friends because Aquamarine is just so personal to me that the thought of too many strangers seeing them makes me feel uneasy... Maybe if I feel more confident later on I'll do a public release. It's not like I have many followers in the first place lol, but still.
Any future VN updates will go on my Aquamarine blog (which is still a work in progress, lol. Still need to draw some assets...)
Okay I'm losing steam here now so I'm going to ramble briefly about drawing.. You can probably tell but I have a lot of trouble drawing heads/keeping things proportionate so I've been trying really hard to practice it better... I think I've gotten a bit better. I've also been practicing lineart because I get really frustrated doing it so I'm keeping things simple with a pixelated no-size-pressure brush.
Here's a Ranka I drew the other day! I got a bit lazy but it's still a cute pic. I try to draw her every year (I need to draw Sheryl too...) since she's my namesake (rankaroid)!
Final note: Final Fantasy XIV is back on the table. I resubbed a month before 7.4 patch release date to catch up on MSQ + etc thinking that I wouldn't really care and play like 1 hour per week ........................... I was really wrong. It's like I never took a break. I can't wait for arcadion final tier + 8.0 build up?! It looks like 7.4 is Krile-centric HEHEHEHE. Are we ready for 8.0 to be Krile-G'raha-Y'shtola? (cope)
Okay that's all I have really. Life's been OK. Nothing crazy has happened... I guess the craziest thing is that I only have 1 more monthly post to make this year. 2025 is almost over... I'll be making a 2025 faves / year retrospective next month for sure.
Here is my monthly blog post. I was planning to do one sooner but... something new and malicious has taken over..........
THE HUNDRED LINE: LAST DEFENSE ACADEMY (but more on that after this little oc tidbit)
I was planing for my next blog post to be the unveiling of my oc blog, but sadly that's going to be delayed because I've been too busy playing hunline instead of working on ocs and drawing blog assets... oopsey. Check back another time for that...
Here's a WIP of my oc blog! It'll be a while :P (This picture is actually what the blog looks like, but the Dolly chibi on the right is just a concept) But it's essentially where I'll upload oc drawings, information and extra stuff. I'm planning to have a strawpage where people can send asks or talk to the characters too, if that interests you!
The blog already has some things on them but I want it to be more polished before I share it!!
Anyway back to the elephant in the room: hundred line. May or may not played almost 70 hours of this game in the last 2 weeks.. Even then I only have 2 endings!! (But that's because I did route 0 and then another ending that's the same length.. I'm told other routes tend to be shorter.. I'll play more soon but I want to dedicate time to drawing again...)
Honestly I can't even say much here because hunline is such a massive game and you really just have to give it a go. It has a free demo on steam if you want to try it. I played it a few months ago before release and found it so crazy because the characters are so odd but they've really grown on me since. Plus gameplay is fun! It's fire emblem-esque.
(Holy shit new fire emblem game btw... So excited. Who's ready for another decade of three houses discourse... Did you know I originally joined twitter to retweet FE3H fanart.. That twitter account has been long deleted but if you remember then you remember :V I WAS 14......)
Does anyone else get super into a video game and just stop drawing completely.. Because that's happening to me right now and it happened to me with FFXIV too... I thought I was free from the gaming-all-day curse but ah I guess not. My DRA side account is genuinely gathering dust right now but in my defense I've had a kind of crazy month. I'm still recovering in terms of health but I won't delve too deep into that. I'm doing well for the record :P A lot better.
Here's something I doodled between hundred line sessions. I really love the class armor/weapon concepts so I wanted to think about some characters in hunline! From left to right: Kanade SDRA2, my oc Lou and my oc Alba.
I'm about to say something so jobless but it's hard to juggle so many interests at a time LOL. I'm really into hunline right now obviously, but I also haven't moved on from DRA (will take a long time for me to move on) and I also have my ocs!!! I've been drawing them and writing for them again recently. It's really fun... I totally recommend making ocs to anyone. I never really considered myself an oc person before, but now I totally get it. I love my aquamarines and I hope that with my new blog that I can make others understand them too.
Okay that's all I have really. Maybe I'll make another blog post before the month ends... Actually it's almost Alba's birthday (Oct13) so maybe next post will be a little drawing for him. Though, that'll probably go on the oc blog.
WE'LL SEE!!!
Thanks for reading if you got down here! Take care of yourself x
WAIT.. BEFORE AUGUST ENDS...!
I already did a post this month but it's not illegal for me to post again. Anyway, I feel like my month has been evenly split into two and I wanted to write about it now that I'm starting to get back into things.
When I came home from the hospital, I was super art blocked and just generally kinda in the dumps. It's hard not to feel in the dumps with everything that happened to me lol but I've 100% been doing a lot better! I've been taking care of myself better and my friends and family have been here to support me thankfully.
This week has been treating me far more kinder and I'm honestly just really happy. Yesterday I went out with my friends to get some pancakes (was yummy!) and I've just been enjoying the company of so many different friends old and new, offline and online. I'm also not feeling weak anymore thanks to my treatment! It's really nice....
But yeah my August has essentially been pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization... I've been slowly crawling out of my art block cave. When in doubt, do a study... I need to study more >_>)'
No one really asked for this but it's more for myself: DRA JUDGEMENT TIME. Am I still obsessed with DRA? Yes. Absolutely. It's always on my mind. But letting the game marinate longer really does make me appreciate it more. It's honestly a life-changing game for me lol. Plus me and my friends have been spreading the game amongst our friends... DRA domination soon. I'll be back to check in September.
It probably seems like my interest in DRA has dwindled with my lower activity on my side account, but the truth is that I've just been dedicating time to my OCs again lol.
(I have the most fun drawing/writing Ninalba. Can you tell... I know it's really obvious...)
This drawing is actually decently layered but I mostly wanted to draw them in wedding outfits I designed a few months ago. Despite the drawing, neither of them actually like the concept of marriage but I couldn't resist drawing it... it's based on this pic below.
I feel like I post my OCs a lot but I just don't have much information publicly available. Aquamarine is an extremely personal thing to me so I'm just rather apprehensive about sharing too much lol... I'm working on a blog for them that I'll share when I have more things on it :-) ... I'm sure you can figure some things out yourself though lol.
I have plans for making a short visual novel about them too so that people can meet them, but that's a lot of work.. I do have a lot of concepts. Maybe one day :P
(It's another Ninalba pic... Do you think it's love? I wish I knew what they seemed like to an outsider who knows nothing about them...)
Anyway I'm going to end this blog post here. It's a bit longer than I want it to be despite already cutting out a decent chunk lol. I'm still kicking and I'm going to spend time drawing 500 pictures I think. Thank you for reading if you got down here! Take care of yourself x
THINGS ARE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK
In probably 2019 or 2018, I watched a PV on YouTube which used 3D models under a pixelated filter in a short animated sequence. It had really beautiful bold colours and I had never really seen anything quite like it. It was actually a concept film for some Japanese mobile game I didn't know or care for, but nevertheless I really enjoyed what I watched but I made the stupid mistake of not saving it or adding it to a playlist so I completely lost the video due to it being in Japanese and not knowing what it was for.
Jump to January 2020 (note: before lockdown), I was thinking about the video again and desperately wanted to see it again. I tried so hard to find it, but to no avail. I even went onto r/tipofmytongue to try see if anyone knew what it was, but no one even replied to my post :,( ...
(Pictured: the actual reddit post I made lol)
Anyway, since I couldn't find anything, I had to go on with life and keep the PV at the back of my mind. Another year passed and it was now the end of 2021 and I was thinking about the video again. Now, I don't actually remember the exact way I found the game, maybe I went through a bunch of Japanese gacha games and went from there? But either way, I found out it was the concept film for Tales of Crestoria.
(This is the video!!! Watch it!! It's so cool! Also, my description for it was pretty spot on if I do say so myself. I was mistaken about the girl being blonde, but pink is close enough..)
I was so happy to finally see the video again and immediately saved it to my computer and made note of it so I wouldn't lose it again. But now something else was itching at me because I swore I recognized the main character from elsewhere.
(Pictured: this is the protag. Say hi to Kanata.)
I recognized him from a Discord emote I had seen many times in a server I used to be very active in as someone would use it everytime a new person joined. I was active in it for the majority of 2020 during lockdown (if you know you know) buuuut that's besides the point. I scrolled back up into general of the server to find the exact emote and you know what? Wanna guess who it was?
(Pictured: my exact realization. Also featuring Kee, my partner! Say hi to Kee.)
It was Kanata!!! Staring at me!!!!!!!
I had been looking for this video for almost 2 years at this point and the answer was RIGHT THERE in front of me the entire time!!!!!
See, the reason why this particularly struck me was because I thought it was a character from Idol Time Pripara, Shogo Yumekawa. For the longest time, I thought it was Shogo and I had actually been meaning to check if it actually was. I just never did for some reason and I'm annoyed that I never did LOL.
(Pictured: Shogo. Say hi if you want to. Doesn't he look similar to Kanata? Similar hairstyles and all. To my knowledge, he predates Kanata since Idol Time Pripara aired in 2017 and Crestoria was announced in 2018.)
Okay quick detour: I really love this song. Pripara (as well as the entire Pretty series) has some really good tracks and this was one that I was obsessed with for an amount of time. Listen if you'd like, I think it's a kinda cheesy idol song but no lie it's so catchy..
The protag of Idol Time Pripara, Yui, does a cover of this song with her group, MY☆DREAM, too and I like both versions, but I lean toward the original because when they say "Prism Galaxy" in the MY☆DREAM ver it makes me laugh.
Anyway, back to the whole Tales of Crestoria thing. I couldn't help but laugh at how close I was to the answer of something that I so desperately wanted to see for almost 2 years. To this day, I think of the whole ordeal quite fondly because it was too good of a coincidence. Not only that, but the video continues to inspire me and I really want to make something like it myself someday.
I've mentioned this previously on this blog, but I've wanted to venture into 3D for a long time. At the beginning of the year, I tried my hand at making a 3D model of my OC, Dolly, but it was kind of a failure because I was overly ambitious and I also really hate UV unwrapping. Anyway, I'm going to try again but following a simpler tutorial and keeping things far simpler but after I finish my art trades. I have a few lined up to do and I'm really excited... I've already gotten some back and I love love love the art of my OCs that I've gotten so far.
I feel a little silly because I'm a TOTAL beginner to 3D stuff so obviously this is a longterm goal, but I have a vivid mental image of an Aquamarine short animated video in a similar style to the Tales of Crestoria PV that I want to make one day. I will study and learn and create!! The only way to get to where I want to be is if I work towards it...
I'm looping back to my OCs because they're kind of my favourite thing right now. I was really amused by how many people wanted to draw Nina for the art trades.
(Pictured: my OCs from Aquamarine. From left to right: Atlas, Dolly, Lou, Nina, Alba. These are their redesigns I worked on recently. I still have to draw them properly, but you can see their overall designs here. Atlas and Lou actually remained the same lol.)
(Pictured: Hey check out these Ninas I drew recently!!! These were "cooling off" sketches I did after finishing my first art trade. Do you like her...? She's a hot sexy megane that I crafted from every aspect I like in a woman. *Some aspects more obvious than others.)
Of the 5 people I'm trading with, 3 of them wanted to draw Nina (one of them drew her with Alba, though). The other 2 want to draw Dolly and Lou respectively. (I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE.) I also ran a mini (design) popularity poll on my private and the votes stacked up like so:
(Pictured: I counted double votes where people chose more than 1 character. I voted for Dolly and Nina, since they're my favourites to draw. No one chose Alba LOL.)
I'm happy that people like my OCs and that Nina in particular seems to be the favourite. I'll do another vote in the future when more people are familiarized with my characters hehehe.. Next month is June which means art fight prep :V (I actually never finished those wips from my last post.. oopsie daisy)
For now, I'm chipping away at my art trades. I already have 1 finished and I'm almost finished with the 2nd one...! I'm hoping to finish these by next month.
I'll get more people to know Aquamarine like they do Roid....!!! It just takes a lot more work because I have to make all the Aquamarine stuff myself and I'm a lazy butt!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope I can show more Aquamarine things in the future. I was reminded of how much I wanted to make something 3D because of the Tales of Crestoria PV and I really want to bring that to life someday.
Next blog post will probably be my Kai Jack Jeanne route post that's been rotting in my drafts for like 2 months now... but thank you for reading if you've gotten down here. Have a nice week~ Actually...... It's my birthday next week... I'm turning 20... Maybe my birthday blog post will come first.... You'll find out soon.
