rating luke cards solely based on how handsome peanut looks in them
dear reader, come with me on this magical journey through a 1.6k word long post where i arbitrarily rank the visual renditions of tot's best character: peanut pearce the myna bird
basic tier: he looks lovely, but there are things that could be improved
last CG of SSR Peaceful Place and the first two CGs of SSR Shape Of You: basic teardrop shape
these are good peanuts, but ive put them in this Basic Tier because they default to the Basic Teardrop shape of how birds look when theyre just chilling, wings closed and pose perched. the overall shape is also kept generally smooth without much texture.
essentially, to me, this is the bird equivalent of 🧍♂️. nice to look at, but could definitely do with some flair, yknow?
first two CGs of SSR Under The Milky Way: now THIS is a basic pose with some FLAIR. alas, it's still basic tho
while hes still in the basic teardrop, there’s more Personality happening here: his body is angled in a way that shows his curious demeanor examining the tiny peanut blob handle luke made, the lighting and coloring shows off a more textured rendition of his plumage, his folded wings dont blend with the rest of his body thus giving him more depth.
if the previous peanuts were like 🧍♂️
this peanut is like ✨🧍♂️✨
third CG of SSR Twinkling Eyes: obscured by luke's (granted, beautiful) big head
i like how peanut looks here but it wouldve been nice if the fairy house window were just a bit bigger, or maybe the placement of all the things in this CG cld have been moved to allow peanut some more visibility, especially given how prominent peanut’s Role is in the story of this card. as it is though, he still seems to be in a basic pose, but i like how the lighting differentiates the parts of his body instead of being just one big smooth black teardrop.
also, this CG gets points here because peanut looks extra chunky.
and lastly a special case for this tier...
the third CG of SSR Perfect Partner: PEANUT IS THAT YOU??
originally, i wanted to put Perfect Partner-peanut in the Better Tier, because i really appreciate his fluffiness here, his open wings, and that the animation for this CG shows him flapping his wings. however, Perfect Partner-peanut is also very much a Proto-peanut.
Perfect Partner is among the roster of regular banner SSRs, and thus one of the very first cards available in game and probably one of the very first ones illustrated, and it shows in peanut a lot. he looks different.
i figure the artists were still getting a feel of either 1) how to draw birds or 2) what Kind of myna bird they wanted peanut to be. there are a lot of kinds of mynas, with their defining characteristics usually in the shape of the yellow face markings and also other plumage colorings, like in the wings.
here, peanut is lacking his specific kind of signature yellow markings that he has in all the other cards, where the yellow is visible under the eye and then looping around the back of the head. Perfect Partner-peanut instead has his yellow marking Just on the nape. additionally, peanut’s eyes here arent the beady little black we usually see, and are instead black with yellow lining. and lastly, all these factors make him look much wilder than the usual peanut we see in later cards.
usual peanut is rounder, a bit more simplified and smoother (in terms of texture), and all in all he just looks friendlier. Friend Shaped. meanwhile, Perfect Partner-peanut with his beak detail, feather coloring/texturing, open talons that are posed like hes gonna GETCHA make for a more intimidating look.
basically, Perfect Partner-peanut looks to me like beta design peanut. and thats alright! i still love him dearly! but it is jarring when you start to look at the details, and that unfamiliarity makes this peanut rendition one that still couldve had some improvement
peanut in all the other cards: who are you?
Perfect Partner-peanut: im you but i look like i could kill a man. or worse…a pigeon.
better tier: NOW we're getting some good bird visuals
first two CGs of SSR Peaceful Place: VERY GOOD BASIC POSE
okay so if the first few basic peanuts were like 🧍♂️
and then the Under The Milky Way basic peanut was like ✨🧍♂️✨
THIS basic peanut is like 🌈✨🧍♂️✨🌈
IT’S ABOUT THE IRIDESCENCE!!!!!! his wings and body are still differentiated in the rendering, the lighting bounces off of his plumage in a very nice way, and hes FLUFFY LOOKING!!
unseen in the above image is also how lovely peanut’s animation is here—which i didnt make into a GIF because im scared tumblr will eat this post for the 87494837568th time if i tried to put a GIF in—where peanut’s head endearingly tilts and moves in a curious and interested-in-what-birddadluke-is-doing way. and the movement is really dang fluid too, who was the 2d rigger in charge of animating this peanut?? i hope they have a good day today. this is a really good peanut and i like him very much
both CGs of MR Entrusted Feelings: the real love interest is peanut
it’s from here onwards that you may observe that ive got a bias for peanut renditions that have him with his wings open and flying. and im very right to have that bias cuz hes a BIRD OF FLIGHT, it’s lovely to see him doing what birds of flight do best! FLYYYY!!! that being said, this peanut didnt get into the Best Tier because his fly animation is a tad too jelly-like for me; it’s fluid and smooth but slightly off cuz it doesnt seem like his wings have uh…Bones. which is important for birds to have, if they wanna be doing stuff.
still, i like this peanut enough to put it Better Tier because hes so adorable!! hes hovering, his body is beautifully rotund, and his Visage is so enrapturing that hes who mc is focusing on and looking at in this card! she isnt looking at luke, shes looking at PEANUT!
you better watch out, luke…ur bird might just get ur girl
both CGs of R Gaze: 👏STRUT! YOUR! STUFF! 👏
now, at first glance, this card seems to follow the basic teardrop pose again with no flair….until you swap through both CGs of the card quickly. because not only does luke strike a pose in here, but pEANUT DOES TOO!!!!
literally just for that, this card ended up in the better tier. hes Feeling It.
both CGs of R Reunion: sorry my owner is a pathetic wet dog of a man
following the thread of R card peanuts that get so much better when you flip through the CGs, this is a good one. while the visuals are basic, the visual storytelling within it happening when u go through the CGs is IMMACULATE.
peanut looks like he was giving luke a peptalk so luke will stop being so nervous, like “get it together, dad, act cool,” and then luke fails at acting cool so peanut looks into the camera like “yes i know hes still cringefail but hes cute, right? give him a chance!” wonderful amazing never been done before. we love a bird that doubles as a wingman (pun INTENDED)
first CG of R Partner: TAKE A GANDER AT THOSE WINGS!!!
we’re going to skip over CG 2 of this card because it’s just another basic teardrop but
while this isnt my favorite depiction of peanut As A Whole, this is definitely my favorite depiction of his WINGSSSSSS
theyre so majestically and gorgeously spread out, the back wing is so beautifully articulated at the joints showing the Real shape of a wing (whereas a lot of visual renditions tend to treat wings as just this One Big Flappy Thing, instead of these cool foldable beauties we see here), the FLUFFINESS AND ROUNDNESS OF THE FEATHER EDGES, and how you can cleARLY see the layering of the feathers in the coloring, the primaries and secondaries clearly different from the coverts, IT’S ALL SO GOOD!!! literally the only reason why this isnt my top favorite is because we cant see his beautiful face. but please know that this one is SUCH a close second
that leaves us to the last one…and this last card is actually the reason i made this whole post in the first place. only one card managed to charm, bewitch, and beguile me, managed to delight everything i love to see in a visual rendition of a bird
best tier: second cg of R Following The Wind
even if this was the card that inspired me to make this post, i hadnt planned to make this my top fave. i saw this card and was struck by handsome he was and wanted to go through everything else and this one just so happened to STILL end up on top. Why?
full body seen and nothing is obscured from view, his cute little talons are spread out too
wonderful texturing and not just a single smooth black tear drop
wings spread out doing some Great flying AND the wings are articulated at the joints to show the lovely shape of how wings are
coloring on the feathers is clear in the different type of wing feathers present
so it’s currently my top favest peanut-in-a-card of all time. THAT! IS! ALL!
so there you have it. every luke card that has peanut in it ranked based on how much i enjoy how peanut looks in it. my concluding thought is that i hope we see peanut more, i never get enough of seeing that little guy.
fly high, fellow peanut enjoyers.
