aquanutart

This is a casual fan blog where I may talk about cartoons and videogames I like and sometimes make fanart of them as I feel like it. I draw for fun and to express my thoughts and interpretations of games and animation I like, and to share my love for it! I like to draw cute things. I mainly pop in now to share nostalgia for 90's/00's era games and/or cartoons that I grew up with. Main fandoms: Ranma, Pokemon, Zelda, Fire Emblem, Neopets Requests are closed. Please do not use or edit my art, including for icons or avatars, thank you! main art tag zelda / fire emblem / pokemon / animal crossing / the dragon prince / ff7 / ff13 / steven universe / inazuma eleven / disney / pixar / portal / neopets / gravity falls / gekkan shoujo nozaki kun / mawaru penguindrum

[aquanutart]

[aquanutart]

AAAAA my comic got into the Neopian Times I'm so happy!!!! even though I'm really sporadic about doing them, it makes me really happy people still remember and enjoy my comic after all these years 🥺

[aquanutart]

[aquanutart]

[aquanutart]

It's March! It's almost spring in the northern hemisphere--we made it through winter!! I'm looking forward to the warmer weather, and I hope the changing season brings a fresh start and new chances for anyone who wants or needs it!

Thank you to everyone who stops by and looks at my art! I don't know how many people remember me from back when I was active on DA (mainly in the Zelda and Fire Emblem fandoms) and how many have just found me through Ranma or otherwise, but it really makes me happy to see people's likes and messages in the tags and comments. Thank you so much for looking!

I originally started posting art to share my love for series and things I imagined about them. It was amazing to find community on the internet where people thought about characters and stories the same way I did, and to find people who liked seeing my interpretations of them, after growing up always enjoying these things by myself.

Over the years I've received many kind messages, more than I've known how or had the presence of mind to respond to, which I'm sorry about but I'm deeply grateful for every one of them.

I also have received support and encouragement, sometimes even expectation, for pursuing art as a career. I'm grateful for this and I know it gave me access to valuable resources growing up, but I really came to question whether I wanted to do this as a job.

What I like about art is being able to express myself and convey ideas and stories I thought about to another person. 

I actually do not enjoy it when I have to make art to meet someone else's tastes and standards. It isn't important to me for my art to be what someone else considers "good". That's not why I make it, and it's also not something I care about striving for. I don't want to be told whether my art is good or better than it was; I just hope someone can find something to appreciate in a picture the way it is.

Everything I make is an expression of something I wanted to depict or convey. That's its purpose. Not to be what someone else wants or thinks is "good", but to express or convey an idea, a feeling, a setting, a scene. If it does that, then it succeeds at what I wanted it to do. It's a way for me to express personal feelings and interests, and to be seen and interact with others.

I have grown up living through fiction, having experiences through reading and watching stories in books and games and movies and then sharing them with other people. I had these experiences locked in my room, alone at my desk, sitting in front of a screen for 20 years. This is everything I knew.

If I worked as an artist, I know, it would be more of that. Of course, sometimes I would get to go places and meet people, and I do enjoy connecting with other artists. But there is a huge amount of time that is spent staring at the canvas, hours upon days and weeks and months until it's done, and then you start on the next project. That's what I did for 20 years, locked in my room alone. If I did it for work, it would be more of that, and I probably wouldn't have time and energy left for my own art afterwards. So I prefer being able to get out and see people, and doing art for myself in the ways that bring me joy. I'm going outside and seeing people and living in the world for the first time. After all the years I spent reading about it, it's exciting to have the chance to finally experience it myself.

I did a very small amount of paid artwork many years ago, and I am grateful I had this experience and honored to have worked with many artists I admire. However, I felt some pressure afterwards to try to be semi-professional and run this account like a portfolio, which is really not what I want to do.

I'm trying to bring this back to being a casual fanblog where I can share and enjoy my interests. Nowadays I pretty much only care about enjoying ships that I like, or expressing things that are meaningful to me. I'll continue to do that when I find time, but I'm not interested in trying to appeal to a public audience. I'm here to try to be a person and share things that bring me joy. If others can find joy in that too, that makes me very happy.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you all have a great year!

[aquanutart]

small watercolors I made for @garmmy based on garmmy's fe4 doodle book, which I bought years ago and still love so much! 💕

also, a mecha birb for a mecha and birb lover!!

[aquanutart]

My FE4 doodle book from @garmmy arrived many years ago, along with this adorable drawing of lucius with the kids 🥺 It couldn't be more perfect!!

This is actually the first thing I ever bought myself, and it's so precious to me! Here's a doodle comic about how I received it:

[aquanutart]

what happens when the leaves grow?

[aquanutart]

we are still by your side !!

Dedicated to my Pokemon.

[pikaole]

Pokemon Day

[ Patreon / twitter / instagram / shop / Galaxy themes / LINE store ]

[aquanutart]

Omg the Neopets x Gong Cha collab got me so excited and I immediately wanted to try to ask someone if they wanted to go out and meet up for it 😭 my first thought was, !! it's like those fun merch collaborations they always do in Japan and I can never go to because it's in Japan, but this one I could actually go to!!

But the nearest store to me is at least an hour away and I hear they're running out of stock fast, so I'm a little worried about going that far and not getting anything. Of course, I'd call ahead... Even if it's a long trip, the idea of getting to participate in something irl that I was always only able to engage with online is so exciting to me

[aquanutart]

I called my store on Saturday and asked if they were running the Neopets promotion. They said yes, and I asked if they had any left.

They said, "Yeah, we've got a bunch."

That made me almost want to go there right away, but I had some other things I wanted to do and I knew I needed to look at the map more carefully. I asked, "Do you think you'd still have some later today or tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I think so," they said.

It sounded like people actually weren't buying too many of them here. I hoped that was true.

I copied the directions from Google Maps into a notebook, and also sent them to my phone. I wanted to make sure it was a route that avoided highways, which my GPS usually tries to send me on. I wound up leaving on Sunday afternoon, so I called again before I left and asked, "Do you still have the Neopets boxes?"

"Yes."

"Okay, thank you," I said. "Then I'm going to come there soon. See you soon."

"Okay," they said. It sounded like they wanted to get back to work, so I hung up.

The first part of the trip was exactly the same as my route to work. But instead of taking the turn I always take to go to work, I would have to continue on the road for another 20-30 minutes.

After about 15 minutes, my GPS told me to take a turn onto a small rural road. The instructions i'd written down said to stay on the big main road for 5-15 more minutes. If I strayed from the directions I'd written down, I might get lost. Smaller roads meant more turns where it was easier to make a misstep.

But I also wanted a break from driving down a big street. It's a little more comfortable to drive on smaller roads. I hesitated and decided I felt like I could trust the GPS, and turned off onto the smaller road.

I went through coastal towns lined with low buildings with patches of snow on the peaked roofs. The blue shadows of mountains rose up against the sky, spattered with snow above the white expanse of the frozen river. A crowd of seagulls floated above the blanket of snow on top of the ice.

Wow!!! I'm having an adventure!!! 😭 I'm seeing the world!!! 😭😭😭

Just like on a Pokemon journey! I'm so glad I took that turn!! 🥺

Just before I got to the plaza where Gong Cha was located, I had to make a left turn across a large intersection. As I was turning, there was suddenly a traffic light in front of me. The light was red. I felt a flash of panic and momentarily tried to stop in the middle of the road. It didn't make any sense for there to be a traffic light where it was. I was right in the middle of the street. I couldn't stop here, so I kept going, feeling like I was running a red light but I didn't know what else I could do. I was terrified that I was somehow turning into the wrong lane and might be going towards oncoming traffic.

Now that I think about it, I think it must have been the light for traffic across the street, but where it was positioned made it look like it was facing me as I turned.

I wound up on a slow road leading to a small parking lot. I parked in the only space available, in front of a sign that said to scan the QR code on it to pay for parking. It said this was Strictly Enforced.

My phone is old and doesn't scan QR codes. I went into Gong Cha and before I could think about anything else, I had to go up to the counter and ask nervously, "Is there a way to pay for parking inside?"

They shook their heads. I went outside again and looked nervously at my car and then came back in and decided I would be quick.

There was a Neopets standee in the corner. Just like the character standees they have for collabs in Japan!! I did it! I'm having the experience!!

And there was a Bruce plushie hanging from the counter! I asked at the counter if there were a limit on how many boxes I could buy, and they said no.

From what I was reading on the internet, the lack of limit was causing problems at other stores. I had planned to get just one, since I read that some people weren't getting them at all. But it seemed like not many people were buying them here.

I decided to buy one, open it, and then come back and buy one more depending on what I got.

I wanted the Shoyru because Shoyrus are one of my favorite Neopets, and the first one I created for myself. But I also really liked the design of the Aisha and Bruce plushies. There were four possible designs, and I would have been excited to get any of them.

I was so worried about my car that I took the box and opened it outside so that I could look at my car while I did it. The box the plushie came in was very cute, with drawings of the Neopets looking like babies on it.

I opened it, and... it was a Kacheek! It was really cute in person, with a fluffy, floppy tail.

But I wanted to try again for one of my favorite designs. I'd read about people buying 10 boxes and getting 10 Kacheeks, and I thought to myself that I'd stop after 2 boxes. If it were another Kacheek, I'd give up and trade for anything else, rather than possibly buying more Kacheeks. And if it were anything else, I'd be happy.

I went back in and bought another box, and then went outside again.

I opened the box and saw the top of a Shoyru's head.

I got a Shoyru!!! This was totally worth it!!!🥺

I tipped the people at Gong Cha 20% for putting up with me calling them about Neopets on the phone over and over.

I was admittedly really tempted to get more since it seemed like people here weren't buying many of these, and I didn't want to drive this far again. But I felt like I had already gotten one extra, and I didn't want to stop anyone else from getting one. I could give or trade my Kacheek to someone else, maybe.

I had wanted to try to talk to people there, but I was so worried about my car that I just went in and left. (Well, and then came right back and bought another box and left again.) It was a small store and people didn't really seem to be there for the promotion. I had to be grateful for this, since it was probably why I was able to get these.

I was only parked for about 5 minutes. I discovered afterwards that there was a big parking lot with free parking just across the street. So I could go there if I ever wanted to stay longer another time.

On the way back, my GPS tried to direct me to the highway, but I successfully ignored its directions until I got back to the main road and returned safely just before dark. It took around 3 hours in total.

The Shoyru has little tiny wings on its back, which is super cute! Unlike the Kacheek, its tail is sewn to its back in a sideways position.

I'm very excited I got to participate in the promotion! This Shoyru is very special to me because I found it on my adventure 🥺 Thank you so much for encouraging me!! 😭

[aquanutart]

[reputayswift]

In the 2000s you sat a kid in front of a Neopets pet page and they’d learn the fundamentals of html within the hour

[aquanutart]

Omg the Neopets x Gong Cha collab got me so excited and I immediately wanted to try to ask someone if they wanted to go out and meet up for it 😭 my first thought was, !! it's like those fun merch collaborations they always do in Japan and I can never go to because it's in Japan, but this one I could actually go to!!

But the nearest store to me is at least an hour away and I hear they're running out of stock fast, so I'm a little worried about going that far and not getting anything. Of course, I'd call ahead... Even if it's a long trip, the idea of getting to participate in something irl that I was always only able to engage with online is so exciting to me

[aquanutart]

hearing liberi fatali instantly sends me back to my childhood...

[aquanutart]

I get why people would say that the pokepark may be a bit spare for casual fans or people who want a huge blockbuster experience, but I would want to go with someone who would also burst into glee with spotting every pokemon and getting photos with them all, and we would have a great time

[aquanutart]

watching 30- and 40-year-olds grinning like children and crying over pokemon is so healing... to know that we all shared this experience and have the same emotions about it and it was somehow so personal to every one of us in the same way, even as we each went on our own individual journeys