To all the blogs that have messaged me about this in the past...NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMISSION!!! Art blog for MU-Cheer-Girl on DeviantArt. Secondary blog to @CartoonNonsenseGirl. May consider changing usernames someday. ADULT/EXPLICIT/NSFW/18+ DO NOT INTERACT.
This time, it's about Augustus and Boris, the McCrea brothers, whose destinies will shape the fate of the Empire™...
Augustus Ralph McCrea (born 2744) and Boris Jeff McCrea (born 2749) are two brothers who appear inseparable. Growing up in a cruise liner's nursery together, Augustus was a bit more proactive than his peers, not wanting to live his life being a lazy couch potato on 🌐Imperial social media📱, and he looked after his baby brother frequently. Eventually, the two parted ways, since Boris was provided and cared for by the nannies, and Augustus wanted to dedicate his life to service. But before parting, the two brothers made a pinky promise to never keep any secrets from each other.
Thus, Augustus went into service training; he decided he wanted to become a co-pilot. The incumbent co-pilot, Hal Wheeler, alongside the 📱virtual AI assistant Siri Alexa💻, oversaw his training with the NavComputer simulations. At age 10, he received the bio-augmentation surgery and started the next phase of his co-pilot studies. As for Boris, he lived a life of vacation and luxury, and became a likeable ✨influencer✨ on the 🌐Imperial social network📱.
One day in the year 2775, the incumbent Captain and Co-pilot were reported by Siri Alexa to have "peacefully passed in their sleep", thus instantly promoting Augustus McCrea to Co-pilot. Siri Alexa then announced that a popularity poll would be held on social media to elect the next Captain. Boris McCrea won the poll, and was presented before the people as their new Captain, which apparently also means that he is a candidate to succeed the late 👑Emperor Forthright🌐 that mysteriously vanished centuries ago. After a convocation that involved the singing of the Imperial Anthem, Boris and Augustus are reunited at the helm. An unexpected twist of fate, for sure. But the two brothers couldn't be any happier, and they re-affirm their pinky promise that no matter what, there would be no secrets between them...
In the year 2790, Boris' genetic material is reported to have been used to create a set of identical quintuplet sisters. These five infant girls are thus recognized as "Imperial Princesses". Their maternal donor, a bio-augmented woman named Evonne Amaryllis Forthright (side note: she's a roughly 25th-28th Generation descendant of the late Emperor), is part of a 🌱recon team🌿 that is always comprised of five carefully evaluated and hand-picked women. What they do is a secret to everyone but themselves and Superior Command. She decided to register her 👑royal daughters👑 as the next scouts and personally oversee their training. Boris and Evonne's daughters (this would make them Augustus' nieces) make history as the first Imperial heirs to become bio-augmented for service life.
Doing a series of INSANE LORE DROPS on deviantART for my story "Extended Vacation", but I also plan to have them up here.
I can write so, so much about the Empire™; everything about it is captivating to imagine and write about. I just really like worldbuilding and lore—it helps immerse the reader in that world, the fantasy of it all.
In the Empire™, all who are in the workforce/crewmembers/service are required to be biometrically augmented. While there are jobs exempt from this such as leadership/political/media/entertainment, most that require machinery operation will require its employees to become part machine themselves. In the mid-21st Century, the Empire™ took steps to regulate AI and make sure people didn't lose their jobs to AI; rather, they became integrated with it.
Those in the Imperial workforce are raised from birth into such vocations, trained for their jobs as soon as they can walk and talk. At age 10 is when the biometric augmentation surgery is typically performed to interface with Imperial system mainframes.
The surgery happens in two phases:
Phase I: Hardware Installation. The subject is basically cut open for a subcutaneous procedure to insert biometric circuitry, including intra-neural sensors, into their nervous system. In the brain, they are implanted with chips for wireless routers, uplinking, networking, and ID recognition via a system mainframe, and a retinal HUD is installed in the optic nerves. A silicone-encased lithium battery core to power the circuitry is installed near the heart. The subject's body is then resealed with no scarring.
Phase II: Software Installation. While in an induced coma, the subject's body is patched with electrodes via USB connection to a desktop where the setup/installation wizard can begin. The Imperial Operating System (colloquially referred to as the "iOS") is the first to be installed, and then the Imperial App Store is accessed to search for software and apps related to the subject's directive. While the subject is dormant, the REM is active, and the HUD will display messages such as "Downloading 1 of 5 updates", "Please do not power down your system", "Your system may restart several times during the process", etc. The newly-established biometric ID will also be uploaded and registered into the ☁️Imperial Cloud☁️. Once the setup wizard is complete, the subject will be awakened with the press of a button. Upon being fully activated, the subject will see a "Welcome" video play in their HUD; it looks something like this (well for starters, the actual video would open with the ✨Imperial Seal✨, not the 🍎 logo).
While not one of the two main stages, there is a finalization step in the process. Biometrically augmented people are considered products of the Empire™, and since the Empire™ values quality guaranteed or your money back, these people are given a permanent seal of approval—on the napes of their necks, they are tattooed with the ✨Imperial Seal✨ (similar to how a Louis Vuitton purse will have the "LV" branding all over, or a TV will display "Panasonic" or "Sony" prominently on its frame). The Empire™ sees value in all biometrically augmented individuals; from the maids and butlers serving prominent Imperial figureheads, to the social pariahs relegated to a life of trash compacting...they all bear the Empire™'s brand. Because although now part machine, they are still valued and cherished as loyal, Executive Membership card-carrying customers of the Empire™.
It's actually pretty easy to tell if a person is biometrically augmented aside from the ✨Imperial Seal✨ tattoo (and some occasional wearable tech). Due to the retinal HUD, their eyes will glow brighter than a non-augmented person. Their eyes are usually red, orange, yellow, turquoise, or blue, and will have an LED-like glow. Also, their circuitry apparently grants them super strength, enhanced stamina, lightning-fast reflexes, and an extended lifespan commonly referred to as a "warranty".
Bio-augmented people will also have "start-up" and "shut-down" sound effects play in their brains for their sleep/hibernation cycles. They can be pretty mix-and-match to the individual's taste, some sound like a musical fanfare, while others sound like a chime. There are other sound effects too, mainly for important alerts. Also, they can talk to interactive AI assistants such as Siri Alexa at will without the need for an external device like Meta-powered Ray-Bans; the chips for Meta-search are already installed in their prefrontal cortex or cerebellum...or something like that.
There are, of course, downsides to being bio-augmented. Computers and machines can break down and malfunction from time-to-time, and the Empire™'s workforce is no different. Best-case scenario is an occasional BSOD error (displayed in the HUD) that may cause a short freeze, worst-case scenario is that a malfunction or catastrophic failure error results in the individual being declared "Impounded" and sent off to troubleshooting/diagnostics. Impounds will wear a thick red cuff on their non-dominant hand that can, with the press of a button, force-hibernate the subject and then manually re-boot them into Safe Mode for troubleshooting sessions. Troubleshooting is done with the Impound being electrode-patched and doing basic vision/motion tests (like to sync with Wii motion controls) and testing equipment interfacing to find the error.
Aside from the aforementioned hiccups, bio-augmented people live their lives to the fullest. They eat, drink, shop, play...just like regular people. They max out 💸 their 💳Imperial credit cards💳 on the hottest products, raid the wholesale market stores for free samples, connect with others on 🌐social media📱 and IRL, sing the Imperial Anthem, even marry and form families (most probably have their kids bio-augmented to continue their lines of work). Even Impounds are generally happy people, and alongside the fully organic customers they serve, they all contribute in meaningful ways big or small to the great and flourishing Empire™. By and large, the bio-augmented are anything but slaves—the Imperial Ruling Council and Tribunals elevate them as equals to the average customer; maybe even more so due to their service being the lifeblood and backbone of the Empire™.
...I wanted to wait until I did a few more OCs to post this, but hey, there's two are good enough for now. Been thinking of changing Kaori's name again for a while now.
DO NOT REPOST!!!
Also on DeviantART
Blair & Pompompurin | Kaori & Kuromi |
Falin Touden and Marcille Donato from Dungeon Meshi
I will admit something, and it might ruffle a few chimera feathers, but I'll say it anyway. I was initially hesitant on drawing these two because like, 95% of the fandom ships them and I'm one of those that doesn't. I do have my personal beliefs about the shipping I'll engage with, and I understand others have different opinions and will draw whatever they want, but I personally prefer them as best friends; I even see them the same as Frieren and Fern (near-immortal elf mage who takes a human apprentice under her wing). If anime fans dislike me for it then so be it. Plus, we need more fanart that celebrates friendships rather than ships; IMO shipping can be imaginative, but when it's everywhere, it reduces everything to a single type of relationship—almost like it communicates the idea that only romance matters and not friendship or family.
🎵Heels 👠 nails 💅 blade ✂️ mascara ✨ Fit check for my Napalm Era🎶
After several name changes over the years, I've settled on one I think I like more than the previous ones.
So, this here is Hwa-soo Seol (설화수), the self-stylin' "Combat Cosmetologist" for the story remake "Extended Vacation". Originally created as "Courtney Cosmetic" around 2009, she's undergone several changes over the years; I was gonna change her name to Petra, until I decided to give her whole character an overhaul...
...which leads me to the Insane Lore Drop™ on her. Hwa-soo Seol is the leader of the self-proclaimed vigilante team "Reject Force Seven". She was a cosmetology trainee who failed her course due to malfunctioning biometrics (in this world, people working in service are biometrically augmented to interface with a system mainframe), and was thus declared "Impounded", which means she had to be taken away for troubleshooting/diagnostics. There, she met several impounds just like her, and she formed a team with six others who became close to her. She has a natural charisma and charm, and is incredibly social.
And now, for some fun facts to go along with her Lore Drop™:
Hwa-soo fights Imperial Stormtroopers (or as she and her team call them, "Halt Monitors") with a modified hairdryer that has a "flamethrower" setting, a hot curling iron, and she throws hair scissors like daggers. Her compact mirrors can deflect lasers.
Everyone in Diagnostics shipped her with the day spa masseur Shiatsu Masashi, believing that a stylish and pretty girl like her would only go for the strong handsome guy. In reality, she has feelings for a painter name Vince Lichtenstein, while Shiatsu has a crush on Dee Fibrillator.
Hwa-soo's name is based on the Korean beauty/skincare brand Sulwhasoo, and it is written with the same hangul.
Fun fact: many of Hwa-soo's colleagues in the beauty department tend to be named after beauty brands, with names such as Maybelline York, Charlotte L'Oreal, Chelsea Rimmel, Taylor Revlon, Sakura Shiseido, etc.
Although Korean, she has Vietnamese ancestry on her maternal side.
Hwa-soo's personal style is a mix of gyaru fashion (primarly agejo, hime, and tsuyome), and the neo-Y2K revival in KPop being popularized by groups such as NewJeans; I imagine her to look like a mix of Hanni (NewJeans) and Chaewon (Le Sserafim).
She is close friends with Dee Fibrillator and a Mexican girl named Sombrilla Parasol. Like Dee, she views Lettie Coleman as a little sister.
In fact, Hwa-soo styles Lettie's hair into her signature Afro-puffs.
My current VA choice for her is Arden Cho (yes I picked Rumi), but my alternative choice is whoever voiced Hilda in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
If she was in DnD, her class would be a College of Glamour Bard.
She loves Boba tea!
Hwa-soo sees herself as a celebrity who believes she deserves to be invited to every big Lido Deck party.
She is, in fact, an influencer who does makeup and hair tutorials, along with "GRWM" videos. She started her influencer career while in Diagnostics.
She is excellent at Karaoke (or Noraebang).
Hwa-soo and Dee have a pink girl vs. goth girl dynamic (like My Melody and Kuromi), but somewhat reversed, with Hwa-soo's girly style being more bold and flashy instead of delicate, while Dee's "goth style" is more soft and light but with creepy medical motifs.
Outfit concepts for Dee Fibrillator (yes...that's her name 🤣🤣🤣) and Lettie Coleman from my story "Extended Vacation".
Since I've said a few things about Lettie in my previous sketch sheet, I'll say a few things about Dee.
I previously imagined Dee Fibrillator as being a rich girl-type with a tsundere-like personality, but now I feel it doesn't really suit her. I want to go with a more withdrawn and shy personality with a bit of a dark backstory, but once she opens up to someone, she is sweet, gentle, and kind-hearted. Her closest friends describe her as having a "healing" effect.
My hypothetical VA choice for Dee is currently Tara Platt (yes I totally imagine her speaking like the one and only Edelgard von Hresvelg), but another good choice is Xanthe Huynh (Marianne von Edmund); somehow I feel this could suit her better, since Dee and Marianne are both healers who believe they're unlucky and disastrous but have really sweet and gentle personalities...lemme know if you prefer Tara or Xanthe.
She is half Filipino 🇵🇭, half Swiss 🇨🇭 (I'll also mention one of my other VA choices was Lucie Pohl, who voices Mercy in Overwatch).
Each of the members of Reject Force Seven have codenames. Dee's is "Heartbeat" (okay, so I'll mention that Lettie's is "Luminary").
Dee is the living embodiment of the "I'm a healer, but" meme.
Outside of her EMT uniform, her fashion sense is inspired by Tenshi Kaiwai, Yami Kawaii, and Menhera trends (TW for the latter two due to creepy medical imagery), along with some neo-Y2K preppy styles making a comeback. I can totally see her rocking this purse and creeping out her friends with it.
If she was in DnD, Dee would totally be a Life Domain Cleric.
Dee's backstory is one of the few that is tragic, since it involves an accident that cost her not just her job...but someone's life. Because of it, she is withdrawn and severely anxious, feeling that anyone who gets too close to her will suffer misfortune (okay now I'm just writing Marianne at this point, though she has a strong resolve to become stronger like Edelgard despite her past).
She is close friends with Reject Force Seven's leader, Hwa-soo Seol (...the two actually come of as Marianne and Hilda from FE3H a lot in my head...I plan to unveil Hwa-soo very, very soon ❤️👝🪮💄👠💅✂️✨).
Dee has a crush on a day spa therapist named Shiatsu Masashi, who is basically a Hot-Headed Shonen Protagonist™ that's the living definition of "Fight Me Bro". In return, Shiatsu has feelings for Dee; he sees her as a "healing presence" who can tame his wild ways (he probably would spam her with "I Need Healing").
My redesign concepts have her wearing glasses...I just thought they'd make her cuter.
A running gag is that she can't cook because she is clumsy enough to explode any kitchen she attempts to cook in. Aside from that, she enjoys sweets and pastries frequently.
A major design motif for Dee is hearts, not only do they enhance her cuteness factor, but also serve a narrative purpose for her backstory and character arc. She frequently does heart shapes with her hands as a victory pose when fighting "Halt Monitors". Her friend group also considers her to be the "beating heart" of the team.
Dee is especially kind to children; when she sees little ones with boo-boos, she'll smile and give them band-aids and lollipops.
Her given name is Dalisay, a Tagalog name meaning "pure". True to her nature, she is a cinnamon roll that's too good and pure for this world. Of course, she shortens it to Dee, mainly for the naming pun.
...okay, I ended up talking about Dee more than I should have...she's just too cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I still have yet to do her concepts with her emergency kit and social handle.
Hey I wanted to share this...maybe many of you may have heard of it, but there's this site I recently discovered through Pinterest that you can use to create a height chart of your OCs as reference for your art.
The site is hikaku-sitatter.com; although some of the text is in Japanese, it's pretty easy to use. The only thing I would suggest is that if you live here in the States, you might want to look up a feet-to-metric conversion site to use alongside it since the heights are only recorded in centimeters.
Here's a few screenshots of charts I made recently using it:
It only allows up to 10 figures at a time, so if you need more, you may have to screencap them for reference and do more as needed. You can also place items such as futons and vending machines to see how your characters would look standing next to such items.
Reject Force Seven? In 2026? You better believe it!
And in Lettie's words, IT'S GONNA BE LIT!!! ***air horns blare***
So, I made some revision concept sketches of Lettie Coleman and Bissell Dustbuster, two of the members of the vigilante team "Reject Force Seven", for the story remake "Extended Vacation".
A quick rundown of these two:
Lettie's full name is Leticia Liora Coleman, but is nicknamed "Lettie" for short. Her surname, Coleman, refers to a brand of camping gear, primarily flashlights; Coleman's logo bears a camping flashlight.
As a biometrically augmented human being, she has a special HUD that gives her night vision and she can also activate a "flashlight mode" with her eyes to light up the dark.
If she were in DnD, Lettie would be a Way of the Sun Soul Monk.
She can wipe the floor with anyone at Super Smash Bros.
When I first drafted this character, like, AGES ago, she was originally gonna be a boy named Coleman Batteries and was black. Then I changed her to a girl cause I felt it worked better (I blame a character design by the legendary @bechnokid, but it was so cute!) , but I also changed her skin tone. Recently, I felt like reverting to the original skin tone because I think it works better design-wise.
My hypothetical VA casting for her is Priah Ferguson.
Bissell is [so painfully obviously] named after the vacuum brand Bissell. Apparently, his middle name is "Kenmore".
He is left-handed. This is indicated by the fact that he wears the impound cuff on his right hand instead of the left like the rest of his friends.
Although he suffers severe dust allergies, he has learned to cope with them and can use a vacuum nozzle as a sniper rifle to fight enemies (his HUD view lets him detect the finest of dust particles, which is both a blessing and a curse).
If he were in DnD, he would be an Artillerist Artificer.
My hypothetical VA casting for him is Justin Briner.
While I've been brainstorming for "Extended Vacation", I've thought of doing a spin-off side story called "Rise of the Seven" (working title) for fun, just to do the origin stories for this silly team, starting with their fearless leader, the K-Beauty Queen Hwa-soo Seol (originally created as "Courtney Cosmetic", but I've changed her name a few times over the years and I've finally settled on something I like), who can be summed up in four words: Heels, Nails, Blade, Mascara.
Ever since I started drafting and brainstorming ideas for "Extended Vacation", the more I realize how downright bonkers and absolutely unhinged it is...
Without getting into specifics, the plot is essentially a dystopian YA novel a la Divergent with sci-fi and corporate themes, but written and directed like Guardians of the Galaxy (there's even a raccoon mascot helping fight the bad guys) with a loaded soundtrack; "Virtual Insanity" being the main theme song of the story. And it's all disguised as a wacky vacation-themed comedy set on a cruise liner. On top of that, the main romance is similar to a K Drama or shoujo anime, but the action scenes are definitely shonen anime-flavored.
And the cast...the cast can be only be summarized as the following:
👑 A princess who is essentially the most important individual (along with her identical sisters) who is tasked with an annual scouting mission to save the world and restore the defunct empire.
🗑️ A scavenger who is the sole survivor of an enclave of sanitation workers in the ruins of the Imperial Capital that all passed due to respiratory poisoning. He has a pet raccoon that is also seemingly the last of its kind.
🛳️ A cruise ship captain who is the father of the princess. He's a couch potato, but he's a nice guy.
🛞 The taciturn co-pilot who is the captain's brother and thus the princess' uncle. Due to said captain being a couch potato, the co-pilot is the one taking the wheel...metaphorically and literally.
🚨 The Head of Security who is the co-pilot's second-in-command and the leader of the Imperial Stormtroopers. Also he's an expy of both Tarkin and Hux.
💻 A virtual AI assistant who is essentially Alexa's future hologram update. She is a walking encyclopedia and converses with the couch potato captain by giving all her answers as Meta AI-generated search results. She is also an entire system mainframe and the cruise liner itself, in a sense.
🧼 A neurotic janitor who made it his life's mission to scrub down the scavenger until every last bit of dirt is off his body.
7️⃣ A seven-member DnD party consisting of:
A College of Glamour Bard who specializes in K Beauty treatments, can sing like Twice, and apparently flattery gets her everywhere
A Illusionist Wizard who sees the world as his painting canvas, and is incredibly charismatic and likes to joke a lot
A Path of the Berserker Barbarian with the personality of every Hot-headed Shonen Protagonist™ ever and the strength of Dimitri from Fire Emblem Three Houses
A Life Domain Cleric who wants to offer support but is afraid to use her full healing potential due to once misfiring a Revive spell to...catastrophic results
An Artillerist Artificer with terrible dust allergies, but he learned how to use vacuum nozzles as sniper rifles
A Gloom Stalker Ranger who is said to be rather "shady", but she is considered the team shield
A Way of the Sun Soul Monk who is initially clumsy and useless, but channeling her inner light comes in handy in times of great darkness, lighting the way to victory
The seven apparently steal the spotlight even though the scout princess and trash scavenger are the main characters.
💄🎨💆♂️🩺🧹🏖️🔦
Other characters of note:
A receptionist who learns what a handshake is
The nursery caretaker who raised the captain and co-pilot
A welder who doesn't paid enough
A tennis player who can't stop hitting tennis balls
A golfer who can't stop hitting golf balls
Garbage men working in the cruise ship's garbage bay, who are apparently friendly and speak with Brooklyn accents
The late emperor who disappeared after poor resource management caused his empire's downfall
And of course, Imperial Stormtroopers who are just there to be defeated by the spotlight-stealing, seven-member DnD party
And now, here are some sketches to remake my old character Evelyn McCrea, now as an Imperial Princess for my story remaster, "Extended Vacation".
I want her to look like a futuristic princess, but being the Star Wars fangirl I am, she's totally got Alderaan vibes going on (or even Chandrila vibes—Mon Mothma fam, where y'all at?). And of course, her tiara and mantle are embellished with the seal of the empire...yes, one would expect a typical imperial seal/crest to be some medieval shield heraldry with cool animals like lions and such—but this is a different kind of empire; IMHO it's super hilarious because it's like saying she's the Princess of Google or Amazon Prime. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Speaking of which, my hypothetical VA casting choice for her is Billie Lourd. Yup, the daughter of the late Carrie Fisher. What better choice than to have the daughter of the Rebel Princess play…an Imperial Princess?!! (don't worry this empire isn't evil; but they did suffer from poor resource management)
I've got a story on why she is the Imperial Princess; let me know if y'all wanna hear the in-depth lore drop on that one.
Oh, and I've also got some musical themes to use as Evelyn's leitmotif. I'd like to know which one suits her best (but I'd probably end up using them all anyway)
"Venus", from Gustav Holst's The Planets (it reminds me a lot of Leia's theme and also the Binary Sunset on Tatooine, but it feels like it embodies Evelyn as well)
"Orihime's Line" (I haven't actually seen Bleach except for the live-action film and one episode for comparison; but I heard this piece on a video about hypothetical music from the future, and it just screams "Evelyn McCrea")
I've been rambling about how I want to make a remastered edition of an old story I wrote back in high school; chances are you've read it if you knew me from Pixar Planet in 2009. I've decided to remake the story not just because the writing is a little cringe now looking back at it, but because of tech advancements made since then that I wish to satirize in this fresh new take which is to be titled "Extended Vacation".
So, a quick rundown on these guys:
Siri Alexa is a virtual AI assistant with a hologram form and the speech pattern of a Meta AI search overview. She is the system mainframe for a cruise liner and YES HER NAME REFERENCES BOTH APPLE SIRI AND AMAZON ALEXA. As a heads-up, brand names as character names is a BIG thing related to the story's themes.
Grand Moff Armitage Gopher is, aside from being a parody of both Tarkin and Hux 🚨Star Wars fangirl alert!!!🚨the Head of Security of the cruise liner and second-in-command to the co-pilot. I imagine him to be portrayed by Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux). I realized I forgot to draw eyebrows on him but that's okay these are just concept sketches.
Boris McCrea is a luxury cruise liner captain who is also the father of Princess Evelyn McCrea. As captain, that makes him the de facto Emperor of the Empire™, set to succeed the late great Emperor Forthright if all goes according to plan YES IT'S SUPER OBVIOUS WHOSE HE'S BASED ON. 🤣
Augustus McCrea is Boris' elder brother (and thus Princess Evelyn's uncle) and co-pilot who is quiet but taciturn. I literally designed him to be portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch; I saw him in Star Trek Into Darkness and decided that he was the perfect match for this character. His outfit, however, is modeled on Director Krennic from Rogue One. Since Boris is kind of a massive couch potato, Augustus is the one taking the wheel.
And yes they all have socials since it's now a common part of everyday life in our time, it's gonna be second—even fifth nature to them in the story's setting anyway.
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