#hxr

[nautiscarader]

The search for Nautiscarader's backstory, ep. 2, Endless Shmaltz

For those of you, who missed episode 1, I am trying to piece together the origins of my writing hobby by finding the oldest fics I've read, with the help of my extensive backup on a portable hard drive, and exploring my earliest ships and fandoms.

And boy, have I jumped the gun with the Monty Python gif in the og post, because this is already an order of magnitude weirder.

But first let's start with Minimax.

Minimax was a Polish(-ish) cartoon tv channel, which showed a hecking lot of cool cartoons (Magic School Bus, Code Lyoko, Lou!, Wakfu, yes, Wakfu, with Polish dub before the English Kickstarter! and many others) However, after hours, it gave way to gaming channel called gameOne, quickly renamed as Hyper. (Minimax itself had an edgy skater phase calling itself Zigzap, and then it became Teletoon+).

Now, if you are scratching your head, remember, we are talking about late 90s/early 2000s, early-internet, pre-Youtube era of TV. Gaming programmes were a thing. But aside from trailers and reviews, Hyper also showed a heck lot of anime, like Neo Genesis Evangellion, Record of Lodoss War, CyberSix (which is effing awesome!), and the topic of today's trip to the past, Gundam Wing.

This was not my intro to the mecha genre, General Daimos, which aired on Polonia1 was, but that channel is a story for a different day.

But most importantly, aside from big robots and political intrigue IN SPAAAAAAAACE, it also had...

...Relena Peacecraft (left), on whom I've had a huge crush as a 14-ish-years-old. In fact, this is also when I have discovered odd dissonances between anime openings and endings. Seriously, make someone new watch the og GW ending and try to convince them it's a space mecha show.

And so, once again, I went to The Internet to find fics about her and the show's hero, called... er, Heero. Yeah that was weird. Anyway, when I've started looking for GW fics, I have noticed a slight disproportion between number of M/F and M/M fics, in favour of the latter.

I would like to remind you, I am from Poland, which is, at low tide, 117% religious.

Anyway, this is how I've discovered yaoi.

But let's go back to Heero/Relena (or HxR, or 1xR, ships had these alphanumeric codes referring the pilots' numbers, AND THEY STILL USE THEM THIS IS SO CUTE @i-just-wanna-be-by-your-side)

I remembered exactly one fic, called "Do it in the road", and, sure enough, I had it saved.

But it was not the only file with that name...

You see, for SOME COCKING REASON, 16 YEARS OLD ME STARTED TRANSLATING IT INTO POLISH.

And this is where the fun trip down the memory lane turned into an existential roller-coaster, cos I've had no recollection of doing so!

...and why would I even do that?! Not to impress my classmates, nor, god forbid, my teachers, I was not going to publish it, and since I have started translating it, I obviously could enjoy it in English anyway. I say 'started', because I have not finished translating this one.

This one.

BECAUSE LO AND BEHOLD, I WAS ABLE TO FIND THREE MORE TRANSLATIONS FROM THE SAME PERIOD.

AND THESE ARE FINISHED.

And... I... er, I... find it difficult to explain! Can you even BEGIN to imagine the emotional whiplash I've experienced last night month when I've started writing this?! Now I know how characters in time travel stories feel, when they meet their older/younger counterparts. You should never meet your Heeros.

Now if you are insane inquisitive, you might ask about the quality of these translations. Well, they are... correct. I have mistranslated some idioms, and a few sentences have clunky structures. In other words...

...they could use...

...some...

...polish.

Now, this where I've hit a bit of a snag: it seemed this fic is gone from net. I had, however author's email - in pre-social media days it was customary to sign fics with them. Buuuuut since it's two decades old, I don't think I will eve-

NEVER COCKING MIND

So, I have managed to contact Beck and asked to reupload fic. Here is their FF account. At the moment it hasn't been reuploaded, so you cannot read it.

SCRATCH THAT

In fact, I have found an ooooooooooold lemon repository, called "Blissful Ignorance", and this is 100% the source of these fics for me. And here it is!

Oh, and one these fics lead to a slightly saucy fanart, which I have definitely saved.

(in fact, holy shit, I might have found it in the nick of time, cos the rest of the website 404s. In fact, two links there 404 as well. BACKUP STUFF YOU ENJOY, KIDS!)

Other fics from screenshots above:

Heero gets some!: https://anime2.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600021477

Lunch Break: https://blissfulignorance.com/Old/lemons/lunchbreak.htm

Waiting for tonight: https://blissfulignorance.com/Old/lemons/waitingfortonight.html

Power games: https://blissfulignorance.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=4260

WAIT HANG THE COCK ON

SO NOT ONLY IS BLISSFUL IGNORANCE UP AND RUNNING, IT IS NOT A DECREPIT HTML HELD BY GLUE AND WISHES BUT A PROPER PHPBB

and here is ANOTHER copy of "do it in the road": https://blissfulignorance.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=890

This... is truly bizarre. I thought I'd be finding a few dinosaur bones, and instead I found a working Jurassic Park.

W I L D.

And that would be it for today's internet history lesson! Not only have I found old fics, met their author, I have found an old example of another one of my hobbies - translations. Cos, yeah, I sometimes do them, just for myself, usually, I just like also comparing og lines with translations...

The funny thing is, I did remember name "Blissful Ignorance", but I thought it was a Sailor Moon fic repository, and... oh, but I shouldn't spoil what's coming in episode 3 :)

See you next time!

[sphinxdrawsstuff]

Had a funny idea to do one of those "cozy fireplace loop" things with MML, but wasn't sure if I had the time to do it.

Welp, managed in the nick of time in terms of the holidays, albeit also ended up losing the first run of frames due to not saving the .psd as a .kra file in Krita 🫠 But, thankfully nothing that couldn't be recovered.

Full size still for comparison (and also cause .gifs keep eating pixels):

(Don't ask me why Atrum's eye insists on rendering as yellow in the .gif, I fought it tooth and nail and it refused to surrender)

[fallenwingzero]

Remember in episode 47, when Duo is looking for Heero and Relena, and walks into a room where it looks like two people are having sex. He's shocked at what he found but it turns out the reason he is shocked is not that he walked in on Heero and Relena but because he found the scientists, case solved right?

Well, this is official art for episode 47.

This artwork is from the "Gundam Wing Encyclopedia" which is also where "Chronicle of the After Colony Era" comes from, so it's very official. It has a summary of every episode and an official art piece to reflect what happens. This is the artwork for Episode 47.

There's a scene afterwards where Heero is redressing and it's even framed in a way that makes it seem they're both putting clothes back on. It turns out they're changing into astro suits but the way it's done right after the "Duo walking in on them jumpscare" makes it imply something really did happen, or at least the writers want us to think something did. Even if it wasn't what Duo walked in on, there was something going on elsewhere on Libra.

Duo and Quatre even joke before this episode, that there's no point going with Heero to rescue Relena because "they'd only get in the way".

The lyrics to Just Communication even have the theme of spending the night together in a true moment of peace amongst the chaos of war.

The song literally describes the picture above with them "gazing painfully, intensely"

"Rythym Emotion", the second opening song, also has "Lithely accepting the moment with my bare skin, I want to find more gentleness".

"White Reflection" is the theme song for the "Endless Waltz" OVAs, but still has the subject matter.

Hikaru Midorikawa (voice of Heero) even did a cover of this song 💖.

There's also a scene in the Preventers 5 radio drama where the other pilots are asking Heero just how far he's gotten with Relena to which Heero uses spy vs spy tactics to avoid the question, even getting flustered when asked XD. It's crack and definitely not a real scenario for the boys lol but it's still considered canon character interpretations as it was written by the anime writers, includes the voice actors and is included in the Japanese Blu-ray Collection.

Another ~30 minutes of crack xD Since GW is such a serious stoy, it was fun listening to a much lighter, comical side of the series. The sei

So, I'm not saying something definately happened between Heero and Relena in episode 47, but something went down and it wasn't Libra.

[incorrectgundamwingquotes]

Relena: Can’t believe they think they’re the cuter couple.

Heero: We’ll show them.

Hilde: We’re totally cuter.

Duo: Oh yeah.

Duo, wrapping an arm around Heero: You think you’re cuter than us?

Hilde, putting an arm around Relena: Yup.

All: [lots of arguing]

[claraxbx]

Silver Strand-Sunday Sinning part 1

They were playing Roberta Flack. Hilde wasn't really sure WHO had decided to put a quarter into the neglected juke box, and definitely didn't know WHO would select Where is the Love. Listening to that song while she finished her milkshake and watched Relena decimate the high score of some hodad on the pinball made for one of the more trippy experiences Hilde had had recently. She was still high- they had only just finished a joint in Relena's car before walking to the diner. But even if she hadn't been, this would have been a weird experience. Relena, dressed in short cut-offs so short that the curve of her perfectly rounded ass was visible and a macrame bikini top with dangling ties on the back that teased anyone to slip them off, was the center of attention. She almost always was. There was a cluster of men from the naval base, trying and failing to look like casual townies out for lunch on a Thursday afternoon. Their eyes were glued to Relena. Mouths a little agape. It wasn't attractive. There was a group of teenagers- three wide eyed boys and one dour looking girl- who were also focused on the girl whose only only concern was the pinball machine. Hilde couldn't remember a time when Relena, golden and glorious and as bright as the sun over the ocean, wasn't the only thing SHE wanted to look at. So she couldn't really begrudge other people having the same taste that she did. Even so, when Roberta Flack's voice started to confess a profound heartache, Hilde felt her own throat constrict. Relena wasn't listening to the music, though. The only sounds that seemed to enter her conscience were those of the machine she was battling. Hilde, though, Hilde felt like the song was drowning her. The song was almost over when Relena let out a triumphant cheer and threw her hands into the air. She turned to look at Hilde, a joyous grin splitting her face. "Oh how I wish I never met you I guess it must have been my fate To fall in love with someone else's love All I can do is wait" The grin faltered just a touch as the lyrics drifted between them, and the joy in Relena's eyes faded. The look, the words, the mellow depression from the joint- made Hilde want to pull Relena against her, made her want to cling to the golden goddess who seemed to be farther away each day. Relena held out her hand. "Dance with me." It was barely past noon on a Thursday, in a diner filled with people, but Hilde was helpless to do anything but follow Relena's command. As always. She got to her feet and, expecting Relena to hold her hands and attempt some of the swing dancing steps that always made Hilde laugh, she extended both hands. But Relena pulled her close, wrapped her arms around Hilde's waist and tucked her chin over Hilde's shoulder. "I love you," Relena whispered. Hilde didn't doubt it. Still, her hands tightened on Relena, desperation clawed at her. "I'm scared," Hilde confessed. It was worse, saying it aloud. Speaking the thing that had put her on edge for weeks now, the thing that had sparked at least three fights between them. "Don't be, we're okay. We're going to be okay." "But Mei- she-" Hilde vividly remembered the red dress Meilan had been wearing that day. A dress that Meilan had borrowed from Hilde months ago for a date that had, by Meilan's admittedly high standards, been absolutely appalling bad. Treize, Meilan and Zechs had climbed into the convertible, Duo had muttered something about old people driving boats on the highway, and the three had set off. The deal was supposed to be big, Treize negotiating with a Mexican drug lord to expand the smuggling operation, to bring in more than just pot. Hilde hadn't liked the idea from the start. Neither had Duo. But Zechs and Quatrehad shrugged, and Relena had sided with her brother and Treize, who liked to maintain the illusion of equal partnership in the organization he had taken over, had given Hilde the flip and empty reassurance that things weren't really going to change. But they had changed. Meilan had been killed, Zechs had come back looking shaken and ill, and Treize had grown even more determined, even less comforting. Hilde clung to Relena. "I don't want to do this anymore," Hilde whispered into Relena's hair. She felt Relena tense, felt her process the words and when Relena pulled away to look at her, the expression on her face was eerily reminiscent of Treize. "You don't... you don't want to be with me anymore?" Hilde hadn't meant that. Hadn't meant that at ALL and she started to explain. But before she could say a single word she got it. She realized that Relena knew what she had meant and that RELENA meant exactly what SHE had said. Hilde wanted out. But Relena was going to stay in. If Hilde wanted Relena, she had to stay in as well. Hilde loved Relena. Loved her in the way that made her ache, made her smile just thinking about the sound of Relena's voice. She could still remember their first kiss. It had been after the football team won their homecoming game, and both Relena and Hilde had still been in their cheerleading uniforms, had been sharing beers with the two dozen students still celebrating their victory in the bleachers when Relena leaned over and pressed her lips to Hilde's in a sloppy, inexperienced kiss that was even now the best moment of Hilde's life. Relena had giggled, had apologized for being so BAD at kissing, had said she had wanted to do that for years and Hilde had only been able to stare at her in amazement, had only been able to punch herself. But it hadn't been a dream, and when they went to the beach two days later, swimming together as they had for YEARS, Hilde had felt like the world had shifted course, felt like the tides had been altered and the sky redrawn. They had held hands and let the waves crest against their shoulders as they kissed. Salt and sun and heat and perfection. Hilde hadn't known where to put her hands, hadn't known just what this was or what to do and surely Relena hadn't either. But Relena had reached out in the cool water between them and ran one smooth hand over Hilde's stomach, up the curve of her ribcage and the swell of her breast. Hilde's nipples were already pebbled from the cold, and the press of Relena's thumb against the sensitive numb, even through the t-shirt she wore, made Hilde gasp. Gasp and moan and kiss Relena with feverish, fervent passion as her she continued to fondle Hilde's breast. She had never felt this way, had certainly never been touched like this- not even by her OWN hand as she lay in bed some nights and, feeling guilty and dirty, slipped a hand beneath her panties and wondered what It would feel like to touch Relena. And then Relena was touching HER. Was sliding confident fingers between Hilde's bathing suit and her body and teasing Hilde's pubic hair until her finger slipped between Hilde's lips. "Relena!" She had paused, had looked at Hilde with concern. "Is this wrong?" She had asked. And Hilde had shaken her head emphatically. "No," she assured Relena. "It's perfect." Relena had smiled her golden, axis tilting smile and kissed Hilde again. Their tongues tangled, caressing and teasing and confessing. Relena's fingers were confident, her touch sending sparks of pleasure through Hilde's body. She felt adrift, not just in the ocean but in the cosmos and as Relena stroked her clitoris and held her close and the waves crashed around them Hilde had first first orgasm. She fell apart and Relena caught her and the world would never, ever be the same. "I do want to be with you," Hilde told Relena. "I love you." Relena held her gaze, looking at her so intensely that Hilde wanted to squirm. "I love you," Relena said and pulled Hilde close again. "I love you more than anything." Hilde had heard the words before. Relena had whispered them against Hilde's skin, had shouted them over the pounding surf, had cried them out in the rush of her own pleasure. And never before had Hilde doubted them. ----- (Inspired by the photo @kangofu-cb tagged yesterday.) @amberlyinviolet @maevemauvaise @remsyk-blog @renmaxwell @simulacraryn @chronicwhimsy @downwarddnaspiral @tumbledrylemur There will also be some 2x5 action for part 2. There will also be some 4x6 by next Sunday at the least.

[sphinxdrawsstuff]

MML - First Race

There's a racing event happening over on the forum, and it brought out a lot of HTTYD-style vibes when training up Letitia for it, so figured to also feed it into some self-indulgent art x3

Probs wont finish it fully, but rather like that the pose worked out~

[sphinxdrawsstuff]

MML - Èdan (redo)

Been looking at my MML characters and realizing that it's been forever since their last profile art was done, so figured to do some updated versions (Plus a few bonus extras).

Èdan in his regular outfit with Atrum on the shoulder, plus a bonus Sarv guise (The pose being inspired by his original tabletop mini).

[sphinxdrawsstuff]

MML - Evainmoire Pholier (redo)

Been looking at my MML characters and realizing that it's been forever since their last profile art was done, so figured to do some updated versions (Plus a few bonus extras).

Evainmoire, both formal and work outfits, and a bonus zoom-in of the most important addition - lil flower bby Ellébore-Maylis~