The Agony Of Seeing A Mistake In Your Drawings But You've Already Posted It And It's Too Late To Do Anything

Asking because I'm curious and also because I feel like I've exhausted my usual options, but what are some fic recs from y'all? I wanna see if I've missed anything or if there's just one you really like.

Ngl, your art got me into playing Anji. It still hasn't gotten me on baiken (the tether confuses me), but it's getting there. Thank you 😊

So happy to hear that! And also don't worry, plenty of inputs still confuse me too (especially as someone who isn't used to fighting games...) but it just takes some practice and some patience. You got this!

Listen I don't know how Dual Rulers is gonna go at all but one thing I do know is that I'm so so SO glad ArcSys is using their 3d animation for something more than just cool MVs and the in-game animations

that's honestly pretty valid! I can definitely see that (his face is kinda round-ish for a fox) Initially, I decided to go for a fox with Anji because of their known trickster imagery with the Kitsune (plus their loyalty!) along with their shapeshifting abilities too (plus a tiny fox getting up to no good with a big wolf just barely tolerating it is kinda fun in concept to me :D)

More 'o these two

What got you shipping anbai? I’m new here and they seem cute ^^ /gen

Oh god-

where do I even begin....

TLDR/Short version of it: Friend talked about Guilty Gear, I found out about Baiken, watched Another Story and some arcade mode interactions and song breakdowns and read some comments and it got me wondering "what is going on with these two~", I go on ao3, there is a little over 20 fics. I got really frustrated, made content of them myself, fell further down the rabbit hole, now I'm here.

The long and very rambly version of why I ship them that you can read under the cut if you wanna ↓

Firstly, a few things that I really enjoy about them (to get this out of the way-) is that they contrast and compliment each other really, really well if you think about it. Which I have. A lot.

I know I've said some of these before but like; the Sun and Moon motifs and how it literally shows up in their Overdrives (and Anji's command...grab...thingy(? idk strive terminology) also has a moon briefly appear hmmmmmwhatsupwiththat-), the Butterfly and Flower symbolism associated with them respectively and how in a sense, one helps the other grow, the classic red oni blue oni dynamic, cat and dog, Anji's graceful elegance and calm demeanor to go with Baiken's rugged toughness and fiery temper, blah blah blah the list goes on you get the idea. They're opposites, but they match each other and balance each other out, like yin and yang.

There's also their (strive) songs! Rock Parade is...extremely obvious lmao. I know folks like to joke about it but, dude. Single footstep carries two hearts? The promise he made to her? (Whatever that was I wanna knOW-) It really does feel like more than just a song about a crush he has on her, this man is dedicated. And with Mirror of the World it basically encapsulates Baiken's whole journey, going from someone who's resigned herself to a life of revenge to ultimately breaking out of her self imposed "exile" in the end. Also the line "If I had a comrade, I wonder what I would tell them." and I'm over here yelling "YOU HAVE ONE! HE IS RIGHT THERE-" (I actually think the song is also about Delilah, but still kinda about him too, it's about both of them they're both the comrade how about that)

But to get to the heart of it all (and to also get extremely corny here), there's this sort of earnestness to their relationship that I really admire. Every now and then, there's a pairing that comes around and makes me go Ooga Booga for the better part of a year because it's just got a lot of good stuff to chew on. Angst? Drama? Some form of love that isn't just inherently romantic but something more? I'm eating it up and annoying my friends to death with it. And I think to me that really shows in their XX arcade mode endings, (BOTH of their "canon" ones btw THEY GET TWO ENDINGS TOGETHER) where Anji gives up what he was doing so he can follow Baiken and make sure she's actually living instead of just wandering by herself. This one thing he's been chasing for a while now, probably even his dream job of learning the secrets of the universe (or whatever Asuka was teaching him), and he just gives it up because he can't stand to see someone he loves dedicate her life to something that will inevitably destroy her in the end. "I don't want you to die." I think about this so often it's not even funny.

(And y'know, he also gives her the choice to just get rid of him if she doesn't want him around anymore, and idk about you, but I think that's very sexy of him and also very telling of her that she hasn't done it yet but moving on-)

Delilah ultimately ties it all together because at the end of Another Story, Baiken becomes to Delilah what Anji was to her all those years ago. A friend, a companion, someone to lean on. There's the line "She won't die well unless she finds a better way to live." before May mentions that's what Anji had said about her, and suddenly she gets it now. (I think) It's the final push that gets her to save Delilah from winding up in the same situation she's been stuck in for years and in the end, finally let go of her revenge.

No that does not have to be inherently romantic in the slightest, you can do whatever you want with that information or interpret it however you want and I encourage that, but also it's driving me insane whenever I think about it. He cares about her SO much, even if he has a weird way of showing it. I don't even think I can begin to do it justice trying to describe how it makes me feel but hopefully that can give you (and maybe some other folks who have made it this far hello) some insight into why I like this ship so much.

Also their strive in-game interactions are really flirty.

So you did Delilah as a lamb but what if you did Dizzy as a dragon? Hypothetically

That could work! Might be better than my other option for Dizzy, actually. I was initially gonna go with a spaniel dog cuz I thought the floppy ears could mimic her original pigtails.

Follow up on Dragon Dizzy: does that make Ky a donkey? 😃

I just want you know that this automatically means Sin is going to look like this:

Fam, you need to kill the part of you that cringes. The fanart is objectively good. I personally enjoy it.

Aaaaaaaah unfortunately that's something I still struggle deeply with to this day. Especially right now (sorta going through a bit of a crisis with my art). I know I shouldn't really care that much about what people think about my work, but I do! A lot! It sucks! Especially when it's work of something I love a lot and do for fun. It's a constant thought of "how am I being perceived by these people right now, how will I be if I post this-" etc etc., while also feeling like I'm not letting myself have fun like I want to because "I'm doing it wrong". It's...a lot. But genuinely, seeing how much people enjoy my work, even my dumb stuff, it does make me feel better about what I want to share. Hopefully I can overcome that part that cringes a little more in the future and just, focus on the fun.

Incase anyone's curious about what animals I think some of the other cast members could be: Anji (alt): Peacock or Great Argus

Chipp: Weasel

Answer: Snow Monkey/Macaque

Nagoryuki: Snow Leopard

Kum Haehyun: White Tiger (Jeon Ryok's a normal tiger)

Elphelt and Jam: Bunny/rabbit

Ramlethal: Siamese cat

Faust: Tree Frog (think Charlie from Bojack) or vulture....maybe

Goldlewis and Potemkin: Bull/Ox

Testament: Crow or Raven

May: Otter

Bridget: Bear...cub?

Leo: Lion (obviously)

Giovanna: Manned wolf or German shepard

Happy Chaos: maybe an Aye-Aye? or a possum...hmmmm

Dizzy (alt): deer

Sol: dragon

Asuka: shorthair cat

Raven: Unicorn

I-No: maybe a swan?

Is Into the Light by Skybreak an Anbai song? My sources say yes but my sources are also me

Looking at the lyrics I think it might be a little more on the softer side, but overall I can see where you're coming from "Snowblind, can't escape this feeling Late nights, tell me I'm still breathing No, I'm fine I just need time to find myself a way to calm my mind

Stay with me and help me ease my mind And say you'll never let me go Hold my hand and help me take this leap of faith Into the light"