Happy Three-Year DeviantArt Anniversary to me, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and artists of all ages. It’s your old pal Antoni here and I am really elated to have been here to express everything that I love and am most passionate about, especially evident in my most favorite shippings, team-ups, and families based on the cartoons and anime I have enjoyed when I was young. What you see before you is a collage I have created of twenty-nine pieces of fan art I have done throughout the three years I have been on DeviantArt. Why twenty-nine, you ask? This is because I will celebrate my 29th birthday eight days from now and I thought it would be a great way to celebrate both my third-year DeviantArt anniversary, look back at the works I was proud of doing, and look forward to my 29th year in life with creativity, motivation, ecstasy, and enthusiasm.
I have been involving myself in art contests, theme-inspired art months, art trades, and requests as well as letting my weird yet creative brain do its work. This is the result of what three exciting years on DeviantArt has done, which is a cavalcade of fan art involving the following fandoms: The Rowdyruff Boys and The Powerpuff Girls known collectively in my headcanon as Team Xtreme, Inuyasha’s very own Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Ayame, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran known collectively in my headcanon as The Splendid Seven plus Kohaku and Rin being a lovely couple, Basuli and Tarzan plus their brotherly bond and their sexy love life, and a host of OTPs I have cherished from InuAya to BBTerra.
As you can tell, I have always been a huge advocate of Inuyasha x Ayame ever since I was a young teenager. I was in the belief that if Inuyasha were to have a romantic relationship with anybody, it seriously had to be with Ayame and certainly not with either Kikyou or even that incompetent ninny Kagome. The same case applied for Ayame. Instead of finding herself with that lame-o wolf yokai warrior Kouga who was all talk and no action, she deserved a real warrior husband in Inuyasha. I used to think that it was just because they looked fantastic together, which they still do. Nowadays, as a grown-up, I am a proud Inuyasha x Ayame advocate and OTP shipper because of how much fortitude, trust, compassion, and genuineness there is in their relationship. This is also maintained in their family life. I am just as elated to have drawn fan children for Inuyasha and Ayame, especially the muscle twins Kenta and Keita who are my most favorite ones to draw thanks to their rough-and-tumble personalities and virile bravery. Furthermore, I have always perceived Inuyasha and Ayame as the most intimate couple ever. Ergo, the more sons and daughters I drew for them plus the adopted sons and daughters I have provided for them based on the series, the mightier their family became. I could not have been any happier to have shown my undying love for Inuyasha, Ayame, and their extraordinary brood.
While I have not been drawing Ginta and Shunran as often as I would have loved to, I was still highly on board to give love to this underrated couple. If there is a pairing I felt needed more love, it had to be this one. Ginta’s lovability is a perfect match for Shunran’s feistiness and I am just as proud to be a GinShun shipper for life. Their harmony and joy are here to stay for life.
Combining InuAya’s formidability and GinShun’s harmony is having Inuyasha, Ginta, Ayame, and Shunran join forces with Sesshoumaru, Shuran, and Hakkaku to form The Splendid Seven. This is essentially the Feudal Era version of the Justice League, the Avengers, and the X-Men rolled up into one package. With Sesshoumaru as the aloof lancer, Inuyasha as the rough-and-tumble muscle warrior, Ayame as the valorous warrior woman, Shuran as the big guy who keeps the group together, Hakkaku as the energetic fireball, Ginta as the lovable charmer, and Shunran as the feisty spitfire, they not only function as a firm group of yokai warriors, but also a fine family. Where group dynamics are concerned, they have always stuck together as children under the lovably watchful eyes of Ayame’s grandfather, The Wolf Elder, and Sesshoumaru’s and Inuyasha’s father, The Dog General, who have also been great friends themselves. Joining forces as their allies are Ayumi and Karan, who I also respectively pair with Shuran and Hakkaku thanks to their vivacious dynamics. Together, the Splendid Seven have formed an indestructible bond.
Overlooking my undeniable enjoyment of drawing Inuyasha-related fan art, especially where Sesshoumaru, Shuran, and Hakkaku plus their tight friendship, Inuyasha x Ayame, Ginta x Shunran, Inuyasha’s and Ginta’s brotherly bond, and Ayame’s and Shunran’s sisterly bond are concerned, I have also made it my endeavor to let Ichise x Ran from Texhnolyze and Kiba x Cheza from Wolf’s Rain to join the fray as my other favorite anime OTPs of all time. Moreover, I am just as gregarious to have maintained an enthusiastic bond with my most beloved anime crossover ships in the forms of Baki x Rosé and their warm compassion, Kiibo x Winry and their spicy sexiness, Ichiro x Rose and their elegant gorgeousness, Ippo x Maya and their offbeat sweetness, and Kintaro x Solty and their euphoric lovability. I will have to make it my endeavor to continue drawing them if I find the time.
At the opposite end of the Atlantic is a group of six superheroes who have been saving Townsville and the world from crime and the forces of evil known to the world as Team Xtreme consisting of Brick the determined leader, Butch the tough muscle, Boomer the athletic comic relief, Blossom the brainy beauty, Buttercup the rambunctious brawler, and Bubbles the lovable pacifist. Coming from someone who used to like the color-code couples when I was a child because of the fan art, I have ended up blossoming into a full-fledged color-clash shipper thanks to the healthier dynamics Butchubbles, Brickercup, and especially Blossoomer have to offer. I have had the pleasure of creating fan kids, collaborating with other color-clash shippers, and being a so-called specialist for this group of couples for two years. I could never go wrong with Butchubbles’ loveliness, Brickercup’s epic formidability, and Blossoomer’s wholesome and beautiful genuineness, for these couples spell relationship goals. This has also made me experiment with Butch, Boomer, and Blossom being temporarily Aku’s minions for a Halloween contest picture, which I look back with so many fond memories creating it and coming up with an exciting scenario for it too. Speaking of which, out of all the color-clash couples, it looks like Blossoomer has ended up stealing my heart, as I fell for its cotton candy-strewn spell to the point where I could never get enough of it. That’s right folks. Despite me being a longtime Brickercup shipper as well as a super longtime ProfKeane shipper, Blossoomer ended up stealing their thunder as my number one most favorite couple in all of Townsville. This has gotten to the point where, back in Christmas 2019, I drew a fine majority of my Blossoomer children to interact alongside some of Betty-M’s OCs for her Christmas contest. Even though I no longer want to keep drawing this set of couples, I could still keep Blossoomer top of mind, especially where certain RRB x PPG art-related contests are concerned.
Perhaps the platonic relationship I would make it my continuous effort to explore a whole lot more is the brotherhood of my favorite jungle warrior kings, Basuli and Tarzan. Ever since I first tuned in to Disney’s The Legend of Tarzan as a nine-year-old lad, I always loved seeing Basuli and Tarzan being akin to brothers to the point where I believed that Keewazi would make a great father to Tarzan. From that point on, I kept Basuli and Tarzan as brothers for life in my AU headcanon. From their handsomely rippling muscles to their warlike virility, I could never fault them for being an awesome pair of brothers. Squeezing in Fernando, Init-Init, Bernardo Carpio, George of the Jungle, and Maugli as their brothers plus having Mufasa and Simba as their lion family as well as Kaj as their leopardman brother would make Basuli’s and Tarzan’s family all the more blessed. Additionally, I have also considered myself to be an equally proud shipper of Namontack x Basuli and Kocoum x Tarzan because there is nothing more gratifying than seeing a couple of hunky Powhatan warriors hooking up with a couple of equally hunky Waziri brother warriors. Life is sweeter that way. I hope I could continue with further exploring Basuli’s and Tarzan’s relationship as brothers because I consider their fraternal relationship absolutely precious. Whether they have jungle bodybuilding competitions or playfully wrestling to their hearts’ content or even making sweet love to their husbands, this tight-knit jungle family is in desperate need of further exploration, especially with their friends Grunch the Caveman and Hercules and their other brothers, Fernando, Init-Init, Bernardo Carpio, George of the Jungle, and Maugli.
Last year, I did have some overdue art trades I had to commit to. Out of the ones I was able to accomplish, the one that still managed to bring a smile to my face was the one I did with ModernEddy01. He drew a piece Butch x Blossom or Blossutch fan art and in return I provided him with a piece of Kevin x Gwen from Ben 10 fan art. To this day, I hold this piece of Kevin x Gwen fan art and the pairing itself with such high esteem.
This year was quite slow in the drawing process because I have had to deal with obligations from my university among other priorities. Nevertheless, I did manage to create some pieces of work that I am still proud of doing. When BrickercupMasterX3 hosted her Multi-Fandom OTP contest, I gladly jumped at the chance to draw not only Kohaku x Rin from Inuyasha, but also ventured into two more OTPs from shows I enjoyed as a young teenager, more specifically Chase x Kimiko or Chamiko from Xiaolin Showdown and Beast Boy x Terra or BBTerra from Teen Titans. I could not begin to describe how happy I was to have gotten out of my comfort zones because every time I look back at my gallery, I am just astonished of how much fan art of the color-clash RuffPuff couples I have been drawing as well as anything related to Team Xtreme. It felt like it was too much. So, this was why I ended up opting for Chamiko and BBTerra as my final two entries for her contest and I never regretted ever since. Another contest I joined this year was hosted by BeardedLuckDragon and I did enjoy drawing Princess Alana and her two animal friends, Engelbert the Penguin and Iris the Unicorn. His contest is still ongoing and I will see where else I can take Princess Alana, Engelbert the Penguin, and Iris the Unicorn in terms of ideas.
Overlooking everything I have accomplished so far on DeviantArt, I could not have done it without the encouragement, support, and strength from all of you, my fellow artists, all of my 355 watchers, family, friends, and everybody who has believed in me from the very start of my journey in real life, on DeviantArt, and all of my endeavors. I wish you all well and I thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for believing in me and for being absolutely fantastic people. Here’s to many more years to come being as creative and enthusiastic as possible.
To conclude, I still cannot believe it has been three years since I was on DeviantArt. I have a whole lot more I want to do and explore and not just be in those same damn comfort zones anymore. My life is way too short to ever go back to them and I am never going to relent anytime soon.
I hope you all enjoyed this and I will see you in the next submission. Take care, stay safe, and enjoy this nice Spring weather, everybody.
