Year end recaps help ease me back into the normal flow of stuff. This year is no different.
This screenshot motivational poster is in high favor of Superman x Wonder Woman from Justice League, Ryu Hoshi x Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Ken Masters x Cammy White from Street Fighter, Roy Mustang x Riza Hawkeye from Fullmetal Alchemist, Eric Myers x Taylor Earhardt from Power Rangers, Inuyasha x Ayame from Inuyasha, and Raymond x Alex from Totally Spies. This is also dedicated to everybody who desires these seven couples as their OTPs for life as much as I do. Sit back, relax, and revel in SuperWonder’s authoritative might, RyuLi’s focused determination, Kenammy’s fiery willpower, RoyAi’s unrelenting loyalty, Quantum Eagle’s resilient toughness, InuAya’s magnificent strength, and Raylex’s gorgeous synergy. Nothing excites me more than embracing my seven favorite fictional couples I consider to be battle-power couples. Their formidability, fortitude, fierceness, strength, combat prowess, might, and potency have always made me enthralled from my head to my heart to my soul. It should be no surprise that I have been shipping these couples ever since I was in my tween years while discovering several attributes that made each power couple superb in my eyes in latent, overt, and/or surprising ways. From the childhood delight of pairing Superman and Wonder Woman as a couple to my further appreciation for Raymond and Alex as a gorgeously lovely couple, there was nothing that could separate me from these seven power couples that I cherish the most. Even when some people discourage me by proclaiming that some of these power couples are not canon and will never happen, I do not bother with them and make them stew in their self-loathing, fun-sucking ways because I take pride in going against the grain. Now, it is time for me to sing my praises and high esteem for these seven mighty power couples. Superman and Wonder Woman aka Clark Kent and Diana Prince aka Kal-El of Krypton and Diana of Themyscira are the power couple to end all power couples. This is not just attributed that they are DC Comics’ beacons for mythically grand heroism. This also extends to them not just looking phenomenal either. Both Superman and Wonder Woman represent authority, duty, and reverence that need to be earned by protecting civilians from oppression and cruelty as well as being pillared anchors of super strength for the Justice League. While some people in the DC fandom may find SuperWonder to be a rather bland couple, given how incredibly invincible both superheroes are and how similar they are to a fault, I have always cherished Superman and Wonder Woman for their mythical authority and sheer might in saving the world from destruction. I even envision Superman x Wonder Woman giving Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde a run for their money because their indestructibility and regal power make them worthier of aspiration and adulation. Therefore, Superman and Wonder Woman are deserving of reverence. Ryu Hoshi and Chun-Li are what occurs when the unbreakable focus in the martial arts and sheer determination to grow as combatants and as people entwine. Ryu’s and Chun-Li’s focus and determination as martial artists and as individuals are the hallmarks of what make them infallible, especially when they are together inside and outside combat situations. Neither of them will rest until they not only fully commit to their lives as warriors but also do their part in ensuring that justice and peace prevail for the people they care about. Should criminals, looters, and marauders pillage Ryu’s and Chun-Li’s happily blessed home, they would unleash every punch, kick, takedown, grapple, and power-up from their arsenal to make them pay for what they have done in droves. From the very first moments that I stumbled upon the Street Fighter franchise as a child growing up in the 1990s, Ryu x Chun-Li was the first couple I ever shipped. Back then as a child, I could not fathom why. However, now as an adult, what I can see in Ryu and Chun-Li is respect, allegiance, loyalty, and support for each other as a superb martial arts couple. Ken Masters and Cammy White are striking up the band when it comes to challenging each other to grow in fortitude and perseverance while also possessing tenderly intimate moments as a power couple. The golden sunshine of their blond hair and sparkling blue eyes may reflect Ken’s and Cammy’s conventionally Western aesthetics in contrast to Ryu’s and Chun-Li’s brunette hair and predominantly Asian features. All looks aside, Ken and Cammy demonstrate exuberance, fearlessness, and fieriness in embracing every challenge they encounter together. Moreover, Ken’s muscularly hot-blooded virility excitingly compliments Cammy’s icily steely determination to the point where they can hold their own both individually and as a couple. Their traits also work in their favor when pummeling criminals and terrorists, considering how Ken’s brutal strikes and takedowns work beautifully with Cammy’s quickly-paced strikes. I have also been a hardcore shipper of Ken x Cammy ever since I was a child, and I continue to cherish them as a couple because they can challenge each other to improve as people. Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye command full respect, allegiance, loyalty, nobility, and courage in the face of all adversity and strife with electrifying flair. Once again, Roy’s hot-bloodedly virile fire compliments Riza’s icily cool quicksilver bullets in a frenzy that involves lethal edge and taking no prisoners. Felons and legitimate war criminals would easily tremble at the severe and quick punishments that Roy and Riza can deliver with effortless fatality. Superiors and followers alike discover multiple upon multiple facets that make Roy and Riza worthy of emulation and adoration, thanks to their commanding formidability, pristine decorum, and valorous courage amidst pain, adversity, strife, and trouble. When everything is silent and all the chaos is mildened, Roy and Riza would engage in spicy yet subtle sexual tension in their well-furnished chambers. During my late-tween to early teen years of watching Fullmetal Alchemist, I have always been a partisan of Roy x Riza aka RoyAi. The belligerent sexual tension, the trust, and the allegiance…
Happy New Year, everybody. Antoni here. The year of Our Lord 2023 is fast approaching its end. Therefore, it is time for me to feature the pieces of work that I have enjoyed doing since this year. Yes, I know my fanart uploading has been a bit slower and fewer this year. This is because I have been producing more online reviews on my YouTube channel, which I am happy to say that I have now reached 1,930 subscribers, dealing with my three semesters going on four semesters as a Master’s in American Studies student attaining A’s and B’s on my transcript of records thus far and enjoying every discourse I have been sinking my teeth into, and doing everything I can to keep everything together in my university, YouTube, DeviantArt, and writing life. Furthermore, it has been four years since I have last traveled abroad, as I have been spending Christmas and New Year in Sydney, Australia, where I have been spending time with my outstandingly wonderful host family and witnessing everything I needed and wanted to witness thus far. This is especially true considering all the insanity I dealt with in graduating with honors/distinction in my Bachelor’s in English and Musicology and doing everything to improve greatly in my current Master’s in American Studies tenure. Nevertheless, everything I have been dealing with in this year has been fruitful, productive, and brilliant. I never regretted anything. I have been blessed thanks to my father, my mother, my younger siblings, all my relatives, all my friends, all my colleagues, and every actor, voice actor, singer, musician, artist, online reviewer, writer, online content creator, and academic I have constantly considered as my role model. With that said, let’s get cracking with my favorite pieces of work from each month. January: Octagon Ice and Olympic Fire 2023 started off with a bang, as Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha aka the Inu Brothers took center stage. My anime martial arts AU headcanon was strong in this one, considering that Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha are the bedrocks of their martial arts team, The Splendid Seven. I wanted to capture the dichotomy of Sesshoumaru’s deadly prowess in Mixed Martial Arts and Inuyasha’s rampaging brutality in Pankration because of how relatively similar yet utterly different their main martial arts are. Sesshoumaru’s element of ice means that he can abide by octagonal cage regulations, uphold the martial arts code with all his being, and give his opponents the ground-and-pounds and Kimuras they deserve, while never giving in to rowdy obnoxiousness featured in the UFC reality television show. Inuyasha’s element of fire means that he can do anything and everything he wants in the Spartan arena from torture racks to double axe handles all while making his muscular virility an offering to Zeus and all the Olympian gods. Put these two dog Yokai brothers together, and they are ruthlessly invincible. February: Olympic Champion Power Couple Now, it is time to feature the first work containing my most beloved one true pairing of all time Inuyasha x Ayame. It clearly shows that my loyalty to my OTP knows no bounds and will always inspire me to create more InuAya fanart, let alone fan-related content. Nobody can slaughter, mash, and cream the competition like Inuyasha and Ayame can. With Inuyasha’s powerfully muscular brutality in Pankration and Ayame’s furiously fierce velocity in Kyuk Too Ki or Korean Kickboxing, no opponent can ever bring them down even if they tried. As Inuyasha’s background in Ancient Greek Wrestling, Ancient Greek Boxing, Ssireum, Combat Sambo, Vale Tudo, and Kapu Kuialua makes him a mighty Pankratiast and Ayame’s skills in Muay Thai, Dutch Kickboxing, Japanese Kickboxing, Muay Lerdrit, Bokator, and Muay Chaiya have made them gain a reputation for being powerful opponents, it is easy to see why competitors would not dare mess with this power couple. Inuyasha and Ayame have the physical might and the spicy intimacy to prove that they can conquer anyone who crosses their path. March: The Seven Scintillating Sirens Coinciding with my anime martial arts AU headcanon was me celebrating International Women’s Day the only way I knew how. I featured Rosé Thomas, Rose Anderson, Winry Rockbell, Megumi Minami, Maya Orihara, Solty Revant, and Kaoru Ichinose working together as a septet of spectacular soul sisters possessing all the punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, shin strikes, grapples, and takedowns to their hearts’ desire. Given that I have been watching Karate Combat for nearly one or two years on YouTube and have been playing Tekken and Street Fighter when I was a child, I gave the Queens of Scintillating Strikes various Korean hybrid martial arts. Rosé Thomas had Yongmudo. Rose Anderson had Gongkwon Yusul. Winry Rockbell had Kuk Sool Won. Megumi Minami had Hwa Rang Do. May Orihara had Tang Soo Do. Solty Revant had Kong Soo Do. Kaoru Ichinose had Soo Bakh Do. Whether these ladies threw uppercuts, spinning back kicks, axe kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, chokeholds, or jointlocks, they combine elegant beauty with ferocious beastliness in their attacks. Outside their penchant for unleashing tornadoes of furious attacks on their opponents, they also love the finer things in life from art to music and are also fiercely protective of children. April: Bulging Biceps are what a Warrior Queen Loves Inuyasha x Ayame as a super strong and splendidly sexy power couple strike again for the second time. This was reasonable because it was InuAya Month 2023, which went rather sporadically because of the continuous growth of my YouTube content and starting the summer semester in my university among other real-life obligations. Yes, I was pleased to have done group shots of Inuyasha’s and Ayame’s fourteen children consisting of seven sons and seven daughters, at least where the two sets of triplets and three sets of twins are concerned, but nothing beats Inuyasha and Ayame as the mighty power couple and equally mightier parents they are intended to be. Furthermore, Inuyasha’s mightily magnificent muscles and Ayame’s fearlessly fabulous fierceness always compliment each other…
My New Year and my penultimate days here in Sydney have been well-spent with a trip to the Harbour Bridge.
I take my first steps on Manly Beach despite the unpredictable weather. Special acknowledgment goes to Uncle Bert Decena for recording.
What better way to wrap up Christmas 2023 than with my album review of the charming Michael Bublé’s deluxe edition holiday album? This is true when he is buttressed by equally exceptional performers. Please enjoy my review and let me know your opinions.
John Rutter’s compositions of his Christmas Carols and his arrangements of rare and popular ones are buttressed by pristine vocal and orchestral performances. Please enjoy and let me know your opinions.
An eclectic Christmas album headlined by a musical band specializing in Irish folk music accompanied by a formidable blend of extraordinary singers. Please enjoy my review and let me know your opinions as well.
Merry Christmas, happy Holidays and Happy New Year!