15th Anniversary Celebration ~ Meet The Main Circle

August 30, 2021

My how time flies! Even though 2016 was five years ago, it still feels like yesterday I was celebrating my 10th Anniversary, creating the Chibi Parade of all the OCs I’ve drawn throughout the years. And now it’s already 2021, my 15^th Anniversary of doing artwork online. To celebrate the occasion, I decided to go back and draw my OCs once again, but this time in full proportions. They’d also be donning a new group name: The Main Circle of Ladies (or The Main Circle for short). This was about a year and a half in the making (just about the same time it took as the new Blue Fish Apartment). This was actually supposed to be done by late 2020. But we ALL already knew what was going on worldwide. Even though I’d be stuck at home, mentally and physically it wasn’t going to be easy. One look at my 2020 artwork output, and you can see how much 2020 sucked. This meant having to push the completion date out of 2020. Conveniently, this meant that the Main Circle would be done during the same year as my 15^th Anniversary (specifically July 28, which already passed). And since I’d have a lot more time to work on them, I made the choice to do all the usual variants for each one. Since there was nine of them, I knew this wouldn’t be easy both in execution and timing. I found myself running out of creative gas multiple times, and sometimes dreading the details I’d have to work on for some of the ladies. But I pushed through. As an added bonus, I also wanted to make a timelapse video of each lady’s creation which you can see on the home page of the Blue Fish Apartment.

As per usual, each lady represents a year, as has been drawn once before. You’ll notice that two ladies that use to be in the Chibi Parade, Lady Jess and Lady Mimi, are not in the Main Circle. I haven’t found much inspiration in drawing anything related to the Bladeladies. So I made the choice to shelve them indefinitely. In their place are two others that you might be familiar with if you’ve followed me in recent years.

Without further ado, let’s meet the Main Circle of Ladies!

The individual image carousels in each slide contain NSFW variants. Proceed at your own risk.

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Chelsí Pleinair (And Finne)

Creation Date: 2005 / Online Debut: 2015

Like last time, let’s start with the little fella on Chelsí’s head, Finne. He was actually created for an old fangame idea I had in mind under the old name Speah. He reemerged as my mascot in 2010 under the new name Finne. Whether it’s being in my own DPX logo, or as the silhouette to an old gaming blog, he’s been my go-to avatar for wherever I’ve been. Story-wise, he resides in Chelsí’s universe, acting as her sidekick.

If Finne was my mascot, then Chelsí was, and still is, my main poster girl. A running theme for a lot of the ladies in the Main Circle was that they were made for different hentai stories I tried to make a long time ago, but failed at for one reason or another. And Chelsí was no exception as she was a schoolgirl with a French painter theme. She was created around 2005 with the normal spelling “Chelsea”. She got re-purposed for another story as a princess, but was scrapped again. Fast forward to late 2015, and she would make her online debut, this time as just normal a French girl with a not-so-normal pet fish from New York City. Since then, she’s been in several fully rendered pics. But her chibi version has seen the most action in the Silly Sketches with Finne, whether it’s yelling French girl noises, reminding people of the more important things in life, or getting ready to “cleanse ze sin.” Her fully proportioned design has seen minor changes from her debut. The only major changes have been the big tuft of hair on her right side getting bigger (which was derived from her chibi version), and a mole being added under her left eye.

Other Artwork with Chelsí: What Am I Going to Draw Today (2015), No Valentine’s Day Pic (2016), I’m Ready To Paint (2016), Chelsí’s Summer Fashion (2016), Joyeuse Saint Valentin (2017), Zis Chandail, It’z So Low! [Virgin Killer Sweater] (2017), Happy Holidays from Chelsí and Belinda! (2018), Endless Summer (2018)

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The Fearless* Belinda Cauldron

Creation Date: 2005 / Online Debut: 2006

The main girl when the spooky season is upon us! Whenever possible, I try to draw Belinda at least once every October. She’s accompanied by her buddies, the lecherous Kai and more down-to-earth Tasma. Jackie, the flaming pumpkin, once served under her grandma, Granny Bea. But he now helps out Belinda since Bea retired from the witching scene. But why exactly is Belinda “Fearless*”. Well, let’s just say she often bites off WAY more than she can chew. If she were in the Olympics, she’d sooner win gold in Sprinting than something like Judo or Boxing.

As for Belinda’s creation, she started life in, you guessed it, a hentai story! Same one as Chelsí’s during her brief stint as a princess. She did appear in traditional art form, but didn’t appear again digitally until 2015. Since then, she made some appearances for Halloween, whether it’s a more formal introduction to her universe, or rushing away from danger. In chibi form, she takes over the Silly Sketches during October, often making an ahegao face over Pumpkin Spice Lattes (much to Jackie’s dismay). Like Chelsí, Belinda hasn’t seen much change in design since her reintroduction in 2015.

Artwork with Belinda: Belinda’s Halloween Rush (2015), The Fearless* Belinda Cauldron (2017), Look At All This Candy! (2017), Happy Holidays from Chelsí and Belinda (2018) Endless Summer (2018), Moonlit Chase (2018)

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Rhapsody

Creation Date: 2006 / Online Debut: 2007

The resident catgirl of the Main Circle. Rhapsody debuted in 2007 with a naming mixup. The name “Rhapsody” actually belonged to a pink haired catgirl I drew (among a slew of other catgirls with musical names) that came from a hentai. It actually wasn’t until recently that I finally found the old drawing of the blonde haired catgirl with pink stripes from the traditional art days. And it had her real original name: Waltz. But it’s too late now to take back the error, so this girl’s name stays. Rhapsody used to be paired up with a dark haired catgirl named Lullaby. I wonder when she’ll make a return.

Rhapsody saw a major redesign in 2018, having more silkier hair, white ears (to match the other cat parts), and actual clothing this time! The clothes are partially based on her old chibi version, save for the tattered loincloth, which is now a silky transparent one. This design was also applied to her new chibi appearance. The new design has actually lead to some people into thinking she was Princess Peach. But nope, it’s Rhapsody. In the Silly Sketches, she’s routinely paired up with Xiuying as part of a running theme of the two sharing the same month for Valentines Day and Lunar New Year. This theme finally came to fruition in a fully rendered pic in early 2021.

Artwork with Rhapsody: Artwork with Rhapsody: Wanna Play a Game (2007), Purrrfect Valentine’s Day (2015), Coconut Crazy Catgirl! (2018), Sharing The Love (2021)

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Xiuying Gushan

Creation Date: 2005 / Online Debut: 2006 under previous name

Similar to Rhapsody, Xiuying also started life under a different name, though it wasn’t really thought out too well. Being created in 2005, I didn’t have as much knowledge of Japanese and Chinese culture as I do now. A year after my 10^th anniversary, I brought Xiuying back with her current name. I mentioned back on the Chibi Parade pic that she has a role in a story being worked on. That still a thing today, but it’s likely I’ll have to design a hanfu for her due to the high fantasy setting since this qipao-like outfit she’s wearing now is more of a modern invention. This means she’ll have two different outfits: One for the story, and one for the fans!

As mentioned on Rhapsody’s pic, Xiuying’s usually paired up with the catgirl in the Silly Sketches due to their holidays, Valentines Day and Lunar New Year, usually sharing the same month. 2020 was one of the years where this isn’t the case since each holiday had a month to themselves. Rhapsody usually annoys Xiuying in the Silly Sketches, but Xiuying often gets the upper hand. Still they find the time to raise each other’s spirits when something good happens. And hey, they finally came together for a fully rendered pic in 2021!

Artwork with Xiuying: Natsuko Nakahara (2005, old name), Elegant Flower of the Lone Mountain (2017), My Quiet Little Corner (2018), Sharing The Love (2021)

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Harriette

Creation Date: 2006 / Online Debut: 2015

Long ago, Harriette came from the same old hentai story as Rhapsody under the old name Fluffy. Since dropping it (like every other hentai story I attempted), Harriette’s appeared in her old nude version for Easter, albeit with a slightly thicker body type (well… about as thick as I knew how to draw back in 2015). In her chibi version, she’d don a one-piece leotard. But I tend to default to leotards for all chibis when it comes to characters that usually wear nothing when fully proportioned. But this year saw a major shift. After about of year of design work, she finally came back in 2021 as a postal worker for the White Rabbit Post, a mailing organization within Belinda’s universe. Because of personal art improvements, her body type today finally reflects what I’ve been trying to give her since 2015. A bit more info on her role in Belinda’s universe and her new outfit can be found on her Letter Carrier pic from June 2021.

Artwork with Harriette: Harriette Easter Surprise (2015), Please… Gimme That Chocolate Carrot (2017), Harriette, Letter Carrier of the White Rabbit Post (2021)

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The Nameless Mermaid

Creation Date: 2006 / Online Debut: 2015

Okay, there’s a bit to unpack with the mermaid here. Starting, she comes from the same hentai story as Rhapsody and Harriette, which did eventually get dropped. Her lack of a name was actually my fault as I could only remember her design when I finally drew again her back in 2015. Since then, I finally found her old traditional drawing with her real name. However, her lack of a name up to that point became the inspiration for a potential story I could tell in the future. Speaking of 2015, I drew her like she was in 2005: topless. But come Mermay 2021, I decided to finally do something about that. Taking cues from her chibi version, I gave her a shell bra, as well as pasties underneath that. Another thing I did was redesign her fish tail to be more iridescent. More info can be found on her Mermay 2021 pic. Here’s to more Nameless Mermaid pics in the future!

Artwork with The Nameless Mermaid: Sailing Through The Sea (2015), Home of the Nameless Mermaid (2021)

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Choco-tan

Creation Date: 2018 / Online Debut: 2018

Finally, someone that didn’t start life from a hentai. Choco-tan is my newest creation in the Main Circle, and was created for Pocky Day 2018. She, along with four other Pocky-themed girls, made up the Pocky-tan. Each one was based on a flavor of Pocky that, for the sake of brevity since there just so many flavors, was officially available in the U.S. In terms of holidays, she shares the same month as Gobbledine, though I don’t pair them up as much as I’d want to in the silly sketches. In universe, she actually belongs in Chelsí’s, but plays a minor role in it. Not much has changed with Choco-tan’s design since 2018, with the only change being a looser collar in her yukata. I ended up having to design lingerie for her for the Main Circle since she’s never been drawn with variants before this.

Artwork with Choco-tan: Pocky Day 2018 (2018)

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Lola

Creation Date: 2005 / Online Debut: 2007

I mentioned back in the 2016 Chibi Parade that the origin of Lola’s creation was a mystery as I wasn’t sure if she was made from a canceled hentai or not. Today, with some confidence I can say she did come from one. Moving on from that, Lola became something of a proto-poster girl for my early online days when she was moved out of that and into a story called Devangie’s Fairy Tale. She had a Light counterpart that was made for that story. However everything (save for two human characters) from that story was tossed out and started over from scratch. This meant that Lola was removed from that story, along with her backstory, making her a blank slate. In recent years, I’ve found use in putting her into a different story based around dreams, with Lola now being a villainous succubus.

This picture here is actually the first time since 2007 that I’ve done a fully-rendered, fully proportioned drawing of Lola! Unlike before, she wouldn’t have her arms crossed at her chest like a bat. This meant I finally had to design her corset, something I’ve never actually done before. I didn’t mention this back in 2016, but when she was first created around 2005, she had a a simple black dress with no details. It wasn’t until Devangie’s Fairy Tale that I starting designing her as a gothic lolita with a crapton of detail. The amount of detail, in hindsight, was to make of for my relative lack of skill around 2006-2008. This time around, I wanted to do away with most of the little details and just focus on the larger ones that were more striking. I gave her corset red and black lace. I moved around some of the red trimming, and well as turning it into frills. Her wings now have venous parts, making it more organic instead of plastic looking like before. Her mantle now slings over and behind her wings while they’re opened (something I overlooked during the 10th Anniversary Chibi Parade). I slightly redesigned the part of her hair closer to her head, making it cover more of her forehead. And finally, Lola now has horns!

Artwork with Lola: Hell Hath No Fury (2007), Darkest of Lolitas (2007)

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Gobbledine

Creation Date: 2017 / Online Debut: 2017

Gobbledine here is the second most recent creation in the Main Circle, and by far the most brolic. She was created for Thanksgiving 2017 along with 4 other girls based on Thanksgiving meals. All of them were naked of course. She’s only ever been in one other pic after that, and couple of Silly Sketches. Recently though, I’ve been watching quite a few wrestling documentaries, particularly Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring and videos from Wresltelamia. This inspired me to make a wrestling character to join the ranks. This took me back to one particular Silly Sketch of her flipping the bird. I figured hey, she’s a no-nonsense gal, and she was already kinda meaty. “Give her some muscle and a wrestling outfit, and keep her turkey gimmick” I said to myself. I’m holding off on telling more of her story for now. But rest assured, she’s not as comic-relief as The Gobbledy Gooker that’s for sure.

It took a while to design her outfit. The idea was to keep her wings and tail feathers, but have them detachable when she’s ready to wrestle. She’d wear the usual wrestler’s leotard of course. And the feather-shaped hair would remain at all times (though probably get frazzled as wrestling matches go on). Initially in her concept sketch, I was taking references from actual turkeys, combined with Japanese female wrestler outfits from the likes of World Wonder Ring Stardom. She had a primarly black, brown, and silver color scheme. However the scheme ended up being darker than I wanted, making her look like some knockoff version of Roman Reigns mixed with The Undertaker (though I wanted her to have that Undertaker-like aura of respect). I scrapped the design and started over. I kept wanting to give her a warm-white leotard, but wasn’t sure if white turkeys existed. But sure enough, they actually do! So I figured “y’know what, do a mix of turkeys.” So the idea became: brown turkey for wings + white turkey for leotard + 80s era WWF + WWR Stardom. This culminated into what you see here.

Artwork with Gobbledine: Thanksgiving 2017 (2017), Happy Valentines Giving Day (2018)

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