🌑 The Sun Always Rises 🌕

The way I used to think that 19 is A LOT and now I'm almost 7 years older than Keith was in the second season... 💀

To think that New Vestroia aired 16 years ago is WILD, like, there's no way so much time has passed. I remember very clearly how it saved me from a nightmare I lived through, being bullied and hated at school, completely alone, gaining traumas that still echo even after years of therapy. And it couldn't have been THIS long ago.

New Vestroia was my first hyper fixation, the source of endless inspiration, the reason I didn't quit drawing. I was absolutely obsessed with Spectra, to the point that even now my monkey brain activates when I see a masked character and/or character in a red coat 😂

And it warms my heart to realize that even though I'm now able to look critically at the show and its characters, it didn't snuff out that enjoyment I used to feel watching it. If anything, being slightly-smarter-that-11-years-old enhances the experience because now I'm able to fill all the numerous plot holes with headcanons (this show could've been much MUCH darker) and to look at characters through the prism of experience (Keith, my baby, what exactly happened that made you renounce your positive qualities and manifest your Shadow through Spectra? Do you realize that you created this personality because it's easier to say that it's someone else who's able to do all these bad things rather than accept that it's actually you? Or did you do it to regain control of your life, which you had to sacrifice to take care of your sister instead of your shitty father? Do you want us to punch your shitty father? Just say a word, darling).

But the best thing is that any kind of interaction with Bakugan as a media is a way to communicate with my inner child. Kid me often thought what she'd be like at 25 and now an adult me can finally answer her. "Will I still love Bakugan?". Not as much, but yes. "Will I get better at art?". Oh, you will! I'll give you the semi-realistic art of Spectra soon, promise! "Will I get friends?". Yes, you won't be lonely anymore. "Will I become as beautiful as my Bakugan OC?". Yes, you will. "Will I get a boyfriend like Keith?". NO AND THANK ALL THE GODS FOR THAT, YOUNG LADY. You do NOT want a boyfriend like that!! He's a walking red flag. Literally!

So... Yeah. Every Bakugan art is for little me~ And for those of fellow fans who stick around for some reason, in the year 2025 :D

P.S. I was jumpscared BY MY OWN OLD ART of him while searching for references on Pinterest. It was... Something :'D A decade later I drew the very same idiot from almost the same view but like... In HD 😂