First commission of 2026. And of course it's a crossover between two things I absolutely love lol, Shantae and Devil May Cry.

Specifically a sketch comm by Cdlum of Trish, one of the many fictional females I had a bit of a crush on as a child, dressed up as Shantae, the fictional woman I adore a hell of a lot. I guess you could also, in a way, see this as Dante's mother Eva dressed as Shantae considering Trish's actual lore in the series lol. Not the first time I've gotten a belly dancer based Devil May Cry pic either though this time it's not based of a silly little joke I have with myself about how similar Dante's name sounds to Shantae heh. Also on a character who I think would actually enjoy wearing bedlah. Still playing up in my head though that Trish is only really taking up belly dancing and preforming at a few different dance palours to help pay Dante's rent on the Devil May Cry shop with some help from the actual Shantae considering Dante IS the same guy who blows most of his pay from jobs on pizza and strawberry sundaes heh.

Plus, Trish as Shantae or even that old Dante as Shantae pic I got from EmeraldSphynx 3 years ago is fitting considering Capcom's actual involvement in the Shantae series. Because since the original Shantae on Gameboy Colour came out in a time where you couldn't just release a game you made without a publisher to help release it, who did Wayfoward get to publish Shantae's debut game? Capcom! A year after Devil May Cry came out two. It's the only time they have ever had any involvement with the Half Genie since thanks to the power of digital distribution Wayfoward could just release every future Shantae game or really any original series of there's without needing a publisher. (Though in cases like River City Girls they did still work under someone else since that series and those characters aren't there's) If things were different though, I have no doubt we would of seen Shantae in a Marvel vs Capcom game and I of been all for having her and maybe even Risky Boots in it heh.

Artist is cdlum: https://bsky.app/profile/cdlum.bsky.social