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quirkykayleetam · 4 years

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Broken Pieces Superhero AU

Welcome back to our beautiful collaboration! Damien and the world we’re in belong to the ever-talented @burtlederp while Daniel Wei is adapted from my series, Broken Pieces. We wrote this together and could never have done this without each other’s wonderful help and support!

Chapter Two: Old Habits Die Hard

Damien took one last drag on his cigarette, fully exhausting it before he flicked it away and ground it into the gravel with his shoe. He paused, looking around with his hands in his pockets, letting the smoke slowly curl from his nostrils, admiring the lushness of the woods surrounding.

He loved the summer here; the verdant forests, the bustling life, the warm summer sun (or having sun at all), even the damn mosquitoes. He took a deep breath of the fresh summer air before he turned to climb the rickety metal stairs to what he called home--apartment 204.

“Those things will kill you, you know,” a mellow voice said from the shadows opposite the door. “Of course, I’m guessing you’re waiting on your choice of housing to do it first.”

When the voice appeared, it belonged to a tall Chinese man with warm down-turned eyes and a slight grin on his face. He knocked softly on the biohazard sign on the door next to Damien’s. “I honestly thought this was a joke at first, a clumsy way to hide a secret lair, but no. You actually live next to a biohazard. How’s that working out for you, kid?”

When the man first spoke, he scared the daylights out of Damien, who jumped and cursed loudly, gripping the railing of the stairs with one hand and his chest with the other. He glared at the guy, frowning, and finished ascending.

"I'm not dead yet," he replied gruffly, brushing past the man to get to his own door. He didn't add anything else, hoping this guy would leave him alone as he shoved his key into the door and entered.

“It sure is a rough world when the one and only Alchemist has to work three jobs on top of his League gigs just to afford this place,” the man said evenly.

Damien froze for a moment, door half open, then closed his eyes, sighing exasperatedly, and left the door open behind himself.

"C'mon in, then, I wanna sit down."

Nodding, the man followed, wiping his shoes off at the door though there was no mat to be seen.

While the apartment was old, and dingy, and didn't smell particularly pleasant, it certainly wasn't barren and appeared very lived-in. The door opened to the kitchen in a way that it made the entrance feel very tight with the kitchen counters and cabinets on either side and a pile of shoes in the corner right of the door. A small wooden dining table filled what space was left of the kitchen linoleum after the counters ended on the far wall, the smooth floor giving way to the weathered carpet of the living room. It seemed the wall that was right of the entrance was a small closet, and Damien's room was on the far right end of the apartment.

An ancient sewing machine sat on the kitchen table, many bolts of fabric accumulated over years lying stacking in the corner behind it. A jacket hung off one of the three chairs around the table, and the living room was a mess of… well, more cloth. Left of the fireplace seemed to be the designated 'superhero suit' storage pile, the other side just laundry. Boxes were stacked all over the wall opposite, almost entirely blocking the front-facing window, a couch buried somewhere beneath them. Covering the fireplace, the wall behind it, and large swaths of carpet surrounding it, was a layer of singed carpet or wood and char, like a fire had once had its way here, uncontrolled.

Damien opened the fridge and pulled out a brown glass bottle, popping off the metal cap as he flopped down into the one chair at the kitchen table that didn't have something on it. He took a swig of his drink and stared, looking very tired, at the man expectantly.

Unperturbed, Damien’s guest walked slowly around the apartment, taking off his black, military-style jacket before meeting Damien’s gaze. In just a white t-shirt, he was clearly more muscled than Damien expected. The corner of a tattoo, something red and gold peeked out of the cover of his left sleeve. Throwing a selection of manila folders on the table, he offered his right hand to Damien.

“I’m Daniel Wei. As you can probably guess, I’m ‘with’ the League.” The man’s use of air quotes was not comforting.

Damien switched the bottle to his right hand and shook Daniel's offered hand briefly, his grip tight, and lifted the cover of the top-most folder with passive curiosity.

"Mm," he grunted in response, taking another drink. "This isn't going to take long, right? I have rounds to make."

“Kid,” Daniel said, “I’ll be honest with you: I’m in town for other reasons and there are other places I’d rather be right now too. But since I’m here and here for good, I’ve been assigned as your brand new mentor--”

Damien nearly choked on his drink, leaning forward abruptly as he nearly spat it out. He swallowed it with a grimace and interrupted, "My new what?!"

“The League has let you operate on your own for an awful long time, but when I was headed here anyway, we saw this as an opportunity to...help you out a bit. Give you a little guidance. That kind of thing.”

"I--" Damien glared at Daniel, trying to find words. "No?! No thank you?" he spluttered. "I'm doing fine, I don't need any help."

Daniel took another hard glance at Damien’s nearly empty fridge and the burned expanse by the fireplace. “Sure, kid. You’ve never gone hungry, never gotten yourself so hurt you could use a medic or at least another hand to hold the bandages. You’ve never sprayed your opponent in deadly corrosive acid because you didn’t know what kind of damage it would do and you’ve definitely never struggled to understand your alchemical powers without even a high school diploma.

“I’m just saying that I’ll be around and, if you let me, we could make things a lot easier on yourself. Check out those folders. I’ll leave you my card.”

The small slice of paper Daniel left on the table didn’t have his name on it. It was blood red with the stylized emblem of a wide-brimmed hat. The only text read “The Rogue” with a phone number beneath.

Damien opened his mouth once or twice but closed it every time Daniel spoke again, face red with anger. He didn't say anything as Daniel tossed the card onto the table, didn't even glance at it. After a moment, he swallowed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath--Daniel could almost see the steam blowing out his nose--and set his jaw. He took another generous gulp of his drink and met Daniel's gaze, anger still sparking behind his brown eyes, but his expression was even.

"Thank you. I'll consider it." The words sounded forced.

Daniel smiled and nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Damien.” Then he turned, put on his coat and walked off into the night.

Damien watched him go, nose curling as soon as Daniel was out the door and he was alone again. He shut and locked the door, then stood there, hand on the knob, the bottle in the other, and clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut, feeling the anger boil in him. Who the f--k does he think he is?! Calling me "kid"?! His fingers dug into the cheap wood of the door and Damien quickly drew away when he realized he was leaving deep scratches in the wood, nearly going all the way through the door. He cursed, flicking his hand and looked around his dingy, lonely little apartment that felt much less little ever since he'd started being here alone.

Hesitantly, he walked back to the kitchen table and sat down stiffly, frowning down at the folders. He drummed his fingernails on the bottle, then gave in to curiosity, flipping the top one open. Inside were the architect’s blueprints for a different apartment, a much bigger apartment, an apartment on the “right” side of town closer to the places that he worked. The blueprints indicated secret basement access through a trapdoor in the bedroom that led to a laboratory of sorts complete with drains, air vents, a ventilator hood, and steel bookshelves built into the walls. Beneath the blueprints was a lease already signed and paid for. When Damien gave the folder a slight shake, keys fell out from the bottom.

Damien stared down at the shiny silver keys that glinted in the wan, dingy light of the one functioning light bulb remaining in the kitchen ceiling. He swallowed, looking back to the plans, flipping through them. After his eyes darted all over the pages, he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face. He peeked out, looking around the little, cramped, dense apartment. The little, cramped, dense place he called a home. It was the last thing he had left of his life before… well, before he wasn't a kid anymore. If his Mom got better--She won't, a tiny voice in his mind reminded him--this… this could be the only place she could remember. Unless it wasn't here anymore.

Damien frowned, and closed the folder after putting the keys back, and tossed it lazily to the overflowing trash can, where it bounced and scattered all over the kitchen floor.

"If this is another piece of f--kin' charity, I swear…" He muttered, turning to the next folder. Inside he found a GED with his name on it, signed by members of the League and backdated to the first time he used his alchemical powers in public. Underneath it was a letter written in excited academic writing from a former biochemistry professor and inventor who retired in Qinniq asking the Alchemist, whoever he was, to come work with him. The man had so many different theories he wanted to discuss.

Damien felt anger in his gut rise again. He scowled, memories of public school and old bosses and coworkers and his father and everybody in between flooding his mind, their taunts and jabs and nicknames and slurs and all of it coming back to him--

He tore it up and tossed the bits of it to the trash again, then opened the last folder. This one was smaller than the rest. It held only a prepaid bus card for fare from Qinniq to Anchorage, where Damien’s mom was, enough for him to go every weekend for an entire year.

Damien picked it up, his anger fading a bit. He swallowed, glancing between the card and the discarded folders in the trash. He slipped the card into his wallet and got to his feet, finishing off his drink and leaving the bottle on the table as he pulled off his shirt.

He thought over Daniel's words, his offer, the folders as he changed into his costume. He pulled his gloves on slowly and frowned.

"Asshat," he muttered to himself as he slid open his back window and lept out into the night still lit by a sun that wouldn't disappear over the horizon until 11 o'clock.

Tag List (I’m including those of you who enjoyed the original Broken Pieces story, but if you want to be taken off, please just let me know!): @stoic-whumpee, @whatwasmyprevioususername, @whumpty-dumpty-fell-off-the-wall, @straight-to-the-pain, @castielamigos-whump-side-blog, @0idril0, @fallingstormphoenix, @whump-fantasies, @imagination1reality0, @whumpback-wail, @whump-tr0pes, @untilthepainstarts, @captivity-whump, @burtlederp, @redwingedwhump, @whumpiary, @captivity-whump, @blue-flare10

#Whump #Angst #Flashbacks #Superheros #Damien #Daniel Wei #Please pardon the language #Past Trauma #quirkykayleetam writes

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bewitchingwitch · 5 years

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Constellations pt.3

Hey y’all this I my first fanfic and since I’ve been obsessed with Newt Scamander lately I decided to do a series about him depending on if this part gets good reviews

Word count: 2,298

Newt P.O.V

Newt stood outside of Theseus' office for a while, just leaning on the door, his hand pressed to his cheek where you had given him a kiss. The niffler looked at him with pure envy.

"What?" Newt teasingly mocked. "Upset that she kissed me this time instead of you." The niffler turned his back to Newt, crossing his stubby arms.

"Oh come on, you know I didn't mean it." Newt said picking up Niffler by the scruff of his neck and turning him to face the front. But the little guy sat with his head held high ignoring Newt and keeping his eyes squeezed shut to avoid looking at him.

"Come on you can't stay mad at mummy for ever." Newt tried persuading but the niffler didn't budge. "Fine be like that but you're going into time out." Newt said as he placed the niffler delicately in his side coat pocket, as the creature fought him. "No you know the punishment for disobeying mummy, you have to serve a time out for five minutes." He tucked the niffler away and placed his hand back on his cheek.

"Wow." He still couldn't believe that you had kissed him. It was nothing more then a peck that had lasted a mere seconds but to him it meant the world.

No matter what he tried he couldn't get you out of his mind. The way you laughed at every little thing, the way you seemed to always be observing like you had to take the world in at once, like the minute you looked away it would all be gone.

You had looked at him like at that. It was only for a second when he had first made eye contact with you. You had stared into his eyes, then your gaze would shift to try an intake all of his freckles. Then a small smile would creep to your lips like you were trying to engrave his appearance into your brain.

He was so lost in thought he didn't even notice the door opening behind him. Suddenly he was falling backwards and he tumbled, straight back into the doorway of Theseus' office. "Oof"

“What the-“ he landed hard onto the tips of his brother’s shinned shoes.

Newt opened his eyes to see you and Theseus standing over him.

"Newt! What are you still doing here!" Theseus said looking down at him with an agitated face. His brother rarely looked at him like that.

Meanwhile you looked down at him, holding back a laugh as you kneeled down to where he was. "Newt are you okay?"

Newt flushed a deep red, mentally hitting himself at embarrassing himself in front of you. He scrambled to get up but kept tripping over his lanky legs. He didn't manage to get up he only succeeded in hitting his head against the doorframe.

You let out a giggle and extended a hand to help him up. He took your hand keeping his gaze cast downward. You attempted to pull him up, but he was so lost in the fact that he was holding your hand he didn't attempted to try and get up.

You kept pulling him up but all of a sudden he pulled back and his strength over powered yours. You stumbled forward, Newt looked up at you in surprise. You couldn't stop yourself from falling forward on top of him.

You closed your eyes bracing for impact and your hand caught on his chest. You slowly opened you eyes to see that you were positioned between Newt's legs, your front knee brushing against his crotch every so slightly. He let out a small moan, but he quickly shut his mouth, praying that you didn't hear him.

Your hands were resting on his chest, and your faces were mere millimeters apart. Newt had his hand on your waist to steady you and his other hand was against the floor holding you both up. He stopped himself from leaning in but he could have sworn that he saw your eyes shift from his eyes to his lips.

You awkwardly shifted and bumped his crotch yet again and he bit his lip to suppress a moan. He quickly got up and extended a hand to you helping you to your feet. As you stood in front of him he noticed that he easily towered above you. If he wanted when he hugged you he could rest his chin on top of your head.

You looked at him a delicate smile perched upon you lips. You reached up to push his hair out of his eyes. "Beautiful eyes like that shouldn't be covered." You were still holding his hand and it seemed as though you were reluctant to let it go.

Newt looked past you to see Theseus leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed glaring at him. He quickly dropped your hand and you looked at him in surprise.

Theseus pushed himself off of the door frame and made his way to your side where he put an arm around your shoulders. You looked up at Theseus in surprise. His gesture making you cheeks dusk a light pink. "It's seems that we need to get going now. Ms. (Y/n) needs to have her wand inspected. Hope to see you soon baby brother." Theseus said as he led you down the long hallway.

"Hope I get to see you again soon Theseus." Newt mumbled as he fidgeted with the hem of his sleeve.

You turned to wave at him and he waved back smiling at you. You turned back around and engaged in conversation with his brother laughing at a comment he had just made.

Newt sighed as he picked up his case from the floor. As he made his way out of the Ministry he looked into his pocket getting ready to fish the niffler out of his pocket. But he saw that the creature had fallen asleep so Newt took his handkerchief out of his vest pocket and laid it over the creature like a blanket.

Once outside he apparated into a little apartment a little way from the Eiffel tower. He had traveled to Paris at the orders of Dumbledore to try and find Grindelwald. He was staying in an apartment with Queenie and Jacob who had come along to assist him. Tina was already in Paris but after finding out that she has met someone, a fellow auror, he found his feelings for her depleting.

Nonetheless he still remained good friends with the Goldstein family.

But news about Grindelwald's whereabouts had been scare lately, so Newt was laying low and scouting for creatures to write about in his novel. That was how he had stumbled across you. He was admiring a lovely tribe of bowtruckles nestling in a tree when Niffler had escaped and found you.

He plopped down on the floor fiddling with the locks on his case. The apartment was quite, both Queenie and Jacob were out exploring the pastries of Paris.

He popped open the case and placed the case on the floor. And attempted to step into it. But he found that the case did not extend into a staircase as usual.

He looked down confused and kneeled next to the case, confused. It wasn’t his case it was yours. The one you had been holding this morning. He must have switched cases with you when he was in Theseus office, in his rush to get out of the room, well in Theseus rush to get him out of the room.

Newt switched to sitting criss cross and against his better judgement he began to rifle through your papers. He gently picked up a stack of paper that was nothing but paper work. He placed it to the side.

Below that there were pictures. One had a picture of a women and a man swaying side to side dancing at a wedding. He assumed that they’re were probably your parents. The lady had your smile and the same soft curves of your face. While the man radiated kindness just as you always seemed you.

Behind the couple was a picture of a man in his early 30’s he was leaning against a car smiling and waving. In faded writing it said missing you. He was a handsome man in a three piece suit. Newt felt a surge of jealousy. He quickly tucked the picture behind the other and looked to see what else was in the case.

There were a handful of random doodles on corners of papers. He smiled pressing his fingers lightly to touch the drawings. You would make a wonderful illustrator.

“We’re home sweetheart!” Queenie announced as she apparated into the room, Jacob’s arm hooked through hers.

“Never quite get used to that.” Jacob confessed going a little green in the face. “ I think I’m gonna go sit down for a minute.” Jacob made his way to the dinning room table and sat down .

“Alrighty, I’ll make you some tea in a minute baby!” Queenie cooed before she made her way to stand right behind Newt, who was scrambling to shove all your stuff back in your case. “What ya got there Newton?”

“I don’t know, nothing! It’s nothing. Nothing.” He stumbled over his words as Queenie crouched beside him placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Well it doesn’t look like nothing.” She said reaching forward and pulling a paper off of the stack. Her eyes quickly scanned it before she handed it back to Newt.

“What are you doing with (y/n) bag.” Queenie asked as she stood up straight and went to walk to the kitchen. “She’s really a lovely girl and I don’t think she’d appreciate you looking through her bag.”

It took Newt a minute to comprehend what Queenie was saying. “Wait you know (y/n)”

“Of course I do.” She giggled as she grabbed supplies from the cupboards to make tea.

“Who’s (y/n),” Jacob asked sitting up straight suddenly interested in the conversation.

“Oh she’s simply marvelous!” Queenie gushed. “ I met her about a week ago at a little cafe. She drew the most ravishingly picture of me! Wanna see?” Queenie asked.

Newt made his way to the table where Queenie had set a piece of paper down. It a very detailed yet stylized drawing of Queenie. You had captured her smile perfectly and her hair flowed flawlessly. You were truly an amazing artist.

“She doesn’t live too far from here actually.” Newt perked up at this. “I invited her to go dancing with me and Jacob this Saturday.” She smiled to herself. The gears in her mind turning as Newts thoughts invaded her brain. “I was planning on inviting you too honey, but I figured you’d probably turn us down like always.”

“Actually Queenie, I was hoping that I could come. You know just to spend time with you guys.” Newt said turning away from the group and settling back into the floor, to put all of your stuff back into your case.

“Mhmm alright honey, if that’s the excuse you want to use we’ll be polite and pretend to believe you.” Queenie smiled as she poured a cup of tea for Jacob.

“Queenie please stop reading my mind.” Newt said his face going red.

She giggled. “I’m sorry I can’t stop myself. The way you think about her is so cute and innocent. Well except for that one incident where you have some more scandalous thoughts. Like when her knee-“

“Queenie!” Newt said slightly raising his voice before lowering it to a whisper. “Please stop talking.”

“Mhm well if you insist.”

Newt sealed up your case and sat it upright. He then joined Queenie and Jacob at the table taking off his coat and laying it on the back of his chair. Queenie had had him and herself a cup of tea. He thanked her before sipping it.

“Now here’s s a thought.” She mused as she stirred her spoon in her tea.

“What is it sweetie.” Jacob replied placing his teacup down.

“Well if you have (y/n) bag, doesn’t that mean that she had yours” Queenie asked looking up at Newt.

He nearly spat out his tea. “My creatures! If she opens the case they will all get loose!” Newt shrugged his coat back on and went to grab your case.

“We’ll come with you.” Queenie chimed as she pulled Jacob to his feet and hooked all their arms together.

“But I don’t even know if she’s still at the Ministry it’s already going to be 7.” Newt said exasperated.

Just as Newt spoke a sliverly light infiltrated the room. The trio turned to look at it and noticed it was a patronous. It took the form of a (y/p) and settled in front of them.

“How did she know where I was staying?” Newt said as he made his way closer to the Patronous.

“Maybe Theseus told her? I mean we’re wizards Honey, and you’re wanted by a lot of people it shouldn’t be too hard to find you.” Queenie smiled. Newt gave her a look

The patronous emitted a noise they recognized to be your voice. “Hello, I hope this is Newt because it seems that I’ve found myself in possession of your case.” You let out a nervous laugh. “And I opened it thinking it was my case case and a couple creatures got out. But they are contained within my apartment.”

They all exchanged nervous looks, before apparating to go to where you were at, Queenie said she knew where your apartment was. And as they were traveling Newt couldn’t help but think how lucky he was to be getting to see you for a third time this day.

Taglist: @hearteyesmotherclucker @gaenahelleborus @melodramaticmelon2118

#newt scamander #niffler #newt fanfiction #newt and reader #newt and theseus #newt scamander x reader #newt x reader #first fanfic #fantastic beats and where to find them #fan fic writing #fan fiction #fanfic #queenie goldstein #jacob and queenie #newt and his creatures

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iobottle · 5 years

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atissi

replied to your post

“it kinda makes me sad when artists giving out tutorials on character...”

oh could you talk more about this? :o

ABSOLUTELY thank u for enabling me to go off about designs i love this shit this may get a bit long so its going under a readmore (sorry if ur on mobile i hope it works)

gonna start this off with im no expert Nor have i taken any sort of official art class this is me just analyzing characters from what i found that makes them memorable to ppl (most of these examples are going to be from games sorry i got them on my mind)

ok so basically making a memorable revolves around personality and appearance now theres different ways to go about showing these things and i think from consuming media you like will help narrow down how you wanna go about it, basically thinking about your character inside and out!

SO shapes and hyperstylization is a good way to get a fun appearance across in a cartoon esp media and is often what a lot of artists stress on an example of using shapes and a good silhouette to make a memorable character is sonic!(specifically comic sonic)

(had to google idw sonic for a non...u know image)

but not only do they use lots of triangles for this hedgehog they also made him blue! you’d be more likely to remember a blue headgehog over a realistically colored one!(also almost all of the sonic characters have a combination of fun shape + unusual color to help you remember them! the designs werent afraid to use color to make a bold statement)(he’s also segas mascot so of course they put a lot of work in his design)

now sonics appearance is not the only reason why people like him or remember him so much he’s also got personality! he’s cocky, fast, always getting into trouble, “you’re too slow!”, accompanied by shitty butt rock and a cool guy persona ie he’s got personality! and they weren’t afraid to give him some weird interests(see the butt rock) and he’s not perfect( see arrogance) if youve ever played a sonic game you have almost always remembered the crush 40 theme that went with it

all in all to go with his unusual appearance he’s got some unusual traits! it helps make him believable! admittedly he’s not the most embarrassing of the sonic crew (see knuckles or shadow) but he’s definitely rounded and not boring from an objective standpoint(you can not like sonic or his games i dont care)

(another example of something that requires good shapes is pokemon altho they arent really like very depthy since there are 600+ and some only have like a pokedex entry worth of info but still they have good and memorable designs)

NOW something that doesnt have the most “good shapes” design off the top of my head is link

now in the most recent zelda game his most memoriable physical attribute is that he’s on the androgynous side w his longer hair and smaller build but in his older designs he looked something like this

(art for a loz:link to the past)

not really that much of a striking silhouette, but what do we look at and kinda leaves an impression on us? his hair and hat! its very silly to see someone in such a big green hat with that big of bangs/mullet, the hat at least became so ridiculous of a look that in botw nintendo didnt include his hat in links main outfit bc it was too hard to make look good, its silly! thats good! its fine to have a normal human looking characters because sometimes stories are about humans, but if you want us to remember them include something that will strike us as strange for them

also probably a good thing to note is the noises link makes when he swings his sword, jumps, pushes something, ie any action they have always been something that has stuck with me

(another example similar to this is in mgs solid snake in mgs is this cool super spy but is rocking a full on mullet which is considered a joke hairstyle. this leaves an impression on us. a spy with a mullet! how ridiculous! another example is raiden who was specifically made bc a woman wrote that she didnt want to play as an “old man” so the protagonist of the super spy game is a longer haired pretty boy (with a huge ass))

now ive explained a little on a character with good shapes and personality and a character with a more “boring” shape design that makes up for it with almost quirky design choices but i feel like theres another series thats what originally got me thinking about how even a memorable silhouette doesnt need hyperstylization

ace attorney! (which is out on switch now if u havent played it i would def recommend it)

if you dont know the protagonist is the guy in the blue suit(phoenix), which well he looks like just a guy...with ridiculously spikey hair enough so that in his silhouette you can recognize him but also his posture (the pointing) makes for a sticking recognizable image bc if you’ve played the games you can practically hear objection just from looking at phoenix’s silhouette

which is another thing id like to talk about! not only are a good shape a way to have a good silhouette but posture is also important! how the character holds themselves can say alot about them just from a glance! such as meekness, arrogance, confidence, sadness, anger, happiness its a very important too especially when you arent relying on stylization

now onto the characters of ace attorney ive gone over phoenix's design a bit but theres a few others id like to look at with some Weird style choices that make us remember them(just going to glance over them since this post is so long)

now, this woman, franziska von karma, she dresses kind of strange for a prosecutor but her outfit is not too out there and her silhouette is not striking

but you see that whip? remember how i said she was a prosecutor? yeah she will strike people in court for getting off topic and will even hit phoenix when he starts breaking down her witnesses testimonies, which what literally strikes up about her

another prosecutor, godot, now his hair could provide a somewhat memorable shape but what we first notice is the strange mask on his face which is weird, but not the Same weird as franziska bringing a whip to court thus having both of these prosecutors being Weirdly memorable for different things (another note is his liking of coffee that he does not give up even in court ha ha)

now onto the other protag for the aa games

apollo! who also has weirdly spikey hair, but even if you put a silhouette of him next to phoenix you could tell there some was a difference between the two! its showing a pattern with the protags while also keeping them distinct enough to be able to tell who is who! although you cant say the pointy haired guy from ace attorney and not get just One answer unlike saying the prosecutor who has a whip but still they are distinct to people who have little experience with the series

sorry i dont have any sort of conclusion on this this was just sort of me rambling on about character design, but my main point is if you are discouraged bc all your characters dont have wildly different silhouettes thats ok! there are other ways to establish a good memorable character! dont be afraid to make them a little weird! give your character pink hair in a medieval setting, have them be ridiculously in love with tigers they have a striped shirt and pants, let them love childrens tv shows and have them never miss an episode, give them wacky hair or an extreme love of gum, show us some personality!! but dont forget about how they act and their values and dont forget that posture can go a long way for establishing a first impression

there are also many other methods to making a good character! like colors and dress!

silly is the way to go! have fun with it!!

there isnt just one way to make a good character!! theres plenty of more series that have good character design that i didnt mention pay attention to why you like the characters you like! also watch this video bc its really good

#atissi #im sorry this is so long and incoherent #im sure this is hard to parse so im realyl sorry if i end up confusing ppl

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wellhalesbells · 7 years

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If you have the time and if you don't mind, what are some books you really recommend? Doesn't have to be all time faves, but anything that pops into mind that you want more ppl to read and love, Extra points if lgbt+ , i got the whole summer with little to do and i wanna spend it reading some good quality writing and honestly so far your recs have introduced me to so many faves its unbelievable

[blushes profusely] oh wow, thank you!!! i’m so glad you’ve trusted me enough to check out some of the stuff i reblog; that is like the ultimate compliment, i can’t even??? i don’t mind at all(!), fair warning though: i only started recording what i read partway through last year and my mind is like a sieve so i’ll do my absolute best to remember what’s sang to me in the recent past. warning number two: i’m in an open relationship with absolutely every genre out there so i’ll try to note which belongs where so you can avoid those that hold no interest for you.

LGBT+

i’ll give you the sun. i loved this book, the writing is fucking transformative and all the characters are so damn likable, while still being realistically flawed human beings.

the raven cycle (tetralogy). definitely my favorite series since harry potter. the writing, the world-building, the characters, it’s all on top-form. i wrote a little, mini non-spoilery review of it: here, back when i was better (worse?) wordly-wise and my feels were brand new.

more happy than not. i’m still not sure how i feel about this book. it was hard, but it felt very true to the characters and the lingo and style matched the ages of the players and i have a lot of respect for that.

the watchmaker of filigree street. woooow i loved this book. i admit ‘historical fiction’ kind of makes me cringe. it never precludes me from reading a book but it does knock it down the list by a book or five because they’re often very dense and very clunky and end up taking me ages to get through. but this one was gorgeous. i loved the plot, the attention lovingly placed on every character and the historical elements. the surprise gay in an already brilliant book felt like winning the lottery honestly.

captive prince (trilogy). okay, truthfully, i’m only putting this on here because the second book is such a high point for me. it was never bad at any point but it had unfortunately been hyped far too much for it to live up to my, admittedly, very high expectations. hopefully it’ll fare better with you?

everything i never told you. i go back and forth on this one. i like the writing a lot, i like the LGBT aspect a lot, and i like the mystery aspect a lot but there are definitely characters i would cut out entirely for sheer predictability if i could and that killed a lot of my enjoyment at the time (but i think much more highly of it in retrospect?). so, take that as you like.

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe. if there’s a book that handles its characters with more care or respect or consideration then i haven’t run into it. i love the way this is written and the people it’s populated with.

flying lessons & other stories. a bunch of uber talented authors writing a bunch of uber diverse and LGBT-focused stories and, yes, that is exactly as awesome as it sounds.

the song of achilles. it is utterly heart-breaking but so rich, honestly.

FANTASY

the diviners. (also has a minor LGBT character, who may play a bigger role in the sequel?) fair warning, i have not read the sequel, lair of dreams, because it is somehow still not out in paperback (yes, i read physical books, yes, i pretty exclusively read paperbacks so i can lug them everywhere with me, YES, I PRE-ORDERED THIS ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO AND IT’S STILL NOT OUT, NOT THAT I’M BITTER ABOUT THAT OR ANYTHING) so i can’t speak to that one finishing on a high note as i don’t know. but this was the first historical novel i managed to like in a long while. it does such a good job of fusing in 1920s lingo and dress and aspects that i couldn’t help but love it. add in the fantasy elements and i can admit i’m the perfect sucker for it.

the scorpio races. i’m not sure why but it took me a long-ass time to get into this book, i wasn’t flipping pages with gusto until well towards the end but - especially as i was reading so much YA at the time - i really appreciated coming across a romance that lets both people come into it as themselves and stay themselves, neither puck nor sean were ever smashed or crumpled or shaved away to fit into their relationship, which was so refreshing. plus the water horses were fucking cool.

the night circus. the writing, the atmosphere, the circus. just… it is all very whoa.

all the birds in the sky. i loved this writing style and these characters and the magical elements.

CONTEMPORARY

i’ll meet you there. there was something about this and i just… ended up liking it way more than i expected to. i might’ve just read it at exactly the right time, i’m not sure, but i really enjoyed it.

the invoice. this is honestly just hella cute and so freaking surreal. swedes, man.

NON-FICTION

why not me? i like mindy kaling a lot. i make no apologies for that. plus you can read both her books in about five seconds, haha.

SCIENCE FICTION

station eleven. i loved this book. the way the narrative is woven is so refreshing and i wish the comic book miranda was writing in this book was a real thing more than anything else in the woooorld.

illuminae. hot DAMN this book was cool. the plot was rock solid, the characters were hilarious and badass and the graphics made out of text and spiraling words and just the way this thing is put together? shit, it’s worth your money and then some.

a robot in the garden. okay this is just cute as hell. i can’t even with tang, he’s the most adorable robot to ever adorable.

annihilation (southern reach trilogy). (LGBT minor characters.) okay, honestly? i don’t know. this was freaking zany but i was invested as fuck in all the kookiness for reasons i can’t articulately elaborate on.

the martian. hilarious, engaging, SPACE. what more do you want?

HORROR

things we lost in the fire. this is more atmospheric than anything but, damn, could this get me wishing i wasn’t reading this in the dark or looking over my shoulder to make absolutely sure no one was standing behind me. it’s a book of short stories (by the way, i love books of short stories and i definitely realize that is not true for everyone) and each one is so well-delivered and stylized. i really enjoyed reading this.

let the right one in. okay, this is legit horror so definitely stay away if you’re easily squicked out but it is harrrrrd to find good horror (at least in my opinion) and this definitely, definitely qualifies.

horrorstör. i honestly had such low expectations for this, a horror story set in a wannabe-ikea, but it ended up being so ridiculous and strange and funny that i was won over by the finish.

the girl with all the gifts. holy unique and well-executed zombie idea, batman!

SHORT STORIES

the bigness of the world. there were definitely ones here that hit better than others but the ones i liked, i really liked!

GRAPHIC NOVELS (i read a lot of these so, um, prepare yourself)

saga. (LGBT minor characters as well.) this is world-building to a degree that i’m convinced did not exist before. just, i can’t say enough amazing things about this series and the staggering amount of imagination that regularly goes into it.

ms. marvel. heart-warming as fuck. it’s definitely really easy to lose faith in the world these days, luckily kamala is there to remind you that people are primarily and genuinely good.

black science. this is another one that took just an insane amount of imagination to cook up. i got off to kind of a rocky start with this one but the gray-ness of all the characters really speaks to me, and that doesn’t really blossom until later in the series.

spider-man/deadpool. this was very satisfying for my super duper spideypool-shipping mind. joe and ed did us so good, and joe basically said in his sign-off: i made it absolutely as gay as they would let me, haha.

the wicked + the divine. (LGBT minor characters that you’re going to get way too attached to, and retroactively. it’s awful [sobs].) the concept for this, gods reincarnating into teenagers before they burn up their hosts after a predetermined set of time, is so fucking cool. the humor and the characters and the plot is all just aces.

iceman (LGBT MAIN CHARACTER). okay, so this just started. like issue #2 was only released days ago but 1) i am liking it so far and 2) marvel did it so dirty and barely advertised bobby - an openly homosexual superhero - was getting his own series, like, i found out about it the day before it went on sale and i keep my ear fairly close to the ground (not as close as some BY A LOT, but closer than the lay person i’d say) so if you can support it, please do! pre-orders mean a lot in terms of numbers. :))))

descender. admittedly, this starts out rooough. because the main character, TIM-21 (and his little dog too), are annoying as hell. he’s an android so there’s no dimension to him so he’s booooring as all get out but i am so glad i stuck with it through to the next trade because, probably picking up on the unsustainability of him as a main character, he gets shuffled off and the side characters get the stage and they rock so hard.

paper girls. (LGBT main characters.) i’m kind of just convinced that brian k. vaughan can do no wrong at this point. his plots are so tight and mind-blowing and badass.

monstress. here’s a little tid-bit about me: female comic book writers are 100% more likely to get my money and my time because they are so damn rare and this series is unique, badass, and eye-opening.

black monday murders. i’m a little premature with this since there’s only one volume and i usually try to wait until there are at least two but i check up on a volume two a lot so that definitely means something intrigued me!

nailbiter. okay, i haven’t read the final volume yet ‘cause i’m reluctant to let it go but, so far, a series about multiple serial killers all being from the same town has me VERY HOOKED.

i wish i could remember more but this is honestly way better than i expected to do, haha. they’re definitely not all my all-time faves but they’re ones that have stuck with me for one reason or another and that i didn’t feel i wasted my time on, so that’s something, right? i hope this helps get you started and that you don’t think too awfully of me when you inevitably run across ones that aren’t your cup of tea!

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life-in-the-monster-haus · 7 years

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Ghoul Squad Island Ghouls: Review!

Back by popular demand are more reviews for Adventures of the Ghoul Squad!

I will be reviewing each new episode after they are released! with screen shots and an in depth analysis.

lets jump right in shall we?

I stated in my first review that I don’t care for the theme song and the more I hear the more I still don’t... I wish they would have leaned more in the direction of James Bond that they were aiming for instead of the repetitive kidz bop sound it actually has.

Secondly the animation. in my first review I was undecided if I liked the art style or not and I have finally come to a conclusion on what’s bothering me about it. The art style used for the Ghoul Squad series falls into this weird valley of stylized but not stylized enough: I’ll explain.

The main 5 ghouls doing the exact same poses as their box art counterparts which I do not have a colored art for at my disposal but they DO use the box art silhouettes for the logo so I’ll use that.

Just looking at the silhouettes alone shows major differences in the art styles used here and I personally prefer the box art style because it’s more delicate, current and makes them look like actual high schoolers. The style used for the webisodes is clunky, I really hate their thick popeye arms/ankles and I feel like this art style infantilizes them. To be fair the original web series kind of suffered from this clunky popeye arm thing too but to a much lesser extent.

Now this does not mean I am against stylization as a concept, I frigging love the art for the vinyls so much.

However, the art for the vinyls is SO radically different and far removed from the box art style I can see it as it’s own separate thing where as the ghoul squad art is close- but not close enough, it’s just different enough that it bothers me but it’s not so different I can appreciate it on a new level. ( the same thing can be said for shows like Teen Titans Vs. Teen Titans Go!)

Anyways the show starts with Dracula being tech-illiterate and running back to his books which is kinda funny because I can’t even get my 80 year old grandmother to give up her old flip phone, I can’t imagine trying to get someone whose hundreds of years old up to date.

This might be the first time since the reboot we’ve seen consequences for them not doing their school work... I know, I was shocked they actually went to class as well.

Cleo didn’t do her humanology assignment so Dracula doesn’t let her go on the Island adventure. I wish she would have wanted to be there for more than JUST sand (sun, surf, pool boys, etc) it makes her sound kinda one note and anyone who knows even the teeniest bit about the ancient Egyptians knows that sand was a constant curse upon them, getting into their food and eroding their teeth- but alas, I’m here to review cartoons not cover world history.

interesting footprints for someone whose wearing shoes.

Once they are on the island they run into native wild life, a ‘spider monkey” which is essentially just a regular monkey with extra arms, kinda uninspired I think.

I much prefer the spider monkeys in the pre-boot that had a bit more spider in them and I thought they were unique!

But that’s what the reboot was all about right? making things cuter? even if it’s at the cost of what makes them monster-like... :\

The subplot of this episode is Cleo working on her paper while helping Dracula navigate modern technology.

it’s not a bad subplot but I feel like him being loud in the same room she is trying to work in kinda undermines the good example he was trying to set by keeping her there in the first place...maybe a better subplot would have been if she had the flu or some type of mummy sickness and had to stay behind vs her being punished but not really being punished.

once we get back to the main plot Lagoona and Clawdeen find a scale that belongs to a fresh water monster! and I really like that they explain only salt water creatures can live in the ocean, kids may not know that fresh water creatures would live in water on the island instead of around it. However this does bring up the question: that if all the monsters have been in hiding and isolated from each other how does Lagoona know what a fresh water monster scale looks like? I’ve mentioned before in both my reviews for the movies and the first episode that erasing all the history the monsters had together was a mistake and this is one of the many problems you create when you do that... if monsters don’t interact with other monsters in this universe like what is stated in welcome to monster high then are there still feuds between the species? Fangelicas words in the first webisode imply that vampires and werewolves being friends is surprising so I want to say yes...but that doesn’t make sense when in universe they stated that all the monsters are in hiding and thus do not have their own culture because they are isolated from other monsters.I am well aware that for lots of people this may be a good thing as many people were growing tired of the whole Gil / Lagoona soap opera of his parents being bigots and her being a salt water creature but I liked that conflict, as someone in an interracial relationship myself I can empathize with them and those kind of problems with families don’t always have a nice ending like they do in after school specials sometimes they are ongoing, sometimes they never get resolved or sometimes something worse....but it does happen and I like that the pre-boot didn’t shy away from that but let’s see if the reboot follows in those footsteps.

I talk a lot of crap about the reboot designs, like I really hate Lagoonas eye color needlessly changing but one thing I do like is that she has more freckles! unrelated to the picture: I also like how they pointed out that printed books can become out of date.

If monkeys can’t talk HOW is this one activating the mapalog? does the mapalog just respond to any language you say at it? including spider monkey??? what are the rules!?!?!

Dracula being a weenie is getting kinda old. remember when we thought he was going to be all menacing based on his portrait in frights camera action?

yea...me too.

....Why....would any sea creature make their home on the side of an active volcano... is Gil living by himself!? where are his parents!? did he run away? if they’re not in the picture maybe there will be no Gil / Lagoona soap opera drama.

We finally see Gil! my boy! in his pre-boot look but with a new water breathing apparatus that just covers his gills instead of his whole head....super interesting how Gil has a varsity jacket in colors for a school he’s never heard of and a swim team he’s never been on. man you really do not wanna give that boy new clothes.

One thing I will say about Gils updated look is that he looks more Japanese? I’m not sure if it’s a conscious design choice by the Mattel team or if I am just imprinting @peppapigvevo‘s beautiful Gil head cannon on to Gil but either way I like it!

This is not at all how surfing works.

Cleo is so strong, dang.

GIL JUST PEACES THE EFF OUT! I genuinely laughed at this moment.

It’s still early in the series to judge it too harshly but I’m glad we got Gil! it’s also super interesting to see what monsters they are going to “find” first like....I wonder if that’s whose dolls sold the best? I have so many questions! we’ll find out if they have answers, in the next episode!

<- Previous Webisode Review.

#monster high #ghoul squad #adventures of the ghoul squad #calling all ghouls #gil webber

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gingervsblondie · 5 years

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Blondie Has Servant Trouble (1940)

11:51 PM, Saturday, 19 October 2019

What a title, eh? The biggest first world problem of the 20th century. Needless to say, there are bigger problems in the world in 1940 than Blondie’s servant trouble, but here we are. I’m not in the best mood so why not take it out on this totally well-meaning but inconsequential piece of light entertainment from 80 years ago?

11:55

Hey so: the mailman Dagwood runs into in the intro isn’t the mailman he runs into in the movies proper. I don’t know if it ever was. Maybe in the first movie, I honestly don’t remember, but I don’t know who that guy in the intro is. He’s not the mailman I know and love from these great great flicks.

11:58

Hey, noir detective newspaper guy is back! I guess whatever drama I decided was going on behind the scenes last time is resolved now.

We may never know how much blood he has on his hands, how far he went, interrogating petty criminals in alleys, following the trail that ended at the dog-catchers, God rest their souls.

12:01 AM

So… I think a lot of what I’ve seen so far is stock footage, which isn’t something they’ve done to any noticeable degree in the previous movies. Maybe it isn’t though? I don’t know! I don’t trust myself. Maybe these movies are just so repetitive that I can’t believe that they filmed this stuff a second time anymore.

(Future Euan note: I’m pretty sure it wasn’t stock footage.)

12:03

So far, this entry seems to be about superstitions. You know, black cats, walking under ladders.

I’m kinda checked out. Which I can only apologize for. If you’re reading this I want to give you my all, but I mean YOU KNOW WHAT’S GONNA HAPPEN. YOU’VE SEEN OLD CARTOONS. Man I miss Dagwood and Blondie just chilling on the train.

12:07

Blondie: “Poor Daisy. Maybe she’s tired of doing the same thing over and over. I know I am.”

Holy shit, the movie heard me. I’m scared now. I’m feeling very vulnerable and I’m not ready for Blondie Has Servant Trouble to Sonic.exe me.

12:09

Dagwood just electrocuted himself atop a ladder at the top of a flight of stairs, which he then fell down. And all I can think is “man I wish Dagwood could die.”

12:15

Alexander Hamilton Bumstead has a kite.

Kinda like how Charlie Brown flies a kite.

...

You know, What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown has a really interesting sequence of World War II footage that’s hand-tinted in bright stylized colours. I could be watching that right now.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3x6rhf