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rudycomics · 4 months

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Some Research Notes on Writing Love and Vulnerability

As I keep writing and shaping my ideas for Red Muscle, I find new things to pay attention to each time I start reading a new manga. Lately I've been really wracking my brain to try to figure out what it takes to become attached to both an individual character as well as that character's relationship with another. Character has always been everything to me and the stories I want to tell but I know I'm still missing some pieces that keep my story from really grabbing people.

There's been a few things I've read recently that I found some joy in with regards to their characters but their execution is miles apart from each other (and one is definitely better than the other, but I'll get there). This post isn't going to be particularly structured or have a defined thesis but I wanted to try to form my thoughts that have been swirling around my head for the past week or so and see if I can extract some sort of nugget of wisdom.

To talk about what I think I've been learning, I need to talk about the weaker of the two manga that have been on my mind first. A manga that's not too far along yet called Now That We Draw by Kaba Yuuji and Takahata Kyuu.

This story has a Dress-up Darling type premise in a way; We get the nerdy boy who finds himself suddenly spending a lot of his time with a gyaru who's one of the most popular kids in their class, but the gimmick this time around is that they're BOTH aspiring mangaka and find out about each other's manga that they are trying to get publishers to approve. They've both been rejected because their characters aren't believable and they don't know how to write romance because they've never been in relationships, so the obvious choice is to learn about these feelings by testing out dating each other for their shared goal of improving their craft.

I've always felt like Red Muscle is spiritually linked to this kind of setup, which I remember feeling when I first found Dress-up Darling. It was part of the reason that I fought through the really awkward and unbelievable in-your-face sexualization of Marin that the first handful of chapters puts you through because I WANTED to like something that was similar to my own ideas. I guess it doesn't hurt that I am a sucker for sexy drawings but there's always the caveat of "I know this isn't suspending my disbelief, it's just pretty" that I brush against. Now That We Draw is just as bad of an offender in this regard and when I see it enough I feel like it makes me really aware that I've absorbed this thought process over time and I want to make a mental note: just because you say "this character is just really defenseless about showing off her body" doesn't make me believe that it's true.

When you like looking at sexy art though it becomes such a tough internal battle, trying to squeeze in some shots to show of a character's body and having full control of a story where there aren't guidelines predetermined for when and where these moments should go. How much is too much? When does it feel like you're seeing a facet of a character's personality and when do I become too self-aware of the artist that drew it?

I'm definitely guilty of picking the wrong times; I think about how a majority of people must bounce off my comic right away after seeing that the first page is just a girl they don't even know yet doing some stretches in her underwear. I already love Scarlet, I created her and know what she's about so this moment is fun for me but to someone else there's no reason to feel connected to this moment. I do wish I had a better intro to my story than this but I've already redrawn this chapter once and I must live with my choices.

Something I do think this manga does well though is use humor to make a character fun and engaging. The main girl and love interest, Niina, is loud, obnoxious, giddy, high energy, and makes incredibly funny faces that shows off some great cartooning and gets me attached to her. You want to see her interact with the world because she's NOT very grounded, you just want to see how she's going to respond to things. It honestly feels a bit like a modern version of Usagi from Sailor Moon, just a dumb ass girl with a lot of energy and a strong sense of humor. It could be the twin bun tails going on too but that's just a part of what makes anime what it is, hair style is an important tool to establishing a personality.

Now, the thing about this manga that keeps it from being great in my opinion is that even though it sells the emotions it wants you to feel EXTREMELY well with character's expressive faces, it just keeps giving you the same thing over and over again. There's not really a sense of these emotions twisting and evolving in complexity as the characters get closer. To me it feels like they just want to feed you the same bashful face over and over until a meter fills up that says that they're ready to confess to each other or come to terms with their love they've formed for each other.

It was working for me at the beginning but it starts to wear off quickly. Not to mention that Niina here is always reacting to some sort of accidental cheesy but tame romantic sentiment/gesture by the main character that gets her all flustered, yet she is consistently unbothered when it comes to showing off her body or initiating something that can be viewed sexually. It's just a complete contradiction for the sake of fan service that I think hurts the writing. Sexy stuff CAN be done but I think it just feels too disconnected from reality while still trying to make her a bashful girl at other times.

In this example, she is showing off her body in a bunny costume and feels completely "no thoughts, head empty" about it until she stumbles on him talking to himself that she looked cute, and all of a sudden she becomes aware of everything she was doing? Like, Girl. Did you not have any expectations or desires while showing off your body even though you're already starting to get feelings for him? I think just a little bit more awareness from her would make her a much more compelling love interest. I need to see her intent. It's something I need to spend more time developing for Red Muscle too, even though the perspective is reversed and the cute girl IS the main character. Just something to think about! Like maybe I can use this self awareness I desire with Edgar and show him trying to get Scarlet to look at him as more than a friend.

This aspect of feeding you the same emotion over and over again jumped out to me clearly because the other manga I've been reading is How Do We Relationship by Tamifull.

I've said it before and I'll probably talk about this manga again but this is tied for my favorite manga of all time currently (along with Skip and Loafer). I think it has some of the best, most nuanced portrayals of relationships and their struggles that I've read ever, to my memory at least. The manga starts with Miwa and Saeko who are first years in college and quickly find out about each other that they're both gay so they start dating just out of opportunity. We quickly find out that these women either have too much baggage or too much desperation/dependency that their relationship falls apart, BUT they're in the same band together as a part of their college club life and still have to see each other all the time. After many twists and turns in their dating life, an occasional messy hook-up in the downswings, and them both meeting new loves, we see Miwa and Saeko form a bond that transcends whatever closeness they thought they felt when they were together.

I could write forever about Miwa, Saeko and even Yuria (but not Tamaki, I hate her LMAO) but for this post I want to focus on the most recent chapters and Saeko.

-----SPOILERS FOR HOW DO WE RELATIONSHIP!!!!-----

I find it really interesting that both Miwa and Saeko were kind of unlikeable partners at the beginning of the manga, but especially Saeko. She was selfish, controlling, cagey, and uncommunicative when she was with Miwa and I really didn't like her. After they broke up and she fell in love with Yuria, she felt compelled to open herself up more even though she was scared from her trauma in her younger years, only because she feared that losing another love would hurt worse. Saeko slowly opens herself up and grows so much as a person from her relationship with Yuria who is so much more mature and headstrong than Miwa ever was. It takes away a lot of Saeko's control which forces her to operate on even ground with her partner.

I got SO attached to Saeko as she shared more about her past with Yuria, which I was surprised by because I feel like Miwa is really the type of character I gravitate towards the most. I started to root for Saeko to find her happiness which made it especially tough when things get rocky with her and Yuria.

There's a point in their relationship where Yuria feels smothered by their cohabitation and asks for space so that she can filter out her negative emotions away from Saeko and make the times they spend together more positive and meaningful. This obviously hurts Saeko, but she is willing to sacrifice this at her own expense because of how much she values their relationship.

Yuria is starting to spring back to life but it's at the cost of Saeko's happiness and Yuria is so in her own little world that she doesn't even notice. Yuria's twin sister tears into her about it one lunch together and Yuria tests Saeko to see if what her sister says has any truth to it.

It's this moment that I felt did SOOOOO much emotional storytelling that it turns what looks like a really simple page of Saeko smiling into this incredibly somber and sympathetic moment that made me audibly react when I got to it.

I think this is the biggest and most innocent smile Saeko ever showed in the manga to this point and combining that with the knowledge that she's been struggling to feel needed in their relationship hits like a truck. It's such a strong and vulnerable feeling that even if you haven't felt the exact same thing as her before, you know that you've learned something so private about this character that you can't help but feel like you've gotten closer to her as a "person". To me it sort of confronts that fear of being known out of a fear of rejection but when it's all laid out bare for us to read, you know that it's from seeing another person's moments of weakness and hurt that make you want to respond with an openness of your own heart, like looking in a mirror.

And that's what stories are good for! I feel I've been trying to write this core feeling in almost every story I've made both past and currently in development. It's such a beautiful moment and I think Tamifull getting us there is such a display of masterful character writing.

The thing is, it took us a while to get here. Saeko started off in a negative light and we had time to see her develop and become willing to get hurt and show the needy part of herself as a risk for her own happiness.

I've been rereading all of the pages of Red Muscle that have dialogue between Scarlet and Edgar and I can see that there's still a gap in their willingness to share their vulnerability with each other and I KNOW that this is a big thing I want to get to as soon as possible. I feel like I need to earn their relationship as a writer and I know there's good parts from both of these stories that I can take and mix together to create something that's just as moving if I plan it out well enough. As much as I love How Do We Relationship, it's impossible to ignore that I also love some cheap, sexy, junk food romance writing too. I don't think my story works as well if it's all just heavy and emotionally dense material non-stop, I need my comedy and my cheesy moments! I have to reconcile with that part of myself and find the ways to mix the two together.

Maybe that's all I have to say! I get deeply affected by romance in writing and I just want to improve my craft so that people can form a connection my work like how I have for my favorite manga. Here's to hoping! I'm still chipping away at redrawing chapter 4 but hopefully I'll be onto new chapters soon and get into the things I've been wanting to show since I started this comic over 5 years ago.

Anyways, go check out the manga I talked about and maybe read my comic if any of this sounded interesting to you?

#rudy recs #text post #manga recs #romance #now that we draw #how do we relationship #the red muscle

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rudycomics · 4 months

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All of The Red Muscle Ch3 is up on Tapas!

Now is a great time to hop on board and read The Red Muscle! The beginning of Chapter 3 is here:

https://tapas.io/episode/2973706

Or read The Read Muscle from the very beginning:

#my art #comics #webcomics #tapas #the red muscle #romcom #fit girls

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rudycomics · 4 months

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been a few years since i did this but I wanted to log what my favorite mangas are right now at the end of the year

some staples will be on this list forever but theres some new stuff that made it on here, see if you have a bingo anywhere! (this order was randomized)

you can do your own here: https://anime-bingo.aikats.us/

#rudy recs #manga recs #text post #manga bingo

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rudycomics · 4 months

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I've got some WIPs and sketches up on patreon:

#my art #sketches #patreon

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rudycomics · 5 months

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trying to develop Scarlet's fashion sense a little better

#my art #sketches #Scarlet #the red muscle #i've been thinking abt that family reunion bit since i started this comic in 2016 and it keeps changing

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rudycomics · 5 months

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Rudy Recs - Smoking Behind the Supermarket

I'm not really sure if I want to get too in the weeds for this manga but the latest 2 chapters (32 and 33) of Smoking Behind the Supermarket by Jinushi have felt like a step up in their craft that really made me pay more attention to the pages.

Spoilers for the manga if you're interested in reading it!

I remember starting this manga thinking that the concept was kind of fun. An older man working at a black company developing a crush on the cashier at his local convenience store, who happens the be the same person as the girl he starts having smoke breaks with outside. He's constantly stressed and a bit clueless and can't recognize that the two women are actually the same, since their on and off the clock appearances are so different.

The style was always pretty unique and charming but I'd say it felt pretty utilitarian in a way: no really intricate compositions or focal length, it's all quite flat and clear.

It looks this way basically all the way up until these latest chapters, with much more detail in hatched shadows, hair detail, and closer compositions that really make you pay attention to the art more-so than before.

The story generally stumbles through Sasaki, the black company employee, and Yamada, the cashier, smoking together after their shifts and getting closer to one another despite their generational gap and Yamada continuing to life the farce of being a separate individual, dubbed Tayama-san. Sasaki is generally clumsy and out of the loop, but his earnestness and easy to read nature makes Yamada continue to poke and prod him, like playing with a pet. She slowly develops an attachment to him because even if he's a bit out there, he's very considerate and gives off an air of someone with life experience that disarms Yamada when she leasts expects it.

There's a big story reveal that on their first meeting, the two both had personal revelations based on their short interaction. We know that Sasaki was charmed by Yamada and her smile (which particularly affected him because he was having an awful day at his job) but Yamada had been struggling with her own job and Sasaki came by and gave her advice that grounded her, yet she doesn't realize that it was Sasaki that was the man who spoke to her that day, only getting a vibe from current Sasaki that feels of a similar energy.

It's only in the most recent 2 chapters that we see both characters feels this nagging urge to want to reach out for companionship in ways that they don't really understand, weighed down by their different circumstances in life.

This ramps up the romantic tension soooo much so quickly that I found it INCREDIBLY gripping! I've been keeping up with this one for a while and it had its charm but suddenly I felt like "ohh, I get a sense for what these characters want and their yearning is so palpable."

The chapters end with this incredibly somber and bittersweet note, these characters are too conscious of the obstacles that keep them from truly being close and open with each other beyond the level they've reached and convince themselves individually that they are drawing a line.

I'm suddenly so interested in how these characters will grow and if they'll find it within themselves to change their minds about what they think they want or even deserve.

To bring it back full circle, I think that if the art is any sort of visual indicator, Jinushi might be taking their little romcom series more seriously and I'm really on board with wherever this story goes next.

#rudy recs #text post #manga recs #Jinushi #Smoking Behind the Supermarket #Super no Ura de Yani Suu Hanashi

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rudycomics · 5 months

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some colorways for Lovely Baby's office disguise

#my art #office lady #colorway #the red muscle #lovely baby #she's going to be a figure that Scarlet buys in ch4 but I wanted the figure to be like limited edition

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rudycomics · 5 months

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A Scarlet phone wallpaper is up on patreon! See the full image here:

#my art #patreon #wallpaper #the red muscle #scarlet

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rudycomics · 5 months

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Did you know my webcomic The Red Muscle has been steadily updating on tapas?

we're about halfway through chapter 3, start at the beginning of the chapter here! https://tapas.io/episode/2973706

You can also start from the entire beginning here, this fun comedy about a tech inventor and a fit girl with a deeply personal love of anime making a super suit together to bond updates every tuesday and friday!

#my art #the red muscle #comics #romcom #fit girls #anime #webcomics

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rudycomics · 5 months

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I've been trying to get my inks a little rougher so they have more of a dynamic quality to them, here's some scribbles with some fun halftone styles

#my art #scarlet #halftones #sketches #when i cant think of anything to draw then i default to girlies in their chonies

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rudycomics · 5 months

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Rudy Recs: Witch Watch (and its bittersweet love story)

I've written in the past before about some of the things I've been reading in shonen jump, You and I are Polar Opposites as an example, and the current generation of manga in their lineup right now has some interesting stuff going on. Somehow, Witch Watch is not one of the manga I hear other people talking about as often as the others and I think that's a real shame!

Kenta Shinohara has 2 award winning manga under his belt and even though his concepts don't have this really intense fantastical hook and his art isn't clamoring for attention in the ways things like Chainsaw Man or Dandadan do, I think Witch Watch has incredible range. It's part romance, part slapstick comedy/gag manga, and part shonen battle manga all together, bouncing back and forth between these different styles each chapter.

I always felt like it was just really solidly put together and consistently entertaining (except for when the story focuses on some side characters writing fan doujinshi which bores me to DEATH), but the thing that made me feel like I needed to write about it was the way the series handles the romance between the two main characters, Nico, the witch given a prophesized control over every type of magic, and Morihito, her childhood friend and chosen protector because he happens to be one of the last Ogres in the world.

I'm going to be talking spoilers for things that happened in recent chapters, so be warned!

I will put a warning when I get to it, but I like writing about these things because I personally think getting someone to gush about specific instances of well executed craft gets me more interested in checking out new things than anything else.

The basic setup to their romance is that Nico has a crush on Morihito (which she calls Moi and I'll use this nickname for convenience) and she begins living with him as her mother received a prophecy that some evil force will try to use Nico and her unnatural powers for evil purposes that will ultimately bring her harm in the process. Moi is chosen to be Nico's familiar to protect her from whatever this vague danger may end up being, but we see their personalities clash right away. She's very aware of him and he seems very stone-walled and closed off, despite their being some sort of connection between them from childhood.

The two get into a lot of wacky situations as Nico attends school and continuously uses her powers to try to help classmates with their personal troubles and they make some new friends along the way with their own special powers. The household of just the two of them grows into a house of 4 boys and Nico, with two other girls making frequent appearances. We learn about all these characters and their quirks and see how they are all invested in helping Nico try to form a relationship with Moi. It's not until a good handful of chapters later that we learn that in typical Nico fashion, she had somehow ended up putting a curse on Moi when they were children that locked Moi into being "best friends forever" with Nico, essentially kneecapping any romantic growth from sprouting from Moi.

It's not that important to what I wanted to talk about, but I do think this is such a fun story device because it completely fits in line with everything we've learned about Nico and what every wacky situation stems from in this series: Nico somehow uses her magic in ways that challenge the intuitive way the powers would seem to work and creating unintended effects on top of what the power is supposed to do. Nico's bond with Moi ever since they were children has also become the reason that nothing will ever happen between them.

EXCEPT... All of their new friends have sussed the situation out and form a plan to break through the curse and free Moi to accept the feelings that are actually blocked off inside his heart that they all know are there. They even have this fun visual metaphor of a heart with a valve leaking romantic feelings that gets repeated all through this arc.

They try some things to get Moi to over flow with feelings faster than the curse can repress them which is fun but ultimately fruitless, only for Moi to accidentally being able to listen in to Nico tell everyone that she loves him because of all his flaws that are center to his insecurities that make him close up. It's a beautiful moment that caps it off with using that visual metaphor again to really push emotion to the reader and I thought this was so effective!

From here on, I think what I want to talk about is spoilery enough that I should put a marker here for people that don't want to see anymore before reading:

**SPOILER WARNING!!**

The two both have feelings for each other at this point and Moi wants to confess to Nico now, but tragedy strikes as the big bad makes his move to attack Nico and friends which ends up costing Moi his life as he gets shot in the chest with a gun. Nico uses her powers to heal him at the cost of something of her own and what she ends up giving up is her time, which includes her memories, and turns back into a 5 year old.

The group find out that Nico can be restored to her natural state by collecting these magic butterflies that escaped from her body during her spell, and here is where I think this series does something that really grabbed me.

I read a LOT of manga. Like, scouring for new stuff to read every day. Comics are my primary source of entertainment and I read a LOT of romance stories. One of the things that I feel like authors have to consider when writing compelling romance is how to get readers to connect with characters enough to also want to see those characters get into a relationship. In general, I think a lot of this connection buildup happens AFTER characters get together and you have to just get accept the weak initial romantic beginning (like Galaxy Next Door for example), OR the story spends its whole lifetime creating their bonds slowly and ends right as they get together which annoys me, personally (hoping this one doesn't do that, but we will have to see).

What I think Witch Watch does here is so striking and unique; Nico and the gang put in so much effort in between their escapades to get these two characters together so that they can be happy. Right when things lock into place, it all comes to a halt and resets, but what doesn't get reset is the readers' understanding and connections to these characters. We're already invested in Nico and Moi and we get a second chance to see these characters form a loving connection in a really unique way that feels unpredictable as Nico slowly regains her age and memories back. It's got a bittersweet tone to it as Moi doesn't get to express his love in the way that he wants to, but we get to see such a complex form of love develop as he takes the role of a caretaker for little Nico. Love is more than romance or attraction and getting a chance to put that trope away for a bit to do something different is so refreshing. It really builds out something so much more complete and more befitting of a seinen maybe, rather than a shonen with fight scenes and mythical characters.

This current arc is the beginning of part 2 of Witch Watch, with the big bad leaving the group alone because Nico is useless to him as a child with no control over magic. We know this peace will come to an end when Nico is restored to her proper age, but we get to see the characters all get up to their silly antics again with child Nico in the mix now. It's a really cool shakeup that adds new life to the slapstick comedy bits that make up most of the story, putting the action in the back seat again for now. This is the most recent chapter at the time of me writing this (chapter 133), and seeing Moi's perspective as the point of view in contrast to Nico's experiences so far is really gripping to me. This final page of the chapter is what did it for me:

It hurts, but it's love. The pain is temporary, all for the goal of being together when it's all over, with a connection deeper than anything that they would have formed otherwise.

Please go give Witch Watch a read! It's really fun!!

#rudy recs #manga recs #manga recommendation #witch watch #kenta shinohara

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