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thegatorsgoose · 1 year

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Mourning Dove notes, batch #1

So since I am a very visual thinker, whenever I post my ideas (that aren't in-the-moment rants, that is) I like to draw something for it. It's the closest thing I can get to transferring something directly from my brain to yours. Unfortunately, I have a lot of thoughts, which means I have a lot of drawings I want to make to help get my points across. And since it's easier to write my ideas down as they come to me anyway, I'll be posting Mourning Dove stuff in batches, drawing + notes = a batch :)

Speaking of the drawing part, this is actually a redraw of fanart I did for Wayne's Haunted Mansion I drew a while ago, so you can actually use the bear as a size reference! He's bigger than Bearwing now, but to be fair the bears not that big. Danny, at 14, is 5”2 at most, probably closer to 5’0. He's still a small king.

I decided to have him be 14 when he becomes a vigilante because 1. That seems like a reasonable amount of time for him to have recovered mentally and physically enough for him to be able to handle unfamiliar environments and have the training necessary to be cautious and know when and how to step in (at least 4 years of training + his powers make him a tiny terror).

2. Yo Danny Phantom he was just 14

This batch is going to be dedicated to why Danny is this au has autism and ADHD, and how that affects him. The why will come from the original fanfic this au is based on, Wayne’s Haunted Mansion by @tathartiel (which you should definitely read if you enjoy dp x dc!). How it affects him will mostly be part of the au. Ok? Ok. I tend to ramble a bit but I tried to make it easy to follow.

First of all, Danny enjoys knitting! He's already sewing, it's only the natural progression for him to find out about knitting, and the family would definitely try to encourage the hobby with less sharp tools. It gives him something to do with his hands, and at the end of the day he has something he made all by himself, something he can be proud of. He loves making stuff for people he cares about, he likes knowing he can do something to keep his loved ones warm, whether by making a blanket, scarf, sweater- you name it. He's definitely not great at first, but he does practice a lot. Whenever he's nervous or fidgety, it's nice to do something with his hands.

One of his favorite parts of knitting is the yarn itself. Specifically the texture and feel of certain yarns. The Waynes are rich so they have no problem supplying him with extremely soft yarns to make the softest sweaters and blankets. And you know how he loves pillows? Well I'd imagine that he’d also love the extremely thick, pillowy yarn. He uses it to make a huge blanket that enhances his pillow nest 10 fold. The day he got a giant roll of thick fluffy yarn he spent all day making a giant fluffy blanket out of it, and the following night shoving it in the birds and bats faces so they can experience the bliss that is the feeling of his new soft, pillowy creation.

Speaking of textures, Danny loves hoodies, especially his Batman hoodie(s). Not only so that he can physically show his appreciation for his family, but that they are warm and soft on the inside, and make him feel secure. His siblings have all gotten him their merch at one point or another, but it wasn't until Jason got him Red Hood merch in the form of a leather jacket did they realize that texture could be a problem. The inside was just not working for Danny, but he was happy to have merch so he tried to ignore it to make Jason happy. It lasted until dinner that night, Danny had a breakdown because the uncomfortable feel of the jacket was agitating him and suddenly the klinks of silverware on plates was to loud, the scrapes and stabs of forks hitting the plates felt like he was physically being hit on the head, and the vibration of the table when someone moved felt like pins and needles going through his arms that were resting on the table. It all became too much for him and he excused himself from the table with a wobbly chirp before promptly disappearing.

It wasn't until later that night, before Jason left, that he reappeared in front of him, tears in his eyes, and handed back the jacket with a guilty chirp. It took Jason some prodding to get Danny to explain why he was handing it back, and then when he finally understood it took a lot more convincing to get Danny to understand it's ok to not like the jacket, no i'm not mad at you, its ok. After he got Danny to calm down he left the manor and informed the rest of the group chat of the new development… and then got Danny another, comfier Red Hood jacket. Bruce, having autism himself (i'm not even sure if that's a headcanon or canon at this point), helps Danny in making sure he knows its ok to feel that way about certain textures and asks what textures he likes and doesn't like, even writes them down so when buying something online or getting something tailored, they can make sure it won't be uncomfortable. His siblings 100% take advantage of this list and start a sort of unspoken competition of who can buy Danny his favorite piece of merch.

Speaking of merch, he has a hoodie of every single Gotham vigilante and wears one almost 24/7. The media was given the vague explanation that Batman saved him from a physically abusive household at 10 (or whatever his age ends up actually being, they don't reveal his existence to the world until he's 12, where by that point he can change back into his human form comfortably. I'm making the assumption he eventually can for the au cus I don’t know everything) so they just assume it's hero worship from that. His siblings however know that it's because he loves them and thinks they're the coolest people ever. Everyone thinks he's adorable anyway. When he first saw Mourning Dove merch he was super excited, until he realized it would be too uncomfortable to wear. Later that week when Bruce gives him a tailor made Dove hoodie, he cried. (Bruce totally won the competition for it, the kids are just a little bitter about it)

Merch was made for him because Gotham does know Mourning Dove exists, mostly from eye witness accounts of the baddies he took down, but also from the literal one blurry video of him that exists. It shows Dove holding onto Batman's cape as Red Robin talks. This was taken on his first official patrol, so he was a little nervous. At first Gotham was mad at Batman for bringing yet another child into the fold, until all the criminals Dove brought in came back terrified. They realized they really should have learned their lesson from the latest Robin, and now just respect their funky shadow child.

However Dove doesn't actually come out all that often. He started his vigilante career because he got wrapped up in the supernatural side of Gotham, at first it was just helping the occasional stray ghost find their haunt, but you know how dangerous magic and the supernatural world can get in just the blink of an eye. Think Jujutsu Kaisen, he was able to see Gotham spirits causing and feeding off of citizens misery, and he just can't not help. When the Batfam realizes what he's doing, he's fully committed to helping the spirit of Gotham deal with her curse. They know there's nothing they can do to stop him, so they do the next best thing and give him armor, a mask and a weapon. They also up his training, which they had been doing before because… it's Gotham. So Mourning Dove doesn't actually come out as often as the others, just either when they're down on members, there's an emergency and need his powers, they want to teach him something, or when he just asks.

… Anyway, back on topic. Another way his autism affects him is making him mostly nonverbal/selectively mute. I'm making the assumption that they eventually do get his voice back, but at that point he can adequately communicate without his voice, using chirps and gestures. He knows now that if he needs to talk (talking to a stranger, needing to explain something more complicated, etc) he usually can. Usually. If he's stressed or uncomfortable in any way, he often finds that he can't talk. Thankfully he's been learning sign language for a few years now and can get across simple ideas and feelings just fine in a pinch. And sometimes, he doesn't even feel bad. And yet still, he can't find it in himself to speak. In those cases, if he needs to explain something complicated, he can write it down. He's gotten a lot better! And if he ever trips up, he can always look it up or use autocorrect if it's over text.

Another thing his trama definitely made a lot worse is that he has episodes of hypersensitivity. An analogy I once heard is that most minds are like doors, and most people can choose to shut the door on small pieces of information that are deemed unnecessary. Like the ticking of a clock, or the scratching of pencils around a classroom. But people with adhd can’t choose to closes those doors, and the flood of information can easily overstimulate us. With his super hearing this definitely becomes a problem, and I can only imagine it gets worse when in crowds. I actually already talked about this, with bad textures. Often we can ignore the extra sensory input and go on with our day, but when faced with something that agitates us, it opens the floodgates to make everything agitate us. The sounds of dinner don't usually annoy Danny, but with the extra bad sensory input that he just couldn't ignore, it made it so he couldn't ignore other pieces of input like usual, and it became too much for him. I usually counteract overstimulation by wearing headphones or earbuds, and while I know Danny definitely has noise canceling devices made for the supers with him 24/7 just in case, I think he deals with it, again, by controlling the texture of the cloths he’s wearing and using it to fidget. He counteracts the negative input by surrounding himself with positive input. If he's not in public or that doesnt work, he’ll curl up into himself and rock back and forth, countering the input with a soothing motion and clenching onto his skin like a stress ball. Of course, that's if Cujo, his service dog, isn't there to help him through it.

One thing that carries over into the future is his short attention span. curse you ADHD! He has trouble sitting still and concentrating on a task that doesn't interest him. However he still LOVES space, and often hyperfixates on it. He’ll sit in front of the tv or a tablet and watch documentaries for hours without moving an inch. The first time this happened the batfam where scared something was wrong, maybe he's having an episode and can't move? But when they approached him to see if he was alright he started wildly flapping his arms and letting out excited chirps, till he noticed the look on their face and got out his phone. An hour later he sent them a poorly written, excited and long text about his favorite star in the galaxy to the family group chat. Suffice it to say, space is his special interest. Since then they started using it as a way to get him to sit still or to distract him. Often it helps to play a documentary in the background while he does a task that doesn't interest him so he won't get so bored he up and leaves.

Last but not least, he has trouble understanding social cues. This is absolutely not helped by how sheltered he is in the social department. Danny's part ghost, and ghosts don’t really lie. It's just not a thing they do. They are loud and honest with their intentions, no beating around the bush. Danny just doesn't understand why people aren't straightforward as well. Danny is very honest and says exactly what he means. I always find this ironic when reading the actual story, that the one person in the family (minus Alfred) that's good at communicating can't talk. This is something that becomes an issue with Bruce and his habit of not using his words to talk. I'd like to imagine that, in trying to set a good example for his youngest son yet, he’d realize the importance of communication, and how he communicates.

You could argue that a lot of these traits come from his trauma, and you're absolutely right. It definitely contributes to making some of these traits a lot stronger than before in this au as well. However, I don't want to just make it all a trauma response because then it sort of implies something is… wrong with him. That there's something to fix. And I don't want him to be treated like that. There's nothing wrong with him liking hoodies. There's nothing wrong with him not wanting to talk. There's nothing wrong with him loving space so much. Those are just a part of who he is. Everyone has quirks, and those are his. I don't want the batfamily to obsess with fixing him, or try to make him “normal.” I want them to accommodate his needs like they do for everyone else in the family. I want them to accept him, and his flaws, like a normal person. Not look at him like he's broken. After everything, he deserves a family who accepts him, chirps and all.

Tldr of the last paragraph: making everything a trama thing makes people sad and want to help “fix” him instead of treating him like a normal person. I aint having that in my au so even if he wasn't hurt the way he was, he would still act like this. There's nothing wrong with Danny, he just needs to be accommodated for and treated like a normal person.

Bonus: close up and flat colors (idk if you can even see them but I am way more proud of those eyelashes than I have any right to be)

#art #digital art #my art #dp x dc #dpxdc #danny phantom #batman #fanart #dp x dc fanart #dp x dc fanfic #Wayne’s haunted mansion #mourning dove #mourning dove au

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pastelprince18 · 8 months

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"Hello from Rayman Chibi!

"So you might be wondering why I'm submitting this here. For one thing, it's not entirely normal for me to post sketches of what I've planned out, especially considering my usual art-style, but I've been drawing this at school and I couldn't be any more prouder. However, that's only to cover up the other reason, which is to say that, yes, this contains some Rayman x Rabbid Mario (Punching Pals) content. And spoilers... I actually drew them kissing.

"Now I don't have a Nintendo Switch to play M+R:SoH's Rayman DLC, so to anyone seeing this, this contains NO SPOILERS FROM THE GAME WHATSOEVER. However, it may contain character inaccuracies (both visual-wise & personality-wise) as well as a bit of transphobia under the long 'read more' description, so here we go... Rayman in the Phantom Show but it took place in the Rayman Chibi universe:

"Click on 'read more' for context, but I have to warn you once again that this contains transphobia and a veeeery long type-out.

"Now you might be wondering, 'WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED IN THE FIRST IMAGE????' Well, allow me to explain:

"in my AU, Rayman is transfem and goes by she/her, they/them and even he/him pronouns (I'm not even joking, I'm pretty much one of the first people to outright make a more feminine Rayman and say she's trans and not genderbent), and while normally, it's not questioned or invalidated or anything since it's been pretty much normalized in my AU (since thankfully no one gave me even a slap on the wrist for that), here, this is probably the first time her gender identity was... well, questioned and invalidated.

"When the Rabbids (including Rabbid Mario & Rabbid Peach (as well as all the other playable Rabbids in Sparks of Hope & their DLCs because why not)) arrived, Tom Phan took over in writing the series and made it so that it had the drama of older arcs but better. However, Phan meant to make these events as accurate to the arcs Rayman and friends went through as possible, which yes, meant that Rayman would have to play as a guy all the time.

"However, Rayman isn't comfortable with this and gives Phan a piece of her mind, but Phan refuses to hear it and tells her that she's not supposed to be trans because he's been studying the audience and confirmed that the majority of them liked her as a man, so telling them that she's trans would risk losing a good chunk of her fans, including conservatives and people who were fawning over her. Plus he was like 'hey, femboys exist. Why can't you just be a femboy?' (Because she technically already is, dipshi-)

"This upsets Rayman, and it seems like she's the only one who's being stripped of her identity she's worked so hard on discovering, however, other characters sympathized for her and even plan on taking Phan down because of their creative differences. This is a series about Rayman characters doing dumb things, dang it! Who's to say who can do who (other than the fans)?? This led to other characters helping Rayman feel more welcome in her identity, from her usual friends assuring her that she's valid to the Rabbids not only making her feel more comfortable around them but also helping her rid her trauma to even Rabbid Peach even admitting that she too is a trans woman and even giving Rayman her wig and clothes that Peach herself made to wear for even a little while to feel the gender euphoria that she had. Rabbid Mario also helps in making Rayman feel better by whispering to her things that make her feel valid while on camera with her, and while at first he isn't used to referring her to her identity, he does learn this helps them form a more romantic relationship over time.

"However, it's by the end where Rabbid Mario decided that he's had enough of Phan's shiz, starting the first part of the sketched-out comic. After seeing Rayman protest to Phan one last time by taking off her bandanna and showing him what she's become, witnessing her being chained up and hearing Phan call her something along the lines of a 'deluded fool who doesn't even care for his fans' (interpret that however you want) Rabbid Mario ultimately defends her, saying that she's been struggling to find her identity and that that's just been happening behind closed doors. He then goes to Rayman and attempts to kiss her, but the chains pull her upwards before their lips could even touch.

"The other part happens after Rayman saved the Magician even after finding out his secrets (which I won't entirely be showing, and also Rayman calling the Magician 'Dad' isn't a spoiler; it's actually a callback to an old post I made back in 2021). Rayman asked if she could go see Rabbid Mario before he and the rest of the Rabbids go, to which the Magician obliged. Rayman comes up to Rabbid Mario and gives him a hug, thanking him and the rest of the Rabbids for helping her get the series back. Rabbid Mario takes the thank you for granted and asked if they could 'finish what they'd started' (referring to the attempted kiss in the first part)... and then... finally... they kissed.

"However, it didn't last long as Rayman still isn't used to kissing Rabbids and Rabbid Mario tasted a bit of alcohol on Rayman's lips. However, he does suggest that they do a redo when they see each other again, to which Rayman agreed. Then the Rabbids left. When will they return? Who knows..? Either way, everyone lived happily ever after. The... end..."

- Rayman Chibi _____________

HOLDS U AND HOLDS THIS FUCKING POST THIS FR MADE ME MY NIGHT AHHH!! I KID U NOT I YELLED AND SQUEAL KICKING MY FEET,,,,My god rayman being Transfem and rabbid mario comforting her and loves her for her AGHHHHH *SQUEALS* This is so beautiful chibi this is going on the fridge <33

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pussymagnetmadara · 2 years

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Sasuke + Sakura, please no.

Honestly, we are in 2022, Naruto the manga is not from yesterday, you clearly have time to read it again and again, how can people still tell me that SS makes sense in the entire work? Even though very often we recognize you pro SS, basically you accept this ship because your princess Sakura deserves Sasuke for everything she was forced to go through because of him... don't you realize that even that is incredibly toxic? So if you make someone "suffer" who has never asked for your opinion or involvement in their stories, and you suffer indirectly, then they owe you an eternal gratitude? No, I'm sorry, but no. Sasuke never owed Sakura anything from the beginning. Sakura's so-called feelings of love for Sasuke do not justify her involvement in Sasuke's life and ending up married to her and fathering her child. If we got this in final canon it's because of your incessant complaining to Kishimoto who never did your OTP justice. This ship is lame and flat as ever. Free to you to still send it but think before you insult other ships on Naruto as delusional people, because it is you that we should laugh at the most. You guys don't appreciate the background of the story, you just came for the so called love story that Sasuke owed to Sakura, for you nothing else matters, don't forget that Naruto is not a shōjo.

I've heard so much about it and to see you trying to defend your ship is so laughable because the manga serves you only one panel in the whole work and still... yes I'm talking about this particular scene..

and still nothing is provable in there. I remind you that Naruto and Sasuke had many visual exchanges much more intense than this one and the pro SNS hardly talk about it and I'm not a pro SNS at all for several reasons. Last time someone came to me claiming that he had written a story that traced and explained the love story of SasuSaku, but seriously, do you really believe that this is fan fiction, that you are writing in self-insert mode that does justice to your ship and that we will all wake up and finally believe it? No one else is doing this kind of thing but you. The canon material is so flat on your side that you have to insist on telling us about Sasuke Restuden, which I repeat here, is not canon. It's a fanfiction written by Jun Esaka, who said it herself on her twitter that Kishimoto remains the only official author of Naruto, he just drew the cover of your pro SS bible. This great joke cost me a choke with my morning coffee. Stop coming to us to harass and insult us because we don't understand your famous OTP which in your eyes makes sense because in the reality of the rest of the world, it doesn't.

But in the category that makes me most hysterical is the pro SS/SNS/Sakura who come to Sasuke to tear him down to make a fool of him, but why do you do that? If you don't like Sasuke, fine, free to you, but don't send your favorite character with another one you hate, it becomes ridiculous.

Here is a small list of canon elements that would have made more sense than SasuSaku:

SNS: I don’t like them as an OTP but they could have make sense.

Sasuke and Naruto call each other "the only one" friend or significant other? as you wish, Kishimoto remains vague about this.

Karin Uzumaki: I do like them but I’m proud Karin has matured enough to move on.

Sasuke referred to her as the most powerful kunoichi he knew.

He developed a new sharingan power to save her from the immortal black flames of Amaterasu.

My own mother gave me a revelation that immediately reminded me of a scene from SS. The famous scene where Sasuke justifies his so-called relationship with Sakura. Indeed, the only link between Sasuke and Sakura today remains their daughter Sarada.

I explain myself here, my own parents, having never been a really harmonious couple, far from there and since their divorce proceedings, my mother said to me and I quote "For me, he remains only the father of my children, and that's all, it's the only thing that links us".

Exactly what Sasuke said about Sakura to Sarada because yes indeed, nothing binds them, nothing makes sense in their story except their daughter. Sasuke could have delivered more information, or could have told something else about their story and told Sarada that he married Sakura because he loves her and she is the fruit of their love but no, he remained very concise because there is nothing to say about them.

#anti sasusaku #anti pro sakura #anti sakura fandom

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wormhole2anywhere · 9 months

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Hii!! Do you possibly have a description of what your detective Emmet looks like in a half body [mostly the attire]? I'd like to draw him, but I would also like to do him some justice-

The long story short is Emmet got a white top hat with some goggles with a blue band that are facing backwards, stuck a brown feather on them, grew his hair out because there's no hairdressers in the roads of Solistia, got his coat cut in half by one of his travel companions and repurposed into a cloak, wore a greenish teal shirt with a cravat of bluish white shade, a dark blue vest and teal puffy pants with knee-high leather boots (and got armed with a sword and a bunch of other weapons for Reasons)

But... Well I certainly have quite a few visual general references, which might help better than my attempt at a description

this is mostly just me reposting twitter posts and doodles I'd kept to a specific circle of people so far as well as a repost of Month of Emmet Day 4

a lot of this was also drawn on paper because I have the habit of bringing that everywhere, since carrying a PC is... a chore and gods forbid I used the mobile (I'm terrible at drawing there)

the two pieces of digital art are, in fact, result of magma sessions with choo choo boss and the only two colored works I found decent enough to post

I hope this can work, and if it doesn't... I suppose it's about time I drew a damned reference sheet for this man

as for who the man he is holding hands with in the third image... let's just roll with long story short he's in very good terms with Satan (madou monogatari/puyo puyo), hahaha... (I have yet to write that out...)

#submas au #submas #subway boss emmet #subway boss kudari #subway master emmet #subway master kudari #veritas detective au #satan puyo puyo

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recurring-polynya · 2 years

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What if Kaname Touken had lived?

Tousen is one of those characters that I have come to care about because of cool people on this website who love him a lot (yes, I am looking at you, @crysuzumushi). He’s not in my regular circle of blorbos, so I don’t have many opportunities to write him, but his ratio of fanworks-to-coolness is still far lower than it should be, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to give it a shot.

Did Polynya stay between 500 and 1000 words?: 1290. It’s the closest I’ve gotten so far???

| ao3 | ff.net |

🦗 💀 🦈

“Are you awake, Tousen Kaname?”

For some reason, Kaname had retained the power of sight, but there was not much worth looking at in the white, featureless room he had awoken to find himself in. He sometimes examined his own hands, the long graceful fingers, tipped with sharp, black claws. He supposed that perhaps he ought to feel some sort of revulsion at his transformation, but having no visual point of reference, he simply found them rather elegant.

His reiatsu sense had been greatly muffled since he awoke, possibly due to something in the walls, or perhaps the heavy metal cuffs that encircled his ankles, wrists and neck.

In any case, it was shocking to hear a voice, surprising for one of his senses to suddenly work in exactly the way he expected.

“I am,” he replied, sitting up the white bench cantilevered out from the wall that served as his pallet.

With a soft swish, the white door to his cell opened, and Kaname beheld Tier Harribel for the first time. She wore a high-necked outfit that enveloped the lower half of her face; her tousled blonde hair hid the rest. Kaname remembered the sheepishness in Sajin’s voice the first time admitted that he concealed his face in public. No one had ever bothered to mention to Kaname that Harribel did the same. Perhaps all the Espada did. Perhaps it was ubiquitous and therefore did not merit remark. Perhaps they felt naked upon discarding their masks and felt the need to replace them with artificial ones.

“Perhaps you are surprised to see me alive,” Harribel said slowly.

“Only slightly more than finding myself so,” Kaname replied mildly. “I am more surprised you have the freedom of this place, but I have heard that the Nest of Maggots is so secure that it is common practice to allow the prisoners to roam unchained.”

“Is that where you think we are?” Harribel asked, a smile audible in her voice. Kaname had probably never heard her utter more than a dozen words, total, and he had certainly never heard such amusement in them.

“Are we not prisoners?” Kaname frowned.

Harribel crossed her arms over her chest. “I am the Queen of Hueco Mundo. You are, for the moment, in my custody. Whether you remain a prisoner is yet to be determined.”

“I don’t understand. I…I assumed that Aizen’s plan had failed.”

“It did. Aizen is a prisoner of the Soul Society. Ichimaru was killed…by Aizen, is my understanding.” She paused. “A truce was drawn in the dust and ashes of the battle. My understanding is that, if it had been brought before the Council of 46, they might have let their more imperialist impulses take over. That they might use this as an opportunity to expand shinigami influence to Hueco Mundo. Fortunately, your senior captains understand how disastrous that would be, so as long as I keep Hueco Mundo in line, they will not come knocking on my doorstep.”

Kaname could hardly believe it. Aizen, captured, he could believe, although it seemed less likely than either a victory or dying in the attempt. Gin…it seemed odd to feel grief for a man who had never once taken his own mortality seriously. Gin was snake, a slitherer-outer. Of the three of them, he should have been the one to survive. Kaname could feel only numbness. He had known Gin since he was a child.

It was one thing to believe two impossible things before breakfast, but Kaname drew the line at a third. “Yamamoto agreed to this?”

“The Captain-General was gravely injured. The man called Kyouraku managed the negotiations.”

Kaname’s lip curled in distaste.

“You disagree, eh? That’s too bad.” She cleared her throat primly. “My understanding is that Yamamoto never would have agreed to let me take you. As far as he, and the rest of Soul Society are concerned, you are dead, by the way.”

Kaname curled his hands into fists. “Then I am denied even what passes for justice in Soul Society. I have been given over to whatever revenge you would cast upon me?”

Harribel tilted her head to one side. “Justice,” she said, “as some sort of philosophical ideal is a shinigami concept. To a Hollow, justice is purely personal. Every grudge, every grievance, is the most unbearable of injustices to us, like knives in our flesh. Being judged by some committee of impartial strangers is just revenge with a layer of grotesque theater slathered on top. You would find that preferable?”

Kaname set his jaw. “Cruelty is in your nature, I do not hold it against you. But the shinigami are hypocrites! They hold themselves the great balancers of the universe, and yet would rather throw me to their worst enemies than run the risk of having their own perfidies be brought to light, should I see trial.”

Harribel gave a wry bark of laughter. “How dramatic you are! The human girl you kidnapped and threatened is the one who healed your broken body. The friend you insulted and the lieutenant you rejected are the ones who begged for mercy for you. I, whose home you invaded, offer you sanctuary, and all you can do is weep and gnash over your cruel treatment. Truly, you do belong here.”

“Sanctuary…?” Kaname echoed.

“There are five bindings on you. They are shinigami bindings that bind your shinigami powers. I have the ability to remove three of them. I have kept you here while the last of your injuries healed. If you will swear your loyalty to me, I will remove one of the bindings and extend my protection to you as long as you choose to stay in Las Noches.”

“And if I do not?”

“Then you are free to go forth into the desert, with neither zanpakutou nor Resurrección. To be fair, I do not think you would even make it past the gates. Grimmjow has been asking me every morning at breakfast if he can rip your arms off yet. I have been telling him he needs to wait until you make your decision.”

“That is not much of a choice.”

Harribel’s eyes gleamed. “That is how we all came into Hueco Mundo, Tousen. I am offering you an opportunity, because I think you can be of use to me. If that turns out to be true, in time, I may become amenable to removing the other bindings.”

“Three of them.”

“Kidou is a shinigami art,” Harribel mused. “But if a Vizard can fire a cero, perhaps an Arrancar might learn to cast a spell, even undo a shinigami binding. I am very interested in this possibility. That is one way you might make yourself useful.”

“Just because I went against my own people once does not mean I wish to throw in with their enemies,” Kaname growled.

Harribel stared at him for a moment, and then gave off that odd, barking laugh again. “Your people, Tousen? Have you not listened to a thing I said? Do you really not know why I agreed to take you in?”

Kaname said nothing as Harribel stepped closer to him and leaned down to look him in the face.

“Hueco Mundo is a miserable, desolate wasteland, but it is also a welcoming home to all those who have gnawed their own hearts to bits. I do not know what force drove Ichimaru Gin to follow Aizen, but he stayed true to it. He could not have become an Arrancar, even if he wished to. But you…your hatred ate you from the inside out. All of the Espada recognized you for what you were. Of course you have a home in Hueco Mundo…you are as welcome here as every other Hollow.”

#what if requests #my writing #i have not read cfyow so i know i am missing out on a lot of tousen motivation/backstory #and also i do not really care about arrancar and have never read a single fanfic about them #and also i am not used to writing serious things 😭#so i hope somebody likes this i did my best #it is Very Drama #anyway tousen-harribel enemies-to-debate-opponents-to-allies-to-?friends? pipeline you heard it here first #i did read nestle to night at least

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dreamingsushi · 1 year

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Dance of the Phœnix - Overall review

Now that I finally completed the series Dance of the phœnix, here’s my general review. For those who don’t know about this drama, it is the story of Feng Wu, a prodigious cultivator that lost all of her memories when someone stole her phœnix blood, which made her special. As she tries to regain her spiritual powers to awaken her sleeping master so she can return where she comes from, she makes friends, allies, but also many ennemies.

Plot

I would say the story is overall promising at the beginning, but as we progress through the series, things start to go astray. Character development isn’t a strength, they are all mostly the same at the beginning of the drama and at the end, except for Yu Mingye and Zuo Qingluan, who are in my opinion the two solid strengths of this story. Without them, it would have rather boring.

My biggest issue with Dance of the phœnix is the many plot holes. Some characters disappear sometimes without any explanation and then they come back without any details as to why they left in the first place. Maybe it has something to do with the actors being unavailable? But the writers could have done a better job than that to hide it. Also, when we read the official summaries everywhere, it says that Feng Wu’s name is Meng Yuan and that she’s a medical student. BUT NEVER EVER IN THE DRAMA IS THAT MENTIONNED! There are clues here and there about the fact that she would be from our world (blowing candles for a birthday, eating ramen but has the quick ones in a box, references to Liu Bei, etc). Mu Jiuzhou, her master, mentions that she’s from another world, but we never get to learn how she came and where is she from. It really bothered me. Also there were a few stories that were a little useless. Especially the one about the wolf lady. It was cute. Then it became extremely sad and I’m still very very mad about what happened. The whole motives behind the bad guys was very weak in my opinion. Overall, it had potential, but it was wasted.

Overall, plot wise this does not deserve more than a 6/10.

Acting

There was good acting and bad acting. It wasn’t so consistent for Yang Chaoyue. I’ve seen comments saying that she seemed emotionless, but that is not what bothered me so much. I feel sometimes she was going way over the top in her acting and it wasn’t matching the character. But at some point, her character wasn’t consistent in the script to begin with, so it must have been hard to keep up. Jun Linyuan did an okay job, like it didn’t strike me as exceptional, but it wasn’t bad. It’s hard to judge when they play an emotionless character. But there were definitely some nice scenes from him, especially after he got a little more comfortable around Feng Wu as Jun Linyuan and he started teasing her.

The two actors that really impressed me were Jinna Fu and Wang Haoxuan. Jinna Fu had to portray the so ever complicated Zuo Qingluan and she did very well. I could believe in every mood swings she had. She made me hate her character, to the point I couldn’t see any redemption for her. And at the same time, I loved Zuo Qingluan just for that. She was alive, albeit motivated by the wrong reasons. I can’t say I’ve ever seen her out of character, even when it seemed a little inconsistent to me (I blame more of the writing than anything else). And finally, Wang Haoxuan. Can we talk about how Yu Mingye was perfect at all times? It was such a complex character, thorn between the expectations of his father, but his gentle nature. He could be cheeky and arrogant without me falling out of it. He made me laugh and cry. I think it was the most relatable character and Wang Haoxuan did an excellent job at showing all the different sides of this tormented child.

For me, the acting in general deserves a 8/10, but that’s because Jinna Fu and Wang Haoxuan did a wonderful job, the average was around maybe 7/10 for me.

Visuals

Here, this is what drew me first to this drama. I really liked the soft look of scenes. The costumes were simple, yet elegant. I enjoyed the colours being consistent for each sect of cultivation. The hairstyles were really a joy to look at, especially for the disciples of the Biluo Palace. I was very impressed. For sure, I’ve seen much more intricate costumes watching historical/xianxia drama, but here it was just enough. The colouring of the scenes were always appeasing. The one thing I didn’t really like is that they made the empress go darker and darker to show that she was the villainess while I think it would have made more sense if she became brighter and brighter. But that’s just my opinion.

The CGI really wasn’t so bad to be honest. Some creatures weren’t that great, but the little bird was great. I just wish they didn’t give it a robotic voice, but oh well. Also they didn’t go overboard with the spells, it wasn’t all over the place and they kept it minimal in special effects, which I like better. Cool special effects are nice, but once it starts becoming overwhelming, I lose all interest.

This drama gets a 9/10, because nothing’s perfect, but they did very well in that aspect.

Soundtrack

I think the soundtrack was one of the strengths of this drama. I really liked both the opening and the ending songs, though I didn’t listen to them every time I watched an episode. I also feel that in general, the music was appropriate to what was happening and really set up the mood of the story.

Here again, it’s 9/10, even though I don’t have as much to say.

Should you watch this drama? I would say no. It has lots of good things and I was pretty excited since it was from the same director as the Untamed, but however it didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s a sweet love story, but unfortunately, I don’t think it’s worth the 30 episodes. Everything was resolved in a very unsatisfying way, a lot of questions were left unanswered and to me the writers didn’t do a very good job to make everything coherent. This drama gets a 7/10, and I’m generous because when I first started watching, I really liked it.

List of full recaps

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30

#dance of the phoenix #qie ting feng ming #yang chao yue #xu kai cheng #guo cheng #gao ji cai #wang hao xuan #estelle chen #jinna fu #chinese drama #c-drama #cdrama #xuanhuan #xuanhuan drama #drama review #drama recap

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skitskatdacat63 · 1 year

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[LOUD EXPLOSION SOUNDS] hi how do i give you my firstborn. your art of nayq seb is INCREDIBLE. THANK YOU SO MUCH? ‼️⁉️ i'm literally shaking like..... what the fuck....... you were inspired enough by my word vomit to create ART??????? actual living legend. i cannot thank you enough ! !

can i add a link to your post in the fic? jumping around the room like i need to show Everybody i've ever known that nayq seb exists visually rn jdknfkjdnfjkgn but also i understand if you don't want to bc of privacy reasons and whatnot!

many many thanks again 🖤🙏

-user mwebber

AAAAAAAHHHHHH IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE THEM 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕 YOUR TAGS ARE GONNA MAKE ME CRY 😭😭😭😭🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 I SWEAR IM GONNA LIKE PRINT THEM OUT!!!!!! TY FOR ALL THE COMPLIMENTS 🥹🥹🥹🥹

I'm glad you liked the little Chapter 2 sweater Seb!! That was the last thing I drew, because I couldn't stop thinking about him in Mark's oversized sweater(also conveniently hiding the plaid I didn't wanna draw again), and of course I had to add cat ears 🤭 It's fun to draw the chibis because I scribble that kind of thing every day so I dont have to think too much lolol, I wish I could've drawn more little direct references!

I couldn't help but have Seb show a little bit of midriff in the Chp 1 drawing, this is incredibly specific but, there's that vid of him from Australia 2011 with the sheep, right? And when he's bending over, his shirt is riding up and the top of his boxers are poking out, and that's been stuck in my head for weeks, so I absolutely had to include that(especially since he always wore such baggy pants) I agree with NAYQ!Mark calling them the ugliest shorts ever, I had a bunch of ref pics of his real-life shorts and I'm just like god...you're so right...who let him wear those so often...

With that Chp 3 one, I have to say, even though I've now drawn it, I still can't stop envisioning his outfit as this outfit from that one post-2010 press conference:

I'd hopefully like to draw nayq!Mark at some point? I just haven't drawn men in so long.....but like I said in the tags, it's a lot easier to draw when there's descriptions available!!! Because I tend to deliberate so much over drawing, but your writing inspired me so much!!

Sorry for the huge response AAAHHHH I just wanted to give a little insight to my inspos 🤭 Also of course you can link my post, I would be so honored!!!!! And now I will go back to my cave, and patiently await Martian Monday again hahaha

#BUT I CANNOT UNDERSTATE HOW MUCH YOUR TAGS MEAN TO ME 💕💕💕#i got really anxious over posting these bcs ive never rly done anything like this #but im so glad you like them!!!! they were a lot a lot of fun to draw!!!#it was fun to have paragraphs from the fic as ref but also be able to look through my horrendous amnt of seb pics for further ref #ive had that 2010 press conference pic saved for so long atp but even looking at it now makes me so deranged #i went to pull it up for this post and now i cant stop staring at their hands again....#omg i didnt even realize that seb is wearing yellow boxers in that aus 2011...i drew him in yellow boxers...gg catie from last night #i think my fav drawing ended up being the plaid shorts one bcs the the outfit worked out quite well!#but bee boxer seb is <3 thats one of the main reasons i drew these actually bcs the bee boxers haunted my brain #fought myself to not add cat ears to literally every single drawing i tried to contain myself to only the chibis #catie.asks.

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musingsofvenus · 2 years

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⭐(i would LOVE if you talked about the kill bill au, but i'll take any director's commentary!)⭐

*cracks knuckles* This answer is Long As Hell 😌 I chose select scenes from my favorite chapters.

I also elaborate on other details in the author's notes section of each chapter on AO3, so I only included comments I haven't already gushed about below

Director's commentary is below the cut. If you haven't read the kill bill au, spoilers are yonder.

Request is from this post. Thank you for the ask!!!! 💗

Chapter 1

An unexpected spurt of blood hitting his face makes Charlie flinch. As he wipes his cheek, he sees a bullet leeching its way out of the woman’s chest. The bullet clatters to the ground, and a trickle of blood leaks from the hole left behind. Seconds later, her chest stutters with a weak gasp.

“Uh, she ain’t dead,” Charlie announces.

I'd say 80% of the dialogue is lifted directly from the movie or script. Whenever I write, I have the movie playing in the background for visual/story reference. I rewind and rewatch 100s of times.

Aside from that, I really loved writing this bit. Hillbilly cop Charlie and his sidekick Buttcrack Santa are my favorite humans. One thing I had a hard time with was describing the bullet leaving Leah's body; it took me a long time to figure out how I wanted to rework that scene. Translating movie action to words is hard. Some things just work better visually. But I think it turned out alright

Chapter 2

I LOVED this entire chapter. There's so many fun scenes. I wrote it in one sitting. I have so many comments about it

There was something about his perfect smile and his Southern charm that drew Leah in. His pretty brown eyes with gold flecks in them were like molasses, full of sweetness and affection just for her. And his hands, large and strong, played with Seth during the day and held Leah tenderly at night.

THE BLACK GUY ALWAYS DIES FIRST!!! I agonized over this a lot because it's my pet peeve in movies. So I just decided to make myself feel worse by describing Laurent as the hottest, most incredible lover ever. SIGH. I entertained the idea of having him reappear at the end of the fic as a vampire, but I ended up scrapping that idea. The logistics of that would've been too annoying

The charcoal wolf charged at them, wasting no time raking its claws across Leah’s face. She screamed in horror and agony, clutching at her face as it gushed torrents of blood and burned like fire.

I thought it would be ironic to have Emily be the one to scratch Leah in the face, since Emily was originally the one who got scarred in Twilight.

Long, pale white fingers grasped the edge of the boat, and a pair of red eyes broke the surface of the murky water with a laser focus on Leah. Long brown hair, turned teak from the water, floated along the surface in loose tendrils.

VAMPIRE BELLA! EVIL BELLA SUPREMACY! CRYPTID(ish) BELLA!

Remember when Victoria was watching Bella from the water in New Moon after Jacpb fished her out of the ocean? Yeaaaaah that's this

Chapter 3

“Your eyes haven’t cooled yet,” she realizes. “You’re a pup still.”

Leah nods sullenly. “A late bloom,” she confirms.

This is a reference to something that I can't remember lmao

Embry scowls. “Why do I always have to get the drinks?” he demands. He grabs Leah’s stool, scurrying to her left side and pointing angrily at ‘Kim’ as he leans his head over Leah’s shoulder like her body is a shield. “Why can’t you get it for once?!”

“Because I’m the boss,” ‘Kim’ hisses, raising the cleaver threateningly. Embry backs away with a yelp. “Now shut up and get this woman her drink!”

I was cackling as I wrote this interaction. This scene was SO funny in the movie so I tried to do it justice with my remix.

Her second and final weapon is a katana, and it sings from within the wooden scabbard. Embry holds the bottom end of the scabbard and thrusts the katana into the flames. The scabbard remains unscathed and the symbols carved into it glow a bright red.

I really couldn't tell you how Embry made this sword or what kind of magical process goes into it. I don't know why the blade glows in the fire or what it says on the sword either. It just sounded cool. I was literally making things up on the fly

I also couldn't think of a better alternative weapon to give Leah. In the movie, Beatrix gets a sword because she's in Japan and trained in martial arts. Is Leah trained in the art of swordsmanship, or is she just winging it? Beats me lol

Chapter 7

I just want to give a quick shout out to evil Emily and sleazy Paul. They were my favorite horndogs, RIP to the real ones

Writing their death scenes was fun but also challenging. I'm literally running out of creative ways for Leah to get through her kill list without being repetitive. But the show must go on 🥴

Emily drains the rest of her whiskey and runs a hand across her mouth. “They have two kinds of venom. One turns humans, and one just causes paralysis.”

She tosses the empty jar over her shoulder, excitement making her eyes wide as she counts off her fingers. “The paralytic is harmless to us. It’s like a temporary sedative to the nervous system. But the other kind? Well that’s the most effective poison for our kind– it breaks down tissue faster than we can regenerate it. It can even cause hallucinations.”

Emily's monologue while Paul was dying from the poison was a fun scene to rework from the movie. I watched the movie's scene between Elle, the black mamba, and Budd too many times to count. Somewhere in Twilight it's mentioned that the science behind vampire venom is that it paralyzes their prey with pain so they won't escape while feeding. I thought it would be cool if they had different venoms that served different needs, hence the paralytic and the turn-you-into-vampire juice.

Leah’s lips are right next to her ear as she whispers, “Where’s Sam?”

“You-”

A stab to her stomach makes Emily shout and double over. It’s quick, nothing more than a sharp flash and it’s over, but the lingering sting knocks the breath out of her. The oozing wound does not close.

“Where’s Sam?” Leah repeats, her voice rising.

When Leah dipped from the hospital in chapter 2, I couldn't think of how to include the scene from the movie when Beatrix is bashing the nurses' head in with the door and screaming "Where's Bill?". I thought it would with better in this scene. I was also coming up empty on how to pull this fight scene together so that addition saved my ass

Chapter 8

Curious, Bella turns on her heel and lifts her gaze. The sight leaves her bewildered.

This is wrong. All wrong.

There are two blue moons in the sky.

She squints, leaning closer, and then she feels it: A huff of air that blows her locks away from her face. A vibration throughout her body from a growl so loud the ground shakes with it. A heart that has long since stopped beating in her chest drops into the pit of her stomach.

Nothing is going the way she remembers.

The shroud of darkness before her parts like a curtain, unveiling a large white muzzle. Trembling lips peel back to show off rows of sharp and gleaming canine teeth. Its jaw opens wide, unnaturally so, and the base of its throat glows with the light of hellfire.

Bella had a handful of prophetic dreams in Twilight and that storyline went nowhere. Her dreams are literally messages from the deep, and when she got turned into a vampire all of that just got dropped...? So I incorporated that back into this fic.

I also just really liked how I described her dream sequence in this chapter. Shout out to me lmfao. I'll never achieve this greatness again.

“Dreams again, love?” Edward asks quietly.

Fall Out Boy reference. IYKYK

“‘O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circle orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable.’” Jacob scrunched his face into a grimace. “How do you read this stuff? What does that even mean?”

“Juliet doesn’t want Romeo to swear his love by the moon because it’s always changing, and she wants his love to be constant.”

Foreshadowing 👀 Also the sun and moon trope for Bella x Jacob is absolutely perfect. They are literally the definition of that trope. I love them. I'm obsessed with them. Okay? Okay.

Shout out to that teacher in New Moon (?) that made Edward recite lines from Romeo and Juliet. I imagine if Jacob were in that clas with them, he would hate everything about the play and scoff at Edward's memorization of it

A weaker version of that sunny smile of his bloomed on his face as he murmured, “It’s okay, honey. It’s okay.”

He was always trying his best to make sure Bella felt nothing but love and comfort in his presence. Even so close to death, he was still trying.

“I love you, Jacob,” she choked out.

Jacob’s bloodshot eyes softened, and a trickle of blood dribbled from his nose.

“Love you more,” were his last words to her.

Yeah so I hurt my own feelings writing this. I also heavily referenced the scene in Eclipse when Bella says goodbye to Jacob after the newborn fight.

Also remember that time when Jacob just suddenly called Bella 'honey' and it wasn't a big deal???? Well, it IS to ME.

Okay love you bye

#ask #kill bill au #twilight au #twilight fanfiction #i have another one sitting in my inbox working on it nowwwww

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cybermeep · 1 month

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i go home the long route this time— extra long, different specific road home twice. think of many different people as i do so. remember a man i would call uncle danny. old, smoker. died of some form of cancer. quite sweet, from what i can remember. lived next to those two girls whom are on my bus, matching blondes. remembered a girl named bella (now another bella, as i write this— only writing about those whom appeared in my life physically nearby, though.) who likely moved. kept her hair in a bubble sort of bun or braid which was very circular. short & rotund… nice, until she wasn’t. remembered another girl, although i forgot her name— truly disheartening. had a sleepover with her, once. family lived in a huge house— remember asking how her family could afford such a thing, or something along those lines. sounded like an insult— it was a genuine question. didn’t realize those who had better economic income (her family, in this case) didn’t have to share houses. long hair, dark skin. quite nice, very… feminine in nature. was very young when we were friends. memory had faded; until i went that route, that is. its quite jarring how people can come in and out of your life, fade in and out of memory.

[CROW OR RAVEN?] a thought interjects my introspection down memory lane. no warning, no context. i try to wonder what fits with this. i realize only one possible logical thought— facepalm internally. really? you could be doing anything else, thinking of other people you met, lives lived, conversations had, and its this?

…of course, i responded with crow; more accurate. still foreboding, to some. i like crows— i don’t find them creepy, only interesting.

remember a question asked by my friend earlier today and my lack of having a prepared answer. at the time, i didn’t think it made much sense— well, why wouldn’t i? until, well… i realized my life experiences aren’t always the same as others. have a friend who ive long forgived for many things; they’ve changed, done their own thinking, yadda yadda. friends since young quote, tweens. i forgive easily and hold little to no grudges. i see the best in people and see them for their positive traits, more than anything— hence why i was so confused as to why this was a question being asked. of course, i realized in this moment i was the idiot. nonetheless, i still hold the sentiment. i am more than happy to restart and try again, always.

what else… testing, more testing. two essays. quite personal. one where it was a girl stuck in a space vessel, having the narrator go down to earth and do things just so she could see them or feel them again. her yearning for simple nature was so visceral it almost made me sick— i saw two people in her character. lunch after testing. cried, cried a lot. personal details, will leave out for yknow… a bit of privacy? will say i had a conversation with a friend. gave him his gifts i had in store. stayed long after lunch to finish a discussion. been in this side room twice in a row, now— [remember those other times you cried in there?] my brain asks. shut up, i reply internally. anyway… today was much better— mainly because of conversation and clarity. had a nutri-grain bar for lunch. continued a test, although didn’t get to finish it. teacher didn’t know i had state testing; informed her of this. bell rang, next class.

spanish— culture day. sat and sketched in my mini notebook. used lineofaction.com for references. some poses, then facial expressions. drew about 3/4 before i got to my last one. squinted, curious as to why the visual looked familiar. looked up to reference photo, looked down. the hair, seemingly. i wondered what to do about it. rolled with it, in the end. not as if it inherently means anything, anyway. made a shitty recreation of a memory which is not my own. bursted into a fit of silent giggles, heavily amused by my stick figure of sort. after our discussion, i feel less saddened and more genuinely content with certain happenings. i am happy others are happy, truly!

i feel… much, much better than yesterday.

#cybers tangents

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itzninaj · 1 year

Text

Virtual Sketchbook #2

Journaling

Unity and Variety - Unity is the appearance of similarity in an object or artwork. Variety is the opposite of unity. Variety has different and diverse elements in an artwork.

Balance - Balance in art is achieved by creating an equilibrium between opposing forces. To create physical and visual balance in art. Symmetry and asymmetry can be used to achieve this balance.

Emphasis & Subordination - Emphasis is used to draw the viewer's attention toward a particular area. This can be done using contrast, color, placement, and sizing. Subordination is used by artists to remove attention from certain areas of their artwork. This can be done by using placement, color or size.

Directional Forces - Directional forces are like pathways that artists use for the eyes of the viewer to follow. These paintings are made by using actual or implied lines.

Repetition & Rhythm - Repetition is the regular reoccurrence of visual elements in an artwork. Similar to a pattern. These repeating elements help with composition, unity, continuity, flow, and emphasis. Rhythm is an orderly repetition of dominant or subordinate aspects in art. This is also used in music, dance, and poetry.

Scale & Proportion - Scale in art refers to the relative size of an element when comparing it to another element. We do this by using our body size. Comparing our body to how big or small it is compared to an element. Proportion is the size relationship of different parts compared to the whole subject, or another subject.

Writing and Looking

6.2 Purposes of Drawing, Fig 6.13, pg 7

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Picasso's painting Guernica represents a bombing that took place in Guernica, Spain. Picasso uses directional forces by using implied lines to guide the viewer's eyes. He also uses unity and repetition to create movement in his painting. The monochromatic color scheme in this painting is used to represent a newspaper since newspapers are often used to display and inform about events. The geometric shapes in Guernica create a chaotic and violent scenery. Iconography is also in this painting through Picasso's use of symbolism to convey the message/story he is telling through his artwork.

Connecting Art to My World

I arrive at school early since I take the bus, so I'm always able to see the sky at early dawn. During this time, the sun is just starting to come out and the sky is filled with beautiful hues of colors. The ride on the way to school is when I see the most saturation in the colors of the sky. The sky is filled with bright shades of orange and yellow, making it breathtaking. This scenery makes me feel calm and at peace. Giving me time to just take a minute in the mornings to relax a bit before starting my day. As well as helping me start my day on a good note.

If I had to pick a color scheme for my life it would be filled with similar colors to the morning sky. Different shades of yellow, orange, blue, purple, and pink.

Art Project

Marvel is one of the many things that I have a personal interest in. I mainly got into Marvel because of my dad. Since I was little I have been very passionate about my love for Marvel. If you asked any of my friends what I am obsessed with they will most likely answer Marvel or the Disney character stitch.

This specific scene I drew is from the movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This scene happens towards the end of the film, where Gwen Stacy (aka Peter Parker's girlfriend) dies. It was a very emotional and heartfelt scene for me. Spider-man is one of my favorite Marvel characters, and seeing him in so much pain because he just lost the love of his life made me very emotional. I remember bawling my eyes out in the theaters, as well as in the car. This movie is what made me like spider-man so much. So it definitely has a special place in my heart when it comes to the spider-man movie franchise.

Photo/Design

Taken by Noriaki Kimura

Taken by Sveta Imnadze

The black-and-white photograph I chose was taken by photographer, Noriaki Kimura. Kimura explains that he started only taking his pictures in black-and-white because of economic reasons. During his film days, the only choice he had was to develop his pictures in black and white. But he has chosen since then to primarily use this color scheme because he likes his photos to be unrealistic. He likes that his photos don’t have a sense of reality. Instead, they can catch the in-between of reality and unreality. This color scheme helps represent the mood but also changes the relationship the photo has with reality. This also adds to the idea that black-and-white photos are timeless. Since black-and-white photos have been used since the beginning of photography, it's harder to determine when these types of photos were taken. Adding to the idea of it being unreal.

Colorful photographs are primarily used when the photographer wants the viewer to draw attention to the subject. It also creates a pleasing view for the eye. Color is used to evoke emotion. For example, yellow is used for happiness, blue is used for sadness, and red is used for anger. Colors help evoke and symbolize these emotions. Colorful images can also help with making the photograph feel alive. Colorful photographs aren’t seen as timeless because they can fade over time. Making it easier to tell when the picture was taken

The way a photograph is captured can affect the memory within the photograph. I believe that the choice the photographer makes when it comes to their picture's color scheme can have a strong effect on the viewer's feelings and opinions on it. It affects where the viewers focus is when looking at the photograph, as well as the way they feel. These two color schemes can tell very different stories. It’s up to the photographer to determine what kind of story they’re trying to tell through their photography.

The color of the photograph does influence the way I feel and how I perceive the picture. When I look at the black-and-white photograph I sense a more serious tone. It also allows me to try and think more about the story behind the photo. Rather than focusing on the colors, I can focus more on the texture and the subject. While with the color photo, my focus is more on the colors that are present. It also gives me a sense of calmness. And helps with making the landscape feel more alive and it’s also very breathtaking with all of the colors combined. I don’t think much about the story behind the colorful photo as I do with the black-and-white photo.

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love-takes-work · 3 years

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Notes on SU Commentary Tracks

I watched the commentary tracks on the Complete Steven Universe DVD Set and I took some nerd notes.

The episodes with commentary tracks are “Reunited,” “Change Your Mind,” and “The Future.”

I’ll bold stuff that was maybe bigger news or more surprising for easier reading. And yes, some of this was already known from podcasts, other Q&As, or interviews, but I listed it if they said it again here.

Read on after the jump to read these and other highlights:

Steven’s original wedding speech

Older ideas on dialogue for Lapis when she came back to the beach

Scrapped concepts for the scene that ultimately included Steven communicating with the others in a mindscape

Discussions of earlier concepts for White Diamond having a power to “freeze” Gems into statues to make them perfect and having a gallery of them on Homeworld

Pink Pearl’s original fate

The translation of the writing on Obsidian’s sword

The origin of Pink Steven’s design

What Rebecca did to pitch the “SHE’S GONE” scene

Earlier plans to include Shep in “Change Your Mind”

An unused concept of how Steven feels about Biggs

The inspiration for the Heaven and Earth Beetles’ healed design

How Volleyball/Pink Pearl was almost a mini-villain

Discussion of how they did not get to share the origin of the Diamonds

Jasper’s scrapped participation in the movie

“Reunited” -

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

In 2015, an episode idea called “If You Love Yourself So Much” was discussed but rejected. It included some early ideas that ended up getting incorporated into “Reunited,” most notably Garnet marrying herself and putting rings on both hands.

The idea of the Cluster arm wrestling was planned for a long time. A scrapped idea of Steven banging his fist on a vending machine to get some Chaaaaps was supposed to visually parallel some of that scene, but it was axed.

When they got pushback on the wedding idea, they kept adding more and more “high entertainment value” items like a big musical number so the episode would be absolutely unmissable and appealing to everyone.

The song at the beginning of the episode was meant to check in with the entire cast and sort of remind you they exist and what their state of mind is going into the wedding.

Ian made a comment joking about “All 15 people in Beach City” being in the audience.

Just about everyone on the Crew touched this episode, despite that there are four main storyboarders credited for “Reunited.”

In 2016 Ian Jones-Quartey proposed marriage to Rebecca Sugar. They felt like the characters based on them (Sapphire and Ruby) HAD to get married in the show now because otherwise it wouldn’t be honest. But then their characters got married before they did.

They really love the idea of having characters get married who have known each other for a really long time, versus the fairy tale trope of movies ending with weddings between people who have met very recently.

Steven’s speech as officiator at the wedding used to be longer in its first draft--it was described as being weird and full of jokes, and there would have been a scene with Pearl getting weepy and pulling tissues out of her pearl.

Ian mentions loving a joke Jeff came up with having Greg play one chord to make Steven fall asleep--it’s sort of a “dream” chord you hear in cartoons a lot before a dream sequence.

The Crew discussed what it might be like if someone had never seen the show before and started with this episode.

Ian really wanted Steven’s psychic powers to figure into the episode.

Blue using a sadness wave to attack the Gems was a very old idea they’d planned for a long time. So was Lapis’s arrival.

There was a discussion of having Lisa Hannigan performing her lines as Blue VERY early in the morning.

Ian was happy the sword got broken because it was so momentous but it was just a sword. And later appeared on a shelf in the house as an artifact.

Miki had drawn a torn dress for Garnet at one point so she could be shown fighting and moving around more accurately, and this led to a long discussion of whether Gem clothing can even actually get torn the way human clothes can. They concluded that no, it shouldn’t be torn, so they backed up and gave Garnet an open-front dress from the beginning so the fighting version would make more sense.

Lapis originally might have had a longer speech upon arriving back on the beach. They eventually decided to just have her say “Hey.”

The barn falling on Blue Diamond was an intentional Wizard of Oz reference.

They point out that Steven even once said “drop the barn on the beach” (in a previous episode, “Can’t Go Back,” which was also a Miki episode).

Destroying the house was a big deal, and they always thought they’d end up doing it but backed away from it until “Reunited.” They almost even did it back in “Coach Steven”! But it just ended up with a little damage to the porch.

The Crew thinks Miki is really good at drawing ensemble shots.

Rebecca was always overwhelmed whenever she got to have Patti LuPone record for Yellow.

Originally the giant figures of everyone’s statue bodies in the mindscape were too dark and had to be revamped so they could be seen.

An earlier idea of Steven’s “psychic-ghost-situation” had him as a ghost actually trying to interact with the other characters during fighting action, but it was pulled back to this mindscape so there wouldn’t be as much confusing action to keep track of and more focus on what Steven was doing to encourage his teammates and contact the Diamonds.

Hilary was glad not to have to block out a fight.

Ian mentions loving having Bismuth back in the group.

They originally wanted the “Diamonds sensing Pink’s energy” plot to happen when Steven was in the palace somehow, but everything got moved to this scene--which the Crew all agrees turned out incredible, like how cool it was to have Steven essentially reminding each character why they fight and summing up their whole arc in a sentence.

“Change Your Mind”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

They like to refer to this episode as “The movie before the movie.”

They loved incorporating “princess tropes” into Steven’s time on Homeworld, which is why there were so many references to “mice” (well, Pebbles) making clothes, being locked in a tower, being reminded of his manners, loving animals and freeing imprisoned pets, etc.

Deedee did the voice of the rainbow worm pet. She apparently didn’t find it memorable and was surprised when she was reminded she did the voice.

Rebecca was super excited for the confrontation with Blue.

There was some discussion of how Steven would have died of starvation if he didn’t have someone practical like Connie to remember to bring food.

They love working with the huge scale the Diamonds present.

The Crew always wanted to put someone in Blue’s hair loop. Originally they wanted Blue to tuck Greg in there when she kidnapped him, but they didn’t end up being able to do any hair-loop-carrying until this episode.

The Crew bantered back and forth about what the heck those Pebbles’ names were and how hard it was to track them.

They agreed that Paul draws the best Yellow Diamond, which makes sense since he also drew the first episode with Yellow (and her stink face).

The scene where Yellow asks Blue to stop using her powers on her and then realizing she’s crying on her own was one of Rebecca’s favorite scenes to get to finally.

Steven Sugar thought Gems would spend a lot of time in their own chambers/rooms just not really doing much of anything unless they had to fulfill their purpose.

Some of the Homeworld ideas were based on a Soviet artist’s concepts, Boris Artzybasheff, and also many ideas were inspired by Busby Berkeley regarding how people were objects and furniture.

The mech was an old idea. Once they had the hand ship from “Jailbreak,” they knew there had to be bodies somewhere.

They focused a lot about what could be the coolest and funniest way for something to happen. The concept of the yellow and blue spaceship arms appearing out of the sky to smack the White Diamond mech around was one of those.

Rebecca really wanted things to look more and more cartoony and bizarre as you get deeper into Homeworld.

They spent a very long time trying to decide on characters’ new outfits.

The trash can lid is said to be a reference to “a flying bear cartoon” and they dance around speaking a direct reference because they’re not sure they’re allowed to say its name.

In discussing the powers of the Diamonds, there were debates on what White’s power would be; with Yellow being physicality-based and Blue being emotion-based, they thought White as identity-based made the most sense.

Different ways to express this were played with before settling on the idea that she thinks she’s perfect and others’ colors make them less like her and less perfect. But then she becomes a hostage to her own beliefs about herself because if she does anything that reflects on everyone else, so it’s best to do nothing.

They had some cool earlier ideas of White’s powers making statues out of other Gems and having a gallery full of frozen Gems, frozen by White to make them perfect.

They also weren’t sure what fate befell the original Pink Pearl and discussed whether she might have been destroyed.

Rebecca discussed how creepy it was to have White Pearl speaking in Christine’s voice and not Deedee’s--that we should find it fundamentally disturbing at this point.

Tom Herpich came up with the crack on White Pearl’s face.

In real life, pink diamonds aren’t understood as well as yellows and blues. It’s more known what makes a diamond yellow or blue, and some of those facts Rebecca researched were originally woven into the speech White gave about their “impurities.” But it turned out to be too dry and most of it got cut.

Rebecca loves having Lapis with pants and sandals for easier cosplay.

Ian had to draw the scene where Steven is falling and fusing with inert characters--he wasn’t able to properly explain it to Rebecca so she had him draw it.

They really wanted Rainbow Quartz 2.0 to have a scarf, but they couldn’t figure out how to get that into Pearl’s design. They miss the scarf.

It was really important to have these Fusions display call-forwards of the Gems’ new outfits which we hadn’t yet seen.

Rebecca points out that Sunstone’s design breaks a design rule and she feels like Sunstone should have Garnet’s pant leg colors on their legs, but at the same time she understands the rule of cool and likes it like this.

It’s discussed how none of Steven’s fusion weapons are exclusively offensive weapons either.

Rebecca still really wants a suction cup Sunstone toy.

Sunstone’s ability to transcend reality and break the fourth wall was a joke that exploded in the discussion room among the Crew. As soon as the idea was pitched everyone kept coming up with ideas. Sardonyx’s fourth-wall-breaking is more snarky, but Sunstone’s is helpful.

Rebecca was disappointed that the rule about Steven’s clothes wasn’t always followed with having his clothes appear on Obsidian’s hand, but she was delighted that you could see them in one scene.

They spent a lot of discussion time on making sure Steven-Obsidian was different somehow from Rose-Obsidian. The hair is different.

Old versions of Obsidian were drawn with wrapped-together Twizzlers legs, which sort of is reflected in the present design.

The sword had been planned forever--and it first appeared in “Bubble Buddies.”

Miki worked on the Ninja Turtles show so Rebecca was really excited to see her depictions of Bismuth and Sunstone.

An early plan to have Obsidian draw the sword from their mouth was complicated because fusion weapons should be combinations, so they finally reached the solution of having them combine to make the hilt, then get the blade out of Obsidian’s mouth.

The blade of the sword is thought to say “We’ll always save the day,” but you’d have to ask Steven Sugar.

Another really old idea was climbing into the White Diamond mech eye.

Rebecca was disappointed that some of the merch made of White Diamond did not feature her cape sparkles.

There were many debates early on about where Rose might “actually” be. There were tons of references to this fundamental question throughout the show--introducing Lapis as a Gem trapped in an object, having Pearl ponder pulling Steven’s Gem out as a baby, straight-up wondering what would happen to him in “Bubbled” when Eyeball was trying to take his Gem, etc. They all decided Rose was definitely gone but that the idea of her possibly being inside him should be on his mind a lot, leading to disturbing images like dreaming about coughing up her hair.

Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both challenged Steven about things he was very confident about, but White’s question of his identity got to him because he in fact is not confident about that.

The black and white eeriness of the fuzzy background and the other characters having their colors washed out helped make the scene in White Diamond’s head so disturbing and creepy.

The split screen showing Steven’s two perspectives was exciting to Rebecca, and was a pretty old idea. And she points out it sort of “breaks the show.”

The Gem Steven, Pink Steven, was represented by a slightly modified version of his model sheet. Everyone laughed when they saw what was getting used.

They decided that an earlier idea of Pink Steven looking angry should be replaced by an emotionless version of him. All the emotion should be with Organic Steven.

In the pitch meeting for this episode, Rebecca herself screamed “SHE’S GONE!!” and shocked the hell out of everyone. She pointed out how no one expected this of her because she’s pretty quiet, but she just wanted to shock everyone the way Steven would in the show.

They point out this is the first appearance of the geometric shield that got so much use in Future.

The fact that Steven is Steven is the ultimate reveal of the show. Usually in fantasy shows there’s some other kind of revelation, but Steven just being amazingly human and amazingly Gem and amazingly himself is wonderful here.

They like having the pilot reference with “What’s your excuse?”

If Rose had somehow still been alive in him, all of this would have been cheapened.

Ian loves that you can faintly hear Sadie’s concert from way out in space as the camera approaches Earth.

They got a lot more use out of the Beach-A-Palooza stage than they thought they would when it had to be designed for “Steven and the Stevens.” There was a joke about how at one of the conventions a real Beach-A-Palooza stage was constructed and they had a thought about how oh good, it’s getting reused.

Sadie having green hair in the finale was a late change but they liked showing her progression.

They had originally kicked around the idea of Sadie already having her new partner Shep at this point, but decided to develop that in Future instead.

They compare White Diamond’s stepping gingerly into the fountain to skeptically getting into a public pool.

Some silliness they didn’t get to use was that Biggs would be “beloved by everyone” except Steven. They never got to cover it, but originally Steven was just going to not really understand why everyone loves her so much and doesn’t personally much care for her.

The Heaven and Earth Beetles are based on the Mothra Ladies.

The healed Gems’ horns are supposed to be side effects of the corruption that they continue to bear in the present.

Larimar and Orange Spodumene ended up different in the ending scene than they became in Future. Many of the designs were retroactively pulled into this scene after being designed for the movie.

Rebecca wrote “Change Your Mind” as a personal song to express her feelings surrounding her fight for the wedding.

“The Future”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

The animatic for this episode ran SO long--they’re supposed to be just over 11 minutes but this one was 17 minutes.

Steven’s calisthenics routine, a callback to “Future Vision,” was on the chopping block to make the episode shorter but Rebecca wouldn’t allow it to be cut because she wanted to show that Steven’s been taking care of himself.

They were very excited to get a chance to cover some of the things in Future that they couldn’t squeeze into the original show, like the unbubbled Rose Quartzes, Volleyball, etc.

The new writers on the show also helped bring forward the idea of Steven finally making some of his OWN mistakes to fix.

This also helped construct the idea of Steven essentially being the “final boss” of his own battle.

Usually stories that involve someone being in a fight and winning don’t explore the effect just being in a fight has on a person, regardless of whether you won.

Rebecca really wanted to play Ocarina of Time after beating it so she could go back to all the places and see how people were doing. She wanted this epilogue series to explore that a little too.

Little Homeschool is sort of a Tiny Toons reference--older cartoons teach younger cartoons how to be cartoons, and this is Gems teaching other Gems how to be Gems on Earth.

Lamar came up with the silly joke about receiving that art set with all the different media types in it--the one artists are always getting from a well-meaning relative at holiday time.

A scrapped plot idea involved Volleyball/Pink Pearl as a sort of “mini-villain,” with a focus on her activating the un-activated Pearls.

There’s discussion of how victimization turns people into villains sometimes. But since showing that happening with Volleyball wouldn’t have served the interests of Steven’s arc, they couldn’t fit it in.

There was also a “very specific” Gem origin and Diamond origin story that’s quasi-religious in nature--it’s very cool and complicated. But they do not tell us what it is.

Ian and Joe both really wanted to have Jasper living alone in the woods and stacking rocks. They’re glad they got this series to do that with her.

There was originally an idea for a B-plot involving Jasper in the movie. They don’t discuss the specifics.

There were many ideas they didn’t get to work on because they would have started new arcs and Future was not about kicking new plots into gear.

“Mr. Universe” was the last episode they wrote/finished.

Miki really wanted to include a kiss between Connie and Steven to show their relationship was okay. Among the Crew everyone knew their relationship was basically eternal but Miki wanted to make sure WE knew that.

Steven driving conveyed momentum for Future; in the original show, we always came back to the laundry hand, back to home, but in Future that’s changed and home isn’t what it was.

They were really excited that a gourd family made it to the crowd scene in Future.

Thanks for reading!

Note: The movie had some commentary tracks too, but the one on this DVD set is the same as the one released on the original standalone movie DVD, so I did not outline it here. Here is my post about the DVD commentary from the movie.

#steven universe #steven universe future #rebecca sugar #crewniverse #my su analysis #myblog

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a-froger-epic · 3 years

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Can you please give a few tips on how to write? Anything you find helpful would do

Gladly!

Firstly, writing takes conscious practice.

Like any other skill, like playing an instrument or a sport, the more you write, the better you become. That's a simple way of putting it. But just like you'll never really improve if you only ever sit down to play the one song you know how to play on the piano, you won't really improve your writing very much if you don't write consciously. What do I mean? What is there to be conscious of when writing? 1) Show don't tell.

You understand the story you want to tell. It's in your head. But what you want to do, to engage your reader, is to show it to them the way you see it rather than to just tell it. An example:

Freddie felt frustrated to the point of tears because Roger just didn't understand him. “It's not that easy,” he said. “It's not that hard,” Roger uttered, equally hurt and upset that Freddie found it so incredibly difficult to just admit that they had feelings for each other.

Now, there's nothing technically wrong with this bit you just read. You're telling the reader what's going on, you're telling the story - but that's just it. You're telling the story. Let's see what happens when you try to show the story instead:

Freddie's eyes stung with unshed tears as he drew a shaky breath, hands clenching and unclenching by his sides. “It's not that easy.” For a long moment, Roger looked back at him, his jaw tense and eyes glinting in the yellow-tinged light of the naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. “It's not that hard,” he uttered, and brushed past Freddie on his way out of the room.

So, what's changed? On the one hand, you're giving the reader less information. You're no longer spelling it out for them. Will they understand why your characters are acting the way they do? Hopefully. But also, it doesn't matter. Because by leaving it up to the reader to interpret their words and actions, and what is behind them, you have made your reader think. They are now actively engaged in the story, rather than just passively consuming information. You have their full attention. Also, you've given them a stronger visual of what is happening, rather than why, which creates a reading sensation as though they're watching a movie in their head.

Of course you can tell sometimes. Brian was furious - can be a strong and necessary statement. But generally, try to show and not just tell your story, and trust your reader to interpret it. They won't always interpret things the way you want them to, but that's okay. It can be a different story to them than it is to you.

2) Structure, grammar and punctuation.

Boooooring.

Yes, I know. You just want to tell a story, people will get it. Is it really so important if all the commas are in the right place? No, of course a few missing commas or a bit of questionable grammar won't make much of a difference.

But.

Yes, it does make a difference. Just like this little writing advice post would be much harder to read if it was all one block of text, you are making your story harder to digest for your reader if it's visually badly structured and full of weird punctuation and grammar. And no, you don't need to have a beta reader. I personally use this language tool extension for Chrome, which I find quite helpful. It's free! Otherwise your readers' brains are constantly tripping over mistakes they might spot or things that don't immediately make sense. It's like walking on a rocky path. Why not pave that path properly and make it easier to follow the story?

3) Does this add information?

One of the most helpful things to keep in mind for me, personally, is asking myself with every sentence - sometimes even every adjective I feel inclined to throw into a sentence - if this adds information for the reader or if I'm just unnecessarily rehashing something they already know. And then I ruthlessly end up cutting things, much as I'd love to waffle on about them self-indulgently.

Being aware of this really, really helps with the flow of a story.

These are the main things I like to be aware of while writing. These are the things I constantly try to improve on while writing. Secondly, read, read, read and don't try to reinvent the wheel!

You have your own favourite stories, I'm sure you do. And if you stop to really think about it, you'll see the bits which make them so engaging and so well-written, in your opinion. Steal those bits. No, not word for word, of course not! That's plagiarism. What I mean is, figure out what it is that you love about the stories you love, and teach yourself to do the same. You don't need to find some novel way to write that is unlike anybody else. DO copy other people's styles to learn from them. DO try to mimic you favourite writer's way of telling a story. Equally, try to stay away from purple prose to be original. Eyes are just eyes, they're not glossy, (insert unheard-of colour) orbs. It's perfectly fine to keep on using your characters names, there is rarely a need to keep referring to them by their age, hair-colour or complexion. (I'm notorious for this myself in some of my writing from only a year ago, still, I've been learning!) No, it's not likely that one of your characters thinks the other smells like three different specific things at once. Sometimes, it's perfectly fine for character A to just love the way character B smells and want to inhale deeply.

Thirdly, don't be a stickler for rules. I know, I just gave you a whole bunch of rules, but don't look at them like rules so much as guidelines. And feel free to ignore them. Writing is great, often times, when it doesn't do what the reader expected it to do. When a story doesn't end the way it usually does. Subvert expectations. Don't stop yourself from throwing a thought into your character's inner monologue that feels absurd or crass, people have strange thoughts all the time. Let the fictional people in your story be as nonsensical and strange as people often are, and let your story be as random as life sometimes is. Not everything has to be perfect or as it "should be", in your story.

Lastly, don't ever, ever, ever write what you think people will want to read. If that is the reason you're sitting down to write, just stop. Don't bother. You won't have fun, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and you're putting insane pressure on yourself. Write because you simply have to tell this story. Write because it gives you joy. Write because it's a challenge, because it's exciting, because it's fun.

#long post #writing advice #ask response

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killjoyhistoryarchive · 3 years

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Mike Milligram: The Lost Killjoy

Edit: On July 21st 2020, a Mike Milligram comic by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon was officially announced. However, I’ll leave this post as it is for future reference.

—

In 2009, while My Chemical Romance fans were eagerly awaiting news on their upcoming album, Gerard Way had another surprise in store: the announcement of a new comic series called “Killjoys.”

Co-written by Shaun Simon and illustrated by Becky Cloonan, Gerard told CBR that the series would “deal with much more mature and controversial themes, such as hate crimes and homophobia, the homogenization of American culture and American life.” Unlike “The Umbrella Academy,” which was set in a fantasy world, “Killjoys” was set in modern-day America.

But what nobody realized was that even after an album, two music videos, and a six-issue comic series, Gerard’s original conception would never see the light of day.

In 2008, Gerard Way and Shaun Simon developed the Killjoys universe in a frenzy of inspiration. Gerard’s original sketch features Mike Milligram on the left–named after Gerard’s brother Mikey Way–with a host of other characters that accompanied Mike on his journey. The comic was announced a year later at San Diego Comic Con, with a release planned in 2010.

With My Chemical Romance wrapping up their fourth album, Gerard and Shaun were ready to start writing. Becky Cloonan drew concept art for Mike Milligram, as well as promotional artwork that they planned to use at the Comic Con announcement. However, the Mike Milligram art was scrapped and replaced with a simple image of the Killjoy spider–a move that could later be seen as prophetic.

In 2009, “Killjoys” was an entirely different concept. There was no Party Poison, no Dr. Death Defying, no Battery City, no girl with special powers. The original comic involved a surreal road trip through America that reunited offbeat characters and confronted harsh realities along the way. In 2013, Shaun Simon offered this description in the introduction to the special hardcover edition of the comics:

The old version of the story focused on Mike Milligram, a late-twenty-something living in a desert trailer park and working a crappy job at a supermarket. Mike’s teenage years were a blur. He couldn’t tell if the things he remembered had actually happened or not. Part of him believed he was part of a gang called the Killjoys who fought fictional things in the real world. The other part of him believed it was all just a dream. Music was the only thing that kept Mike going, so when the music was erased from his Ramones tape, it sent him over the edge. He went out and got his old teenage gang, who were now living normal lives, back together because, yes, it was all real. Other members of his gang included Ani-Max, now a high school history teacher; Code Blue, a rabble-rouser who was a working girl in Vegas; Monster, a new young member they met on the road; and Kyle 100%, who was a B-list actor now. They all had strange powers based on objects. Halloween masks and costume accessories, puffy jackets, toy ray guns. It was a story about a group of old friends getting together and discovering what America really was. Reaching deep inside its pretty facade and pulling out the ugly guts. (It was semiautobiographical. I toured with Gerard and his band for a couple of years before realizing I needed to find my own path.) The gang would have found out that another former gang had now become the largest health care corporation in the country and were hell bent on making the world a safe and clean place by removing all that was dirty, like the Ramones. It would have been a great story, and I’m sure parts will end up in Gerard’s and my’s future work.

Of course, we all know what happened after that announcement. After Gerard took a fateful week-long trip to the desert, MCR decided to scrap “Conventional Weapons” and fueled their energy into writing “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.” But even as Gerard delved into this new post-apocalyptic version of the Killjoy universe, the comics remained the same. As late as 2011, Gerard claimed in an interview with Artrocker that the comics hadn’t changed at all:

No, none of the characters, even our characters, are in it. It is a completely separate thing, even almost a separate setting. It shares all the ideals behind the record and the theories and the commentary but it is nothing like the videos you have seen. I think the car is probably the only thing that’s the same!

But as the band took on more responsibilities–filming music videos, promoting the album, going on tour–the comics kept getting pushed back. First the release planned for 2010; then it was pushed back to 2011. And while the era had kicked off without a hitch, MCR eventually hit one of the first of many roadblocks: they didn’t have enough money to film the third video. So as Shaun Simon told CBR, the original story featuring Mike Milligram was scrapped, and replaced with the story of the girl and the Ultra Vs:

[A]fter the record, Gerard had built this whole world around the Killjoys. When it came time for the comic, Gerard called me up and said, “We ran out of money. We wanted to make the third video, but we don’t have the money. So do you want to make the idea for that video into a comic?” We started talking about ideas, and we had so many that it turned into this whole series.

In an interview with Paste (2013), Gerard went into more detail about the process:

The deal is that I had written three videos (“Na Na Na,” “Sing,” and “The Only Hope For Me Is You”), and the third video had never gotten made. By the time we had completed the second video, we just ran out of budget money. At the time, somebody was managing us and not keeping an eye on this stuff. Long story short, there was no budget. So I wrote a video, and of course it ends up being the most expensive one, as the last part would usually be. But we couldn’t make it! Killjoys started its life as a very different comic. It was heavily-rooted in nineties Vertigo post-modernism. There’s a lot of very cool, abstract ideas in it; I wouldn’t even call it a superhero book. That (comic) was a visual and thematic inspiration on what would become the album Danger Days. It was pretty loose, though. This was going to be my interpretation of the story, so there’s way more science fiction involved. And what I need to say to the world needed to be a little more direct, so I boiled it down to something that’s still very smart and challenging, but I thought was definitely easier to understand through song or visual. Then (Killjoys artist) Becky Cloonan drew a 7-inch for “The Only Hope For Me Is You,” which was going to be the last video single. I realized I was out of budget, so I said ‘just make this the girl from the first and second video at 15. And have her shave her head or chop her hair off like in The Legend of Billie Jean, because that’s how the video was supposed to start.’ So (Cloonan) sends this drawing over and I’m on tour with Blink 182 in a hotel on an off day. I get this drawing and I’m so immediately blown away by it. I call Shaun, my co-writer and co-creator, and I say ‘open your email, I’m going to send you something.’ I ask him ‘how does this image make you feel?’ We talked for two hours. By the end of the conversation we both realized that that image was the comic, and the third video was basically the comic. So we figured how we were going to make this interesting and exciting for six issues and complete the story. And that was the final direction. It was pretty obvious to us.

In a way, Mike Milligram’s spirit lived on, as fans noticed the similarities between Mike Milligram and Party Poison. But it’s inaccurate to say that Mike Milligram became Party Poison, though “Party Poison’s real name is Mike Milligram” became a persistent rumor in the fandom. Mike’s story was not Poison’s; he wasn’t a post-apocalyptic rebel, but a teenager searching for his identity in modern America.

Will Mike Milligram’s story ever be told? At this point, it’s not likely. But his tale offers a glimpse into the creative minds of Gerard Way and Shaun Simon, and makes us ponder the fact that with a few changes–the comics being released earlier, for instance, or MCR having the money to fund the third video–the comics could have been entirely different.

#my chemical romance #mcr #killjoys #gerard way #shaun simon #becky cloonan #articles #mike milligram #reuploads

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katyatalks · 4 years

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Mob Psycho 100 Interview Translation - Character Designer Kameda Yoshimichi - Otome Visual 2017

Summary-style translation for Character Designer Yoshimichi Kameda’s 4 page interview from Otome Visual 2017, regarding elements in the creation of Mob Psycho 100 such as: what inspired this cover art, the influence of fan art in the anime’s creation, Tsubomi’s design, the process behind the package art for the DVDs, and more. Includes some genga. Under read more;

[TN: The reason why I elected to summarise this interview rather than do a full write up is because a lot of the information given gets covered in December 2016′s Animestyle010, in “The Making of Mob Psycho 100.” I typed that one out in full over on twitter but that’s a long interview, and I don’t have the time or energy to reformat it for Tumblr, but if you’re interested in a very in-depth look into how Mob Psycho 100′s anime came to be I’d really recommend checking it out. Direct quotes are given in “” here. Enjoy!]

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*~The genga illustration for Otome Visual’s cover~*

“With the recent popularity that Skating Anime has had, what’s this - a Shouwa idol collab?! It’s all in the little details in their clothing - their wrinkled shirts, white trousers, black belts - both around their waists and arms.”

*~Kameda’s comments~*

“Can you heaaaar me!! I am currently speaking directly into your braaaain!!! What I’m grateful for with this commission is I was able to design the cover in any way I’d like!! A cover is a reflection of current times, so, of course, I went for ice skating! You wouldn’t be able to find this kind of amazing content in any time period other than now! That’s what I first thought! Like, Mob Psycho 100!! If there’s not a certain Mob Psycho 100-ness present in the art then what’d be the point, so, the characters are being very serious but they’re also pretty laughable. I tried to create a piece of art from which you could hear their voices!!! What’s with it being Shouwa-esque?? Being lame is incredibly cool!!! Huh? Does that describe Mob Psycho 100?? Can’t answer that if you ask!!!! Please feel the amazing Paradise Ginga x Mob Psycho 100-ness here!!!!!!”

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Kameda describes how he wasn’t sure how best to adapt the manga into an anime format at first, since from the art he was shown he immediately knew it to be very unique - the idea of using Flash to animate the show was raised but quickly shot down

Originally, upon being asked about the show, he based his thoughts on what a web image search for Mob Psycho 100 gave him rather than having the actual manga in hand. “For the most part, the results that came back would be fanart (laughs). It’s a bit strange - at that time, it was difficult to find art uploaded from the manga. If you could find anything, it’d just be art from the covers. So for the most part, an image search of Mob Psycho 100 would just bring you back fanart. A lot of that fanart would be… a shounen in a cool pose wearing a school uniform with smooth bobbed hair & sharp cat-like eyes, sort of like Hiei’s eyes (from Yu Yu Hakusho). Very different from the manga’s art. But when I looked at that art, I thought; this could work. Fanart is, fundamentally, ‘fans drawing what they like’, so I thought, ‘the anime having this kind of art would make the fans happy.’ Well, it didn’t work out that way, obviously. I was told the anime’s art should resemble that of the manga. (Laughs)”

He hadn’t read the manga so all he had for reference was art from volume 1 and the fanart he found online. “But I like things like spirits and urban legends, so seeing Dimple - a floating supernatural fiery ball - and being told the manga touches on the occult caused my interest to soar.”

Says that Teru is the easiest character for him to draw. “He’s overflowing with confidence, so it’s easy to put him into some cool poses. Mob and Ritsu in comparison, not so much. [...] With Reigen, he has a lot of poses that are like, he’s trying to look good. He takes a solid stance. I suppose Spirits & Such has such a shady air to it, and you have to hide that somehow, right? So, Reigen injects confidence into how he presents himself. A model-like stance.”

“The anime is faithful to the manga… ah, actually, Tsubomi-chan was changed with a ‘let’s make her more like a heroine’ conversation. So, I did so, but reading recent events in the manga I can’t picture her in her anime form (laughs). The manga’s Tsubomi isn’t much like a heroine, so I’ve found myself wondering, if we animate up until this part… just how will we approach it? The anime’s Tsubomi is so bright and sparkly, so she wouldn’t have snot hanging from her nose (vol.13 of manga), would she…? (Laughs). Perhaps we went a little too far with making her a heroine. Maybe, if we do season 2, we’ll turn her back into a normal girl (laughs). Well, Tachikawa-san is clever; I think he’ll find a way to make do with her current design.”

---

Picture text: "This is Mezato's first appearance, so I decided to make her cute!! Thank you in advance!!"

Picture text: "That girl was telling me such a stupid story this morning... aidzuchi* isn't easy, you know... I'll just ignore her tomorrow..." [* sounds made to indicate that you're listening to someone speak]

---

Asked about his favourite characters; “I love Mezato Ichi from the Newspaper Club. When I drew her in her character sheet in that pose where she’s holding her camera, I came to see her as being quite cute. So now I focus on her a lot; in fact, when I draw genga I sneakily choose the cuts that have her in them (laughs).”

“I also love Mob. Reigen stands out the most so your eyes naturally jump to him, but I love the balance that Mob has. His heads tall ratio... or rather, his face, and the way his body is proportioned? It makes him lovely. Ritsu is around the same height as Mob, but, how can I put this - the cuteness that Mob has, is lacking in Ritsu… due to the latter being quite standoffish, I suppose (laughs).”

Ritsu’s hair changing through the first season is discussed, and how it is purposefully shortened during the latter half. “I paid attention to making sure his hair was long especially while he was being possessed by Dimple. So it’d resemble thorns.”

“I feel Teru-kun is the most ‘yang’ of all the characters. The rest are more ‘yin’ in nature. Because of this, it’s easy to play around with his expressions - he’s fun to draw. Speaking in terms of Dragonball, he’s kind of like Mob Psycho 100’s Vegeta (laughs).”

“In episode 9, Dimple possesses one of Claw’s security guards, right? I don’t really understand why that security guard is so popular.” Q: What do you mean? “Because he’s just some middle-aged dude (laughs). He doesn’t even appear for long…”

After discussing the huge amount of SG!Dimple commissions received: “Unlike SG!Dimple, I don’t really get asked to draw Shou-kun. With this commission I thought to myself, I /have/ to include him here, and so I added him in. The initial brief excluded him.”

Asked about moments that stuck with him; “When Teru chokes Mob in episode 5. [...] Mob’s pained expression as he’s being choked is good, but Teru-kun’s face shows us… envy, jealousy, distress, anxiety.”

“Also, the ‘super real Reigen’ sequence from episode 12. The tension between Reigen and Sakurai is funny, but the art itself has had me laughing since production. It’s funny no matter how many times I look at it!”

Kameda’s idea to have the characters make number shapes for the volume art came from him watching ‘Tonneruzu no Minasan no Okage deshita’, specifically the ‘Mojimoji-kun’ segment of the show (where they try to make numbers from their bodies)

Volume 6’s cover art was first planned to have a whole ensemble of characters, but Kameda changed his mind on this - “if we do a second season, we can leave that for volume 12 (laughs).”

Volume 4's cover was originally planned to feature only Onigawara and Gouda, but Kameda found himself wanting to include the rest of the body improvement club

Regarding the pose we see on vol 6’s package art, “My original thoughts for that cover were to have Reigen and Mob in a ‘hell wheel’ pose, like, Mob pulling Reigen’s legs and arms… but that wouldn’t be very fitting for the final volume.”

His message to the readers; “Thank you for your support! With sales, the ‘this is popular!’ message gets conveyed, and the more support you give us, then there’s no doubt we’ll be able to produce season 2 and season 3!! Season 2 relies on your support. It’s in your hands - thank you!!”

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Crossposted on twitter here.

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #anime visual 2017 #Kameda Yoshimichi #interview #sg!dimple middle age man rights

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enbyleighlines · 3 years

Note

wen qing/jiang cheng

and/or

nie huaisang/jiang cheng

Thanks for the ask!! Imma do both because why not? I love to gush about ships

ChengQing:

I ship it!

What made you ship it?

Watching the Untamed, primarily. But also I’ve read quite a few fics with background ChengQing, and those really sold me on the entire dynamic. I love how they’re so similar, to the point where they must butt heads, but I think they would also have enough respect for one another that they could hash things out and find ways to compromise.

Message me if you want some good ChengQing fic recs, because I know of some really critically underrated ones that deserve more love.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Well I think the first thing that drew me to it was the potential for it to like, change everything? Like, I have read so many arranged marriage fics, not all of them ChengQing, but the ChengQing ones are my favorite. I like the idea of them being pragmatic about their political marriage, while growing to genuinely care for one another. Plus, I think Jiang Cheng needs a woman who is able to put him in his place whenever he crosses a line. I’m still trying to decide what Wen Qing gets out of the deal, but I feel like she would develop a sort of exasperated but genuine fondness for him regardless.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don’t know if it’s unpopular, but I really like the idea that their needs require a different type of relationship. Like, Wen Qing’s first priority will always be her work, and Jiang Cheng is the same way. So they aren’t one of those couples that are always glued to each other’s side, because neither of them have the time for that. Nor could I see them being affectionate in public. In fact, if their marriage was political, it’s unlikely that anyone would find out that they ever developed actual feelings for each other, since they just don’t broadcast it. But that doesn’t mean that their bond isn’t strong; it’s just a relationship that best suits their individual needs and preferences. Everything that happens behind closed doors is very passionate to make up for lost time, anyway.

SangCheng:

I ship it!

What made you ship it?

I think it was the fanart that wore me down. I didn’t want to ship it, at first, just because I do not see Jiang Cheng as anything but a clueless cishet man, but visually, they do make for quite the attractive couple!

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Their dynamic could be quite fun, I think, just because they are so different from one another, and yet they also have a bit of the childhood friends thing going on, although it was more like they were both Wei Wuxian’s friend, and so they just so happened to spend a lot of time together. But Nie Huaisang is such a fun character by himself, so dramatic and willfully lazy, but with a surprisingly intelligent side, while Jiang Cheng also has an off-the-walls big personality. They’re both the type of characters you could easily see in a sitcom. I like the idea of them being drawn to each other despite not completely understanding each other, and growing to admire the other person for the very traits that they lack. Plus I see Jiang Cheng as a very indulgent lover, prone to giving way too many gifts to compensate for being unable to spend as much time with his lover as he’d like, and Nie Huaisang loves being spoiled. So yeah, I think the main dynamic of their relationship would be Jiang Cheng as the manly breadwinner whose first love is his career and Nie Huaisang as the happy trophy wife.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

So like I’ve said, I see Jiang Cheng as cishet for the most part, or at least with a heavy preference for women. And I think the idea of being attracted to a man would threaten Jiang Cheng’s sense of masculinity, in a way that would be really hard for him to grapple with. So any SangCheng fic that doesn’t include a little gay panic moment vis a vis Jiang Cheng’s feelings for Nie Huaisang kind of take me out of the fic. And I understand that many people don’t want any references to homophobia in their fics — and that is very valid! I certainly do not want people to change those fics. They are simply not for me. I like homophobia to be acknowledged in fictional writing, because it’s very cathartic for me. And stories where homophobia doesn’t exist make me feel uncomfortable, because I’m keenly aware of what is not there, and it feels like I am being erased in some manner. Again, this is all my own personal preference. It’s no more or less valid than any other queer person’s opinion on the depiction of homophobia in fiction. But that being said, if anyone knows of any mdzs fic with some (but not too heavy) gaynst, I would be honored to receive a link to it.

#demoiselledefortune #mo dao zu shi #asks #chengqing #sangcheng

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