#the difficulty is that he really is so stylized that

[emmbrr]

i drew shaun the sheep

#the difficulty is that he really is so stylized that #you can't change his eyes that much #or else he just looks like a black sheep with a funny hat #anyhoo #my art #sketchums #shaun the sheep #illustration #? #requests

[vermutandherring]

Well, it's not like I make characters for Sims now...

My blog about video games in general, when The Sims is only small part of my hobby. At the moment this blog has near 60 followers, most of whom are Sims players. But I'm grateful to all of you, regardless of whether you came because of a meme post about MG, analyses of Vampyr or to download something for Sims. I hope my works inspire you, make you think or laugh, you find them useful or just pretty, worth to share or just to catch cringe (I do not exclude anything from the above).

So with this post I want to make little Bingo~

I really adore Leon from the original Resident Evil 4 among all other versions of his character. Actually that's why I wrote Biohazard instead of RE.

His character came a long way during development of RE4, originally known in Japan as Biohazard. In some places, the vision of the plot by the developers and the changes were so striking that later the project was divided into 2 parts. One turned into the Resident Evil 4 we know today. The other is on Devil May Cry.

His character clearly demonstrates how our perception of certain things changes over time. Leon of the early 2000s is a kind of nihilist. He mocks difficulties and does not care about his traumatized past, unless it concerns Ada - his real weak point, in communication with whom he loses all his Casanova charm.

His masculinity, expressed in character and physical form, is interspersed with delicate facial features and the luster of porcelain skin, which hint at something of the bishōnen aesthetic.

Today, this stylization, once caused by the limited capabilities of the game engine, has completely disappeared. The actor and his face in front of the game design came first. The ideal hero has turned into a person with a lively character and all the problems from the past.

But what really surprises me is that he has been wearing the same hairstyle for 40 years.

I hate it when bangs get in my eyes. Leon has iron patience.

About Sim

Sim is base game compatible. The vast majority of custom content are face sliders. I don't know if sim would look the same without them, but I've included all the ones I used, so you can install them as you see fit. What you definitely need is an eyes preset. Body preset at your discretion. The rest of CC are genetics and cosmetics (20 positions in general).

Without genetics on right (I use eyes replacement).

DOWNLOAD | MediaFire (free)

You may be interested:

Art in Resident Evil 4 and other games

Bishōnen aesthetic and how it can be used in games

CC credits:

@obscurus-sims @lemon-sims4 @silumeo @dumbabysims @lutessasims @pralinesims @pyxiidis @sims3melancholic @remussims [HAYDEN] @luumia

I forgot to add to the archive gloves from the screenshot. It's Gloves fingerless by helgatisha.

Gun poses (Beretta v.2)

Flying crows from Crow Pack by @natalia-auditore

Architectural decor by @thejim07 | @felixandresims and others~

For the screenshots used Silent Hill Reshade 3.0 Preset for TS4 by fuchsiateasims (for me works with 4.7)

Info on the screenshots taken from Crimson-Head RE Podcasts.

#sims #the sims #the sims 4 #sims 4 #ts4 #ts4 simblr #simblr #sims 4 download #sims 4 finds #ts4 screenshots #ts4 cas #sims 4 edit #re4 #re4 leon #leon kennedy #leon scott kennedy #videogames #gaming #games stuff

[illym]

I think Justice would be a huge novelty (atypically shaped or designed) cup fan.

Bonus group gifts from her kids:

Elphelt: handmade mug

Ramlethal: handmade coaster

Jack-O: homemade hot chocolate mix (that you shouldn't drink if you have a heart condition) and a bunch of candy canes.

ID for both images in alt texts.

Misc thoughts below:

I feel like Jack-O hardcore celebrates every single holiday even if she doesn't personally celebrate, to explain her tree neck thing and headband.

I honestly don't know if the Valentines would celebrate Christmas; I don't know whether Aria would celebrate (she was American in the 20xx's, and I imagine that people flocked to religion as a way to provide emotional support and answers after the technology collapse of 1998 or whichever year that happened. People might've left again after magic became huge, but... I dunno. I don't study human psychology, i just find it fun to think about.), and her closest human friends currently are Sylv and Bridget.

Sylv doesn't know what Christmas is, and... Actually, Bridget's accent core costume is vaguely (very vaguely) nun themed, so that implies that she knows Christianity well enough to stylize herself after it.

But on the other hand, we never see her experience Catholic guilt 🤔.

Okay, we've gotten off track and forgotten our original point... Let's go back.

I headcanon that Justice can't eat solid foods very well because her mouth doesn't open very wide and chewing is difficult for her, so most of her meals are smoothies and drinks and the like. It's why she started collecting cups; may as well have some fun with it. I don't know if she would think of it herself; maybe Sylv came up with the idea, and Justice enjoyed it far more than she thought.

Elphelt went to a pottery class and got absolutely obsessed for two weeks. Ramlethal joined her, but only really enjoyed carefully forming more solid (pre-baked pottery), as the wet and mushy stuff was too hellish as a sensation. Elphelt enjoyed going absolutely ham hitting it around and shaping it and squashing it flat again. She fell out of it after those couple weeks, but she goes to the big fancy studio in Illyria whenever someone she knows is headed to Illyria.

Jack-O wasn't around during that saga (I've started debating whether she's six months older than the Elphelt and Ramlethal, which would make her roughly emotionally 4-7 years older than them), so she never had a pottery moment. I think if she tried out physical crafts, she'd really like that thing where you smash glass and then build something pretty from it.

Justice .... Probably watercolors or something that doesn't require hardcore precision. But I don't think she'd ever initiate trying it out; someone would have to convince her to try it and stick with it through her "this isn't worth the effort of working around my hands" phase.

Bonus: Christmas gifts from the other people that Justice knows

Sylv: xe got her a thick stick with a soft rubber tip to make reading books easier (by making turning the pages easier) (she has difficulty with delicate things like paper because of her claws). Handmade since Sylv couldn't find one that was good for Justice's hand size.

Bridget: she ordered a custom Roger shaped cookie jar for herself, and went ahead and ordered some custom cups to go with it, giving one to Justice since (liking novelty cups) was the only personal gift able trait she could think of. Justice loved it.

Robo Ky: He piggybacked off of Sylv's gift the first year, since he was too self centered to get anyone else a gift. The first gift he got her was lightly scented armor polish, since Justice had complained that she was tired of her armor overpowering a lot of other sensations (the metallic smell being stronger than most other smells around). She was extremely grateful and flattered that he thought of that.

Sol: didn't get her anything. They have a really awkward, emotionally strained relationship so even if he'd thought of it in more than a passing thought

Can you tell I'm primarily a writer.

I can't copy paragraphs on my phone but this was too good to restrict to a Christmas gift

The first gift he actually gave her were some claw coverings, made from one of the few materials that was stronger than her claws and also not a major pain in the ass to use. They can connect magnetically to a bracelet Justice chose to wear around her elbow, so that taking them off for fights doesn't require her to find a place to put them.

#illym art #guilty gear #justice gg #justice guilty gear #elphelt valentine #ramlethal valentine #jacko valentine #jack o valentine #hmm #elphelt guilty gear #guilty gear ramlethal

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ep.5 thoughts

[Don't Ya Wanna See UMA Clothes on Me?]

(Contents: Animation, griping)

Admittedly, I think this was the weakest episode so far, but that's to be expected since this was pretty much entirely a set-up episode and not one that really required too much allocation of budget

I still would have liked a bit more energy to it, though; while Apocalypse had that really cool moment when the Quests were being listed with the stylistic dark flames, Apocalypse himself had pretty stiff movements that, as I am always dreading, just looked like stills from the manga given animation cycles rather than being full bespoke animations

Clothes kind of had that too once his face came out, though I will say I really liked seeing how much difficulty it had forming into a cohesive outfit at first. I really got the feeling that he was trying to properly take shape but just didn't know how to do it

The Union's introduction was also somewhat lackluster, but that might just be because I've been building it up in my head for so long, a weakness that I've been anticipating for the last fouryearsandananime. I think other people won't have this issue, and newcomers especially will probably just accept it at face value as a cool moment where we're meeting the cast that we'll come to know and love later, but I think that the anime didn't quite go as far with making that scene its own as it could have. I liked that we actually got everyone's names and a brief preview of the fact that we don't know what their abilities are yet, but I think there must have been a better way to build hype for them than just...counting them one at a time

What I'm especially disappointed with, though...UMA Eat's intro was really lame!!! Burn was all shadowy, Sean had a little cutscene, Language was a bit more stylized and showed off what the language unification would look like, and we even got a little preview of Unrepair, but...Eat was just...mouths...floating...they weren't even actually chewing the food!!! I wanted the mouths to emerge from the darkness and start voraciously devouring whatever they could find, to show us a bit more than the manga since it's a UMA we'll likely never actually see, but...somehow it gave us less! It's such a minor little gripe, but it's indicative of what I don't like about a lot of anime adaptations - even if it's in isolation and other things took precedence, I still want an anime adaptation to actually bring the material to life! And that felt like the director or the animators or someone decided that that was a moment that wasn't important enough to bring to life!

Sure, it was a tiny moment, and sure, if something else needed the budget something needed to be trimmed down, but STILL! Even if it was just a little chewing motion, that would have been better than the mouths vaguely bobbing up and down! I'll likely forget about it by the time the next episode comes out, and it certainly won't color my interpretation of the rest of the series (not on its own, anyway), but in the moment it's disappointing to see

Oh, I also don't love that Shaft David Pro keeps clearing every non-Negator out of every scene. Andy and Fuuko being alone in a closed restaurant is really strange, and means that Andy can't make a point of ordering a third glass of vodka to represent Gina. Sure, it lets Fuuko cry louder since she doesn't need to be mindful of anyone, and the candlelit dinner is a bit more striking visually, but I feel that something is lost in having every scene take place in wide open, lifeless vignettes

I hate that I have so little good to say about this episode. I don't want to give the impression that I had a bad time, it's just that so few of the good parts were good in a way that was unique to the rest of the series so far, so I don't really feel any need to discuss them. They weren't novel, but the complaints are pretty specific, so I ended up focusing pretty much solely on them

To keep from giving too negative of an impression, I'll close by saying that I think it's good for an episode like this to happen; as a lower stakes, less bombastic episode, the surrounding episodes will feel so much more impactful, and with what's to come, this is a well appreciated chance to breathe

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews #uu anime

[i-drop-level-one-loot]

Pssst hey poke poke wanna rant about Diablo II is it any good Iv been considering getting into the series

Absolutely!!!!!!!

Oh my fucking God, ok ok ok...

So. I love it.

Diablo II remastered is my favorite in the series, and I can't even verbalize how much of a fucking gremlin I become over this game, bro. Dude. Okay so. Hot takes, coming in, but the second one is my favorite in terms of art design, gameplay, and overall vibe. It's also a pain in my ass. But a good pain lol.

In terms of playability, something a lot of people complain about with older games is the lack of explanation for a lot of gameplay mechanics (not just Diablo, if you play older games you probably know what I'm talking about), so the first two games even remastered can feel sluggish, unnecessarily difficult, and confusing. Which are very valid criticisms, I don't side with gamers who complain about new games coddling their players however. Straight up, the horadric cube in D2 doesn't have an instruction manual. Bless the internet.

Diablo 1 and 2 have just an incredible atmosphere and artistic design. It's dark fantasy. The angels are sick as fuck. The cover art; o r g a s m i c. Like,

And for some people who didn't grow up playing Diablo II, the learning curve is really steep. But I enjoy it! I love starting new characters and then deleting them again because I found a better build. Experimenting without looking up guides for point allocation and gear.

This is the cover art for Diablo II: Resurrected.

This is how I want to feel going into my fights. This is my enemy. Sexy as hell. I would recommend this game, it's one of my all time favorites. The characters are connected through your battlenet account, so if you buy the game for your Xbox and for the Switch as I did, you play your same game. Which is probably a no brainer for people who played video games for a lot longer than me, but I didn't have a console until I was in my twenties.

If you ever get this game, and wanna cry when encountering the first boss, I will give you my ultimate guide to how this dumbass cheesed their way through the encounter without dying ❤️

Also, secret level, near the beginning of the game you go through a portal and you can pick up a dead guy's artificial leg. Keep it. Later, you can use it with the horadric cube to unlock the best fucking level of all goddamn time. 🐮

Now, the other games... Diablo III.

The gameplay was way too easy (for me at least). After the first boss the story gets better, but everything about the third game is super different.. It's art is super stylized. It feels cartoonish in the lineup. It isn't dark, even with the body horror and literal demons, because everything feels colorful. It's the anime inspired fantasy roleplay version of the grim dark heavy metal fantasy games. I liked the story, because I was so invested in Diablo II that I needed to experience what came next, and I don't regret playing it, it was fun, but it didn't have that replayability factor imo. That's just me though.

Before anyone complains, yes I played RoS and Death was sick as fuck, these are just my silly little opinions playing the games. But like, it just didn't frustrate me, or make me feel like I was in a life and death war. But, if you like power play fantasies, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, necromancer broken as fuck. Kept having to raise the difficulty while playing because I blasted through everything.

Before I go on, you know that trope where angels are dicks? Cuz these games are full of angels that are huge dicks. Best angel in the entire series is in the third game, he's the best character, I won't say his name because they act like it's supposed to be a surprise that he's an angel but ahshgsjsj..... I replay for him, and Diablo, but other than that it's only fun to play with someone who hasn't experienced it yet so I can vicariously feel their enjoyment. If that makes sense.

And my ultimate disappointment, Diablo IV.

The story is awesome. The cut scenes are cinematic. Lilith is superb. They went back to the same dark realistic atmosphere of pre D3.

I'm just really bitter about microtransaction hell, season passes in a game that just came out and was so pricey, and end game content that felt like a chore instead of a game.

It was super rewarding the first playthrough, don't get be wrong! The story was so fun, and the monsters were delightful bastards. They brought back the Butcher from part three, but unlike in D3, he was a huge asshole in D4, sunnova bitch lol

The game was so fun until we got to the end game and season of the malignant.. the developers keep arguing with the community whenever they bring up valid criticisms instead of addressing what's lacking. I wish the game wasn't so expensive, because I would recommend it if it was just a fun game..? I liked it, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the developers do something better with season passes or with future dlc expansions.

I hate real world currency in game shops and a lot of season passes. DLCs I understand. I like. But a season pass that's ridiculously expensive on top of an already pricey game that doesn't add enough new content for actual gameplay and instead makes you grind for a new horse skin? And grinding.

Ugh. I still really enjoyed it, but I can't in good conscience recommend it because the price makes me feel guilty. It's great, until you beat the game. It's open world, but the missions are limited, and the grind isn't rewarding. Again, crossing my fingers they make it more fun with future updates.

Such a bad bitch. Fucking love her. Mommy. The initial game is great. Just not for that price. Open world games should be playable forever, and that's what D4 promised, they just didn't deliver.

Sorry if this is a mess, I'm about to fall asleep ❤️ but yeah, I fucking love this series, even when I don't. The story and characters and the atmosphere when it's there.

#thank you so much for asking this!! #i love diablo ii #i fucking love video games #diablo 2 #diablo #diablo 3 #diablo 4 #lilith #cow level

[i-am-why]

What do you guys think of the redesigns I did for many of the gamma session characters?

Legit, I want some feedback.

(not doing the overdone joke this post)

Ok first up Aelene Orchis. She is both the first character I designed and the most recent character I redesigned. She probably was the most difficult to design for me as I kept falling into the same pifalls.

I'll probably give her an A for difficulty for designing. I guess

I do think I might make a couple tweaks to colors and such, but this is the final design.

Second up, Equios Spetro. Now, he was pretty much the second character I made for this. He actually originates from a wrigglersim character creator. his cyan design actually came after his original design I give him a c for difficulty to design since he basically didn't change that much

Third up. Now Jaulon She was probably actually the easiest to redesign. I basically had gotten her design right on the first try after a few mishaps.

Well that's what I remember, I can't really find the original file on my computer.

Now is it because I am a god-tier character designer or just dumb luck is for you to decide.

I'll give her like a D for difficulty. Basic luck had gotten me here

I do think I accidentally changed bits and bobs of her design by accident.

Now Gargun Spetro. Feel like despite equios' design I never actually got to make a full redesign of gargun. It's basically just a more stylized version of the dollmaker sprite. Also he looks WAY too much like drag strider for my liking. Perhaps I could gice him some different elements soon enough

Finally Drobyl. Honestly probably my favorite design out of the bunch but it somehow feels like I made her out of design tropes that I didn't know existed. She's built up of bits of an old design i have but retroactively due to the boondocks I've made her hair curl up.

TIER LIST

I actually fairly like these designs and mostly consider them to be good designs but I think I can do more with Aelene and Gargun's design. Aelene already has the red alt cloth design so she's fine but gargun definitely has some character design issues. He definitely looks too much like

Anyway, What do you guys think? I think most of these designs are effective.

#homestuck #hom3stuck #homestuck art #homestuck fanart #fantroll #gammasession #hs fanart #gamma kids #jerbegbert #dragstrider

[hocus-pocus-crocus]

Episode √13: Jukebox Riot We find out that Louis and Victor are regular volunteers at Mossvale FM, the local community radio station. Its manager, the seemingly affable Mr. Slaugh, is actually a mean-spirited old cuss in private, haranguing the station's hosts for the drop in listenership. Riya, a recent Mossvale graduate, is singled out for some especially venomous words about her choices in music. He tells her that he wants the station playing what everyone actually wants to sing. In frustration, she invokes a demon to ensure that happens. In an entirely expected twist, the demon instead makes it so whatever music Riya plays, people are compelled to sing, transforming Mossvale into a rock-adjacent 90s jukebox musical. It's up to the Scoobies to figure out what's up and help Riya break the infernal spell -- because a still very much un-souled Sarah Ellis is feeling some particularly human stirrings from what the music is doing to her, and she'll cut the spell off at the source, even if it means draining Riya dry. Notable numbers include: Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers Ruairidh goes through his early morning routine: coffee and gym, walking through the streets of Mossvale before anyone else is up. Each time the song gets to "I don't ever wanna feel / like I did that day," the mirror at the gym shows him at a different low point: In a coma after the first attack, waking up disoriented, difficulty rehab, and finally standing over the demon covered in its gore. Sheep Go to Heaven by Cake Mossvale College wakes up with this song defining a particularly uninspiring and drizzly Thursday morning where no one really feels like going to classes. At the refrain "goats go to hell," the Mossvale student body makes it clear that they know they're already there.

Rock n' Roll Lifestyle by Cake Quentin, Victor, and Ruairidh get real nasty to Laurent when he tries to impress people with his expensive rock memorabilia and a new bad boy persona, capitalizing on the musical world to try and get unearned cred.

Dreams by The Cranberries Reese sings a slightly punchier cover between brawls in the sewers as he and Ruairidh rough up local demonic bottom feeders for info on who's behind the music. He's immeasurably glad that his singing wasn't fully diegetic so Ruairidh didn't hear him call him a dream.

Who Will Save Your Soul by Jewel Quentin gets weirdly in his own head about not being able to find anything about this particular kind of musical demon in the Restricted Section. It's clear to everyone that when he says "Who will save your souls," he's actually talking about his own with one meaningful look towards Darkest Magic.

Come Out and Play by The Offspring Victor and Ruairidh take turns singing this one as tempers flare during a particularly failed planning session. All three other Scoobies take turns singing "You gotta keep 'em separated" as they try and fail to intervene between the two of them.

Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger Victor sings this when he finally breaks from the group to meet with Imogene, using his psychometric gifts and musical magic to show how his visions screw with him. "Paranoia, paranoia, everybody's coming to get me" -- and of course, we see Ruairidh still in peak demon hunter form.

Walkin' on the Sun by Smash Mouth Louis sings in a highly stylized montage as we see him smooth ruffled feathers with the Scoobies, check in with other important NPCs, and schmooze at Club Acheron for info that leads them back to the radio station.

Just a Girl by No Doubt Sung contrastingly by Riya and Sarah as the Scoobies help Riya confront Mr. Slaugh about his misogynistic horseshit while Sarah beats the ass of one of her lieutenants to bring her minions back into line as they prepare to storm the radio station. The catharsis finally breaks the demon's spell, just before the vamps can break their way through.

Closing Time by Semisonic The whole cast sing this as they pile into the back of the Jeep after saving Riya from a lifetime of damnation and a very fatal beating from Sarah. It's the last song as the magic finally starts to fade. During refrains of "I know who I want to take me home," meaningful looks to and from various Scoobies affirm who trusts whom and where there's still tension.

#mossvale #shadows over mossvale #hypothetical jukebox musicals #episodes that don't exist #mossvale apocrypha

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING (2022)

Starring Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton, Aamito Lagum, Burcu Gölgedar, Matteo Bocelli, Kaan Guldur, Jack Braddy, Hugo Vella, Alyla Browne, Pia Thunderbolt, Anna Adams, David Collins, Angie Tricker, Anthony Moisset, Berk Ozturk, Sage Mcconnell, Abel Bond, Agani Gecmez, Ayantu Usman, Peter Bertoni, Lianne Mackessy, Harlan Norris and Leslie Krahner.

Screenplay by George Miller and Augusta Gore.

Directed by George Miller.

Distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer. 108 minutes. Rated R.

Writer/director George Miller has always had eclectic tastes in projects. From the all-out dystopian action of the Mad Max films to the supernatural dark comedy of The Witches of Eastwick to the medical melodrama of Lorenzo’s Oil to the family-friendly talking animals of the Babe and Happy Feet movies, you never know quite what is going to capture his interest.

So, it’s not exactly a shock that he totally reboots again for his latest, a highly-stylized romantic fantasy-drama about the existential difficulty of life as a genie – a story that, as the title suggests, spans about three millennia.

Three Thousand Years of Longing is an interesting, smart, diverse and extremely well-made movie. The acting by the two leads is terrific – as to be expected with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. The movie looks stunning. It’s a very impressive achievement.

I just wish that I could say I liked it more than I did.

Strangely, for a film which is about the immortal life of a djinn – which explores multiple encounters the creature has over the years – the film does not quite deliver the magic that is its hero’s stock in trade. Also, for a film that strongly posits that the only thing that can make the millennia bearable is love, Three Thousand Years of Longing feels oddly cold and detached.

For a film that is all about storytelling – and a great deal of the film is just the djinn telling his stories in flashback – the actual story is kind of the weak point here.

In fact, storytelling is the specialty of the lead character Alithea (Swinton). A professor who specializes in Narratology, she is in Istanbul to give a lecture at a conference. She’s kind of a loner, someone who not only enjoys but relishes a solitary search for knowledge. Or so she says.

One night in her hotel suite, she inadvertently releases a djinn from its bottle. The djinn (Elba) begs her to make three wishes of her heart’s desire so that he can be released. The problem is, as a specialist in the world of mythological fables, Alithea is all too aware of the dangers inherent in taking a djinn up on such an offer – there are often unforeseen circumstances which undo the good that is expected. Also, honestly, she is unsure she believes he is really a djinn. Even if he is for real, she is really rather content with her life of scholarly solitude. She is having trouble with the idea of coming up with wishes that are “her heart’s desire.”

Therefore, while she is deciding, she has the djinn tell her stories of his previous encounters with humans, as well as his years of solitary waiting in between.

And that is what happens, the djinn tells a series of fantastical tales about his experiences with humankind spanning the centuries, while Alithea listens and periodically asks him questions. It feels like a bit of a waste that a strong actress like Swinton is used in a role that is largely reactive for the first two-thirds or so of the film. Her interactions are ramped up during the last segments, where Alithea finally comes up with a wish, which becomes much more complicated for both of them than either one would have imagined.

The mythological flashbacks are interesting, but overly condensed. The modern-day sequences work a little better, although I’m not sure the storyline ever quite connects completely. Three Centuries of Longing is a brave attempt by Miller to tell a very different kind of tale, but more than occasionally the plot feels like a bit of a muddled mess.

However, wow, it all looks amazing.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2022 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 25, 2022.

#Three Thousand Years of Longing #2022 #Movie Review #Idris Elba #Jay S. Jacobs

[joylinda-hawks]

August 12, 2021 One Leaf brand live stream. ZZH was the ambassador of this brand, and this brand was also one of the sponsors of the WOH concert in May. We didn't know it was his last public appearance. I'm having difficulty watching this live stream. However, I prefer to see photos from the photo shoot of this event. ZZH is here dressed in an interesting outfit. He is dressed in an original suit, whose jacket is multicolored with a predominance of green with an admixture of brown. I didn't think this color could look so good. When it comes to choosing a photo, I chose the one where ZZH is sitting under the window on a bench and flirtatiously looks at the person taking his photo. A little smile and that look you can fall in love with. ZZH looks like an ideal man, husband, lover, son, brother, friend. The color of the clothes that was chosen for him is a difficult color, green in this shade does not suit everyone. However, in the case of ZZH, this color worked perfectly. It accentuated his beauty. Also noteworthy is the cut of his shirt, which looks like a pleated skirt on one side. Another element that cannot be omitted in his stylizations are shoes, sneakers with a nail stuck in one of them. Looking at the whole, the styling is really original. Green earrings were chosen for this. To be honest, I really liked this ZZH look. I didn't know that this was the last public appearance of ZZH. The beauty of the outfit and its wearer was overshadowed by the drama that unfolded the next day.

#zhang zhehan

[tracy-gwinn]

When I first started working on this, I was just doing little stylized doodles of my cat. I didn’t do too many thumbnails for this since it was just for fun, but I drew one that I felt really captured his blank stare when he loafs on furniture. 

I made the sketch bigger and cleaned it up a bit before I started doing the base colors. 

The difficulty with this is Zuko is a white cat with a lot of different shades of gray and brown in his spots and I don’t have a lot of experience in color, so it was a challenge!After I decided on what base colors I liked the most, I moved on to shading, which brought on a whole new challenge. 

I wanted the shading to be done with a specific kind of texture brush so I spent around 45 minutes on Photoshop just making lines with brushes. I wanted the texture to have a traditional feel to it, but very subtle, just enough to break up the flat colors.

After all of the shading I decided I didn’t like how the illustration looked against the white background. So I did a quick sketch of a couch/ living room scene for him to loaf on. 

For the colors of the background, I tried to keep a cohesive warm look I had going on for him and I wanted to incorporate the rim light in a way that makes sense. So I made the background very bright and colorful to contrast Zuko’s more muted fur and I played around with a lens blur for the first time! I didn’t want the background to have too much detail so I made large shapes with flat color and blurred it! For a quick little illustration I made to do a lot of experimenting with, I am happy with how it turned out!

#artists on tumblr #animation #scadarts #illustration

[nntheblog]

Spy X Family Episode 12 Review : What's Happpened ?

Loid doesn't seem to be having a good time in Spy x Family Episode 12. And this time it's not because of Anya. Let's take a look at what got Loid the most excited about Spy x Family Episode 12! WHAT HAPPENED IN SPY X FAMILY EPISODE 11? Spy x Family has seen Anya work hard at school to earn Stella Stars in order to support her father's mission. Loid isn't satisfied with her grades or overall performance in academics. Loid, in addition to studying, decides that Anya has other talents that can help her get Stella Stars. Anya fails to excel in all three areas Loid has tested her in: music, drawing, and sports. Anya agrees that her father will find a way to get Stella for her.Available in India the Same Day as Japan Loid then takes Anya to the hospital to help as a volunteer. Anya is shocked to learn that a boy who had gone through rehab ended up breaking things. The boy falls into the pool and begins drowning after he walks towards it. Anya uses her powers to locate the boy and rushes to the pool to save him. Anya, a child herself has difficulty pulling the boy out. Loid follows her to the pool and rescues both of them. Anya saves the boy and gets lots of praise for her bravery. She is awarded a Stella. Spy x Family Episode 12 Overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-O_Too5HxM&ab_channel=AniTVPreviews SPY X FAMILY EPISODE 12 Preview By AniTV Previews Spy x Family (sometimes stylized as SpyxFamily) is an action- and comedy anime based upon a manga by Tatsuya Enou. It was serialized in Shounen Jump+. It quickly became one of the most beloved ongoing properties in Shounen Jump+, so an anime adaptation was inevitable. Studios Wit, CloverWorks are currently tackling the anime adaptation. It would be insulting to your intelligence as anime lovers to tell you about the anime shows these two studios made. As you are well aware. Kazuhiro Furuhashi is the anime's director. He has also served in similar positions on shows like Rurouni Kenshin, HunterxHunter (1999) and Dororo. This episode is also known as SpyxFamily Episode 12 or Spy Family Episode 12. - SpyxFamily Episode 12 Review doesn't contain spoilers – Spy x Family Episode 12 Review - Bird Trouble Loid is our Best Spy Character. Despite having seen the show for three years, we still don't know much about him or how he does it. Yor is also subject to the same fate, although she does get some segments that are focused on her interests and not just her assassination. Loid receives very little except that he helps Anya in some way for his mission. Loid needed an episode that was not so focused on the mission. Spy x Family Episode 12 wasn't that episode. Although it was clearly an episode about Loid that told us more about Operation Stryx and his spy activities, the storyline was still centered on his primary objective. We didn't find out anything about Loid, or any new information about him. Loid is as mysterious and unknowable as ever. This makes sense because he is a spy. However, it also means that despite being the main character, he is not the one we root for. Anya and Yor take the spotlight from him in every scene he is in. This speaks volumes about Yor's character strength, but is also a disadvantage to Loid. While he's a fun character to watch, when the series ends, he'll be the one most forgotten. He will have to be there, and although it won't really be a big loss since we don't really care about him, he is still an interesting character that deserves more. This episode included a lot of the things we love and a few new developments that will benefit the series' overall health. Anya is learning how to use her powers for good. It is high time. It is an interesting aspect of the show that Anya has a power, and its use can be more beneficial. Anya is more than a cute, tiny character. This is precisely what makes her so special. It was amazing to see Yor use Yor, and it demonstrated a subtle connection between them. The episode's first segment was about Loid trying to save his family's trip and a whole nation. It was the best segment. This is because the second segment was not very good. It was both useless and harmful to Yor and Loid's characters. It was a time-filler that didn't have any artistic merit. The episode was nevertheless quite enjoyable. Verdict Spy x Family Episode 12 was a lighthearted, entertaining episode that did not offend anyone. Read the full article

[jaypsnax]

Alright then, to take it from the top... here’s some things I’ve done here or there for this dang game, from oldest to newest. With a big chunk of months starting with the margin Floofty there. Much is traditional and such, which is not my most practiced medium. Details on each below, just because I like over-explaining and it helps my nerves about posting.

1st: Fairly certain this Gramble is the first thing I did that was OK enough to show. Or, at least close to the first. He was one of my favorites and still is for his kindness(though he also can be really mean and paranoid, also a reason why I like him), so I wanted to get around to em. Also he’s very cute, I love my little malewife. I wanna scoop him up and hold him. Trouble is, Gramble has to have some of the most awkward proportions I’ve yet experienced while trying to draw a grumpus, I swear. That, and the more I looked at it, the more I grew to be unhappy with it. That generally applies to basically all of the drawings from last year, I find them to be “eh” at best. But it is what it is. 2nd: Second up is Flooftyyy, my most favorite. Intelligent, well-spoken, morally ambiguous, NB... and an asshole. But one with a cause they believe in that’s ultimately well intentioned, which they’ll go to self-destructive lengths to fulfill. And it’s clear they struggle to really get a grasp on how to treat people and have learned to cope with their frustration by shutting everyone out and believing them to be ignorant. While still obviously playing favorites between Eggabell and Triffany :p But by the end of the game, they’re learning that in order to really do what they want, they’ve got to really try and understand others. They’re the sort that I’d love to keep following to see their development. The awkwardness, the uncomfortable apologies and attempts at empathizing or opening up, the potential for blossoming relationships and a connection with others that, maybe, they’ve never quite experienced before. Their character is one that’s kind of close to my heart for being interesting and also quite similar to one I made and roleplayed for years. Add in the fact they’re NB and that just sealed the deal, that’s some fucking gender goddamn euphoria right there. So I had to draw them. 3rd: This one also mostly falls under the same explanation as above, except it was an effort as really figuring out grumpus bodies and proportions and stuff. Albeit in the form of solely Floofty, but my mental bandwidth for anything more than a drawing or two at a time is zilch. After that I’m spent. It was the first thing that I felt even marginally satisfied with, however.... I just feel like I’m in danger when looking at it. Like I’m gonna lose my way of things and habits I’ve built now from observing it too closely. Did keep the eyes, however. Kind of. 4th: To be real w you I just felt like drawing a Filbo after seeing a Filbo. He’s cute and I’d put a smooch on his dumb little head. Also more practice w grump stuff, but with some intentional attempts at stylization. I guess it didn’t stick, but who knows, maybe I could pick some of it back up?  5th: THE FIRST NEW DRAWING FROM A FEW DAYS AGO and it’s FLOOFTY, of course. It’s not really the first, there’s a few other things before it, but they suck so... yeah. I’d crawled out of the Bugsnax hole somewhat after a few months and failing to really do anything I actually wanted to do before, but a particular fic conked me right back 6 ft under. Piled the dirt over me and packed it in tight. So here I am again. And not only is it like that, but after binging a whole nearly 60,000 words in a night/morning, I was struck with the inspiration to actually write myself. Or try to, anyway. I have experience in RPing, but not a whole lot in actually... making a story myself. It’s not been going well, but I’ve talked plenty about that already... I’m sure it gets annoying for the whole maybe one person whose seen most of it to witness. And I’m still having fun. I’d mention the fic, but considering it’s NSFW and I’m officially tagging this... I don’t know if they’d want me advertising it as such. But surprise surprise, it’s Floofty related. And don’t get the wrong idea, while it covers explicit subject matter, that’s not entirely the point. Not a bad thing if it were, just that it’s more than that. I just like good character writing over all else, which is something liking this game to begin with heavily reinforced.... 6th: Heeeere’s Gramble, again. I’d been doing some little drawings for character profile stuff in my notebook, but I started to run into some difficulties when I got to him. This here is one of the results of the couple of little draws I did to try and understand. Again, his proportions are so *weird*. He’s just a little guy.... 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th: Here marks the first impulse draw after considering Buddy/Filbo/Beffica poly stuff. As well as the sudden Buddy drawing in general, which came as a big shock to me. These draws are suuuper rough, but I like the concepts. And goodness has this stuff been a whole ‘nother tangent... I did a fair amount of talking about it here. I’d do more, since there were TONS of details I still wanted to mentioned, but... my hands are starting to hurt. So maybe later. I realized that I kinda of messed up their design in my head bc I thought they had more similar teeth to Clumby. Whoops. That’s what I get for not using reference and same with FlooFTY’S TEETH AND THE WATCH NOOOOOOOOOO- .... *Ahem* I reckon the design is subject to change. Gotta make some little adjustment here or there, like maybe different eyes to distinct them from Floofty, but I actually rather... like the look. The hat, tie, and maybe a change to a bag on the side look nice... if totally not canon. But I will have just a little break from canon, as a treat. Otherwise it’s canon or bust. Personally, at least. I don’t really hold others to that standard unless they say they’re trying to follow canon or diverge so badly that a character is unrecognizable.

#bugsnax #Floofty Fizzlebean #Filbo Fiddlepie #Beffica Winklesnoot #Journalist #uhhhhh #Gramble Gigglefunny #This is NOT going to be a common thing #Floating around in official tags kinda freaks me out #my art

[k-project-singularity]

Facts & Trivia || Homra

The following is part of a series of posts made by me. The information listed is official canon provided by GoRa. Sources will go from the anime, to mangas and novels as well as official short stories. These are NOT fanmade headcanons. The purpose of these posts is to provide useful information for fans as well as roleplayers looking for confirmed lore for their muses. Please do not reply to argue with me about what you read here. I did not come up with this stuff myself. GoRa did. I’ll come back to edit these as I find more info.

The Red Clan, lead by the Red King Mikoto Suoh, and successively Anna Kushina.

Founded in 2007 by Mikoto Suoh, Izumo Kusanagi and Tatara Totsuka.

Its name comes from the Bar Homra owned by Kusanagi, where the clan gathers.

Interistingly, the Homra insigna that each clansman bears resembles the shape of an “H” stylized as a flame.

In Japanese, the 焔 (Homura) kanji means “Flame”, but also sounds like the Japanese spelling of the English word “Home”.

Its base, the bar HOMRA, is located in Shizume City, a fictional name assigned to the real life district of Shibuya in Tokyo.

In Shizume City, Homra has the reputation of being the gang that rules the district. There are rumors of Bar Homra being the residence of the “Red Monster”, someone who wields the power of fire and will bestow it on people worthy, while the unworthy will be burned to crisps. Though nobody in the general public really believes in this urban legend, the figure of the “Red Monster” is feared and respected.

Homra does not recruit new people in itself. Typically, people show up at Bar Homra through word-of-mouth and ask to be allowed to take the “test” to join the gang.

Tatara Totsuka is tasked with recording on film everyone who takes the test (until December 8th 2012).

The Installation ritual in Homra is called “the test”, and it involves shaking Suoh Mikoto’s hand while it’s enveloped in flames. Those who pass the test receive the power of the red aura, as well as the clan’s insigna somewhere on their body. Those who fail the test are said to get burned by Suoh’s aura.

As a Red Clan, Homra embodies the force of nature of “Destruction”.

It is said that what matters the most in Homra is the bonds between its members and loyalty to the King.

Because everyone is considered family, nobody is left to deal with problems alone. If a member of Homra is in danger or difficulties, the clan will take initiative to help. At the same time, it also means that the actions of each individual member speak on behalf of the whole clan, so everyone is responsible of keeping up the clan’s reputation.

For this reason, despite its violent methods, Homra does not delve into real crime, and members caught doing so will be apprehended.

In fact, Homra keeps Shizume City clean of actual criminal organizations, often clashing with gangs trying to spread their influence and shady dealings in their streets. They have destroyed several yakuza gangs, including “Rakshasa” and “Hikawa”.

Homra does not like their territory to be intruded, and for this reason also take care of any strain-related crimes going on in their turf, just so Scepter 4 (which is normally tasked with this responsibility in all of Kanto) does not enter the Shizume City district.

The clan often gets together to do all kinds of fun activities, like playing baseball, go fishing or camping at the beach.

The members often help out around the bar, working as waiters or helping during Kusanagi’s scheduled “cleaning weeks”.

Because he doesn’t want the bar to look like a scary place, Kusanagi always asks Homra members to enter from the back.

The bar is very precious to the owner and everybody knows not to damage it by being violent while inside. Kusanagi’s wrath and protectiveness for the bar is known and feared by all.

The building of bar Homra comprises 3 floors: the ground floor where the actual bar is, a floor upstairs with bedrooms used by Anna and Mikoto Suoh, plus an underground floor used as a lounge.

After Mikoto Suoh himself, Izumo Kusanagi is considered the strongest in Homra, followed by Misaki Yata. Back when Saruhiko Fushimi was in Homra, it was said that he and Yata’s combined fighting strategy rivaled even Kusanagi himself.

#k project #lore #homra

[entamesubs]

Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS Blu-Ray: Episode 5

Google Drive ONLY (for now)

Support us on ko-fi

Blu-Ray episodes will come out one at a time every Friday, until I’m done with the full first season (1-13).

The next episode should be up on September 3rd, barring surprise events. We’re out of the RR era and into tempsubs now!

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Please use either MPV or MPC-HC to view the Blu-Ray episodes. I do NOT recommend using VLC.

Please check the post for episodes 1&2 to see why.

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!! This is NOT a final release !!

Nor are any of the files on Google Drive. They will be polished and edited one more time before being put up on Nyaa. Stuff I decide on changing halfway through these episodes will eventually be changed for Nyaa release.

Until that happens, the Google Drive folder is more like a “final draft” than a finished product. I will not be going back to change font, styling, or certain wording until I’m done with all the other episodes first.

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Extended Translation Notes

Typesetting changes

The same as my post on them here for episode 62.

TL;DR

Bahnschrift -> Gandhi Sans Bold.

Athelas -> Berlin Sans FB Demi Bold (for Luke)

White text, black outline, colored shadow for summoning chants for the sake of readability

Bakuro’s font is Lato Black. It’ll be the default font used for most summoning chants unless it’s a special or important character, in which case I’ll stylize it differently.

These are what the subs should look like:

If they don’t look like these images, please reblog or reply to this post with a comment. I’ll try to fix it before final release.

Minor wording changes “Rules” -> “Format”

They very clearly say “rules” in English over the course of this episode, but in the midst of translating this I realize that a more appropriate localization may be “format” because that’s what we would actually call something like Rush Duels in English.

Rather than “rules”, it’s very clearly a new “format”, which makes more sense for English speakers. When the final version is released on Nyaa after I’m done with everything here, I’ll probably scrub through previous episodes to switch “rules” to “format”, unless it’s fine as it is in context and makes sense.

You may see one or two “rules” in the subs for this episode; they were kept intentionally. Otherwise, we’ll mostly be using “format” whenever they refer to Rush Duels like this again.

Rush Dragon Dragears -> Striking Dragon Dragias -> Multistrike Dragon Dragias

So if you haven’t noticed, Dragias’ name has been on a wild rollercoaster ride since the start of this series. A lot of people are used to Dragears as it was the initial translation by YGOrg. This is not really wrong, by the way.

The reason why there is so much switching is due to localization. With the official release of the SEVENS Puzzles & Dragons collaboration event for global servers, we learned that the TCG name for Dragias is “Multistrike Dragon Dragias”.

This also backs up an earlier-released pillow set with English monster names, so you can expect to see “Yamiruler, the Dark Delayer” and “Prima Guitarna the Shining Superstar” in the subs after finalizations are made.

Why? Because I believe in using the TCG names as that is what people will be most used to once the game releases here in the West (and yes, it is coming). I have already been using TCG phrasing for various other terms, like “tribute summoning” instead of “advance summoning”, or “spell card” instead of “magic card”.

As we get more news on the TCG release of Rush Duels, I will be changing card names accordingly.

Light Bullet -> Light Blast

Some more minor Dragias changes. This is the name of his first attack. I felt like “blast” was a lot more accurate than “bullet” which is just the literal translation of 弾 (dan).

Bakuro’s lines

RoadRush:

“Rush Duels [have] got very shallow rules, where even I, who has difficulty remembering things, can remember them easily.”

Original Japanese: 「ラッシュデュエルは覚えたての僕ですら簡単に勝てるほどの底の浅いルールだとね｡」

This is just a straight-up mistranslation. Unfortunately, this is not what Bakuro said.

It should be something more along the lines of “Rush Duels are so shallow that even I, someone who’s just learned it, can grasp it so quickly”. Bakuro does not have a faulty memory.

覚える can mean “to remember” or “to memorize”, however its second definition is also “to learn”. What makes this definitively “to learn” is the presence of the ending たて (-tate), which is used to signify when it’s someone’s “just done” something.

In this case, Bakuro has “just learned” Rush Duels.

廃刊 (haikan) “ceasing publication”

When Bakuro is defeated, he says these words. Earlier in the episode, they were translated as “shut down”, but the word specifically means “ceasing the publication of some news or article” which also includes things like magazines.

The reason the subs say “report... over” instead of “ceasing publication” or “shut down” is because I just felt like it was a really weird set of words to say out of context. I instead opted for something that makes more sense in English, like Bakuro who’s just finished reporting from the scene, therefore “report over”.

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For people interested in the raw BDMV vs encoded final video comparisons, click here. (Click the image in the center to swap between “raw BD” and “encoded”).

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Credits

Translation, timing: entame Proofreading: angelthinktank (Yona) Encoding: PelvisBass

#yugioh #yugioh sevens #yugioh sevens spoilers #ygo sevens #entamesubs release #E005 #BD release

[otakween]

0-sen Hayato - Volume 1

I wasn't going to read this because I thought it was lost to time, but then I found some free raws here: https://www.sukima.me/book/title/BT0000719526/

Chapter 1

-This should be an interesting read considering my WWII knowledge is very limited. My Dad is obsessed with WWII and airplanes, so anything I know I know from being around him. (And a basic public high school education).

-I don't fully understand what's going on here (due to my Japanese being limited). From what I can understand, Hayato was fighting in Indonesia but then got sent back to Japan for more training because he's really good at shooting down planes?

-Hayato appears to be kind of a Gary Stu so far. They've emphasized how young he is and all the other dudes marvel at his kill count.

-This might just be how older series worked, but I feel like this series doesn't have a hook or gimmick going for it. It's just a generic WWII story (so far anyway). I wonder if any crazy twists are in store or if it's going for realism.

-Already picking up some war/airplane related vocab from this. It's good to read manga about very specific topics from time to time

Chapter 2

-In this chapter Hayato perfects his speed takeoff skills and loses a lot of sleep in the process. This is definitely one of those overly masculine series that romanticizes "the grind." I'll take my 8 hours of sleep a night thanks :')

-The rival guy in this is comically generic. Definitely a Sasuke type lol. Ironically he accuses Hayato of being an "Iga ninja" because he survives a plane crash without a scratch. I really don't get how ninja work. In this situation they're definitely referring to the magical kind. How often are they thought of as magical vs. what they actually were historically?

-This manga seems to use a lot of hiragana in places I would expect kanji, probably because it's for children. This just makes it hard for me to read because I have difficulty knowing where one word ends and another begins!

-The drill sergeant revealing his true personality was cute. I wonder if in modern days they consider the potential for psychological trauma in boot camp situations? Or does that kinda go out the window? Do soldiers have therapists?

Chapter 3

-The squad gets to go to war for real this time, but not before fighting a little bit. Things got slightly religious here as they prayed to Hachiman (according to Wikipedia, that's the war deity).

-The soldiers portrayed here are very gung-ho about dying for their country and excited to fight. I wonder how much of this is propaganda and how much lines up with reality. I was taught in high school that Japanese soldiers were OP because of their willingness to die for Japan, so maybe it's not that much of an exaggeration?

Chapter 4

-Loool here come the Americans. I don't know why but it's always funny to me when I'm reading a foreign work and the Americans are the bad guys. Definitely refreshing to get the other perspective for once.

-So we find out that the higher ups were planning on using Hayato's squad as kamikaze pilots. That got dark pretty quick. Leader dude refuses but...is he allowed to do that? I don't really know how that works. Guess I'll find out!

Chapter 5

-I barely understood this chapter, but basically they got some kind of new mission and are excited.

-Hayato's little girlfriend is a cutie :)

-The gang is none-the-wiser about almost being sent to their death. I wonder if kamikaze missions were kind of kept under wraps or widely known about?

Chapter 6

-The gang bombs the Americans' fuel supply and uses clever tactics to navigate through the rain and trick the enemy into flying into a locust swarm. The rain part was pretty interesting. I didn't know the word zigzag existed in Japanese lol

-The American dialogue is a bit painful to read because it's stylized in katakana to suggest that they're speaking English

-The word for aircraft formation is "hentai" teehee (different kanji)

Chapter 7

-Everyone makes it out of the fight with the Americans and when they return people are shook by how OP they are.

-Really don't like how propagandistic this is (although that's what I signed up for). When the characters are resting they're like "This is boring! All I want to do is fight." Also, they act like they're playing a fun game of tag as they're gunning people down. Empathy/mental health who?

-Sasuke guy is really annoying in ever scene he's in lol. He kinda reminds me of Bakugo with his "I'm never happy/satisfied" personality.

-When Hayato tested the confetti trick out with his friend (essentially tossing confetti at his plane so he can't see) I was like "wtf? Isn't that really dangerous!?" This manga doesn't put a whole lot of value on the human lives that are constantly at risk.

Chapter 8

-Not sure I followed what happened in this chapter. From what I could gather, the Americans disguised as a medic ship sunk some Japanese ships. The gang came across this too late and wanted to pursue the Americans, but the leader dude said it was too risky. Leader dude's superior then yelled at him for being weak.

-I googled it but found no evidence of countries using disguised hospital ships during wartime. So I guess that part is fiction?

Chapter 9 & 10

-Hayato and Ishiki get reprimanded for attacking a hospital ship and get suspended from flying. They break the rules, however, and fly anyway because the team is weaker without them.

-In the middle of the gang's fight with the Americans everyone has to retreat due to a tornado. It's really weird to me when the two enemy sides banter like "You get away this time, but next time I'mma getcha!" They talk like they're playing soccer, not murdering each other.

Chapter 11

-Proud of how much of this chapter I understood. Not sure if my reading comprehension is improving or if this chapter was just really easy.

-Learned that the word for "police cell" in Japanese is "pig box" and laughed

-In this chapter Hayato and Ishiki face punishment for attacking the hospital ship (even though only Ishiki did it). They're punished by being locked up for a few days. Meanwhile, Hayato's Daddy calls up the team leader guy and is like "how's Hayato doing??" Team leader guy puts on a charade for the rest of the chapter that Hayato is fine but too busy to talk to his dad.

-I felt the end of this volume was pretty abrupt. I believe this was written in a time where manga was just serialized in newspapers/magazines and volumes didn't matter much. Wonder if that means we won't get a true story arc.

#0 sen hayato #manga that no one else reads lol #manga

[lakemojave]

Supergiant Games: Same Bones, Different Skeletons

I just finished a retrospective of all 4 games by Supergiant on my twitch channel, and I have a few thoughts I wanna connect and questions I wanna explore. My love for these games is real strong and i could write a whole essay just gushing about them, but I wanna give some thought to what makes them so compelling: not just to me, but to damn near everyone I’ve talked to on their discord who feels the same. I myself rank Bastion among my favorite games ever, and Hades is climbing that list at a clip. And even though I could take or leave Transistor or Pyre, they keep pulling me back.

But I could talk a whole lot about each game’s appeal and waste a lot of time. I’ve gushed enough to my friends about how Bastion and Pyre’s rugged, apocalyptic atmospheres draw me in with their incredible vibrance to contrast. I could talk about how Ashley Barrett’s vocal tracks carry Transistor on their shoulders, or what makes Hades so much goddamn fun that the game doesn’t really need to be much else. But I realize that if the Supergiant library is so universally appealing to me, there must be some sort of connective tissue between them--some sort of fundamental similarity that makes them work. After thinking about it for more than five minutes, it turns out there are many; some are pretty obvious, and some less so. This brings me to the conclusion that the Supergiant library, with its four wildly distinct and different games, still follow a noticeable formula--one that is flexible enough to allow such completely different games.

Game Design

The Supergiant library are all essentially top down action rpgs, Transistor having the most elements of the genre. This is still a pretty weak connection, given how different they all play from each other. The only two that have much overlap in the most basic sense are Bastion and Hades, with the same general fast paced, real time combat. On closer examination, the two games have enough differences in the variety of mechanics at play, (Bastion with its multiple weapon slots and a shield, Hades with its sheer number of commands) that even they are hard to compare.

There are, however, several mechanics that the library loves to use. The first that comes to mind are the difficulty conditions: idols in Bastion, limiters in Transistor, titan stars in Pyre, and the pact of punishment--and arguably Chaos boons as well--in Hades. Their function is simple: increase your challenge for a little extra reward. Bastion and Pyre go the extra mile by fixing in world building elements to this mechanic; Bastion’s idols inform about the game’s pantheon, while Pyre informs about its, well, evil pantheon. The use of these conditions is indicative of Supergiant’s game design philosophy as a whole--you, the player, can make the game as hard or easy as it takes for you to have fun. The inclusion of infinite lives in Bastion or god mode or hell mode in Hades further builds on this point. This library is designed for all sorts of audiences, whether they want to be challenged by their games or simply immersed in the story.

Another repeating mechanic in these games are the use of challenge rooms, which started in Bastion as the training grounds and, to a lesser extent, Who Knows Where. In Transistor they are the sandbox test rooms, and in Pyre they are the beyonder crystal’s scribe trials. They appear in Hades a little more ambiguously; the infernal troves or Erebus rooms are not quite the same, but they serve a similar function. This function is a momentary break from the gameplay loop for a little extra reward, much like the previously discussed conditions. Transistor and Hades’ challenge rooms offer relatively negligible rewards; the sandbox rooms simply offer xp and unlock tracks for the jukebox, while the Erebus tiles offer double the reward for any normal tile. Bastion and Pyre go the extra mile by giving specific, long term rewards for their challenges. In Bastion’s training grounds, the Kid earns weapon specific abilities that are among the game’s most powerful; in Pyre’s scribe trials, exiles can earn character specific talismans that feed their specialization. For the most part, these rooms give the player a low stakes opportunity to practice, hone their preferred playstyle, and reward the effort, all while being completely optional.

Akin to these breaks in the game loop are designated resting areas/hub worlds. The Bastion, the Sandbox, the Blackwagon, and the House of Hades each offer a moment to interact with characters and lore, goof around with the environment, buy permanent upgrades, or just take a break. Transistor utilizes this function the least of the library, since it never once requires the player to enter the space. Pyre utilizes it the most since it has the most breaks in both frequency and number. In a way, this decision is both a game design and storytelling choice. Between all four games, perhaps excluding Transistor, this is where the majority of story beats take place. It is where the player can read up on some fresh lore or meet the ever growing cast of characters, and eventually grow to cherish them (as I often do playing this library). Without little breaks like these, the climactic or world/story shaking events that take place out in the actual playable space have no impact or narrative weight. The fact that all these sort of interactions are completely voluntary also rewards the player in the storytelling sense; by choosing to engage with the figures of the story rather than having that choice decided for them, the player feels as though they themselves have agency in the story unfolding.

Style

Perhaps the most distinct part of the Supergiant library, (and perhaps what I personally love most about it) is its aesthetics. There are few games that look, feel, and sound the way these games do. Yet, the four of them hardly resemble each other. Bastion is a rugged, frontier-esque sci fi apocalypse, Transistor is a sleek, cyberpunk apocalypse, Pyre is a high fantasy purgatory space, and Hades is simply stylized Greek mythology. It is a shock to remember, then, that these four games are all designed by the same artistic team.

I confess I don’t know much about art, so I don’t have anything too profound to say about Jen Zee’s art style, besides that I like it a lot. It is also worth noting that despite her spearheading art and character design for the whole library, each game still looks visually distinct, and not just in their overall aesthetics. Take the character design of the library, for instance. Bastion’s human figures tend to be short, stocky, with exaggerated facial features. Their colors are highly saturated, with a soft, almost blurry quality that gives a level of warmth to the fatalistic atmosphere. Transistor’s characters, barring Red, tend to be based around palettes centered around a single color, such as the Camerata red and the spectrum of the function character profiles. Pyre is the first of the library to use talking portraits, which contrast robed figures with stark color palettes and simple designs with unrobed figures with much noisier details. Hades is easily the most distinct of all four, using simple colors and thick outlines on all its characters. The most consistent feature of all their designs, as usual, is how wildly different they are. For Hades, Zee makes sure that characters only look alike in any way if they have some relation to each other, such as the Furies, Achilles and Patroclus, or Zagreus and his parents. On the whole, the versatility and variety in the character design is impeccable.

What I most enjoy about these games is Darren Korb’s soundtracks, which continue to vary wildly. From the closet-recorded Bastion soundtrack to the whole two and a half Hades score, Korb’s scoring keeps improving and changing in the 10 years Supergiant has operated. His music, which adds and changes motifs as each game progresses, contributes to the atmosphere just as much as the visuals do. Whenever he teams up with Ashley Barret to add vocal tracks to certain parts of the game, they always manage to place them at critical narrative or emotional beats, turning them into the games’ most memorable moments. The team goes one step further every game by incorporating a musician or source of music into each game, giving the music just as much character as the one performing it. It also sneaks its way into the aforementioned hub worlds by providing the player a means to play their favorite tracks whenever they want (except in Hades, where they have to pay in game for that privilege). In essence, Korb makes sure to give each game a distinct feel through its music, but familiar enough to connect the library in the player’s mind.

Just as Supergiant gets so much mileage from Korb and Zee alike, they also manage time and time again to make use of Logan Cunningham’s top notch voice over work. Originally the sole voice actor at Supergiant Games, Cunningham continued on from famously narrating Bastion as Rucks to remaining a ubiquitous voice throughout the library. His role as the Transistor in the game proper drives the emotional core of that game, and his role as the Voice/Archjustice proves to be a solidly effective, yet distant antagonist. In Hades, his roles are somewhat overshadowed by Korb’s performance as Zagreus, (which I’m still blown away he still had time to do) but his performance as Lord Hades is still excellent. Supergiant also uses Cunningham in Hades to sort of satirize how often he narrates for them by casting him as the narrating Old Man, then allowing Zagreus to break the fourth wall and acknowledge him. It is as if the team at Supergiant knows how much they use the same stylistic team, then mocking that same choice.

To other studios: learn from Supergiant

I’m running out of things to say and my ball of yarn that connects all these newspapers and polaroids on my wall is running thin. I would talk more about Supergiant really knows how to end a game and frequently does so in similar ways, or that their library is a masterclass in character-driven stories, but this little essay is long enough.

Instead, I wanna talk about how Supergiant does something right which so many AAA developers and publishers don’t seem to understand. To contrast with the Supergiant library, consider Assassin’s Creed, another franchise I have spent an embarrassing amount of time playing. This franchise releases a game almost every year, and in my experience, when a company does this, you tend to get the same pig with a different paint. From the original Assassin’s Creed to their most recent release, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the differences seem to be night and day. Combat and free running are far more complex than they once were, rpg elements to story and gameplay have been introduced, composers, writers, voice actors, and cast members have changed with each release, and the sheer size of the game has become staggering. Yet, in the 13 years and 11 main releases in the game’s history, (plus spinoffs) any change has not only felt incremental over time, but fundamentally insignificant to the skeleton of the game. Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2 play and feel differently, but the differences are subtle. The bones are different, but every year they assemble to form a vaguely Assassin’s Creed shaped thing. People who play games tend to hate this and frequently berate companies for this practice; Bethesda and GameFreak receive the same criticism that their games are so formulaic that their new releases might as well be carbon copies of the ones before it.

Yet, Supergiant Games, with its four games over ten years, has used essentially the same team and building blocks to make games that can hardly be considered interchangeable. Whether its the passion of this humble little indie studio or the sheer talent of this team, Supergiant takes the same pile of bones and assembles them in a different shape each time with care and attention. They are proof that a formula doesn’t need to be tweaked or altered or given a different coat of paint in order to be accepted; instead the formula needs versatility, the means to produce a fresh result each time. It also works best when we adore the result every time.

#thank you for coming to my ted talk #got shit to say #bastion #transistor #pyre #hades #hades game #supergiant games #supergiant tag