#I love it when cartoon physics and real world physics align

[blumineck]

Making the Robin Hood shot possible*

*no, not that one, the other one!

As always, you can find more details, tutorials, art refs, etc. over on Patreon

[cuppajj]

I haven’t played Ultrakill yet but I know most of the story and a good chunk of the world to make OCs (mostly @woofolotl ‘s fault thank you lmao)!

Hue Myn is a cold-blooded mindflayer who kills things indiscriminately no matter what they are, obsessed with blood and the humans that came before her to the point she wants to be one herself and has been gradually modifying her body to appear more human. She’s quite tired of Hell and wants to see what it’s like on the surface where the humans came from. Her interests align with Cherub, who fell from Heaven and somehow got stuck in Hell. Wanting to find a way home, she asks for Hue’s help and the two of them thus go on wacky hijinks on their way to the upper layers of Hell and the surface beyond.

(More lore below cut)

Cherubs don't exist in Ultrakill (as of writing this) so I came up with lore for them myself!:

Cherubs are below angels, meant to be messengers between heaven and earth, and they have a big love motif like in some depictions. But because their whole deal was talking to select humans, their jobs became obsolete after humans went extinct, so many of them were reassigned to tasks angels didn't want to do, if not serving angels directly. This cherub's job was to play the horn all day: whenever something important happens or when an angel's presence is to be announced, she'll fly in, play the horn, and the angel she was playing for will go "thanks now get out"

Cherub does have a real name, but the angels always called her Cherub. Hue also calls her Cherub because she'd told her that everyone else uses that word.

Cherub operates on cartoon physics. When she and Hue first met, the mindflayer tried to kill her, but it was as hard as swatting a gnat so the cherub could convince her to stop.

Hue's fascination with humans stems from her finding things humans left behind when they vacated Hell, such as pictures, files, etc. Surrounding herself with human things gave her the desire to appear more human, using her natural ability to create a body to try and create a head as well. However, she's been frustrated with her machine half, as making space for a head without severely hurting herself or worse is incredibly hard. Fortunately, she's able to do it with Cherub's help later in their adventure. Hue goes from being uncaring towards Cherub to growing a deep fondness for the little thing.

[pastelalleycat]

Like its predecessor, the Illumination movie Sing 2 features sideplots with its deurotagonists that revolve around and eventually assimilate into the central story (putting on the in-movie musical Out of This World). Now, I love Sing 2. Despite a shaky first act, it has an incredible finale that hits almost every chord right. But there's a part of the movie I haven't seen anyone complain about (besides me, in YouTube comment sections) and I really think it needs to be addressed. It hasn't left my head since the movie came out and it still really rubs me the wrong way.

...that part is Darius, okay? I hate Darius.

Please hear me out.

In Meena's sideplot she has to kiss someone on stage for her song, but not having had her first kiss yet, she feels incredibly nervous about it. Buster Moon tells her not to worry, because he thinks he's got the perfect guy to pair with her. In comes the new hire, an acclaimed Broadway-equivalent actor sure to sweep her off her feet.

Darius is a girl's stereotypical first date: charismatic, moody, a little ditzy, very romantic. He doesn't make the best impression with either Meena or Buster, but especially with Meena; he gloats about the success of his previous show, only after doing so addressing he's been told about Meena's nerves- forgetting her name in the process.

When Meena tries to correct Darius ("it's Meena, not Gina"), he asks her not to interrupt him in the future instead of accepting the criticism. Meena's ears are pulled close to her face, a behavior carried over from the first film that she does when feeling very shy and guarded.

Their initial rehearsal doesn't go well, with Darius initiating unwanted physical contact with Meena. The chemistry is very clearly not working, and everyone can see it, but they assume it's just a rocky start.

This is where the problems really begin.

A phrase that's frequently thrown around with Darius and Meena is "find the feeling". Miss Crawly says it (in essence, at least) over her megaphone to try to get the co-stars in line, but Darius is by far the one who uses it the most. It's not a comforting statement, it's not a "let's work this out", it's a demand- because if the chemistry isn't there when the curtains go up, Darius's reputation could be affected. (Meena's as well, but he's not concerned about that.)

Meena runs outside to get some fresh air and meets Alphonso- voiced rather impressively by Pharrell Williams, as a sidenote- and it's not only love at first sight, perhaps her first real crush even, but the antithesis of everything Darius is. Sweet, non-judgemental, genuinely appreciative.

It was at this point, watching the movie for the first time, that I guessed how Meena's story would wrap up. She'd tell Buster she was uncomfortable, Darius would get kicked to the curb, and they'd hire Alfonso to star alongside her. Happy ending. (If only Alfonso could sing, but we never get any indication he has talent or experience, just that Meena imagines so.)

Well, Meena tells Buster no less than twice through the subplot that she's uncomfortable with Darius. Instead of letting her explain and listening to her concerns, he quickly tells her she has to stay with him for the act. The anxiety and stress and Darius's smartassery just keep building until the actual performance.

Darius asks her one last time, desperately, still calling her Gina, to "find the feeling".

She imagines Alphonso.

And she does it.

And that's, apparently, the victory the story was looking for. Darius goes with the rest of the cast on the big tour, Meena gets Alphonso's number so she can FaceTime him every now and then, and everyone's okay with how the stars aligned.

But me? God, I'm not. The fact that Darius recieved zero backlash (as far as I know), that his stuck-up behavior was treated as cute and quirky by the fanbase, infuriates me. I rarely get infuriated by cartoons, but this, as an AFAB person who was groomed online, is something I absolutely can't stand. Darius is treated as a comedic figure, and yes, it's "just" a kiss, but his behavior is far from funny, and a first kiss that goes anything like this is far from inconsequential.

Meena should never have been pushed to the point of needing to imagine someone in Darius's place in order to play her role. She should never have been forced to act with, much less kiss, him at all. It reminds me, tragically, of how people in situations of continued distress will imagine themselves in a better place to help them get through it. How a young girl, if she's attracted to boys or raised to assume such, may assume she must always be willing to please her boyfriend before taking her own needs into account.

Meena deserved so much better in Sing 2. She needed Buster to listen to her, Rosita to give her candy from her purse, Johnny to give her a hug, Günter to make her laugh. She needed a community. The kids watching her did, too. And the film didn't give them that dignity.

[recentanimenews]

ESSAY: Berserk's Journey of Acceptance Over 30 Years of Fandom

  My descent into anime fandom began in the '90s, and just as watching Neon Genesis Evangelion caused my first revelation that cartoons could be art, reading Berserk gave me the same realization about comics. The news of Kentaro Miura’s death, who passed on May 6, has been emotionally complicated for me, as it's the first time a celebrity's death has hit truly close to home. In addition to being the lynchpin for several important personal revelations, Berserk is one of the longest-lasting works I’ve followed and that I must suddenly bid farewell to after existing alongside it for two-thirds of my life.

  Berserk is a monolith not only for anime and manga, but also fantasy literature, video games, you name it. It might be one of the single most influential works of the ‘80s — on a level similar to Blade Runner — to a degree where it’s difficult to imagine what the world might look like without it, and the generations of creators the series inspired.

  Although not the first, Guts is the prototypical large sword anime boy: Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife, Siegfried/Nightmare from Soulcalibur, and Black Clover's Asta are all links in the same chain, with other series like Dark Souls and Claymore taking clear inspiration from Berserk. But even deeper than that, the three-character dynamic between Guts, Griffith, and Casca, the monster designs, the grotesque violence, Miura’s image of hell — all of them can be spotted in countless pieces of media across the globe.

  Despite this, it just doesn’t seem like people talk about it very much. For over 20 years, Berserk has stood among the critical pantheon for both anime and manga, but it doesn’t spur conversations in the same way as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Akira, or Dragon Ball Z still do today. Its graphic depictions certainly represent a barrier to entry much higher than even the aforementioned company. 

    Seeing the internet exude sympathy and fond reminiscing about Berserk was immensely validating and has been my single most therapeutic experience online. Moreso, it reminded me that the fans have always been there. And even looking into it, Berserk is the single best-selling property in the 35-year history of Dark Horse. My feeling is that Berserk just has something about it that reaches deep into you and gets stuck there.

  I recall introducing one of my housemates to Berserk a few years ago — a person with all the intelligence and personal drive to both work on cancer research at Stanford while pursuing his own MD and maintaining a level of physical fitness that was frankly unreasonable for the hours that he kept. He was NOT in any way analytical about the media he consumed, but watching him sitting on the floor turning all his considerable willpower and intellect toward delivering an off-the-cuff treatise on how Berserk had so deeply touched him was a sight in itself to behold. His thoughts on the series' portrayal of sex as fundamentally violent leading up to Guts and Casca’s first moment of intimacy in the Golden Age movies was one of the most beautiful sentiments I’d ever heard in reaction to a piece of fiction.

  I don’t think I’d ever heard him provide anything but a surface-level take on a piece of media before or since. He was a pretty forthright guy, but the way he just cut into himself and let his feelings pour out onto the floor left me awestruck. The process of reading Berserk can strike emotional chords within you that are tough to untangle. I’ve been writing analysis and experiential pieces related to anime and manga for almost ten years — and interacting with Berserk’s world for almost 30 years — and writing may just be yet another attempt for me to pull my own twisted-up feelings about it apart. 

  Berserk is one of the most deeply personal works I’ve ever read, both for myself and in my perception of Miura's works. The series' transformation in the past 30 years artistically and thematically is so singular it's difficult to find another work that comes close. The author of Hajime no Ippo, who was among the first to see Berserk as Miura presented him with some early drafts working as his assistant, claimed that the design for Guts and Puck had come from a mess of ideas Miura had been working on since his early school days.

  写真は三浦建太郎君が寄稿してくれた鷹村です。 今かなり感傷的になっています。 思い出話をさせて下さい。 僕が初めての週刊連載でスタッフが一人もいなくて困っていたら手伝いにきてくれました。 彼が18で僕が19です。 某大学の芸術学部の学生で講義明けにスケッチブックを片手に来てくれました。 pic.twitter.com/hT1JCWBTKu

— 森川ジョージ (@WANPOWANWAN) May 20, 2021

  Miura claimed two of his big influences were Go Nagai’s Violence Jack and Tetsuo Hara and Buronson’s Fist of the North Star. Miura wears these influences on his sleeve, discovering the early concepts that had percolated in his mind just felt right. The beginning of Berserk, despite its amazing visual power, feels like it sprang from a very juvenile concept: Guts is a hypermasculine lone traveler breaking his body against nightmarish creatures in his single-minded pursuit of revenge, rigidly independent and distrustful of others due to his dark past.

  Uncompromising, rugged, independent, a really big sword ... Guts is a romantic ideal of masculinity on a quest to personally serve justice against the one who wronged him. Almost nefarious in the manner in which his character checked these boxes, especially when it came to his grim stoicism, unblinkingly facing his struggle against literal cosmic forces. Never doubting himself, never trusting others, never weeping for what he had lost.

    Miura said he sketched out most of the backstory when the manga began publication, so I have to assume the larger strokes of the Golden Arc were pretty well figured out from the outset, but I’m less sure if he had fully realized where he wanted to take the story to where we are now. After the introductory mini-arcs of demon-slaying, Berserk encounters Griffith and the story draws us back to a massive flashback arc. We see the same Guts living as a lone mercenary who Griffith persuades to join the Band of the Hawk to help realize his ambitions of rising above the circumstances of his birth to join the nobility.

  We discover the horrific abuses of Guts’ adoptive father and eventually learn that Guts, Griffith, and Casca are all victims of sexual violence. The story develops into a sprawling semi-historical epic featuring politics and war, but the real narrative is in the growing companionship between Guts and the members of the band. Directionless and traumatized by his childhood, Guts slowly finds a purpose helping Griffith realize his dream and the courage to allow others to grow close to him. 

  Miura mentioned that many Band of the Hawk members were based on his early friend groups. Although he was always sparse with details about his personal life, he has spoken about how many of them referred to themselves as aspiring manga authors and how he felt an intense sense of competition, admitting that among them he may have been the only one seriously working toward that goal, desperately keeping ahead in his perceived race against them. It’s intriguing thinking about how much of this angst may have made it to the pages, as it's almost impossible not to imagine Miura put quite a bit of himself in Guts. 

  Perhaps this is why it feels so real and makes The Eclipse — the quintessential anime betrayal at the hands of Griffith — all the more heartbreaking. The raw violence and macabre imagery certainly helped. While Miura owed Hellraiser’s Cenobites much in the designs of the God Hand, his macabre portrayal of the Band of the Hawk’s eradication within the literal bowels of hell, the massive hand, the black sun, the Skull Knight, and even Miura’s page compositions have been endlessly referenced, copied, and outright plagiarized since.

    The events were tragic in any context and I have heard many deeply personal experiences others drew from The Eclipse sympathizing with Guts, Casca, or even Griffith’s spiral driven by his perceived rejection by Guts. Mine were most closely aligned with the tragedy of Guts having overcome such painful circumstances to not only reject his own self enforced solitude, but to fearlessly express his affection for his loved ones. 

  The Golden Age was a methodical destruction of Guts’ self-destructive methods of preservation ruined in a single selfish act by his most trusted friend, leaving him once again alone and afraid of growing close to those around him. It ripped the romance of Guts’ mission and eventually took the story down a course I never expected. Berserk wasn’t a story of revenge but one of recovery.

  Guess that’s enough beating around the bush, as I should talk about how this shift affected me personally. When I was young, when I began reading Berserk I found Guts’ unflagging stoicism to be really cool, not just aesthetically but in how I understood guys were supposed to be. I was slow to make friends during school and my rapidly gentrifying neighborhood had my friends' parents moving away faster than I could find new ones. At some point I think I became too afraid of putting myself out there anymore, risking rejection when even acceptance was so fleeting. It began to feel easier just to resign myself to solitude and pretend my circumstances were beyond my own power to correct.

  Unfortunately, I became the stereotypical kid who ate alone during lunch break. Under the invisible expectations demanding I not display weakness, my loneliness was compounded by shame for feeling loneliness. My only recourse was to reveal none of those feelings and pretend the whole thing didn't bother me at all. Needless to say my attempts to cope probably fooled no one and only made things even worse, but I really didn’t know of any better way to handle my situation. I felt bad, I felt even worse about feeling bad and had been provided with zero tools to cope, much less even admit that I had a problem at all.

  The arcs following the Golden Age completely changed my perspective. Guts had tragically, yet understandably, cut himself off from others to save himself from experiencing that trauma again and, in effect, denied himself any opportunity to allow himself to be happy again. As he began to meet other characters that attached themselves to him, between Rickert and Erica spending months waiting worried for his return, and even the slimmest hope to rescuing Casca began to seed itself into the story, I could only see Guts as a fool pursuing a grim and hopeless task rather than appreciating everything that he had managed to hold onto. 

  The same attributes that made Guts so compelling in the opening chapters were revealed as his true enemy. Griffith had committed an unforgivable act but Guts’ journey for revenge was one of self-inflicted pain and fear. The romanticism was gone.

  Farnese’s inclusion in the Conviction arc was a revelation. Among the many brilliant aspects of her character, I identified with her simply for how she acted as a stand-in for myself as the reader: Plagued by self-doubt and fear, desperate to maintain her own stoic and uncompromising image, and resentful of her place in the world. She sees Guts’ fearlessness in the face of cosmic horror and believes she might be able to learn his confidence.

    But in following Guts, Farnese instead finds a teacher in Casca. In taking care of her, Farnese develops a connection and is able to experience genuine sympathy that develops into a sense of responsibility. Caring for Casca allows Farnese to develop the courage she was lacking not out of reckless self-abandon but compassion.

  I can’t exactly credit Berserk with turning my life around, but I feel that it genuinely helped crystallize within me a sense of growing doubts about my maladjusted high school days. My growing awareness of Guts' undeniable role in his own suffering forced me to admit my own role in mine and created a determination to take action to fix it rather than pretending enough stoicism might actually result in some sort of solution.

  I visited the Berserk subreddit from time to time and always enjoyed the group's penchant for referring to all the members of the board as “fellow strugglers,” owing both to Skull Knight’s label for Guts and their own tongue-in-cheek humor at waiting through extended hiatuses. Only in retrospect did it feel truly fitting to me. Trying to avoid the pitfalls of Guts’ path is a constant struggle. Today I’m blessed with many good friends but still feel primal pangs of fear holding me back nearly every time I meet someone, the idea of telling others how much they mean to me or even sharing my thoughts and feelings about something I care about deeply as if each action will expose me to attack.

  It’s taken time to pull myself away from the behaviors that were so deeply ingrained and it’s a journey where I’m not sure the work will ever be truly done, but witnessing Guts’ own slow progress has been a constant source of reassurance. My sense of admiration for Miura’s epic tale of a man allowing himself to let go after suffering such devastating circumstances brought my own humble problems and their way out into focus.

    Over the years I, and many others, have been forced to come to terms with the fact that Berserk would likely never finish. The pattern of long, unexplained hiatuses and the solemn recognition that any of them could be the last is a familiar one. The double-edged sword of manga largely being works created by a single individual is that there is rarely anyone in a position to pick up the torch when the creator calls it quits. Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond, Ai Yazawa’s Nana, and likely Yoshihiro Togashi’s Hunter X Hunter all frozen in indefinite hiatus, the publishers respectfully holding the door open should the creators ever decide to return, leaving it in a liminal space with no sense of conclusion for the fans except what we can make for ourselves.

  The reason for Miura’s hiatuses was unclear. Fans liked to joke that he would take long breaks to play The Idolmaster, but Miura was also infamous for taking “breaks” spent minutely illustrating panels to his exacting artistic standard, creating a tumultuous release schedule during the wars featuring thousands of tiny soldiers all dressed in period-appropriate armor. If his health was becoming an issue, it’s uncommon that news would be shared with fans for most authors, much less one as private as Miura.

  Even without delays, the story Miura was building just seemed to be getting too big. The scale continued to grow, his narrative ambition swelling even faster after 20 years of publication, the depth and breadth of his universe constantly expanding. The fan-dubbed “Millennium Falcon Arc” was massive, changing the landscape of Berserk from a low fantasy plagued by roaming demons to a high fantasy where godlike beings of sanity-defying size battled for control of the world. How could Guts even meet Griffith again? What might Casca want to do when her sanity returned? What are the origins of the Skull Knight? And would he do battle with the God Hand? There was too much left to happen and Miura’s art only grew more and more elaborate. It would take decades to resolve all this.

  But it didn’t need to. I imagine we’ll never get a precise picture of the final years of Miura’s life leading up to his tragic passing. In the final chapters he released, it felt as if he had directed the story to some conclusion. The unfinished Fantasia arc finds Guts and his newfound band finding a way to finally restore Casca’s sanity and — although there is still unmistakably a boundary separating them — both seem resolute in finding a way to mend their shared wounds together.

  One of the final chapters features Guts drinking around the campfire with the two other men of his group, Serpico and Roderick, as he entrusts the recovery of Casca to Schierke and Farnese. It's a scene that, in the original Band of the Hawk, would have found Guts brooding as his fellows engage in bluster. The tone of this conversation, however, is completely different. The three commiserate over how much has changed and the strength each has found in the companionship of the others. After everything that has happened, Guts declares that he is grateful. 

  The suicidal dedication to his quest for vengeance and dispassionate pragmatism that defined Guts in the earliest chapters is gone. Although they first appeared to be a source of strength as the Black Swordsman, he has learned that they rose from the fear of losing his friends again, from letting others close enough to harm him, and from having no other purpose without others. Whether or not Guts and Griffith were to ever meet again, Guts has rediscovered the strength to no longer carry his burdens alone. 

  All that has happened is all there will ever be. We too must be grateful.

      Peter Fobian is an Associate Manager of Social Video at Crunchyroll, writer for Anime Academy and Anime in America, and an editor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: Peter Fobian

[reachexceedinggrasp]

What do you think could’ve been a way to make Loki AA’s primary antagonist AND keep him in-character? Would’ve been my dream movie tbh

It wouldn’t take a huge amount even if you leave almost the entire plot the exact same. He could have been an infinitely more effective Big Bad, but that would be more structural work and that kind of major overhaul isn’t necessary if you just want him to be in character.

There is some stuff to work with. There’s already emphasis on him being in a very bad way physically and it’s already implied he suffered some kind of torture, so the most generous reading of the film as it exists is that Loki’s mental state is so poor that he isn’t in touch with reality. For example, when he says Thor threw him into an abyss- the charitable reading (and the only thing I think makes sense with TH’s acting choices) is that he genuinely doesn’t remember it accurately. His trauma and paranoia, spending however long in a void obsessing over what happened and trying to reconcile his own actions, spending however long being tortured, etc. have distorted his perception of events.

Now that he’s been forced to go on living, he can’t admit that he tried to kill himself. The whole reason he tried to kill himself is that he can’t cope with the reality of his situation and what he’s done- there’s nothing to live for in that moment of lucidity when he offers everything up to Odin and Odin rejects it.

So, lean into that way more. Make the coercion more explicit and take out all the stupid, wrong ‘you want daddy to make it better’ power speeches (fy JW), the ‘a throne, any throne, at any cost’ stuff, delete that awful (pointless anyway) scene with Black Widow, and give him an actual plan that makes sense from his pov. Have him still motivated by his desire to be a worthy son, a worthy prince of Asgard, and desperately trying to consolidate an identity of his own. He does not care about power, he never pursued power, what he wants is love, respect, belonging. He wants to prove that he is just as valuable as Thor.

He’s not a ‘full-tilt diva’ who wants his name on a building. Fame and adulation are not what he desires or what he’s missing. He’s missing self worth and a sense of place. He is a terrified and insecure emotional-child who absolutely loathes himself and has had every anxiety-thought he’s ever had apparently vindicated by reality. His meltdown came about because being the temperate and sensible one (his natural disposition) is inextricably linked with being ‘other’ and ‘less than’ in his life. He had thought the problem was Thor’s impulsive, arrogant behaviour overshadowing everything, needing to babysit his brother rather than accomplish anything on his own, and that his pragmatic approach to life was obviously superior- if only Odin would acknowledge him, but then he discovers he’s a monster and so they must have been right all along.

A very substantial part of his original motivation was also genuine concern for the realm. He’s diplomatic and relatively sober-minded until his very personal fear-buttons are being pushed; his anger is cool, only his hurt is hysterical. Nothing he ever does is done for no reason or just to make someone suffer (even his lies to Thor are intended to keep Thor from ever trying to return to Asgard, not solely to humble or wound him). He’s callous in pursuit of goals he considers very important (in an unthinking, I’m-royalty-this-is-the-fate-of-the-kingdom kind of way), but he’s not sadistic.

So to get him to act as the big bad, what makes sense? He has to think what he’s doing is necessary. He has to be able to justify it to himself as a greater good to cover the child-like, selfish, vulnerable primary motives; he does not want to be in charge and would never consider his own rule a ‘greater good’. He doesn’t consider collateral damage but doesn’t cause it on purpose, and he is only driven to direct, extreme actions by panic and desperation. He should be a cerebral villain (Joss thinks he is in AA, but he’s not), so he should be playing 3-dimensional chess and should have at least two apparently contradictory layers to his plan (as he does in Thor1, where is seems like he’s aligned himself with the Jotuns and will allow Laufey to kill Odin until it’s revealed his real plan was to lure Laufey to a vulnerable position and secure that total victory for Asgard Thor has been boasting he’ll get since they were children while also gaining an opportunity to personally rescue his father). He never stops adapting to changing circumstances, but his solutions are surreptitious and non-violent until he’s backed into a corner.

Therefore, a story where we think he’s just trying to usurp a world to find self-worth in ruling it for the first half (preferably one where he beats the shit out of Cap and Iron Man before allowing himself to be captured so the audience actually understands that he can and so he feels like an actually dangerous threat to the heroes), but it’s revealed that he’s really playing a triple cross. He is trying to prove himself to Odin and be vindicated, but he’s doing it by deliberately conning Thanos out of the Tesseract and protecting Midgard from harm; controlling and negating the invasion from within. He managed all this so he could be a ‘defender of mortals’ as Odin and Thor are, so he can take home a powerful artefact like Odin did the Casket of Ancient Winters. Planning to drop these spoils at his father’s feet while pretending he didn’t orchestrate the entire situation. Like Thor1, this plan could essentially succeed completely even while parts of it blow up in his face and he struggles to keep believing it’s worth it, and the point is that his parameters aren’t acceptable, it’s not okay to use whole planets as pawns, etc. and the heroes have to thwart him right as it’s coming together.

So instead of randomly disappearing leaving everything necessary to defeat him lying around unguarded and being completely superfluous to the climax as he is in the actual film, there is a meaningful fight with emotional stakes. Instead of Our Heroes vs Organic Battle Droids for forty minutes, there is a genuine conflict and genuine tension. Loki remains consistent and very sympathetic while still being a major existential threat. The film doesn’t slap him around as comic relief or render him pathetic when you’re still supposed to fear him, he doesn’t become a ridiculous cartoon misogynist space Nazi, he doesn’t feel like a total damp squib of a villain who really didn’t merit the big team up.

[weirdfella]

Why Ti is cool for INTJs

by Marc Carson at Marc’s INTJ blog

INTJs are big morons. There, I said it.

So many of us INTJs seem to think that somehow thoughts go through some amazing process and become objective, when in fact the only thing that’s self-evidently objective about the process is that it has some culturally-approved seal of authority on it. Like, say, a scientific study to which we blindly give our allegiance in casual conversation with friends. “I saw a study that said you shouldn’t eat X because it’s linked with Alzheimer’s.”

Or, we think we can go through some magical process of becoming objective. Let’s start by memorizing all of the logical fallacies, shall we? That will protect us against wrongness! We’ll be safe from fallacious thinking! (I still shake my head at some of the ridiculous logical-fallacy-quoting I’ve heard from depressed INTJs who can’t figure out why they suck at life, but want to filter out every even remotely subjective answer to their problems. Can I get a sympathy cringe? But that’s for another article)

Or, let’s say we don’t just quote some study as evidence of how right we are, and stop there. No, this time we actually dig deeper and see patterns in the data. And before we’re even done reviewing the data, we conclude that pattern X is missing and therefore the research is trash. “Something something something P-values.” Am I right?

Or, we argue with people and ask for the evidence.

If we’re not asking for the evidence, we imply that no information is intractable to the INTJ brain. Especially no information of which we are not big fans. “Tell me,” we say to an unenlightened friend or colleague, “which method of yours that you’re so proud of, do you think is the very best that you can recommend to me?” We patiently wait while the person we asked looks around for the nearest fire escape. We wait with one of those comically big hammers behind our back, just like a cat & mouse cartoon. Of course our brains are so big that the dimension of our physicality matters Not.

One.

Whit.

Well, baloney.

All of that stuff we do, all of that objectivity chasing, can get us in real trouble.

When the time comes to be original, when we are confronted with a huge problem that seems specific to us alone, it can completely overpower us.

But this is a ridiculous situation. Why?

Climb the mountain. Ask any INTP guru. Ask any ISTP guru. Ask the zany ENTP guru.

“You don’t get it. You know why? You could find a way out, but you’re not using your brain. You’re using other peoples’ brains to do your thinking for you.”

(Let’s get meta: You are on this blog why again? See? I’m doing all of your thinking for you. Hahahahaha)

Ah, the painful takedown of Ti versus Te. Introverted Thinking versus Extraverted Thinking. Subjective original thought vs. Objective, unoriginal thought. Creating your own really cool wheel versus Not Reinventing Wheels. Brainstorming vs. Googling The Answers in Order to be Efficient. Sysadmin-fun vs. Sysadmin-lazy.

Well, I’m here to tell you that Ti is indeed important. And yes, I agree that if we’re not using it, we’re not really using our brain, at least not in the ideal way.

When we use Ti, according to Dr. Dario Nardi, we refer to, apply, align, and refine a framework. Dr. Nardi suggests that INTJs study and learn how to apply Ti in their lives.

[“APPEAL TO AUTHORITY,” I hear some INTJ reader proclaim, as they stomp off, perhaps tabling the issue of wrestling with life’s problems for a more optimistic day. Hashtag logicalfallacies.]

What’s a framework? Think of a set of rules. For example, “Rules for Having a Good Day.”

In fact, don’t just think about it, start on it right now. It will involve using your brain. And, perhaps painfully, it will involve lots of subjective thought (only painful if you were really tied to your objectivity-as-ego. Please drop that guard just a little bit, just make more room for the subjective in order to help yourself).

Applying your Te (extraverted thinking) should be natural for you. When you use Te, you typically refer to, align, and refine a measuring device. For example, the scientific method. Or some other standard for measuring thought, results, whatever.

Te is super helpful. Very often INTJs will need to drone on and on about their problems, not in an emotional way, but in a very detached way. Typically what this is doing is clearing a space in which they can measure the extent of their problems and come to some conclusions. It’s helpful. It’s healthy.

Going back to Ti, I think most INTJs don’t really use it much. But I also think they enjoy it when they do.

I’m going to bring the blog post to an end here and encourage you to do this exercise:

First, list some problems in your life:

I am doing terrible at my job

I am doing terrible in my relationship with so-and-so

I hate myself for doing unhealthy activity X when I’m stressed out

Now, for each of those problems:

Refer to a framework or set of rules relating to the problem (do some research OR create your own draft framework, including leverage points that come to mind. I encourage trying the latter because Te will bias you toward the former)

Apply the framework. Put it into practice next time the problem comes up. i. To develop a framework, look for points of leverage. You might isolate specific activities, for example, that really give you a boost in overcoming this specific types of problem.

Refine the framework. Make the framework more elegant over time. i. This is super important. If you let the framework stagnate, you cannot benefit from the compounding energy that results from its continual application and refinement. a. Yes, I do mean that it is like compounding interest in finance. Very good. ii. Yes, this means possibly altering someone else’s idea with lots of creative license. Fun! a. Yes, a lot of INTJs get stuck here. They don’t always like altering things! That was a perfectly objectively good framework with nice clip art to accompany it! What if I break it! What if it blows up in my face after I make changes?

If you persist in this activity I think you’ll find an amazing thing happens: You’ll feel like you have a lot more leverage in your life.

Do you see how hands-on it is? You get to build something really powerful. I love it. So:

Try it! Get more subjective. And don’t go right for Google to apply your Google-fu to find the world’s best pre-existing framework, tucked inside a PDF on some website employing weak file download obfuscation. Make your own, make it apply just to the very specific problem that you have. Then make it scale into a world-class framework meriting its own PDF later if you’d like.

I have shared this with other INTJs and it absolutely activated them. I keep a bunch of text files in a folder called “Frameworks.” Under that I have a Work folder, a Family folder, and so on. In “Work” there’s a text file with my own framework for having a great day at work. And another one for dealing with stressful meetings. In my Finance folder, I’ve got one for investing. You got me? See how that might help you? Try it out. You could google up the answers, but don’t, this time. This is better. Refine your ownframework, by yourself.

[Also, I think lots of INTJs use or have used Ti already. Maybe you, have, too—when I read about this concept in 8 Keys to Self-leadership I said, “Oh, it’s that thing I did that one time in order to get better at bowling.” Well, now I do it a lot more.]

[r95irth]

Here is the (late) oc presentation time ! And this week I present you Kyouji Kamino !! 

Before reading it, I want to add that Gunni gave me two new ocs (and adorable ones) so they are put in the classes now =) Here is the uploaded document that recap classes / characters : 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1acW4wZqcFobpi7CzRArJazrgfi4K1BSeiBeAp8wKAAg/edit?usp=sharing

Again if you want to send me your OC just ask. I only have two places left for 1A and 1B but I can put your OC in the class 3A so they can be the mentors ^^

Kyouji Kamino

Writer comment about his development : One of the very first that i created and barely changed since then. He is one of the few with a very sad backstory -well some has xD)

His character in five words : influenceable, emo, honest, sociable, playful.

His quirk : Kyouji awakened his quirk at the age of 4 during an accident. His parents were beginning to think he was quirkless but the boy didn’t have the time to worry about it. Kyouji’s quirk is called spectral projection, because you don’t know if it’s an astral projection or something more complicated. The fact is that his consciousness has an image he can manipulate at will and can travel through matter. Solidifying this astral body to touch anything with it requires him an enormous amount of energy so he tends to avoid that at all cost, (except for his wearing his hat) keeping physical interactions to the bare minimum. It took him years of training to be able to be seen by others and even more to be heard, while being on astral projection.

His power has a lot of downside, for example he doesn’t know how to stop the spectral projection (or is afraid to) so he never actually sleep or eat. He can get very tired but it’s a mental exhaustion when he has trouble to focus, move, speak or understand simple things. He does meditation to get better.

Sometimes his spectral projection “buzz” as he said, like old tv which couldn’t receive a signal. This is really bothersome.

Despites those, he is probably one of the most skilled of both classes when it comes to mastering his power.

Likes : cartoons, radio and music.

Dislikes : Being alone or ignored, when other people are sleeping.

His family : Kyouji lost his parents when he was 4. They were rather ordinary, both officials that met while being at work, fell in love, married and decided to have a kids. They were planning to have a second child when they died. Kyouji remembers his mother’s hair, not their color but a bit of her scent. He also remembers being carried on his dad’s back and how he used to roll his shoulders as he walked. It saddens him to know so little about them and it scares him a lot : you can disappear from the world and no one, absolutely no one remembers you, not even your own child.

Kyouji had a grandfather too, but the man died from old age. Since then Kyouji is considered as a pupil of the state, like 6 other children in the same case as him, and took the name of Kamino. A name he absolutely despises.  

Secret past : Kyouji is one of “the orphans of Kamino” a bunch of kids who lost their parents during the Kamino accident. He was buried under the rubbles of his parent’s flat and was the only one that was still alive when they extracted them. He was sent to the hospital immediately, but got into a comatose and till today he still is. He didn’t wake up. Well, not physically at least. But for him it’s quite the contrary, he felt like he never fell asleep at all! He remembers being buried and screaming for help, he remembers getting out and crying to talk to policemen and doctor where he was, but that no one could see or hear him. Only animals -especially dogs- reacted to his presence which helped him keep any sanity and not think he as just plainly dead. Even today Kyouji tries really hard not to think about this period, since it was awful. He was small, and alone, and no one could hear him, even less comfort him. He didn’t get what was happening to him and how to end it.

It took him months before understanding that he could interact a bit with the world around him, if he focused. He found out by accident, as he watched his grandfather talking to his “body” and crying. He wiped out his tears.

Happiest memory : The day he managed to be visible by other human, and especially his grandfather. The old man was so happy he gave Kyouji a hat, that the boy still wears everyday even if it asks him a lot of effort for that. It helped him train to be not only visible, heardable but also has physical grasp on things when he focus.

Saddest memory : Well all the memories related to the accident and the months he spent thinking he was some kind of ghost. He is absolutely terrified about the idea of dying or worst reverse to this state. The reason he wants to be a hero is not out of kindness, or for revenge against All might (though he does not like the hero), it’s because he wants to be famous, to access immortality thanks to fame. Knowing that if he manages to be a hero, no one will ever forget him make the possibility of dying more bearable.

Best friends : Kino Mirai is his very best friend, for strange reasons. At first Kino scared Kyouji because, well he basically said that he couldn’t see Kyouji’s future, hence that Kyouji might have none. But the more he spent time with the boy the more they became close. They don’t share a lot of interests yet they always find something to say. Plus the very protective behaviour Kino shows toward Kyouji moves him a lot.

Strangely, Lazare is also a good friend of Kyouji, again a strange friendship no one seen coming. Lazare tends to be hurt -almost dying- often, then regenerates fastly thanks to his quirk. This ability fascinated Kyouji yet made him a bit jealous (he kind of wised he, or his parents, had the same). But getting to know Lazare made him see that every ability has downsides and that you can’t be summed up by your power alone. This idea allowed them to become really good friends.

Kussan, Kubo and Ume are his other friends, since they all loved a grampa or a grandma in their lives and they can share a lot about those moments with them they hold dear.  

Other than them, he spends most of his time with Takashi and Kahei, watching them play video games, Tsubaki when he plays music or, Satoru.

Max is also a good friend he spends time with, especially when he is with Sei, Lazare and Hide. They always do ghost prank, or horror movie pranks together. Once they managed to make Mahô faints and that’s really something to be proud of !

Get along well with : Kyouji likes loud, energetic and lively people the most, so he usually tends to go see them first when he needs something, as he knows that it will be done with them. So he likes Mahô, Yuu, Riku, Riichi, Koyuki, Chiori,, Yosuke, Yume, Reika.

Doesn’t get along with : Kyouji is not hard to be friend with, but there are three persons has has trouble to get along with for personal reasons. First is Ryota, because the boy is calm, quiet and prefer to be a witness of the agitation rather than part of it It’s almost the same reason why he has trouble to stand Yule, the girl tries very hard to be part of the action, he sees that, but she is tends to step back and hides everytime it asks her too much effort and that annoys him a lot. Kyouji has enough of being a witness of action and so people who doesn’t react get on his nerves easy. For a very petty and silly reason )he is aware- Kyouji doesn’t like Goro ; the boy has a big and loving family and Kyouji is very jealous of that.  

Crush on : Kyouji might be really mature for his age (the good side of not being able to sleep) but love stories? Romance? He’s stuck at a 4 years old reaction to this. Basically he just say “yerk” and runs away every time he sees people kiss. This is not his priority at all.

Conclusion about his relationship in class : Kyouji is very mature in a lot of ways, but sometimes you can still see the childish side that he never could get rid off. He likes everyone at first, and tends to get influenced by those he likes (changing opinions and taste, not by hypocrisy but because he didn’t had one in the first place so aligning with other’s doesn’t bother him). Thanks to that he manages to be friends with almost everyone. But when he doesn’t like someone he just can’t hide his unfriendly opinion. He has no filter over this.

-Evaluation of his teacher Aizawa Shouta-

Potential as a hero : Kyouji is a bit of a tricky question, sure his power offers a lot of potential for lot of jobs, but offensively speaking? It takes a toll on his body -the real one- that i do not approve. I would rather him focusing on healing and waking up from his coma first, before trying to be a hero.

Weak points : The downside of the spectral projection are not healthy. He lacks offensive power most of the time that he manages to cover with his skills but that won’t always be enough.

Strong points : He is very powerful and skilled when it comes to use his power, and he always does his part of work, at the most of his capacity. He is a reliable ally.

Commentary : I was against his admission into UA from the begining, i only accepted him in my class so he wouldn’t be in All might’s (it would have make a bad atmosphere in the class). But he proved me his dedication and motivation. I have yet to find a reason to expulse him. It’s like having a second Midoriya, another kid who doesn’t seem to get that he will live up to 50 years with this body so he has to take care of it, and i’m not enjoying that.

[marthysemil]

Blog 04: Google Form

Ever watched Astro Boy, Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon? 

If YES, then Congrats! You are a certified Senior Otaku!

If NO, but is familiar with Demon Slayer, Attack On Titan and Tokyo Ghoul, well you are way too far from the originals. 

Anime in today’s generation is CLEARLY and MOSTLY not for children under 10 years old unlike the anime showed in the main media before. But what makes anime so popular in this GEN X Era? Why do people love watching Anime?

I have conducted a survey using Google Form for Zamboanguenos aged 17 to 26 years old about their “Top 5 Anime” and their results vary from one another. 30 people who responded on the survey were people I already know from Facebook who are at the same time, die-hard anime fans.I simply chatted and asked them if they would like to participate with the survey. As they agreed, I shared the link to my survey. 

They even placed an emphasis that they were challenged to answer the survey because there are way too much Anime series that they want to include. Most respondents were 21 years old who spend their free days fangirling/fanboying over japanese cartoons. The youngest was 17, nicknamed “Micky” while the oldest was 26, “JR”. 

On the question; “Why do you like watching Anime?” Most of the respondents answered; “Anime is a stress reliever”, “It takes me away from reality”, “It’s way more better than real life people.”

This made me think that these respondents are just too tired on the demands of reality that Anime became an outlet for them to release and forget their problems. *shrugs*

So! What are the TOP 5 Anime gathered from them?

Starting from the 5th list, we have:

TOP 5: ATTACK ON TITAN / SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN

This anime series is one of the BEST series and popular in today’s fandom. The story is all about the soldiers or known as “Survery Corps” defending their city (with 3 walls) from the breach of giant humans called “Titans”. These so-called titans feast on every citizen that they see wandering around them. However, plot twist says that these titans are not titans of their own. They are actually, humans that transforms themselves into titans.... Want to know more? READ THE MANGA! 

TOP 4: HAIKYUU!

It is a story about Shoyo Hinata, an aspiring volleyball player.  Though inexperienced, Hinata is athletic and has an impressive vertical jump; he joins his school's volleyball club – only to find he is its sole member, forcing him to spend the next two years trying to convince other students to help him practice. A story of intense game and motivation. 

4B. Another anime aligned with TOP 4 is KUROSHITSUJI / BLACK BUTLER

Personally one of my favorite anime, It is a story about a young earl named Ciel and his deal with the devil named Sebastian. Sebastian does everything and anything that Ciel wants and when the contract ends, he is intended to have Ciel’s soul towards the dark hallways of the abyss. An interesting and very cool story.

TOP 3: Seems like we have a problem.. We have 4 anime series that has the same amount of votes for the TOP 3 anime..... 

3A. ONE PUNCH MAN

A quite interesting story of a superhero named “SAITAMA” who is overly, very, monstrously powerful because he can literally wipe out a whole city in one punch. The dilemma is, he’s trying to look for a worthy opponent that could out-strength his abilities. Will that be you?

3B. FAIRY TAIL

The story follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel, a member of the popular wizard guil “Fairy Tail”, as he searches the fictional world of Earth-land for the dragon Igneel. It was most popular when I was in Junior High School. Fairy Tail Merch was everywhere!

3C. FOOD WARS; SHOKUGEKI NO SOMA!

Soma Yukihira, aspires to become a full-time chef in his father Joichiro's family restaurant "Restaurant Yukihira" and surpass his father's culinary skills, but Joichiro gets a new job that requires him to travel around the world and closes his shop. Joichiro has Soma enroll in Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute, an elite culinary school where students engage in food competitions called shokugeki. If there’s overpower in sports, there’s also in cooking.

3D. FATE SERIES

The story revolves around Shirou Emiya, a hardworking and honest teenager who unwillingly enters a to-the-death tournament called the Fifth Holy Grail War, where combatants fight with magic and Heroes throughout history for a chance to have their wishes granted.

TOP 2: BLACK CLOVER

The series focuses on Asta, a young orphan who was raised from birth after being abandoned at the doorstep of an orphanage in Hage village along with his fellow orphan, Yuno. While everyone is born with the ability to utilize mana in the form of Magical Power, Asta is the only exception. He tries to gain magical power through physical training but turns out that Yuno was born as a prodigy, and has more than enough.  

and the most voted anime, my all-time favorite:

TOP 1: NARUTO (all series)

WHO ISN’T FAMILIAR WITH OUR FAVORITE NINJA?! Presenting our TOP 1; NARUTO SHIPPUDDEN SERIES! Naruto Uzumaki is just a young boy who lost everything at a young age including his family. But despite these hardships and doubts from other people, he never gave up training with the help of his senseis and friends until he could finally reach the title of becoming Konoha’s Hokage. Spoiler: He actually achieved it. Lesson? Do not give up on your dreams.

PS. Watch BORUTO too! 

------------------------------

[angel-of-spn]

Spotify / Youtube / Download link

28 songs. Please use download link/youtube playlist if you can, Spotify didn’t have one song.

Reasons why (short scenarios based on the songs) I choose each song under the cut, please read it if you can. Order of the songs is pretty important too! :)

If the songs inspire you in any kind (video/fic/art) please do let me know! I would love to see it <3

1. Two Door Cinema Club - What You Know (the only corny song in this playlist, I had to use it) Kylo finds the 'girl' and can do whatever he wants to her (not sexual). She escaped him but he will find her again. There are things he knows about her like how she doesn't want to be alone anymore - he can't say she realizes it yet but she knows it deep down. They fight, time passes. There are questions that have to be answered - who is Rey? Will she let him teach her? Kylo wonders if they could try to have more peaceful meeting next time, he wonders if he's the only one who will try. He wants to teach her how to use The Force but not really use the Dark Side methods  - he wouldn't lie to her about that, he knows Luke would have been a better teacher. He wants Rey to remember he knows her, he felt those feelings of loneliness too. 2. Aqualung - Strange and Beautiful (it's more Kylo's dream/wish; muddled timeline) After Kylo interrogates Rey realizes they have a Force-bond. Since then, he have been watching her from afar. He starts to understand her better, her emotions and feelings and his resolve to the Dark Side starts to fall apart - unseen, only on the inside. He can't quite understand Rey sometimes, she's almost strange but aslo very beautiful. He thinks they would be perfect together (even if only as a student/teacher). He knows that Rey doesn't think about him that often though... and he plans to change that. They fight and during their face-off he talks about being her teacher, tries to reason with her, tells her about how great they could be together, tells her things that will make her think ('I put a spell on you'). He knows he will be on her mind for the foreseeable future and she will come to realize they will be great together. Kylo knows they will fight, he knows some of the things he wants will never come but he did his part - now he can only wait. 3. Major Lazer feat. Wild Belle - Be Together (Vanic Remix) Kylo wants to meet Rey again, he misses her, maybe even love her... but he's not sure, loving someone doesn't come easy to him. He asks her if what's he's feeling is freedom (from Snoke), chasing after her is dangerous but it makes his heart race. He wonders if maybe, just maybe there's a chance of them being together - if the stars align, if their worlds collide, maybe if she takes his offer and joins him on the Dark Side, maybe if they both run away. He daydreams about them being together, missing Rey every day.

4. Tom Odell - Can't Pretend Kylo knows he has physical and psychical wounds only Rey can help mending. In that moment he realizes he loves her - otherwise she wouldn't be able to help him. He can't pretend anymore he doesn't love her. He can be rough around the edges, he has faults but he can do better - he won't be 100% good but he will be better. He does things his way, he’s on the Dark Side but he can bend - he won't change entirely, he won't suddenly become Light but he can be more understanding and less severe. Kylo sees that his love for Rey has ability to change him and he wants to fight it, try to say he doesn't love her - but he can't argue against it and can't pretend otherwise. 5. Emmit Fenn - Blinded Kylo  used Dark Side to get powerful but now he doesn't need it anymore (even if he prefers it) - Rey's Light is blinding him. 6. Aqualung - Good Times Gonna Come Kylo starts to feel Rey doubting her Jedi training - he needs to know if she's letting go of her little 'fantasy' about the Force and Light Side. He doesn't really sends a compulsion or thoughts fueled with force, just his feelings it's alright to think that. He starts to read her thoughts more clearly and they're about him - he didn't realize how much he hurt her with killing Han and with working for Snoke. Kylo wonders about her too - when he first saw her, she was no one, came from nowhere really, she was nothing, she had nothing, but then... she had the Force. It shows that he shouldn't have judged her on how she looked, you never really know. It's late at night, one of those lonely nights they both experienced, but now, they think about each other. Kylo knows good times are going to come. Rey, on some unconscious level, starts to realize they're bonded - in the meantime Kylo tries to encourage her to give him a chance, to come closer to the edge, to try. In the end they both let go - whatever will come it will come, they don't try to force it anymore. Good times are going to come eventually.

7. Koda - Invitation to Love Kylo can't stop falling in love with Rey - the only way to stop it is to kill her. It’s too late for that though, he's over half way in already. He has very conflicting feelings about it, he wants her close, but then, he will act if she doesn't affect him. Snoke (his teacher, almost a father figure) finds out - he's not surprised Kylo fell in love but still punishes him severely. Snoke says Kylo will 'shake out of it' but Kylo isn't so sure. Kylo is being put through a lot of pain to destroy that love and in his mind he goes to his Force-Bond with Rey. He tells her to 'wake him up' (from his escape into bond) when he's not in pain anymore, talks to her about more positive feelings. He realizes if he doesn't hide his feelings for her from Snoke, Snoke will kill them both -  if only to hurt Kylo, to make Kylo realize everything he loves will break. The torture ends, he seemingly doesn't have feelings for Rey anymore. Through their Force-Bond she became his friend (Kylo didn't tell her about his feelings) and she sends him a smile to help him through all that he faced. 8. Robot Koch feat. John LaMonica - Nitesky No one knows what it's like for Kylo and Rey to have a Force-Bond, to feel the other's emotion and thoughts, to understand each other on some deeper level. They often just look at the stars (wherever they are) and wonder how it would be to watch them side by side. Kylo gets lost all the time in his thoughts and his mind, in his duty to Snoke, the Dark Side. Rey will help him with her Light to make him himself again. No matter what will happens, how hard things will get, he will always come back to her. 9. Starset - Carnivore (slight jump to fight with Snoke) All his life Ben heard how he won't be able to change the world, how he should focus on being Jedi and ignore everything else - but on the inside he knows it's not true. He tries - he trains with Luke about Jedi ways while hiding his real thoughts. He knows 'Ben' wouldn't be able to come as far, be as powerful. He gives in - he becomes 'Kylo', let's go of everything and everyone, changes everything about himself. Still... Rey can see 'Ben' inside of him. He and Rey fight Snoke and he goes back to being ‘Kylo’ - Snoke is dead and he needs to be strong so no one (like Hux) will try to fight him as he becomes the new Emperor. 10. Butch Clancy feat. Amy K- Far Away From Me (Rey pov) Rey has been chasing after Kylo through the whole galaxy. She shipped herself to him, helped him defeat Snoke, saw Light in him. She can't make him choose between his heart and his head, between what he feels and what he needs to do. She doesn't understand everything about him (or what he's going through) but she can help him with parts she does understand. Kylo (seemingly) reverts to his old self after killing Snoke - it's like her words didn't make any impact on him. She sees him taking another path, path she can't follow, path opposite of hers - path on the Dark Side. It breaks her heart to see him hurt and alone again, she saw how good he could be. She tries to talk him out of it but she sees his defenses are already up again, he's slipped into himself again. She tries one more time, even goes as far as saying she will give up on him and leave him, that she will go back to The Resistance - it's hard for her to love the cold-hearted person he became again. She's in pain, it's breaking her heart he's going a path she can't follow. 11. Cartoon - Why We Lose (Kylo pov) Kylo and Rey defeat Snoke. In that moment Kylo knows they will part ways - he doesn't know what Rey wants from him, it's impossible for him to go back to The Resistance with her. For now, he just wants to fight the rest of the guards together with her. Rey asks him to come back with her. Kylo asks her to stay, if she feels the same as him she shouldn't ask that from him. He gets a little spiteful - he says that all that she said to him before, in the elevator, were empty words, and she's not even trying to understand his point of view. That's she's not trying hard enough. 12. Freestylers feat . Belle Humble - Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix) (can be seen from both pov's) Kylo wants Rey to leave the past behind, walk away from The Resistance. When the fight with Snoke is over, when he tries to convince her to stay and she isn't able, when his heart breaks, he sees that future together was never possible. Rey wants Kylo to leave the past behind, walk away from the First Order. When the fight with Snoke is over, when she tries to convince him to go with her and he isn't able, when her heart breaks, she sees that future together was never possible. 13. Coldplay - X&Y After defeating Snoke,  Rey is going to leave Kylo because of their conflicted feelings. Kylo tries to come up with words to make her stay but he finds it hard, his reasoning is weak. He knows that in that moment something broke between them and he tries desperately to fix it. Rey leaves but they still feel each other through the Force-Bond. He becomes the Emperor but admits to her through the Force-Bond that in the time she was there with him, she became his best friend. He doesn't know if he can love her after she left him - it hurt him deeply, he tries to repair their relationship but doesn't know if he can trust her again. The Force-Bond helps, making them feel each other's feelings - they're in outer space, each on a different path but together in a way. 14. Metric - Siamese Cities (Rey pov, bit unreliable narrator) Rey is sorry she can't follow Kylo while he walks on the Dark path. She knows she might have given him idea she would be with him but in reality she was dreading going back to The Resistance - they didn't kill Snoke yet and she couldn’t go back to them with nothing. While she was with him she was also trying hide from her more 'Light' thoughts. Rey admires Kylo - not only he is handsome but also powerful, people go out of his way when he walks. Yet, she isn't happy he makes her doubt the Light - she's in conflict, she wants to stay Light but he makes Dark looks really good. Light and Dark feel the same in some sort of way. She saw freedom in his ways, she wonders what he saw when he looked at her. She is torn - she wants to stay, she wants to go. She should stay, she should go. 15. NF - Wait Rey is leaving and Kylo is devastated - he want her to wait, to not leave him. He has no idea why she's leaving, he thought she would take his hand and stay. He can't lose her, he needs her. He asks her if she loves him, he knows their love or circumstances might be not perfect but he wants her to stay with him. He knows his love might be desperate but he can't let go - it's been years since he felt like that, it feels like home to him. Kylo wonders what she's thinking about, how he can change her mind. He thought (before they killed Snoke) the things between them were okay, he doesn't know what went wrong since then. In reality, their relationship wasn't perfect - they didn't talk about what would happen after killing Snoke, she didn't know about his plan (taking Snoke's place), he didn't know about her plan (going back to The Resistance). Their relationship is pretty complicated and they couldn't talk about their future together. 16. Reaktion feat. The Eden Project - Alone Kylo can't sleep, can't breathe, now that Rey is gone. He sees her ship leaving on the monitor. He can't run or hide from his choice of being the new Emperor, he had his chance but he decided to stay. He's surrounded by his soldiers but he never felt more alone. 17. Fytch & Captain Crunch feat. Carmen Forbes - Raindrops Rey left Kylo. She hurt him by it, he feels like crying. It hurts him so much - he didn't let himself care in ages - he doesn't think he can make it through the night alone. But he's an Emperor now - he needs to stop caring, destroy those feelings, go Dark and become cold again. He's the new Emperor but if he shows weakness they will turn against him - the ship is full of liars and people who doubt him. So he closes off his feelings. Everything becomes quiet. Through the Force-bond he hears raindrops... or is it Rey crying? 18. Robot Koch feat. Susie Suh - Here With Me (both pov's) Both Kylo and Rey were having conflicting thoughts - Rey just left Jakku, Kylo was searching for Luke. The Force works in mysterious ways - they've met for the first time. The meeting left impact on both of them in different ways. After they Force-Bond they start to understand each other better, even start to depend a little on each other (after Kylo's nightmares or when Rey couldn't fall asleep at night). They’re far away from each other but they don't feel alone anymore. With time, their feelings towards the other grow - started small but then exploded into something big. 19. Illenium feat. Annika Wells - Crawl Outta Love Rey saw the Light in Kylo, saw Ben in him. She saw how bright their future could be, how strong they would be together. It was easy to fall for Ben so she let him into her heart. They felt amazing together, they were great together, natural, made to be. Then, suddenly, she saw Ben's Dark Side again - she shouldn't have ignored his faults, should have embraced it all but she was mesmerized by how good he could be. She should have let him go but she wasn't able, she fell too much in love with him. Now Rey has to fight hard to stop loving Kylo but it's too easy to love the good things inside of him. Being with him on the Dark side wasn't what she wanted, in her vision she saw him turn but in reality he didn't. Kylo knows what to say to make her waver, always knew what she felt deep inside. He knew her - how lonely she was, at night desperate to sleep. He knew Rey and it's hard for her to stop loving him. 20. Stateless - Bloodstream After killing Snoke it felt like waking up from a dream. Kylo looked at Rey and saw her doubt. He tried to change her mind but it wasn't working as intended, he wasn't great with words when it really mattered. She stayed silent, her mind working overdrive. He wanted to take her hand again, trying to make her understand what he felt, trying to understand what she felt - just like in the hut (he forgot to take his glove off). Kylo loves her, he can feel her from across the room, she got under his skin, changed him. She's still silent - he doesn't know to what conclusions she came to after their exchange. 21. Wish I Was feat. Karra - Josie Rey leaves and Kylo realizes they will never be able to fix things between them. He becomes the Emperor, welcomes the Dark Side. He's holding on to the small hope Rey will join him but with each day (and each decision he makes as the new leader) he feels her love for him dissolving. It isn't going as planned - she was going to rule with him, take his hand... Deep down Kylo knows he was always set to fail, he will always go the wrong path, say the wrong words when it matters the most. 22. Savoy - Let You Let Me Kylo will never let Rey forget him. He will take whatever she will give him, any kind of attention. Even if he has to become her greatest enemy. 23. The Bravery - HATEF--K (idk how we came to this) Rey leaving hurt Kylo, with time he became a little spiteful. He knows she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He taunts her through the bond, telling her about dirty things he would do to her if she was there with him.. and he feels her liking the idea of it. He feels her responding to it but finds out she wouldn't want her friends to know about them being together like that. He promises he would keep it a secret, he doesn't need her love - it would just be fucking (he wants everything she'll give him). 24. The xx - Infinity (Flufftronix Remix) Kylo has been the Emperor for some time now but still can't give up on Rey - he can't stand to think about her being with someone else, he cares too much about her. 25. Stanfour - I'll Wait For You Rey knows she's not good at lying about her feelings - she wears her heart on her sleeve and she's straightforward about her thoughts and wants. She also has to take care of herself because no one else will do it for her. When Kylo became the Emperor she had to make a rational choice and leave. She still held hope she could make him understand why she left through the Force-Bond but he close it off immediately. He's out of her reach now and she wonders if they can patch things after all. In the months following, he doesn't open up their connection but she does feel a lot of hurt emanating from his side of the bond. She has a lot of time to think about their relationship. She is still a little hurt about him not turning to Light - she opened up to him, something she didn't do easily and he caused her pain. She wants to talk to him, know what went wrong so she’s waiting for him. 26. Wyatt - Attention Emperor Kylo met Rey two times after she left for The Resistance - both times he acted cold and uncaring. He could see confusion on Rey's face, could feel her prod the bond but his shield were up and impenetrable. Later at night, after their second meeting, when he feels she's sleeping and wouldn't be able to sense him, he lowers his defenses down and lets himself feel how much he misses her, how much he needs her. He can't have her, shouldn't want her, she's on the opposite side of the war but he does. So he has to lie, become cold and close himself off in the morning. 27. Skylar Grey - Words (sad song about death but I'm taking Force-Bond route here) After they first discovered the Force-Bond, Kylo cut the connection whenever they strayed towards topics he didn't want to talk about. He thought he could explain himself in time. After Rey left and he became the Emperor, and after his unfortunate choice of words she shut him out completely - him being cold towards her next time they saw each other didn't help their relationship. Her shields are up, he doesn't even know if she feels him talking to her through the Force-Bond. He feels like he's talking to himself. With time, he starts to tell her about the things he couldn't tell her before, his thoughts, worries and explanations. He finds that he has many things to tell her and feels regret he didn't tell her before, when she still could hear him and didn't shut him out. At one point he even regrets not taking her advice, not going with her. Months go by, she doesn't open up their connection, there's only silence. He knows he didn't give her a reason to talk to him, trust him - he's still the Emperor - but sometimes he thinks he can feel her somewhere in the Force-Bond, so he says all those things again, hoping she might be listening. 28. Trifonic - Lies (can be both pov's) Even if they're both on different paths, they just can't part ways.

[origami-goblin]

The Great Space Race - Races in Starfinder

---

Yogi's Space Race was a wacky Saturday morning cartoon by Hanna-Barbera that featured an eclectic range of characters who competed in an intense intergalactic race for fame and glory. Notable stars included Huckleberry Hound, Phantom Phink, and even Fred Flintstone. Each character had their own unique spaceship, alignments, and quirks (see where I'm going with this?), which made for an entertaining bit of programming for kids to enjoy as they kicked off their weekend.

Starfinder launches with a similar array of brand new races for us to experiment and explore with. Without considering the "grandfathered" or "legacy" races like Dwarves and Elves, players have the opportunity to expand their design horizons with these fresh, shiny character-suits. Just like Pathfinder, each race grants special abilities and adjustments that may make them more inclined to pursue specific classes, but players are encouraged to not let optimization (aka min-maxing) completely railroad their character-building ethos.

Without further delay, onto the races of Starfinder!

Android - If you want your character to look like a human, but don't necessarily want to play AS a human, the Android is for you. No Apple fanboys here - just a blank mechanical canvas on which you can apply your robotic impulses. As a race, androids each house a soul, which means that they are considered to be living, sentient beings in Starfinder. The "bodies" housing the souls are often passed to subsequent generations. Apart from complete obliteration by a laser blast, androids are essentially capable of living ad infinitum, and so this soul-swapping practice is considered the death of that specific consciousness. The naming/numbering convention used by androids will sometimes reflect the number of souls who have inhabited the body (i.e Teppid-3).

The level to which the android wishes to blend into society and hide their mechanical nature is completely up to the player. There may also be some bitter feelings towards humans for past history of enslavement, although not all androids share this sentiment. Within the Starfinder system, android characters are also given the ability to install an armor upgrade into their body as a character feature, exemplifying android uniqueness and their mechanical infrastructure.

Human - Ah, the most polarizing race choice! In my experience, people either love playing as a human or want nothing to do with it. For the former, players may picture their RL selves as the protagonists of the story and want to share those epics moments by living vicariously through their characters. I fall more into the second bucket; I've been a human my entire life and I want to stretch my (shorter) legs by rolling up a Dwarf or a Ysoki instead.

Humans in Starfinder are described as being the "glue that holds the rest of the solar system together," meaning that they are culturally diverse and are generally accepting of the other races. This could be seen as an inevitable outcome of not having their own home planet, but Humans in RPGs usually fit well into a mold where they can adopt other cultures and let their individuality shine through.

Kasatha - If General Grievous had been more...fleshy...his frame would be incredibly similar to that of the Kasatha. Built upon the ideologies of historic families, the kasathas are deeply entrenched in cultural tradition and they tend to honor the past with great conviction. Described as intergalactic nomads, they arrived in the Pact Worlds system on a quest to populate a 'promised land' of sorts, known as Akiton. Unfortunately, they were unable to do so without the likelihood of severe casualties to their entire race, and so now their home planet isn't really a planet at all; their colony ship, the Idari, serves as the self-sustaining ship on which many kasatha still live.

Due to their history-loving background, kasathas are gifted with bonuses to Culture checks. They also, obviously, have the ability to use their four arms simultaneously to manipulate the world around them. As a race as a whole, kasathas are introverted when it comes to openly recounting their cultural practices, which leads to an aura of mystery that surrounds them.

Lashunta - A penny for your thoughts? Lashunta are characterized as the telepathic race, and feature two distinct subtypes - the korasha who are focused more on physical attributes, and the damaya who spend time developing their mental faculties. Education is at the forefront of their culture, and all lashunta share a love of learning and discovery, regardless of their subspecies. In this way, there is a faint resemblance to gnomes, who also take great pride in personal and cultural discovery. The lashunta culture is especially unique in that, by having two subspecies, they also have two main strengths. Everyone within the society has a specific role to contribute to the greater well being of the city-state.

Telepathy will be huge draw for players, and the inherent ability offers automatic role-play potential. Because of the korasha and damaya choice, players also don't have to sacrifice their preferred class to play a lashunta and have access to some basic spells native to the race. I love the idea of creating a korasha who feels like they should have been a damaya and vice versa, since the Inner Struggle and characterization that can come from it would generate some memorable moments for the players. Building characters that are the opposite of their perceived 'best' path (i.e. an Orc Wizard or a Gnome Barbarian) is always a worthwhile challenge and an enjoyable pursuit for me.

Shirren - Finally! Shirren jumped out at me right when they were first revealed, mostly because of The Hive mind mentality. When it comes to insects in the real world (not saying that Shirren are insects...there are merely similarities), it is fascinating how an entire colony can react and communicate so effectively with itself. Shirren are obsessed with individuality and having agency over their actions. On top of that, shirren also take great pride in being a part of something that is greater than them; teamwork and a sense of community are generally a part of their individual identity.

Again, telepathy is featured as a racial trait for shirren. What sets them apart from the lashunta are their specialized antennae, which have a heightened sensitivity allowing shirren to sense creatures before being able to physically see them. They also receive bonuses when performing skill checks or ATTACKS near an ally; being able to have the effects of 'Bit of Luck' once a day is HUGE and can be a game-changer for parties in hairy situations. Creating a shirren character that will do whatever it takes for 'the greater good' will also be a fun avenue to tread down, as those actions could be detrimental to the party. How will players handle those interactions?

Vesk - I'll probably refer to the Vesk as 'Space Orcs' since they are the strongest and most combat-inclined of the new Starfinder Races. The similarities don't end there! Warlike and ferocious, the vesk arrived in the Pact World system with the mission of conquering planets and taking them as their own. They also value a meritocratic leadership system based around heroics and exploits in battle (just like orcs). Vesk will often find themselves in a militaristic profession, either a professional soldier or mercenary, in a personal quest for honor and glory.

Let's not put them all in a box, however, as there are plenty of vesk who are respectable merchants or diplomats. They are also not inherently evil; vesk tend to follow the rules and traditions set forth by their communities. Now, these regulations could directly conflict with those set by other planets or races, so even a lawful alignment won't guarantee roses. There will likely still be guns involved. Vesk seem to have the strongest opinions on the other races, and it will be interesting to see those issues addressed at the table.

Ysoki - Last, but certainly not least, are the Ysoki. Sometimes called ratfolk, the ysoki have an incredibly varied culture due to the lack of a common/shared home planet; ysoki originated from multiple planets and, therefore, each ysoki can have completely different traditions from the next. In a way, the ysoki share some overlap with RL humans, where ancient civilizations existed independently of each other before the entire world was realized. They typically hold a love for technology, gadgets, and anything mechanical (also gnomish), and this makes them suitable for any class and background. Ysoki also tend to be willing to whatever task is assigned to them, as they are hyper-confident in their own abilities and strengths.

The sheer abundance of Ysoki across the Pact World planets means that there is a very high probability of two ysoki being related to each other. It's interesting to think about that idea every time that two ysoki would meet; are their memories sharp enough to retain and recognize their extended, extended, extended family? I also love the concept of a squadron of ysoki pilots or a pirate/scavenging fleet of decorated pilots soaring through the blackness of space. The more I read about them, the more I enjoy the ysoki and how they share aspects of other fantasy races. I've already commented on humans and gnomes, but their impulsive nature and naming conventions SCREAM goblin - the top of my all-time list. Ysoki will be a real treat to play, and many players will find the 'grab-bag' nature of the race to be exciting and refreshing.

Don't forget that legacy races are also an option if that's more up your alley; I merely wanted to focus on the brand new races in Starfinder, as they are unique in the idea that players have yet to breathe life into them. Orcs, elves, and dwarves have been used in countless game systems, and I feel that it's time to give these newbies a try before settling back into something that's more comfortable. In a subsequent post, I will describe a loose character concept for each race including class, theme, and a vague background. These can help serve as diving boards into a more elaborate brainstorming session and will hopefully unearth other ideas on how to create some awesome characters!

[stretchjournalemerson]

Do I Look Like That?: Bitmojis and Perspectivism

By Tori Serpico - 

The Bitmoji app, launched in 2013, is massively popular and has seemingly ever-growing success. The app allows users to create cartoon versions of themselves, which then are placed into hundreds of small animated photos, or “stickers,” that can represent nearly any mood or situation that you can then send through text -- all integrated into your phone’s keyboard. In the early days of Bitmoji, the app’s avatar customization was sparse. Should my Bitmoji be fully blonde or fully brunette? What skin tone is just right? Would I even wear that outfit? After spending too long attempting to answer these questions and make a Bitmoji to capture my essence I showed it to my sister. She looked at it, and then at me, and then back at it, and said: “That doesn’t look like you.”

This was a disappointing response. I handed her my phone and let her give it a try. She would periodically examine my face or ask me to turn my head. “Done!” She handed me back my phone. It didn’t look like me.

While what I am describing is truly a first world problem, there is an underlying question that reaches far beyond the Bitmoji: how can we truly capture the self?

To begin, we must consider the factor of perspective from someone who has explored this in depth. Let’s look backward to discover what historian and theorist Jane Tompkins, has already explored this topic of seeing the self through varying representations (Pifko). Tompkins, in her essay "’Indians’: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History,” describes the trouble she faces in attempting to piece together the encounters between the Europeans settlers and the Native Americans. Throughout her research, she discovers massive disparities in information as she reads varying accounts of what should be the same experience. This is troublesome to her, as clearly there is only one true history. However, these inconsistent records suggest otherwise. Due to this frustration, Tompkins concludes that the nature of facts, or of truth, is that although there is only be one base truth in the context of any given situation, due to the external human factor of perspective, multiple truths exist. As seen through Tompkins’ essay, this concept of perspectivism, or the idea that truth is inherently muddied by point-of-view, is closely aligned with understanding historical events. But I can’t help but wonder, what role does perspectivism play in an examination of the self?

The Bitmoji conundrum I described serves as an instance of perspectivist self-examination. When noting the disparity between the Bitmoji I created for myself and the Bitmoji my sister made for me, the differences were slight. A wider nose, a longer face, a few freckles.

But I was bothered by these small details that I failed to recognize in myself that were so simple for someone else to identify. Which was more accurate? Should I trust an outside eye’s perspective of my physical appearance because it is inherently less biased? Or is my own recreation of myself more true, as I am the self I am attempting to capture? And where do these two selves intertwine? If we view these questions through Tompkins perspectivist lens, then even "...if the accounts don't fit together neatly, that is not a reason for rejecting them all… one encounters contradictory facts and divergent points of view in practically every phase of life” (Tompkins 118). By the logic of perspectivist theory, there is no one true self to capture because each perspective provides a new insight. Therefore, I am all of my failed Bitmoji attempts. Yikes.

The belief that the self is a collective idea as opposed to a static being is not new. In fact, it’s almost three hundred years old. David Hume, a skeptic Enlightenment philosopher discusses his views on the permanency of self in “A Treatise of Human Nature.” Hume writes: “I may venture to affirm of the rest of mankind, that they are nothing but a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement” (134). This is known as the Bundle Theory. What this theory is arguing is that the self ever-evolving concept as it is constantly the object of others’ perspectives. These perspectives are so varied and so frequent that it is impossible to claim that one’s identity is singular-- it is only within our minds that we prescribe oneness to self. In this way, the Bundle Theory is inherently perspectivist. There cannot possibly be one true self if that self is being constantly externally perceived.

So who are we, if we are not who we think we are? To attempt to answer that question, let’s get back to basics: we are all human beings that possess human features and qualities. Now identifying these qualities is what creates implications that illuminate our perceptions of ourselves, ultimately aiding in others perceiving us. For example, my hair was once both brown and purple. At this time, Bitmoji did not have the option of multiple hair colors, meaning I had to choose between the two in order to best represent myself.

These hair colors are “signifiers,” or physical representations of greater meaning, or the “signified.” If I consider this post-structurally, as Tompkins would, these signifiers create a multitude of meanings that then contribute to larger structures of culture and identity. As I chose between two coexisting signifiers, I was deciding between selves. My choice would ultimately force me to perpetuate an idea of myself that was not entirely physically true. The implication then becomes that I view myself in a way which is inherently inaccurate. We all possess our signifiers, but the deliberate nature of the creation of a Bitmoji places a pressure upon the user to have a heightened understanding of them.

This pressure to have an accurate Bitmoji exists for several reasons. As its popularity has grown, the app has been integrated into a multitude of other popular social media apps, such as Snapchat and Tinder. Now instead of our “real” faces being plastered onto profiles, it’s our recreations of ourselves. Why is this preferable? I feel the aspect of control over our signifiers is something that society has striven for. Through the lens of the Bundle Theory, this is entirely impossible in reality. We are constantly being captured by various perspectives that we have little to no control over, no matter how much effort we put into physical appearances. The ability to capture the preferable, to show what we want to be seen, is a widely accepted part of social media culture. Bitmojis indirectly caricature our inclinations towards either embracing or rejecting this culture simply through the choices we make in attempting to recreate ourselves.

This is not to say that Bitmojis cannot be true to self or to say that Bitmojis deemed to be misrepresentative of their subject are done so purposefully. As I described, there is a margin of inaccuracy due purely to the lack of signifiers to choose from within the app. However, Bitmoji has become aware of this and has since released a game-changing update that drastically increased the accuracy of the recreation of the self: Bitmoji Deluxe. Bitmoji Deluxe offers such specificity in its signifiers that the pressure to have a true-to-self Bitmoji has not been relieved-- it has been heightened. In her essay “Thanks to Bitmoji Deluxe, my Bitmoji now gives me anxiety,” Stolyer expresses exactly what her title implies. The increased realism of the update caused Stolyer to “question physical looks [she has] never noticed before,” and described her “experience with the new feature [to be] filled with(…) anxiety.” While I cannot assume that this is a universal experience, this account clearly illuminates my point. Bitmoji is a new form of virtual identity that requires users to constantly be in a state of self-examination.

And for the reasons I have already discussed, self-examination is not a simple task. If I am truly just a bundle of selves or a collection of contradicting perspectives, then how can my Bitmoji ever really look like me? I posed the question: “how can we truly capture the self?”-- a question worth my exploration, and a question I wish I could answer within the confines of these closing thoughts. The only sentiment I can confidently leave you with is that we cannot allow philosophy to rob us of the existence of something as simple as physical appearance, as tempting as it may be. Truth and self still exist, just not in the ways that we think they do. Tompkins says it herself: “bringing perspectivism to bear in this way on any subject matter [has] a similar effect; everything is wiped out and you are left with nothing but a single idea-- perspectivism itself” (Tompkins 117). Perspectivism gives us the ability to diminish almost any truth, whether it be historical or personal. In my opinion, understanding the complexities of self is not an excuse to reject the self altogether and make your Bitmoji look like a big fat purple dragon. We are difficult to define, we are not intrinsically indefinable. As we must in any undertaking, in attempts to capture the self we must make decisions-- decisions formed by accepted facts. I will always have brown eyes-- and even if they may look hazel in a certain light, or if an unknown onlooker mistakes them for blue-- they will always be brown. We must take perspectivism with a grain of salt, and acknowledge that while truth exists in layers, there is always a foundation. So let’s use Bitmoji responsibly, with the understanding that even though we are victims of perspective, ultimately our own perspectives of ourselves should rise victorious. But first, be honest: does this look like me?

Acknowledgments

For my mom and my sister, who love my Bitmoji no matter what it looks like!

Works Cited

Hume, David. “Of Personal Identity.” A Treatise of Human Nature, 1738, pp. 133–139.

Pifko, Matthew. Class workshop. 15 November 2018.

Stolyar, Brenda. “Thanks to Bitmoji Deluxe, My Bitmoji Now Gives Me Anxiety.” Digital

Trends, Digital Trends, 1 Mar. 2018,

www.digitaltrends.com/features/my-bitmoji-gives-me-anxiety/.

Tompkins, Jane. “‘Indians’: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History.” Critical Inquiry,

vol. 13, no. 1, 1986, pp. 101–119., JSTOR,

www.umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/IndiansbyTompkins.pdf.

[blackwinged-soul]

...growth and self-discover is such a strange thing....

There has been some... transition. Mildly. I consciously decided I wanted to be emotionally reticent. Quiet. Secretive. Controlled by nobody but my inner resolve.

And so I was.

It was safest, after all. It was stable. Emotions are powerful, wild, chaotic forces in my life. It’s why I held them back all those years. Why I never unleashed my fury or grief or even giddiness upon the world, unless it leaked through the edges and burst outwards to affect the world in ways that startled and reminded me: never, to ever ever feel.

“Weird things happen when I lose lose control of my emotions.”

“Calm is quiet, calm is healing, calm is safe.”

“Center, recenter, don’t let it in.”

These were my mantras.

Control, control, control.

Control, to me, meant to not allow myself to feel. At all. Because if I felt emotions, those around me were put in danger. The moment I Realized I was actually an empath?

I was in middle school, and I was stressed, depressive-- I forget exactly why. But when I sunk deeper? I accidentally projected it around me and wildly shifted the emotions of everyone the hall.

And felt the entire atmosphere and energy in that hallway drop by at least 35%.

If I felt emotion, I changed reality around me. Not always in big, flashy, physically-destructive ways that you saw with Raven in the cartoon... (Sometimes. Three or four...) But there have always been powerful forces within me. And they are fed by emotion. My emotions give them life. I couldn’t control them if I gave them more life than I had myself. 

My emotions meant undesired change, alterations, and danger.

And later, even after I learned to direct, contain, and control those forces: I simply felt unstable. Neutral wasn’t my default; unfeeling was.

Once I was out of an emotionally abusive situation and able to contemplate myself, safely, honestly, out from under the controlling and manipulative anxiety...

...I pined for myself. For my own feelings. My own experiences. My own understanding.

And I started, slowly, carefully... re-aligning my Power, and allowing myself to feel.

But then....... things actually started to matter.

Like, “possibly lose your food and shelter” matter.

And I regressed into my emotionless “Raven mask”, as I grew to call it. Where I refused to let myself care. To react. To feel. Because that helped me survive.

I agonized, over wanting to know myself. Wanting to know my emotions. My genuine reactions to things. What would I see in myself, without this gray filter blocking out all the wild, vivid, chaotic, raging, beautiful colors?

(Because happiness is an emotion, too. Happiness would create static charges, activate battery-powered toys with no batteries in them, raise the hairs around me, and static-shock anything I touched.)

I went through many changes. My life did. My self-awareness.

And my goals.

...It’s funny. Ever since I started writing with Dove and Raven, all those many years ago (gods, maybe 12 or 14!), I’ve been watching Raven tell Dove to “control” herself... and I remember, a few years later, having that revelation right along with them: “I think you have the wrong idea of what ‘control’ really means.”

The condensed version: Restraint isn’t the same as control. If you are forbidding yourself from something, you are not “controlling” it. CONTROLLING it is knowing how to USE it.

I’m so tired, I doubt this is coming out quite right... but effectively?

I learned that with my energies.

But I had never, until recently-- maybe even until this WEEK-- thought, that maybe I should apply that to my EMOTIONS.

Because gods and goddesses, heavens and hell-- these emotions, these recent discoveries especially-- they are SO immensely powerful.

....and if it’s love.... Thorn can’t come if it’s loving, can she?

I should learn how to..... control my emotions.

(....knowing there are myriad depression, anxiety, anger, and bipolar disorders within my family..... I’m well aware that if I slip up, my emotions will lead me into Bad Habits. They already formed a little, from all that time I spent being Abused... I’m learning to unravel them, a little. But I’m... still so afraid of losing myself to them.)

...But that’s the thing, isn’t it.

...My mentor and I were talking on Saturday night. There was an event. We had a long drive... and a fairly long talk. About my self-talk habits. And my past. My stepmother. My talking. My confidence. My lying through my teeth making conversation seem ~easy~.

First of all: she had a point, in saying that she thinks I want my conversation to be Perfect. (...I do hold my own conversation to extremely high standards... I want it to be well worth speaking.)

But even more importantly, she told me that what I had been told for so long wasn’t who I am.

And she thought that I was so strong, I had such confidence, I could do so many amazing things. If I just learned how to tap into who I am, and become confident in Her, and not the “her” I was always told I was: I would be unstoppable. I would have the confidence for real.

So, who am I?

How am I ever going to find that out, if I suppress so much of myself?

(I had long learned to accept it, and deal with it. But my coping mechanism was always restraint.)

Well, I learned long, long ago-- age 14, 15-- that restraining myself meant I didn’t KNOW myself anymore. I mourned that. I spent HOURS writing in my mirror book about how badly I just... wanted to know what it was like, to be able to be honest with yourself, and be every BIT of yourself, without holding back.

You know what? I manifested with a Heart Gem, the moment I dared to look.

No matter how hard I had ever tried to deny and suppress my emotions: They are a powerful force within me.

They drive my personal power.

I am a creature of emotion.

And though I’ve always known emotions were more powerful to me than pure thought (if, only by a little)....

............It wasn’t until recently that I started acknowledging them for being a safe, wonderful, powerful, incredible part of who I am.

My emotions are REAL.

And I only need harness their power, to break through my own barriers and change my own life... so I can reach beyond my insecurities, and know myself with enough confidence and love and acceptance that I hope someday to absolutely RADIATE that to everyone around me.

(...and you know what? If I have to use a little projective empathy to do it, so be it. I would be glad to.)

[amarietie]

Fic Ask: Blind Date, 3 per chapter

Ohhh goodness it definitely took me longer than necessary to get around to this, but here we are!  Also, it’s very possible that these lines are more like sections than lines, and sort of toe the line between ‘significant’ and ‘I just really like them.”

And wellllll I was going to stick this behind a 'read more' but I don't know how to do that in HTML and every time I do an edit in rich text, it deletes all of my HTML formatting, so... please excuse the long ass post

From this meme:

Chapter 1

“So, have you decided what courses you’re going to take yet?” [Mikleo] opted to ask instead, thankfully feeling like he was regaining a bit of his composure.  And from that calmer perspective, he realized that he was maybe having fun with this.  It was kind of like a game - how to go about exchanging all of the most basic, introductory information while still making it look like they knew each other well.

This is the moment when Mikleo flips from flustered to enjoying himself.  And I think this is the kind of game that both of them would absolutely enjoy.

If asked later at what point the evening had stopped feeling like a fake date and more like talking with someone he had known for years, Mikleo couldn’t exactly say.  But as they exited the restaurant into the faintly chilly evening, he felt entirely content.

I really enjoyed this line because I feel like the two of them would just fall into an easy friendship effortlessly, even beyond any sort of physical attraction.  No matter what they’re both coming out of this one conversation feeling like best friends already.

Later,Mikleo would wonder what exactly had made him so bold.  Perhaps it was the second drink he had over the course of the meal, or maybe the stars were in the right alignment, or maybe he just really likedSorey.  Whatever, the cause, he worked uphis courage to reach out and grab the hand still scratching at Sorey’s cheek, and then plant a feather-light kiss in its place.

Kind of similar to the lats line and kind of in conjunction to it - Mikleo can get flustered, sure, but he’s feeling content and he likes this boy a lot already, and that lets him be a bit bold.

Chapter 2

“Good afternoon and welcome to Seraph Ice CreamParlor.  How can I help you today?”  Mikleo asked in a very goodcustomer-service voice as Sorey approached the counter.  He was betrayed,however, by the sly grin on his face and sparkle in his eye.Oh, so that’s how this was going to be. “Well, I’m supposed to be meeting up with this really good looking guyfor a date.  Seen anyone like that around here?”“I can’t say that I’ve seen anyoneparticularly attractive at all today.”“Not even me?”“Nope.”“Harsh,” Sorey said, deflating a little. “This is revenge for implying you might work at a chain shop, isn’t it?”“Perhaps.  And you really did walkinto that one.”

Nothing like a little bit of flirty banter

He had always been picky about vanilla ice cream, because its simplicitymeant that every component had to be perfect, and this was perfect.  It felt like silkon his tongue, and the vanilla flavor came through, instead of just tasting ofmilk and sugar.  He closed his eyes for amoment to savor the experience, and when he opened them again Mikleo was hidinga laugh behind his hand that brightened his face in the most wonderfulway.  The thought rose unbidden toSorey’s mind that he really was amazing. Two dates with the guy, one ofthem not even official, and I’m completely doomed.

Sorey’s fucking crush goggles, on both Mikleo and his ice cream…

This time, [Sorey] was ready for the attack on his dessert and tried to block with his own spoonas Mikleo made a second pass at the mango sorbet.  After a few minutes struggle, Mikleo emergedvictorious, and took his second bite with what looked like a challenge.  “Hah, I win this time.”No way, that was not going to stand.  But there was hardly an equivalent way toretaliate.  That’s when Sorey got anidea.  He could feel the wheels in hishead start to turn, trying to tell him why it was a bad idea, or that he had noidea what he was doing, but he clamped down on that quick; this was not a momentto be overthinking.  Instead, he leanedslightly to the side to press their mouths together in a kiss.

A little bit of competitiveness, and first kiss!

Chapter 3

In search of a distraction, Soreyreached into his bag of snacks and pulled out the first thing he grabbed.  It was a bag of gummy boars, labeled with apicture of a little, cartoon-ish prickly boar, in case anyone happened to beconfused about the contents.  “Do youwant a gummy boar?  They’re that organicbrand, so no gelatin.  I checked,” heexplained before Mikleo had the chance to ask.“Youdidn’t have to get those.  They’re twicethe price of the regular ones.”“Igot all of this stuff for us to eat, though. It would be no fun if we couldn’t share.”

Half of why I like this is because I’m a nerd to who likes working in as many random little Zesty bits as possible, but also Sorey being considerate of Mikleo’s preferences.

Rose scoffed from where she waswaiting for her turn off to the side. “More like show off in front of your boyfriend.”Soreycould feel the heat in his cheeks, and a quick glance at Mikleo confirmed thathe was blushing too.  They hadn’t had anyofficial conversations about what to call themselves, but Sorey didn’tparticularly want to refute that statement. Mikleo stayed silent on the matter as well.  Did that mean that he considered themboyfriends?  They would have to talkabout it at some point, but just the implications made Sorey feel a littlegiddy.Itmust have shown on his face, because a moment later, Edna scoffed and said, “Ohgross.  Now look what you’ve done, Rose.”

This is the first mention of them being in an actual relationship, rather than just having a few dates, and of course it’s Rose who said it, before they even did.  And then I just had to include Edna’s reaction for the snark.

Mikleo sighed with relief and hisposture relaxed.  “Well, that’s good tohear.  If you didn’t like my friends, itwould be a lot harder to try to keep you around.”“You’retrying to keep me around, huh?”“Well,yeah.  Cute, willing to let me kick hisbutt at pool, and an ancient history nerd? Where else am I going to find that?”Soreyducked his head and fiddled with his earring, sheepish in the face of thecompliment.  But there was a big smilegrowing across his face.  “I’d like tokeep you around, too.”

Actual confirmation (sort of, you know, without actually saying the words) from the boys that yest, they do want this to be a real relationship.

Chapter 4

‘Energetic’ was certainly amongst the first words that came to mind whenthinking about Sorey, but it turns out he was just plain good at directing thatenergy.  That came at the price of tuning out the rest of the world, andan apparent inability to keep track of writing utensils.

This line is kind of important to Sorey’s characterization for this story, actually.  The more and more I’ve written Blind Date Sorey, the more it seems like he has a little bit of ADHD to me.  Now, of course, this doesn’t eliminate the fact that he’s smart and a great student - one of my best friends from college had ADHD and she was very bright and made good grades - but it does have an effect on how I’ve been viewing him, personally.

Even as he picked up his spoon and set into the whipped cream on top ofthe shake, he could feel himself starting to droop to the side.  Soreygave him a small, sweet smile as he came to rest against his shoulder, and thenskillfully went to work distracting Rose and Dezel by asking about Dezel’smajor and classes.  Between bites, he managed to tease out information bitby bit on his self-designed program in animal behavior in hopes of one daytraining service animals.  Mikleo couldn’t quite remember if he’d everheard Dezel say so many words in one sitting, and it came to him then exactlywhat a wonderful person everyone at Ladylake University had managed to miss.

I like this bit both for Sorey casually distracting the others from sleepy Mik because he knows sleepy Mik will be embarrassed about it.  And also, Mikleo kinda has it bad for Sorey, too.

Sorey pouted, but then his face brightenedagain.  He reached out to tap Mikleo’s nose with a finger, and said,“Luzrov Rulay.”Mikleo had been busy going cross-eyed tosee the finger on his nose, but he looked back out to meet Sorey’s eyes. He looked incredibly proud of himself.  It took a moment for Mikleoto piece together a translation, because he hadn’t taken any Ancient Tonguesince last spring, but when he did, he shot him an incredulous glare and asked,“Did you seriously just call me ‘Mikleo the Enforcer?’”

This was one of the bits I was most excited about from this chapter, mostly because, once again, I’m a nerd and wanted to work in Mikleo’s true name.  Props to Sorey, too, for whipping out that Ancient Language translation.

Alright, wow, thanks everybody who stuck through this whole thing, it’s damn long as expected. But it was also kinda cool. When I first got this ask, I was thinking I would be hard pressed to find 3 lines from each chapter, but as I worked on it, I was actually having a hard time cutting down to 3 lines per chapter, lol.  Also, thank you to the lovely @neodiji for asking!!

[cbilluminati]

“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MOUSE OF TOMORROW?” MIGHTY MOUSE RETURNS TO COMICS THIS JUNE

Creative Team Welcomes Legendary Cover Artists Alex Ross and Neal Adams

Terrytoons’ animated superhero Mighty Mouse has delighted fans the world over since his first appearance in 1942. Now, Dynamite Entertainment announces his triumphant return to comic books for the first time in nearly 30 years, with a series written by Sholly Fisch, illustrated by Igor Lima, and featuring variant cover artwork for the first issue by industry legends Alex Ross and Neal Adams.

Imagine that the world’s greatest hero has been exiled to another dimension — an alien world, where not even the laws of physics work the way they should. The only person who even believes the hero exists is a young kid whom no one will listen to. And yet, the hero — who just happens to be a cartoon mouse — remains the shining light that this drab, cynical world needs to restore its color and life. Here comes Mighty Mouse to save the day in his most unexpected adventure yet… right here, in the real world!

This summer, Dynamite will celebrate the character’s 75th anniversary with a brand new comic book series for a whole new generation of fans. Mighty Mouse was first conceived in 1942 as a parody of another cape and cowl hero introduced a few years earlier, and went on to star in countless animated films for the better part of the next 20 years, finding a new life on Saturday mornings in the 1960’s.

“One of my favorite things about writing comics is getting the chance to play with characters I’ve loved all my life,” says writer Solly Fisch. “And what’s not to love about Mighty Mouse? Not only is he funny, but of all the super heroes you can name, there aren’t many who dedicate themselves quite so literally to fighting for the (ahem) little guy. When I was a kid, my sister and I used to get up early to watch Mighty Mouse cartoons on TV and, in those prehistoric pre-DVR, pre-streaming days, we’d tide ourselves over between shows by listening to our Mighty Mouse record (yes, on vinyl. I said it was prehistoric.) Decades later, I fell in love with the character all over again, thanks to Ralph Bakshi’s brilliantly insane Mighty Mouse TV series. Now, I get to contribute yet another unique spin on Mighty Mouse, as we bring him rocketing out of Mouseville and into the real world… and couldn’t we all really use someone to come save the day? It’s all pretty cool, and I’m having enormous fun with the series. Hopefully, everyone else will, too! Oh, and did I mention that I can still sing the entire Mighty Mouse theme song by heart? Don’t get me started!”

“Mighty Mouse is one of the greatest standout creations in the history of animation,” says Dynamite CEO and Publisher, Nick Barrucci. “Mighty Mouse was a huge part of my childhood, and has been an influence for many characters since, most famously Osamu Tezuka’ Astro Boy. It’s hard to believe a character so ready-made for comics has been gone from the medium for almost 30 years. I’m thrilled that Dynamite will introduce this American icon to a whole new generation of fans!”

Under license by CBS Consumer Products, Mighty Mouse #1 will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ April 2017 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in June. Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve copies with their local comic book retailers. Mighty Mouse will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Dynamite Digital, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 20%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Here He Comes to Save the Day; New MIGHTY MOUSE Series Coming in June

“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MOUSE OF TOMORROW?” MIGHTY MOUSE RETURNS TO COMICS THIS JUNE Creative Team Welcomes Legendary Cover Artists Alex Ross and Neal Adams…

Here He Comes to Save the Day; New MIGHTY MOUSE Series Coming in June "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MOUSE OF TOMORROW?" MIGHTY MOUSE RETURNS TO COMICS THIS JUNE Creative Team Welcomes Legendary Cover Artists Alex Ross and Neal Adams…

[americanalien-a-blog]

RULES. repost, don’t reblog. tag ten. TAGGED. @theredwonder (Thank you, friend <333) TAGGING. @b-atmans, @sonofsuperman, @sicutxfur, @perfectedrobin, @ofamazonia, @bludhavensbluebird, @elextrospeed, @fastestboyalive, @canary-noir, and anyone else who wants to do it!

BASICS.

FULL  NAME.   Kal-El (birth name), Clark Joseph Kent (legal name). NICKNAME.   “Smallville”, Supes, Big Blue, boy scout. AGE.   35 (during Zero Hour, 1994). BIRTHDAY.  February 29. ETHNIC GROUP.   Kryptonian. NATIONALITY.   American (legal nationality). LANGUAGE / S.   Clark can learn any language quickly, according to his necessity. He knows English, Kryptonese, some African dialects, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Japonese, Arabic, several more. SEXUAL ORIENTATION.   Bisexual. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION.   Biromantic. RELATIONSHIP STATUS.   Single (verse dependent). CLASS.   Middle. HOME TOWN / AREA.   Smallville, Kansas - USA (legal), Kryptonopolis, Lurvan - Krypton (birth). CURRENT HOME.   Hamilton County, Metropolis - USA; Metropolis - USA (verse dependent). PROFESSION.   Reporter (newspaper columnist) and author of fiction novels.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR.  Black. Thick, but soft. EYES.   Alien blue (a color that can’t be described by humans). NOSE.    Not too pointy, long, a bit thick. FACE.   Square, sharp, large jaw. LIPS.   Not so thin. COMPLEXION.   Fair, thick. BLEMISHES.    None. SCARS.   Clark’s skin is too hard, and regenerates fast if damaged. He doesn’t have scars for long. TATTOOS.   None. A tattoo needle wouldn’t be able to make a scratch on his skin. HEIGHT.   6′ 3″. WEIGHT.  235 lbs / 107 kg. BUILD.   Athletic, built. FEATURES.   Highly attractive. ALLERGIES.   None. USUAL HAIR STYLE.   As Superman, he leaves a strand hanging over his forehead. As Clark, he usually parts his hair on the left. USUAL FACE LOOK.    Smiley, gentle. USUAL CLOTHING.    Simple suit, tie, social shoes. His Superman outfit.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S.   Failure, death of people he loves, destruction of Earth, crossing the line. ASPIRATION / S.  Protecting the world, helping. POSITIVE TRAITS.   Friendly, courteous, sensitive to the feelings of others, honorable, trustworthy, reliable, helpful, loyal, and respectful of “life, love, and the pursuit of happiness”. NEGATIVE TRAITS.   Take things too personally, repress his feelings, overload himself, reluctant to change, too altruistic, idealistic. MBTI.   ISFJ (the defender). ZODIAC.   Pisces. TEMPERAMENT.   Phlegmatic. SOUL TYPE / S.   Caregiver (20), Helper (20). ANIMALS.   Sable. VICE HABIT / S.   None. FAITH.   In humanity. GHOSTS?   Clark believes in ghosts. AFTERLIFE?   Yes. REINCARNATION?   He’s indifferent. ALIENS?   He IS an alien. POLITICAL ALIGNMENT.   He doesn’t have an alignment. He believes in equality, justice and truth. ECONOMIC PREFERENCE.   None. He believes in a world where everybody can have something to eat in the end of the day. SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION.   - EDUCATION LEVEL.   Degree in Journalism from Metropolis University.

FAMILY.

FATHER.   Jor-El (birth father) and Jonathan Kent (adoptive father). MOTHER.  Lara Lor-Van (birth mother) and Martha Kent (adoptive mother). SIBLINGS.   Mon-El (Clark sees him as a brother), Kon-El (clone), etc. EXTENDED  FAMILY.   Jonathan Samuel Kent (son), Lois Lane-Kent (wife, verse dependent), Kara Zor-El (cousin), Christopher Kent (foster son), etc. NAME MEANING / S.   Kal-El: star child (Kal: child, El: star); Clark: scribe, secretary, cleric, scholar, clerk; Kent: border, rim. HISTORICAL CONNECTION ?   Rao (ancestor), Kem-L (ancestor).

FAVOURITES.

BOOK.   To Kill a Mockingbird. MOVIE.   To Kill a Mockingbird. SONG.  - DEITY.   - HOLIDAY.   4th July. MONTH.   June (the month his parents found him). SEASON.   Spring. PLACE.   His parents’ farm. WEATHER.   Warm, sunny. SOUND.   Birds singing in the morning. SCENT / S.   The smell of Kansas in the springtime. TASTE / S.   Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. FEEL / S.   The warmth of a hug. ANIMAL / S.   Krypto. NUMBER.   1. COLOUR.   All colors, although he loves red, blue, yellow and pink most.

EXTRA.

TALENTS.   Excellent writer, spectacular football and baseball player, Kryptonian abilities, high intelligence. BAD  AT.   Flirting, showing his feelings. TURN  ONS.   Kindness, determination, honesty. TURN  OFFS.   Arrogance, disrespect, lies. HOBBIES.   Writing, flying, reading, working, helping people. TROPES.   The Last Son of Krypton. The Man of Steel. The Man of Tomorrow. The Big Blue Boy Scout. The iconic Cape. The definitive Flying Brick. The Big Good. AESTHETIC  TAGS.   Good. Friends. Family. Papers. Novels. Work. Glasses. Suits. GPOY  QUOTES.   “ Whatever you are, be a good one.“ - Abraham Lincoln.

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC / S.   - ALT  FC / S.   - OLDER  FC / S.   - YOUNGER  FC / S.   - VOICE  CLAIM / S.  Tim Daly and George Newbern.

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1.   if you could write your character your way in their own movie, what would it be called, what style would it be filmed in, and what would it be about? A1.  All I wanted to write was a movie about how good Superman is, and how we need more people like him in the world. Something to show Superman’s essence like the old cartoons of my childhood. I’ve been trying to be a gentle person, a good one because of Superman, so I want the new generation to follow his steps, and make a better world. The style would be adventure, science fiction. I’m not good with names, so -shrugs-.

Q2.   what would their soundtrack / score sound like? A2.   Aww, from Superman TAS, by Shirley Walker (rest in peace). Also, from 70′s Superman’s soundtrack.

Q3.   why did you start writing this character? A3.   To be honest, I never thought I’d be writing Superman one day. It’s a well-known character and very popular. I needed some “light” writing (since I’ve been writing manipulative characters long enough), so I decided to give this character a chance. I also love him a lot. <3

Q4.   what first attracted you to this character? A4.   When I was a kid, I watched Superman TAS, Justice League and I loved Superman (although Batman was my favorite). I grew up with people telling me Superman was too overpowered and too predictable, so I blocked my interest in him until I decided to read comics about him. I saw that people judged his character more because he’s genuinely good, and they prefer reading stories with complicated, even bad characters, because ‘good’ is too boring (-coughs- they prefer Injustice’s Superman -coughs-). Even in real life, I see good people being stepped simply for being good. So, I became very attached to Superman, because I hope one day people will be as good as him. Of course, Superman has negative traits, and that makes him a great char. He’s not flawless as some people say, on the contrary.

Q5.   describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse. A5.   I don’t think there’s something I dislike about Superman? He has qualities and negative traits, but I like him because of those. That makes him unique.

Q6.   what do you have in common with your muse? A6.   I try to help people, to do the right thing.

Q7.   how does your muse feel about you? A7.   I like to think that Superman’s proud of me for trying to be a better person each day.

Q8.   what characters does your muse have interesting interactions with? A8.  All his inner circle of friends and family like Pa and Ma Kent, Jon Kent, Chris Kent, Lois Lane, Kon-El, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Bruce Wayne, Diana of Themyscira, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Arthur Curry, Lana Lang, J’onn J’onzz, Steel, etc and, of course, his enemies like Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Metallo, Cyborg Superman, Eradicator, General Zod, Crime Syndicate, Justice Lords, etc.

Q9.   what gives you inspiration to write your muse? A9.   Reading comic books about him, watching his cartoons, sending memes.

Q10.   how long did this take you to complete? A10.   My whole morning. Sorry for not replying my threads yet ahhhhhh!

[comiccrusaders]

“WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MOUSE OF TOMORROW?” MIGHTY MOUSE RETURNS TO COMICS THIS JUNE Creative Team Welcomes Legendary Cover Artists Alex Ross and Neal Adams

Terrytoons’ animated superhero Mighty Mouse has delighted fans the world over since his first appearance in 1942. Now, Dynamite Entertainment announces his triumphant return to comic books for the first time in nearly 30 years, with a series written by Sholly Fisch, illustrated by Igor Lima, and featuring variant cover artwork for the first issue by industry legends Alex Ross and Neal Adams.

Imagine that the world’s greatest hero has been exiled to another dimension — an alien world, where not even the laws of physics work the way they should. The only person who even believes the hero exists is a young kid whom no one will listen to. And yet, the hero — who just happens to be a cartoon mouse — remains the shining light that this drab, cynical world needs to restore its color and life. Here comes Mighty Mouse to save the day in his most unexpected adventure yet… right here, in the real world!

#gallery-0-7 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-7 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-7 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-7 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

This summer, Dynamite will celebrate the character’s 75th anniversary with a brand new comic book series for a whole new generation of fans. Mighty Mouse was first conceived in 1942 as a parody of another cape and cowl hero introduced a few years earlier, and went on to star in countless animated films for the better part of the next 20 years, finding a new life on Saturday mornings in the 1960’s.

“One of my favorite things about writing comics is getting the chance to play with characters I’ve loved all my life,” says writer Solly Fisch. “And what’s not to love about Mighty Mouse? Not only is he funny, but of all the super heroes you can name, there aren’t many who dedicate themselves quite so literally to fighting for the (ahem) little guy. When I was a kid, my sister and I used to get up early to watch Mighty Mouse cartoons on TV and, in those prehistoric pre-DVR, pre-streaming days, we’d tide ourselves over between shows by listening to our Mighty Mouse record (yes, on vinyl. I said it was prehistoric.) Decades later, I fell in love with the character all over again, thanks to Ralph Bakshi’s brilliantly insane Mighty Mouse TV series. Now, I get to contribute yet another unique spin on Mighty Mouse, as we bring him rocketing out of Mouseville and into the real world… and couldn’t we all really use someone to come save the day? It’s all pretty cool, and I’m having enormous fun with the series. Hopefully, everyone else will, too! Oh, and did I mention that I can still sing the entire Mighty Mouse theme song by heart? Don’t get me started!”

#gallery-0-8 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-8 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-8 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-8 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

“Mighty Mouse is one of the greatest standout creations in the history of animation,” says Dynamite CEO and Publisher, Nick Barrucci. “Mighty Mouse was a huge part of my childhood, and has been an influence for many characters since, most famously Osamu Tezuka’ Astro Boy. It’s hard to believe a character so ready-made for comics has been gone from the medium for almost 30 years. I’m thrilled that Dynamite will introduce this American icon to a whole new generation of fans!”

Under license by CBS Consumer Products, Mighty Mouse #1 will be solicited in Diamond Comic Distributors’ April 2017 Previews catalog, the premier source of merchandise for the comic book specialty market, and slated for release in June. Comic book fans are encouraged to reserve copies with their local comic book retailers. Mighty Mouse will also be available for individual customer purchase through digital platforms courtesy of Comixology, Dynamite Digital, iVerse, and Dark Horse Digital.

MIGHTY MOUSE RETURNS TO COMICS THIS JUNE, COURTESY OF DYNAMITE! "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE MOUSE OF TOMORROW?" MIGHTY MOUSE RETURNS TO COMICS THIS JUNE Creative Team Welcomes Legendary Cover Artists Alex Ross and Neal Adams…