#this is also extremely random

[77kkura]

all i can do is hope

[coddda]

Everyone knows that Light and L matched each other's freak but I think their dynamic in the musical (the Japanese ver specifically) is underrated. Like it's not super different from canon but they just had this extra edge of Violence that we never quite saw from the more methodical and careful mindgames in canon death note and I think it's great. Like, yes, they did declare in canon that they will bring each other to justice, yes L says he wants to send Kira to his execution, but in the lyrics of the musical they both outright say multiple times that they just want to straight up Kill each other. It's direct the whole way through. There's more mutual contempt. This game is about nothing more than simply being the first one to Kill the Other (they actually use the word "殺し合い" (koroshiau) or "to kill each other" to describe their game (translated as "murderous ... game")).

(Sidenote but all those references about wanting to send each other to Hell?? Beautiful)

Yeah this is a battle of justice and ideals, yes that clash is a key part of their final confrontation at the end of the musical, but throughout their duets (or even songs like The Game Begins where they're singing by themselves) there's this near singleminded desire to just fucking End each other. It's fucking Raw and it's great.

Also THIS FUCKING SCENE?? THIS SCENE FROM SECRETS AND LIES. Iconic. Actually Insane. My jaw dropped. Light looks like a crazy bitch it's beautiful.

Um. Also. Obligatory Playing His Game (yknow the gay sex song) lines dump. It basically says everything I just said above in like 9 lines. You see what I mean right.

In canon they're playing a game of mental chess, trying to use everyone around them to finally catch the other as their end goal, but in the musical you really do feel like all they see is each other. They would probably beat each other to death with their fists if it came down to that. Idk they're just so excited and fired up about their little game in the musical and it's so unhinged and fun and special and I love it. It's like the writers for the musical decided to kick their murderous intent up a couple notches and the result is absolutely Beautiful.

I also think that the intensity of their rivalry in the beginning just makes the wind-down of The Way It Ends soo much better. It's such a good contrast to their previous duets where they try to sing over each other (Secrets and Lies & Stalemate) or with each other but basically at the top of their lungs (Playing His Game). It feels like there's both a quiet mutual understanding but also an underlying disappointment that the game is finally over. In canon, L's death Is instead the peak of their game, the moment he gets confirmation that Light is Kira is the exact same moment that he dies. In the jdrama it's almost sudden, how L dies, after the quiet moment has already passed. But in the musical L's death, ironically, Is the one quieter moment in their game. Their peak was the game itself. It was Secrets and Lies and Playing His Game. But the end of the game in the musical is not a victory, it's just (as L says) the end of everything they'd been wanting up until this point.

Uh. Fuck it. Clip from the Kenji Urai version because I just love his delivery here. His tone just goes so well with the silence and the sound of the clock ticking. You see what I mean right.

Their rivalry in the musical may have been more shortlived but like Damn they were really enjoying every second of it. They were truly insane about each other until the very end. (Like despite everything I just said about the ending it was still unhinged as fuck. Light Making L Shoot Him and then Making L Shoot Himself with L's Own Hand?? Holy shit man. What the fuck /pos)

Musical Light and L your game might've been shorter but you'll always be famous <33 Please never inflict what you had on anyone else ever please stay in hell forever thank you

[aphel1on]

laios has very quickly become dear to me not just because he's an autistic protagonist but because his autism is itself one of the reasons his party has an edge over others. though we see him struggle in social situations, his special interest makes him hypercompetent in the context of dungeon survival. i'm aware that's not a NEW observation on him but i was impressed that he even used his special interest to successfully solve a crisis that relied on noticing social cues- he was able to pick out the impostors bc he honed in on the small discrepancies in their attitudes toward monsters. if that isn't weaponizing your autism, i don't know what is

[loveletterworm]

This concept was supposed to be Deltarune Miku (she is a cyber world darkner of course) but I feel like it sort of just ended up being "What if I drew Miku 90% normally but then I colored her in kind of weird"

Behind the scenes trivia: The gif of the sprite is not merely a gif, but a whole Gamemaker project I made for the sole purpose of that gif, because it was the easiest way I could think of to get those nefarious Toby-Fox-type sprite rotations...

[clumsypuppy]

ummm started eos and I made. Some Guys

[ghost-kings-court-jester]

Agender Xie Lian is so important to me because your telling me that he wandered the earth for 800 years watching as fashion and style changed and didn’t decide that all of it was kinda nonsense. Like for context that’s like from roughly the early Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. Fashion alone changed a fuckton in those 800 years.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Yue Qingyuan and Tianlang Jun having tea together ☕

[Commission for @absolmon!]

[fictionadventurer]

It's very freeing when you start to factor in time and energy as priorities in creative works.

Like, would further revision improve this project? Probably.

Would it improve enough to justify the time, energy, and stress of the extra work? Probably not.

Perfect is never going to come, so "good enough" is a good enough reason to call it finished.

[barksbog]

frosty morning walk

it's been Really cold and i'm not happy about it but the Snorb doesn't seem to care much

at least i get the enrichment of actually seeing all the tracks he sniffs obsessively

[incorrectklavekatz]

Every time somebody draws Kurt without his Roman nose or curly hair an angel loses its wings.

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[elftwink]

going to say something about writing that is not a complaint and i know it sounds exactly like someone complaining but the conclusion i have drawn is that this rules. preface over am currently "working on" (in the most generous, nebulous sense possible) an original fantasy story & i just keep finding more stuff about the world i need to decide because it feels extremely formative to me even though it will barely appear on the page, if at all

but like... just the sheer volume of communication irl that happens symbolically that you never question becomes so apparent when you try to create a world that doesn't have those things or doesn't have the conditions for such a thing to be created. writing a character wearing a wedding ring and then going wait a minute— would these people communicate marital status via ring placement? why do we do that irl? when did we start? surely thats not the only way people ever communicate marriage— what does everyone else do? and really, come to think of it, what does it mean to be 'married' in this fictional world i'm creating? is there a legal component or just a social one? should it have all the same connotations/obligations as the real world (e.g. monogamy, having children, romantic love, impact on finances, etc)?

you can do this with literally Everything In The World. what language is everyone speaking? is it the same one? how many languages are there in the region i'm writing about? is the language we're speaking anyone's second language? when did they learn? is bilingualism common? and where does everyone here live? speaking of living, is that a permanent dwelling situation or are people nomadic? what's the climate like? are all the characters here used to the climate or is someone used to ten degrees cooler and kind of short tempered because of it? the clothes are probably impacted by the weather, what's everyone wearing? what's it made out of? what would be around here that could be used for dye? help me i have a case of worldbuilders disease and its incurable. these motherfuckers are never going to finish this journey because i cant even get them on the page long enough to pack a cart. also would they use carts? when did we start having cart and carriages pulled on roads irl? if there's roads, who's maintaining them— or is it just the path from years of people travelling that way? does the terrain allow for wheeled vehicles or would some other way be better?

anyway. you may call all this a waste of time and "not technically writing" since i "havent written any prose". i think im just slow cooking this novel. oooooh im thinking about it so much. you just wait when im like 56 im going to knock your socks right off with my intricate detailed world where i thought about everything except whatever element of society you understand most deeply. that part i fucked up and clearly didn't know anything about. sorry

[flowersforthemachines]

Feeling extremely noisy and want to know things about everyone's OCs. Drop a like on this post to receive 1 (one) silly random question in your inbox. The offer is good as long as the post is up, extended not just to moots but to anyone passing by

UPD: sideblogs can also reblog or comment on the post if you don't want to/can't leave a like from main

[aroaceleovaldez]

recurring minor characters not being in s2 of the show does mean that TLO is absolutely doomed now if they ever do get to it, because the weight and impact of characters like Silena and Beckendorf are entirely based on how long they've been around in the books and their longstanding connection to events in the story and particularly Percy (not to mention Beckendorf's importance in SoM specifically but i digress)

HOWEVER. on the bright side: this means they are spared from being in the show for now. so.

[melocherie]

You are SO right about her absolutely butchering the original movies, because omfg she rewrote Princess Mononoke in a way that both diminishes its original message about environmentalism and balance, in favour of focusing on a romance that was barely even there in the movie(FOR A GOOD REASON), and also actively rewriting the genderbent characters to the point where you might as well consider them entirely original characters with how little they have in common with their original counterparts. (Sen being wayyy more aggressive than San and the way he constantly goes back to distrusting the MC felt more like a plot-contrivance for the sake of more conflict than a logical arc for his character. Kano's whole character.)

The only well-written character in this tale was arguably Lady Eboshi, because she's pretty mich just ripped straight from her source material.

i  haven’t  finished  the  sen  arc  or  seen  princess  mononoke  yet,  but  i  intend  to  reread  iaptbap  today  in  order  to  collect  notes  for  a  detailed  critique  i’m  writing.  i  can’t  speak  on  whether  if  violet  adapted  the  arc  with  maturity  and  grace,  but  i’m  not  holding  my  breath  because  i  know  how  she  handled  the  subject  of  sexual  abuse  before  during  the  jasmin  arc  ——  with  the  maturity  and  elegance  of  a  sledgehammer  to  the  face.  she  wanted  to  date  a  child,  so  it  makes  perfect  sense  to  me  that  she'd  depict  the  sexual  abuse  survivor  as  unable  to  defend  himself,  allowing  the  mc  to  have  a  loooong,  drawn-out  argument  with  different  sexist  strawmen.  jasmir,  the  actual  victim,  should  only  get  to  sit  on  his  hands  and  lovingly  gaze  at  his  girlfriend  defending  his  honor  because  screw  his  agency.  what  about   me,  me,  me! 

sure,  adaption  changes  are  important  for  the  characters  to  read  as  iaptbap  property  rather  than  disney,  but  the  way  lavenoor  handles  them  is  distasteful.  they  don’t  read  as  characters  she’s  passionate  about,  but  rather  as  vehicles  for  the  next  parable  she  wishes  to  tell.  who  cares  about  ariel  and  her  conflict  with  her  father,  the  main  reason  she  fled  to  the  surface?  no,  all  she  wanted  was  a  big  dumb  wedding  so  let’s  gut  that  entire  relationship.  who  cares  about  belle’s  ambition  to  explore  the  world  beyond  her  impoverished  village?  she  reads  (fantasy  escapist)  literature,  so  let’s  turn  her  into  the  cold-hearted  intelligent  one.  nothing  is  ever  expanded  upon  in  a  meaningful  way,  it’s  shallow  interpretation  the  whole  way  down. 

yes,  these  are  children's  films,  but  a  team  of  writers  and  artists  still  worked  together  for  years  to  adapt  these  fairytales.  these  films  were  the  work  of  real,  passionate human  beings.  as  a  storyteller  and  fairytale  enthusiast,  i’m  offended  by  how  little  she  cares  for  their  work  while sniping  any  fic  that  dares  breathe  too  close. 

^  actual  message  she  sent  to  me  while  asking  me  to  take  my  first  princess  fic  down  btw 

[adhd-winterfalcon]

mickey: this is my girlfriend rose, and her boyfriend the doctor, and their boyfriend jack