#(<< thank u?? this is like my third proper art post here i love the huntlow mains mwah)

[matt-tholomule]

please tell me no one’s done this yet

EDIT - REALISED I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO ATTACH THE ORIGINAL

[glaivenoct]

( fanfic writer ask game ) ✏️ , 🎧 , 🔬 , ✍🏽 , 🌾 ?

Thank you so much for sending some in! ;u; (Fanfic Writer Asks Here)

✏️ The first fanfiction you ever wrote? (doesn’t have to be a posted fic)

Heh.. back in 2005, a show aired on Discovery Kids that became my favorite show in the history of ever. Wee 9 year old Brina did not understand or even know of the concept of Fandom or Fanfiction - but this show is what I consider my first Fandom ever.

Did any fellow millennials ever watch Flight 29 Down on Discovery Kids (2005-2007)? Man, I loved that show so fucking much. I wrote silly little fics for it in my spare spiral college ruled notebooks! AUs before I even know what an AU was lmao. My favorite was one I called "Agents in Action" where I pretended all the characters in the show were recruited as Secret Agents after being rescued lmao.

I also wrote fics for my favorite ship in the show. Again, I didn't really know what the word ship was, but I knew I liked two characters enough to write fics of them getting together and referring to them with a pairing name. I shipped Jackson/Taylor aka Jaylor! Jackson was the Tall-Quiet-Mysterious foster kid with a questionable past and a sense of being an outsider among his peers, and Taylor was the seemingly shallow rich Mean Girl, who turns out not to be as mean or shallow once you get to know her a little more and she learns some more empathy/self-awareness.

When I wrote these fics, I had no idea what fic even was. But man oh man was it such a happy place for me to write them at the time. I wish I still had them, but I don't know where they went. I used to draw pictures at the back of every page and everything. Good times, good times ;u;

🎧 A certain song you listened to while writing a fic?

MUSIC, YAASS. So! Rare is it for me to make a playlist for just a one-shot, but for my NyxNoct Masquerade Fic I really needed a decent chunk of songs that captured the right vibe to help me write it, if ya know what I mean!

Young and Beautiful is the star of that playlist. I not only imagined Nyx and Noct dancing to the song in the fic, but the playlist also features two different instrumental versions of it too! It was such a big help with that fic uwu.

🔬The fic you had to make the most research for?

Hmm.. there's honestly 3 contenders for this, and the Masquerade fic is definitely one of them - but that was research in the sense of looking up a lot of visuals for inspiration. Outfits/ballrooms/mask designs and things like that

The second has to be cagefighter AU because of the fight scenes. I looked up articles about boxing rings/MMA tournaments/different styles of martial arts and things like that. I think I put at some point in the fic that Nyx leans more towards a boxing style while Noct kinda knows a mix of things thanks to Cor. Come the next time I need to write a fight scene, I'll probably be looking up martial arts/self defense videos again. Which is usually fun for me!

The third would have to be my old and Very Incomplete NyxNoct Wings AU that only has one chapter and no proper plot to this day ;u; Researching wing anatomy and all that. Visual references for different wing designs too.

✍🏽 How much do you plan your fics beforehand?

If we're talking about outlines, never have I ever in my fic life done a proper outline ^^; I'm very "I have all the backstory in my head, the rest of the details of the actual plot will unfold as I go" :'D

🌾 A fic you really want to write but you haven’t (yet)?

So Many ;u; but right now, the main things on my radar after I finish the current WIP are: -An assassination attempt prompt that's been sitting in my inbox for too long -A new possibly probably definitely spicy NyxNoct fic ideally for Valentine's Day. Buuut there's a good chance I chicken out of that one and try writing the next chapter of Cagefighter AU instead.

If I add anything else, I'll be getting too ahead of myself and overwhelmed lol. To anyone who's sent me prompts in the last several months: bear with me please I swear. I either get them done sorta quick or... Not Quick.

Thank you again for indulging me with these! ;u; <3

[bcatboy]

tagged by @sunny-day-sky, thanks 4 the tag i blow u kisses :3

1. why did you choose your url?

my name is b and i was going thru a catboy thing but now im attached to it

2. any side blogs? @yutamybeloved which is where i scream about kpop, nonsensically

3. how long have you been on tumblr? i joined about a month after the mishapocalypse, when i was 14? yeah

4. do you have a queue tag? just q, if i use the queue at all. used to use it a lot more but then i got lazy.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place? someone told me that fandom existed and i needed to see that shit in person. also i started THIS particular blog about three years ago because i was mad at my old one lol 

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp? @wizard-rat made it for me when i was obsessed with naruto and a lesbian and im very attached

7. why did you choose your header? favourite painting, from someone who knows shit all about like, art

8. what’s your post with the most notes? made a raven cycle shitpost on my old blog that had about 2-300 i think?

9. how many mutuals do you have? /shrug, prolly around 50? i talk to bout half of them

10. how many followers do you have? oh barely 150. i do block pornbots religiously tho

11. how many people do you follow? 299, apparently

12. have you ever made a shitpost? oh yeah big time

13. how often do you use tumblr each day? an embarrassing amount

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? not like a proper good one where it drags out, just lil spats here and there

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts? literally wont read em thx babes

16. do you like tag games? yeah i love talkin bout myself sooooo aksjdlaskjd and also making my friends talk about themselves uwu

17. do you like ask games? see above ;)

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous? oh idk, lexi? lol

19. do you have a crush on a mutual? @wizard-rat and @maudit-innocent  but everyone knows that so

20. tags? @wizard-rat for the third time @maudit-innocent @arquillion @chapter-eleven @residentdragonfucker @pepperwench uhhh listen i cant remember bitches urls marty kathy shane if u out there lmaoo

[jzixuans]

so new decade huh

this post is gonna be a biggie bc we’re gonna go through my time on here (to the best of my abilities)

good happy things:

so proud of myself for taking that step and putting my art out there

so glad i picked this fandom to do that in

2019 was wild bc i’m p sure i started the year at a right low but around the end of march dani sent me the invite to the powerless discord and kickstarted the path to me meeting some of my best friends in the world

she was also the one who invited me to tmce where i met lia so dani really has been there for the whole journey huh

start to finish dani, that’s our goal

2019 i had was probably the most confident i’ve ever been

i’ve been able to look in the mirror and tell myself i look good

i’ve been able to stare into my not-symmetrical eyes and say that they’re nice

i’ve called myself pretty and told myself that i love my smile and my laugh and now i can actually face cameras

2019 was also the year i stopped self deprecating my work!!!! i also got more comfortable with expressing love and affection!

honestly i didn’t take art That seriously until i started posting so i’m so proud of how far i’ve come

back to my other point, i’ve made some Amazing friends this year, and i think my brain might break if i try to remember all of them (i’m so sorry) at this hour

but as a start, dani, lia, jensen, star, airam, birk, sapph, u guys are the real ones

big real talk tho this year i met my best friend and i don’t think i’ve ever been as comfortable w calling someone my best friend as i am with lia so Big thanks to him for being the best best friend a girl could ask for

i maintained my routine goodnight posts and my heart soars every time someone starts their own because of me, even if they do it just once because it means that they’re spreading their own positivity and i think that’s wonderful

this year i bettered my relationship w my brother!!!

tried lots of new things, got more comfortable being myself w others

slept more proper (for the last third of the year at least akjndlckjsdh)

just realized how long my hair is!! i don’t think it’s ever been this long!! i’m diggin it!

i listened to so much new music and started listening to podcasts!!!

started being able to make money off my art was real nice

and using said money in indulgences like the tdp art zine was Extra nice

speaking of which, my copy of echoes of thunder came in and i’m still dying

writing >:3 is gonna be such a wild ride y’all

omg i forgot that i also travelled this year (went to germany for the first time!!!)

from today n the last few days, LOTS of platonic gay w lia

got a new post coming soon probably maybe

lots of shenaginaginans on smash bros

apparently i rock at the zen game on 1 2 switch

felt Real smart working through an editing session where i helped edit my friend’s application stuff

first art of the year was a #loganrights shitpost remind me to post that later

the rip but i’m different meme

my WIFE SARAI

my OTHER WIFE TIADRIN

my OTHER OTHER WIFE JANAI

losleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

logan’s smile :)))

[travellingmonk]

PART 1 - An Image That Predicts The Future 3 by Sunao Ari - Translated!!!

Now, to explain this a bit, I don't normally go out of my way for a doujinshi. (pain in the arse for me to translate with conversational Japanese and I am, by far, NOT an expert in the language.) However, this one I just HAD to know the story of and share. Because reasons. Fair warning, this is a Seiji x Touma story... where Seiji dies... and Touma takes it EXTREMELY BADLY... then dies, too. And the art style is consistent... but... eh... It's not comparable to Ken Mizuki or Lapis Homme art style. (to be honest, took me 3 times flipping through this, and the third time actually paying attention to the story being told, not the art style, before I picked up on the very emotional story that was unfolding. -_-U) So... yeah, if that upsets you, keep on scrollin' and pay no mind to this post.

If you're curious, then keep reading.

Now, to give you a VERY short version of these 3 pages, it’s a summary of what happened in the past 2 books (lordy only knows where a copy of them could be since this was released back in the early 1990′s).

Short version summary : Touma’s got a disease that’s landed his butt in the hospital. At first he lies and tells everyone he’s fine, but gets worse, thinks he’s gonna die, then goes all ‘Seiji! I love you!’ to which the blonde Trooper goes ‘I love you, too <3′. By the time Touma is well enough to leave the hospital, he catches sight of his boy on TV, severely injured, trying to whoop some Youja bad guy butt. Only to end up getting himself rushed into the hospital. Which ends up with the truth coming out that Seiji’s got cancer, has a month left to live, and life sucks. They decide to get married asap, with Touma giving Seiji a wedding ring.

Not long after, a new round of attacks from the Youja World (and Arago’s army) is unleashed on the city. Seiji knows he needs to be out there to help fight back and to form the Kikoutei armor, but he’s too weak and can barely move.

He prays / begs to Kaosu for help, saying he’d give his life if it means he can help stop this. Lo and behold, POOF! Seiji is magically made better, the Youja gate the baddies came through gets sealed up, all the bad guys are dealt with, and Seiji says goodbye as he walks into the magical sphere that will seal all of that evil away. Touma doesn’t take this well, AT ALL. He tries to stop Seiji, Shin attempting to hold Touma back, and, just like that, Seiji, the Youja bad guys, and the Youja gate are all gone.

Current book starts off by jumping well over a decade into the future with Shin, all grown up, with his now 8 year old daughter.

It’s a weird way to start this book, but we go from Shin and his daughter in the future, to back in the past after Seiji’s death.

Touma is not taking his friend’s / husband’s death well AT ALL. To the point he’s having violent nightmares, wakes up still being stressed / freaked out, and to where Nasutei has to use sedatives on him to make him calm down to any degree. Even then, he’s still in denial, and the others have to lie to him, saying that Seiji is out but that he’ll be back soon.

An exhausted Nasutei commenting (after he’s fallen back to sleep) commenting about why can’t he just accept Seiji’s death like everyone else has? Having Touma go through this is torture on all of them. Time flows ever onward and the warm weather turns cold. Touma gets past the worst of it, more or less, but is depressed and suicidal. To the point he locks his bedroom door, slits his wrists, and tries to bleed out. The others rescue him, get him to the hospital, to which, afterwords, comes back to Nasutei’s house where EVERYONE keeps an eye on him and makes sure anything sharp is locked away.

This stresses out everyone, and gets Shin, who’s been the most patient and compassionate of the bunch, to snap. Saying that Seiji wouldn’t have wanted his friend to behave this way, and that there’s no guarantee that if Touma WOULD die, that they’d end up meeting in the afterlife.

Things really aren’t made any easier when Kayura comes to visit and has news. Sure Seiji’s sacrifice was a noble one and did seal up that one location so no other evils, gates, or soldiers could return, but it’s messed up stuff to the point where any wickedness happens, a gate will appear and, well, we all know that the Earth isn’t the most peaceful place in the universe.

Touma gets upset, to the point he grabs her by the neck and slams her down onto the dining room table. Despite her best efforts, she’s unable to open the seal at all and reclaim Seiji’s body. At least if they had his body they could have a funeral and say a proper ‘farewell’. Eventually he releases her, then gets super depressed. One day while out on the the terrace with Ryou, a tree branch breaks and wallops Touma upside the head, giving him a nasty bleeding cut.

As his friends tend to the injury and stop the bleeding, Shin gives the blue haired Trooper a letter. After everything, Shin had claimed the bag of Seiji’s clothing and belongings from when he was in the hospital and, among the things is a letter addressed to Touma.

In the letter is a lock of Seiji’s hair and the letter basically reads ‘By the time you read this, I’ll be dead. Don’t be sad. Are you lonely? Are you alone? Go out and live your life. You still have one to live. Make me proud.’

That seems to be what it takes to snap Touma out of his mood and turns his whole world around. The next morning finds the Trooper of Tenku coming downstairs to breakfast wearing clean clothes, with the lock of hair tied to a necklace, and stating that he’ll be leaving the house soon. He’s decided to aim to become a doctor and to find a cure to the cancer that took Seiji’s life. (Line of logic here would probably be more like ‘if he hadn’t had that cancer, he wouldn’t have gotten so severely injured, and wouldn’t have had to sacrifice his life to safe the city. Hence, is all cancer’s fault that this happened’.)

Chapter 3 picks up in the future (or would this be considered the present?) with Doctor Hashiba getting called into surgery to save someone’s life.

The surgery went well. He gets praised. Then his mother decides to swing by for a visit. Half because she just won a Pulitzer Prize and wants to celebrate, and two, because she’s now got some time off from work to do so.

The only thing is, she’s got bad timing. This is Touma and Seiji’s wedding anniversary, and the anniversary / observance of when he died.

They have a bit of an arguement. She saying ‘I don’t want you to be alone’ and he saying ‘I’m not alone. I can’t love anyone else. Seiji was the only one in the world for me’. The conversation dies out when Shin arrives for a chat and Touma’s mother leaves. (And, yes, that IS Shin with the really long hair. I honestly think that Sunao Ari was channeling Shin’s early design from when the characters were still in developtment. Not even kidding, here.)

Anywho, onwards with the story~

Touma and Shin get to chatting. Shin’s here because, thanks to Touma, his daughter is cured of the same kind of cancer Seiji had. Today is the day she’s being released from the hospital and can go home. Touma asks if they’d seen Seiji’s inspirational statue out in front of the hospital. Shin has but his daughter hasn’t. She goes out to look? He sends her out to look? Not really clear on that, BUT, either way, she’s outside meandering about while the two men talk. The conversation is basically ‘everything changes, but it sure seems like Seiji / the memory of Seiji has never changed’. Touma makes an offhanded comment about his own disease and says that he knows / he has a feeling that he’s going to die soon.

Suddenly there’s noise from outside and, come to find out, Shin’s daughter (4 years old at this time) is out in the middle of the road. The two men race outside, with Touma being faster, and shoves her out of the way of danger.

Unfortunately, this lands Touma smack dab in the middle of traffic instead. And, well...

The headlights of a truck? ambulance? are all too familiar to the light that Seiji walked into all thos years ago. Just like that BAM!!!!

Shin rushes to his friend’s side and, understandably so, freaking out. (Pretty sure the pictures speak for themselves here. Also, TOUMA! NUUUU!!! I may be a loyal Ryou fangirl at heart but, TOUMA! NUUUUU!!!)

As Touma is dying in Shin’s arms, Seiji in angel form appears. Touma manages to whisper out the name of his beloved significant other before completely giving into death.

Is super sad. (DANG IT, SUNAO ARI! WHY MUST YOU HURT ME SO!? GWAAAHHH SUCH A SAD STORY!!!!!)

The story picks up later at Touma’s funeral. 

Despite the super sad atmosphere and Shin blaming himself for his friend’s death (’it’s my fault. I killed him.’ Shin, sweetie, no you didn’t. Your daughter wandered into traffic and Touma died saving her life. You didn’t do a thing! ~*sad hugs*~ ) Touma’s dead body had a gentle smile on its face. At least he died happy.

Around his neck is the same lock of Seiji’s hair from the letter so many years ago.

(Shut up, dun look at me! I’m not crying! You’re crying! Bwaaa~ :,( )

The story ends with Shin noticing the fact that it’s beginning to snow. In October. Too early.

He wonders if the snow is a sign that Touma and Seiji are now happy together, or sad.

Sunao Ari, I know it’s been decades since you made this story, probably the first time someone NOT Japanese has been able to read it, but I hope that where ever life finds you, that you’re doing well, are enjoying good health, and are no longer torturing Seiji and Touma. (not sure mah lil ol’ fangirl heart could take another book like this one from you! ^_^U) Well, that’s it. Hope you enjoyed the story and the fact that it was translated for your .... it’s not right to say ‘enjoyment’ here, is it? for your reading pleasure? ... still doesn’t sound right. ~*offers you soft tissues and a warm blanket after that story*~ excuse me whilst i go hunt down some cute pictures of fluffy kittens to console mahself with.

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E12  Poll Results (Manga Reader Version)

The poll closed with 487 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that this is the results of the manga reader poll. Anime only watchers are suggested not to read if you do not wish to be spoiled about certain events! Anime only viewers, click here to view your poll results!

RATE THE EPISODE 481 Responses

The final episode of the first half of S3 was another banger with positive reactions. Compared to earlier in the season when manga readers seemed more dissatisfied with the adaptation, we are happy to see that the final episodes of the arc turned out to be a much more positive experience!

Considering this episode was essentially just the calm before the storm, I was pleasantly entertained by it. Not the best episode because not a whole lot happened, but still it did what it needed to do.

I was super worried they would change something in this episode but thank Ymir-sama it's okay.

IT WAS AWESOME AND THAT ENDING IS ONE OF THE BEST THING THIS ANIME HAS EVER MADE!

This episode was so good! And funny! And angsty at the end! All the ingredients that make a good AOT episode

Very good, the preview was spooky and the whole episode had humor to lighten the mood, some emotional stuff and High Anxiety Cliffhangers to finish us off. Its gonna be a long 6 months.

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE FIRST HALF OF SEASON 3 AS A WHOLE? 481 Responses

Overall, the first half of season three was satisfying for manga reading poll takers despite the changes.

All in all, absolutely stunning season. From the bottom of my heart, thank you WIT.

It was a really good episode. It followed manga perfectly. Every ep. of Uprising should has been like that. Too bad it wasn't, that why I rated the whole series pretty lowly. Honestly, I expected something better. But that was fine, not the worst. Yet, I would have changed a lot.

Really good way to end this half of the season. Can't wait to see the next half. It was nice to see a "calm before the storm" episode.

It was a brilliant idea to end the first part of season 3 right there, by doing this we were given proper construction to this arc.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SEASON TAKING A BREAK UNTIL APRIL? 481 Responses

About 37% of respondents are sad to see the anime take a break, but nearly half of voters are fine with the break stating that it’s not too bad of a wait, with some who are even looking forward to the breather for a bit (we’re looking forward to having a good rest as well although we will miss the anime!).

I'm okay with it since it means that we will a get a really well made RtS arc. But they really should've said that the break was going to be this long earlier. Or just called it season 4

Waiting is something we SnK fandom know how to do, unfortunately

As a manga reader it's easy to not be too upset since we'll have plenty of chapters during that time.

It's nice to get a breather before shit hits the fan.

I don’t mind waiting 6 months when I know it means the animation will look a lot nicer as a result

I feel like i would have been less upset if they just told us from the start how its gonna be... I hated the uncertainty

If it means a fantastic second cour then I'm all for it. I mean my life is empty and I wish I were dead, but other than that I've accepted it!

6 months for preparing myself to let Erwin rest in peace

I AM NOT READY FOR RTS THIS IS LITERALLY THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A HIATUS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WIT

WAIT Studio

Does Annie have some space next to her for the next 6 months?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SCENES WERE YOUR FAVORITES? 480 Responses

The Survey Corps’ sendoff was the most favorite moment of the episode, followed closely by Eren and Jean’s nostalgic fight. Levi and Erwin’s talk after the meeting made it to third most favorite scene of the episode, followed closely behind by Eren, Armin and Mikasa’s conversation. Everyone losing their minds over meat was another favorite.

Erwin was so perfect, I loved his little laugh, I thought the whole interaction with him and Levi was done so well... god, I'm gonna miss him so much, it actually hurts.

Good breather episode, comedy gold with the dinner scenes, and the send-off was just as fun as it was touching. Also, the extra scene was creepy and great, but I hope anime-only watchers don't spoil themselves trying to find the meaning to it...

I think they did a really good work with the Erwin x Leviv talk, and EMA talk... Since enfatizing Erwin's reasons, and showing Armin's, It became more clear Levi's choice in future

I loved EMA talk... it made me pretty sad because of the events which now are taking place in the manga. That was good to see them together in the anime.

My Eruri shipping heart was in tatters, I tell you. I've been looking forward to the ""I'll break your legs"" scene for ages now, and shit, watching it was a literal punch to the gut. Erwin's beautiful roar of victory on the wall, his final ""SUSUME"" just... I was in awe.

Sasha nomming on Jean’s hand was even funnier animated

The 104th dinner scene was just perfect! It's been so long since we had a scene of such warmhearted camaraderie, it really brought back all my season 1 feels for the babies. Beautifully done.

Overall great Episode, really liked how they foreshadowed Erwins Demise and his conversation with Levi, EMA talk was great too, and the serumbowl scene made for an amazing cliffhanger

DID THE GLITCHED ENDING SCARE YOU? 483 Responses

The abrupt reminder that SNK is a horror anime definitely seemed to work!  The majority of people were scared by the ending at least a little bit, and some were thoroughly terrified.

"Blink and you'll miss it" my a**

Honestly it reminded me of how horrid the show actually is. I forget it's not all cute and funny scenes with a tinge of "yikes" that happened, but instead vice versa

I knew it was coming in the ED but didn't know WHEN and I was just anticipating it like a dark corridor in a horror movie XD

Moreso that scare me, it got under my skin and just stayed in my head the rest of the day.

Scare is not the right word. The option I'm looking for is FUCKING WRECKED

I learned that apparently a lot of you watch shit alone in the dark. But to answer the question, no, not at all.

It thrilled me to see them cleverly setting up the next half of the season this way

Only the Levi's distorted "you guys". The glitched ending was awesome

I saw some screencaps of it prior to watching so I was somewhat prepared but it was way creepier than i thought it would be, it spooked me

It wasn't actually SCARY, but I fucking loved it. So twisted and creepy

rip ears in that ending, it makes for some great youtube reactions though lol

Well, mark me down as scared and horny

SHOULD ZACKLEY’S ART BE REALIZED? 478 Responses

We suppose the real question is, when will Zackley’s “art” stop becoming something we ask about? :P All in all, most of you agree that it should not be seen or talked about. 21% of you are still finding humor in it.

HOW MUCH DID YOU ENJOY THE SEQUENCE OF EREN AND JEAN FIGHTING? 483 Responses

Most of the viewers enjoyed Eren and Jean’s antics with 84% rating the scene with a 4 out of 5 or higher. 

Mikasa letting them fight and not dragging Eren way is the best part! It's such an important character development for her. Also this Episode was full of parallels to their training days. Great episode.

Eren and Jean bringing the Drama™ (as expected of Eren and Jean)

THE SURVEY CORPS HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED A SEND-OFF LIKE THEY DID IN THIS EPISODE - FAVORITE PART OF THIS SCENE? 481 Responses

The surreal experience of getting a positive send-off like this made Erwin’s smile and shout the overwhelming winner here, and for good reason!  A smaller portion of respondents enjoyed Springlestein being themselves and a few called out Levi’s face in the comments:

All of it. Because it will be the first and the last time we'll see it

YYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

Levi looking at screaming Erwin like "WTF Erwin"

Hange smile

LEVI'S SOFT LOOK

I like the manga version better because Levi's smile was softer there

Levi's expression when Erwin did his triumphant shout.

literally everything about it was perfect

WOULD YOU LET LEVI BREAK YOUR LEGS? 480 Responses

While 58% of respondents cannot understand why anybody would want their legs broken by Levi, a small percentage were even asking for it.

THE EPISODE WENT EXACTLY AS THE ORIGINAL MANGA! 478 Responses

So, the story behind this one is that one of the pollsters posted this “question” on our original document as a joke while another one of us was at work. When the one at work got off, they put the question onto the poll form while the person who created the “question” was not online, not realizing it was meant to be an unpublished joke. This was completely overlooked during the final proofread. It was never actually intended to make it onto the poll but since one of us always tries to rush through things, here we are! In any case, we hope you guys had a good laugh, because we all collectively lost it when we realized the mistake much too late!

wow y'all throwin shade with this Q huh

Yes, it is Erwin's birthday celebration after all

Glad that Erwin and the crowd’s screaming was a ‘dialogue’ and that he screamed again.

Makes sense, given how its purpose is to set up the new arc. Not much need to leave things out for the sake of pacing.

They done it so perfectly! I love that episode and love the hope in the air, my man similing and being happy, I love they see people cheering for them. THAT was earned.

It still modified some moments like Armin thinking of Eren and Mikasa instead of the bullies in the manga. Maybe it's better and more consistent with the following events.

Thanks God! The whole series should has been this way. Compared to the sad 1st episode of Uprising, this one was a true masterpiece.

u people need to get the salt in your blood checked, let others be dissatisfied with something they care about? please and thanks

i don't care if it went exactly as the original manga or with some changes as long as the episode is good

THE CHAPTER SIGNIFIED THE START OF A NEW ARC, BUT THE ANIME USED IT TO END THE FIRST COUR, WAS THIS A BENEFICIAL DECISION? 478 Responses

The majority of folks thought shifting the send-off to the end of the cour to create an uplifting cliffhanger was a good way to end the season.  Several people called attention to how much contrast was felt between such a positive ending and the credits scene.

I think it works great, especially the triumph of the send off and the "oh shit, what's happening" moment in the ED

should have been the first ep of the next arc, with the send off as the cliffhanger

It was a nice, fun send off for the arc. Has the suspense of the scouts going towards the foes. The next episode with the next chapter/s will be perfect for getting back into the series after 6 months

WAIT Studio used it as an effective cliffhanger but from an adaptation perspective it's just like the Wall Titan. Something to keep the audience's attention at the cost of the narrative's flow. If the season was going to be split then rushing the Uprising Arc at breakneck speed resulting in one extra episode was pointless.

The opening of 73 is a perfect opening for the second cour, so I knew from the beginning of the season that ending in this chapter would be their aim. The second half won't struggle for content, and they can either push ahead flashbacks (I expect some of Bert's parts from 96 making it into the adaptation of 77) or content that didn't make it in the first half used to extend other parts (Eren's experiments for Armin realizing how to beat Bert in 81)

I think this will help the second part by being on the way to Shiganshina to start it off.

Heck cliffhangers!

LEVI WASN’T EXPLICITLY SHOWN EAVESDROPPING UNTIL THE END OF EMA’S CONVERSATION, DO YOU THINK THIS DIMINISHED THE FORESHADOWING? 478 Responses

The vast majority of respondents agreed that as long as we saw him listening to them, that’s ultimately all that matters. A small few believe that not showing him listening in on them earlier will diminish the overall impact when he makes his decisions later, however.

I don't think it matters, especially if the anime includes a flashcut to this moment post-decision, which will make its important even more obvious for viewers who may not remember this scene at all.

I'm not sure, I guess it did seem more ambiguous here. They'll flashback to it when serumbowl happens though.

Wouldn’t have spent more time on it. This show is about subtle details. I think its ok.

It still worked, but I would have liked it to have been made clear that he saw Armin's expression when he was talking about the ocean

No, but i think it was nice in the manga to see that at the beginning of the conversation he was standing and ended up on the floor by the end of it. Small detail, but i took it like he didn't mean to listen in the beginning but decided to stay in the end because of what he was hearing?

No, because it was a detail it meant a lot more. Subtle details have greater impact in visualities, manga is a different medium and the scene was used properly for its medium.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WIT SHOWING *THAT PART* OF THE RTS ARC AS A TEASER? 480 Responses

38% of respondents believe that the teaser was a great way to keep interest in the series high. 20% specifically feel that it will keep the anime only fans invested. About 21% of respondents combined don’t think it was the smartest choice on WIT’s end while almost 10% are just not ready to see that animated at all.

Even though I already know what will happen, my body *isn't* ready for this shit to come, except for the lightning spears

Honestly, I thought it was stupid as fuck and a cheap way to keep hype up for anime-only people. I would've preferred my anime-only friend to go into RTS completely blind.

I think it's great because it lends itself a lot of hype for the next half as well as leaving it very open ended. Especially because they cut out lines about the serum.

I think this teaser shocked more the manga readers than the anime onlines.

It's the worst part of the manga they could spoil. I'm not sure what they intend to do by showing such a controversial moment

It was brilliant. Anime only watchers don't often get the experience of agonizing over certain cliffhangers monthly, but with this flashforward looming in their head, they have a whole season of suffering ahead of them. SUFFER LIKE US, ANIME ONLIES!

I really liked it but I think they could have shown a part of Bert/Reiner/Zeke’s convo since we saw Bert and Reiner at the end of the episode, and it would have anime-onlies wondering who the glasses guy is

I was shocked and hyped at seeing them include this scene, but at the same time I’m sad that anime-onlies were spoiled that at the very least Mikasa, Eren, and Levi will survive until this scene, destroying any tension of them dying

I'm really conflicted; on one hand, I was very surprised in a positive way, cause it was a ballsy and unexpected move. On the other hand, I understand that anime viewers might be sick of spoilers bc of the scene at the beginning of ep1.

It gave me anxiety lol. Please someone save my babies from their horrible destiny

One hell of a cliffhanger and I can't really imagine anything better to show everything going wrong (Colossal nuke is way too obvious, for example), but the people complaining about spoilers do have a point...

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR RTS’S ADAPTATION? 480 Responses

WHAT SEGMENTS OF RTS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING ANIMATED NEXT COUR? 481 Responses

Over half of respondents feel that the Return to Shiganshina arc will be delivered just as well as Uprising was. 37% of respondents feel it will be much better than Uprising’s adaptation. A small few don’t have much faith in the second half of the four.

FUCK ME UP!! R.I.P. ANIME ONLIES

GIMME THE 2ND COUR NOW!

I don't know if I'm emotionally prepared for this arc

I’m going to have 6 more months to mentally prepare myself for the return to shiganshina arc and I still won’t be ready

from an adaptation perspective it's going to be the same as the previous seasons. WAIT Studio excels at certain aspects of packaging SnK into anime, but as a whole it's a bad, rather than amazing, adaptation.

Is there a "NOPE I am not ready for RtS arc" in the questions?

WHAT SEGMENTS OF RTS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING ANIMATED NEXT COUR? 481 Responses

The most anticipated segment of the Return to Shiganshina arc is the suicide charge + Levi totally wrecking Zeke. Following closely behind are the basement reveal, the serumbowl, Grisha’s diaries and flashbacks, the ocean and the showdown with the 104th and Reibert. 

Kill me! I cannot believe I have to wait 6 months for RTS. 6 months until I can see Reiner and Bertholdt in action and the FREAKING BASEMENT!!!! I was fine with a 3 months break but 6 is too much ;____; I want to see Grisha's past animated

What everybody is waiting for the RtS Arc: the basement, Reibert fight, Levi soloing the beast titan, the ocean. Me, an intellectual: THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS THUNDER SPEARS (and Grisha's backstory)

can't wait to see historia looking graceful as hell in front of the sunrise while the SC goes off to fuck reibert and zeke up

The only thing I can think about is Zeke.... *screams* ZEKE AND EREN! THE JAEGERBROS! AND THE GRISHA FILES! SO MANY JAEGERS *dies*

I'm definitely looking forward to RTS okay, but I'm dreading it more, honestly. But the one thing I'm looking forward to, and really hoping they'll animate, is Levi taking down those Titans on the way to Zeke. I know the focus is on Erwin's last charge in the manga, and rightly so, but DAMN, I want to see Levi do that -I honestly don't think anyone, even Mikasa, could do what he did there.

I have a fever, and the only prescription is Season 3 Part 2

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

A pretty decent choice for a midseason finale. But most important, a pretty good choice for episode 49. Once we're back in April, the series will be celebrating having made it to 50 episodes. Just 2 years ago, we were wondering if we'd ever get episode 26, and now we're getting to a landmark episode that will be exciting and memorable! Nothing between chapters 70-72 could've worked as such a landmark, in my opinion, but chapters 73-74? Absolutely perfect for it.

And my ship finally got some screen time

But damn wit... I almost got a heart attack because of the glitched ending!! Please, I at least want to survive to see manbun Eren animated

For anime watchers: I enjoyed watching your confusion over that ED. May you all be prepared by April 2019.

My heart is filled with so much Eruri that I may cry. You could literally see how much concern Levi had for Erwin in his eyes.

I love Bertoto and Raina more than myself. Guess, I'll die in April.

I'm an Erwin Lover™ and the show is gonna come back right around my birthday so this was Great and I'm Fine

It was out of character to see Eren fully clothed.

The moment when SC were cheered up and Erwin was so confident and happy and then they left into the sunset gave me goosebumps and almost made me cry :') it was a beautiful, strong, encouraging moment for SC!!

Let me just tell you how fucking HYPED I am for the next season after those previews during the ED. HYPED. And Jesus fuck yes, Armin looked like a charred French fry that got left behind in the oil. THANK JESUS. I was afraid WIT might downplay that, but no, my boy gonna be the CRONCHIEST.

The glitches were great and not too spoiler-y but WIT absolutely ruined it with the Eren/Mikasa/Levi scene. They showed too much.

rip ears in that ending, it makes for some great youtube reactions though lol

Erwin looked fine as fuck

Wit, you better be paying for my doctor visit. My ears were bleeding with your little trick you pulled at the end.

This episode. THIS FUCKING EPISODE. Man what a way to end the cour. REALLY, standing ovation to WIT. That glitch ending was just like that tiny Titan-in-the-wall scene at the end of season 1 that made me go looking for the manga. Absolutely brilliant stuff.

Thanks for these polls.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 446 Responses

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming Uprising Arc poll!

[recommendedlisten]

New year, new music remained more true than ever this past week. UK dub esoteric and in-demand producing extraordinaire James Blake kept us awake with his insomniac love, PUP continued to find growth and life-affirmation through their nihilistic punk sing-a-longs with the kids, Maren Morris reaffirmed our faith in her GIRL power with her first preview off her highly anticipated sophomore effort, Tamaryn brought rage to her dreamy art pop, and Los Angeles noiseniks HEALTH refined the strangeness in their sound. Bubbling up from the underground and rising, we got promising glimpses in the futures of righteous rablerouser Stella Donnelly, cosmic soothsayer SPELLLING, folk duellist Bellows, and synth stylist Liam Benzvi. The latest Recommended Listen also came from Deerhunter’s latest album, which reminds us that their best days have yet to disappear. There's more where that came from with new music from pop and punk eclecticism alike.

Here’s the best of the rest from the week of January 13th, 2019…

Ariana Grande - “7 rings” [Republic Records]

The huge year Ariana Grande had in 2018 is going to get even bigger in the new year. To date, the pop superstar will be embarking on a massive tour behind last year’s great Sweetener, is slated to headline Coachella (and maybe even Lollapalooza, too...,) and has another album on the way that’s already shaping up to be one of the finest breakup reclamation narratives in pop culture. It’s tentatively titled thank u, next, after one of last year’s best songs, period, and more recently gave to us the sensually soulful ballad “Imagine”. “7 Rings” joins the two as potential album cuts, with this listen shifting gears into full-on fun mode where over an interpolation of the melody from The Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things”, Grande mean mugs about retail therapy and being able to pay for it all of her own dime. Its video, again directed by Hannah Lux Davis, is similarly luxurious, as we watch Grande and her BFFs flaunt her 1% status up in a neon pink penthouse playing around with more money and high-end material possessions than any of us will ever see even if we lived ten of our own lifetimes.

Cass McCombs -“The Great Pixley Train Robbery” [ANTI-]

Vagabond songwriting rebel Cass McCombs will release his ninth studio effort Tip of the Sphere on February 8th, and it’s building its way up to be yet another impressive showcase of the prolific wordsmith’s artistry, with early singles “Sleeping Volcanoes” and “Estrella” culling style cues from worldly musical influences that add even more layers to his detailed storytelling. Though its latest advance listen “The Great Pixley Train Robbery” may find less culture beyond the American songbook to be heard, within the context, it makes sense that its tone is that of a brambling, country-friend bar burner: It’s McCombs’ homage to the actual Pixley Train Robbery of 1889, in which a bandwagon of masked robbers hijacked a train, stole thousands of dollars, and made off into the sunset on horseback. When McCombs relives those moments through song, there’s no shortage of full color danger and adventure. His version of it will hopefully take him on the road much more safely later this spring.

Dark Blue - “Waterford Crystal” [12XU]

Andy Nelson may physically be at CEREMONY’s Home Sick 2 festival this weekend, but there are moments in time when his spirit gravitates into another dimension of punk with his gothly, political project Dark Blue, the Philly trio that also includes John Sharkey III of morbid post-punkers Clockcleaner and Mike Sneeringer of Purling Hiss. Of all the sounds this collective encounter in their work elsewhere, Dark Blue materializes itself through Sharkey’s handsomely maudlin vocals, sharp riffs that coil around the gloomy melancholia of Brit-pop and the singed edges of ‘70s post-punk if they were to be swallowed whole by a shoegaze orb. On February 22nd, they’ll be releasing their third studio effort Victory Is Rated, which boasts a curious sax guest spot from Philly scene kingpin Kurt Vile. First single “Waterford Crystal” isn’t that song, but it definitely rumbles through the speakerboom with a debonair shimmer in their sad-eyed rock theatrics. In a very punk move, Dark Blue plans to celebrate the release by playing only one show, which goes down March 1st at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus.

Victory Is Rated by Dark Blue

Gauche - “Conspiracy Theories” [Merge Records]

2019 seems to be the year in which punks are out here making what noise they can with what little free time they have while pulling double duty in other projects than the ones they’re primarily known for. The latest making their visibility known in the fray is that of Gauch, a D.C. post-punk outfit featuring Downtown Boys’ Mary Jane Regalado and Jason P Barnett alongside Priests’ Daniele Yandel and a rotating cast of friends, who’ve since signed with Merge and will be releasing their proper debut full-length later this year. Their latest single “Conspiracy Theories” is a standalone listen that serves as the perfect introduction to what they’re all about through up-front politicized matters in their lyrics slung over a nervous, yet linear wriggle of guitar riffs angling their way around brass splashes. "I hate/ conspiracy theories/ Alex Jones / I hate you too,” goes one lin. When you take into account that many within the D.C. punk scene have first-hand experience with seeing the worst of them play out in real life, their ire is more than deserved. Alex Szantos directed its very DIY, VHS-quality performance clip that makes the most out of party streamers and the color palette despite what dark clouds hover over the world these days.

Makthaverskan - “Demands” [Run for Cover Records]

Last week saw the long awaited and very welcome return o Swedish shoegazing punk band Westkust after a four year of silence from the point of delivering one of 2015′s best albums in their debut Last Forever. The band, which features two members of their more active post-punks counterparts Makthaverskan, is being followed on their heels with new music from that end, with the announcement that Makthaverskan will be releasing a 7″ single on January 25th. It features two tracks in “Demands”and “Onkel”, which the band revealed through a facebook post were initially recorded during the same sessions that brought us their solid 2017 effort Ill, but “didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the material,” hence coupling them together as their own stand-alone. Given that Ill found the four-piece dabbling in the cavernous echoes in their signature sparkle of post-punk, its A-side “Demands” rekindles fire with the illuminated rush. “Try to see through my eyes / No longer care for your demands / No time to catch up my mind / I am so tired of your advice,” Maja Milner’s sky-high vocals aim for the cosmos. When she’s seeing clearly, she and Makthaverskan never cease to scale new heights.

Demands b/w Onkel by Makthaverskan

Panda Bear - “Token” [Domino Records]

Plenty of listeners are feeling wistful this year over the 10 year anniversary of Animal Collective’s indie opus Merriweather Post Pavilion, yet sometimes-member Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox has been steadily looking toward the future of his own art ever since. His latest effort Buoys, due out on February 8th, is opening a new chapter within his own story following the trilogy of adulting avant pop bliss that was 2007′s Person PItch, 2011′s Tomboy and 2015′s Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper. While it does sound like the nautical breeze within Lennox’s music will never truly cease passage (titing his latest album Buoys alongside its lead single “Dolphin” are proof of that,) finding new pockets for his voice to explore within minimalist textures and low voltage experimentation amid his wonky nature suits his sound comfortably on its latest listen “Token”. The listen’s accompanying video, starring and directed by UK electronic composer Dean Blunt, is about rediscovering joy in the everyday after a series of creative setbacks -- Emotions aburst in Panda Bear’s sprite sound.

Xiu Xiu - “Pumpkin Attack On Mommy and Daddy” [Polyvinyl Records]

We can always count on Xiu Xiu to throw a wrench through the current musical landscape, and even themselves for that matter. For the veteran avant et. al outfit’s forthcoming 14th studio effort Girl With the Fruit Basket, due out on February 8th, project mastermind Jamie Stewart and longtime constant Angela Seo were joined by percussion virtuoso Thor Harris and Jordan Geiger inside the studio for their latest deconstruction in experimental noise and pop conjectures. Its first single “Scisssssssors” was an extreme breakdown of that in comparison to the cohesion within 2017′s Forget, with a visual treatment to match its occult oddity. Latest preview, the awesomely-titled “Pumpkin Attack On Mommy and Daddy”, delivers more in the sheer terror sonic department. The track was written by Angela Seo with help from Stewart and Los Angeles performance artist Elliott Reed, and is similarly fucked in its electronic decay overlaid by spoken word outbursts. Seo once again collaborated with Anna Lian Tes to create the listen’s video, which features some new facets of surreal vintage horror themes as its predecessor. Xiu Xiu have also mapped out a huge world tour in support of the new album.

[eunnieboo]

ask replies!

it’s been a while since i’ve done one of these!! i'm like a dragon sitting on its hoard except my hoard is a pile of beautiful asks. thank you as always for these messages! you guys are absolute sweethearts and it’s so warm and humbling reading through these when i’m feeling blue.

on that note, i did make a curiouscat account! i’m so bad at answering tumblr asks - i can never guarantee that they’ll be answered on time, if at all >< if you want a prompt response this will be your best bet!

1. gosh thank you so much!! i feel like i’m constantly inspired by independent artists these days, but if i had to choose influences that were there from the very beginning, yoshihiko umakoshi and CLAMP are ones that come to mind :>

2. i think i touched on this briefly in my faq! but i’m honestly not sure just bc i don’t know what knowledge i could offer - i’m not too hot at explaining the reasoning behind why i do things... a simple walkthrough of my drawing process is what i’d be comfortable with, most likely! something to think about if i ever opened a patreon 👀 ✨

3. omg you’re totally fine anon! my icon is from a later season of ojamajo doremi, my favorite magical girl anime! actually now that we’re on the subject, i REALLY encourage everybody to read this article about it!!! it talks about what makes doremi so special, the staff behind production - it sums up what i love about the series in a much more eloquent way ♥

4. oh gosh! i don’t think i’m well known enough for that haha~ maybe someday?!

5. AHH ANON YOU MAKE MY HEART SING!!! asking about my ocs omg i’m slain. lana is from a very old story of mine - she was a side character suffering from an illness that kept her bedridden most of her life. iirc her disfiguration was an accident when she was younger.. she got something in her eye that blinded her and she tried to claw it out in a panic. she later gains transformative / regenerative abilities that grant her wish to look “beautiful” but after realizing her powers are temporary, she becomes desperate to keep them no matter the cost...

she’s ok in the end tho!!

@prettybone: WAHH thank you so much! omg that’s so great!!

@nicememerino​: OMG YEE GOSH THANK U c(ˊᗜˋ*c)

@dogsahoy​: rolls around i’m so glaD THANK YOUUU!!

@alexthealienboy: winces ahh ouch >< facebook, why do you do this... thank you though! i hope you enjoy your stay~

@ravenclawsidiot​: omg thank you so much!! AAAAA

@vaciamos: oh my goodness, thank you! this makes me so happy!! i’m incredibly touched that my girls series is being received so well ;_; i hope to make more illustrations like it in the future!

1. ooommggGGG... T_______T thank you so much!! i’m floored

2. oh my gosh i just love hearing about people using my art as their desktop / phone backgrounds! what a treat <3 thank you so much ahh goodness

3. omg THANK YOU ANON!!

4. NOW THAT’S WHAT I LIKE TO HEAR (thank you forever!!!) 💖

@0xalis: oh my goodness thank YOU for sending such a lovely ask! what the heckie TvT i just love drawing characters. i know i still have a lot to learn, but that’s the fun part! let’s keep improving every day!! )9

@mitsu-romantica: ajSGJGJH THANK U OMG i hope that was a good time

@haniltin​: GUESS WHAT, thank you for being you!! p.s. what a good bokuto!!!

@broadwaymack​: omg thanks a billion, don’t be sorry! hehe

@paintedfaith​: no worries friend, how could i be anything other than happy for receiving such a sweet message! thank u for liking my mii and mii art - and doremi! have a wonderful weekend~

@boredomkillscreativity​: aw thank you!! ;v;

1. um no offense but i also love you ♥

2. !!! omgjfhgjfh thank u... blushes

3. ok anon but i’m warning you when i have cold fingers i WILL be sticking them on your neck to leech all ur warmth~

4. thank you so much!! U ARE THE CUTIE

5. wipes away a single tear from my face... thank u bb <3

6. ahh i’m so glad to hear that, thank you!!

7. omg! 😳  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ᕙ( * •̀ ᗜ •́ * )ᕗ thank you so much!!

1. technically i have, at my bfa exhibition haha! we had a pop-up shop available so i drew a set of miniprints to promote a game demo i made as my senior project. i still have a bunch left over from then, golly... thank you so much tho waaa!

2. ahh not yet! i really want to make one tho! i’m leaning towards using tictail or storenvy when the time comes. thanks for your interest!

@softdisabledkid​: i have! it’s definitely a goal of mine - and thank you so much, i’m really fond of how that assignment turned out too!! 😊 💕

@nicememerino​: thank you very much aaa!! hey here’s a secret for you, there’s gonna be a part three to my girls series and i’m planning on making prints of all of them after i’ve drawn the last one..! 🙊 

@fangirl-with-cat-ears​: thank you so much!! omg u are too sweet TvT and gosh pickles was actually my only neko atsume art because he’s my fave... but here’s another bc i also love sapphire, what a fancy lady!

thank you again everyone!!! this is about two-thirds of the asks i’ve collected recently so i’ll be making another batch when i have the time~ once again, if you’d like to send me something that has a better chance of being answered, please direct all your questions to my curiouscat! it’ll also save me from spamming replies / taking the time to format these long posts ♥

p.s. some urls didn’t show up when i typed them and i’m not sure why? very sorry to those who didn’t receive a proper “@,” i've still tagged all your names tho!

[cardcaptorcoconut]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc Chapter 11 Translation

I went to the bookstore at lunch today and was happy to find that Nakayoshi is out a day early. Here is the full version of the chapter 11 translation.  Going through it a second/third time, I noticed some errors I made in the preview versions and have corrected them (just nuances and typos; nothing plot significant). Sorry about the changes!

Also, I bought some extra goods yesterday at Sakura Fest and will be updating my CCS goods sale post soon.  If you’re interested in an item, please PM me. Right now things are quite busy for me at work, but I will try to respond as quickly as I can. :)

☆★Translation Notes Reminder★☆

Disclaimer: These are just fan translations. Please support the official release.

Chapter 11

Splash Page with Anime Preview Art: “I believed that we would meet again!”

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc Volume 3 on sale Wednesday, September 13th.  The special edition version of Volume 3 will include an OVA animation DVD with the story “Sakura & the Two Bears” - sold together with volume 3, pre-order start!!

[Note: This story will be an anime adaptation of both Syaoran’s original confession from the manga, and Sakura’s confession to him before he leaves for Hong Kong]

Deadline for applying: Friday, July 14th, 2017   On sale date Wednesday, September 13th Price: 3,480 Yen

Cover Page:

“Could you be friends with me?”

P1 Yue:  Another new card…? Sakura:  Yeah… At Tomoyo-chan’s house. Yue:  What kind of card is it? Sakura:  This is it. Kero:  "Record"… Yue:  You don’t have to get close to the screen.  I should just look at what our mistress has in her hand. Kero:  True, but there’s such a thing as having a presence, you know. Yue:  What can it do?

P2 Sakura:  I haven’t tried it out yet.  But I think it can record things somehow. Kero:  Try it out right now! Sakura:  Okay!  "Record!“ <Sakura activates the card>

P3 Kero:  It’s not moving, right? Sakura:  Y-yeah. Kero:  I guess it won’t work unless you give it a proper command? Sakura:  Take a recording around me now! Kero:  This (card)… did it record? Sakura:  How are we supposed to watch (what it recorded)?

P4 Sakura:  Project what you’ve recorded! Kero:  Ooooh! Sakura:  It’s like I’m really standing right here! Kero:  I see.  So this is how it’s used! Kero:  Record Yue next time too. Yue:  No thanks.

P5 Yue:  Well for now, it looks as though you’re unharmed. Kero:  That’s right. Sakura:  But this might be useful.  I can use this whenever there’s something I want to save. Sakura:  I’d just been thinking how it would be nice if I could do that… Sakura:  Ah! Sakura:  I need to leave about now!  I’ll talk to you later, Yue-san! Yue:  Be careful on your way. Sakura:  I will!

P6 Sakura:  I’m heading out! <Kero dives into Sakura’s bag.  A moment later, Sakura sees Akiho> Sakura:  Akiho-chan! Akiho:  Good morning. Sakura:  Good morning.  Good morning to you too, Momo-chan!

P7 Akiho:  Good morning to your friend too. <Sakura pulls Kero out of the bag. Caption reads: “Pretending to be a stuffed animal”> Sakura:  Yeah! Sakura:  Kero-chan came along with me! Akiho:  Good morning, Kero-san. Kero:  <thinking> Strangled! I’m being strangled!! <Sakura shoves him back into her bag> Sakura:  That reminds me, whereabouts do you live Akiho-chan?

[Lit: …where is your house?]

P8 Akiho:  It’s (a bit of) an isolated house that’s a close enough distance to walk to.  I heard that a boy from England who was about my age used to live there before. Sakura:  Eh!? Sakura:  Do you happen to have a picture of your house? Akiho:  Y-yes.

P9 Sakura:  It’s Eriol-kun’s house! Akiho:  Eh!? <Later at school> Kero:  I was strangled… At that rate, I thought I was gunna (die).

[Note: The Japanese was あのまま落ちるかと思たで – The word kero uses is 落ちる which has several meanings (e.g. “to fall”, “to drop”, “to fail”, “to give up”, “to die”). I thought of these he was probably being extra dramatic, but he could have just meant that he was about to drop the stuffed animal façade.]

Sakura:  I-I’m sorry. Kero:  Next time be more careful about how you treat me. Kero:  So, about this morning’s conversation… Sakura:  That’s right. It’s about Akiho-chan’s house. Syaoran:  So it was Hiiragizawa’s house...

P10 Sakura:  I was surprised.  But Akiho-chan was surprised too when I said it was where our friend used to live. <Text around Eriol says “Former Home Owner”> Sakura:  And so, she invited us over to visit this Sunday. Syaoran:  To Shinomoto’s house? Sakura:  Akiho-chan has been to many countries and she said she’d show us the books she’s collected from (her travels).

[Lit: …she said she’d show us the books she’s collected from those times.]

Sakura:  I’m sure I won’t be able to read foreign books, but she said she has books with lovely pictures and photos. Syaoran:  I’m sorry.  I have something to do on Sunday… Sakura:  I see… That’s a shame.  Well, Tomoyo-chan and I will go then. Syaoran:  Can you apologize to Shinomoto for me? Sakura:  Sure! Sakura:  U-um so…  Are you free the next Sunday?

P11 Sakura: U-um, I’m working really hard on the tamagoyaki [Lit: rolled egg]. It’s warm out and if the weather’s nice, um, we can go out together… Syaoran: If you’re okay going with me. Sakura: Th-that goes for me too. If you’re okay going with me! Kero:  Hey, I’m here too!  It’s not just your own world, you two!

P12 Kero:  Tomoyo, why do you have to have classroom duty today? (I’m the third wheel…)

[Lit: “I’m lonely…” but it’s basically what he means]

<Later, Sakura and Tomoyo go to Eriol’s/Akiho’s house> Sakura:  So it really is Eriol-kun’s house. Tomoyo:  It looks that way. <Sakura rings the bell> Akiho:  Yes?

P13 Sakura:  U-um, it’s Kinomoto. Tomoyo:  (And) Daidouji. Akiho:  I’ll open it now. Sakura:  Wow! Akiho:  Please come in. Sakura:  Y-yes! Kero:  You’re moving really suspiciously. Tomoyo:  Thank you for inviting us. Sakura:  …(f-for inviting us). Akiho:  I’m so happy that you came!

P14 Yuna:  Hello. Yuna:  Thank you for coming all this way today. Akiho:  Ever since I was little, I’ve always caused Kaito-san a lot of trouble. Yuna:  I am Yuna D. Kaito.  I watch over Akiho-san.  It’s very nice to meet you.

[Note:  Yuna speaks very politely and uses honorifics much like Tomoyo does.]

P15 Yuna: And you haven’t caused me trouble even once, Akiho-san. Yuna:  Please come inside. Sakura:  Wow!

P16 Sakura:  It’s really different from when Eriol-kun lived here. Tomoyo:  That’s true. Sakura:  What a cute room. <Yuna brings tea into the room> Akiho:  That’s a nice aroma. Yuna:  I prepared the cherry blossom flavored tea souvenir you gave us. Akiho:  <to Sakura and Tomoyo> Thank you very much. Sakura:  Tomoyo-chan and I picked it put. Yuna:  Here you are.

P17 Sakura, Tomoyo, & Akiho:  Thank you so much! Sakura & Akiho:  It’s delicious! Yuna:  Thank you very much. Please have some of this too. Sakura, Tomoyo, & Akiho:  I’ll have some! Sakura:  Hanya~n! <Sakura is suddenly embarrassed>

P18 Sakura:  I-it’s nothing! Tomoyo:  What’s the matter? Sakura:  I accidentally said “Hanya~n” Tomoyo:  But it’s so cute… Sakura:  I’m a middle school student now and it’s a little embarrassing, so I’m trying not to say it as much as I can. Sakura:  It’s very delicious! Tomoyo:  Which cake shop is this from? Yuna:  It’s from here. Tomoyo:  Oh wow, this is homemade?

P19 Akiho:  He always makes homemade sweets, meals, and bentos for me. Sakura:  That’s amazing! Yuna:  Not at all. Yuna:  It’s because this is my job. Sakura:  Akiho-chan…

P20 Akiho:  After we finish the cake, there’s a place I definitely want to show you. <Akiho takes Sakura & Tomoyo to her library> Sakura:  Wow!!

P21 Sakura:  Are these all your books? Akiho:  Rather than belonging to me, these were collected by my relatives. Tomoyo:  Your family must be avid readers. Akiho:  Yes, they all love books.  They collect them whenever they travel around various countries.  This is just a small part (of the collection). Sakura:  Hoeee, this is… Akiho:  I love books too… There’s a book I want at any cost that I came to Japan to get. Sakura:  (You came to Japan) for a book?

P22 Akiho:  For that, and also… <Sakura feels a presence> Sakura:  <thinking> Huh…? Akiho:  What’s the matter? Tomoyo: ……

P23 Sakura:  I-it’s nothing. Sakura:  Ah!  Akiho-chan, you said you have a favorite book, didn’t you? Akiho:  Yes. Sakura:  I was just thinking I’d love to see it if that’s okay with you. Akiho:  Of course! Akiho:  It’s in my room, so I’ll go and get it.

P24 Tomoyo:  Could it be that…? Sakura:  Yeah… It might be a card. Tomoyo:  Did something happen? Sakura:  No, (I only felt) a presence.  It seemed like it was over here. Sakura:  Huh? Sakura:  This is the only place that doesn’t have books? Tomoyo:  You’re right.

P25 Tomoyo:  Volumes 1 through 9 are all here.  Then there’s a gap (until) Volume 18 onwards. Sakura:  I wonder if someone is reading them. Sakura:  Eh!? Tomoyo:  What happened? Sakura:  This…! Narration:  The books that mysterious disappeared.  Just what does this mean?  The highly praised Volume 2 is now on sale ☆

[allenvooreef]

Year three of daily drawing - my experiences

Read about my first year HERE and my second year HERE

Wow! Three full years of daily drawing, all done. When I started out I didn’t even think I’d make it past the first week. I’m still baffled, to be honest. Time to look back on this third year, and on the challenge as a whole. I have a LOT of thoughts, let’s see if I can make some sense of them under the cut.

What was the plan? At the end of last year, I said this about my plans for 2018:

Do more studies, for real this time. I’ll be keeping a tally in my bullet journal of value, anatomy, landscape, portrait and material studies and aim to do at least twenty of each this year. Aside from that, I’m actually pretty happy with how my developement has been going this past year so I aim to just keep that up. I want to do at least one more year of dailies, because I just really like the number three and it means I’ll have over a thousand total. 

And how did that work out? Well, I made my study goal! 100 total, and 20 in each listed category. Though, as expected, I ended up making the bulk of them in the last two months to catch up. I think I learned a lot from doing those, but looking back, I feel like I only scratched the surface. See the way studies work is you copy first, then try to reproduce it without reference, then implement the techniques in an original artwork. I stopped at copying, meaning I learned about a third of what I could have if I had taken a bit more time. 

Something else I wanted to work on in 2018 was to stop letting these dailies cut into my sleep time. I set a timer on my phone for 8pm everyday to remind me to start drawing, and used my bullet journal to keep track of all the days I was in bed before midnight. While it definitely didn’t work *all* the time, I do feel like it made a significant difference. The feeling I got everytime I was in a late train home from band rehearsal and I realized I’d already made my daily earlier that day was priceless.

Time to quit? I already predicted I’d probably want to stop after my third year. Turns out that once I’d formed that thought in my mind, I suddenly started to *really* feel like quitting. I mean, I wasn’t about to quit before I’d reached the three year mark, I’m way too stubborn for that, but I did notice a significant drop in my motivation around April. I had an increasingly hard time coming up with things to draw, often lacked the mental energy for more ‘finished’ looking sketches, and overall started to feel like it was a chore instead of something I enjoyed. Near the end of the year I often spent over an hour just hovering my pen over my tablet before actually drawing anything. A sure sign that this challenge was no longer serving its purpose and it was time to stop.

Besides that, this year also brought along some pretty big life events for me, meaning I had little to no brain space and energy to spare for art for a while. Though forcing myself to draw through that exhaustion wasn’t fun, I’m relieved to notice that it didn’t kill my love for creating. If anything, it fueled my longing to make more elaborate artworks, to spend more than just an hour on something, to allow myself to let something sit for a few days before returning to it. 

An unexpected obstacle was a sudden bug in Photoshop, or my tablet, or both, that messed with my pen pressure. Meaning that for every 10 pen strokes I did, about 8 or 9 would come out as gross hard-angled black blobs. I have no idea what triggered this, and still no idea how to fix it (I use a pirated version of Photoshop so I can’t update it), so it meant that every drawing took at least twice the effort since I now spent over half my time ctrl+z ing until I could draw the line I intended. Seeing as my motivation was already dwindling, this certainly didn’t help in keeping these dailies fun to make.

Am I happy with the things I drew? Looking back on the things I drew in 2018, I think I’ve further solidified my workflow, having a clear preferred method of sketching and coloring. I sometimes tried turning off the line layers to see if it could work without, which was fun to see, but overall I think I stayed inside my comfort zone a lot (except for the studies). I don’t think I mind, though. Now that I know how I like to work, I can do it much more efficiently than I could before, and that’s a valuable time saver. I also focused on making my drawings look a bit less flat, approaching it as three-dimensional shapes rather than lines. There’s still a lot more work to be done in this department, but I’m happy with the steps I’ve taken so far!

What did I set out to learn, and did I? For 2018 specifically, it was ‘to make great strides in my mastery of anatomy, value, materials, portraits and landscapes’. As stated above, I feel like I haven’t nearly learned enough from the studies I did. Making these studies did give me more experience in a painterly workflow, and I noticed my eye for value and color getting sharper over time, but to really make the kind of progress I’d been looking for I’ll have to go the extra mile. Maybe I’ll get around to that now that I don’t feel obligated to post it all. 

What did I learn that I didn’t expect to? That even when I’d made a habit out of daily drawing, I can’t and shouldn’t go on forever. I thought the reason I’d quit eventually would be because I’d simply be bored with it. I don’t think I expected to have as much trouble finding the energy to keep it up, nor did I realize the time spent on these dailies meant less time spent on larger artworks. 

Looking back on the challenge as a whole:

What did I set out to learn, and did I?

1. To get over my fear of creating bad art I obviously didn’t 100% shake that feeling, but then again I’m starting to feel like I shouldn’t aim for that. As long as it’s not holding me back anymore, that bit of frustration when something doesn’t work as well as I hoped it would is the thing that’s going to drive me to keep improving. And looking back on how utterly stuck I was before starting this challenge, I’d say this goal has definitely been achieved. Now, I know creating something imperfect is always better than creating nothing at all, and I’ve also experienced that a lot of the time things work out better than I’d feared. 

2. To make better art Oh that definitely happened. I’ve improved way more in these past three years than in the three years before that. Some of the dailies I made in an hour are better than the artworks I’d spend multiple days on back then. As intended, the sheer amount of practice resulted in a better eye for cohesive proportions, and it allowed me to finally get comfortable with a certain style. Even though in hindsight I could have done way more to improve through this challenge, I’m very happy with the skill upgrade it did bring.

What did I learn that I didn’t expect to?

1. That I can actually do this It sounds silly, but trust me when I say I never *ever* actually believed I was going to last for longer than a week. I always thought I wasn’t the type of person who could keep up with resolutions. What I learned is that apparently I *am* stubborn enough to keep up with challenges, as long as I feel like I have something to prove to myself. And as long as I’m the one who set the rules. That way I can’t complain about them, after all! ;) 

2. To be self-indulgent There was a clear shift somewhere halfway through the challenge where I realized I had been holding off on drawing too much of the same thing, because I felt like my followers would be fed up with it. I felt like I wasn’t ‘legit’ when I was only drawing fan art. I realized that was holding me back, because now I was spending time and energy on figuring out the proper subject for my dailies before even putting pen to paper! The moment I let go of those expectations, and allowed myself to be as self-indulgent with my drawings as I’d like, my art improved. As did my love for art, and the response I got from you! 

Plans for 2019

I figured it was best for me not to jump right into a new challenge after this, so I’ve been spending my time just recharging. As I write this, it’s been 13 days since my last daily, and I haven’t felt the need to draw since. I’m taking it slow, getting a feel for where I stand now and what I’d like to learn next. I treated myself to a Schoolism subscription during their Winter Sale, meaning I have access to amazing course material all year, and I can’t wait to see how that will help me grow. 

I look forward to making sketches without ‘having to’ post them. Meaning I can copy art by other artists to learn from them without plagiarizing. Meaning I can decide to continue a sketch the next day, with fresh eyes. 

One thing I will still consistently do, is make a monthly Patreon illustration. I’ve rearranged the reward tiers to make the most out of the time I have, and I look forward to keep creating and improving with the help of my lovely Patrons.

I’m making a booklet with all the dailies in it, as well as some more in-depth reflection and tips & tricks. Partly because some of you expressed interest, and partly because I feel like it’s important for me to have a physical thing to show for all my efforts. I’ll let you know as soon as pre-orders open!

Right, I think that was about it! If you’re considering a daily drawing challenge and are wondering if it’s for you, feel free to message me if you have questions! If you decide to do daily drawings because of me (which is just... wow), I’d love it if you tagged me in one so I can check them out! 

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me through this challenge! Your enthusiasm encouraged me to keep going, and seeing your tags and comments in the mornings was one of the highlights of my day.

I’ll leave you with some links:

Check out every single daily in my daily drawing tag

If you’d like, you can support and be involved in my art journey through my Patreon

If this information was in any way useful to you, or you’d just like to make my day, you can buy me a coffee

Find me on twitter and instagram too!

[aion-rsa]

X-POSITION: IvX’s Soule Explores Mutant and Inhuman Perspectives

After a year of tense interactions and major losses, the Inhumans and X-Men have finally engaged in combat over the future of their respective races. With the Terrigen cloud — a mist that has become deadly to mutants that breathe it in — on the verge of saturating all of Earth’s atmosphere, the X-Men have taken drastic measures. Their opening attack on the Inhumans’ home in New Attilan left many of the group’s most powerful members in limbo — literally. With a line-wide revamp for both the Inhumans and X-Men coming in the form of ResurrXion, major developments lie ahead in the pages of Jeff Lemire, Charles Soule and Leinil Yu’s “IvX.”

RELATED: IvX Takes A Hellish Turn As Some X-Men Give In To Their Demons

This week in X-POSITION, “IvX” co-writer Charles Soule joins us and answers all of your questions about the massive event series currently rolling through two comic book lines.

CBR News: Welcome back to X-POSITION, Charles! Let’s kick things off with a question about Emma Frost from Diammandis.

I know you can’t really can’t answer this but who knows: will there be any resolution with Emma over Cyke’s death? Will Emma get the closure she needs during this event? Also when are you writing a Emma solo series?

Now, come on. You said it yourself — you know I can’t really answer those! Keep reading!

Hey, we still have to try! Next up, YeahX3 has a question about certain comic book numbers.

A lot of series now have #0 issues before #1 issues,and since you wrote one for “IvX,” I was wondering what your thoughts are about them, and what purpose they serve, and how you prepared to write one. What keeps a #0 issue, which is still the first issue, from being a #1 issue?

The goal of a #0 issue is to allow readers who haven’t been reading the respective series leading up to #1 to catch up quickly — it’s like a primer. The story proper starts in #1, and you can get all of it if you read #1 to the end. If you’re one of those readers who’s read every series that’s been building to a given event, maybe you can give the #0 a miss — but maybe not. It’s just added depth to the main event. “IvX” #0 was a blast — I’ll write Emma and Beast any chance I get, and working with Kenneth Rocafort was amazing.

“IvX” #4 interior art by Javier Garron

Last week’s batch of “IvX” books featured a cool use of action and reaction, and MiddlePegasus wants to know more about how moments like that come about.

It was really cool reading “IvX” #2 and then following it with “Uncanny X-Men” and seeing the after effects of the Inhumans’ detainment in Limbo. How did you coordinate that with Cullen Bunn and the tie-in writers? Or do they take ideas and run with them?

Cullen, Dennis Hopeless, Jeff Lemire and I all got together a few times to talk over the way the books would all line up. So, they all knew the majority of what we were planning, and could set things up in their books accordingly. I agree — fun stuff!

With so many characters to potentially include in “IvX,” Pedro wants to know how you decided on the ones in the book.

I’ve been going back and reading old Inhuman volumes and I have to ask this: where are all the Inhuman heavy-hitters from the past? The Inhumans have the New Inhuman Elite, the Crimson Cadre, the Royal Guard which are all more experiences than the NuHumans, yet we only see the Royal Family and the NuHumans appearing defending the city. They could have balanced the odds a lot more.

Agreed! First of all, it’s possible some of them are around, living quietly in New Attilan. However, during the fall of the original Attilan in the “Infinity” event, you’ll remember that Eldrac opened up and sent Inhumans all over the place — wherever they were needed. So, it’s hard to say where every single Inhuman ended up. For all we know some were sent halfway across the universe.

“IvX” #4 interior art by Javier Garron

Speaking of the Inhumans, here’s a quick Q from Jaunty.

The first few issues of “IvX” have been really X-heavy, seeing things from their point of view. Will that switch some, and will we get to see more of the Inhumans, like what’s going on in Limbo?

That seems fair, doesn’t it?

A balance must be kept! Continuing on with Inhumans talk, Sam Robards, Comic Fan wants to know more about the state of Black Bolt.

As the one who detonated the Terrigen bomb and released the mists into the atmosphere, how come we’ve never seen how Black Bolt feels regarding the mutant plight he created? Or, for that matter, how he feels about killing “Cyclops.”

I think we have seen it — but since Black Bolt doesn’t talk, you don’t know what he’s thinking when he takes action. I think his renunciation of the New Attilan throne back in my “Inhuman” series with Ryan Stegman was a direct acknowledgment that some of the choices he’d made were perhaps a little dicey, and if you look at “Uncanny Inhumans” #17 you’ll see more.

Here’s another question from Sam about Cyclops’ importance to “Uncanny Inhumans.”

Was Cyclops originally going to play a much larger (or even active) role in “Uncanny Inhumans”? I ask because the “Things to Come” image from issue #0 seemed to imply (based on the fact that he takes up almost a third of it) that he was going to be a big part of the series. If so, how did those plans change into what we eventually got in “Death of X”? I know that’s probably inside baseball, but you can’t blame a guy for trying.

Cyclops’ shadow looms large over “Uncanny Inhumans,” because of the events of “Death of X.” Everything I did in that series (along with [Steve] McNiven and all my other amazing collaborators) was, in some way, done under the shadow of what was to come in “IvX.”

It’s all connected! Circling back to an earlier point about all the other Inhumans wandering around the Marvel U, ţh€ €жţяą-๏яďɨɲąя¥ Tycon wonders how some of them will react to what’s going on in “IvX.”

Rogue, in “Uncanny Avengers,” has been shown to be staunchly anti-Terrigen Mist and even referred to it as “Inhuman poison.” Even some Inhumans like Moon Girl and Synapse would love to get rid of the cloud. Will we ever see them join up with the X-Men to end the poisonous, genocidal cloud?

There are so many points of view about the Terrigen cloud — it’s great to see it all spinning out into “IvX.” Jeff Lemire and I worked hard to make sure we saw many different perspectives on the mist, not just a global “Mutants hate it, Inhumans love it” thing. It’s more complex than that, just like it would be in real life.

Also, clouds aren’t genocidal — genocide is a crime, and crimes require intent, or reasonable anticipation of harm. The cloud itself had neither — it’s a cloud. The Inhumans aren’t “genocidal” either. Not Medusa or any of the others — remember, they had no idea the cloud would be released at all. The only ones who knew were Black Bolt and his brother Maximus, since they did it at the end of “Infinity” — but even they had no idea it would hurt anyone. But as we’ve seen with “IvX,” and as it often happens in real life, it’s easier to blame a group than a person, and things can spiral out of control quickly.

EXCLUSIVE: “IvX” #4 interior art by Javier Garron

Stepping back to look at the bigger picture, here’s an ask from Askani’s Flame.

How fun, and difficult, has it been to write this event? And what was your favorite scene (if you can share) to write? Who is your favorite character in the event to write?

It’s been pretty tough, but very fun, too. There are so many scenes with so many characters, all of whom need to feel unique within that scene, consistent across the story, and serve the narrative in the way you need them to. It was a tricky thing to pull off. My favorite scene comes in issue #5, I think, so you’ll have a bit to wait, but it takes place in Limbo. As far as my favorite character — pretty hard to beat Emma Frost.

Lastly, looking ahead, a number of new Inhuman books are being launched this spring, including “Royals” written by Al Ewing with art by Jonboy Meyers. Agronac919 is curious if you’ve had any impact on that series.

Seeing how you still have some hanging plot threats with the Inhumans, have you left Al Ewing and the other Inhuman writers notes on your plans or are you just saving that for if you ever return?

I’ve talked to Al and the other Inhuman folks, but they’re off having their own adventures for the moment. We’ll see if I ever get back to the I-verse — I do love it, and I already miss writing some of my favorites… who knows?

Special thanks to Charles Soule for taking on this week’s questions!

Stay tuned to CBR for information about the next installment of X-POSITION.

The post X-POSITION: IvX’s Soule Explores Mutant and Inhuman Perspectives appeared first on CBR.com.

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