#I could talk character design for hours

[loregoddess]

Osvald for the ask meme

Hecking love this guy...

how much I like their personality: Very much, which was a surprise to me. For a variety of reasons, I'm not fond of the "emotionless or emotionally stunted intellectual who prizes their lack of emotion as proof of their intellect (or else the intellectual with an utter lack of understanding of emotion in general)" as a trope (I am not summarizing that trope well, but, y'know, that trope), so I started off a bit wary every time the narrative made it seem like Osvald didn't know what love (or other emotions outside of revenge) were, but his narrative dovetailing into "actually he has known love (and other emotions) all along and just didn't have a name for them bc he was so preoccupied with his research, but actually he has loved and loves very deeply and this is a key aspect of his characterization" was a really nice subversion of my expectations and fears, and as a result Osvald ended up being a really interesting character. I love the duality of his focus on his research and rather blunt way of speaking being juxtaposed with how deeply he actually cares, and how despite at the beginning of his story where he believes himself a hollow shell of a man who can only seek vengeance, that he's actually so full of care for his family and the other travelers, and he actually does understand emotions even if it's not like, in a conventional way and not quite to the same level or type of emotional intelligence as a few of the other travelers. I just think Osvald's a really interesting, great character!

how much I like their design/aesthetics Overall, I love his character design! I think leaving the prison chains around his neck was a weird design decision, esp. after his main story arc is beaten (hey if they could take the cuff thingy off Therion after story completion, Osvald could have gotten some new clothes...), but overall I feel like his design reflects his characterization very well. He has this big, tall, hulking figure, and comes off as rather intimidating at first, which is fitting because he starts off as hellbent on revenge and also he can literally mug people at night, but then we learn that Loving Father is deeply ingrained in his core personality, so that the hulking figure becomes more like that of a protective mother bear (or Juvah, to quote Ochette). I felt like the designers also did a good job having his general appearance change to reflect his life circumstances (i.e. before the murder of his family, his hair is kept tied back, he's always dressed nicely, it's very heavily implied this was partly Rita's work but we still get the sense that his life is "together" as a result; whereas after breaking out of prison his hair is unkempt and he wears his old prison rags because he can no longer focus on living, with all his energy going towards his vengeance quest; and then of course we get how he's dressed in his ending art which I feel speaks for Osvald's entire character arc and growth very nicely). The overall choice for a color palette focused on browns and beiges was a nice touch too, because brown can very easily be made to look like a cold color in certain lighting, but likewise can be a very warm color depending on the light, which reflects the duality of Osvald's characterization very well too. I'm uh, gonna wrap this up here bc character design actually is my passion and we'll be here all day if I try to go over every aspect of his design, but as an artist with an interest in character design, I think Osvald's got a strong design overall and I like it a lot.

how interesting I think they are As stated in different ways above, I think Osvald's very interesting! Would probably write up an entire analysis of his arc and characterization and other stuff if I had the energy and time.

how well-written I think they are Overall I liked Osvald's writing quite a bit. His narrative arc was one of my favorites from the game, and I felt like the story beats and his characterization came through very clearly. I also felt that the turning point in his narrative (Ch4) was one of the strongest narrative turning points out of all the travelers (only being beat out by Castti's for my personal favorite of the mid-story turning points). Despite my love of a good ol' fashioned revenge tale, I was delighted by how Osvald's arc subverted my expectations without any of the plot twists or reveals feeling contrived or out-of-place. Especially on my second run with The Knowledge Of What Happens, I have an appreciation for how his story is being set up and how certain things were hinted at earlier if not outright foreshadowed. Very enjoyable writing overall!

(if applicable) how much I like their mechanics in-game Octo2 has some of the best game mechanics of any jrpg I've played (for my personal tastes), and Osvald's definitely one of my favorite characters to play. He starts off a bit of a glass canon, but with the right setup of equipment he becomes pretty sturdy quickly enough. I like having him in the cleric class because of the access Mystic Staff, and Holy Light is a useful single-enemy offensive skill to use for when Osvald's latent ability isn't full, but he does well in pretty much any class I stick him in, and his personal EX skill is one of my favorite EX skills from the entire game (although as to the divine EX skill well...I've literally never needed to use Teach so uh...that one was more of a miss for me). One of my main damage-dealers in endgame teams, and I used him specifically to churn out high damage hits in the fight with the optional superboss (that's all he did the entire battle), that's how powerful he ended up for me.

if I think they are a Good Person(tm) I'm not really invested in fictional character morality, but sure, even with the mugging and stuff Osvald seems like a decent enough person. Probably wouldn't be one of the main protagonists sort of implied to be chosen by the gods themselves to safeguard the world otherwise.

[bixels]

What did/do you like about Pharah?

Uh, gameplay-wise, I really love characters in shooters who rely on three-dimensional movement techs. Chaining together hover and jump to stay in the air for as long as possible and keep momentum is so satisfying, and picking enemies off from the sky made me feel like a bird of prey. I was a good Pharah main.

Story-wise, there unfortunately isn't much to canonically go off because Pharah is so underutilized and neglected. Her personality's pretty boilerplate "heroic hero" (she's literally inspired by Captain America).

But it's the crumbs/bits and pieces that I really latched onto. Pharah's a confirmed lesbian; her short story with Baptiste implies she harbors a crush on Mercy (fucking thank you.). She's biracial Egyptian/First Nations. She has major mommy issues, having grown up both admiring and resenting Ana. She's the bridge between Old Overwatch, inspired by the idealized heroes who surrounded her childhood, and New Overwatch. She's one of the only inter-generational characters in the cast; someone whose experiences span the gap, which is why I seriously believe Pharah would make a great main character.

There isn't much to go off of, though; she's a very uncomplicated character (she's a soldier for a private military corporation, lol.). But that just means she's a blank slate character, so I've seen fanfic writers run wild and create some really interesting takes on her. My favorite interpretation of her's a dense, herbo gym-bro type (a lot of her liens are about work outs, exercising, and playing sports) who's easily excitable under her seemingly self-serious, armored visage. We see how she tends to gloat and hype herself up when she's on a streak too, so Pharah definitely has a competitive and boastful side under her more professional and militant performance.

Now Mercy? Mercy is a real complex character.

[bat-connoisseur]

A bunch of OC designs/reworks I've done this month :> Still more to go, but Jasper and Crystal have been characters just SCREAMING for a redesign for YEARS now so I'm really happy to have gotten them done :) The Anatomist is a new oc and I'm enjoying his nasty fuckedup-ness, and Omari's design was okay but it needed a complete retool because he's now themed around an entirely different animal (An Egyptian Fruit Bat rather than a Honduran White Bat, so I needed to take out the dominant whites and yellows from his pallette).

Up next? Idfk, whoever I feel like drawing aha. Al, perhaps, or maybe I'll finally get around to my Galaxy design rework. I'm trying not to stress having everything 100% new and shiny for artfight, all my old stuff is perfectly serviceable, so I'm just focusing on those with the biggest changes.

[kragehund-est]

why is it hazbin was like, here are two beautiful otherworldly Pretty Lady-esque angels bathed in heavenly light. and then within .5 secs they both turned to angel-esque Pretty Lady design. i don't understand how this choice was made

in this show a lot of the characters shift into a more angelic/demonic form when they get emotional. but even then they didn't use this form, they just had eyes open up in her hair.

i feel those first two designs were wasted. they lasted half a second, weren't that impressive, and weren't used anywhere that could've had made them more meaningful.

[loe-does-stuff]

my beautiful daughter who has every disease

[lunesart]

favorite bmc outfit besides the squip/besides Halloween? (any version)

Oof this is hard. I have far too many opinions on the outfits in bmc and how interpret them in my art.

For simplicity’s sake, I’m gonna say Christine’s Sync Up-Upgrade outfit and Jeremy’s MtS outfit. (both bway!)

Firstly, Christine’s Upgrade outfit is really cute and (in my opinion) has the best application of pink in all her outfits. It looks similar to her first one without seeming like a huge jump in her fashion sense. The flower patterns on her legging and shirt are just great. The outfit is silly and kinda clashly, but it fits because Christine’s a weird teenager. Of course she would wear that. It’s also kinda shiny and bright compared to her others, kinda showing how she’s changing herself (if unintentionally) because of Jake. Idk I just really like it.

And secondly, Jeremy’s Mts outfit is ionic. it’s really plain but that’s what works. The blue cardigan especially I really love, which makes me upset because we don’t see him wear any other sweaters. (And Brooke has more of a hippie-long shawl thing going on). The reason I prefer this outfit over two river is the shirt. The red and yellow really pop against the rest of Jeremy’s blue-gray clothes. My only problem is that the blue on the shirt is too big and a too similar shade to his cardigan. but that’s a small problem. Overall really great!!

There are some outfits I think work really well like Rich in Mts and Brooke in VimH, but these are my personal favorites.

[featherymainffins]

I agree with this one Youtube guy's opinion on Kung-Fu Panda 4 but I feel like I am losing respect for him by the minute for unrelated reasons called "He showed his chart of movie antagonists and has Ken in the cringe tier, which does imply several things about the way he sees the Barbie movie and its themes. Also he has Adam (Hazbin) in the same tier."

On the other hand I am not sure if putting them in cringe means he thinks the characters are cringe, which like...yeah ok that'd be completely fair, or if it means that their usage as antagonists is cringe, in which case my previous statement applies like booo go home I don't want what you're cooking you don't get it you'll never get it.

Also he has a special super tier for Jack Horner which is giving him some plus points because big agree that was a real damn good narrative tool yeah.

[beefosaur]

someone’s probably noticed this before,,, but today i noticed that akechi goro’s fake metaverse outfit is a knockoff of featherman. all the other thieves had outfits that matched their own aesthetics and individuality, while akechi is out here in a superhero cosplay.

should’ve probably been a dead ringer that he’s a liar lol.

[leviiackrman]

ASAMI ENATSU, the hero & RIN KYUTOKU, the villain [my hero academia]

Full Costume Breakdown; Accessories, Equipment and More

[fragmentedblade]

I hate that I love both Fu Xuan and her gameplay

[oxidatedshout]

Level 16 redesign for one of my favorite D&D PCs! I’m about to play her again in the same world that I made her, I’m so excited to continue her story 🌸💗

[loregoddess]

youre the expert on zelda lore i know thats not a character but by god do you know everything about all of them

this is the biggest compliment honestly, I want to be the Zelda Lore Expert™

[bleushark]

made time to draw (procrastinated writing an essay) refs for a secret santa my friends and i are doing :D

these are probably my favorite ocs right now. i’m so happy i got to draw them, their old ref was super outdated

[esperderek]

I have to have a chuckle at the Screenrant article posted recently about the Galactic Starcruiser, which totally wasn't about Jenny Nicholson's video honest.

In part, because early in Nicholson's video, she talks about how unnatural it is to have your influencers speak in adcopy and copyright rather than the more colloquial nicknames, and how it makes the people speaking about the product seem very insincere and, well, paid off. Because normal humans don't speak that way, but advertising does.

What's the first two lines in this article?

"As a life-long fan of Star Wars, there was nothing quite as exciting as finding out that I would be working on the immersive Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser experience. Located at the Walt Disney World Resort, the Galactic Starcruiser opened on March 1, 2022, and welcomed passengers to board a two-day, two-night cruise through the stars, during which they could live out their own Star Wars adventure."

No one talks like this naturally. No one writes like this naturally.

This is supposed to be your passioned defense of the place you worked at, the people you worked with, and the memories you made along the way. C'mon! Why don't you open with a story, perhaps an anecdote about the best moment you had working there, or the devastation of the day you lost your dream job. We need to feel your humanity! But there's nothing of that here, to the point where you can just hear the TM behind Galactic Starcruiser.

The first half of this article continues in this vein, reading like a press release Disney marketing put out, just with past tense rather than present or future tense:

"Essentially, the Starcruiser experience was a 48-hour movie that passengers were actually a part of. It was all facilitated through the "datapad," which was accessed through the Play Disney Parks app."

"To facilitate the overarching immersive experience and storytelling, the Starcruiser built a jam-packed itinerary for each and every guest that would consist of a variety of important activities: the captain's toast at muster, a bridge training exercise, lightsaber training, and more. These types of events were essential to understanding what was happening, as they would give passengers the chance to interact with characters and build their story. This is why the Starcruiser could never be just a hotel; every part of it was designed for enthusiastic interaction."

Like, c'mon. I used to work in television. I've seen and used adcopy in my former job, and this is some serious adcopy. It honestly wouldn't shock me if the author dredged up some old adcopy they had lying around about the topic and just transferred it over, changing the tense. You're not here to sell us this product, because there is no product to sell. It's gone, it's been gone for a year, you don't have to sell us on IT. Speak about your experiences.

The next part is yet another topic that Jenny Nicholson pointed out, the bad faith excuses that influencers and advertisers made for the extreme price point:

"What many people don't know, however, is that the price included much more than just a room. The passengers' food, park tickets, recreation activities on board, non-alcoholic drinks, and more were all included - with merchandise being one of the few additional costs on board."

Which is absolute bad faith reasoning, especially when there are plenty of other vacation options that are ALSO all-inclusive, but are MUCH cheaper and offer MORE amenities than the Galactic Starcruiser did! Including Disney Cruises, owned by the same company! Seriously, you can go on a halfway decent sounding cruise or all-inclusive resort somewhere warm for, like, a week or two and spend far less than GSC cost.

Then the last part is essentially: "All the workers liked working there and the bad reviews afterwards make the workers who worked on it feel sad. :("

Which, like, companies have been hiding behind that reasoning for ages. Curiously, the author never offers....any reasons or stories. WHY did working on it impact you so much? What set it apart, what were the people like, what did you like about working there, why are you so passionate about it even a year later? There's nothing, just a generic sort of "We worked hard." and "We're sad it's gone." Why? How? What happened? The video you're obviously writing this in response to is filled with personal anecdotes and stories, it's the backbone of the video! Again, you need to give us something to show your humanity!

Especially when you consider that Nicholson repeatedly points out that the only highlight about her experience, the only thing that kept the damn thing going was the workers.

She had nothing but praise for them, and nothing but contempt for the higher ups who wasted and abused that enthusiasm, to the point where one of her last points was "Hey, Disney is basically exploiting labor."

Much like Jenny, I'm also not condemning anyone who had a good time working there. Good! If you were having a good time at work, that's great. If you have good memories about the people, awesome. But I'll note two things:

a) That doesn't meant you weren't being exploited, and

b) That doesn't mean you have to be a useful idiot for the corporation you worked for afterwards.

I'm not conspiracy brained enough to go "Oh, Disney TOTALLY forced this article into being.", because a cursory examination of the author's prior works and such suggests a lifelong passion for Star Wars, she did work at the hotel, and she's a Star Wars Editor (whatever THAT means in this day and age) for Screen Rant. Apparently one of the heads of Screen Rant says that Disney had no hand in it either.

Though, I can see why people would think that way. It READS like a press release, not something a normal human being would write about an experience they feel passionate about.

[maxwellatoms]

In one of your last answers, you said “series reboots are usually pretty gross and sad”, and I was wondering if you could expand on that? Assuming “reboot” covers any kind of continuation of a currently cancelled or finished show (and maybe that’s the wrong assumption!), from the outside looking in it feels like a pretty mixed bag. On one hand, if I love XYZ Show, it’s cool that I get more stories with these characters and another chance to support XYZ Show and its creators. On the other, it definitely feels like a lot of ideas can only get funding if they’re tied to something already, meaning creatives are having to now tie whatever cool idea they have to some reboot/relaunch/retread, which can feel pretty disheartening if you don’t want to do a reboot/relaunch/retread. Is that a similar feeling from your side of the industry?

Thank you so much for all your answers and insight!

Usually reboots and spin-offs are just cash grabs. It happens a lot in animation. In fact, I would argue that the entire industry is just one big cash grab now. In the 80s, everyone complained that cartoons were just half-hour commercials for toys. And they were right. And we're right back there, but now that you can't legally push toys all day, it's just general "IP". Mugs, posters, more spinoffs, whatever.

I was offered three show running gigs over the pandemic. All reboots that I would consider unwise to pursue because they were "of a different time" and didn't (in my opinion) have anything more to say. Two of them were properties created by notorious sex pests, so there's also that. The animation industry loves to prop up its sex pests.

I turned all of them down, partially because I didn't respect the original creators but also because none of them had anything going for them except just being "more of the same".

I don't think any of those projects survived the intervening years, so in retrospect I maybe should've taken the job. I'd probably feel a bit gross, but at least I'd have floors in my house.

The entertainment industry is in a bad spot. The whole thing. I've had I don't know how many pitch meetings in the last few years, and they all start the same way:

"Hey! Before we start, we just want to let you know that we're not actively producing anything right now. We think maybe soon, but we won't be picking anything up today..."

And then later:

"The little we are doing is IP, so if you have a new take on our IP or a new IP you're connected to that you can bring in, that'd be great."

I always wanted to make original stuff. There came a time when I'd had my fill of Billy & Mandy and wanted to do something else new and original. That never manifested, and I was constantly being offered IP to produce. I turned too many of those down, maybe, before deciding that it was probably better that I run the IPs that mean something to me rather than having some hack do it.

But now those jobs have all gone to celebrities and fallen live-action writers, who are also slowly being eaten by the system. WB was hot for Scooby stuff a few years back, so I pitched some ideas. A few of them were turned down for being "off-brand" in a variety of ways. WB has now made (I think) all of those off-brand shows (or something close) with celebrity show runners.

I was going through a whole Midlife Impostor Syndrome thing recently where I was wondering if maybe I don't just suck. Like, it's weird that for a couple of decades I'd have people calling me trying to get me to run shows, and now nobody will call me back about the possibility of a design job.

Talking to some friends and realizing that they were in a similar situation helped me feel like I wasn't alone. That was nice. Talking to some of the most talented colleagues in my industry made me made me realize that those people weren't getting jobs either. That was unnerving. Talking to complete strangers in other parts of the entertainment industry now has me thinking that the whole house of cards is coming down. That's real concerning, yo.

It's hard not to think it's purposeful, when deranged billionaires own the entirety of our media and want to shape a society where they can't be criticized. We're letting wealthy tech bros firebomb the very heart of our culture, and it's weird that no one is talking about it. Because (for now) we still have that capability.

[kajibunny]

⊹ . ݁ ⟡ the kaji fanclub (ren kaji x reader) ft. kusumi ₊✩‧₊˚

✿ summary: you and kaji’s vice captain created your own fanclub, a kaji fanclub. kaji finds out about it, so long story short, he gives you his honest feedback. ✿ contains: fluffy crack (is that a thing), suggestive themes (only on bonus part), kaji is your boyfriend, teasing and nonstop praise for kaji (i could talk about this man all day watch me)  ✿ a/n: my first wb fic!! kusumi would absolutely be the best wingman for you and kaji! (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) i really like kusumi and his character design! he is so underrated but he's one of the cutest!  ✿ wc: 1.2k

ren kaji knew that you had been up to something lately. 

you and his vice captain kusumi have been busy giggling nonstop and checking your phones like a bunch of middle school girls, with you gushing and gasping about "how cute!" and "that's so perfect!" while looking down at your screen, showing only kusumi what was on it, receiving a reaffirming nod from the vice captain. 

at first, kaji was fine with it and did not care at all. he found it nice that you got along so well with kusumi, but after an hour of you two still going at it and not paying full attention to him when he tried to tell you something, he swore he was about to throw a fit if you didn't quit it.

what kaji didn't know was that you and kusumi are the co-presidents of the "kaji club" on social media, where you post pictures of daily kaji updates. 

at first, it was just because you found everything about your boyfriend so insufferably cute - his bowl haircut, his blond hair that he dyed all by himself, his unreadable expression, his never ending supply of lollipops, his iconic high kick, his sharp little canines (that sometimes you received little love bites from), his unpenetrable eardrums that were exposed to such loud music everyday, and much, much more. 

you wanted to give the whole world a glimpse of that cuteness - but that goes without saying that only you got the full package to yourself. 

so you thought about how funny it would be if he had his own fanclub. well, why not? if people loved him enough to vote him as their grade captain, then for sure he'd have lots of fans, right? and eventually, your idea turned into a reality. 

kusumi would send you the pictures he took that day, and you would manage the fanclub account. this time it was of kaji jumping into the water to save a cat while on patrol (as well as him patrolling topless afterwards - needless to say that particular picture was saved in your phone in a heartbeat, but you never uploaded it, it was for you and only you, his lover, to see and appreciate.) 

eventually, the kaji fanclub blew up to be an overnight sensation, mostly members of bofurin and the townspeople of makochi are among his biggest fans, but of course, you will always be ren kaji's number one fan.

"what the hell are you two laughing about?" kaji huffed in annoyance, trying to get a peek at your phone screen. 

you smile sweetly at him, letting out a "hm?", acting all innocent and telling him it was nothing and that he shouldn't worry about it. 

kaji, still having his suspicions that you were up to your shenanigans again, grabbed your phone from your hands and took a look at what you were so fixated with - it was a picture of kaji drinking from his bottled water with the caption "here is our super cool grade captain reminding everyone to always stay hydrated!~" then next it was a close up of kaji holding his lollipop. "today's lollipop flavor is peach! fun fact: it is also ren kaji's favorite fruit." it says.

oh. so that's what it was.

it was so random, that kaji couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upwards, almost smiling. he found it so unexpected and ridiculous but managed to keep a straight face.

"delete it." he cleared his throat, trying to fight back his amusement at the two of you coming up with something like this for him.

"no! give it back, ren! it's for our kaji fanclub! it already has more than a hundred likes, see! umemiya even commented-" you started, whining and pouting at your boyfriend, who rolled his eyes at you.

he hands you back your phone and sighs. "i don't need a hundred likes." kaji says, firmly. "because i already have the one like i need right here." 

you gasped when you realized that kaji was referring to none other than you, his "one like" that he needed. kaji, upon becoming aware of how lovestruck he probably sounded, turned his back away from you and put his headphones back on.

you fangirled so hard at that moment, all giddy and smiling at your boyfriend, teasing him about how you were of course his number one fan and that you wanted to have his autograph.

kusumi was sitting across the both of you, and snapped a picture when you were rubbing your cheek against kaji's, him side-eye glancing at your overjoyed, smiling face. kaji is still so fond of you, even if you did silly things like this.

kusumi, beaming from ear to ear, shows the both of you the picture he took, and typed a message on his phone. it read: "you two are so cute, my favorite couple! <3 get a guy that looks at you with so much love the way kaji does! >///< #couplegoals" he adds "i really ship you two!" 

you and kaji read the message on kusumi's notes app. when he finished reading, he let out an exasperated sigh. kaji points at you and kusumi. "i have no idea what a "ship" is, but right now i just want to ship you two off to somewhere far away." 

he was kidding, of course. you knew that he would let you do what you wanted anyway, as long as he could see your lovely smile and how happy he made you, kaji wouldn't ask for nothing more. because plot twist, ren kaji is also your number one fan.

ꕤ bonus ꕤ

once you got home, kaji made sure to let you know his exact thoughts regarding your fanclub.

"tch. you don't need to have my face on your phone, you know. you can have the real thing right here." he leans in closer to you, pulling his lollipop out of his mouth and replacing it with your lips.

the next morning, after waking up from a long and eventful night with kaji, you expressed your shock upon gazing at yourself in the mirror and finding out you've been marked up by little purple bruises and love bites that left some of kaji's teeth marks littering everywhere, but most prominently on your neck, thighs and chest area.

"ren kaji! what the hell is this!" you exclaimed, waking him up with a jolt, you pointing at all the parts he left his marks on. 

he stared at it for a second, admiring his handiwork. "you said you wanted to have my autograph."

"i didn't mean it like this!" you sighed, wondering how in the world you would be able to go out looking like this, all bitten and marked up by kaji. 

"i can always sign it again for you if it fades. i'm all yours, after all." he said it with such a straight but smug face and he was so unapologetic about it that you wanted to smack him. or have him devour you again. or both. 

you can't be the only one showing him your appreciation, because kaji has his ways of showing his too.

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