#I’ll post the entire storyboards later

[nosleep83]

I CANT FUCKING BREATHESGJEKAHW😭😭😭😭😭

AGEHSHWGWHAHAGEJAUWHWBSNJS

[capsyst]

Here’s my second big Procreate Dreams animation! Really challenged myself hard with this one!

Remember that storyboard I did for a Minecraft character meeting the Warden? The beginning of the storyboard involved several shots showing the character running away from mobs until they reached an area the mobs wouldn’t step foot into. I decided to make that chase scene into one continuous shot.

I modeled up a cave in a 3D animation program and moved the camera around to what I hoped would be an appropriate path. Once rendered I imported this into Procreate Dreams and began animating on top of it, using a grid to be my guidelines to help me keep the character proportional.

After a rough animation was done, I went back and refined it. Then I inked and colored it. Finally I added a shadow layer on top and a glow layer for the torch. Took me about half a month (15 days) to complete.

I’m really proud of this one. I thought I would animate it in Procreate like I did the last one, but because of the nature of needing to match the art with the background I found it was much easier to just animate it entirely in Dreams.

I’ll post a breakdown later when I have a chance.

Hope you fellow Minecraft Story Mode fans enjoy this!

(Fun little fact, all of the sound effects are from Minecraft.)

[floweroflaurelin]

wait you said you did an animatic on your main blog! is that for traffic series’s, is it posted here?

Oh right yes I was meaning to mention this here!! Thank you ahaha

Okay so YES! I did do an animatic, it’s for Empires SMP! No it’s not posted here yet because I am kind of unsure about what do with it… Let me explain.

Over the summer I had to do a big project for school, and it was entirely self-directed with no supervision. That meant it had to be about something I’m Really Passionate About to make sure that it would actually get done. So naturally I chose Empires! I got in touch with Pixlriffs and got his permission to use his audio for a school project (he said yes, thank you Pix <3) and then, audio in hand, went nuts and roughly storyboarded out 8min of an animatic in a single night.

When getting the project approved I told the professor, “hi I am going to do an 8 minute full colour animatic in two months while taking a full course load of classes” and he said

So the plan became to begrudgingly take a 2-3 minute excerpt of the audio and just do that for the class. And I did! And it slapped!! Full colour, rendered paintings you know and love from floweroflaurelin, except they’re moving a little bit. And Pixlriffs is there talking.

I figured at the time that once the semester was over I would paint the other 6 minutes of the animatic on my own time!! How hard could that be, right?? Except Things Kept Happening With School, and once it was over I was moving to a new place and getting sick and Tango’s desk mat took priority, and suddenly it’s over a month later with Do Those Other Six Minutes still on my to-do list.

The real kicker was that one of the Things That Happened With School resulted in me not getting feedback on the project—the teacher wasn’t able to really look at it. I got a grade, but a series of ridiculous circumstances meant that all that work was only briefly glanced at and a grade hastily entered, which was frustrating and resulted in me resenting the project a bit, since I worked hard on something I loved and it got no appreciation at all.

I’d love to share it with people who would appreciate it, which is to say, other fans!! But the thing is—as much as I want it to be Done the way I intended when I storyboarded it out initially, I won’t have the time to paint those six minutes any time soon: Huevember is in a couple weeks, and that’s a big commitment! But in my mind it’s not a complete project unless it’s a Complete Project. So I’ll put the question to you:

So yeah let me know! I’m still pretty busy but either way I want to revisit the animatic, either to paint more frames or to get it prepped for posting (something I’m not sure how to do yet).

(Also good news about Things Happening With School: I graduated yesterday!! Bachelors degree with honours, baby! Maybe now that school is behind me I can turn a new page where that project gets shared 😆)

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi! Strange question, but since you seem very in the loop about story stuff I was hoping you would know. Is it true that Yana Toboso tweeted that she and the writing team had nothing to do with the Playful Land event, or is this just hearsay over the lackluster feeling the ending gave?

I’m not sure where you heard that from or what would give that impression 💦 I checked back the last month or so, and as far as I know, no such tweet exists. (Yana generally only announces when she has more involvement than usual in a story or design, not when she has zero involvement. Otherwise, she’ll usually credit her personal studio of writers.)

It seems that Yana did write the event story. In fact, she and her team seem to be highly entangled in the entire production of the event, as is indicated in this tweet. The “scenario” (ie the story/storyboard/sequence of events) is indicated as something Yana and her team were responsible for. She uses the same wording (“scenario”) to refer to writing in many previous tweets where she had significant involvement, such as various card vignettes and more notably the main story (I’ll refer you to this post, which compiles all the times Yana mentions her and/or her team’s involvement in TWST content). The Stage in Playful Land event ending is what it is (I will be providing my own thoughts about it in a later post).

I think we should all remember that just because someone has written a story we liked before doesn’t mean they’re infallible or can’t produce a flop. TWST has had lackluster events in the past, and sometimes even within the main story lookin’ at you, book 2. We shouldn’t treat the involvement (or lack thereof) of an individual or of a writing team as the ultimate indicator of quality.

[29pageshomestuckeveryday]

Homestuck, page 830

[S] Jade: Open FreshJamz!

You open the FRESHJAMZ MEDIA PLAYER and add Dave's remix to the playlist.

Songs used in this page: Showtime Remix by Gabe Nezovic, Aggrieve Remix by Gabe Nezovic, Verdancy (Bassline) by Kalibration, Potential Verdancy by Robert J! Lake, Ohgodwhat by Nick Smalley, Ohgodwhat Remix by Michael Guy bowman, Rediscover Fusion by BurnedKirby, Crystalanthemums by Alexander Rosetti, and Explore Remix by Gabe Nezovic

Song commentary for Ohgodwhat:

Nick Smalley:

WELL

It was 2008 and I was a silly little boy and thought ORGMaker was good-ass music program, so I decided to make a song in it. Half an hour later forged this booger of a song. Seriously. It took half an hour to make this. Then I saw that THE HUSS posted something about a Problem Sleuth opening? So I was like damn that’s bananas I’ll show him up! (wow look at this nerd thinking he can actually make music)

I sent it to his email and like a day later he sent one back asking about the music team. FLATTERING, IT WAS. So I was like sure sign me up g homey dog slice foo

And that’s the story of how I got on the music team.

Oh wait. You just wanted Ohgodwhat.

(ps that’s what it was called when i made it too)

Song commentary for Crystalanthemums:

Alexander Rosetti:

I composed this one intending it to be the theme of Jade's land. This is the reason Jit has gone on the record as saying Crystamenthequins was intended to accompany Jade's island being destroyed/her entering her land (I'm pretty sure that's how he described it) was because of this song. It's actually a really simple tune, and I've wanted to expand on it for ages but never got around to it. The entire piece consists of the same simple chord progression, but it's a good, if played out, progression. That and the beautiful harmonies one is guaranteed to find with it is why I think this is one of my more popular songs. It's not as well-composed as I'd like it to be, but it is definitely catchy. And Radiation was responsible for the name, jokingly calling it "crystalanthemums" after I described it sound like a crystalline flower. I decided that was as good a name as any, and I've had the pleasure of infecting its two remixes with such silly-sounding titles.

Link to storyboards for this page: http://readmspa.org/storyboards/00830.swf.html

Author commentary: With the (playable!) FRESHJAMZ playlist, we are provided with the implication that these are all songs produced by the kids collaboratively. Their icons indicate who was involved with the songs. Just another sign earlier in the story that these kids have some musical talent and this is the sort of thing they do with their spare time. This is one of those things that starts getting buried as we move along. For instance, we never quite get to see God Tier Jade picking up the old bass and rocking out. Which is a shame.

[ponds-of-ink]

Confrontation but William and Glitch-Trap (Part 2.. Kinda [There’s No Storyboards This Time])

Now, I know I technically finished what I was supposed to for my Confrontation but William vs. Glitch-Trap storyboards, but I want to ramble on about what I’ve had in mind for the rest of the song. And, since I have enough time to write my thoughts down but not enough to draw at the moment, I’ve decided to turn it into a blog post real quick. Besides, most of this is kinda rough considering Ruin isn’t even out yet. And I’m not entirely sure about the choreography in a few spots shh

This is going to probably get a little long, so I’ve put it under a “keep reading” break just in case.

So, picking up where we left off...

*William almost exits the elevator, but the door shuts. Glitch sings Hyde’s opening “monologue” as the elevator drops to the first floor of the building. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a wild-eyed “Vanny” pries the door open with her bare hands as Glitch’s voice triumphantly claims victory... One minute and a half into a four minute song.

*Anyway, the first main argument starts up as William removes Vanny from Glitch’s control and faces him properly. Almost want to say that most of this from here on out flickers between altered memories from both Glitch and Will. Like, when it’s Will’s turn to sing at one point, he turns into Mr. Burrows from the Pizzaplex books and starts slamming an equally disguised Glitch. Or Glitch activates the springs on Will’s Bonnie suit himself just to emotionally stun the man. Idk I’m just in the mood to pull a literal memory fight and get crazy with the fight scene.

*So, after all that trying to hijack each other’s minds (well... if that rabbit has a mind), Glitch manages to take the upper hand and forcibly returns the pair back to reality. As if to add insult to the injuries he’s most likely dishing out, he sends our ghost boy William allll the way back to the Blob hybrid with no way to escape again. William is obviously both very tired and very unhappy now as Glitch tauntingly floats into the room and does his trademark “arms in the air” dance.

*However, as the song winds down to its crescendo, William uses the hybrid to his advantage. He snatches Glitch up with wiry tentacles, insisting that he’s no longer the man this insane strand of code idolized. Unfortunately for him, Glitch is too stubborn to admit that sort of thing— Even going so far as to admit that he is William’s literal darker half by default.

*As a last ditch effort, William initiates some sort of “self-destruct” as he screams for Glitch to go rot somewhere (since, you know, the glitchy bunny can’t actually die). Glitch yells back with absolute pride: “I’ll see you there, Afton!” as new flames start to rise higher and higher.

*While Vanny, Gregory, and anyone else who managed to survive the entire DLC make a break for it, William gets literally dragged down by his two worst (though unintended) creations. Is it a metaphor for what’ll happen to his soul? Is it just a final attack from Glitch-Trap? Gonna be honest and say that I have no idea until Ruin comes out.

*Of course, this version is taking into account stuff from the Tales from the Pizzaplex books. If I wanted to just stick to the games entirely, then I could still use the memory segment in a different way (ie. Jeremy’s story from Help Wanted as a flashback for Glitch). Also, this would mean that Glitch would be implied to be more like an actual Edward Hyde for William rather than a rouge computer program pretending to be William. (Sorry if this part doesn’t make sense, but I just realized that I forgot to explain where I got half of Glitch’s characterization from for this.)

*The only reason why I didn’t mention Ruin Girl at all in this is because she’s already left the main building by this point. For all she knows, Vanny and Greg just left the mall only for Vanny to suddenly run back in at breakneck speeds... Only for them to reemerge a couple of minutes later as the entire place burns down again. Wow, nobody is catching a break today. Not even anyone smart enough to be in the parking lot.

*If I do continue this at some stage, let me make this clear: William should be in his official Ruin/actually human design rather than the partially 8-bit form I drew in the initial storyboards. That 8-bit form was just a placeholder, after all.

*Side note: Glitch sounding like Springtrap is a bit “cursed” to me, not gonna lie. It’s like Glitch finally learned to sound a bit more like the monster everyone dreads and he’s running with that new voice-bank. On the bright side, at least Jekyll’s voice fits William pretty well.

And I think that’s pretty much all I’ve got. Hope my rough outline didn’t sound too haphazard..

[raenparade]

weekly update #5 - 09/05/23

We’re back with the weekly updates! There’s not a lot of work here, but a lot of deconstruction. Basically, I want to take a look at everything I’ve done so far, and use that to build myself up and get my project done!

To do this, let’s establish what I actually want to hand in for my project:

Portfolio Website

This will house everything to do with my project, which includes:

TSTSU Storyboards Other Storyboards (Most likely using audio from a podcast) Illustration Work (Personal, Editorial, Commissions etc) TSTSU Project Page (Which is a pseudo-pitch bible of sorts)

My website is essentially a base of operations for everything else, so having that mostly sorted is essential. Luckily, I do! I haven’t really got any storyboards on there yet, but it’s one less thing to worry about later. 

I don’t want to say exactly how many storyboards I’ll do, or exactly what my pitch bible will look like here, as that’s not what this post is about. 

To sort of flip-flop, let’s now examine the work I produced at the start of the year, before I decided to pivot more towards storyboarding. 

Initially, The Sword that Splits Us was going to be solely a concept art project, so the design work took precedent. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that good! I don’t mean that in a deprecating way, just generally. But we get better! 

All of this work, while fine, is severely lacking. I knew this at the time, too. As a result, I was lucky to be able to get some feedback from a friend of mine who works in the industry! He also gave me the confidence to pursue storyboarding, so really he’s the backbone of my entire project. 

I started off making annotated moodboards, for different parts of my environment, mostly being Pluto, but also the Prosperina Research Station, which is based on it.

I haven’t looked at these moodboards in quite a while, so it’s really nice to see how detailed I was. Even if I don’t plan on doing a lot of visual development from now, compared to my storyboards, this is work that I don’t have to complete as it’s already done! 

I then used these moodboards to make a few more pieces of artwork, still basically being all landscapes. 

These are so much better, and I still really like them! However I didn’t do a lot after this, as it was about this time when I decided to pivot towards storyboarding.

Now that I’m looking at this work, it’s actually becoming quite inspiring once more. While I do think I was definitely biting off more than I could chew with thinking I could design a planet’s surface, as well as a whole research station, including individual sections and an observatory - I do now think I could produce some sketches/rough visdev aspects for my portfolio, as well as making it easier when I storyboard some more. 

Even if this work isn’t going on my portfolio, it’s still an integral part of my development, and it’s going to go here! 

I feel my train of thought running out, so I’ll stop here before this post gets far too long. To summarise, I have a lot of work! It’s okay for me to take a step back. I can use what I already have to build on my subsequent work, for all aspects of my portfolio. I’m excited to see what I do next! 

[theinvisibledoodlewizard]

So, what gets you monologuing?

It can be pretty much anything! Haha! Including just asking, if I’m in the right mood.

*inhales*

I’m working on a new animation for my Badly Drawn Fnaf series, where Mike has to meet with his younger teenage self. For sake of ease, I’ll call present Mike and past Michael.

In these two posts, you can already see (IN THE STORYBOARDS NO LESS) these two are drastically different! While still being very similar. Mike just grew up! (You can see the difference yet similarities even better here. Michael does the classic Mike pose, that I constantly draw. Which I did entirely unintentionally. I noticed it later and just javsjhfsjhfsjhfsjhfs)

Mike is far more reserved, and strained. Tired. He doesn’t want to have to deal with this idiot that he left in his past.

Meanwhile Michael views Mike as a threat. Being in his teenage years, Michael really doesn’t like the fact that even someone who claims to be himself is telling him to stop being wHo He Is It’S nOt A pHaSe!!

And sure in my reblogs of both those posts, you get the lyrics to the song I’m working with. But I’d argue, you can get everything I just described without any of that. Why? Body posture. It’s something I absolutely adore playing with In animation! Because for it to work correctly? You have to push it beyond what’s normal. That’s why everything is cartoony in cartoons! If you use real human poses? It looks flat and boring, like the characters are stiff, lifeless, or at least are actors that are phoning it in. Instead push the poses, exaggerate? (Which I do anyway lolll) And suddenly everything clicks! It depends on the style, how much you exaggerate. But you should do it, even a little bit, in most animation. Even in “realistic” things. Maybe they wouldn’t be nightmare fuel, or uncanny valley then. XD

Anyway, back to my little WIP.

Mike has small movements. At the beginning of the scene, he turns his head. That’s going to be a quick jerk to indicate “you messed up you idiot”. And that’s pretty much going to be his biggest movement this scene. Another movement he has is raising his hand, which is a pretty big one, but slower and more exasperated than snappish. He also rolls his eyes, which is a small movement, and he’s going to be tapping his finger on the table in impatience. (Compared to Michael? He’s very still. But he’s still the same guy. He won’t be completely still. He will be moving somehow) then he finishes off, by straightening up, and spreading his hand towards the camera. Taking up more space, aka, power move. It’s subtle? But he’s still using poses that are trying to one-up Michael.

And as we can see in the shift, Mike didn’t need much to intimidate this kid. Where Mike had 5 panels, and most were holds? Michael has 8 panels and he’s going to jump from one to the next in quick succession. They’re all very big and loud poses, spreading both arms wide in a “come at me” way usually once in between each other pose, hitting his chest gorilla style, leaning in and wagging his finger as if to say “nonono! You don’t bother me!” and finally crossing his arms and a dramatic amount of force. And the look on his face switches between one of “Ha! You think you have anything on me, old man?” to one of annoyance that Mike is even still here in his presence. All of this shows a teen who’s definitely dealing with “Don’t tell me what to do, dumb adult” while also being about to wet himself cause he doesn’t know what this guy across from him is capable of. It’s all bark and no bite. Knowing Michael, he would’ve come around the table and given Mike a knuckle sandwich already, if he wasn’t scared. But with how fast he moving? So many poses in one line? He’s doing most of this for himself. “This guy isn’t scary… he isn’t even moving that much… WHERES HIS OTHER HAND oh… ok still over the chair. Well, IM NOT SCARED OF HIM! I’ll show him how fierce I am!”

But in the end? He just look whiney and kinda stupid. Only proving Mike right. Calmer, and more subtle won the day this time. Sometimes bluster and bravado wins. But usually calmly, but purposefully, going about something? Scared the pants of the other party. Makes them make mistakes, hopefully gets them to do what you want.

Ok, I’ll stop there. Lol. Hope you enjoyed XD

[roxygenstudiesagain]

100 days of productivity (6/100) 12/13/22

It just hit post midnight here but my plans are to work hard tomorrow so it counts. I’ve been eating better, more varied diet. Wanna cut a lot of meat out again but I’ll need to really ensure a steady supply of protein. Plus I need to get back into smoothies coz they’re a safe food when ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇʀᴛᴀ ʜɪᴛs. Medicated adhd fam rise up.

Todays highlights.

Mission- make it mindful

Above is breakfast (shrimp skewers on salad, air fried eggs rolls) Waking up late (just before noon meant I was able to push it to a point where I genuinely felt hungry before every meal today (usually a struggle)

Had a meeting/interview for a gig I just applied for. It’s unpaid but they’d let me prioritize paid work and work at my own pace n a guaranteed position when the studio takes off so I’m really considering it despite the slight red flags. I actually recently found myself having to back out of a toxic production for an acquaintance and I think of push comes to shove I’ll be able to clock out.

Scooted to campus and dropped off my job packet. It’ll be processed later today. I hope I’m good at my new gig

Worked on paid work n rough storyboards. The boards will need another pass to work but it’s good progress

School work, got closer to finishing off my finals so I can just switch focus before my holiday break.

Went to group therapy, got my refill of hydroxyzine. I also have 1-1 later this week and I’m trying to use my new phone to really record relevant topics

Exercise biked 30 min, gonna shoot for 60 tomorrow. Logged all food, I’m getting better at it! Need to now incorporate a walk also into my day and I think I’ll be really set to get fit without even feeling like it’s effort. Once I make some cash I might look into investing in exercise gear to make it more bang for my buck. Drank a few liters of water. Meditated, towards the end of the day but I needed it. Very little anxiety today but I did medicate a lot after a flare up yesterday on klonopin which stays in your system for a while so I think it was that. Saving the rest for my pmdd episodes which will start soon

Actually did Japanese and Spanish lessons (getting better at kana wooo) and read a lot

Did some mild housekeeping, dishes, laundry

Fave and skin care on point. Idk my personal hygiene has come so far, I’m happy

Productivity success

Need to do:

Finish finals coursework entirely. Just get it out of the way. Deadline is end of the week.

Make list of app subs I actually want and will use

Make a list of smoothies I can make for a menu

Go to doctor appointment and get my referrals out on Friday

Finish commissions and my current non academic workload before the year ends

De clutter and reinvent wardrobe

Plants- real and fake

Get back into spirituality

[thegoodomensdumpster]

ALL THE OMENS

I keep seeing people confused / discovering one or several iterations of Good Omens, so here is a masterpost of everything Good Omens that officially exists (and that I could gather, so there might be mistakes):

WILLIAM THE ANTICHRIST (1987)

The original draft of what would later become Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman before he teamed up with Terry Pratchett. It notably features a demon called Crawleigh who would then be split into Crowley and Aziraphale.  The draft exists in a book form included in the Ineffable Edition of the illustrated Good Omens.

LINK TO A WTA RECAP (by @fuckyeahgoodomens)

BOOK (1990)

The core material of Good Omens, written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Exists also as an audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (for the English speaking crowd of course). There is also some audio of David Tennant reading part of the book during the recording of Playing in the Dark: Neil Gaiman and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in November 2019. LINK TO DAVID TENNANT’S READING (by @merinathropp) @good-omens-covers is a blog where you can have a look at book covers from accross the world

MOVIE SCRIPT (1992)

The script for an aborted movie project. Attempts to write a movie script were made by both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, but this is the one Gaiman ended up tackling on his own after Pratchett wisely decided to step away. The conflicted requests from the producers lead the way to a story that was related to Good Omens only in name. The movie script is only available in few numbers on specialized websites for a very high price.

THEATRE PLAY (2013)

An adaptation by Amy Hoff made with the permission of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, that was played by the Cult Classic Theatre for the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. As far as I know, no footage or script is available anywhere. I know nothing about this play besides the fact that Crowley looks wild. Amy Hoff’s website mentions that GO is currently unavailable for stage production or adaptation. LINK TO THE (BROKEN) PAGE OF THE THEATRE PLAY LINK TO A PHOTO GALLERY OF THE PLAY

RADIO DRAMA (2014)

An audio adaptation originally broadcasted on BBC4 in 6 episodes, adapted by Dirk Maggs and directed by Dirk Maggs and Heather Larmour. It is however available in an 8 episodes longer format (including bloopers) on CDs and such. The cast includes, notably, Peter Serafinowicz as Crowley, Mark Heap as Aziraphale, Josie Lawrence as Agnes Nutter, and a cameo from Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

LINK TO THE BBC4 PAGE FOR THE GOOD OMENS RADIO DRAMA LINK TO AN IMAGES GALLERY

TV SERIES (2019)

A six episodes long TV series, produced by the BBC and Amazon, that premiered on Amazon Prime in June 2019. Directed by Douglas Mackinnon. The script was written entirely by Neil Gaiman as the whole project was the achievement of years of struggle trying to get a video adaptation of GO, and as promised by Neil Gaimand to the late Terry Pratchett that this would get done. 

The cast still includes Josie Lawrence as Agnes Nutter, David Tennant as Crowley, Michael Sheen as Aziraphale, and many other talented actors and actresses that would be too long to list here but are worth watching. 

As derivative products coming out of the making of the TV series, the script book of the entire show (including cut scenes that were never shot) is available, as well as some storyboards that depict, without a doubt, the least expected looks for Crowley and Aziraphale. The TV series is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, in DVD and in BluRay. The soundtrack composed by David Arnold can be found in CDs, vinyls and mp3 sets.  Additionally, there is a TV Companion book for behind the scenes and interviews that can be purchased, and very few official goodies such as enamel pins, and, of course, the very necessary Good Omens Nail Polish. A Q and A with Neil Gaiman and David Tennant is also available on Amazon Prime, broadcasted live and recorded in May 2020. In 2017, Neil Gaiman made a reading of cutscenes in Austin, Texas, for the Long Center event.

LINK TO THE DVDs / BLURAYs MASTERPOST (by @fuckyeahgoodomens) LINK TO THE SCRIPT BOOK MASTERPOST (by @fuckyeahgoodomens ) LINK TO SOME STORYBOARDS VISUALS: PART 1 and PART 2 LINK TO NEIL GAIMAN’S READING OF CUTSCENES

THE LOCKDOWN VIDEO (2020)

As a direct result of the TV series (and a direct result of a worldwide pandemic and a several months long lockdown...), Neil Gaiman wrote a little script for a short video that is, actually, mainly audio, in which David Tennant and Michael Sheen reprised their roles as Crowley and Aziraphale.

LINK TO THE LOCKDOWN VIDEO ON YOUTUBE LINK TO THE LOCKDOWN VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

MUSICAL (still in developpement as far as I know on this date in June 2020)

An Australia based project that has been years in the making, developped by Vicki Larnach and Jim Hare. So far, what has been officially released on the internet are a few videos of a reading by the actors, a sizzle reel with footage and audio of several moments from the show, as well as promotional pictures. The musical has been played on stage in front of an audience a few times these past two years in a version that is probably rather close to what the end product will be, and hopefully, once the final version exists, it will be made available for the widest audience possible.

LINK TO THE MUSICAL WEBSITE LINK TO THE MUSICAL SIZZLE REEL LINK TO THE MUSICAL INSTAGRAM LINK TO A REVIEW OF THE MUSICAL (by @seraphofshadows) LINK TO A GALLERY OF PICS FROM THE SIZZLE (by @crunchy-goblin)

OTHERS THINGS THAT ARE (AND THINGS THAT AREN’T)

668—The Neighbour of the Beast AKA the sequel that doesn’t exist. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett talked about writing a sequel to Good Omens, came up with a few things (the most infamous being Aziraphale watching a porno in a hotel room, but only catching glimpses of it and trying to figure out the plot by writting it down in a notebook), but it was never written. LINK TO AN INTERVIEW GIVEN TO THE LOCUS IN 1991 MENTIONING THIS SEQUEL LINK TO A POST ON GAIMAN’S BLOG MENTIONING THE PORNOGRAPHY BIT LINK TO A RECAP OF THE SEQUEL + COTTAGE THING The movie directed by Terry Gilliam Before GO became a TV series, it got stuck for years as a movie project meant to be directed by Terry Gilliam. For various reasons it never happened, and the rumors about Robin Williams being cast as Aziraphale and Johnny Depp as Crowley seem to have started from there. The cottage “canon” The widespread concept of Crowley and Aziraphale sharing a cottage originated from a blog post made by Neil Gaiman, reporting a conversation between him and Terry Pratchett regarding the whereabouts of their characters. Gaiman has since offered the precision that this cottage sharing thing would happen way after the events of the sequel that was never written, so years after Armageddon, and that the location would be Devil’s Dyke in the South Downs. LINK TO THE ORIGINAL POST ON GAIMAN’S BLOG LINK TO A COMPREHENSIVE EXPLANATION (by @irisbleufic) LINK TO A TUMBLR ASK FOR GAIMAN ABOUT THE SOUTH DOWNS LINK TO A SCREENSHOT OF A TWEET BY GAIMAN The New Year Resolutions List (made for Harper Collins, now taken down from their website) A list of resolutions written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett on request of the publisher in 2005, one list for Crowley, one list for Aziraphale. LINK TO THE LIST ( by @ladylier )

LINK TO AN INTERVIEW WHERE NEIL GAIMAN TALKS ABOUT A FEW OF THE THINGS MENTIONNED IN THIS POST And as an ultimate bonus, as I was gathering all the informations for this masterpost, I found back Michael Sheen’s Spotify Good Omens Playlist. EDIT (02/08/2020): Someone mentionned (in a post I can’t find anymore ?) that on the list of existing merch that was absolutely unexpected, there was a whole collection of Good Omens perfume oils. It was made around 2007 with the approval of Pratchett and Gaiman and was apparently updated when the series came out in 2019. The profits of the oils go to different charities.

I was also reminded of the Chattering Order of Saint Beryl, a group of singers promoting the TV series before its release in 2019.  Their Youtube Channel has a playlist that was last updated in June 2020. There is one video clip of the song Brand New Baby Smell that features a cameo by Neil Gaiman. And I found back @fuckyeahgoodomens‘s masterpost about the merch, even though I mentionned most of these in this masterpost, I’ll include the link for convenience sake.

[panicked-herb]

Fractures Animatic Update

Update on the animatic for @evienyx​​‘s fic Fractures.

I ended up burning myself out while working on this a month or so ago. I’m taking a break from it, but I am planning on eventually getting back to it as I genuinely loved working on it and really want to see it done. That being said, I’m not expecting to finish the animatic until like Christmas this year or later (probably later). I initially planned on doing the entire first chapter (even considering doing the second). I seriously overestimated how much I can do and underestimated how long these things take to make. So, to prevent me from spending what would probably be at least a year, I’ve shortened it to the beginning to end of the balcony scene from the first chapter. 

Sadly that does mean I have a lot of storyboards, a script-like-thing, and other stuff that’s not going to be used. So, when I upload the animatic I’ll probably also include all that stuff in a separate post. In the meantime, enjoy some line art for background drawings and other art I’ve already made.  

The Prison 

[ID: top-down view of Zuko’s prison cell. It has a goza mat and wooden box. The walls and floor are made out of stones in a burdock piling style, where stones of various shapes and sizes are tightly packed together. The walls, floor, mat, box, and cell bars all have splatters of dried blood that didn’t get cleaned. The mat is torn up and has a patch in the bottom right corner.]

[ID: Drawing of Zuko’s cell from inside the cell, but outside the barred area. The walls and floor are made in the burdock piling style, the ceiling is arched and has lavacicles, and the metal-bar door is closed.]

[ID: Drawing of the wall and door leading out of Zuko’s prison room, at an angle looking up. The door is made out of wood, has metal corners, metal handle with a lock, and a window with three metal bars. The walls are in the same burdock piling style and the ceiling has lavacicles.]

[ID: Drawing of the staircase leading out of the palace’s underground prison. The hall is a lava tube like from the Day of the Black Sun. It has metal support columns going up and sideways into the walls of the cave. At the corners on the floor stray pebbles are scattered about. The staircase goes up and turns slightly around a corner.]

The Palace 

[ID: Drawing of Zuko’s balcony. You can see the wall from his bedroom. It has a windowed door and windows. You can also see the fencing, columns, and roof. The balcony is on the second floor and in the back are some plants and other parts of the palace.]

[ID: Drawing of Zuko’s balcony looking at the outside world. You can see the columns and fencing. In the back are the palace walls, flowering bushes or trees, and a clear sky with the sun in the center. The palace walls are also made using burdock piling, but the stones are rectangles.]

[ID: Redraw of the royal spa from the show. The spa itself is on an elevated platform with a wide staircase leading up. The fountain is not on and around it are two wooden tables with bowels and other spa things to the side along with a basket. There are two potted bonsai at the front of the spa and two stone tables with tall lights on top of them. The walls left and right are decorated with a geometric design and columns. The back wall has wood paneling and a large art piece of two dragons connected at the center.]

Unfortunately the spa’s not going to end up in the animatic, but I did have a blast drawing it. It really helped me work on my perspective drawings and I’m very proud of how it turned out even if it’s not going to be used. 

Bonus: Zuko’s Bedroom Layout 

Oh boy, figuring out what Zuko’s bedroom was surprisingly difficult. I tend to get weirdly obsessive over the accuracy of details like this. As a fun result I ended up carefully looking at every single scene that shows Zuko’s bedroom (S3:E2 1:40, S3:E6 1:50 and 3:50, S3:E10 8:30 and 20:25 are the showtimes for all season 3 appearances). Fun fact, they never really show a good view of Zuko’s bedroom ceiling. I’m still not sure what is happening with that god forsaken ceiling and at this point I’ve given up trying to figure it out. Also, I’m pretty sure the balcony door is just a window in the show, but it’s fine. Really it’s fine. I’m fine. 

Also, I apologize if I got the name of anything wrong and the vagueness of the descriptions. If you know the names and / or have a better description for it please comment and I’ll update this post. 

[ID: Map of Zuko’s bedroom. It shows the floor plan and all four wall designs. In the center of the room is his bed on a two-step platform that faces the door to the halls. To the left is a bedside table with a lantern. Behind the bed is a folding screen and large vase. To the right is a large candle and desk. The back wall has decorative panels and scissor trusses. The front wall has the door to the halls, the same decorative panels as the back wall, and scissor trusses. The right wall has slightly different decorative panels. In front of it is a coat hanger and dresser with a small vase. The left wall has a door to the balcony, curtains, a decorative wall piece made of gold, and the same decorative panels as the right wall. In front of the wall is a short table with a dragon statue.]

[ID: Isometric drawings of Zuko’s bedroom furniture. There is some kind of wall decoration for his dresses, the bottom design I couldn’t figure out so I just left three question marks underneath it. There’s a rug with a dragon design and a table with a dragon statue. The statue is just a smaller design of the ones from outside the Ember Island players building. Zuko’s bed has a canopy frame, no curtains, and the front part has a dragon design. The bedsheets have an oval-like design on them. The head of the bed has a semi-circle that looks like a rising sun. The pillow is a neckroll. The dresser has two handles and a small vase with a lid and two small handles. The vase is large, has donut-shaped designs on the sides, is on a five-legged vase stand, and has geometric-like handles at the lip of the vase. The desk has a small drawer on the front side of the top and what looks like a very small keyhole desk on the top. The chair has no arm rests and has a geometric design. I genuinely have no idea how to describe the coat hanger and I’m not really sure if it is a coat hanger and not some sculpture thing with a decorated top. The scissor truss has a fire nation banner hanging from it. The tall floor candle is on a square base. The bedside table has a lantern in the back corner. The folding screen has a geometric design.]

Closing Thoughts 

I’m just taking a break from working on this, but I am working on the comic adaptation for the first HTTYD book. So, I will be making posts about that for a while until I finish with my chapter. 

As always constructive criticism is welcomed. If you want to help me with this project (voice acting, sound design, music, background art, coloring, anything really) please reach out, I would love the help. 

[true-blue-megamind]

Fan Theory Thursday – The Not-So-Evil Overlord?

Shhh… Want to hear a secret?  Come closer... SPOILER ALERT!

Okay, this one delves a little deep into the imaginative side of Megamind fan theories, however I believe it holds enough interest and has enough support to be well worth discussing.  There is a supposition which I frankly love: our favorite blue alien was an Overlord of sorts before he briefly took control of Metro City, and he had good reasons to be so.  That might sound a little crazy, but bear with me.

This idea has appeared in several fan fictions, and essentially goes as follows: Megamind was more than a supervillain; he was also a crime boss, and he chose that path for the most unlikely of reasons. Bizarre though it may seem, his primary drive was bettering Metro City.  (And, yes, I’m aware of how contradictory that sounds.)  However, it’s logical when considered more closely.  By making himself the de facto ruler of the city’s underbelly, Megamind was able to control crime to an extent, probably even setting limits on certain activities, and guidelines for others.  In the majority of fan fictions using this concept, that includs things like reducing violent crime, setting purity standards and purchase limits for narcotics, and ensuring sex workers were neither underage nor abused.

I’ll be the first to admit that, on the surface at least, this seems like nothing more than fans seeking to justify or even moralize a beloved character, but research reveals that there is actually some support for this theory.  Firstly, there is the fact, touched upon previously in the Fan Theory post concerning the Warden, that Megamind was clearly already establishing control over other criminals at a young age.  While writing a truly wonderful blog article, Demishock actually went through the trouble of deciphering the newspaper clipping shown at the beginning of the film’s title sequence.  It contains, among other things, a reference to the fact that, although an elementary school age child, Megamind was feared and obeyed by other inmates at the prison where he grew up.  A quote from the Warden reads: “I've got experienced, hardened criminals in here who are afraid of him.” The article goes on to mention an incident which involved a few other inmates, adding that “the other prisoners refused to point fingers for fear of retaliation.”

It is quite possible that Megamind was already building and consolidating a base of power.

Next, there is the fact that the blue man seems to have lines he won’t cross, even as the self-proclaimed Evil Overlord. In one of the storyboards, when Megamind is approached by the Doom Syndicate, he clearly holds them in disdain, yet they are careful to placate him.  Obviously they have somewhat different standards.  When Agent Orange—who was later reimagined as Psycho-Delic before being cut from the film entirely—compares Megamind’s “inspirational” defeat of Metro Man to “a car crash on prom night,” the blue alien looks rather disgusted. Although they refer to celebrating his victory, it also seems the Doom Syndicate may be indirectly asking Megamind’s permission to go on a crime spree. While this may be because he is the new Overlord, it seems odd that other villains would immediately leap to the assumption such approval is necessary if they were accustomed to acting on their own. However, if they were already in the habit of requesting the blue alien’s sanction, their actions make more sense.

Whatever the case, it seems that, once again, Megamind and the Doom Syndicate may have very different ideas of what sorts of crimes are acceptable. The Destruction Worker refers to “really putting the screws to the city,” while Agent Orange adds his desire to “swim in the torment of the innocent.”  However, these suggestions don’t seem to match what we actually see Megamind doing.  In the movie, Megamind does, indeed, go on a crime spree, but none of it appears to be violent.  He certainly causes chaos, but no one seems to ever be injured.  In fact, in the DVD commentary, one of the creators even states outright that the supervillain never goes beyond vandalism and theft because he doesn’t really want to hurt anybody.  (Indeed, in the film it rather seems that, by being raised in jail, bullied, and constantly rejected, Megamind was pushed into supervillainy.) This, together with the previous evidence, paints an image of a man who has been forced to do some harsh things, but who nonetheless dislikes violence and, deep down, possesses a certain moral code, albeit a skewed one.  

There are, in fact, several other details that point toward Megamind being far from truly evil despite being a supervillain.  As I mentioned in Megamind and Identity, he displays several redeeming qualities, such as his largely friendly treatment of Minion, his respect for Roxanne’s intelligence, and his playful, affectionate game of fetch with the brainbots.  However, I won’t go into a long explanation about that here as it can be found in the aforementioned post.

Nonetheless, I don’t believe we can seriously expect that the former villain has never once hurt anyone in his life.  Keep in mind that, as discussed in the post How Strong is Megamind, the blue alien almost certainly had to fight in order to survive.  However, his unwillingness to attack citizens suggests that he only injured others when it was absolutely necessary.  Similarly, the aforementioned “news article” indicates that he may have limited his physically aggressive responses to other criminals only. (After all, the reference to prison inmates fearing him is the sole evidence of possible violence we have.)  I have seen it suggested here on Tumblr that he may have taken over Metro City in part because he believed that, if he didn’t, someone worse like the Doom Syndicate would.  It may even be possible that he was afraid of appearing soft and thus losing control over the criminal underworld.  

Of course, it has to be mentioned here that Megamind also fought with Metro Man, who certainly wasn’t a criminal.  However, there are two factors that I believe need to be considered.  The first is that it is very likely that Megamind didn’t expect he could truly harm his nemesis. This is evidenced by both the his apparent shock when Metro Man seems to actually be dead, and by his overt statement during the museum scene that he “didn’t think it would really work.”  The second is that, as young Metro Man was a bully, tormenting Megamind without provocation and encouraging other children to do the same, Megamind may have mentally placed him in the bad guy/threat category.

His lack of violence is not the only proof that Megamind had a better heart than most credited him for even when he was a supervillain. Keep in mind that he had a holographic disguise watch and a hoverbike.  Presumably, Megamind could have simply fled Metro City when Titan turned evil, but he didn’t.  Instead he went to Roxanne for help, stating that if they could not find the new villain’s weakness Titan would “destroy the whole city.”  And this was after Titan had tried to kill him.  Clearly, despite being a supervillain, Megamind cared enough about his home town to put his life in danger.

The final support for the Benevolent Overlord theory is less obvious: Megamind had to have been getting funds from somewhere even when Metro Man was still functioning as the Defender of Metro City. (Indeed, in some of the early concept art, the Evil Lair was imagined as a luxurious space boasting things like a huge library and a sleek laboratory.  Some fans still picture the living quarters in much the same way despite the creators stating that he built his inventions from whatever he could get his hands on.)  Near the beginning of the movie, Minion mentions a supplier in Romania, and presumably he and Megamind had to be getting food and other necessities somehow.  While it’s true that the blue villain was clearly not above thievery, we also know that his plots were always defeated by Metro Man, so it’s safe to assume that he rarely if ever got away with stealing anything before the former hero’s supposed “death.”  Of course, it also seems extremely unlikely, even laughable, that Megamind would have had a day job.  Where, then, did the money come from?  Many fans theorize that, as the local crime boss, he received a cut from all illegal activity. It certainly seems like the most probable explanation.  

Art by Kory Heinzen, found in The Art of Megamind by Richard von Busack

So why would Megamind build his technology and machines largely from scrap if he had a constant cash flow?  Given his concern for the city, several fan fictions have imagined the blue man secretly and anonymously donating a significant portion of his ill-gotten money to various charities and non-profits.  That idea is not directly supported by any evidence, but it does fit with what we know.  It’s also consistent with Megamind’s character: a feared supervillain who possesses a surprisingly good heart and, given his past, knows too well what it’s like to be thrown away by society.

So, was Megamind a crime boss as well as a supervillain?  Did he use that position to secretly better life in Metro City?  If so, is he still doing that now that he is the Defender of Metro City, thus curbing criminal activity from within as well as fighting it from without? (For the record, given that there is no apparent gang war happening during The Button of Doom, I would propose that the answer to the last question may be yes.)  These are certainly interesting ideas to consider, and the mere fact that this animated film offers enough details to argue the point is a testament to just how well-constructed the movie is.  I consider it yet more proof that the film Megamind is truly an underrated masterpiece.

[wandering-dracagian]

Grom Scene Analysis

Okay so- I wanted to make an analysis post of this scene so here we GO-

Lumity is not dead! I can prove that yes, Luz likely DOES share feelings for Amity! Maybe without realising it, maybe she does (if Ordinary is anything close to canon, at least). So here it is, here’s the actual analysis now:

Here’s the video I will be referring to theoughout this analysis. It’s the scene prior to the dance including a frame from the original storyboard:

Let’s start it off.

Right here, Luz sounds audibly distressed. Her voice cracks, it gets shrill, higher pitched, afraid. Maybe this could just be because it could be literally anything, literally anything. It also, I thinks, plays back into the way she said “I would,” when Amity said “Who would want to switch with me?” Which, going to this, leads me to believe she really cares about her.

However

In the next frame, she asks, genuinely curious but afraid, “Who is that?” in a way that reminds me of someone who’s curious but also worried. I interpret this as her thinking “Who is that? Is that me? Is that someone else?” which on its own makes total sense. That’s pretty innocuous. It’s still rather strange just how she says it, though. It isn’t the kind of curiosity you’d ask if someone you knew was genuinely curious. Maybe it’s her being worried because she’s concerned Amity might get hurt, maybe she’s just worried it’s someone who hurt Amity in the past. Issue here is, you can actually see the outline of her skirt in Grom’s goopy silhouette. Weak point, I know, but hold on, okay?

This one! This one clip right here leads up to one of the most telling and most loaded of all of the frames/clips in this scene. Notice the way she says “Amity. What if I went to Grom with you instead?” There’s a downward inflection. It drops. This is typically seen in disappointment, in hurt, in forced or strained times. Usually, when asking a question, it comes across with an upward lilt. This can be seen in how Amity asks “Really?” afterward. If Luz was asking in a friendly manner, it’d likely go up, not down. It going down seems more like she’s trying to hide her disappointment in the form of asking a question, trying to make it into a question with the typical “What” word in front of it and the attempt at an upward inflection.

This is telling, but not NEARLY as telling as this next one!

THIS ONE, RIGHT HERE-

Notice her shining eyes? That’s only happened on rare occasions. She’s feeling really intense emotions here. That smile? It feels forced, the blankness of her eyes, the way she almost immediately goes:

“That’s what friends do!” in the most strained voice I’ve ever heard her talk in in the series afterwards is really telling.

There’s also some body language/nonverbal signals she’s giving off here which I will now explain:

Head tilt to the right - This indicates trustworthiness and emotional signals due to the left side of the face being driven by the emotional right brain, thus showing the more emotional side of the face

Head tilt - A sign of vulnerability, raises trust, typically seen as a method of showing genuine happinrss since it’s a common way people will fake a smile.

Shut eyes - Both to hide the emotions being shown in her eyes along with showing vulnerability and trustworthiness.

Smile - A typical sign of joy, trustworthiness, honesty, genuine happiness and love.

Shift of the weight - Lying, dishonesty, unsettled

Holding out a hand - Vulnerability, shows off more of the torso and seems friendly and formal

Subtle shift of the weight (Shown by the head tilt) - Lying, dishonesty, unsettlement

Lines under the eyes - Typical signs of eyes slightly forced shut, unlike usual signs of happiness coming from more relaxed shut eyes

I’ll break these down-

She’s tilting her head, smiling, holding out a hand, tilting to the right, and the shutting her eyes is all because she wants to make it seem like she genuinely believes that “That’s what friends do!” and that she isn’t hurt by what’s happening/that Amity might like someone else. The weight shift, the strain in her voice, the stiffness in her posture, all says otherwise. Her shining eyes shows she’s not doing well, she’s hurt, the strain in her voice sounds like fake joy, the weight shift shows she’s hiding aomething, all signs of dishonesty and emotions. She wants to seem like she isn’t hurt by the idea of Amity liking someone else.

After all- she already befriended Amity, why is she still trying to get closer to her? Why even interact with her at all? She has Willow and Gus and also she could’ve been on the same level of friendship as she is with Barcus, Viney, and the Blight twins even. Why bother getting as close as she is to Amity? Either way, getting off track here-

In this one, she seems genuinely surprised when Amity actually accepts the invitation. Seeing how she’s considered an outsider, a deviant, someone scorned by the school for being human, it’s weird that Amity, a witch of high regard, actually accepted her invitation to dance. To Luz, it’d be weird that she’d actually accept it, even if they were just friends. They could’ve just worked together, said they’d dance later or maybe Amity would turn it down even. The fact that she did, though, is strange to her. “It actually worked? She actually accepted it?” kind of situation.

Now the last one is mainly just an addition:

This is the original storyboard. See Luz’s expression? How Amity looks more hesitant? How close they’re pressed together? Amity was worried of pushing Luz away, but later showed she was genuinely happy to dance (shown by her expressions during the dance itself). Luz, on the other hand, was startled. She wasn’t really shocked in a negative way, more of a surprised “Wait WHAT?” kind of way. The way you’d expect to react when you’re suddenly lead into something when you thought you would walk in first. She wasn’t expecting Amity to lead, she didn’t realise that she’d make the first move. It shows interest, enthusiasm, especially since Luz ends up taking the role of the following partner through the dip especially. They both kind of alternate between leading and following in the dance, something not usually done unless it’s premeditated. The fact that they’re doing this shows a mutual interest, bond, an understanding of one another to understand “Okay. We’re switching roles now” and being able to execute that switch easily is a sign that they’re more aligned than they thought they were.

This is fun for them, this is something both of them are enjoying. Luz isn’t doing this just because she’s being friendly just as Amity isn’t either. It’s why her next smile after her “That’s what friends do!” line was a genuinely happy one. Luz and Amity both have large, toothy smiles, genuine signs of joy, playfulness, fun. Their attention is almost entirely dedicated to one another rather than on Grom, who only comes into play during the parts where Amity sends the abomination towards it.

Either way, getting too long-

Basically Luz has feelings for her based on body language, tone, voice inflections, and also was genuinely sad at the thought of Amity liking someone else at Grom.

This was really disorganized sorry I wrote it at 1 am haha oops-

[meadow-roses]

Hi! I hope you're doing well! I've been meaning to reach out to you for a while but I'm always so nervous! I wanted to tell you that I'm always so impressed by your animations and I wanted to ask if you had any advice? I would like to learn but I have no idea how to begin. How do you go about it and how did you start learning this process? Thank you very much and I hope all is well!

Hello!!! First off I want to apologize for it taking so long to respond to you- we had a lot of autumnal food storing to do and I was short on time. Animation is something I'm very passionate about and I wanted to give you a thorough answer because I would absolutely LOVE to help you get started in animating!! If there's anything I don't cover, or if you have a more specific question, feel free to send another ask and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. :)

I didn't really do much to get started, I just kinda jumped in with photoshop cs5 (I DON'T recommend doing that LOL 😂) I wanted to make an animated series with my brother so I just started working on the trailer which is like 30 seconds pffft. Since then I've just been learning as I go picking up stuff from watching movies closely. I've still got a lot of basics to figure out like thumbnailing a sequence before you try to animate it, and timing charts (which is what I'm trying to work on now hehe)

My biggest piece of advice for you would be to just jump into it! I think there is no advice that can get anyone started better than to just start doing it. I know that can sound daunting, but there is no better way to get better at any form of art (drawing, writing, singing, etc.) than to just start. You'll learn the best by learning from your own mistakes, as hard as that can be. XD

You can start with some simple exercises to get the hang of moving something, like animate a ball bouncing or a hamster doing a backflip- just whatever sounds most do-able to you. (Do yourself a favor and don't start with a walk/run cycle though. They seem simple but are actually one of the hardest things to animate lol Be smarter than me. XDD) Just start small and work up from there. Go from animating a ball to animating a blink, then animate something turning it's head, saying something, waving, flapping wings. The more animating the more you'll catch the hang of it and drawing the motions will become intuitive. In general, just don't be afraid to try- and if it doesn't look right, don't give up! :D

Richard Williams book, "The Animator's Survival Kit" is a wonderful resource for getting started animating. He walks the reader through the very basics, and then the fundamentals of animation and how to apply it, like squash and stretch and takes. I was able to find a copy at my library and then later bought one off Abebooks for around $12. I haven't finished the book but I did peek ahead and see lip syncing and walk cycles and other wider motions.

I've found a lot of art programs come with an animation system built in. I don't know what program you're using, but I personally love the one for Krita. I find the entire program intuitive and easy to use (that's also my drawing program XD), and the animation window is seconded only by ToonBoom (the current industry standard software which is also EXCELLENT just pricey. You can get a one month free trial for each of the three versions if you want to test it out. Unlike Krita, ToonBoom can make 2d puppets and do "flash" animation.) If you are having trouble with digital animation you can still practice with traditional sketches, I made a tutorial thing for a friend on that here. Flipbooks are something I've heard of working? Like animating on a pad of sticky notes, but I haven't been able to get that to work well for me but you could try it!

If you have any more specific questions I'd love to help you however I am able! Here are some of the resources I've found useful:

Again, I can't recommend enough Richard Williams' book "The Animator's Survival Guide" (an animator trained by Milt Kahl) if you want to understand the basics and are still confused where to start. Also Frances Glebas' (a renowned director) storyboarding book "Directing the Story". Both of those books have been immensely helpful and I can't wait for the free time to read them more and put to action the lessons! XD

Here's a link to James Baxter's (my animator hero lol) youtube account, where you can study snippets of a master animator's work: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt2iDOfRW1WWu5SxgJJpP1g

I've also found following accounts of animators on instagram has been a help, they'll often post "breakdowns" of shots explaining why they chose what shapes and how they decided to pace motions and stuff like that. jakeleeanimation this dude posts a lot of studies of disney animations kenduncan9 director of the studio that animated Tarzan and Hercules, among others pumbaaguy animator of Kronk and Pumba! framebyframe_animation this helpful account slows animations down and really walks you through the forms and pacing johnpomeroyart worked on Pocahontas and Atlantis, likes teaching people animation! theanimationart explanatory username lol XD AND OF COURSE aaronblaiseart who has retired from animating to TEACH animation and was also trained by the original disney pioneer animators. He does have a website where you can buy a course, and while it is pricey it does often go on sale. I haven't caught the chance to watch through all the episodes yet but I was able to purchase the series for $10 last year.

Also I seriously mean it, if you have any other questions feel free to ask. XD There's so much info I'm not sure where to start or what would be most helpful for you to get you started. :,)

[firelxdykatara]

Touching Zuko’s Scar

It’s entirely possible that someone has written meta on this before, and possibly done it better/more eloquently than I’m about to. However, I have Things To Say and I’m going to say them, and hopefully my point comes across! This post is largely spurred on by a few posts I’ve seen in the tags lately which have... rather baffling takes on the whole ‘who touches Zuko’s scar and why’ situation, particularly in regards to feeling the need, for some reason, to diminish the scene in which Katara touches his scar and the importance of that moment for both of them.

From what I can tell, this was done in an attempt to prop up Maiko, which I suppose makes some amount of sense since that is a ship which can barely stand on its own without tremendous amounts of headcanoning to fill in the gaping holes left by the fact that the entirety of their relationship development happened off-screen (and the glimpse we do get into it in the ‘going home’ midquel comic leaves a lot to be desired in terms of why Zuko would even want to be with her, but that’s another discussion entirely). But it still doesn’t quite fit, because the scenes with Katara and with Song are so much more meaningful, both in terms of Zuko’s arc and the way the girls relate to him (and it also ties into Katara feeling so hurt by Zuko’s betrayal, and needing more than any of the others before she can forgive and accept him into the gaang).

Now, that out of the way, I do want to say up front that the intention here is not to be particularly anti Maiko, but to examine the situations in which Zuko’s scar is touched (or almost touched), and the similarities two of these scenes have which are not shared by the third (at which point, you’re obviously free to draw your own conclusions).

Also, please bear with me--I can’t take screenshots or anything, so I’ll reference scenes and the episodes they come from but there won’t be images.

Under a cut bc this got long

To start off, there are three moments in the entire series where a character touches, or tries to touch, Zuko’s scar with her hand. (I say ‘her’ because all three instances occur with girls near Zuko’s own age.) The first moment is in The Cave of Two Lovers, the second episode of book two--this is the moment where Song sees Zuko’s scar, recognizes it for the intentional burn from a firebender that it is, and reaches for it.

Song: Can I join you? I know what you’ve been through. We’ve all been through it. [looks at Zuko’s scar] The Fire Nation has hurt you. [she slowly reaches for his scar, but before she can touch it, Zuko grabs her wrist and stops her; she puts her hand back in her lap] It’s ok. They’ve hurt me too. [pulls up the leg of her pants to reveal the burn scars there]

The second moment comes at the end of book 2, in The Crossroads of Destiny, in a moment that is a deliberate parallel of Zuko’s connection with Song--but this time, he lets Katara touch him.

Katara: [she holds up a vial] This is water from the spirit oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I’ve been saving it for something important. [moves closer to Zuko, standing in front of him] I don’t know if it would work, but... [Zuko closes his eyes, and Katara’s fingers touch his scar; the scene holds there as the music swells, before they’re interrupted]

Like Song did, Katara felt a connection to Zuko via a similar trauma he suffered. However, unlike Song, Katara knew who Zuko was--the banished prince of the Fire Nation, and someone who had been her enemy for most of the past several months. However, she still feels compassion and empathy for him, and it is for this reason that she takes his subsequent choice harder than anyone else in the gaang does (and why it takes more for him to earn her forgiveness).

Now, the third moment is... rather incongruous. There is neither compassion nor understanding involved in touching his scar, there is no real emotional connection, and it comes right on the heels of his girlfriend--someone we’re supposed to believe cares about him and his emotional wellbeing, since they’re in a relationship (which happened off-screen, but I digress)--shutting down his attempt to talk about his feelings, something that will present a conflict in their relationship later on.

Mai: [yawns] I just asked if you were cold, I didn’t ask for your whole life story. [she moves forward, smirking, and then chuckles, putting one arm around his neck and pulling his face towards her with her other hand] Stop worrying. [they kiss, and then Mai walks away, leaving Zuko to stare out at the horizon again; the wiki transcript says he looks relieved, but to me he looks resigned more than anything]

What’s interesting about this moment is, for one thing, it’s unclear if Mai is even supposed to be touching his scar at all. Giancarlo Volpe, the director for this episode, put the original storyboards for the scene up on his DeviantArt, and in them, it seems he was fairly careful to make sure Mai was not touching Zuko’s scar. This would make sense, considering that touching Zuko’s scar was presented as a very big deal--he specifically prevented a girl from touching his scar in the beginning of book 2, and at the end, he allowed another girl to touch him, showcasing vulnerability and trust in that moment. It is the culmination of one small part of his character arc, and that makes the moment that Katara touches his scar even more meaningful.

Of course, I can’t say definitively that it was an animation mistake or something that was deliberately changed during production (which, considering there is a moment later in the book where Bryke mandated a change, isn’t outside the realm of possibility), but it does present interesting implications.

However, even if you take the scene at face value and assume that Mai was intended to be touching his scar....it’s still presented in an entirely different framework than the previous two scenes, despite occurring almost immediately after Zuko’s moment with Katara in the caves (at least as far as episode count).

The different framework being, of course, the fact that it.... doesn’t mean anything at all.

In the first two scenes, Zuko’s scar and his pain--as well as the pain of the girls who are forging an empathic connection with him based on understanding each other’s trauma--is the focus. Touching, or attempting to touch, Zuko’s scar is the point--it is very deliberate, and there’s no way to argue against it because the writing is very explicit, and nothing else would make sense for those scenes. On the other hand, you could take out the moment where Mai touches Zuko’s scar and lose absolutely nothing--because the focus is not on Zuko, but rather on the fact that he was attempting to open up emotionally to his girlfriend (and note that this is the first indication we get in the show that they are together--take out the kiss completely and no one would even know they’re dating, let alone supposedly like one another even as friends), and was shut down with a sarcastic quip, ostensibly because Mai simply didn’t want to hear it. (This is in keeping with her later characterization, where she would much rather distract him and keep him from actually talking about any of his problems, but @araeph goes into the nature of Mai and Zuko’s emotional intimacy [or lack thereof] in much greater detail in this essay, so I won’t get too deep into it here.)

Mai touching Zuko’s scar doesn’t mean anything to the audience because it doesn’t mean anything to Zuko. He doesn’t react to or acknowledge it in any way, it’s as if he doesn’t even notice it happening (perhaps because it wasn’t supposed to? but again that’s speculation), and nothing in the scene would change if it didn’t. It simply doesn’t matter. On the other hand, Song nearly touching Zuko’s scar and then Katara actually touching his scar? They matter to him--and to the show, and therefore the audience--very much. Both moments are incredibly important to Zuko’s overall arc, because together, they show how far he had come in his own emotional journey over the course of the book.

Of course, it isn’t enough to keep him from choosing to side with Azula, because his journey was far from complete--but the fact that he was able to show such trust and vulnerability to a girl who had been his enemy not very long ago? That was huge. Because Zuko didn’t just let Katara touch his scar--he closed his eyes. She could have hurt him in that moment, but he trusted that she wouldn’t. He trusted that she was willing to use special water she’d been saving for something important--and he trusted that, in that moment, he was important to her.

It wasn’t just Zuko showing trust either, though--Katara showed trust in him. She trusted, after a few minutes of conversation and learning about the loss of his mother (and, specifically, the fact that the Fire Nation was responsible for the loss of his mother, just as it was responsible for the loss of hers), that he had changed--that he was different, and she could trust him. She was willing to use the spirit water she’d been carrying around for months on someone who had recently been so much an enemy that she fled from the tea shop, convinced that he’d somehow infiltrated the city and was planning something.

The fact that she trusted him in that moment is exactly why she took his next choice so hard, but it is also why their relationship cemented itself so solidly after The Southern Raiders, giving them quite possibly the strongest relationship in the gaang outside of Katara and Sokka.

Anyway, that was a lot of words for what essentially amounts to this: Song attempting to touch Zuko’s scar in the beginning of book 2 is explicitly paralleled by Katara being allowed to touch his scar at the end of it, and both moments occur during scenes where Zuko’s pain and trauma are acknowledged and validated, and where the person he’s speaking with feels a connection to him because of that shared trauma--because they understand what he has been through. It’s likewise important to note that while Song didn’t actually entirely understand, because she didn’t know who Zuko was or what being traumatized by the Fire Nation actually meant to him, Katara did--and she still was able to feel for him, connect to him, and want to help him.

By contrast, the moment with Mai occurs in a scene where Zuko’s pain and trauma are invalidated and dismissed, where his girlfriend attempts to distract him rather than help him through what is clearly a moment of great emotional turmoil. No, she shouldn’t have to be his therapist, but emotional support is vital in any relationship--especially when one party is traumatized and desperately needs support and love--and it is notably lacking from Maiko, starting from their very first romantic scene together.

Make of that what you will.

[shimmershae]

So.  Thanks to my new anonymous friend, this is going to become a thing.

Shae’s thinky thoughts about the latest episode--Acheron:  Part 2--beneath a cut. 

Because spoilers, however vague they might be.  

Let’s be real here.  This is more a stream of consciousness than anything else so if that’s not your thing, you are most welcome to nope right on out of this post.  Trust me.  I’ll completely understand, lol.  Sometimes?  I wish I could nope right on out of my own brain and the way it operates.  

That said?  Without further ado--

Episode 2′s opening, though.  Maggie trapped with hungry Walkers converging?  It totally gives me Glenn under the dumpster vibes.  I don’t know if that was intentional or just happy coincidence but way to link Maggie to her dearly departed better half, show.  

Is it just me or has Father G had more OOMPH to him these last few seasons?  Again, I have to ask--Rosita’s influence or no?  Regardless, I bet Seth Gilliam is loving the job these days.  

Side note:  am I gonna have to go to bed early every Saturday night from now until the end just so I that I might be able to SEE?  Something?  Anything?  My curtains are flimsy-ass.  I admit it.  But this is more frustrating than TXF.  Angela, WTF?  

No, seriously.  It’s like complete guess work who’s in these subway scenes.  Some of that has to do with them being overly populated by redshirts and the rest of it has to do with me having to squint and turn sideways to make out their facial features. 

Look at Daryl busting through concrete walls!  Should I call him the Kool-Aid Man considering NR has once again allowed himself to be led right into a biased, shipper trap?  Hmm.  I might.  

Imagine seeking refuge in those dark, filthy subways.  Any second now I expect to hear the skittering of rats.  Will Dog lose his effing mind a la Divergence?  He’s been shown to go off half-cocked that way, lol.  Oh well.  Guess it’ll be in character if he does.  

Impressive graffiti storyboards.  Does it mean something that it immediately cuts to the Commonwealth storm troopers afterward?  Maybe.  Who really knows at this point?  They been trying to gaslight us forever.  

LOL at Princess yet again.  Yumiko is just like da fuq is this person?  

No, really.  LMAO.  “That was her.  From last night.  Did you see how she was looking at us?”  

Then you have Eugene, hahaha.  “Oh God.  Why did he tell off the big guy?”  Like the man is totally me in this type of situation.  Not even gonna lie.  

“That’s right.  We want to talk to the manager.”  

I literally cannot wait ‘til Carol and Daryl meet Princess.  Can.  Not.  Wait.  

How sad is that note on that $100 bill?  Small moment but it totally gives me Season 4 vibes when they were on their way to Terminus seeking sanctuary.  

Hmm.  Remember how that place wasn’t what they thought it was?  I’m sure neither is the Commonwealth.  But I feel like what’s left of Team Family is totally going to do Rick proud, lol, and prove they’re messing with the wrong people if they try something.  

Daryl, Man.  You gonna have to get a better handle on your headstrong Fur Son.  I wonder if Dog would listen better to his mama?  Things to ponder.  

Sounds like Miko has this group’s number.  Or does she?  

Princess and Eugene totally look like they’re waiting their turn for the Principal’s office, LOL.  

“Stop moving!  You’re taking my nerves over the edge to a proverbial 11 on a scale of 10.”  I feel you, Eugene.  I do.  Also you, Princess.  Two of the most relatable TWD characters right there, I’m telling you.  

Princess is me when I really, really, really have to pee.  TMI?  Sorry, lovelies.  LOL.  I just...she’s so relatable.  

LMAO.  “If that fine ass dude in the orange suit...”  Princess and Mercer incoming in 3-2-----

Princess’s excitement over the toilet paper=PRICELESS.  

Eugene, Man.  You desperately need to develop a poker face.  

There’s Daryl getting another cool camera shot.  Angela?  You playing favorites again?  

Carol’s claustrophobia could have never.  I bet that’s in the back of Pookie’s mind.  You can’t tell me it’s not because Carol lives in there rent-free.  

Ohhh.  Back to the subway car.  Looks like we got the Maggie redshirts leading the way.  First sacrificial “lambs”?  

Maggie pistol-whipping Negan was kinda deserved, but he wasn’t all wrong so.  

Damn.  I’m no Gage fan.  He can fuck all the way off for what he did to my baby Lydia.  But Maggie over there with ice in her veins.  

Yep.  I think the dude just got one of the most gruesome deaths in a while.  Yuck.  

I think Alden’s faith in Maggie definitely took several hits.  I feel like he kind of had her on some sort of pedestal dating back to Hilltop times.  Father G, though?  The man is continuing to show himself a SAVAGE MFer.  

Josh gives Eugene such believable tics and mannerisms.  He IS Eugene.  

Thank you, Maggie, for lighting that flare.  I could not see a damn thing.  

What are these bad memories Negan alludes to?  Hmm?  Him being a shit husband to Lucille back when he was still taking her for granted?  

Father G on Gage’s Walker--”All that is, is a shell of a man, who died a coward.”  Kind of ironic considering Father G’s own origins, huh?  Has he any warmth in there for anybody but Rosita and Coco?  Does he equate it with weakness?  

“There are worse ways.”  And Maggie proceeds to paint us a horror story with mere words.  

Dark Maggie really surpasses anything certain fans have ever accused Carol of being.  Is she too far gone?  Who the hell knows?  I think it’s clear that she and Carol are both on a sliding scale of sorts when it comes to being able to compartmentalize shit to survive.  Personally?  I feel like Maggie might have leap-frogged Carol in this episode but it matters none because of the double standards so deeply entrenched in this fandom.  Both women have endured and had to do some horrific things.  It’s not a contest.  But it’s probably going to be turned into a season-long one.  

It’s almost like Kang was like, “Ya’ll bitches think Carol’s dark?  I’ll show you DARK.  Check and mate.”  

Whatever the reasoning, Maggie just got exponentially more interesting to me if not likable.  And before anybody out there comes at me, it’s entirely possible to be on a character’s side in some things and not be all up their ass in love with them, lol.  Like I’m attached to her because she’s family and Glenn loved her.  There’s a loyalty there and she absolutely is justified in her hatred of Negan.  But I’m not going to pretend her shit don’t stink like everybody else’s.  

Speaking of my baby Glenn.  What would he think of this version of Maggie?  I think he would be gutted and heart stricken that events led to her being like this but he’d understand because he’s pure like that.  Don’t mean he’d be A-OK with it all.  

Dog must be protected at all costs.  

Confession.  I know not the fuck who Pony Boy is, but I know him because all my fandom friends have pointed him out to me, lol.  RIP, Man.  I think you’re number’s up or close to it.  

Okay, though.  I admit it.  I am kinda LOVING Badass Father G.  

That scene in the subway car with all of them working to take all the Walkers out was already badass.  Then Daryl arrived and made it, in @freefromthecocoon’s words, HAWT.  LOL.  

Eugene staring at that little black book like it contains torture tools, hehehe.  

“Processed?  As in administratively?  Processed as in bologna or other meat stuffs?  This inquiring (enquiring?) mind needs to know.”  OMG, Eugene.  I admit it.  Even if it makes me look like a lunatic, LOL.  I straight up LMAO at that one.  I mean, ten years later and Terminus still fresh on the man’s mind.  

“You like feeling nervous?”  Well, no.  None of us that do, Mercer?  Do.  

Then he proceeds to make me howl with his “You can’t lie for shit” to Eugene.  

Josh McDermitt?  I love you, Man.  40 year old virgin, LOL.  

All this talk over the seasons of Daryl’s virginity and we have Eugene, hahaha.  But was he telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?  

Finally.  Some daylight.  Where I can see.  

Eugene’s relief at seeing his friends safe and sound was such a beautiful thing to see.  I loved those hugs.  

Mercer’s face when he snarled “beat cop” in disdain to Ezekiel.  I think I’m gonna love this dude.  

“I went to West Point.  Asshole.”  Yeah.  I am.  

I know they probably catfishing Eugene right here because spoilers tell us that ain’t Stephanie.  But my heart still did a little d’aww.  Angela.  Don’t play with his poor heart like that.  

What’s got Daryl so pensive, huh?  Is it that the note reminds him of kids being lost or taken from their family? Or separated from their family?  Is he thinking of those Grimes babies and wondering if Michonne will ever make it back and why and how she was able to leave them behind?  Tell me it ain’t that Find Me nonsense.  

“This place sure has gone to shit since the last time I was here.”  LMAO, JDM.  I mean Negan.  Sorry.  Sorry.  I still hate Negan, but JDM has me entertained at least since they gave the asshole some shades of gray.  And speaking of shades of gray.  I’m loving the gray beard.  JDM’s looking GOOD (hear that NR?  Embrace the gray).  Negan can still kick rocks, lol.  

Anyway.  That scene was CREEPY AF.  Not even gonna lie.  

The Reapers strutting right on up to our group like it’s The Purge:  ZA.  

My bad, Pony Boy. Now RIP.  

Dark, dark episode with loads of tension broken up by some welcome humor by Princess.  The girl is fast becoming a fave of mine.  

My baby’s back next week!!!

I’m just going to plug my ears and pretend they’re trying to capture/recapture the horses because they’re pets.  Not because they’re starving so bad they feel the need to eat them.  La la la la la.  I can’t hear you.