#Vincent's ending is very similar to Jack's

[jacksintention]

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[t00thpasteface]

hey! i was just curious if i could use your art in an artist study? i looked over your faq and i didn't see any mention of it so i just wanted to ask. it's okay if the answer is now, no pressure :)

(⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠) sure, if you credit me! i would be incredibly flattered!!

now that being said, i would also like to share with you some artists whose work i've enjoyed doing studies of! i find it's very useful to "follow the money" with artists you like, and go along the chain of inspiration to see how ideas and styles can change from person to person.

vincent van gogh is my BIGGEST inspiration in terms of color and composition! his unique style of brush work is what he's best known for, but i recommend looking at his works holistically too, and seeing where the eye is led and how he plays with light, color, and mood. if you want to go further, he was very inspired not only by prior impressionists, but also by japanese ukiyo-e artwork— try comparing "starry night" to "great wave off kanagawa" and seeing the similarities in the grand, sweeping movements they convey.

i'm sure i've said this a million times, but genndy tartakovsky has probably my favorite cartoonist style. it's at its peak in samurai jack— opinions are mixed about the narrative quality of season 5, but if nothing else, the art direction is absolutely jawdropping. one of my favorite scenes is the bit in the tomb, where jack is hiding in a sarcophagus, because the music and visuals are paying homage to a scene at the climax of "the good the bad and the ugly"!

in a totally different direction from those two... i'm a huge fan of gil elvgren's pinup girls! i've had a few different pinup calendars over the years, and at the end of the year, i like to cut up the pages individually for mini posters— i've covered pretty much all my available wall space in his illustrations. i love it when artists don't feel the need to sacrifice expressiveness for realism; his girls are SO DARN CUTE and they all look like they're having so much whimsical, cartoonish, flirty fun!

here's a post where i talk about more inspirations!

here's a post listing some other tumblr artists i like!

i'm also just very heavily inspired by 50s-60s print illustration... things like advertisements, "clip art" (which you had to physically clip out of a book and paste onto the page), and of course, tv cartoons. one big trend i love with that "googie" art style is how incredibly limited the palettes were, and how efficient the economy of line was. as much as i love the bold, blocky, dynamic shapes of styles like tartakovsky, who takes insp

also, please remember i'm entirely self taught and am NOT an expert, so just be aware of that if you see any weird stylistic choices in my work... i admire the work of a lot of professionally trained artists, but that doesn't mean i have any training or real right to go around teaching people stuff. i'm just some guy from a big crazy family full of artists, only some of whom went to school for it.

okay, that got way longer than i meant it to, SORRY! here's a pic of my cat Carmen as a thanks for reading this far ^_^

[streetkid-named-desire]

Post-canon AU: What happened to Vincent Guerra and Bea's video game meta

It was about time to make an actual post to reference as I play the game through with Bea more. If you have other questions about their lore feel free to ask!

Bea is not a V

Bea is playing through a video game BD that Judy helped V create to deal with the trauma of All Of That. She uses a custom BD rig so V can jack in sometimes and see what she does, add commentary, etc. it also allows him to occasionally pipe in Johnny live so Bea can yell at him.

Military doll chip

These are different than the ones Judy makes in that they completely overwrite the individual's personality. This was based on Dr. Kenji Yamamoto's (OC) early research of the Relic. It doesn't just give them combat prowess, it turns them into mindless soldiers at the flip of a switch. This has implications for the Fifth Corpo War because Militech and Arasaka could build a paramilitary fighting force of civilians and trained soldiers alike.

Relic fix-it

The chip became dormant for two years.

PL happened but none of the canon endings happened. At some point before he was supposed to meet Hanako at Embers he just woke up and Johnny was...gone. He woke up feeling a strange emptiness with a very quiet head. He went to Viktor who found that the Relic overwriting process had just...stopped.

This lasted for two years until 2079 when the fic starts.

Johnny is reactivated the first time V jacks into Bea's brain to save her from the initial effects of the corpo monitoring soft Arasaka installed in her. He saves V's life by forcing V out of his interface.

At the end of the fic (spoilers? I'll put it under a cut in case you want to read the fic lol)

Dr. Kenji Yamamoto was an Arasaka researcher Frederick kidnapped to help him with his own attempt at finishing Militech's version to earn his spot back as head of R&D at Militech.

Dr. Yamamoto worked on the military doll chips for Arasaka and was one of the early researchers developing the Relic. His research set the groundwork for the military doll chips.

Bea and V rescue Dr. Yamamoto and free him from Frederick's basement. Bea is near death and they go to Dr. Yamamoto's private research hospital. While Bea is in surgery, he does an experiment with V and Johnny in a special interface.

While he's inside the interface he asks V to raise his right hand which he does in realspace and the interface. Then he asks Johnny to raise his right hand, which V does in realspace but only Johnny does in the interface.

He explains that the Relic has stopped overwriting because their neural maps have merged/overlapped. Because all of the basic body functions are covered, the Relic only needed to overwrite/add new neurons and shit for Johnny. And all the omega blockers helped, similar to how taking certain psychiatric medications take a while to build up to work.

Now their neural maps and synaptic connections and shit overlap. Johnny could control various limbs whenever the fuck he wanted and even take full control if he wanted to. Dr. Yamamoto gives V an option of tweaking the Relic and adding a modification to control the omega blocking effect (omega blockers are a real thing used to treat schizophrenia). He doesn't have the meds but it tweaked the natural imbalance.

What that means is V is primarily in control most often, but it is less effective in times of heightened emotion or if he's under the influence of something. He can talk to Johnny and he can still make commentary and pop up from time to time, but it is less often.

Their dreams can also intersect because their brains and subconscious overlap. V essentially has one and a half brains.

But it's not killing him anymore! Johnny has made peace with it and he and V are very close and very close friends so he's happy to be along for the ride. It does get frustrating sometimes and he will state his displeasure and make fun of V for shit, but that's just Johnny being Johnny.

[wishbonegame]

Hi I have more misc questions:

Who are your favorite characters?

How many quests are in the game? Can you get to them all in one playthrough, or do you have to do multiple playthroughs?

What's Nikki's favorite dog breed?

What is the name of Tobias' cat?

Has Tobias always been this cranky?

And finally: how are all the adult characters so attractive??

Ooh, these are some fun ones!

Regarding favorites: It's honestly hard to say what my own favorite is at this point! I've been working on the game so long that my interest has cooled somewhat on some of my original favorites, and some characters who I had initially conceived of as "just filling an NPC role" wound up being a lot more fun than expected.

Sheriff Pilgrim was my original favorite (especially when he's interacting with Jack!) and I do still enjoy him, but I've found I enjoy writing for Sonny and Vincent quite a bit, too. Mike is also fun... and Morgan... and a bunch of others, depending on what mood I'm in. Our main writer @kwillow enjoys Mayor North and Em.

One of the nice things about Wishbone is that we have a similar writing approach to Bioware RPGs, where each character is somebody's baby. To make writing practical, we do have to write for whatever character needs writing for sometimes, but we do also have someone who's sort of the "captain" of each character (or at least major characters).

Regarding quests: The final quest count won't be known until later in development, but I've "stubbed out" quest log code for all planned quests so far, and the end of the quest log looks like this:

There are roughly 40 quests of various types fully implemented right now, so a bit less than half of planned quests have been implemented! That 109 number covers all the character quests, story quests, and other major quests, but I might add a few very small quests to add interest to slower portions of the game. It'll depend on how playtesting goes!

You won't be able to do every quest in a single playthrough because the story does split into Outlaw path and Lawful path eventually. Once you've made certain pivotal story choices, some characters will consider you to be on the enemy team and will no longer be willing to trust you (or, possibly, even talk to you at all!), and some story moments will force you to pick one of two characters to work with.

So you'll need a minimum of two playthroughs to do everything! Certain quests might also have more than one ending, depending on how you solve the task and who you work with. The game might not be as branchy as Fallout New Vegas or Baldur's Gate 3, but it is pretty dense!

Regarding Nikki's dog opinions:

She likes all dogs, really! She can go on at length about the pros and cons and various uses and quirks of any breed. She also thinks mutts are interesting. But she is most interested in "wilder" looking breeds, like her cattledog, Sirius!

Regarding Tobias's cat:

His name is Mr. Grumpus. Like his owner, he has permanent Resting Surly Cowboy face. He can often be found sleeping on the counter in the general store or wandering around town, though most townspeople know better than to bug him. He's not the friendliest to strangers!

Regarding Tobias's crankiness: He was always serious and standoffish and never the most popular or sociable person. However, it seems that he's gotten more sullen and gloomy since his mother's health started declining and he had to take over managing his family's general store. Being a cashier isn't really the life he dreamed of, and the stress of his family situation is getting to him. But maybe there's hope for things to improve...?

Regarding the characters being attractive: Ah, I'm glad you like 'em! I (and everyone else working on the project) love to design eccentrics and oddballs. I worry sometimes that we've gone too far catering to our own interests, rather than making something a wider audience would enjoy, so it's great to hear that they have appeal beyond our little niche! They're certainly not your typical "romanceable NPC" lineup, but we do hope that they find their target audience of people who want something more unconventional. :)

[newtsoftheworldunite]

Reading tag game! Tagged by @hoeratius. Tagging @the-lincyclopedia @the-knights-who-say-book @oughtaagh @eponymiad @cartograffiti

Last book I read: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho. It’s a comedic wuxia adventure in a fantasy setting where religious orders have been caught in the crossfire between an authoritarian government and rebel bandits. A nun who loses her job as a waitress joins a group of black market vagabonds attempting to navigate this new reality and everybody gets more than they bargained for.

It’s a whole lot of fun and also gave me so much to think about. I wish I had a hundred more books like this one.

Book I recommend: Maria Dahvana Headley’s translation of Beowulf. @hoeratius recommended the Heaney, as is her right, and that’s the first Beowulf I read but I encountered MDH’s translation in 2021 and was absolutely blown away. I want to do things like this as a translator.

Book I couldn't put down: I first encountered Nate Stevenson’s graphic novel Nimona while it was being serialized online and probably about 80% complete, zoomed through everything that existed so far in a few hours, and then waited eagerly for each additional page. It was absolutely captivating. I’ve had other similar experiences but that one stands out right now in my memory.

Book I've read twice: I’ve been an inveterate rereader over the past four years. Through 2019 probably less than 10% of my reading was rereads and now it’s around 50%. The Queen’s Thief series, The Goblin Emperor and Cemeteries of Amalo books, the Murderbot Diaries, the Wayfarers novels, the Vorkosigan Saga and the Five Gods books, Discworld, and the Young Wizards series have all been ones I’ve revisited regularly. And in 2022 I did a LeGuin readthrough that included revisiting many of her works and experiencing others for the first time. There are so many others as well. Rereading is great!

A book on my TBR: Navdeep Singh Dhillon’s YA romcom Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions. I don’t see books with Punjabi protagonists very often so I’m very interested in this one.

A book I have put down: I started An Immense World last year, which is an examination of nonhuman sensory experiences, and I’d really like to get back to it but my brain has been having a harder time with nonfiction over the past couple of years so I haven’t found my way back around yet. I’ve also bounced off Translation State a couple of times now which is frustrating because I’ve enjoyed every other Ann Leckie book I’ve read.

A book on my wish list: I don’t actually have much of a wish list for books because I’m very library-centric. There are definitely books I end up buying and I have a fairly eclectic home collection. But mostly I get books through the public library and the Libby and Hoopla apps with the library’s digital holdings. I do like to buy interesting haggadot and siddurim and have my eye on a new translation of Tehillim, so that’s something.

A favourite book from childhood: There is a picture book with text by Lloyd Alexander and illustrations by Ezra Jack Keats called The King’s Fountain, which I haven’t encountered in decades but remember adoring as a child. It’s a fable about a monarch who plans to divert the city’s water to build a beautiful fountain for himself and a beggar who tries to find some way to convince him to change his mind.

A book I would give a friend: The Thief by @meganwhalenturner. I want everybody to read it.

A book of poetry or lyrics I own: I’m very invested in my local poetry scene which means that unfortunately most of the poetry I own would reveal more about my geographic location than I’m comfortable posting on tumblr. TFW most of the books of poetry you own are written by people you personally know. Highly recommend. I grew up on a lot of Billy Collins and e e cummings and Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou and Edna St Vincent Millay and so many others. But that was my mother’s collection and I unfortunately haven’t filled my shelves at home with poetic classics. As a teenager I also had an absolutely wonderful global anthology of poetry from all over the world and from ancient times until the nineteenth century that I’ve never been able to find again and I don’t remember the title. It was very thick and paperback and had a reddish purple cover and was organized by the language each poem had been translated from.

A non-fiction book I own: One of my favorites is The House Book by Phaidon which is a little reference book with a selection of 500 houses from ancient times to the present as an exploration of how people live and what architectural possibilities we’ve explored.

Currently reading: Demon Daughter by Lois McMaster Bujold, Omnitopia Dawn by @dianeduane for the @crossingscon book club, Little Thieves by @what-eats-owls, and Witch King by Martha Wells, not counting rereads.

Planning on reading next: Painted Devils and The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. There are a few other titles that might intervene, because my choice of reading material is heavily dependent on mood now. Which is part of what makes rereading so appealing. It’s easier to know what mood something is right for if I’ve already read it!

[fivekrystalpetals]

Me reading Retrace 86: Rufus Barma is very very smart I knew he had some plan on hand he'd never hurt Shirley now I wonder what was his real motive all along

Me reading Retrace 87: *face palm*

me:

Additionally,

LIVE SLUG REACTION

(Leo's (Oswald) laughing face is too cute! for once, Vincent and I are in full agreement lmao)

(Rufus is screaming this at Glen, Glen of all people *facepalm* I dunno to laugh bc he is so stupid or cry bc he is a precious bean; (even if he might be borderline stalker-ish (lol), I mean following around a woman and asking her to marry him for fifty years??)

either way, he genuinely wants to protect Shirley even if she never accepted his love and doesn't ask for anything more than her friendship (the reason I was certain he won't have betrayed her that easily and so I never took the whole "Rufus killed Shirley" part too seriously anyway) which, on the surface, seems similar to.... Jack's situation as Glen points out and Rufus accepts but.... NO, it is not the same. I refuse to accept. Rufus is merely trying to protect what memories he has of her. If Glen changes the past, he and Shirley would never have met and he laments that. that's all. He is all of cunning, nosy, stupid and pathetic (all of this I say lovingly okay?), but he is NOT obsessive. I doubt if she said she loved this world yet ended up dying suddenly, he would twist her words and try to destroy the world to "take it to her bc she loved it so much"?? Nah, I think he would def protect the world she loved so much and care for Sharon in her place as a grandfather.... or moreso, I hope,,, it's hard to say what people might do in a situation that's not happened yet)

hmmm, listening to both sides of the argument (maybe as the reader, I sympathize with both idk) but I can't fully agree with what Rufus says and I can't fully agree with what Oswald is trying to do either... so it's a useless deadlock for me. It seems this Oswald, driven by his regrets from 100 years ago that he has carried over and his helplessness over his failure to protect the world, is acting more like Jack: under the pretext of wanting to save the world and correcting his mistake from back then, he is stopping at nothing to achieve his goals and having no mercy for anyone or anything that stands in his path. anyone objects to what he wants, they are dead Ru-kuuuuun ;-;

I love Oswald but rn he is making it really really hard for me to continue liking him :((

ending with this panel of Ru-kun and Shirley-sama because they were so young and childish once lmao ;-;

[thenightling]

I mentioned in another post that I don't like sad Christmas songs (See "The Christmas shoes" as a prime example.) So here are my top ten favorite Christmas songs followed by my top ten favorite Halloween songs. 1. Welcome Christmas - from the end of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. I just always found this one to be heart-warming. 2. What's This? - Written and sung by Danny Elfman for Nightmare before Christmas it's the King of Halloween discovering the joy of Christmas. It's cute, fast paced and very up tempo. 3. Making Christmas - The folks in Halloween town attempt to do their own version of Christmas. Also by Danny Elfman for Nightmare before Christmas. 4. This time - This may have been an early version of "Making Christmas" and it sounds more like rock than the other songs Danny Elfman wrote for Nightmare before Christmas. It was never actually used so it's kind of obscure but you can hear it on Youtube and in the collection The Tim Burton / Danny Elfman music box." It was likely originally intended for the end credits of the movie. 5. Carol of the Bells - I can never really remember the words (Christmas English language version or the original Ukrainian folk chant) but I have a fondness for Carol of the Bells and it lends itself to other genres like power metal really easily. 6. Noel - Noel was a childhood favorite. I was given misinformation at age three or four that Noel was the name of an angel but I learned later that it was just the French word for Christmas. This was a childhood favorite and I still love it. 7. The Town Meeting song - Also from Nightmare before Christmas and composed by Danny Elfman this is Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween, trying to explain the joy of Christmas to his Halloween Town residents. It's cute. ("This is a thing called a present. The whole thing starts with a box...") 8. Finale (From Nightmare before Christmas) - Santa brings snow to Halloween Town and Jack returns Sally's love. It's sweet. 9. Monster's Holiday - The Monsters from the classic Monster Mash attempt a Christmas song. 10. Let it go - Though not originally intended as a Christmas song, this song now plays on a lot of Christmas radio stations. It's from Disney's Frozen and it's about The Snow Queen embracing her wintery power. It's about self-acceptance and letting go of fear of what others think. It's very empowering. 11. Bonus - The entire album of Have yourself a Scary Little Christmas from The Crypt Keeper (Tales from the Crypt). Most of it is parody Christmas Carols but there's a cute story if you play the whole thing, where the Crypt Keeper saves Santa Claus. Since I listed so many from Nightmare before Christmas here are a few more: 12. God Bless us Everyone from A Christmas Carol (stage musical and Kelsey Grammar movie.)

13. The love We've found - From the end of The Muppet Christmas Carol. I also really like the Marley(s) song Doomed and the one from the stage Christmas Carol "Link by Link" but they're not really the sort of thing you want to play at a Christmas party. I actually do like some of the sad Christmas songs but they're just hard to listen to. Where are you Christmas? was my mother's favorite and it's beautiful but really hard to listen to. I have similar feelings for Old Friend / Dear friend from The Christmas Toy. ___________________________ Halloween Songs: 1. This is Halloween by Danny Elfman (original demo version since I prefer when Danny Elfman sings it.) 2. Dead Man's Party by Danny Elfman / Oingo Boingo. 3. Weird Science by Danny Elfman / Oingo Boingo

4. Pet Sematary (Deliberately misspelt) - By The Ramones. For the Stephen King movie Pet Sematary. 5. Monster Mash - It's a classic but I am partial to the 1970s version sung by Vincent Price. 6. Thriller by Michael Jackson and Vincent Price. 7. Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr. 8. Fright Night - From the movie Fright Night, by the J. Geils Band. 9. You won't Survive - By Count Crow - This is a parody version of "I will Survive" sung by Count Dracula. It's a little obscure but I love it. 10. Horror in Action - By Kayak. For some reason it always makes me think of Cain and the old horror anthology comics, House of Mystery. Sometimes I like this one more than Fright Night. It all depends on my mood. 11. Halloween Girl - by Blue Ash. 12. Halloween - By John McClutcheon 13. Halloween - by J. P. Ashkar. This one is relatively new. He's a lesser known Internet artist but he made a cute music video for this song that went viral last Halloween.

Bonus: Anything can Happen on Halloween - Sung by Tim Curry for the 1986 film The Worst Witch. Disclaimer: I actually love many Halloween songs and listen to them all year long so this list may not be my favorites next week or even tomorrow. I didn't even put my favorite werewolf songs on the list.

[gravesightings]

Can you do slashers with s/o that draws/takes Polaroid's of themselves naked? If not plez ignore

sure thing! here you go.

slashers with a s/o that takes polaroids of themselves naked.

Asa Emory / The Collector

UPSET. but not really.

he’ll be taking these, thank you very much.

confiscates your pictures but not your polaroid.

all your photos mysteriously disappear over time.

why are you asking him? aren’t you supposed to be careful? tsk, tsk. what if somebody else finds them? what’ll you do then, hmm?

scolds you for taking them but keeps them all for himself.

naughty. uses your presumably lost photos as an excuse to punish you.

Billy Lenz

also steals them but he won’t care if you find out.

has them taped at a particular nook of the attic where he sleeps.

why are you so surprised? ...are you seriously asking him why it’s there?

volunteers to take photos of you next time. he’s pretty bad at it though. his angles are weird and it’s usually out of focus.

can you blame him? he’s too focused in trying not to touch himself right then and there.

displays all his bad photography too.

Bo Sinclair

"aw, for me? you shouldn’t have.”

regardless if you told him or not, he’s going to take them from you.

bo will be a lot more lewd. he’s much more likely to whisper obscenities in your ear; how filthy you are, what he’s planning on doing to you - all down to the smallest detail.

gets creative with the nicknames ranging from sweetheart to cockslut. turns out your photos are very inspiring.

has a collection of your photos up at a designated wall of his “dungeon.”

would definitely take polaroids of you two having sex. (this will also go on the wall.)

Brahms Heelshire

same hat!! also steals them and doesn’t care if you find out.

oh these are definitely going up on his wall! riiiiiight next to his bed.

fuck yeah he jacks off to your photos. constantly. and what about it?

confront him and he’ll pull an uno reverse card on you.

so why is it that you have such lewd photos, hmm? tsk tsk. naughty. he just can’t help himself. maybe he should punish you too?

if you ask him he’ll definitely agree to be your photographer.

the photos turns out amazing. what else do you expect from a voyeur? he knows all your good angles.

Bubba Sawyer

!!!!!!! boner.

thinks it’s hot but has a million questions. who took these? you? what do you mean it’s for him???? OH YOU MEAN-

graciously accepts them and tries his very best to keep it between the two of you.

he’s not a fan of the idea because he hates the thought of anyone else seeing you like this. (especially the rest of the sawyers)

sees it as a romantic gesture and looks at the photos whenever he’s missing you. (which is pretty often.)

oh WHOOPS now he’s horny again. rushes over back to you.

this will be a common occurence. please help this poor man.

Jason Voorhees

!!!! o...oh my god ????!!

jason.exe has stopped working. you’ve done it, you’ve broken jason.

why do you have these and why are you naked? is completely rock hard at the moment and dying of embarrassment.

has a complete mental breakdown in front of you and it will only get worse if you offer the photos to him.

please help him regain his sanity again before anything else.

very against them but it’s pretty easy to convince him otherwise.

too paranoid to leave it elsewhere so he keeps it in his shirt pocket.

no more taking photos, okay? wags finger at you. please? for his health?

Jesse Cromeans / Chromeskull

ooh, naughty. loves what he sees and asks for them like a proper gentleman. (if you say no he’s still gonna take them though.)

big fan. very eager to help you in any way.

need a new camera? here’s the latest model. why not try his camcorder next? wink wink.

more into videos than photos but it’s still right up his alley nonetheless.

similar to bubba, he hates the idea of anyone else seeing you like this, so he’s very careful where he places all your photos.

definitely not on display. has it locked away somewhere and secured with a passcode.

Michael Myers

cool, thanks. oh were you just showing it to him? too bad, it’s his now.

practically snatches it from your hands. if you’re much smaller than he is, you’re going to have a bad time. this bastard will toy with you.

has a stash of a variety of your things (one of which may or may not be a pair of used underwear) buried somewhere. your photos will end up there as well.

now that he’s secured his collectibles, there’s now a new objective: screwing with you. both literally and figuratively.

mikey here would feign innocence at your missing polaroid, only to whip it out while he’s plowing you from behind.

takes more photos of you after he’s filled you up nicely. does it again the next time, and again, and again -- you’re never getting your polaroid back.

Thomas Hewitt

!!!!!!!!! just stares at the photos wide-eyed. instantly at full mast.

congrats, you’ve also broken thomas! he recovers faster than jason though and he’s not as shy to accept them.

tries to play it cool and just stuffs them in his apron. pretends like it’s a normal thing and just carries on with his tasks.

secretly he is freaking the fuck out !!! you just gave him your nudes! this might be the only time you see him mess up some of his chores.

makes sure he’s at a very secluded place before looking at them again. could he have imagined the whole thing? continues freaking out again as soon as he checks.

treasures the photos. kind of sappy? yeah his dick is hard but you know what else? his heart grew three sizes.

Vincent Sinclair

....... sharp inhale.

i... it’s for him? another sharp inhale. are you sure? proceeds to freak out internally.

thanks you. yes, you heard him right. vincent sinclair is the type of man to thank you for giving him your nudes.

super flustered and will only look at them once you leave.

another paranoid that has a super secret place to keep your photos. checks on them often to make sure they’re all there and lowkey repeats the process of freaking out over them again.

has probably already drawn you naked before but this time it’s different! now he has reference!

it won’t be noticeable since he’s too shy to approach you about it but his libido will spike.

[emersonfreepress]

Me: anxious about exam Also me: Wondering how MC and ROs dealt with

Exams are honestly among the least of Gabe's concerns. Kile's too 😂 and I think New Kid will find themself in this boat soon enough.

Jack is decent at studying and note-taking but it's really his nerves leading up to exams that get in his way. He doesn't really deal with it, though? He kinda just looks forward to the moment a test is finally taken so he can exhale and wait on results. It's out of his hands at that point!

Jessie likes exams 😅😅 She's not always confident that she'll pass, but she enjoys testing herself. Effin' nerd...

Rain doesn't get anxious about exams. They honestly have a tendency to forget they're even going on. They do poorly on a lot of tests, they're pretty numb to it at this point 😂

Rupan/Rohan crams like a mofo. They are very dedicated to doing as little schoolwork as they can get away with but, obviously, exams are non-negotiable. They tell themself they'll start studying soon, just to end up chugging soda and having their nose stuck in textbooks until the very last second before class.

Vivian/Vincent studies year-round but really disappears into the library and their bedroom for long stretches of time when exams are going on. They kinda go into a studying haze... they will be that college student living in the library, far away from roommates lol

Heidi is actually similar to Vivian/Vincent here. She never truly stops studying, so her anxiety around exams only crops up if a specific class has been difficult lately or a teacher is unpredictable.

Curt hates exam season 'cause suddenly everyone's too busy to do anything 😑 He's one of those kids who actually spends time calculating how much schoolwork he needs to complete and how many tests he needs to pass to get away with less-than-stellar exam grades. He miscalculates from time to time, though, and then it's time to cry to Heidi 🥺

[chryzure-archive]

hmm… for any of the 3 ships or all of them if u wanna!!! have u ever thought abt what a sort of “bad end” or worst case scenario would b for them? how would they deal with losing each other, not necessarily by death. is there any point where they go through a tense period of time in their relationship?

I’m jst going to answer for ChrysiJacks and ChrysiGil because I’m sleepy, BUT THESE R SUCH GOOD QUESTIONS!!!

ChrysiJacks

“Bad end” for Chrysi and Jacks is definitely Jacks getting stuck back in his card again. Chrysi takes his place in the card so he can get out, but there was a bit of a… I guess curse? More like the card’s magic was running thin, so it could only take one switch—so now Jacks has his one true love stuck in a card because he was stupid and it trapped in the first place. He takes it upon himself to find some way to get her back, but… it’s not going so well, and he hurts so badly. He misses his princess :((((

OH, JACKS DOES NOT TAKE LOSING CHRYSI WELL. He reverts a bit back to being impulsively cruel, but it’s all tinged with his grief over Chrysi. He almost kills all those bystanders in my Last Apprentice AU, simply because he can no longer sense Chrysi’s heartbeat next to his. Chrysi, on the other hand, becomes reckless. She’s on a new self-destruction route :’) I actually have an AU similar to the one with Gil, where Jacks pretends he forgot Chrysi to protect her, and then he has to watch her drive herself into the ground. It breaks his heart—but what’s worse is that Azure’s there to try and help Chrysi. Jacks hates that he’s not the one that’s there for her. 

The beginning of their relationship is… very tense. Jacks is still caught up on Tella, Chrysi’s still caught up on Azure, and both of them keep on hurting each other over it. Add to the fact that Jacks hasn’t admitted to himself that he has feelings for Chrysi and he proceeds to use her in his schemes, and you can imagine how the beginning of their relationship is… very, very messy. I love it. It’s so fun to write. 

ChrysiGil

I’ve been hurting myself by thinking of my bad end for Chrysi and Gil lately, actually 😭😭😭 Where they wait for Oz and Alice to come back for the 100 years, and once they’re all reunited, Gil’s body begins to break down. He holds onto life longer than Vincent did, but he’d hiding the fact that he’s dying from Chrysi. When she finds out, she’s heartbroken—because this is the second time her lover knew he was dying and didn’t tell her. One morning she wakes up to find Gil gone, because he… died. Disintegrated. Oz and Alice wake up to Chrysi screaming. 

OBVIOUSLY NOT ACTUALLY IN MY CANON, BECAUSE IT KILLS ME, BUT IT’S KINDA FUN TO THINK ABOUT…. :(((

If Gil were to lose Chrysi, he’d be so lost… Like, he’s viewed her as a constant ever since Oz disappeared, so to have her suddenly not be there in any capacity leaves him feeling listless. He ends up mothering Oz a lot more and he shoves his feelings down in a very unhealthy way (still thinking about how he reacted to Elliot dying by not letting himself cry over it… Gil, honey….). By the time his feelings fully sink in, he’s a shell of a person. 

If Chrysi were to lose Gil… there’s a level of maturity to her losing Gil, I think, since she and Gil were more of parents for Oz and Alice, so she can’t let herself become reckless, self-destructive, impulsive—like she would if she were to lose Azure or Jacks. She has to put her feelings on hold in order to ensure everything is alright with Oz and Alice. Unfortunately, Oz and Alice care about Chrysi too, so they do the same with her. The three end up crying together a lot :((

YEPPP, it’s very tense for the beginning bit (again), mostly because Gil keeps running out on Chrysi in order to protect Oz, and he’s not clear with the fact that he also cares about Chrysi. Whenever he attempts to protect Chrysi/nurse her back to health, she keeps pushing him away as a result, which just… makes everything frustrating. Oz is like “ENOUGH. MAKE UP AND KISS RIGHT NOW.”

[seeksstaronmewni]

The Bear Roots of Burbank Cartoons: A Lookback at Boo Boo Runs Wild

5 years ago, [adult swim] aired the greatest of all Yogi Bear / Ranger Smith episodes, “Boo Boo Runs Wild” (1999), on August 13th, 2016 A.D. at 4 AM.

Look and see, kids, how America’s not-so-average bear connects in the wide world of animation that produces many of the cartoons that you love in Burbank, Canada and more!

As and after I saw it, I knew that I found the greatest band of cartoonists out there, and that greatest band of cartoonists out there was none other than...

Spümcø, whose many creatives would end up working at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Cartoon Network Studios, and many other popular Burbank and Canadian studios that made the cartoons I grew up and beyond watching.

Obviously, the character design is rather different, but they still look like the right characters, even with the slight color changes...

and with their items of human attire out. Ranger Smith, on the other hand...

Ranger Smith is wildly off model, and probably on purpose, throughout the picture.

Only in one scene appears he with a more familiar face.

Now, I didn’t have to watch Wild Kratts (which, by the way, features 6 Spümcø Canada creatives) to learn that “there’s only one thing a bear likes more than raiding a pic-a-nic basket.”

As the title suggests, Boo Boo loses his temper when Ranger Smith restricts him from tearing bark and decides to go primal in returning to his bear roots: “From this day forth, I’ll not dress in the man’s attire, and I’ll not speak in the man’s tongue. From now on, it’s going on all fours and grunting for me!”

Boo Boo wreaks havoc for the trees with his natural bear roots.

Unlike past episodes, however, the artists went far wilder than the usual Hanna-Barbera cartoon, making the trees alive and screaming in pain! OH, WHAT TOURTUE! Not to mention how I love Boo Boo’s goofy/manical laugh, a beautiful product of John Kricfalusi’s voice (Yes; I know that he was a formerly abusive megalomaniac who still has ADHD, but God knows what cartoons would be like today—at least those produced in Burbank and Canada—if it wasn’t for the many layout artists that he led).

Also unnatural to a Hanna-Barbera cartoon is the extreme levels of slapstick, wackiness and graphic nature of cartoons since such shows as Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Beany and Cecil’s DiC reboot, and The Ren & Stimpy Show. Boo Boo and now Cindy Bear are licking away at all of the honey... and bees... with insanely long tongues (may be that they’re sloth bears?). This left Yogi Bear practically speechless.

The mere sequence of dialogue between Yogi and Ranger Smith, discussing what to do about Boo Boo, involved HEAVY work in the storyboards by Vincent Waller. So many expressions that they couldn’t fit in each of Spümcø’s 3-panel storyboard pages!

As you see, in addition to Vincent Waller’s storyboards, John K. added extra poses (storyboard revisions more or less, but definitely layout poses) under the respective scenes. That way, Vincent could focus on telling and writing the story in rough pictures. (source of storyboards)

I also love the sound design. While it’s definitely true to a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, John K. and the late Henry Porch were very creative with some weird, dated and out-of-context sound effects, similar to what they and Horta Editorial did on The Ren & Stimpy Show in the first two seasons. The production music (probably APM and Capitol Records) also gave it a vintage, nostalgic feel.

Ultimately, with the aforementioned abusive megalomaniac aside, Spümcø undoubtedly harbored some of the finest animators and artists ever. Such names as Bob Jaques (Spongebob Squarepants, Buy One, Get One Free*, The Baby Huey Show), Ben Jones (DC Super Hero Girls, Cats Don’t Dance, Teen Titans GO!), Vincent Waller (Spongebob Squarepants, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog), Albert Lozano (Inside Out, A Kitty Bobo Show), Todd White (Spongebob Squarepants), Eric Koenig (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Madagascar, Cats Don’t Dance, The Simpsons, and The Tigger Movie), and Erik Wiese (Samurai Jack, The Mighty B!) are among the hundreds of creatives who ended up almost everywhere working in Burbank and Canadian animation.

Other names on the Spümcø team that one might recognize include Gabe Swarr (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Buzz on Maggie, Foe Paws, El Tigre), and even background artists such as Richard Daskas ( @rdaskas​ - Samurai Jack, Time Squad, Sym-Bionic Titan, Batman Beyond), Richard Ziehler-Martin (Tiny Toon Adventures, The Wacky World of Tex Avery), Hector Martinez (Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse, Timone and Pumba, Captain N, Evil Con Carne, Dora the Explorer), and Tony Mora (MAD, Teen Titans GO! to the Movies, Pickle and Peanut). I mean: in short, these artists worked for Warner Bros. Animation, Disney Television Animation and Walt Disney Feature Animation, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network Studios!

Spümcø’s production assistants on Boo Boo Runs Wild feature Matt Danner —a fantastic character designer, storyboard artists, director and producer, whose credits range from (Johnny Test and The Legend of the Three Caballeros to Team Hot Wheels and The Looney Tunes Show—and Cartoon Brew editor Amid Amidi. Brian A. Miller was an executive in charge of production, not for but probably in association with Cartoon Network.

Spümcø’s creatives, as I said, are all over the place in Burbank animation. Other shows that still air on @adultswim​ have ex-Spümcø creatives. For example: today’s re-run of Samurai Jack EPISODE XVI features Chris Reccardi (The Powerpuff Girls, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)...

Scott Wills (Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat)...

Lynne Naylor-Reccardi (The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show, Wander Over Yonder) and Jim Smith (YooHoo and Friends, Tom and Jerry Tales, McGee and Me)...

and Leticia Lacy (TRON: Uprising, Sym-Bionic Titan, Wander Over Yonder, Korgoth of Barbaria).

Even outside of Cartoon Network Studios, where most ex-Spümcø artists end up, @cartoonnetwork​’s The Amazing World of Gumball, from Cartoon Network Studios Europe (AKA Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe), features ex-Spümcø artist Charlie Bean (The Powerpuff Girls, Robotboy, Batman: The Animated Series, Timone and Pumba, Creature Crunch) on The Cartoon Network Europe Development Team.

One of Cartoon Network’s biggest and craziest hits, Teen Titans GO!, also features such ex-Spümcø artists as storyboard artist, director and producer Luke Cormican (The Buzz on Maggie, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, Brickleberry, The Replacements, El Tigre)...

Gerald de Jesus (The Book of Life, The Ricky Gervais Show, TMNT)...

and Eric J. Pringle (Fosters’ Home for Imaginary Friends, The Problem Solverz). What wacky cartoon filled with live-action images, unpredictable visual gags and extreme slapstick humor wouldn’t?

Relatively, you could even tune in to Nickelodeon, the original home of Spümcø’s ground-breaking hit, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and see names of creatives associated with Spümcø and Ren & Stimpy, such as Zeus Cervas (Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Spongebob Squarepants, Clarence) on today’s episode of The Patrick Star Show...

or even Gabe Del Valle (Mighty Magiswords, Spongebob Squarepants) on today’s episode of Middlemost Post!

Overall, Boo Boo Runs Wild introduced me to the cartoon studio whose works I took for granted and on which I was missing out all of my life, and I strongly encourage this generation to support this Yogi Bear / Ranger Smith episode, which you can watch RIGHT NOW on [adult swim]’s site. It was officially on their YouTube channel, but it was removed for unknown reasons. This short never even got a DVD or VHS release!

The last televised airing of Boo Boo Runs Wild on [adult swim] so far was January 6th, 2019 A.D., but Spümcø also produced “A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith” and “Boo Boo and the Man” (based on true events in the life of John Kricfalsui) for Cartoon Network.

As I come to a close, it’s worth noting that layout Ed Benedict, an animator and artist whose credits go all of the way back to the 1930s with Disney and continued with MGM and Hanna-Barbera/Cartoon Network Studios, originally worked on Yogi Bear episode “Yogi’s Birthday Party” as a layout artist, and reprised that very role for “Boo Boo Runs Wild”. What a legacy the animators and artists of this episode leave!

Always will I remember how Spümcø, whose legacy connects to my Cartoon Network-infused childhood, blessed me and graced me that fateful day, August 13th, 2016 A.D., with the ultimate example of the fine art of cartooning that is the Yogi Bear / Ranger Smith episode “Boo Boo Runs Wild”. I was living in the moment, and I thank God for it.

“For years they have [been] asking me to make new Yogi cartoons, but I can’t even get a half a million [dollars] to make one, probably because I actually like the characters, but 60-70 million $ to make walking corpses is economical.” - John Kricfalsui on Yogi Bear (2010)

Another Ranger Smith, Boo Boo or Yogi Bear cartoon from the people behind The Ren & Stimpy Show is highly unlikely today, due to the abuse and harassment of John K. angering the world to the point of hating and condemning the man who helped to shape not only Cartoon Network but also television animation—and animation as a whole—with an undeniable legacy of artists and animators who deserve way more credit and respect than we perhaps thought of giving as kids.

Tweet version of this post here.

[shoyouth]

So I live live live for domestic hcs. Could you do the Ikevamp boys who have kids with Mc and how’d they’d be as a father? Keep up the good work!!

this is the cutest thing!! Thank you for the request and I loved writing this so much :(

napoleon ; He treats the children very similarly to the kids he teaches with Issac; he thinks it’s very important to instill morals and discipline into them—he was an emperor after all, he wants his children to be good, self-assured people. But Napoleon is still very teasing and playful, the kind to mess up his children’s hair and confuse his children into thinking he’s scolding them when he’s really just joking. Overall a very good dad, very good at balancing care, play, and discipline.

arthur ; Okay It’s kind of canon that he’s good with kids from his route, but he loves playing with your kids. Still gets kind of emotional that it’s your guy’s kids and your children will always be confused why he gets tears in his eyes. Will 100% stop writing whenever his kids want his attention and it may even lead to some discipline issues in the future. Also I am writing it into canon that he loves to read books to your children at night, ESP Sherlock Holmes because they asked about his writing and it made his heart swell in his chest.

mozart ; He tries to keep up a professional persona even around his kids in an attempt to raise them properly, but when in private (or around the closer mansion residents) he’ll allow himself to indulge in petting their head, briefly playing their games, talking to them in a gentle tone. I think he would adore teaching his children how to play an instrument, and I think you would urge your child to as well because it would allow them to get closer in a way mozart is very comfortable and touched.

leonardo ; Gosh, one of the best dads there could be!! Esp when your children are young, you will search the whole mansion only to find them napping together. Will naturally begin to teach his children different skills: painting, tinkering, astronomy, anatomy—his children will follow in his footsteps of being a jack of all trades. He will treat all of their drawings as masterpieces, and he will pin their art to the wall because he’s so proud. He’d had family pictures everywhere and he’s just such a family man; he’s so happy to simply spend a life with you, to live a little, and so he cherishes you all with his very soul.

vincent ; Such a loving father!!! Will legit be unable to discipline your children, quite frankly, so that will have to be your job, but his personality will probably rub off on them and they’ll sometimes be perfect little angels. He will always give them hugs and kisses and reassuring words, and he will make sure they know to treat others kindly and that emotions/crying isn’t weak. Will end up raising his children right without even meaning to because he just cares about them so much. His children will be very very close to him and he makes sure they know they’re always welcome, no matter how old they get.

theo ; An amazing father, it’s just a feeling. Maybe it’s because he always made jokes about treating you like a dog, but children do need training, oddly similarly to dogs. Therefore his discipline is godly; he’s not very harsh, but he is firm. He is such a sucker for your children and everything in him is telling him to give in, but he’s strong and he knows how to balance when to give in and when to be strict. Does not let your kid be a brat/throw tantrums, or he will put them in time out. If they are good though, he makes sure they know he’s proud and he will treat them to ice cream and cuddles in private. Just such a great father I can’t explain it.

issac ; He hasn’t had a family before nor any indication of how to take care of a child, but he tries. He does want to be a good dad, one his child will respect and love, but he isn’t a natural like Napoleon or Leonardo. He will work hard to be a good dad, but he would love to teach his child math and science if they show interest. He will ramble and grow excited to teach, all awkwardness and shyness out the window as your child becomes his partner; he’d set up the telescope for your child to look through or set up diagrams to show. He will love being a dad once he feels ready.

dazai ; Will teach your child how to be a good troublemaker and how to get out of trouble, I am so sorry. And though he may seem too unorthodox to raise a child, he actually would make a good parent. He will never act serious so no one knows his true motives, but his reasons are that if he lets your child have the freedom to do what they choose, they’ll develop their own morals and learn their own limits, therefore making them responsible on their own. Doesn’t like to restrict your child though he wants them to be safe, but he wants his child to have a good childhood. His children will come to him for advice in the future, and he’ll end up being friends with his children as well.

jean ; He was relatively young when he died the first time, so I think he would be quite stiff with a child at first. It still hasn’t sunk out that he has a kid, one that will look up to him and he’ll care for. I think he’d feel guilty being a vampire, thinking he can’t be a good father as one. Once you got it through his head that he can, Jean would be good at it. Similar to Napoleon, he will want to train his child into being noble and he will care in his own way, though back pats may be a tad awkward until he gets used to showing affection.

comte ; Spoiled. All your children will be downright spoiled. No expense is too much for him, from a beautiful music box to a pony. But he also teaches responsibility. We know comte has some hidden-scary-anger, so I believe he could be quite stern when necessary, and if his children begin to act like brats, he puts them right in their place and tells them that even though he can buy them things, it’s up to them to keep it in working condition/treat it well/not have it taken away. He makes for a good father.

sebastian ; Quite a strict father because he does have to keep up the image of a good butler, but all of the residents consistently tell him to take it easy because they’re happy for him. Will work even harder to finish quick to be with you and your child, but he is touched by the residents’ words and he will sometimes relent and let his child follow him around the mansion while he does chores. Legit one of the happiest to have a child, and would quite literally do anything for your child; he is so soft for them.

shakespeare ; This man...is so conflicted. He is so happy to have a child with you, to see them so happy—but he cannot wrap his head around the fact that he can be happy with your child, that he could be any good influence in their life. He wants to be able to lift them up, to gush to the child how much he loves him and tickle their sides, but something in him still tells him to keep his distance, to watch them grow from afar. It hurts you for sure to watch your lover think he is incapable of being a good father, but sometimes while the child is sleeping he’ll run his hands through their hair, and he will cry if the child approaches him first for anything.

[ramenandsnappletea]

Hot take

(Ft. Not my art. I took them off of Google)

Sebastian Michaelis is just an (objectively) more charming, (objectively) more attractive, anime Snape - but some of y’all aren’t ready to talk about that. Here’s why:

Tall (tall-ish, in canon!Snape’s case)

Choppy, jaw-length black hair that CURTAINS their face

Pale, sometimes ‘sickly’ skin

Not gonna lie? Probably wears eyeliner

Wears entirely too much black for their level of physical exertion and outdoor tasks/everyday activity

Hates children and all joy

But yet, has devoted their EXISTENCE to protecting ONE CHILD with their very being and soul

Both of these children look STARTINGLY like their fathers

Ends up bloodied up and jacked up at least once a year (or in Sebastian’s case, once a day)

SUPER good at like whatever magic sort of thing they do

Has AT LEAST ONE signature attack (Sebastian has the ‘Phantomhive Welcome’ and Snape has Sectumsempra)

Branded with one loyalty-confining insignia/seal (Sebastian has the seal, Snape has the Dark Mark)

Evil? Not evil? Attached to the boy they swore to protect? Not attached to the boy they swore to protect? Ulterior motives? Nobody knows!!!!

Implied Princeism (I’ve seen Sebastian equated to BASICALLY being the prince of hell under Lucifer/the devil, and Snape is the Half-Blood Prince)

Both implied to be present within the hour of the boy they swore to protect’s parents dying (I’ve seen implications that Sebastian Michaelis was ACTUALLY taking the form of Ciel’s dog and serving Vincent Phantomhive, and made sure Ciel got out of the house safe while Rachel and Vincent died. Severus Snape was the one to find Lily and James after they were killed)

Holds a really love-hate relationship with the boy he’s protecting, not making it clear how he really sees the kid but making it out blatantly like he wants to punt the brat out of the window at any viable chance

Probably never sleeps. We never know.

Really good at cooking up a mean batch of something on a moment’s notice

Passive-aggressive hate towards a jittery, jovial blonde character

Dealing with idiots on the constant but who he wouldn’t give up for the world

Way too much them x the boy they’re protecting fanfiction (I’m looking at you, Sebaciel/Snarry)

Pretty dark sense of humor and constantly ready to light something on fire, really.

They probably both love cats (I know Sebastian does. Severus seems like a cat person)

They’re both English and love tea way more than they should.

Severus is kind of similar to Sebastian (Sev and Seb, more like)

I mean just,,, just look at them

[bisluthq]

There are plenty of very rich and very famous people who voted for/supported Bernie very publicly. Ariana Grande and Cardi B, for example, showed their support for him very loudly (the latter even interviewed him), and nobody batted an eye or called them hypocritical, at least not on a large scale. Bernie was actually the leftist guy who received the most support among singers and songwriters, by far. Ariana is very similar to Taylor in terms of wealth and fame and problems she’s faced with security and privacy and stuff, and yet she supported Bernie. You can want money and fame and still recognize that the system is corrupt. If Taylor isn’t that left-leaning it’s because she doesn’t align with those ideas, it’s not because she’s afraid of seeming hypocritical or because she’s protecting her own privilege. I mean, yeah, she’s also protecting her own privilege. But looking at the astounding amount of millionaires (in entertainment) who supported Bernie, it’s safe to say that Taylor probably just isn’t that left-leaning by default, even beside wanting to protect her own money and privilege (which is obviously a factor too).

Btw we have no reason to think that she’s friends with St. Vincent lol. She and Jack wrote the track and Taylor then wrote the topline: as far as we know they were never even in the same room together (they did meet during the Speak Now tour, though). She has become kinda close to Justin Vernon and he supported Bernie too, though

Yea but not everyone has to support Bernie. Coming out in support of Bernie was in vogue in entertainment so yes a lot of people did it and those who weren’t kept quiet because they didn’t want a lefty Twitter dragging. Does that mean Ari and Halsey and Cardi don’t genuinely simp for him? Obvi not like I think they do. In Halsey and Cardi’s cases that’d also be deeply connected to their life pre fame right like they intimately know how fucked the system is. But Taylor doesn’t.

And look it’s okay to have a range of political positions.

Like Kamala is valid and deserves a platform. In fact Kamala’s platform ended up the more popular winning one.

That’s how democracy works. We all contribute to it.

It’s pretty fucked up to claim positions other than your own are inherently “wrong” or that there’s one correct path forward. Just because I think something doesn’t mean other people should.

As long as it’s not bigoted or hateful, a range of political positions have a right to exist legitimately.

The stuff you said about St Vincent is literal nonsense tho. Here’s Annie at Holiday House:

And here they are performing together during 1989:

Like they’re literally friends.

[littleprickproductions]

Hardware Vs Software in Production

Hardware in the production world. 

Ok, I'll be honest, as far as hardware goes in my production process it starts with my NI S61 midi keys and ends with my Presonus 5s, with unfortunately nothing in the middle but my mac and audio interface. I know there are hardware gurus out there that would be shocked that I even call that hardware, but my point is, I’m a complete novice. From using VST plug-ins to create sound to mastering with software equivalent reverb and everything in between; ninety-nine percent of my whole production process is software. During the course of this blog, I have been given the opportunity to use real-life hardware versions of the VST plugins you find in your software library, and ask the question what place does hardware have in this increasingly digitised world?

My goal throughout this process, along side testing hardware, is to create three tracks form the hardware being tested each week and therefore giving the hardware a good run and the shot it deserves at proving its worth.

Private link to Tracks:

DRUMs & BASSes

Being an aspiring Hip hop producer, I decided to begin week one of my hardware pursuit in the way I start most of my tracks, with drums- and boy it did not disappoint. More specifically the Arturia Drum Brute Sequencer. The sequencer allows you to trigger drum sounds at certain times through a 16step sequence and then shape the sounds to suit, including tone decay and velocity adjustments. One early finding with hardware and something to bear in mind, it's not as easy as just uploading a software VST and away you go. “VST” is an acronym that stands for Virtual Studio Technology and was introduced by Steinberg Media Technologies in 1996. It was invented as a way of adding real-time audio effects to audio tracks recorded on a computer. It elevated the computer from being a MIDI sequencer and audio recorder to becoming the fully-fledged audio recording, mixing and producing platform that we know today (Vincent, 2019). Hardware requires essentially more hardware to support the integration with your chosen DAW and enable recording of the audio. In this case the MOTU 624 Audio Interface. An audio interface is in the simplest of terms a router for your audio signals with line inputs and outputs to allow playback from the hardware through to the monitors. If I were to use the drum sequencer as my only hardware, the simplest way of connecting the hardware would be from the sequencer to the interface via jack lead, or even simpler, directly with midi to the computer. However to do this project justice I will accompany each piece of hardware with at least a second, maybe more, to encourage creativity and hopefully give the hardware a real chance at proving its worth. Besides, you don't just create drums on a track and call it quits, do you? 

Introducing my second hardware instrument, the Moog Sub Phatty. The Sub Phatty is an analog (also known as subtractive synthesis) synthesiser, designed for low-end bass. I found this to be a very powerful synth and very interactive, once I managed to get my head around the basics, and look at it as I would any software synth that I would load into my DAW, Serum for example. Choose an oscillator wave type, add a filter, adjust the envelope and so on. I was flying! Straight away I found it so intuitive. There's something about being able to interact with a synth, the same way you would learn to play an instrument. This by far is the biggest pro I've found when using hardware at this point, due to the contrast between having the knobs and keys in front of you and playing them, over moving the mouse and then drawing midi notes as you would with the software equivalent.

I find that physical interaction fits a lot smoother into the creative flow over clicking a mouse.

Routing Diagram

Bibliography

-Vincent, R. (2019). What Is a VST? All Your VST Questions Answered! Retrieved December 8, 2020, from Careers In Music.com website: https://www.careersinmusic.com/what-is-a-vst

Midi Integration

My first impression with this week's hardware was just how scary it all looks, especially the Korg Volca and the JP-08. The JP-08 is a remake of the 1996 FM synth, the JP 800. FM or Frequency Modulation Synthesis is based on the use of at least two oscillators; a Carrier and a Modulator. The Carrier Frequency is most related to the pitch or the fundamental frequency and is usually controllable with a keyboard or other MIDI input. The Modulating Frequency is used to alter the Carrier at a specific Modulation Rate and Modulation Intensity or Index (Mantione, 2017). This session showed the importance of reading manuals. One downside of hardware, that unlike software synths, is that you cannot just install and click away. In this case, there were many procedures I had to follow to get even the smallest soundwave. My advice would be to follow the signal path due to the hardware requiring a clock source to keep all parts time/tempo synced. So I began by sending the Midi Clock from the DAW (used at the master clock) to a Midi Motu interface. Midi stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It was introduced by Robert Moog in October 1982, with the idea that one universal language could be used to support various instruments. However no audio is passed through midi, instead, it sends a series of digital binary signals (1s and 0s) which the computer, instrument or Midi interface then transfers to the audio signal. (Wreglesworth, 2018)

From the midi interface, midi signals are sent to the individual hardware (to keep them synced), then audio to the mixer and on to an audio interface- ensuring each element is passing a signal to the next and so on. Secondly, ensuring all inputs and output through the DAW are set correctly, in this case, output to midi and input from the audio interface. Eventually, after many attempts and using my own advice of following the signal paths, we have audio!

The next step was to create some recordings, which began by inputting midi notes to trigger midi signals. I found this a great combination of both software and hardware. Using the DAW to write the notes and then use the JP-08 to modulate the sound. This allowed me to concentrate fully on the sound development itself while playing the notes on a loop, tweaking the oscillators, envelopes and creating modulation until I found a sound that I liked. From there it was a case of repeating the process, layering multiple sounds over different octaves, creating sounds and filling the frequency spectrum. Using the Roland TR-8 sequencer to add a drum pattern in a similar way as the DrumBrute in previous weeks, and a third instrument- the Korg Volca, I had everything physically in front of me to compose a track.

Routing Diagram

Bibliography

-Mantione, P. (2017). The Basics of FM Synthesis. [online] Pro Audio Files. Retrieved from https://theproaudiofiles.com/fm-synthesis/. 

‌Wreglesworth, R. (2018). A Beginner’s Guide To MIDI: What Is It? How Does It Work? Retrieved from Musician’s HQ website: https://musicianshq.com/a-beginners-guide-to-midi/

Synchronisation and Collaboration 

Synchronisation is a broad term and occurs a lot during the creative process, especially when using hardware. Previously I've spoken about hardware being synchronized with other hardware by the use of midi to match tempo through a master clock from the DAW. However in this case, I'm exploring synchronisation with others. Synchronous meaning happening, existing, or arising at precisely the same time (Merriam-Webster. n.d.). Most weeks I've had the opportunity of working with another person when using the hardware set-ups. This weeks set up is somewhat similar to last weeks, we’re using the Roland TR-8, the Roland TB-3 and the Novation Bass station. Having a second person there to bounce off, one experimenting with drums on the TR-8 and the second on the Bass station playing with melodies, very quickly sparked innovation and creativity. Once we heard something we liked whilst vibing of the energy of one and another, we began to develop further to create almost a full track/performance. We’d record melodies and loops and then experiment with effects on the mixer to create risers and evolve the piece, whilst adding a creative depth. However, I am aware that the ability to be able to play side by side with another in a room is not always going to be a possibility, especially with the cost of studio time and the rise of home studios. This is where we were introduced to Ableton Link. Ableton Link is a technology that keeps devices in time over a wired or wireless network. Link is built into Live as well as a growing number of iOS applications, and any Link-enabled software can play in time with any other Link-enabled software simply by joining the same network.

Link allows two or more users of the same local network to sync clock, use audio hardware collaboratively and share audio stems. If a local network is not available, users can use ad-hoc (computer-to-computer) connection to do the same (“Link, Synchronisation, and ReWire — Ableton Reference Manual Version 10.,” n.d.).

I found this process extremely creative as both users can share ideas and bounce off each other's energy. However there are things to consider, users have to be flexible and open to the fact that there is going to be differing opinions on direction, including BPM of the track, key and genre to note a few.  

Routing Diagram

Bibliography

-Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Synchronous. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved December 8, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synchronous

The Power of Modular

I have been using a Human interface device throughout this whole process without realising exactly what it is. A human interface device can be defined as a type of computer device that ordinarily takes input from humans and gives output to humans. While the original plan for the HID specification was based on the idea of a standard for human input devices, the acronym itself was changed to human interface device as it became clear that the standard would support bi-directional communication, meaning both inputs and outputs (“What is a Human Interface Device (HID)?”, 2020). However, this doesn't just apply to the use of synthesizers. By definition, this applies to any device that allows humans to interact with computers, from pointer tools such as a computer mouse to the output of the speaker audio. For me, the use of hardware throughout this module has identified the importance of choosing the correct HID for the task. Which brings me my next piece of hardware. Modular synthesis. 

Simply put, a modular synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that consists of a multitude of different components (modules) that are used and combined to create electronic sounds (“Modular Synthesizers - A simple explanation,” 2019). Modules are connected via patch cables, to create and develop sounds and effects. Once an initial sound is produced, more modules can be introduced to modulate carrier waves and effects, and more added again to modulate that modulation. In theory, the possibilities are endless and once you've found your feet with the initial sound creation and the signal path, it becomes very intuitive and evidently a creative HID. I rapidly learned it would be my body that would fatigue far before the sound creation possibilities with the modular. One negative aspect was that as all the hardware was timed and sequenced to the clock it was difficult to fail. This being said, it is important to remember to stick to any goals set before starting, as the rabbit hole with this one goes a long way down. 

It's great the fact that you can go, oh ok what does this do and experiment, however, if I specifically decided I want to modulate the hi-hats, for example, a certain amount of knowledge is required to enforce this.

Routing Diagram

Bibliography

-‌Modular Synthesizers - A simple explanation. (2019). Retrieved from t.blog website: https://www.thomann.de/blog/en/modular-synthesizers-explained-simply/

-‌What is a Human Interface Device (HID)? (2020). Retrieved December 8, 2020, from Total Phase Blog website: https://www.totalphase.com/blog/2020/08/what-is-human-interface-device-hid/

Evaluation

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to explore hardware synthesisers, sequencers and mixers- learning in detail the processes of what it takes to set up hardware through the application of midi and audio interfaces. I've learned how creative and intuitive hardware can be, through the use of different types of human interface devices, and exploring how using many different approaches can affect the speed, ease and development of the music-making process. To begin I learned the basics of hardware set up. Through the use of manuals and tutorials, I gained confidence in my ability to be able to be given a new piece of hardware and use it to create and record soundscapes. I learned very quickly not to judge the hardware on its looks, especially when it comes to modular. Once I broke the process down and followed the signal path, I learned that use of hardware wasn't as scary as it looked. It didn't however come without its complications. Throughout the weeks, I discovered that hardware is a lot more complicated to set up than simply plugging in a VST software instrument. Sometimes even if everything looks like it should work, it doesn't, and it can take a long time to gain even the simplest sound. However, it has definitely been worth it. It is difficult to deny the fact that hardware, and the ability to play the hardware as an instrument, is extremely creative. Especially in comparison to my usual desk with a mouse and keyboard. Hardware still firmly has its place in the production world, and I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to explore it, to go and do so. However, I believe the combination of hardware and software is the best equation when the end goal is creating music. 

[bemused-writer]

One of the reasons why I adore Jun Mochizuki's works is because her villains create very great conflicts. In Pandora Hearts, I couldn't bring myself to hate Jack because he was such a well-written sociopath. Manipulative and ruthless, but also charming in an odd way. The greatest twist villain I have ever seen in media too. As for you, what do you think of Jun Mochizuki's villains and which are your favorites?

I could never bring myself to hate Jack either. He is … an atrocious person, but I can’t help but pity him to a certain degree. He was charming, mad, and a complete mystery to himself. Everyone else may have wondered why Jack did what he did, but I think the most confused person was Jack himself. Sure, he said it was for Lacie, but I think deep down even he knew that was an excuse.

Anyhoo, I generally like Mochizuki’s villains. Isla Yura was kind of… yeah. I don’t know what I’m supposed to make of that one. I have a feeling he is some kind of stereotype, but words are failing me at the moment. My feelings toward Isla Yura are similar to my feelings for Dr. Moreau, although I have a much more visceral reaction to Moreau. I kind of hate that guy. XD

But hating a villain is sort of the point a lot of times, so let’s talk a bit more about the obvious villains Mochizuki has written (excluding Jack since we just did), starting with Pandora Hearts.

Leo was pretty great because he was sort of more of an antihero and that only happened later in the series after a long list of bad things happened. He was in mourning and he felt he was out of options and he ultimately came around. So, he’s not really a “proper” villain because he never had genuine villainous intentions and he redeemed himself.

A better example of a villain in PH is Vincent and you can still make a solid argument for him being more of an antihero. Everything he did was for his brother, the one person he cared about to the point where you could easily argue his feelings were probably a bit incestuous based off his behavior alone, but he did bucketloads of awful things even ignoring his unhealthy attachment to Gilbert. Sure, it was largely stemming from trauma caused by Miranda (which probably explains some of the misogyny), but still. He somewhat redeems himself later on with both Gilbert and Ada, thus giving him a full arc. Vincent is perfectly balanced between being likeable and absolutely despicable and is therefore a good villain.

Both of these characters have a lot of depth; you can’t quite hate them, but you can’t fully agree with what they’re doing either. I think Mochizuki did a good job in PH.

Now let’s get to VNC. Ruthven is the most obvious villain at the moment, although I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes something of an antihero…

I’ll be honest, though. I’m not sure I want to see Ruthven be an antihero. He’s committed some genuine atrocities, and I would very much like to see him answer for those crimes. To date, he seems to be attempting to reignite a war, he’s working with Charlatan and the Church, tried to kill Chloé to cover up a conspiracy, he assaulted Noé, and he holds both Noé and Jeanne under his sway (they’re both basically sleeper agents at this point…). We’re only seven volumes in and this guy is wracking up quite an evil count.

Still, he also took Jeanne in when no one else would, he spared Noé when he didn’t have to, and he was the one who stopped the vampire/human war in the first place. He also seems to be under the sway of Charlatan, so he might be a curse bearer that’s had his will stripped away, thus making him a victim like everyone else. None of that excuses the bad he’s done even remotely, but it does add way more nuance.

In short, Ruthven is a good villain.

So, how about Teacher? We don’t know nearly enough about him to make a good assessment, but I’ll give you my current interpretation of the character: Teacher is a chess master, and quite possibly the ultimate big bad in this series. He has no real attachment to anyone; he’s the definitive Yagami Light: he’s doing everything because he’s bored and curious and he wants to see what will happen if he pushes variables just right.

To date, he took Louis in when his family didn’t want him and then proceeded to use him as an experiment for the kid’s entire life to see “how he would react.” He also killed him in front of Noé when the experiment reached its conclusion.

He went to the black market, bought Noé off of it, told him to call him “Teacher” instead of “Master” and then raised him as his own. That almost sounds like a good deed until you then remember he has also kept a great deal of knowledge away from Noé, thus keeping him ignorant of many basic things in society that really would have come in handy. He spent all his time training him to fight and use the world formula, was apparently a difficult trainer, and then sent him off into the world on his own without any really useful knowledge to investigate The Book of Vanitas.

As if all of that wasn’t suspicious enough, he appears to be watching Noé through Murr, so he knows all of the heinous things happening to Noé and has literally done nothing to prevent any of it; he’s just watching.

Noé is Teacher’s puppet and he doesn’t even know it. He’s genuinely fond of him as a mentor and would do anything for him without question. It’s truly insidious.

So, yeah, Teacher is a great villain, but I think we’re all going to be furious with him by the end of the series. The real question is whether we’ll see any redeeming features to the guy. Does he have any good reasons for doing any of this? Who knows! The fact that we can’t see his facial features reminds me of Xai Vessalius, and I don’t think that guy did anything to redeem himself whatsoever, so, you know.

Uh, but as far as who my favorite villains in Mochizuki’s works are? Probably Jack. XD He’s such a scumbag, but a sympathetic one, and the twists surrounding him were both a lot of fun and utterly devastating. Still, VNC isn’t over yet, so there’s plenty of time to see if that opinion changes!