#characteristic of comic books really

[loki-zen]

talking to dagny about superpowers the other day and it sounds like even Worm didn’t really tackle the thing that I always find a hard sell about the sorts of powers where the logic is like ‘this person can fight real good because they’re able to calculate everything super fast so they know exactly what actions they need to take and when to dodge and so on’:

namely, that as someone who has spent time practising movement disciplines, i can tell you it’s perfectly possible to know exactly what you need to do and still fuck up the physical execution.

think about like. one physical skill people always like to claim is ‘really’ physics is catching a ball, because there’s like an equation or whatever that will tell you where the ball is going to fall. but anyone who’s played a sport has surely had the experience of knowing exactly where the ball was headed, and just not being able to get to it in time.

unless you have a secret second superpower that gives you inhuman physical reaction times and peak physical fitness and have spent a lot of time practicing acrobatics? kinda feel like you should have a perfect vision of the set of movements you need to complete to dodge the incoming fire while moving quickly into cover, faceplant on the second backflip and eat bullets.

[risestarkiss]

Being Baby Blue

Rise Ramblings #313

Leonardo Hamato is…an interesting individual.

As a middle child, he doesn’t have to shoulder the responsibilities of the oldest, nor is he fawned upon or babied over like the youngest. Therefore, he ends up having more of a lackadaisical approach to life.

In his free time, instead of training like Raph, Leo can normally be found reading comic books.

And for good reason! Someone has to be up on the latest issues of Jupiter Jim and his space odysseys.

But, other than being a Jupiter Jim superfan, who is Leonardo Hamato?

If you ask Leo, he's...*takes out a list*: “Primetime,” “First,” “The Best,” “Number One,” “The Champion,” or some other iteration of all of the above.

...Huh. Anyways...

Of course, the first thing Leo would tell you is that he's the team's "Face Man."

As the "Face Man," he’s the one that turns up the charm when they need to schmooze their way out of, or into, something.

He's the face of the group! It's a very important title, right?

Well, in this scene with Hueso, we learn what Leo really feels about his place on the team.

"There's no team with just a face man." "I'm nothing without them."

Hmm. If he thinks that he is nothing without his brothers, then what's the deal with all of this "Number One" and "Champion" talk?

I believe that Leo is exhibiting a form of Reaction Formation.

Reaction Formation is a primitive defense mechanism that involves transforming one's unacceptable feelings or emotions into the opposite.

"Solicitude may be a reaction-formation against cruelty...romantic notions of chastity and purity may mask crude sexual desires, altruism may hide selfishness, and piety may conceal sinfulness."

Leo has been creating these grandiose titles and this larger-than-life persona for himself as a means to cope with his feelings of insecurity, his anxieties, and combat his self-deprecation.

Gee, forming a larger-than-life persona to counteract their suppressed feelings also reminds me of someone else we know…

But, I digress...

Behind the fabrications, his insecurities, who he pretends to be, and who he wants to be, the real Leo is still on display, starting as early as the first episode.

He's attentive, he understands the team's strengths and weaknesses, he assesses situations, he comes up with great plans on the fly, and he is a voice of reason.

These are all the characteristics of a great leader.

However, something happens when he’s actually appointed as such.

There he goes again. He's cocky, arrogant, and act's as if he's unphased even by the prospect of loosing his brothers. If this is Reaction Formation, then what is he trying to mask with these behaviors?

Previously, he was masking his insecurities, his anxieties, and his self-deprecation, but with the faces he pulls when he thinks no one can see them, I want to say the newest emotion is fear.

He is terrified of being the leader and floundering under his new responsibilities. He's scared of the consequences of his actions, and what those consequences may mean for his brothers. However, instead of voicing his insecurities, or communicating with his team, he doubles down and falls back into old habits.

The "Face Man" persona is turned up to an 11, and things get worse and worse until...

His greatest fears have been realized.

He has failed as a leader. He has failed his brothers. He has failed to stop the invasion, and they are all going to die because of his failures.

Now he's faced with the harsh reality of his own mistakes, thus he finally faces himself.

"It's scary to be responsible for the lives you protect, your team...your family. But we do it anyway because that's what it means to be a hero."

He may be speaking to Raph, but he's talking about himself.

His words are his true feelings, the same feelings that have been holding him back this entire time. By opening up, he's able to surrender to himself and let it all go.

And it's the breakthrough we all have been waiting for.

What Leo doesn't know is that through letting go, he's able to become the true face of the group he is destined to be.

He's the face of hope.

○○○○

Previous | Being Big Red

Next | Being Purple ○ Part One • Being Purple ○ Part Two • Orange, Baby!

Finale | Being Hamato Yoshi

[lovedaisy02]

I think the ATLA fandom and the ATLA comics forget a lot about Katara's character. She's not a 'good girl' type or even a rule follower. I think this concept really comes to life in Book 3 and after Toph joins in Book 2. It's understandable considering Toph is pure chaotic neutral (neutral up for debate but chaotic is an absolute). Compared to Toph even Sokka looks responsible. Aang is also chaotic and often just wants to have fun (just not at the expense of other people), so juxtaposed to those two she does look like a rule follower but it's not true, she's a true rebel.

Katara 1. Stole from pirates, 2. Slaps Pakku with a water whip in the back of the head and starts a physical fight with him. 3. Incites a rebellion on a fire nation prison boat. 4. Yells at Sokka all the time because he's being a jerk 5. Absolutely burns Toph with (what I think is the most savage) insult among so many other instances.

These are not 'follow the rules good girl's characteristics. In the comic Katara and the Pirate Silver, the Gaang refuses to believe that Katara joined a pirate crew as an honorary member. I found this to be really incongruent with all of their characters considering she forced them into a con with pirates and a con in getting arrested and put in a fire nation prison.

I would've believed it more if Aang and Katara were telling their children the story and they didn't believe it since Katara does have a motherly side and I think her children would see her in a more 'good' and 'virtuous' light.

Just because she doesn't want to participate in swindling people of their money by gambling on the street side while in disguise in fire nation territory

Doesn't make her boring or a goody two shoes. It makes her the only voice of reason in their chaotic group.

In fact, I'd posit that Sokka is more of a rule follower than his sister.

[banj0possum]

Hiii! Could you please do a scenario where the reader is gushing over a fictional character and saying stuff like how hot they are and that they (reader) want to marry them (fictional character). And then the reaction of your characters to all that (specifically darik and hallow I think were the names) thanks!!

When Their Darling Simps For A Fictional Character

My OCs x GN Reader

hey silly billys !! ill be on a little hiatus for a bit because ill be visiting family <3 thank you for all the love yall have given me and my characters!

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Adrian sees you on your phone and smiling at...a cartoon character??

Over the course of the week, he teases and makes fun of you for it, but quickly goes through the stages of grief over how he's not getting your attention as much as before.

At first, he denies that he's jealous of a fucking picture, but that denial is soon forgotten once he hears you comment about how hot they were and he's fuming.

He'll try any way to get you to pay attention to him, slap your phone out of your hand, throw balls of paper at you, anything to make you stop ogling over that dumb character and be with him!!

"Stop looking at that stupid fanfiction and pay attention to me!"

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Brandon is not hiding the fact that he's jealous.

I mean he's trying, but you can clearly see he has beef with your fictional husbando.

He goes home and does research on the character, asking you all casual sounding what you like about them and change a bit of his style depending on your answer.

If you like how masc they are, he's gonna show off his muscles more during training, take off his shirt drenched with sweat in front of you, anything he can think of to make you think he's more manly and therefore more worthy of your love and attention.

"Hey (Y/N)! Check out my new haircut! You know, it kinda reminds me of that character you like right?...right?"

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Valeth brought you a few books to read and he notices you taking a liking to a certain character in one of them.

You tell him how dreamy and attractive the character is and how awesome they are, and he's trying not to grab your little book and throw it in the fire.

He would never want you to hate him for destroying something you love but goddAMN would it be satisfying.

He makes sure to note what characteristics you like about them and see if he can display them himself.

The big orc would even try to hide your book in a high shelf so you can't read it and pay attention to this fictional character instead of him :(

"Duckling? How about you put down that book and we prepare dinner together? I've missed spending time with my love~"

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Bo hates it. But he stays quiet about it, there's no way he can tear apart something that doesn't exist...

He's really salty and a bit whiny about it, begging you to compliment and love on him instead.

"Why settle for some fake when ya got the real thing right 'ere darlin'?"

Ribs is tearing apart anything that depicts the character. Say goodbye to your comic books or magazines.

He just throws a little pouty tantrum because you love someone that isn't the horde.

"You're our mate! Now please come here so I can hug you!" >:I

Soda is sitting across from you as you ramble about how cool this character is and he's not listening at the slightest. Fuck this guy, who even are they???

After you're done, he crawls up to you and pulls you into a tight cuddle.

"Thats nice...can we go back to kissing now?"

Screw just thinks you like the merch and not the character so he collects anything with your favorite character on it.

However, the others get mad at him for it and explain. Screw then takes it all away and hides it somewhere you'll never find.

"mmm I think we're cooler.."

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Wolfie isn't happy. He takes whatever thing you have of your character, and he rips it to pieces.

You run after him as he has your treasured item in his mouth and you hear his muffled laughing as he shakes his head around, ruining it..

He makes it his mission to jump in your lap whenever he sees you gushing about your little character, or pawing your face so you can look at him and love him now. It's been 5 minutes (Y/N)! It's his turn!

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Dorik's eye twitches as he watches you smiling and giggling over some picture. What's so good about it anyway?

He tries to get your attention on him by being extra obedient, making your favorite food, turning on your favorite movie for the both of you to watch, running you a hot bath, anything to make you praise him and not that stupid little image!

He almost settles to whining and begging for your attention, asking why and how you like this drawing and not him! He's your loyal servant after all!

"Master! They don't deserve someone as wonderful and perfect as you! Let's just eat dinner together and forget about them!"

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Kalva is a bit like screw and supports your interest in the character, but only if you praise him for finding little trinkets and stuff of them.

He loves seeing you happy, even though he hates the fact that you talk about them like they're your mate or something, but that's nonsense, he's your mate!

There will not be anything of that character in your shared bed/nest. You have a personal space for them, but your bed is special to only you and him.

He coos to sleep next to you, mumbling about you possessively while he huddles close to your warmth.

"Cute mate, my little mate, you're my mate! My happy little darling!"

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Jasper wouldn't really care unless you directly tell him you like them better than him then he's committing a war crime.

If he hears you saying you want to marry them, he's stealing all your merch of the character and burning them.

He might distract you with Jonesy like pushing a glass off a table and framing it on the cat so you could stop paying attention to your fanfics or whatever.

"H-hey, Jonesy's on the table again...maybe you should switch apps...take some pictures.."

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Viktor tries to stay cool but deep down, he's very very jealous of how much you like this character.

He's one of the only ones to actually confront you about it and he's adorable whilst doing so.

"M-my dear, maybe you should read some other books? I-I know how much you love that one but maybe uhm..we could read one together?"

Garrick doesn't even hide his hatred towards them, he insults and belittles them every chance his gets.

Why be interested in someone like them when you got 3 supernatural men hopelessly in love with you?

"Oh they're strong? Bet I could beat em in a fight. Can they turn into a bat? Probably not..I can though!"

Silas ignores it, he's sure it's just a little interest that will go away sooner or later.

But if he hears you talking about wanting to marry them, he's sitting you down and asking you why you'd want to do that. He hints a lot about him being a better pick.

"Darling I'm sure you can do better than them..I mean..you sure theres no other..attractive..intelligent and interesting people in your life?.."

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Baron has to keep his cold exterior from breaking every time you ramble to him about your favorite character. He's read the books you've read because he's a creep because he wanted to know you better and he can't help but find some similarities between him and that character of yours.

He wants to speak up about it but he's scared what he might imply. A bit of him is a bit flattered that you find people like him hot, maybe he should show off those characteristics more often around you.

"They're uhm..interesting, Boss..sounds a lot like someone I know..."

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Caspian is a whiny bitch when he finds out your liking to that character, he'll try to guilt trip you into dropping your interest in them because 'he should be your only love!'

He'll try his best to get you to look at him instead of that ugly little book.

"You love them more than me don't you? You're so very mean sometimes my treasure!"

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Hallow is hiding the book, no ifs, ands or buts. He's not letting some big strong hero protagonist person take up your attention. If you try finding it, he's ripping it up and disappearing for days.

He'll be extra cuddly to you from then. He'll make sure he's the one who makes you happy, not your other little friend.

"I'll give it back to you doll, if you give me a kiss~"

[willymontana]

[REVIEW FOR DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CAMEOS BUT NOT THE PLOT]

Okay, I wanna start this out by saying that I am NEITHER a professional movie critic NOR a huge movie geek NOR a comic book geek. I'm just someone with some thoughts about a movie I enjoyed recently and wish to share. My opinion doesn't reflect the general consensus and y'all can agree or disagree all you want, just be nice about it, please🥲

I've anticipated this movie for a long time as a casual Deadpool fan. When Disney acquired the rights to the character, I, like many, was worried that Mr. Bob was gonna try to family-friendly-ify Deadpool. There was also the fact that the quality of many Marvel projects since Endgame has gone downhill, which made me stop keeping up with them for a while. But Ryan Reynolds is passionate about Deadpool, he said it himself (I believe), and I quite enjoyed the first 2 movies despite not having seen them in a while. So I, with a couple of friends, walked into the cinema last Monday with a pretty high expectation. And oh boy did I come out feeling so goddamn high.

First of all, the CHARACTERS. The man of the hour, Deadpool, still has all of his charms. The jokes, narration, fourth-wall breaking, violence, dirty-ass innuendos, etc. are all very much still present. His growth from the previous movies carried on in this showing. Of course, he's still your good ol' merc with a mouth but now rather than acting out for selfish reasons, he always puts his found family and friends first, even if it means stop being Deadpool or losing them and never seeing them again (this growth might have been present already in Deadpool 2 but hey, like I've said, it's been a while). Another thing I'm utmost joyful about his characteristic this time around is that Deadpool is finally fruitier🤭. For those who don't know, Deadpool is canonically pansexual (don't believe me, look up the Deadpool/spiderman 2016 comic run, the girlies in dying of a new otp; you'll thank me later). And seeing such a big part of his character unapologetically being represented on a big screen is truly fulfilling. Ryan really pulled off one heck of a performance here and it really shows his passion and dedication for the character.

Next up is Wolverine. I've got to be honest with y'all: I wasn't a big Wolverine or X-men fan, not for any particular reason besides many fans and critics alike weren't too fond of the live-action movies. So I've passed out on the X-men franchise, even the highly-regarded Logan from 2017. This movie is actually my first introduction to Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and I must say, he REALLY did the damn thing. The gestures, his accent, the aggressiveness, they told me exactly who this character is. And I really was just blown away by Hugh's performance. I've only seen him through The Greatest Showman and some interviews, he seems like a pretty nice guy. So, to see him pull off the whole aggressive act and do it so well and flawlessly, I was speechless. I also love the redemption arc the writers gave to 'The Worst Wolverine'; it might not have been as epic as Logan from what I've heard, but it was solid.

The plot, what is there to say about it except EVERYTHING. Ryan Reynolds really gets the audience and also pop culture in general. I understand and hollered at most of the jokes and references. The soundtrack is absolutely FIRE. We have the mesmerizing BYE BYE BYE by NSYNC dance sequence at the beginning, the suit-up scene with GLAMOROUS by Fergie in the background, a road-trip montage with I'M WITH YOU by Avril Lavigne playing on the radio. Heck, there's also a lovey-dovey-stabby-bloody scene featuring YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT from Grease for all the goldies out there. As a US-UK pop music enthusiast, I was like a kid in a candy store. And also, how can I forget about the EPIC battle near the end that used LIKE A PRAYER by Madonna?😩 All I have to say is 'fantastic, glorious, EXTRAORDINARY'. Ryan went through one hell of a journey just to get the license to the song and he sure did make the most out of it. I'm not kidding when I say that that montage is probably one of the best I've ever seen (I might be a little biased 'cause I love that song but the scene, overall, is truly incredible). And while we're on the topic of action and montages here, everything was beautifully filmed. The fighting sequences were such a treat to watch, nothing ever felt too busy to the point of not being able to focus on anything. Also, Ryan and the Mouse did not spare any expenses when it came to cameos. My gosh, like I've mentioned above, I was in the dark when it came to everything mutants-related, but even I was able to recognize a few familiar faces that fans online would go crazy over. And in addition, when Blake Lively came out as Ladypool, I literally lost my shit. She looked so good, her body was SNATCHED, like HELLO MOTHER???💅 But all these amazing cameos and jokes brought out what I considered the downside to the movie. I felt that the plot was outshined by them. To be clear, the plot was not bad but it wasn't that spectacular either. And when the credit started rolling, it was the thing I remembered the least.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I had a great time at the cinema and laughed out loud with friends. Sure, there might be a few flaws, but the product, in general, is truly outstanding and worth checking out. I, your casual movie enjoyer, rate this movie 9/10❤️

[anneapocalypse]

I think at this point we kinda have to accept the fact that Bioware games will have things in them that reference supplementary materials like novels and comics. Like this is a thing they've always done. Dragon Age: Origins has two prequel novels with lore in them that you will never get in any of the games which continues to be referenced through Inquisition without being explicitly stated. Mass Effect 2 is really reliant on a graphic novel that comes in between the two games.

I think it's valid to dislike that, to feel that a game series should stay a game series and any side content should be completely optional and not relevant to the game content. That's a legit viewpoint. But Bioware does not and has never taken that attitude. It's also fair to argue that relevant side content is fine but there's such a thing as overreliance on side content; I think there's a strong case to be made that Inquisition veers into that territory in places. Nonetheless, it's definitely a characteristic of the franchise at this point, and one that I don't think is going away.

I would not be at all surprised if side content, particularly that in Tevinter Nights and the other short stories published online, ends up being very relevant to Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and I would not be surprised if there are things in the stories that the game will reference without explicitly telling us. I'm not saying you have to like that, but I don't think you can be surprised at this point. This is pretty clearly the nature of the series and has been since the start. We have Deep Lore and some of it is in books. If you want to experience the full extent of the lore, I think you'll probably enjoy the side content. If not, that's fine! Enjoy the game. Just know that there's more if you want it.

[linguisticparadox]

Dr. Kemp's introduction is really fascinating to me, because it sets up not only his personality but also his function in the novel.

A couple of weeks ago, we had his thoughts at seeing Marvel running through the village: '“Another of those fools,” said Dr. Kemp. “Like that ass who ran into me this morning round a corner, with the ‘’Visible Man a-coming, sir!’ I can’t imagine what possesses people. One might think we were in the thirteenth century.”' These are his first words in the book, and they serve as an excellent sum-up of who he is and how he sees the world.

And so far, we might almost agree with him: although we know the Invisible Man is real, the whole story so far has read like a madcap slapstick comedy. Even Marvel, the Invisible Man's special victim, has been portrayed as a silly and rather stupid man in a silly and rather stupid situation, the stuff of modern-day sitcoms.

But then we get a sudden glimpse of the horror of Marvel's situation, and simultaneously we see that Kemp is judging at a distance, and so misjudging: "But those who saw the fugitive nearer, and perceived the abject terror on his perspiring face, being themselves in the open roadway, did not share in the doctor’s contempt." The more perceptive among us might cringe to think of our own reactions to everything that has happened to Marvel so far (and not to spoil anything, but later we will come to feel similarly about the Invisible Man, who so far has mostly just come off as kind of an asshole).

The narrative continues to paint Kemp as a rational man of science, who considers himself superior to the common rabble, with little tidbits thrown in here and there.

This week, he hears shots go off, and seems (or at least pretends) to dismiss them as nonsense, saying, “Who’s letting off revolvers in Burdock? What are the asses at now?” After that, he looks out the window and sees a crowd, which he watches for a few minutes, "during which his mind had travelled into a remote speculation of social conditions of the future." Based on his characterization up to now, we can assume he views this future with rather haughty scorn--"this country is going down the toilet, look at all these idiots," and so on.

Of course, he's more rattled than he seems, especially after the doorbell rings for seemingly no reason. But he manages to lose himself in his work again until the small hours of the morning.

Now, it only comes through in some parts, but the whole narrative is subtly framed as being told by a limited pov third person, who has evidently gathered together news articles and interviews with the various witnesses. We get only a peek at it here, with the line: "Dr. Kemp’s scientific pursuits have made him a very observant man, and as he recrossed the hall, he noticed a dark spot on the linoleum near the mat at the foot of the stairs." The tense at the start of the sentence suggests the image of Dr. Kemp sitting and telling his story, throwing in a moment of preening over his education and scientific prowess. These traits continue to receive attention with lines like "Dr. Kemp was no believer in voices"; and when we are told, "All men, however highly educated, retain some superstitious inklings," we can easily imagine Dr. Kemp rushing to defend his seemingly irrational thoughts to his interviewer.

In short, H.G. Wells tells us, plainly and repeatedly (though with a deft subtlety beneath his compact and engaging prose which characterizes his writing generally), that Dr. Kemp is highly educated, rational and scientific, and that he feels these characteristics place him above the common people.

And this, I think, is a gorgeous setup of Kemp's role in the narrative: to establish that education and rationality do not shield one from falling in with mob mentality and being complicit in the persecution of The Other.* Up to this point, we have had only comic scenes of the Invisible Man causing mayhem and blunt confusion among the simple-minded, straightforward but unimaginative denizens of small towns, the sort of people who needle a man for explanations, not to satisfy any real curiosity, but to gather fodder for gossip and win esteem in their social circles, and who consider it a grave insult when that man, a newcomer wrapped in bandages who just wants to be left alone, denies it to them.

But now, as if to head off any potential feelings of class-based superiority in the (necessarily literate, if not highly educated) audience, we have a well-educated, rational man, who considers himself Above All of That, and who views the situation exactly as we have been led to view it ourselves.

And this man, a stand-in for the rational, high-class, superior-feeling people in the audience, is immediately proven to be wrong. He misjudged the situation because he has only seen it from a distance: and the parallel with the readers, who are learning the story from a fairly removed narrative distance, ought to give us all pause.

*For the record, I think Marvel fits the bill as The Other, or ought to, as he is a homeless drifter. Certainly the Invisible Man expects to have sympathy from him on this basis! Unfortunately for him, Marvel in fact turns out to be much more comfortable among the "locals" than one might assume; and yet, in demanding his aid, the Invisible Man actually isolates and others him from his fellows, so that it becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. But that's a topic for another paper essay rant entirely.

[kapitein-oranghien-29]

You draw bodies so meaty and juicy! It must've taken years to polish your style that well! What was your process on studying anatomy and what/where did you pick up your art references/influences from? I'd love to study how to draw that plump for myself, your art hits so many of my buttons, afsgfsfdfafsgsfa

Hm well I've been drawing for an average of 3 hours a day for a decade now. But we're all constantly evolving too.

I started with drawing comic book characters. Also, I have a money waste hobby, which was collecting mecha's and the avp action figures that i could use for refs. And the yautja while having muschles also had the cupcake belly, so i just copied what i saw. Later in school, when you get art classes, they are forcing you to learn how to draw realistically. which I was never having a good time with. It was so boring and hard for me. But there where i was just looking at the doctors' posteres with skelatons and muchles, which just stuck with me automatically? I was already doodling characters whose characteristics showed in they way they were shaped. Not who looks the most real.

There's this artist called Bill Mauldin, who I was in love with the way he drew characters. Scruffy tired men why weren't really the bright 6-pack super young dudes, and I was gravitating towards them verry much so.

And that's where my mix of bold lines and lazy curved men comes from? Becouse, this is going to sound so stupid. My teachers knew I made a drawing, when they saw the nose of my characters. Becouse I have a specific way I do that, and later it was also me drawing fur. But the note I always got was that it was not cartoonist enough to be a cartoon/comic thing, and not realistic enough to be an official portrait thing or whatever. So I never really felt like I had a style, I was just doing it wrong on all fronts...

Moving in more modern time, I wanted to be mainstream (and make money, sorry can't ignore that that is one of the main reasons ive mobed to where i amXD), so I looked up what sold well. The bottom line is NSFW and furries. So i focused on that, and the more ridiculous, not realistic human, I made it the better it got relieved. Also, coming back on Mauldin, I was attracted to the 'pudgy', so instead of perfect muscle, I'd just give them a little more food and water, so to say.

And just see what you like, In my case, I have a weird obsession with tits and thighs, so I highlighted what I like (‿!‿) ԅ(≖‿≖ԅ)

This is a whole rant, and I don't know if you got your awnser, but, yeah ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

[brilliant-red-eternity]

Wouldn’t it be better to ship Akane with a guy who isn’t absolutely morally bankrupt or something?Not that she needs to be in a relationship to be happy or something.But isn’t Kougami just a serial killer with just extra steps😭I never got his appeal or how he became the definitive charecter for psycho pass when plenty of better charecters out there.The way people romanticise him(or his trigger happy tendencies lol) just because he’s hot doesn’t sit right with me.Absolutely no charecter growth whatsoever,literally causing problems for everyone by his selfish decisions.At this point I think Kougami getting killed to save someone would be considered his charecter growth.I don’t even see the case for Akane even being attracted to him in the first place.I am sorry.She’s extremely kind to everyone.That’s why she treats him like a human.

To be honest, I had a hard time coming up with an answer. You make it quite clear that you don’t think much of Kogami and how should I argue against it? It’s a matter of personal preference whether or not you have sympathy for a fictional character and want to understand his or her motivations. It’s true that Kogami is not the glorious hero of the story, but wasn’t that precisely the author’s intention? To contrast him with Akane and have him take a more pragmatic stance, leaving moral reasons aside?

I won’t see Providence until the end of August so I can’t really grasp where the negativity is coming from. My advice would be to not dismiss his character out of hand but try to dig a little deeper. Kogami is not some one-dimensional caricature. In the Psycho FES stage play, Akane says that Kogami is a person who “lives between violence and philosophy”. There is a whole spectrum of characteristics that he has, including very contradictory ones. Kogami is idealistic, but also arrogant. He’s courageous in battle, but cowardly when it comes to interpersonal relationships. He has a sense of morality, but doesn’t strictly adhere to it. He is intelligent, but makes stupid and harmful decisions. He’s selfish, but also selfless enough to sacrifice his life for a higher purpose. He fights his opponents with brute force like a beast, but his desire to protect the weak shows that he’s also a kind and compassionate human being.

Kogami is a walking contradiction. Most people are and that is probably what makes him so popular among fans. People can identify very well with a character who has flaws, screws up or fails as long as he tries to move forward somehow. The road to self-knowledge is rarely a straight line, so I can understand that his character growth (or lack thereof) may be frustrating for some. Providence seems to be another important transit station for Kogami and he appears to have learned his lesson. We don’t get to see his rampant violent behaviour in PP3. He also managed to survive three more years until he came to pick up Akane which wouldn’t have been possible if he had continued his self-destructive lifestyle with the SAD.

The term serial killer doesn’t fit him. Kogami isn’t a psychopath who wants to gain control over another human being, nor is he thirsty for fame. People seem to forget that he doesn’t kill law-abiding citizens but criminals and scum and it wouldn’t be a problem in any other action movie/comic book where the climax is always a final battle between protagonist and antagonist. I don’t want to justify violence and murder because it’s morally wrong, but other characters seem to understand Kogami well enough: Masaoka and Saiga assisted him with Makishima, knowing full well what the outcome would be. Ginoza helped him fight Rutaganda and said “I owe you” (because he killed Makishima and revenged his father’s death) before handing Kogami back Masaoka’s revolver and letting him escape. Garcia’s “mug shot” was already on Frederika’s laptop before anyone even knew this man was pulling the strings behind the attacks in Tibet. She probably supported Kogami so generously with expensive high-tech during his suicide mission because Garcia was on MoFA’s hit list all along. However, it is always Kogami who gets his hands dirty. If anything, it makes him an incorrigible idiot.

Kogami seems unable to look away when injustice happens. In this respect, he is no different from Akane who challenges Sibyl every time she sees a problem. They’re both stubborn, but Kogami’s desire for vigilante justice makes him a complicated character. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind is exactly why Akane rejects violence and defends the rule of law. However, the law didn’t protect people from Makishima under Sibyl and it doesn’t exist outside Japan. The law of the jungle creates only fear and instability, and innocent people get hurt. Kogami has accepted to be a tool in the lawless world and he may even consider it his fate. Is that selfish? It rather looks like he doesn’t attach much importance to his own happiness and treats his life as disposable. His selfishness brings him no advantages, quite the contrary. Kogami sacrifices his own salvation and it sends his life into a downward spiral as he becomes more and more detached from the people he loves.

I think Kogami is a baka but he isn’t morally bankrupt. While he claims to have no regrets, his actions and thoughts paint a very different picture. He tried to live without violence and killing in Tibet and he didn’t want Tenzing to end up like him. He openly admits to Akane that his way of doing things is wrong and he was haunted by Makishima’s ghost right after the murder which proves that he has a conscience. I think the only slip he ever had was when he told Akane to kill Makishima in Nona Tower. The scene emphasizes his selfish nature and just like Hamlet, he seemed willing to not only accept his own downfall in the pursuit of revenge, but that of others too. He also didn’t think about Saiga’s future when he showed up at his house after escaping the PSB.

Kogami has refrained from dragging others into his business since then and has kept to himself like a lone wolf. But no man is an island and his egoism remains a problem. I guess he won’t realize that his actions have an impact on others until he receives Akane’s letter as a wake-up call in Providence. It remains to be seen whether he’s willing to change his habits in the future or not, but I’m hopeful.

Regret and remorse are usually two different things. Kogami says that he has no regrets about the past when he talks to Akane on the phone and I think he’s sincere. He doesn’t wish to undo his decisions. In his view, the “dirty work” needed to be done and Kogami believes that he alone bears the consequences and the sorrow, no one else. That changes when he finally sees how much his actions affect and hurt others. Akane’s letter makes him helpless and angry. I think it’s clear that Kogami starts to feel remorse and to develop a sense of responsibility. Remember how Garcia said that Kogami would be living the life of a guy who never took responsibility for anyone else? At some point between PPP and FI, Kogami undoubtedly realized that he needs to apologize to Akane and that he needs to mend his ways. I would consider this character growth.

I understand that some people take a dislike to Shinkane and wish to find Akane a “better” man. I adore this ship but I’m not indulging in fantasies about Kogami and neither does Akane. She has learned to see him for who he is, especially since Shambala. Is it a surprise that she likes him anyway? That she still has faith in him? Kogami is not evil. He’s a man with good intentions who lost his way and nobody but himself can save him. Letting him die while protecting someone would be the easiest way out of his character dilemma so I hope they won’t do it. It would look like a death sentence with a quick karma reset. I don’t even want to imagine how Akane would feel about his death, especially if he died protecting her. There are other ways to atone for one’s sins: to help others, take responsibility and do good in the long run.

Kogami is indeed a brooding hot type of guy, but that’s not why he’s in the story. His purpose is to interact with the protagonist. Kogami started as Akane’s mentor and he inspired her to grow by challenging her. She soon surpassed him and confronted him with her own views about humanity, the law and the idea of how society should look like. They began to form two opposites of the same coin and it became the premise of season one and beyond. No one cares that Frederika kills vagabonds or that Gino shoots Peacebreakers. It doesn’t matter because it’s all about the contrast between these two. Akane’s approach is non-violent, that’s why Kogami’s violent approach looks particularly extreme. They’re like complementary colours where one colour emphasizes the properties of the other. She’s a disciplined person, he’s a wild animal. She looks like a saint, he is the epitome of a sinner. She operates within the system, he is on the outside. They’re incompatible. They’re also intertwined like yin and yang. Is it so outlandish that fans want to see the two of them together? Maybe. But it also feels natural, like holding two magnets with opposite poles together. I can’t help but feel the pull.

Akane doesn’t need a romance to be happy, I agree. She has friends and she completely dedicates her life to creating a better society for everyone. However, her options to influence the system seem exhausted at the end of Providence. Sibyl wants to get rid of her by promoting her to a less influential position in the Ministry. Sibyl also wants to abolish the law. Akane probably felt she had nothing left to lose and therefore killed chief Kasei as the final act of her career. I don’t see her having a happy marriage or kids and all that stuff but Akane shouldn’t remain alone like a martyr. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to experience love, especially in world dominated by algorithms and AI.

We all want Akane to be happy and I can understand your annoyance with Kogami. They’re not a perfect match, especially since they repeatedly find themselves in situations that are extremely stressful and existential. But every relationship is a learning process and a daily struggle. It’s a gain in knowledge about myself and the other, and it’s doomed if there is no forgiveness. Akane and Kogami have known each other for eight years but they have only spent a few months in each other’s company. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what they could achieve together, now that Kogami is back in Japan and Akane is released from confinement? Akane doesn’t place much value on material things, and I doubt she cares about etiquette or social conventions like marriage anymore. She’s an outlaw just like Kogami. Their existence has become an act of rebellion against the system and since they both have been spiritually connected from day one, it would be great to explore their bond further and not just stop.

You said that Akane treats Kogami like a human being only because she’s kind. Is that so? When they first met, Kogami represented the exact opposite of the artificial world of Sibyl in which Akane grew up. I guess she was attracted to Kogami (and developed a crush on him) because he was a human being, someone from the mundane world, a world she thought had perished long ago: paper books, no holograms in his home or closet, file folders and photographs, physical strength and critical thinking. All of the enforcers had a different lifestyle, but it was Kogami who fascinated her the most. He had something archaic about him, something mystical and exotic. He was also quite masculine and Akane liked his physical appearance very much, although this was a bit more obvious in the novels where she described his face as handsome. Was Kogami her first love? Did she like the idea of saving him? I don’t know. Fact is that Akane wanted him to remain human, that’s why she didn’t like the term “hunting dog”. She didn’t want him to become a murderer because she genuinely cared about him. And even after that, she wished that someday they would meet again like two human beings.

Kogami’s obsession with Makishima made it impossible for him to understand Akane. Only on his journey did he gradually come to his senses at the sight of all the shitholes created by lawlessness and anarchy worldwide. After that, he tried to hold on to Akane’s words. He tried to live without violence and killing in Tibet. He saved a bus with refugees. He ensured that Tenzing did not throw her life away. He managed to shake off Makishima’s ghost and found the courage to return home. He allowed Akane to arrest him for the killing of Tonami and apologized after picking her up from the isolation facility. Is it just me or didn’t it look like Kogami was bowing to Akane, because his head and gaze were tilted slightly downward?

Kogami has serious flaws and a preference for violence, but he isn’t bad through and through. I bet we will see his character grow from here. Look at Akane’s happy face at the end of First Inspector ! If that doesn’t give you hope, I don’t know what will.

[genichisojo]

Kagurabachi's Popularity: Familiarity Through Structure

Having a degree in writing and media is so fun because I can write an essay on why Kagurabachi can be defined as well written through craft standards and attribute its popularity overseas to its structure, which is framed similarly to western movies.

And I am!

After this interview confirmed that Takeru Hokazono, author of Kagurabachi, is a huge fan of western films, I went back to this idea I was playing with in October when KB had less than ten chapters. I had been reading since day one, and I knew it was good, and other overseas fan knew it was good. But what made it so good to us, overseas?

I made a quick thread on it on my Twitter account (that I never posted) where I mentioned Blake Snyder's Save the Cat book on script writing and story structure. I also brought up characterization and how it would've been really popular in my comic book class from undergrad. This thread discussed both Chihiro and Sojo, and the quick yet steady pace of the manga has given us more characters and moments to pinpoint. To not overwhelm myself, I'm not going to discuss the craft of characterization (maybe another time), and I'm not going to do a beat sheet for Sojo. For now, I'll try to stay under the first arc to map out why Kagurabachi has so far moved like a high budget film in manga form. So, spoilers ahead!

A quick lesson on Save the Cat, its three main characteristics are: Three act structure Fifteen plot beats Mostly applied to American Hollywood films

One of the biggest things I noticed right away was the resemblance a lot of the chapters, even the story as a whole, had to Snyder's beat sheet. This beat sheet that comes from Snyder's book is somewhat of an industry standard, so a lot of movies, even those that preceded Snyder, go through this structure of Act 1, 2, and 3. Snyder just identified the parts and broke them down to fifteen beats. Plus he dubbed the save the cat moment:

A decisive moment in which a protagonist demonstrates they are worth rooting for. Having the protagonist save a cat can be literal or figurative.

This was something KB needed and did have to have us warm up to Chihiro who post time skip, just gave gloomy orphan energy in the previous chapters. Here, Char would be our cat. Chihiro chose to save Char and chose to protect her, and continued to fight for her until she was rescued. He made this choice even before it's revealed that Char's mother died for her, something that would parallel Chihiro. This is what got readers to see him three dimensionally after being introduced to him. He's still the caring little 14 year old we saw at the start, who continues to take care of the innocent despite the tragedy he's been through. It is only natural for us to care for him, too.

Above are the fifteen beats of Save the Cat and although KB on occasion doesn't hit all fifteen exactly as specified, especially final image as it's continuing, the song and dance is quite similar. Here are examples of The Dark Knight (2008) and Inglourious Basterds (2009), two movies that have inspired Hokazono's work.

Before Chihiro meets Char, we get his opening image of him and his dad forging which is works well as the entire story revolves on the consequences of them creating weapons. We get the set up to his world where he lives with his dad who made famous katanas that wield the power to end a war. The theme is stated, and it's not kept a secret: The katanas they make are weapons made to kill people. Are they willing to carry the burden? In another variation of this question, is Chihiro willing to carry the burdens unintentionally passed down by his father?

The catalyst is his father's murder that catapults him into seeking revenge and recover the katanas.

Now, for the rest of the story, this structure can be applied to the first 18 chapters or even 1-3 chapters at a time which in my opinion, is kind of insane. There's story telling inside the story telling, and these moments are both subtle and grand, signs of a strong and captivating writer. Hollywood would kill for a script like this these days. In order to get you to believe me how prominent these beats are, I'm going to do arc one and Daruma's story. The main story line should be around act one and two right now as of chapter 20, if we want to get down into it, but if anything, this feels like it's moving like a second "movie."

Overall, this structure that comes from Hollywood movies can be identified in multiples parts of Kagurbachi's storytelling. I was going to do beat sheet's for Char and Sojo's stories as well, but I think this is enough of an example of a bigger picture versus smaller. Although other mangas also fall into three act structures, as most story telling does, KB masterfully uses the 15 beats to its advantage. I believe the familiarity of this pace is what hooked oversea audiences, and aside from that, the characters that quickly capture us.

Very quickly, because I don't want to make this about characterization, Chihiro is well written through his past, who he chooses to kill and save, his dialogue that can be surprisingly vulnerable at times, and his cool façade that melts because of how hot he truly runs. He is also straight up a badass. We get handed Char's background in an "all is lost" segment as well as some lore that can present her as a resource for the main cast. We see Azami's phone background photo that's minimum 3+ years old- a government employee with a soft spot for his friends, one who he is still clearly grieving. We get one tiny yet so fucked up bit of Sojo when we see him get a flashback where he's a child and his single dialogue of "I truly love Kunishige Rokuhira," that launched his type of villainy in the maniacal fanboy category. Who does it like that? Nobody but Takeru Hokazono.

Thank you for reading this essay! I do have two other essays drafted, one on Sojo's possible return (I'm a delusional Sojo fan) and just his overall significance and impact as the first villain even if he doesn't return, and on Hiyuki plus servant leadership versus self service.

[princess-of-the-corner]

https://www.tumblr.com/princess-of-the-corner/761194854861651968/i-probably-wont-ever-write-for-series-like?source=share

Mhm, I mean even the comic book writers either can't or refuse to keep it coherent for personal reasons.IE, sometimes they lack reference material or awareness, other times they deliberately ignore it out of spite. I could list examples but we'd bee here all day.

I myself tend to basically do it like:

Tier 1 Canon = Debuts, major story lines that remain coherent with their debuts, case centric comics that don't contradict the two prior.

Tier 2 Canon = Major story lines. that are consistent with prior comics.

Tier 3 Canon = case centric comics that don't contradict the two prior.

Anything below that list is basically pick and choose what to keep or cull. I do it like this because debuts tend to be a characters best foot forward and before behind the scenes BS starts flubbing them up.

Stephanie Brown & Orpheus both got amazing debuts, but as they got folded into Tim & Bruce's shadow, they suffered for it. Similarly, Jason's return as Red Hood & twin debuts as Robin prior and post crisis all make him look exceptionally smart, interesting & in the latter cases, very good hearted.

Thus they serve as a strong basis to refute stuff that is contradictory to them without due set up. IE, Tim insisting Jason was always a blunt instrument, or stupid & reckless, runs contrary to to all three debuts, so I ignore Tim.

Major story lines are a bit more fifty fifty, as some rely very much on ignoring pre-established characterization or skills & doing no set up to justify 'why' the character is suddenly evil or incompetent. But the one's that don't mess them up or put in the leg work to establish why they are such a mess (Dick's time in the Mob) can be really GOOD.

Meanwhile case comics that don't contradict is pretty self explanatory XD You can pick up lots of fun little tidbits and characteristics & see them when operating in a comparatively mundane scenario to "All the drama".

Low key this is also why everything post I think new 52 has been harder to keep up with cos they keep rebooting every few years. Prior to that the comics had like a 30 year run with no real reboots. Afterwards, they keep happening so getting a sense for the status quo is hard as hell & often characters get shuffled in or around with revised backstories. IE, Jason's integration into the Batfam was rather glossed over & presented very inconsistently. So for many its easier to stick to the older version or just keep him as a crime boss.

Fascinating.

[archandshri]

23rd Feb '24 - [arch] OH RISO my beloved!!!!!! ft. cyberpunk hermitcraft soup group

A cliffhanger!!!! And now I have to wait a month for you to upload the second half?? How will I cope :’’0

For real, it’s so awesome to see your process and the sheer amount of inspiration you take! In particular, I thought ‘Sit on Two Chairs’ and ‘This Was Our Pact’ were particularly yummy. 

I think book covers are really hard. You have to sum up a book’s energy in one image, make it stand out and show just enough so people want more. Exploring the narrative through those full pages is really interesting - though this is something you did for fun, it could be a really useful technique for getting to know a narrative. When I’m designing my comic covers, I always do it last - that way I’ve had practice with the visual style and I’m thoroughly familiar with the themes, so I guess spending a bit of time with the characters and narrative in this way helps for standalone book covers too. Of course, it helps if you have the time for that XD

Okay!! Onto what I've been up to!!! [warning this is a beefy post I'm sorry for your poor reading brain]

The past two weeks have been really enjoyable! I’ve been playing a lot with slow world-building, in sketchbooks, google documents, and voice notes to friends. Letting myself really sit with concepts, think about the characters, let them play in my head with no expectations. With this relaxation and lack of pressure, some beautiful narratives and interactions have been developing. I’m starting to need a name for a world/ the story. I’m not quite ready to give them a full introduction to the internet - I know it doesn’t but it feels like there’s some accountability to *produce something* and this slow development is really important for the quality and my skill building. It’s really hard to take on, but we actually don’t have to make the perfect thing now! In fact, it’s impossible. Pressure on ourselves makes it so hard to make something good if we’re always grasping at the final result.  In the meantime, while those characters develop, I have been working hard on my basic skills. I wrote about characterization last post, but this week I focused on setting and colour. I was inspired (once again) by Hermitcraft. I’ve seen some really incredible illustrations of Minecraft builds in the fandom, and it seems like a great exercise.

Bdouble0's Season 10 Base illustrated by @applestruda [source] and The Red Zone, built and illustrated by Bdouble0 [source]

One of the creators on Hermitcraft, ImpulseSV, created this build in a recent episode. It takes inspiration from the last season of Hermitcraft, where he was part of the ‘soup group’ with two other players, and his current base concept - a cyberpunk city.  I also LOVE his new character design, so I wanted to place him in the scene.

Screenshot from Impulse's video and new impulse design by @maxx-doodles

Here are some initial thumbnails I did, trying to figure out the composition. I wasn’t sure of the vibe yet, so I tried some rough thumbnailing, and drawing on an isometric grid and other perspective techniques. I’m going a bit mad for characters at the mo, so I wanted to place some in the scene. I found the angle of the isometric grid steep to place characters comfortably, so decided against that.

Looking back at it, I love the second! But I believe I was struggling with the perspective. I decided on the last one eventually.

Now, I absolutely adore all of the players in the Soup Group, and I am BIG fan of redesigning their notable characteristics to suit different settings. So yes, I decided to put all of the soup group in the image.

PearlescentMoon (left) from my comic and GeminiTay's Hermitcraft Season 10 design [from this thumbnail] (right)

Here's the sketch of the final image. I really enjoyed coming up with cyberpunk versions of them all. I used the impulse design almost exactly, with a few extra interesting details since he's mostly viewed from the back. For PearlescentMoon (middle) I kept her fringe, dark hair and gave her a glowing moon symbol on her top. For GeminiTay, I kept her long ginger hair, antlers (but glowing!) and took inspiration from her new season 10 design - a dark blue jumpsuit to match her dark blue clothes in her new design, and the braids she is often drawn with. I also gave them edgy new hairstyles. And a robot arm. I don't have lore for that.

As usual, I filled each flat colour-to-be with black and lowered the opacity to play with the values. Then I added colours one at a time, aware might be riso printing it. Originally I stuck to trying to make it printable (making the colours out of ones I could make my layering 2-3 colours at different opacities), but as I went on, I decided to drop that and focus on the quality of the image in a digital format alone. I did keep the grayscale version above with all the separate layers in case I needed that if/when I came to riso printing it. Below are the main two digital colour schemes I tried out.

I settled on the one on the left, with the blue tones - the foreground characters really pop. I put a few details in Gem's hair, colour variations etc, and cropped it for Instagram. I actually much prefer the cropped version - it sits better in a rule of thirds.

Now the moment we've all been waiting for :'')

RISO!!!!!!!!!!!

I returned to Cardiff after a couple of months away and was delighted to spend my first day back at The Printhaus, an awesome shared print studio where I have basically made my home. A few of my awesome friends happened to be there, so I spent the day playing around with this image with their help! (please check them out they're very cool - Gavin helped me a lot (we hung out at Thought Bubble, remember? and Rhi gave good crits too!!)

For those who don't know, risograph is basically a shitty photocopier that can only print one colour at a time. However, you can play with gradients and opacities, and layer colours really nicely to combine. I've done a lot of single-colour tonal work with riso but this is my first go really layering.

First, Gavin showed me how to separate the channels in Photoshop, using the flat image uploaded to the 'gram. We copied and pasted these layers in grayscale and added blending modes to each layer to replicate what they might look like when printed.

With blending modes, the digital mockup looked like this!!

This bit goes into technical details for replicating what the print might look like for those who might want it - feel free to skip :)))

I copied and pasted the Cyan, Black and Magenta layers as greyscale (as you can see above)

I made all of the greyscale layers multiply layers since risograph ink is transparent and we wanted to see how it layers. The ink usually comes out a bit lighter than you think, so it's good to bear that in mind. I used a clipping mask over each greyscale layer and a blending mode. WHEN YOU PRINT, PRINT IN GREYSCALE, NOT COLOUR.

Here's how I split the colours from CMYK to the riso colours, their hex codes and the blending mode I used to replicate the colours:

Cyan - Mint [HEX#82D8D5] Screen Magenta - Fluorescent Pink [HEX#FF48B0] Screen Black - Blue [HEX#0078BF] Overlay Yellow - scrapped for colour scheme purposes

Blue, Mint and Florencent Pink layers in greyscale in Procreate.

Riso printed Mint and Florescent Pink layers on separate paper, followed by the two layered together.

We always start with the lighter colour inks first, because sometimes the rollers can pick up the ink and cause extra marks where you don't want them. The first two colours came out great!

The first time we printed the blue, it came out very dark (left, first image). I have had this issue before - my last book, Winter Wellbeing, came out much darker than I wanted. Now I realise that the blue ink is super sensitive. All the 'white space' that is covered by a low-opacity blue on the left is only 2%, and yet it has come out pretty strong. We tried printing it on one of the misaligned images just to see, but it took all of the brightness out of the neon soup sign at the top of the image (second image). So I changed the values and pushed them way lighter, so it just pushed the values of the darker bits slightly, and brightened some of the lineart (right, first image)

And this is the final riso printed version!! I'm so so happy with how this came out. It's so different from the original digital version, and I actually love that.

I didn't create new colours in the way that I intended to - I wanted to play with overlaying purposefully to create specific colours eg. orange for the hair etc. But!!! I'm really happy with how it came out. That will have to be a project for next time.

Also, many copies are slightly misaligned, so in future I think I'd do flat layers for the colours a more blobby style with the linework on one layer only so there's less of a chance for obvious misalignment. design for the riso, rather than riso the design.

Overall though, this feels like a super cool step up and a milestone for me. Super happy with how it came out!! And I'm excited to play with colour some more. Can't wait to see the rest of the Lionheart brothers! Enjoy your weekend :)))

Archie 🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺 <3

[crepes-suzette-373]

Every other day I find more Kamen Rider nods/callbacks in Germa, and it's getting really obnoxious, I just keep wondering what sensei is trying to do with this. If he's just having fun because he really likes Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, this is kind of going overboard.

Maybe he's just trolling Toei with this nonsense??? Toei as a studio runs Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Sailor Moon, Pretty Cure (another magic girl show), and of course One Piece. Maybe he thought it'd be funny to make this bizarre combination of all the above and he just happens to really like Kamen Rider the most??

Sometimes the nods are too serious to be a joke, but on the other hand it's also super absurd at other times.

The Super Sentai team look is almost a camouflage, lore-wise they're definitely closer to Kamen Rider. Plus, Kamen Rider itself did have its "evil team" with rainbow scarves (all identical suits, though). Funky belts and scarves? That's the classic Kamen Rider's iconic look.

And then the Germa leader in the comic book resembling the military-looking guy (a KR villain commander). Based on the rough drafts that military look almost was designated to be how Judge actually looks before sensei scrapped it (too obvious, maybe?).

Kind of hard to see but in the screenshots you can also see the evil organisation's logo (on the floor in the middle of the table) looks like the Germa eagle symbol. And the setup of the "table under throne" in the left screenshot looks more specifically similar.

He's been mixing up various tropes from multiple seasons so it's just really

The term "modified humans" 改造人間 that was used to refer the the siblings is something that was characteristic of the Shouwa Riders (the really old ones from 90s and older). This is not "cyborg", by the way, just genetic modification. Like, in American superhero terms, Captain America or Winter Soldier would also categorise as 改造人間.

Sanji's backstory and the exoskeleton mods and even "evil twins" is more specifically Kamen Rider Black. The raid suit can transformation pose are the newer riders (Heisei Riders) from later in the 2000s onwards.

The original Kamen Rider villains, the Shocker group, were legitimately just flat out Nazis (or affiliated to them), and I honestly think the weird look in Germa is because of the Kamen Rider Easter Egg. Not because sensei was thinking "Germa = Germany".

Certainly we don't know when this stuff turned into this, as the old drafts proved that there was a time he designed "Sanji's family" to just look mostly normal. The father who was named Saint Germain looks just kind of like Pedro but human. Yonji looks like pre-timeskip Sanji but has a sword.

To me it felt more like he was going for the French/Saint Germain angle at first, then suddenly it became Kamen Rider and the Third Reich stuff crawled in. Sensei does a lot of research I'm sure, but I mean, most Japanese text usually calls Germany "Doitsu". Even the WW2 stuff would refer to them with something-Doitsu.

Unless he picked up a text with English words in them, he might not have really noticed Germany is spelled "Germany" in English. We don't know either way, that's why I don't like to assume for certain.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much of this can serve as a predictor. If it really is a straight reference, Sanji might then just adopt the mods completely. As mentioned above, the old Riders were "modified humans". The evil organisation were the people who forcibly gave them the powers they never wanted. They just reject the evil intent, but embrace the power because they're using it for good.

But if this is all just trolling, then scrap all that and now I know nothing.

[tnbscans]

Inside Sunrise Interview

Inside Sunrise interview with Masayuki Ozaki and Kazuhiko Tamura. This is transcribed from an Anime News Network video linked below.

The Origin of Tiger & Bunny

Ozaki:

The idea for Tiger & Bunny came from two different roots. The first was Director Keiichi Sato's sentiments. To Director Sato, it's a story about heroes with mundane problems. The director said he wanted to depict a superhero drama with a sense of life to it. The other was my sentiments, as a producer. I wanted to depict the conflict and drama one sees when they've belonged to an organization for a while.

The impetus for the project came from the controversy over the competition swimsuits in the Beijing Olympics. I saw in an interview that wearing one particular kind of swimsuit gave you a chance at setting a record but, well, the athletes who had contracts with Japanese companies couldn't wear that fast swimsuit.

At the time, we were coming up with the project, so we thought the conflict of those athletes who belonged to those industries was very interesting and intriguing. And so we thought it would be nice to take the Director's desire to make a hero story, the story of heroes who have to bear the weight of sponsors, and depict the conflict, drama, and culture that lies behind all of that. So that's, well, how the idea came to fruition.

Tamura:

This is where we work on the storyboard for Tiger & Bunny. We're very particular about using pencil, and, um, the expression of performance, you could say. There are things you can't express without using pencil to depict motion, so we pay extra attention to those parts.

This is called the layout. A layout, you see, is this image, framed here by the screen. It's an image we use to make sure how it'll fit in the television frame. We use this as a base to create the key animation.

Oh, this character is Blue Rose. It's a scene where Blue Rose is drinking soda. It's part of a TV ad campaign in Japan. The drink is for one of the sponsors, but this is the test layout for that. We'll use this as a base to draw the animation.

Thoughts on the Characters

Ozaki:

When we were working on the costume design for the heroes of Tiger & Bunny, we paid special attention to their variety. There are 8 heroes who appear in this work, but from the start we had the idea that their suits should be diverse. We set the story in a near-future city that's anethnic melting pot, so the characters themselves were set to be a variety of races. There's a Russian character, a Chinese one, a Hispanic one, and a Japanese one too. We thought the hero suits should be designed to match those different characteristics.

Character Designer Masakazu Katsura, himself is very knowledgeable about superheroes. He loves superheroes, in particular, those from American comic books. Director Sato really liked that aspect as well. So Mr. Katsura pulled out a whole lot of ideas for what he wanted the superhero designs to be like. Fire emblem really is the kind of suit-wearing super hero you might find in American comic books.

A hero made with a bull as it's motif. Rock Bison is the kind of design you'll find in Japanese Tokusatsu, but not in American comics and that was the kind of variation we wanted it to have.

Tamura:

This right here is the CG check movie. We're running a check on the motion. We work on drawing the animation after we first make the CG.

Visual Effects Efforts

Ozaki:

Also, one of the visual aspects of Tiger & Bunny we were really conscientious about was depicting the heroes primarily through CG. The female character Blue Rose is the only one that's frequently hand drawn, but basically Tiger, Barnaby, and the others are all CG. They're designed to actually bear industry logos so since those industry logos would change over and over, we'd have to draw it over and over if they were hand drawn. That'd make it very difficult. But by making them CG, that kind of work, the swapping out of corporate logos, is not big deal.

One other reason is, we were keeping the world market in mind, and because of Pixar and Disney, CG animation is the visual style people around the world are most used to seeing. Hand-drawn animation certainly has its own good points, but in the end, we thought CG had the most universality and we designed each hero in CG. In doing it that way, we're able to come up with some pretty detailed imagery. For example, the hero Fire Emblem wears a cape, and that cape constantly flickers with fire as a pattern. If that was hand-drawn we couldn't do something like that. Those are the kinds of visual effects we focused on.

About Kotetsu

Ozaki:

The design for the character Kotetsu was clearly risky. For starters, he's middle-aged, has a beard, and is a single father. Characters like that in animation are, well, how do I say…it's a fact that they're hard for viewers to accept. The truth is, we were half hopeful and half fearful, but in the end we went with that design for the animation, and luckily, he's well accepted right now. We're actually getting word from the fans that they can empathize with him, and we're very happy to hear that reaction.

Kotetsu wasn't the only character, there's his partner, the younger Barnaby. This is a buddy story. By having another main character, we think we've established a very nice balance. Kotetsu's a middle-aged guy who used to be popular back in the day, but lately he's not doing so well. That's his character background. That said, there were things we wanted to illustrate thematically with him, like the importance of never giving up, of the bonds between people, things of that nature.

Plus, Hollywood movies, especially lately, are getting lots of sequels, and as the main character's actor gets older, they write the character to age with him. By part 4 or 5, he's already middle aged. Their refusal to give up, their continued fight, gave us some queues as well. You can say it's targeted more towards adults. As for me, I want to create dramas with universality, dramas that people of any generation can sympathize with and to keep making them in the future. That's what I hope for.

Source:

[astroheauxxxxx]

Money and career astrology (ASTROLOGY OBSERVATIONS PT.3)

planets/placements included in this post:

[venus/taurus♉️, 2nd house/2nd house ruler]

lets start in order of houses. the 2nd house.

the 2nd house is naturally ruled by taurus♉️ which is ruled by venus. this is the aspect of venus embodies earned resources, self-accrued assets, how you add value to yourself, what you consider luxury etc.

planets/signs in the 2nd house let you know what characteristics or areas of your life can help you add value to yourself physically or through resources.

sun/leo ♌️/5,17,29- accruing value through your personality, your ego, your natural motivation for life

moon/cancer♋️/4,16,28- accruing value through your intuition, your sensitivity and nurturing of others

mercury/gemini♊️/virgo♍️/3,15,27 gemini 6,18 virgo- accruing value through how you think, how you communicate, and absorb information and teach others

venus/taurus♉️/libra/7,19 libra, 2,14,26 taurus- accruing value by loving yourself and others, having an abundant mindset, investing long term

mars/aries/scorpio/8,20 scorpio,0,1,13,25 aries- accruing value through your passion, asserting your attitude, masculine energy, sports also, being competitive

jupiter/sagittarius/pisces/9,21 sagittarius, 12,24 pisces- accruing value by expanding, traveling, adventuring out or taking risks. expanding knowledge philosophically (I.e college, university, courses, higher learning, teacher/profesor etc.)

saturn/capricorn/aquarius/11,23 aquarius, 10, 22 capricorn- accruing value by disciplining yourself, managing your responsibilities, working hard over a longer period of time.

pluto/scorpio/8, 20 scorpio- accruing value by tapping into the unknown/occult, using your subconscious, transforming yourself and others. also through death

neptune/pisces 12,24 pisces- accruing value. by tapping into the subconscious, out of reality etc. also by getting into spiritual/religious concepts. movies, meditation , hypnosis, comic books etc.

i have my 2nd house cusp is at 4 degrees of cancer, with my sun in cancer to the 7th degree a libra degree which represents beauty, luxury,couples, marriage, art, music, associates, justice etc.

i am a psychic and child of african moon goddess yemaya and love goddess oshun her sister/daughter (depends on who you ask, where you're from). yemaya represents the moon in astrology because she is the mother of every creature on earth, land and sea. she represents your relationship with motherhood and femininity. in christianity she is known as the virgin mary and black madonna. she is associated with all water signs but especially cancer due to the connection with the ocean which is where she is found. she also represents ancestry and roots, especially matrilineal ancestry.

oshun is venus in astrology and is considered the most beautiful goddess there is. she represents everything venus does (i also have venus in my 1st so my 2nd house ruler is in my 1st house of self/rising). yemaya is the virgin mary and the womb and breats, oshun is the immaculate conception and the entrance to the vagina as well as the wetness secreted.

so i have oshun and yemaya in my second house literally in my sun. i was born under them. not to mention i am a highly sensual and sexual person and i value this about myself. combo of the moon and venus.

my roots are in saint lucia🇱🇨 in the caribbean which is one of the places she followed her children to when they were enslaved on the coast of africa. for me this manifests as having a strong inclination to earn money in saint lucia where my roots are. im located in new york and i have no desire to make money here at all. i plan to go back home and do airbnb/real estate cuz cancer rules real estate as well. i also plan to incorporate feminine concepts into my immediate society. i really want to prove as a nurturer to my people and the youth in the future in order to create a stronger emotional foundation and relationship with femininity.

they blessed me with the powers the moon and venus and so this where i should earn money from. so astrology, love, feminine healing, sensuality and sexuality, nurturing and intuition. so this how i make sense of it in my life.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

I REALLY hope they lean into the characteristic of Shadow being a cat lover in the movie. It would be really cute and fit in with everyone else since everyone has something they love about earth. Sonic loves the entertainment(comic books, tv shows, etc.) Tails loves the technology(especially planes) and Knuckles loves the food(especially grapes). Shadow would love the smaller creatures of the planet. Especially cats.

He’sgonnahaveacatorphanageandraisecatsuponcats…