#i dont know how to draw smear frames and it shows

[tenshindon]

If you ever want to give your opinion on dbs animation I'd be happy to read them 👀

yeah sure thing :) Debrief Though it's been a very long time since i've sat down to watch dbs so take my opinion with a grain of salt

as for the animation of dbs like. animation wise it is what it is: the animators were able to get the job done with what little time they were probably given- its notable especially during parts like when beerus flicks vegeta and he spirals in place during the battle of gods saga where you can clearly tell the model was just rotated as opposed to each frame being done individually

not to say short cuts havent been done in the past before and they havent worked but this shot in particular just looked so... i dont know- it wasn't the worst thing in the world but it definitely could have been done better

my most obvious gripes however mostly just reside with how everyone looks in dbs. i'm not averse to a shiner, more polished style- personally i'm more of a fan of the older and flatter look but that's what i grew up on so it's more so a preference than legitimate criticism towards super's art style. however what is glaring is that plenty of times characters will just look off or wonky and proportions will just be laughably off or cringeworthy to look at (most people's favorite example would be how lanky gohan looks during a scene in res f)

concerning personal opinions though one thing that always bothers me is just how petite tien looks. throughout db and dbz he's been shown to be a big and bulky guy- hell in the cell saga he's fucking ginormous as he nearly always takes up half the screen when other cast members are there. but in dbs he just looks so small like the rest of the cast. this one's actually valid criticism from my perspective as it's just inconsistent with tien's body type; tien's defining features personally are how big he is, the scar on his chest, his third eye, and the fact he's bald. nearly half his traits are ironically stripped away by his new outfit, by the lack of attempt to make him appear stockier despite his clothes is just distracting to me.

another thing that always bothers me is that- listen, i know goku's kind of hard to draw with his hair. but a lot of times in super there's just something off about how goku looks- maybe his hair's too rigid, maybe the shine makes it look like plastic. who knows: all i know is that it just doesn't feel right and it appears too polished (maybe in that sense the show's animation style can be critiqued in that the shiny quality everyone has makes them appear more like figures than people)

but generally speaking of super as a whole though in regards to animation, it's just not for me. when i say it looks weird sometimes i don't mean the smear/in-between frames or far away shots- i mean shots where everyone's relatively in focus and sized good enough to be able to be drawn properly if given the time. this isn't to say db and dbz werent without their faults in animation as well, but the reason why we don't talk about those two in regards to awkward animation is because the bulk of those series were actually handled with more care and time, thus everything is given more time to be done properly (but like i said- a few frames do slip through the cracks. nothing is perfect after all)

tl;dr - super's animation is mostly passable (pardon the ending- it feels as though a lot more care was put in the last few episodes of super which ill give it credit for) yet the most glaring thing about it is how weird its art style looks, thus distracting us from the actual quality of how things move.

the thing i want everyone to take away from this most importantly though is not to have gripes with the animators themselves but rather the hellish schedules and paychecks they're given: you can't rush art and it's sickening to acknowledge that's what the animation industry thinks you can do and expect an immaculate product (though japan's unhealthy manga and anime industry is a discussion for another day)

[vesperstalksclones]

Cody x Reader

(18+)

Some smutty angsty sexyness that is Cody. My FIRST EVER fic written down properly and posted for the world to see. A story of a gal who was hurt by one man, but will be healed by another.

○○○

"Umf!"

My breath rushed out of my chest as he pushed me down on to the bed. 

He loomed over me, predatory, menacing,... eyes of hard amber perusing my naked flesh, like a great beast considering the first bite of of his meal.

How I wanted him.

Cody.

He prowled up my form, muscles rolling under the bronzed skin. Spreading a scarred paw across my abdomen, he skidded it firmly upwards, the drag of the calloused fingers trailing tingles of delight in their wake. Upon my sternum. Between my breasts. He pressed his weight there upon my collarbone, while the his other hand dragged my knee to the wayside. Spreading my intimacy wide open before him he squirmed his thighs under mine, and flexed his hips outward. The result sent my insides fluttering like a caged bird, as his pelvis pressed forcefully against mine, crushing his solid member against my already eager sex.

My shuddering breath caught in my throat, and instead escaped as a groan so wanton in its tones it could've made his chaste monk of a general go scrambling for a clean pair of trousers.

He grinned, obviously pleased with my reaction.

"Is that so, Ad'ika?" The oppressive hand left my chest and slunk up across my neck. "You want me rough and angry?" 

His lilting baritone voice caressed my ears. Tantalizing is its veiled meaning. 

His hand darted under the nape of my neck, filled itself with my loose tresses, twisted and hauled at me firmly. I couldn't help but obey his touch, my body arching under his.

"I am not a gentle man…"

My hands groped at his skin, searching the sinews of his neck and then the muscles of his shoulders and back, seeking a sturdy hold I could use to pull him closer to me, whimpering all the while with my eagerness. 

Cody took the opportunity to thrust an arm underneath me to maintain the curving slope I had offered him. Dipping his head he tasted my lips, and neck, licking and biting his way southward. 

As I wriggled against him, my heart raced, hammering against my ribs. He was fierce and dangerous and I was utterly at his mercy.

Cody was soldier born and bred. Diplomacy was not his strong suit, and thusly force and violence had been taught to him as the appropriate solution for every situation. It showed through in his attentions.

He was an alpha male. 

Proud. Regal. Dominant. 

He had watched me for so long, perfectly posed during briefings and meetings, so serene and dignified. But his eyes. They would occasionally meet mine across a holo display, and my insides would clench violently. Those golden gems positively dripped with a primal desire, whether to mate or to feed I wasnt ever sure, but he distinctly reminded me of a monstrous lion-cat I had seen caged at the grand zoo on Couresant. The great male had regarded me as a snack, protected by the durasteel bars. Knowing I was beyond his reach, he had silently paced and imagined the taste of my flesh. And thus was the Commander of the 212th. Pacing safely behind his bars of self discipline. 

Wanting.

Hungering. 

It had haunted me until I couldn't function at my duties knowing he was nearby. And then couldn't sleep when the honey eyed fantasies besieged me. And THEN further struggled at work for the exhausted hangover that resulted. Damn him and his fucking beautiful eyes and the fucking cycle of self torment they set in motion.

His mouth had reached my breasts. He paused and buried his face there, rubbing his cheeks in to their fullness and drawing in deeply of my scent, his exhale fanning a hot breeze across the soft skin and tickling at the dusky pebbles waiting there. He  nibbled his way to the treat, groaning with approval. He captured the firmness of my nipple with his teeth, giving a few experimental tugs before pinching hard. I jumped against him and yelped. Cody answered my bucking by grinding himself against me, his rigid cock finding its way between my slick folds and nudging the most delicious friction against the bundle of nerves hidden there.

"Codeeee..." I pleaded for nothing in particular. I watched as he mouthed at my breast, then took as much as he could in to his maw, sucking hard and lathing his tongue against the firm bud as if he sought to erase it from existence.  I gasped out praises as I raked my nails over his scalp and gripped at his thick dark hair. 

His hand crept between us, and he lifted away from my belly, fisting his member. A few eager strokes smeared my wetness along his length and, satisfied with the preparation, he pressed its throbbing head against my entrance. I sucked in a shaky breath as he began to sink in to me, relishing the stretch of my muscles around his thickness. Without warning he slammed against me, burying his entire length inside as his hips met flush with my thighs. I twisted with a shriek of surprise at the sudden invasion, pulling free of his mouth, the cool air causing goosebumps to rise on my wet flesh. 

Without pause, the Commander withdrew and surged in to me again, and again, bracing his arms by my ribs, setting a grueling pace as rough and as angry as he had offered. My fingers kneeded at this forearms, scrabbling for purchase on the satin wrapped stone pillars, mewling and calling to him with every bone shaking thrust. 

"Fucking hell woman!" Cody snarled from his chest, his rasping breath giving his deep voice a gritty edge infused with sticky, heady lust. "I've to fight to get inside you, you're so tight!" The best answer I could manage was strangled croon as I reached for his face.

His big hands snatched my arms away, strong fingers shackeling around my wrists and pinning them beside my head. He dropped his sweat soaked forehead to my shoulder and rammed in to me with every ounce of his body behind it. My muscles clenched at him like a greedy fist and he pushed back against them, uttering a deep animalistic grunt in my ear.

That noise proved my undoing. It ricochetted around in my mind and knocked loose something long ignored. A memory tucked away in the darkest recesses, and for a moment the world warped. Another man was on top of me, pinning my arms, his body heaving against mine. He had pressed his face to my neck, unwilling to look me in the eyes. He made no noise except for his grunts of exertion. And I had silently cried.

Cold fear began to seep through my gut, electric tingles of anxiety spreading out from my navel. 

"Co…. Cody…"

Please, let me see your eyes. I need to know your here with me. His teeth scraped my neck in response.

"Cody…." I pleaded.

Look at me. Answer me. Please… anything! Just chase that fucking image away!

"CODY! CODY STOP!" 

Cody froze, every muscle taunt and straining. His head snapped up, eyes wide. 

"What?! What's… Ad'ika, why do you look at me that way?? Have I hurt you?"

His brow knit with worry. And then, after a moments thought, in to his eyes… those magnificent honey colored pools… seeped horror. He pushed up off of me, shame washing over his features. 

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry cyare! I thought that.. this is … is what… you.." he stammered. He was shaking from head to toe. 

"No Cody! Don't think that!" 

It was what I wanted. He was what I wanted. I had led him to my bed by my own hand. I knew Cody wasn't a cruel man. Tough and hard yes. Severe, sometimes. But abusive? Not for a hot second. I couldn't let him even entertain the thought that he had done wrong by mounting me. He slid further away and I lunged for him, catching his shoulders in a death grip. 

"I got inside my own head for a moment.. And I frightened myself. I just needed to see your face and put it back where it belongs. Please don't think like that..." I pressed my forehead to his, our eyes almost close enough that the lashes could have tangled.

"...ever!" I kissed him gently, very aware that I had frightened him far more than I had myself.

Cody settled on his knees, searching my face. His own was still etched with worry: his forehead wrinkled, contorting the scar that twisted around his left eye. His full lips curved in to frown.

"What are you afraid of, cyar'ika?" He whispered. I lowered my eyes, afraid that he might see the truth festering there. "What's been done to you? Tell me."

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around his neck. Pulling myself against his thick chest, I sighed. 

"I won't tell you, Cody, not right now. Especially not while you are trying to make love to me… and I've emotionally kicked you in the nuts." 

Maybe not ever. I don't want him to know. I dont want whatever he and I might have to be tainted by such a shadow. Especially one that I had thought had been put to bed.

He framed my face with his hands and tilted it to his. 

"What do you need from me?" He whispered softly against me. At least the fear had abated, and now he wore concern, and tenderness. Such a juxtaposition from the man who had raged on top of me only minutes ago. 

"Just talk to me, love. Let me see your face so I can watch you enjoy me." I was relieved that he accepted my silence about the matter.

He regarded me for a moment.

"You still want me to touch you?"

"Umh" I nodded.

"You're not frightened of me?"

"No."

He sighed with relief, pressing a kiss to my forehead, and pulling me in to a tight embrace. He tipped forward with me, supporting some of his weight, but laying most of it on top of me. 

We stayed like that for a while, kissing and whispering about nonsense. I marveled at his heft upon me. It could have been oppressive, but instead I felt safe. Protected. Anchored to something real.

It was when Cody began nuzzling at my neck that I noticed he was hardening against my thigh. Lifting his hips, he made room for his fingers to creep between my legs, praising my softness and promising to thoroughly wear me out. 

He pleaded for my readiness as he caressed my clit, demanding for me to be wet and eager so that his cock wouldn't bruise me.

When his thick fingers delved inside of me, his thick knuckles flexed against my opening, and the rough pads searched for the bit of flesh within me that bit like lightning when caressed properly. 

He watched my face, just like I had asked, admiring every blush and wince as I rolled my hips in time with the rhythm of his hand. 

I begged him to enter me, to thrust deeply and hard enough to split me in two. To mark me, and claim me for himself. 

 Scrambling to his knees, he hauled me up against his chest, palmed my ass with his hands and lifted me above his waist. Positioning me above his twitching member, he lowered me slowly, allowing my body weight to impale me upon his rod. I groaned as his hard flesh parted me, feeling the ridge around his head slip inside, followed by the shaft of his raging erection. He filled me to bursting, connecting us in the most primitive and visceral way. 

"Cyar'ika, that is my cock that sits inside you. You were made perfectly for me," Cody gasped against my mouth. "and I will fill every space within you so that there will never be room for anyone else!"

His arms wrapped around my waist with a steel grip. Arching his back and flexing his hips he raised me off of his lap, and hesitated only a breath before slamming me down, seating himself fully within me. I kissed him again and again until his thrusts became to vigorous to manage. All I could do was simply hang on, and loose myself in the feeling of his hard body. 

"Who fills you, woman?" he growled, "Who will you think about in the night?"

"Ah! Cody!" I sobbed, quickly loosing the ability to form proper thoughts. He growled deep in his chest, rapidly giving in to his hunger, staring in to my eyes as he bared his teeth, unwilling to hide his grunts and groans as he did before. 

My body was becoming frantic, begging for this male to push me over the edge and snap the tight knot that was building below my navel. I felt myself sinking under, drowning in the sensations he was driving between my thighs. 

"I'm close Cody!" 

He fought to keep his eyes focused on mine as he hammered his cock in to me. 

"Come for me, ad'ika!" He roared, half commanding half pleading. He rammed himself in viciously enough to make my head whip back. Liquid gold flooded through my veins as my climax spilled around his member. The edges of my vision darkened and stars exploded in front of my eyes. I had the feeling of falling, of the room spinning around me even as Cody's strong arms held me in place. 

Cody thrust within me again with equal strength. Another. And on the third he dug his fingers in to my hips painfully, an oath to some long forgotten god torn from his lips, snarling like a mating loth-wolf as he emptied himself in to me.

In the shadow of his release, Cody's strength waned. He slowly sunk forward, heaving ragged breaths so hard he almost seemed to be sobbing. I combed gentle fingers through his hair, enjoying the cool kiss of the night air on my skin as it swirled around us, lulling us two poor broken fools in to oblivion.

○○○

We had awoken in the early hours, Cody needing to return to his barracks to prepare for the coming day. He dressed and kissed me sweetly, apologizing for his duties that pulled him away. As the door closed I pressed my face in to the pillows where we had slept. They were spiced with the scent of the Marshall Commander, mingled with the salty aroma of sex. I wished for him to be there when I woke up. That he didn't have to be a soldier. That he didn't have to risk his life in another man's war.

○○○

I became aware of daylight on my eyelids.. My mind was foggy and slow, as if it was trying to swim through mud. There was something going on that was strangely out of place in my comfy bed, and disrupting my slumber. As I crossed the threshold in to wakefulness a moan escaped my throat and my jaw fell open. I tried to make sense of the smartly groomed head nosing between my legs as a tongue firmly scrubbed across my already alert clit. 

"Good morning love…." he emphasized the pet name I had used the night before,, grumbling in to my over eager besh & winking one of those gorgeous golden eyes. "Good news…. I've the day off…" 

~Fin~

[tumblunni]

Oh man I NEVER EVEN KNEW about ‘overshooting’! you dont even notice it in the game but wow that explains why the skullgirls attack animations seem to hit a lot harder than most fighting games. Like seriously, just a split second of one fist going cartoonishly big at the end and then snapping back to normal. Its amazing that its the snapback that does it, not even the exaggeration! It can be such a small size increase, or even just a darkened outline or a move continuing forward further than the actual moment of impact. Like a lil slide after they come back down, but before they jump back into the default position. SO FASCINATING!!! And there was a really cool example from street fighter of a character’s sleeve poofing up when they punch, and then flowing back down, to give the same impression!

And how going off model is necessary for good animation! Silly looking smears are completely fine as long as it leads to a fluid animation. She literally calls it ‘breaking the body’, and encourages you to abandon anatomy for the biggest impact keyframe. “You don’t have to make every frame look perfect, you’re creating one piece of movement, not individual pieces of art.”

Its really interesting to hear how they like.. do animation as the last stage. Well, they do the animation but they dont.. complete drawing it? They make a playable build using their storyboard sketches, and then later their lineart animation, and etc. And they playtest it each time and send notes back on anything that looks wrong while in motion, so they can catch it early and save a lot of wasted work. Thats such a simple yet effective ay to do it! I can’t believe i never thought of it!

Also i really admire that miss cartwright says she’s very nervous giving the presentation, and generally has a very personable honest friendly attitude. I mean, you can tell she’s just a normal person and she may be good at animation but that doesnt mean she could do this presentation effortlessly. It seems like she put a LOT of work into practising for this, and it really paid off! None of this stuff would be so fascinating if it wasnt delivered so well in a really accessable sort of teaching style!

Holding frames at different intervals can make a huge difference, wow! She does say how its super important to work within your hardware and to your boss’s specifications though, some games arent lucky enough to actually be able to have variable framerates. But WOW, Skullgirls looks so much better with it! She showed an example of one of cerebella’s moves, and how it doesn’t read very well at all when every frame goes by at equal speed. It just looks like.. well, if you wave a ruler back and forth? It looks like one wiggly squiggly arch rather than emphasizing what actual movement is happening. When stuff is that fast, you need to remember that the human eye isnt gonna take in the detail of every single frame, so you need to slow down or otherwise emphasize the bits that’re important to the move. Plus also, having an equal framerate means that smear frames can be too SLOW, and be more easily visible, thus breaking immersion! So in the final version the smears run faster than the rest, and the frames at the start and end are slowed down. (when she’s raring up for the attack, and once her fist actually clenches and grabs the foe)

Again, I had NO CLUE that ‘hitstop’ was even a thing! The technical term for the sort of ‘slow motion after the impact’ thing. Its not usually as extreme as it is in the end of boss battles in Kingdom Hearts, for example, usually its more like just two miliseconds of the enemy staying in their downed pose before falling to the ground and bouncing back up. Again, its about speedup and slowdown to emphasize impact! If you just leave the game’s programming as-is and don’t bother to account for this, you have characters recovering from the hit too fast and it doesnt even look like it hurt. I think this is probably related to the concept of ‘mercy invincibility’, too? Thats kinda a way to give the PLAYER a moment to react to the attack!

Another really interesting tip- the reason why games snap back to the idle animation! She says its actually very bad to animate in-betweens of a character returning to their idle pose, snapping back is way better. It doesnt interrupt the idle, and you don’t have to think about animating a return pose that fits equally well with every different attack. plus it slows down combat cos the player cant immediately attack as soon as they’re back on their feet. overly long recovery animations can lead to a character thats disproportionally weak to getting stunlocked! Plus it just gives a sense of speed and badassery to a fighter who can flow so seamlessly back into the action.

I also like that she talked about the things she wasn’t happy with in her work, and used them as teaching examples. That takes a lot of self confidence to be able to talk about! I’ve gotta agree with her, that less frames is snappier sometimes. Its not always about looking the most artistic, in a videogame stuff has to be speedy enough to match with the limits of the action. And I loved the bit where she showed how completely 100% even frame amounts can make stuff have less impact, how removing just one frame from the fist buildup made a punch attack so much better looking!

A funny anecdote: apparantly they went a bit overboard with the first attempt at jiggle physics. They had the problem of too many frames in an idle animation, ENTIRELY because of the boobs! So lol, its nice to know they put the effort into making everything look more realistic and actiony, even the silly fanservice bits.

Oh and at the end she reccommends some sites that archive fighting game animation sheets! Even professionals still love playing and researching other games for reference! zweifuss.ca and fightersgeneration.com

[isaacathom]

i feel bad for not fleshing out other characters lol. so, for Koci

Koci is a hunter from the northern city where the story is set. or, rather, she lives way on its outskirts, in the more forested regions. Her family are a mix of hunters, gatherers, and farmers, though her surname specifically references their farming history. She was introduced to hunting young through her older brother, and she’s probably better than he is at this point (assuming he is still a hunter himself)

She’s not super familiar with the city or city culture at all. She is also, prior to Shit going down, explicitly non-magical. On the off chance she had ever encountered a magician willing to teach for a pittance, Koci simply doesn’t have any juice.

what she does have is fucking guts. Koci doesn’t take shit. you fuck with her, she will fuck with you

which is how everything went very badly. she’s incredibly confident, and rightly so - she is an expert hunter. she knows what she’s doing. going out to hunt in the forest on her own makes complete sense on every level, and she’s done it before. she’s quiet, a good tracker, and all that. says she’ll be back soon, picks up her gear, and heads out.

its the confidence and focus that gets you. you’re so busy listening for the specific sound that you dont notice someone quietly coming up behind you until you dont hear anything anymore.

and then you wake up in a slimy stone brick room lit by candles and a fucking bonfire and its like OH. OKAY. GREAT.

so its a cult who operate out of a hole in the woods who really needed a sacrifice. and you were in the wrong spot, at the wrong time, in the wrong frame of mind. maybe your family was in financial strife and you were so determined to hunt something valuable that you forgot about yourself. who knows.

now Koci is trapped. despite her general strength, she absolutely cant break out of it. theres a lot going on. a mild-mannered cultist explains that they’re gonna sacrifice her to a god of chaos in order to open a portal to the elven plane. fu- wh - ok i... what? the fuck. why would i be able to help you do that? well, you see... honestly its Just a blood thing. we dont have any plans beyond blood stuff. if the god doesnt like that we’re kinda fucked. but we gotta start somewhere. w0- fuck you. thats fair. sorry.

stuck for a little while. probably even pass out. great fun, really. finally, she’s awake as the show begins. metallic blades that she vaguely remembers having been stolen, elven chanting she can’t understand, flashes of magic. a tug on something fundamental to her being. oh no.

next thing she really knows or experiences is something she hoped was a dream. Towering figures in a void of experience, whose every word echoes throughout her. red, vibrant red, and the death of sight. a feeling of immense suffering. and then nothing but anger, an anger larger than herself, larger than the human plane, larger than all the cosmos.

then she comes to standing in a gigantic crater in the ground, a ground with the faintest smears of red, and an overpowering smell of blood and fire. and then she passes out again.

its a few days before she’s awake again. when she tries to move, she cant- she’s been restrained. a violent panic erupts, before someone enters and manages to calm her down. there are a lot of questions, for her and for others. she doesn’t understand. it takes a slow explanation of her last memories for her to remember what happened, and even then theres a gap. she remembers the stone table and the metal knife, and she remembers a crater with the stench of death. a mage with a gentle voice explains what the world saw. now she knows.

noone, least of all Koci herself, knows whether she actually died on that sacrificial altar. those who might have known were decimated when she rose from the slab, fire in her eyes, and destroyed the entire place. She had, somehow, despite a complete lack of magic, made a pact with a god of chaos. an elven god of chaos. and she had gone on a complete rampage, destroying multiple towns and huge swaths of forest.

thats basically where she ends. she can’t go home. even if her home is still standing (which i havent decided yet, but i feel like even when possessed, she would not have set out to destroy her home), she can’t leave. she’s dangerous. on multiple occasions while in captivity she manifested her chaos god. they’ve roughly sorted it out, with a variety of magical charms and regular banishments, but they cant disentangle the souls yet. she’s only allowed to leave with a paladin or mage escort, who can restrain her if anything starts going badly.

one important thing, though - Koci specifically formed a pact with an elven god of chaos. while the human and elven pantheons have a LOT of overlap (think roman and greek pantheons, in the sense that they draw on the same sort of base with their own spins. sort of), there are differences. even if her god has both a human form and an elven form, or if its a specifically elven entity, she bonded with it. she can’t speak elven. she gets uncomfortable when anyone speaks elven around her. she cant communicate with her god. but it is SPECIFICALLY an elven god. and thats just really fucking weird!! a full blooded human with no magic should not be capable of even reaching an elven god through the Planar Sea, let alone successfully entering into a pact with one. If it’s a god with a human and elven form, the question becomes why she bonded with the elven one rather than the human.

and the answer there is that the cult called upon the elven one. they specifically wanted elven chaos to open a portal to the elven plane. and she was their medium through which this happened. but its still weird, yknow. if you cant even talk to the god, how the fuck did you form a pact? emotions, probably. you have to expect a god of chaos t understand and relate to emotion that come about due to chaotic circumstances, lmao.