#i like to more or less maintain the original colors of the worlds so that the overall feel and tone is intact

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Beast's Castle

[writingwithcolor]

Afro-Latine Jewish woman maintaining cultural connection in an isekai comic

Anonymous asked:

Hello! Mixed Latin American nonbinary Jew here. I'm working on a, relatively light-hearted, isekai-style fantasy comic concept of an afro-latine Jewish lady who gets sent through a portal to a colorful scifi/fantasy land, inhabitated by various imaginary creatures sorta like in Alice in Wonderland. She gains magic powers and goes on adventures, working as a scientist researching the land's magical energy. (some of the local creatures she befriends are entirely original species, and some are inspired by my local folklore, but otherwise I try to avoid culturally coding the creatures since they're mostly nonhuman looking). The story isn't supposed to touch any heavy topics like antisemitism or racism, but I've read about the cultural problems in ""normie protagonist finds a new home in a funky fantasy world"" stories, f.ex. how Harry Potter's narrative basically implies that Muggleborns have to abandon their original cultures in order to successfully integrate into the very prejudiced but ""cooler"" Wizarding World. My original goal was to break the mold that escapism fantasy usually revolves around white protagonists adventuring in heavily Western-inspired fantasy worlds, and poc-coded characters are usually nonhuman creatures or racial stereotypes. However the protagonist girl in my story comes from a loving, latine-jewish human family, and while she regularly visits them on Earth instead of just staying in the fantasy land 24/7, I'm afraid that making her story be about being happy adventuring in a separate imaginary land filled with nonhuman characters might turn into an ""abandon your family and culture"" narrative. Are there any ways how I could avoid this? Maybe making the fantasy land's worldbuilding and designs more Latin American or Jewish inspired and thus resonate more with her cultural background, or making it clear that the land is not ""perfect"" and she still loves her family?

One of the first things that stands out to me is that you haven’t set her up to need to abandon her culture in order to make a life in another place. She has the ability to go home and visit her family, but I also don’t see any reason why, if she lives primarily in the fantasy land, she couldn’t be portrayed as practicing Judaism actively in her new home. It’s true that Judaism isn’t solely defined by religious/cultural practices, but it’s also true that religious/cultural practices are one of the most recognizable and most uniting elements of Jewish identity.

I think it might help in this case to think about Jewish practices in terms of communal versus personal: that is, what are practices she would need to seek out a Jewish community for, and what are practices she can do independently?

Does she control when she is able to visit her family? If so, visiting for Jewish holidays so that she can be at a family meal or holiday services seems like a way to highlight that she is just as connected to her family as someone who moved to a different city might be. If she experiences/has experienced the death of a family member or partner, going home to be with a Jewish community for shiva or to say kaddish on a yahrzeit is another touch (for readers who may be unfamiliar, Jewish mourning practices are intensely communal and are intentional about bringing the mourner into an active support system and slowly reintroducing them to the world, and as such a mourner is likely to spend this time somewhere where they can access and be supported by a Jewish community).

As far as practices she can engage with on her own in the fantasy setting, it would be nice to see her observing Shabbat, either in a traditional way by refraining from adventuring and instead engaging in hospitality and prayer between dusk Friday and sundown Saturday, or in a less-halakhic way if she comes from a Reform or comparatively-assimilated background, by marking Friday sunset with candles, blessings, and a good meal, even if she is intending to continue her research through the next day. She would hardly be the first Jewish person to live in a place without an established Jewish community, and a festive meal can be shared just as happily with non-Jewish friends if they’re griffons and fauns as if they’re Christians and Muslims.

Here’s one idea that I think would be hugely meaningful as a way of establishing both that she intends to make her home long-term in Fantasy World and that she intends to carry Jewish traditions with her into her new life: hang a mezuzah.

Think about it: a mezuzah is the visual marker of a Jewish home, as much to the resident as to a guest. When she is home from her adventures, in her garden cottage or enchanted tower or wherever she returns to between adventures to record and categorize her research, simply showing a mezuzah in the background instantly makes the point both that she is intending to stay, and that this is a Jewish space. If as time goes on she adds other Judaica items to her space, it can add to the sense that her Jewishness is present and alive in this world, simply because she is present and alive in it.

If she doesn’t have a settled space or if you’re not planning on setting any scenes there, having Jewish visual markers on and around her can help, too. For low-hanging fruit, maybe she has a silver Jewish Star or chai necklace that catches the light now and then, but since you’re going for a light, fun vibe, maybe she’s packing her adventuring supplies in a bright-blue vinyl backpack emblazoned with “Temple Shaarei Tzedek Junior Youth Retreat 1998” (am I old? I’m pretty sure there are adults reading this who were in Junior Youth groups in 2003, but I’m willing to bet retreat swag hasn’t changed that much).

I do like the idea of including Latin American and Jewish elements in the worldbuilding, especially as an intentional way to combat the cultural dominance of Western European folklore over fantasy writing, but because your character is from and has access to our world, you have the beautiful opportunity to carry real-world markers of Jewishness with her as well.

-Meir

I adore Meir’s answer, but then, I’m the kind of person to whom “enchanted tower with a mezuzah” as an aesthetic is so near and dear to my heart that I wrote a whole fantasy series about it. Couple of random suggestions: one thing I really enjoy is exposing my gentile friends to Jewish food—I love watching the absolute shock of delirium hit someone’s face the first time they taste my charoseth. Imagine this little bowl of chopped apples and walnuts, looking vaguely dirty because they’re soaked in cinnamon-infused wine, so it’s basically dingy beige slop….so that first bite of sensuous, deep sweetness is a huge surprise. Pick your favorite equivalent and imagine the first time a centaur or a winged princess or whatever other fantasy character tries it at your MC’s behest! (Feeding brisket to dragons would make a great name for…something…)

I don’t think you’re likely to do this anyway but since these are public answers: “fantasy world fun, Jewish upbringing a chore” is a narrative I would not feel at home in or care to read. But that’s a rather predictable remark from me anyway ;)

And of course I support the “the secondary fantasy world is actually Jewish��� solution too, having one of my own.

–Shira

[quartergremlin]

Hello! Hope you are having a good day ✨. If you don't mind, I have been curious about Yuichi's family political drama 👁️ and what it means. The Usagi tree post is kinda old now and it's okay if you don't answer.

Thank you! I have Identified the Souce of my random chest pains and its stupid and silly, but less upsetting. I hope you are having a good one! \(@^0^@)/

okay so. usagi family tree post, the meme

im actually really happy that someone's excited about that! but

Short answer: I cannot tell you about it 😞 its spoilers 😔 Good news! I have all the arcs plotted out (on paper! not just in my head!) if you'd like to guess or hypothesize or what have you I can tell you that I did. very briefly. skim the wikis about yuichi/usagi/miyamoto and integrate some elements in those stories into mine.

Longer answer(?): the original plan was to get through the main revelations of Portal Baby by, like, December, and then start making the Yuichi story (a more polished, properly scripted, and potentially sometimes in color project) in the new year. Portal Baby was supposed to be practice. getting the characters right, their shapes and voices. practicing comic-making overall - figuring out what kind of effort I could maintain over an extended amount of time, etc etc. and then after I started hauling ass on the Yuichi story, I could make cute little comics in the portal baby world for fun whenever I pleased.

Then Clarification happened. Whoops!

I'm learning a lot! and i enjoy making it! It is exactly what I want to do with Portal Baby later on! but it is throwing a super-powered wrench in my carefully cultivated schedule to, yknow. actually get to yuichi's family drama.

uh but whatever i say about yuichi in clarification and portal baby is canon for my version of his character (most likely) so...

[thatgirl4815]

I found it hilarious that Jojo has been loosely touting a Taylor Swift parallel when it comes to Mew and his relationship with Top (and it's obviously a surface level joke) but if you actually listen to the songs in Reputation and Lover...the storytelling is 100% Ray. It's finding love at your lowest. The self-loathing, seeking love as salvation, blowing up good things in fear and realizing too late, secret rendezvous where neither knows what game is really being played, finding their purported last love in a world that hated them--who is all of these things but Ray?

The Taylor Swift thing is mostly just an entertaining observation for me but the thing that the thematic elements and imagery in her music prompted me to re-think was that famous final scene in episode 10. While you watch Ray's eyes morph the therapist into Sand, there's a stoic golden glow to imaginary-Sand as he sits in the therapist's chair like a throne, as though you've walked into a temple dedicated to him--a temple Ray has dedicated to him. It's almost like Ray has always seen Sand as a god.

Throughout the confession that follows, Imaginary-Sand is mostly emotionless, minimally responding to Ray as Ray maintains an incredibly reverent face despite breaking down in tears. The apology contains so many reused phrases as though Ray were reciting some sort of prayer, and even while sitting in the sofa, the camera kind of points up at Sand rather than at the even level he is really at when you see things through Ray's vision. Finally, when Ray gets on his knees and imaginary-Sand appears to console him, it's not clearly romantic or friendly. There's a godliness to it. The point is, the whole thing just felt akin to a religious awakening to me. And then I realized I felt those same feelings emanating from Ray in the caravan, in the music room, at the party, drunk in the parking lot, on the rooftop, in the kitchen(s), when they wake up together for the first time...

I don't know what this means for the relationship Ray and Sand have and whether it will ever really be healthy, but it certainly made for poetic cinema. Has Sand eclipsed the unattainable Mew? Has he become the unconditional heavenly father (I say, mostly in jest)? Another point of consideration is that Ray always seems to be wearing a cross. Just saying.

Anyway this theory is pretty out there, and in any case, it's less about proving the idea and more about seeing what others thought about it as a vantage point of discussion, and whether it colors how Ray, and Sand and Ray as a couple, are interpreted.

Those are such great observations! Taylor Swift's lyricism is so fascinating and complex to me, and I agree that there are so many lyrics that could easily apply to Ray.

In my opinion, Ray is easily the most complicated character in this show. It's no wonder they chose Khaotung to play him because there are so many feelings he has to work through, especially in these emotionally-charged scenes. When the camera pans behind Ray's head and Sand appears, Ray slowly looks up at him with tears in his eyes. That first moment when he meets eyes with him and says his name just speaks to how agonizing this confrontation is for Ray, because he's confronting himself through the image of Sand. This entire scene is the acceptance of just how much Sand means to Ray, just how badly Ray has screwed up yet again, and just how much gratitude Ray has for Sand in his heart.

Your analysis of the religious aspects of the scene is so compelling. The golden coloring behind Sand echoes a lot of what @thewayuarent has analyzed about the contrast between cold blue lighting and warm gold lighting for both Sand and Ray. Also interesting your point about how the camera is slightly angled up at Sand rather than at eye-level. Originally I wouldn't think too much of this but contrasted with the shots of Ray at eye-level, it seems super intentional.

"Religious awakening" is a great way of describing it. There's been a lot of discussion about Ray putting Mew on a pedestal and idolizing him, but I think we see a similar kind of reverence being displayed here, but with some notable differences. With Mew, it felt like he was always something distant, something Ray wanted but could never quite touch. But in this scene, we have Ray facing Sand, on his knees for him, embracing him. Despite the whole thing being imaginary, it feels very real in a way I struggle to articulate. There's a worshipping aspect, I agree, but there's also a realism in the way Ray is very honestly considering his emotions. With Mew, I'd argue those feelings of idolization were allowed to grow out of Ray's fantasy, but with Sand, it isn't something Ray has blown up in his head. My main point being--I don't think it's necessarily suggesting an unhealthy power imbalance with Ray as the worshipper and Sand as the godly figure (in the way we saw with Ray and Mew), though I think this scene does an excellent job of emphasizing how Ray views Sand as someone honestly and purely good.

Another reason I think Khao delivers this so well is that he speaks through his eyes in every one of those scenes you mention. He sees all of Sand's goodness, but I don't think he's directly confronted his own behavior until this moment. Yes, he's apologized and yes he's realized that he was in the wrong. But here he is laying it all out on the table. Following the topic of religion, it almost feels like a confession. In Ray's imagination, this is a space where he can expel all of his feelings to the image of Sand. It's almost better that Sand can't react here (seeing as he's imaginary) because it brings the focus back to Ray. Even though Ray is crying to Sand and about Sand, it's all a reflection of his own flaws in their relationship and otherwise.

[vaingloury]

Disparate Thoughts on Dungeon Meshi

I'm an anime-only watcher, so no spoilers beyond what's currently aired (eps 1-3) + mild map spoilers for a random 3.5e D&D module (Sunless Citadel).

- I'm not the first nor will I be the last to harp on the English localised title but Delicious in Dungeon sucks. I do, however, think going with the "DnD" naming scheme was a nugget of a good idea (let's face it, "Dungeon Food" sucks too). Maybe "Diners in Dungeon"/"Dungeons & Diners" instead (as in those who dine, not a place where one dines). Or "Dungeon Dine" (like "dungeon dive"). Regardless, I'll just be calling it Dungeon Meshi going forward.

- I don't know if this is coloured by me going into this series with the knowledge that Ryoko Kui loves Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 or a wider ripple effect of eastern dungeon-fantasy conventions being shaped by there not being an official Japanese translation of D&D between Basic and 5e, but the world-building's vibe is old-school D&D as hell. It feels like it was written by someone who maybe never got the chance to play the tabletop game much but spent hours poring over the 1e Monster Manual in hopes of getting a campaign off the ground (and ended up penning a manga instead, game scheduling be damned). There's the disarming of traps, feeling for secret doors, and even the iconic red dragon as seen on the covers of the Basic Dungeon Master's Handbook and 1e Monster Manual being the dungeon boss. Design-wise, the dungeon's layout it reminds me a bit of the map from Ruins of Castle Greyhawk or The Sunless Citadel (pictured below, right).

- The main cast is very tropey at the moment. Quite literally all the Basic classes are covered; the generic white man Fighter (Lv 1, no multi-attack yet :P) as the party face, the halfling/thief, the elf/wizard, the missing cleric, the dwarf... This works for this point in the narrative but doesn't make me particularly attached to any of them. They need another overarching obstacle.

- I generally don't like Studio Trigger's output (not the Imaishi-involved stuff anyway; Gridman fucks) but I respect how bouncy their animation usually is. So, I was excited to watch something animated by Trigger but not (originally) written by them. Dungeon Meshi, however, looks static and resorts too often to Dutch angles to maintain visual interest. There's a bit of an art shift in episode 3 where this improves; more fun "off-model" moments, the movements get a little bouncier, more color harmony. Hopefully, this stays and isn't just a guest director fluke. Form the snippets I've seen on the manga, Kui suffers a bit from "draw background killed my grandma", thus her ability to make her simple character designs emote well has to carry the page. The anime does the opposite; super detailed backgrounds but flat shading/lack of texture on the characters creates a need for them to over-emote with a "screen-shake" effect in order to stand out from their surroundings, which I could see getting old fast. The main event, the food, looks better in the anime than in the manga due to colour and animation bringing it to life.

- I don't usually laugh at Japanese comedies because they're either too slapstick for my tastes or too pun heavy for my JP comprehension level. Dungeon Meshi gets a point for making me "lol" more than once.

- Finally, a good panty shot:

- I watched episode 3 dubbed. EN Marcille > JP Marcille (I say this as a stickler for subs). The rest of the dub cast is fine but I'm probably sticking with JP because JP Laios' ability to scream > EN Laios (EN is a great generic white man, though). I'm not familiar with most of the JP voice cast. I think Chilchuck is my fave in JP.

Both languages have little breathing room between lines of dialog and I was hoping the EN dub would play around with the fact that the character speaking isn't necessarily the one on screen (thus less lip-flap matching, especially for Senshi, who has few indicators that he's actually speaking even when he's onscreen) but alas. I'll do another one of these if I have more to say later in the season 🥂

[arengnera]

The Flesh Dress

All of the fabric for this was reclaimed from curtains, scraps, tights, discarded tule from a local highschool prom that I snatched up like a horrible little vulture. The boning in the bodice was done with huge zip-ties but I’m not convinced getting real sewable boning wouldn’t have been worth it. The channels on the reinforcement were a bit of a bitch. The swords I also forged myself, but this ain’t about them. A lot of (mostly fake) blood, sweat and tears went into this one and I’m super pleased with the results. Huge shout out to @spoonbendersanonymous​ who was kind enough to lend me the fake blood, their anatomical text book, and had me sit down to watch Bride of Reanimator for inspiration.

Process photos and bonus photoshoot pictures below the cut!

Original sketches! A lot of me trying to figure out how to make boning look like bones while maintaining a classic shape. I said edwardian on the sketch but it honestly might be Victorian I'm really not sure. This was a combined art project for one of my classes, the idea was using old fashioned mourning traditions and clothes in a modern and campy way, to complain about how much capitalism erodes our time to mourn. At least that’s what I told the professor, It’s really about making a weird and off putting dress first and foremost.

Tape pattern and paper pattern! This was my first time doing this so don't take thus as any sort of guide.

It worked though, as shown by the world’s worst corset fitting - the pink thing on my arm was where I was planning on putting the upper sleeve, I was trying to see if my poof was good since my sleeves were a lot thinner and a lot longer than what would have been optimal for the amount of poof I wanted, I had to do some work around with the fabric I had

Now I’m just bragging about getting eyelets to look clean and good for once in my life. If I was going to do anything different about this though, I would ad more eases in the back, because I need to contort horribly to get out of the bodice, I fit it too well

This bad boy was really the crux of the whole project. The entire thing was a pun so I could applique an anatomically accurate heart on a sheer sleeve.

This was was it’s intermediary stage, where I was suddenly very much out of time for the first deadline and had to put off adding all of the gore I wanted to, so the simple applique heart had to do. The skirt itself was way less poofy than I would have liked, and didn’t quite give the silhouette I wanted. I ended up going with the train because the under skirt isn’t actually connected in the back. Thus is the nature of working with weird panels of curtains you’ve already cut into for a few other projects. God bless the thrift store curtain section.

The guts were made by sewing together sheer tights, and filling them with polyfill. Here they are, before they were stippled with liquid flesh colored latex and soaked in fabric paint - and after where you can see all that extra TEXTURE

I was able to use it for another project though, and I was very happy with the beading work here, although I did end up losing my biggest strand at some point.

Here’s my makeup test! I played around with doing some blood red lips but decided the blueish corpse look was better. Fun fact! I drove home wearing a sweatshirt that says “I heart corpse desecration” on it through the snow storm, and pulled over to offer some guy a hand with his car, forgetting I still looked like this. He turned me down.

The face of someone who can definitely be trusted for road side assistance. - Also I was posing as the two of swords tarot illustration for the final gallery exhibit.

[about-faces]

So which Twoface scarred design do you like based on anesthetics the most? And any theories about the variety of colors, like do any play into color theory or any meaning, or are just limited to printed color limitations/artist sole interpretation?

This would have been a much shorter answer if you hadn’t added the second part. But I’m glad you did, because I love talking about this shit! 

While I do have certain… shall we say, opinionated preferences for my ideal design for the scarring, my taste is dependent on SO many different factors. Since you brought up color limitations, let’s start there, because that speaks to a certain aesthetic of Two-Face that I love. 

First, let’s talk about the basic design, the gold standard of the Golden Age. The very first appearance of Two-Face has served as the model for how the scarring's looked ever since. The iconic features include a permanent snarl, a bulging eye, a wilder hairstyle with differently colored hair, and different coloring from his unscarred flesh. Every version of Two-Face since has either followed or subverted this original depiction. 

(Note: I could also go on a whole tangent about how this design MAY have been based on a poster for the 1941 film adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which I’ve recently had reason to suspect may be bogus for reasons related to the complicated history of Batman’s supposed “creator” Bob Kane, but that’s several other essays worth a material. And that’s not even taking into account who actually drew this original comic, whether it was the credited Kane, or Jerry Robinson and/or George Roussos. The history of Golden Age comics is rife with controversy, plagiarism, and bullshit, with Batman being no exception.)

For roughly 50 years, this was, more or less, the standard version of Two-Face. Even as DC evolved through different eras of “House Styles” where all art had to maintain a certain consistency, this design underwent very little variation over five decades. While his scarring would occasionally be depicted as gray or off-purple or even flesh toned, it usually stuck to the original choice of green. 

Why green? Why would a man who suffered an acid attack have green scarring? Putting aside questions of realism (which have little place in the world of comics), the reasoning was tied to those specific issues you raised about printed color limitations. The history of comic book coloring is absolutely fascinating, when companies had to rely on printers to produce the cheapest possible product on a regular deadline. 

These printers (supposedly backed by organized crime) published comics on newsprint with the four-color CYMK color model, and comic artists had to work within these limitations. This led to some interesting color-coding for heroes and villains in superhero books, with the heroes depicted in primary colors like red, yellow, and blue, and the villains being depicted in secondary colors like orange, purple, and green. As you’ll note, Harvey’s design uses all three of those secondary colors, appropriately enough for a man obsessed with twos. 

To this day, these colors are what are used for classic, “retro” depictions of Two-Face, which you can still see on merchandise today. As such, I have great affection for this basic design with these colors, especially when they appear on newsprint with the visible newsprint dots.Over the past couple decades, we’ve seen comics companies reprint these classic stories with cleaned-up, “remastered” artwork. As time has gone by, I’ve come to dislike this treatment of older comics, which were specifically drawn for a period where coloring and printing options were strictly limited. Removing those limitations with computer coloring only seems to make the linework appear more dated, at least to my eye. 

For example, take one of my personal favorites, the third chapter of “A Lonely Place of Dying.” On the left is the current, cleaned-up version, while the other is a scan from a long-defunct tumblr user jthener-comics-vault who emphasized the newsprint dots and yellowed newspaper. 

Some may prefer the version on the left, but I strongly prefer the version on the right. There’s just so much more aesthetic appeal with the second version to my eye. The version on the right looks dated, while the version on the left looks timeless because of how it embraced a certain retro aesthetic. Your mileage may vary, but that’s where I’m at with my taste preferences. 

(See also: the recent revival of interest in CRT TV screens with classic video games, discussed in this popular post about how games were designed for the limitations of older TVs, and how current pixel graphics don’t look right in comparison. Given how there’s now a whole Reddit community dedicated to CRT TV pixel graphics, I’d love to see people embrace classic comics in the same way. But alas, the people who care about such things are literally a dying breed, as most comics fans seemingly don’t have much interest in anything beyond the past decade or so.) 

So if you’re talking purely aesthetics within the classic limitations of comics, I consider the version on the left to be my platonic ideal for a perfect Two-Face. It’s not because the linework of the scarring is anything special (as much as I worship the late, great Jim Aparo, his Two-Face scarring looks like Harvey dipped himself into some creamed spinach), but because the scarring fits the overall aesthetic of the printing techniques of a bygone era. 

So that would be ONE example of my preferred take on the scarring, with a specific version that emphasizes his classic newsprint roots. But it’s not the only one, because those limitations were soon expanded by the 1990’s, with advances in printing quality and coloring techniques. On top of that, DC started hiring artists for stories far outside their usual “House Style,” which led to all manner of weird and varied interpretations of characters like Two-Face, depending on the story. In fact, his appearance–along with his personality, motivations, and even his own backstory–would change drastically from one appearance to the next. His scarring alone could be green, pink, red, blue, purple, or some variation of the above! And that’s not even taking into account the pen-and-ink linework choices! 

This finally brings me to your original question of which version of the scarring I prefer. While I still love the classic retro take on the character as well as stylized “dark deco” versions like his appearance in Batman: The Animated Series, there are certain traits I look for in modern depictions of Two-Face. These preferences were undoubtedly informed by the fact that I saw Sam Raimi’s Darkman as a young teen and fell in love with the prosthetic makeup effects by Chet Zar and Toni Gardner, who created a viscerally horrifying template for what I wanted to see used for Harvey Dent ever since.

So these days, when it comes to what I really want to see in the scarring?  At this risk of being too graphic, I like the flesh to be stretched and warped, the lips and eyelids peeled back and exposed. I also STRONGLY prefer there be no clear line down the middle between the scarred and unscarred sides. There should be some sense of integration between the sides, rather than two separate faces–one realistic and one cartoonish–slapped together. Some of my favorite examples include Alex Ross and Doug Braithwhaite’s Harvey cameo from Justice #2 and Brad Walker and Doug Hennessey’s from “Ugly Heart.”

Basically, I prefer a style that’s evocative of movie-style body horror, adding realism without being realistic.He should appear shocking while simultaneously looking like someone who has suffered, and continues to do so. It should compliment (but NOT play up) the good/evil dichotomy, without veering into cartoonishness. Doing that leads to him being treated as more of a gimmick crook rather than a three-dimensional character. 

Again, we’re talking my own personal preference here. As a character, Two-Face represents different things to different people. When creating the story Batman: Faces, artist Matt Wagner wanted Harvey’s scarring to be red because it emphasized the “devil inside” motif. For many people, Two-Face is a character who conveys the evil within normalcy. Fair enough. 

But for me, I like red because it looks like exposed flesh and tissue, emphasizing the raw pain Harvey has and must endure. I prefer when the scarring emphasizes tones of flesh and blood, like reds, pinks, and purples. I loved the blue scarring of Batman: The Animated Series on its own merits, but it only works within that specifically stylized “dark deco” context. 

And when it comes purely to linework design, I think my ideal model would be the work of sculptor Andy Bergholtz, who not only designed a bust I will never afford despite dearly wanting, but who also created an incredible pumpkin carving of Two-Face which, weirdly enough, endures as one of my favorite depictions of the character. 

Notice how Bergholtz doesn’t draw a distinct line between the two sides, but instead shows how the flesh stretches and warps from one side to the next. It looks painful, while also being perfectly integrated with the rest of the head. Hell, even the choice to go with the classic green coloring works, because of how it looks sickly and gangrenous! It still looks fleshy, even with the comic-book-y coloring choice!

These sculptures are my baseline for how Harvey’s scarring should ideally look. But at the end of the day, the scarring is only one factor I look for when it comes to depictions of Two-Face. It’s how the scarring looks with his unscarred side, especially if the artist actually chooses to DO something interesting with Harvey’s face rather than just depict him as a Bland White Dude or Generic Gangster. It’s also how both sides of his face look in whatever he’s wearing, how they’re drawn in the linework, how they’re colored and depicted on paper and/or online scans. So many factors go into making/breaking Two-Face, just as they do with pretty much every other comic character who has existed for decades at this point.

But ultimately, none of that matters to me as much as the writing. Harvey could look absolutely terrible in the artwork, and I wouldn’t care so long as the writing treats him with empathy and compassion. Still, I appreciate you giving me this opportunity to reacquaint myself with his aesthetics, which I’ve too long disregarded because–for many–that’s all they see when they think about Two-Face. Not as a three-dimensional character, but as a walking pile of aesthetics. But it's nice to revisit those aesthetics as a reminder of why he's continued to endure as an iconic character for eight decades.

[theanimeview]

[Analysis] Pearl Appreciation (Steven Universe)

Source: https://steven-universe.fandom.com/wiki/The_Reef

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

I must admit that when Steven Universe (SU) was airing, I wasn't a fan of the show. However, I did watch the series at random intervals due to my friend group being largely obsessed with it. As many friends moved on from the series, I continued to check back in because of my favorite character from the show, Pearl. The Pearl we knew long before Blue Diamond’s Pearl and Yellow Diamond’s Pearl appeared or even the original Pink Diamond’s Pearl (now called Volleyball) joined the cast. 

 Despite her cold color palette and sharp edges, Pearl had a warm and motherly demeanor that was endearing to me. I liked that they said things that were sometimes wrong, but they were always confident in their words.

What truly stood out was Pearl's moments of grief and guilt, which were a result of their complex relationship with Pink Diamond/Rose Quartz (Rose). Pearl was privy to many of Rose's secrets, and her devotion was completely intertwined with Rose's influence. This was evident throughout the show, and Pearl's desire for freedom and independence often reflected Rose's own wants and desires rather than appearing as though it was their own wish.

Pearl’s whole inspiration is Rose, and their devotion is entirely engrained with Rose’s influence, this becomes more and more evident as we see flashbacks of Pearl and Rose's relationship in the series wherein Pearl still aligns themself to what they think Rose wants them to want over time. In a reflection of the earlier seasons, Pearl’s want for freedom and maintenance of independence is often just an expansion of Rose’s wants and desires going so far as to repeat Rose's words to themself in a rehearsed way. This likely stems not just from Pearl's affection toward Rose, but from having been born into a society of slavery and brainwashing. As a result, I feel that Pearl had the hardest time adjusting to the pressure and freedom of life on Earth, at least when compared to Garnet and Amethyst.

Garnet embodied the freedom that Rose wanted for gems. Garnet has let go of Home World, merged with another gem, and founded a peaceful existence on Earth. While Garnet grieves the passing of Rose as a friend, their self-identity is not defined by Rose as we see when Sapphire and Ruby are able to reflect and rejoin. And Amethyst, being younger, never knew the oppression of Home World, therefore can only understand from an outside perspective what Pearl, Garnet, and Rose have seen or experienced as gems who escaped from an oppressive society to find refuge on Earth. Losing Rose–while painful–is not nearly the same for Amethyst as it is for Garnet (by extension, Ruby and Sapphire) or Pearl.

So while Garnet and Amethyst are dealing with the loss of a close friend and family member, Pearl is dealing with the loss of her reason for being. Sure, Pearl was "free" under Rose, but she was maintaining her status as a servant or slave under Rose. The series did try to combat this by having Pearl "chose" to follow Rose, but–realistically–what other options did Pearl have? It was either return to Home World and become the slave to another gem (if not being poofed/destroyed) or follow their new, kinder master into an unknown, but less oppressive lifestyle.

Unlike Rubies or Sapphires, whose roles had their own levels and advancements within the system of oppression, a Pearls' station on Home World and other Gem-run planets had nothing to do with their achievements. Their existence was purely for the convenience and pleasure of other gems. It was to the extent that Pearls, from what I understand in seeing the show, were forced to take on a specific shape/figure and attire chosen by their owners, unlike the other gems who could choose, to some extent, a form of self-identity in the form they take when reforming from the gem-state (Steven Universe Future, Episode 4 “Volleyball”).

It is these underlying pressures that really drew me to the character, even before we learned about all these details surrounding Pearl's character. I felt like it was clear that this kind of story was intentional and meant to come out at some point since Pearl always seemed to take Rose’s death harder than the others, and it never felt to me like the only reason for that was an unrequited love. I think that a very telling scene leading up to this feeling is when Pearl meets Lion for the first time and ends up running away:

Title: “Steven Universe | Rose’s Scabbard – Steven Comforts Pearl | Cartoon Network” | Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z34V-pHgLRE&ab_channel=StevenUniverse

In the scene where Pearl meets Lion, they are destroyed emotionally at the idea that something about Rose is hidden from them, because they likely didn't have any secrets from Rose and because it seems to betray that idea of Rose trusting Pearl. Pearl's outburst from grief speaks a lot to their trauma and relationship with Rose. Amethyst gets upset but doesn’t follow and most likely does not really understand the depth of pain Pearl has suffered. Meanwhile, Garnet remains silent at Pearl's outburst, probably understanding that Pearl suffered a lot more as a gem with a significantly lower status when they lived on Home World but not knowing that Pearl had been Rose's, a Diamond's, pearl.

In the minutes following the outburst, we get to see how Pearl's character is a form of devotion to Rose's chosen path for her, rather than an independent choice or path Pearl came up with or joined after hearing about other gems wishing for freedom. It was Rose's idea, and Pearl, her Pearl ("my Pearl"), followed.

Amythest, again, can't really understand the difference in how Pearl views the loss. Garnet, while empathetic towards Pearl, is understanding that there is a difference in the feelings of loss because Pearl's different experience from their former lives on Home World, but also can't fully experience the depth of Pearl's pain because–unlike Pearl–Garnet was truly free of the Diamonds and their dictatorship while Pearl was still living directly under one and keeping that Diamond's secret.

It’s why I think Garnet remains so much more grounded in reality than Pearl–such as when Steven is born and Garnet accepts that Rose is gone, while Pearl can’t stop crying. They’re at two very different stages in the grieving process (Season 4, Episode "Three Gems and a Baby"). At times, this means that Garnet comes off a little cold to Pearl. Maybe not from the audience's perspective as viewers see Rose's passing as having been a long time ago by this point, but from a gem's perspective, it has only been, like, a few months or days even since the loss. Remember, that Pearl has been with Rose for more than 5,000 years, so 10-20 years with Steven is an incredibly short period of time for what is, essentially, an immortal life. That's not even taking into account that during those 5,000 years, Pearl really didn’t fully explore their freedom since Pearl spent it at Rose’s side, walking the line of what is permissible by Rose and what isn’t in terms of boundaries–unlike Garnet did who has had the chance to grow up apart from Rose, the Diamonds, and other parts of gem society.

Title: “Steven Universe | Rainbow Quartz | Rose and Pearl Fuse | We Need to Talk | Cartoon Network” | Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OfY0NOXunQ&ab_channel=StevenUniverse

I think a scene that speaks to this idea of Pearl never being free until Rose's passing comes from Season 2, Episode 9, "We Need To Talk," wherein Rose and Pearl fuse.

Rose, as a Diamond, and as the leader seemed to abuse Pearl without meaning to simply by stringing them along. Remember that fusing is a deeply personal experience for the gems. On Home World, it is a heavily regulated act and as Garnet, as well as Sapphire and Ruby, show and tells us, it is not a process to be taken lightly. While Pearl may have instigated the above scene where the two fuse, Rose is the one using Pearl here. Rose is doing so to entertain Greg, while Pearl is trying to show how close they are and disuade Greg from getting closer. When the two gems separate again, Rose’s focus is on Greg, and Pearl is clearly jealous and unhappy, trying to then tell Greg that he'll never be as close as they are.

We know that this is even more personal for Pearl, as she fantasizes about a relationship with Rose that Rose has fully encouraged, as seen here:

Title: “Steven Universe | Pearl fuses with Rose Quartz | Now We’re Only Falling Apart | Cartoon Network” | Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q2ZwnkGBSQ&t=83s&ab_channel=StevenUniverse

I thought about this a lot in the earlier seasons, and I realized that it’s not until Steven is beginning to enter his teens that Pearl really begins to assert themself fully as a separate, independent, and free being--likely because Steven is no longer as reliant on them for care. The "Back to the Barn" episode is a great example of this as we learn about Pearl’s former life as a gem-slave. It’s also a great episode because it’s them asserting themselves and finding themselves again after losing Rose and realizing that Steven won’t rely on them forever.

It sparks, in my mind, the journey that Pearl's character has to make is one that reflects on their grief, allows them to overcome trauma, and particularly one that allows them the attempt to overcome a secret trauma without anyone knowing. It is what made Pearl's story much more compelling to me from a character's storytelling perspective, as Pearl must first overcome their grief and then find a new definition of identity and path based on their own wants, needs, and desires–something the other main-cast gems developed years ago.

It is also why I liked later seasons where Pearl is shown to be moving forward in the grieving process beyond the state of reliving Rose’s death over and over (which, they seemed to be doing via reenactments during self-isolation away from the other gems and Steven). 

This development really showed itself in “Mr. Greg“ (Season 3), when Pearl sang “It’s Over, Isn’t It?” and by Steven Universe Future, Pearl’s character arc enters a state of healing–both from the grief of losing Rose and from the suffering they had undergone as a Pearl in the formerly oppressive gem society. 

Is Pearl completely healed? Probably not. I mean, again--they are very old and it has not been that long for them. However, they are, at the very least, free of the shackles and dealing with the pain, as noted in Pearl’s Song, featured in Steven Universe Future, "Happily Ever After."

That’s my appreciation for Pearl, y’all. Thanks for reading. Oh, and #Bispearl because I ship it.

Title: Pearl's Story - Happily Ever After | Steven Universe (HD 4K) | Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtorJzBYRDY&ab_channel=LazuliBoy

[catchabiifyoucan]

February 9, 2024

About the boarding and delay, I was not sure if the plane was boarding late and/or being delayed because of time zone. The difference was one hour. But I know the waiting was taking forever. I was very inpatient because my layover was long. But I was happy to get on the plate and sat with no one.

This time, the leg room was more spacious however there was no screen in front of me. That means I would have to watch Netflix on my iPad. And the battery went down to like 30 percent. I lost track on how many episodes I had watched since I traveled to Africa.

I knew I needed a break from watching on screen, so I decided to read a book- a graphic novel about ADHD and other neurodivergent disorders. As much I tried to read, I lost motivation to keep reading because it’s manga- reading from right to left and it became confusing to read. My eyes were tired.

There were two seats on each side and four seats in the middle. Mine was two seats by the window. Even though I am a small person but still it was very difficult for me to lay down and sleep. How uncomfortable. I managed to sleep for an hour or so. I felt better afterward. I knew I needed some sleep because I would be seeing my two sisters, brother in law and five nieces. Hoping I will be able to have some decent sleeps during my stay in Nigeria. I often have hard time to sleep longer and end up being sleep deprived.

My lunch/dinner meal was all right. Just one main entree, side salad, small dessert and bread with spreads (butter or cheese). Earlier, I was very hungry, I was handed out a slice of bread and it was not any good. I threw it away and ate snacks (apple

Or is that a slice of pound cake? Have no absolutely idea what that is.

Cinnamon rice cakes and apple oatmeal crumble) that I brought with me. My stomach acted funny lately but I was able to drink a lot of water to give it a good cleansing and relief.

Let’s learn a bit more about Nigeria before my arrival in Nigeria where I was born and raised until age 5.

Did you know…?

Source:

https://www.kids-world-travel-guide.com/nigeria-facts.html

As of 2023, there are over 220 million people living in Nigeria and 3.8 million people living in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. Lagos was the original capital city of Nigeria.

Nigeria’s motto is unity and faith, peace and progress. 53 % Muslims and 44 % Christians

Nigerians are known for being the most happiest people in the world.

Official Language: English

About 65 percent Nigerians age 15 and over can read and write.

Nigeria is the largest country in the Western Africa, the most popular country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world. Go Eagle Go!

Flag colors: Green and White.

Nigeria is about twice the size of California or slightly bigger in size than Venezuela. You can’t miss Nigeria on map.

Nigeria is not only an oil-rich country, but also mainly exports petroleum, petroleum products, smaller amount of cacao, rubber products, cotton and palm oil.

Nigeria’s nuts may be the only one peanuts that I love eating and can’t stop eating them!

That’s all for fun and interesting facts about Nigeria.

What I have to prepare myself before landing in Lagos is that the weather will be very unbearable. Very hot in high 90-100 degrees with humidity. Hoping that will help me lose some weights ha!

Good thing I bring my sun hat and deodorant to maintain good hygiene. I definitely would have to drink a lot of water otherwise I would be fatigue. I also have to take malaria pills and sleep under the mosquito nets. I wouldn’t be surprised if I have a lot of bug bites due to my sweet blood.

Foods here are what I look forward to the most. I am a foodie and like to eat. I have to be careful with foods because I can end up become sick due to bacterial infection from raw/uncooked food. Foods are often made fresh, from scratch and are plant-based and/or naturally processed (no/less chemical additive or artificials).

About one hour left to land down… finally after nearly 24 hours of traveling from DC to Lagos. Hoping customs wouldn’t take a lot of my time to be allowed entering Nigeria. To enter Nigeria, you must have either visa or valid Nigeria passport.

I was not able to renew my Nigeria passport in time before my departure for Nigeria. So , I applied for a visa instead. The cost for visa and passport application and process is about the same. Visa is usually good for single or multiple visit up to 6 months. But I am granted for a five year visa because I was born in Nigeria. I hope I will take my family back to Nigeria again before my visa expires. My daughters and Harish had visited Nigeria before but not my sons. My daughters don’t remember their visit in Nigeria and would love to visit there again. Gotta save up $$$. Roughly, $8,000-$10,000 flight tickets for a family of six.

Wow I can’t believe I will be in Nigeria less than an hour. What a surreal feeling. I will be very overwhelmed and in awe for sure.

Just landed in Lagos!!!! Finally after 24 hours of waiting and traveling!

Talk later. Oxox

[liroyalty]

Dracondia Scre Goods & Recourses

Because, for as much importance as I put on a kingdom's trade in my main world, I realize I haven't done that for some of my AU worlds.

Aside from their Dragons, Dracondia has a few recourse exclusive to the small continent, one of them remitments of Old Dracondia, while other is native to New Dracondia.

Beginning with Dracondian Metals & Gems. Dracondia metals come in a variety of minerals, like steel, iron, copper, silver, gold, & many more, while Dracondian gems(also called Dragonfire Gems) always come in 3 variations, the dragon's breath opal, black fire opal, & blue fire opal. What makes Dracondian metals & gems special is their inheritable powerful fire stored within them, they hold a more powerful flame then typical magical items & weapons that wield fire abilities, they have a natural warm touch to them so they're easy to identify; they could be placed in cold water or thrown out into the snow & left their all day but they will still maintain their warm touch(in more powerful cases, the water will even start to boil or the snow around it will begin to melt). They are more powerful then a flametongue sword alight with it's fire on it's blade, without the item actually being on fire. In a practice carried over from Old Dracondia, Dracondian metals & gems are forged in the flames of dragonfire, so as expected only dragonsriders have the ability to see these metals & gems commissioned & created(though it's not unusual for these some of the commissioned crafts to end up on the black market sometimes). It's a tradition that for a dragonrider to go to a blacksmith not long after they become of age & have the smith create something with a Dracondian metal or gem out of the dragonfire provided by the rider's bonded dragon. The Dracondian usual is either a sword or a ring. Dracondian swords are highly valued, as with the dragonfire stored in them, it allows them to cut through other typical metals with ease. The hottest & most well forged of Dracondian swords have been known to instantly cauterize wounds it makes when cutting into flesh. Dracondian metal & gem jewelry is also highly valued by women, especially in the south of Dracondia Scre where it is colder, as it's natural warm touch keeps them warm during the winter months. Supposedly, all of the Dracondian Crown Jewels are made with either Dracondian metal or has a Dragonfire gem embedded into it, not a single article within does not have one or the other.

The other, goods naive to New Dracondia is it's fruits, as fruits are often presented as sides to meals. Dracondia Scre grows high amounts of Pitaya, or 'Dragonfruit' on three of the six islands that are to the west of the mainland & is a valued good, most certainly among the nobles for their beloved dragonfruit & honey iced tea, which is considered an essential drink, especially in the north, when battling the heat of Dracondian summers. The oils from the Dragonfruit are also highly valued for beauty products, such as skin-care lotions & moisturizing creams, they are also used to in burn ointments help heal & restore the skin of burn victims. There are two other versions of the Dragonfruit found on New Dracondia that are much more difficult to find elsewhere & also highly valued on New Dracondia. Such as the Full Pink Dragonfruit, or the 'Dragonessfruit', which is a version of Pitaya that is full pink, inside & outside. This version of Dragonfruit is larger & very sweet then the original with stronger flavor, as well as being more plentiful, as it grows along the mainland's western & northern shores. The Dragonessfruit is also used in dragonfruit & honeyed iced tea, this variety being sweeter then the original(& uses less honey); this version of the iced tea is also called 'Pink Honey Iced Tea', as the deep pink color of the insides of the dragonessfruit often turned the light orange coloration of the tea a light pink. Dragonessfruits are more commonly used as the key ingredient for making sweets, like cakes & tarts. The other version of the Dragonfruit on New Dracondia is the Yellow Dragonfruit, also called the Elder Dragonfruit. The Elder Dragonfruit is variant with a golden yellow outside & a white inside, it is larger then all of the other Dragonfruits & boasts a mild sweet flavor; the even balance of the neutral flavor of the Dragonfruit & the bold sweetness of the Dragonessfruit. A bit tougher to cultivate, they are most often found in Southern Dracondia & it is a beloved fruit to use in lemonades or limeades. Of the three dragonfruits, it is the original dragonfruit that sees the most use outside of merely being eaten for food, as it is more prized for beauty products.

[bramble-scramble]

Ok! Time for some SPOILER FREE Mario movie impressions!! I'll post plenty of more detailed thoughts later, of course, but these are general thoughts about its quality. Of course this is still very long because I always get carried away, lol

So, I had a great time, but I can definitely see where some of the criticisms come from. Let's get the less good stuff out of the way first. The plot is nothing to speak of, it's basically a video game plot which... whatever, there are actual Mario games out there that have better story and dialogue and themes than this, but at the same time I don't see a problem with this approach? I've seen people bringing up Super Paper Mario (which as you may know is my favorite Mario game) as evidence that Mario can have a good story around him but at the same time, like. This is an origin story, and they wanted to tell a fairly basic story that resembles the incredibly basic plot of the VAST MAJORITY of Mario games and that's fine, they didn't need to pull an epic story about ancient prophecies and mystical macguffins and doomed lovers out of their ass. It's fine y'all. They can save epic RPG plots for sequels.

The dialogue is serviceable. I know it's a kids' movie and whatever (which is almost always a poor excuse for whatever it's defending) but there were plenty of moments where the characters basically hit you over the head with the themes or state exposition so bluntly I thought it was leading into a joke. That made the moments where certain characters started to gel with each other and have naturalistic and endearing dialogue stand out all the more, and yet those charismatic moments are over almost as soon as you realize they're happening.

Overall I think the movie's rapid-fire pace is what hurts it the most. We are given very little time to sit with these charming character interactions, or scenes where a sense of wonder is evoked, before it's on to the next colorful and action-packed setpiece. On the one hand it's nice to have a movie with such a pared down runtime, but I think a little bit of extra space and breathing room in there could have done wonders in getting people who only know Mario as the funny Wahoo man who lives in the Nintendo to buy into the appeal of these characters and their world. I guess they thought kids couldn't pay attention in quiet moments or something, but again, give kids a little credit.

All that aside, the movie's strengths are many, in my opinion: outstanding animation and design, attention to lush visual detail, creating a Mushroom Kingdom that maintains a sense of magical bizarreness while actually seeming like a real place that people live in, and a sense of sincerity to the whole enterprise with a minimum of irony and self-distancing snark. It's also a very good, fun and refreshing take on some of the characters and their relationships - although, again, I just wish there was more screentime for it. I'll go into more detail when I talk spoilers later.

I've seen some snippets of criticism which I will say I disagree with, which is... People are justifiably cynical and tired of the Space Jam 2s and Ready Player Ones of the world where the creators are like "Look at all these nerdy references!! Look at all the IP we got access to, PLEASE POINT AND CLAP" and saying this movie is the same type of thing, but... Idk in my opinion there's a huge difference between a massive crossover of shallow nerdy references, and a movie based on one single franchise making a bunch of deep cuts that fans will recognize. Like yes there are references to other Nintendo properties but those are all subtle background things and sensibly contained to the Brooklyn portions of the movie.

Listen, I know Nintendo isn't my friend, they are out to make money and in a very real sense we ARE being advertised to... the Kart portions felt especially like "Hey did you ever buy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe yet??" Still, I think between the outstanding musical score and all the deep-cut references, this movie was obviously made by people with a deep love and care for the Mario franchise who were excited to work on this project. So in a sense it's kind of an ad for Nintendo's games rather than some pure work of art free from ulterior motives, but one that comes from a place of sincerity and care. If you want to be maximum cynical you could view that as even more insidious, but idk... relax and have some fun, go play some Mario Party.

It's not an advertisement for those of us who are already bought in. And maybe that's the major disconnect with some critics, which isn't to write them off as elitist, but just an attempt at explaining the difference in fan reception vs critical reception. Some people feel like they're being advertised to while others feel like they're being treated and the video game world they love is being respected. The idea that there are people, adults, who take video game IP this seriously, so much that we've pretty much already played all the games being referenced, is either hard to believe, or seen as even more cringey than being into Marvel movies or something. But there are plenty of us, and we know what we're getting into and are excited to see it.

Some of us are even Donkey Kong fans in particular and this is the best/most content we've gotten in years so LET'S GO TEAM KONG

[ren-shonen]

Returning fire: time to Be Seen friendo

"There's A Lot Going On Actually And It Can Get Messy" is a favorite genre

Likes blue as a motif color (for various symbolic reasons but if I had to pick one, maybe a hint at the ever lingering sense of feeling "blue"/lonely that they just can't shake?)

Very inspired by music, but especially lyrics

Drawn to characters who are "fishes out of water" so to speak, whether they're in a different physical environment from where they grew up, or in a new social circle/status that they're not used to having (shoutout to Rhenbraen for ending up in BOTH types at once)

Also characters who struggle with the balance between maintaining their independence and leaning on others for help/support

Symbolic 👏 Locations 👏 and/or Landmarks 👏👏 (whether for in-game screenshots like FFXIV or fanfic settings for characters to meet up at)

(Much like you did I kinda cheated for some of these since we've talked about favorite themes and motifs before but I can point to your writing entries and go "Right there, Exhibit A")

(Hello! This lovely ask prompted an absolute ramble, but since I intend to reblog this to my FFXIV blog also, I must apologize in advance for not putting this under a readmore)

A Lot Going On: You're SO right. 😅 I do like the layers, and I like peeling them back.

blue: Yes, I sure do end up with a lot of OCs with blue theming, don't I? Also, I had it pointed out once that blue shows up more than once in my BNHA fics, specifically as the color of the sky in the early morning, before sunrise. I promptly went "y'know.... huh" because I associate that time of day with having been up all night and, yeah, with a certain deep loneliness or sometimes solitude (perhaps funnily, my motif color for myself is red!)

lyrics: very yes. Especially lyrics. Almost all of my BNHA fics and FFXIV writings have a song associated with them, and several of the fics have lyric titles (as is tradition XD)

fish out of water: You're on to something here for sure, because this is true of very many of my FFXIV characters!

I suspect this may stem primarily from my enjoyment of Putting Characters in Situations that they then have to deal with, and being far from home and the familiar is a great way to do that. FFXIV's setting also makes it easy (practically necessary) to do this with any character whose lore origins place them outside of Eorzea, since they'd have to have a reason to travel there. As a result, I often employ it as a plot device to "shake things up" — like the most minor version of the isekai trope, perhaps. So I'd say it's less "drawn to" and more "tend to deliberately engineer," lol!

It may amuse you to know that Rhenbraen actually was very firmly embedded in their home environment for a BIG initial chunk of their story, and trying to figure out how to maneuver things so they would leave it was a major undertaking. (They were so stuck. SO stuck.)

...arguably, "being forced out of one's home environment" in my writing is usually a spur toward growth and positive change, even if it comes with significant growing pains.

Relatedly, I do have a personal theme of "you can't go home again" that shows up for almost all of my OCs, even the ones who have literally returned to their home environments.

I'm not sure if this also shows up in my BNHA stuff. I think there, it's more general sense of the world changing around the characters, and changing the characters, too? of time continuing and bringing with it new circumstances and situations, some of which are painful? Like Izuku having to confront being touch-starved for the first time when he moved into the dorms ("Distance and Weight"), which is a not-uncommon teenage/young adult experience. Now that I think about it, that's a good example of the second type you talked about (different social circumstance).

independence/support: oooh that's a fun one to ponder. (I wonder if I have any characters who lean toward the be-supported side? Maybe Renan? Zedyr?) Definitely shows up as a prominent theme in my BNHA stuff, though, at least on the "trouble asking for help" side. *cough*Izuku*cough*

landmarks: ooh interesting one. You know, this one actually is a bit personal/about me as the writer, even if I'm not totally sure it reaches beyond Rhenbraen's symbolic attachment to the Lominsan lighthouse (have to think about that one! but it feels right....) I'll message you to tell you more about the specifics. :D

[weekend-whip]

I am so confused and in shambles dude. From what I've read so far (haven't finished the first book yet) your worldbuilding and characterizations are immaculate! How do you do it?? How would you recommend improving on that type of stuff?

(skdsfjdkjgj my own rewrite is just a mess of random stuff I have no idea how to write characters or properly worldbuild)

Aww thank you!! I dunno how to recommend straight up improvement when everyone’s got different approaches to how they write and how they want to write, buuuut this is kind of my thought process when approaching a project a big as a rewrite that you could try. *-*)9

...this also got a bit long, so I’mma gently tuck it under a cut:

-All those random tidbits you’ve already got, anything at all? WRITE EM DOWN, keep ‘em stored somewhere easily accessible! I’ve currently got like four pages dedicated just for all the small stuff I want to eventually include/scenes I MUST write. It’s good to have a few bare basics to look back on or reference when you’re not sure of how to tackle a scene or what direction you want to take a character/plot. 

For example, maybe you want to demonstrate how Kai gradually grows to accept help over time: in what ways does he start to become more comfortable with his team? What moments will stand out as turning points? Or it could even be less specific stuff like “Scene where Nya talks to Zane”. At what point in the plot would that be good to insert? And what would have led up to that moment? Thinking about stuff like that from the get-go will always give you a place to start from, and keeps the ideas flowing. You can always change and tweak later as you develop! 

-Outline a general direction of where you want to take the story overall! It can be detailed right down to every paragraph of every chapter, or just simply a “this is how it starts, this is where the middle is, and this is how it ends”. Just give yourself somewhere to start, then figure out how you want to get from Point A to Point B, and it’ll basically write itself! And then if you happened to get stuck going forward, it becomes easier to see where you’re stuck at. Sometimes you’ll have to cut something out because it isn’t flowing, sometimes you’ll have to add more because things aren’t making enough sense! Either way, doing this makes it easier to see potential problems in the plot before you write yourself into a corner (...which I have done a few times). 

And if you do find yourself scrapping something, don’t get rid of it completely! Hang onto those ideas/scenes you once tried to include—there’s a good chance you may find another opportunity for them later down the line! It makes it so much less stressful than trying to rewrite from memory too. (Especially in the case where you find yourself overhauling an entire chapter...which I have done. Many times.) 

-Make a master timeline of events! Extremely helpful when referencing things that happened in the past, and to sort out potential time-related plot holes before they can occur! (especially in the case of something like Ninjago). Knowing exactly how long ago something happened or how long an event goes on for will do wonders for maintaining consistency. Highly recommend. (I’ve actually got two documents for my timeline because it’s a LOT to keep track of)

-As for actually doing some world building, I must confess, a lot of mine didn’t even fully pop up until I actually began writing the sequel ahahaah. I just knew I wanted the ninja to be aware that their elements were inherited from the get-go, rather than all the way into Season 4...which then spawned the idea for the eye colors, and why it wasn’t common knowledge, and then the entire Elemental Compass came along (which I conceived on the fly, lol, all of that was not in my original design AT ALL), and then how the Guardians were involved, and then how the FSM played into all of that...and now I’ve got a baseline of lore to play with. I guess what I’m trying to say on this front is that sometimes, you don’t have to think so hard about the world-building until it becomes relevant, or until you’re forced to answer a big question like “Why is this the way it is?” 

(...and ALL of the above snowballed for me JUST because I had to explain away why the general public and even the Ninja themselves wouldn’t have taken interest in Lloyd’s green eyes when they otherwise should have)

....but fi you’re looking for a more concrete answer, or just want some lore ready from the start, consider how society is structured in your universe. Is there a currency system, or do people barter for goods? Is there one collective language, or is there several, and why? What’s the geography like, is there a reason more people live in one area over another? Figuring out “base” things like that will help you maneuver the characters in the world you create. And in the case of Elemental Powers, well, I suppose that’ll depend on how deep you wanna take your rewrite. Is there an entirely new system for how it works, or are you going to pull from what’s already established (as tangled as it is asdfghj)?

-Characters are a bit trickier; for starters, I’d recommend rewatching the show (for the umpteenth time) to really get a feel for the characters’ mannerisms, speech patterns, and what they’re most likely to do in any given situation. For example, Zane’s obviously got a more posh and concise way of speaking, while Jay and Kai are far more casual and less direct (and the difference between those two is that Kai will often make the situation relevant to himself while Jay’s more prone to go off on a tangent about literally anything). Cole’s speech patterns, meanwhile, depend entirely on the current situation: he’s more firm when in the midst of a mission, but far less formal while chilling around. 

Or, another interpretation of mine: when tackling a situation, Kai will almost always act on instinct, which can come off as impulsive depending on what it is. He only stops to think things through when he realizes he’s got the upper hand. Jay will tend to hang back until he sees an opportunity, then drives for it with all he’s got (or he’s otherwise forced to act). Zane will analyze a situation before making any big moves at all, and will adapt his strategy from there (and tends to be caught off guard often because he’s thinking too much). Cole will normally try to assess a situation if he can, but if he’s emotional to any degree, can prove to be just as impulsive as Kai or thought-distracted as Zane. 

Something you could do to practice all this, or to find your own ‘flavor’ for the characters would be to write imaginary dialogue between them in any random situation you can come up with–what would they be saying to each other during a chase scene? Or around a dinner table? Or when they’re trying to comfort somebody? How would Kai approach the problem compared to Zane? How’s Jay going to react to it compared to Cole? They’re not always going to agree on everything immediately either, so how would a potential argument go where no one’s really in the wrong? It’s those little nuances that can really make characterization pop, and a lot of it happens subconsciously! 

Another thing you can do is read, read, READ other people’s stories! Getting a feel for how others interpret the characters can give you some ideas too (or give you an idea of what you DON’T want to do, lol). But reading does help make it easier to envision a character’s voice when applied to the written word, so that way when you’re writing and trying to nail their nuance, you have something of a baseline to compare to. (A lot of my “baseline” so to speak comes from @/lloyd-skywalkers’ amazing fics and The Fantastic Mr. Walker, actually)

When it comes to applying these characters to your own design though, you’re going to have to extrapolate: you’ve got the basics of the character right in front of you, but there’ll be a time when you’ll have to put them in a situation they’ve never been in before, or feel emotions they haven’t shown a lot of on screen. For example, you’d think Kai would just be a constant ball of rage and frustation and yelling, but I personally have a tendency to make Kai cry far more often. Not as some ooc-replacement for his anger, but precisely because he’s so angry at things. It stems from the insane amount of pressure, standards, and expectations he puts on himself, and the results of how his life had been prior to being a ninja, and because of how much he just wants good things for the people he cares about (and yet, bad stuff just keeps happening). And that makes a least a little bit of sense, right? Technically nothing is out of character, as long as there’s a character-driven/related reason for why it’s happening. So my advice here is, don’t be afraid to see how far you can push with a character. You can achieve a goldmine of character moments by doing this!

AND....uh, I think that’s all I got, for now! Hope this helped even to the smallest degree, and good luck with your own rewrite! 

(And if you’re looking for more general writing tips, check the tags! I’m not going to get into that stuff because fanfic allows us to break normal writing conventions and you can be free to explore whatever works for you!)

[maddmuses]

Isshin’s Zanpakuto Spirit and Bankai

That’s right, I picked up another canon w/o a revealed bankai so I get to headcanon again.

So first let’s get the name and power(s) of Isshin’s bankai out of the way

(Initial Release) Isshin’s Zanpakuto is playful and likes to joke, as a result Engetsu enjoys to “play pretend” with a series of different versions of bankai that it releases into, as opposed to its “True Release”. This serves a functional purpose, as Isshin’s Bankai is known to put significant strain on his body (more than what is normal) giving him a more narrow number of situations he can safely use in a fight. Accordingly, the lower (or “initial”) levels of Engetsu’s release are decidedly less powerful and function somewhat differently from the final product. 卍解: —熱的 月死 (Bankai: —netsuteki Tsukishi) The Initial Release(s) all have a color associated with their name, respective to their relative degree of power. From least to most powerful: Red, Blue, and White. These releases work in a way reminiscent of Genryusai Yamamoto’s, with the flames that previously sheathed Engetsu as a shikai draws into the blade, as the zanpakuto begins to “play pretend” as if it were Ryuujin Jakka. Heat begins to emanate from the blade, adding the burning power to the cutting power of the edge directly. Isshin is able to employ a number of techniques which are vaguely reminiscent of some which Genryusai uses. The fact is, though, that this is Engetsu playing at pretend, and these abilities do not burn even remotely as hotly, and is able to be resisted with far less reiatsu than its counterpart, with this bankai not having a much greater heat than the original shikai at Red-Hot level, and not truly stepping up until Blue-Hot or White-Hot. Finally, in this form of release, Isshin’s other techniques, such as Getsuga Tenshō, benefits from the added heat of whichever mode of release the zanpakuto is presently in, making even Red-Hot’s version more powerful than the shikai counterpart. 卍解: 赤熱的 月死 (Bankai: Akanetsuteki Tsukishi)(Final Release: Red-Hot Moon of Death) 卍解: 青熱的 月死 (Bankai: Aoinetsuteki Tsukishi) (Final Release: Blue-Hot Moon of Death) 卍解: 白熱的 月死 (Bankai: Hakunetsuteki Tsukishi) (Final Release: White-Hot Moon of Death)

(True Release)

卍解:  剡月 ザブン!!! (Bankai: Engetsu ZABUN!!!)(Final Release: Scathing Moon’s BIG SPLASH!!!)(Translation Note: Zabun is an onomatopoeia for Splashing, but does not infer the size, Big Splash is used due to the delivery Isshin gives verbally, as well as to better match lip flaps when dubbing) The true form of Isshin’s bankai, with a much more fitting name and power. The true nature of his flame is revealed, as his sword retains its shape, but the material becomes a slag-like material, molten but maintaining its form and edge. The flames that his lower-levels of release exude are symptoms of this heat, and not the true heat itself. When this slag comes into contact with physical matter which can’t resist it, it melts that which it touches, spreading its molten heat across the battlefield. Isshin, however, actively needs to rely on his own reiatsu to resist this power to, and Engetsu isn’t known for pulling its punches. Furthermore, whatever Isshin’s zanpakuto melts, as well as the actual molten metal which falls from it, falls fully under his control in a sort of telekinetic fashion. In this sense, Isshin is able to attack his opponents from a number of angles and directions, particularly the longer that the battle wears on.

Engetsu’s inner world for Isshin resembles that of the Shiba estate that he grew up in. A comfortable, but ultimately confining place for him, full of expectation and rigid rules. The actual spirit of Engetsu manifests as a pool of mysterious liquid that spreads throughout the world, quickly ensnaring it if unchecked by Isshin. The easiest way for him to do this, without simply subjugating it altogether with kido or raw spiritual pressure, is to coax it into a game. Engetsu, much like Isshin, is able to express complex and precise control over its form, and that which it melts alongside. As far as its ability to comply with Isshin goes, Engetsu is generally amenable to this following his control of the spirit, however in spite of itself Engetsu easily loses control and as a result can injure its wielder, as well as its foes.

[curetapwater]

CW for discussion of systematic oppression in a fantastical context. Also bear in mind that this is all just me playing with the text, not that I'm proclaiming this to be the intent of how these stories are written. That being said:

Considering they're largely segregated from humanity onto smaller islands, I wouldn't be surprised if the world of Sonic has some history with bias against animal people.

In addition to being a science experiment, I can imagine this having something to do with how GUN treated Shadow in the 1950s, like an unchecked monster or a volatile weapon. Heck, the fact that he was created in the image of a group of people to which the ARK residents didn't belong and was then classified as less than a person I think speaks loads. Other theories as to why he's a hedgehog aside, what if it's partially because they realized the Ultimate Lifeform needed to be a person rather than a beast, but it was legally easier to conduct what technically fell under "animal testing" so they made him something that's by all means a person but who wouldn't be classified as one?

Anti-animal bias, while I can imagine it's less overt now, seems to still color the world, if the nearest hedgehog either being genuinely mistaken for or being used as a scapegoat for Shadow's actions is anything to go by. And you can say "well that's GUN, of course they're awful" but they're the enforcers. They're the ones whose job it is to maintain order, and on multiple occasions they've taken that to mean keeping the animals in line.

I'm curious what people have to say about how Team Dark working for GUN might play into these thoughts of mine, it's a bit too early for me to unravel all of that.

I've been mildly contemplating to what extent the Robotniks themselves have this bias, as well. I think for each it's varying levels of complicated. For Maria, I think she doesn't have any room in her heart for bigotry. Especially considering how she dies and how she interacts with Shadow, she definitely sees him as a person. Like, Shadow took her wish to mean "protect humanity" but, at least in the English version of SA2 (unsure about Japanese), she says not "humans" but "people." "For all the people on that planet." Gerald and Eggman, hmm I think it's once again too early for that discussion but I'd love to see other's takes on what conscious or unconscious biases they might have.

These thoughts all arose because after seeing that one TailsTube, I just got so curious as to why the world is structured this way. I presume humans evolved on one of these big continents and migrated to the others over time like in real life, but how did the animals come to be? Did they all just individually originate from islands of different biomes (possible because the smaller islands are shown to have multiple different zones that have the potential to produce different walks of life)? Or as the humans conquered more land, did they choke the animal populations out and force them onto smaller islands?

Much to ponder.

[blackbird0blog]

Naruto Fanfic Recs

A great crack OC/SI-insert. I just wish there was more!

Summary:

Being somehow reincarnated into a world you previously thought was fictional and is filled with bullshit ninja magic killers isn't fun. It is even less fun to find out that any foreknowledge you may have been able to use to your advantage is pretty much as useless as your ability to quote pop culture references like a champ.

Preview:

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, and very, very far away, I did not have to deal with this shit. This kind of language may shock you, but while I look like an adorable eight year old, in actuality I have almost twenty eight years of experience and the temperament of a crotchety old man. If I had a lawn – oh man you can bet no one would be stepping on it.

I raise a darkly tanned hand to the sunlight and sigh, blowing a wisp of blue hair out of my face. I had initially been overjoyed upon realizing that I had maintained a relatively similar skin tone to my original body. My curly hair also returned for a second round. But, of course, I cannot have nice things.

I may be in an anime, but my hair color is just ridiculous. I have blue hair. When I say blue, I mean blindingly bright HEY I’M RIGHT HERE CAN YOU SEE ME I will burn out your eyes aqua blue. Not even the nice shade of blue main characters get. It is pretty awful. And with this whole ninja gig it’s probably gonna get me killed.

Oh, yes. Ninjas.

Lucky me, I was reborn in the Narutoverse. Apparently. Huzzah.

Honestly, this was not a hit my already waning sanity could really afford. Not only was I pushed on into reincarnation instead of facing the pearly gates, but I found out I was spit out into a supposedly fictional world.

I mean, after a couple months of my baby self drooling all over myself, I could kinda get over it. The whole “reincarnation” thing. Well, as long as I never think about my family, all my friends-

-painpainwhyaretheygonecomeback-

-Yeah. As in, can’t think about that at all. Ever.

…Hm, where were we?

Ah, yes. Basically, I can get over the whole “reincarnated” part. Not so much the whole “living in a military state that fully endorses the use of child soldiers and freedom is a thing of the past” part. I am an American. I was practically suckled on the sweet nectar of freedom.

(I may no longer take myself or life in general seriously. If you hadn’t guessed.)

One must also consider the blazingly ridiculous things that happen to this world. I could only stomach so much bunny goddess before I was out. Like, how would I even go about fighting half of these things without OP to the max abilities? Well I’m not planning on it, so I suppose it’s a moot point.

To put this in perspective, while it has some relative good points, I really dislike most of the Leaf’s dictatorship, freedom sucking, shove-you-full-of-propaganda self. My life is in ruin.

I sigh again and gaze at my elevated hand, “Poor Yorick. Alas, alas.”

Hm. What was the rest of that quote?

I hear a sigh, “Miki-kun, please stop interrupting class.”

I look up and see Iruka-sensei staring at me, his gaze slightly pained. His hand is frozen half-way in his now habitual motion of massaging the bridge of his nose. Ah, that poor man. He is some of most fun I have in this life. I can’t help but feel a bit bad though. The only other kid that gets his blood pressure this worked up in Naruto.

Even then he tends to resort straight to yelling with that one. I can tell he doesn’t know how to deal with me. I’m too out of the norm from what he’s used to. My personality, or mostly my seeming babbling words, tends to put most people off kilter. I don’t make many friends this way. But I also tend to be able to do whatever the hell I want without much censure. Are you going to talk sense into crazy?

I blink guilelessly, my arm still posed in the air, seeming to be ignorant to the stares of the whole class. The kid next to me slowly scoots away. I say, “Ah, sensei, I am very sorry. I’m sure no one could concentrate, that having been such a half hearted recital. Perhaps again…”

I sit up straight as if to project my words, but only get out an “Ala-” (ah, now that I think of it, “Alas” goes first, right?) before being cut off.

“NO, no, that’s just- fine. Miki-kun. Please keep further comments in your head unless they are related to class.”

The rest of the class laughs as I bob my head complacently. I consider the pros of telling him why the works of Shakespeare are relevant to all matters of life, but decide not to push him. Iruka-sensei is a good guy all things considered. I don’t like to mess with him too much.

Too much.

He goes on to lecture about whatever this class is on. I think I’m in history. It would be super interesting if the amount of propaganda being shoved down my throat didn’t make me want to choke. Like, this is North Korea level of censorship right here. I’m kinda surprised we don’t pray to the first Hokage, given how much he’s propped up in our books. To the point he is literally called the god of shinobi. Then again, I guess the appointment of real Ninja God goes to the Sage.

I mean, it’s not that I think all the facts in this damn book are straight wrong. If Konoha wins (we always win), it’s recorded as a win. If we lose (Konoha has a history of very few tactical retreats), we lose. This happened then. These institutions were established here. The spin they put on everything is what makes me dizzy.

“The honorable first Hokage singlehandedly brought the entire world of shinobi out of the dark ages. He established Konoha and brought prosperity to the land, making a safe haven for all of her citizens. Now it is your turn to uphold the First’s Will of Fire and keep Konoha safe for the generations to come. Blah, blah, blah.”

Come on, the textbooks tell you to do things. This is not even trying to look like unbiased learning. It hurts us.

Most of the cultural and historical stuff goes like this in every book available to civilians and academy students. I can’t vouch for stuff available to ninja level, but it’s overall disappointing. Having been an International Studies major, cultural stuff is kinda what I do. Did. Whatever.

I can piece stuff together from what I knew previously and what I can get wading through politically charged texts, but it’s not easy going. If I had been a Clan Kid I may have been able to get my dirty paws on some choice info, but no such luck. You’re looking at an Oliver Twist. Olivia Twist? I still can’t quite grasp the state of gender equality here. Kunoichi are generally badass, but a significantly less amount fill out the forces. In fact-

I’m ripped from my musings by the ring of the bell. The kids quickly fling themselves from their seats and run to the door, ignoring whatever Iruka is trying to yell over them. The kid next to me seems particularly eager. I casually take a look at my hand and see that I had accidentally been carving pieces of wood from my desk. Again. Oops. Time to go before sensei notices.

I push my hands against my mutilated desk and attempt to casually mosey my way to the door. I skip down the steps, not trying particularly hard to avoid the stragglers. I take a glance at Iruka out of the corner of my eye. My inattention causes me to bump into someone. Red fills my sight.

Small hands quickly push me away, causing me to stumble. Bright blue eyes glare into my brown ones, and a sharp tooth scowl fills my vision. “Hey, watch where you’re going!” Uzumaki Naruto growls at me, his spiky red hair disheveled.

Ah yes, did I forget to mention that Naruto has red hair and the plot is shot to hell and back?

Silly me.