#just wanted to draw props without perspective

[edoutft]

[venus-light]

Good Omens S2’s ending is so agonising, but I do think it’s going to make Aziraphale’s development significantly more impactful in S3! As a second act this has every painful, fascinating ingredient that made Zuko’s arc in ATLA so outstanding, and Aziraphale’s core conflict/fatal flaw draws from the heart of his character!

He loves Crowley deeply but he’s still clinging to Heaven’s brainwashing, and he’s never actually treated Crowley as an equal or sought to understand Crowley’s perspective yet.

Aziraphale still seems to believe Crowley is just a ‘lost, confused angel’, rather than recognising what Crowley is actually doing: rejecting the system entirely and trying to do good on his own terms. Aziraphale still believes the desire to be Angelic and the desire to be good to others are the same thing, therefore if Crowley is good (as he’s shown himself to be) he must be secretly want to be an Angel and is betraying that whenever he argues against Heaven.

Aziraphale still hasn’t listened when Crowley explains over and over again that he DOESN’T WANT TO BE AN ANGEL. He’s still desperate for Heaven’s validation, even after he chose to leave, and there’s a deep void in his identity! He wants so desperately to be seen as “Good” (regardless of the actual morality of his actions) that it’s used over and over again to coerce and manipulate him! He also wants desperately for Crowley to be “Good” too, because at this point Aziraphale couldn’t ever let himself trust or accept Crowley if he wasn’t.

Aziraphale’s ‘angelic superiority’ is still constantly used to prop up his own identity, and he still considers deviance from Heaven (both in himself and others) as something shameful, embarrassing and in need of being ‘Corrected’. He also still believes Crowley needs/wants to be “Forgiven” by Heaven and that angels are inherently superior to everyone else!

Aziraphale’s default response to suffering being to make it about Heavenly purity rather than empathising with others also makes him extremely blind/self-centred in some situations. He’s proven that he’s willing to adopt empathy - the force that drives Crowley to compassion and forgiveness - if it helps to do good for others, but it’s still a very undeveloped skill in him.

At the start of this season Aziraphale lets Crowley sleep in his car for God’s sake, and apparently only calls Crowley when he wants something! He takes Crowley’s devotion to him for granted, and dismisses Crowley’s feelings and perspective on Gabriel instantly! Whenever they disagree on anything Aziraphale just assumes that he is Good and Crowley is Evil, therefore Crowley’s perspective isn’t worth taking seriously. And Crowley loves Aziraphale so much and is so afraid of losing him that he just… concedes. Over and over again. And keeps on forgiving him without Aziraphale ever realising how deep he’s cutting Crowley. Even now, Aziraphale still sees everything as a dichotomy between “Good” and “Evil”, “Angelic” and “Demonic”, with no middle ground or space outside of it. A worldview that fundamentally misunderstands Crowley’s entire life, moral compass and identity.

Aziraphale does love Crowley, but he still hasn’t reckoned with Heaven’s brainwashing. He still won’t ever be able to understand Crowley’s perspective until he gets the outcome he thought would fix everything, and realises that it won’t.

[terminatorbuns]

The Deep Cut Deep Dive: Overthinking the Deep Cut Dynamic in Excruciating Detail (An essay by @TerminatorBuns)

This was originally posted on Reddit, but I want to share with Tumblr to see if Tumblr likes this format more. Also because I'm close to finishing a second essay about Deep Cut, focusing on Frye.

Deep Cut is great, I love them, and their relationship dynamic lives rent free in my head. The one thing Nintendo did for us this time is drop story mode lore for Deep Cut on Day 1, and it has fleshed out their relationship dynamic in IMMENSE detail, enough to rival what we know about Off the Hook. How much detail are we talking about, you might ask? A FUCKING LOT it turns out! We're talking about Tableturf secrets, we're talking about Frye's feet, we're talking about the implications of Big Man's breakfast on the course of his artistic development, this shit goes DEEP. I don't know who needs to hear this but Splatoon idol lore is the meatiest part of Splatoon world building and an absolutely BONKERS ride. I want to take you through that journey if you haven't been on it before, or just need more fuel for your lore headcanons.

I wish this was a bit more academic but I didn't have the time and patience to cite everything with game screenshots, so I'm assuming whoever is reading this has already played the story mode and has a rough idea of what I'm talking about. Spoilers obviously. At the very least I hope this will be an entertaining rant, feel free to yell at me in comments about stuff I got wrong, I welcome the discourse.

1. A Bunch of Theatre Nerds

Deep Cut primarily differs from Off the Hook in one way: they do not specialize in music, but in THEATRE. Each of the two humanoid idols are designed from the ground up to represent two different forms of traditional Japanese theatre, and it ties deeply into their dual roles in the game. The important takeaway is that each idol excels in one art, but struggles at the other, and we will explore what this means. Let's talk about Shiver and Frye; Big Man is a special case, we'll have to put a pin in him and come back to that.

2. Shiver is Rakugo

Shiver is a performer of Rakugo, or Japanese seated story telling. Deep Cut's day job as newscasters is represented as a Rakugo performance, and Shiver brings a fan and a little table to the job, both common props in Rakugo. Shiver exhibits all the qualities of a strong Rakugo artist, she sits in a Seiza kneeling position with excellent posture, and delivers the news with wit and poise. She has excellent, sharp facial expressions that she directs straight at the audience, she uses her fan to gesture in ways to attract attention, and she punctuates her delivery by tapping her fan against her table to create little sound cues for a listener. Her approach to drawing an audience to her words is multilayered and complex, and her vocal skills as a storyteller seems to parallel her strong vocals when singing (not that you can tell how good her diction is since she speaks in warbly Squid-Gibberish).

Frye is much less skilled by contrast, for a number of reasons. She doesn't even attempt to sit in a Seiza stance, and in fact can barely sit still without attempting to wiggle off her cushion. From a general speaking perspective, Frye fails to establish eye contact with the audience because she's always staring at the other two performers, whoever is speaking at the time. She also lacks all of Shiver's propwork and has no intentionality in her gestures. She compensates for her weak delivery with goofy, high energy antics that are charming in her own way, and this is what earned Frye a reputation as a fidgety gremlin baby compared to the cool, sophisticated Shiver. Before launch that was everyone's impression of Frye, but the arrival of story mode dropped a massive bomb on us that flips the dynamic COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN. Feet are involved, let's discuss.

3. Frye is Kabuki

Story mode showed us Deep Cut as a hilarious team rocket like villain team, but the bigger takeaway is that we finally see Frye in her preferred art form: Kabuki stage performance. Frye's entire villain persona is a stage act, she thrives as a stage villain and has the charisma and skills to back it up. I should note that Frye doesn't practice pure Kabuki with all of its strict discipline, but Frye isn't full, or even partially Japanese herself, since she's very much South East Asian in design. She has her own, maybe(?) SEA inspired take on stage performance, but some of her stances in the later sections of story mode are unmistakably Kabuki, it's clear where she draws inspiration for her style from.

Villain Frye is amazing, she's confident and charismatic, and genuinely menacing in demeanor before her fight. She has a professional code of conduct as a villain: she states her intentions clearly, paying respect to the player before her boss fight and offering to negotiate before fighting. She's the only one who correctly uses her smoke bomb correctly to make a dramatic exit, and she names all of her meticulously choreographed attack patterns like a proper anime villain.

Conversely, story mode is where we finally see Shiver struggle. Her villain performance is fun, yet inconsistent: she's unnecessarily melodramatic and overacts every scene, and she throws petty insults at you before breaking character to just try to run you over with a shark-bike. She fumbles her smoke bomb and becomes increasingly frustrated everytime you knock her down, unlike Frye who doesn't break character and recovers immediately after she is downed. Shiver still makes a fun, campy comedy relief villain, but she visibly loses the confidence and dignity she had as a Rakugo performer, highlighting how much she is out of her element. In Shiver's defense, she does manage to pull off that absurd sleight of hand in her intro where she switches her mask for her fan while delivering the spiciest piercing gaze, while Frye just chucks her mask off screen instead. Once again Shiver's dexterity in her face and her hands are her strongest tools.

4. Frye's feet

I feel like an absolute lunatic writing this section, but I assure you there is genuinely a need to discuss this topic in length. Forget Frye's forehead for a second, her FEET are easily her most important assets. Frye uniquely emotes with her feet more than any other idol the same way Shiver emotes with her hands, except Shiver's hands don't have enough lore significance to fill a whole section. Frye's feet DO. I would go so far as to say Frye's feet are one of the most SIGNIFICANT visual tools we have for contextualizing the difference between Frye and Shiver's entire professional art forms. Strap in.

For starters, Frye's footwork is MONSTROUSLY powerful. Take a look at her during her boss fight, she's playing an instrument, and hopping up and down on an Octostomp like it's a goddamn circus ball. It doesn't take a single eel hit to knock her off balance, you have to send her ENTIRE eel army at her before you can knock her down! I think the eels inside her Octostomp are moving it, so in theory she's not piloting it with pure foot power, but also she kicks it onto its side before she starts blowing into her flute?!! I have no idea, I can barely comprehend what is happening here.

At the same time, her feet fully solidifies her ties to Kabuki. Kabuki is an art form done without shoes, and since she performs her villain persona outdoors, she doesn't wear shoes anywhere. Kabuki is also a full body art form which requires precision footwork, and she has that in spades. This is in stark contrast to Shiver, whose seated Rakugo performance has no footwork whatsoever. Shiver's footwork is comparatively weak as a result.

Don't get me wrong, Shiver has enough footwork to dance in blocky Geisha shoes (I've been told they are Okobo shoes), but it's in a stage performance capacity where Shiver's footwork completely falls apart. Shiver doesn't know how to express body language through footwork, so she DOESN'T. Shiver stands completely in place during her villain performance and tries to compensate with her upper body expressions, but this lets Frye completely dominate her in stage presence. In most scenes with both idols, Frye physically takes up more of the screen through footwork: she positions herself one or more steps TOWARDS the audience and literally looks BIGGER as a result. Frye's full body poses are also wide and faces the audience/camera at an angle that maximizes her surface area to attract visual interest, which is a core Kabuki concept that, again, requires intentional footwork and positioning. Shiver poses with her feet together and her body turned to the side, so her screen presence is minimal every single time. In fact, she uses her feet so little in her villain performance that she's the one member of Deep Cut that fights on a vehicle and has no mobility of her own!

At the same time, Frye's feet are double edged swords and her greatest weaknesses. Take a look at Frye while she is newscasting, what is she doing in her default pose? Yeah that's right, HOLDING HER FEET. Her Kabuki background is so used to full body acting that she's restless sitting still, and she's holding down her feet because they literally want to EXIT THE PREMISES. Every once in a while she fails to contain herself and kicks off in every direction, threatening to kick a hole in Big Man's TV and boot Shiver's table off the stage. Frye's feet are a MENACE.

5. Big Man and Amateurism

Remember at the beginning we put a pin in Big Man? His arms are getting tired so we're letting him down from the wall now.

So how does Big Man fit into this dynamic? Nintendo confirmed that he is their composer, so he provides a music background to the team whereas the other two are theatre nerds. Big Man is unique in that his talents are largely background work, unlike our other two idols who specialize in stage work. However, that makes him a bit of an outlier in terms of theatrical performance. He follows Shiver and Frye around to both their performances but doesn't have much proficiency in either one. As a newscaster he stumbles over his words often, and his villain persona is just his regular persona but slightly angrier. He doesn't really dance and sing particularly well either, there's a sequence in the Anarchy Rainbow choreography where Big Man nearly smacks the other two idols out of clumsiness. Big Man is an odd duck in the Deep Cut trio, and yet, this is a central aspect of his design and his appeal, it's kind of the point.

The central theme of the Deep Cut dynamic is Amateurism, and this ties into Splatoon 3's core theme of Chaos. Each humanoid idol is a master at a specific performance art, and an amateur at the other art form, but the important part is that they show up anyways to clown around, and that in and of itself adds a distinct flavor to the performance despite their individual weaknesses. The chaos of Splatoon 3 is the contrast between a professional artist on a stage next to two absolute goobers, and the chaotic, yet dynamic performance that results from three artists of different skill levels colliding. In that sense, Big Man is the true amateur who shows up to everything in an effort to contribute, and his bumbling inexperience is extremely lovable. This is in direct contrast to the Off the Hook dynamic, as both members of Off the Hook are musically talented and completely aligned in their artistic interests, while the members of Deep Cut have differing interests but will always show up for each other, like absolute BROS.

The Big Man discussion does not end here, however. Big Man's sunken scroll depicts him as a member of the prestigious Manta Clan, with the fanciest dining set while the text describes the Manta Clan's meticulous breakfast habits. Shiver and Frye's sunken scrolls, in contrast, describe the ancient artistic history that both of them descend from. Jumping into story theories at this point, I would personally guess that Big Man comes from a different economic background than the other two. Splatsville appears to have the aesthetics of a rural city after a rapid expansion, many of the buildings are cluttered and old looking in contrast to some infrastructure that looks very new. If we assume that Shiver and Frye's families have lived in this area for quite some time, it would be quite likely that they were poor or middle class, partially explaining their concern for the underprivileged citizens of Splatsville. Big Man on the other hand looks like he comes from the richest, snobbiest kind of high society family. He's a fancy fancy boy.

The more important takeaway is this: Big Man seems to come from a family background that prioritizes formality and rules over personal expression. From this we can make an educated guess that Big Man started his theatrical journey LATER IN LIFE. Shiver and Frye could easily have been practicing stage performance from early childhood through their family history, but Big Man's family traditions doesn't lend itself well to open self expression, and whatever artistic ability he might have gained through his family does not translate well to the stage! Big Man's exposure to theatre would have happened outside of his family, possibly after he gained some amount of independence from them. I'd hazard a guess that his friendship with Frye and Shiver might even be the starting point of his stage career!

Shiver and Frye are letting Big Man, maybe even encouraging him, to perform with them on stage despite him being a relative newcomer to theatre. There's relatively little judgement, they too understand that all artists have been amateurs at some point in their journey, and continue to be amateurs at other art forms even after mastering their own. My boy is doing his absolute best to perform alongside his theatrical seniors and it's so precious. This dynamic is wholesome beyond my wildest expectations, I am HEALED.

6. Tableturf and Artistic Priorities

I added this section last because I only discovered this information after I had completed my original draft, and Nintendo is actively fucking with me at this point. Each of the three idols have personality traits that come through in their TABLETURF dialogue, of all places, and it's kind of the final piece that makes the Deep Cut dynamic click for me. Through their tableturf dialogue we learn a lot about each member's priorities as an artist, enough for us to explore in detail.

Shiver is an audience focused artist. Her focus in tableturf is centered on you, the opponent, and she makes it a matter of personal pride to compete against you and she takes her victories and losses very personally. No matter the outcome she requests a rematch, because her priority is the opponent's experience, as she seeks the approval of her audience. Her eye contact and graceful mannerisms are as sharp as ever up close as she is on stage. This plays well with the second aspect of her artistry, which is the fact that she has a Geisha aesthetic in addition to her Rakugo specialty. Hospitality and direct conversational interactions are a part of both jobs, even if she secretly has a bit of an ego and barely resists gloating if she wins.

Big man is a self-focused artist. He comes off as awkward and shy in a tableturf match, and we get to see a little bit of the bubbling insecurity behind Big Man's jolly smile. Big man's lack of stage performance abilities translates into his social interactions as well, and he uses self deprecation to downplay his abilities and expects to lose, being pleasantly surprised if he wins. What Big Man is primarily looking for is a kind of self-acceptance, as an amateur artist he wants to hone his abilities to a point that he can be confident in himself, and he shows the same anxiety in his social interactions and tableturf games. No matter if he wins or loses, his primary focus is on his own performance, and he mostly comments on whether or not he has met his own expectations. Every small victory seems to do great things for his self esteem and you just want this boy to be happy, let him win at card games.

Frye's tableturf mannerisms is the most interesting, as it turns out, and is actually the reason I even wrote this section (my Frye bias strikes again). The most important detail is that she fails to make eye contact with the player, AGAIN, just like when she's newscasting! At face value this is VERY strange: in the news room she is clearly staring at whoever's talking, but in a direct conversation with you, why does she still not look at you? I've also seen people complaining that she's one of the only players that insults the player after a win and makes no attempt to console the player, and that is completely true. What isn't very obvious is the additional layer of meaning in the same win dialogue that really clarifies her priorities in the moment, and this is a CRUCIAL piece of Frye's characterization. When she wins her first instinct is to tell SHIVER and BIG MAN about her victory.

Remember that Kabuki is a stage performance with multiple artists in multiple roles. Rakugo can be performed solo, and Big Man seems to compose solo as well, but Frye's Kabuki actively requires the participation of other artists, it is a collaborative performancr. This brings us to the realization that Frye is a uniquely TEAM focused artist amongst Deep Cut: her top priority is her bandmates, at all times! Frye NEEDS Deep Cut, her personal style of theatre doesn't even work without friends, and she's fixated on maintaining her friend group as a result. Frye is able to focus on an audience when she is actively doing her job as a Kabuki artist, but any other time she starts spacing out because she simply spends all her energy thinking about ways to impress her bandmates! She comes off as dismissive to the player, because her mind is literally wandering to her band friends, even when they are not around! Deep Cut means the world to Frye in a way that isn't as meaningful for her friends, and she's made herself into the glue that holds this friend group together; Frye is very much the heart of the Deep Cut trio. Frye's dedication to her friends is the actual CUTEST detail in this entire game, I CANNOT believe they hid this information in tableturf. Why is Nintendo like this?!!

7. Conclusion

Splatoon's world building is extremely art centric, and the lore they write for their fictional artists is some of their best, most detailed work. Looking at Splatoon lore through an artistic lens is extremely rewarding because there are secrets and details everywhere. I've obsessed over Off the Hook's similarly complicated character dynamic in the past, and Deep Cut is really making me relive those memories like that dude from Ratatouille, it's hitting me HARD.

In some ways even this write up is only a surface reading, I'm no expert on traditional Japanese theatre or SEA culture and I have no idea how many details can be uncovered by an actual expert. I also have no music background and the Splatoon team hides fricking lore in the fricking OST and I cannot begin to unpack any of that. I fully expect that there's more details I've missed or have gotten wrong, but I hope I've at least established how deep this rabbit hole goes, and how much fun it is to dig through Splatoon lore instead of getting enough sleep.

Anyways the next time someone asks me why Frye is best girl I'm gonna have 3000 words of documentation to show them.

8. Miscellaneous notes

- What is going on with Shiver's shoes, they don't have straps, how do they stay on? Are they glued to her socks? Does she have to take the sock part off to remove the shoe? She has to take her shoes off to perform on a tatami mat, but we can't see what's going on back there feet wise since she has a Rakugo table in front. Is her lower body even rendered back there? I draw fan art, I need to know this stuff.

- Shiver likes to take jabs at Big Man sometimes that he struggles to respond to, being a less experienced conversationalist and just socially awkward in general. It's not necessarily malicious, however, Shiver could just be giving him opportunities to practice his conversation skills and keep him in the discussion. Plus he's very cute when flustered, I dunno that Shiver can resist prodding him.

- Big man is differently abled in a very literal sense. He has no hands or feet with which to emote, he's trying his best to express himself with his flappy fins. He barely has functional vocal cords, just going AY and making warbling fish noises all the time. Big Man's body isn't great at singing or dancing, but it is very good at things that Manta Rays are traditionally good at. He mentions being able to filter feed, and his mobility is remarkably good in swim form. Big Man is also a pretty dangerous predator unless you have the sensor upgrade.

- Shiver's family situation is kind of a mystery, how do they have a tradition of Shark taming if Octarian society is a militaristic dictatorship run by DJ Octavio? I suspect that Shiver was never a part of his army and there are Octarians living outside of his rule. She's definitely a Splatlands native, members of Octavio's Octo Canyon army should have been able to identify Callie and Marie easily.

- Shiver's aesthetic shifts to a violent Bōsōzoku biker gang aesthetic when she boards Master Mega, since he's outfitted with motorcycle parts and wears those bad boy sunglasses. It's a sharp contrast to her polite Geisha presentation, and so is her entire villain persona. This is what I mean when I say Shiver's performance style is inconsistent, but Shiver's two-faced presentation is also super fun to watch and kind of her entire appeal. There's an aggressive pettiness underneath the polite outward presentation and the gap between her two personalities is peak comedy. - I only just recently realized that she's a Geisha with a shaved punk cut and that's amazing: https://www.reddit.com/r/splatoon/comments/xk5mtx/did_yall_notice_shivers_head_is_supposed_to_be/

[rorschachisgay]

hi hi if you were to write/direct a horror movie, is there a particular subgenre and/or theme you'd be most interested in exploring?

^_^ !!

i have two movies i would love to make. the first is a very traditional slasher movie. i love slashers and i feel that a huge proportion of the modern slashers we've had are way too obsessed with being metatextual and trying to comment on tropes in a way that makes them slogs to watch. its gotten really bogged down with tedious reflections on genre that have been made a hundred times and this constant obsession with making the movies actually about trauma in some way, without having anything meaningful to say about it. they're also mostly all reboots, and not good ones.

my dream slasher would be going back to movies like texas chainsaw and Halloween, focusing more intensely on atmosphere and palpable dread, no forced comedic genre deconstruction, just a sole killer with a distinctive look and a sense of tension and fear. that said i would definitely love to go for the extreme in the kills too. i am a gorehound unfortunately.

the other movie id love to make is a psychological horror that's more in the style of something like jacob's ladder. there's a huge amount of horror and also psychological crime thrillers that draw their horror from a fear of the mentally ill. characters like michael myers who are escaped from an insane asylum are extremely commonplace, so is the idea of the asylum as a place of horror. like there's a real rampant ableism in horror going back honestly before we even had recorded film. something that has always played on my mind is how much horror is about people thinking they're going crazy or doubting reality, and how much of it is about "real" crazy people who are murderers and monsters, but none of it is from the perspective of people who are like . actually in need of care.

the proposal is: a story about an asylum and the inmates who have to begin investigating something evil occurring inside. would be very easy to build this into a story reflecting on the treatment of the disabled and mentally ill historically. i just really think its annoying how more or less every story you can find about someone in an evil mental hospital is about a "normal" healthy person who was committed wrongfully, with the other residents usually as props or obstacles. even when the systems are depicted as evil, they're only evil when they're affecting "good" people. horror has gone a long time using mental illness as a prop and i feel like people who are suffering from unglamorous and difficult disorders get the stick, and the stuff that is depicted (usually ambiguous "trauma" or depression) is done badly.

in general though honestly the thing i want to do in any horror i make is for it to be as unpleasant as possible. i love making people upset

[fankhx-invasion]

Hello dear followers of mine (with rizz). I decided with love to share some of my silly art tips and tricks. I love teaching people new things or just being of some sort of help, so I hope this silly goofy series of posts helps someone!

Today's soup tip deals with the greatest evil of mankind:

H a n d s.

It goes without saying that it takes practice and time, and truly it really does take practice and time, you're not going to master anything overnight, and drawing hands are definitely not an exception. I'm not incredible at drawing hands in any way, there's plenty I could improve on in the hands department, but for the most part I think I do pretty well.

It definitely took practice and years of hard work, but here's some little things I found made drawing hands easier for me!

1. FNAF - yes. As a gen z kid growing up, I, like many others of my age, became obsessed with FNAF. I continue to be a huge fan of the games and keep up with the lore for the most part but the most important thing about this is Sister Location! Sister location's animatronics have newer features and characters with slightly more human design. This includes the hands!

Baby is a great example, as you can see her hands pretty well. The hands for the most part are a pretty good model of a deconstructed hand. It's not perfect, but it definitely works! So yes I am telling you to try drawing animatronic hands because they will definitely help give you an idea of how hands should look.

2. Using your own hands - sometimes you just can't find the right reference image or you need something in the right angle. Congratulations you have a free and easy to use tool right at your finger tips. Literally! I like to use my phone and pose my hand however I want and take a picture and use that as a reference. It also helps if you take that picture and mark it up to help you. I've used my own hand many times before and I usually find it much easier to draw my own hand than one i find on Pinterest. You could also mark up your hand with washable marker.

3. Practicing some basic exercises - boring but unfortunately true. I found a few quick drawing exercises extremely helpful, specifically drawing boxes in perspective and filling a page with ellipses. This is a good tip for drawing ANYTHING.

Another thing I found helpful was drawing things in real life. So yeah grab your favorite coffee mug or Paul Stanley funko pop and prop it up somewhere and try drawing it to the best of your ability. Try figuring out how to break it down into simple 3D shapes, how to shade certain areas, etc.

A good tip for this is to use your pencil and eye to measure. You might be familiar with movies or shows where the artist uses their pencil or paintbrush or thumb to measure something and that's exactly what im talking about here. Try to measure using your eye and a pencil as a guide. It'll help you learn "how long is this part in relation to the whole object? How wide?" Etc etc. I will do a post in the future with step by step pictures of this process :3

AND THOSE ARE MY ARTIST TIPS FOR TODAY

I hope this helps someone, since these are all things that helped me over the years and recently, but if it doesn't work for you, something eventually will. Different things work for different people. 🧡

[childofaura]

Ooh, give me an analysis of Kozaki's art in FEH these posts have me HOOKED

I'm honestly really glad people are enjoying these, I was afraid that some of my criticisms towards the artists wouldn't be received well. It really does boil down to personal taste at the end of the day, and given that these guys were hired by IS, there isn't a single artist who is actually "bad" (Except for the artist who drew Duo Caeda and Plumeria, holy shit that is actually bad art).

But anyways!

Kozaki Yusuke

The Main Man (confirmed by looking up because I wanted to do a Main Man joke).

Without him, FEH's stories wouldn't have half of their characters.

His artwork is great; he's got such a large range of character types that he can pretty much handle drawing anyone or anything; from baby-faced Eitri to old and worn Gustav. And his lighting and coloring work are solid. He is the guy who drew the artwork for Awakening and Fates so even outside of FEH, his Fire Emblem artwork is top-notch and he's only improved. I don't know if he's the one who technically designed these characters or if he just illustrated them, but I wanna give him mad props for designing all the Hel characters if that's the case. And his posework is GREAT:

Look at how he uses Lif's fur cape here, where it travels circular to lead your eye to his sword.

And look at Gustav:

You can feel the weight of the axe, but the power Gustav is using to wield it. And given that he's drawn the different expressions of all the characters, he's very clearly mastered drawing expressive faces. Even Gustav, again, has a contorted fierce face. And Eitri's critical expression is fantastic.

Now, do I have any criticisms of his art? Eeeeeeh... A little. But just a little. Every once in a while, you can see some anatomical issues with the art.

Eitri has a head that's WAY too big for her body. I get that she's supposed to be in a child's body, but the body itself is too thin and it doesn't look quite right:

If the body itself was maybe widened a little bit, I think it'd be better.

And then there's Eir:

Something does NOT look right with her boob. She's facing more to a skewed side angle but her boob is just horizontally smacked on. Feels more like at that perspective, you'd see more of the side of her body and see her boob at more of a back-sided angle. It's a little jarring.

I would also bring up that some of his neutral portraits seem to be a little stiff and uninteresting, but I honestly wouldn't even look at that as a criticism because the guy's doing portraits for the story. They shouldn't be crazy or radical or anything, and plus he's doing them for a bunch of characters. So that wouldn't bring down his score.

Still an amazingly talented artist overall, either a 9/10 or a 10/10, depending on how willing you are to overlook some of the weird anatomy stuff.

[notthewriteryourelookingfor]

Im so mad

I use digital drawing model apps because I can't wrap my brain around 3D shapes to draw from scratch.

I like to use digital ones so I can move things around in 3D space and also make limbs move through other limbs and such.

Basically I have complete control over what I'm wanting to draw.

I especially need it when drawing 2 or more characters cuz my brain just can't grasp and maintain the image of the pose long enough for me to draw it.

So I was using an app called Magic poser which was good, I could put a few characters in 3d space and add shapes for other things without needing to pay attention to the other props they had (cuz those did cost money) but I could have a simple "male" or "female" model and do what I like pose and perspective wise.

But now

Now???

If I want anything beyond a single male model I have to pay them $15. Their dumb app and bad control options are not worth $15.

But on top of that the free version is only a single male model, you can't get a girl, you can't put in multiple models, and all the props and shapes are either behind a pay wall or they're just *bad*

And the $15? That's just the small option. You get a few models, you can a few props, you can add as many of those few models that you want. Seems nice right? Well the other option, the one to get everything, is $22 a month!?!?!

Who do they think is using their shitty ipad app that they think they should be able to charge $22 a month to use the whole thing when before you could probs buy all the props that were behind the pay wall for $22 in a one-off transaction.

Capitalism strikes again I guess.

Cuz that was the best app I could find. And now it's literal trash.

Don't use magic poser.

.

.

.

Like if anyone can tell me of a good app I can use instead?

[morgandria]

I haven’t shared this here before, but I have a particular way of looking at magic - I call it the Source, the Flow, the Weave and the Void. I often feel like the way I approach witchcraft is very basic and stripped back compared to many others, but it’s what works for me. Aesthetic draws so many people into witchcraft these days, but what brought me in was watching the Wheel turn, wanting to know the mechanisms on which it turned, and a desire to know how to be part of that turning. This is my basic understanding.

The Source is the All. It can wear the face of a deity, be the heart of a star, the delicate fragrance of a flower in bloom. It is. All things come from the Source, and return to it; it is simply that we each perceive this differently.

The Flow is energy itself - it is the output of the Source that keeps things living. It is the lifeblood of the Universe. It never stops, merely changes, returns, is cleansed, and starts again. Some forms of energy pick up strong attachments to what it Flows through, and others are clean, untouched, and unformed. The Flow is what connects us both to the ground, and to the sky - when you center and focus yourself, you are finding a balance in the Flow.

The Weave is what connects us all in the Circle of Life; we are all interwoven. When you add or remove a strand, the Weave is changed and everyone in the Weave is affected. The Weave are the tangled branches of energy that link us together, and is constantly changing. A good (if large) example of the Weave for me are the ley lines - but there’s weird little spots all over the world the Weave makes that space unusual or otherworldly.

The Void is the unknown. Not even the Source knows what lies here; it is a place of transformation, and deep magic, of the darker nature of things. A lot of people seek to deny the Void, or that it has a place in their lives. Yet others embrace it, and are swallowed up. There is a balance to be sought between knowing the Source and the Void, knowledge and intuition.

This probably feels like a strange perspective from a polytheist, but bear with me. I feel that the Gods are individuals, like us. I also feel that we are all fragments of the Source, that splits all things off from itself in order to attempt to understand itself. So the Gods are individuals, just as we are - but we are all made of the stuff of the stars. It’s just that some of those pieces are have more of the Source than others. We’re smol. The Gods, maybe less smol.

But, I hear my invisible audience say - magic is spells and herbs and candles and chanting and wands and stuff, isn't it? As much as I like those things, absolutely not. Those are the clothing magic wears. Some people can't see magic without the dressings, and that’s fine. But I’m pretty happy for mine to be naked, too. At the most basic level, magic is Will, shaped by our intent - we give our magic energy to fuel it, and then send it out into the Flow. If we do it well, our Will manifests into our desired intent. And all that can be done without physical props, without tools, without moving our hands or saying a word.

Magic is within. Magic is you. The earth is your altar, your hands your tools, your heart a crucible in which magic is forged. If we become aware of, and acknowledge our small place in the workings of the Universe, then we find we can begin to draw on, and affect the universe in magical ways. If it doesn't come easily, or instinctively, but you still have interest, that's OK. Not everyone has a knack for it, but if you persist, work hard and study well you'll still tap into your own magic. Like any craft, witchcraft takes time and practice.

Magic is a responsibility, and is not a toy. Throwing your Will out into the Universe is exactly the same as any other intentional act. So if you wouldn't throw a brick off a highway overpass into traffic, don't thoughtlessly cast spells or do workings without considering the results. Whatever your personal ethics made be, be willing to accept the consequences of your actions - foreseen and unforeseen.

But magic is also joy, delight, and wonder. And sometimes the simplest joys are the best. If the ‘aesthetic’ brings you joy, go for it - but don’t despair if you can’t find a certain crystal or teacup or candle. Feel the Source. Find the Flow. Join the Weave. Dance across the Void. Magic is always there.

[artsyamy]

Week 2 ~Sea of Thieves~

3D Sea of Thieves Prop and Narrative Storytelling~ Research [George O Keffe and David Hockney]

Second week 'The real project' begun. We started to look into more detailed key tools that Maya has and started to get a better understaning of what to use when you want to achieve a specific shape. In the end, we had to choose one prop inspired from the game Sea of Thieves, which you can probably tell is a game based on pirates. Before getting started with modeling we had to figure out what kind of style Sea of Thieves is following so we know what to look for. After getting a moodboard of words that fit in the style, I selected a few that I want to highlight in my work (Simplistic, Rugged and Smooth), then I had a look into George O'Keffe to analyse his work and get some inspiration. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do, but in the end I decided to make a shovel. It might sound simple, but it still has details and I was thinking that it is better to start with something simple and then go into more complex props. I used PureRef to have my reference images side by side with my work and I used Photoshop to draw the basic shapes that I wanted to start with for the shovel. I have to admit that I couldn't figure out everything by myself, so I had to ask for help from my peers.

In this week I learned about narrative and how it's very important when you want to show the audience your story. I was presented a very useful youtube video where the storyboard is compared to the actual movie, where you can see just from looking at the storyboards what is happening and even what is about to happen next. Then we had a look into composition and the visual weight and how it affects the person watching. From everything that I was showed I understand that in order for you to make the audience understand what is happening in the scenes you want to show you have to follow a specific narrative, you need an objective that the person can look our for.

A good example for this would be David Hockney, the way he is making art from combining different pictures and making a scene that tells you a story. In each of his pieces you can understand what the focal point is, what he wants to show and also the perspective is amazing even if is just a collage of pictures he still managed to show a specific perspective without confusing the eyes of the viewer. At the end of the lesson I was put in a group of 4 and we had a mission together. First we had to decide what kind of story we wanted to tell and then go and take as many pictures as possible in order to incorporate them into 3 acts (Set up, Confrontation and Resolution).

[donotalwaysbebatman]

Nightwing #104 (A)

This writer needs to be thrown into the sun. It’s like the more freedom they give him, the more special he thinks he is, and the more pointless and terrible his stories become. I mean, you can even see it in the artist - who’s usually flawless - and how clearly bored he is of the entire script, drawing all these characters to be so stiff and emotionless, not even bothering to have fun with action scenes, which are usually his favorite. Every single time, everyone is just kind of standing there. Not that there’s much room in the script for anything except people standing around, for a lot of the panels.

So Dick gets handed superpowers, just because the writer was like, hurhur, it would be so cool if Dick had superpowers, which like, no? The entire point of the Batfamily is that they don’t have superpowers and have to solve the same problems without them. If you wanted a character with superpowers, it should’ve been one of the other ones, you know, the ones who do have superpowers. Okay, well, because he doesn’t usually have them, obviously Dick will do something new and interesting with them, right? No. He just does the exact same thing that would happen in the background of a random superhero’s comic to illustrate them having a normal day, and it has about the same emotional impact.

(More racist, though. I mean I know this author fucking hates asians, but like. Why did it need to be Americans specifically ‘saving the poor oppressed asians from themselves!!’ when it could easily have been set in an unspecified location, or multiple world locations could’ve been used, or it could’ve been somewhere in America where yeah actually bad things do happen, or just. Skip that entire page completely. It added nothing. Except maybe to prove to us that the writer knows what country Bangkok is in?)

Yeah so it’s just. What would Dick do if he had superpowers. Which, maybe if it weren’t trying to also have three other storylines in one fucking comic, could’ve been interesting. Except probably not, because the answer seems to be, “normal superhero things that would be boring in Superman comics also” and that’s the other thing. Who reads Nightwing for it to constantly be all about Superman??? Stop putting them in there!!! And that’s not even the only time Dick is sidelined in his own story, putting way too much about other characters in a story that already has a main character, it’s in the title. If it isn’t from his perspective, you’re not doing it right!!!

I would say, if you want to write about Superman, write Superman, and if you want to write about the Titans multiperspective, write Titans, but they already let him do that, and he keeps making those ones about Nightwing instead, like learn to write, dude.

Also there was this whole intentionally cliffhanger moment where Dick adopted a baby, which annoyed me because I was like, Dick already has plenty of children pick one of those (he can’t stand nonwhite characters unless he made them up and controls their entire backstory that’s why), and also, why do we need stories where Dick just identically mimics Bruce’s story? Except then she’s immediately written out and Dick isn’t even going to pretend to be her parent. So what was the point? Not to mention it’s a throwaway line instead of an actual conclusion to the arc, because, surprise surprise, this guy doesn’t care about the feelings of a black girl or think of her as more than a prop. At least give us something. But no, she’s just passive and okay with whatever random thing happens and let’s never think about her again because who cares. Why write the story at all, then?

Way too much of it is a leadin to Titans, which I don’t plan to read, because I do not trust this writer at all at this point. Like it’s cool to leave breadcrumbs, but if you can’t put the story where the story is meant to go, maybe put down a few projects and concentrate on what you can do. Or just. Stop writing forever! That would be super cool too!

But the superpowers thing is concluded “and then he easily defeated everyone with his superpowers” okay? Why didn’t you just not give him superpowers, and he easily defeated them with his preparedness, logic, extreme tactical prowess, observation, elite training, technology, etc. like he usually does? If fighting them wasn’t the point, why include it? It’s not like there’s any emotional turmoil. If Dick wanted superpowers there’s been plenty of places he could’ve gotten them, except that would be boring.

Nope, we don’t even have the most basic ass boring conclusion, like superpowers go to someone’s head. Or someone still has to be in touch with regular people. Or I have skills on my own, and I’m proud of them, and I’m good enough all by myself. Or there are downsides to superpowers. Or anything! He just has them and then he doesn’t! Nothing happened at either point! Also the fucking writer forgot his own fucking OC also has powers! She’s so inconsistently characterized because he literally doesn’t care about her!

It all culminates in a big moving speech except that the speech is short and not moving! Like if you were building up to that, why didn’t you even write the part you clearly designed the whole story just so you could write a boring speech to make Nightwing seem special!!

In conclusion, literally every part of this issue could’ve just been tossed and you wouldn’t lose anything from the arc.

[saltypiss]

Idunno how companies are so capable at making the most forgetable, nothing faux art pieces at every turn.

Who'd they hire to make the new minecraft skins? A random tumblr artist that makes hyper-gorgeous rugrat "where are they now" drawings?

Because wow! They look like what corporations imagine normal people with actual income look like. And wow! They all look like fuckboys! And nothing like characters in the minecraft world. It's a different artstyle than the game.

Just awful designs all around. This is what happens when a company puts "inclusivity" on a piece of paper and tell their workers "just make the skin tones dark, we aren't trying to make something good, just something presentable."

At some point I wish the left would hold this mentality accountable. It should not be accepted that companies as corporately as possible do the bare minimum. All races and types deserve real representation, not an AI that shits out generic clones of corporate advertising's perspective on humans that have different skin tones.

Microsoft doesn't have a clue on anything you do, don't assume this garbage was done out of kindness or respectability, it's just a bucketlist on avoiding bad PR. Odds are high there's discrimination filled to the brim in the company, enough that cancels out this charade of knowledge and experience.

Imagine if Nintendo came out with a new IP, and the main character is black, but the design was just some generic dude, the artstyle doesn't fit the game, it looks like parts of the model were ripped off from another model, the color scheme was greys and a stripe of green, the personality is a blatant stereotype, and when you google "a black man" the first result is a stock image nintendo used to base the model off of. And after all that, still manage to underpay every minority or just the one they think they can get away with.

That right now is what companies are doing. Just putting people of color into media as cheaply, lazily, and creatively uninspired as possible, it should be frowned upon. Not celebrated as a win, it is a step forward and step back. Nothing was accomplished.

And before you say the companies that shit out these copy-pastable designs helped pave the way towards acceptance towards people of color in media, I advise you to research the creators who actually had to fight the companies to get you the representation they could, because THEY fought for inclusivity, THEY fought for acceptability, THEY fought for their co-workers who were discriminated against, THEY paved the way.

Companies now aren't even backpedalling, they just see cheap and easy PR, they're still using people of color as a prop, like disney with the little mermaid, for sure do whatever it's not a problem that Ariel is black in the movie, it's a problem that you didn't even try to give real representation, you just handed the role over for PR. Not for creativity.

Tell me, what's the massive chasm difference between races that will change how the film operates without being a totally new story? You can't because there isn't. If it's a new story, then don't slap the little mermaid on it. Let the representation simply be an aspect, not the point to film.

Why? Well, let's drop the race discussion for a second and discuss the absolute barren wasteland that is new IPs. My family were chidren with most shows these days came on. They're still coming out. They're creatively uninspired, and everyone wants to move on to something new. Companies are piss scared to try something new in the event it fails, despite record profits. In general, people want new IPs, new stories, new characters, new scenarios and situations.

Instead, companies are still reusing old IPs as uncreatively as possible. It bothers me that people don't see the connection between the 2 lazinesses as intertwined. But also it bothers me that instead of creating new representation, we're just shoving them into old media that should've died a fuck of a long time ago. It's soulless. All art deserves better, and for the discussion on representation, I find it far more palpable to hit 2 birds with one stone, alongside giving minorites the driver seat, and wheel, and stick shift, and pedals. Not just the role of "the driver" if that makes sense.

Companies replacing characters with newer versions isn't new, but it has always been tedious and generally failed. Companies making stereotypical designs and personalities for their 'token black person replacer' is gross, and has always been gross.

Not one soul on the left wanted Ariel to be black, they wanted a black mermaid on par. Not one soul on the left wanted shaggy to be black, they wanted a black character that doesn't need a fossil of media to back them up.

To be clear, if it wasn't made unbelievable obvious already, I think it's great corporations can't trample over the black community's workforce and talent as fucking brutally as they had before social media made it a hot topic, and after. That is indeed an improvement. And one that would've happened anyways had an actual effort been put forth. That is my problem. The bare minimum.

I just wish instead of hiring black people to fill the role of "token black person for PR" died, and wasn't resurrected in yet another excusable form.

If scooby doo truly, actually, wanted to be a case for representation, well first, they'd drop scooby doo, and make an actual show for representation, but since corporations don't want to make new IPs and instead parade the dead horse around, we instead have the stoner character made a stereotype, with an awful design.

What's crazy is some accepted it. Um. Ya'll? I get most people aren't knowledgable of the creative sphere, but fucking Fred should have been altered for PR there. It was the only obvious choice. He has no character, nothing to go off of, he's THE generic White Cheese. Open for a multitude of changes that creatively could have gone much further than "stereotype meets stereotype"

But that would be too hard, or offend the white audience or blah blah

Fuck off and make something creative. Sick of this creativeless numbness people accept. Raise your standards ever so slightly and it becomes obvious how poorly corporations are handling the "representation" workload they made for themselves.

Why trust these companies with their histories I straight up will never know. It's Hanna Barberra, Look Me In The Eyes, and tell me they were genuine in their "efforts."

Because for fucks sake, have some god damn standards for yourself. Demand better than corporate standard. It only gets better when you demand more as the consumer.

[dritamango]

Anime studio debut 9

#ANIME STUDIO DEBUT 9 MOVIE#

#ANIME STUDIO DEBUT 9 PRO#

#ANIME STUDIO DEBUT 9 FREE#

Draw your own artwork using built-in brushes, import digital photos, add sound and video, and choose from pre-designed characters or create your own and make them talk using integrated lip-synching. Create your own custom characters using the built-in Character Wizard and convert your existing paper drawings to ready-to-animate vector images with one click. Get started quickly with the Beginner's Mode. Create your own desktop animated shorts in the style of and, or use it to produce animations for film, video or streaming over the web. Available on Bamboo, Intuos, and Cintiq touch-based tablets.Īnime Studio is your complete animation program for creating 2D movies, cartoons, anime or cut out animations. Easily edit characters, scale, rotate, pan, zoom in and out of the canvas with simple finger gestures. Wacom Multi-Touch support allows you to use Wacom's new generation touch tablets with Anime Studio. The Follow Path tool allows you to have any character or object follow and bend itself along a pre-drawn path (like a snake), making tons of animation possibilities easy. Gather up and organize all your project files in one location using the Gather Media feature. Upload your creations directly to Facebook or YouTube.

#ANIME STUDIO DEBUT 9 MOVIE#

Output finished animations to popular movie formats, including AVI, MOV, and Flash (SWF export for vector-based animations). Draw with pattern brushes and create perspective shadows with Anime Studio's layer masking feature.įinish for Web, TV, Film, and Still Formats Easily select and remove unwanted background colors from your images using the Image Masking tool. Apply a cartoon style effect to any image or video with a couple of mouse clicks. Add line effects such as Shaded, Soft Edge, Halo, Image Texture, and Gradients. Easily synchronize characters' lip and mouth movements to a sound file through a simple and intuitive process.Įnhanced, Powerful Drawing Tools Easy-to-Use Automatic EffectsĬustomize colors and fills for your objects using the Style palette. Simply load a sound file, and from the layer options of the layer you wish to sync, select the sound file from a pull-down menu. Add selected content to your scenes through a simple drag and drop.īuilt-in lip-syncing in Anime Studio can help you save time. Browse through existing content, save your own creations to the library, and easily categorize content and search for items by keyword.

#ANIME STUDIO DEBUT 9 PRO#

There is a huge variety of content included with Anime Studio, and the Pro version utilizes a powerful, flex-based Content Library, a great timesaver that allows you to organize content across Anime Studio projects.

#ANIME STUDIO DEBUT 9 FREE#

Huge Content Library Free Characters, Props, and Scenes Included Anime Studio supports WAV, AIFF, MP3 and M4A formats. Using the Sequencer, freely move multiple sounds along the timeline to adjust syncing. Anime Studio will automatically insert them into your timeline, where you can adjust the timing and length to fit your scene. Record your own sound clips inside Anime Studio and adjust the pitch from high to low to fit your animated characters or import existing audio files into your project. Color your vector art, resize without loss in image quality and animate it using bones.Īudio Recording, Sound Effects, and Automatic Lip SyncingĪdd a soundtrack and lip-syncing to your animations. Trace as black and white or edges only and adjust a number of settings to style your vector image. Import your scanned drawings or existing images and photos then convert them to vector drawings with the click of a button. Just add tracking points that identify the item on the screen you want to follow.Īutomatic Image Tracing Use Your Own Artwork Then bring your image to life by moving any individual bone point to create the pose or motion you want, while keeping your project organized with the sequencer and timeline.Īdd an object to an imported video that will follow the position and rotation of something, like a person's thumb. Add a skeleton to any image by pointing and clicking to create bones that overlay the parts of your image, to control arms or legs for example. Rigging Your Characters Using Bones Makes Animating Easyīone-rigging is a fast and efficient alternative to tedious frame-by-frame animation.

[mrdrhenwardhykle]

Hello, hi. I have thought of a way in which Disney can make live action remakes in a way that works as a homage, rather than a quick way to erase the original team's work and make a quick buck.

Alright, so let's think about Hercules;

Hercules is an animated film in the style that takes inspiration from art on ancient roman pottery. To tell a story based off of Greek mythology in a pg way and also to make it comical, the writers combine Greek culture and modern-day concepts (cities, streets, cars, cameras, etc.), and make it very theatrical.

So how can you apply this to live action and still keep true to the original film?

Okay hear me out;

Tell it in a universe\perspective of a modern day theatre retelling the story, but also include multiple references and tricks that were used in Greek theatres. And I know that sounds super flat, but it shouldn't be blatant all the time that it's a play; make the material around them resemble makeshift props, but still make it an active universe (like, say, Book of Life being told through somebody reenacting a story through dolls, and so the characters resemble dolls, but it's not brought up in the story other than appearance). This could explore the imagination with this universe, as perhaps in a scenario; Hercules is fighting the giant lion\Scar, and maybe the lion moves and acts like it's real, but it's large and has visible stitches. Herc makes a leap and slashes open its cloth stomach, making the puppeteers fall out of it , but also making it look as if they were trapped in there.

In doing this, it can open an opportunity to shine a light on the talents of various theaters, theater groups, and puppet companies.

ALso-also; CGI isn't used like a crutch, and it's probably not that long because Hercules is a movie that exists (unless something major changes within the plot).

(I tried to write it in print so it's more clear, but my print is terrible. I am sorry)

Here's some various designs for Phil, Pain, and Panic. They all have masks that resemble the original designs, but I assume that it would be short lived, given Pain and Panic are accident prone and Phil would probably angrily throw it. The masks could just be used as a reveal for the design.

I also wanted to give Pain and Panic sharp teeth, however;

1. I didn't want to draw anything other than specific areas for makeup on the face.

2. I'm now starting to think they'd look cooler without it. Maybe they're more serious this time round. Maybe not. Maybe it comes and goes depending on their mood. I donnow.

3.Then I would have to draw the eyes and eyebrows, and then it would be more obvious of whose look I based it on

[owl-with-a-pen]

brainy or nia try on karas glasses one day and kara realizes that they were brenda/brandon?

- Oh my god, yes! Thank you for the prompt. x

“No, no,” Alex said decisively. “It’s been years and I still don’t get it. How the hell do glasses make it impossible for people to recognise you? I’d know you from anywhere.”

Nia grinned from across the table, lifting her drink to her lips as Alex pinched Kara’s cheek, only to be batted away by her little sister a second later.

“Okay,” Kara said with a snort. “Your next round is gonna be water shots.” She turned her head from the table, making a show of searching the bar. “Where’s Al?”

“Oh, you know he heads out back the second this party rolls in,” Kelly said with an impish smile, raising her own glass. She took Alex’s hand before she could pester Kara any further, winding their fingers firmly together. “Although, I have to agree with the water.”

“Hydration would appear useful at this stage,” Brainy added with a sage nod. “She may also benefit from lining her stomach with something a little more substantial.”

Nia grinned, leaning back against Brainy’s chest. “Is that your not-so-subtle hint that you want more onion rings?”

She’d perched herself on the edge of Brainy’s stool some time into the evening; her smile widened when she felt his hands link around her front in response. “Sometimes, multiple issues can call for a single solution,” Brainy pointed out, tucking his face into her hair. “What is the saying? Two birds, one stone?” Nia's face warmed when Brainy’s lips traced idly along the side of her jaw.

Kara grinned. “Well, hey, I’m not gonna say no to more onion rings.”

It was fair to say that they’d all had a few drinks between them by now, although Kelly and Alex were strictly drinking from the human menu. Things always got a little whacky with alien grade alcohol, and despite her half-Naltorian genetics, Nia had barely been able to stomach a single sip of Brainy’s drink of choice. It suited his tolerance level far better, and made for a slower automatic response for his body to factor out the alcohol and sober him up. If his sudden confidence with intimacy in a public environment was anything to go by, Nia figured it was definitely working.

Nia knew Kara was drinking something similar to Brainy, although her Kryptonian biology made her far more resilient against its contents. She wasn’t even slurring.

Meanwhile, Nia was feeling all kinds of warm inside. Although, Brainy’s hold on her was probably a major factor in that.

It had felt like forever since they’d last gone out like this, and from the recent stress they’d all been under, it wasn’t exactly surprising that they’d found their way to Al’s bar. Plus, after the number of times they’d saved this place from one catastrophe or another, they got some incredibly generous discounts even on some of the rarer beverages. It was just unfortunate that Alex’s human tolerance really wasn’t matching up. And, considering Kelly was still on her first drink, she was currently the only person everyone was sorely worried about getting home safely that night.

With that in mind, Nia was just about to suggest heading up to the bar to go order, when Alex made her move, whipping her hand out quick enough to snatch Kara’s glasses straight from her face, balancing them across her nose.

She turned to Kelly immediately, staring at her levelly. “Well?” she asked expectantly. "How do I look?”

“It’s like looking at a total stranger,” Kelly deadpanned. She smirked, leaning in closer. “Although, they do make you kinda mysterious.”

Alex’s smile broadened. “Oh really?”

“My turn!” Nia chirped, plucking the glasses from Alex’s face. She rested her elbows on the table, propping her chin up with her hands the moment she had the glasses on. She narrowed her eyes, testing out her new perspective. As anticlimactic as it was, nothing really changed. It was just like staring through two pieces of clear glass. Nia pouted. She supposed it wasn't unexpected - that was exactly what she was doing, after all.

“It’s weird being able to see clearly while wearing someone’s else’s glasses,” Nia mused, playing around with the glasses’ temples, wiggling them up and down in front of her face. “Has anyone who didn’t know your secret ever done this before?” She jerked her head up, snapping her fingers. “Ooh, I know, I bet you just tell them you both need the same prescriptions. Am I right, or am I right?”

Kara didn’t answer.

“...Kara?”

When Nia turned, she realised that Kara was staring directly at her, a half-stunned daze in her eyes.

“What, did the alcohol finally kick in?” Nia prodded good-naturedly, only for Kara to reach out suddenly, taking the glasses away from her. “Hey! I was using those!”

Kara remained silent. Instead, with unnerving intensity, she came forward, slipping the glasses onto Brainy’s face. Brainy jerked from the unexpected contact, lifting them away from his nose as though they'd burned. He blinked quickly in affront, eyeing Kara suspiciously. “What was that for?” he asked.

“It was you two,” Kara said mildly; her voice sounded far too calm for comfort, like she was on the verge of a full-blown freak out. “All those years ago, in Midvale. It was you.”

Nia spluttered at the exact same moment as Brainy. She snapped her head towards him desperately. “What?” she asked, registering the panic in Brainy’s eyes that she knew was reflected identically in her own. “No—what—no?” She dug her hand into her boyfriend’s shoulder, squeezing tight. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”

“I have no idea what you are- what she’s talking about-” Brainy snorted defensively. “Do-do you?”

Nia nudged him nervously, eyes wide. “I just said I didn’t, genius.”

“...Right,” Brainy said quickly, clearing his throat. He raised his voice, turning back to Kara. “Two admissions though! Thus further proving that we have no idea what you are talking—”

But, Kara was still staring, a cold glare of certainty in her eyes. “I’d know that scrambling for an excuse anywhere,” she said, taking Brainy’s hands and guiding the glasses back into place over the bridge of his nose. She met no resistance this time, Brainy was far too busy gaping at her. “Brendan.” She turned to Nia accusingly. “Brenda.” Her lips split into a pained smile. “Rao- I thought you two were hiding something, but I was willing to accept it, because... I thought you were lost.”

“In our defence, we sorta were,” Nia admitted sheepishly. “The crash wasn’t part of the plan.”

It was Brainy’s turn to nudge her. “Nia.”

“Give it up, Brainy.” Nia cringed. “We’re caught.”

Kara ran her hands through her hair, shaking her head in bewilderment. “What were you guys even doing there? When did this even happen for you?”

“When you were in the Phantom Zone,” Nia said slowly, ducking her head.

“We needed your DNA,” Alex said softly. It sounded as though the recent commotion had done a good job at sobering her up. “To track you down.”

“It was thanks to these two that we were able to save you at all,” Kelly added.

Something crossed Kara’s expression then, but it was so quick that Nia barely caught it. All she knew was that in that moment, Kara looked entirely vulnerable. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked weakly.

Brainy swallowed hastily. “Had you known our true identities in 2009, it would have caused ramifications in the timeline that could have irrevocably changed the future.”

“I don’t mean then,” Kara said sharply, attention snapping to Brainy. Her expression fell. “Why not when I came back?”

“It didn’t seem… necessary,” Brainy said uncomfortably. Nia felt his grip tighten back around her and ran her hand across his arm, squeezing gently.

Kara scoffed, folding her arms. “Not necessary? You guys were in my past—you saved my life, and you didn’t think to tell me?”

“So much happened,” Nia said carefully. “Kara, we didn’t want to stress you out any more than you already had been.”

“Come here,” Kara said suddenly.

Nia blinked her surprise, catching Brainy’s eyes quickly for confirmation. Hesitantly, Brainy nodded, unlocking his arms from around Nia’s waist. Nia slipped from the stool, stepping towards her alongside Brainy.

They stared at her unsurely for all of two seconds before Kara came forward, swooping them both into the most intense super hug Nia thought either of them had ever experienced.

Nia gasped for breath, wrapping her free arm automatically around Kara’s back. The brush of Brainy’s fingers confirmed to her that he had done just the same.

“I never thought I’d get a chance to say this,” Kara murmured into the space between them. “But, thank you. Both of you, for everything that you did.”

“For... saving your life?” Brainy asked, voice muffled with confusion. “You’re... very welcome?”

Kara laughed, pressing her face into his hair. “Not that. Okay, well, of course that. But,” She sighed, drawing away again, her hands still locked tightly against each of their arms, “you both came to me at a time where I was questioning so much. My future, my identity, my place on Earth. I was hurting, in more ways I ever let on. And without you two—I don’t know what I might have done differently.”

Nia smirked. “Wait…” She turned her head towards Brainy. “Does that mean we were always meant to travel back to 2009?”

“Pre-destined time travel.” Brainy pondered on that thought for a long moment, his lips twitching into a smile of his own. He shrugged. “I suppose stranger things have happened.”

“You did crash, though,” Alex pointed out from across the table.

Brainy shot her a glare.

“Destiny,” Kelly cut in, sighing dreamily. “I like that, though.”

Nia knocked Brainy’s arm playfully. “Just like how you coming to this time gave you the chance to live freely. With us.” Nia squeezed her boyfriend's hand secretively before she turned back to Kara, smile softening. “Maybe we gave that same chance to you, too.”

“Thank you,” Kara said again. She blinked, wiping quickly at her face where tears were near approaching. “I- I don’t even think just saying that cuts it.”

Nia's smile widened mischievously. “Hey, does that mean the next round isn’t on us?”

Brainy raised a finger in consideration. “I believe tap water is on the house, anyway.”

“Hey, no water,” Alex shot back. “And you guys are not getting out of shots that easily.”

They all laughed at that. And, just like that, Nia felt as though an invisible tension that had been tethering them together had finally loosened.

She smiled as she re-joined her family back at the table, hand-in-hand with Brainy.

For the first time in a long time, it really felt like everything was going to be okay.

[bigskydreaming]

You think when Jason first went to Bruce’s him and Dick had an interaction that went like this,

Jason: you don’t know what it like

Dick: Bitch I’m sorry which one of us went to juvie

LOL I get the joke and all but see, I do wanna be clear:

(And this is just in general rather than aimed specifically at you or this ask, anon).

I spend a lot of time talking about being anti-Trauma Olympics and that extends both ways. I don't want Dick perceived as more traumatized or having had it harder than anyone else in his family, just that his own traumas and hardships aren't erased or invalidated in favor of propping up someone else. At most, I'll talk about something like the Forever Evil situation and how he was 'more' the victim there than they were, but that's because that's a specific situational thing where both he and other characters' feelings and hurt in regards to the exact same set of circumstances are being compared, and I'm like, well if you're GONNA do that, you kinda gotta look at who was most directly impacted by events versus had feelings about what HAPPENED to the first person in the first place, just....conveniently leapfrogging over that dude's actual feelings about those exact same things.

But ultimately, although I'll spite-LOL about this sorta joke in response to other fans Doing the Most in the other direction, like.....tbh, I wouldn't be any more in favor of this kinda interaction in fics or canon.

What I WOULD love to see is rather than the kids being pitted against each other in a kinda pseudo competition, see them use traumas and parallel situations as a basis for common ground and building stronger bonds. Like, how much more powerful would it be if what we got instead was Jason finding out about Dick's past experiences with juvie in order to make Dick someone he feels DOES get certain things. I mean, Dick never DID experience various things that Jason did living on the street or earlier living with Catherine and Willis....but like I've always posited that in the early years Dick had a primal fear of fucking up and being sent back to juvie by Bruce, Dick absolutely would be able to understand the fears of a kid who was caught committing an actual crime by Bruce in their first encounter and feared what might happen if Bruce ever decided he wasn't worth giving the benefit of the doubt and ultimately would never be more than a criminal.

Part of what bums me so much about the direction most fics and headcanons take towards Dick and Jason's earlier interactions, is there's a huge chasm in experience, perspective and privilege between Bruce and BOTH his two eldest. That chasm is not nearly as vast between Dick and Jason themselves. Where they diverge in prior experiences tends to have a lot to do with specific situations and circumstances rather than axis of privilege. (Especially when you consider - and god I'm tired of this - how often people default to being like 'well Dick at least had loving parents' when ahem, HOW OFTEN has Jason made clear that he has very affectionate memories of Catherine because she was at times a very loving and attentive mother, and that's WHY her addiction and death hit him so hard, not unlike how the murder of Dick's parents hit him so hard BECAUSE they were loving and nurturing? Like, how often do people throw characters' own stories and canon away JUST to make the case that they have it harder than another one? Can we stop this? Forever preferably?)

But point is, there are tons of areas where Bruce just fundamentally didn't relate to Dick and never was going to be able to, because Bruce was never in a position of being at the mercy of various institutions. Bruce never had to worry about being thrown out by his guardian, Alfred, who technically worked for his family even as he raised Bruce. He never had to deal with peers looking down on him because of who he WAS rather than giving him shit for specific circumstances or events. He never had to worry about his parents or past being demeaned as worthless, he never had to balance trying to retain a sense of self without being subsumed into Bruce AND the Waynes' larger than life shadows, history, and perception in the eyes of the public.

However all of these and more are areas where Dick and Jason absolutely overlap and this could be greatly of benefit to each other, if it was ALLOWED to be. For Dick, Jason's arrival can be an opportunity for him to finally have someone who gets various aspects of growing up with Bruce that will just fly over other peoples' heads as being a problem or them having issues with at all. For Jason, Dick can be an opportunity for him to have an easier time understanding Bruce when these gaps in perception and experience appear, or making himself understood by Bruce, by drawing upon and learning from Dick's own experience trying to navigate those very same gaps between Bruce and himself in years prior.

And even where Dick and Jason's experiences diverge, there's still plenty they could learn from each other that they STILL couldn't have in common with Bruce. Like yeah, Jason - even with a loving relationship with Catherine factored in - didn't ever have the benefit of Dick's history being part of a huge communal family in the circus, and around people who were open and generous with their affection and all that.....and frankly, Bruce never had this either, even factoring in his own relationship with HIS parents. But its something that Dick could definitely impart wisdom in, that would be helpful to Jason in learning to be part of a larger community of superheroes overall, and how to interact with a bigger family that wasn't limited just to himself and his guardian or guardians....as well as helpful after their family grew to include more siblings.

And Jason did have a ton of experiences and perspective born of living on the streets and being entirely self-sufficient from a young age, with wisdom he could share with Dick there, who was MORE likely to get the benefits of that than Bruce even, because Dick did have experience with a closer mindset to what Jason had had at the time, and even if Dick's own experiences running from juvie or in Robin Year One were far more finite than Jason's ever were, there's enough of a foundation there for them to build a common awareness of major events in each other's past and like....thus be able to talk about them, unpack them with each other and not have to worry about being judged by someone who just fundamentally might not get it or understand where they were coming from when they made certain choices based on those mindsets.

And then back again, part of why it bugs to so often hear Dick's years growing up in the mansion talked about as wholly a good thing when there's no separating them from the years he spent as Robin, is because Dick has knowledge and awareness of the streets and crime that's predicated entirely on his years as Robin, that's still broader than Jason's in the sense that Jason's knowledge is limited just to his personal, more contained experiences, whereas Dick as Robin interacted with all sorts of crime and criminals and victims. And who better than Dick to learn from in regards to what its like to even BE a teen vigilante, because for all Bruce's experience as Batman, he debuted as an adult, he'll never be able to relate specifically to the fears and finer points of taking on people who are older, bigger, more experienced than you, when you're that young and small. But again, all of that requires like, ACKNOWLEDGING that Dick went through some SHIT when he was younger, and that doesn't have to TAKE AWAY anything from Jason's own hardships, but it has all the capacity in the world to ADD things to Jason's toolbox for dealing with his hardships.

But yeah, ultimately, like....it annoys me to see Dick's own experiences so often glossed over or romanticized in order to act like he's so oblivious to what someone like Jason's life was like, but more than that, it just bums me because its a waste of so much potential material and just.....erases the opportunity for so many stories that could explore actual new, uncharted territory rather than just retread the same old beats about how oh Dick is just oblivious to what REAL hardship is like but Jason gets it, see.

That's gonna get a yawn from me, lads.

[tracybirds]

Paper Dreams

John receives a prestigious invite and he’s not sure how to respond.

Many thanks to @gumnut-logic for the encouragement because I am nerves!!

*                      *                      *

The crisp white envelope was heavy in his hands as he hurried from the room. Paper was a formality, a mark of distinction that would surely draw his brothers’ unwanted attention. Letters didn’t just arrive unannounced in this era of high-speed data connections and quantum supercomputers. In fact, they didn’t arrive at all.

So, John was more than a little apprehensive when Grandma Tracy silently handed him the sealed envelope and walked away.

It took only a few short minutes to read through the contents and he sat back against the window in his room, the words whirling in his mind.

Mars Colonisation Project. Distinguished candidate. Invited to apply.

An opportunity of a lifetime.

A way to prove for once and for all that he was more than his father’s famous name.

John clutched at the letter, the paper crinkling in his grasp. He mouthed the words as he read them, over and over.

He looked up at the sound of a loud yell calling his name, hurriedly shoving the letter into the envelope and dropping it at his side. Snatching up a nearby tablet, his flushed ears were the only hint of the letter that remained when Gordon shoved open the door.

“John, dinner, hurry up.”

His brother tore out of the room before he could respond.

*                      *                      *

John slipped into his seat, mouthing an apology to Grandma Tracy as he did.

“Finally!” cried Alan. He wriggled back in his seat, staring hopefully at the food. “Grandma said we had to wait for you, you took forever!”

“Is Dad not eating?” asked Virgil. “I heard him come in.”

“He’s taking it in the study tonight,” said Grandma Tracy, shaking her head slightly. “Brains dropped by and they’re holing up together on that project of theirs.”

John glanced over at the conspicuously empty seat at the head of table. They all knew what ‘that project’ meant.

In the heady rush of excitement, he’d all but forgotten the silent expectation that accompanied his studies and extra-curriculars for the past five years. A pet project alone wouldn’t have been enough to deter him from his own ambitions, but the Thunderbirds, they offered something different, something more than the office politics of academia, squabbling over research grants.

He’d never known anything that could compete.

Until now.

“Hey,” said Virgil in a low tone, nudging him from his thoughts. “You okay?”

John pulled himself back into the present with a slight grimace.

“Fine. Just thinking about an assignment.”

Virgil nodded slowly, looking him up and down with a critical eye.

“Are you going to eat anything, or just push it around?”

John automatically lifted his fork, blinking as the peas fell back to the plate and landed in a pile of mushy, grey potatoes.

“Actually, I’m not that hungry.”

“Can I have yours?” asked Alan, already reaching over to grab at his plate.

“Not hungry, John?” asked Grandma Tracy. “You’re not coming down with something, are you?”

She examined the pinched look in his face and the nervous twist of one hand inside the other.

“No,” said John, wishing he hadn’t said anything. The last thing he wanted was any level of scrutiny. “I’m fine, Grandma, honest.”

He let Alan scrape his leftovers from his plate, realising with a pang than he’d had another growth spurt over the previous semester at his boarding school.

If he left for Mars, he’d return to a brother he’d hardly recognise.

Colonisation was a long-term project, the result of years in planning and decades of dreams. Countless people would put their life’s work into its development and they had every right to expect the same of their astronauts. The application process alone was heavily involved and would severely limit time with his family, to say nothing of the many years ahead for him on Mars if he made it all the way into space. He’d be travelling millions of miles from home, only to find himself living with a group of strangers that he couldn’t escape without logging an external environment report.

He didn’t even like sharing a bathroom at the university housing that much.

Still the piece of paper called to him.

“Can I be excused?”

Grandma Tracy nodded and he hurried from the room, not noticing her troubled look.

The warmth of the room followed him into the hallway and he shut the door firmly behind him. He thrust his hand into his pocket, searching for the reassuring touch of cool paper.

It was real.

It was real and if he let the opportunity pass by, he might regret it for the rest of his life.

Or he might be wasting his time, pinning his hopes on something that would only serve to distract him in the long run. He could only imagine what Scott would say, who’d never once taken his eye off a prize once he’d decided to aim for it.

He didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what he wanted, and found himself climbing into the cramped space under the roof that had generously called a playroom, then a study, then an attic.

He blinked as the bare bulb overhead lit the small room, filling it with old memories and dust.

His first telescope was still standing in the corner, pointing high in the sky and he lifted the edge of his T-shirt to wipe the dust away. Surrounding it, lay stacks of books that his mom had picked up from the local thrift store, that Mrs Delaney, the owner, put them aside just for him.

John walked carefully among them, tugging the small window open and staring out into the night. The stars shone bright in the clear, crisp air.

Crouching down, he peered through the eye piece, adjusting the focus with a practiced hand. The little reflector was nothing like the giant telescopes available at the college department, and he had to hold his breath to stop the stand from wobbling. But the universe was still out there, the same as it was when he was a kid, still holding an infinite number of mysteries despite the years he had spent uncovering the rules that held it together.

He looked up, eyes darting through the familiar patterns, searching for the anomaly he knew was wandering between Gemini and Taurus.

And there it was.

Mars.

A planet with so much to offer the world they lived on. Where he could work with a team of people who loved space just like him, where he could devote his life to researching astronomy from a new perspective and developing technology for interplanetary life for generations to come.

Where he could leave his mark alongside all the heroes of his childhood. Alongside his dad.

“After all, why shouldn’t I go?” he said, scowling up at Mars.

“Go where?”

John spun around with a start.

“Kayo! When did you get in?”

She shrugged, propping up her head with her hand.

“Long enough to see you come up here,” she said. “I waited for you, but then Mrs Tracy said you hadn’t eaten. Figured something was wrong.”

She looked him up and down with a piercing eye. John tried not to squirm. He’d always felt Kayo had something of a sixth sense when it came to knowing things that should have been a secret.

“Seems like I was right,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Everything’s fine.”

“Then where are you planning on going?”

“Nowhere. I don’t think, that is…”

He flopped down and tilted his head back with a huff.

“Not right now, at any rate.”

Kayo pulled herself up onto the floor and drew the ladder upwards.

Neither spoke as the trapdoor shut with a small ‘click’.

The dust swirled in the air, dancing in the shafts of light above them.

“Is it a graduate program?”

“No.”

“An international program?”

“No.”

“A long-term space colonisation program for specially selected candidates who have already proven themselves in the fields of communications, astrophysics and astrotechnology?”

John stared at her.

She shrugged.

“It’s my job to know.”

“So, why even ask?”

“I’m trying to get you to lower your guard.”

She smiled at the dumbfounded look on his face.

“You’ve met Brains, right? He’s got some server tracker that flags your name. They asked your advisor for academic and personal references months ago.”

“Oh God,” said John, dropping his head in his ands and staring wildly at the floor. “Does Dad already know?”

Kayo shook her head.

“Dad and I do. Security details and all. But we don’t tell him that kind of stuff, you know, he’s not spying on you.”

“You’re right, that’s a real comfort,” said John, drily.

Kayo tossed her head.

“I’m just saying.”

Her eyes softened as she watched him draw his knees close to his chest.

“He doesn’t know.” She hesitated, still watching him. “Would it be all that bad if he did though?”

John huffed a little, still staring at his knees.

“International Rescue’s all we’ve ever talked about,” he said. “I didn’t think there’d be anything else I wanted. What if I let him down?”

“He’s already proud of you, John.”

“But we’ve been working towards it for so long now. This would change everything. Delay the full scope of the project for months, or years even.”

Kayo snorted.

“You really think Jeff Tracy, resident billionaire and with access to the best tech in the world, wouldn’t be able to find another genius astrotechnician and communication expert?”

John shot her a withering look.

“Okay, so maybe he’d have to find two super geniuses.”

She easily dodged the picture book he threw in her direction.

“Leave off,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Kayo spotted the slight smile though, and grinned broadly in return.

“Can I?” she asked, nodding at the space between him and the wall.

John nodded and shuffled over as best he could, trying not to topple the book stacks around them.

Kayo wriggled into the gap, and John paid her no mind.

He hadn’t thought of who would take his place because, of course, someone must. He’d been preparing for an International Rescue without him, one where his family diverted communications for a few years and focused their efforts on establishing themselves on land and sea until Alan stepped into his role on Thunderbird Five.

He hadn’t imagined an International Rescue where he wasn’t even needed.

Kayo seemed to sense the turn in his thoughts, nudging him gently to pull him from them.

“He wouldn’t trust them half as much as you, you know.”

John shrugged.

“I don’t want to disappoint him,” he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “But I don’t want that to be the only reason I don’t go.”

He took a deep breath, and glanced back up at the slowly setting planet.

“And I want to go,” he admitted. “I do. I need to tell him.”

Kayo nodded, a sad look in her eyes. They sat in silence together, lost in their own thoughts. The bustle of the house downstairs filtered upwards. Muffled bangs and indistinct shouts of Gordon and Alan playing some ridiculous game, loud music from Virgil’s room – the kind he put on to drown out any interruption to his painting. Grandma Tracy seemed to be having some kind of one-sided conversation with herself, until John remembered, with a pang, that it was Saturday morning out in Guam and she was likely speaking to Scott at that very moment.

Kayo sighed and dropped her head on John’s shoulder.

“I’d miss you though.”

John swallowed carefully past the sudden lump in his throat.

“I’d miss you too.”

*                      *                      *

John was too old to be summoned to his father’s study, but somehow deliberately interrupting him felt worse. Nausea sat like a rock in his stomach, his voice box left in tatters as he knocked on the solid oak door.

“Who is it?”

He couldn’t reply.

His eyes flitted across the family photos that littered the hallway, landing finally on the image of his father and crewmates waving to the masses as they entered the Herschel-VI.

The photograph didn’t show the way his father was blind to the crowd, his farewell only for the woman who stood half a mile from the launchpad, proud, so proud, and sick with worry too. She held tight to her eldest son with one hand, and rested her other on the stroller she was rocking back and forth. She didn’t see the way he had wriggled out of his restraints nor how he was preparing to drop to the ground and run away, already intent on chasing after his father at three years old.

Jeff Tracy, first man on Mars, opened the door with a frown and a touch of impatience, and John knew there would be no escape this time.

“John.”

“Dad.”

His throat closed around his words and his hand closed around the letter in a fist.

Jeff looked down at the sound, and looked back at John, an assessing look in his eye. He stepped back wordlessly and John entered the severe room.

“What’s happened, son?” he asked, holding his hand out for the letter.

He smoothed down the crumpled edges as he read, his eyes leaping from phrase to phrase on the page.

“Well, it seems congratulations are in order. I assume you intend to accept?”

The knot in John’s chest loosened and he collapsed into the chair opposite Jeff.

“I intend to apply,” he corrected, staring down at the desk between them.

“John, they don’t reach out like this unless they want you onboard. They intend you to be on that shuttle, regardless of the formalities the bureaucrats put in place.”

“Yeah.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blueprints, Brains’ small, neat handwriting annotating each design and his father’s looping comments scrawled liberally across them.

Jeff followed his line of sight and smiled.

“Five won’t be operational for a few more years, you know that. Don’t let her be what holds you back.”

“But this was always it, this is why I’m getting space rated. And the satellite network still needs to be launched, and the orbital mechanics calculated.”

“An opportunity like this doesn’t come your way twice, son.”

John stopped.

“You think I should accept. If they say yes.”

“Don’t you?”

There it was. His father’s blessing laid out in front of him, just waiting to be taken up like a pennant.

Everything they’d worked for, everything they’d sacrificed, gone. In its place, a single shining achievement, a global community on their sister planet. The first of its kind.

It had been a long time since John had allowed himself to dream his own dreams.

“Alright,” he said, a giddy rush spinning his head so that he hardly knew what he was saying. “I’m gonna do it.”