#maybe there were some technical constraints for the animation?

[lavellun]

veilguard/solavellan spoilers under the cut 🪞

"but you do not have to go alone. we make this journey together, always."

"it won't be terrible if you're with me."

WHAT IF I CRIED GIRLS????????????

[mutantg1rl]

High highs, Low lows, and all in between.

Chapter two: “Want to go in, on a pair?”

Premise: After defeating the void and saving the city from immense danger, the thunderbolts are technically no longer vigilantes, but an established team under the management of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. With a new found stability, the team handles minor missions, whether they occur within the city or at home.

Included within the group of ex-runaways is Y/N L/N, also referred to as Moon; a talented, yet an occasionally unstable empath and telepath, who is still trying to pick up the pieces of her mind after the teams toil with the void. With her primary mission being to watch over Bob as he heals, she must struggle with the task of keeping her own memories at bay and establish trust between herself and him. As she heals him, Moon discovers that Bob may be slowly curing her as well.

Pairing: Robert Reynolds x Fem!reader

story contains mentions of past trauma/abuse from both reader and Bob, hugs, mentions of mental illness and health topics etc, Bob is a cutie and reader agrees………may contain some suggestive stuff later on but that’s a story for another time.

(This chapter mentions tears, illness and vomiting, I tried not to go into too much detail but if any of those things trigger you please don’t read or at least be careful) also not edited!!!

A/N: Thank you all so much for the support in my last chapter!!! I super appreciate you all and I’m glad you guys liked the first chapter. Of course, this is the second chapter, and I guess im aiming to make about three more chapters of this story? I’m trying to not put standards for myself to amount to because I may not finish but maybe if I don’t put constraints I will finish? Who knows? Writing is hell for those who love to write idk.. Hope yall enjoy!!’

____________________________________________

The buzzing noise of the bathroom aggressively reverberated through your eardrums. Slippery sweat pooled at your forehead, dripping down your face and then sliding down your neck.

It was coming up again, whatever liquids you ingested in the dead of night before bed. You dry heaved, once, twice, thrice, before running back to the toilet and emptying the contents of your stomach once again. The time was 7:00 am, meaning you were way behind on schedule. With every second that passed by you grew more concerned about making breakfast. Your duties were more important, and there was no time for this.

You turned on the shower, the sound of the water hitting the shower floor bringing a relief of familiarity to the atmosphere. At least you were able to get clean, hopefully that would help whatever you were feeling.

You were always somewhat prone to stomach bugs. Growing up, you always found yourself at urgent care, one of the security guards accompanying you and one of the workers during a visit. The doctor always said it was possible that you had a weak immune system or just a weak stomach, which explained your frequent bouts of illness. From then on, it would just be antibiotics and onto your merry way. The workers would administer your medicine until you were feeling better. No playing, or conversing with the other children was allowed, and one of the adults was always present to scold you about getting sick for the umpteenth time.

After a while, you just dealt with the sickness on your own. Especially after escaping. Truthfully, you had no choice. A lonely animal has no choice but to survive.

With the water being warm enough, you stepped into the shower, hoping the healing water would cleanse your shivering body of the evilness the sickness contained. You lathered your antibacterial soap carefully across your body, also praying that the action would put up a fight against the “bacteria” in some way.

After a quick, yet meticulous shower, you sluggishly dressed yourself. A loose T-shirt, and breathable sweatpants, accompanied by your bedroom slippers.

You wobbled outside of your room, trying your hardest to gain some sort of composure before Bob emerged from his room. You huffed a sigh of relief as you suddenly remembered that the rest of the team went out early this morning for training, so they wouldn’t be back for quite a while. No one would interrupt you to ask if you were ok.

You wouldn’t have to lie and feign vitality just to escape the trap under the thumb of sympathy and doting. You were going to be fine. A little bit of movement would cure you, you were sure of it.

Standing in front of the fridge, you weakly pulled the door open to grab the fruit salad you prepared last night. Another sigh of relief escaped your ill form, one less thing you had to assemble for the day. You reached again for the milk, thinking of easy dishes you could prepare that wouldn’t take forever and a day to cook.

Oatmeal? Oatmeal.

You thought quietly to yourself. You shuffled around in the pantry on the other side of the kitchen that you just barely got to for two packets of oatmeal. The contrast of your usual routine and your makeshift one awkwardly resonated in the folds of your mind. By now, you would’ve already been finished with breakfast and already making lunch for the team, especially on a day where you were at home and they were gone early.

Wait, by now?

You checked the time, it was 8:00 am. Too late for all your lagging and complaining.

What concerned you once again was that Bob wasn’t up yet, usually he would be poking his pretty little head in the kitchen, ready to eat. You knew this of course, and you hoped it wasn’t a repeat of last weeks nightmare. You couldn’t feel anything coming from his room. Not in an alarming way, but in a pleased manner. That meant he was ok, or at least better than earlier. This meant that your sessions with him were working, and there was other proof. He seemed a bit less anxious and neurotic than usual.

Tinge

A strangled yelp escaped your lips as pain coursed through your veins. Your hand darted out to grab the counter beside you, trying your best to save yourself from hitting the ground. You were already feeble, but your mind wouldn’t let you give in already. You couldn’t, you survived this before on your own and you could do it all again.

You pushed yourself back up again, going back to searching for those two oatmeal packets again. Tears stung your eyes as you tried to fight the excruciating sensations tingling through your body.

A distraction came in the form of the found oatmeal packets being tightly grasped in your aching palms. You slightly grinned, shaking them as excitedly as you were able. You reached for the tiny pot hidden in the cabinets before turning on the stove. You then filled the pot with almond milk, gracefully stirring it around. The oats came after, brown sugar cinnamon, and chocolate chip, the chocolate chip oats being the only flavor Bob enjoyed. He wasn’t a fan of oats, but he would eat anything you made with a smile on his face. You were an amazing chef, which made it easier for him to face his most hated dishes.

You stirred the oats aimlessly, careful to not let them scorch in the pot. The milk bubbled, releasing the aroma of the cinnamon. The heavenly scent of brown sugar faintly danced above your nose, comforting you in the slightest of ways. You kind of needed it after such a taxing morning.

The heat of the stove touched your body, in such ways you weren’t familiar. You weren’t sure if the feeling was favorable or damning. You began to sweat again, this time, light droplets painting your face. You frustratedly wiped them off of the canvas that was your face.

Trembling, your body was now. It seemed to be trying to warn you of impending doom, and you actively ignored it.

“Morning, y/n,” Bob softly greeted. You heard his footsteps rhythmically travel from the hallway to the bar seats in front of the kitchen. He was literally looking at the back of your head, sending a shiver down your spine.

You wondered how you would sound once you opened your mouth. Would the virus possess you and speak for you? Take your mouth and use it as its own weapon?

“M…morning..Bob. Did you….sleep ok?” You mentally facepalmed at your terrible attempt. You sounded like a sick dog. Voice raspy and course from throwing up all morning, and the impending attack of another round of puking lacing your words like venom. You were practically holding up a sign saying “I’m sick!”.

Bob furrowed his brows, very keen on the fact that something was clearly wrong with you. He wasn’t sure what just yet, but he knew he had to investigate.

“I slept fine. I feel a lot better this morning, and I really owe it to you and your treatments. I’m really glad I have people to lean on.” Bob abandoned his place from behind the bar, carefully approaching your personal bubble.

You barely noticed, half of your focus on the oatmeal in front of you, and the rest of it utterly devoted to keeping up your facade, and some of it used to process what Bob just said.

It took you a minute to realize what he proclaimed. “I really owe it to you” was echoing in the walls of your mind. You cracked another smile, glad that you could help Bob in such a way. He deserved to be happy and feel safe, you thought. Before, he wouldn’t have accepted the help, but now he realized the healing power of assistance and leaning on others.

You struggled again now, “That’s…great Bob. Really glad you’re doing better.”

Your last words fell weak, clearly showing that your energy was dwindling. Still, you kept fighting the big and good fight, standing as tall as you were able as you finished nursing the oatmeal that bubbled over the heavily heated stove top.

Big mistake. Bob could really tell now. You were sick, you were terribly sick. Yet, here you were pushing yourself to make breakfast for him and yourself, damn near hurting yourself just to help him.

His face scrunched into immediate concern as he quickened his pace over to you. Bob hovered over you, his body heat entangling with yours.

You stood stiff, briskly turning off the stove and pushing the pot of oats of the heat. You were planning to escape his presence with a a glimpse of a feigned smile but the chances were seeming slimmer by the millisecond.

“Can I touch you? You don’t look so good” he said. Your stare lingered on his face as you tried your best to look aloof. Bob analyzed your face, trying to look for the cracks in your unwinding facade. He figured you wouldn’t outright answer him.

“I’m sorry for this,” he apologized as his hand gently levitated toward your forehead.

“What are you doing?” You mumbled, lethargically. “I’m fine, Bob. Can you get me to bowls from the dishwasher please? Breakfast is ready.”

The fake smile you flashed at Bob angered him even more. He hated this. A part of him often wondered about you. Quite often actually. You seemed so self sufficient. Compared to him, everyone sort of did. But you, you did every single thing by yourself. Bob was an addict before all of this for Christ’s sake: he knew what it meant to survive day to day without a single dime to his name. Sweating in the sweltering heat in his dirty clothes, shivering under the persecution of the frigid night. Above all, he knew it wasn’t easy at all to be on your own. Even before he got his new and improved body, and before he stopped accepting help from others, he knew how hard it was to suffer alone. He knew then, and he knew now.

You told him bits and pieces of your little life, what you did for a few years here and there before being as you said it-haunted by the presence of Valentina Allegra De Fointaine and her numerous projects. He tried to make sense of the timeline and characters, and other people would rarely appear in your short stories. This was evidence, you lived most of your life by your lonesome, never needing anyone to guide you or hold your hand.

Despite your past, you were so helpful. You helped him, a lot actually. You helped everyone on the team. He often wondered what you struggled with that wasn’t surface level.

Throb

The same muffled sounds of agony flew out of your throat. Your head stung and tears freely fell from your eyes now, the pain unbearable. You couldn’t run away from it anymore. You finally broke, the torturous sensations overcoming your pride.

You lost.

Your hands did their damage control, wiping away the tears that rained from your drooping eyes. You didn’t even realize that your body was so close to hitting the ground before Bob swiftly caught your warm body. He instinctively pulled you close, more so because he felt the sudden wobble in your legs.

Balled up fists met his chest just as strangled sobs permeated his ears.

“No Bob, please. I’m fine…I…..I can take of myself.”

Your arms struggled to push you from his form, but it was no use. You were physically incapable of fighting anymore.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Moon.” Bob lowly spoke into your hair, his eyes settling on you shaking in his arms. “I know what it feels like to not want help, especially when you need it. That’s the worst thing you can do to yourself.”

Bobs voice faltered as he recalled his own bouts of self endangerment. Help was the enemy. For a while, he felt it was best to suffer in silence, especially if people were going to just toss you by the wayside or treat you like you were disposable. What was the point of asking for help people were going to glare at you in disgust? Blame you for your flaws and ailments?

Once again, he understood better than anyone what refusing help meant. It meant that you were strong, and resilient.

“It doesn’t mean that, Moon,” Bob blurted out, resuming his train of thought.

Without missing a beat, you replied.“Yes, it does Bob. I can’t be anyone’s problem, I can’t-

“You’re not anyone’s problem. You’re sick and that’s ok. You’re human, and you need help and that’s ok too. Please, let me help you.”

Moon broke down again in Bobs arms, subconsciously still trying to fight his presence but knowing her efforts were a total waste. She felt it, he wanted to help her. Wanted to take away her pain.

“You sat at the stove slaying away all morning while you were practically dying. You’ve done more than most people would. It’s time to rest Moon, give yourself a break.”

Bob helped you over to the couch, gently sitting you down. He grabbed a throw pillow and rested against the arm of the couch. He followed by laying you down against the pillow, his eyes studying you to see if you were comfortable.

“I’ll be right back,” he assured you. He got up, and then reappeared with a damp cloth. Following the last of his soft movements, he continued as he rest the compress over your head.

He blotted the drying tears from your face as he saw his reflection in them. Bob thought you mirrored him so much: putting up such a fight just to feel in control. It made him anxious. Who was helping you when you were helping everyone else?

He wondered if that’s truly what he looked like during these difficult times. Truly unwell, visibly hurt, but trying so hard to pretend and not being able to fool a single soul. Desperation leaking from his pores, a cry for help being whispered between his lying lips, your lying lips. His stare on you lingered as you slowly blinked. He no longer ‘wondered’ if he looked like that. He knew, he knew that was exactly what he looked like.

“I’m sorry. This is just really hard for me.” You weakly chuckled. You sniffled a bit, wiping the corner of your nose.

“Don’t worry, I…I get it.” He was really trying. Bob wasn’t great at expressing himself all the time, especially not in stressful situations. He also wasn’t good at concealing his emotions. He wasn’t just trying to say it; Bob was trying to make you feel that he understood you.

You felt it, and so did he.

He paused for a few more moments, then broke the silence in the air. “You don’t have to always be strong. I know you’re strong, I know you’re independent. All of those things are amazing, but I also know you didn’t choose to deal with it on your own.”

Bob grabbed the black blanket that hung over the couch and covered you with it. “Do you remember what you told me when you came into my nightmare? You said, that I wasn’t alone anymore. ‘ that’s why I’m here now, that’s why we’re all here now’.”

Bob felt different now. He felt something in him loose like a rope being untied.

All your energy gathered to help you face him. You reached out, your empty hand motioning for his. His hand grappled yours, squeezing it to show that he was there. He wasn’t going anywhere. A mutual understanding, forged between you.

“I suppose you’re right. This is difficult. But you make it a whole lot easier,” your voice rasped. Bob softly smiled, looking down like he usually did when complimented. Bobs eyes looked up at you again, his eyes settling on your sleeping state.

He could tell you really stopped fighting now. The fog around you seemed to dissolve, and he was glad.

[cute-little-fly]

Hi!! Fly here.

I will make a post in reference to the fan discussion that we have been having after all the mess of the animatic. I will talk just about the very initial part of it and canon scenes in case you want to stick around :).

After seeing a few comments about Stolas after all what happened recently re-ignited this discussion; I have noticed that what people didn’t like about Stolas is that he is shown being sensible. That you see him crying and losing it, that he is appalled by his life’s expectations. That he is basically a very sensible and overtly emotional person, and that is being shown as his true nature, even if the acts dismissive towards imps at the start or that he is shown to be sassy too. They can’t put these two things together in one person and feel empathy towards said character.

However, my actual take and the reasons I made this post: if Stolas’s wasn’t like that, his story wouldn’t make so much sense or the story for Stolas would have to be another; for a few details, in my opinion. Or they would have had to change some stuff.

The reason why Stella is so annoyed at Stolas, from what I have thought, is that he doesn’t inhabit this mold of “strong prideful mighty prince”. Is precisely because she thinks she was forced to marry someone that is a “pathetic man” in her eyes. (This is the mold I think the Stolas critical crew wanted him to be too).

They were kinda okay with this at the start, I guess because it is more what it is expected from a Prince, and it felt just like a softer variation from pilot Stolas. However the cracks were starting to appear in this same episode.

What made me think this is that they say that the initial part of the video is what they wanted Stolas to be in the series… but, I think that even in the animatic that part is fake. That part is what Stolas projects to others. Not even in that fan animation Stolas is really like that.

He also looks cool not gonna lie but… Stolas’s story is not about a badass prince. Is about a person that is being coerced into his role, his real self being cancelled and diminished; that will become badass after freeing himself from the constraints of it.

I mean… for me he is already badass just for this and for enduring so much and raising Octavia like he did… But I mean badass in the sense of seeing him being this confident and overly himself guy.

These people wanted Stolas to truly be this mighty and super proud prince with a very strong personality. But he is just… not that or not strong in that precise way.

And maybe… the badass he will become won’t also be of their liking, but that is precisely the point. He doesn’t have to be the perfect guy FOR US. He will become that for him and the people he loves. Not to be of the liking to others because that is precisely the point.

Who he is doesn’t have to cater to that monarchy or people’s expectations of what a prince should be. Stolas was born a prince but he doesn’t have the real qualities for it (I think he is good in his actual job but it’s bad at belonging at the monarchy), and that is kinda the interesting thing about his character.

His entire life has been acting in a way others expect and even that isn’t enough, and is used to mock him.

Stella wanted Stolas to be precisely how some people wanted him to be… so, in that case why would Stella hate him? I wouldn’t see Stella hating so much on Stolas if he was another Andrealphus.

Stella (as we have spoke about her in all our analysis here) maybe feels frustrated or controlled by the men of her life. Stolas is the first let’s say “soft” or “sensible” man she shares with. It’s the first one she is able to control or regain some power from her position too, and it’s because of this. Stolas is too burdened with all his situation to have the strength to face Stella, even if he could technically do it. This wouldn’t make sense with the other version of Stolas, or the entire situation had to be framed differently.

If he was the asshole prince he was in the pilot he also wouldn’t have any issue belonging to the monarchy. Maybe he still would live in a hell of a marriage, and all of that, maybe he was abusive because he was abused by Stella too. But I wouldn’t see him be willing to trade that if he liked being a royal, and I think it would be more a back and forth situation between the two.

Finally, what I want to say is that his story is really well crafted. What happens in the series and his personality fits very well. Maybe the way he was introduced to the audience and the way the series later tried to show to people what was truly happening with him wasn’t pulled out completely fine. But, Stolas being like this is not ruining him. It’s just another valid route the character could be taken.

[repurposedmeatlocker]

6, 12, 26, 33, 42 and 47 for the movie ask? <3

6. Favorite movie from the 90's I technically already answered this one with a whole list of films....BUT WHATEVER. I realized I didn't add Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999). I love them both, and they honestly hold up super well for cgi animated films from that decade. The first one is especially kind of wonky, but I never really noticed that as a kid. I think because the story and acting is so well done, and choosing the focus to be toys was so clever for the technological constraints of the time.

12. Are you against book-to-movie adaptions? I wouldn't say I'm "against" it. Some of my favorite films are book-to-movie adaptions. A lot of films transition to the medium really well. Some are even more engaging to me than the book. That being said, I think it is RARE for instances like that to happen. Kind of a shot-in-the-dark. More often then not, when I read a book before and even after watching the film adaption, my first thought is "oh this is a lot better". As a result, I try to account for them as their own thing with individual merits rather than a direct comparison. I DO think that some choices for film adaption are unnecessary, because I cannot fathom how someone could take the book and make it into a film that is actually good and/or better than its original form. I don't think someone should necessarily be stopped from trying. Maybe they will surprise me. It has happened. Not often enough for me to be enthusiastic though.

26. Best experience going to the movies? I've definitely talked about it before, but it would have to be seeing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with my friends in 2019. We were all unashamed haters, and were lucky enough to be in a packed theatre also full of haters. The engagement from the audience was so visceral and fun, we didn't feel any shame laughing/clapping at inappropriate times. When Ray came onscreen for the first time someone yelled "hot!" Apologies for anyone in that theatre actually trying to enjoy the movie, but also it was Rise of Skywalker, that shit was just laughably bad.

33. An overrated movie Barbie (2023). I wasn't exactly over-the-hill excited about it when it was announced. I chalked it up to me just not being that into Barbie dolls as a kid. Then everyone started shouting really obtuse praises and I was a bit curious. When I actually saw it I was just like "that is it? This is what people were calling "sublime feminist cinema"? This is what conservatives all through the United States were getting scared of?" I don't know. No shame to anyone who the film did speak to. I sincerely love that for you. I'm just a bit tired of people using that as an excuse to call ANYTHING they like "nuanced" or "high cinema" without irony. I don't think I would be as bitter as I am towards the movie if people appreciated it as it was: a campy, fun summer flick. Sometimes a film is just that, and that is ok! We don't have to call everything "high cinema" in order for it to be valid and treated seriously.

42. Films you wanted to watch, but never got around to watching? SOOO MANY. My watchlist is so huge. Generally, ANY David Lynch film, ANY Cronenberg film, and ANY John Waters film. I sincerely don't know why I've been putting these off for so long despite being aware of them for so many years and actively WANTING to see them. At this point there isn't a good excuse anymore.

47. Favorite road trip film Thelma & Louise (1991) is so good. I cannot sing it enough praise. Closely followed by A Goofy Movie (1995), genuinely.

[skyllianhamster]

Hiya! Do you think the batarians would be better off without the 'facial tubes' next to their mouths? I'm sure this seems oddly specific, but I can't really help but notice how they kinda distract from what's probably meant to be the first thing we're supposed to notice, that being their eyes. I've sorta always felt like they were just adding to an already visually busy design without doing anything super interesting, I personally think it makes it harder to tell them apart in general.

Hello! I’m no expert in this topic, so I’ll try to share what our art director taught our concept artists at work.

A concept that often comes up in character design is shape design. Put simply, if you can tell who the character is at a glance by just looking at the silhouette, that’s a huge step up in making a character memorable.

In Mass Effect, the most interesting alien designs happen with the races that are not limited by technical constraints (animation / rigging) or having to be designed to become romance options. So you get silhouettes like these, and there is never a question which race is what.

The humanoid races on the other hand have to face all these constraints, and so by comparison you get a very stale lineup:

Unless you’re a Mass Effect fan, it will probably take a while to figure out which of the first three is the human, from the front. Things get a bit interesting from the side or going toward the right of the lineup, but overall there isn’t a lot of variety going on. The armor/clothing may either contribute or detract from that.

An example of this being a problem happened recently, when people couldn’t agree whether the 2nd character in the teaser was drell or human, or if the 3rd character was turian or krogan:

So in terms of shape design, finding a batarian head among other humanoid aliens can be a pretty tough job at first glance:

Batarians are still subject to animation constraints as they are common enemies and you interact with quite a few. However, their shape isn’t as interesting as, say, the salarians. From the side, they could still be mistaken for human heads.

One way to somewhat offset this is to at least give the characters remarkable or unique facial features. And IMO drell, turians, and batarians are pretty good examples of this.

Drell have their eyes and frills. Turians, which iirc were not supposed to be intended to be romantic interests in ME1, have the very distinctive crest and edges all around, plus mandibles. Batarians have their four eyes and the tube things on their face, plus they’re supposed to be fuzzy.

So, I think, rather than just the four eyes being supposedly the center of attention, the tubes also play a part directing the focus of the eye. With drell and turians, the kind of angles made by their features lead the eye to the unique bits of their face - outwards. Batarians have a kind of spider-like direction going on, pointing inward to the center. Overall, there’s interesting shape design going on with their features.

Is the batarian face design good? Can’t say for sure, but it certainly stands out on its own well enough next to the other races. Putting aside silhouettes, players have no trouble telling races apart. There is enough depth and shape variety to make the face interesting.

Are the facial tubes necessary? Perhaps not, and theoretically you could replace them with crazier looking stuff. Or less crazy, if you prefer. IMO they’re a pretty interesting feature of the face, and it certainly does take some focus away from the eyes, but one could arguably also say that the eyes are not necessarily the focal point. Maybe you’re supposed to look at the whole package.

Hope that answers your question. Character designs go through several revisions based on a lot of different factors, so BW would have their reasons for each character looking like they are.

(Images from troodon80 @ DA, and a couple from google)

[lukosei]

Accepted Seneca Animation 2021 Portfolio!!

Hello hello this year I was admitted into Seneca’s Animation program! Here are all of my pieces I included in my application :D

FIGURES

Yeah so advice is PRACTICE LOTS AND LOTS these were some of the first actually kind of okay ones I made (in like early December) and after submitting I DEFINITELY saw myself improve. Minor details. But anyway focus on capturing movement and structure; place importance on line quality and fluidity/smoothness; and of course make sure your proportions are in check. I’d recommend you also familiarize yourself with human anatomy like bones and muscles (mostly muscles) if you haven’t already! Don’t be intimidated by that, surface level will more than suffice. It’s especially helpful for like body checkpoints like the ribcage and how the pectorals transition into the deltoids etc, super super useful to have a general idea of that all in your head when you’re drawing!

HANDS

All the same as figures, you want movement and line quality and some sort of buildup/structure (not too much though, don’t wanna confuse the viewer). Also hands take TONS of practice too, I took reference photos of my own hands and went through so many different attempts. Haha also obviously these were definitely not purely 100% observational contrary to what the requirements said but that’s totally ok if it looks cool and accurate then go for it!

OBJECTS

I think these also kind of sucked lol; like they look fine but not as crisp and precise as some of the other ones I’ve seen. I don’t have much to say about these cause I literally just tried my best but maybe try to pick an interesting object--nothing overly simple like a book or something like that (I did a distortion pedal and Polaroid camera). The point of this section is so they can see how you work with organic and inorganic shapes and geometry. One of the professors made this really good point where a lot of seemingly complex designs like Star Wars spaceships and a bunch of sci-fi architecture are often influenced by everyday items like these—so you gotta learn how to start simple and evolve pre-existing designs into something greater!

LAYOUTS

So then you gotta do a view of a room from one position then like the place opposite to it. I just did my bedroom! Also after submitting I noticed that I drew the floorboards the wrong way in the second image khsfjhk But yeah I took two photos of what I wanted to draw, made a DIGITAL perspective ruler on my primary art program (Clip Studio love them to pieces) and drew the bones there, then I printed that out and went over it traditionally and did all the little details that way. Overall wasn’t too painful. Make sure your perspective is in check and your lines are crisp and readable—even if it’s a busy scene, you don’t wanna confuse the audience. Typically lines in the foreground will be thicker than ones in the background!

Last but not least, for personals I ended up being able to just pick from stuff I’ve already made (I made a compilation of those River Phoenix paintings I’ve made over the years if you’ve seen those, along with the fuckign MLP lineup I did for like a ‘character design’-esque thing (yes I know that counts as fanart and I was hesitant at first but technically they are original human designs minus the colour pallet and also I did not want to make something new with the time constraints) (if you’re doing fanart just make sure it’s not like instantly recognizable or a carbon copy)). I chose these deliberately because I wanted to demonstrate the range I had in my capabilities—so stylized semi-realism with my portraits, and then totally stylized TV show ready character designs to contrast! I personally only chose these two (they only provide two slots), but I know people who just made PDFs of multiple pages of their work. If you do that, I’d suggest to make sure not to bombard them with content, they’re not gonna wanna flip through ALL of it lmao. Choose your best pieces that demonstrate all your strengths! Don’t include things you hate or don’t like drawing, chances are that’ll be obvious to the people who are evaluating them and it’ll hurt your chances.

Then we also had to make a resume,,,,,, I just took my actual resume and swapped stuff out for more of the ‘creative’ activities I’ve participated in throughout my life (ie. runner-up winner for Miku Expo design contest, member of my school’s comic club, was in a musical a couple years ago, etc.).

Yep so hopefully this has been helpful to those who are interested!

[azaffranist]

Deleted lines of dialogue in Frozen 2

We know that F2’s plot suffered from last minute changes and even leaks that we got before the release contradict the final material, but that’s another can of worms for another post. What I wanna talk about in this post is something I happened to notice a few days ago while watching the Frozen 2 Outtakes video available with the Blu-ray version of the movie. Here’s a link to it. My apologies if there’s a post out there already talking about this, but I haven’t seen one so I thought I might as well give it a go.

Basically, the video is a recollection of funny moments that arose when the voice actors were recording their lines. But… I don’t know if this was deliberate or an oversight on Disney’s part, or if they didn’t care too much about it at the end of the day and released it anyways. The thing is, we can see the original dialogue they were supposed to record as tiny subtitles, and good god, there are tons of deleted lines, including an earlier version of Some Things Never Change, and some point to the existence of completely different scenes from the ones we got. Here’s what I mean:

I don’t recall ever coming across deleted lines for Frozen 1 apart from the famous “That’s no blizzard, that’s my sister”, so this is pretty interesting.

But in addition to that, while digging through some old files I found recorded lines of a Frozen 2 book that came out before release (Specifically on October 4th, 2019, when the Frozen Fan Fest was being held with the first released merch). That’s a long, long time ago and I don’t remember the name of the book, sadly, but you can listen to the recording I made right here. If someone does remember the name of the book that’d be really cool. I think the original recording was provided by Snow on the Arendelle Kingdom Discord server, so credits to her.

UPDATE: The book was found along with other interesting pieces of info! It’s called Frozen 2 Read-Along Storybook and CD. Credits to @lovewillthaw-j​ and their amazing detective work! Here it is.

What’s particularly interesting about this one is that no merch released on October 4 had the ending of the movie. Every book was cut off at the moment Anna received Elsa’s message in the cave, with no mention of Show Yourself or Elsa’s death for that matter. Now, we don’t know if they were trying not to spoil the movie, or if they legitimately didn’t have a final ending at the time the books were made. Knowing how… messy Frozen 2’s development was, I think we can all sort of agree it was the latter. 

Because of this, there is some really intriguing stuff. Nods to scenes that aren’t in the final movie, shameless hints to Elsa’s permanent death, events happening in a different order… I don’t know if these lines were recorded only for the book, but I doubt they were, because many of those lines are actually in the movie or are referenced in books and some have really slight modifications like changes in tone of voice. I guess we’ll never Find The Truth™, but we can analyze these lines too because they can give us an idea of what earlier versions of the movie were like.

So let’s look at them one by one. Looooong post ahead.

Frozen 2 Outtakes Video

“Should have left it to me. Love you too. You blew it Kristoff. Oh. I’m alone. It’s fine.” – Kristoff/Sven

This one definitely happens during Kristoff’s first proposal attempt. Before this line, Anna says, “She couldn’t act out ice?” and we can assume Kristoff absent mindedly responds with “Should have left it to me”. That makes sense, considering he delivers ice for a living and ice is his life. Then we got “Love you too”, which Kristoff says in the final movie, but then we got Sven dialogue as he tells him “You blew it, Kristoff.” “Oh, I’m alone,” is what would go before he finally says, “It’s fine.” The reason the dialogue is all mixed up is because Johnathan Groff is the one recording the lines and he does both Kristoff and Sven’s voices (well, technically, Kristoff).

_______

“Hey. What the—What is this? Hang onto me. What’s happening? Run. The mist is rising. We are being pushed by the…” – Kristoff

We can tell this happens when the Arendellian gang was crossing the mist wall for the first time. The scene was evidently going to be longer and more chaotic than what we actually got. Apparently they run and that would’ve been pretty cool.

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“The winds are restless. Like how I sometimes feel in the fall. But I’m not ready. I love these days, I’m grateful for them all.” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Now this is what I call a quality deleted line. I recommend you guys watch the video to hear the little part that Idina sings to have an idea what Elsa’s part in Some Things Never Change was originally going to be like. Definitely a bit sadder than what we got. I think this line gives the idea that Elsa wasn’t feeling too comfy in Arendelle even though she enjoyed the company of her family immensely, or if we go with the idea that fall represents change, Elsa is feeling restless in the face of change. She’s not ready to ‘change’ and wants to keep enjoying her days in Arendelle. She can’t let them go. How ironic. Interpret it as you want!

_______

“I’d freeze this moment if I could find a way…” – Elsa (Alternate Some Things Never Change)

Same scene. Sadder atmosphere for her part of the song. It’s a shame we don’t know what goes next.

_______

“Water drowns with a stallion’s might.” – Elsa

Wowowowowow. Now this is interesting, because I have no idea where to place this line of dialogue meaning there might’ve been another scene foreshadowing the Nokk. In the final movie, the only moment we see the Nokk is during When I Am Older and it was very brief and played for laughs. But this line gives the idea that the existence of an angry murderous water horse was going to be mentioned earlier on. Now I have a lot of ideas as to what she might’ve referred to (maybe that’s just a comparison she made on the fly and didn’t know the water spirit was a horse? Maybe it’s like a riddle she solved to know what the water spirit was?) but to be honest I think there’s no way to know. Fun to theorize, though.

Also, total confirmation the Nokk is a male!

_______

“It’s magic. It’s amazing. There’s a voice. I need to follow it.” – Elsa

This line probably happened when they visited Pabbie and evacuated Arendelle. A different take on how she explained to Anna why she wanted to go on the journey. Honestly, I prefer what we actually got. She sounds quite desperate and hypnotized in this one. VOICE. I HEAR. MUST FOLLOW. I don’t know what you guys think. The actual explanation in the final movie is not great either but I prefer it.

_______

“Hey Elsa. It’s your mom. Remember, mothers are always right. Now, be who you are!” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

We were robbed. This line and another one points to a longer post credits scene. I suspect they weren’t able to include it because of time constraints, because c’mon, this is hilarious. An animator on Instagram said that they were not able to model the inside of Elsa’s ice palace for the post credits scene because they ran out of time, so they used Ahtohallan pillars and changed the lighting so that it gave the ‘feel’ of the ice palace. I’m sorry I can’t provide a link right now because I don’t remember who the animator was, but if I find it again or someone else does I’ll update this.

UPDATE: The Instagram comment in particular was found! Thanks to @super-mam-te-moc​ for the screenshot. 

Okay, kind of got derailed there. They didn’t have enough time to finish the post credits scene and that’s the only coherent answer I can find as to why this was deleted.

_______

“They’re all looking at us, aren’t they? Okay, got any advice? How do I free the forest?” – Elsa

Very similar to what’s in the movie but here Elsa asks Bruni if he knows how she can free the forest. The fact that Elsa asks a little cute salamander this… kind of gives the idea that Elsa was completely clueless, same as the rest of the gang, and the rest of the writers. Jkjk!

_______

“Emotional and slightly haunting memory of Mother? Is that you?” – Olaf (Longer Post Credits Scene)

Same as above. We were robbed. Twice.

______________________________

Unused Recorded Lines from Frozen 2 Book

“Teeth? Oh. Pillow fort! Disturbed! Aw, c’mon, you definitely look disturbed!” – Anna

Shorter or summarized charades scene. Anna never mentions a pillow fort in the final movie.

_______

“I know that rumble.” – Kristoff

This probably goes when Pabbie and the trolls appeared at the evacuation place. Seems like in an earlier version, there was more buildup before the appearance of the trolls. Kristoff hears the rumble of the rocks before anything else. Deleted scenes seen in trailers also point to a slightly different ‘troll appearance’ scene.

_______

“I won’t leave her side.” – Anna

During Pabbie’s visit. We know thanks to trailers Anna’s little talk with Pabbie changed a bit. Here Anna displays her worry for Elsa even more.

Here’s a comparison between the trailer:

And the final movie:

What’s particularly interesting about this is that a later point in the movie, during Kristoff’s third failed proposal, Anna suddenly remembers Elsa and runs off hurriedly saying, “I swore I wouldn’t leave her side”. Coincidence? I THINK NOT. She never explicitly says so in the final movie, but it seems like she did in an earlier version. 

_______

“We’ll fix it together. / Together. / Together.” – Anna, Kristoff and Olaf respectively

Probably as they were going to go on the journey, considering the lines are said chronologically? They discovered the power of teamwork. Weird Elsa doesn’t say ‘together’. Maybe they left it out because, coughcoughtheydidn’tfixanythingtogether.

_______

“Uhm, I sense no way in, but this is fun nonetheless.” – Olaf

Definitely during the arrival at the mist wall. Olaf doesn’t say anything as he bounces off in the final movie.

_______

“Hah! It let us in, but it clearly does not wanna let us out.” – Olaf

Same as above. Anna is the one who says they’re trapped in the final version.

_______

“Your father was… / King Agnarr of Arendelle.” – Mattias, Elsa, respectively

In the final version Mattias immediately says “Agnarr”, while here Elsa finishes his words after his pause. To be honest, it makes more sense in the final version, considering Mattias would remember Agnarr’s name without a doubt.

_______

“I’m fine. I just… actually, I’m starving.” – Anna

This probably goes right after the “Don’t Run Into Fire” argument. I didn’t think much of this line at first but it’s actually really interesting, because in the final movie, right after Elsa and Anna’s argument, Elsa places Iduna’s scarf on Anna’s shoulders and with this perfect timing they find out she was Northuldra, leading to the whole “Vuelie” scene. But here, there’s no comforting with scarf, and it seems like this scene leads to the one after Vuelie in the final movie, with Anna eating as she talks to Mattias, and Elsa and Honeymaren talking about the spirits.

Which means… that in an earlier version, the discovery of Iduna being Northuldra was probably going to happen later on. Pretty crazy, right?

_______

“If I lost her… I think I’d lose myself.” – Anna

All right. I think that this line is one of the most important ones. Thanks to books having this line in them we can pinpoint exactly when Anna utters it: expectedly, when she was talking with Mattias. The delivery of this line is also particularly heartbreaking, so I recommend you guys hear the audio file.

I don’t wanna ramble too much but there’s a lot to be said about this line. But yes, I’ll actually end up rambling. Warning.

Along with “I won’t leave her side”, it seems like earlier versions of the movie showed Anna being even more anxious and worried about Elsa’s wellbeing. As we know, Anna and Mattias were talking about ‘doing the next right thing’, and being prepared when life throws you down a new path. This is obvious foreshadowing to The Next Right Thing. But why were these two cut? Don’t they deepen Anna’s character and show just how deathly scared this whole adventure had her?

Well, here’s some speculation. These two lines are obviously foreshadowing Elsa’s death. The thing is, there exists the likelihood that at the times these lines were written and recorded, there was no such thing as Elsa’s revival. We’ve known for a long time that Elsa was going to die for real in Frozen 2, but test audiences were left traumatized and probably in need of PTSD treatment, hating it so much that the ending and everything that came with it was rewritten around June. Including, I speculate, these two lines which blatantly foreshadow Elsa’s big oof.

There’s not much foreshadowing to Elsa’s death in the final version. That’s because it was a minor thing. She died before the climax of the movie and her death scene didn’t feel final nor dramatic enough to fool the audience and make them believe she was really, really, won’t-breathe-ever-again kind of dead. Some watchers didn’t even realize she died, because the scene was not supposed to feel like her end. Not even the score, Ghosts of Arendelle Past, has a final feeling to it. It just kind of ends there in an ominous tone and they stress the fact that she sent an important ice message before freezing, giving hope of events resolving themselves.

But these two lines do foreshadow of a terrifying event. One that’s not minor nor temporary. These two lines, probably among others we’ll never find out about, and Anna’s worried sick attitude in earlier versions, give more weight to Elsa’s death, Elsa’s permanent death, and ultimately, The Next Right Thing.

Or maybe not and I’m wrong and there was no need for a 4 paragraph long overanalysis of two lines. Maybe they just deleted them just cause. Who knows the ways of writers…

_______

“All this time… the four spirits. Right there.” – Elsa

Maybe this goes during Honeymaren’s talk about the spirits? Right there, meaning, they were all along depicted in Iduna’s scarf and nobody in Arendelle realized? We’ll never know.

_______

“You mean like a voice?” – Elsa

Probably happened when Honeymaren was talking about the fifth spirit crying out the day the forest fell.

_______

“She made it across the sea.” – Anna

“I know why the spirits evacuated Arendelle.” – Anna

“Olaf, I know how to free the forest.” – Anna

Okay, I’m gonna talk about these three at the same time because it’s the same scene. Obviously, these lines of dialogue take place in the cave as Anna receives Elsa’s message, right before The Next Right Thing. We know that for sure because The Next Right Thing was one of the first Frozen 2 songs to be written and the writers knew that’s where they wanted the story to go. This seems like a pretty different setup, but to be honest, it feels like a placeholder. Anna doesn’t even react to the fact that there was a statue of grandpa slicing an innocent man in two right in front of her which just feels weird.

And all in all, the lines just don’t have the sadness of the final version. Anna doesn’t sound nearly as disappointed and her voice doesn’t lower that much. She sort of sounds determined in the last line! So determined to wreck her home to pieces with a gigantic flood… ahaha Anna…

______________________________ 

Okay, it was pretty fun to overanalyze all 23 deleted lines that I managed to find. There are even more deleted goodies out there thanks to the merch, but we’re gonna leave that for another moment.

There’s no doubt that Frozen 2′s development had plenty of problems along the way and I think it’s pretty interesting to learn what it could’ve been and could’ve had. These lines are just the tip of the iceberg and I’m more than interested to know what exactly the test audiences saw in those infamous test screenings...

______________________________

UPDATE: More deleted stuff!

@theupsidedownpyramid​ collected more deleted lines found in the trailers right here!

@yumeka36​ made a really interesting analysis of the Frozen 2 Novelization with even more deleted lines and scenes here!

[sanstropfremir]

it’s the episode 8 review!!! how many episodes is this show supposed to even be?

the stages from the episode feel like such a grab bag.... i still don’t understand why they didn’t put all the skill stages together, and then did the normal two episodes of the third round. i guess it makes sense that they didn’t want to have six stages in one episode and then three in the other two, but eh. 

feeling kinda average on these as a whole, there’s a lot of good elements going on here but probably because of my own preferences (i don’t listen to ballads or blackpink) none of them really hit all the buttons. hopefully this will be a shorter review because i'm only going to do a quick rundown of the vocal stages; i dont really have that much to say about them because they are (intentionally) not very stage picture focused. i'll do the normal stage breakdowns for the other two though, even though i won’t rank them because we still need to see the other four!

vocal stages

sf9 + tbz + ikon

not much to say here other than wow, that’s RED. glad to see some more specific use of spotlighting and i always love when they light things on fire. i do wish they had fill lit with a brighter amber so we could actually get a bit more detail on their faces, especially because there’s six of them. i appreciated the simple blocking and only using one of the ‘stages,’ this stage didn’t need to be anything complicated and it wasn’t. i don’t love spinning camera shots because they make me a bit ill, and i'll forgive the constant cutting because it's a vocal stage and there isn’t any other real movement that we should be paying attention to. not my favourite of the two, i found it visually a bit too repetitive and complex at the same time. always love a crushed velvet suit though, so bonus points for that.

atz + skz + btob

i was braced for the worst and i dont know what kind of miracle happened but it was listenable! like i said, not a ballad fan but i could listen to eunkwang all day. i love a good plinth for a ballad stage, they’re one of my favourite devices in kpop design and i especially love it with a good groundlevel fog. glad they kept it black and white for the first half of the stage, it was in line with the blooming flower projections, and it made a very clear colour arc. they kept the visuals clean and simple with very little blocking at all, a very smart choice for this stage. not sure why they decided it would be the chanel time stage, which i disapprove of because i don’t like chanel, but i do love eunkwang’s shirt with the cameo buttons and the massive turnback cuffs, very 17th and also 19th century. i know they never do it because they dont read on stage normally but yes absolutely more thin chain pendant chokers on men, thank you! i also liked that there was emphasis on a more traditional lighting scheme, there weren't any crazy concert effects, just some good directional beam spotlights and the rear stacks in the climax. 

third round stages

ikon

costume

the first look for them is definitely my fabourite of theirs so far. there’s enough variation in the jackets that the base layer of tshirt and jeans don’t look too repetitive. and i do love a good statement jacket. my favourite is probably donghyuk’s because i'm a sucker for fringe always.

i don’t like the backup dancers costumes, but given the way i’ve reacted to every other all black outfit for this entire show i don’t think anyone was surprised about that. these ones particularly irk me because they’re very matte; there's pretty much no texture or pattern differentials to define the shape of the limb, which makes them disappear when theyre all grouped together (mostly on the women). i think they probably were intending to make a statement/emphasis on the hands because of the sleeve cutoff point, but there were so many arm movements that were just totally missed because the costumes were just black voids. most egregious parts are here, with the female dancers up center. i can barely tell what the movements are unless i��m paying specific attention to them because there's so many black shapes. maybe it was the point for it to be an indiscernable writhing mass, but it wasn’t my vibe.

don’t love this styling on lisa. i hate peeptoe shoes in general but peeptoe boots are the worst offenders. they make you look like you have duck feet, no matter who you are. especially with a flat cutout like that. a universally unflattering shoe, and i would know, i worked in a shoe store for two years. this whole look is just pg-13 rihanna cfda awards 2014 and really nobody should try to run up against rihanna.

also i have to mention this because it’s actually really bothering me, but lisa’s backup dancers are serving very allgemeine ss looks and i do not like it. generally when we see ‘military’ uniforms in kpop theyre usually modelled off older styles (pre wwii) of western uniforms that usually aren’t in circulation, and they’re usually non-matching and embellished in ways that are deliberately not military. i know logically that it's a budget constraint+they’re backup dancers+current trend thing but the clean lines with only button detailing and the all black and that specific harness shape? it hit my brain the wrong way. i mean, technically those uniforms are designer because hugo boss did them, but the uh..... girlboss move didn’t land for me.

this is my PERSONAL OPINION please for the love of all that is holy do not come yelling at me about this. it’s all under a cut, you chose to read the post.

set

very glad to see some busy kitschy sets! this is a massive build, since there’s essentially three full sets here: the temple, the jungle, and the first tiny room. and all of them are very heavily decorated. 

the starting room is just five walls on casters (wheels), that have been set into place with the cameraman and ikon inside at the start, and then once they exit the walls can be easily struck and rolled off set. simple, smart, and convenient!

i missed it the first couple times around but glitching out the projections in the temple for a split second was a neat little trick.

the silver and polygonal nature of the tiger/panther/cat(?) head is a bit disconnected from the gold and the aesthetic of the rest of the stage for me. the difference between the original room set and the jungle tracks, but the cat head isnt able to make the same leap for me. i'm also not a fan of mixing metals so maybe that’s why.

the tiger/panther/cat(?) head is a fun physical transitional device; i'm a big fan of tunnels and small transitory spaces like that and if they’re well dressed like this one they do so much for establishing place and mood.

i'm very sure i’ve seen this style of polygonal animal head with laser eyes before....i cannot for the life of me remember where or for what. i know wang yibo did a panther stage for sdc3 that had a human formation panther with green laser eyes, i wonder if i'm just crossing wires.

OH nevermind it’s because it looks like the witcher medallion. wires were definitely crossed.

lighting

using purple/teal lighting for the jungle was a smart choice because purple is the direct compliment to the gold and also is much more flattering on humans than green. green is one of the colours that humans can see the most variations in, so when something is green when it's not supposed to be (like human skin), we register that very quickly and associate it with unease and sickness. you know how old fluorescent lights have that greenish tinge that kinda makes you feel ill? it's your cone cells and your brain recognizing that you’re looking at things that are not supposed to be green.

very clean colour arc, i love to see it.

sound

it’s.....fine? i don’t listen to blackpink and have no opinions on their music other than it's not my type. i dont really know what the thematic connection to the visuals is, which is not strictly necessary in a lot of cases, but i don’t particularly care for the conflation of ‘savage’ and a (presumably) precolonial religion that’s assembled from stereotypes of real colonized cultures. you can come at me about how ‘it's not that deep’ all you want but i am here specifically doing an in depth analysis, and i gotta point it out. i'm not here to pass judgement on you if you didn’t realize or don’t care or whatever, i'm just saying that it's important to consume content with a critical eye. what you do with that information is your own personal choice, but you should be aware of it at least. 

staging

they took a big risk eating popcorn right before singing, and we definitely got some residual mouth noises of them trying to clean out their teeth. eating on stage is difficult in general because you have to make sure it's not going to dry out the performers mouths, because they dont have access to water and it takes WAY longer to chew and swallow something than you would expect. there’s a LOT of testing that goes into making stage food and guaranteed it’s not made out of what it looks like or what its supposed to be; i worked on a production of amadeus were we did literal weeks of testing amalgams of different desserts to make sure that salieri could actually eat the ones onstage without totally drying him out, because fun fact about that show, salieri doesnt leave stage like, at all, so there was no way to get him water. poor bloke.

i thought the blocking of this was really smart. the long take from the ‘normal’ room and transition into the jungle was super slick, even if that weird circle the camera did while pointed up at the ceiling was unnecessary and pointless.

bobby’s ‘acting’ was extremely funny and that’s the only way people are allowed to act surprised now. edvard munsch scream style only.

the pacing is a bit off and this time it wasn’t mnet’s editing that fucked it up. as fun as it is to have a feature, clearly she wasn’t allowed within proximity of the rest of them for covid or other yg related reasons, but it made for some extremely long transitions, especially the one out of her verse. it kills the momentum of the stage in that beat, even though they manage to pick it up after.

this is a very simple little narrative arc that’s easy to follow and doesn’t require any extra explaining. which is exactly the kind of arc that groups should be doing at this stage in the game. this is a good formic step up for ikon!

i thought the turning off of the monitor at the end was fun and a good callback to them watching the videos at the beginning of the stage. a nice clean way to make it circular.

skz

costume

FINALLY something different on the skz boys! these were mostly fun eboy looks for them, and i like it on the basis that it's not the same as the last set of costumes.

bang chan out there with his thigh OUT and a (fake) bridge piercing? LOVE to see it. great work.

(copy-paste every thing i’ve said about backup dancers wearing all black)

the backup dancers that were dressed as bystanders/extras were great! they should have kept that with all of them because it would have given a little more shape to the choreography and establishing what function the backup dancers were supposed to have.

set

that is meant to be a giant rice cooker on stage, right? i think so because it's a god’s menu mashup? if that's not a rice cooker i have NO idea what its supposed to be

there’s only two large setpieces here, which was a smart way to go. i LOVE the subway car doubling as the truck, even if the truck itself makes no narrative sense. what a fun way to double the use of a single big piece. you’ll be able to see the way it moves in the full cam but it splits down the centre and there entrance doors at the back with attached stairs that bang chan and the dancers use to climb up.

lighting

not a whole lot happening here. i like the cool white leds in the subway car and the contrast with the more warm tones of the outside, which is good atmospheric establishment, but i can't discern a visible arc. 

not a fan of these projections; they’re in line with what we’ve seen from skz so far, which is: extremely literal. i dont think they’re that distracting, but they’re not to my personal taste. they really should have kept the comic panel theme that they did for changbin’s first verse, because that was inventive and fun to watch! and a great atmospheric indicator! i would love to see a bit more experimental projection use but it's hard when they don’t have a lot of time to build these stages and the lighting team is definitely working remotely.

sound

i love that they made the choice to do some actual talking, it’s a good gimmick and it works for the deadpool/comic book/fourth wall break theme, but australian accents take me the fuck out i am so sorry i cannot listen to either felix or bang chan speak english without laughing uncontrollably. 

i don’t like this arrangement but i'm not surprised about that, given my predilections. i'm also tired of skz shouting STRAY KIDS in every performance they do. i know on music shows it's probably more relevant and yea producers tags are a thing but we’ve been watching this show for nearly two months at this point. we know who you are, you can stop yelling. be more creative with it!

staging

my biggest issue with this stage is that it doesn’t have a payoff. there is an arc here: they’re stealing the truck, but why are they stealing the truck? who are they stealing it from? who are they fighting against? it's kind of important in a stage where the theme is stealing and fighting someone that you tell us who that is. in both of ateez’s previous stages were they were both stealing (rhythm ta) and fighting (wonderland), they made sure to show us who the villain was. there needs to be tension for a big blowup climax to actually pay off. whether it be against a a balloon arm kraken or a fascist government. this stage could have reached that next step if they’d just done a little bit more exposition. 

there were a lot of fun choreo moments here, and this is probably my favourite choreo of theirs so far. i thought the whole first bit in the subway car was excellent and a very fun play on those viral videos that we used to see roll around every so often of dancers doing routines in subway cars.

did it need the guns? not in the slightest. more on this point later. i could talk more about weapons and weight here, but i’ve done that several times already.

like with the tbz game of thrones stages, theyre relying a little too much on the audience's preconceptions of the source material in order to carry the theme. the guns are there because deadpool likes guns, but they don’t actually use the guns for anything? the most we get of the stealing segment is felix and the safe, which admittedly is a great bit with him leaping over and under the ‘laser’ lines (theyre likely led strips). because comic books are by nature procedural and deeply tied to narrative, it's unsatisfying when there’s no tension and no payoff.

HOW did we manage to get two stages that are blackpink covers with remote/tv static gimmick and durags? i know the slot machine of kpop tropes is not very big but surely the probability of hitting triple sevens on this one was pretty low. i’m pretty meh on both of these stages overall. skz was unsatisfying but i loved the choreo in the subway bit so that bumped it up a little ahead of ikon’s in my personal preferences, but i'm reserving my actual rankings for next week. assuming we get the other four stages next week and they dont do something stupid and only show two. which they very well might. i’ve stopped trying to understand why mnet does things the way that they do. 

as always the ask box is open, drop your comments/questions/personal opinions, i love to hear ‘em! but don’t be rude just because some of this is touchier subject material.

[retronator]

The last 10 years of pixel art

Retronator the blog is exactly 10 years old right now (+ an hour or so more since I can’t seem to stop editing this post)!

I want to take this opportunity to look back at the teenage years of the 21st century and reflect on how the pixel art scene has grown over the years. I only promise a personal perspective, pieced together from my faulty memory and a bit more reliable archive of 1,700 posts on this blog.

2010

Social media sites emerged already in the late 2000s (Facebook launched in 2004, Twitter in 2006, Tumblr in 2007), but it took quite some time before they caught on, especially outside the US. I joined Tumblr in July 2010 and there were relatively few pixel artists active on the site. @jinndevil​ and @unomoralez​ go the farthest of those that I followed. The first post I reblogged was a Back to the Future piece from @megapont​ (via some blogpost share, since Megapont duo didn't join till 2013).

What was huge on the network however was sharing retro-gaming artworks by blogs like @it8bit​ and @gameandgraphics​. This included many pixel art pieces and it helped grow a community of fans that adored both old games and pixels.

2011

I'd put 2011 down as the start of the hi-bit era of pixel art games, championed by the release of the iconic adventure game Sword & Sworcery. Pixel purism of the initial pixel art movement was left behind by mixing pixels with high-res special effects like soft shadows and vignetting. Also, spaghetti legs started their fad period.

Artists such as @probertson​, @drewpixel​, and @merrigo​ started their days on Tumblr, gathering huge audiences over the years. Meanwhile, Retronator grew to a whooping 100 followers by the end of the year.

2012

Tumblr's fan spirits were going stronger and stronger, to which I threw my own logs on the fire by releasing Tribute, my biggest and most popular piece of fan art I created so far.

The highly anticipated FEZ got released (to critical acclaim and other more controversial consequences), further bringing pixel art in front of the mainstream gaming audience.

From newly-followed artists, @johanvinet​ was damn inspiring with his smooth animations. Anything GIF did immensely good on the Tumblr dashboard.

2013

This was THE year for Tumblr. So many new artists joined, it was hard to keep track. Anyone from established names like Mojang's art director @jnkboy​ and @konjakonjak​ of Noitu Love 2 fame (later Iconoclasts) to pixel art beginners such as @waneella​, now one of the most well-known illustrators in the scene.

The push for modern art direction with pixel art games wasn't stopping either. Not that amazing, more traditionally styled titles (with fresh color palettes) weren't present, as Chasm's debut on Kickstarter showed, but it was Hyper Light Drifter that really stole everyone's heart (machine) on the same crowdfunding platform. Gradients and smooth dynamic shading became unapologetically part of the pixel art (gaming) vocabulary from then on.

When Papers, Please got released at the end of the year to universal appraisal, a new example was set for showing that pixel visuals don't necessarily need to be the most polished, technically-impressive pieces of artistic expression, they can also be simple—the majority of detail-filling can be offloaded to the player's imagination.

2014

Pixel purist ideology was a highly debated topic. Dan Fessler, the background artist on Chasm, did a strong push against the tighter set of constraints which said you should only use 'clean' tools such as the pencil and color fill to complete your artworks. Dan instead only cared about clean results, pioneering in the process the technique of HD Index Painting that used the depths of Photoshop layer magic to get otherwise identical results. And there were plenty of others right around the corner that wouldn't even care about keeping the results married to traditional pixel art ideals.

Still, the majority of pixel art at this point was very orthodox. I started the Artist Feature series that showcased my favorite artists and none of them did anything controversial (nor they needed to). The biggest break from the old days was mainly highly increased color counts that allowed for subtle transitions without dithering, and free color picking without creating predefined color palettes. Octavi Navarro started his highly iconic @pixelshuh​ scenes, and the completely unknown @8pxl​ started her journey towards experimentation with pink sky gradients.

Even more importantly, Pixel Dailies were born on Twitter, following Ben Porter's 365 days of doing pixel art daily.

2015

I called 2015 The Year of Pixel Dailies in the end-of-the-year article in my newly started Retronator Magazine. The Twitter community really exploded this year, bringing in many new artists to the medium, with Pixel Dailies serving as a platform to raise visibility to everyone, old and new. I found out about @weilarddrake​ and @orange-magik​ this way, Slynyrd, @iceztiqarts​, @igorsandman​ … Other freshly-discovered people on tumblr were @kirokazepixel​ (one of the most prolific artists on the scene), @faxdoc​ (his learning journey was inspiring enough for its own article), and Talecrafter with @deathtrashgame​ (starting a whole new style of aliased, low-res painting without caring about individual pixels).

The discussion whether pixel art could survive past its nostalgic roots was still in the air, stirred by opinions such as A Pixel Artist Renounces Pixel Art. History is proving them wrong however, with pixel art stronger than ever in 2020. It's not a visual language people born after the 80s couldn't understand.

New-school voxel art pieces started trending with the advent of Magicavoxel, pioneering the development of pixel art's sibling in 3D. The first pixel art convention Pixel Art Park was held in Tokyo. And (important for me personally), I came up with Pixel Art Academy, an adventure game that would take my ambitions in pixel art education into the future.

2016

After 9 years in development, Owlboy released! Also Hyper Light Drifter! And Stardew Valley! And Kingdom! Pixel art games were not dying, they were on the rise.

Edge (the popular British video game magazine) published a special 200+ page issue called Art of the Pixel. It featured contemporary artists outside the gaming context, championing the aesthetic's transition from its video game roots into its own art form.

Pedro Medeiros of @studiominiboss​ started his famous series of GIF tutorials, subsequently encouraging many others to share their knowledge in the popular square format. Tumblr still saw new artists joining the platform, such as @motocross-arts​ and @apolism​ (two thirds of the Japanese trio The Ultimate Pixel Crew), while others like @6vcr​ started their first pixel explorations that year. @brunopixels​, an old-schooler on the platform like me, sparked the Octobit movement, a pixel art alternative to Inktober.

2017

Further new names on Tumblr included @guttykreum​ (outdoorsy perspective pieces) and @scrixels​ (one of the most consistent daily posters with over 1,000 artworks by now).

The annual Shibuya Pixel Art Contest joined Pixel Art Park at promoting the art form in Tokyo, Japan (and worldwide really). Lospec became the new go-to resource site for pixel art, picking up the mantle from PixelJoint and Pixelation that—while still active—stagnated technologically and feature-wise.

More than anything, pixel art games were everywhere. Maybe it only seemed to me this way since I was able to go to the Game Developer's Conference as press and had the chance to interview many many people in the scene, leading to over half a year of daily content on this blog. Indie games felt stronger than ever with so many of us full-on realizing our dreams of creating our own games professionally. The one that left the biggest splash on the scenes was no doubt The Last Night, announced front and center in-between AAA titles during Microsoft's E3 conference. The brothers Soret pushed the art direction even beyond the hi-bit era moniker, fusing 3D, shaders, and modern cinematography with pixels in an iconic combination that, like Sword & Sworcery's spaghetti legs, was so atmospheric that it couldn't be resisted by future imitators.

2018

Another game that pushed technological boundaries was Pathway, finally stepping into full light in 2018 and releasing one year later. I still think it has the most advanced pixel art graphics engine to date, using voxels and other tricks under the hood to deliver a completely dynamically lit environment while retaining the pixel-perfect 3/4 view aesthetic. Pixel art games were firmly part of mainstream gaming by now, with Celeste winning many awards alongisde pixelish Return of the Obra Dinn, further cementing the presence of pixels as an ever-evolving medium capable of expressing very different art styles.

I decided to focus solely on developing Pixel Art Academy in 2018, putting this blog on relative hiatus with very sporadic updates towards the end of the year. But I never let it die. I thoroughly enjoy writing about the scene and my interest in the art form only grows with time.

2019–2020

Ironically, the closer the years are to the present, the less I remember what things stood out most. Maybe it's because my brain hasn't had the chance to automatically prune my memories yet from the overload of information that is the interwebs these days. Pixel art seems so out there, so much of my everyday life, encompassing me on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, DeviantArt … Even on TikTok you see kids zooming out of their freshly pixelized Minecraft photographs they call pixel art. The medium is alive, and more than ever.

As for the Retronator blog, from its zero followers exactly 10 years ago, it grew to 100 after a year and a half, 1000 the year after, 10k when it was 5 years old, and 30k just last month. Tumblr is still the platform where most of you follow my pixel art reports and I don't intend to stop anytime soon.

Here's to the next decade! Thank you all for reading. <3

[honeymoonjin]

Chapter Seven

Summary: When you hear that your recently deceased grandmother left you her property in her will, at first you think that a dinky old cottage in the middle of nowhere isn’t going to mean much for you. But after spending a night there, you discover something far more valuable than the house itself: a hidden door that leads to another time, the same place but over 200 years in the past. In the late 18th Century, there is a king who will die before his 21st birthday unless you can save him. Will you help him, even if it means leaving your own life behind?

Your mind malfunctions as he leans in closer, still with that shit-eating grin on his face. Your cheek is burning under his light touch and you know he can almost definitely feel it. You can scarcely breath, lips parting, and with eyes half-lidded you don’t notice him moving past your mouth to place his lips on the shell of your ear instead.

“Did you really think I was going to kiss you?” he whispers sultrily.

You swallow hard, staring over his shoulder with wide eyes. “N-no, Your Majesty?” In a daze, your eyes land on the skin just above the edge of his gown, a roughly diamond-shaped birthmark on the back of his neck. It seems familiar to you, but you can’t think from where.

He chuckles sinfully, pulling back to look at you with a teasingly cocked head. “Why, my darling, we don’t even know each other! I can’t go around kissing every beautiful healer that saves my life. Seokjin prefers to be paid in gold.”

You snicker at the innuendo. “Much to your disappointment, I’m sure.”

King Jeon gives you a sly blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wink and stands back up. “Now, I do want to thank you for your indispensable services, of course. Those clothes of yours aren’t exactly common for a lady.”

You straighten your back in offense. “With all due respect, Your Highness, I couldn’t save your life nearly as effectively wearing a birdcage.” You stand up quickly, bending over to tie up a leather lace on your boot that had loosened in your fall.

You miss the way his eyes linger on your behind. “I never said I didn’t like them. I like them quite a lot. Perhaps you’d appreciate something more useful. A horse, perhaps? To make your journey to and from the palace quicker, seeing as you’re so opposed to remaining here.”

You think back to your last encounter at a friend’s birthday party, where a pony tipped you over into a pile of mud. “No, thank you.”

“You know, I’ve never heard of a commoner turning down a gift from the King. Fine then, some jewels to decorate that pretty neck of yours.”

Your attention is divided; staring anxiously at the clock just past his head as you try and inch closer to the door behind him. “I’m all good, no jewels required. I’m gonna head out now, I think, anyway, nice seeing yo-”

He reaches out and deftly snags your wrist, tugging you closer in a movement so abrupt you smack right into his chest, automatically propping your free hand against his chest to steady himself. “You’ve worn me down, little girl. I’ll give you what you want, then.”

You open your mouth to protest, but it proves to be a mistake as he leans down and captures your parted lips in a fiery kiss. Any sound of offense is muffled by him, the slight flick of his tongue against the inner side of your lower lip catching your breath, before he pulls away just as suddenly as he initiated it.

You blink up at him in a daze.

His thumb wipes at a patch of saliva on the corner of your mouth as he smirks. “There, you had it your way, I gave you my thanks.”

“Uh, you’re welcome.” You catch yourself, patting his bare chest awkwardly before stepping out of his embrace. “Um, goodbye. Get better soon.”

He watches with a curious look as you rush to the door and slip out but makes no further reply.

--

When you bust in the door to Yoongi’s little hut, panting from power-walking the whole way back, he’s yelling at a small white spotted piglet that’s sitting rather delicately on the main bench.

“…not that difficult! Why would you mix the lemongrass with the myrrh? It makes no sense!”

You stare in dumbfounded silence as Yoongi apparently waits for a reply from the small, cowering creature. “Uh, hey, shaman. What’s the deal with the pig?”

Yoongi sighs, collapsing onto the small couch. You’re a little distracted by the way the top few buttons of his forest-green blouse are undone, showing a triangle of unblemished skin. The fire is blazing in the hearth as a cauldron bubbles and threatens to overflow, and you can see beads of sweat making his face and chest glimmer. “That’s not a pig, it’s Taehyung.”

You furrow your eyebrows. “Woah, Yoongi, that’s a little hurtful.”

He tuts in frustration, standing up again to go fumble around the countless glass jars on his main shelf. “No, that’s seriously Taehyung. I was making a potion to turn seeds into fully-grown plants to help out with our harvest this year, but that stupid idiot,” he breaks off to jab an accusing finger at the morose-looking piglet, “decided to use lemongrass instead of thyme because it smelt nicer. This isn’t a godforsaken perfumery, you swine!”

“So, you turned him into a pig as punishment?” You rush over to the table, forgetting about your time constraint and worrying instead about the quietly snuffling pig on the bench. “That’s mean! Oh, but Taehyungie looks so cute as a piglet.” You hold your hands out, cooing as the sweet creature sits up and patters along the table to you, hooves clinking on the wood.

Yoongi retrieves what he’s after and joins you, scoffing when he sees you cradling the baby animal like an infant, bobbing it gently and rubbing its tummy. “Of course not. I just decided if he messed up the recipe, he could be the first to try it. Honestly, he should be grateful he chose lemongrass instead of actual lemonjuice or he’d be a slug right now.” He leans over you, glaring at the piglet. “You hear that, Taehyung? A slug!”

You pout at the shaman and keep patting the pig. “Don’t listen to him, I would never let him turn you into slug.” You glance up. “Turn him back now!”

Yoongi quirks an eyebrow. “You do realize that’s a grown man you’re holding.” You halt your rocking, placing the pig back onto the countertop. “Right, Taehyung, you need to chew this stick of cinnamon, okay? Swallow as much of it as you can.”

You stare in wonder as a pig munching away at a small brown sprig transforms back into a long-legged, shaggy-haired human. “Holy crap.”

Taehyung bends over, coughing and wincing at the taste in his mouth, scooting off the table to go drink some water. Once he’s out of sight, Yoongi grins and puts the jar away. “He didn’t need to eat any cinnamon. The potion wears off after ten minutes anyway.”

You gape at him. “You’re a sadist.”

“On the contrary. It’s kindness that leads me to teach him these lessons. Perhaps this time it was becoming a pig for ten minutes, but if he messed up other spells it could mean significant injury or death. This way, he won’t make the same mistake again.”

You sigh reluctantly. “Okay, but don’t be so hard on him. He’s still learning.” You think back to the last time you had spoken with Taehyung, when he was locking you in that room. “Maybe make him suffer just a little longer. Enough to- Oh, shit!”

Taehyung returns just after your outburst. “What? What’s going on?”

“I have to leave, now,” you mutter as you rush behind the tapestry of the spare room to get back into your plain t-shirt and leggings. “My boyfriend is gonna be pissed.”

You freeze, one leg hovered over your shoe. Your boyfriend. How could you possibly explain to him why you were late for his show? Sorry, Jiminie, I was sucking face with the King. Won’t happen again. Was it cheating if the guy was technically dead? You were pretty sure it was. Either way, you returned home with a guilty conscience and a heavy heart.

--

“It’s fine,” Jimin mutters, but the tears streaking down his face tell you that’s a blatant lie. “If you weren’t going to make it, you should’ve told me, that’s all.”

You reach for his hand, but he quickly slips it into his jacket pocket. “Jimin, I’m so sorry.” Your voice is as low as your spirits, the two of you the last ones in the stadium after all the other performers and audience members had long gone home. “I don’t know what to say.”

He scoffs, the noise sounding wet like it’s on the edge of being a sob. “Neither do I,” he admits, “it’s like all of a sudden you don’t have time for me anymore.”

You bite your lip. “Jimin, I swear that’s not the case. I got caught up in work and lost track of time. It was unforgiveable and you have every right to be mad and upset, but-”

“I’m not mad,” he interrupts, shaking his head, “I’m not upset. I’m fucking embarrassed. Do you know how humiliating it was to tell all the guys how excited I was for you to come? I made you a little ‘reserved’ sign, taped it to a chair in the front row, and then it sat empty for the whole fucking show.”

Your face crumples as another tear tracks down his face. “What can I do to make it up to you?” you ask. “We could go somewhere now, spend some time together. Or maybe if you just want some space, that’s fine too. Whatever you want, baby. Let me make it up to you.”

He laughs bitterly. “I really should just ask for space. You know, Taemin told me I should break up with you. I kinda get why he’d say that. But I’m too fucking weak for that. As much as I hate it, I need you, Y/n. I… I just wish you felt the same way about me.”

Your heart breaks for the millionth time that night. “Jimin, this is a rough patch, and it sucks, I know, but I promise that’s all it is. A rough patch. It’s just temporary, and it’s over now. I’ll be better now, I’ll treat you like you deserve. Come on, let’s go home. I’ll shout us takeaways and we can watch a movie together. You choose the movie. Yeah?”

He sniffs harshly and wipes at his face, nodding. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

--

Later that night, after you had eaten the promised takeaways, watched the promised movie, and even had some slow, intimate make-up sex, you were lying in bed, you on your back, Jimin in his favorite position, which was fast asleep on his stomach, face cushioned by your naked breasts as he lazily swirled a fingertip in circles on your skin.

You ran a hand through his hair, enjoying the way he let out little happy grunts when you scratched at his scalp or tugged the roots just slightly. Being with Jimin felt safe, and comfortable, and. You loved watching his back rise and fall as he breathed deeply in his sleep. He had been making an effort to get some more sun where possible, and the golden shade of his skin was-

You jolt suddenly, cringing as Jimin shuffled around then went still again, clutching tightly onto you. On the back of Jimin’s neck was a patch of skin darker and pinker than the rest. A birthmark in the shape of a diamond that you finally recognized. The same one you had seen on King Jeon’s neck earlier that day.

TAGLIST Message me or send an ask to be added to the taglist for Sovereign, and never miss a new chapter!

@sonyeonsideupsmile  @sweetcheeksdna (I can’t seem to tag you!)  @hoodiebangtan @mntchcchp

[yesterdanereviews]

Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (1951)

Film review #379

SYNOPSIS: The heroic Captain Video and his Video Rangers from across the globe help maintain peace on the planet Earth, but when Earth becomes subject to meteor bombardments from the planet Atoma, Captain Video must find a way to thwart the evil schemes of it’s leader Vultura before it is too late...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere is a 1951 movie serial. The serial stars (as the title suggests) Captain Video, the leader of an organisation called the Video Rangers, who help protect the Earth. When the Earth becomes subject to meteor bombardments originating from the planet Atoma, Video must stop them before they can invade the Earth. The plot resembles the vast majority of sci-fi serials, which copy the highly successful Flash Gordon and caught the genre in a thinly-veiled repetition of its plot and characters for over twenty years. A lot of the story revolves around Captain Video trying to prove that the scientist Dr. Tobor (yes, that is ‘robot’ spelled backwards) is working with Atoma’s leader Vultura, as Video and Vultura try to outsmart and thwart the other’s plans. I think this format and plot structures were gotten away with for two reasons: one, there was no way to re-watch old serials once they had first aired at the theatre, so new ones could come out with the same story and similar characters; particularly since serials such as this would be aimed at kids, who would not have seen earlier serials. The second reason being that the second world war probably didn’t leave much room or money for the development of anything too original or ambitious, as resources would have been focused elsewhere. Nevertheless, by the time this serial was released in 1951, there probably should have been some effort to change the formula or offer something new.

Despite it’s lack of originality in the story department, there’s still a decent amount of variety going on. The early chapters see Video travelling to the planet Theros, where the peace-loving people are under attack by Vultura’s forces, and Video has to teach them to be guerrilla fighters and fight back. Again, this plot structure shows up in many previous serials. The next major chunk of the serial consists in the back-and-forth between Tobor and Video, as they try and outdo each other on Earth. Video and Vultura only meet in the final half of the last chapter, which feels like a waste. The serial however, does keep things interesting with a whole host of gadgets and inventions that would undoubtedly spark the imaginations of youngsters watching. The guns that the Rangers use that shoot out sparks are quite a nice effect of the time. However, the serial often falls into the trap of explaining what is going on and what all these inventions do rather than actually showing them, mostly due to budget constraints, but often the plot is explained before it happens, leaving little surprise or tension. The inventions too have bizarre technological names, and accompanied techno-babble that try to justify the implausible things they do.

Most of the characters are based off the ones on the TV series, with Captain Video being the typical white American male hero that is the star of all these serials. His younger sidekick is strangely only referred to as “the Ranger” and never given an actual name. This is in keeping with the TV series, but other rangers are shown to use their own names, so it’s odd that he doesn’t. Maybe it’s a way to get kids to imagine themselves in the role of the young teenage sidekick, as anyone could be “The Ranger”. There’s also Ranger Gallagher, who does all the technical stuff at Video headquarters, and Vultura clearly has some east Asian influences in his design, again echoing the “Ming the Merciless” type villain that originated in Flash Gordon. One final note about the characters is that while you will expect these serials to only feature a white cast, there is not a single woman anywhere featured in the serials fifteen chapters. Often there is usually a solitary token female character that sometimes serves as the protagonist’s love interest, but there is none at all here, not even in any of the backgrounds. I suppose the lack of a female character could be attributed to the fact this is geared towards a younger, male, audience, who would not be interested in a female character or a romance sub-plot, but having this cast of inter-changeable white men interact with each other really emphasises the monotony of the story at points.

The serial was directed by Spencer Bennet, a veteran of these kinds of serials, so he had plenty of experience in what to do. Some of the effects are fairly decent; as mentioned, the ray guns the Video Rangers use is pretty cool, and their super-fast car stands out with its unique look. There is also a ‘space platform’ which allows transportation between earth and Atoma, which apparently is millions of miles away. Captain Video also has a rocket ship he travels in, which again adds some variety. Some of the effects (such as the rocket ship in flight) are done through using hand-drawn animation, which allows a lot more freedom in terms of effects, although this is not the first time this was done, having been integrated into the Superman serial a few years earlier. Overall, I think I can place the Captain Video serial just above average in the miasma of similar sci-fi serials: it has a lot of the well-worn tropes and characters, but has some decent effects and various inventions that add a bit of extra spice. It’s obviously meant for a younger audience, but there’s enough content for those who haven’t seen such a serial before to enjoy.

[dhbelzinone]

𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓯𝓲𝓵𝓮𝓼 (ᴬⁿᵈ ᴬˡˡ ᵀʰᵃᵗ ᴶᵃᶻᶻ)

𝓞𝓞𝓒 𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓻𝓸 𝓟𝓸𝓼𝓽

Hi hello I’ve never done anything like this before but it looks like there’s a blog specifically for ooc intros so here’s my best. ♡

Hi my name is Sal, I go by they/them/theirs, and I’m a med school reject turned gender studies honors student. I’m currently working on a thesis about sex worker rights so I’m balls deep I can be in the industry without the good money and devoting the rest of my undergrad career to fighting for their right to make theirs. I’m also an artist and run an indie if y'all wanna see more of my muse’s roots. Bel’s been my emotional support muse for a good while and has gone through more character development than I have my entire lifetime, so although she may seem like a big softie compared to the rest of the muse crowd here, here’s hoping she can hold her own!

Bel Zinone Abridged: Devil’s Highway Vers.

Her mama is an undocumented immigrant who fought tooth and nail for her piece of the American dream. Much of this was due to the help of a vigilante organization that helped her flee from Europe, but her reputation was volatile enough to charm them into seeking out her membership.

Thanks to their international influence, she was able to keep running with the Wallflowers across the continental U. S. She soon settled down with her husband, a high profile (albeit black market) doctor, and raised her two children beneath the protection of the empire they built all the way from the city underbelly up to the high class elite.

Bel and her older brother Beau were relatively spoiled children until he left for the army and the family secrets started to leak. Adolescence was already hard on her, with her elusive sexuality and growing dysphoria yanking her identity chains, but as soon as she discovered her parents’ reign over the criminal underground, Bel doubted the authenticity of her upbringing and fled to the southern inlands with the resolve to make it on her own.

Little did she know that she’d find herself right smack in the middle of a gang war of the very nature she tried to escape. However, this time was going to be different. She wasn’t going to be at their mercy.

They were going to be at hers, for she offered one of the few medical resources in the entire desert that didn’t come with the liability of a paper trail.

In the meantime, she floats between bunny ranches, strip clubs, and the odd burlesque show. When she’s not working, she can be found frequenting bars, on Instagram, streaming her cam, tinkering with her Widowmaker, or looking for a good meatball sub.

Whereas she would’ve used her earnings to run as far away as possible from her past, Bel ironically finds solace in the lucrative lifestyle, calling a cozy studio apartment home and splurging on the occasional odds and ends that make the closeted queer life she embodies just a bit more bearable.

Relationships for her? I’m not gonna lie: despite the past rancor she’s had for her parent’s occupations, she genuinely wants to help and support people, patching them up so they’re good to go back to whatever they were doing without judgement. Her view of the life’s changed and she’s come to understand the institutions (as well as will) that brings people to commit and run with crime. She’s yet to make peace with her family, but she’s come to terms with the blood she’s from and wants to make a difference in peoples’ lives. That being said: 

Give her your tired, your poor, your horny

A job @ Paradise, maybe? Maybe she could learn about the surrounding gang activity from other dancers / affiliates or Kimi when she applies?

Maybe she could’ve known Esmeray from medical school?

Seeing other muses in the medical field are inspiring some joint black market clinic potential~

Maybe she could’ve known Rodrigo from when he was doing his work, possibly from Backpage before it got shut down?

On this note, maybe Nikki too? (Hello~)

If there are any other queer muses around, maybe they can shine a community light on her? Potentially while she’s yanking a shank out of their shoulder?

If there are any single muses too, I’d love to develop a ride-or-die boo or friend for her.

Last but not least, if we still need prospects and other make characters I’d be game af to have Beau go AWOL and trade his fatigues for a potential patch (maybe through the Mexican border with Nikki, if she’s gonna hate Bel asdkjfnaks). ♡

𝓐𝓹𝓹𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION: Sal (24) they/them/theirs ; PST ACTIVITY: I'm in my last year of undergraduate study and will have class three days a week on average. I'll be online at least once a day and will be able to devote most of my week to nitty-gritty writing as well as plotting. PASSCODE: angel wings and/or crown MISCELLANEOUS: I've been running an indie oc rp blog for almost five years (same character @belzinone) and this will be my first group/skeleton/rl fc rp. I'm worried about being ignored/left behind/largely uninvolved in threads and plotting because that has largely been my experience in discord server rp groups, but y'all seem to have good administration going on so I'm not feeling so worried anymore. I look forward to the experience if you'll have me. :)

IN CHARACTER

NAME: Bel Zinone DATE OF BIRTH: (March/08/1991) (28) PLACE OF BIRTH: San Francisco, California GENDER/PRONOUNS: demifemme｜she/her/hers AFFILIATION: N/A RANKING: N/A OCCUPATION: freelance sex worker, hitwoman, & black market physician FACE CLAIM: Antonia Thomas

BIOGRAPHY

triggers: domestic violence, murder, abuse, misandry, severe burns, sex work Her mother was an undocumented immigrant, fleeing from her orphaned past and domestic abuse in the Italian slums. A headstrong, promiscuous, and violent woman, it wasn't long until she found sisterhood amongst a like-minded gang of vigilante women with international influence called the Wallflowers, well-versed in her infamy and coming to her aid while she was pregnant with her son and escaping prosecution for murdering her husband. Risa Zinone, codenamed La Eglantina, docked in New York city, giving birth to her son Beau Zinone and raising him with the rest of her sorella while continuing her bloodthirsty occupation of murdering abusive men and liberating survivors from their regimes of terror. However, one could only run with the Wallflowers for so long before beginning to challenge their belief system, however righteous it claimed to be. The murderer mother fell in love with the black market doctor who saved her life and once again fled across the country and retired so she could live a peaceful life with him, safe from the constraints and watchful eyes of the sisterhood, but not without heavy cost. She suffered major burns to her entire body by a fire and had to undergo near total facial reconstruction, a miracle performed by the love of her life. In exchange for her life, she'd no longer bear resemblance to her children. Thus Bel Zinone was born on the opposite side of the country as her brother, hilly San Franscisco. She was a wildly rambunctious child, calmed only by the sounds of her brother's guitar strings and a profound interest in her father's work. Little did she know, her living was earned via the illicit means of her parents and their continued association with the country's underbelly. Shambled by the loss of one of their most valuable members, the Wallflowers had undergone a civil war. A near complete overhaul of organizational structure and creed had taken place, leading to an abysmal divide between the matriarchal supremacy of days past and the new order. Enemies of the new regime all around the world were sought out, assassinated, and replaced with a stronger, more diverse membership. During that witch hunt, Risa was reinstated into the Wallflowers with her husband Dmitri and the power couple ruled the pacific branch. The Zinone's hid their criminal affiliations well. Dmitri, a renowned surgeon specializing in the central nervous system, Risa, an uptown socialite who moonlighted cabaret clubs as a jazz singer. Their children had a generous, almost spotless adolescence until Beau graduated high school and joined the military. He was an upstanding, self-righteous man, yet his fatigues all but killed the respect his little sister had for him. As the Zinone siblings grew up, their parents had to try all that much harder to hide their criminal affiliations, often leaving the two with ample bonding time and hiding various criminal survival skills (like how to fight and use firearms among other things) under the guise of "street smarts". Combined with her surfacing struggles with her sexuality and gender identity, Beau's abandonment was very hard on Bel. Her high school antics began to resemble those of her mother during her youth, starting fights, finishing others' fights, and getting dress coded nearly every day. If not for physical altercations, the young lady spent most of her time in the principal's office for getting into arguments with teachers and staff over technicalities in her STEM courses and exposing discrimination in curriculums and attitudes throughout. If not for her parents' powerful influence, she never would've dodged juvie, let alone made it to college. Fortunately, she found her calling and started settling down as soon as her father invited her to his workplace in the hospital. College was a breeze for her, even as a fierce insistence to be independent led to her paying her own tuition. She was no party animal or sorority sister, but the continuing troubles she had with her sexuality and gender identity pushed her towards casual sex work and the porn industry when work-study wasn't enough. Bel was steadily making her way through adult life, planning to devote the rest of it to medicine like her father. However, as she started having to use her special "survival skills" more and more, she slowly began to realize there was more to her parents than she thought. The Wallflowers were growing in influence, and La Eglantina's daughter was growing a bounty on her head as well. By the time she cornered her parents with the truth, she was already well into medical school and bore nods of her mother's pseudonym and her father's occupation on her back. The betrayal she felt when her brother left her resurfaced as she uncovered her parents lies, spurring her to cut her familial ties and live her own life exclusively by her own means. Bel rejected her father's footsteps in favor of sex work, something she pursued entirely of her own volition, and eventually found herself amongst the "bunny ranches" in Las Vegas, where her life in the crossfire between the Sinners and Jokers would begin. CHARACTER QUOTE: "Do no harm but take no shit." CHARACTER ANTHEM: Half God Half Devil｜In This Moment

EDIT: Risa Zinone fled from Europe as a result of Romani persecution.

P.S.: I reiterate that this is my first group/skeleton/rl fc rp. This is all pretty overwhelming so please have patience with me and for those of y’all who have a lot of experience with these things, please help me out <3

[honmakurara]

Gr8est full Osaka report

Yeah I know I’m (several months) late in writing this report, but:

1) DVD & Blu-Ray are up so I'd honestly love to read the opinion of more and more eighters about this con;

2) the truth is that the Gr8est concerts I attended in Osaka last August left me a bit shaken, for I think it was impossible not to deal with a eighter's feeling, after all.Anyway, since 2018 has gone, 2019 has started and maybe (maybe) I'm coping slightly better with my "Subaru feels", I feel like I can now write down a more relaxed report. Let's try, at least!

I feel very grateful I am in this fandom. Thanks to awesome Eighters I met back in Rotterdam for Misono Universe preview, I was able to attend Gr8est concert twice in Osaka last August. Since 2018 has been a terrible year for Eito, I deeply wished I could go and cheer for them live, but due to various constraints + the fact that I literally live on the other end of the world, I could not take it for granted, not at all. Still, I hoped. And that's why I deeply appreciate the effort and the exquisite kidness of people who allowed me to be there; more than anything else, even more than the concert itself, I have to say this gentleness touched me very, very deeply. Thanks to this, I met new Eighters and I'm, like... in love with them already. Both Eito & Eighters. I really hope I can go back to Japan and meet them again, one day. As for what the concert itself is concerned, to be honest, rather than a full report, at first I thought I was okay with writing just a quick report about how Eito members are handling this Gr8est Tour (that you will find HERE as "6nin eito, musically speaking").I made also another quick post HERE, right after the con.But as day, weeks and months passed by, I thought it was better to write down my personal memories because... they fade. So, sorry if you're going to read quite a messy, random and biased "report"... that's it! A creepy baby voice belonging to an animated Gr8est Baby (lol) introduces the concert... (I do actually wonder to whom that voice belongs... too creepy XD) BAND SESSION: Just like in Jam, the ouverture of the concert has been given to MUSIC (and I like it, because it ROCKS). Just like the mention written on the Tshirt tour "we'll make you forget it with our rock." Exactly. 1. Otou Seyo: unpopular opinion... I didn't like this song. Yeah, it was band-like even in the PV but, I don't know... I couldn't find anything special about it. Anything worth remembering/singing. Well, this tour definitely made me COMPLETELY change my mind (and I like it very much when the brats that Eito are DO that... it's so much like them, making people fall for their every work sooner or later. We are doomed XD)This song was (is) perfect: sung and played like never before, I'd say, strong and powerful and amazing. Everyone sang very focused-like, and above all I can still remember the strength of Ohkura's drums, its sound dominated (very beautifully, very impressively) every. other. sound. I swear. It was incredible to hear, to the point I can still feel its echo even now. I'm sure the DVD will also give justice to the beauty that is this song.If I have to say, I'd say that Eito started this con with a real blast! In between the two songs, Ryo made his initial speech. Very long, straightforward and even cute. He did refer to Subaru and to Eito's will of going on. Gosh, I wanted to hug him. He looked incredibly cool, tender and sweet at the same time. Yeah I know he's a good actor (thus pretty convincing), so it's not like we know how he truly felt like during that moment, but... I want to believe in what he said, being happy and eager to enjoy Eito+Eighters time together. Also, maybe it was just my impression, but it seemed to me like they took "longer pauses" between one song and another, during the band session (while in JAM it was one right after another). Maybe this was also made "for Yasu's sake" in order to let him recover better (or maybe I'm wrong... I just noticed these pauses were quite longer than last year). 2. Koko ni shikanai keshiki: SO GREAT. I'm very very happy this song was in the setlist because I've always, always loved it. It's also very nice for "opening" a concert after Ryo's speech. Oh, and btw during this song Ryo was amazing. 3. Noroshi: another unpopular opinion, I don't like this song. It never grew on me despite all the times they performed it during concerts since winter Eightertainment, on television and so on. Yeah, the PV is pretty cool, and also the lyrics. But it's not King of Otoko to me, I can't help it. Just like Oto Seyo, though, I changed idea after hearing it at this concert. I don't know exactly what's different from before, maybe it's the way Eito seemed to pour all their will power into this song... it turned out great, anyway. I also thought I would have missed Subaru's vocals here but, luckily, I didn't (which is something. Sasuga Eito). 4. Itta Janai ka: Aww, cuties! don't ask me whether they changed lyrics during their solo parts in this song, because I have no idea, I couldn't catch their words XD (I do remember Eighters laughed and cheered for them, anyway XD) What I can remember is also that the stage started moving forward, "Jukebox-like", and this is so freaking cool. Technically speaking I loved that choice in Jukebox because, I mean, can you imagine having to shift a whole band of people with a whole set of electronic instruments while singing and playing o_O? Exactly. I loved it! 5. Nagurigaki Beat: a song that grew on me slowly but steadily. I had the impression the dome was particularly "on fire" during this song, or maybe it was just me XD 6. Kokoro Sora Moyou: I've liked this song for so long that I was almost "surprised" it could be part of the setlist (when, unfortunately, Tsuyoku Tsuyoku Tsuyoku did not make it...) . It was soooooo lovely to hear. 7. Heavenly Psycho: okay, now, the feels and the confession. As far as I never liked the original song (with Uchi's presence... sorry, he's not my cup of tea) and I never really understood why Eito are so fond of this, I came to fall deeply in love with its "updated version" they sang during Genki con/DVD. I cried a river because it was too beautiful and because Ohkura was not there (being ill in the hospital). Hearing it live, OMG, I think I froze. To the point I didn't manage to enjoy it as I wished (yeah I know it's stupid but this was what happened), on my first day. The following day I felt better and I started crying when they played it, so I think I'm helpless XD 8. BJ: I'm deeply in love with this song, but I was so nervous during Heavenly Psycho that when I first heard the beginning of this song, I didn't even recognize it. Then, half of my mind went "OMG they're playing this one right after HP, they want me dead" and the other half was "mind going blank." Also, Ohkura's voice faltered during his lines (that I AM IN LOVE WITH), so... ç_ç I know it's not Ohkura's fault, but my heart clenched in pain with him during this song. Same as HP, the following day I cried a river. 9. Zukkoke Otokomichi: this song belongs to Yoko fully XD It's all I can remember about it, with Yoko taking the lead and being basically everywhere during the song (it's probably not like this, but my biased mind is... biased XD). Oww I loved it sooo much, the "sped-up" version is so freakin' cool!!! 10. Musekinin Hero: by this time, if I remember well, the moving stage had gone back to its original place, while my poor feelings had not, especially when Ryo decided to go around here and there and everywhere while playing the guitar Anyway I don't think I have mentioned so far how badass Yasu was while playing, during EACH of the band songs XD It was a pleasure to see he was able to move freely and more. Also there was a time during one of the first songs (KNSKeshiki?) when he joined Maru's spot and Ryo did the same and omg they played in circle facing each other and it was just too cool! 11. Life: oh this is so tough. What this song means to both Eito and Eighters, both before Subaru's departure and after that. I really hoped they would include this one in the setlist because it's, like, some kind of identity card of who they are, what they could achieve, what they can aim for, the way they've always struggled to see the light, the way they've never given up. Never ever. This song is precious and carries a deep meaning, but also a sort of "burden", I think, after it was the last one they sang with Subaru (with Ryo finally crying out his pain). Re-starting as Eito had to pass through this (and go on through Koko Ni), so even if they didn't play it flawless (Maru is a bit unsure sometimes, vocally speaking, when playing Subaru's lines, and Ohkura was really struggling to sing properly -I don't think I'll ever forget his bent head while singing-), it was too precious and I cried. I wanted to sing it along with them, but I had to stop midway because my eyes were so teary I wasn't able to see nor the boys nor the big screens anymore. So, well... I'm very happy that this song keeps staying by their side always. 12. Omoidama: other tears, okay. Maybe I remember very badly but for this song, Eito stood up and sang it all lined up on the main stage. This song carries extraordinary beautiful lyrics so maybe it's no wonder that I gave up again and went teary (again!), especially seeing Ohkura conveying his everything into this song. I like Omoidama, it always gave me positive thinking; at least until Eito performed it one last time with Subaru on television, and I don't know even know why, I felt so moved I cried. During this live concert, once again. MC I understand very, very little Japanese, and Eito during MC change topic every half a minute, so I have to confess I didn't get most of their talks. I think they started talking about nicknames? or the way people calls them at work? Something like that? Memorable thing was Maru anyway (bless him) that made a few incredibly resembling monomane about the different firework types... A-WE-SO-ME XD Yasu was sent behind the stage to rest, and I also witnessed cute Ryo making sure Ohkura got his own water bottle before giving back the empty bottles to staff guys :p 

Second part of the concert: 

13. Ima / 14. Hesomagari / 15. ER2 / 16. Gamushara Koushinkyoku: during this parts Eito went on the little moving stages (dunno how they're called) and despite the fact that I don't like Ima (I like the lyrics and the PV, but not the frilly dance), I was blessed with a Tatsu rapping his everything during ER2 right above me (well he was not exactly near but I was so dumbstruck he is REAL, so please forgive me)... so when I saw the DVD preview with him screencapped exactly during that moment, omg, the feels!! 

Solos: 

17. Watashi Kagami: I cried. 18. TORN: I was speechless. 19. PanPanda: I died from cuteness. 20. Love&King: I grinned like an idiot XD 

Okay, on a more serious note:

17. Watashi Kagami: my fave about Yasu's solos, I was so hyped and dokidoki, and Yasu looked so tiny (well, I was far away) all by himself on stage but at the same time his presence and his soul was HUGE and I was blown away during his performance. I relaxed down completely, and hearing him was like having the sweetest lullaby ever. I cried. I really loved, loved loved it utterly. I'm so grateful I could hear this live. 18. TORN: ahhhh. I'm not coherent. Quite differently from Watashi Kagami, I kept being too hyped/dokidoki/nervous all the time during TORN so I cannot say I enjoyed this as I wished but still, I'm so happy I was there. I went to the cons with no spoilers about the setlist BUT the solos, and back then when I heard about TORN I couldn't believe it and was even scared and panicking bc, what if they only played it in Sapporo? what if they changed the part of the setlist like they did for winter Eightertainment? I know it's incredibly stupid and selfish of me but I went into all kind of idiot thinking bc I wanted to see them SO MUCH çoç Then, well, I really was there ♥♥♥ One day I was in arena () and I witnessed Ryo GRINNING like an idiot (in love) when he came on stage for TORN, before his own part started. He's in love, yeah I know U_U No I'm not coherent about this, sorry! SORRY! Oh but did you see Ryo SMILING LIKE AN IDIOT also during his dance part together with Tatsu çOç??? 19. PanPanda: two cutieeeeees! During this cuteness I manage to collect all the pieces of my heart that had melted during Watashi Kagami and TORN... 20. Love&King: when Takatsuking project first began, long ago, I wasn't that eager, but he slowly grew on me with time and this perf was epic! TORN presence during Love&King was so funny, I might have fangirled more on this rather than TORN itself, maybe because TORN does not give you the time to THINK, actually King on his throne was THE BEST XD 

Game corner: Ohkura Tik + another thing whose purpose I didn't exactly understand, but it was funny to see and I saw TORN again dealing with this thing together, so my feels were a mess XD Ohkura Tik corner was terribly stupid and cute and the best thing ever. Seriously.

The Yokohina part here is definitely my fave, and whole dome squealed as much as I did, so I was double happy XD

 21. Hibiki / 22. Namida no Kotae: two quite "Ohkura-centered" songs to begin with, I'm not very fond of those but several parts had me moved. As said above, Ohkura's voice was off but he tried his best, I remember him bending forward so much, nearly crouching in order to sing better (?) and he nonetheless smiled all the time. It was kinda painful to see ç__ç 

23. King of Otoko / 24. Tsumi to Natsu / 25. Clover / 26. Maemuki Scream: during this part here I have barely memories because they went around on carts and the fangirl that is in me tried desperately to look everywhere at the same time. Sorry. Eito were as energetic as always and I really enjoyed watching them going around, not to mention all Eighters doing the dance moves just like them omg so perfect!!! so skilled!!! I'm a fan of Eighters also XD 

27. Osaka Romanesque: I think I have been very very lucky hearing this in Osaka. I remember when they mentioned lyrics of places I had been into just a few hours before, and I burst into tears from feels and I felt I wanted to hug Eito and Eighters and the whole dome at the same time. It gave me shivers and it felt very special. Encore 28. Sweet Parade / 29. Panorama / 30. Aoppana I don't like Sweet Parade/Panorama very much, but they're okay songs for an encore, so I didn't stop from fangirling here x3

31. Koko Ni: ah, this. Even Eighters barely remembered the lyrics bc it was the newest song, and Eito in Osaka didn't play it yet as we saw that in Tokyo or Fukuoka, I mean, hugging each other or being the usual idiots. But still, the overwhelming feeling this song spread on the whole dome when they sang it is... I cannot describe it enough, I guess. They sang it one beside another, like Hibiki, but at the same time they played it from the bottom of their hearts, with all the love and feels they carried. When I walked back to my hotel, my legs were jelly beans, my feels were a mess and I couldn't even realize I had just come back from Kyocera Dome. All I could hear in my mind was Koko ni. Ugh ♥

Random things: 

1. I attended the concert of 25th August 2018 in Osaka... yeah, the anniversary of Eito Kansai debut Two years ago, on that very same day, I attended my very first Eito event (Recital in Nagoya), which is still so precious to me *_* 

2. It was my very first time attending a concert at Kyocera Dome, my first time in an arena seat (!!!! on Saturday only, close to a spot where Ryochan performed torn), my first time being freaking nervous before/during/after the concert. The following day I relaxed down quite a lot. My memories about the concert come straight from Sunday only, while as for Saturday, I have mostly a black-out. 

3. despite the arena seat, our area got zero gintape, but I am very happy anyway because a friend of mine offered me a green gin tape... my treasure çOçEighters are really the best  I am sorry that I was so much "blacked-out" during the cons that even of my very very very favourite moment, the final one when Eito join hands and so do Eighters, I only have blurred memories. But the lingering, beautiful feeling is always there, though.

It wouldn't be fair of me to even try making a comparison between GR8EST and JAM, that I both attended, because if last year everything seemed perfect, now we now that it wasn't exactly like so (after Yasu's surgery and Subaru's idea of leaving already in the way) and this latest tour proved how Eito tried their hardest to start again from scratch and from -literally- body and soul deep injuries. They didn't come out unscathed but they really, really opened their own heart up to eighters in order to share a good time together. I've said this before, Ryo was impressive and amazing all the time. A cutie, a cool guitarist, a still a bit awkward "leader" but always very humble in his attitude, even during the 'least important' of moments of the show. It really impressed me how he made sure that every Eito member took their drink during MC, how he brought back the empty bottles... maybe a very ordinary gesture, but so caring, and he wasn't even supposed to do that himself. While Ohkura's attitude broke my heart because he was obviously unwell with his voice off and his desperate attempts to sing 'well' anyway. He drummed with all his might and soul, and he waved energetically (with that SOFT arms of his) even to the most far away upper seats. He later said he felt like he received tons of love in Osaka and by reading that I melted, even though the day of the concert I didn't melt, I just squealed like an idiot despite being very far, so I feel really the biggest idiot ever XD Anyway. Teeny tiny Yasu isn't teeny tiny anymore. He might have been recovering, but he was very sassy when playing the guitar and never showed any mercy to his fragile body, I'd say O-o He was impressive and so is his voice, growing very fast and very beautifully. Maru is a softie. What would we do without Maru's gags XD? We know he's hurt the most by Subaru's absence but, again, he never let those feelings overshadow the show, the music, the other members. Yoko and Hina, papa and mama, mama and papa. Yoko, to me, was like watching Maru: not letting himself go, giving his very best both on trumpet and on cheering Eighters when he had to. I wanted to hug him so tight!!! And Hina is a steady rock and among all the other qualities of this man, I am really, really thankful he is there to watch over the whole group (and that's how KING+TORN was born 8D - sorry just kidding ^^''). Maybe the Eito we saw during GR8EST weren't the most sparkling Eito ever, but they sure are the guys that risked it all by choosing to go on even this time, despite many hardships, and they won the deal, because Eighters are there with them. On a closing note, I remember Tacchon doing the gay monomane a few times during the con and one last time before saying 'bye, and this time he was with Yasu who tried to imitate him, obviously failing due to his injured waist. This made the whole dome laugh and I found the whole thing honestly so sweet, rather than gross (it'd normally be gross, I guess), because this is just so much like Eito, "find and share the laughter even when normally only some sad/pity thoughts would be there." That's one of the reason why I fell for them, and probably the biggest and deepest one that keeps me tied to them. So despite my tears and my messy feels of those days, I can say it aloud: I'm very proud to be an Eighter PS: god bless Ohkura always for being such a fanboy of his own group and singing the lines of the songs even when he's not supposed to. You damn cutie, I love you!

[alexswak]

On Animation

These are mostly some personal views and experiences, you are welcome to read but don’t hold high expectations. In the last 2 years or so I didn’t watch as much anime as I used to, probably because I don’t find anime as entertaining as before. My interest in sakuga and Japanese animators was the first time I found value in animation itself, regardless of other aspects such as the story. The sheer expressive power of Ohira’s drawings, or Kanada’s unique timing, all brought me joy and still do.

Yet even this joy I find in sakuga won’t last forever, and I can say that rarely does any scene amaze me like my first contact with works from not only legendary animators such as Ohira and Kanada, but even Ebata and Tanaka. I didn’t lose my interest in commercial sakuga that’s for sure, most what I watched lately were obscure shows I wanted to see what X animator or X director did in them. It’s just that I’m looking for something new, and I knowingly didn’t experience basically anything the wide medium of animation has to offer.

I think the majority of anime fans, animation fans in general even, just watch animation because it’s “anime” or maybe “Disney”. If an anime with a somewhat good story and almost still good-drawn images was to be produced, I bet it would gain some following and popularity among non-japanese fans at least. I also bet such a thing already happened. This reminds of a funny phrase I heard from a friend: “people think that animation isn’t important in animation”.

But then, everyone is free to prefer whatever they want in my opinion. I just think that people who have this view don’t see the real merit of animation and its real beauty, to a big extent at least. Works with outstanding stories and fascinating themes such as Ghost in the Shell receive praise mostly due to that aspect only, the story and themes, with maybe mentioning “good and smooth” animation as a side point. But such works exhibit what really makes animation what it is and takes of advantage of the capabilities of this medium, just look at the Hollywood adaptation to compare(regardless of the fundamentally different execution).

Maybe the main approach of commercial animation takes most of the blame here. Ask any random person “what is special about animation?”, and probably the answer would be something along the lines of “unlimited imagination” or “fascinating imaginary worlds”, referring to Disney’s princesses or Ghibli's fantasy. Yet live-action movies are capable of creating such worlds thanks to modern and even kinda old technology(if we ignore the ongoing controversy regarding the definition of these works), while other more realistic animation works such as Satoshi Kon’s show animations’ features and perks, the features that are the reason why he famously prefered to use animation in all his movies despite being more of a live-action director in nature. What I’m trying to say is this: animation isn’t just a container with the sole purpose of conveying a story or a message, nor is the importance solely in the content conveyed, but in the way it’s conveyed. That’s why a lot of people who work in animation refuse the idea of mimicking live-action, for example.  

After sakuga my interested shifted towards independent and experimental animation especially the japanese ones, like Koji Nanke and Youji Kuri. The story of independent japanese animators is a long one, better covered here. Watching their works made me realize more and more how diverse animation is, and the different exciting ways to transmit an idea through animation. You may say that everything I said till now was just cretesizing commercial animation and praising independent/experimental animation because I love them, yet I didn’t deny that Ghibli and Disney(2D) movies, which are commercial for sure, are some of the best animation works from a technical and artistic standpoint. What I’m criticizing is the narrow outlook on animation, even among the commercial works. Animation isn’t only hand-drawn or 3D, you have collage and stop-motion and puppets and others. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the former Association of Japanese Animations(AJA) president, the late Kihachiro Kawamoto, never drew anything, he was but an amazing puppet animator. Before Kawamoto was Tezuka, a person who plainly hates commercial mainstream animation and whose experimental works probably outnumber his commercial ones. Kawamoto’s successor, the current president Taku Furukawa, is a renowned independent animator and one of Youji Kuri’s students. Movies such as Isle of Dogs getting a wide positive reception makes me happy.

A famous use of collage was in Madoka Magica’s labyrinths, which Gekidan Inu Curry duo handled. It consists of Shirashi Ayumi(former Gainax) and Anai Yosuke(former defunct studio named Tanto). Their participation in Madoka Magica and many other Shaft shows came probably due to their relation with the director Yukihiro Miyamoto. I went a bit off track, but all this was to say that I enjoy Kihachiro Kawamoto’s collage works especially such as The Trip(1973), although he is better known for his puppet works, that are great nonetheless. This isn’t because I don’t enjoy puppetry, Jiří Trnka amazes me- for example. I bet that his magnum opus, The Hand(1965), would astonish any animation fan not only in its visuals, but in the way it handles and presents its themes as well, which led to banning this movie that obviously opposes the communist occupation of Czech.

from right to lefr: Madoka Magica, The Trip, Kenju Giga.

Now that I mentioned Czech, it’s one of the richest countries when it comes to animation and animation history. Many other east-european countries as well. Trnka is enough on his own, but even with other animation arts it’s a region that has a rich and old history of experimentation and early works. Tezuka’s inspiration for his short Jumping(1984) came from none other than a hungarian short called The Fly(1980). The animator behind Jumping, Junji Kobayashi, reminds me always of a fun fact about Tezuka. Kobayashi himself has a deep passion for insects and wildlife in general. Alongside being a member of multiple insect societies and organisations, including The Japanese Association for Insects, he wrote a book on how to animate animals based on Mushi/Tezuka Pro's principles. But if there's a bigger insects nerd than him, it's Tezuka, who deliberately added the kanji for insect(虫) in his pen name(same reading to his original name). Tezuka also has some books on insects or animals, in a fictional or realistic depiction. The last book I want to mention, the most interesting probably, is Kobayashi's "Osamu Tezuka That No One Knows - The Mess of Mushi Pro", an interesting title especially when you consider that Kobayashi is one of the oldest Mushi Pro members, having spent about 23 years with Tezuka till his death. Kobayashi joining Mushi Pro in the first place may have been due to Tezuka sharing him his insects passion, as "Mushi" is the same "insect　虫" in Tezuka's pen name after all.

Anyway, what I was trying to say is this: If you are looking for something more than just "brainless fun", try watching different kinds of animation, the world of animation is vast and diverse. Some works that I like(not necessarily a good start for everyone):

Aru Machikado no Monogatari(1962, Mushi Pro)

The first project by Tezuka's Mushi Pro. He tried different styles in this movie, demonstrating his intentions from the beginning. Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, whose start was in another experimental studio named Otogi Pro, with animators such as Gisaburo Sugii, it is one of the best works the studio produced. It contained a variety of interesting and beautiful styles, even limited animation was used although there is no economical constraint here, what makes me think that it was an experiment before going all limited with Astro Boy later. A great movie overall.

Jumping(1984, Tezuka Pro)

There is a nice interview about this short and experimental works in general with Osamu Tezuka here.

Machikado no Märchen(1984)

The Hand(1965, Jiří­ Trnka)

Tabi(1973, Kihachiro Kawamoto)

Kenju Giga(1970, Kihachiro Kawamoto)

The Fly(1980, Ferenc Rofusz)

[aion-rsa]

What Dino Fury’s Move to Netflix Means for Power Rangers

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After ten years Power Rangers has found a new home. Since 2011 the long-running franchise has been on Nickelodeon but, according to Deadline, starting in spring 2022 the second season of Power Rangers Dino Fury will premiere exclusively in the U.S. on Netflix. This is a major shift that could have long reaching impacts for not just the show but also the franchise as a whole. Let’s explore some of what this could mean moving forward.

 More Serialized Stories

While it’s likely that Dino Fury’s second season will continue with its mix of light serialization and stand alone stories, if Power Rangers continues to be made for Netflix this could change how the show itself is written. For the past ten years Power Rangers has had to stick to a mostly episodic structure to make it easier for Nickelodeon and broadcasters around the world to air the episodes in whatever order they wanted whenever they wanted. This meant there couldn’t be huge cliffhangers mid season (when the show would often go on upwards of five month hiatus’) nor could there be long story arcs.

With the move to Netflix, the show could have more freedom to tell longer and more complicated stories, knowing that the audience will be able to binge a group of episodes at a time. The only thing that might prevent this from happening is that, as far as we know, the series is still set to air on broadcast TV in other countries, which may keep some of the episodic demands in place. Even still, if Netflix is the primary home we hope that this will free Power Rangers up to tell bigger and longer stories.

 A Return to Longer Seasons

Trying to talk about Power Rangers “seasons” has been tricky ever since Nickelodeon began airing the franchise. Instead of one season being aired over one year, the traditional 40ish episodes for a season were broken up into two seasons of 20ish episodes a year. Thus, for example, you’d get 20 episodes of Power Rangers Samurai one year and then 20 episodes of Power Rangers Super Samurai the next year. While technically two seasons they still formed a whole season of stories.

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With Netflix not having the same constraints in airing as Nickelodeon we could get more episodes across the span of the year. Instead of 20 in a year we might get 40! This would of course mean ramping up production much quicker but if Netflix wants the content, it will be made!

Will All Future Seasons Debut on Netflix?

Right now all we know is that the second season of Dino Fury will drop on Netflix starting in spring 2022 but after that things get murky. There’s no commitment yet if Netflix is to be the exclusive home for new Power Rangers seasons after Dino Fury. The future after Dino Fury hasn’t been made clear but we doubt it’ll go back to Nickelodeon after this. Perhaps Netflix is just a stopgap. Three years ago Power Rangers made a deal with Nickelodeon to air the show for three more years so maybe they just needed a home for the second season of Dino Fury. Maybe Hasbro has big plans for the franchise that go beyond just airing the show through Netflix. Speaking of…

Is This a Move To The “Reboot Universe”?

Around this time last year we heard the first rumblings of a Power Rangers “reboot universe” from director Jonathan Entwistle. There was talk of a new live-action movie, a “non-kid” TV show, “new animation” and more. While there’s been little public facing forward momentum for any of these projects, perhaps the move to Netflix is just the first step of setting this all up. Perhaps Power Rangers could fall completely under the Netflix umbrella? After all, Netflix and Hasbro have been working close together on other projects including a number of original Transformers series. If you’re trying to do a big interconnected universe of new shows, kids or otherwise, having them all in one place would make a lot of sense.

All of this talk is somewhat muddied by the reminder that, up until a few months ago, Netflix had every season of the franchise available to watch. Now it only has a smattering of seasons. Why become the exclusive home if you’ve just lost a big chunk of the franchise? Contracts are a complicated thing so perhaps the old seasons could reappear on the service at a later date.

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Even still, new seasons getting to debut first on Netflix is an exciting move for the franchise and could mean a whole new era going forward!

The post What Dino Fury’s Move to Netflix Means for Power Rangers appeared first on Den of Geek.

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AR Oracles

Avital and I worked together on the design of a possible AR-assisted Oracle app for this week's meditation. There were a lot of components that we thought about implementing, but due to time constraints, we narrowed our scope for today down to a fairly simple technical prototype to showcase image tracking and some of the AR content we'd like to include, as well as designing a few of the cards that might go in the physical deck. At its core, the app would act as a companion to a physical deck and supplement the existing ritual of a reading, as well as the smaller ritualistic actions of creating a spread and shuffling, drawing, and flipping cards.

I mainly worked on the digital aspect, which involved getting a camera to recognize images and spawn specific objects on top of them in an AR space. The setup of just image tracking is pretty simple with AR development kits (though usually glitchy), but I also was spending an unreasonable amount of time trying to code in some custom stuff to make UI text appear and change, and make it so that moving two cards close to each other or in a specific orientation would trigger something. I'm probably reserving that for future work, so what I have right now is just flowers growing out of cards that are recognized.

The flow of using the app would be similar to the Golden Thread app, where a user would be met with a home screen that displays their daily card when they open it up, and they can then navigate to a menu from which to pick a specific spread.

The AR component kicks in there, changing from typical UI to the camera with an instruction and guide overlay. Based on which spread the user chose, the app would guide them through laying out the spread and flipping and scanning each card to register them into the image tracking library. When the user reaches the last card, there would ideally be some kind of animation at the end involving all the AR content that synthesizes the reading in some way, and it would be different for each spread.

I'm left wondering whether all the AR content should be already set for the user, or if a mode of customization would be desirable. The cards would stay the same, but maybe more experienced users/readers could choose what they want to appear when cards are recognized and tracked. We went with a botanical theme, but someone might derive more meaning from astrological entities or different crystals etc. appearing from the cards.

There's a lot more work that could go into this. For now, if I were to keep going for a bit, I'd want to add in some extra flair to the AR and get a UI overlay on the camera so that it's less bare.