#stylistic choices are one thing & like just Doing Something Because are two different things

[lapeaudelamemoire]

There is a person on IG that looks to be of East Asian descent who is a hobbyist model. They have recently taken to wearing hanfu in at least 3 photoshoots I have seen to date.

All of the hairstyles are Wrong. It may look kind of right or okay at first glance, but when you look a bit closer they just seem just a little bit off. I do not know how to explain this Exactly Precisely except for pointing out that in varying cases, it is a) too wide; b) not enough accessories in the appropriate places (you do not make a big hairstyle with a lot of empty spaces normally unless it is to put accessories in. In dynastic eras the more elaborate the hairstyle the more pins you have in it. This is because the pins hold the style and the various bits that go into that style in place. So a great big empty space is Unrealistic because it looks like Something Is Missing, unless it is a simple enough hairstyle that it can feasibly be held up with minimal pins.), for instance having pins in the front but no adornments in the back; c) in the latest post I just saw, the front sections of their hair are just Down while there are braids to the back of it. This Does Not Happen. At most you are allowed some strands of hair escaping at the front, you Cannot have whole front sections of your hair on each side down. Or else they are Too Tall and just Straight Up. Unrealistically so. It is just Wrong.

I have never seen such Wrong hairstyles in hanfu before. It Bothers me so much. Even just leaving their hair down would be better.

I realise after I have written this that it is just sad and kind of upsetting to see when people (diaspora) are trying to reconnect with their heritage and are either misinformed or miss the mark in terms of 'Actually, That's... Not It' somehow. It also annoys me because this can go on to misinform other people not from our culture as to what something is or looks like.

Like I understand that diasporic Chinese food for instance is its own thing, but like - I saw a post somewhere where a Chinese diaspora person had written in a novel all poetically about the way a particular Chinese character supposedly came to be written as it is (told, of course, to them by a 'Master Wang') - they said the word 黑 ('black', pronounced hēi) is made up of a mouth (口) bifurcated by and on top of earth/ground (土) being heated over fire (火), even going so far as to make metaphors about it.

This is completely incorrect. It's actually a field (田) on top of the earth (土) and fire below (火). It cannot be a mouth (口) because it does not account for the two dots/点 in the 'mouth' at the very top of the word 黑. Just Googling it on Wiktionary will show you this.

But it's... published in an English-language book now, this. And I came across it because some other Chinese diaspora person had shared this page, commenting that this author 'writes so evocatively of characters that it gives them such feeling' or something to that effect. When it is flat out Wrong.

It's just in the same vein of things as like - once a Chinese diasporic friend said they were looking at buying some hanfu and wanted my opinions on which, and proceeded to show me something on Etsy that, at a glance, was immediately clear to me that it wasn't hanfu; it was more Japanese (the belt/sash was wrong, it was too wide and fastened differently iirc, something like that). Or like when I and my dad wore hanfu for Chinese New Year back home in Sg, and my uncle and several other people commented like, 'Wah, wearing kimono ah/why wearing Japanese stuff?'

Like... I understand that reconnecting with heritage is a tricky thing, especially when you don't have a lot of background, which is kind of the whole thing, in many cases; and that it is a very personal thing and that in some cases as diaspora it is completely about transforming or making something new of it. But at the same time, some things really are 'right' or 'wrong', in the sense that some things do fall within a 'Yes this is how it looks like/is done' and 'Oh that's not quite how it is' circle. Like it just wouldn't be true to say that, oh, idk, Chinese people believe that the Jade Emperor is the One God. The Jade Emperor is one of the immortals we have in our lore/believe in! But it's not true that we think there's only The One God. Or something like - God forbid, wearing the collar crossed right over left (only done at funerals after the person is Dead).

You are free to break the rules - but only if you know them well enough first to know what the rules Are.

[caesarflickermans]

thg fans, we need to talk about the "rose map".

with TBOSAS, a new Panem map emerged diverging from previous map iterations. Fans have attempted to explain the stylistic difference as either a Capitol map or an in-universe artistic interpretation resembling a rose.

however, this map resembles a popular fan-made map. let's finally address this.

[image id: two pictures of a map. the first map has been made by a fan with its social media links included. the second map is titled "history of panem". the first map has several districts marked in a circular form moving inward toward the capitol. the second map is a similar design with the same shapes moving toward an inner centre. it's red colour makes it look like a rose]

Note the resemblance of the District placements and their shapes. District 4 and its island are especially noteworthy.

the original artist has spoken out today on a reddit post. this is their statement:

Hi, I'm aimmyarrowshigh who created this map, and I just wanted to thank you for pointing out here and when it was originally revealed that Lionsgate stole it from me.  They never contacted me to ask about using my Panem map (even though it is copyrighted as part of The Panem Companion) and did not give me any credit for its use. If they wanted to use it as the TBOSAS map, I would have gladly worked with them to update it to their design specs in exchange for whatever they paid their graphic designers and an acknowledgement in the end credits! I would have been thrilled! But instead, they stole it without any regard, and they're ignoring the Cease & Desist sent by my lawyers. (I am being aided by the legal team at the OTW.)  I am so disappointed by their decisions regarding this issue, from the initial choice to use it without just... asking... or even informing me... to their refusal to admit that they did such a thing. The fact that the graphic design company quietly removed it from IG after Lionsgate got the C&D, yet they still aren't going to give any credit or compensation for its use, is kind of depressing.  I think I can probably speak for any fan artist or meta writer in saying that having one of my crazy ideas made canon is super cool, and if they had asked me whether they could use my map design, I would have said yes AND probably been a lot cheaper than whoever they paid to steal it, just because I would have been so chuffed to see it in the movie. I'm kind of heartbroken that they didn't respect it, or me, enough to just... shoot me an email. You know? I know some people will probably reply and say "it's just a fanwork" or "you made it 13 years ago, get over it" or something like that, but fanworks are made out of pure love for the thing (in this case, THG) and Lionsgate took advantage of my love for THG to earn a little more money directly (on merch) and indirectly (in the movie itself). That's gross, imo. Just because it's a fanwork doesn't mean it isn't the intellectual property of the person who created it -- and especially in the case of something like this map, which exists specifically because it DIDN'T exist in canon at the time I created it.  Anyway, tl;dr: yes, they stole it, and thank you for pointing that out so consistently. 

what to do as fans?

boycott the "rose" map. do not buy the map / do not promote it / raise awareness / share this post.

uplift fan work. support fans / share & credit fan work.

supporty aimmyarrowshigh. buy or talk about the panem companion / share the original map.

[accio-victuuri]

March CPNs

this month’s banner theme is tennis boyfriends! lol. when i saw it, i knew it would fit, cause this month was also when WYB went for the lacoste show and most interviews was him talking about tennis. and who is the other actor who mentioned this sport too? another coincidence! why is it always them? 😂😂😂 from new au pairings, coins, similarities and kadian drama— this month delivered the goods to us!

time to review and look back at the delicious candies we ate this month:

• the bone necklace potentially getting replaced because of some anti rumors and what it means.

• circle elements in xzs vlog is a nod to cpf comments that have yellow circles

• lacoste and bjyx

• yibo shows cpfs some love at chanel pfw

• here are some other pfw minor clownery. 🌸

a nice detail seen in his clothes/jacket are red and green flowers. you all know how we feel about red and green in this fandom. yeah, this must be a stylist’s choice blah blah blah but that just how cpns work. and it’s so cute too!

descendants of the sun parallel! please! you all know i’m weak for this shit. chenwei will always reign supreme, but what if chen yu decides to go full on army or whatever.

i also found it funny how fans are noticing the difference with their clothes. xz was revealing in his own way & wyb was all covered up. of course these are two different brands so the clothes and everything will not be the same. but that’s actually what’s good about them, how different they are. and yet— they complement each other really well and have the same values in life. they try and learn what the other person’s interest is so they can have a better relationship. 🤍

posing with their female seatmates 🤣🤣🤣

• a similarity we noticed too was that wyb was on his phone before the lacoste show, and it reminded us of how xz was doing the same at gucci mfw. i think we went 👀 because for xz, we were already clowning that he was messaging wyb or reading message from him then something similar happens to wyb. it could be a completely different thing and who can blame them for checking their phone while on “downtime” — but let us be with our fake story from these two incidents 😌😌😌

• on 3/5 chang feng po lang released a new character poster for wyb’s character wei ruolai. because of it, a new AU pairing was born. wei ruolai x patient #5. i swear. their characters look good together! some also pair wei ruolai up with xiao sa or chunsheng 😂😂😂

i have to say younger chunsheng before he went to military and ruolai match so well together!

• same answers on fashion week interviews: comfortable dressing & the color black

• another perspective on the coin that appeared in zz’s vlog - relation to wei ruolai and war of faith trailer this is further “proven” when wei ruolai’s character posted was revealed and he was tossing a coin. look, i know it’s highly unlikely that the whole concept was a way to tease us with WYB’s drama. but it’s a nice double meaning and more! 🪙🪙🪙

• since there is a new character out for one of them, another new AU pairing was born! wei ruolai x xiao chunsheng 🤍🤍🤍

• the two of them being featured at vogue website as stand outs during their respective fashion week appearances. it’s not really cpn but more on them being the power couple 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 and i’m just so proud of them. years later, they still shine so bright and it has no signs of even fading.

even with weibo engagement, both of them were on top during their respective events. no one could even come close. and why, it’s so hard for them to work together, or why no one would allow that to happen cause it will be game over. lol.

• our dearest tennis couple 🎾 ; this has become more prevalent in the fandom because of wyb’s lacoste ad!

• the inception possibility - tbh i’m just desperate to relate this movie to them and a cpn 😂😂😂

• the collab between cotti and dove - this is most likely a business movie that has no input from xz and wyb. these are big brands that take care of their company but what’s sus is how cotti posted the announcement of this collab at 10:05. you would think dove would be the one to do that since xz is their endorser. or they could use 10, 10:10 or 10:30 posting time which are equally usual time slots for brand announcements. but no. it feels intentional on their side to use that association. of course it led to some drama but we still made some lemonade out of it by going through some old endorsement CPN examples that was funnily enough, dug out by solo fans who are clowns themselves.

• some are clowning (slightly) over WYB’s alleged kadian a day after the cotti drama when he FW the post for olympics because it read a (14:38) lifetime zhanbo. but you all know how picky i am with kadians. the vcr was shared 14:30 so i guess he only had a narrow window to share, not sure if intentional or not. for me, personally, not everything is kadian. considering the topic too, this is a national/international event. i don’t think it should be used for cpn. i’d like to think WYB is more professional than we are. but who knows 🤷🏻��♀️

• this bts video from war of faith! it shows wyb being active — moving around and doing some exercises. reminds us so much of how xz was like during SBMS bts that was released. they are so similar!

• GG’s weibo post the night before WoF premiere

• adding this to the list of brands they both use for their wardrobe: NANS. as usual disclaimer, these are clothes used in brand shoots and may have been chosen by hired stylist of the brand or their own. who knows. i just like archiving stuff like this, especially for lesser known brands that seem to only be worn by them. some examples below:

lesser known because XZ/WYB are so popular so you would expect them to wear name brands. if not, a company that the general public likes. on weibo, the brand only has 132k followers which is pretty low and they don’t repost photos of celebrities who used their clothes— nothing about WYB or XZ or anyone else.

• 3/21, premiere date of WoF, WYB shares a new trailer for the drama. The weibo account of WoF posted @ 9:58 and WYB on 10:06. So the CPN is, did he miss? was this supposed to be 10:05? considering what XZ did the day before with his post. Personally, i’m relieved that he didn’t do it 10:05 to prevent drama with his so/os because this time is crucial. we can’t afford these sensitive ass fans turning away from him and not supporting his work. he is too smart for that, he knows all too well how these things go.

I like this interpretation from cpfs that he didn’t miss, it’s yibo, if he wants to do it 10:05 he will. but he has limits right now, those who know (us cpfs) will get the meaning and understand him. and we do. we always do 💛

•xz molsion live show clues: lego/puzzles, camping and chasing dramas

• xiao zhan calling wyb lai lai ( fake rumor )

• 3/25 XZS post where the 380 yuan fan makes an appearance and the 8th picture significance

• 3/26 fake rumor 🗣️🗣️🗣️

wls wants xls to call him “gege”, xls didn’t, so wls tickled him, xls had no choice so he called wls “gege” softly, after he said it he blushed so hard, and wls didn’t allow us to look 👀.fake rumor don’t believe it

• 3/27 IQIYI livestream/ watch-a-long event with WYB and him smiling when the host said side by side in the snowy mountain part one . part two 💛💛💛

• 3/28 we got to see a VCR of ZZ and his style looks similar to Bobo’s

• new lounge wear brand cp! bananain x miiow 😍😍

• a cute coincidence that in episode 21 of WoF it is revealed that in his hometown, Wei Ruolai has a nickname: “gou gu zai” = Definition: Jiangxi dialect. Refers to a child who has just entered his youth. Young people, they are not deeply involved in the world, but they are full of energy. like a puppy, lively and noisy.

it is exactly like gouzaizai but that one is from Chongqing. i know this is a script and fiction, but the director himself said that when WYB went in as Ruolai, he was inspired by WYB’s personality irl. It also means we were all right, looking at Lai Lai as a puppy during the show.

it’s just so nice to know that GG already found out what WYB’s personality was like early on. that he is a puppy — and feeds more truth to the cpn that GG was the one who gave the 🦴 necklace. a bone for a puppy.

• XZ’s xinxiangyin live “clue” on what activities they do spending time outdoors

-END.

P.S: and that’s the 1st quarter of the year done! just like that! actually, a lot of things happened in the fandom and i’m happy that both the boys continue to be active and we always have content. i also wanna take this time to thank everyone who supports both of them + cpfs who interact with me & my posts i appreciate you! <3 i hope the community here continues to grow and we all have this safe space to be cpfs 🤍🤍🤍

<<< previous month

[justladders]

Dumb question? I was looking at the one picture of Springtrap based on the Ursula reference, and I noticed that the shading on his head is more blended compared to the shade on his arms. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but I was wondering when you know to make harsh vs soft shadows? If that makes sense?

That's not a dumb question! I'm just surprised anyone asked me bc I normally treat shading like an afterthought and need to work on it more. Sometimes I do it one way or the other just because I feel like it, but thinking about it more critically, hard vs. soft shading can be for a lot of different reasons.

Shading gives things depth. You can tell pretty clearly by the unshaded ball below, which can just seem like a flat circle on the page compared to the two with shading.

With the contrast created from shadows and lighting, shading becomes very important to the "feeling" of a piece. Hard shading can feel very stark, especially with darker shadows, and make a clear focal point or clearly mark hard edges. Soft shading can feel gentle and accentuate more rounded surfaces or a gradual fade of the light source. This certainly isn't all that hard and soft shading are used for, but these are examples of why you may choose one or the other.

At the same time, it can simply be a stylistic choice. Think of the cell shading in something like LoZ: Wind Waker; that type of lighting is made to compliment the very big, blocky, shapey style of the game. In old cartoons, they would almost exclusively use solid shadows because they would be hand-drawn onto the characters for every frame. There's styles that use hatching or stippling to create shadows. You can pick a certain way for many reasons.

And you're not even limited to just one kind. Klaus 2019. Beautiful movie. They went crazy with it fr, and made use of a lot of soft light and blended hard-lighting and ougghhhhhhh 👌 You could literally watch that movie with the sound off and enjoy it just as much.

The main way to figure it out is by looking at how other styles/artists that you take inspiration from do it, and then try some different ways out for yourself. You really learn to get a feel for it with practice.

[omnipotent-omnicube]

saw a post mentioning the cameras that show up in some of link click and felt compelled to ramble abt symbolism

here's what i'm talking abt btw

i'm gonna be completely honest and say that first off i thought it was just a stylistic choice to include an older type of camera. however i had only initially seen it in the wallpaper and wasn't really aware that it had shown up multiple times so that's why i kinda thought of this

so the camera that shows up a type called a twin-lens reflex camera, or a TLR for short. it's named for it's double lenses ("twin-lens") and the fact that it has a mirror inside ("reflex"). it was used for quite a while, but they dropped in popularity with the development of single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras, (and later digital single-lens reflex cameras, or DSLR)

this is what a real-life TLR camera looks like:

the way they work is quite simple -- there's two lenses of the same focal length (which determines how much the image is magnified).

the top lens is in front of a mirror at a 45 degree angle, and the viewfinder is on top of the camera. you look down through the viewfinder, and you see what is visible through the top lens

the bottom lens is in front of the shutter, so when the shutter button is pressed, the shutter releases and the film behind is exposed to whatever light shines through the bottom lens, thus capturing your image

here's a diagram:

now TLRs come with their disadvantages -- pretty much any kind of camera does. one significant disadvantage, which isn't present with an SLR camera, has to do with the parallax, or the displacement or the image due to different lines of sight. have you ever crossed your eyes and seen double? that's an example of parallax

when you take a photo with a TLR, the image that you see vs. the image on film is different because there are two different viewpoints: the top lens, which is what you see, and the bottom lens, which is what the film captures. this often ends up making the photo slightly lower than where you thought it would be. in a more extreme circumstance, there could be something only visible through the bottom lens -- like, say, a fly lands on it. you wouldn't be able to see the fly through the top lens if it's sitting on the bottom lens

now, back to symbolism. there are three things that this can symbolize or imply: 1), how we are being kept from the truth and 2), a different timeline, and 3), the varying perspectives between cxs, lg (and possibly li tianxi, by extension)

point 1. like i said, with a TLR you can't truly see the final image whilst photographing. as the series goes on we continue to realize just how much is being hidden from us. what we are seeing is real (within the link click universe); we're not being fooled by the narrative. this narrative does in fact exist, but it's not the true narrative -- the true narrative is what is seen through the bottom lens, what is captured on the film

point 2. the two lenses represent two universes or two timelines. both what is seen through the top and the bottom lens are true viewpoints; the only difference is one actually dictates what is set in stone -- from a timeline perspective, the definitiveness of the film could represent the key nodes. after all, whatever light is captured in the film cannot be taken back, and whatever key nodes is passed cannot be reversed. by extension, while there is a difference between the two views (and the two timelines), they cannot differ too much. after all, the lenses are still very close to each other. the lenses are bound close together by their structure; the timelines are bound close together by their key nodes

point 3. this is more related to parallax. because of the two lenses, there is parallax, a displacement. one lens is one person's view, while the other lens is the other's view. the story uses parallax as a metaphor -- the easiest way for me to explain it is how in season 2 episode 6, when reviewing the case with liu lan and li fan's deaths, captain xiao remarks that it was a domestic violence case where liu lan killed li fan (and was later killed herself), while cheng xiaoshi, after living through the event as li tianxi, reveals that the truth that liu lan was being abused and attacked li fan out of defense. that represents a type of outsider/insider metaphorical parallax. in a broader sense, currently, we have seen the majority of the series through cheng xiaoshi's POV, with only a few moments of lu guang's actual POV. every time we come close to seeing his POV, it's yet again obscured. we know a lot about cheng xiaoshi -- we know the extent of his ability (or, at least what he knows abt the extent), we know what he experiences in the photos, we know his past. we hardly know anything about lu guang. because of that, the story itself is experiencing a displacement of views -- we only see it from cheng xiaoshi's view, and therefore cannot fully determine what the story is about. because of cheng xiaoshi's unawareness of the full story, we're reaching a blind spot with his view. the only way to overcome this is by seeing lu guang's view -- then, we can view the full story, and eventually, the truth

anyways sorry for rambling. i had to be a nerd about photography for a little bit

[spicywhenspeaking]

Star-Crossed Connection: chapter two

Nick Folio x Original Female Character

WC: 3k

masterpost

this is a complete work of fiction, some characters while based on real people are totally made up. :)

Seraphina Holloway is Hollywood’s new it girl. But, when an embarrassing viral video of her ex / costar publicly dumping her goes viral, she thinks she needs a quick fix to help maintain her image. When she’s set to appear at her new movies premier she scrambles to find a date to bring that will help take the white hot spotlight away from her public dumping and show that she’s still desirable to all. Enter Nick Folio, drummer of the metalcore band that’s taking over the scene, Bad Omens. He’s a sweet down to earth guy with a heart of gold and when a smokin hot movie star asks him to be her fake boyfriend for a week he agrees to help. But will the line between fake feelings and reals ones start to blur when Seraphina lets her true self show.

Taglist: @cookiesupplier @lma1986 @to-be-written @bngurngheart @jessicafg03 @knivesforapr0 @thatchickwiththecamera @somewhere-diamond @sorrowsofsilence @malerieee @dsireland86 @collapsedglasshouses @jilliemiw86 @samanthasgone -> tags are open !

A few days later I’m finalizing my festival outfits with my stylist. The photos the paparazzi took were splashed all over the tabloids and drama blogs the day after they found Folio and I were ambushed on our date. 

My plan worked like a charm. Every article or blog post was gushing over me and my newfound love. It was almost too easy to sway the public perception. All it took was a few perfectly timed photos of a new hot guy shielding me from the onslaught of flashes and pestering questions from pathetic men who have nothing better to do than follow girls like me around day and night trying to get a million-dollar photo. 

Looking into the 360 mirror I admire the beautiful black one-strapped ball gown my stylist picked out for the movie premiere. “It’s lovely, this was an amazing find, Lala. Did you find any cute stuff for skiing?” Lala smiles and pulls out another rack of clothes with several snowsuits in all different colors. I decide to try on the pink one and the all-white one. 

“I’ll take both of these they’re so hot, so all that’s left is a few choices for the press junket and I’ll look through some of the options you brought for my date.” I move to look through the outfits she’s picked out for folio and choose a black Armani tux and full black snowsuit along with some jewelry that one of my brand deals has sent. “These are perfect, he is going to look so hot,” I say finishing up and choosing a few more accessories from the table. I grab several rings, necklaces and a few different bags. “So things are getting serious between you and this new guy?” Lala asks and I put on my sweetest lovesick smile, “Oh yeah, he’s great. The perfect guy for me. Nothing like the egomaniac actors I usually date. He’s so real.” I answer, fighting the internal ripple of shame that overwhelms me. Folio and I have been texting back and forth since our paparazzi fiasco and he really is a nice guy. I’m a massive asshole for using him like this but it’s just a week and then I can say something about how it was a mutual decision because both of our careers are so hectic. 

Just then my phone pings with a new message 

Nicky F 🏍️❤️‍🔥: TMZ is blowing up my phone about those pics, what should I say?

Seraphina 👑: you can tell them no comment. Or ignore it, it’s up to you! I’m sorry they’re bothering you, I figured they would just bombard me. 

Nicky F 🏍️❤️‍🔥: No worries sweetheart, you can’t control the crazies that follow you around. 

Damn, I fucking suck. I should just be honest with him. It’ll definitely make it easier if he’s in on my plan. 

Well, I’ll explain it all on the plane when we leave in a couple of days and if he decides just to turn around and go back home I will totally understand. It’ll totally ruin my plan and I’ll look even more of a loser but I can’t just keep lying to him about everything. 

I don’t have any plans for the rest of the day so I decide to head home and rot on my couch. While I’m rewatching Gossip Girl for the millionth time on my couch I get a surprising call from a certain motorcycle-driving drummer. I answer it and am surprised by the smile that spreads across my face at the idea of talking to him. 

Hey Folio! 

Hey sweetheart are you busy? 

Um no, just watching TV what’s up?

Are you up for a ride up the coast to watch the sunset? I know a place.

That sounds great! I can be ready in 20. I’ll text you my address. 

Okay, I’ll head over soon. 

Okay! Bye!

Alright, looking forward to it sweetheart. 

Thirty minutes later I hear the hum of a motorcycle from outside and get a text from Folio that he just pulled up. I run out of my front door wearing my black levis with a plain white tee under my cropped black hoodie. “Hey!” I call out over the sound of the motor. “Hey!” he responds quickly hopping off the bike to wrap his arms around me in a quick hug. “You ready to get out of here?” he asks and I nod enthusiastically “Yes, I’m excited!” 

He climbs back over and I throw my leg over the side behind him and wrap my arms around his waist as he starts up the bike again. “Hold on tight sweetheart” he drawls out as he turns out of the driveway and down the road. 

“I’m taking you to a spot near Malibu that’s beautiful at sunset,” he says over the sound of the roaring motor. 

It takes over an hour to get to the beach, the sun is low but there are still maybe 10 minutes left before it’s fully set. We park and Folio grabs a blanket from a storage trunk on the side of his bike. We walk hand-in-hand to a spot with little foot traffic. He unfolds it, it’s thick, hand-woven, and dark red. It’s large and looks big enough for us to both sit comfortably off of the sand. He spreads it out on the ground so we can sit and watch the sun take its last moments before dipping below the horizon. 

“So, Phi, can I call you Phi?” he asks softly as his gaze slides from the sunset to me. I nod softly as he continues, the orange light of the sun covering him in a warm glow. “so Phi, I want to help you with this whole festival thing, but can you give me some information about what I might expect? Will the paparazzi be around every corner? Or is that only when you give them a heads up where you’ll be?”  

I try and fail to hide the embarrassment and shock that’s written all over my face. “What- what do you mean? Heads up? What do you even mean?- I” his unamused face is all it takes for me to drop the act. I had said to myself I wanted to be honest with him but I guess I didn’t anticipate getting caught. “I’m sorry,” I say with a sigh, “how did you know?”

He laughs softly and tosses a rock he found on the other side of the blanket towards the crashing waves. “I had a hunch, and a photographer friend of mine may have given me a heads up.” He arches a brow at me, waiting for my reply.

“I was going to tell you, I swear. I know that doesn’t mean anything now but-“ I look up as the sun finally disappears, leaving the sky a beautiful orange and pink. “I didn’t want to keep lying to you. I know we’re practically strangers and for some reason, you’ve agreed to help me with this absurd plan, but from now on I promise I will keep you informed on all of the things I can control” I turn to face him, prepared for him to either tell me the plan is off or by some miracle bless me with forgiveness. 

“You know, we could’ve given them way more of a show if I had known” he laughs and the tension I was holding between my shoulders drops. “I don’t really understand your world or how it works but if you teach me I’m happy to play along,” he says and it feels so sincere, I almost wish this was real, but he’s right, he’s just playing along. 

“I think I’ve just let this whole situation get to me too much, I mean look at me, asking some stranger to pretend to be my boyfriend because I’m too--well, it doesn’t matter. I just, all I’ve ever wanted was to act and my parents did everything to help me get to this point. I can’t help but think of how ashamed my dad would be to see me now” 

Folio bumps lightly into my shoulder before throwing his arm around me and pulling me closer into his side. “Strangers? I don’t think so, but there’s definitely more I want to learn about you Phi. I don’t think he’d be ashamed at all.”  He says as he rests his head on the top of mine while we watch the final colors of the day disappear and the darkness of night blanket the sky. “What are you doing tomorrow?” 

“Just final packing for the trip, didn’t have much of anything planned,” I answer. 

He takes a moment to think before he speaks again, “What if instead of flying to Colorado we rent a car and drive to Colorado together? It’s only a 14-hour drive. It will give us time to get to know each other better and since it’s a rental we can just fly home at the end of the week. What do you think?” He asks gaze still fixed on the horizon. 

Humming in thought I consider his proposition. “You want to road trip to Colorado? I guess I could get a last-minute rental, we’d need to leave tomorrow though, you can be prepared for that?”

He huffs out a laugh, “Yeah, I can pack pretty fast.” I laugh as well at the absurdity of the way this is all turning out. But it sounds like it will be a fun adventure. We spend a bit longer on the beach making idle conversation. I was able to work out a rather quick rental agreement thanks to my brand deal with Hertz and I sent a quick text to my assistant that I would be traveling up a day early. She and my glam team are going to meet us at the resort. “Well, your spontaneity has worked out in our favor. I have the car teed up to be sent to my house at 7 am. I can pick you up after and we can head out.” He excitedly agrees to the plans and even offers to just meet at my house, as long as he can park his bike there while we are gone. 

After Folio drops me off later that evening I rush around to pack a quick bag. Jules, my assistant, has already arranged for my clothes to be sent to my hotel room at the festival so I just need to pack a few essentials into my suitcase, my daily makeup and toiletries along with my loungewear and casual clothes. It’s already late and I’m exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow so sleep overtakes me quickly.

I’m awoken by the sound of my alarm going off at 6:30 am and I find myself feeling excited about the prospects of the day despite the early hour, especially after getting way less sleep than usual. No worries though, nothing a little coffee can’t fix. I throw on a comfortable outfit for a long car ride and begin making my first coffee of the day. Around 6:50 am I received the text that the car was here so I run out to accept the key and sign the final paperwork. 

“Oh shit! You’re Seraphina Holloway! I’m a huge fan, your show on MTV was amazing! I can’t believe they canceled it!” the guy who dropped off the car said with a huge smile spread across his face. “Haha thank you! I loved being on that show it was such a fun time! I’m glad you liked it!” I reply. He leaves with a giddy smile and waves excitedly as he pulls away in the car that followed him in with the rental. I ended up with a black 2024 Chevy Tahoe and it looks so cool. 

I am bringing out my bag to load into the trunk when I hear the rumble of Folio’s bike coming up the road as he turns the corner up my driveway I can’t help the goofy smile I give him, I almost feel self-conscious about how happy I am to see him until he whips his helmet off and is wearing a matching smile of his own. “Mornin’ Phi, how are ya feeling?” he asks while hanging his helmet off of the handles of his bike. He walks over to wraps his arms around me in a big hug. “Hey Nicky, I’m feeling great! I’m excited about the road trip. How are you?”

He sides my bag onto his shoulder and gestures for me to unlock the trunk. “I’m feeling great sweetheart. I’m excited as well! I hope you’re prepared for a killer playlist.” 

“Oh you’re on! We will see who’s musical prowess puts who on top.” I jokingly tease. He laughs and puts the rest of his things in the car along with my bag. 

I invite him inside while I finish locking up, I offer Folio a coffee and he accepts thankfully. “Oh my god yes please, my roommates drank the last of the creamer and I cannot drink black coffee.” I laugh as I make us two fresh vanilla iced lattes for the road.

Heading towards the car I offer to drive the first leg. Nicky tried to offer to drive the whole thing but I can’t allow that. Plus splitting it up will help it go by faster. 

“Alright! Let’s hit the road, Nicky! Next stop Colorado baby!!!” I pump my fists in celebration and before I can feel the embarrassment of the action take over he’s pumping his fists as well “WooHoo! Hell yeah! Lets gooo!” he calls out and I can’t help the joyus laugh that takes over as we back out and talk off down the road. My phone is connected to the carplay so I have control over the first music rotation. “Alright, this is my time to shine. For your consideration.” I say before hitting shuffle on my road trip playlist.

It starts off with playing Panama by Van Halen. “oh shit! Starting it off strong with Van Halen. You are more than meets the eye Hollywood.” 

I laugh with my whole body, “Not what you expected huh? My dad used to quiz me on car rides, I was raised on classic rock.” 

jump back, what's that sound ? 

Here she comes, full blast and top down. 

Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue. 

Model citizen zero discipline 

Don't you know she's coming home with me? 

You'l lose her in the turn. 

I'll get her!

“Panama, Panama Panama, Panama Ain't nothin' like it, her shiny machine. Got the feel for the wheel, keep the moving parts clean.” we sing along together. 

When the song finishes and “Go Your Own Way” starts next. “So I found this list of questions to get to know each other better on the road,” Folio says. “So, starting off easy, what are your three favorite movies?” 

“Oh crap, oh my god? Easy?? Okay….three favorite movies are Pride and Prejudice from 2005, Pacific Rim but NOT the sequel and oh god, um I’ll say Secret World of Arrietty, which is a Studio Ghibli. What about you?” I ask.

“Okay I love Pacific Rim so I trust you and will be watching the other that you mentioned. I like Star Wars Empire Strikes Back, Kill Bill, and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” 

“I love horror movies! And omg okay nerd of course you would say the name of the episode instead of just Star Wars.” I joke and he laughs. “alright alright, it’s an important distinction. Real fans know what’s up. Okay, next question, what is your favorite photo?”

I think for a moment about all the pictures I’ve ever taken and am hit with a beautiful memory, “there was a summer my family took a vacation to the Florida coast and my cousins and I started a sand castle competition. I built a huge three-story sand mansion. My dad helped me get the towers just right. My mom took a picture of us right as a tower fell,” I laugh softly, “my dad and I are laughing hysterically as it falls, I didn’t even care about winning I was just having fun with my dad.” 

I turn my eyes off the road for a quick moment to look over at Nicky and he’s smiling thoughtfully. “That’s beautiful Phi, sounds like it was a great trip.”

“Oh god no, our hotel was infested with fleas, and my dad’s credit card got stolen on the second day, but those hours on the beach made it all worth it. Okay your turn, favorite picture.” 

Folio opens his phone and scrolls through rows of photos until he finally lands on one, “this one is for sure on of my favorites.” I look quickly and it’s a photo of him and the other guys from his band all grouped together with huge grins on their faces, almost like they’re laughing. “It was after the first concert of our first tour, I was the happiest I had ever been and when I knew that I’d do anything to make this dream come true with those guys.”

“That’s amazing Nicky, and you guys did it! That’s amazing.” 

We continue our game of a million questions for a few more hours of the drive while listening to music in the background. One question leads to more conversations and I feel like I’ve talked more genuinely about myself than I have in years. It’s so refreshing. At the halfway point we pull off in a small diner and eat a quick early dinner before Folio takes over for his leg of the drive. 

The great music and conversation make the last hours of the trip fly by, before I know it we are passing the Colorado state line in the late evening and finally pull into the resort’s long drive way at nearly 3 am for our check-in. I take a deep breath, “okay, are you ready fake boyfriend?” I ask him and he gives a mock salute, “oh I’m ready girlfriend, it’s gonna be a good time.”

next chapter ->

[itsdefinitely]

Definitely, can you pretty please go into depth about the MC outfits because I would LOVE to hear that /gen

WOOHOO!! YIPPEE!! DANCING AROUND MY LITTLE CORNER FULL OF RED TAPE AND MADNESS!!

gonna start in no particular order

TINKY COSTUME my beloved and beloathed (the colors fucked me up). to be honest most of it is pretty obvious. the maze design on the sleeves and the box on the shirt is meant to represent the bastard's box, but i imagine that box glowing in the game. for important plot or something. i just want the box to glow. the pants are pretty much directly because i wanted to give the MC boots (i didn't draw shoes because hell if i was gonna design six good looking pairs of shoes) and they fit in with the pattern on the sleeves + the overall steampunk-ish vibe tinky has. the outfit itself wasn't really steampunky or yellow, but these outfits were made to compliment the lord, so rather than two engineers, it's like a mad scientist and his loyal lab rat. so something that would be easy to move around in

and now is a good a time as any to mention this. all of the outfits were made with the CoTSC designing them in mind, which is why they look all different, because i feel like the church has different views on how each lord wants to be treated. like they're pretty sure nibbly is good with things being more modern, but wiggly and pokey would be more "traditional" i guess. the church is just convinced some of them need to be held to the same standard they were given decades ago

anyway. blinky. the whole thing with the blindfold is that the CoTSC thinks you're not meant to look at blinky. blinky actually doesn't care whether you look at him or not, but there's this air of "you're not supposed to do this" when the MC tries to take the blindfold off. the eye button-thing was very fun for me to think about because i saw this button a while ago that was the pupil as the button, and i've been trying to incorporate it into something ever since. the pants are more of a stylistic choice than anything, so interpret it how you will

nibbly's costume was actually so fun for me to draw. i wanted it to look like something out of a fucked-up twisted willy wonka. the base for the top is really similar to tinky's but that's fine because they probably all steal something from the others. tinky's costume steals the specific yellow from blinky's costume, who steals the midsection part from pokey's costume, who steals the whole robe thing from wiggly's costume. also there's no cape or flowy thing for nibbly's costume because if the MC failed i don't think the CoTSC would want nibbly mad at them for having to chew extra fabric. also you need to be able to run without tripping over yourself if you try to escape him :]

pokey's costume was also really fun. obviously the grey, blue, and the cracks (it's also supoosed to be lightning!) are from his canon design, but the glasses are because i wanted something on the MC's face like the mask. it couldn't be another mask because pokey would get offended by that i think, and sunglasses are in the superstar/thespian ballpark. this costume also has the most stars on it (they go all the way around the hem of the robe) because of pokey's connection to space

finally, wiggly's costume. this is the one i think i have the most to talk about. first and foremost: there's a full black outfit under the robe. the fingerless gloves and pants are actually one jumpsuit, like president howard's suit in black friday. the collar thing is connected to the cape, which is split into six parts to be kind of like wiggly's tentacles. the fluffy collar is meant to be like the doll's fur. the whole thing is meant to keep the MC insulated, because i imagine the temperature drops whenever a lord is around, and especially when THE lord in black shows up. all of the sniggles (+ blinky) have fur, so they've probably had to adapt to the cold. now that i'm thinking about it, the CoTSC aren't that antagonistic in the costume design process. they cater to both the lords and the MC's needs, or whatever they think those needs are. like i said before, wiggly's costume is meant to be more "traditional", like the robes they wear. this costume is similar to what they'd put you in before sacrificing you

thanks for coming to my braindump

[that-ari-blogger]

A Discussion Of LavenderTowne and Hazbin Hotel

So, a little while ago, a YouTube channel called LavenderTowne ventured into the Hazbin Hotel fan space to propose some criticisms and fan redesigns of the characters.

I had thoughts on the original video, but those are irrelevant because its reception was… tumultuous, and in my opinion disproportionate. The video has since been taken down, and LavenderTowne uploaded a follow up to it (link). In which she stated that her experience with the Hazbin Hotel fandom wasn’t the most pleasant, something I would like to address.

So, this post will be an academic discussion of the designs from the second video. Because I think her criticisms were interesting and because I want to show that it is possible to disagree with someone without being unpleasent.

Also, I want to give LavenderTowne a more welcoming experience with the fandom, and try to make up for some other members of the community.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD (Hazbin Hotel)

I'm going to start with something that needs to be said. You can disagree with the rest of my post, but this is non negotiable:

It is never, under any circumstances, acceptable to harass someone for their opinions, especially about art. I don't care if you take issue with conclusions or perceived motivations, actions like I observed are not ok, and are not welcome in this fandom.

I hope I made that clear.

Anyway, I am going to be addressing the second video, because LavenderTowne took the first down, and I'm not about to intrude where I'm not wanted.

LavenderTowne mentioned the overarching stylistic choices, and I think that is a good place to start with this post, because they are good source of difference. Several of LavenderTowne’s criticisms are leveled at the Hazbin Hotel visual style itself, discussing what specific elements didn’t work for her and how she would personally draw things differently.

That is what I want to discuss here. Rather than the specifics of artistic technique, I am going to talk about the character design decisions brought about by the difference in style. This isn’t a question of skill, but an examination of the ideas presented.

Both LavenderTowne’s style and that of the Hazbin Hotel team range on the scale of realism, as is the nature of art, and that has caused a few of the design decisions that they have made. But it has also had a weird effect on the implied plot that is worth discussing.

Hazbin Hotel is more cartoony, for example, which means its logic is a bit more fluid. Vaggie's eye scar, for example, is shown over her hair, which isn’t how scars work in the real world.

This is a way of getting the tone across. Sir Pentious, at one point in the series, gets caught in the blast of an explosion and sent flying across the city. The design style lets you know that this is being played for a laugh and that he will probably be fine. If LavenderTowne had drawn Sir Pentious in her style, I guarantee that version of him would not survive the event, because hers is grittier (that’s the wrong word, but you get the point).

I do, however, really like the colour palette shift in LavenderTowne’s designs. Don’t get me wrong, I like the limited palette of the actual show, and I think it suits the setting more than the pastel aesthetic of LavenderTowne’s style.

But, those pastel colours are gorgeous and they are a really neat way of solving one of the problems that LavenderTowne identified and I agree with, that being how difficult character differentiation is when everyone has the same colouration as each other and their background.

Now, neither of the two options are implicitly better, there is just a different design sensibility going on.

As for the designs themselves, I actually prefer LavenderTowne’s Alastor over the original. I would like to see how it interacts with Alastor animation and transformation, but I think the design overall works better for the character. I like the horns being more pronounced, and I like that neat hairstyle. I think it's much more suited to an overly refined character who revolves around appearances.

“Just because you see a smile, don’t think you know what’s going on underneath. A smile is a valuable tool, my dear! It inspires your friends, keeps your enemies guessing, and ensures that no matter what comes your way, you’re the one in control.”

I think that Alastors original hair style is more about looking cool than looking refined. The shorter style, combined with the more prominent antlers, gives that air of someone actively concealing their more wild undercurrents.

That being said, I'm not as sold on Alastor's expression in LavenderTowne's design. This is a stylistic choice, but I don't think that the Cheshire Cat smile translates over to the alternate design as smoothly as his concept. In the original, that smile was the thing that denoted him as malicious, but LavenderTowne's design seems more huggable, at least to me.

LavenderTowne did raise an interesting point about the voodoo symbolism, a point that others have raised, and I think is worth noting. Incorporating that aesthetic as synonymous with dark magic in a setting based heavily off Christianity is funky, thematically. It's a use of stereotypes as shorthand, which carries the baggage of those stereotypes, intentionally or not. However, I am about as far from qualified to talk about this in detail as possible. I recommend that you listen to the opinions of people who know more about this than me, and who's case this is to make.

Husk’s design is another that I like, but this one I have slightly mixed feelings about. The body type change addresses another of LavenderTowne's criticisms of the series, again in relation to character differentiation. That is a strength of the video, LavenderTowne gives criticisms, and explains what she means and how she would go about doing it.

Interestingly, that body type issue is something I disagree with. I think the way that LavenderTowne has handled the issue she identified is fascinating, and one of the best parts of her process. But this is simply an issue I don’t see as a problem.

The criticism is that the silhouettes of the characters are exceedingly similar, meaning that identifying them is difficult, as well as limiting in terms of variety of proportions. I could point out Sir Pentious or Husk here, but that is arguing in bad faith because Husk is very clearly the exception to the rule, and Pentious actually conforms to her observation. Without his hood out, Pentious’ silhouette difference is in his tail, which is rarely onscreen.

The reason I am ok with this, is that Hazbin Hotel has a thing for transforming character designs. Charlie, Valentino, Emily and Serah, Lucifer, even Adam, Vaggie, and Lute, as well as a ton of others. All of these character designs shift as the story progresses, revealing aspects of them that they have kept secret. I like having the baseline similarities if everyone gets a moment where they show off how different they are from that baseline. I think that is a cool story beat that, for me at least, outweighs the problem of similarity. I’m sure LavenderTowne would disagree with me here, and that is more than fine.

Back to the point, Husk is a character who is surprisingly acrobatic and martially competent, and the slight shift in the alternative design switches him into more of a bar brawl type character. This feels like the guy who would just deck you and tell you to cool off, rather than throw something at you. He looks like the type of bartender he is, cool and calm, and ready to offer advice when needed.

The removal of the wings is an interesting choice. On the one hand, it clears up his design and makes him look more down to earth. On the other hand, it leads into my main bugbear with this design. I don't think this version of Husk looks like an overlord.

This is subjective, and I am struggling to quite explain it. But the wings, as well as his voice, give a sense of gravitas to Husk. Without that, Husk looks relatively unremarkable.

The outfit plays into this. While I prefer it and its subtlety, there is little that marks this version of Husk out as higher ranking.

Again, this isn't a case of the original designs being objectively better. This is a different design that communicates different things. LavenderTowne’s Husk is a humble bartender rather than an overlord playing pretend. I simply like the story that the original offers more.

Vaggie’s new design is both my favourite design of the four, and the one that is the furthest from the story of the show.

I love the quieter eye scar, I love the silhouette, and I think moving the ribbons to her back is a genius bit of visual storytelling.

The outfit is cool (I especially like those boots), but there's an asterisk to that, because I don't think it entirely suits Vaggie as she is presented in the show.

At the risk of oversimplifying, Vaggie is a fairly uncomplicated character. Not because she's written to be shallow, but because the show doesn't have time to explore her personality.

So, you get her past, which is fascinating, and it leaves some interesting things on the table.

For example, Vaggie has zero self preservation instinct and will burn herself to the ground for Charlie. This isn't complex, but it's remarkable how much the writers (and animators if you’re looking for that kind of thing) get out of this one detail.

Most notably, her character grows into realising that love means living for someone rather than dying to keep them safe. This culminates in the defeat of Lute, the embodiment of her past, who doesn't think to move out of the way of a collapsing building.

Similarly, Vaggie was an angel and wants to hide that aspect of herself. This makes her multifaceted in backstory, but the reveal doesn't have time to dwell on her characterisation, so it just feeds into what I said before.

I think that with another season of time to develop, Vaggie’s characterisation will become as complex as her backstory. But that doesn’t come quickly.

The point I am making is that I don't think this version of Vaggie would wear armour until the end. She doesn't think she can get killed, so why would she need to protect herself?

Which means that LavenderTowne's design would work for the last episode of the show, if it had wings, which is sacrificing the single best piece of foreshadowing I have seen in a long time. Seriously, I cannot stop gushing about those ribbons.

What we have, then, is a version of Vaggie with a slightly different story and personality. To me, LavenderTowne's Vaggie looks like a character who craves safety. She seeks Charlie because she offers emotional stability and kindness, the one person in hell who Vaggie doesn't think is against her. But she would wear the armour and outfit because of the injury. She realises she can be wounded and grabs the heaviest set she can find, the twin coloured trousers come from that desperation, and add to the imbalanced aspect of her design.

This version of Vaggie is defensive rather than offensive, and though it renders Out For Love obsolete, I find it more interesting than the original.

Charlie's design, however, I'm not such a big fan of. I'm sorry LavenderTowne, I really am. But this design really doesn't sit right with me.

Hazbin Hotel has a circus theme going on. The main foyer has a circus tent affectation, for example, and Charlie gives off the aesthetic of the ringmaster.

Charlie is very overtly the antithesis of a Disney princess, and that comes across in her design. Instead of wearing a floaty dress, she wears a suit and suspenders.

Yes, the hooves and horns being more prominent is a cool alteration that I appreciate, but the alternate outfit really doesn't feel like Charlie.

I think the difference is in the framing. To me, LavenderTowne's Charlie comes across as naive and optimistic, where the original design is more relentlessly hopeful, and that second one matches how she is in the series.

Charlie in Hazbin Hotel showcases true hope. Not optimism, hope. The type of emotion that keeps getting knocked down, but picks itself off the floor ever single time, and gets ready to try again. Charlie has no proof of her philosophy, no basis. She's not trying to recreate phenomena, she doesn't even know she can succeed. That's why she needs the hope.

I don't think that LavenderTowne's design has that vibe. Instead, this Charlie seems younger, which contributes to the naivety. It feels like it leans into her regular design, so the more fearsome transformation comes as a shock, mostly.

On the other hand, the three horn tiara element is genuinely really cool. It gives that air of reality, and hints at the transformation without giving it away. They round out the design and make the “this is a demon princess” clear.

Interactions between this Charlie and Adam, Lute, or Sarah would be interesting, as this version seems designed to foil off them, rather than the other way around. Especially Emily, this design seems genetically engineered to mirror her and make her question her ideals just through existing in the same place.

In short, this Charlie seems more gentle than the original, which might help in some aspects, but I prefer the original.

One again, this is my opinion, and not objective by any stretch of the imagination. If you disagree with me, good, that's the bread and butter of how analysis and discussion exists. But I hope I have shown that disagreement is possible without aggression.

Which brings me to my conclusion, and I have something here that I hope you will like.

LavenderTowne's designs feel like they are made for the same story, but paced differently. They feel like a different style of musical. They feel like they were made for a version of Hazbin Hotel that had more episodes and has time for subtlety, something that the original show unfortunately didn't have.

The story feels the same, but the minour changes make it seem more drawn out. The tone is different, and that effects the entirety of the rest of the story.

In other words, she is designing an AU, something she makes explicitly clear at least five times in her video.

LavenderTowne mentioned in her video that she might do a follow up with a few more characters. I would be intrigued to see this, because I want to know what Angel Dust would look like in this version of the story, as well as the actual angels and even the Vees.

I also am fascinated by how the art style affects the tone of the story. And with LavenderTowne's permission, I might have a crack at writing some of the key scenes from the show to fit this aesthetic and tone. I think that would be an interesting thought experiment.

Final Thoughts

LavenderTowne’s designs were dope as all hell, and the points she raised were worth discussing.

I love the series, but I understand that it's not everyone’s cup of tea. Content warnings should get that across, but also some people just won't like elements of it for any number of reasons, and that is ok.

I think @ohnoitstbskyen put it best in his discussion of the finale of the series. (Link). In his closing remarks, he spoke at length about people who will discover the show and the effect that it will have on them. That sentiment, boiled down, became the title of that video, and concisely says what I have taken just under 3000 words to talk around.

“This show will save someone’s life, but it isn’t for everyone.”

But let me be clear about why I wrote this.

I saw some of the shit that people wrote about LavenderTowne's original video, and though a lot of it was positive, a fair chunk was not, and I want to put my foot down. Disagreement about art is healthy, but if you think that involves harassment at all, then tell Husk he still owes me a drink.

On a lighter note, this is my first post about Hazbin Hotel, so for those who are reading my stuff for the first time, hello. I am Ari, I do media analysis, and I plan on doing a series on Hazbin Hotel, going through each song with lyrical and musical analysis once I finish my current one on Wicked. So, if that interests you, maybe stick around.

[greenerteacups]

I’m not sure if you’ve specifically answered this before, but how long did it take you to outline, research, and prepare the foundational meat of Lionheart since it’s such a sprawling saga with threads for so many characters? Did you have it all mapped out before you started writing? What about shorter pieces like The Climb and the latest, delightful The Death Eater Diaries?

The series outline for Lionheart I wrote on one bleary, rabbit-hole of a day in the summer of 2022 when I was definitely supposed to be doing something else, and after that, each book took me between 3 days and 2 weeks to outline completely. The later books have taken longer because of their length and the number of threads — the series has a way of getting wider as well as longer, and for the last two books, I sometimes got a bit grumbly about how many characters pop up in every novel. As for research, most of that will happen before or during the outlining process; I'll have a copy of the book on-hand to check plot details, but for the most part I try to work without flipping back to the text, to avoid copying beats or stylistic choices unless I have a thematic reason to. I also use HP Lexicon and fanwikis while I'm editing for content, though when I'm drafting I make a real effort not to switch out of the tab for any reason, because it breaks flow. I'm sure I have missed some details despite my references, but c'est la vie; JKR had to do continuity edits in subsequent edition releases for several books, so at least I'm not alone.

For The Climb, I wrote the first chapter in the raw, then went through and blocked out the second two in an outline at the bottom of the document. Very very broad strokes there — TC is different from Lionheart because it's a slice-of-life tone piece, so there's not as much plot to be done. It's a novella conceived for the sole purpose of exploring one particular relationship, so the plot came secondary to the things I wanted to highlight about how that dynamic worked. It's a character-forward piece, to borrow culinary terminology, and outlining for character is a lot easier than outlining for plot. (For me.)

The Death Eater Diaries emerged almost fully-formed from a Tumblr post I made joking about the sort of ludicrously awful decade Narcissa experiences. The hardest part of outlining was nailing down canonical dates. Stuff like how old Andromeda was when she got pregnant, when Bellatrix got married, when the members of the previous generation died, all that's unspecified — but it's also all functionally constrained to a narrow window of time, if you take in where the characters are at certain other parts of the story, so you can't just say anything. It was very fun to write, though. Doing so also stressed how hilariously short the timeline on the Black family collapse actually is. Between 1971 and 1981, they go from a two-branch family with an heir, a spare, and three healthy daughters -> completely extinct in the male line, two of its descendants disinherited, two imprisoned, one missing, presumed dead, and Draco Malfoy's mom.

[arliedraws]

Did anyone ever send you spicy takes for literary analysis? If not, here's one: I wanna know where in the books people are getting the idea that in a boarding school in the UK in the '70s, MWPP and their classmates would ALL be some flavor of queer and also have the modern vocabulary to go with it.

I am still taking spicy takes! My week at work has been absolute chaos, so I haven’t had a chance to tackle some of these prompts yet.

But I’m going to push back a bit on ya (with love and respect, of course). Below the cut are some mentions of violence against LGBTQ+ folks, fyi.

No, I don’t think that the 1970s would have been a magical place full of openly queer teens with modern vocabulary (and weirdly cell phones?). But I do understand where it comes from. Imagine you’re a teen in 2024 where LGBTQ+ rights are being stripped away one by one in many western countries. Then imagine you’re a teen from the United States: you’re not 18 yet, you can’t vote, yet you are directly affected (or have friends who are) by anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Maybe you aren’t allowed to use a public restroom because you’re trans or maybe you have ultra-religious parents who would kick you out of the house if they found out you were gay or maybe there was a story circulating about a non-binary kid who was murdered by their peers in a bathroom at school…

So these things are all around you. You’re fifteen, and you feel absolutely powerless. Maybe you’re cut off from the queer community. Maybe you just wish there were a place where you could be around other queer teens who just GET you, who know what you’re going through. Okay, maybe you read Harry Potter when you were younger, and you find that there’s this fantasy world within the world of HP where the kids are cool and hot and wear whatever they want and say “fuck you, parents!” and they’re all in love with each other and at school, it’s all okay! The parents will never find out! This is the safe place!

While I have MANY critiques of this corner of fandom (the reinvention of heterosexuality with the hyperfeminization of Sirius and the hypermasculinization of Lupin, the blatant mischaracterization of MOST characters, etc.), I understand a young person’s hunger for it. It’s a fantasy. Plain and simple.

Do I personally find it more interesting to see what would happen if James and Sirius hooked up in an ultra-conservative pureblood society and were forced to confront internalized homophobia? YEAH. Is that an appealing story to someone who has to live that reality everyday? Ehhh…Maybe? Maybe not? It’s appealing to me because I like to explore human suffering lol. I love drama! I love complicated relationships. I love when fictional people love two people at once—I love MESSINESS (I love when they cheat! I love when they have miscommunication!). But here’s the difference—I am a thirty-something person who has a solid support system and acceptance within their community. I have the emotional space to accept complexities. Most teenagers do not have these things.

We have to remember that for everything an artist or writer creates, there’s an intent. Who is the audience? What is the effect on the reader of your stylistic choices? Is historical accuracy important to the overall message of the work? Does it detract from meaning/understanding?

My point is, sweet and beautiful Anon, you are probably right! There is plenty to critique (and I have complained about this side of the fandom before), but I accept that many young people are looking for community, and apparently this fandom created by a transphobic millionaire is where they found it.

[neurotonic]

ouh i NEEED to know 22 (their own little way (or ways) to say ‘i love you’.) for the women or else i'll die... don't let me die...

YAYYY WOMEN YAYY okay don't die I'll do it. Gay ass inventors being gay under the cut because this got longer than I anticipated LMAO

ROXAFABBYLARIS / TRIPLE THREAT: 22. their own little way (or ways) to say ‘i love you’. [from here]

I feel like...all of them being creatives (in a sense), they'd give each other little trinkets and gifts and such. Some of them may be purely functional, but for the most part they're decorative, symbolic, and unique. There's some aesthetic choices that makes it obvious who made what, and each of them really enjoy those little differences. Solaris leans more into the straightforward functional side, Prism's has a lot of moving mechanical parts, and Fabby's little creations are the most stylistic (both for little engineering projects and fashionable gifts). And I think each of them would know each other Really Well that they know exactly what they want to do for them. You know that phrase "I loved you to the point of invention"? One of my favorite dang quotes, literally them full stop.

For other little ways...

Solaris isn't much for obvious tells of affection, but she's very fond of spending time with the people she loves. She likes spending time doing whatever, even if they're just chilling, working on something together, generally just doing stuff together. I'd think she's the type to be very attentive to her partner's needs (as in, physical needs...she's still working on picking up emotional and romantic ones). Part of it is because of her experience post Death Engine--all that physical pain is something she wouldn't want to happen to the people she cares about. She tries to get her workaholic girl friends something to eat (she's trying her best to not burn everything she makes...)

Fabricator would be the more physically affectionate one, everybody knows this...On very rare occasions (read: Solaris and Prism ONLY) she uses her affection to comfort someone if they're feeling down. There's also a specific change in the tone of her voice that she only reserves for partners (again, Solary and Primmy) to show her genuine affection for them. Any show of vulnerability for Fabby is a whole fuss for herself, but when it comes to supporting her partners or letting them know she loves them genuinely, it's all worth it. Usually she also does small acts of service for them too.

It's very easy for Prism to put her love in her words I think. She's very vocally supportive and she likes giving praise to her favorite people, and she could usually phrase it in a way that the other two could find meaningful. Whether it's in awe of a cool project or personal achievements, she likes celebrating the little things with them. When she's not knee-deep in a project, she would also do acts of service for her partners... making their fave drinks when they're feeling down, helping them with their own projects.

[the9mm]

I can't seem to find anything about this, but I have convinced myself that Vash's new design in Trigun: Stampede is complete with 2 under-the-knee prosthetics. Here's why I think this (spoilers from the original anime and potential spoilers ahead, you have been warned):

Now, Vash having prosthetic anything really isn't a surprise at all (clearly he has his prosthetic arm) so when I first saw his new design, and the trailer, I went, oh he's got two prosthetic legs! That's neat!

But now, as I'm researching his actual design and trying to figure out what things look like at different angles to draw him, I'm wondering... Are they prosthetics? If you've watched this far in Trigun: Stampede you know they haven't mentioned it at all (ep 7) or shown anything regarding that, but that shouldn't surprise anyone. We don't see how bad of shape Vash's body is in the original anime until pretty far in, when it is literally shocking to Meryl (and everyone) how many scars, marks, fabricated parts, etc he has. However, in the original anime, as far as we know he's mostly original except for the arm and some spots. We do see him naked after all.

If in Trigun: Stampede they are trying to shock factor us old fans into amping up this "hey yeah, Vash has taken quite the beating from humanity and is still positive, here's how you can tell" by revealing that x amount of him is actually prosthetic at this point later on in the show, giving him additional (hidden) prosthesis makes sense. We know what we know because of the original anime, and they're giving us parts of the original, things we didn't see that were in the manga, and a fraction of unique ideas.

In terms of fitting with the storyline, having additional prosthesis makes sense and fits.

The only thing I can find against this idea is that he can very clearly bend his foot in a way a prosthesis in our world could not. Obviously this is not very convincing because in his world, his prosthesis mechanisms are very complex, have fully articulated wrists and fingers, and even convert into a firearm when necessary.

Now onto the visual, design reasons why I think he has below-the-ankle prosthesis:

Look at his legs where the pants stop and the grey part starts. They look skinny, don't they? Whereas his arm prosthetic is big and bulky up at the shoulder and goes down to what looks more akin to bone size by the wrist, this same sort of shape would make sense -- but he doesn't need as much because they don't convert into guns or anything like that. The thinnest part of the leg is usually just above the ankle, and since his ankles are in his (high top) boots, you would think his legs would be a bit thicker there if you were to believe they are organic.

When seeing him from this angle, you can see that there's a lot of play between his leg (the grey) and his boot. If they're tied tight (and up to the top like we see in the first photo) shouldn't they press a bit more against his leg?

Let's compare him against one of our other characters. Wolfwood clearly has organic legs (as noted by the color and ankle etc, as far as we know there aren't all organic looking prosthetics in this world, it's not GitS after all), but our twink boy Vash still has skinnier legs than him -- and even Meryl.

But, when compared against Livio who is ???? prosthetic, I mean Livio has tiny ankles. We assume that his legs aren't prosthetic, though, so we'll put a point down for "stylistic choice."

Note also the play between his pants and the grey part on his leg. There does seem to be a gap there. Additionally, based on the shaped beneath the pants, it doesn't feel like "extra gathering of cloth" but instead cloth set over something slightly bulkier than his leg.

Now again, this is all just conjecture on my part -- it is entirely possible that it's just "skinny anime guy drawn skinny" and the grey is actually like, knee high socks or something. But I am totally convinced that new Vash has two amazing prosthetic legs too, and maybe I can convince some people along the way.

[obscureobsidiandraws]

IDEAS FOR A HYPOTHETICAL BOY MEETS WORLD REBOOT

So, recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’d have done a Boy Meets World reboot if given the opportunity and enough creative control and freedom.

First, let’s start with the things that would be still kept from the original without getting into too much spoilers:

- Cory and Shawn’s bromance. Duh, it’s the main reason why a big majority of people keep coming back to BMW. It wouldn’t be BMW without it.

- Topanga being a girl that Cory initially thinks it’s weird, but eventually starts to like her, and finally becomes his girlfriend.

- Shawn coming from a less economically stable and more dysfunctional family that lives in a trailer park, and whose parents like to “go away from time to time”, to put it mildly AND kindly. Because of this, he has tons of issues and thinks he won’t get anywhere in life.

- Chet, Shawn's father, being unhappily married to a woman named Virna, whom Shawn believes is his mother, but who actually isn’t, something that Shawn doesn’t find out until much later, with Shawn’s biological mother being a sex worker he has never met.

- Eric being Cory’s older brother, who initially seems like a vain, self-centered teenager, more concerned with being popular and chasing skirts than his grades or his little brother. Don’t worry, he’ll get better after character development.

- Mr. Feeny being both Cory’s teacher and his next door neighbor, initially seeming like an old-fashioned fun-hating teacher who thinks of the Matthews brothers as nothing more than just two of the many troubled students that will come and go. Ofc like with Eric character development would do its magic again, with each character’s arc mirroring the other.

- Also Feeny being able to find love after he realizes it’s never too late to find a significant other, when he initially believed he was too old to do so.

- And don’t worry, ofc Eric would do the Feeny call. Like with Cory and Shawn's bromance, It wouldn’t be Boy Meets World if it wasn’t there.

- Mr. Turner as the younger, seemingly cooler teacher who would take care of Shawn after Chet basically abandons him, and becomes a substitute parental figure for him.

- Shawn having a long lost older half-brother named Jack, who comes from a wealthier background and becomes Eric’s roommate and friend when they start to go to college.

- Angela as a girl whose lost purse is found by Shawn, who while looking for its owner tries to deduce their personality based on what’s inside of it, which causes him to start to fantasize about meeting this girl whose name he doesn’t know and falling in love with her. And then once he finally meets her in person, starting his first serious relationship with her.

- Angela’s father being a sergeant, and her mother having walked out on them when Angela was younger, which caused her a lot of issues too.

Now let’s go with the things that would make it different from the original, starting with the stylistic and aesthetic choices:

- Instead of taking place in the second half of the 90s like the original show, it would take place from the mid-2000s to early 2010s, which was the time when most people who were born when the original Boy Meets World aired for the first time went from middle school to college, just like Cory & friends during the series.

- It would be animated instead of live-action. Why? Because I want to. Joking aside, I think animation would allow the show to introduce some elements in a much more natural way.

- It won’t have a laugh track like the original did, unless it’s an episode or gag that pays homage or parodies sitcoms from a previous decade. This one is kind of a given, because laugh tracks have gone out of school in recent years, but I still felt it would be necessary to mention it jic.

- And here comes the element that won’t be the biggest departure from the original, but probably the most puzzling one. It would have musical numbers. As in characters dancing and singing. At the beginning it won’t be a lot, as a reflection of Cory’s and Shawn’s attitude towards the idea of singing, but as they start to become more and more comfortable, there would be more. Some would be diegetic, others won’t.

And now to the plot and characters-related differences with the original. Buckle up people, because it will be a lot.

- First a significant change in Cory’s family dynamic. Instead of the show starting with Cory living in the typical nuclear family, it would start with Cory living in the suburbs with his mother Amy, a widow who works a white collar job, and Eric. Then Amy would start to date an employee in the store where she usually buys groceries, who would be Alan, who’d be only slightly younger than Amy and a widower with two kids too: a son with the same age as Cory’s who’s also Cory’s classmate, and a younger daughter who would be Morgan (but I’m seriously thinking about renaming her Megan). Amy and Alan would eventually get married, with a lot of the comedy and the drama from the first seasons coming from Cory trying to adapt to the new situation.

(Amy’s previous husband and Eric and Cory’s biological father would be dead, just like Alan’s previous wife)

- One in regards to Cory’s physical appearance: He would still have curly hair, but he would be a redhead with his nose and cheeks full of freckles.

- Instead of the show starting when Cory and his friends are in their last year of elementary school, the show would start the last summer before Cory’s first year of junior high, and follow him up until college like the original show (yk, if it doesn’t get canned by then). Also Feeny won’t be able to magically be their teacher from preschool to college. Instead he would be their History Teacher in high school, and in later seasons, eventually the principal of the high school Cory and his friends attend. And he would retire after Cory’s classroom graduates.

- There would be a long character arc about Cory trying to find his passion and eventually finding his passion in the most unexpected places. Initially he would try to join the school basketball team In high school Cory would initially try to join the basketball team, partially because he likes the sport, partially because his father was a star player in high school. (Sidenote: there would also be a recurring gag of Eric being a god awful basketball player) He’s initially rejected because he’s too short, but after he grows up and finally hits puberty, becoming as tall as Shawn, he would still be considered a mediocre player at best, and eventually Cory would have to accept the fact he’s not that good. Meanwhile, he would also join the school newspaper and the audiovisuals club because of a growing interest in journalism, until he realizes he wants to become a professional journalist.

- Talking about the audiovisuals club, extracurricular activities would play a much bigger role. While Cory joins the audiovisuals club Shawn is forced to join the theater club. There would be a little conflict because both clubs have so few members that, because of budgetary restrictions, they’re threatened to be shut down. To save both, Cory and Shawn come up with the idea of combining them, that way making one club with enough members. Also thanks to being in those clubs  they start to befriend classmates they initially thought of as nerds and weirdos.

- Topanga would be raised by a single mother instead of a married couple, never knowing who her father is. Although she initially seems okay with it, then when she’s older she tries to find out which one of her mother’s three ex-boyfriends is her father. This is partially to pay homage to the fact that in the original BMW Topanga’s father was played by three different actors at different points of the show, and partially to make a bunch of break the fourth wall jokes about ripping off Mamma Mia’s premise. And don’t worry, Nebula won’t be retconned out of existence this time.

- Jack’s backstory would be changed a little. When his mother finally left Chet, instead of taking her son with her, Jack would actually be left behind in the trailer park with Chet and his newborn half-brother (Shawn’s birth would actually be the last straw that finally made Jack’s mother decide to leave for good). So Jack would spend a good part of his childhood in the trailer park taking care of Shawn, until he became old enough to successfully run away to live with his mother, being Shawn now the one left behind.

- And behold my Jeric shippers, because Jack and Eric would be both canonically bisexual AND end up together. Besides Jack Eric would also have another main male love interest, who’d be Mitchell Davis (yes, that Mitchell Davis), who would’ve known Eric since they were kids but who now goes to another school, the same as Jack’s. He would also live in the same trailer park as Shawn does.

- Lauren won’t be the girl Cory cheated on Topanga with, but instead the first girl he dates after Topanga leaves for the first time. Because despite liking Lauren, Cory concludes he’s dating her to forget Topanga, in other words, for the wrong reasons, so he breaks up with her. Besides, Lauren would go to the same school as Jack and Mitchell (everything’s connected).

- A seemingly very trivial detail: As a trademark favorite food Cory would love pizza so much that the place where he hangs out with his friends after school wouldn’t be Chubbie’s (although it would still exist in this universe, but it would more of a general place where John Adams High students hang out instead of just Cory’s group of friends), but instead a pizza place. Also this last one is a little bit anecdotal, but Cory wouldn’t mind pineapple pizza while Shawn would hate it by principle.

(this is getting quite lengthy, so I’d do a part II. There’s still a lot of ideas I have that I want to share with the BMW fandom)

Edit: Part II is already out. Go check it out

[incrediblemeh]

I feel like I really have to complain because while I think it's commonly understood that Monster Hunter has serious problem with with the differences between male and female armor sets, I get the impression most people assume it's very typical difference between "sexy" and "cool" armor. (Male hunters get big pauldrons, female hunters get bikinis.) But that's not really why the situation is so damn frustrating, because there's remarkably little actual fan service throughout the female armors. The sexy bikini armor is sometimes present, but it doesn't really represent what's going on. It's more like there's just an underlying assumption in what fashion style of armor the developers assume you want based on the player's chosen sex.

Like there are examples of a male/female dichotomy in the armor design actually being stylistically justified. Even if they're approaching masculine or feminine presentation in a very simplistic way (and let's be real many games will do far worse than that) it offers up some very interesting fashion choices.

Rhenoplos armor for example has some actual extremely fun differences. On the one hand, there's this extremely unique look for the male set that has a round build some very bizarre claw arms and this cool wide helmet. And on the other hand, you have this delightfully overly cutesy bear motif for the female armor where the gauntlets look perfectly ideal for punching the shit out of something. Deviljho armor also plays with gender dichotomy in a really fun way, effectively exploring that wrestling heel vibe through two very different forms of presentation and ideas of physical prowess.

Late game Barroth armor, Odogaron, Paolumu, I think these also stand as great examples of how male and female sets can positively contrast.

But there's a reason why differences are seen negatively, and Goss Harag is a great example of where things start to get really annoying, because ironically the two armor sets aren't that meaningfully different from eachother even though there are some minor differences because of the implied physical build of female characters. For the most part, they're the same armor set aside from the thigh and chest area. In my situation, getting to see that my character's armor emphasizes the boobs is actually kind of a plus. And the male armor emphasizes the pecs so much it's easily justified. ...but while the male Goss Harag set gets to have a sick skull helmet, the female one gets stuck with this stupid looking visor/headdress nonsense. Aside from the crime of being denied a cool skull helmet, were it not for that one point of difference I would not even have to think about what fashion I'm potentially losing out on at all.

It's likewise just as frustrating as with the Tetranadon armor. I don't really personally give that much of a shit how much skin is on display here or whether you can see their boobs. The differences between the male/female form are more egregious here but I'm not gonna die because of it. What drives me up a goddamn wall is that the male set gets this cool looking full gas mask helmet, and the female set gets a doofy hat with goggles. It's not even that I particular dislike the faces in monster hunter, it's that whether a character has a full helmet or not is all the difference in the world for how much of a cool badass you feel like.

This pattern repeats for a lot of armor sets throughout the games with varying degrees of difference between the male and female sets. The poster boy Rathalos, Legiana, Diablos, Seething Bazelgeuse and Nargacuga are all valid examples of this. The reason for this difference I have to assume is because there's an initial assumption from the designers about what I want. If I chose a female character it may be inferred that I am explicitly interested in seeing my character's face as often as possible. Because (I assume) they see that choice as me wanting to look at a female character for their body and the face just happens to be part of that. And that's not actually entirely inaccurate, but there's a difference in what I get out of that. And it's a little screwy to think that no one could choose a male hunter for similar reasons.

And I hate deliberately choosing a female character for my own sense of comfort only to loose out on the style and vibe the male armor oozes, which also from a trans perspective is a uniquely infuriating problem.

Going back to positive examples, the Frostfang Barioth Alpha armor does not have this problem. While I hold preference for the male helmet, I cannot deny that the female helmet is equally cool and conveys a distinct feminine quality that makes it feel sharp and dangerous. There are as many differences as there are similarities between these two armor sets, and the inclusion of the rapier accurately conveys what vibe they were going for with the female set, an equal degree of competence and mystique conveyed through elegance rather than machismo.

And it might be a bit difficult to talk about this problem without making it seem like I'm specifically complaining about objectification, I think that's a part of why this issue exists to begin with but I'm not really cool with harping on people who just want a create-a-character they can use to engage in light voyeurism. I don't like the idea that the solution here is to start taking away sexy outfits, that feels like moving backwards and I'd rather continue to put up with this problem than start putting my comfort above someone else's. Even though there are many sets where the differences could be simply phased out and merged into one armor set, It does not feel fair to do that at the expense of the range of choices and styles these different sets have brought, with Frostfang Barioth I think serving as a peak example of that positive aspect, a true silver lining. All in all, I would much rather that some thought be put into what parts of the existing armor designs are compatible with androgyny, and work on making both choices available to male and female hunters based on that. The best possible case scenario for me would be that female character get to look like a goddamn WH40K space marine in exchange for a bunch of spindly twinks in Nergigante bikinis. And somewhere in between those two extremes, I get to enjoy a much wider selection of cool helmets.

[dojae-huh]

Hello! Just want to say again that I'm glad I found your blog, your down-to-earth commentary, especially about the business side of it all, is very much appreciated :)

Hi. Thank you for letting me know, I'm glad you find some more down to earth posts useful. In part, I run this blog to offer an alternative in fandom experience.

Thing is, we, as k-pop fans and as people who don't work in showbusiness or South Korea, don't have enough knowledge, experience or inside information to have a strong educated opinion on most of things when it comes to idol companies and their executives. We can have opinions as customers - I like this music, this promotional strategy works on me, these outfits are ugly, this concept rocks -, but not as business analytics. Especially considering how much media play, false information and difference in cultures we face.

However, nowadays everyone has the illusion that they know better, that their opinion and feelings are valid when it comes to any topic. And spread and defend their opinion like it is the ultimate truth.

I've recently come across a twit starting with "it appears that" and ending with "for sure". In a span of a few sentences the fan offered an imaginary scenario and finished with a "this is truth". Of course to "prove" that SM is evil, heh. Such baseless statements easily play on fans' love for their biases, evoke an emotional response, call to arms, they give an answer to "Who is to blame?!", provide a target for unleashing frustration and anger.

When one solo-stan blames our bias, we can call bullshit because we know how things really are. When a fan blames Chris Lee or SM, other fans are ready to accept the words as believeable. Either because they share the sentiment, or have no own opinion on the matter, so any will do. If everyone around says the same thing, it should be true, afterall? That's how our brains are wired: follow the majority, agree with the tribe, mirror everyone's current emotion.

We can't see the inner works and we don't know the inner rules, but we can see the results of labour and sometimes a reflection of things.

When I came to k-pop, I knew SM as the company that overworks its artists, has lawsuits with them, is super strict. Broken in two halves TVXQ and EXO with half of its members gone weren't a good representation. So when I started to get to know NCT better, I started to wonder if I was lied to or that something had changed in SM (the latter). Neos were taught how to songwrite, SM persisted with good quality music for NCT despite the group not taking off right away, artists not looking slavelike, there was SMstation and interesting projects.

Sure, I can observe bad work: poorly prepared concerts (Link), constant failures with album production (omitting Doyoung's name, boring designs for 127), tasteless stylists, etc. However, I also see good work: artists flying first/business class and living in 5 star hotels, being given opportunity to go to the beach, museums, to enjoy sightseeing in new countries; opportunity to explore one's creativity (soundcloud, NCTLabs, solo performances for Link); SM giving artists second professions (MC, variety host, model) that will aid professional longevity (Doyoung hasn't finished school and doesn't have a degree, but I'm not worried for him, even if SM collapses, he'll always find a job. Same for Taeyong, he came as a blank page, now he is a songwriter and a producer, he can even become a choreographer); neos progressively being given more choice and say, their opinion being consulted and their ideas being implemented once they gain enough experience (Golden Dust story, Taeyong making his own setlist for his concert, Doyoung saying Unity should not have solo-stages, Ten choosing the mood and genre for his solo, etc).

Most importantly, I can see many friendships between neos and producers/managers, and that Haechan and Doyoung, who experienced all of SM's downsides personally and not once, continue to like the company. Meaning, the good should outweight the bad. At least for now.

Fans learnt the name of Chris Lee and continue to blame him for everything to this day, although he doesn't own any shares in SM and has stopped being a CEO a year ago. He is a token scapegoat.

Should I blindly trust fans or should I go read Wikipedia, interviews and listen to the guy himself? In situations like these I always choose the latter.

Sure, I can't tell if he evades taxes or participates in shady business, and what neos think of him (aside from Doyoung calling him "hyung" in public and not being afraid of getting punished for it), but I can see he was the person who overlooked all the early NCT songs (we have "Limitless", "Cherry bomb" thanks to him); created SMStation and SMClassics (say thank you for "Try again", "Star blossom"); found Dem Jointz ("Kick it", "Punch", "Sticker") and multiple other songwriters who now work for SM; brought to Korea the idea of songwriting camps, in which Kun participates nowadays and where he befriends foreign creators; invested SM money into a publishing company (and not a winery or a hotel business), which means SM artists will be secured to have a lot of songs to choose from in the future, and Korean young producers will have access to the global market. He has been with SM close to 20 years, and he is evidently a music nerd, ergo he understands artists and their love for music. So why should I hate him? I have no proof of him taking money away from neos, but I have evidence he was very essential to formation of NCT and the quality of SM sound being maintained. On the contrary, I'm inclined to suspect the quality of albums (song setlist, production) is raising again because he is back to supervising A&R in SM.

[unholy-screeching9]

I've been wondering: why are Dice's eyes two different colors sometimes? Specifically when he's unhinged?

It’s honestly not much more than a stylistic choice! I’ve always been one to experiment with different effects of the face, and whether there might be certain things I can change/add that can really push the intensity of whatever I want to show.

You’ve hit it right on the nail: I really only do that eye effect when I want to give off the impression that Dice is either ROYALLY pissed off, or if he’s just downright crazy. I just think it makes him that much more “unhinged” as you put it, and I’ve grown to like how the effect looks <3

It’s also a nod to Dice’s changing eye color shown off in the game, as well! I think it’s so cool how his eyes go from pure black to that bright, menacing icy green in just a second. I’m not much of an animator, but when I wanna show off just how quickly those eyes can switch, that effect of two different colors helps me convey that through just one image!

So I guess in the end it IS a little deeper than something stylistic, but if I’m being honest, it started as just something I was trying out, and then it just stuck because I really enjoyed the results. 💋