#tangled the series character palettes

[disneyfanatic1993]

Do you have palettes saved for the tangled characters? If you do, do you mind sharing them? (Especially for varian, I have trouble trying to find his skin tone, since the screencaps/screenshots I have of him have different lighting😂)

I actually do have some! I created these back when I was making art for “Alchemist Out Of Corona,” but I still use them for all of my art of these characters.

I didn’t create ones for the animals, but these are specific screenshots I use for Pascal, Owl, and Ruddiger since they’re in normal daylight on the show. (Fun fact: Ruddiger’s eye color is the exact same color as the stripe in Varian’s hair! 😜)

As for Maximus and Fidella, I have lost the original screenshots I used to color them. So I just use previous arts of mine for their colors.😅

I hope this helped! 🥰

[frozenpolishfangirl]

Disney movies that people should love and recognize more (animated + live action) :

Sleeping Beauty - cottagecore vibe, underrated characters, literal activist prince, gorgeous villain, pleasing color palette and style

Beauty and the Beast - FIRST DISNEY ANTIHERO PRINCE + ENEMIES TO FRIENDS TO LOVERS THATS IT ^^

Atlantis - complex characters, well written twist villain, romance subplot, MAIN ADORABLE CHARACTER, STRONG YET KIND FEMALE HEROINE AND LITERAL PRINCESS

Jungle Cruise - ENEMIES TO LOVERS

Princess and the Frog - ENEMIES TO LOVERS AGAIN, beautiful aesthetic, main friend that isn't actually bad b*tch (I still remember how you not even lend a single coin to Tiana Charlotte but maybe I forgive you ;P)

Ichabod and Mr. Toad - comedy guilty pleasure, the complex characters that are not actually what they seem, genius Non-Disney live-action series additionally ^^

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms - underrated gem, actually good twist villain, beautiful aesthetic, I KINDA SHIP CLARA X PHILIP, MOTHER GINGER IS MY BABY ^^

TANGLED - THATS IT TANGLED IT DESERVES MORE LOVE FOR EVERYTHING TuT

Frozen - JUST FROZEN I HAVE ENOUGH HATE FOR IT IT ISNT PERFECT BUT ITS MY WHOLE LIFE (HANS AND ELSA FOR LIFE, MY COMFORT CHARACTERS FOREVER ^^)

BIG HERO 6 - HOW IT IS SO MUCH UNDERRATED ITS NOT PERFECT BUT ITS LAST ACTUALLY GOOD DISNEY MOVIE I SWEAR

[drama-glob]

Anyone else concur on the irony? I know lust can apply to any strong desire, but since Asmodeus used it mainly in the sexual way, it’s feeling pretty ironic to me. What can I say? He’s got an amazing singing voice provided by James Monroe Iglehart (Lance Strongbow in the “Tangled” series, Taurus Bulba in the “DuckTales” reboot and Genie in Broadway’s version of “Aladdin”), I love his character design and color palette, he’s got swagger, love his various expressions (which if I’m being honest, gave me some Globby-vibes with the glowing eyes and how exaggerated they could get ;) ), and he clearly has some relationship with Fizzarolli (and they look adorable together ^_^).

I also love Stolas, Blitz and Moxxie (and I’m all for wanting Stolitz to make it :) ), but Asmodeus really got stuck in my head. :) (Also, I love how annoyed/pissed off Fizz looks in the last picture XD).

[receding-tides]

train, sparkle, droplet, paperclip

(3) (these were all for margin(

I'll put these all in one post for convenience haha but ty for sending a bunch :] I'm glad we have Margin Likers around that's my blorbopus right there

👁️ EYE - what colour are their eyes? do people notice their eyes? is there anything special about them (shows emotion easily, literally magical...)? Margin has blue eyes w the scleras being slightly green tinted, aka Octavio but less intense. She also has the purple striped mask which is the main thing people notice. There isn't anything particularly special about them but her irises do turn red when she uses her venom (I don't have a biological explanation for this it just looks cool)

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep? Margin has a very specific sleep schedule which she retained even after moving to the surface and then to Splatsville so I think she is one of those people who can just like Fall Asleep On Command almost haha. If she is awake after 10pm she gets so tired. I don't rly have an answer for the second question I guess just not being anywhere loud

🎂 BIRTHDAY CAKE - when is their birthday? do they like celebrating it? Margin's birthday is May 9th which is the date I started writing At Sixes and Sevens, I don't think she celebrates it or even tells other people about it though

🥞 PANCAKE - what is their comfort breakfast? She eats plain buttered toast for breakfast every day this is like, a specific character trait she has. Somehow.

🌺 HIBISCUS - do they have any allergies? I don't think she has any particularly strong allergies but I think pretty much any of the octolings who grew up in the domes probably get hayfever simply because their body isn't adjusted to Lots Of Pollen In The Air (and maybe some other things also along that logic)

✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them? I have a lot of songs I associate w her but the Strongest song lyrics is probably just. the first verse of Ready As I'll Ever Be (from Tangled The Series) but specifically before her character development moment

Believe me I know, I've sunk pretty low But whatever I've done, you deserved I'm the bad guy, that's fine It's no fault of mine and some justice at last will be served

🎨 PALETTE - can they draw? what do they like to draw? (I'm assuming this is what drawing meant because I can't find one w that name otherwise) Margin can sort of draw but mostly just in the case of Making Diagrams. she has made doodles of Squidgy before but will claim it was purely for documentation / scientific purposes.

🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for? This will sound very cliché but if you make Margin think she is doing the right thing / something fully justified and she feels strongly about it she will gladly throw herself into a dangerous situation over it. This definitely happens less as she gets older tho

🚆 TRAIN - what is their answer to the trolley problem? I think she would do the trolley hits one person instead of five but also I guess it'd depend who the one person was lol. If it's all misc strangers then goodbye to that one guy

❇️ SPARKLE - what is their most prized possession? what do they value? Margin doesn't really have many possessions besides like, her bike and the Sharker and whatever is in her room, she values things that are Useful To Her and that's about it. She has a lot of miscellaneous junk from the crater but most of it is either for selling or might be useful for building

💧 DROPLET - random angst headcanon She frequently has nightmares about drowning even though she was never conscious during the one time where she did almost drown

📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact. Her splashtag looks like this :] (link to the splashtag creator)

[ambersky-art]

Fan Reference Project: Masterpost

A masterpost of all the drawings I make for this project!

But what is this project?

This Fan References project is my goal to draw every (or nearly every) character from various fandoms. For some fandoms, I also plan to draw specific species if they're unique enough from irl creatures. The plan is to create a simple reference for each character consisting of at least one fullbody and flatcolor sketch, a color palette, and the character's name and the media they're from. These references will be posted daily. If you'd like to scroll through them all, every drawing will be posted under the tag wip: fan references and I will update this post as I go.

Included Characters

You can find a list of all the characters and creatures on this spreadsheet. Characters in white cells have already been drawn, though it's likely that if they are not linked here, then I have simply not posted them yet. I'm very willing to take suggestions, however, I make no guarantee of getting to it quickly/there's a chance it could take a long time for me to get to that character.

How will it work? What is the point?

Every day from January 1 (unless I specifically post that I am going on hiatus) I will be posting one of these references. At some point, I might increase the number of characters posted each day. I will be drawing these characters alphabetically, and they will be posted alphabetically. I will also be numbering each character in their post, both for the fun of seeing just how many characters there are and for organizational purposes. I wanted to do this for two reasons. The first is because I feel it would be good practice in drawing characters that aren't mine. I always feel like when I draw fanart based purely on grabbed images from media, there's always something off. Hopefully with a reference in my own style, it becomes easier to draw these characters. The other is so that I have my own clear reference for these characters, with an established color palette, so that I can draw the characters consistently.

Other Notes

This post could act as a notification post. At this moment (12/21) I'm unsure if people would want that. Just let me know if that would be a good idea, and I can post in the replies with a changelog of sorts once a week with which characters have been posted. All timelapses of these drawings are posted on my Instagram (@/ambersky0319) - at the moment (01/08) I don't intend to post them here.

Character Links

Below the cut is the actual masterpost portion with all the links. Unlike the posts themselves, which are posted alphabetically regardless of fandom, below the characters are organized by fandom. The fandoms are organized by character count, the fandoms with fewer characters first for the sake of scrolling.

Nimona (10)

[characters]

Buddy Daddies (15)

[characters]

Arcane (26)

[characters]

Danny phantom (34)

[characters]

Soul Eater (40)

[characters]

The Arcana (43)

[characters]

Carmen Sandiego (50)

[characters]

Avatar: The Last Airbender (75)

Aang || Admiral Zhao ||

Minecraft Diaries (82)

Aaron || Abby ||

Tangled the Series/Varian and the 7 Kingdoms (92)

Adira ||

The Owl House (99)

Adegast || Adrian Graye Vernworth ||

Nanatsu no Taizai/The Seven Deadly Sins (100)

[characters]

Stardew Valley (103)

Abigail ||

Voltron (123)

Acxa || Adam ||

How to Train Your Dragon (145)

[characters]

Hilda (161)

Abigail || Abigail's Dad || Adeline ||

My Little Pony (Gen 4) + Equestria Girls (506)

Ace Point || Adagio Dazzle ||

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (588)

BotW characters + enemies, a few TotK characters (NOT npcs like villagers, stable people, etc.), and most TotK enemies (must have differences to BotW counterparts)

[characters]

[tekutiger]

Realized this morning that I got so tangled up with grinding out Frontlines on Mari and Yuki... I never posted gpose screenies of Tobi in the Series 3, Level 25 PvP Coffer Attire 😅

😊 Ofc I'm going to do that now~ ❤️ (he is my main afterall)

Aaa~ the armor set looks so good. I mean, I could be biased but I have it across multiple characters and I think it looks good on all of them? So, I don't think so?

I understand people have different styles/tastes. I also haven't dyed this set on any of my characters wearing it 🙃 (it looks good in the original palette imo)

[chiscribbs]

Varian’s “pale” skin:

I’ve been seeing this misconception a lot lately, so I thought I’d throw together a little ref post (using the eyedropper tool) to help out any writers and fanartists out there. 

[Note: I’m not a professional animator, I don’t work on the show. But I do spend a lot of time working with digital art and have a fair knowledge of it’s many aspects.]

So let’s lay this rumor to rest; Varian’s skin is not pale.

It actually has a sort of olive tone to it, which becomes clearer in dim lighting (such as his lab or the interior of the castle.)

In broad daylight, we can see that the tone of his skin is surprisingly a bit darker and more saturated than Rapunzel’s. Ex:

The biggest difference between them is their hair color:  Rapunzel has golden blonde hair, which brings out the tan color of her skin and gives her a sun-kissed look. Varian, on the other hand, has black hair, which causes his skin to look lighter in contrast (the blue/green hues in his color palette only add to this effect.) Standing side-by-side, they form an optical illusion of sorts

Granted, Rapunzel can appear darker than Varian in certain lighting. This is due to the varying reactions that different colors have when overlaid with another.

Likewise, certain lighting can also make Varian look paler than he actually is (as pictured below.) Overcast weather, for instance, desaturates his color palette and reflects the blue/grey tones.

But even then, if we compare the tone of his skin to that of Cass (who actually is pretty pale), we can see that he still has a lot of color to him whereas she appears almost grey.

So, when painting/coloring Varian’s skin, if you’re going for accuracy, I’d advise against using light, desaturated tones if you can help it. Instead, go for something more on the tan/olive-y spectrum.  Same goes for writing- try to avoid using words that imply paleness or pastiness when describing him (unless in comparison to someone else or if the scene’s lighting lends itself to it.)

This has been a brief guide to skin tones and the effects of lighting in digital art/animation. The More You Know 🌠

Hope this was helpful!

[shima-draws]

I could not find the original source post for this (the tumblr listed on it is deactivated RIP) but this is the one I wanted to do so. Hhhh

Anyway send me characters + palettes!! I’ll do human characters (not just Pokemon), all the fandoms are listed in the tags ^p^

[jentlemahae]

I Watched Euphoria So You Don’t Have To (Article)

I’m gonna be brutally upfront with you – even before watching a single episode of Euphoria, I did not like the show one bit. Being somewhat active on social media, I’ve seen about a billion posts praising the series since it first aired two and a half years ago, and over time I’ve grown more and more curious about it. But a quick skim of the summary and trailer were enough to spark my disdain. I did not like the show, and no amount of propaganda on social media could change my mind.

However, it just so happened that my friend was a fan, so she had been begging me to watch it for years on end. “Come on, it’s not that bad! You will enjoy it, I promise!” were words I had been hearing constantly, and every single time I would roll my eyes and shake my head as a response. Until one day she (unexpectedly) won me over by telling me that if I was going to keep criticizing it, I had to at least watch it for myself. Or to use her exact words, “To talk shit, you gotta know shit”. And so, I reluctantly pressed play on the first episode…

Euphoria 101

As mentioned in the introduction, given how people on social media would not shut up about it, I already knew about 90% of the story prior to watching Euphoria, and I suppose that if you are on any social platform, you are somewhat familiar with it too. But if you aren’t, here’s a quick rundown.

The story revolves around a group of high school students, and narrates their experiences with love, drugs, search for identity, and the ups and downs of life. The main protagonist is Rue Bennett (Zendaya), a teenage drug addict who just came out of rehab and now has to dive right back into high school drama. The show details her journey toward sobriety, and narrates how her own struggles get tangled with the lives of some of her schoolmates and other town friends. Namely – Jules (Hunter Schafer), Maddy (Alexa Demie), Nate (Jacob Elordi), Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), Kat (Barbie Ferreira), Lexi (Maude Apatow), and Fezco (Angus Cloud). As each character deals with their own dose of trauma, the series explores various types of struggles, such as addiction, sexuality, family drama, turbulent friendships, toxic love affairs… you name it! 

Here are my thoughts after watching Euphoria.

The good…

As I want to begin this article on a positive note, let me first go through all the things I enjoyed about Euphoria. 

For starters, fans of the show were right - the cinematography and the visual aspect are simply stunning. Featuring impressive camera movements, remarkable cinematic lighting and a gorgeous color palette, the show is the marvelous creation of the cinematographer Marcell Rév. Arguably so, he does a wonderful job with the visuals, especially when it comes to matching the series’ essence and intensity through the filmmaking techniques. Given that the show is based on ‘emotional realism’ (that is, realism centered around emotions), an objective and formal approach to its cinematography would not have been a nice fit. Whereas, the use of contrasting primary colors and whimsical lighting perfectly translate the story’s feel and atmosphere to the viewers. 

In fact, the visuals and aesthetics of Euphoria are definitely the best and most memorable elements of the show. From the perfectly coordinated soundtrack, to the lavish outfits and stunning makeup looks, the series is truly a feast for the eyes. And even here, ‘emotional realism’ plays an important part once again, since the clothes are actually there to further emphasize the characters’ emotions, as underlined by costume designer Heidi Bivens to Variety. 

The acting is also good, notably in season two if you ask me – Zendaya particularly shines in the last 8 episodes, delivering tear-jerking performances back to back, and showcasing the magnitude of her acting versatility. 

The bad…

And now, onto stuff that’s a bit more negative… and a lot more fun!

I won’t lie – I have several issues with Euphoria, but I think most of them ultimately come down to the writing of the show. Now, the baseline of the story is actually very promising and interesting, but its execution is where things begin to fall apart. Sam Levinson (creator, main director and sole writer) frequently appears to get lost in the world of his own creation, leaving a chaotic mess behind himself more often than not. 

First of all, the pace of the story is extremely uneven throughout the series. In certain episodes, it seems that a billion things are happening all at once, and all in the blink of an eye. Whereas other times, everything moves so excruciatingly slow it would put the sun to sleep. This imbalance is especially apparent in the second season, where it becomes agonizingly impossible to ignore. 

Speaking of which – season two is where shit actually hits the fan in more ways than one. Other than it having more plot holes than Swiss cheese, the way certain characters are treated in the latest season is puzzling to say the least. 

Some new protagonists appear completely out of the blue, whereas others (who previously played a core role in the plot) get completely tossed aside like discarded play toys. Kat is the most striking instance – in the first season, she had an interesting (albeit questionable) character arc, as she was exploring her sexuality and coming into her own as a plus-sized woman. In season two, this seems to be almost entirely forgotten, as she gets reduced to a side character with just a few brief scenes, all about her issues with self-worth and the impact of social media on her body image. Although this is a relevant and relatable topic to feature on a teen show, boiling down the only plus-sized character to the “girl who hates her body” trope just feels reductive at best. 

Very similar is Jules’ character arc in season two – over the first season and her two special solo episodes, we saw her embarking on a journey of self-discovery, navigating through femininity and the trials of adolescence as a transgender woman. But despite it being a significant and impactful storyline at first, this hardly gets addressed in season two. 

Season one felt chaotic but you could sense a pattern (albeit flimsy) in its chaos, whereas season two just feels messy and confused, almost like the writer was making stuff up on the go. If anything, the latest season is a true testament to the fact that Mr. Levinson desperately needs to establish a writers’ room, and have someone remind him what the hell is going on in his own show (since he clearly seems to easily forget).

Another unfortunate roadblock Euphoria has to face is the dialogue. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the dialogue is okay (maybe even entertaining), but oftentimes it comes off as so awkward and unnatural, it makes me wonder whether Sam Levinson has ever had a conversation with another human being. 

And let’s not even discuss all the swearing. I mean, I don’t see the harm in a couple of cuss words here and there, but they appear so often in Euphoria they just seem forced and out of place. If I may quote a friend of mine, “A lot of the dialogue in the show gives ‘middle schoolers who just learned what curse words are, and now insert them in every possible sentence’ energy”, and I really couldn’t have said it better. It just seems like something straight out of a 12-year-old’s Wattpad novel (and that’s not a compliment).                                              

…and the ugly

And now, let’s address the elephant in the room – the blatant oversexualization of teenagers.

Euphoria is known for always flirting with the line between showing uncomfortable truths and romanticizing controversial behaviors, but sometimes they just completely cross it. For instance, the show is habit to depicting its characters – most of whom are high schoolers, i.e. literal children – while engaged in sexual activities, in an overly-graphic and explicit manner. And in all honesty, the fact that the actors are all at least 23 years old is of little consolation since, at the end of the day, the characters they are playing remain teenagers.

Yes, some teenagers have sex – that’s not the problem. The problem is the extent to which sex is shown throughout the series, and always in such choreographed and sensationalized ways. 

Not to mention, the oversexualization in Euphoria isn’t confined to the bedrooms – it’s in the way the characters act, dress, and present themselves. Particularly – the female characters, who dress as if they were 25-year-olds on their way to the club, and not 16-year-old kids going to second period. 

Moreover, we have the storyline in season one where Kat decides to launch her career as a cam girl, and creates a channel on a PornHub-esque website where she dominates and sexually degrades adult men. The narrative is portrayed as a turning point of sexual liberation for the character, but… is it? I think not, for there’s no such thing as ‘sexual liberation’ when it comes to children – that’s just grooming. 

And let’s not even get into how often the series depicts characters engaging in violent sexual activities, or how a major plot point of season one is Jules lying about her age to have sex with adult men… It’s just so unrevocably over the line, it cannot even see the line. To paraphrase Friends – the line is a dot to Euphoria. 

This only gets worse when you remember that the writer is a grown man… doesn’t that seem just a little disturbing? Perhaps I’m just a prude, but I think that no matter how you swing it, there’s something deeply sinister about an adult man sitting down and writing multiple explicit sex scenes with underage girls. 

The main issue here is that the graphic aspect of the sexualization is not essential to the advancement of the story in any way. One might argue that it’s there for provocation and shock-value, but I think any writer worth their salt would not need to retort to such an escamotage to make their story impactful. Good writing is all you need, but I guess no one gave the memo to Mr. Levinson. 

Is it worth a watch?

All in all, Euphoria is not the worst thing I have ever seen. It’s not amazing (that’s for sure), but I could stand to rewatch it if someone held a gun to my head. Is it worth a watch? That’s still up for debate, but there’s one thing I can tell you – if you don’t like it, watching it will not change your mind. Well, at least it didn’t change mine. 

On the other hand, I think watching it for myself was ultimately a good decision, as it allowed me to see why so many people love it, and made me realize why I do not. It’s a gorgeous production, with its intoxicating visuals and compelling aesthetics, and it doesn’t have an overly-complicated and hard-to-follow narrative. But once you look beyond its shiny exterior, all you will find are plot holes and moral ambiguity. 

That’s why Euphoria is perfectly titled in my opinion – once you come down from the first-impact sweet euphoric high with the gorgeous visuals, all that you’re left with is a numb, underwhelming and uncomfortable show that is bound to leave a sour aftertaste. 

[sparrtington]

IN THIS HOUSE, WE WANT LOVE FOR LOKI IN EVERY REALM. *CHEF KISS**THROWS HANDS**WHY DO THEY ALL HAVE FACIAL HAIR*

Def a wip, I’ll probably clean it up later today as long as my entire be----ing decides to COOPERATE. (edit 2 hours later: apparently my brain turned off mid sentence)

More ranting under the cut...the ramblings of a very mentally unhinged quail WHO JUST LOVES THREE SPECIFIC LOKI SHIPS *CRIES*

In chronological order:

Dashingfrost is like...my OG Loki ship. Is it cause they’re both green based colour palettes? Both are narcissists' and like to dress well? That outfit to Jotunheim Josh Dallas wears in Thor 1? Fur shawl nonsense with double pauldron capes? HOLY SHIT. What a tool. Love it. And the Zachary Levi variant Fandral gets more intricate armor detailing and a full cape (which we respect) and his disheveled look is a great contrast to Loki with a more clean cut vibe. Again, the OG Asgard royalty/protector dynamic. The growing up to slow burn love each other over centuries. Easier to encapsulate a story about a more Norse myth centric story (If you don’t want to bother with super heroes in general). LOVE IT. Totally didn’t stay up till 11pm reading Dashingfrost. BTW, the name is charming. It’s a very Disney Prince(TM)-esque theme (lol cause Josh Dallas was Prince Charming in Once Upon a Time and Zachary Levi voices Flynn Rider in Tangled) It’s a very cute, charming name. It’s a charming ship that kinda ticks all the fairy tale, norse myth, potential centuries of tragedies, kinda stories. Also, out of all the Warriors Three, Fandral seems to be canonically (or fandom wise) the least hostile towards Loki as Thor’s best bros. He also has some banter with Loki in Dark World as well. We don’t talk about the untimely demise of the Three in Ragnarok. I felt so betrayed even tho I love Ragnarok as a movie.

---

Frostiron is that mid MCU ship that started with Loki throwing Tony out of a window by his neck, with one hand. (MARK ME DOWN AS SCARED AND HORNY) Fell for the ship hard even though it’s the most “never ever would be canon” air about it. 

Different height dynamic. Loki tall, Tony smol. Both have equally massive egos and big brain energy for their respective crafts. BOTH OF THEM HAVE BIG DADDY ISSUES. All that potential childhood traumatic angst. A lot of angst in this ship...now that I think about it. Exploring their individual PTSD issues either with Tony and his impromptu trip to space and his anxiety attacks or Loki being mind melted and tortured by Thanos....etc. a lot of potential healing and comfort uwu. More suffering ideas? The concept of mortality. Loki lives a long time, Tony no lives a long time. MORE SUFFERING.

Tony and Loki can swap the sugar daddy role. If Loki is on midgard or if Tony is on Asgard, which ever poison you prefer. Uhhhh...I also enjoy the amount of snark you can get out of them. Both from completely different realms, but they are kind of the same kind of messed up, big brain, ego driven idiots. Also, their ship name is metal af. 

--

Lokius, not as cool of a ship name because it’s just a traditional melding of their names, but we respect simplicity. Also, the most canon ship we’re gonna get. The coolest ship potential because VARIANTS. Not the other ships can’t be in AU’s, but Lokius is basically “You want an alternate universe? VARIANT THAT SHIT”. Love it. 

Mobius is also a very patient, caring character in general. Besides knowing Loki’s entire story front to back, he’s just very sympathetic without being half hearted about it. Mobius is very much 1000% capybara energy. Loki, the hostile alligator sitting with a chill capybara. That’s it, thats why I love this ship. Capybara energy~

BUT THEN THEY ENDED THE SERIES WITH MOBIUS BEING LIKE “Who are you?” and I bout fuckin punched my monitor and screamed. I could eat my own teeth. LET. HIM. KISS. THE. COWBOY. anyway....Lokius, yesssss. A lot of potential with infinite and veritable possibilities. 

Ok, that’s all. Thanks for coming to my ted talk, I need to lay down and cry over Loki shipping now.

[ringcarnival]

Here to throw my two cents into the whole idw sonic writers thing I’m seeing going around.

It’s a little long though so I’ll put it most it under a read more and leave a brief summary here.

TL;DR: Blaming the writers ignores the business side of the comics. For example, If SEGA wants Shadow to be a jerk, he’s gonna be a jerk. That’s not the writers fault and blaming them for it ignores SEGA’s part in all this. If you like Tangle and Whisper, you like their writing because they actually have more freedom with the original characters than the official. Don’t blame Flynn and Stanley for SEGA’s decisions.

I think it’s unfair to throw all of this back at the writers. We’ve seen that both are very good writers. I think it’s important to understand that IDW Sonic isn’t like Archie Sonic or Ghosts of the Future.

 Archie Sonic was an absolute madhouse when it came to the writing and Ian Flynn came and cleaned up that mess. Once everything was sorted, he was allowed almost complete writing freedom until the Super Genesis Wave happened. After which some mandates were put in, but they didn’t keep the comic down. People still look back on the post-SGW comics fondly despite the removal of a good portion of the cast. That didn’t mean it didn’t have some problems, one of the biggest being the rushed telling of the Sonic Unleashed story and initial characterization of Werehog Sonic, but regardless of its issues people did enjoy them. The fact that people are willing to restore the remaining issues from the pencil sketches speaks volumes on how much people loved them despite the big changes.

Ian Flynn cleaned up Archie Sonic and before that fateful moment during the Zombot arc that “ruined Shadow’s character” very few people had anything bad to say about his writing. Heck, he’s the one responsible for creating the best version of Shadow across all Sonic media.

Regarding Evan Stanley, we’ve seen her writing in her fan comic (Ghosts of the Future, for those who don’t know). Again, excellent writing and with some excellent characters, both fan and official. What also says a lot about how much people like her writing is the fact she was brought on as a writer for an arc for Sonic Universe close to the of Archie Sonic’s run, and is now one of the main writers for the IDW comics now.

Both of them are clearly good at writing Sonic so what changed?

SEGA’s involvement of course. Sonic never really cared about the Archie run too much which let the writer’s pretty much do whatever they wanted. I’m sure there were at least some rules, but none that prevented at least half the notorious things from that run (The Slap, Charmy’s friend overdosing, Locke etc.). Some good came from this since no input from SEGA meant that official characters could be written however the writer of the issue wanted them to be written. Of course this did create inconsistencies in character personalities but it also allowed Flynn to write them however he wanted. Using Shadow as an example, he was a bit of a grump, but also a caring friend and teammate. According the SEGA, this is not his personality (since he has no friends) but that’s how Flynn decided to write him, and because of SEGA’s lax hold on the series at that point, that’s how he stayed all the way until the end of the Archie run.

IDW Sonic marked a new beginning for Sonic comics, not just in characters, plot and world but also SEGA’s involvement.  According to Stanley, the writers have to stick to whatever notes SoA/SoJ sent saying how they want the characters portrayed. Something she said in an ask that also proves that SEGA is being more strict with their characters. “This is because of changes in how SEGA chooses to handle their licensing” (link to ask here). By the sound of it, it sounds like SEGA had little involvement in the Archie run and started doing more post-SGW. Not much but more than they ever did pre-SGW. Which lines up with what I suggested before.

Them being more strict with their licensing may prevent some of that trademark Archie Sonic craziness that was in a lot of the earlier issues, but it also prevents freedom when it comes to the writing of the official cast. Take a look at Tangle, Whisper and the other original IDW characters. From what I’ve seen everyone likes them and I believe it’s partly because the writers can write them however they want. SEGA doesn’t care about them as much as the official characters so the writers have almost complete control over them. Not so much for the official cast, which makes sense and saying that the writers should take personal responsibility ignores the business side of the comics.

This isn’t Archie and, now the SEGA actually cares about the comic and the “Sonic brand” as a whole, of course they’re going to be more strict with it. That doesn’t mean they can’t do anything, but the options for character development are very restricted because if SEGA wants Shadow to be jerk, the writers are gonna make him be a jerk. They are taking personal responsibility by trying to explain that but judging by the reactions I’m seeing people take it as them shifting the blame when it reality they’re just providing an official explanation.

It’s kinda like if someone commissioned me for a poster. I’m only told what colors to use and what kind of theme it should have. It comes out great and people like it. Then the same people commission a second poster but this time they tell me that want a specific palette, font and theme with specific objects on it that, for the sake of this example, don’t really fit the theme or go with the colors. They don’t approve any suggested changes which leaves me with no choice but to put everything they want in the poster. It comes out bad and people blame me for the ugliness of the poster. The client, however, loves it and I get paid anyway. That’s what’s happening with the IDW comics.

SEGA is giving them a strict guideline to follow with their characters. Of course, they’re willing to give some wiggle room and let new characters be thrown into the mix, but even if the writers wanted to change the personalities of the official characters and have them be more similar to their Archie versions, they can’t. They’re writing what SEGA wants and, rather than blame the people just doing their job, maybe blame SEGA for being too strict with their characters.

[finnoky]

👗 👔 and 🌈 for the meme!

Tangled ask game!

👗 Favourite Character Outfit?

Ooohhhh best one.... I really loved Rapunzels Season 2 outfit! The explorer vibe suited her well and it has a really pretty colour palette on it. It felt loose, free, and very Rapunzel-y compared to her Season 3 one. It sticks in my mind as very cute (Also Eugenes from the same season is pretty dope, not gonna lie. And Imma go off as say I liked Varians season 3 Ensemble)

👔 Least Favourite Character Outfit

Least Favourite... Cassandras Moon Leotard thing. Did not suit her, Should have been armour and idk, it was just a weird choice imo? She deserved better! Let her look cool!!!

🌈 Best moment in the entire series?

I... Am bias, because I’m gonna say that moment in Rapunzels Return where Varian skids into Quirins arms. It’s such a sweet moment... It makes me a little emotional to think about

!! Thanks for the ask!

[urban-hart]

Hi there!

Can you maybe do a tutorial on how to color your drawings digitally? I can draw really well but I suck at coloring digitally. And I don't think I'm doing it right. So I would appreciate if you could give some tips or a tutorial or something. Only if it's convenient for you ofc. Thanks!

You’re in good company then! Coloring things digitally is still fairly new to me as well. And, when I do, it’s very very basic. I don’t feel qualified to give advice, but I can try anyway. 

Adding digital color to my traditional sketches has been pretty fun for me lately (should probably post that stuff, now that I think about it). Very slightly tinting the layer with my imported sketch keeps the pencil lines from turning a weird green-like color when overlaying the sketch on top of a color layer (over vice versa). 

Concerning techniques with brushes and stuff, I recommend just playing around with basic brushes for a bit first. Hard, soft, anything in between. Just hold off on purchasing anything new if you can! An artist should be able to accomplish more with less. 

Avoid using black for shading if you can. Consider shifts in hue (color) to enliven your piece. I think when people paint, they usually start with darker colors and then build up with lighter colors. A simpler but still valid method would be to multiply a darker colored layer on top of your local colors for shading.

Just like about every other artist you could ask, I urge you to find all sorts of reference material! Look up pictures of whatever specific thing you need to reference, scenes from movies or shows with good composition--

Nature is a great reference point for all sorts of color palettes! Any colors you see together in nature should go nicely together in an artwork.

That said, make sure you don't get hung up on finding references. The problem I run into a lot is overthinking a piece and not even getting a first draft done.

Here are a few sources and artists you could check out:

help-me-draw: is a wealth of organized art information. It sounds like you’d want to look at their Foundations category. All of that can be a bit overwhelming, though, because there’s so much going on there.

Pinterest is a good compilation of resources, too! Lots of great tutorials out there. 

Here’s a good post about colors: https://ggdgart.tumblr.com/post/148561944647/a-collection-of-things-i-wrote-about-color-these

Sam Does Arts records his painting process on YouTube. He's very informative and takes a some moments through a timelapse to explain a what he's doing and why, and there's plenty of video where all you have to do is just watch his creations come together.

Laura Price also posts timelapses of her paintings on YouTube, as well as informative videos about being in the art industry as a freelance artist. I first found her through her work on background art for Tangled: the Series.

Aaron Blaise has lots of insight on painting, character design, animation, and other art fundamentals. As I understand it, he did a lot of work on classic Disney movies, and is still very active as an artist. His works are really incredible.

(I could probably think of a bunch of more incredible artists with more time, but that would take me to long.)

Sorry that this is such a mess of a post, and that it took so long. ^^' Hopefully this helps you at least a little bit!

[journey2maya]

Narratology: Second Draft

Analyse your chosen narrative with close reference to the Hero’s Journey or another appropriate template

For this essay I have chosen to talk about the narrative structure of the 2017 film My Little Pony: The Movie. I will be making a structural analysis with reference to the Quest plot type as described in Cristopher Booker’s The seven basic plots. [1] to paraphrase; in any quest story there is always a priceless goal which drives the hero’s passion to succeed. The hero and some companions must embark on a perilous journey filled with monsters, temptation and helpers, to reach their goal. The story is unresolved until the overriding objective has been secured.[Booker 2004 pg 69] I will be taking a look at how the animation enriches the narrative through choice of design and also touch on how the songs drive the narrative at certain points.

The movie was produced by DHX media in collaboration with AllSpark pictures using Toon Boom Harmony production software [2] which specialises in integrating 3D elements with 2D characters. [3] the film emphasises traditional animation and is supported throughout with modern 3-D solutions. The TV show is animated using flash and along with this change of animation software there also came a change in art style. To quote Art Director Rebecca Dart; for the feature film, the characters became more volumetric overall, meaning they have more of a roundness and softness for the 360 degree world of Equestria and beyond that we created for the movie.” [4] This extract from the ‘art of’ book shows a comparison of the two styles.

Figure 1. A style comparison. Page 20, 2017 [4]

These small changes really make the difference on the big screen and giving the ponies’ ears an inside fold allows the ears to swivel and be more expressive, closer to real life horse ears. The shimmer of the eyes also adds to the depth of emotion and these small changes are an example of how small changes really make the difference.

The plot of the movie is as follows; Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity embark on an epic journey to save Equestria from the tyranny of the Storm King. Along the way, the Mane 6 meet new friends and face challenges as they travel beyond Equestria for the first time ever. From this summary we can pick out the key features of a quest story. The call; a sudden threat has arisen that gives purpose to a journey. [Booker, 2005 pg. 70] for this story it’s the threat of the Storm King.  The hero’s companions; Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, along with the dragon assistant spike, accompany Twilight on her quest. The journey; the essential party of any quest story where our hero and their companions go through a series of terrible ordeals, receive help and guidance and are met with challenges they must overcome [Booker, 2005 pg. 73]. For the mane six this spans most of the movie. They go to a range of locations that play respective roles in pushing the narrative and I’ll be looking at each location in further detail. The helpers; characters that serve as an aid to the hero and her companions [Booker, 2005 pg. 77] ( the new friends they meet along the way) the helpers in this particular movie are quite important as they not only help during the journey but they also in what booker calls the ‘final ordeal’ it is the last battle between good and evil, where the hero comes to the edge of their goal [Booker,2005 pg. 78].

At the start of the film we see the ponies preparing for the first official Friendship Festival in Canterlot, Equestrias capital. Everywhere is bustling. The event is highly anticipated and each of the mane six are helping prepare by putting up decorations,and erecting tents and booths to sell many different wares through this we get introductions to our characters, including spike, to show a little of their personality. This is important because it makes the characters seem more real. They’re not just an accessory to Twilight's adventure, they’re individuals and they’re part of it in a big way.  Twilight Sparkle, the unofficial leader of the friend group, is being true to character and is worried that the festival won’t be perfect. As the Princess Of Friendship the pressure is all on her to make sure that everypony has a good time. Twilight’s friends rally around her in an attempt to reassure her that everything will be fine in the form of the song ‘We Got This Together.’

This song highlights the mane six’s teamwork and interpersonal relationship as strong. This Song also carries heavy foreshadowing as it implies that true to form, of a quest story, everything is certainty not going to go to plan but that the mane six will indeed face any problem together. However the genial atmosphere is cut with a knife when dark clouds loom over Canterlot, blackening the perfectly clear sky. Normally this wouldn’t be anything to worry about but in the lore of MLP, Pegasi ponies can control the weather. Twilight even gets frustrated because she “ordered perfect weather.” It’s a huge contrast to the previously established setting.

We are introduced to our first antagonist: Tempest Shadow. A jaded unicorn motivated by anger and a wish to be whole again. She is dedicated to being the Storm Kings Hench-pony and chief bounty hunter, all so he can retire her horn after she delivers on the promise to retrieve the magic of the four princesses for the Storm King’s use. Tempest is supposed to look different and like an outcast because it relates to her story arc and past. She has a darker palette than we would normally see which instantly makes her read as an antagonist. She doesn’t look like the other characters and we don’t know her so we shouldn’t trust her. A great example of changes the design department made were for the better.

Figure 2. Design concepts for ‘Cosmos’ as Tempest was originally going to be called.Pg 46 2017 [4]

Tempest asks for surrender which, of course he princesses refuse. This is when things go from bad to worse. An army of Storm creatures are revealed as their air ships emerge from the fog. They come down on Canterlot, capturing ponies who dare to flee.

Tempest turns Three of the  princesses,Celestia Luna and Cadence, into obsidian statues.

Figure 3. Cadence is about to be engulfed [5] 2017

Figure 3. Twilight saves Princess Luna from smashing to pieces [5] 2017

The final words of Princess Celestia, to her sister Luna, is to fly south and seek the help from the queen of the hippo…

She is unable to finish what she was going to say and Luna I’m unable to carry out the mission as they are both encased in an obsidian prison.Twilight is the only princess left and so, with her friends, they all make a daring escape over on of the waterfalls that make up Canterlots architecture. Unequivocally this is what Booker refers to as ‘the call’ [Booker, 2005 pg 70]] Tempest's arrival and disruption is the reason why the mane six must embark on the quest the Friendship Festival has gone terribly wrong and the stakes are high. Twilight and her friends have to make this journey to set things right. As said in Booker, ‘surrounded by an atmosphere of menace and construction, the Quest hero and her friends feel under intense compulsion to get away.” [Booker 2005, pg 71]  This is exactly what has happened to the mane six and we now have a definite goal- to save Equestria from the Storm King and Tempest Shadow.

The next stage, perhaps one of the most defining of a quest story that Christopher Booker has identified, which is certainly present in the movie, is that Twilight isn’t alone in the journey she has to take. Twilight is accompanied by her friends who each have their own virtues and abilities that contribute to the success of the adventure. Or to the detriment.

Pinkie pie is a particularly important part of Twilights company as she represents one of the 4 basic forms that a hero’s companion should be. A subtle alter-ego whose role is to serve as a foil, displaying qualities of the opposite of those shown by the hero.[Booker 2005 pg 72] for example in the ‘Epic Of Gilgamesh’ whenever Gilgamesh displays assets of courage and confidence it is Enkidu, his brother, who expresses fear and doubt. [Unknown, C.1800 BC tablet 2] In the MLP Movie when Twilight shows concern and worry, Pinkie Pie is only concerned about how much fun can be had and she derails the situation with her silly antics.

Through all the obstacles that the Mane 6 face. Their arrival in seaquestria is the most crucial. It is where Twilight is faced with one of the specific obstacles that Booker notes must be present. Twilight succumbs to a temptation. Seaquestria is the underwater world that the hippogriffs were forced to inhabit to hide from the Storm King. The Queen of the hippogriffs used a magic pearl to turn her subjects into sea ponies. Pinkie pie makes friends with Queen Novos daughter, Princess Skystar and Twilight realised that the pearl can transform the ponies of Canterlot into

An army that can defeat the Storm King however Novo refuses to give her it. The mane six go to leave but notice that Skystar is sad because her new friends are leaving. Twilight, surprisingly, encourages Pinkie pie to cheer her up with a song. When the song is finished we find out that this was just a ploy so everyone would be distracted whilst twilight tries to steal the pearl.

Figure 4. Twilight is tangled in the jellyfish cage that guards the pearl. [5] 2017

This leads to The mane six’s forced exit from seaquestria and more importantly Twilights downfall. Because Pinkie Pie was able to cram a lifetime of fun into one song the hippogriffs were going to give them the pearl as a thank you. Twilights lack of faith in her friends causes a big argument between her and Pinkie Pie which leaves twilight sitting alone on a greyscale beach. This makes her look even more isolated and alone as she is the only colourful thing in the scene. She is captured by Tempest who has been on the groups tail since the start. Tempest shares her backstory with Twilight. This gives us an insight into tempests motivation and creates a vulnerability in her. and she is taken back to Canterlot where we finally see the Storm King in full glory as he is able to steal the magic from all four princesses, channelling it through the staff of succannas, becoming omnipotent in the process. The Storm King casts Tempest aside, refusing to restore her horn as he had promised he would.

After Twilight is captured and left weak without her magic we get the last stage of a classic quest story; the final ordeal Where the heroes come to the edge of their great goal [Booker 2004 pg 78] Twilight’s friends engage in an epic battle against the storm creatures with the help of Skystar and some other friends they made on their journey. Near the end of the battle the staff creates a wretched Storm that takes Twilight, the Storm King and the staff away. Twilight's friends are of course distraught but this is the part in the story where our hero has her last ‘thrilling escape from death’ [Booker 2005 pg 83] and returns with the staff and settles the skies.

Unfortunately the fight isn’t over as the Storm King also survived the storm. it seems like he has the upper hand and is about to turn the mane six into obsidian statues. Tempest jumps in front of the mane six to save them, reforming  herself and pushing the Storm King over the edge so he smashes to pieces. The mane six save tempest and together the seven of them release the princesses and save equestria. Our hero Twilight has reached her goal and so the quest has ended.

This version was more focused but it was still too detailed. I took out the images that weren’t needed and I went in a slightly different direction. Choosing only to focus on one of the locations the mane six voyage to so I could focus on it more and make a more detailed and structured analysis. 

[vrainsrewatch]

episode 8 thoughts

i was gonna watch later, since i’ve got other things to do, but i burnt the shit out of my hands making hot chocolate like an idiot so i watched an episode first LOL. 

this episode starts out with that really strong fairy tale scenery i absolutely adore, with yusaku and ai trying their hardest to get blue angel to wake up.

i seriously could talk about the imagery in this scene for days lmao. i love the sleeping beauty aesthetic, but i also really love the colors. LV goes through so many different color palettes through the series, but i love the purples and blues of this area here. i’m not sure if the intention was to make blue angel seem like she was meant to be there, while in contrast playmaker stands out due to his hair, but i seriously replayed this section twice because it looked so nice. 

i have a lot to say about this episode, and it will also be my most screenshot heavy post so far lol, so once again, buckle up! 

this episode starts to really build up yusaku as a character - his sense of justice, his core values, etc etc. on top of that, it takes its time to flesh out akira, and to show his worse qualities, which we’ll get into in a minute.

first, though, is one of my favorite awkward exchanges in the series lmao:

i’m surprised he even caught onto what akira was getting at, tbh with y’all. vrains started out ship teasing yusaku/aoi really hard these episodes, but drop it almost completely up until the minimal tease we get in s3, which i find really funny. i was always really invested in them becoming friends, though, so while i’m happy we had that happen in s3, i would’ve really liked to see it happen earlier. not this early, though - yusaku’s nowhere near ready for that.

I HAD TOTALLY FORGOTTEN VYRA WAS HERE. yugioh hair makes it known that she’s going to be an important character, but i had really completely forgotten she was working as one of aoi’s doctors during this part lmao. i love this so much, actually.

moving onto everyone talking shit about blue angel on forums and stuff. this kinda shit:

would be really awful to deal with. it’s very real, though - cancel culture, anyone? but seriously, this is so brutal. on top of that, does this imply that she’s never really lost before? she is the number 2 charisma duelist in LV, so i wouldn’t be terribly surprised if that meant that she hadn’t really lost since starting to make it big as an idol. once again showing off how good of a duelist aoi actually is, even if the show makes her lose a lot. tbf, her loss/win ratio isn’t that bad looking at the other main girls - 5 wins, 5 losses on screen, and considering the kind of opponents she faced (soulburner, bohman, ai), that’s seriously not bad.

next up we get the chess pieces again, and boy howdy, does this conversation make me seethe.

i understand it’s partially a cultural difference thing, but i can’t help but get angry about it LOL. 

i didn’t remember how often the chess pieces were actually utilized in these first few episodes, either. i guess i can understand why people were irritated they were just dropped, but i don’t really see them as a plot point, more like... just a kind of weird way to run a company? just show your faces and have normal meetings like everyone else, y’all don’t have to be so extra.

the akira/emma meeting is nice because it shows you more of emma’s character, but it also gives you more of akira’s stupider (and ruthless) side.

you don’t see him like this very often, but honestly, when you think about all the unsavory jobs he was doing to keep him and aoi afloat way back when, it kind of makes sense. even if he was originally a gentle person, you don’t last doing... any of the jobs he’s done, being that way. even a higher up in a company like SOL tech would have to be a bit harsher to get to that point imo. i don’t see a lot of people talk about this side of akira’s character tbh which makes me kind of sad.

also, seriously, he’s an idiot. how did he arrive at this conclusion? when he saw that it was aoi who was baiting him into the duel? no matter what direction i approach this from, i can’t understand how he ended up on that conclusion lol.

also, the worst father ever award goes to....

seriously! i hate that man so much lmao. to say that directly to your own child, on top of everything else...

it’s a nice look into revolver, too, though you wouldn’t know it at first glance. his reply says everything, though. he fully accepts his role in his father’s life and has an incredibly toxic attachment to him, and wants his approval more than anything. we never see him get physically abused by kogami or anything of the sort, but you can’t deny the mental anguish he must’ve been going through in order to keep on his father’s good side. 

i know a lot of people like to say that revolver is kind of not a great guy, seeing the tower of hanoi arc, and how he probably should’ve went to jail etc etc but really, he was manipulated hard core. and extremely suicidal. i could really talk a lot about this all day, but i’ll cut myself off and instead say how much i love how vrains sets up revolver as a character. this, combined with “i’ll fulfill your wishes, father” from episode 3 gives you his motivations nice and clearly, but this specific scene also gives a bit of a hint as to where his character arc goes and what he has to work through. just thinking about this makes me so excited to get to 116 again lmao.

anyways, though. another excellent exchange comes up. seriously, lmao, ai being like “waaaah that’s illegal !!!!” and kusanagi’s just very casual 

makes me laugh every time i see it. they are criminals, even if what they’re doing is for the greater good. they’re not exactly innocent here lmao.

then there’s the talk about the virus infecting her, and it’s a nice way to bring up how that works before the another arc comes up in.. a couple of episodes, right? tbh it’s the arc i remember the least about, so i’m looking forward to rewatching it.

actually though, the idea of viruses in LV being able to infect someone’s body is so, so interesting. i really, really wish they had done more with the whole LV/rl merge idea, but guess i’ll just have to write more fanfic instead lol.

i mentioned at the beginning of this post we get into yusaku as a character more here, and this is one of the lines that really made him interesting to me originally:

he has such a strong sense of justice, but what sets him apart from other ygo protags is that he is not defined by it. he’s not the classic, stereotypical do-gooder who gets caught up in something and has to make it right, his justice is more so that he is not okay with seeing other people hurt because of what happened to him. his justice is driven by his trauma, almost entirely.

revolver even brings it up this episode:

where he talks about how some rando wouldn’t have done them any good because it wouldn’t have been public enough. yusaku doesn’t really care about the little people, not in the same way, say, yugi would. it’s not that he wants them to be hurt or see them get hurt or anything, it’s just that unless it effects him directly, it’s not on his radar. but once he gets involved, he feels fully responsible.

while he didn’t plant the hanoi virus into her, he probably knows it was to intentionally draw him out thanks to ai (and the fact that he beats them up all the time). he feels fully responsible for what happened to her, and he’s prepared to do what is needed to make it right again.

i really like yusaku for this. i find those kinds of characters really interesting, and yusaku is no exception. 

we get the whole emma/blue angel/yusaku scene, which is pretty sick tbh looking at it again - just shoot a church straight up from the ground for dramatic effect! - and i’ll bring up more of akira’s ruthlessness here.

seriously, this is not a line from someone who is just angry about his sister. and it’s also him being fuckin DUMB. playmaker willingly lets himself get caught into your trap, and he tells akira straight up what he has to do to save his sister - no sugar coating it, no trying to make it cryptic or difficult despite being caught in that hand and in that trap. he’s incredibly honest, and akira still does this lmao.

then it’s probably the wildest turn of events in all of vrains:

where’s that post that’s like, “remember when playmaker gets caught in a gothic looking church while he’s getting tormented by a giant demon hand controlled by his classmate’s brother and then his rival who he hasn’t met yet shows up in a lightning bolt to save him”? bc really LMAO what the fuck. it was so hype watching it the first time, and it’s still awesome watching it back.

and why is this never really??? brought up again later???? and when he leaves in that datastorm to go prepare to fight playmaker LMAO i know it’s supposed to look cool but the animation is so dorky, i love it. 

more on yusaku, though. before playmaker goes to fight revolver, who he’s been gearing towards for awhile now, we get this exchange:

to which playmaker responds with “i don’t hate you. i only hate the knights of hanoi”. which is another really good moment for his early characterization and very, very consistent with his backstory that we find out in about 12 episodes.

everyone who wasn’t involved in the LI in any way just... exists to him. they’re completely neutral. if something happens to them because of him, he feels directly responsible, because he feels like he got them tangled up in a mess that nobody should be in. i mentioned that briefly earlier, but this really drives that point home.

he doesn’t even hate akira for torturing him mere minutes ago. because he’s been through worse. because akira was doing what he thought was right by his sister, no matter how stupid he was being.

and even more so than that, he’s not seeing this as fighting for akira. he feels responsible for blue angel, but also, here’s his chance to fight revolver. it’s a two birds one stone situation here for him. 

anyways, i’m gonna stop myself there lol this is really long OOPS. gotta take care of a few things, and then onto the first rev vs playmaker duel!

[lycosa83]

Posthumous review of “The Order”

Show: The Order

Genre: Supernatural Drama

Network: Netflix Original

Premiered: March 7, 2019

From Buffy the Vampire Slayer down through The Vampire Diaries and the host of its descendants, few television genres can claim the same degree of bloated over-extension as the tangled web of productions known collectively as "the paranormal drama." Whether we’re talking vampires or werewolves, ghosts or witches, or all of the above, you can’t throw a stone anywhere in TV Land without hitting someone baring fangs or weaving a magical incantation while tenaciously necking with a gorgeous co-star in between P.E. and Chemistry 101. Netflix, of course, had long ago planted its bi-colored flag atop this mound of fecund dollar returns, with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Stranger Things but the more circulated shows in this genre falling under its established corporate stamp. And into this nexus of internet savvy, media business, and supernatural fantasy they toss yet another original series: The Order, created by Dennis Heaton, which premiered on March 7th and aims for a slice of the lucrative paranormal pie with an attractive cast and a little twist on the supernatural drama which adds some pop to its wardrobe. Okay, so I’m a little late to the party — as in, nearly a month late — and I'm sure everyone who’d been hellbent on watching it had probably binged it the very weekend it came out.  But to the one or two of you out there who missed the memo, or have been buried under Netflix recommends for the past several fortnights, if you’ve missed this little morsel in your lists, it may be worth taking up now and giving the old college look-see.

Synopsis

We're introduced to Jack Morton (Jake Manley), a baby-faced freshman who's “fresh” in every sense, standing over his mother’s grave while he reads aloud a letter fulfilling his apparent lifelong ambition of getting into the illustrious Belgrave University, a school with old money rules and more than a few dark secrets. But for Jack and his maternal grandfather (Matt Frewer), his acceptance isn’t a cue to start a four-year binge of parties and student life. They are men on one peculiar mission: enter Belgrave, infiltrate a secret and powerful fraternal society centered in the campus known as "the Order," and find a way to strike at its mysterious leader Edward Coventry (Max Martini), who also happens to be Jack’s biological father and the supposed nefarious scoundrel behind his mother's demise. But there’s more afoot than mere skulduggery from an oligarchic secret society; the Order hides a darkly magical secret, and as Jack falls deeper into a web of supernatural intrigue, he gets locked in a paranormal conflict way outside what he signed up for.

The Good

The best thing The Order has going for it is a delightful and irreverent sense of humor. Unlike the flood of supernatural series spilling over Netflix and other stations’ time slots, The Order approaches the supernatural with a casual air and a delightful sense of whimsy that somehow avoids reducing or trivializing its inherent danger. Jack doesn’t stumble into the paranormal ring as a hopelessly naive newcomer; though the world of magic and werewolves slips a teensy bit outside his grandfather’s preparations, Jack takes it, if not quite in stride, than with a great deal more grace and wit than the average schmoe. I know “likeable” is about as bland and nondescript a compliment as you can make of a character these days, but the glove definitely fits, and watching him bumble his way through college is more joy than irritation thanks in no small part to Manley's effortless charisma. Jack's misadventures merely sets the beat to this deliciously off-key drummer, where the supernatural gets introduced and incorporated with all the flare and gravitas of a dorm inspection, and several tense moments defuse on a cheeky quip or turn of the phrase. Rather than grounds for pulling my hair out, these moments of lightness add flavor to the broth, like the comically PC tour of the modern college campus where freshmen receive both a rape whistle, and a “how not to rape” pamphlet. The show knows not to take itself too seriously, and yet avoids falling into the trap of (overt) self-aware pastiche like the million or so similar series gunking up the airwaves and interwebs. In that happy medium, The Order finds a contrasting voice to the myriad of dark, paranormal, Grimmified fairy tales littering the market.

The Bad

Unfortunately, this lighter shade does come with a few bad palettes. For one, there’s the all-encompassing cheese factor to consider whenever anything like this series pops up. The dialogue, while whimsical and pleasant most of the time, can veer into the obnoxious on occasion. This mainly comes to the fore with Jack’s awkward and janky “romantic” slog with Alyssa Drake, a fellow Belgrave student, campus tour guide, and his eventual superior once he joins the Order, who's played by the generally charming Sasha Grey. Their dynamic fells forced and stiff, like two neophyte thespians reading their lines and the implied emotion thereof on each others’ foreheads. I know they’re supposed to be in college, and trust me, I remember just how little the maturity level of an inbound freshman can differ from the high school knuckleheads they evolve from. But their chemistry sizzles with all the pop of a damp towel, and as entertaining as they are separately, they looked the polar opposite of dazzling at every turn of their screen time together. Thankfully, this little gaffe remains the only stink I’m willing to point out. Adjusting your expectations for this series (it is a paranormal teen drama/thriller, after all) means letting go a bit of the critical scalpel and suspending any comparisons to genre titans and path breakers, like the aforementioned Buffy or The Vampire Diaries.

The Ugly

Good lord, you may as well call this show Your Mileage May Vary: the Series. Though The Order is low-key and innocuous enough to escape the type of hard-nosed scrutiny that leads fans along divisive extremes, so much of its content can be a hit or miss for practically everyone. Is Jack a funny, enjoyable main lead, or an irritating, bland, cookie-cutter protagonist; does the mystery of the plot invite intrigue and speculation, or is it a snooze fest out of place with the rest of the story?  The fact that it doesn’t take itself as seriously as other shows of its kind, while a supreme strength in my eyes, may invite legitimate accusations of derailment due to breaking the atmosphere and heaping piles of cheese atop it. Seriously, there’s something for everyone to love or hate in equal measure, with only your mood to decide which way the windsock blows at any given moment.

To Bing or Not to Binge

Knock yourself out and Binge to your heart’s content.  Yes, the show’s derivative, and yes, it's a hot ticket to Cheesyville at its very worst, but that’s as close to a nadir as you’ll likely get. There’s no ground to break here or new paradigms a-shifting; just good, old fashioned comedy-drama, with a refreshingly irreverent eye on the paranormal. Speaking as someone a little miffed by the borderline apocalyptic tone so many of these series flash like a Boy Scout badge, I find it The Order's fresh humor and fresher protagonists must welcomed divergence.