#this is my first time making amv i had no idea what i was doing

[miszoblin]

MUSIC: Just a Man · Jorge Rivera-Herrans

[goomyloid]

What was your process for making the Noelle amv, if you don't mind sharing?

hii! im not sure how eloquently or clearly ill be able to explain it but i definitely have some pictures you can look at!

(the video)

i actually got the idea while i was away on a trip with very limited wifi -- it wasn't Trust Me that i got an AMV idea for first, but instead it was one of 4syu's other songs, There's Nobody. for such a happy sounding song it really made me so sad, to the point where if i tried to sing it to myself id get choked up by the chorus LMAO. it was baddd

but basically i was rapidly trying to find both songs on spotify so i could listen to them offline, and it only took me a few loops of Trust Me and thinking about the original MV to make me go "ohhhh. how can i make this about noelle." And so i did .

i was thinking about doing a storyboard, but in the past, i've found that doing storyboards for animations/AMVs lowkey... kills my motivation altogether... SAD... but i saw the whole video so clearly in my head, and i didnt want to make the same mistake i made before... so i went right to doing quick sketches (while still on my trip...) just so i could get the ideas out of my head

i was torn on what to do with my style at the time, whether i wanted to make it more similar to the original video, or to her canon appearance, or to MY style and how i draw her. i think it kind of ended up as an amalgamation of all three...? at the very least, her light world color palette definitely was more bland and desaturated, like i purposefully wasn't trying to do anything special with her colors.

after that point, and getting maybe a few of the actual drawings done, my motivation crashed again, and i left it all to marinate for nearly a week. it was baking, guys, it wasn't abandoned, listen to me, why are you throwing tomatoes at me,

i had up to about the "I dreamed about that again" animation done and stopped, and it wasn't until i decided to sit down and start editing it anyway that i really got in my groove again. i got all my little assets into a workable state so i could really try to sit down and make the video come to life and all

the really fun part was honestly working on the desktop backgrounds. i really wanted to limit colorpicking from the original video as much as possible, but i decided that making look as similar as possible to the original could help with the contrast i wanted to add later.

i drew these two backgrounds first. i was hoping i could somehow fit the bunker into the second one, but decided to do something different anyway. the second one's ui didn't actually change until later in the editing process.

drawing THESE were fun especially, and im happy with how they came out. i think the dark world icons are really cute still. one thing i really did know i wanted to do from the beginning was to turn the soul/undertale icon into the deltarune one.

i was worried if the shift from the Windows Field Background to the dark world would be too sudden, like you would just blink and suddenly it was all different, but i think it ended up all right...?

the not so fun part was drawing all the different boxes, lmao. it go really tedious by the end, so i tried to reuse as many of the same ones as i could.

a lot of copy-pasting and tracing rectangles for sure.

i also had to make sure the animations didnt Suck. i brute forced those things and used every last braincell i had in order to make those pictures move bros

fun fact. ive never animated hair like this before. or in any complex manner really. i had to use sooo much brain here... heres how it started vs. how it ended up

had my animator gf hype me up thru the whole thing... i was having a great time based on the filenames alone

aaaand then ummmm i edited it. i learned after effects like 1 month ago. never touched it before. i learned it for internship purposes and then used my newfound powers for evil it seems

i split the whole thing up into multiple compositions of course, but i probably could have split things up more... im sorry for having 84 layers on comp 3 its not my fault

editing a video in 12 fps was a fun change though -- very easy for my brain to go frame-by-frame, and yet still some of the timing ended up being off... tis the goomy way

like i said before, i started editing when i barely had half the drawings done, but seeing it all start to be in motion really pushed me to finish it up. and i mean Really. like i finished the whole thing maybe 48 hours after i first started editing.

and...i think that's it? i do a lot of discord art streaming to friends lately but i kinda kept this one more under wraps compared to usual, i think i just wanted to surprise everyone... look guys i remembered how to make a video! and it's three minutes! waow

sorry if this is way more than you asked for LMAO

also, the AMV hit 5k views on youtube today! ive never had a video do well like that so quickly! thank you!!

[icekingofhope]

(Enjoy this meme here-)

so the Sonic 3 trailer is out and I decided to go on and make a silly post and a small announcement

I have decided after much debate I will start officially making sonic art NOW KNOW I am new at drawing the sonic artstyle so the characters may look like something out of the shining or something cause I’m getting used to drawing them I done the same with the lmk style until I perfected it

Anyways I decided to ramble my thoughts on the trailer and why I love Sonic

now I am a sonic veteran I have drawn sonic before but when I was way younger but Sonic has stuck by me I remember back in the 2000s I used to watch sonic underground a lot on Netflix that’s how long ago it was I always loved sonic I loved the video games even own some sonic games myself!

my first one was sonic unleashed one of my favorite games I always loved and still love to this day the time where he was a werehog and sometimes I even wish he can go back to werehog sonic and plus it introduced me one of my comfort songs endless possibilities

I got way more into Sonic thanks to the anime Sonic X I didn’t watch the whole series cause it started to get weird but it was how I was introduced to shadow one of my favorite characters

I remember I was so intrigued I tried to find other content and then I found YouTuber named animebromii (who unfortunately is a…well piece of shit to sum it up he was one of those found out to get to close to kids type of YouTubers category but that was found out right after I stopped watching him) I remember his Sonic videos always made me filled with joy and made me love the characters more

although I stop getting into Sonic as fans started to get a little to weird for my taste and such and Sega didn’t know what the fuck they were doing

what rekindle my love for Sonic was well the Sonic movies and as I watch I remembered the joy I had for it and started to slowly get into Sonic again and explore more of it due to being more mature and such I turned out to have well a lot of unpopular opinion that I know will have a mob of angry Sonic fans chasing me with pitchforks

Just Some headcanons and ships I don’t agree on and such even some dislike on how Sega is going about like trying to make sonamy now NOTE I don’t mind sonamy hell as a kid I was one of the people who ship it or more specifically the werehog sonic x Amy (i saw so many AMVs and one of those story shits….you have no idea how much of a huge werehog sonic fan I was) but the reason it makes me uncomfortable cause I found out Sega have gave the group canon ages at one point….

which where Amy is 12 and sonic is 15 NOW I don’t know if this is true I haven’t seen proof and out of all honestly I personally think the ages shouldn’t have been confirmed cause well it feels like to me it fucks up the lore and a lot of ships people love and you could have your own headcanons and such for their ages and to me Sonic doesn’t feel like he is 15 to me like hell when I was younger I thought he was ALEAST 18 or 16

There is only few ships I feel comfortable with that is Elise x sonic and sonia x knuckles

now admittedly yes I maybe not the biggest Sonic fan I haven’t read any of the comics i haven’t played all the games hell sometimes I don’t know half of the characters sometimes but still I love Sonic with all my heart and I hope you guys enjoy this little adventure of mine of Sonic the hedgehog

[punch-love]

2, 7, 10, 15, 16

greedily takes up five of the options

I'm actually going to answer these for both lokius and spideypool to be fair to what fandom you read for and also to what I'm reading for right now.

2. 🔁 A fic you’ve re-read several times

There's a clear theme in these.

i could show you by jilliancares

I think this was the first real gender-affirming trans porn I had ever read and kept on re-reading. It's so good. It's very hot and I love everything about the smut and the dynamics but it's also just - a trans guy talking about oral sex and his disappointing experiences with it and there's a lot of intimacy in the way that's handled. It's just very real so the fantasy of it is even realer. I have read this one many, many times.

Turnabout loop - Mirilya

The Mobius coochie fic. It's great. I could say that I love the idea of Loki using his magic for shapeshifting his partner in bed and the genderbending of it, which I do. It's also just hot. Objectively. I think there needs to be more fics with this exact thesis of Mobius getting eaten out. I support it.

7. 💯A fic that makes you think #writergoals

morning in the burned house by antivenom

Just a really stunning character study and piece of prose. It's such a complicated, nuanced approach to Wade Wilson as a character and his relationship with Spider-Man. It has my favorite approach to a backstory I've seen for in the fandom. This just really sits with him as a character and explores the side roads and back alleys of his brain and the reason he is who he is. It's beautiful. I think anything that sits with you afterward is something I am inspired by, and this sits with me.

The Shapeshifter's Guide to Butt Stuff by comrade_bucket

I just recommended the first part of this series (and the whole series is #writergoals) but this one is so conceptual, so out there, so fucking weird and strange and beautiful that every time I read it I'm struck at what a piece of art it is. The way this work addresses genderfludity, god-hood, the human experience, love, gender conformity, and compromise is just so wonderful. I would love to write something as strange and shocking and daring as this! Again, both installments of this series including The-Infinity-Year-Old Virgin are both something I love to re-read and also get inspired by every time. The endings on both of these are something I've taken notes on.

10. 👽 A fic that isn’t prose (poetry, text fic, etc.)

I got really into the Wickerman tag the other day and this AMV is one of my favorite things I've ever seen.

Lovely Day (Good as Hell) [Favid] periru3, Tafadhali

hare toss, check my nails, baby how you feeling? feeling good as hell!

15. 📚 A fic you wish you could display on your bookshelf

They're both by the same author, surprise. (I think it's funny that @primewritessmut wrote two masterpieces in my favorite genres.) I also have told them before that I would book bind them both, and I am extra serious about doing it for the second one.

Songs for the Zombie Apocalypse by zerospoons_onlyknives

I love zombies. They're my favorite horror genre and I have read and watched as much of it as possible but it's so rare to find the good stuff because no one goes far enough. (Prime goes farther.) It's dark, demented, violent, gloriously unwell and erotic. It's not a love story, it's something so much more interesting, and each chapter I got to read in advanced had more and more tangled in it. The ending is unbelievably glorious. It was one of those things that I was like "this feels written for me" and it wasn't (and it kind of was) but I enjoyed it so much. It deserves to be bound in a book that looks suspiciously like human skin.

Midori Sour - oprime

This is the hallmark rom-com bait and switch psychological thriller family drama slice of life romance of all time. It's so good. It really has no business being as good as it is. The idea is so fun and the dynamics are great and the setting and side-characters are so lived in but the underlayers of this. I want this book bound so I can just re-read sections and underline the lines that stick through onto the other side. I love this thing so much. It's so human and compelling and deliciously deep. The depth that Prime goes in on with this one is just unbelievable. I love it very much. I would bind it in green leather and put a little fruity drink in the middle of it and highlight the whole thing in a green neon with red on the cherries.

16. 💞 A fic that led to you making friends with the author

I think it's funny that these are both series.

Bad Things - wanderingflame

I was so, so obsessed with this when I first read it. I remember sitting in a car outside a thrift store just binging through it (and then I re-read it at least two times.) I also think @in-my-loki-feels is the first person I have ever asked to write inspired work for (and also, found out we both share the same feelings on inspired work lmao) because I was just so enchanted by this story. It's so fresh, thoughtful, compelling, and just the right hint of dark. Their passion for these characters and the nuanced groves of their natures is just - god, it's so good. We have a very "writers who like each other's work" friendship in a way I really appreciate.

gunpowder triology - periodicallypuzzled

It's rare for me to find a writer with such a personality through their work. I couldn't get enough of this series when I first read it - the humor, the personality, the characterization, the heart juxtaposition with the grit. I don't often say "I really want to know the person who wrote this" but I remember thinking that after reading that. @periodically-puzzled read something of mine and offered to exchange discord handles and after that we became friends. I should also re-read this, now that I'm thinking about it again.

[90percentstudios]

You've been given an unlimited budget to adapt one of your works into a different medium; what are you adapting, into what medium and what aspect of it are you sparing no effort in getting PERFECT?

MAAAAAAAN this is such a fun question, i think about making an animated adaptation of cool kid cody all the time. if i had literally no limitations, this is how i'd want it:

option 1: ckc as a long-running cartoon network style show that covers the usual 30 episodes of the game, but with like a dozen new episodes sprinkled in for "filler". maybe we could have an episode that was a flashback focused on mini's struggle to ascend and how it strained her friendship with rhyme, or maybe an episode where s2 cody and peter hide out in steve's skateshop from a cool kid biker gang and steve saves the day by dismantling their bikes in the blink of an eye. idk but having some extra room to develop the characters further would be rad, plus this way the show wouldn't be a straight rehash of the game.

option 2: ckc gets scott pilgrimified?? it's released episodically as a shorter series with longer episodes and stellar animation, probably on netflix (pretend we live in a magical world where netflix NEVER kills its animated series in the second season). the show's animation is handled by science saru, since we know they can do a mean skateboarding scene. unlike with scott pilgrim: takes off, i'd want this to be more of a straight adaptation of the game, just with proper animated treatment, better control over the pacing of scenes, artsy close ups or long shots, whatever. i want this shit to be beautiful!!!

other must-haves:

it'd be great if the show could have a similar release schedule to the game. like, episodes released weekly over the course of a typical western school semester, just before summer. it just lines up nicely with the in-game dates.

real sonic the hedgehog voice actor deven mack as cody??

i'd love it if the sound department could keep as many motifs from the game's ost as possible, obviously adapting them so they're less distracting in a tv show context.

use thwack.ogg at least once.

a short semi-tropey anime inspired opening where the characters statuses update with the show (like in steven universe's openings).

set the opening to the first verse of notion by the rare occasions (it's nostalgic and anti-gods), and swap out the verse for the next one every season. s3 ending with this verse would go so hard:

I could cross the ocean in a fit of devotion For every shining second, this fragile body beckons You think you're owed it better believing ancient letters Sure it's a calming notion, but it's a lie.

anyway those're all my ideas for now, time to throw a wrench in my plans as i waffle over whether or not to make a cool kid cody amv myself.

[xemo-wc-08x]

it is so wild to see the art you are making on this blog because all of it feels so genuine, to the point where i would swear these are pieces that existed back in the day if i didn’t know that Couldn’t be true. i’m curious— are you an artist that was around & watching/drawing stuff back in the late 00s/early 10s and is doing this nostalgically, or a younger artist who has gone back and studied the styles & vibes of older wc stuff?

(if the latter especially, i’d be curious to know if you have seen the work of some of the amv-makers from back in the day that may be a bit less well widely-known, or even if they Are widely known; i have a handful that i remember from the 00s, but i have no idea what they are up to now, if anything at all)

either way, fantastic work with what you’ve got going on here, really threw me for a loop to see modern cats in this style

This makes me really happy :'D

I try to make the drawings as close as possible to the old types of designs and compositions.

Yes, I am the first type of artist. I grew up watching these animations. Of course it's not just warrior cats I used to watch, at the time I didn't know what warrior cats were and I genuinely thought they were just cool internet stories. And yes, I used to draw some warrior cats art too during that time !

I know many of the old animators, both because I used to watch them and because I've recently discovered them.

So yes, I did study this type of art style based on what I would have loved to draw had I known how to draw better at the time (sadly I was too young ú-ù and as you can see most of it was done traditionally, tho I have some old mspaint Pokemon drawings somewhere).

I'm so surprised that this many people enjoy the 00s art!! My future goal is to bring some amv with new and old characters one day~

[shurisu]

Wait, Shurisu is the ship name between Shun and Alice?

I remember when Bakugan was airing and I would look for the episodes in YouTube and I would stumble upon ship amvs of Shun and Alice, even one where they claimed they would kiss later in S1 (obviously fake).

I distinctly remember it being one of the most popular ships in the fandom, but was the series hinting and building a possible relationship or friendship between the two and then dropped it later seasons? Or was it more of a fandom invention?

I wish Alice hadn’t been dropped as a character just to see how Shun came into terms with her being Masquerade. Is that something Shurisu as a ship has explored?

Yes it's the combination of Shun+Arisu (Alice's romanisation in JP) . Shalice was also a common name but I think Shurisu sounds better.

About them kissing I have an idea why. If you know Inesidora, she used to make lots of beautiful Shurisu fanarts. She would use a similar artstyle to bakugan's own for them, so people would share her art as spoilers 😂

Shurisu wasn't one of the most popular ships, it was THE most popular ship.There was literally no competition.Even when s4 was airing people were still waiting Alice to come back.Even right now talking about this like it was ages ago feels so weird to me but I know fandom changed so much since then

Ah little me knew and claimed the ship the moment i saw them 😄I still remember very clearly watching the intro for ep 1 for the first time(where Dan introduces us the brawlers) I looked at Dan and Runo and said "oh mc and his love interest?" and seeing Shun and Alice right after, fireworks went up inside my brain. I was like "and this is the couple that will steal the show" I wasn't completely wrong at least lol

In all seriousness though i think, the creators definitely had the intention to make them a couple but dropped it later.

Shun and Alice are both similar, so they are also very different compared to the rest of the team. I think that was intentional.They are both raised by their grandfathers,Shun was trained to be ninja and Alice was also learning under her scientist grandfather.Both are very smart, act mature for their age but also lonely inside.The difference is Alice was masking it (no pun intended🎭) with her more bubbly front. I think Alice also knew how similar they truly were.She was one of the very few people who could see through him and those who could, had already known him for a very long time unlike her(Shiori, Skyress and Dan)

She could sense his mood or what's going on inside his head despite the tough act he puts on.Also the time he wanted to leave the team and she went back after him,her words got to him because she told what he needed to hear,because she could understand how he was feeling.

Maybe not much important but it also always piqued my interest how we would see them together even on most random shots because apart from that, Shun would be pictured either alone or further back in group shots.

Like this moment before the last battle,they were at the opposite sides of the city,how did they end up together?

I think Shurisu was intended to be the opposite of the main couple in mind. In contrast to Dan and Runo's childishness, they would be the mature ship.Why I think they dropped later is that

1)They didn't know what to do with Alice later on so they wrote her off

2)They also didn't seemed to know how to handle Shun any better so decided to keep him as a loner and made being a "loner" his only character trait.

Which I think is very sad because they both individually and together had a lot of potential(not gonna drag this one i know y'all hear me keep talking about this lmao)

About her being Masquerade,We at least know Shun accepts her like the rest of group but since last arc focused more on the battles there was no focus on relationship or characters.And on NV Alice had limited appearance while Shun was on Vestroia most of the time. Through the whole season only once they seemed to be in the same room together (when they send Shun to vestroia via Michael's teleporter) and I belive that's where this pic came from?

Tl,dr; i think they were definitely made to be canon.But even if the creators were to came up today and claim they had no intention like that at all,it still wouldn't change anything for me.What matters is the characters dynamic.When you compare how they act like with eachother and with others and also look at their characters it becomes more clear. "The kind boy who puts on a tough act because he is troubled" and "The cheerful girl who is also troubled inside" is an old but loved dynamic afterall.So that's what drew a lot people in.

[srmt-zine]

At last, some details!

(A while back on @srmthg we had a zine interest check, and it remains open for any additional suggestions/feedback about what you'd like the zine to be (you can also shoot this blog an ask) but I don't plan on doing a second interest check. If enough people feel this is a mistake, there's still time to do one, but as it stands I don't see the point. I will continue to accept feedback and take it into account moving forward!)

By the way, my name is @netbug009 and I'm your friendly head mod for this project! This will be my first time running a zine, but I've been helping run projects in this fandom for 18 years!

The Format

SRMTHG Zine (cooler name tbd) will be a free PDF zine scheduled to release on September 18th, 2024, AKA the 20th anniversary of the series' first episode!

I know a lot of folks (myself included) like to have nice, shiny, hard copies of zines, and I hope to get the zine onto a publishing on demand site such as Lulu to let people buy them at-print-cost if they'd like, but a free digital edition will be the first priority. Since this zine is a celebration of the anniversary of a relatively small fandom, I want as many people to be able to access and enjoy it as possible! Plus, this is my first time running a zine, so I think it's smart to keep it simple. This also lets us worry less about page counts - if a lot of cool people contribute cool stuff, a PDF can be a chonk as we want!

The Content

The zine will include both fanart and fan fiction (and maybe even a few QR codes to some other digital goodies like AMVs and fanmixes if there's enough contributor interest!)

Light shipping will be allowed, with a few exceptions - no adult x child and no monkey x human ships will be allowed. (This was THE overwhelming request in the interest check and is not open for debate.)

We're going for a general vibe and love the idea of getting copies into the hands of voice actors/staff, which should give you a rough idea of the type of content we're going for - if it's too creepy/fetishy to hand to Ciro at a convention, it's too creepy/fetishy for the book. (That said, Monkey Team is a very silly and weird show with a love for classic horror tropes so I hope people don't let that limit their imaginations too much if they wanna do something spoopy!)

NO AI WORK WILL BE USED OR ACCEPTED IN THE CREATION OF THIS ZINE. I hope that'd be a given but just to be 100% clear, no.

The (Rough) Timeline

March 2024 - Contributor Applications Open!

April 22nd - Zine members selected and invited to Discord

May 1st - Zine members finalized

June 1st - Zine check-in 1

July 1st - Zine check-in 2

August 1st - Zine pieces due!

September 1st - Zine layout finalization due!

September 18th - ZINE RELEASED!

You might notice this is a pretty long timeline for a zine and we're starting pretty early; because this fandom is fairly small and this is a big occasion, I want to provide extra time so that as many people can hear about the project and participate as possible.

If you're looking for something to do until contributor apps open, SIGNAL BOOST, SIGNAL BOOST, SIGNAL BOOST! Reblog, post to Twitter, tell your friends, get the word out so this can be the biggest celebration it possibly can! If you make any graphics in your quest to help get the word out, PLEASE tag this blog so they can be shared!

Aaaand that's the basics! Again, feel free to send an ask with any additional questions. If you're considering applying in January, it's never too early to start sketching/considering ideas!

[loremaster]

rain code dlc thoughts

watched em all (spoilers obviously)

desuhiko:

can't believe this guy literally tried flirting with a child. he has gone unchecked for too long. we need to beat him up

enyne is good. i would love to see her in a cool thief outfit

not worth $5

fubuki:

the interactions between the detectives were cute. but i wish she'd gotten a chance to shine more on her own

it was kind of aggravating how slow they solved the mystery though. all that wondering about what the numbers could possibly mean... y'all the die was right there

not worth $5

halara:

kind of a shame that this one was the only actual investigative one. it was great!!! i liked the mystery setup and i liked figuring out how the culprit pulled it off even if the identity of the culprit was obvious the moment he showed up

"Good girl, Sugar" lololololol

good to know halara can be bought with cats instead of shien. love that yakou's totally onto their shit

and the cat they have a picture of is REAL!!! IT'S NOT A RANDOM JPG FROM THE INTERNET (WHICH I HAD ASSUMED)

worth $5

vivia:

i love how before it came out we were all like "please... one conversation with yakou... even just a mention of him would be okay" and then we got hit with a flaming rainbow fist #LoveWins

vivia all like "i wish i had something in this world to care about" and yakou literally forcing open the doors to his cold dead heart in response

the way he keeps flashing back to all the little things yakou has done to care for him... vivia you can't deny the truth anymore. you can't run from these gay thoughts

fellas is it gay to be another man's reason for living? (only if you share an umbrella)

for those who don't know, sharing an umbrella is like the most romantic thing you can do in japan. the only way this could have been more explicitly textually gay is if one of them pointed out how beautiful the moon was.

where's my Melt amv

'i'll enjoy the scenery along the way' *yakou seductively swaying his hips back and forth* HELLO???????????????????????

i hope after that is when vivia finally agrees to that dinner date

honestly up until now i've been very attached to the idea of vivia being head over heels for yakou the whole time and yakou not ever really noticing but now???? my god. this chief really can bisexual

speaking of bi i'm also not opposed to the idea of vivia/ryo... them both being like 'i'm interested in you' 'i'm interested in you too' oh are you now? hmmmm...

and they were both ghosts (oh my god they were ghosts)

I was saying to my friends while we were playing it that it makes sense the first suicide was 5 years ago, before the blank week incident... because otherwise she wouldn't have been a ghost at all, just a walking corpse

loved that line btw. 'all humans are just walking corpses' good news vivia, you're among peers here in kanai ward

worth $5. i mean technically since vivia/yakou dlcs are bundled together (gaaaay) it only cost $2.50 so it's extra worth it.

the amount of fanfiction that will inevitably come out of this is worth way more than $5

yakou:

his hips still do the little wiggle even as a zombie. can't slay the sashay away <3

him thinking of all the other detectives.... UUU....

yuma's flashback is from ch5 after yakou's already dead (but clearly there's still enough of him left...)

desuhiko's... is it from the dlc? idk. he said "i won't cause any problems" and then went on to cause many problems

halara's scene from the dlc is clearly a moment that made a big impression on yakou LMFAO... i mean if halara nightmare sat in MY chair it would make an impression on me too :flushed:

fubuki's i'm pretty sure is from ch.4 as yakou is dying on the floor?? he must have felt so bad, hearing her cry so much while he was fading away and couldn't do anything about it... his last moments UUUUUU

vivia gets the FUCKING aforementioned umbrella scene. sad wet cat man. learning to accept kindness and finding something (someone) worth living for... the exact moment vivia falls in love with him lmfao. and this is the moment that sticks out in yakou's zombie brain. seeing someone in need and actually being able to reach out and help them (for once). ;_;

and then SHE!!!!!!! SHEEEEEEEEEE

i shrieked when i saw her

mad she STILL doesn't have a name but oh man. i love her. i mean i already loved her when i saw the labcoat + turtleneck combo but the GLASSESSSSSS. and her VOICE AARGGGHHH they picked the perfect va for her

She must've given him the glasses while she was still alive, since he's the one wearing them in The Photo. good call, he looks naked without them

and now we really understand why yakou is as pitifully broke as he is, because he can't bring himself to make the corrupt choice that screws over innocent people for the sake of money. love that for him. he suffers so much for the sake of his city

very funny that he couldn't recognize his childhood friend (i'm assuming she recognized him immediately from across the room lmao). love the idea that she's trans. they're t4t your honor

she asked the most useless man to be her bodyguard but we all know who's protecting whom lmao

i feel like she must have been the one who proposed to him. or at least knowingly coaxed him into it haha

AND THE BADGE... UUUUUU.... and her ghost led him to it.... she had such an important job to do...

need to see vivia talk to her now. ghost 2 ghost communication. yakou simp 2 yakou simp

i think she would tell yakou to go kiss that goth boy silly

and most importantly... the medicine. the research... her dream lives on... i thought it was stupid that makoto literally cancelled everything about the homunculus research - sure they didn't need to make any more but how about research into alternate diets? or uv protection beyond like. sunscreen. WHAT ABOUT HER RESEARCH MAKOTO. PLEASE

so the existence of a possible cure for zombie homunculus begs the question... what's next for yakou? we thought his story was done but turns out it's far from yakouver, bitches. he's coming back one way or another.

what will he do with this magical macguffin - bring it to somewhere they can analyze it and duplicate it, or just take the pill himself? how complete is this untested theoretical cure? will yakou Come Back Wrong? is he gonna struggle to speak? (though that'd be a waste of kaiji tang)... is he gonna struggle with the urge to, you know, eat human flesh? i think that would be pretty hot cool

of course there's the chance it won't work at all. or will just straight up kill him, speedrun to reuniting with dead wife

definitely worth $5. or $2.50.

but at the same time since it actually does continue the main plot of rain code in an interesting way (or hint at it) i think they should bundle it with the main game instead of vivia's dlc

i mean if i had it my way they'd ALL be free but... i get it. they gotta gauge popularity somehow (and pay the devs/vas for extra work)

anyway. i should be working on homework but no. this game has absolutely ruined me

[greatsylveon2007]

"Kids with passion to play make-believe;

Will become young adults with the will to achieve"

Alright, so I figured I wanted to make this eventually. I finally finished my part for the Guaraná MAP a few months ago after like, almost two years of having it lmao, and those two years were wild and included a bunch of different versions of the part which would never see the light of day outside of the map server, so I figured I should put them all here :)

Here is the finished part which I am very happy with honestly, love some Hollyleaf angst

So now let me tell you about how the part used to be IWKFOLSPS

To get the part I actually had to fist fight a friend because it was one of the few really simple interesting parts and we both wanted it pretty badly

When I eventually got the part I made two storyboards for it, and my idea was for it to be very limited animation with mostly tweening, as, in my head, it would make my life easier

The first storyboard I was not happy with so I threw it out the window and made another soon after

This one I was way happier with and is the storyboard I used for most of these two years, here you can see a little light/shadow behind Hollyleaf that, while I liked, was really out of place so I didn't keep it in the end :(

What followed was multiple months of me chipping away at this part and telling myself every time that it would be easy to do because it was pmv, I got pretty far with this, making the assets for all of the cats and only needing to shade Hollyleaf, finish the backgrounds and guaraná plants and edit

At that point however, despite being almost done, I really couldn't bring myself to work on this part anymore, I'm not sure what exactly it was, but messing around with all the assets and tweening and all that just wasn't fun for me at that point and I just began stalling to avoid having to open the file again

Eventually in February a light shone upon me, if I wasn't having fun with PMV then screw it AMV was my new best friend

In a few hours I made a new sketch, skipped the rought animation stage and finished Holly's entire animation (don't do this ever, don't be like me)

I had also started on Lion but I was struggling on what to do with him because of how I animated Holly lol

I don't remember the exact plan but originally the character acting was:

Holly and Lion are looking up, Jay is a little frustrated. Holly talks to him to cheer him up and he looks at her, feeling a bit more encouraged. Then she would look at Lion, he would reassure her, and they'd all end up happy

Somehow though, while animating Holly, I ditched the plan and made her be surprised by Lion and look at him, so I struggled a bit trying to figure out what Lionpaw could do to get her attention, and spent a good while trying to figure out the solution to a problem that I created in a few hours of not following a simple plan ISMOCKSKKDS If you plan something, preferably follow it, don't be like me²

I could have just remade her animation so that would have been solved but I liked her animation I didn't want to redo it :(

Anyway, eventually I figured he could say something stupid to help cheer up Jay or something and I like his and Jay's new movements so it all worked out :)

After making the first shot, I caved in to something I wanted to do for a while which was a transition between the shots, instead of having it cut to the second shot or move the characters around a little bit.

I didn't know if I wanted to do a transition with stars or with the fire scene, until eventually I figured that the fire scene and Ashfur's... thing was what really affected the siblings, especially Hollyleaf. The part also follows a sequence of Hollyleaf feeling guilty for what she did so in general I thought that Ashfur would transition well

You may also notice that I hadn't splattered blood all across Holly's face in the second shot and that was because I forgot she was supposed to have blood on her until I read the script again for some reason and realized I forgot ISNKCKAKDLSL

So, what did we learn? PMV sucks, animate it all at 24 fps in one sitting instead/JOKE

This is all I have about the Guaraná part, it was pretty fun to work on and I loved joining a map about my country, this map lives in a little part of my brain rent free <3

Might do this for other parts that have a bunch of wips or something I'll think about that, it's kind of fun to just lay out your process like this, would recommend 10/10

[floralcrematorium]

If each member of the FACE family could be a part of the holy emo trinity/quartet, which band is getting which member?

First and foremost, thank you for the ask. Secondly, I just about died when I saw this notification. This question is so specifically tailored to me… I AM HERE FOR IT

I refuse to acknowledge TOP, so we’re gonna use Paramore as a fourth band.

France: Panic! at the Disco

Which hurts me to say since Francis is my favorite,,, HOWEVER, I am asking you to look at A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out specifically. I think the cabaret aspect of the album fits him so well. I’m thinking specifically of the theatrics of “There’s a Reason These Tables Are Numbered” and “Intermission” past the one minute mark. I do think there’s songs from future albums which remind me a bit of Fran. Notably, “Northern Downpour,” “When The Day Met The Night,” and “The Piano Knows Something” from Pretty Odd. Fran isn’t really on the more electronic side of their sound and I’d stick more with strings and piano for him.

America: Fall Out Boy

I could. Write essays about how much I love FOB and it’s funny that I’d assign my favorite band EVER to my least favorite of FACE, but alas. Here we are. I genuinely think pre and post hiatus FOB’s sound could work for Al. I’m specifically in favor of Folie a Deux, but that’s because I associate that album with the band AU I’ve been cooking up. If I have to assign Alfred some songs… I’ll pick “Alpha Dog,” “Snitches and Talkers,” “I Don’t Care,” “Novocaine,” and “Sunshine Riptide.”

On a separate note… I can make so many FOB songs FrUK coded that it’s concerning. I had started working on an animatic. I have several illustration ideas, several fic ideas, all because of FOB. One of my poor friends had to sit through me slamming them with different FOB lyrics and me pointing at them like “LOOK IT’S SO FRUK CODED.” I am. Unhinged.

Canada: Paramore

I don’t really have anything to say about how I think Paramore’s sound fits Matt, but I’ll just give a couple of songs. “Running Out Of Time,” “This is Why,” tbh a majority of After Laughter, “Tell Me It’s Okay,” and “For a Pessimist.” With Matt, I’m picking songs that AREN’T the ones I would’ve heard at the mall food court in 2009. He’s not getting the sharp songs.

England: My Chemical Romance

Sighs.

I can’t not give Arthur Mommy Issues Kirkland “Mama.” Anyway, MCR is the closest in sound we’ll get with the emo trinity to the bands I usually associate with Arthur. I personally associate Royal Blood with him, but a couple of my friends really associate him with The Smiths or Radiohead. As for MCR songs… I think Bullets might be best sound wise? Individual songs… “SING,” “The Ghost of You,” “You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison,” and “The Light Behind Your Eyes.”

If you’re curious as to my playlists for each of them, I’ll link them below. Note that they’ve got songs that remind me of them either due to old fandom AMVs, just in sound, or lyrics, not what I think they’d listen to. France’s is… a mess. I have a secondary playlist that doesn’t bust it down sexual style. I apologize in advance because Francis’ is so messy with the genres. It’s so bad. There is NOT a consistent sound to be had.

France | America | Canada | England

[squish--squash]

Have you ever wanted to draw something but you fought due to your skill level at the time you decide not to do it

(hello tiger. I've seen you ask this to a lot of people I follow, but I never thought you'd ask me lol. I'll try my best to answer you)

as a self-proclaimed mediocre artist, this happens to me so much. There have been many, many times I've wanted to draw something so bad, but I just couldn't, because I know what's in my head cannot be brought to justice by my hands. Because I'm not as skilled as the artists I admire and appreciate, and what I imagine is always on their level instead of mine.

But as a self-proclaimed mediocre artist, I've learned this: do it anyways.

This past Sunday, I animated for the first time. I had an idea for an entire animatic/amv, but my brain went "you can't make what you're envisioning". Especially because since my drawing tablet broke in January, I've been drawing on my phone. But I tried anyways, and spent majority of my day drawing what ended up only being 16 seconds of animation out of an imagined 3 and a half minutes. It wasn't as smooth or fluid as the idea I had in mind. The perspective is wonky. The anatomy was always a bit off. It was difficult emailing myself the drawings to slap together on my spotty editing software I have on my laptop. But I did it. And I'm still so happy with it, despite the obvious flaws.

The secret, I think, coming from an artist who has a lot more to learn before they think of themself as a "skilled" artist, is to do it anyways. Even if you KNOW you don't have the skills to match what you want to do, it won't hurt to TRY.

and if it's your skill level that's stopping you, that's something you can change. You can learn. You can pick up art books, or tutorials, or hell you can just improve your skills by drawing the same thing(s) over and over and over again. and if it's your head that's stopping you, telling you you can't because you're "not good enough" at art, DO IT ANYWAYS. Spite your brain, and go "actually, I can try, so suck it". You might even surprised yourself at the results (and if it fails, that's okay. You tried anyways)

[sandalwoodbox]

Vidder asks: 12, 21, 27?

Thanks for asking!

(This is part of the Get to know the Vidder ask meme. See all my responses here and feel free to send me asks!)

12. Most underrated vid that you wished had gotten more views?

I'm going to say Stray Italian Greyhound for Dear Missy. I really like this vid because I think it most accurately summarizes what I see as the plot of the actual series - Lu Ke's journey to recognizing, accepting, and ultimately living her feelings for Shen Siyi. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, and it can still fairly reliably make me tear up to watch. It's a really great show and more people should watch it! Even with the weird canonical straight ending it's pretty good tbh 🤣 it has things like men and women dating and breaking up and still being part of the same friend group 🤯 what a concept!

But personally I always advocate for just ignoring the heterosexuality in the last six episodes & just watching them for the bonus Lu Ke / Shen Siyi fluff.

21. How would you describe your vidding style?

Answered here with bonus "what is your vidding process" because I got distracted 😅

27. Advice for anyone just starting their channel?

I'm interpreting this to mean "advice for anyone starting out making fanvids"?

I'd say do what you want and don't expect anyone to see it. Exchanges (like Festivids) and cons (like VidUKon, Fanworks, or WisCon) are a great way to "force" people to watch your vids and not get criticism unless you want it. (YMMV - I am not sure what the experience of submitting to AMV contests is like, for example.)

I'd recommend using a modern fully-featured video editing program like Da Vinci Resolve from the beginning rather than something like iMovie - DVR is more complicated but makes it very easy to separate the vid itself from the source files. That is, you can move the files from your hard drive to a backup drive to free up space and work on something else, then put them back later if you want to go back to a previous fandom!

That said, if a low bar of entry is important, iMovie is also fine. Whatever works for you!

Bonus question 1 (from replies): How do you get ideas for vids?

It depends! Sometimes it comes from blorbos or otherwise loving a show such that I want to share it with other people. Other times it comes from frustration with something not being done the way I wanted in the show, or drawing out a theme that I think the show didn't fully explore. A large chunk of my vids are from Festivids, which is great because I can see what ideas other people have and then make treats for them if I'm excited about what they've suggested and think I have time to pull it off (which is usually only possible for movies and for shows I've already (mostly) clipped, in my experience.) From time to time I'll hear a song and think it's perfect for some character or concept, but I'll generally still end up spending a fair amount of time searching for other potential songs before I actually get started on the vid. More often I'll hear a song and think, that would make a fun vid but I don't know what for, so I stick it in a playlist that I go through every time I'm looking for potential vid songs.

If I have an idea for a vid, I write it down in a spreadsheet. I'll never make most of those ideas, either because I've moved on from the fandom or because I just ended up not liking it as much later. Here's a snippet of vids I will probably never make from my spreadsheet in case it's interesting:

Bonus question 2 (from replies): What makes a vid you're working on feel done to you?

I'm a bit of a perfectionist with my vids, so this can be tricky. I think I would say: Once I am satisfied that the clips on the timeline are doing what I want and there are no clips that I believe would be strictly better, I try to stop.

Overall my process is: I'll generally make a first draft that doesn't have things that feel obviously bad (but I might still have things I'm not satisfied with but don't know how to solve). I send that out for beta and work on other things in the meantime. Depending on how much I care about the vid / how uncertain I am about it, I might do multiple rounds of beta or send it to multiple betas at once.

Depending on the vid, I might do a pass specifically looking at clip timing or motion or color correction (for example, making sure dark scenes are possible to parse), or anything else that I particularly want to work well for the vid.

Once I have something that feels "final" I like to let it sit for a week to a month, then come back to it to see if there's anything else I notice that I'd want to change before calling it done.

But a lot of times I'm working on a deadline for an exchange or a con, which means that at some point I just have to stop and call it good enough.

By the time I'm done with a vid, I often no longer feel like I can tell whether it's good or not because I'm too deep in it, so I see things nobody else would. I can't necessarily tell how satisfied I'll be with a finished vid until 6-12 months after I've posted it. (So I try to keep that in mind if I'm agonizing over whether people will notice a cleancredits glitch that's only visible in the lower left corner of a clip for like 4 frames.)

I have a vidder friend who I can show things to at that point not for beta but just to ask, is there anything obviously wrong with this? Any reason I shouldn't post this? (The answer is usually: It's fine, just post it!)

[erysium]

You've talked about writing your comic in a few asks before, I was wondering if you have advice/ resources for artists writing their own comics? I've only ever scene stuff for writers writing for an artist and would love to see what goes into your scripts.

haha I'm a little shy about trying to give advice this, since I feel like I'm a lot weaker at writing than drawing! writing is really stressful & difficult for me.. I would never want to write for someone else, because a lot of my 'writing' process is really just drawing things out, and seeing what works. When I edit my scripts for anyone else to read over, I cut about 2/3rds of what I have written in as notes - stuff that mostly only make sense to me (ie 'referencing this scene in chapter 3,' 'an expression like in that scene in that cool amv' or 'this part inspired by the ending of that movie/book/etc') as well as the 2-3 what-if versions I have for every scene, that I sometimes only finalize/decide between when I'm working on thumbnails and finally seeing how it all flows on the page together. or after someone who's helping me edit takes a look and has thoughts. When I have an idea for a scene, it's also usually in some visual form - so I'll jot down some notes in my story doc, and then sketch out the acting & feeling I'm imagining to see if it feels like anything when it's down on paper. As it sits in my notes for months or years (while I'm working on and reading other stuff,) that moment might change a little in my memory, or develop more..or the point of that scene might feel less clear when i reread it with fresh eyes, and it might get cut.

I guess for overall advice - find a process that works for you! If you're a more visual person, you can find ways to work visuals first, and then trace your steps back to extract the story from those cool visuals, and then figure out how to puzzle piece all those cool visuals & moments together. & ofc, reading a lot, watching a lot of movies, listening to podcasts or anything narrative, is important for developing your voice & priorities & style as a writer, the same way you do as a visual artist. :-)

(This is what i wrote when I was reorganizing the flow of the first 10 pages in this chapter - I have an idea of the conversation's exact wording written down earlier, so I'm just figuring out if the emotional beats makes some sense with the overall tone in mind, sometimes having a good idea that pulls things together better (highlighted in purple so I don't forget it) or greyed out so I can ignore it (but not deleted, so that I remember that i already had that idea & discarded it for a reason) .. also Kye is always 'k' in my notes & Sonya is always 'v' because i don't want to write their names out all the time lol)

[my-beloved-lakes]

1, 4, 5, 10, 17, 19 for Forever, and 1, 5, 9, 15, and 19 for White Collar?

Forever:

1. what got you into this story?

We have @ghostlyarchaeologist to blame thank for this one. Saw them posting about it several months ago and was actually in the mood to try watching a new TV show (which is rare). Out of all my mutuals, I think I trust them the most to have good taste in TV, so I decided to give it a try

4. assign this story a hyper-specific genre name, e.g. "inspirational religious semi-horror sci-fi western" (yes, that's Trigun)

Um... Idk I'm bad at this. Romantic comedy modern-fantasy crime-drama?

5. do you have a favorite character? who?

I mean they're all so great it's hard to choose but I gotta say Henry, followed shortly after by Abe.

10. if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

@we-have-a-flying-sword pointed out to me the other day that Twenty Long Years by Lord Huron reminded her of Henry. It's not perfect and there are other songs that might work better, but it's a song I love and I do think it works really well.

17. compare this story to your usual tastes. how does it differ from what you've already enjoyed?

Honestly, aside from the fact that it's the first show about a medical examiner I've seen, it's pretty on brand for the kind of shows I like. Nice balance between funny lightheartedness and serious stuff.

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

Gosh! I think it'll be a long time before I stop fantasizing about this show getting a reboot. I guess a reboot would start with a recap of what happened immediately following the last scene in the show. Then like, just more of the same I guess, only now there's more trust and transparency between Henry and Jo. I'd like to see them get together. It'd be a long time coming, but they had to wait till they had all their individual issues worked out.

White collar:

1. what got you into this story?

It all started with the show Chuck actually. Matt Bomer played a character in that who was pretty easy to dislike but at the same time I wanted to like him. I just couldn't. Later I decided to look him up to see if he was in anything that looked interesting where he played a more likeable character. I found White Collar and remembered that one of my sisters had said it was pretty good so I started watching it.

5. do you have a favorite character? who?

As I'm rewatching it now I'm remembering how much I love Sara Elis. But also Elizabeth Burke is and always will be absolute wife goals! Mozzy's great too... and Neal. I love a lot of them, really.

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

Tired FBI agent tries desperately (and kinda fails) to keep his crime child out of trouble.

15. what time are you most likely to be found reading/watching this story? (time of year, time of day, season of life, whatever makes sense to you)

Time of day: evening or night cuz I almost never watch TV during the day.

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

I don't know what they have planned for the reboot that is actually happening but in a perfect world: Neal found Sara in Paris. (That's why he chose Paris, duh) (Wait she did go to Paris right? Idk it's been a while since I've seen it. I could be miss remembering it) And they are now living happily as a semi-normal couple. Neal is using his unique set of skills and knowledge to help Sara with her insurance recoveries and also doing a little crime on the side. Mozzy has found Neal and is there helping out and encouraging Neal to do more heists/cons. They keep in touch with the Burkes and visit them in the states all the time. Peter let's the world continue to believe Neal Cafrey is dead cuz he knows Neal deserves to be free and that's the only way for that to happen. But any time he needs help on a tricky case he'll call Neal for some unofficial help.

But Honestly I don't want there to be a reboot or spinoff. I liked where it ended and I feel like bringing it back now is a bad idea cuz it'll ruin what, in my opinion, was a satisfying and happy conclusion. I'm really not jazzed about the fact they're working on bringing it back, especially since Willy Garson won't be in it. What's the point without Mozzy!? And apparently Hillary Burton won't be in it either, so that ruins my idea stated above.

[novelmonger]

1-4 & 10-12 for The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, 9-15 for FMA, 1 & 16-18 for Anne of Green Gables, 8-12 for Half-Magic, and 1, 3, 19, and 20 for The Little Riders, please?

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry

what got you into this story?

My dear friend @rainintheevening recommended it to me, and I'm so glad she did! I wasn't even 20 pages in before I looked up from the page and went, "Ohoho, this book was definitely written for me!"

2. describe it in one or two sentences.

Charley Sutherland has always had the ability to read characters out of books and into real life. But when Uriah Heep, the villain from David Copperfield, begins to cause trouble, his older brother (who is perfectly ordinary in every way) will have to go to great lengths to help him out of his predicament.

3. quickly list 3 things you like about the story!

IT'S ABOUT BROTHERS

IT'S A BOOK ABOUT BOOKS

It started to look like the ending was going to be tragic, BUT IT WASN'T I CRYYYYYYYYYY T^T

4. assign this story a hyper-specific genre name, e.g. "inspirational religious semi-horror sci-fi western" (yes, that's Trigun)

Speculative literary brother fiction crossover thriller

10. if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

"Brother" by Kodaline

I mean, would you look at these lyrics?

Oh brother, we'll go deeper than the ink Beneath the skin of our tattoos Though we don't share the same blood You're my brother and I love you that's the truth

;aldksj;sdkfl;sdkfldslkfj TT___TT

11. if you were put in the main character's position, how well would that go for you on a scale of 1-5?

Umm...maybe like a 4? Rob is a very normal kind of guy, and while I'm not a lawyer like him, most of the things he does are fairly ordinary, all things considered. (Well, it's not an ordinary situation at all, but I mean he doesn't have hidden magic or anything.) There's nothing particularly special about him except the lengths he's willing to go to for his brother. And I'd like to think I would do the same for my siblings if need be.

12. assuming your loved ones would be there, would you want to live in the world of the story?

YES. A world where I could potentially meet my favorite characters from beloved stories? Yeah, okay, some of the more unsavory characters show up too, but...like...I could have tea with Dumbledore. I could share crunchings and munchings with Gurgi. I could hang out with Pippi Longstocking! Maybe I could even give Kaladin Stormblessed a hug :')

Full Metal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

A fake human uses a double amputee, a tin can, a war criminal, a butcher, and some old guy to try to become God. He fails because he didn't brush up on meteorology enough.

10. if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

Funny you should ask, because I've got several ideas floating around in my head that I could actually make a reality if I just sat down and took the time! The first AMV idea I ever got, years and years ago, was one set to "Memories" by Within Temptation.

11. if you were put in the main character's position, how well would that go for you on a scale of 1-5?

Lol. 1. I would die immediately. I don't have a head for numbers or science, so I would probably be horrible at alchemy. Even if I somehow got clap-alchemy from the Truth (though how I'd be able to manage human transmutation to get that far is anyone's guess), I would fail miserably to do the things Ed does, because I am very flabby and weak and cowardly. Also I don't think I would have the gumption to do half the things he does, like pushing through the pain of automail surgery. Yeah, sorry, the world is doomed if I'm put in Ed's place.

12. assuming your loved ones would be there, would you want to live in the world of the story?

As much as I adore this story, I think I'd actually say no. There's so much danger and war on every side, and I don't much fancy the thought of losing my soul to a whirling vortex (even if my soul does get put back!). I've already laid out how I wouldn't be an alchemist, so there wouldn't even be that to compensate. Maybe I'd visit after it's no longer a fascist military state, though.

13. tell me an out-of-context piece of worldbuilding or lore!

Did you know that Amestris was the wife of Artaxerxes, king of Persia?

14. how likely do you think this story is to break a reader's heart? If you're not done with the story, just guess.

I'm biased, but I think it's pretty much guaranteed. If your heart doesn't break at least a little bit at a certain little girl and her dog, I'm not sure you have one. And there are so many other parts where I cried really hard, not least at the ending of the first anime. All I wanted to do after I finished it the first time was lie in my bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out how to carry on with my life ^^'

15. what time are you most likely to be found reading/watching this story? (time of year, time of day, season of life, whatever makes sense to you)

ALL DAY ALL THE TIME.

Lol, that would have been my answer in my teenage years, but admittedly my attention has strayed to other fandoms more recently. I'm still down to read/watch FMA anytime at the drop of a hat, but these days I'm most likely to dip back into it this time of year, because I always try to have something to post for FMA Day on October 3rd. (Which reminds me, I need to get cracking on that D:)

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

what got you into this story?

I guess you could call it peer pressure, kinda? I just kept hearing people praising it over the years, until finally I decided I should probably see what all the fuss was about, rather than just writing it off as Not For Me because I decided that back when I was eight or something. And once I did start reading, it didn't take long for Anne to win me over ^_^

16. do you think this story has broad appeal, or is it meant for a very specific audience? if it's more "niche", what kind of person would most enjoy this story?

I do think it has broad appeal, though I'd still say it's not for everybody. Clearly, Baby Novie decided it wasn't for her because there wasn't enough high adventure in it. I think most people would be able to find something relatable or at least enjoyable about it, but some people might need to wait until they're mature enough to appreciate its merits ;)

17. compare this story to your usual tastes. how does it differ from what you've already enjoyed?

I usually prefer books with more fantastical elements in them, or at least adventuring, and that was especially true when I tried to read this book as a kid. I will certainly read the occasional historical fiction about ordinary, everyday ups and downs, but even so, I'm usually more inclined to reach for something like Austen or Dickens that has a more complicated, twisty-turny plot.

18. compare this story to your usual tastes. what parts of it are exactly the kind of thing you've always loved?

I'm actually kind of surprised this was never assigned for school, because it feels a lot like the kind of book I read a lot, and probably one I would have enjoyed more than some of the other stuff we had to read. If I'd only made the connection that it takes place around the same time as the Mandie books, I probably would have really latched onto it (even though Anne isn't about mysteries), because that was my bread and butter for several years as a kid. And Anne of Green Gables would have been much less embarrassing to return to as an adult ^^' Another element that is common to many stories I love is how friendship is treasured so highly.

Half Magic by Edward Eager

8. what questions are or were you most excited to learn the answers to while experiencing the story for the first time?

Oh man, it's been so long since the first time I read this book, I can't really remember. Especially because I was never really an "active reader" as a kid. I never stopped to ask questions, I just inhaled stories, and whatever happened in it, that was how it obviously had to be ^^' And by now, I've read the book so many times I know it back to front, and there aren't really any more questions that I care about.

At a guess, though, I might have wondered where the talisman came from and where I could get one :P

9. give the most UNHELPFUL and/or SILLY summary possible.

This book teaches you about fractions :)

10. if you made an amv about this, what song would you set it to?

Uhhhh...I really don't know. Probably some kind of instrumental track, maybe piano? And it would just be a montage of the whole story, I think.

11. if you were put in the main character's position, how well would that go for you on a scale of 1-5?

I'd say a 4 or a 5. I'd like to think I'd do pretty well at remembering not to say "I wish" out loud as much as they do, but that's never how these things go. But most of the times I say that, it's usually just things like "I wish I could remember..." or "I wish I knew why..." And I don't see how the consequences of that kind of accidental wish could be too dire XD

12. assuming your loved ones would be there, would you want to live in the world of the story?

A THOUSAND TIMES YES. How many times did I daydream about what my siblings and I would do if we got a wish-granting adventure like in the books? It might be a little annoying to have to put up with 1920s America or whenever it's supposed to be, but...wish-granting talisman. Come on.

The Little Riders by Margaretha Shemin

what got you into this story?

This was assigned for school. I don't remember when exactly that was, but I think it was a read-aloud rather than one I read to myself, so maybe first or second grade? And I just remember it being one of the books that stood out to me amongst all the others.

3. quickly list 3 things you like about the story!

It offers a unique perspective on WWII, humanizing the Nazi soldiers when most of the time, we're all content to just think of them as nothing but monsters.

It's tense and exciting - will the soldier find the little riders?!

Illustrated by Peter Spier, a staple of my childhood picture books!

19. pitch an idea for a sequel or spinoff novel for this story!

What about a parallel story about the soldier's family? What was their experience like during the war?

20. what's the WORST thing about this story, in your opinion? (feel free to be positive, e.g. "it's not longer", if you want!)

Okay, yes, I could definitely do with a longer version of this book. I would have liked more exploration of Johanna's experience of being an American girl growing up in Holland with her grandparents. Did she have culture shock at first? Does she feel more at home in Holland now? For the lack of exploration they do into her unique situation, I almost think it would have been better to just have her be a Dutch girl who's lived in Holland all her life. The extra details of her father being in the U.S. Navy kind of feels superfluous.

Story Ask Game