#i could just. remove a panel i think tbh

[bismuthburnsblue]

hm so slight problem with the janet skirt (not the pocket thats actually completely fine, i was confusing myself over nothing)

its too big

like, way too big

which is surprising since i sized it to be a little too small

i guess this is the problem with having so many seams. 1mm margin of error on each adds up fast

[blkkizzat]

Tutorial: Manga Banners

Basic Manga Text Change/Coloring/GIF creation in PS

Hey, so as promised making a very basic tutorial for making banner gifs in photoshop for fics/drabbles/layouts, etc.

I'm going to keep things super simple here for beginners.

END RESULTS↴ 

(NOTE: This gif I made will be used for an unreleased story of mine so please don't use this exact gif/images but you are free to follow the tutorial to create your own).

All I ask is if you find this helpful to REBLOG! :) No need to credit me.

For this tutorial you will need ↴ 

Photoshop

At least 2 manga panel images (non-transparent*)

Optional: Manga fonts. I mostly use CC Wild words (speech bubbles) & Manga Temple (narrator boxes)

Basic knowledge of photoshop layout/where tools are.

*this tutorial is essentially the same if working with transparency but if you do work with transparency you will need to have knowledge of clipping masks which i do not cover here.

Tutorial ↴ 

(optional) Prepwork: so i didn't think to include this do this but you are going to need to crop and resize your image. make sure the width is either 540 or 1080px. This is the recommended width for pictures in tumblr. Height can be what you want it to be. This is done image > image size (make sure the link-chain is pressed for aspect ratio)

Step 1

This is what you want your setup to look similar to. Delete locked background layer.

Steps 2 & 3

Make a new layer. It might be helpful for beginners to re-name all their layers so instead of "Layer 2" you might name this ⇢ "White fill layer or Text cover up". (doubletap layer name to change it).

Use rectangular marquee to select text you want to change. If you are just replacing a word or two you dont need to white out everything. But you could choose to cover up all if you wish. I just wanted to remove "senpai".

Steps 4 & 5

Use Paint Bucket Tool to fill in selection area with white (make sure the new layer you made is selected when you do this).

Select Text Tool. There is no need to make a new layer as once you are done typing it will become a text layer. I used CC Wild Words bold font for this for emphasis. If you do multiple lines of text use a new text layer for each line.

Step 6 - Optional Step - Highly recommended if you did multiple lines of text.

Rasterize Type by right clicking the layer. This is an optional step. I tend to do it out of habit and rasterizing lets you use the move tool to give you exact px distances between other rasterized elements but nothing we are doing requires this tbh and if you do decide to do it you can't go back and edit text.

If you did multiple text layers you cause space them out evenly using the move tool (zoom into 200%-400% if necessary to get exact pixel distances). Tip: Manga text is centered in the bubble and leaves a good distance away from the edge.

When you are done ctrl/cmd to select all text layers then right click and merge the layers. This is so incase you have to move the text layer for whatever reason they are all on one layer now, evenly spaced and you won't accidentally mess that up.

Step 7

Create an exposure layer (half filled in circle in layer bar for menu). This is important as it can lighten/darken image to make the colors we will add later pop by playing with the sliders for each setting.

Step 8

Apply exposure settings. On the right-hand side there will be 3 slider bars. The screenshot shows my settings but your settings will vary depending on the image. The one that gives the biggest benefit for manga is Gamma Correction which affects the midtones to make them lighter/darker and adds better contrast to the image so it doesn't look as muddy, often in black and white images it is easy for midtones to look muddy. Offset affects mid to dark tones of an image. Exposure affects midtones to highlights to make brighter or darker, overall use this the least. TIP: If you want to make an image brighter or darker you usually want this to apply equally to the overall image so then you would create a brightness/contrast layer instead. most manga images skew muddy and need a midtone and dark adjustment rather than highlights. the better the manga scan images the less adjustments you will need.

Step 9 - Optional

Apply a gradient map (half filled in circle in layer bar for menu). This is optional. a Gradient map adds gradient but preserves the shading in the image so essentially adds a gradient to the shading. I do this in black and white. But if you are happy with how it came out in the exposure phase you don't need to.

Step 10 & 11 -

Apply a gradient (half filled in circle in layer bar for menu). So when you add a gradient there are a ton of preset color combos you can use or you can create your own. I think this one is a preset but can't remember. I like a diagonal gradient from light to dark depending on where the light source on the image is but it is completely up to you. I tend to set the gradient angles near these 4 settings: -145, -45, 45, 145 depending on what corner I want the lighter part in.

One thing to note is brighter colors work better with a darker background. Lighter backgrounds can get washed out. One you add this as you can see it will be solid color.

*note* once this layer is applied any edits such as moving text, etc. around you want to do to the lower layers beneath it click the "eye" button to hide the gradient (same for the map) or there's a good chance it will move the gradient layers around and not the layer you want.

Change layer blending mode. By default it's set to "normal". You can play around with these. Depending on the effect you want and whether the image has darker or lighter colors will decide the blending mode. My typical blending modes are screen, overlay, hard light, vivid light or pin light. You can duplicate this gradient layer and play around with multiple settings and opacities to create something you like.

Step 12 - Optional

Add a Brightness/Contrast layer (half filled in circle in layer bar for menu). Brightness/Contrast on this step will look wildly different than if you added it right after the exposure step. It's not necessary but if you want more overall contrast or brightness then you can add it.

You can see my settings below on the sliders on the right-hand side.

Step 13

Create new layer for highlights. (also good check point to see how your layers are organized).

Step 14

Select the brush tool and ensure brush settings are a soft round brush with a hardness of 0% for the highlight effect. (if you click the brush image you can see my settings better)

Step 15

Select the dropper tool and pick a color from the gradient image. I usually pick the darkest colors available as it will have the best dodge effect for highlights. Since this is pink/redish I only have one highlight color but if you were doing a green/blue gradient you would pick the darkest from both. (ignore the purple here its not being used)

Step 16

Create highlights with brush tool. Do a few tests placements randomly around the image for positioning and then swap the blend mode to either color dodge or linear dodge. I usually do color dodge. You will get awesome highlights like below. You can play with the sizing of the brushes and opacity to decrease the effect.

Step 17 & 18

Export as PNG. Do this even if you want to make a gif as I always recommend a clean canvas for gif making. If you want to be done here and don't want a gif thats fine too. File > Export > Quick Export as PNG (do not save as jpeg/gif you will lose image quality).

Repeat for second image. You don't need to open a new file unless it helps you to not get confused. You can just make a new layer and paste your new image into that layer (if you just right click copy the file in the window/finder folder you can directly paste it into a layer in PS) and use the transform tool to resize. However you can totally just open the image in PS. The benefit of same canvas is you save yourself some time as you can just duplicate gradient layers/adjustment layers and move them. But this is kinda more advanced so if you aren't comfortable with photoshop just make a new image.

Step 18-19

Create new file/open one of the PNG in PS (more advanced can just create new layer, select image, then copy > copy merged and paste on new file for each. Otherwise open one file, create a new layer then copy the other file. The bottom later will be the first image in the gif.

Create Frame Animation on the timeline window. (if the timeline window does not appear then window > timeline) *note* if this is your first time working with the window it may be set to "create video timeline", if that's the case create it then from the frame menu (in step 23 theres an example of where this is) select "convert to frame animation".

If done correctly your setup should look like the below with two images. One for each layer and one for each frame.

MAKE SURE PROPAGATE FRAME ONE BOX IS CHECKED IN THE LAYERS WINDOW.

lmao, not to be dramatic but this ensures most effects you would add to frame 1 (which corresponds to layer 1) is applied to all frames. I'm not too sure its super vital for this super basic gif I'm showing you but its better to get in the habit of always having it checked. otherwise it will fuck you over later down the line in my next tutorial where I show how to add frames to gifs.

Step 20

Select both layers, then select both frames (ctrl/cmd) and finally select tween from the timeline window. It is the multi-faded dot option on the bar below.

Step 21

Add Frames to Tween. Tween is the fading effect adding more frames is the longer the fading effect is. I added 20 for this step, you can play around and add more or less.

Once you do that you can see 20 new frames being added onto the timeline. This will not automatically add new layers, this is fine. Frames and layers don't need to be a 1-to-1. (Another reason why propagate frame 1 needs to be checked as you can still adjust those layerless frames by adjusting frame 1's layer)

Step 22

Adding delays. Automatically the delay on every frame is at zero. But especially if you have text you want people to be able to read that so you need to add in a delay. Your delays can be in increments of 1/10th of a second. I add a 1 second delay to the first frame only.

Step 23

Select and Copy the first frame and then select the last frame and Paste. A paste window will appear in this case we want to paste after selection. I circled where the menu for frames are. (sorry used a different gif as an example so ignore everything but the circled menu)

Step 24

Adding additional delays. I add a 1 second delay to the last two frames.

Step 25

Add more Tween I added 5 frames this time as we want the transition to be much quicker to reset the image. You can see frame 23 in the previous step are now frame 28.

You can add more images in than 2 and follow these steps to add tweening.

DONE! Now to save.

Step 26

Export your gif. File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy) and the screen below should pop up. Here are the settings I use for gifs. You can play around with it but I really wouldn't lol. (again ignore image size, this is from a different gif) it will also tell you how big in file weight your gif is. This isn't something you have to worry about for something simple but the bigger the image size and the more transitions/images you use the more frames you will have. Reducing image size (make sure chain link is on like in the below) will take off more sizing then removing frames will and I would recommend that. But tumblr allows 10MB MAX per gif so just something to keep in mind.

Let me know how this was! If you have questions just drop me an ask. ❤

[general-cyno]

ehh it's just me musing but. I do find it a little curious that (depending on who likes whom I guess) cora is usually either seen as some saintly flawless goofy figure or a brainwashed cop who got killed because he refused to try and save his brother. I do think his character is not exactly easy to pinpoint, considering he appears for a very short time and in a flashback nonetheless, plus the fact that he's dead means no further fleshing out of his character - broadly speaking - outside of the people who knew him and are willing to provide insight on what he was like, though that'd still be kinda biased.

however I believe there's actually a bunch of things that were straight up shown and some that can be pieced together from what little panel/screen time he had: ie how he's seemingly more bad tempered, impulsive and violent than he's portrayed as in fanon at times, albeit motivated by his own priorities at the moment (trying to kick the shit out of law to stop him from exposing cora to doflamingo) + his sense of what's right and wrong and to whom it applies (punching medical staff and setting hospitals on fire for mistreating law, whom he'd been trying to help).

specifically about the navy and doflamingo part... it irks me a little, tbh. partly because it removes what little agency cora had during the flashbacks and sort of waters down his motivation to stop his brother. it's not just whatever crimes doflamingo was committing or planning to back then and the navy wanting to put a stop to that - the thing is that cora was influenced, at least to an extent, to oppose doflamingo based on their childhood experiences with (ofc) the more negative ones, which include doffy murdering their father right in front of him, overshadowing anything else. as he tells law, cora can't fathom how their kind parents could've borne someone as evil as his brother. and yet. that's the other thing. cora was very much a child, and younger than doflamingo at that, when the elder DQs chose to leave marijoa and all that it entailed after. between all the traumatic events he lived through and later being raised by a marine (sengoku of all people), I'll be the first to say his perception of those events, of their parents and doffy himself is not really the most unbiased or reliable. we don't see him questioning the existence of celestial dragons (beyond warning law he's in danger when cora finds out about the D) nor the nature of the WG/the marines and the antagonistic role they play in OP's universe. we didn't have him long enough for those things to be put to question deeply anyway, especially not wrt to doflamingo, so imo it makes sense that his focus wasn't on "saving" but stopping him.

that said... he does witness the worst of it, kind of. through law. law is the very reason why I don't agree with the idea of cora being simply a brainwashed cop. this guy watched how people (those who should care) mistreated, dehumanized and demonized a sick child over prejudices caused by the lies the nobles and WG itself relied on to sweep their own corruption under the rug. he saw first hand how all those doctors ran to call the WG to kill the child and how they answered to do that. and what did he do? he lied and betrayed the organization he'd been part of (presumably for more than the years he spent undercover) and the man who'd raised him like a son just to save the kid that everyone, even the so called justice, had turned his back on and would've gotten rid of if given the chance. heck, when he first brought up the topic of law with sengoku, the man basically told him not to favor him too much for it could jeopardize his mission.

but perhaps the biggest proof is that he lied to law about being a marine when the latter directly asked if cora was one. as he later admits, cora lied to him about this because he didn't want law to hate him - and knowing all law lived through (flevance), seeing some of it himself (their hospital shenanigans) and what law told him as well, cora knew he had plenty of understandable and justified reasons to hate anyone ever slightly associated with the marines or the WG, including cora. to me, someone who's completely blinded by the navy/WG propaganda and follows their every order to the letter without thought wouldn't have denied his own affiliation nor been so determined to ditch being a marine and make an enemy out of those institutions (even if that also meant betraying his father figure) just to save, protect and do right by a child who'd been clearly failed by them. at no point did cora ever try to argue that Not All Marines, much less express any other sentiments of that sort to law.

on a similar vein, despite insisting doflamingo was evil and an agent of destruction - law is also the proof cora was somewhat aware that his brother (and people like doflamingo) normally don't pop out of nowhere and do Terrible Things just because. that maybe in other (better) circumstances, doffy might've become someone different and/or made different choices. after all, cora is the one who points out the similarities between doflamingo and law, and eventually does his best to turn law's life around so that he won't follow the same path. should he have tried to save doflamingo as well? when? how? would it have worked? who knows. and if you ask me, regardless of their similarities at that moment in time, doffy was already a grown ass man compared to law and cora himself was just an even younger kid when shit hit the fan in their childhood. I'm not sure doflamingo (as an adult) would've been particularly receptive of "help" either, considering his disdain for the kindness in cora and their father that he saw as a weakness. not to mention waaay too many other factors that come into play also (trebol and co's grooming and influence for example). still, one of them did pull the literal trigger in the end and it wasn't cora, so there's that.

all in all, for a character with such a short lived amount of time in the story - cora is quite the complex one and so very compelling. characterizing him as just strictly one thing or the other can be a little reductive but the fact that his character can be explored beyond that in the first place (once more, despite his lil bit of alive and onscreen moments) is what's fun and says a lot about the writing itself.

[yeehawpim]

HI UM i really admire you and your art and i was wondering --

so i really love the way you format your comics, its really straight-forward and lets the reader process every word with ease (which i think adds to the impact of the writing), and that one rue comic with the split colors for the parentheses... how do you do it without making it look so messy?? to bring up another example, the hide-and-seek comic- i love how subtle and genius the call back to hiding behind the door was, it blew my mind... i take a lot of inspiration from the way you format and lay out your comics but for some reason i cant wrap my head around how you do so much with so little (in reality this might just be the result of me wanting to add so many little details for others to find , while being conflicted on keeping it simple, and,,, AGH...) for context : im trying to make a comic about isolation, but i keep filling up the page because i want to add things - when really i know i should be keeping it simple... but other than removing unnecessary details, i want to know what else you do to make your comics so clean and simple yet it rips out the emotions from your heart and has you stare at it as it beats. like... i want that type of impact!! i want to affect others on such an intense level!! i want to induce emotions!!! but how?

(sorry this was long, HAHAHA i just want to drive my point home- again with the 'wanting to add a lot of stuff to prove a point' thing but i digress)

ok first of all that is a huge compliment and it means v much to me, thank you 😭🙏❤️❤️

tbh for me the answer of keeping things uncluttered is paying attention to spacing and eye direction. Spacing depends on timing, if you want an action to happen slowly for instance you can make the space between panels longer, or take more panels for someone to complete an action. There's tricks for directing your eye, if you ever read anyth about focal points (eg biggest contrast, triangular shapes pointing towards what's important), but really with comics I keep in mind you're reading left to right and top to bottom.

The ruehob comic is actually simpler than you think 😅 I already knew which text had to be on the left and right with august's text post. And after that the "lanes" were so narrow there weren't a lot of complicated things I could do, just make sure you still read left to right and saunter vaguely downwards.

when you talk about putting little details, that doesn't necessarily have to distract people. Like I honestly applaud you having the drive to do detailing. You just have to make sure your compositions allow for it. Like if you think about ghibli backgrounds, they're elaborate and beautiful af.

For smth about isolation, my first thought was that you can draw a person in a setting alone among a bunch of objects, for instance. If you keep the person small but surround them with a bunch of detailed objects, it could feel very lonely. Just make sure the person still stands out b/c they're what's important, so for example the background stuff is a less saturated colour, or the person is the least detailed thing on the page. I think that's the main thing, you just have to make sure the things important to what you're saying stand out. Clarity is rlly half the battle when I'm laying things out haha

In school our teacher called this "killing your babies" because it sucks when you work hard on a cool drawing and it just doesn't work out😂This also still happens to me, it's actually partly why I keep things simple so I can work fast and throw out less

Here is a timestamp from supereyepatchwolf's video about Chainsaw Man, which has some of the coolest fuckin layouts

He's got other stuff that talks about manga and how eye direction can work and what cool stuff has been done. Off the top of my head his vid about one piece and his vid about gantz have helped me understand how to cause Emotions. Also I think he has one about Junji Ito that specifically talks about how details can make you scared, if you're into that ��

hope this helps!

[reality-liver-n0]

Balalaika: Black Lagoon's Monster

This post is going to be another long one so strap in. Once again, it's soley on Balalaika, but I may stray off a bit too.

Since I already adressed in my last big post about her differnces in manga and anime, this is going to center around how well her depiction (normally) is in the maga. Don't get me wrong, Anime Balalaika is terrifying as well but the manga in some panels takes it up a notch.

I'll share the specific panels that made me decide to cover this topic anyway.

All of these are terrifying. Legitimately I forgot how brutal the manga panels were in this. I'll go down each one and point out how I think they're effective in their use of envoking fear.

In the first image she is grinning with her teeth bared, and you can see how sharp they are. It's like she's a shark that got the first whiff of blood. Take notice of the man (I honestly forgot his name).

His teeth are depicted as well but there are just two that seem pointy. Even so, they're not as jagged or rigid as hers, in fact they look more blunt, akin to a prey animal.

Honestly her lipstick makes the whiteness of her canines pop out more and I'm wondering if she actually even thought of the tactical advantadge it gives in terms of intimidation. Probabaly not, but hey, let me headcanon here. I would assume she chose pink since it's more natural yet it still pops. And I'm not sure how well the red lipstick would go with her red suit, which would obviosuly be a lot duller due to its fabric.

Anyway, both her and the man's eyes are not shown. I'm not an artist but it's very important here and I think I can explain why.

Eyes are the window to the soul. Or at least the most reliable way to know what emotions someone is feeling. You can't quite fake a look if your eyes stay the same. So by removing the access to emotions, it acts as a blocking point. We don't see their eyes, therefore we can't really see the extent of what they're feeling. We can only assume or place ourselves in the situation to guess what emotions might be present.

A good refernce would be the monster under the bed. You don't know what it looks like, but you use all experience or imagination possible to create one that will scare you. So by not seeing Balalaika's eyes or his, we can only conjure up worse images than what could actually be presently there.

Eyes are also what most classical artists use to convey pain. Here are the most notable examples.

We literally cannot even comprehend the type of pain this poor man is in. Ok, maybe not that much but choosing to limit the pain to the rest of his face does hide whatever expression he is making. Even so, there's not a whole lot to accurately measure his pain. There is only his teeth, grinding in pain, and blood. Not a whole lot to go off of.

But one notable detail is his feet. They are not touching the ground. In fact, he is actvely trying to stop himself from choking to death in her grip. Also, her heels make her considerably taller since his feet appear to be sliding against the ground. He's probabaly only a couple of inches off the ground but consider Balalaika.

She's 5'10, only wearing heels, already disarmed him with her back turned, and during this entire exchange with Rock is holding him steadily above the ground. That may not mean much but to me it's a lot.

He is a full grown man. The estimated average height for Japanese males is 5'7 and their weight is 138lbs.

Need I remind you that she kept this man up so he was actively choking, and still was able to snap Rock around onto a car hood with one hand.

This guy is fucking dying and she's not breaking a sweat. (Queen behavior tbh)

Onto the second panel. I want to focus on Balalaika's face. Her eyes have an emotion I can't find the word for. Playfulness I guess? Or some type of manic state of power or happiness. You can just tell by her raised brow and the slant of her eyes that she's just toying with Rock here. It's all a display of her raw strength.

The next panel is worse in my opinion. Her entire scarred side is blacked out. Sickingly, her right eye looks more like a socket since the scar overlaps it. And the blackness of her suit makes her look like some grim reaper. Overall, I'm scared shitless.

Yet the final image was the last straw for me.

That look from her, the solid stare that is directed at Rock (the audience in effect) is terrible. She doesn't have the same joy from the prebvious panels. That could be due to her mouth being hidden but it's one of rage and suffering. Look back to the classical depictions of eyes. Looks a bit similar, right?

Also, personally the one that looks the most alike is the Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel. Which to me is so ironic that it's sad.

Another sad thing is that the pupil size in the last panel, or specifically in the right/scarred eye can be a result of the scarring. Which to me seems to be affected a lot under bright light or is just permanetely damaged in that imitation state that pupils do when introduced to it. I would say the former, just to fit another headcanon neatly; her office only holds seemingly softer lights, notably the orange/yellow one on her desk.

Finally, the worst and most important fact is that in these panels Balalaika admits it's been a while since she's done hand to hand combat. What?! She just took an armed man down and she's not even at her peak soldier state. As Boris says, playing mafia does dull the senses.

So yeah. Rememember that we have literally never seen Balalalaika attempt to be as physically pro-active as Roberta. She hasn't had a reason too. It's just jaw-dropping to think what Balalaika's true combat prowess is since we've only seen glimpses of it. Better yet, how good was she as a sniper to get her nickname?

Only our imagination can help us there, but considering the feats of Roberta Balalaika's sniper shots must be inhuman.

[swordsmans]

If Bonney used her power on Brook would it restore his flesh? Or would he just become a younger skeleton

whether you meant this as a joke or not, ive been rotating this in my head for like four days straight (thanks for that) and i think i've FINALLY come up with my answer: i think brook would just become a younger skeleton!

spoilers for egghead below the cut!

we don't know a lot about bonney's fruit (not even the NAME) so it's hard to pin down exactly how it works, but after rereading egghead to answer this i think her devil fruit is possibly something other than a model of the toki-toki no mi (my original assumption). the base model toki-toki no mi works strictly with time itself, but bonney's fruit seems to have several "functions" that are different from time itself.

when aging someone forward in "time", she has access to multiple possible futures (likely why the straw hat older designs in the SBS's have had multiple versions, actually). it's not stated anywhere that she has access to the true future (although given OP's shaky stance on fate, this could be a little bit of meta in and of itself)

when she "de-ages" someone, they shed jewels of some kind--it's not a "clean" time travel

and (most importantly) when she "de-ages" someone, they retain certain features from adulthood, including but not limited to scars and body modifications

in short, her fruit isn't straight across the board linear time travel, but something a little weirder, a little more ambiguous. (i'm excited to learn more about it from a lore perspective, tbh, especially with the devil fruit info about parallel universes--but i digress).

i am largely basing my brook answer on the third point, illustrated here:

jinbei has been "de-aged", but he still has a scar over his eye from later in life, and--

vegapunk has been "de-aged" but he is still missing his brain and retains the punk records transmitter even though we know he did not remove his brain until much later into adulthood. AND the transmitter still has the circumference of his adult-sized head, so it has stayed "separate" from his body despite the transformation--while still acting as a replacement for his missing brain.

with this in mind, i have two theories about her fruit: one, she cannot undo major/permanent body changes in people she "de-ages" and i suspect if she were to "de-age" luffy, he might retain his chest scar! and two, she cannot undo devil fruit powers. in short, she cannot change the "whole" of a person, just their "current essence".

realistically (lol, as realistic as we can get here) brook has had his skeleton since birth. if she were to "de-age" his skeleton, it would be his skeleton that is impacted--his "current essence". his flesh is gone, and cannot be reproduced from nothing (just like vegapunk's brain!). essentially bonney would be moving his skeleton itself back and forth in time, not the (missing) "whole" around it.

knowing what we do about oda's sense of humor (and the type of gags brook usually gets), i dont think it's unfair to assume that we might actually get this exact scenario--bonney trying to "de-age" brook and (visually) nothing happening. even if it's played off for laughs, it works with what we know of her powers! plus, there's this panel:

and who do we know that's not technically a living thing? brook! personally, i think it would be very funny (and not beyond the scope of oda's silly little mind) to give brook a semi-permanent power up by having bonney "de-age" his skeleton to a younger, stronger version of itself (again, visually no different at all lol) and then just... staying that way until she manually undoes the power or something.

of course, all of this is just guesswork. honestly, im very intrigued by bonney's age-up/future powers, and im looking forward to more of her this arc!!

[bthump]

What's the best adaptation of Berserk? Looking at the content, not the visuals. It's been a while since I watched the 2016 film adaptation and I could be wrong, but isn't this the most accurate film adaptation of the arc? Yes, there is a changed third episode, but the script for this episode was written by Miura. I've heard many times people complain not only about the visuals, but also about the story. They say he's boring, but isn't that because Berserk himself became a little… boring after the Golden Age? Many people praise the plot of the 1997 anime, although it is essentially fan fiction and not an accurate adaptation. They usually say that the 1997 anime comes first, the movies come second, and the 2016 anime comes third. I think it's exactly the opposite (anime 2016-movies-anime 1997) because isn't the 2016 film adaptation the most accurate adaptation of some Berserk arc? Why is the 2016 anime so bad apart from the visuals? I'm interested to hear your opinion <3

I'm afraid I haven't watched the 2016/17 adaption so I can't really say whether it's the most accurate, at least script-wise. Though to me it automatically loses some accuracy points for whitewashing Casca in the Conviction arc, even if that's visual rather than script.

Also I wouldn't say the 97 anime is essentially fanfiction, a lot of it is panel-to-panel accurate. It takes some liberties with filler, and makes a few subtle changes with big fallout in terms of Guts leaving the Hawks imo (ie removing the inherent criticism and portraying it as necessary, which changes the central theme of the story lol), but overall it's pretty accurate imo. Maybe not more accurate than the 2016 anime, again I can't say because I didn't watch it, but still a pretty solid adaption overall, imo.

And as for the ovas, I think the 97 anime adheres closer to the manga, which is why I use it as my footage source for vidding lol, but you can argue that the ovas do better in terms of portraying Berserk's themes (except for utterly flattening Griffith). So I guess that just depends what you value more.

Anyway for me accuracy isn't necessarily the most important aspect of an adaption anyway. Even if the 2016 anime was shot-for-shot accurate to the manga, I still wouldn't watch it because it's unpleasant to look at lol. And tbh I like when an adaption brings a new perspective. At least in theory lol, in practice obviously it depends on whether it suits my own interests and takes on the story, but yk - I've already read the manga, if I want something word for word accurate I can just re-read it. Sometimes it's cool to see how a change in medium or a different writer can affect the story.

[mooifyourecows]

Hey moo :)

Can I ask a question? You moved into your house not that long ago right? Have you done any house projects since you moved in? Or discovered any house secrets?

Most of the weird house stuff was stuff that literally drew me to want to buy it in the first place tbh

Like the photos were pleasantly honest! (Which is great considering I bought this bitch ONLINE without ever seeing it in person hahaha 🫠)

Like I can tell that whoever made this house wanted to make something original and quirky and I'm in love with it. There are so many weird angles and design choices with zero rhyme or reason. like why do those walls connect at a 30° angle like that?? Why are there beams everywhere? What shape is that room even supposed to be???

It's just.. FUN. Literally when I saw the pictures on zillow for this place, I was like "weird!" But then saved it. And then returned to it over and over again while looking at other places and eventually I just knew it was the one. Like I couldn't get it out of my mind

But like, how could I pass it up? It was less than 200k$ and 2300 square feet on 5 acres of land down a wooded lane!! J-j-j-jackpot!

There are some totally weird and funky design choices and there's a lot I WANT to do.

Some examples (ignore lazy or nonexistent decorating, i havent gotten around to doing anything yet):

There's this nasty ass wall paneling throughout like 1/3rd of the house that looks like the walls of a motor home and I HATE IT. It's ugly and stupid and I tore off one panel to see what was underneath and guess what! It's normal wall! (Ignore hot lady calendar)

Except the glue from the paneling kinda ripped off parts of it but like THEY JUST GLUED THIS SHIT ON OVER WALLPAPER?? WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? JUST REMOVE THE WALLPAPER AND PAINT, ITS SO MUCH EASIER THAN THROWING UP THIS UGLY BULLSHIT. ugh

So like yeah I wanna remove all of that, but it's gonna be a big project because there's a LOT and some of it is underneath the cabinets in the kitchen. Yikes.

Pretty much every ceiling is tall and slanted in some weird way, which makes me dread painting because how am I supposed to paint super high up like that when I only got a 7 foot ladder???

The house is 1.5 stories too, which means that there's a partial upstairs that is essentially just a little loft thing that looks out over the living room and then this small, strange room we affectionately refer to as "Travis's room" for reasons I think will soon be obvious....

We will honestly probably have to hire a contractor to come look at this upstairs area because part of the ceiling is like... collapsing? And all gross and dirty? (Kinda visible in that second photo) It's not attached to the roof so like, the outside is fine and isn't leaking or in danger of caving in but idk it's just kinda weird and I have no idea what the thought process was for this whole upstairs area. Like what is this narrow little sliver of room here? (Ignore hot wheels tracks)

And the ceiling fan next to the staircase is SO CLOSE lmao if it's on and you lean even a little bit over the railing, you're getting brained. Like in this pic I'm not reaching out, just lifting my arm to touch it (ignore dust, I don't clean and you can't make me)

The living room is really big but it's also weirdly shaped so organizing my furniture is a nightmare. Especially since there's a pellet stove (currently not working) on one wall. (ignore dirty socks, mismatched cheap lamps, messy cat tree corner behind couch, big ugly coffee table I got for free that used to be black until I sanded it down but then got bored and left it as is)

As of right now, I haven't done much to the place because wow apparently home improvement takes effort and costs money??? Go figure. And we've been pretty broke lately so I've just been collecting ideas for the time being.

I am absolutely gonna start painting this year though. My bedroom rn is just boring white so I wanna fix that. Maybe do something dark and warm like a dark brown or green or hmm something like that. The room I've been calling the "gym" (because that's where I put the treadmill) will probably get done next since it's such a blank slate and should be easy to fix up.

And I absolutely want to mess around with my office because the way it's arranged and decorated rn is lame. They painted a bunch of rooms an ugly ass flat brown color, including several closets, my office, and the spare bathroom so THATS got to go.

I want to start decorating for real, finally buy some frames for the art I've been collecting so I can hang them up on some of these tall ass walls.

I also have plans to make a catio out back and even have a bunch of wood and some of the frames constructed but I got bored and abandoned it haha 😄

Oh and I want to reeeeally start doing stuff with the outside. I want to plant trees and maybe do a garden this year, tear up the plants I don't want and replace them with ones I do, clean up the big ass plot of land that's just overgrown brush and weeds and maybe make it into an orchard? Get some fruit trees and make some cute little rows? Maybe I'll even build a fence and a pond and put flowers everywhere. You know, for the bugs 💌🐝🐛🦋🕷

Now i just need to win a million dollars so I can afford to do it all 🥲

[mothemotics]

i agree that bruce and dick have a very complicated dynamic which resists being fit into a single unambiguous label, but that does not mean that the parental element of that relationship is not explicit textual canon. again, ship whatever you want! but, like, here are some random panels that come to mind:

(Tales from the Teen Titans #50, Batman #438, Robin #13, Gotham Knights #21. i think the first might actually technically be pre-crisis depending on when it was published? its in that weird transitional phase where the distinction is a little blurry)

so my point is that if you want to ship bruce and dick, in post-crisis canon, you have to accept that you also ARE shipping a father and son. maybe in the 1950s this was one of many ways to read a dynamic in a comic book series, but since crisis it's a textual canon aspect of their relationship. (if not earlier, but i have not really read pre-crisis comics, so i won't comment on that)

early post-crisis as a breakup phase is fine, but it's framed within the context of the narrative as a breakup in a relationship with heavy parental overtones. to frame that as romantic is a transformative reading. to remove the parental overtones is just ignoring canon

(also i know devin grayson has talked about shipping brudick before but like tbh given her established tastes i dont really think her writing them as father and son and shipping them romantically are in contradiction lmao)

I agree that there was shift in Bruce and Dick's relationship that made it more father/son. I never said there wasn't. but that shift is far more recent then you're trying to say. to my knowledge, Dick did not call Bruce dad until this most current continuity. he acknowledges that he is Bruce's adopted son in post-crisis, but that is different.

i feel like in the context of canon it's pretty clear that dick does not call bruce dad because he already had a person in his life he thought of as "dad," and bruce respects that. like you see above there are pretty clear instances of the two calling their relationship that of a parent and child. usually this is vocalized by bruce, because dick has complicated feelings about the idea of replacing his parents, but as you can see in the prodigal and gotham knights issues dick is very evidently and visibly pleased by the comparison. i also think you could find some more explicit internal narration in the issue of nightwing where tim tells him bruce wanted to adopt him and he turned him down but i don't remember the issue number right now so i can't search for it.

you can read all of Bruce and Dick's interactions as platonic father/son if you want, never said you couldn't, but I will repeat that using a recent push as the end all be all for other people as well is erasing part of queer history.

like i said, there's a difference between acknowledging history and ignoring what has been a very solid part of modern canon since at least the mid 80s, where we are point blank told repeatedly that their relationship is parental. what parental means is very complicated to two orphans, but it is parental, canonically. what you do with that in fanon is up to you, but at some point we have to acknowledge that the text is what it is if we want to transform it. and it pretty decidedly is not an example of same-sex adult adoption without a father-son dynamic in GK

Top AO3 Batfamily Ships Bracket: Round 6

[megane-sama]

Thoughts on Houseki no Kuni chapter 98 (Spoilers)

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Okay so i actually loved this chapter, i may or may not have shed a couple tears but who's asking right. I personally was on the side of Phos taking revenge because honestly I'm a vindictive person and i like Phos not because i feel they did nothing wrong but because i feel even through all their actions i can understand why, even if Phos were not the protagonist but an antagonist, they're the kind I'd root for. But moving on.

The fact they started off with this is such an epic power move tbh, it shows they are completely aware of their godhood, aware of the power that lies in their scribbly little hands and aware of all the possibilities they could make happen with it. This points shows that whatever Phos does is their decision and their decision alone because at this point they are above any sort of manipulation and i have always thought regardless my personal convictions that I've always wanted Phos to have a choice.

This panel made me very emotional because it is nothing but the truth. Phos has always been fundamentally different and with that came an ever present sense of loneliness and also made them the prime subject for this entire thing, even if they had taken a different path i don't think this singular fact would've changed.

I won't lie i was a tad bit upset about this cause i really did want Phos to spit in all their faces but i read over it again and pondered, and then i realized there is no forgiveness here, at least how I interpreted it.

They're praying for them not with a sense of complete forgiving selflessness or a sense of duty and obligation but because they've all been miserable for so long, all of them have been miserable in some way for so long and they're so tired, so tired that neither forgiveness nor revenge mean anything anymore, nothing can ever fix this or remove what has already happened so its better for all of them like this.

At this point i had infact manufactured enough tears to fill up a decent sized kitchen mug, because this was what baby Phos had wanted through their transformations, to be understood, a sense of belonging and oneness but look at all it took to get here. The events of this chapter may not feel like much, to some it might even feel anticlimatic but by God is it cathartic as fuck.

I know this isn't the end even though it feels like it is so honestly i cant wait to see what else Ichikawa wants to do to us. Because we haven't seen what being Phos's version "prayed away" entails, maybe its something none of us expect, i mean we did just see a big explosion but that's just me thinking, also what does it mean for the species, what about any Lustrous that might be formed again?. Guess we wont know till the next chapter~

[sleepy-steve]

life update

1. the latest hq chapter changed me as a person

2. my teeth are FUCKED

3. last night i had a dream that a deaf boy and i were in love and i hope i go back into that dream tonight

[antiloreolympus]

5 Older Anti LO Asks

1. tbh I think you need the incest in myth adaptations to make it work, because there's a certain hierarchy and power dynamics at play with persephone has zeus' daughter that is lost when you make her a nobody with no power compared to the power of a literal king from a family of kings. there's also a connection of earth goddesses (gaea - rhea - demeter - persephone) that is lost with removing persephone's family ties. I get why RS would do it but she's bungled it so much in too many ways to list.

2. That's also the thing. LO fans (and Rachel herself) will insist you CAN'T critique it now because it's not done, but also say once it's done (whenever that will be, probably thee more years at this point) you also CAN'T critique it because, according to them "it'll all make sense", They just don't want critique at all, which is just so entitled and not how the world works,

3. The idea of making Zeus/Hera now an OR is that it's just another thing Rachel retcons over actually having an thorough plan or letting their be actual stakes. Basically everything else has been retconned at this point (how HxP met, Persephone's literal powers and personality, possibly her age, etc) that making them an OR is just another thing in the pile RS refuses to actually stick. I'm not saying a retcon here and there is bad, but the fact nothing from the start is intact is just ridiculous.

4. I don't think it's that you need to binge to make sense of the story (which even then it doesn't help, there's many other writing issues that binging doesn't help) it's more so the fact what could and should have been 1-3 episodes is instead stretched to 10-20 episodes if not more. You shouldn't have to wait months and pay over and over for only snippets of a single part, often when they're resolved poorly if at all after all that. It's poor writing and comes off as very greedy on Rachel's end.

5. Gotta correct that previous anon: Persephone hardly counts as body-positive rep but she does in fact have stretch marks and RS has never shied away from drawing them. You can see them clearly in the panels where she's in underwear.

[the-final-sif]

Tbh I think it's a scheduling issue,

As I discovered when checking this, the Banter panel that Karl is doing (the only panel that Karl is doing in the entire event), is right after the Dream panel. They're in the same location at least, but there's only half an hour for change over. (friends panel ends at 12:30, banter starts at 1:00pm),

This wasn't the original plan. The Dream & Friends panel was originally going to go 11:30-12:00, giving everyone a full hour between it and their next panel (for dream, the I Dream of Streaming, for Banter, the Banter Podcast)

Recently (april 26th), that time got extended to a full hour, and Dream's streaming panel was moved to 2:30-3:30 so it wasn't at the same time as Banter.

Banter didn't get moved though, so that meant that now the change over time was shortened to half an hour. If anything needs to get prepped or anything, they now only have half an hour to do it between panels.

I can't find exactly when the panel changed to remove Karl, the wayback machine is not being helpful but all three of the Banter member dropped individual meet & greets to do all of them as a group, so my best guess is that there's some sort of scheduling issue happening.

That being said, I've been searching around, and I can't find any evidence that Karl was listed for the panel after the time got extended (switch happened 26th after the panel was announced and people asked for longer, but all the screenshots from update accounts that show the hosts show the original 11:30-12:00 time, wayback machine didn't capture the change at all so I can't tell when it happened).

So, based on that, it's entirely possible that Karl dropped right away when the extension happened. If that's the case, then he most likely dropped so he could be the one to organize/set up for the Banter panel, so Sapnap & George could attend both without worrying about the time crunch. Which makes sense tbh, it'd be really weird for either Sapnap or George to have to miss a "Dream's friends" panel. People might just not have noticed until now, or the update might not have reflected on the schedule until today.

This already kinda happened, the individual meet & greets actually started getting canceled/noticed on April 27th from twitter screenshots I tracked down, but Vidcon didn't address it and people didn't really notice it until yesterday (May 1st).

Anyways, my general take away is that this is most likely a scheduling issue, given that Karl's schedule seems to be changing and the panel time got changed from decent (1hr gap) to a tight squeeze (30 min gap). Which is entirely reasonable to want at least one person to be free from that time crunch. And like, it's not like Sapnap or George could really drop there.

What happened im nosy

dream and friends panel was updated spot the difference

[kenkamishiro]

Lost in Translation: Choujin X chapter 1

Fun fact, I was planning to do fan translations for Choujin X with a scan group until it could get a simulpub release, though I didn’t expect it to get one from the very first chapter lol. I’m happy though since it means everyone can read it right away and it doesn’t mess up my schedule.

So instead I’ll be making comparison notes between the EN and JP text to supplement the official translation. I’m not doing this because the official TL is bad (I actually think it’s pretty solid and I hope it will maintain this quality) but because it’s inevitable for something to be lost in translation, and it’s nice to have that additional context for theory crafting and whatnot.

If you want to read it on Twitter instead, the original thread is here, but this is the proofread and way more detailed version 😄

This translation isn’t wrong, but there’s an emphasis on それ (which is TLed as ‘it’) that connotes a stronger, “other, that thing” feeling that isn’t present here. The general idea behind this sentence is: That [becoming a Choujin] resembles more of a disease [than a transformation].

Ely talks like a tomboy, she uses rougher speech patterns and the pronoun オラ (ora), a derivative of the masculine 'ore'. But it's a bit old-fashioned (eg. すまなんだ) which makes sense considering her upbringing with her grandfather on a farm. Hence her country bumpkin speech pattern in English.

Not sure if I should use Ellie or Ely? Ellie makes more sense based on the kana, but Ishida explicitly called her Ely so I might stick with Ely for now... (also istg that blond guy with the huge chin is a reference, I've seen him somewhere)

Tokio, I know your teacher is annoying, but it's rude to call her that lol. This is basically the oppai equivalent of paisen (senpai backwards, it’s slangier). Similar thing actually happened with Ely describing her dream hubby as Goldilocks instead of blond; ‘kinpatsu’ (blond hair) was inverted to become ‘patsukin’, hence the translation as Goldilocks.

Kurohara Tokio (黒原トキオ) and Higashi Azuma (東アヅマ). Kurohara is a common surname, means 'black fields'. Tokio is in katakana, so it’s hard to say what kanji it could be. 'Toki' could be 時 (time) or 外喜 (outside + delight). The 'o' can be the common male name suffix 男 (boy).

But when I think of Tokio, I think of TK's song called 'tokio'. You can read the translated lyrics here. If these lyrics end up being relevant to Tokio's character development I will eat my shoe lol.

Higashi means 'east'. Azuma (which can also be romanized as Aduma, it’s a softer ‘zu’ sound which is why Tokio called Azuma ‘Aju’ earlier in the chapter before correcting himself) is an archaic form of ‘east’. So...this guy is literally East East. The Choujin X equivalent of Moon Moon 😂

Someone also informed me that Higashi Azuma is a station in Tokyo, though the kana are slightly different (アヅマ／あづま vs. あずま). They effectively sound the same though nowadays, if I have to be honest. It’s like comparing the difference between 애 and 에 in Korean.

Tbh this is minor, but worth mentioning just cause it changes the meaning a bit. Tokio is saying something more like, “Why are we even talking about this [the roly-polies] again?”

I think I heard people talking about how the official TL doesn’t match the original text, but personally I really like how this was translated! Sis is using the expression  「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」, which literally means “boiling the dirt under someone’s fingernails and drinking it”. By taking the dirt/grime under the fingernails of someone that you admire, and boiling it and drinking it like a tea, you can become more like them.

But because idioms don’t tend to directly translate well between languages, translators often have to adapt it so that the meaning still remains the same. In English the closest idiom we have to this is “rubbing off on someone.” The “holding hands” bit was added to replace the physical aspect of “taking the dirt from someone’s fingernails” and also contribute to Sis’s sassy and very informal way of speaking.

So Sis is saying in JP (ignoring her personal speech style for now):

You should take the dirt from under [Azuma's] fingernails and boil it so you can be more like him.

And now in ENG it becomes:

You guys should hold hands or something, then maybe he’ll rub off on you.

It now sounds natural in English, still carries the same meaning as the original text, and also suits the character’s speech pattern.

Moving on, in that same panel the literal TL of Tokio’s dialogue is, “Policeman Azuma got dispatched again today,” emphasizing Azuma’s heroic deeds along with his family connections to the police. Another thing I want to note is that this is the second time Azuma has been called 偉い (erai) so far - noble, and now great guy. I’ll just dump the general English definition of 偉い from Jisho here so you get the general idea:

Great; excellent; admirable; remarkable; distinguished; important; celebrated; famous; eminent

But you can tell from how people describe Azuma as 偉い that others look up to him, think he’s a great person and Mr. Perfect. Always being placed on a pedestal by others. (What are the odds this will affect his mentality after the Choujin serum?)

The meaning is still pretty much the same, but I’ll offer a slightly different perspective. Sis mentions that if she were Tokio, she’d burst from the [Azuma] complex. (Clearly Tokio and Azuma's relationship is gonna crack at some point)

Tokio mentions an idiom about hawks (taka) before recalling his childhood memory about vultures. Vultures are called 'hagewashi', but in the chapter it mentions they can also be called 'hagetaka' (buzzard/condor, literally bald hawk).

The kids call him names like "Hagetaka Tokio" and "Hageo". But Hagetaka Tokio only really works in JP cause Hagetaka kinda mimics his last name (Buzzard Tokio doesn't give the same vibe). Same with Hageo. Hage-o = Bald-o = Baldy.

I also think Buzzard was chosen over another name for a vulture like Condor because Buzzard can pass off as an insult.

I would have translated this as, “I wanted to be a lion too...” but this is just personal preference.

A continuation of the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression Sis used earlier. Without the adapted idiom the exchange goes something like this:

Tokio: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

Azuma: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

Tokio: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

Azuma: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

But since the 「爪の垢を煎じて飲む」 expression was modified to make it sound natural in English, it means this conversation has to be modified too.

JP: My sister said I should bring home the dirt from under your nails. Can I have some?

EN: My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you. What do you think?

The “dirt from under your nails” part got adapted to “holding hands”, hence how the 1st line from Tokio becomes, “My sister says we should hold hands...so I can be more like you.” “Can I have some?” makes no sense now in this context now, so it was changed to “What do you think?” as a question to Azuma to keep the similar conversation flow going.

JP: ...huh? What for, that’s scary. No way.

EN: Huh? What’re you talking about? No thanks.

Azuma’s next line is similar enough to the JP text except for the removal of “scary”. I think the reason it was most likely removed is because leaving it as it is could be constituted as homophobic (2 boys holding hands, absolutely nothing scary about it as bible thumpers would like people to believe).

JP: I have to boil it and drink it, apparently.

EN: She said to hold hands so you’ll rub off on me.

Tokio’s response to that is explaining what he meant by his proposal. In the original text he lays out the latter half of the idiom (he doesn’t even realize it’s an expression, poor boy), and in English he does something similar by going into why his sister said they should hold hands (so Azuma can rub off on Tokio).

JP: Don’t even think about boiling or drinking it.

EN: C’mon. That’s not how things work.

Azuma’s then rebuts Tokio’s proposal as ridiculous. In the original text he drops a typical straight man response (don’t do *insert whatever ridiculous thing the idiot suggested*). But since Tokio’s proposal in English isn’t as preposterous, his rebuttal is toned down in response by telling him not to take it literally.

Ultimately, even though a lot of this dialogue was changed, I still think it was successful in maintaining the original’s intent. Tokio takes his sister’s sarcastic suggestion literally and brings it up to Azuma, who dismisses it as silly. It would be nice if we could keep the expression as it was in Japanese, but in instances like this where it’s played off of in multiple lines, that’s easier said than done.

軟体 isn’t an actual word, it’s made up of the kanji soft + body. So kinda like Elastigirl, but Flexi was chosen instead. It doesn’t sound 100% right, but I don’t think I could come up with anything better.

Replacing the しい in 楽しい with the C plus that elongated pronunciation makes Johnny sound even more like a stereotypical Yankee, which is why he sounds like that in English 😂

Random but I found it interesting how Azuma called Johnny a youkai (妖怪) instead of something like bakemono (化け物) or obake (お化け) since they’re shapeshifting monsters.

Tokio is worried that if he doesn't do something right now, he's going to lose his friendship with Azuma. The sentence is fine as it is though.

Azuma’s line can also be worded as, "No hard feelings, okay?"

Bestial = 獣化 (juuka) = beast+change = beast transformation

That’s it from me, if you have questions about the TL feel free to send an ask or reply to this post, I promise I’ll check my inbox more often this time 😂

[aerequets]

can you give me some webtoon recommendations? name some of your favorites! :)

i am here to answer folks 😎

all of these webtoons can be found on webtoons.com! I'm not sure about the whole daily pass thing they've got going on (which sucks tbh) but like,,, you could probably find it online illegally. NOT THAT I CONDONE ILLEGAL ACTIVITY HAHAHAHA ᵖˢˢᵗ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ˡᵒᵒᵏ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ

I'll split these up between completed and in progress :) most are still in progress though

COMPLETED

1) Gourmet Hound (166 chapters)

this is like, my all time favorite webtoon. it follows Lucy and her quest to find all the chefs that left her favorite restaurant, Dimanche! it’s a really heartfelt story and the food illustrations make you really hungry, so make sure you have a snack before you sit down to read it. each character’s name is also food-related, so that’s pretty cool too! and the diversity in this webtoon is AMAZING. it’s the only webtoon i’ve ever read that has a hijabi character in the main cast. the development is done really well and it explores themes of loving and letting go. all in all, it has a bit of everything. i personally love food-related things, and this centers around it, so i was set LOL

(also a bonus is that this webtoon has NOT succumbed to daily pass hell, so you can binge read the whole thing. legally.)

2) Hooky (200 chapters)

if you like stories of witches, this is the one! the summary and beginning chapters are deceptively lighthearted. DO NOT BE FOOLED! the story really develops further on and explores numerous conflicts, a big one being (if i remember correctly) witch vs. nonwitch. if you like to see struggles between two sides, not a good-and-evil but just people-who-want-the-best-for-themselves-and-their-loved-ones type of thing, this is good for that. also, sibling love! the two main characters are Dani and Dorian, and while there is someee romance, i like how this story centers around the siblings first and foremost. ALSO THE ART??? I LOVE HOW THE AUTHOR DRAWS SETTINGS SO MUCH and am unabashedly jealous because i am completely incapable of doing so   just like,,,, even if the story doesn’t pull you in, you can at least stare at each panel for long stretches of time.

(unfortunately succumbed to daily pass, but you can read it on mangaowl or manganelo!)

3) Spirit Fingers (167 chapters)

aww, this one is cute. Amy is 18 and lacking in self confidence (her family definitely doesn’t help). but HEY she joins a wacky art club!! without her parents knowing!! HECK YEAH!! unfortunately it takes more than joining an art club for her to learn to love herself (it is a long journey after all!). i love this webtoon because it explores the problems of multiple people, not just amy: her high achieving brothers, her mother who had to give up her dream, the different members in the art club, Amy’s girl friends. the art is unique and has a cool watercolor-y texture! and the main couple is just adorable, too. if you’re an artist especially, i recommend this because that’s a big theme and you get to see these characters expand their art styles! which is very cool!

(you can read this one fully on 1stkissmanga)

now here’s where the majority of my recs are:

IN PROGRESS (all can be read on webtoon.com)

1) The Makeup Remover (currently 71 chapters)

i look forward to this every tuesday and friday because oh man!!!!!!!!! idk about you guys, but i am thinking about beauty standards A Large Amount of the time, especially when i consume media. and this webtoon is all about beauty standards (specifically in Korea, but still applicable like. everywhere). Main character Yeseul ends up having to partake in this beauty competition and, with her experiences through it, she begins seeing makeup and beauty standards for the huge role they play in society. i said it already but i LOVE LOVE LOVE this webtoon because it really challenges you as a reader to think about your own perspectives. why do we find the things/people beautiful that we do? what shapes our perception? how much of it is marketing, and how much of it shows in our daily lives? what assumptions do you make about people based on how they look? AGHH im sounding like an essay prompt instead of a reviewer but man. if you like webtoons that examine society through a critical lens (gosh i sound like an english teacher), this is the one. 

2) Odd Girl out (currently 261 chapters; on season 2) 

okay, first and foremost: if you’re NOT into long winded drama, this probably isn’t it for you. i will admit im not a fan of long problems that get dragged out, especially in a school setting, but i did keep reading this webtoon and i am glad that i did! the character development here is amazing and ONE CRUCIAL THING is that the whole first season (which is many, many chapters. at least over 100) focuses on the friendship between our main 4 girls. if you don’t wanna wait for a romance storyline (which comes in season 2), then you’ve gotta have the patience of a saint. i loved this though because lots of romance webtoons cast friendships aside or use them to further the romantic plot. platonic relationships are great to read about and this one does it masterfully! main character nari is resilient and emotionally strong, and it’s great to see her ruin her enemies

3) Cursed Princess Club (currently 110 chapters; on break before the final season)

this is another one about beauty and societal expectations, but in a fantasy setting! it’s really funny and the cast of characters is heartwarming. Gwen is a princess, but she doesn’t look like the typical princess. she accidentally stumbles upon the Cursed Princess Club, which is exactly what it sounds like: a club for princesses that have been cursed and are trying to find their self worth despite not being conventional princesses! now that i think about it, this is like a lighthearted mixture of Makeup Remover and Spirit Fingers. although while i do say “lighthearted”, this webtoon has its fair share of mysteries and exploration of deeper topics. but its funny throughout

4) Brass & Sass (currently 83 chapters)

ahh this one is really cute and the art is cute, too! i also like how this has a diverse cast. high schooler Camilla kinda sucks at band, but dangit if she’s not passionate. Victor is some type of musical prodigy but he’s a brass-hole (hahaha get it. no that’s not original i ripped it from the summary). now i KNOW I KNOW, the whole “perky girl and asshole guy” is so overplayed BUT DON’T FRET! this isn’t the type of story where the girl “fixes” the guy, or where the guy is an asshole to everyone except the girl. believe me, the character development and relationship development in this story is SPLENDID. there’s no real antagonist. it’s just a bunch of high schoolers trying their best to make themselves and everyone else happy, and that’s hard! the story is carried more by the characters than by the plot, but it works well in this case since the characters are strong and each one has a presence. 

5) Surviving Romance (currently 10 chapters)

this one is relatively new compared to my other recs but it’s by the author of the Makeup Remover so yaknow i had to hop on it. BUT IT IS VERY DIFFERENT! first off, it’s a horror, so keep that in mind. the best way i can describe it is a mixture of the standard “girl falls into a story” genre, Groundhog Day, and zombies. Yeah. Bascially, Chaerin is our main girl and she’s in a romance story that’s she’s read a bajillion times, so she knows the day has come for her male lead to confess his love! except he doesn’t! because he becomes a zombie instead! hahaha well that sucks! it’s only got 10 chapters but i am very into it, and it seems to be taking an emphasis on platonic relationships, so i am very closely watching 👁👁

6) The Witch and the Bull (currently 60 chapters) 

another witch story! and the art is GORGEOUS. more witch + nonwitch conflict, too! our main dude, Tan, is the royal advisor and he’s hella bigoted against witches. our main girl, Aro, happens to be a witch. and Tan needs her help to make him into a human again (because he got turned into a bull. that is worth mentioning). this is a very barebones summary and there’s a lot more that goes on, but that’s the general gist of the beginning!

ANYWAYS. this got very long, predictably, and i rambled for each title, predictably. i’ve got more that i’m reading, but i really like these 9! i also made comments on the art for a lot of them, which might not matter to some people, but i feel like my art was very impacted by each webtoon i read. if you’re an artist i recommend finding a webtoon you like and studying the art; try implementing parts you like into your own style! 

anyways, i am FINALLY done talking. bye yall 

[agroupofcrows]

bansai spider?? 👁️👁️

TL;DR im funny in the head and think that strings=threads and automatically mean web, which necessitates a spider. the post is me failing to decide whether that spider is takasugi, bansai or both

oh lol. welcome to the 'i enjoy my media overanalysed' segment🕸 fun fact i swore to never write this kind of long meta post with manga panels oh how the goddamn turntables

spiderweb in gintama is introduced (via jiraia) as a double metaphor for deathtrap and... social network. then sorachi consistently uses the web/threads symbolism as something that:

1. helps you remain [a person belonging on this plane of reality = a character belonging in this story/genre] (ok MAYBE jirocho's kiseru is more wheel of life than spiderweb but allow me, they look really similar. see spiderwebs in utsuro's cell vs. that wheel when he gets out and starts killing)

2. but also (or eventually) kills you. which is the same thing: it's a nice and rare shoyo-utsuro pov, or maybe Nameless Pre-gintoki Thingie pov. They are characters that do not belong in yorozuya gin-chan's shonen comedy, whether we like it or not.

NOW shamisen: weaving a tale or a melody or a web, or a little scheme, mayhaps a plot. maybe the downfall of the government or a requiem for a ghost that overstayed its welcome, idk. music and strings (and bards. and sometimes spiders) have metanarrative quality

(((flashback to gintoki taking up a shamisen to exorcise the ghost onsen, unrelated but equally hysterical brief contemplation over fact that shamisens used to be made with either cat or dog skin, of which gintoki is both, thank you for your patience.)))

anyway a shamisen has strings and strings are threads, so there has to be [clown music as you decide to stop reading after all] a spider. i think the web is the kiheitai and takasugi is the spider.

permanent damage to my mental health: 1) bansai holding the strings for 'shinsuke' 2) takasugi playing in duo with bansai...

in my interpretation, bansai went to SC thinking that gintoki was a carcass and removing him from shinsuke's horror story, sorry, political scheme, would be routine web maintenance. except the reader already knows that yoro-zuya gintoki is Thee spider... postSC could have been bansai's coming to terms with being just. part of the web? im not sure because SHAMISEN DUOS

anyway we've arrived at bansai's death scene which is about *drumroll* takasugi! it has nothing to do with bansai, it's a character moment for takasugi. (i m fine. it's fine. tbh, i think bansai was fine too? he made his death look so effortless. i think he's loved very much)

ok so maybe im going nowhere but regarding that a few dozen amanto did very much die right after this panel,,, idk. does this look like prey stuck in a web. im having feelings