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oathkeeperoxas · 2 years ago

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Masterpost: Codywan week summer server exchange

The codywan week server summer exchange round has now concluded, with all pieces posted! I’ve summarised all the fics and art that were included in this round below, and definitely recommend checking them all out!

Art

[art] A quiet, joyous moment of celebration by @yomawari [Link]

[art] Cody and Obi taking a break from the war by @welcometothesewers [Link]

[art] farmer and medic!Obi-Wan and Cody, after the end of the clone wars by @nhyhu

Fic

[fic] shelter from the storm by @inkformyblood

A sandstorm means that Cody and Obi-Wan have to spend days inside. They find ways to pass the time. - Obi-Wan’s voice is low and Cody can almost picture his expression despite not quite being able to pick out his features; the incline to his head is almost hungry, his eyes half-lidded and thoughtful. “I’m sure you have several suggestions already.” “Only several?” Cody punctuates the question with a kiss, drawing Obi-Wan’s hand to his mouth rather than chance finding his mouth in the semi-shadows. The split lip hadn’t been worth it with the benefit of hindsight, regardless of how attractive the gesture had seemed at the time. Cody’s lips brush against the rough edge of a bacta patch, an old one worn and reused until it is more placebo than curative, but Cody still skirts around the edge of it, kissing the seams of Obi-Wan’s fingers and tasting salt.

[fic] different shape, same colour by @oathkeeperoxas

Cody's life after the war is nearly perfect. He can kiss Obi-Wan whenever he wants, he has enough backpay to chase nearly any whim that might cross his mind, and he's organising the development of a new colony world for his brothers to settle on, a space of their own that Cody thinks is entirely appropriate and wanted. There's just one tiny, little matter that he needs to get out into the open - except it feels significantly more important than he's been trying tell himself it is.

[fic] all that I adore by @flowerparrish

Obi-Wan's lightsaber was never lost. So long as it found its way into the hands of any of his troopers, it was exactly where he needed it to be.

[fic] Chin Up by cerealgrain

Before, during, and after the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan and Cody find each other.

[fic] marking one for you and one for me by @inkformyblood

After a long day made longer by the prospect of having to mark essays, Obi-Wan wants nothing more than to spend time with Cody, Luke, and Leia.

[fic] disobey the future by Xenomorphic

It feels as if a bottomless pit has opened up beneath him. Or, Obi-Wan doesn't die in the Death Star.

[fic] Happier by Mystickle

Cody sighed, hefting his rucksack over his shoulder. The cabin was still such a mess and even nearing the winter, he had not managed to clear out more than a small plot of his land to farm on. Farming was hard, but Cody had never been happier. He wasn’t stuck following corporate deadlines, he grew his own food, ate when he wanted - and even talked to more people than he had in the past twenty-ish years.

[fic] A Paper Crown and a Heart Made of Glass by Legogirl22

Obi-wan Kenobi has been the Emperor of the Separatist Federation for decades, along with his husband Cody. They, as well as Anakin and Padme, were keeping the peace between the Separatist and the Republic. Everything is going well, except for the fact that Maul has taken his niece and nephew and is threatening to hurt them.

[fic] All That You Mean to Me by @arkainea1911

It takes a while before Cody is calm enough to look up into the worried face of his lover, whose own lovely wings the color of turquoise seas are tucked close to his back in an attempt to make himself smaller, less threatening. Not that he needs to, Cody knows Obi Wan would never hurt him, He trusts him with his heart and his wings.

[fic] Twilight drops her curtain down, and pins it with a star by StarsWrite

For MandoBarbie. One of your likes was Meet-ugly and this prompt has been in my Awful AU ideas for years. Here's the Awful AU this is loosely based on. You’re the neighbor that keeps their curtains open, even when changing, and I can’t talk to you without blushing.

[fic] Spacemallows: Threat or Asset? by @mandobarbie

Post the Clone Wars, in a galaxy where Order 66 is actually Order 404: Not Found and Skeevy Sheevy died ignobly off-screen sometime prior, Obi-Wan Kenobi and former Marshall Commander Cody are completely and totally smitten with each other. But Obi-Wan's only met Cody's batchers in a professional setting before, and he is absolutely going to win them over personally as well, one cheerfully-handled minor disaster at a time! "The point is, Bly could, and did, do a great many things. What he could not do, apparently, was find one single, acceptable pair of boots for sale in the entirely of Coruscant... For Obi-Wan Kenobi was also many things; he was a leader, a poet, Cody's beloved nerd and Aayla's favorite ba'vod. But most importantly to Bly, the man was iconic."

[fic] my head is made of flowers (and my body made of steel) by never_going_home [WIP]

The Empire was bought with the blood of the ten-hundred million, and you are bathed up to your elbows in it, Kote.

#codywan #fic recs #codywan week server summer exchange #codywan fic recs #art recs #codywan art recs #grrrr links work already!!!

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maijakoivula · 2 years ago

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My Gamer Aesthetic

I really can’t see myself ever getting sparkly LEDs or pleather accessories etc for my gaming or work spaces.

The speakers are a bit end-of-their-life, maybe. They’re from 2002. A cat terrorist destroyed their little legs, which I superglued back into shape again and again, until they just now can’t stay up anymore, because they’ve been shattered into too many pieces. I hate throwing away things that still technically work, but these 20-year-old little fellas have also lost their ability to make sounds with reasonable reliability. I’m getting recycled speakers this weekend though, and these old ones are headed for Finnish Electricity and Electronics recycling cycle next week (if you’re in Finland, check out SER-kierrätys.) Electronics contain a lot of precious metals that are dug up from earth, and our planet has finite resources, so it’s important to get all the materials back into production cycles. Here’s a quote from Finnish recycling website (on the Finnish version of this page they say they can recycle up to 99 % of the parts of electric and electronic waste.)

What happens to the collected devices?

It is important to deliver the waste electrical and electronic equipment to recycling, so that they do not end up burdening the environment!

The collected devices are primarily processed in Finland. In recycling, raw materials and other materials are released from old appliances to be used in industry. These materials are used in the manufacture of new products.

Dangerous and harmful materials are also collected from old appliances to be processed separately. This way, the harmful agents do not end up to the environment. Some of the undamaged devices returned to the recycling find their way to reuse after inspection.

The tea cup and the little table with the controllers are from a second hand shop as well, as is the little table cloth on it. I rarely need to buy anything new these days, Helsinki area second hand stores and reuse centres are piled high with perfectly good household items (and indeed I’m going on a crusade to find a new controller for my PS3. The old controller was destroyed by a cat.)

The small table cloth is fairly new, I got it on an unexpected adventure to Hyvinkää where I went on a fun day trip (go see the town museum if you can, there’s a really fun art exhibition there right now!) My inner textile nerd can tell with some authority that the style of decoration on the cloth is an old fashioned technique called “bottom sewing” in Finnish (can’t really say what it would be in English) and it’s usually combined with drawnwork embroidery. It was made popular by the fact that it didn’t require other materials besides the fabric it was made on, so it was cheap. These are quite rare to see nowadays, probably because the work is difficult-ish (I tried some myself with a 1950s guide book), but the payoff isn’t as fabulous or effective as even the plainest cross stitch embroidery, or bobbin lace. My strange little example is more beautiful still because the cloth has been woven with two different colours of flax, which gives a nuanced impression of colouring for the rows of the little holes.

So this has been your random bit of news about antiquated arts and crafts!

#gamer setup #gamer interior decoration

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fmp2mt · 2 years ago

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One interesting word I want to look into is retry, the act of repeating and action, usually in the hopes to achieve a goal that was not previously completed. I wanted to look into this as it is quite common in media, especially games, to repeat certain ideas and or segments for narrative or play reasons, and by looking into ways it has been used could help my product as art can benefit from repetitive attempts to improve.

One interesting case or retrying is present in Destiny 2. In Season of the Haunted (SH), the main characters are confronted by their nightmares, ghoulish and abhorrent abominations that have been sewn into the world through paracausal powers as the villain of the piece uses them to power his ascent into Godhood.

This idea is a sequel of sorts to a previous major DLC called Shadowkeep (SK), where these nightmares are first show, but in Season of the haunted, Bungie, Developers of destiny 2, show how far they have come since parting ways with Activision by pushing the story further and in more interesting ways.

In SK, nightmares are underutilised, and while used sloppily to progress the plot, they have no interesting uses, just being previous bosses from the games history, witch was a major complaint of this DLC, as it felt recycled with lots of the areas and bosses being reused. Areas were made to look up to date with the games higher resolution and quality, with some new areas also made such as the title of the DLC, the Scarlet Keep. The real plot was entering the pyramid on the moon, this ancient evil that had somehow hidden itself beneath the crust of our Earth's rocky Satellite. However, the way this was achieved was lacking and boring, with our character having to obtain the armour that came with the game, yet this set was lacking and had no weight to making it, as the game delved into fetch quests to create it, making the game feel even more thrown together than before, especially when I experienced it.

In dynamic contrast, SH pushes this idea further and makes it far more interesting by adding a villain who helps push the story along, extra content centred around the season, including a new 3 man dungeon, and through random dialogue that can be found while playing the new 6 man activity. It also centred the story on others rather than the player, due to the player having no personality, we can't tell how they feel about their nightmares, but by putting the light onto other characters like Crow, a newly risen Guardian who has to grapple with his previous life, Zavala, a veteran who once tried to live a normal life till disaster struck, and Caiatl, an empress who has to face the idea of her people and change it for the better.

This instantly makes the story far more personal and interesting, as we can spectate 3 miniature stories and help them through it, what still gives our character story relevance. And, because these characters actually have history, these nightmares make sense as they are derived from their fears that you could guess before you played the missions.

It also brought an old location back, the leviathan, now a destination instead of a raid, so we can now explore it in a more passive way. Unlike the moon, the environment was heavily overhauled, with fungus spreading far across its deck and bow. Not only this, but this destination had far higher entity density and enemy difficulty with hundreds of little public events and hidden secrets to scrounge for. One of my favourite details about the Nightmares in the season is that some are actually people we've seen before, such as [Name here] who was the sniper who tried to kill Zavala a year previous.

Just from this brief overview, it’s obvious that SH has far more interesting themes, ideas and far better execution than SK, excelling in all areas in which its bigger brother had failed in so harshly, making SK feel subpar, what, while sad, also shows how far they came.

By the time SK had been released, Bungie had just left Activision, their original publisher, having brought the rights of their game back from them and instead going independent. This being their first DLC going into it alone, it makes sense that it would be bad, of course this is disregarding development time, but this breakup could have been planed up to a year and a half before, when Activision stated that their previous DLC, Forsaken, to have not met expectations, whereas Bungie were happy with the quality and revenue it produced.

With SH, Bungie went back to the idea of nightmares and evolved it, weaving it into the story, plot and gameplay, and while aspects of the games past was reused to save budget and time, it is visible for all to see that they put their heart and soul into the product. This retry, this second go at the concept, allowed them to improve on its shortcomings and failings while also making it a memorable experience, showing how a once barren and boring experience can be developed and re-experience for the better.

This experience, from SK to SH, is not uncommon however, other sequels use similar techniques and ideas all the time to produce better films with more introspective and nuisance, Toy Story 2 takes the idea that toys are made to make children happy in the first film and takes another go at the idea, by letting Woody wonder if becoming a museum piece would be a better life for himself and if he should be bound by what he is or grow into something new. It also presents Jesse in another light relating to toys, in the first film, Andy is still a child, and this is continued on in the sequel, however, Jesse’s owner grew up, her preferences changed, and Jesse was no longer fun for her, leaving her to collect dust till throwing her out, leaving a more nuanced view of if a toy should stay a toy, because eventually they will become outdated and unwanted. While sad, It allows the characters to evolve dynamically while retying and pushing the previous film’s ideas.

However, not all sequels are made in unison. Some, even when given the chance to be amazing and interesting looks into pre-established series, feel no need to try and develop their worlds and characters and rather would do naff all, knowing that if they lie hard enough in marketing and have a big enough name and campaign that they will likely make back all the expenses needed and make more on top of it. A prime example of this is the Terminator series.

Its sand to see a franchise as prevalent and prestigious as Terminator fall to such lazy motives, once, they had been a perfect example of how retrying and idea can lead to better products, no better and example than the classic that is Terminator 2, Judgement Day, where the film is flipped on its head where our prejudices and conceptions of the world are challenged and changed by the actions of the cast. Alas, The franchise made money at the box office and, like all series, would continue to be milked into the ground.

Starting with the third terminator, Rise of the Machines, the series would see a dip in quality, what is not unnatural in the movie scene where the first sequel is usually regarded as the best while its successor is always slightly worse or on par with the first as the best ideas are usually already used up with little to no time to devise new ones. The forth film, Salvation, follows suit, being even worse, then Genesis comes in being the worst one yet, then Dark fate appears and it becomes apparent to all that the movies had lost all that made them great. The quality dips become more understandable when you realise that Terminator 1 and 2 were released 7 years apart, (1985 and 1991 respectfully,) giving the crew and producers time to make the film and also to prepare for its. 12 years had passed between 2 and 3, then only 6 between that and 4, then it’s 6 again between it and 5 then only 4 till 6 came out.

This is not the most bizarre thing to happen, movies were always a far more gruelling task Back in the 80’s, but nowadays films can be produced and developed way faster, but it's evident that as these films went on, it became more for the fact that it was a revenue stream and less about the art and story of it, becoming a mindless action series that was adamant on showing as much destruction and badass shots as possible, what weren't void from the originals, but was far more relevant, from seeing the destroyed future scape of Sky Net and the gruesome appearance of its mechanical horde or to see the terminator liquefy and reform through a set of bars, it just that they became more about the destruction that it became mindless.

A sequel that I personally find a burning hatred in is the film Son of the Mask, sequel to the classic Mask. While not the perfect film, the mask situates itself in a very similar predicament as the live action Grinch adaptation where its so off the wall that it somehow becomes lovable in an underdog sense. Annoyingly, that was thrown out of the sequel which was adamant in making it far more kid friendly than the original what was already made more tame from the comic adaptation which was a very violent and cruel series.

The original mask focuses on a Man who is pretty boring, living a normal life in a nice but unfulfilling life who one day finds the mask in his possession, turning him into a lunatic who has no respect for the laws of reality. By the end of the film, he forsakes the mask, finding out that it's better to live his own life rather than handing it over to someone else. This message isn’t the best delivered, as the movie is a cruel by hilarious comedy, but its sequel has none of the qualities that made the first enjoyable.

The sequel tries to explain how the mask works, blaming it on Loki, Norse God of Trickery, who is punished by Odin for losing his mask in the real world. Now, exploring the origins of the mask is not the worse direction, but the importance of the mask was never its mystery, in all respects, it was a plot device to drive the plot onwards, it never mattered where it came from, who made it or how it got to him, it only mattered that it could make him a force of nature, by exploring this idea that the mask was made, you have to focus it on the creator, why did they make it? What did they use it for? How’d it get to Earth? This, again, could work, hell, it could have been great even, definitely a different film would have been created, but it could have made the mask exactly that, a mask to hide who the creator really was due to insecurity and their fears, rather than that, we got a film where a baby has to decide if he wants Loki to be his dad. Also it looks horrid.

One of the most disappointing sequels from my childhood was Skylanders: Imaginators. The game was the 6th in the series, and it was apparent that the passion and time had grown sparse, with a yearly release cycle each game became harder and harder to produce, with Toy’s for Bob, the original developer, having help from Vicarious Visions to help them, each company releasing a game every 2 years as to fill in the gap year. Funnily enough they were owned by activision, the same as Bungie, what stirs a sadness in me as i things turned out differently perhaps the series would still be around today.

Imaginators is not the worst game ever made, it has faults such as basic worlds and boring mechanics, (aspects still exist in the game since the first game, Spyro’s Adventure.) and sadly enough no soundtrack, as long time composer for the series, the Glorious Lorne Balfe, didn’t return and they instead used stock music that they brought, (Previously rarely used for thing such as Villain themes in Trap Team, which were only apparent for a few seconds.)

Overall, from this research, I have learned that, while a sequel can enhance an idea and series, it can also help stagnate it at the same time removing re-usability, causing unoriginal aspects. I would like to see if I could perhaps use retrying an old theme or idea in my project, perhaps even a game that never peaked.

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draconesinfinitum-blog · 6 years ago

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“The true nature of a dragon is to rule above all. We were meant to end wars by violent means, and we have the power to vanquish the creation gods themselves. What makes you think we should take orders from simple maggots like humans? What makes you think they deserve our attention like equals? You don’t treat fodder like an equal...”

∞ Indie RP blog for my OCs ∞ 3+ years RP experience ∞ OC/FC/Canon muse friendly ∞ Semi-Selective ∞ NSFW subjects such as harsh language, violence, gore ∞ Style: Any, prefers paragraph(s)

“We are apex predators, after all...”

🐉 Home 🐉 About/Rules 🐉 List of OCs 🐉 General Info

#rp #roleplay #dragons #oc #rp promo #//idk what tags to use tbh #//i think people normally use the fandom tag and add rp to it but well ocs so yeah #//can you tell i just reused one of my old art pieces #//no? good #//yes? crap #//i swear i must have spent the past hour or two trying to come up with something and i... can't... draw...#//today must be one of those days fdksjhfdsjh i hate that #//idk if people do these anymore or even rp on tumblr anymore dskfjaf #//i was gonna make a post like hey anyone on tumblr rp plz #//but then i was like eh might as well just make a stupid post like this get a bit more attention because ooh image or something idk #//ok i swear literally like;;;; two maybe three of my ocs are like this ok #//i just figured pascal in the image so pascal quotes it is #//i know weird time to be posting this but then again it's not like im aiming at my current followers and time probably doesn't matter anywa #//y #//so #//yeah okay these are a lot of tags i need to stop

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jingusflorpus · 3 years ago

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One Piece's Subtle but Fantastic Touches

There are a lot of minor touches Oda puts into his artwork in One Piece that kinda go unnoticed by a lot of people, but I think really help sell the atmosphere and genuine nature of the story that he's trying to tell.

1: Oda Never Draws a Character's Mouth Closed when they're Speaking.

No matter what the context or who the character is, if a character is speaking out loud, their mouth is open. As I said, it's a minor touch, but it makes the characters feel much more emotive in the way they speak and act, which is extremely important in a series like this, where expressions are so commonly exaggerated to sell as much emotion as possible.

Oda even subverts this fact to better sell certain instances across the series as well.

Here, we can see Nami yelling her threats at Ulti, but something feels... off. Nami seems to be yelling here, but her mouth isn't open? How strange. For a series like One Piece where people are ALWAYS expressive, why would Oda make this scene feel so awkward? What gives?

Zounds, it was Usopp! Nami wasn't speaking at all!

This joke lands so well because of Oda's constant and ubiquitous use of open mouths for speech. The fact that Nami's mouth isn't open serves to make that scene feel a bit stilted, to let the reader know something is off. That way, when the joke lands here it feels like a natural progression from one panel to the next. Neutral >> Confusion >> Comedy.

2: Oda Always Redraws Panels // Oda's Use of Character POV in Flashbacks

One thing I don't think a lot of people realize when reading this series is that Oda always redraws any panel that he wishes to reuse.

While other comic authors might just copy paste old panels that they wish to remind the reader of, as far as I am aware there is not a single instance in this series of Oda ever doing such a thing. He always redraws them.

While part of it is simply because Oda has stated that he feels reusing panels like that would be lazy, I also really appreciate that it helps to keep the reader engaged in the story due to the slight changes in the art that redrawing panels would require. There have been many times where I personally was taken out of a story a bit because I noticed a reused panel that caused me to be reminded that I'm reading a book, not being immersed in a story. Especially when an author's art style has changed between the current part of the story, and the part of the story they're pulling the old panels from. It can be quite jarring to suddenly be in a completely different art style for a panel or two in the middle of the comic.

Listen, I love Jujutsu Kaisen, it's my second favourite shonen series behind One Piece, but going from Akutami's current artstyle all the way back to his signifinicantly less clean and refined JJK 0 artstyle for this copy-paste flashback is so jarring that I can hardly take it seriously.

But that's not all!! It's not enough that Oda always redraws flashback panels, he makes sure to redraw them from the perspective of the person who is having the flashback. Take a look at the example up there. In the original panel, Tashigi is looking off to the side. But in the second panel, as Zoro is recalling the scene, Tashigi is staring forwards. Because in the original scene, she's talking to Zoro himself. Oda sets the flashback from Zoro's point of view for the sake of immersion, like we're really recalling the scene through his eyes.

Another, less subtle example:

Y'know I didn't really need to include those last three panels for the purposes of this but they're adorable and I love them

In that first page, Luffy has dropped Tama behind him. She's staring at Luffy's back as he decks Holdem in the face. A chapter later, as Tama is recalling the scene, we once again see the scene repeated, but this time the the perspective has shifted to Luffy's back. To Tama's perspective. That was how she saw Luffy in that moment, so that's how we see it too. It's such a good technique to help you stay immersed and feel like you're really experiencing what these characters are experiencing, as they experience it. There are several more examples of this throughout the series, and it's definitely something to watch out for! It's one of my favourite little details.

There are a lot of other little things that I could gush over and make this post like 3 times as long, like how Luffy has 0 thought bubbles in the entire series in order to showcase his personality, but these are just some of my favourites. They're barely even noticeable when you're just reading through the series, but they make the experience so much more enjoyable and immersive.

#one piece #manga #one piece manga #the right way to do comics #Oda is a genius tbh #eiichiro oda

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beatriceportinari · 3 years ago

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2, 12, 22 (22 feels weirdly open-ended so will ask either which artists or which objects inspire you; your pick :-))

thank you for sending 3 ! Putting everything under a cut :)

2: what's your favorite thing about your style

Speaking about my mixed media stuff I think I like how tactile it is above all. It's all very texture focused even in the end result but it especially makes it so fun to do. This is why it's my favorite medium still, and why I love origami so much if I'm not doing mixed media stuff! I love to get my hands in there and feel some texture. Also why a lot of my pieces end up being mostly coloring books lol, I give little attention to composition and just delineate areas for different textures. Oups.

This is why I got into 3d art when I was never into digital stuff when thinking only about 2d, I need some volume. I'm trying to get better with blender too about this! But the process of getting texture there is v different of course. 12: show us an old drawing

This is from my middle school 'anime girls only' phase, I must have been about 14. I have a whole bunch of these in my binder but I chose this one because I can tell the exact part of the lake I based it on lmao. I still have the case of color pencils I was using then and I know the exact shade I picked for that raspberry color. I think I made an honest try on the knees but the 'pop festival' poster is really making me laugh.

Edit I just noticed she has roller skates on that's so good. Used to go roller blading by the lake all the time.

22. what inspires you

It's hard to say a general thing that inspires me, I could tell examples for a specific piece (I was definitely still thinking about RGU when I made my first rose labyrinth, etc) but generally it's hard to say. The most obvious thing would be that I get inspired by my own stuff LOL which is why I get repeated patterns. I like that a pattern like the bark i used in my first naruto piece got reused later for wood in another naruto piece, and then for the cracks in my origami mermaid, and that it was inspired by ski tracks on the snow in the first place. I tend to assign inspiration like this during or after a piece though, rather than seeing on doing smth specifically ''inspired by'' unless I'm openly copying smth like my unicorn tapestry piece.

I v much like to recycle patterns, objects, materials, colors etc even across mediums but it's hard to pick one exterior thing (or artist) that inspires me overall.

I think this might actually be easier with origami? Because I'm looking at diagrams specifically made by a specific someone and will get inspired by or admire them. I think it's also easier because I follow a bunch of contemporary artists (the only reason I'm on insta :( ) who I feel are doing smth close to what I do and can feel interested in. I don't really see anyone doing smth like my mixed media stuff (not that i invented mixed media but I don't see stuff that looks like mine or uses the same materials etc) so it's harder to say I'm specifically inspired by someone although I might admire them.

In general I will automatically be interested in art that's using unconventional materials or is focued on texture, like those installations by Yoi Yamamoto that use salt, or all those quilts I was seeing from I believe the Tokyo festival.

I also like to make my pieces more personal by taking inspiration from whatever's endearing to me, if I'm hesitating on a color I will pick the color of some object that's important to me etc, it helps me enjoy the process even more

#about #when looking for a picture for the second question i saw a bunch of pics that were just redraws of negima girls lmao #really wanted to just answer ken Akamatsu. for the third question and not elaborate but alas.#i have to be painfully earnest about my own art #'yeah idk if i really am inspired by anything' - proceeds to detail every speck of dust I've ever thought about while drawing

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resinatingbeauty · 4 years ago

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I’ve had a lot of requests from various people at different times who are just learning how to use resin to create with and wanted some tips and tricks. I have wanted to make this post for a while, but I wanted to acquire more experience myself before giving others help. This first post is just going to go over some really basic tips and tricks and subsequent posts (if they’re found helpful) will elaborate. This is for all of you who are like me and get the least amount of benefit from watching Youtube tutorials these days because EVERYONE has one, and half the time they’re drawn out for ad revenue so an hour long video will only contain 20 mins worth of information with the kicker being you can’t even fast forward through what you know or rewind through ads to get back to where you need to be. So, for those of you who hate that like me, this text post is for you.

If you’re just starting, choosing which resin you want to purchase is intimidating. Craft stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby rarely offer more than one or two brands, typically over priced due to the fact that they’re labeled “art resins”.

Epoxy resin is by far the easiest to start with for beginners. It is the most forgiving, has the most consistent results, most brands use the same 1:1 ratio and the overall technique is the same. I am not affiliated with these brands/companies in any way other than I have used their products and have written reviews for several on Amazon.

Start with small packages (4oz-8oz kits / 8oz & 16oz hardener + resin). A quick Amazon search for epoxy resin will give you many results. This is one of those cases where you really don’t get what you pay for- boat, tabletop, etc. epoxy will yield the same results at more reasonable prices per fluid ounce than art resins. I recommend going with brands like FanAut, Puduo, Let’s Resin, Craft Daddy, etc. which often offer kits with gloves, craft sticks / stir sticks, measuring cups, and even additives at reasonable prices. All these items are things you’ll need to start off, so any extras are appreciated. I recommend Puduo, as it is relatively inexpensive compared to similar brands, yields consistent , crystal clear results, and has a somewhat faster curing time than other epoxy resins for the price. If none of these brands ring your bell, here are the qualifiers for a “good” epoxy resin:

Self Degassing- This is pretty much the standard expectation of epoxy resin and one of the reasons it is considered forgiving for beginners. When resin and hardener are combined, gases are trapped and form air bubbles which have a tendency to multiply as you stir your mixture and the combination heats up. But it shouldn’t be taken for granted that all epoxy resin does this, so try to look for “self degassing” in the item description / label.

Self Leveling vs. Doming : Doming resin is great for the magnified look on pendants and other flat projects, but self leveling resin is where you should be starting as doming requires the build up of surface tension to achieve. While “doming “ resin may achieve this easier than others without this feature, it is pretty irrelevant if you don’t know to dome resin in the first place.

Art Resin vs Other Epoxy: Art resins make claims of being ideal or a better choice for arts & crafts, but the reality is that you can achieve the same effects from table top or boat resins such as Mas- are just as capable of casting, coating, doming etc. as art resins especially if you’re looking to take on a larger project you will pay less and get more with these brands than smaller quantities of art resins. Make sure they are crystal clear, hard type, self degassing, and self leveling. Keep in mind that cure time relates to the size of your project and the ambient temperature of the environment, so don’t waste money on products that charge more for touting faster curing time.

What about 2 part epoxy in syringes? (Ice Resin, Gorilla Glue) Personally, these pre prepared epoxy resins are more complicated than they look. You can’t save combined resin and hardener, so once you mix the two or pop the seals to both you have to use the lot of it in one shot. Ice Resin in particular is quite expensive and doesn’t offer the clear, glossy results I expected it to when I used it, so I would avoid these if you are just starting out.

Additives & Extras- Don’t waste a lot of money at the start funding your would be creations until you have at least seen one entire project through from start to finish. I made the mistake of investing in silicone molds, glitters, additives like rhinestones, craft papers, transparency films etc before I really found my niche and what I was really using epoxy for the most. There are some great deals for 100+ piece silicone mold kits that include gloves, stir sticks, silicone measuring cups, and the like available cheaply for those looking to make smaller things like jewelry, keychains, figurines etc. the one I have just linked to even includes the epoxy for under $20. These kits are offered by Amazon and even Etsy and are a great place to start as they provide you with everything you would need to create at least one full project. They are also a great activity to do with your kids (ages 10+ would probably be ideal) as you can add pretty much anything that isn’t silicone, wax, unsealed paper, alcohol, or water based into resin, which opens up a world of possibilities!

Tips & Tricks That Will Save You $

If you’re itching for purchasing pigments to add color to your resin projects, try purchasing or reusing some old or cheap mineral eye shadows. Not sure if your eye shadow is mineral based? I’m willing to bet it is, though some colors may not look the same when mixed in resin as they do on the pallets, they will color it nonetheless, just pick a small amount up on a popsicle stick or toothpick and stir it into a small batch of resin to see how it turns out. Dollar Tree eye shadows will work just as well as expensive pigments, so consider this before investing in expensive mica pigment sets!

While silicone molds are probably the easiest and are reusable, you can also use plastic molds, carve your resin block with carpentry tools or by hand-or even make your own molds! There are simple recipes utilizing dish soap and corn starch out there, or you can use silicone or even hot glue! Flexible silicone molds won’t require a mold release, but plastic and other molds will or you may end up cutting your project out. You don’t have to purchase a mold release product for this, either- olive or vegetable oil spray on a paper towel will suffice, just remember to let your mold sit for a few hours to demoisturize.

Can’t find gloves because of COVID19 hype? Finger cots are even better than gloves as they allow for more dexterity even when they get sticky, are cheaper, and readily available in bulk online!

Pretty much anything compatible with homemade “slime” can be mixed into or embedded in resin, so there is that. However, be careful how much glitter, pigment, etc you add as you can throw off the chemical balance that allows your project to cure properly. Refer to the directions included with your specific resin kit as most will tell you what ratios must be maintained for proper curing.

Everyone that works with resin knows the arch nemesis that is the bubbles. There are times where it seems like, no matter what you do, your perfect clear cast of a dandelion goes to shit because of some stray air bubbles. There are a few tricks to avoid this from the start:

Use a separate cup to measure resin and hardener. Pour the combined mixture into a fourth cup after the first 3-4 mins of stirring (half time) scraping the sides and bottom. This helps what was on the bottom get integrated into what was mixed on top. Always make sure to pour resin first when mixing and mix slowly, scraping the sides and bottom, for the time listed on your instructions. You want your mixture to be almost water consistency, clear, fluid, with little viscosity, and no streaks visible. Allow it to sit for a few minutes to natural degas and get rid of the bubbles.

Use a torch or grill lighter to pop surface bubbles. You can also do each one individually (as the grill lighter suggestion may not always be a good idea- be careful using this on large projects and molds that may ignite) with a tooth pick. Using a blow dryer or heat gun will also help bubbles rise to the surface to be popped.

Make sure that you keep contact with the bottom of your mixing cup with your stir stick-try not to lift it too much as this can introduce air into the mixture (“whipping the resin”) this can also occur if you are stirring too quickly. If you notice a lot of bubbles, let your mixture sit for a few minutes and resume stirring at a slower pace.

Make sure you start your project at a temperature of 74 degrees +, if your bottles are cold to touch, place them in a plastic bag and let them sit in hot water to warm up. You can also roll them (slowly) on a counter top.

You know, if all else fails you could always make ocean or nautical themed projects :)

That’s all for now- let me know if this helped you or someone you know working with resin or experimenting. Feel free to comment with any questions you would like answered in my next post! I also recommend the Resin Obssesion blog- they have a lot of useful information and tutorials with photos that were really helpful for me starting out!

Xo Samantha

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itsbenedict · 4 years ago

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I didn’t post about everything I played this year, so here’s my opinions on the stuff I played that I didn’t make a rec post for:

Raging Loop

Raging Loop is one of them twisty meta Zero Escape-y branching-path visual novels where an ensemble cast is trapped in a mysterious circumstance where people are dying gruesomely, and you have to find out what’s happening and stop it by looping a bunch.

I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it, because... it tries to have its cake and eat it too with the supernatural elements. Clearly magic is real and has important impacts on the scenario, but then other parts are trickery you’re supposed to see through, and it’s entirely uninterested in cluing you in to how that trickery was accomplished. Not exactly a fair play mystery, in that regard- you have to kind of just be along for the ride, rather than try to figure it out.

That said, it’s a good ride- pretty strong character writing, and the central conceit of the Werewolf/Mafia-style murder scenario creates really interesting drama. It’s more concerned with making itself feel clever than letting the player feel clever, but it’s still well-paced and gripping and has a pretty decent resolution.

Detective Grimoire

I recommended Tangle Tower, the sequel, pretty strongly- and this one, while obviously a little rougher around the edges with the art and mechanics (the suspicion tracker system is a total dud; I didn’t even realize it existed until I realized I was missing an achievement for using it), it’s still pretty darn good. Really fun character designs and animations, fully-voiced, and a solid whodunit backing it all. Plus- while the two are more or less self-contained, the continuity threads with Tangle Tower raised some really interesting questions.

Contradiction - the all-video murder mystery

This one was pretty fun, largely on the strength of the actors. The main mechanic of interrogating people on evidence and using their own statements against each other was some good stuff, too. Definitely had that Phoenix Wright quality to the deductions, and Jenks is a really fun character. (Had a few points where progression was just linked to standing in a certain previously-abandoned area of the map where a clue was suddenly there for no reason, there- good thing it had a hint system.)

As a mystery, it could use a little work- most of what you end up finding out is sequel bait (for a sequel that never actually came together, unfortunately), and the actual whodunit is just sort of hiding in the cracks of all that. And... cornering the culprit just sort of happens out of nowhere once you’ve got your hands on the right piece of evidence, without much fanfare. You’re following up on leads like usual, you find a little lie in someone’s testimony, and then- oh, shit, they’re just confessing everything! Unlike all the previous times you questioned them and they were super evasive like everyone else! And then the game is over.

All in all, it’s pretty meaty and entertaining and I’d recommend it, but unfortunately the creators have moved on to other things, so there’s not going to be any follow-up on the stuff it left unresolved.

Ikenfell

Ikenfell is a tightly-designed RPG about kids at a magic school, with Paper Mario-style action command mechanics and a battle system that makes a big deal out of careful positioning and movement, which was really enjoyable. The difficulty’s a little high (I recommend always always always speccing into max damage because killing things before they kill you is worth more than any amount of defense, speed doesn’t work, and healing is cheap), but I found it really satisfying.

There’s... something... off? About... I don’t know how to put it, it’s... doing that “yes, everyone is queer and mentally ill, deal with it” thing, which, sure, okay. But for a lot of them it’s such a background thing, like... half the playable cast is unambiguously nonbinary, but like... I don’t know if it’s trying to make some statement on how there are no rules to being NB and you can 100% perform a particular binary gender presentation but still count, or if they wrote the whole story and then changed the pronouns of some of the characters for Representation Points, or what. Probably the former? I dunno, it just feels weird. Maybe I’m just not woke enough to Get It.

(unrelatedly: why the heck is the official art they use everywhere so... off-model? none of them look like they do in-game- they look like the creator commissioned someone to draw a group shot with one reference image each and didn’t tell them anything about the characters. how much you wanna bet they commissioned a friend and it came out wrong but they were too polite to say “sorry, no, this is wrong, can you do it over?”)

Trails of Cold Steel IV

Hoo boy. It’s... not great, and it’s not great in a pretty predictable way for an even-numbered entry in the Trails series. It happens every time- first there’s a game in a new engine with new characters and a new world to explore, and it’s really nice and does interesting things... and then it ends on a cliffhanger, and then there’s a sequel game in the same engine with the same characters and the same world, reusing as many assets as possible. Also the League Of Generically Evil Anime Supervillains is there causing trouble for reasons they refuse to explain, and the plot is a storm of magicbabble and macguffin-chasing that makes little to no sense.

Cold Steel IV is that for Cold Steel III, full stop. Welcome back to all the same places you visited last game, except this time there’s some stupid magic apocalypse happening (not that it stops you from taking the time to do random sidequests constantly, of course). The whole “oh, the evil curse mind controls people and that’s why they do stupid bullshit that’s in no one’s interest” plot point is leaned on super hard, and it’s just a big yawn the whole way through.

It’s still really fun, though, because the battle system remains really well-designed. (The same battle system that was just as fun in Cold Steel III, mind you, but it hasn’t gotten old.) And- though they’re struggling to square it with the dumb mind control apocalypse plot, the NPC dialogue continues to make the world feel believable and lived-in. They don’t slack on the parts that make Trails good- it’s just the parts that make Trails bad are making themselves more evident than ever.

did finally get to date Towa though so that’s a win

One Step From Eden

OSFE is... uh. It’s fucking hard is what it is. It’s sort of a deckbuilding roguelike, and there’s this combat that takes place on a grid, and- wait, it’s like Mega Man Battle Network, it’s exactly like Mega Man Battle Network. Man, I forgot about that, but the mechanical influence is extremely obvious. It’s MMBN meets Slay the Spire.

Except it’s super duper hard as hell, because unlike MMBN you can’t pause and swap out chips or anything- everything is just always happening so much, all at once, everywhere, and you have no recourse but to git gud and learn all the enemy patterns and the behavior of your own spells and develop the twitch reflexes necessary to not fucking die from all the shit that’s on the screen always.

(What’s the story? Uhhhh, there was some kind of magic apocalypse, and some anime girls are trying to reach a city for some reason that doesn’t really get explained ever. The game doesn’t really care to build its world at all- it’s all mechanics plus a little token character dialogue that doesn’t say much.)

The point is it’s really frickin’ hard but I am an epic pro gamer and I got ALL THE ACHIEVEMENTS, MOTHERFUCKER. If you’ve played it, I expect you to be really god damn impressed with me, okay???

A Short Hike

This one was really relaxing! It’s a platformer where you explore an Animal Crossing-y island of cartoon animal people, collecting mobility upgrades- but like, mainly it’s about straight chillin’. The flight controls are fun and there’s lots of little secrets to find and it’s just a nice time that doesn’t drag on too long. Not too much to say about this one.

Pokémon Sword

Ehhhhh.

I’m not here for the hot takes about how Dexit is good actually. Development hell happened, they had to make cuts for time, I get it. It’s disappointing and makes the game a little bit worse, but it’s not the end of the world.

Apart from that... perfectly serviceable? The Wild Area could’ve used a little more technical polish (as could most things in the game, really) but was a step in the right direction, giving the player a wider array of early-game team-building options than ever before. No HMs is good. Story and characters were kind of nothing, but that’s par for the course. “At least this time they’re not shoehorning in some kind of stupid evil-team-wants-legendary-pokemon-to-destroy-the-world apocalypse plot”, I thought to myself before they managed to shoehorn one in at the last minute with zero buildup- but, hey, beats wasting half the game on it.

It’s nothing special and it’s missing a lot of polish, but its problems are mainly due to being rushed, and presumably next gen they’ll be able to reuse a lot of the models and animations (maybe even improve the animations so they’re not so boring??? a man can dream) and make something interesting. SwSh seem like they were testing the waters for something else, and not taking too many chances in the meantime.

(yo why would you sell all these cosmetic items and then turn them all off during gym battles, though)

Hades

Hades is- oh, who am I kidding? Everyone knows Hades, it’s the game of the year, greatest thing since sliced bread, Supergiant are heroes, yada yada yada. I’ve played almost 300 hours of it and I’ve completed everything except all the Resources Director levels (currently a Sigma Wraith), it’s extremely fun and you don’t need me to tell you that.

Petal Crash

It was that thing the Paranatural creator helped on? It’s, uh. It’s a block-sliding puzzle game thing, sort of in a Puyo Puyo vein. It has fun character designs and some good dialogue, like you’d expect from Zack’s involvement, but it didn’t really leave an impression otherwise (besides how got dang infuriating some of its Turn Trial puzzles can be.) The story is... kinda heartwarming, kinda didactic, kinda childish, not especially deep or interesting. Hard for it to be, when it’s told through little bits of fluffy character dialogue that exist to set up a puzzle battle as quickly as possible. Not super recommended unless you really really like block-sliding puzzles.

Hollow Knight

Man, why’d I sleep on this for so long? It’s a metroidvania platformer with heavy Dark Souls inspiration, in terms of tone and difficulty and death mechanics and environmental storytelling. And it’s... apart from all that, just really good as a game, with tight controls and juicy movement and great animation. Progression is linked as much to mastery as it is to upgrades collected- I found myself in lategame areas facing down things that would’ve killed me ten times over at the start- not because I had the best gear, but because I’d learned the game’s language and understood how to move in ways that wouldn’t get me killed.

(Usually. Sometimes I’d walk into a room and sit on a bench and suddenly there’d be a boss fight and I’d get slaughtered. Ain’t that just the way it goes?)

Anyway, on top of all that it’s just charming as hell, with a really unique and well-realized world full of little bug people. I love how, like, your character is clearly some kind of eldritch abomination, but it’s small and cute and so everyone (besides enemies that attack you on sight because they’re possessed by some kinda evil mold) is like “awww, who’s this little guy? want some help, little guy?”

(except Zote, who is just an ass hole. i love him.)

#game rec #also some game non recs #long post

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aj-anime-blog · 4 years ago

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To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts - Review!

First review here we go!!

So, after being completely and utterly obsessed with Jujutsu Kaisen and AOT season 4, I decided to check out MAPPA studios and watch a bunch of stuff from their roster. My so-called "MAPPA binge" included this strange and unknown piece: Katsute Kami Datta Kemono-tachi e, or in English, To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts. An adaption of a manga originally released in Bessatsu Shounen (you might recognize this as the magazine that released Attack on Titan!), it looked pretty promising. I do have to admit that I didn't read a page of this anime's manga, though the art style on it looks gorgeous!!

The concept behind the show: A war has torn two halves of a nation apart, split into the North and the South. The Northerners, who were previously greatly outnumbered in battle, created a half-human, half-beast species known as "Incarnates" because of their God-like abilities. But the Incarnates begin having some issues when their beast forms take over their bodies, turning them into monsters. When the war ends, our protagonist, Hugh Hank, an Incarnate and previous captain of the Incarnate squad, swears to kill all of his mutating Incarnate buddies before they can destroy the world.

This review will not contain spoilers until the labeled "Spoiler" section at the bottom.

In general, what do I think?: 4/10, this show kinda sucked. Ouch! I hate being that blunt! Especially on my first review here! But To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts (let's call it TTASB from here on out!) had glaring flaws that, while it did hold up as a show, made it uninteresting and hard to love. Not only were the characters mediocre and boring, but the show seemed to contradict itself and its own opinion of the Incarnates all the time! Are they bloodthirsty monsters that need to be killed? Are they misunderstood humans who should be given peace? I don't know! Our main characters don't seem to either! Other than the "war bad" motif that gets shoved down your throat from episode one, the show felt stagnant in what it was trying to make the audience feel.

I hate being so cynical about it, though, because it does still earn those 4 points! Even though a lot of it falls flat, as a whole, it's still an ok show! Hank and Schaal have good concepts and their dilemmas are interesting in certain parts when the writers manage to nail pits and pieces of their development! The fight scenes were cool and I think that the concept for the world was neat! And the show does have a pretty cool title. Let's be honest, To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts sounds super metal.

So what about those characters?: 5/10! Hugh Hank and Schaal are our two main protags for the show, and they both have pretty interesting concepts! Hank is an Incarnate, he used to be the leader of the other Incarnates, and he made a vow with them that when they lost their minds, he would kill them himself. Schaal is the daughter of one of these Incarnates that fought under Hank. Interesting, right?! How could these two opposing characters get along with one another?

TTASB tries to give the two of them a sort of grumpy-old-mentor-teaches-a-cheery-youngster relationship (which, admittedly, is one of my favorite tropes) and manages to forget everything good about having this kind of relationship. To start, it feels like Schaal has next to no reason to be tolerating Hank, and vice versa. She follows him around because *insert some excuse about understanding the Incarnates?* and Hank lets her because *insert I really don't know*. It really feels like Schaal doesn't need to be there, and she's just a plot device to move along Hank's character development.

Then, the two of them never really interact in ways that really moved me. It never felt like they made a deeper connection that meant something to the plot. They interacted, sure. They spoke about their issues, yeah. But it never felt like Hank needed Schaal, or that Schaal was emotionally tied to Hank, until the show spoonfed it to you that they were.

In the end, neither of their developments felt compelling or interesting. There were a few scenes that maybe, if you squinted, hinted towards them growing as people, but for a 12 episode anime, it was very menial. It also felt like said scenes were fairly forced, with their development not really leading them to the point that they ended up at. Again, TTASB has a bit of an issue with contradicting itself.

The villain was so meh. He has a motive, yeah. It's pretty lame. He's not compelling at all. Nothing about him is interesting or kept me hooked on him. The show probably could've existed without him, to be entirely honest. I don't really have much else to say about him! I just did not really care about him at all.

The best characters in the show are hands-down the supporting cast of Incarnates. Each one has fairly interesting motivations, and even though they're only given an episode or so to tell their stories, they feel the most genuine. My biggest qualm with them is that the show doesn't build their connection to Hugh Hank at all, so when he gets emotional over them, you're kind of like "uhhh u know this guy??". More about this down in our spoilers section, as I'll go over a scene where this is prominent.

So characters were meh, but what about the story itself?: 4/10, just as meh. Again, very interesting! Lots of potential! But it fell flat where it mattered. To be clear, just before we dig deeper: the 12 episodes of TTASB isn't the entire story. It's clearly intended to be continued, though, as of writing this, I haven't been able to dig up any news about a potential season 2.

I don't really mind if animes aren't completely original, as long as they're fun, but TTASB didn't really do that. A lot of the episodes felt boring and reused like it was a watered-down copy-paste of other material. Some episodes were repetitive and seemed to be trying to hammer in the same themes, only to be later contradicted by other episodes. TTASB will spend a few episodes showing you how misunderstood and sweet the Incarnates are and then have an episode where an Incarnate murders a bunch of people. I would love it if it was, in any way, shape, or form, sarcastic, but it is not. TTASB just thinks it can get away with the blatant disregarding of its own morals. It only ends up feeling disconnecting and frustrating.

It follows an almost monster-of-the-week style format for introducing the Incarnates, which does them a bit of a disservice, in my opinion. I really would have liked it if there was a bit more overlap between the Incarnates and their stories! We know that they're all very close (or, at least, the show tells us that they are without really showing us) so seeing them interact with one another outside of their respective episode would've been fun!

The story tries to be darker and grimier than it actually is. I didn't end up caring much for the nation itself and much of the politics that the show tried to utilize felt boring and, again, watered-down. It felt like the show wanted to make it a political drama about war and human rights and only ended up shying away from what makes those genres impactful. Again, this isn't to say that TTASB's story is bad, it's just not as good as it could've been.

But it's MAPPA, so the art has to be good, right?: Yeah! Art was cool! Nothing golden, like MAPPA's newer stuff, but a solid 7/10! The fight scenes were nice, and even though a lot of them felt redundant to watch, they were still smooth! I have some qualms about a few of the Incarnates' beast forms (especially Hank's) looking like they belong back in 2001, but they still looked cool nonetheless.

I don't really have much to say on this front! Nothing really blew me away, but I never looked at the screen and winced away.

Ok and finally, pacing!: 4/10. 12 episode animes always have tricky pacing to them. I like to think about the show being pretty much only 5 hours long, which isn't that much time to cram in as much story and plot as they might want to. Overall, TTASB actually had pretty decent pacing, with a long enough build-up that led to a final showdown. If you ask me, I do think there was a pacing problem in the second half, as it felt far too stretched out, but that could've just been my perception of it.

My biggest issue with pacing loops back to the characters again. They're never really given time to explore or build up relationships. Especially not Hank and his prior team of Incarnates. I think that there should've been more screen time dedicated to their time in the army, to better explain the emotional distress that he's going through as he's forced to hunt them down. Instead, TTASB relies on a throwaway line or scene to deliver this emotional blow, and it nearly always falls flat.

Music!!!!: 6/10, The soundtrack in this anime really wasn't memorable and I don't remember much from it. Whoops!

I did like the opening a bit! It was done by Mafumafu, who I think has done a Pokemon intro song? Either way, it was energetic and fit the theme of the show well! The ending is also a bop, now that I'm thinking about it! It manages to be nostalgic and sad without being too slow! So good music on both fronts!!

OK, now we're in spoiler territory! Be warned!

I don't have too much to say regarding spoilers. Nothing in the show really feels important enough that I have to mention it under a spoiler tag. A few small notes, I suppose.

The show treats Hank like the more important character but then throws him away in his "death" to focus on Schaal, which was a very frustrating episode. Schaal felt so bland and useless in it, even when she faced her father again. Bringing him back to life felt like a sad excuse to force her into character development. I did like it when she found the courage to shoot him, but I also thought that it wasn't really as emotional as the show wanted it to be.

Hank's connection with Schaal, particularly in the second half, feels completely unnatural and forced. When she gets kidnapped, he has some sort of mental breakdown over her and it, if anything, felt creepy. It was undeserved and was forced down your throat rather than built.

Beatrice was the best character in the show and I think that if they stuck to ideas like hers (misunderstood creatures who just want to go back to their old lives), the story would have been much better. Instead, you switch to characters like the Gargoyle Incarnate, who just goes on a murder spree, and it ruins a lot of the development that Beatrice brought to the table.

& our deep deep look at one part: Forgive me if I get this screwed up a bit, it's been a weekish since I finished the show and my brain dumped out all details of it already.

Hugh Hank goes to the mountains and fights the Garmr Incarnate, Rex (Roy? I'm a bit confused on his name), in an epic show-down. Obviously, at the end of it, Hank wins, killing Rex. Now, if you're like me, you sat there for most of the fight going "who tf is Rex and why is this battle important?" and only at the very END, when he's dying, do you see a clip that you might remember from the very beginning of the anime, with Rex talking about Schaal. You go "oohhh I know who he is!" but you wished that you remembered this ten minutes ago when the fight started because it would've been so much more impactful. The show didn't remind you of this scene. It didn't tell you that Rex was this same person that you already met. It expected you to remember, and I didn't. This scene sums up a lot of the character problems with the show, where even if something does have emotional weight, the show doesn't act on it.

Now we're done!: Sorry if this was harsh, but that's my full review on To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts! I'd love to hear if you agree with me or think that I'm totally wrong! If you've read the manga, tell me if it's better or worth a read! And thanks for reading!

(The crossed-out "Hugh"s are all of the times that I got Hank's name wrong! I'm not super great with character names, but I always take it as a bad sign when I screw up the name. )

#anime #mappa #studio mappa #to the abandoned sacred beasts #to the abandoned sacred beasts anime #review #anime review

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meow-bebe · 5 years ago

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stellatus

Pairing: Lee Felix x artist!reader

Genre: fluffffff

Warnings: literally nothing. this is so sweet asghk we’re channeling the cute here. like honestly not even my usual cussing

Word count: 3614 (!!!)

A/n: remember that idea I posted a while ago? well heres the fic! Im suuuper proud of this one because its the longest thing ive written for this blog (3k! more than 3k! that makes me so happy ahhhh!) and also I just really love it! usually I don't particularly like my own writing but this one I feel like is my best work. also about half way through writing this I found this amazing drawing by @panini-byanyothername which gave me the encouragement to finish this and also deserves all of the love because its an amazing piece of art! it was drawn based on another fanfic but its super pretty and is very close to what my story is about so I thought it would be appropriate to include a link

~~~

stēllātus; first/second-declension adjective starry, stellate, starred

“I have an idea,” you announced, bouncing with excitement as you ran into the room where Felix was currently sat at your desk on his computer. Latching your arms around Felix’s neck from behind, you rested your chin gently on his shoulder.

“And what would that be?”he asked, spinning the office chair he sat in and successfully rotating within your arms.

“I want to paint on you!” you said brightly as Felix’s hands came to rest on your waist as you snuggled closer, plopping down into his lap.

“What?” Felix asked, slightly startled by your bold proposition.

“I want to paint on you,” you repeated, “like, kind of use you as a human canvas?” It came out more as a question than a statement, and you grinned awkwardly, the incredulous tone of his voice making you shy.

“I’m not opposed,” Felix mused, and you immediately brightened back up again. “Why though?”

“Well,” you said, fingers playing with the strings of his hoodie, “first of all you’re the only person I have on hand at the moment.” You giggled, and Felix raised a hand to his chest in mock offense. “But I’ve always loved painting on skin. There’s some strange appeal that comes with turning another human being into art. Unfortunately, I’ve only ever done it on myself before, but I had this really amazing idea a while ago and have held onto it forever and you are absolutely perfect for it.” You finished by pressing a sweet kiss to his nose. “So?” you asked eagerly, “what do you say? Let me paint on you?”

Felix chuckled lightly, and you could feel the deep vibrations where your hands were set on his chest. “Aren’t you going to tell me what your amazing idea is?”

“Nope!” you said cheerfully, popping the ‘p’ as you smiled happily, “You’ll just have to say yes and see what I do. It will be beautiful, I promise.”

Felix playfully narrowed his eyes at you. “You won’t do something stupid or make me look weird?”

“I would never,” you said, sticking out your littlest finger, “pinky swear. And anyway, nothing could ever make you look weird, pretty boy.” Felix’s eyes widened at your compliment, a light shade of red creeping across his cheeks as he wrapped his pinky around yours. No matter how often you complimented him he always had the sweetest flustered reactions.

“What are we waiting for then?” you practically vaulted out of his lap, tangling your fingers together and tugging on his hand to try and get him to follow you.

“What, now?” he asked, a bewildered look on his face.

“Yes, now,” you said, pulling on his hand again, “I can’t wait any longer, I’m dying to finally do this.”

“Alright,” Felix said, laughing as he stood up from the desk, whatever he was working on earlier abandoned as you enthusiastically pulled him along to the spare bedroom turned art studio.

“Here,” you said, tossing one of the already paint-stained cushions you often put to use out of the closet, “sit down while I find what I need.”

Felix grabbed the cushion and set it on the large, clear plastic mat you always kept set out over the hardwood floors. There were several places you had set up for painting, laying on the floor and the easel by the window being two of your favorites, and you rotated between them depending on how you were feeling that day. It seemed like today was a sprawled across the floor day, although that made sense, Felix reasoned, if you were going to be painting on him. He sat down and watched as you zipped back and forth across the room, picking through your jars of brushes and bins of paints to find the supplies you would be using.

Thrusting one of the mason jar mugs you used to wash out your brushes at Felix, you asked, “Could you go fill this up with water for me?” He nodded compliantly, pulling himself up off the floor and traipsing across the hall to the bathroom to fill the glass mug with water. When he came back into the room, you had set up a jar of brushes to pick through, tossed a few tubes of paint to the floor next to the two cushions, and were currently spread across a decent portion of the floor with one of the large folders you had labeled as “inspiration and references.” These were collections of anything you could possibly want to give you ideas or utilize in your art, ranging from newspaper clippings, old photographs, passages from books and poems scrawled on torn notebook paper (or on the more rare occasion, printed out), and absolutely filled to the brim with doodles and practice drawings. You were a firm believer in the idea that anything could be reused or help inspire you in the future, which ultimately lead to your large collection. Usually you tried to date the bits of paper you tucked away, but it didn’t help with your chronic lack of organization.

“What are you searching for?” Felix questioned, assuming that you wouldn’t answer but asking anyway.

“Can’t tell,” you said, eyes twinkling with a spark of mischief, “it’s supposed to be a surprise, remember?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop asking. What do you want me to do then?” he asked, looking around the room and wondering what you had planned for him.

“Just sit, I’ll find it in a moment.” Felix settled himself back down on the floor as you continued to rifle through the folder barely containing the papers inside it. He watched as you carefully separated a few glossy photos that had stuck together and shuffled through a stack of what appeared to be old school work. “Aha!” you shouted victoriously, startling Felix and holding a few taped together pieces of paper in the air.

“What’s that?” he asked, his curiosity over both the project itself and the haphazardly folded but carefully assembled papers in your grasp too much to handle.

To his surprise, you gave in this time. “Star chart!” you chirped, obviously too pleased with yourself to continue hiding your intentions. “I’ve always loved space, specifically stars, and I took an astronomy class in high school but never got rid of the papers that weren’t just worksheets. I always hoped that someday I would be able to use them for painting. And here we are!” Felix smiled at the happy grin lighting up your whole face, your excitement too endearing to not acknowledge.

“Cute.” Felix grinned happily as you shuffled over to where you had set up all of your supplies. All of a sudden his smile turned bashful, stammering slightly as he asked, “Should I like, take my shirt off or something then?”

You giggled, setting down the star chart and plucking a thin marker from amongst the plethora of materials. “Not this time. I want to do your face!”

“What?” Felix gasped, eyes widened in surprise.

“I want to paint on your face!” you repeated, excitement fading as you rolled the marker between your hands, suddenly nervous. “Your freckles, specifically. Only if you’ll let me though.” You fidgeted slightly, focused on the marker before looking up at Felix who still wore a slightly startled expression.

“My - my freckles?” he asked, and you nodded.

“Yeah. Finding patterns that match my constellations-” you patted the papers sitting beside you - “and then turning your face into a little galaxy.”

“Y/n,” he said softly, and you braced yourself to be turned down, “I think that’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever come up with. Why would I ever say no?”

Your eyes shot up to find Felix’s, and you could see all of the adoration that he held for you in their depths. “Really?” you asked, pulling yourself into his lap and tucking your arms around his waist.

“Really,” he confirmed, sealing a gentle kiss against your mouth. “Now, how do you want to go about this?”

You clamored off of Felix, grabbing the marker from where you had dropped it at his side and snatching the star chart into your hands before thrusting it at Felix. “Pick a few that you like, and I’ll see if what I can do to weave them out of your freckles,” you said, placing the folded chart into his hands and backing off to begin rifling through the paint tubes you had chosen. “Try not to do anything too difficult, I think the simpler ones would look better for this.”

Leaving him to pour over the constellations, you realized that you had overlooked finding a palette earlier in your scramble to find paints, so you pulled yourself up off the floor to move to the closet once again. Shoving a few bins of paints and stacks of assorted canvases to the side, you finally found the collection of palettes stored near the back of the shelf. Just barely managing to get your finger under the one on the bottom (the shelf was slightly too high, not enough to really bother you, but it could be a minor inconvenience sometimes), you dragged the precariously balanced stack towards yourself.

“What about Lyra?” Felix called from behind you.

“That would work,” you mused, shuffling through the pile in search of one not too caked in dried paint.

“Or Aquila?”

“Also fine,” you responded, selecting a mostly clean palette. “I really want to try Draco, so we’ll do that one first and then fit the others on after that. Sound good?”

"Anything you want to do is good with me," he replied, and you turned to see the pretty blush staining his cheeks.

"But you're the one making this project come to life," you said, crossing the room in a few steps and settling down in front of him. "You should have some input."

"I'm merely the final product in this situation. You, y/n, are the one bringing it to life." Now it was your turn to grow flustered by his compliments.

"Oh hush," you said, searching on the floor for the marker you had set down.

Finding your marker, you uncapped it and scooted closer to Felix. "Ready?" you asked.

He looked at the marker warily. "I thought you were painting."

"I am painting, but I have to sketch it out first," you laughed. "I always do."

"Oh," he said, looking down shyly. He always loved to watch you paint, however paying attention to the process was something else entirely. "Well go on then."

Studying his face carefully, you placed a small dot on top of a freckle close to the top of his cheek. Glancing back at the star chart, you drew another right under it, and awkwardly angled your pen to try and reach better. Pulling the papers mapping out your reference closer, you shuffled to the side and drew another dot.

"This isn't working very well," you said, taking Felix's chin in your hand and tilting his head to the side to try and reach better. "I might move you again, so try not to move and tell me if it's too uncomfortable."

Felix nodded in response just as you set the tip of the marker against his cheek, leaving a small inky streak down his face. You sighed. "Next time just say you heard me. I'm going to get the rubbing alcohol.” You stood up and headed to the bathroom, opening the cabinet and rummaging around to find the necessary bottle. Finding what you needed, you stood up and crossed the hallway once again to rejoin Felix.

"Here." Felix held out a cotton ball that he had no doubt found in the depths of one of your many bins of random art supplies.

"Thanks," you said quietly, already flipping the top of the rubbing alcohol open and soaking the cotton in liquid before scrubbing it gently across Felix's cheek. He held still for the moment, letting you remove the ink from his face and watching your movements carefully.

"Done?" he asked as you tossed the now somewhat grey cotton ball to the floor.

"Yep." you picked up your marker again. "Good to go?" He nodded again, this time making sure that the marker was nowhere near his skin.

You set back to work, switching between analyzing the star chart and making small dots where you could connect the freckles strewn across Felix's face to resemble the constellation you had picked.

After readjusting Felix's face for the nth time, you sighed. “This isn’t working,” you complained, capping your marker and letting your hand fall into your lap.

“I can tell,” Felix mused. “Any ideas?”

You tilted your head, scanning over his face, and Felix could see the imaginary lightbulb pop up above your head as a grin spread across your face. “Maybe,” you said cheekily, crawling into his lap and once again uncapping your marker. Placing the non inky end into your mouth, you cupped your hands around Felix’s cheeks, gently moving his head around until you think you’ve found the perfect angle. “Don’t move.”

Finding that your new vantage point gave you perfect access to the soft skin of your boyfriend’s cheeks, you steadily set back to work, sketching light lines between the makeshift “stars” that quickly began to fill the freckles dotted across Felix’s face.

“Alright! I’m all done.” You leaned back a bit to admire your work, already extremely happy with the way that everything was turning out. “And now -” you clambered off Felix’s lap to let him stretch while you gathered the scattered supplies necessary for the next step of your project - “we paint!”

Felix giggled at the enthusiasm spreading a happy brightness across your face, bringing you closer for a chaste kiss as soon as you had settled yourself back across him. Clasping the brush you had picked up between your teeth as you seemed prone to do, you grabbed two of the few tubes of paint selected from a small box of metallics Felix wasn’t aware you had and unscrewed the one containing silver paint. Squeezing a small amount onto the palette in your other hand, you replaced the cap and set it to the side.

You pulled the paintbrush from your mouth, and said, “This is it. No going back after I start painting,” you warned, absolutely failing to hide the playful tone in your voice.

“I have sharpie all over my face,” Felix laughed, “I’m pretty sure we reached that point a while ago.”

“Right,” you said, ducking your face a little, trying to hide your embarrassed expression. “Well then, let the painting begin!” Placing a sweet kiss to the tip of Felix’s nose, you swirled your brush through the silver paint and hesitantly hovered over the inked lines connecting his freckles.

“You’re not going to mess this up,” Felix reassured, almost as if he could immediately pick up on your thoughts, “anything you paint is always beautiful and I have complete confidence in you.”

The compliments flustered you even more, and muttering a soft, “Oh, be quiet,” you set your brush down, dragging the bristles across the lines you had laid down earlier.

Felix shuddered under the cool touch of paint stroked across his face, and you backed off for a moment, letting him adjust to the foreign feeling. “Try not to move,” you said, setting down your palette and cupping his jaw sweetly.

You painted thin, careful lines over all of the drawn out constellations, painstakingly smoothing the edges and adding a second layer to those where the black ink was still visible. While you kept all of your focus on the paintbrush in your hand, Felix lost himself in the way that you concentrated on the task you had set yourself to. He loved to watch you paint, and the experience was ten times better when you were right up close. Felix watched your expressions as you immersed yourself in your work, noticing every little forehead scrunch, loving the cute way that you would chew on your lip or poke your tongue out when you got to a particularly tricky spot. There wasn’t enough focus left to be self conscious when you truly absorbed yourself in your art, and it was times like these that Felix thought you were most true to yourself, which lead to it also being when he found you most beautiful. Not that you weren’t other times, certainly, but there was something enchanting about your little expressions and the way your hair would stick up from running your fingers through it. You would always have paint all over your hands, no matter how careful you had been, and when it was still wet the pigment often transferred to your face or hair. Of course you never noticed, and so Felix would let you know you should probably look in a mirror, but only after silently appreciating the way that the smudged paint on your forehead somehow only enhanced the glow of beauty that truly being in your element brought out.

“There we go!” you suddenly exclaimed, startling Felix out of his reverie. “I’m finished with the lines,” you told him, dropping your paintbrush into the cup of water and swishing it around a little. “Now I just have to do the stars.”

You leaned to the side and reached around Felix to grab the other tube of paint you had taken out and added some of the gold to the palette before screwing the cap back on and tossing it next to you. Balancing the palette on your knee, you grabbed the cup containing your brush and dragged it toward you. Quickly and thoroughly rinsing the paint from the bristles, you wiped off the excess water and took Felix’s face into your hand once again, gently maneuvering him back into a position where you could easily paint.

Now used to the feeling, Felix didn’t startle when you began painting again, the cool touch of the paint to his cheek calming. You worked steadily, crossing tiny strokes to form the stars connecting the constellations created by his freckles. Every now and then you would shift in his lap, or make sure that the angle his head was at wasn’t making his neck ache, but for the most part you worked silent and still.

You smoothed tiny lines into shapes, keeping them tidy and occasionally layering more paint on where it had smudged or the first coat had been too thin. After finishing one of the stars higher on his cheek, you leaned back to admire your work.

“I think I’m done,” you said softly, wiping a bit of golden paint off Felix’s forehead.

“Can I see?” he asked, plucking the paint brush out of your fingers and placing it in the paint water.

You nodded, climbing out of his lap and gesturing towards the messy desk in the corner of the room. “There should be a mirror up there. I’m going to go get my Polaroid camera.” You loved that camera, it had been a gift from a friend years ago, and you only pulled it out for special occasions. Felix knew how much it meant to you, and the fact that you wanted to capture this moment with it warmed his heart.

When you returned to the room, Felix was sitting back on the cushions you had pulled out, the small hand mirror next to him on the floor. “It’s beautiful, y/n,” he said, and you smiled at the compliment, whispering a quiet “Thanks.”

“Where do you want me?” Felix asked, nodding towards the camera in your hands.

“By the window, probably,” you said, “I think backlighting would look good for this.” It was reaching late afternoon now, and the sun was beginning to sink to the horizon quickly. The golden light would shine through his hair beautifully, and Felix always glowed in the sunlight.

The two of you moved to the other side of the room, and Felix quickly set himself up in front of the window.

“Should I pose or something?” Felix asked, and you shook your head in response.

“Just do what feels natural,” you said, squinting at him through the viewfinder on your Polaroid before lowering it to watch him adjust for the photo. He seemed to relax under your gaze, and turned his head to the side so he was looking straight into the lens as the light washed over the paint trailed across his face, illuminating the shine of the metallics you used. He stilled after a moment, and after you were sure he wasn’t going to move, you pressed the shutter. The camera began printing your photo, and after a moment you plucked it from the slot, pressing it between your lips and bringing the camera back up to your eye.

“I want to take one more,” you mumbled around the developing photo in your mouth, “close your eyes for me?” Felix complied, letting his lashes flutter against the top of his cheeks as a small smile settled across his face. You snapped your second photo, bringing the camera down and tucking the earlier in between your fingers as you waited for the second to print. Felix came to stand next to you, taking the second photo and looking over your shoulder to see how the first one turned out.

As you watched the color seep onto the glossy paper you knew that the stars across his cheeks, no matter how pretty they were, could never compare to the stars that shone in his eyes. He was truly beautiful, and standing there with your camera in hand, his hair brushing against your cheek, you were never more aware.

#lee felix #felix #felix stray kids #stray kids #lee felix x reader #felix x reader #stray kids x reader #felix fluff #lee felix fluff #stray kids fluff #stray kids imagines #felix imagines #stray kids fanfiction #felix fanfiction #maybe ill have to start a masterlist soon this is exciting

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ducktracy · 4 years ago

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175. speaking of the weather (1937)

release date: september 4th, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: frank tashlin

starring: mel blanc (leopold stokowski, cholly jam, walter snitchall, dog), billy bletcher (prisoner, judge)

a frank tashlin directed merrie melody? yes, you’ve got that right! tashlin finally joins friz freleng and tex avery in directing the more expensive, prioritized merrie melodies. considering tashlin was so outspoken with his disdain for porky, i’m sure this was a breath of fresh air for him, finally able to use his talents elsewhere.

inspired by the early days of hugh harman and rudolf ising (as he himself conceded), tashlin makes his merrie melodies debut by sticking to a genre tried and true: books coming to life. tashlin would direct three of these, the other two being have you got any castles? and you’re an education. ironically, the latter would be his final WB entry in the ‘30’s, getting fired from the studio after an argument and then making his return in 1943 with the tour de force porky pig’s feat. for now, we’re treated with a variety of “books coming to life” gags--including a plot with an escaped convict.

open to the cityscape in the dark, a yellow clock face illuminating the silhouettes against the deep, blue, sky. the camera trucks out and pans over to a drug store, complete with that streamlined, frank tashlin look--these opening backgrounds are nothing short of gorgeous. the backgrounds in the tashlin cartoons, both black and white and in color, have always been some of my favorites. i’m not so sure who does the backgrounds in tashlin’s unit here, though i do know a man by the name of art loomer was in charge of the background department in the ‘30′s. the background artists didn’t get credits until the mid ‘40′s, so sometimes trying to identify them can be a bit of a guessing game. but i digress!

inside the pharmacy, we pan across the seemingly interminable magazine shelves. everything is coated in a dark shadow, until the camera focuses on a spotlighted magazine--radio stars, with musical comedian bob burns--labeled as “bob boins” on the magazine cover--playing the bazooka (a trademark of his) to the tune of “with plenty of money and you”. certainly a frequent tune in the 1937 cartoons! a nice, simple choice to do a close up of him playing the instrument and gasping for air--the solid yellow background really brings out the animation and makes it the priority, so that the audience isn’t distracted by extraneous details. plus, saves paint, saves money!

after more strenuous playing, the bazooka breaks into pieces. segue into another close-up, the skillful, dynamic animation belonging to none other than bob mckimson, who was one of the studio’s best animators (if not best!) and later a director. the animation is strikingly realistic, perhaps even offputting--it looks quite similar to his animation of uncle sam in the terminally boring chuck jones cartoon old glory a mere two years later. burns tells us “y’know folks, i can’t play this bazooka as good as uncle fudd back in van buren. we know him as uncle fudd, you know him as ted lewis!” the uncle fudd bit is lost on me, but the van buren reference is a nod to bob burns’ title: the arkansas traveler. burns would often reminisce about family stories back in van buren, arkansas. coincidentally, frank tashlin worked at van beuren studios before rejoining the warner bros. staff as a director.

a clarinet toting lewis gives his trademark catchphrase of “is everybody happy?”, prompting ned sparks (known for his deadpan demeanor) to grovel “no!” in response. nevertheless, lewis launches into a rendition of “with plenty of money on you” on his clarinet, sparking an entire dance party from the magizines: a beaver from the cover of outdoor life strums the bass with its tail, a pair of silhouettes dance together on the cover of “[the] dance” magazine (as well as a pair of boxers from “the ring”), and two dandelions from “house and garden”, with animation reused from friz freleng’s 1935 short flowers for madame.

lewis ends his song by doing a variety of very smoothly animated acrobatics, including some wonderfully fluid animation of him twisting through his own legs. toys (reused from toytown hall, among other cartoons... perhaps as far back as the shanty where santy claus lives? it’s hard to keep these cartoons straight!) from child life magazine cheer him on, as do a jovial, giggling hugh hubert reused from the coocoo nut grove, all underscored by a brief rendition of “the merry go round broke down”. the number is complete as lewis takes a bow, with some nice animation of his coattails shaking their anthropomorphic fists in the applause.

elsewhere, more magazine gags: a snake charmer on the cover of “asia” magazine woos a hose on the cover of “better homes and gardens”, prompting it to dance and spit out water. the water rains down upon famed conductor leopold stokowski (who collaborated with walt disney in the making of fantasia a few years later), who dons the cover of “the etude”. the underscore is, fittingly, “september in the rain”, also the title of a friz freleng merrie melody just a few months later. stokowski opens up his sheet music: william tell’s “the storm”. pressing a button, a mini windshield wiper wipes away the raindrops from the music sheets. the rain animation is very well done, especially pooling on top of the music. my guess would be that this is A.C. gamer at work, warner bros.’ effects animator.

the decision to have silence (save for the sound effects of stokowski tapping his music stand and the rain) prelude the oncoming rendition of “the storm” is a powerful one indeed. stokowki directs with all his might, pulling his hair and moving spastically, mirroring the intensity of his music... and then comedic timing swoops in wonderfully well as he bursts into a slightly off tune rendition of the title song, “speaking of the weather”, sparking the music portion of the short. this is probably my favorite song that has a merrie melody in its honor--it’s very catchy, both the original version and the cartoon’s rendition!

quite a bit of animation is reused from previous cartoons in this one, but the decision to reuse animation from a tom palmer cartoon took me by surprise. three women (the boswell sisters) seated at a piano sing the chorus, reused from 1933′s i’ve got to sing a torch song. for those who don’t know, tom palmer lasted a never-ending stint of 2 cartoons at warner bros before getting fired on account of how poor his shorts were. he also introduced the world to buddy, the blandest studio mascot of all time, who dominated shorts from 1933-1935. thanks, tom!

elsewhere, a caricature of lydia pinkham sings affectionately to a caricature of clark gable (reused from the coocoo nut grove), who cleverly dons the cover of “woman’s home companion” magazine. elsewhere, tongue sandwiches stick out their human tongues and “la la lala” along to the rhythm, reused from buddy’s beer garden. the tongue sandwich gag would be reused even as recently as bob clampett’s 1941 goofy groceries--for all i know, he could have been responsible for the original gag in buddy’s beer garden in the first place. you often have to take some of his claims of what he made with a grain of salt, but he did mention that he pioneered the whole “___ come to life” sequences at warner’s, so it serves as some food for thought!

more gags include a teapot (reused from little dutch plate) whistling along to the rhythm, a caricature of greta garbo reading a book and using her shoes as a rocking chair, a dancing lobster whose frequented many cartoons, debuting in how do i know it’s sunday?, and clams clacking to the rhythm. as the song winds to an end, topped off with the cheering toys from earlier (as well as oddly segmented animation of hugh hubert jamming his fingers together in applause), a shifty looking crook (animated by volney white) furtively sneaks out of his post from “the gang” magazine. i LOVE the choice to slow down the beat of the music at the appearance of the gangster--the rhythm becomes much more furtive and cautious.

more volney white animation as the gangster uses a spare blowtorch to burn off the front of a safe plastered on “the magazine of wall street and business”. pan over to a caricature of fictional detective charlie chan, telling the convict that he’s under arrest. the fade to the next scene obscures the animation, but there’s a nice little bit of animation as chan twirls his gun in satisfaction. next scene, the criminal (whose bellows are provided by none other than billy bletcher) gives his confession, obscured by silhouettes--bright pink silhouettes, a jarring yet intriguing design choice. his interrogation takes place, of course, on true confessions magazine.

the judge, also voiced by bletcher, sentences the criminal to life... magazine, a gag that would be reused 9 years later in book revue--my favorite of these book series. i didn’t notice this until the time of writing this review, but the animation of the judge is rather whimsical and fun: he has a tattoo of a pinup girl on his forearm (labeled mabel), and as he jabs his finger through his long beard in the midst of his sentencing, flies flutter out to indicate his age.

struggling against the bars, the prisoner wipes his brow in defeat, until something out of his peripheral catches his eye. i think this may be bob bentley animation--the animation of the prisoner wiping his brow matches up rather well with the scene he did of porky wiping his brow in porky’s railroad. the criminal sneaks behind a wall of magazines, a pan across the scene being our only guide to his movement. with that, he stumbles upon another magazine with prison bars: liberty magazine, where he escapes with ease.

a caricature of columnist walter winchell lives up to his dubbed name of “walter snitchall” as he alerts the public about the prison break, peeking through a keyhole provided by look magazine for his evidence. thus sparks the infamous tashlin montage: overlays of various animated scenes all at once to convey a sense of heightened dramatics and urgency. cop cars, bugle horns, boy scouts on the run, even tarzan and a stampede of animals (reused from the coocoo nut grove and porky in the north woods respectively). as if this cartoon couldn’t date itself further, we’re also met with recycled animation (perhaps from buddy of the apes???) of blackface caricatured natives joining the fight. even animation is reused from as far back as 1931′s ride him, bosko! with a gang of cowboys riding their horses into battle.

time for another caricature, this one being william powell, who lumbers out to a constipated rendition of “the boulevardier from the bronx”. powell starred in the movie “the thin man” three years earlier, and is caricatured as such from his side profile, which is practically non-existent. a dog from “dog world” brags “that’s my pop!” and jumps to join his side.

something you’ll notice throughout this cartoon is the magazine dates: they’re almost all dated october 1946. common speculation is, seeing that this cartoon got a blue-ribbon release in 1945 (which means it was re-released for theaters), that they went back in and changed the dates of the magazines to appeal to the more modern audience. i doubt this is true: this is the same studio who didn’t switch to having full color cartoons until late 1943 to save money--i doubt they’d do something so costly and meticulous as changing the dates on magazine covers.

nevertheless--the convict is now disguised as a baby, donning the cover of better babies magazine. volney white does some nice hat takes as the convict realizes he’s being followed, his baby bonnet twisting up as it attempts to contain the prisoner’s cap from flying through the roof in shock. william powell’s dog sniffs the ground... and we pan back to reveal powell doing the exact same thing, crawling around on all fours. there’s also a GREAT little gag where powell spots something, which is evidently enough trouble to constitute him blindfolding his dog. they continue their search as normal, dog now blindfolded as they cleverly past a line of magazines: the saturday evening post (whose covers i LOVE, especially the ones by norman rockwell and j.c. leyendecker!), literally adorned with wooden posts. the joke being, of course, that powell doesn’t want his dog to stop by the post and pee on it.

some nice, sharp comedic timing as powell and his dog confront the baby carriage where the prisoner is hiding: there’s a pause, and suddenly the convict pops out from the carriage and whacks powell in the face with a baby bottle. cue the climax as the prisoner makes a break for it in a baby carriage, the music score a jaunty rendition of “country boy”. after getting pelted with eggs by a polo player, a cowboy on the front of “western story” magazine lasso’s the criminal, yanking him out of the carriage and dragging him (painfully) by his neck. you’ll notice that on the cover of the magazine, a “cal howd” is credited, referring to warner bros. storyman and short-lived director cal howard.

all of the heroes in their little magazine worlds work together to put a halt to the criminal’s escape: ships fire cannonballs that break the makeshift noose around the convict’s neck, sending him pummeling, spears thrown by the (ugh) racist native caricatures from before cause the crook to face plant, good ol’ saint nick drops his back of toys that wrap around the convict and slow down his run (the animation complex but very well done, topped off by the sound effects of clanking and horns being crushed), greta garbo trips the crook and sends him into a pond on the cover of “country life” magazine, and so forth. i love that rendition of “country boy” as the music! it was also used in earlier 1937 high energy scenes in cartoons such as the fella with the fiddle and ain’t we got fun.

a reprisal of the title song serves as a jaunty underscore as the criminal is launched onto a giant pinball machine, where he’s sent springing around, animation reused from sunday go to meetin’ time. he hits the jackpot, his reward being a sentence to “twenty thousand years in sing sing” by “warden flaws” (a play on lewis e. lawes). hugh hubert taunts the criminal with his signature high pitched giggle that daffy would appropriate into his own signature laugh, aggravating the criminal enough to grab a globe off of the cover of the world almanac, used to sock hubert right over the head. iris out on the convict gleefully impersonating hubert, giggle and all.

this isn’t my favorite tashlin cartoon by a long shot, but it’s also not the worst entry in the book series. rewatching this one a few times certainly heightened my appreciation for the short. though it’s HEAVILY dated, it’s a very clever cartoon, especially if you put some time in to do some research on who these caricatures are or what the magazines are about. i always particularly enjoy analyzing these cartoons chock full of references--time consuming, sure, but you get to LEARN something from them and you get to actively discover and absorb new information you never knew before, and that’s what it’s all about for me.

this is a fun cartoon. the colors are nice and bright, but tastefully so, the music is jaunty and happy (again, i LOVE the original song!), and the animation has its merits. i particularly enjoy volney white’s scenes, as well as the scene of the ted lewis caricature literally bending over backwards to play his clarinet. with that said though, this isn’t a perfect cartoon: some parts feel more cobbled together than others (the scene where the toys and hugh hubert applaud ted lewis’ performance feels oddly out of place), and of course you have reused animation of blackface caricatures... but, in all, it’s an endearing cartoon. there are certainly more boring cartoons out there in this genre.

this is a cartoon i’m neutral on, but i’d say that if you’re curious to see it in action, go for it! if not, you can easily skip it. it’s not a make-or-break type of deal.

with that, here’s a link!

#lt #looney tunes #speaking of the weather #reviews #long post #tashlin #racism m #WHEW that was a tedious one to type

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wehavethoughts · 3 years ago

Text

Darryl Carter Review! Part 2: The Collected Home

The Collected Home: Rooms with Style, Grace, and History

By Darryl Carter

With Trish Donnally

Photographs by Gordon Beall

Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2012

“Forgo the immediate, and embrace the lasting.”

Darryl Carter is a sophisticated interior designer who champions blending the modern with the traditional. Last review, I looked at The New Traditional, in which Carter defined his style with shining examples and anecdotes from his personal experiences. Four years later, The Collected Home elaborates on Carter’s special approach to interior design, providing more concrete suggestions by room for readers who are on their own design journeys. Welcome to Part 2!

The Collected Home is successful in its generous plethora of ideas shared in an organized way, as well as its written voice which encourages the reader to follow her own preferences, goals, and intuition. In the end, the hard-cover merits 5 out of 6 treasured geese.

In the Introduction and throughout, Carter repeatedly rallies the reader to have fun during the process. Without forgetting to urge you to be thoughtful and careful in your selections, Carter promises that patience and excitement can coexist. The Collected Home is, in a way, antithetical to current DIY movements; both welcome creativity, but Carter’s approach favors discovery, planning, and listening. Reflection questions throughout the volume ask readers to consider how they use spaces from needs to style proclivity:What appliances do you use?

Where do you anticipate needing electrical outlets? Step-stools?

How many people eat here regularly?

How often do you buy food? How do you store it?

Where do you want privacy?

How frequently do you use things?

What’s important to access in your daily life?

I think reflection is key. Too often I see everyday people getting into interior design by coming into contact with a particular aesthetic they like and want to consume. This isn’t bad or good, but doesn’t allow for a few things to happen.

First, you end up robbing yourself of the joy of collecting, which takes time. Of course, most interior designers recommend starting with mood boards or inspirational images to brainstorm goals and envision ideas. But if this stage is done in one afternoon, or after watching one YouTuber, the result is rarely a style you will truly treasure, let alone one that will last. Changing and growing is to be expected (and celebrated!), but Carter’s idea of home is to be an assemblage of meaningful treasures, and a gathering of all things personal. Basically, not something you can replicate from elsewhere.

“The home should be oriented toward your personal use and enjoyment.”

The second incentive to reflect deeply before transforming your space is because often we do not listen to what the house tells you, about itself and about you. I really appreciate when designs recognize that the home has a voice, and that the particularities of the space are one-of-a-kind! This includes materials in walls, light coming from outside, proportions of doors and closets, everything! Carter insists on process as play: upcycling or reclamation, contributions from everyone in the household, and envisioning multiple possibilities can say a lot about how the home wants to be inhabited. In his price-range, Carter recommends collaborating with tradespeople, architects, and others who can provide a solution you may not have thought of-- or even how to make a limitation work better than the original idea. Does the house offer natural lighting instead of needing to buy a fixture? Would durable floors serve residents better than a fancier floor, thus allowing something else in the space to shine? Can you repurpose cabinets as children’s desks? Or reuse an old door as a pony wall for a bit of separation? Are you able to retrofit furniture into existing architectural elements, like shelving? Knowing and building relationships with craftspeople and experts will only enhance your experience creating your home.

“Often, intangibles define the experience of a home.”

Carter clearly has years of experience and an extensive network in his field. My main critique of The Collected Home is in being way out of league for many readers. Most people don’t collect antique Han dynasty figurines to learn how to display, or own a cast-sculpture of a carousel horse to orient in a foyer. Carter uses lots of terms I had to look up. He also shared swatches from his own paint line that he developed. He’s clearly involved in the art world and has a sophisticated relationship with artists, sculptors, and antique vendors. Furniture designer George Nakashima is featured for embedding an antique work table into a ‘frame’ to actually function (below left). It’s actually really cool. The book just seemed out-of-reach at times.

This is not for lack of encouragement and really clever ideas! I particularly like his vision to buy furniture pieces that can translate into different uses over time. A lot of projects he described leaned into a chance find at a flea market, or pre-existing architectural features, such as staircases or windows. All of his nuanced and well-trained advice is great for people who have the resources to hire experts. Any of his inspiration can be ‘dialed down’, especially because Carter included so many concrete questions to ask and possibilities to consider. For example, he acknowledges the more affordable but high-impact option of ‘try painting it’. He repeats that nothing should be too precious to use, which is an excellent sentiment.

The Collected Home showcases impressive and high-quality interior design, exactly what it says it does. 5 of 6 sensible geese.

With loving curiosity,

DesignMod

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drawmealama · 5 years ago

Text

Painting Tutorial

Disclaimers !!! (important)

I’m not an expert or teacher.

There is an infinite number of ways you can paint. THERE IS NO WRONG WAY TO PAINT! This is how I do it / how I was taught to do it.

I’m doing this (during mars 2020) because I’m getting restless during the global quarantine. If you want to paint but you don’t have the supplies: PLEASE don’t go out to buy supplies. This is not a necessity so please stay safe. Also, if you’re considering buying art supplies on the internet ask yourself if it is necessary (like if you have an assignment/it’s part of your job/...) and try to minimize the strain on delivery services for non-essential supplies.

This post will still exist in a few months. I’ll even self-reblog it at the end of the lockdown so that, if you’re still interested, it’ll be here.

I’m going to make fan art for @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (madsthenerdygirl on AO3) and her witcher fic “Even Steel Blades Need Fire” that you can find here.

I’m trying to make a non-spoiler piece, but I’ll talk about the fic (so spoilers!) during the process. If you have not read her fic and you don’t want to get spoiled, go read it before you continue.

I started painting two years ago, and I remember vividly my struggles in the beginning. Painting can be confusing, and I am going to assume that people with no experience are going to read this.

I’ll be explaining the painting process in-depth so LONG POST (I guess) and stay tuned for updates !!! (yay)

I think that’s all.

Let’s start !!!

Here we have it all! All the supplies (and some) I use when painting with acrylic paint.

First, note that you don’t need all these supplies to paint. Most of the time I do it with less, but this is a tutorial so...

1. Paper

Good news, you don't need to have a canvas to paint !!! You can just use paper (cool right?!).

Any size is ok, but I prefer to paint big (this paper here is on the smaller side. I usually paint on “grand aigle” paper or “double grand aigle”. Which translates to “great (?) eagle”. Look it up!).

Here I’ll be using a 65x50 cm piece (called “format raisin”/ “grapes format”...)

I advise to use 200gms (or 200g/m2) or more but 180g can work too.

225gms and 250gms are my personal favourites.

2. Something to protect the surface you are painting on.

when I started painting I was super messy. I had no control over the paintbrush/the paint/etc..

I recommend using something (cardboard, plastic bag (not the best...), or newspaper) to cover up where you're going to paint.

The smaller your paper, the more likely you are to spill paint next to it.

On that note, when I started painting I used to wear a chemistry lab coat to protect my clothes.

It can save you when you least expect it (read: the whole bottle of paint falls and explodes everywhere). Now I stopped doing that (bad) but I don't really care about my clothes and also painting in your underwear when you're alone is fun.

remember to remove any jewellery (RINGS!!!) (you don't want to scrape off dried paint of off jewellery).

Don't wear gloves. (acrylic paint washes of with soap and hot water). Plus gloves are going to make your hands sweat and I don't recommend wearing them for long periods.

have a towel nearby or something at your disposal (but only use old stuff. you will probably never get all the paint stains off. I use my old lab coat.)

where you are painting is important too. When I started painting I liked using an easel. If you don't have an easel, that's ok. I don't have access to one during this quarantine business, so I'm doing sans-easel.

Also, I prefer to paint on the ground or on a table (depending on the cleanness of the ground and the paper size. if it's too big for one table, I sometimes use two side by side but it's not really practical).

Also with bigger papers, an easel can be impractical = you can't reach the top/bottom easily and you tire very easily.

Here is something my teacher used to tell us:

“Don't sit on a chair.”

Explanation: when using a chair your paintings tend to look "tired" or "sloppy" (Idk how to describe it, but for better results try to stand up)

however if you are doing:

a big piece

painting for a long time

or you have medical issues that make standing up for a long time painful

then I recommend either having a chair nearby to take "sitting" breaks or painting on the ground.

In all cases take breaks!

Second advice from my teacher:

“Don't listen to music while you paint.”

Explanation: when painting you want to avoid "coloring" with brushstrokes that go left-right and up-down all the time. when listening to your music you will unintentionally start following the rhythm of the music with your strokes and making them repetitive. Similarly, I noted that I'm slower when listening to music because I tend to focus more on the music than on what I am painting.

BUT, I know someone who makes these beautiful, giant paintings on bedsheets, which take like weeks to complete and with lots of details. And guess what? Not only does she sit down but she also listens to music while doing so.

In conclusion, it's up to you. but if you struggle painting: try sitting down/standing up/ taking more breaks/ turn on/off your music...

3. Paint pallets

Ok, so here again it's up to personal preferences.

you can use a

plastic/wood/glass pallet (that you re-use every time)

or you can use

disposable paint pallets/a piece of cardboard/paper plates (that you reuse a couple of times before throwing away).

At first, I started to use plastic pallets but I kept trying to clean them at the end of each lesson and I was losing so much time... (note: I found that bigger pallets with no little "holes" work the best).

Problems:

If the paint is dry it’s super difficult to get it off without soap or other types of cleaning products.

You use a lot of water to clean it and paint gets in the sewers.

An alternative is disposable pallets like on the picture (or cardboard/paper plates). you don't have to clean them, it's super cheap/free and a lot lighter.

Problems:

you can't use them forever and will need to throw it away (or recycle them into weird paintings).

If you use straight-up cardboard and try to mix a lot of water in your paint it will make a mess and destroy your pallet.

4. Water dish

Anything that holds water and that you don't use to drink is ok. Remember you will probably never get all the paint off.

5. Paintbrushes

Okay, this is the weird part where I tell you that "paintbrush" is "pinceau" in french and that the word comes from the Latin "penicillum" which means "small tail" or "penis". Also, there's this text (of which I don't remember de name or the author) but it discusses the implication of artist's preferences for certain types of paintbrushes when you compare them to penises and it's silly and fun but now I need to talk about the paintbrushes I use and I don't want to make this awkward, so just forget what I just wrote there.

Let's see. I grouped and ranked each brush from A to G depending on how much I use them.

A) My personal favourites, that I use all the time: they are mostly round brushes.

There's a big one that's actually to paint walls but works well when I need to cover big surfaces

then a few tiny/flats with rounded tips for detail (called ”Filbert”)

a couple of medium/rounds

and this flat squared tipped (called “Flat” or “Bright”) for when I need to get clean edges.

B) Medium/flat and square tipped brushes I use the same way as the big round.

C) These ones I use when the others are already in use and I need a clean brush. the problem is that some of them have these synthetic bristles that are super bendy and I don't like it.

D) Some more small brushes for detail. I sometimes use them for watercolour because they can hold a lot of water. See how they have a shorter handle? Long handle = for easel painting (because then you can get further away). The small handle = not for easel painting.

To be honest I don't really care. it's not super important (but I prefer the long handle ones).

E) These are really tiny small round brushes that can be used for even smaller detail (but I don't use them a lot).

F) I never use this paintbrush. the bristles are super soft and fur-like and see how they're pointing outward instead of inwards, and don’t make a point? yeah, I can't do anything with that.

G) Please, PLEASE, for the love of god do not use these types of brushes with acrylic paint. they're for ink painting and calligraphy and other stuff. They're super expensive and a pain to wash. I've seen people use them with paint and I don't judge but personally, it just feels wrong to use them with paint.

General tips to keep in mind when buying brushes:

Size matters.

The bigger the better.

Hog bristles = texture + (in general) better quality + stiffer

Synthetic or nylon bristles = cheaper + bendier + smoother finish.

If you are getting a pack of brushes try to look for one with more of the bigger brushes than smaller ones.

You don't need every size but you need a couple under 10, one or two around 20 and one 30 or 40.

Brushes are expensive. Like, think book price range (where I buy them they are around 15 euro or around 20 euro).

Any free brush is a good brush.

Handles don't matter.

General tips to care for brushes:

Wash your brushes.

Use soap (dish soap is fine). I've seen people use shampoo and I'm sure it works but for acrylic paint (= water-based paint), it's a bit overkill.

Let them dry laying flat.

Don't let them sit too long in the water. you don't want to weaken the wood or glue or metal that is holding everything together.

Handles don't matter (just keep a picture or a reference of your brush before it gets covered in paint and you can't tell what size/brand it is anymore).

6. Paint

The fun part!

Here are the colours I am going to use (I'm not using all the colours i have and I tried to make a varied but coherent pallet).

(from top to bottom, left to right.)

Titanium White (neo acryl, Gerstaecker, 102)

Black (neo acryl, Gerstaecker,704)

Prussian blue phthalo (acrylic standard series, Amsterdam all acrylics, 566)

Quinacridone pink (I love art, Gerstaecker, 350)

Reflex rose (I love art acrylic, Gerstaecker, 384)

Primary yellow (acrylic standard series, Amsterdam all acrylics, 275)

Raw sienna (acrylic standard series, Amsterdam all acrylics, 234)

Burnt sienna (acrylic standard series, Amsterdam all acrylics, 411)

Burnt umber (acrylic standard series, Amsterdam all acrylics, 409)

Vandyke brown (acrylic standard series, Amsterdam all acrylics, 403)

Carmine (acrylic standard series, Amsterdam all acrylics, 318)

General tips to keep in mind when buying paint, or how to choose colours when you don't want to spend too much on paint:

You CAN NOT paint with only primary colours !!!

NO magenta (it's like using 100% red. Also paint is pigment not light so magenta does not equal red)

Get more white and black paint (you can start with small quantities but these two getts used the most. I've also seen people buy "handyman paint" in white to get large quantities for cheaper but I never tried before.)

Pick darker colours over lighter ones

and pick lighter colours over mid-tones (I will go over this later when I start painting)

If you're like me and don't have tons of money to spend on paint, avoid paints with double colour names like "greenish-yellow", get yellow and get green and get white and then mix! (so you have green, yellow and everything in-between...)

When in doubt pick colours with:

fancy names (royal blue, ultramarine blue,...)

natural pigments names (cobalt, carmine, sienna,..)

well known names (TITANIUM white !!!)

artist’s names (Vandyke brown, Klein blue, ...)

Exciting and unusual names (what intrigues you? If you go: wtf is "Quinacridone pink?", "Phthalocyanine emerald" "Vermillon?", then pick that.)

I know I said don't use primary colours but you NEED to mix colours. Go crazy! (note: straight from the tube colour can be used but in moderation or with good reasons..)

BUT You NEED brown, don't try to make it yourself

you DON'T need purple (I'll explain later)

(fluorescent colours can give you unexpected results when mixing. (I bought the fluorescent pink thinking I'd only use a small amount but now I'm kinda running out. And I don't even like pink that much...))

7. Something to pin down your paper

You only need this if you are going to work on something not horizontal.

Any type of pins (that can support the weight of the paper)

repositionable tape

or any kind of masking tape (that does not ruin paper when removed)

8. references

(The references on the picture are from another project.)

If you're not painting from life I recommend printing out your references over just having it on your phone or laptop or any screen, because

when you print them you are using pigment

and then when you are painting you're looking at pigment and not pixels/light.

So it's actually easier to SEE the colors you have to use (and it can improve your results when painting with PIGMENT).

Also, try to print them as big as you can.

Right now I don't have a printer with me and I can't, like, get it printed or anything (not only because of the lockdown but because this is witcher stuff I'm going to make so I'm going to need reference photos of the actors and everything... yeah, no).

I'm just going to have my refs on a screen...

Hope some of you made it this far. If so, congratulation!

(I tried to make this as clear as possible (English is not my first language and I struggle with writing)).

#painting tutorial #art tutorial #the witcher #witcher fanart #long post #long post cw #tldr: look at the pictures. That is what i'm going to use to make witcher art in this tutorial #lama draws

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laufire · 4 years ago

Note

In depth fandom ask: the last fandom you joined bc I can't remember it now

Well, I guess the last fandom I’ve properly joined --making a few edits, starting yet-another-WIP etc.-- is Black Sails, so. Plus I want to talk about it a little, spoiler-free, in case you decide to watch it ^-^ (I’ll leave that to the s3 post I need to finish...).

Top 5 favourite characters: Max is my number one, without a doubt, and of the rest of my faves Silver has an edge... but the remaining positions are a tough fight between Flint, Jack, Madi and Miranda, and I honestly can’t choose DD:

Other characters you like: Mr. Scott, Anne, Idelle, the Maroon Queen, Billy, Eme, Abigail... This show has a lot of great characters tbh.

Least favourite characters: I still loathe Peter Ashe with every fiber of my being. Alfred Hamilton is obviously The Worst(TM). And though it hasn’t grown into hate (yet), I don’t like Woodes Rogers one bit ¬¬

Otps: Flint/Miranda, and the combos in Flint/Madi/Silver and Anne/Jack/Max (in no particular order at the moment because I just HAVE TONS OF FEELS ABOUT THEM ALL).

Notps: I don’t have strong NOPE feelings towards anything, but I’m not into Eleanor/Max (which is a dynamic I actually really like BUT that I’m glad it doesn’t return to shippiness LOL); Eleanor/Rogers (I might be indifferent towards Eleanor most of the time but I haaaaaate Rogers for her. RUN GIRL), Flint/Vane (booooooooring).

Favourite friendships: Max & Silver (THE duo I swear), Jack & Max, Flint & Silver, Idelle & Max (I might not have said so before but I guess I like a little conflict LMFAO), Billy & Flint (NOT a friendship, but their relationship absolutely cracks me up I swear. “Who’s Billy?” XDDD).

Favourite family: Madi’s family, which is all I can say without getting spoilery. I just. *lies down on the floor overcome with emotions* xDD

Favourite episodes: the problem with binge-watching (okay, I’ve taken s3 more slowly but) is that they all kinda blur together LOL. Hmm. The season finales are all *chefs kiss* so far (sometimes in a very painful way... I’m looking at you s2. Though the ominous Flint/Silver moments in the s3 were A LOT too); any in which I get to see Max & Silver scheming together ofc. And the first handful of eps in s3 were particularly enjoyable to me because I was drowning in PURE ANGST and Flint & Silver feels xDD (I can’t NOT believe the fandom seems to call one of those “the shark date” asñldfjasdfñl).

Favourite season/book/movie: oof. I honestly can’t pick; s1 is probably the “least” because the others include better moments for some of my secondary faves, and because there’s a plot that’s really hard to watch... BUT it has things on it I adore to pieces too. s1-2 doesn’t have Madi (major drawback xD), and s3 is after one of my faves’ death... but frankly they’re all neck and neck so far.

Favourite quotes: “I am ruined over you” always comes to mind DD: “Liked is just as good as feared”; Max combo with Eleanor about sand (typing that down made me think of Anidala LMFAO. The scene itself is very different though! xD) in the s1 finale; “in another time, in another place, they would call me a queen”; “this ends when I grant them my forgiveness, not the other way around”, Mr. Scott’s “No. Only YOU.”... honestly, this show’s dialogue is just too good(TM), I could just quote it all back xD. And of course, I HAVE to mention “WHO’S BILLY”. It’s the law.

Best musical moment: the score is perfection all around, but given that I never skip the intro just to listen and watch it... yeah, the intro xD

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: well, I *might* have lost it the moment CAPTAIN FLINT COMES OUT TO LONG JOHN SILVER OVER A BONFIRE, IDK XDD

When it really disappointed you: the fact that I won’t get to see a fully fleshed out Mr. Scott-Silver dynamic is MAJORLY disappointing, let me tell you. That Flint’s actor didn’t somehow get his mother (aka Maggie Smith aka Professor McGonagall aka Lady Violet) on the show too ¬¬. LOL.

Saddest moment: character’s deaths of two of the characters listed on “top 5”/“others you like” xD.

Most well done character death: the hanging in 3x09 was well done and served its purpose.

Favourite guest star: for a value of “guest star”... I’m going with Idelle.

Favourite cast member: Jessica Parker Kennedy is the one that I know and love for other projects she’s done.

Character you wish was still alive: THE ONE WE TRAGICALLY LOST IN 2x09.

One thing you hope really happens: I’m cheating because I know there’s some of that in s4, but I want to watch more Flint/Madi interactions pls.

Most shocking twist: well, I wasn’t spoiled for Mr. Scott’s plot in s3 so I was (pleasantly) surprised by that xD

When did you start watching/reading?: a little over two weeks ago; I watched (devoured) s1-s2 and 3x01-3x04 in a few days because I wanted to meet Madi, and then I tragically had to slow down :(((

Best animal/creature: I will always love Treasure Islands’ parrot that Silver named after Flint LMFAO.

Favourite location: Nassau aka Max’s ~domain xD. And Miranda’s house.

Trope you wish they would stop using: noooooone. I love the tropes this show reuses LMFAO. Romantic Betrayals(TM), triumvirates, “good things happen in the dark/away from civilization”, the power of narratives, social climbing and revolt... bring them oooooon.

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: quite a few xD. But one that really stands out to me is the dialogue; both the ~deep and sorrowful type (there were so many quotes where I had to take a break to freak out properly lol), and the humorous ones.

Funniest moments: I know I’m repeating myself, but I recently rewatched the pilot to edit some scenes and I keep remember the WHO’S BILLY one xDD (which I maintain it was Flint trolling him. He could give Abigail a rundown of Billy’s whole life story AND he shamelessly checked him out that one time. Flint knows who Billy is, he’s just an asshole xD). Really, all the scenes between Billy and Flint in that episode are comedic gold lmfao. Billy’s “oh dear I fucked up” expression when he tells Flint the crew has started to think him weak and Flint looks half a second away from murdering him right there, his WTF face at Flint’s antics with the stolen page... Gold, seriously.

Couple you would like to see: I meannnnnn. I would’ve been very happy if the show had decided to go with Flint/Madi/Silver, for one. Bonus if Miranda could’ve been included. Or just explicit Flint/Silver in poly arrangements (THEY ARE IN LOVE, IT’S JUST ~COMPLICATED XD).

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: MAGGIE SMITH DAMMIT.

Favourite outfit: literally everything Max wears in s3. Eleanor’s s1-s2 outfits were things I’d love to wear too. Flint’s ~dramatic coat. Miranda’s collection of supposedly-puritan-but-showing-the-goods dresses xDD (and ofc her London clothes), Jack’s clothes (he’s Nassau’s fashion icon lbr).

Favourite item: the books!! Especially when Flint gave Miranda “La Galatea” as a gift (given that sometimes he reminds me of my OC Latoya, you might understand the freakout I had when he gave the other member of my OTP a book titled like that xDD).

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: no, but I kinda want to. I did have a Treasure Planet computer game I tragically can’t find... it was about collecting money in increasingly difficult scenarios LOL. And I probably have more pirate-y/Treasure Island theme stuff. I had a long pirate phase xD

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: Max’s because I like being on the winning team, thanks xD (though I do ~align more with Flint and Madi’s lbr...).

Most boring plotline: Eleanor and Vane’s ~romance is not at all badly written... but the fact that I find both of them boring kinda ruins the whole thing because I always wish that time went to someone else xD. Also, Blackbeard. Meh.

Most laughably bad moment: n/a.

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: the London flashback where Miranda goes to Flint’s house unannounced to take him to an art gallery, she finds him half-naked and he gets all awkward about it lmao. And then they hook up in the carriage :DDD

Most layered character: we get to explore Flint and Silver the most. Silver’s development in particular is something that never ceases to impress me ngl.

Most one dimensional character: except the one-note characters I wouldn’t really call anyone completely one-dimensional, tbh. Though I do think the fandom attributes more complexity to Thomas than it’s seen in canon? Like, I like what I see; I think he’s functional, he works well, and he adds wonderfully to Flint’s (and Miranda’s) story, but I don’t see him as a full character in his own right. Which is perfectly fine for the narrative so far, but I fear it might fall apart for me at the very end.

Scariest moment: I never know what to say in this... I mean, I guess Flint killing a man with his bare hands in the pilot Like That was scary xD. I understand why Silver freaked out LOL.

Grossest moment: any of Max’s interactions with Vane tbh. Stay away from her ¬¬

Best looking male: Flint has that ruggedly handsome thing going on for him, if you’re into that (and sometimes I do appreciate his ~aesthetics... very sad he shaved his head in s3 though. Like, I get you did it for the Angst, honey, and trust me, I Feel U, but still). I feel like I might be forgetting someone, but seriously, none of the dudes in this show so far do anything for me LOL. I can honestly say I love them for their personalities xDD

Best looking female: I have a weakness for Max, but Miranda, Madi, Anne, the Maroon Queen, Idelle, Eme... all of them are gorgeous in their own way. This show is good for sapphic women’s enjoyment in that sense xDD.

Who you’re crushing on (if any): I could crush on any of the women mentioned above tbh.

Favourite cast moment: I have literally only seen this post about an interview where Flint’s actor says he’s too old to party with The Youth of the cast and just wants to chill on the weekend... with bonus Max and Eleanor’s actress talking about how Vane’s once climbed the side of a building up AND back down. I’m with you, Toby Stephens, you don’t need those shenanigans xDD

Favourite transportation: the Walrus, for sentimental reasons LOL. I liked stolen Spanish warship too.

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): lots of good ones, though I think my fave might be the one of Miranda sitting by the window in London. Or the one of Charles Town burning down, I liked that :))) (I remember thinking “Flint better go full Daenerys on them”. And he did! It was nice xD).

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: n/a, so far.

Best promo: n/a.

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: I liked it from the word go, but the moment that TRULY cemented it for me was in 1x03, with Max making a decision that I... frankly didn’t expect. It made things worse for her in the short-term, the storyline itself was difficult and disturbing to watch and I still have some mixed feelings about it. But what it said about her as a character and how her journey goes after that... I was in awe of her, and of the show.

#missbrunettebarbie #replies #my thoughts #black sails #black sails thoughts #talking to the void #bsmax #miranda barlow #james flint #john silver #flintmiranda #silverflintmadi #silverflint #silvermadi #billy x flint #bsmadi #i think those are the most prominent ones #thanks for the ask :D

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