#because she’s distinct in terms of both character and visual.

[deathsmallcaps]

Hey so I’m a little obsessed with these mini dolls for Disney Princesses. To the point that if I’m at a dollar general or wherever else sells these guys, I like to rearrange them. I also convince myself to buy one if it’s the very last one left 😅.

Anyway today a little Tiana was the only one left and I’m thinking about modding* her, because I already have a Tiana. I looked on a website and found out that a Disney princess movie featuring an African girl named Sadé is currently in development hell - since 2018. Hopefully she’ll get made! But in the meantime, if you or anyone you know has access to official concept art I’d love to adapt this doll!

*I’m not that great at it but I enjoy doing it and representing the characters I think should be in the lineup/had as much impact on me as the Disney Princesses.

I cannot do any heavy mods (like switch out her body to give her pants, etc.) but I can paint a little.

But I’ve also been tinkering with possibly making a Tinkerbell, as she’s also a big Disney figure. I wouldn’t change this doll’s body colors, but I would touch up her dress and give her wings. Thoughts? For the record, I would get another doll to adapt if I ended up doing Tinkerbell and then Sadé info came out.

These are some of my better ones

Shuri, Namaari, Esmeralda, Halle-Ariel, Gabriella and her interpreter Olly from the Little Mermaid tv show and then Tiana!

Shuri is a Tiana head on a Kristoff body (he had pants). Her buns were placed in a line to imitate the actress’s hairdo in Wakanda Forever.

Namaari is a Jasmine Doll (the only other one with pants) with severely edited hair.

Esmeralda is a human Ariel doll. They do make a mermaid version but I decided to stick with her human doll only, because I otherwise would’ve wanted to make them all as mermaids. And that’s more money and time than I wanted to spend :’).

Halle Ariel is so pretty and she’s different from Jodi Ariel so I just had to make her. She’s a straight Moana doll, and she was one of my favorite to paint. I let the doll keep the flower in her hair because it’s pretty :).

Gabriella and Olly are from The Little Mermaid tv show and they have a very interesting backstory. Gabriella is just a mermaid but I decided to make her tersona (Terra persona as opposed to mersona lol)

The Tiana doll’s hair appears to be some sort of unofficial (imo) attempt at combining her little kid hairstyle (pigtails) and her adult bun, which irritates me. So I edited her to just have one bun.

[ayasenyaru]

I don't know if you ever said it before, but do you think Gabriel was a good villain?

mmm i guess the answer is yes because i think he's a good character? and the things that make him a "bad" villain are intentional flaws and weaknesses that make him more human. he's arrogant, short-sighted, and all his wins are attributed to outside help from nathalie, tomoe, or even felix !!! but he's not really meant to be seen as a schemer, as the way he exerts power over people is through his status. as he claims in pretention and as felix highlights in his play, the empire he's built and the resources he has access to make him the most intimidating, it's about "gabriel agreste" as a symbol of influence, who can control people in more ways than one.

he shines the most in S5 as he fully loses it and his dehumanization of adrien reaches ridiculously cruel extremes with the alliance rings, which are one of my personal favorite visual metaphors in the show altogether. it's sort of what i'm getting at, that you can see gabriel increasingly more corrupt with every passing season, and with that he also loses all the plausible deniability he was operating with from the start. the agreste story arc of S1-S5 is ultimately about questioning the consequences of our choices and the power we each hold as individuals, and gabriel is a physical manifestation of our worst possible selves. he's unapologetically selfish from his first to last appearance and even when he seems to come to recognize the results of his insanity, he cowardly leaves marinette to clean up his mess & deal with the aftermath.

while nathalie snapped out of it earlier than him & tried making amends for her actions by doing the bare minimum for adrien with the time she had left, and as felix ended up trading his cynicism for a positive outlook through the power of love, gabriel remained stubborn in his ways and his goal changed from the noble-sounding promise to reunite his family to, like, sticking it to those morally righteous brats as he grew mad with power. like akumas are people possessed by their negative emotions, gabriel is consumed by his regrets without even realizing it, and he's a cautionary tale for marinette to remember so that she doesn't end up like him. felix got to find out for himself pretty quickly how it felt becoming the monster that he thought his father was, that gabriel agreste was, and he immediately changed his path. but for marinette, whose life mirrors gabriel's own, the stakes are much higher and she's yet to come to terms with whether the choices she made in the S5 finale & london special were morally reprehensible after all. even with his physical disappearance, gabriel's control of the media, the people, and his son, have all been passed down to marinette and he still lives on through her. she could arbitrarily sympathize with felix's motivations as they both fought for adrien's sake and eventually their own romantic interests, but this time she's in a situation that would greatly affect and endanger her own life, and that's where the question initially posed to gabriel comes back to her - how far is she willing to go to keep things as they are, and how long will it be before she's also consumed by regrets?

the marinette/felix/gabriel spectrum really fascinates me because these characters have a ton of flaws in common as well as a similar way of thinking, and the distinction only lies in how instilled those mindsets are, and how easy or hard it would be to change them. marinette is always second-guessing, always unsure of herself; felix knows who he is, he has causes he vehemently advocates for but he's willing to make the occasional sacrifice or two if they'll benefit him in the long run, and he'll learn from past mistakes when things blow up in his face - and as for gabriel? he never makes any compromises, never reflects on himself, not once does he try and make an attempt until it's too late to change things.

and the way all of this ties with the show's message definitely makes him an incredible villain to me. thematically, he archieved his purpose in miraculous' first story arc and was an amazing nemesis to the main character. my only real complaints are only about how much more could've been done with these parallels while he was still active as the primary antagonist, or how we were only told about gabriel's past in the last minute, even if it was purposefully hidden. however i'm really excited for lila to succeed him as the theme of lies will surely be the most prominent in the second story arc, and i hope i'm correct in assuming that'll mean gabriel replacing emilie as the entity the narrative revolves around.

[redrobinsrobbingrobin]

Here is the aforementioned essay! I said I’d get it done (and my notes were pretty detailed anyway)

Dick's robin is representative of the distinction of youth culture coming to light as more kids distanced themselves from the conservative views and began questioning authority figures, during the 40s, when they questioned the actual effects and causes of war, questioned the authority behind it and the reason for not intervening earlier. Batman as a character was also introduced in this period, and is a call for social change. He is a billionaire who wants to help the lower class. He empathises with the people, he sympathises with the child that lost his parents in front of him, and death is a driving factor in both their lives. To me, this seems like a homage to the families who lot their children, their fathers, their brothers, to the war, and wanted to do and be better, to live their memory and be able to push through and help the world. Dick also puts McCarthyism into question, as he doesn't exactly obey Batman all the time, despite needing to. He questions Batman, he questions Bruce, he is rebellious and harsh, and angry, and maybe that's how he would have turned out, even without Bruce giving him a cape and weapons.he represents the beginnings of change, the start of hope after a war, the ability to raise yourself and your family above that.

Jason's post crisis character when referring to youth of the time is much like Tim's and Dick's. This was a period after wartime economy, where the majority of the population were people who couldn't fight in the war, where communism was a genuine fear, and his whole story line of 'crime alley, poor orphan, adopted by a billionaire,' pulls both capitalism and communism into question- why is there a billionaire when the people are suffering, and capitalism CAN help the few lucky enough to receive that help. In terms of youth attitudes, he came from a time of youth rebellion, evident in his later comics, where he pulled away from Batman which lead to his eventual death. He took more risks, he had an edge over Dick I terms of his street brawler style instead of Dick's grace in acrobatics. The older generations saw this rebellion of youth as off putting, and often refused to hire younger generations due to their more leftist views, and a perceived notion of them being radical and troublemakers. This stigma till exists today and is still evident in later Robin runs.

Tim’s characterisation as a representation if the youth is the most prominent to a modern audience, though, because he is representative of teens in the 90s/very early 2000s and they were attempting to get more teens into comics without it being seen as nerdy, however, this push for more youth diversity in comics prompted a huge shift in youth culture, where comics were now being seen as old people stuff and ‘nerd culture’ up until televised media (TV/movies) started adapting it to exclusively appeal to nerd audiences who didn’t want to watch new media, as it might mean letting go of old media. Televised adaptations also brought in new fans who could understand storylines visually and in a more efficient way than reading several decades worth of back reading comics could. Tim was a skateboarder and a photographer, and these pictures and excessive stalking of Batman and Robin could almost be seen as a teenage girl in the 90s having posters of her celebrity crush all over the walls. He also slept A LOT, which might be the writers trying to represent the youth as lazy in order to keep older readers and avoid being seen as 'pandering' to the youth.

Coincidentally, Steph was also introduced as a Robin during this period of the early 2000s which meant that DC were trying to ensure that women were being represented more in traditionally male media in order for the women’s equality movements to also be appealed to. She, as a character, does not fit into any stereotypical female character archetype (nosy reporter, damsel on distress, femme fatale) and is so evidently an individual of her own, without simply being a part of someone else’s character, like Tim’s. This shift in views towards women in comics was probably what stopped more comics from ‘fridging’ their female characters in order to elevate a male character’s story, even though Steph and Barbara were both pretty badly portrayed at the end of their individual runs (Killing Joke and No Man's Land, and Steph's baby). Her introduction as a Robin, 'the Girl Wonder' was so that Batman comics would appeal to more women, specifically, women who were actively less conservative and more likely to get into traditionally male medias, as many women in the 2000s were stepping out of conservative roles, and more were engaging in these 'nerdy' interests.

Damian’s introduction in a post 9/11 world, where the vilification of the LoA had reached a high and probably contributed to the extreme whitewashing of his character, sometimes seen in the DCAU, or even a lot in comics. He seems to feel ostracised by the rest of the family, because of his upbringing, the same way many Arabs and other ethnic minorities felt at this time. Damian being white passing also meant that he perhaps reflected the Arab youth in America who were not so outwardly ostracised by their peers due to the racial and religious tensions in the country. He was also introduced in or around 2006 (I can’t remember the exact date) where the youth were, again, largely viewed as rebellious or hooligans, which is NOT reflected in his character, not that I can think of any examples.

Anyway. That’s it for the essay, let me know if I missed something, or got something wrong, and thank you for reading till the end!

[askagamedev]

Shouldn't Overwatch also have the same problem then in regards to visual clarity? I'm sure if you were to give people Juno and Brigitte people would struggle telling what their role is probably confusing Brigitte as a Tank given she has a shield just like Reinhardt. Only Baptiste has said cross on his outfit which if he didn't people might confuse him from DPS since he carries a healing grenade launcher. Yet the only character design problem ive seen people talk about is Venture.

While this is true, it's a very different situation. Overwatch is an old game, it's been running for eight years now. When Overwatch launched, there wasn't anywhere near the kind of well-established competition that there is today. When Overwatch launched, there was no Apex Legends, Paladins, Deadlock, Quake Champions, or Valorant. Further, Overwatch's launch cast was designed with incredible visual clarity - nearly every character had a silhouette and visual design that both made them distinct and conveyed their style of gameplay. There's a pair of business terms for this kind of thing - Blue Ocean vs Red Ocean.

A Blue Ocean is mostly unexplored and pristine - you're entering a market that's mostly untouched and there isn't much competition. This favors the first-mover advantage - the first ones there have more time to experiment, set things up, and learn from their mistakes. The customers/players in that market don't have anywhere else to go if they want their gameplay, so you can afford to make mistakes, iterate, and improve. Since there aren't many other games to switch to, the players will likely stick with what they are already familiar with.

A Red Ocean is a saturated market, where the waters have been dyed red with the blood of all of the dead or dying competition. There's already a lot of competition, meaning that any new product must stand out significantly from its peers or it will soon die from lack of audience. In a Red Ocean, the initial launch is much more important because you never get a second chance at that first impression. Further, audience retention is also super important because of how much competition there is - a new product might be able to draw some attention just from the novelty, but novelty wears off quick and most of the players already know the genre and the other games available. If the new game doesn't serve their needs immediately, the players won't give it the time to improve - they'll just go to one of the competitors that already does serve their needs.

We can't really compare the two games in a vacuum, we must compare the full environment that the games launched in. Overwatch had the added benefit of significantly less competition in its Blue Ocean, meaning that the playerbase really didn't have anywhere else to go while they waited for Overwatch to improve things. Concord was unable to grab attention immediately in a Red Ocean, meaning any potential audience quickly dispersed themselves among the large number of competitors already out there.

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[uss-edsall]

I genuinely think one of the best videoogame announcement trailers ever belongs to Wolfenstein: The New Order. Rebooting an old franchise for a new decade, it had to make a distinctive splash, and it did so with aplomb. I adore it because of the visuals and music alike. Under the cut below's an infodump looking through the scenes.

The music is composed by Mick Gordon of future DOOM fame, and is a mix that adds an excellent prequel to Jimi Hendrix's All Along The Watchtower. This is especially poignant considering Hendrix is, quite literally, a fairly prominent character in the game.

As for visuals, oh, where to start? Well, at the beginning.

It starts with automation, showing something being built - the Nazi World. The first thing this creation does is erode and collapse the Eiffel Tower, in the reflection of the machine carving out the Wolfenstein symbol, and in the process showing the subjugation of France. "It was a remaking," as Blazkowicz says.

Up next is London Bridge in a pool of water, a cooling pool for superheated metals. Barrage balloons hang above her... and then the jagged metal comes into frame. It cuts to five of them, fashioned into sharp knives - and they're plunged into the pool with an audio cue, the shadows of murdered humanity rises in the steam, alongside faint screams.

London, and Britain soon after, has fallen. "Unethical," indeed, Blazkowicz.

The next shot showcases the bullets being created. The drumbeats match that of a marching military unit, a Nazi parade goosestepping on the wall behind a conveyor belt. Upon it, bullets are being created, the Nazi war machine is ascendant, on the march, towards its next conquest.

Imperfections are carved out of the helmet of the chassis. In the sparks is shown the Statue of Liberty, wreathed in flame - and as the music swells, she loses her head and is visibly damaged.

The armour turns as the factory works on it, showing the Empire State Building defining the New York City cityscape. Bombers are in her skies, flames wreath her buildings, and she burns. "Some... unthinkable." The Nazis have come to American shores - and defeated the Arsenal of Democracy.

The weapons are loaded. Finishing touches on the robot's eyes. The World War is long over - this is a Nazi machine now. The music drops perfectly into the real intro of All Along The Watchtower. "Now they've built a new world..."

The eyes spark to life, an evil red. A flash of lightning pouring rain. "Armies, of steel, and thunder..." It pans out to show an army of robots just like the one we watched being built. "They're rewriting history..."

Captain William Blazkowicz, standing proud and defiant, shotguns in both hands. He can take 'em. He can take all of 'em. Finally, stopping on a key visual and showing the title Wolfenstein: The New Order...

"But they forgot about me."

In my opinion, I think it's not only a fantastic trailer in terms of visual and musical design, it was a great way to announce the return of the franchise. In a minute and thirty seconds, they depict the destruction of the Allied powers, the fall of democratic civilisation. But here comes our dashing hero, our growling classic FPS soldier man, back again - ready and willing to wreak havoc and kill nazis.

[horse-girl-anthy]

in analysis of RGU and Ikuhara works more broadly, I've often drawn a distinction between uncomplicated childhood bonds and fraught adolescent relationships. I didn't come up with this comparison on my own, but was influenced by Enokido Yōji, who often touches on it in interviews. however, in my own writing, I've pinpointed sexuality as the cause of tension in relationships as characters age. while I was always aware that the issue was more complicated than that, I'm now questioning whether sexuality was the answer in the first place. further thoughts under the cut.

when I first set out to write this piece, I was planning on framing it in terms of platonic versus romantic love, but I'm not sure that distinction is meaningful in the context of Ikuhara works. in the Kotani interview, Ikuhara outlined a far more meaningful contrast between "romance" and "romantic":

"Romantic" has become a word for girls, and "romance" basically a word for men. In short, "romantic" is something that comes from the other. Like, I'll make you into a princess, or I'll arrange a wedding at a wonderful location; it's a world which a prince will appear from and return into. While "romance" is something like venturing into the trackless wilderness, that kind of world.

I can't see "romantic love" in any other way than how Ikuhara has described here--it is an illusion sold to people, the idea that someone else will come into their lives and fulfill them. in RGU, this can clearly be seen in the fantasy of the prince, but it manifests in Ikuhara's other works as well.

given that, I think it makes more sense to compare the platonic and the sexual, which brings us back to the original topic: the contrast between childhood and adolescent relationships. it's easy to say that childhood relationships are uncomplicated because of the lack of sexual tension, whereas adolescent (and adult) relationships are fraught due to it. but there are a lot of assumptions wrapped up in that way of thinking.

it's been common across many cultures to equate youth with virginity and sex with adulthood. this conception is played with in Utena a couple times, most notably in episode 18 where Tsuwabuki tries to grow up more quickly by gaining sexual experience.

this scene clearly contrasts Utena and Anthy on this front; Anthy appears to be teasing, perfectly in control of the situation, while Utena is vaguely aware of what's being implied and is uncomfortable with it. certainly, the most sexual characters in RGU appear to be the most powerful: Anthy, Akio, and Touga. but are they the most mature? does sexual experience equate to adulthood?

Enokido is enlightening on this topic. from his privacy files:

It is said that a human being gains whatever he lost in exchange. So what did Touga gain in exchange [for his abuse]? It was the sense of alienation from being abused every night and seeing his innocent friend and sister during the day. The alienated self. [..] And it is out of this awareness of alienation that you come to obtain a higher humanity and sexual self-awareness. In the TV series, Saionji always felt that he was one step behind Touga. Although the two are more or less equal in terms of ability, what Saionji lacked was that sense of alienation. 

both Anthy and Touga were sexually abused as children. as Enokido describes, they may have gained something through it. but what they gained was not adulthood.

I'm certainly not the first person to note that the dress Anthy wears in episode 38 is the same one we see her in as a child. through this visual cue, the show is hinting at the fact that Anthy, as adult as she may seem, is still frozen at the time of her terrible trauma. that's not to discount her canniness or maturity--I do believe she is mature in many ways--yet the little girl inside her remains.

and what of Akio? isn't he just a parody of what a child believes adulthood to be? all his bad boy hijinks fail to even make him an interesting person, much less a mature one.

now let's consider the platonic. I once argued that all Ikuhara works are about friendship, and I stand by that. given that I think friendship is a serious issue in Ikuhara, not to be taken for granted, I shouldn't dismiss it as belonging to the realm of childhood; rather, it's the end goal for all his characters.

Enokido claims people experience easy platonic love in childhood but lose it along the way and thus pine away for it. if it's not sexuality that creates the rift he refers to, what is it?

I won't deny that sexuality may be a factor, but to name it as the cause is a mistake. in the first place, are children non-sexual beings? many adults believe so, but an entry-level knowledge of child psychology tells us otherwise. there is a physiological change that occurs during puberty, typically a major one; I'm not denying that. rather, I'm questioning whether it's the absence of sexuality that makes childhood relationships uncomplicated, or if it's the lack of awareness of social norms surrounding sexuality and gender that's the cause.

I don't want to go too far here; Yurikuma provides plenty of examples of lust acting as a barrier to true love. however, need lust and love always be in conflict? Sarazanmai seems to say that without the libidinal power of our desire, we will not be able to connect with one another.

I'd like to come back to Ikuhara's definition of "romance," as opposed to "the romantic." a romance is a journey in which one sets out into a pathless land. in true Ikuhara fashion, he depicts this metaphorically--romance in RGU means deciding for oneself how to think, how to live. in the pathless land, distinctions are no longer needed, including the distinction between the platonic and the sexual. the hope is to obtain love; sex is a way to express love, if one so chooses, but need not carry any more connotations with it than that. that's a vision of adulthood I can get behind.

[miraculousladybugconfessionbox]

((Person has said they do not mind being Anonymous. So confession sent in by @tanookireviews, a friend of mine!) Note this is LONGGG but really well in depth!)

Transcript: I may not know much about this show but from experience talking about it with a friend, the designs are awful. I'm gonna explain why by comparing Marinette/Ladybug from Miraculous Ladybug to Ren/Joker from Persona 5.

Let's begin with the obvious reason. Marinette's designs barely differ from each other.

The entire show relies on her having a secret identity…so tell me why the design barely does any to differ her civilian form from her ladybug form besides the mask and skin suit. No amount of phantom masking or some shit can tell me that I can't recognise her in that damn suit.

Now let's take a look at Ren and see how he differs.

Notice anything different about Ren/Joker's design? Simple. It's interesting and distinct.

While it's easy to know who he is just from a glance, that's not the entire point of it. Plus no one actually sees the design in the real world and only under specific circumstances.

Even then his designs works because of the fact that both are different yet interesting. The first design is simple but it works because of the fact Ren is supposed to blend into the crowd. It's also that way because he's the silent protagonist and the self-insert for the player. His phantom thief design works because it's the complete opposite of real world design while still making sure it's interesting, right down to his clothing and various other bits.

Marinette doesn't have those qualities. Her design is simple but doesn't work because of how bland it is with the hero design being even blander than it actually should be. A lot of what makes superheroes interesting is their flashy outfits. Even simple ones such as Spider-Man work because while it is just a skintight suit, it adds a lot to make it distinct and that's how Ren wins while Marinette fails.

Speaking of distinct, Silhouettes! A lot of what makes a good character design is a silhouette. It's a major principle in the art world to ensure that characters are recognisable. Even if the character design is simple, a silhouette can go a long way to sell your idea.

Now does Marinette/Ladybug have that?

Hahahaha!

Fuck no

Marinette and Ladybug's silhouettes completely fail. They look generic and fail to stand out in my opinion. The silhouettes also fail to differentiate from each other in terms of outfits. If I were shown these without knowing its origin, I'd assume it would be the same suit she's wearing.

How about we go back to Ren then? Let's see how he's doing.

These feel heavily distinct from each other and are actually interesting silhouettes. The first silhouette is simple but the pose that Ren strikes help make him stand out. His second silhouette not only surfs and turfs Ladybug out the salad bar but with the usage of posing again along with different shapes connected to his design, his design has this sense of creativity and intrigue that I do not get with Ladybug.

Y'know what? How about I show you a collage of

Every

Single

Persona protag and their silhouettes

Look at these guys and use the same logic as before

Actually interesting designs

Distinct and somewhat recognisable silhouettes

An overall sense of more time and creativity put into it

The Persona series proves you can have simple designs and make them stand out.

And before you say "Ladybug is a show made for children"...are you trying to imply that children don't deserve good media and designs?

You can have a piece of children's media that includes good and interesting designs

Want an example?

I'll give you a good one!

This is a piece of artwork from 2001 made for the game Klonoa 2 Lunetea's Veil and it looks absolutely stunning. Not only does the visuals look nice but Klonoa and Lolo look good too. Not only do their designs contrast with each other but they are appealing to the eyes and have distinct shapes and colours to make them feel interesting and part of the world they're from.

Plus with Klonoa's distinct features (those being his ears, cap and various other parts of his body), they make a silhouette. Not just any silhouette but a very nice and interesting one that helps him feel recognisable.

So yeah I'm starting this blog off strong. I'm sorry if I rambled too much but I just wanted to point out how bad designs are in this show compared to other things out there.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[crystalelemental]

Full tierlist is here, breakdown of the S-tier. As the youth say, these are my blorbos. The kids still say blorbo, right?

In all seriousness, this is going to be the longest part by far.  The major difference between A-tiers, who are largely some of my favorites you may have seen me talk about a lot, and the S-tiers here, is that S-tiers are so personally compelling they define my attachment to the series. I am going to talk A Lot.  So, reverse order, let's talk about S-tier.

Clair Crystal Lore: I am a younger cousin of a particularly talented older cousin.  I'm sure this immediately sets the stage for why I like Clair so much.  Having her try so hard to be stronger than the talented older cousin, and being Very Angry that she can't seem to be no matter what she does, resonated with me profoundly.  The very first fanfiction I wrote was as a roughly ten year old child, giving her the victory over Lance I felt she deserved, and nearly two decades later I recreated it in one of my personal favorite fics.  Clair just got me.

In terms of what she is within the series, Clair, like Whitney, exudes personality in a short window of time.  Uniquely, Clair refuses to give you a badge after you beat her, demanding you go through an additional trial.  Notably, this mimics modern games giving their pre-match trials that feel completely pointless, but instead of a time waster, Clair's actions define who she is.  She's a sore loser who cannot stand when others are recognized as being more capable than her.  She hates that Lance seems to be the favorite, she hates that the Elder doesn't recognize her, she hates that this random challenger can waltz in and beat her.  She's set to refuse accepting you passed the trial, until threatened with consequences of...telling Lance.  Which she considers a big enough deal to relent.  She hates that he's the favorite...but she does respect him.  It's an absolutely divine presentation of this kind of dynamic, for a hot-headed character seeking recognition, feeling like they're overshadowed.

The fun is that Clair, at least visually and in team composition, is highly distinct from Lance despite both being dragon tamers.  This is something HGSS loses a bit given evolutions and team expansions, but Clair is defined as someone aligned to the sea, while Lance is defined as someone aligned to the skies.  It's a common joke that Lance is secretly a Flying trainer, but that's by design.  He is master of the skies, high above the rest of the world.  And in contrast, Clair belongs to the seas, with an ace defined by its presence deep below the waves, and a typing that leaves its sole vulnerability as other Dragons.  Symbolically, this is an excellent presentation of how she perceives her relationship to Lance.  That sense of inferiority in comparison to him is, quite literally, her core weakness.

When I write Clair, I like to think a lot about what she'd be with age.  As the cools off, I imagine her to be more introspective and reflective, moving from the external comparison to the people she respects but feels she cannot measure up to, to comparison to her past self and where she's going in her own life.  This is undoubtedly projection, but Clair has always been a profoundly important character to me because of that personal connection.

Cynthia Perhaps my most normie opinion of the entire tier list: Cynthia is really cool actually.  I feel like there are not many people willing to argue this, save to be contrarian.  Which, mood, I'll get to that, but call it what it is.  Cynthia's an excellent design, and a notoriously difficult challenge that keeps her ranked as a favorite for most.  Yet at the same time, I am also part of the group that gets really frustrated with the general fan perception of Cynthia.  Part of that is...too much waifu-ing of a character who Does Not Look LIke That, but in equal measure, people tend to over-emphasize the coolness of Cynthia and ignore that she's kind of a massive dork.

What's presented in-game is honestly fascinating in comparison to her predecessors.  Consider previous champions.  Blue is the son of Professor Oak, the most esteemed researcher in the series.  Lance is the prodigy son of a prestigious line of dragon tamers.  Steven is the son of a powerful CEO of the foremost company in Hoenn.  By comparison, Cynthia is the granddaughter of the chief of a podunk village in the middle of bumfuck nowhere mountain.  Cynthia's rise is from relative obscurity, and what she does with this fame is...kinda wander around pursuing her personal interests.  She takes after Steven in this way, being a recurring presence in the player's adventure, but never really taking over the spotlight.

Much like Dawn, her personality is solidified by her contrast to Cyrus, who exists in opposition to human spirit, and more thematically, to emotion.  Like Volo and Cogita, her namesake can align to the "I think/wish/feel, therefore I am," with Cynthia being the "feel."  She is wholly emotional, driven by her internal whims and what captures her interest.  She's open and earnest, almost to a fault, being willing to address Cyrus' philosophical inquiries with "If you hate people so much, just go live by yourself, I don't care about your tantrum."  

Following her feelings is what leads to her arrival in Unova.  She literally spends half a year, every year given she's in both games, just hanging out at the beach with her girlfriend/wife Caitlin, and exploring ruins.  At no point is the question of whether whether she should spend so long away from her job important to her.  Cynthia travels when and where she wants, and more importantly, crashes at a "friend's" place while doing it.  Masters expands on this a bit, confirming that part of her reason is that Darach tidies up for her.  She's bad at housekeeping, tends to make a mess of everything, and she likes having someone help take care of it for her.  The illustrious Champion of Sinnoh cannot clean her room.  That's endearing to me.

Cynthia, for all her perceived polish, is a massive nerd and a domestic disaster, and that's fantastic.  I love a character that can present as effortlessly cool and a complete dweeb depending on circumstance.  The level of excitement and whimsy she expresses about legends and myths and her research, before she goes into Serious Battle Mode and stomps your shit in, is the sauce that makes her so appealing.  I don't think you can have a truly engaging Cynthia without both sides in play.

Geeta In very provable terms, Geeta is the least popular champion in the series.  People, broadly, Do Not Like Her.  Part of this is comparative.  In a game that introduced a ton of strong and present personalities, Geeta does fail to stand out, being more downplayed and seemingly all business polish.  When you're surrounded by lunatics, being the "normal" one is less appealing (see my stance on Larry).  Part of this is fan response to the concept of having a boss, actively vilifying her for incredibly benign actions, and making absolutely wild assumptions about her leadership style and capabilities based on incomplete information.  I'm not beating around the bush on this one, I think people are overtly hostile to Geeta for no reason, and it's become a self-reinforcing stance in fandom as people flock to the general consensus.  And me?  I am many things.  A massive hater, deeply biased by aesthetics, possibly too old to write this many words about a children's series for children.  But the very core of my being, is being contrarian.  And damn if her spot here isn't everyone else's fault.

Let's address the former issue.  Geeta, in presentation, comes off very down-played, being the polished and calm business woman who, by appearance, exudes too little to stand out.  This is facade.  Just like Larry, Geeta self-identifies as fairly normal, but is possibly the least hinged of any particular group.  When Penny hacks into the League system and embezzles tens of thousands of dollars in funds, her response is "That's awesome.  Buff up our security system and we won't tell the feds."  I have seen people spin this to "Geeta is blackmailing Penny," in case we want to keep counting of meaningless vilification attempts. Geeta is lackadaisical about rules and, apparently, legality.  When you go into Area Zero without permission, it's Rika that snaps at you about breaking rules.  Geeta thinks it's fine, and is giving special permission to people outside her institution to explore.

Her battle also highlights a lot of how she is as a person.  Like okay, I'm assuming everyone landed critical hits, or had her get a lucky shot in, right?  If you didn't, the short is that Geeta comments on everything, but it comes across as wildly condescending.  "Surely this isn't enough to deter you," "Yes, that's the correct move in this situation."  She seems really smug, but the thing is...she's being genuine.  She's clapping for you, smiling the same way she always does.  She does think you're doing a good job and is trying to be encouraging, and is so so bad at it.  I think there's a reason she considers Nemona her sort of successor; she likely sees a lot of herself in Nemona's complete lack of social grace.  She is singularly driven to make Paldea's league exceptional, and despite her efforts to be encouraging and enthusiastic, comes across as condescending or insincere, and I don't read that as intentional from her at all.  Despite claims that they were obviously setting up Villain Geeta, she's been on the level the whole time.  She's just awkward, guys.

When I write her, this is what I like to lean into.  She is deeply awkward, and has no idea what she's supposed to be doing outside of her job.  She runs two organizations, and has zero known personal hobbies.  In many ways, she's a foil to Larry.  Larry doesn't like his position, but as a means to an end, has thrown his entire life into work in hopes of an early escape, with nothing to fall back on.  Geeta knows nothing but her work, and is likely to die at her desk.  She knows what she likes, but doesn't know how to act outside of that, and it rubs people wildly the wrong way.

Which leads to the second issue.  Fan perception of her is starkly negative, and this personal friction leads to assessments of her abilities that are wildly critical given that we don't know what she stepped into.  Consider Paldea as a whole.  This is the only region where we have a legitimate, fully funded Academy for research.  Trainer Schools in other regions are exclusively for battling, but Paldea, uniquely, has Pokemon Biology, Home Ec, Mathematics, as if any ten year old needs to know that shit when you have dinosaurs that are your friend.  No other region provides such a robust set of studies for future career paths.  Paldea's League, then, is in direct competition with all of these other fields of study, in a way other regions are not.  Of course there's not as much money behind it, it has significant competition.

Despite this, people will assert that it is Geeta's poor management that results in Gym Leaders taking a second job, when...Unova.  Unova also has Gym Leaders take on secondary, more lucrative positions, and no one criticizes Alder's management skills.  If anything, Geeta is keenly aware of the fact the League doesn't pay well, but still expects her Leaders to at least care about their job.  Notably, no one gets fired.  The Leaders remain despite the performance review, and despite many showing outright apathy about the position.  Moreover, while it's not necessarily her doing (though I assume it is), the LP system subsidizes pay.  This one gets her a lot of flak too, calling LP a form of company scrip (Vilification Count: 2), but last I checked, company scrip cannot be used at your local independent hot dog stand, with a 1:1 ratio for actual cash.  If anything it's the polar opposite; lacking in direct funding to pay better, a system was implemented in which League members, in addition to their actual wages, receive LP that operates, somehow, at a 1:1 value with proper currency.  This is both a brilliant move to incentivize people to take the positions, and an outright miracle of bureaucracy that she got nearly every organization in the country to agree to it.

I can go on about her battle being badmouthed as poor design, and how that's really just game design failing an otherwise competent team, but I've done that before and I don't want to spend forever one one character.  My point is, Geeta is the closest I come to "Everyone else is interpreting this character wrong."  Geeta is absolutely fascinating to me.  She wants so badly to make the League as grand as any other, and in the face of massive competition that puts them in a less favorable position, has largely risen to the occasion.  She's not perfect.  She makes Katy hold back so challengers experience early success, which is behaviorally sound for competitors, but unsatisfying to her employee.  She's not infallible.

But she cares deeply for her people, and wants the best for them.  That's why she doesn't just ignore Penny's actions, she offers her a job putting her known skills to positive use and guiding a career.  That's why she "forces" Larry to use Flying types; she's aware he's in a rut and doesn't love what he does, and is nudging him to expand his interests and horizons.  That's why she has Nemona sit out of the Academy Ace Tournament; difficult as it is for her, Nemona is gearing up to take her place as Top Champion, and needs practice organizing the event rather than being its top competitor.  People don't really like her for it.  Again, social graces are nonexistent, and her sense of what's right to do isn't always what people want.  But there's a reason those performance reviews end with everyone showing renewed interest and investment in their positions.  Contrary to popular belief, Geeta knows what she's doing, and is damned good at it.

Valerie Aesthetically perfect, I adore Valerie's design.  What pushed her over the edge is a particular bit of dialogue from someone in the hotels who talks about various characters.  He tells you that "Miss Valerie"  is actually from Johto.  Her fashion is largely centered on Johto fashion, but she came to Kalos for reasons we don't really know.  Which should get the brain juices flowing.  For me, the connection was obvious: from Johto, kimono-based attire, mains an Eeveelution.  That is a Kimono Girl.  Formerly, at least, but that is a Kimono Girl, you cannot convince me otherwise.

So then Masters jumps in, produces the Silver and Ho-oh event where she knows all about Ho-oh...only for them to have her say "Sorry, I'm not, I just know a lot about it."  Which...okay.  I'm choosing to interpret that as strictly literal.  She is not, in this iteration, a Kimono Girl.  But either she was and is no longer, or wanted to be.  This is fan speculation in spades at this point, but that's half the fun, right?

In the former case, it's...kind of whatever.  It implies that she got bored or something, but the conclusion is she left of her own accord.  Perhaps to pursue fashion, who knows.  But I find these conclusions relatively boring.  They don't really lead you anywhere.  The latter case, however, has implications.  Did she want to become one but couldn't?  Why couldn't she?  Did she fail out?  That seems unlikely, given her knowledge of relevant Johto mythology and working understanding of Johto fashion.  Was she not allowed to become one?  Why not?  Is the position something you're born into, and despite how much she admired them, she just couldn't follow those footsteps?  Or was something else in play?  I have an answer, but I'm literally in process writing a fic with my answer and don't want to spoil that, so look forward to it, shameless plug.

My point is that, very succinctly, Valerie is the kind of character who is sprinkled with just enough connected dots that you can really run wild with speculation about what her deal is.  And her deal becomes exponentially more fascinating when she talks about wanting to literally become a Pokemon, Mystery Dungeon style.  Valerie, what in god's name does that mean?  Like you want to look like one?  Your clothes do weight thirty-three pounds, apparently, so dedication to the need for fairy wings.  Or do you want to physically metamorphose into a fairy?  Do you assume that's possible based on the forbidden Sinnoh deeplore we're all now privy to?  How do you expect to...actually, talk to Opal, she may know a thing or two.

Valerie just winds up being a favorite off of aesthetic preference, and finding her really interesting to speculate about. I can safely say she's probably the "shallow" favorite of the seven, but there's a reason she's #4. I think there's a lot of enjoyment to be had with speculation about a character, where canon doesn't answer too much for you but gives just enough to really get you thinking about it. Also I think all gym leaders should be completely unhinged, my biggest criticism of Galar is that everyone's kinda downplayed, and Valerie is one of the least hinged characters we get in the series. I love her dearly.

Roxanne I have a strong affinity for the straight-laced, serious, studious types.  Needless to say, Roxanne is so in this category that, when I first played Sapphire, Roxanne was my favorite instantly.  There is a cute bookworm girl who is really into cool rocks?  I like cool rocks!  Attachment established.

The core of "cute nerd who is deeply fixated on her interest" is the appeal.  Roxanne is an absolute treasure, being deeply invested in rocks because she is a lover of history, and rocks (specifically, fossils and such) tell a story about the ancient past.  She'd get along well with Cynthia, is all I'm saying.  But within her own region, she has the closest connection to Steven, her Rock Pal, who she talks with endlessly about different rocks and stones.  What's fun is the contrast.  Steven's appeal to rocks seems to be that he finds them pretty and likes the rare ones.  He's the equivalent of a card collector who likes showing off the shiny reverse holo foil he pulled.  Roxanne, however, is about story.  She actually knows how to play the game and maybe this common isn't flashy and impressive, but she loves the tricks it can pull and thinks the art really captures the story they're telling through the flavor text.

There's also her teacher/tutor angle, depending on perceived age (recently leaked documents state 14, though your stance on unreleased internal documents that have very evidently changed is up to you).  Roxanne knows a lot, but is also someone who wants to share that knowledge with others.  She seems to like working with kids, doing so voluntarily and, presumably, does a good job.  Her younger gym trainers all seem to look up to her, anyway.  She is admired for her skills and knowledge, if nothing else.

Fan perception, but it's her social relationships I think bear examination.  She has Steven, who...we never see directly interact with her in the series proper.  And she allegedly has Brawly, who she interacted with in the demo of ORAS but again, never in series.  She just mentions getting your number from him, so we know they're in communication, but nothing else.  And the thing is, while she is admired for being the top of the class student, that tends to come with some social distance, as she may seem more unapproachable.  Add in a tendency to start monologuing in really technical detail about her specific area of interest that not many others are going to reciprocate, and you have a good recipe for a character who is, at some level, rather isolated.  There's a reason that, even within Masters, her only close associations seem to be other Rock-type trainers, who share her fervor for rocks.

Masters added dialogue about how she always wanted to train a Golem specifically.  This feels like a minor detail, but (1) Geodude is fairly common, so this isn't particularly unreasonable for most people, except that (2) it's a trade evolution.  To make that, specifically, your distant goal that you're hoping to one day achieve implies that...you don't have someone to trade with.  You're easily talented enough to train up to a Graveller.  But Golem?  That requires something that goes a step outside of your knowledge. Which is the premise of another fic I wrote, are you sensing a pattern?

Despite this, Roxanne never really seems lonely or sad, or even all that concerned about it.  She's the type to be perfectly fine with a small, close circle of friends she gets along with.  And it's not that she can't adapt to other areas of interest, she teaches for god's sake.  But she knows what she likes and stays true to that, pulling just enough competence to interface well with anyone she needs to.

Roxanne, similar to Clair, hits at a very personal level, even if some of that is due to strictly personal interpretation. While I will often bemoan fandom tendency to big up random characters that are canonically blank slates, I do at least understand the personal connection to a character based on what you've perceptually built of them. Roxanne is, in many ways, that kind of character to me.

Jasmine I am a slut for Johto.  By region, it is my favorite, it's a nostalgia thing, it is part of my soul, it will never leave me.  In particular, I attached very strongly to Olivine, a city near the sea.  While not quite the same thing, I spent a lot of my younger days near the water, and feel a profound connection to it.  Olivine felt deeply like home to me because of that.  If I were going to have my own Pokesona, which is definitely not a thing I did as a child, they'd live in Olivine.  And naturally, this meant there was connection with Jasmine.

Aesthetically, Jasmine is another that just clicks with me.  Incredibly cute design, backed by an ace that is a giant metallic snake monster.  You have no idea how much I love that Masters kept this going by giving her Celesteela.  Jasmine's just a fun and eye-catching look, especially with the HGSS redesign.

Her personality is best encapsulated in her intro.  "I use the - Clang! - Steel type!  ...do you know about Steel type?  They are very cold, sharp, and really strong.  Um...I'm not lying."  First note: Jasmine describes her type in very tactile terms.  She is someone who thrives on the sensory, and appreciates the qualities of cold, sharp, and the noise they make, with her "Clang!" in Masters' sync moves being interpretable as a vocal stim at this point.  Second note: she introduces herself and her type, and then the script falls apart, so she just starts talking about her favorite type. There's even a delay before she starts talking again, implying a bit of silence as nothing happens.  Third: following that, there's another pause, where she tries to fill the silence and what she comes up with is an incredibly awkward "I'm not lying" before giving up and just starting the fight.  Our girl is incredibly awkward, and I adore her.  Because despite this, she tries to break out of that mold.

Jasmine is very mild-mannered and soft-spoken, often apologetic and uncertain, but she tries.  Jasmine is constantly pushing herself to move out of her comfort zone.  She's one of few characters who actively travels to another region.  We find her in Sinnoh, where she's taken up Contests as well, which I always interpreted her as being particularly invested in personal experiences.  Yet where we find her is Sunyshore.  By the sea.  It's comforting to her.  It reminds her of home.  What the game shows us is a young girl who is deeply socially anxious, trying her best to push herself to get out there. She's doing it scared, but by god, she is doing it.

We also get more of her general life, given the little mini events in HGSS.  We get to know that Jasmine is a huge eater despite her slender frame (girl, same), and we get to see her talk to Erika, who she cannot socially keep up with.  Erika has her flustered in like fifteen seconds flat.  And god bless Masters, because when Jasmine talks about Erika, it is in absolutely gushing praise with literal hearts bursting over her, transitioning immediately into blushes and insistence you never tell Erika because that's really embarrassing.  Girl is down bad for the girl who...kinda teases her for giggles.  That's her best friend/girl crush.  I'm not even theorizing, Masters has basically canonized that.

Jasmine is just an entire mood, being socially withdrawn but trying to branch out, awkward but trying so hard to engage with people, pushes herself to do all the things she desperately wants to experience, and finds comfort in the ocean and her preferred sensory input.  She feels like one of the most fleshed out characters in very little time on screen, and unlike many who get development, hers is less about grand sweeping character arcs, and more about her day to day.  It's about knowing the kind of person she is. I find her deeply relatable, and delightfully charming.

Caitlin Among the many archetypes that capture my interest immediately, there is no more powerful category than "Has very strong emotions, does not understand them at all."  When you combine this with a wealthy lady who barks orders, I stand literally no chance.  Getting to know about EVs and competitive stuff was the worst thing to ever happen to me, but it did mean I challenged the Platinum Frontier, and I cannot begin to tell you what Caitlin did to me at that age.  Seeing her come back in BW1, now a member of the Elite Four using my favorite type in Psychic, was an instant kill.  No one did it like Caitlin.

Of course, this is the initial hook that would eventually drag me directly into gacha hell once again.  Seriously, I picked up Masters specifically because I wanted to play as Caitlin.  What drew me to her was the background they go in to.

See, Psychic, as a type, is often associated not with thought, but with feeling.  With empathy.  Sabrina initially asserts that everyone has some Psychic power, they just don't realize it, with the implicit lesson being that your ability to connect with others and to feel things out is a form of psychic power.  Tate and Liza show similar given their coordination tactics.  Caitlin is the next evolution of that, taking the concept of "Psychic powers as emotional strength" to a different conclusion.  Specifically, what happens when you can't control it?

In Platinum, Caitlin is forbidden from battling.  They don't really go in depth about why, just that she can't, so Darach does it for her.  When we meet in Unova, the answer is explained: "the force of my emotions shook me greatly.  When my power awoke, I came close to destroying everything around me."  She's even clear about what the emotion was, talking about how she's never beaten Cynthia, and would explode with rage.  She doesn't handle losing well, and has eruptive psychic power that make it actively dangerous for her to get mad.

Caitlin is someone with anger issues, whose understanding of elegance and poise is to just not do that at all.  Just don't get mad.  She even refers to that time as her "weak self," as if trying to distance from that part of her.  But while battling, when you get to her last Pokemon, she says she needs to stay cool and collected no matter what, as if talking herself through it.  And in her villa, she'll talk about how she thinks it's better to just have no psychic power at all, than power you can't control.  Using the "Psychic powers as channeling feeling," she's someone who thinks it's better to feel nothing than to feel out of control. There's a reason I think she and Cyrus would have stuff to talk about.

By BW2, Caitlin has dropped the "weak self" and no longer talks herself through things while on the verge of losing, instead presenting as much calmer and even enjoying the match. But that personal philosophy stays.  She pursues this notion of an ideal, elegant self, but that self is one completely divorced from the things she is feeling. And it's only through experience confronting those emotions and working through them that she actually starts to properly adapt.

Specifically, losing to Cynthia got her used to it, and helped her learn to calm down.  In her position as Elite Four, losing to the protagonists (and likely Iris) further built familiarity.  She keeps it in check now.  It's delightfully powerful, and resonates very strongly on a personal level.  As someone who has also had difficulty controlling frustration and anger, and also internalized shame over it to the point you think the only thing to expect is Never Get Mad, Caitlin lands extremely hard.

Coincidentally, this is also part of why Caitlin/Cynthia is my big pairing.  Cynthia, canonically, is part of what got Caitlin to where she is.  Their battles taught Caitlin to accept loss, and Cynthia's continued presence with her through explosive outbursts shows a level of trust and care that is, frankly, rare in the series.  Friendship is a huge thematic point of Pokemon, but in many cases it's interest in similar things, or that sort of kid friendship where you both are playing in the same sandbox and therefore are friends right now.  Caitlin and Cynthia have this incredibly fascinating backstory of a girl who could not control her power, and a girl who stuck with her until she could.  Even if you're weirded out about age gap or just don't like the ship, there's something uniquely powerful to their dynamic I don't think you can get anywhere else in the series.

Caitlin is just the most personal connection I have ever gotten out of a Pokemon character.  She is the ideal aesthetic, she mains the best type, she's a powerful temper doing her best to be composed, grappling with internalized shame and a desire to be rid of those feeling entirely, but makes her way through to better control it without suppressing who she is.  It's like I said, absolutely no one did it like Caitlin.

Shameless Self-Promotion If you read through all 39 of those paragraphs, maybe you would like to read 39 other paragraphs of fanfiction?  If so inclined, here's the link to my AO3 account, where I have written:

Several Caitlin/Cynthia fics, and some Caitlin-specific fics

Geeta-positive propaganda

General-rated Volo fic, which one comment tells me is super rare

WataOshi fic, but not a pairing anyone cares about

That one Little Goody Two Shoes fic

Among others. I also cross-post each fic under this tag on Tumblr, with some commentary if you're into that sort of thing. I've been working on new projects that should hopefully start going live by the end of the week too. I'm hoping to have one or two up tonight, we'll see.

[shizukateal]

Miraculous Ladybug Magical Girl Fashion Review -Part 1

Preamble

Ok, so. What do you people generally think of as a "superhero outfit"? Spandex, right? Tight-skinned, uninterrupted spandex covering almost all the body, or at least not straying away from the body line if you're a girl and only get a swimsuit. Maybe a cape (hood optional) depending on how dramatic you are to add some flow or, if you're a woman, your hairstyle will do that job. Otherwise you can have some form of helmet or headpiece to distinguish yourself, and that's it. That's the extent of options you have. If you're extremely lucky, they might allow you to wear a jacket.

While this description might be a bit of an exaggeration (not by much, though) I think we can all agree that this is a very restrictive set of rules to work with. It's very hard to make something that completely contours to the body visually compelling. It's hard to distribute colors and shapes and patterns in a neat way that makes you stand out when you have to compete with thousands of millions of characters with the same 3 allowed bodytypes (lean, broad, or Woman™️). Which is why we should clap even more at designs like the DC holy trinity and especially Spiderman, who not only has a fantastic design in spite of how alienating it should be, but whose look is also currently inspiring thousands of artists to make their own variations, technically also including today's very own Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

This is all a very lengthy way to say that some of the MLB people wear their fursuits better than the rest. Skin-tight onesies with fur patterns are not something everyone can pull off. Doubly so with how inconsistent the art direction in the show is, with everyone in the cast reaching different levels of uncanny valley and swagless drip. I personally think that many of them would do better if they thought a bit outside that box of "standard superhero fashion" and went for something more specific to the personalities of the characters, but there are some winners amongst the rabble. Much like the writing of the show itself, the show's design averages into a trashy sludge pile that still manages to look tempting thanks to some unexpected moments of competence. Let's sort through the pile *cracks knuckles*

Ladybug (standard and ultimate version)

You'd think it would be easy for me to just say "yeah, the bland, near fully uninterrupted polkadot bodypaint onesie is both boring and silly and the other more balanced version is a LOT better by comparison" and leave it at that, but unfortunately I also have to talk about the hairstyle. And the hairstyle is wrong in a very specific way which I don't have concise terms for, so I need you to pay attention and stay with me here.

The pigtails work well for Marinette. They are distinct, practical, realistic enough while bordering just slightly on the fantastic, and their mild childishness enhances Mari's romantic nature. In theory they also match the polka-dot theme and they are not impractical considering the function of Ladybug's suit, but they still go against what it's trying to do. There's probably a concrete term in shape and action line theory that better educated people than me know about, but to give you the gist of what I mean I'm gonna do another Shitty Paint Edit™️ so I don't go in too many circles explaining myself:

Ok, you get what I'm trying to say here now? The pigtails match the balance of this specific pose, but the suit is too skin-tight and it highlights Marinette's neck, so they interrupt the buildup. They don't even work well as pieces of flow for contrast, because the hair is so stiff and the ribbons are barely noticeable. Compare to itsanarkee's cosplay and how much better she looks because she has an updo. The worst part of it all is that, usually, matching a body-paint suit with a hairstyle to provide contrast in a female superhero is, like, babyshit, the bread and butter of superheroine costumes, but Astruc managed to find the one hairstyle in the world to make it work wrong because he was to proud about Marinette's design to change anything. Just give her the fucking buns already.

Chat Noir

He serves cunt. Pops pussy, if you will. The only very mild itch it gives me is that I can't see what his ears are attached to and it bothers me, although he's not the only one with that feature and I understand why they would want to hide a hair band especially in his design. I can forgive that when everything else in this design is genius. The belt tail. The way his mask sharpens his features alongside the hair and ears. The flaps on his boots and gloves that highlight how his movements put more weight in his joints. The acrylic claws, the paws on his boots. The lines that highlight his figure in just the right way. The fucking bell. Chat is easily the best design amongst the heroes.

And while this my purely subjective interpretation, I truly do think it's understated how much this outfit manages to sell Adrien's clark kenting. It makes complete and perfect sense to me at least that Marinette wouldn't recognize him like this. Adrien is just slightly generically pretty enough that you wouldn't assume they are the same person just because they're both blonde bishies, and the contrast between the two personas is high enough that it could be realistic that some people wouldn't put them together if they are not looking for that connection. Doubly so for Marinette, who is way too enamored with Adrien's personality of generic un-disruptive niceness with a touch of rich boy angst to fully reconcile it with Chat's outright spicier demeanor lightened with Pathetic Wet Beast Energy for potability.

Rena Rogue vs Volpina

Yeah, this one merits a comparison. It's a perfect example to elaborate on my first rule. Lila already stands out as another of the best human designs amongst the cast, and the sleaze she exudes lends itself a lot better to this slick body-paint tightness and form-highlighting curves. The tail-sash around her waist is also brilliant. She'd probably look even better in something more grounded, but the fact that she's already pulling the outfit off like this is still an accomplishment.

Rena Rogue on the other hand... well, everything around her head is very good and cute, and I especially appreciate the eyebrows on her mask. On paper I also like the top with its longtail, but overall Alya looks a lot blander than Volpina, because her outfit doesn't reflect her personality the way it does Lila's. It's not ugly, even if the patch of white starts to bother me because it has no interruptions as it goes down. In fact it succeeds in making Rena look kind of adorable, really, but Alya is not a cutesy girl, and tbh the overall general texture of the outfit is a lot more body spray-painting-ish than Volpina's, which also makes it look cheaper in a bad way.

The Fox miraculous may be summarized as the power of Illusion, but both girls represent two facets elaborating on that concept: where Lila is the Fox as Deceit, Alya is the Fox as Cleverness. So Lila may be... smart manipulative -Ok, sincerely speaking Lila Rossi is the single most blatant Villain Sue I have ever seen put onscreen, but what I'm trying to get at is that while she -supposedly- has some cunning, her pettiness and eagerness to speak on the fly is -or rather should be- a contrast to Alya, who goes around sniffing for the truth and thus always has a fuller picture. Because remember: the best liars tell the truth. So Rena's outfit should reflect that. It should be less slick and more street-savvy, something that the pendant with its long chain is especially well suited to.

Speaking of all these thematic parallels, am I the only one in the fandom who is extremely weirded out that Lila isn't a rival to Alya? Like, aren't they extremely obvious foils beyond both of them being fox-themed? The girl who bases her clout on lies vs the one who searches for the truth? The girl who pretends to be friends with Ladybug while bullying her civilian identity vs the girl who is friends with both? Have the writers ever exploited this ever since I stopped watching?

Carapace

Nino is almost perfect. I am genuinely impressed at how well they chose the angle of this costume. It's so easy for me to imagine a much shittier version with an ugly cowl/spiderman wannabe facemask -because other characters in this series take that approach-, but taking a page out of spider-gwen's book instead paid amazing dividends. He looks great as teenage not-mutant ninja turtle.

He only has two significant faults. One is that I feel his goggles should be tinted opaque orange, and he should wear a mask over his mouth and nose. You know, make the clark kenting a little easier, the stealth more pointed, maybe he can have a cool graffiti of a turtle beak over the mask for a sprinkle of his actual personality. The second is that the partition he chose for his crotch area is a bit iffy and yes, I am very sorry to talk about this. The shape of the partition itself is not bad but it's the same color, so it doesn't actually help the transition all that much and instead, sadly, it only brings more attention to the middle. My suggestion is that he should take a page out of Rise of the TMNT's book and make the plastron into actual armor that goes from his chest to his navel, instead of just a logo on the front. Then he can either wear black shorts or he can go the Rise!Casey Jones route and wear pants that are slightly baggy but still cinch to his ankles.

Then there's only one last thing he needs to be completely perfect and that is having an actual relationship with Master Fu since he is the direct successor of his miraculous and one of the first characters to be akumatized on account of his resentment towards adults, so I feel like there's a whole bunch of narrative foiling potential not being explored there, you get me?

Queen Bee vs Vesperia

Zoe's face is more interesting and I appreciate that, as well as the design team giving her a braid, but Chloe still wins this one. Vesperia's outfit is reasonably cool on its own, but it does very little aesthetically for her. Perhaps if the colors of her top and pants were inverted it could work, but there's something about the aggressive sharpness of its lines that Zoe's bubbly face is not matching, made worse by the black being at the forefront. That might not be a problem in civilian outfit, but only because that look is balanced with other colors. Or rather, I think she also needs a more casual fit to pull it off instead of a skin-tight jacket. I also get what they're trying to do with her bangs and I would love it were it not for the fact that it doesn't look good in this artstyle. Chloe also has that problem with her hair, but Queen Bee's style fits her a lot better in a much obvious way, and for added points I think Queen Bee wears the cord as a belt better too., so congrats to Chloe on her one win, I do hope the writing allows her to have proper character development later instead of constantly resetting her to square one for conflict.

[zahri-melitor]

Newish Comics (22 January 2025)

It’s Black Canary week, so I’ll be buying that, but it’s not on the shelves yet. Here’s everything else.

Absolute Wonder Woman #3: Stunning. Gorgeous. The reason for Diana’s tattoos becomes clear. Diana’s internal strength and kindness for others comes through so clearly in this title (the way she talks to Pegasus as she sends him away. Her explanation to the news crew of what she does and does not want them to film).

But I am a simple person, and Barbara Minerva running straight onto the page and immediately crashing in Diana for a clinch meet cute? Followed by bestowing the name Wonder Woman on Diana, referencing the Amazons? Ahhhh. That’s lesbian vibes I expect from a Wonder Woman title.

Action Comics #1081: and we wrap up the 12 weekly run. Personally I thought Waid resolved the ‘recapture everyone’ part a BIT pat, but he used the rest of the story space for the story he wanted to tell, rather than big dramatics of tracking everyone down. I am interested in the interaction of the timing of this story with JLU, because Waid’s writing both and I’m trying to work out the details of what he does have in and out of J’onn’s power set right now.

The Tamaki story felt whole and complete, in how it wrapped up. I think I want to reread this one separately when they put it out in trade, because I want to see how the web builds up and admire all the early references. I’m excited for when they get around to slotting the new Supergirl title into the lineup.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #20: and we wrap up this title. In terms of story in this issue, the Maxine one was clearly the best. I didn’t mind the tattoo story but it hmmm needed something extra in the framing. Felt not quite polished for the point they wanted to make.

Overall in terms of book as a run: I’ve never really shifted from my initial impression, which was that it was caught in a difficult tension between being a book with Batman in the title and how much of a wider anthology it wanted to be. The biggest stumble was, for me as a reader, the concentration of how often the Bat stories in an issue were led by Bruce or exclusively focused on him, with the rest of the stories in the issue being wider picks, leaving the Batfam cast high and dry, rather than giving characters without ongoings some space for a story. They managed to shift out from that to a degree by the end of the run, but the title opening with a 5 issue, 22 page per issue Batman-and-Joker flashback story really did set the tone. It gave the same ‘this should have been a mini’ vibes that Cheer and The Long Con had in Urban Legends, but for even less payoff – it’s not like selling a Batman-focused mini is hard, whereas I can see why minis about Jason Todd and COLE CASH got absorbed into a new anthology book that started in the Covid cuts and retool.

I think the best story it had overall was Pygmalion, and as cute as that was, it wasn’t nearly as essential as some of the Urban Legends stories were (Cheer, Sum of Our Parts/A Carol of Bats, and the various Duke Batman and the Outsiders stories take it to the cleaners just for starters). The other thing I am glad it did have was a concentrated Nightwing and Deadman story, which is such an obvious angle to exploit but rarely gets done. Unfortunately for me it was written by Tim Seeley, but I know a bunch of people like Seeley’s writing more than I do, so I’m sure they had a good time. I appreciated the Black and White shorts; this was a good spot to pop them in.  

I also averaged about one story per issue that I was actually hanging out to read, meaning that I spent the entire run asking myself if I should drop it next issue, and if I had been buying it I would have pretty rapidly.

Finally this is probably a me problem, but I found Simone Di Meo’s covers made it incredibly hard to tell issues apart at a glance. His art style does not translate into visually distinct covers.

Detective Comics #1092: you know what? It’s been ages since Bruce actually had a proper short term girlfriend to date in a title, between all the Bruce/Selina and the Bruce & Talia Being Very Divorced arguments. I’m actually scrambling to think of examples since Julie Madison in n52. I think he took Deb Donovan’s daughter Caroline out for dinner before Caro tragically carked it?

So, good job, Tom Taylor. You’re simultaneously setting up a convenient excuse to point to over Bruce’s aging slowing AND we’ve got Bruce dating a civilian.

(Now all we need is the Azrael link in this plot to get followed up on)

The Flash #16: the dog (Foxy) is Dawn Summers ahahahahahaha. Perfect. I’ve already gleefully yelled about what the title is doing about Skartaris, but it looks like it’s doing something interesting with Travis Morgan on top of how it’s specifically shaking down the various West family members’ power sets. (I also need to stop mentally referring to Wade as Jack-Jack, but it’s getting hard)

Green Arrow #19: I have to say, Ollie, since when did you suddenly decide that secret identities matter again? Your entire family haven’t seriously cared about that outside of occasional editorially mandated attempts for at LEAST 40 years at this point.

(I will however note that the modern option of the ‘cover your nose and mouth with a buff’ style of mask does actually address the hoary old joke of ‘everyone knows because of your facial hair, Ollie’. Smart call)

Justice League Unlimited #2: In terms of the Justice League as a property, it’s actually hugely compelling that we’re going for a J’onn focused plot in the opening arc, because if there’s a character for whom Justice League is THEIR primary title, it’s J’onn. A good call from Waid.

Metamorpho: The Element Man #1: oh Ewing and Lieber went REALLY old school with this and it’s pure Silver Age nostalgia. I’m not going to continue with this, but if you’re a fan of modern tribute comics to the Silver Age like Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, it might be worth trying.

The Warlord #82: this week we are again barely in Skartaris - we catch up with Tara for Tara to miss Travis for a moment - but then we’re back to the future in the 24th century, where following a nuclear attack there’s been a military dictatorship imposed on America and basically all civilians have been enslaved. Travis Morgan, being Travis, is outraged that such a thing could ever happen in the United States and foments a slave rebellion.

(The remaining population of the US is small enough that apparently the President just stands around watching slaves work. There might be all of 300 people or so in America)

[princeescaluswords]

Currently thinking of certain factions of fandom who tend to demonize Laura Hale. What exactly did she do that was so awful?

Leaving her injured and catatonic uncle in a care facility? Do they think he would've miraculously healed in New York if she brought him along (if that was even an option)? They seem to think she abandoned him or should've done more. What exactly, dear fandom?

Laura was a young woman who suffered a devastating loss and had to be the leader and look out for her younger brother and injured uncle. Cora was assumed dead too. Similar to Scott, she didn't ask to be alpha.

What did they expect her to do? Wage war against the perpetrators? She didn't know who was involved but she did return when Peter lured her. Fandom thinks she was unfit for the role of alpha because she wasn't ripping throats out and hunting down culprits, that she ~abandoned~ her uncle in a vulnerable state, blah blah.

The way they get angry at Scott disobeying Peter and Derek, you'd think they'd be livid over Peter killing his alpha who was also his niece who was the ~heir~ to Talia. Sacrilege!

Scott didn't ~trust~ Stiles? Well, Petey didn't trust his alpha! Why the secrecy? Why not report in immediately upon gaining consciousness?

*dons the stylish hat of Fandom Logic* Oh, oh Peter was involved in the Hale Fire! He always craved the mantle of alpha and needed Talia out of the way. But he got betrayed by Kate in the end and locked in with the rest of the family. That's why he insisted he's always been the alpha, he was promised the power if he helped destroy the pack. It's why he lured Laura back and killed her instead of communicating, he just wanted the power.

Your question puts me in mind of an argument both This Discontented Winter and Athena Dark have made to counter my indictments of fandoms worship of Peter Hale. To paraphrase TDW, "does all entertainment have to be a morality play?"

The simplistic answer to their bad faith riposte, is "No, it doesn't." You can watch two people sit in a room and not talk to each other. You can watch art hang motionless on a wall or paint dry, but these wouldn't be particularly popular forms of visual entertainment. What excites an audience is how the actors, the characters, the players treat each other, which is governed by principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. In other words, morality.

People watch the Real Housewives franchise because they want to watch rich women behaving badly. People watch John Wick movies because they want to watch ultra violence performed without regard for human life and instead operate on a different code of behavior. Telenovelas, true crime documentaries, space operas, super hero movies -- all the pleasure their audiences gain from it revolve around decisions people make about how to treat each other. They watch it FOR the morality -- or the LACK of it.

The only forms of modern entertainment I can think of that don't focus on morality are professional sports and talent shows, and both of these take it as a given that neither side is cheating. Even Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom proposed to show us the behavior of animals so we can recognize their beauty and right to exist. My apologies to the BNF, but that's morality, too.

When This Discontented Winter bemoans the idea of all entertainment as morality play and Athena Dark that storytelling doesn't have to have a message, what they are in fact arguing for is the ability to celebrate evil. To freely indulge in the type of moral equivocation that allows them to take pleasure in the triumph of a man murdering his niece for power. You know how I know this, because if they truly wanted to enjoy something without the moral dimension, they wouldn't go to such great lengths to protect their blorbos from any moral condemnation.

Thus, we get the idea that Laura deserved death because she abandoned Peter in the long-term care facility, in which he rested safely for six years without the Argents even being aware of his location. We get the idea that Laura deserved death because she didn't seek vengeance for her family, even though she was absolutely looking for the person responsible for the death of her family -- we saw actual physical evidence of it. Thus we get the idea that Peter had no idea what he was doing, that he was out of his mind, only to find out later -- when none of the other characters believe that anymore -- that he was aware of what he was doing all along.

Remember Master Plan (2x12):

Peter: No. It's a laptop. What century are you living in? A few days after I got out of the coma, I transferred everything that we had. Fortunately, the Argents aren't the only ones that keep records.

Wow, that's a remarkable amount of foresight for a person who was supposedly so out of his mind that he shouldn't be held responsible for what he did.

The true problem with BNF trying to argue that we don't have to approach the show with an eye toward morality is because the show absolutely did. It was baked into the substance of the show from the get go. The characters are formed to make choices about how they treat other people. To use their own words, we have to treat the entertainment that is called Teen Wolf as a morality play because it IS a morality play. Every story is.

And this is the problem with fandom, which I've noted again and again and again in regards to Star Wars, Shadow and Bone, and now Loki. They want to extract the characters from the moral schema in which they were situated and put them in a new situation, yet pretend that there isn't a moral dimension to this act. And there is, because this new situation is one where only certain considerations are treated as valid, mostly exploitation of the baser instincts of human nature for the benefit of a very small class of stand-ins, defined by race, class, and gender.

[soracities]

What do you think about the Waves by Virginia Woolf ?

i absolutely love love love love loved The Waves--it took me forever to read and i think it was taxing in a way too because the rhythm is so distinct; it's very much a book you need to take slowly and also meet on its own terms but oh god when you do!! the incantatory shimmering net of her prose !!! the stunning visual intensity she has (i don't know if i've come across a more visually alert writer (maybe banville); i distinctly remember woolf describing a dragonfly at some point like a darting stitch which to this day remains one of the most searingly accurate instances of language i've ever read) !!! this kaleidoscopic flow of voices, sounds, feelings...the motion throughout the whole book of moving within time then out of time, which is to say from time (days, hours etc) and into Time (historic time, recollected time, internal time as its felt not necessarily lived) and then back again--from the particular to the expansive, from painful isolation that can't seem to ever be broached to the interconnectedness that runs through all the book's voices--they're like disparate strings that are so distinct from each other and yet you also cannot sever them from one another either, i don't think: whenever the characters come together, even through their pettiness and misunderstandings, even through the nebulous notions of "self-hood" the book looks at ("Who am I? I have been talking of Bernard, Neville, Jinny, Susan, Rhoda, and Louis. Am I all of them? Am I one and distinct? I do not know."), there's this dazzling chorus that takes over the page which is just astonishing to read for me.

there is very little that is fixed in this book and while there is very much a sense of being tossed about, it never feels chaotic or haphazard to me because the mere fact of the book's fluidity and the recurring motion (either in its layout or in the images and the lines that keep getting repeated) is the one (relatively) solid thing that runs through it. it's fragmented in an amazingly cohesive way which is, i guess, what being is like: there is an individuality that is both here and not here, not unlike the constant interplay of light and shadows. i remember after reading it there was this line by octavio paz that i kept thinking of where he says "all is visible and all elusive, / all is near and can't be touched" which sums up so much of The Waves for me. it's a book that you kind of have to let happen to you, and even then i think it's something that one reading is nowhere near enough for! but anyways, yes, i loved it. a lot!!!

[strawberrysweater]

something i've thought about for a million billion hours even though it's probably not even this deep i just like danganronpa ok

i love how kaede shuichi and kiibo are all protagonists of v3 in their own ways: shuichi is the protagonist to the player, kiibo is the in-universe protagonist, and kaede is sort of... a protagonist only to herself. she tells us when we meet her and she wavers between being an in-universe protagonist and also just a plot twist device to the player. dr does this thing where every game has Character Archetypes and i like that "protagonist" is a role so strong that it has a defining physical trait (the ahoge) to the point that like. toko gains an ahoge in udg because she steps into that role. kaede shuichi and kiibo all have one. shuichi's is hidden under his hat only for him to reveal it after kaede dies and passes the role onto him. kiibo's is literally an antenna that i assume lets him receive wireless communication from audience surveys or whatever so it LITERALLY makes him a protagonist, it physically lets him fill that role. it's funny

AND i like the way they all deal with their protagonist roles - kaede and kiibo both do something that pushes them out of the role and breaks their narrative constraints, and it gets them killed and it falls to shuichi both times, someone who was never meant to have it in the first place. and THAT'S why he was able to end danganronpa for good because he's not tied down by the battle between hope and despair that every protagonist has had to go through (this is literally spelled out in the sixth trial you guys already know). i just love that theme of breaking everything and refusing to play a part, making your own meaning out of it, the importance of fiction and also of autonomy, etc. as soon as shuichi becomes the protagonist, the breaking down of the narrative is set in motion, and it culminates in the fourth wall being literally shattered. v3 is all about the reality inside the tv show, and i feel like anyone who steps out of their predestined role is able to see it, to feel it, even just a little...

like we have these two characters who are obviously protagonists who both act in their roles perfectly (kaede leading the group and wanting everyone to be friends and escape together without killing, kiibo listening to the audience and showing them the game and following hope) UNTIL they do something they weren't meant to do. a protagonist has never orchestrated a killing before. as soon as kaede started planning it, even if she ultimately failed at killing the mastermind or killing anyone at all, she was no longer a protagonist, because danganronpa protagonists don't kill

and because of kaito's execution, led up to from his and kokichi's last big fuck you to the narrative and the mastermind, kiibo is totally disconnected from his purpose and can do what he was never meant to do either. a protagonist is supposed to play along and win in the name of hope over despair (like how he acts as soon as he gets his connection to the audience back), not just indiscriminately destroy everything to bring the killing game down. he becomes a total wild card who breaks the fictional world apart, pulls aside the curtain, lets shuichi find out the flashback lights were fake, destroys the physical fourth wall for good, etc. and speaking of breaking the fictional world, when kaede "passes on her role" she literally causes the neon-lit-up trial UI to shut off and shuichi turns it back on again. a fantastic visual that has not left my brain. we love a kaede kiibo breaking the fiction parallel

tldr in both of these instances, kaede and kiibo stop being protagonists (in danganronpa's very distinct specific terms) and the role falls to shuichi, someone who was never meant to have it. and because of that, this danganronpa collapses in on itself. i think that's sick as hell

[demento-mori]

18, 12, and 11 for the ask game?

18. how did you first hear about the show, and what made you want to watch it?

Ok so this story genuinely makes my blood boil because I was robbed. lied to. swindled even. So the first time id heard about the show was around 2017 i think? It was in some video about like, queer animation and the history of queer rep, that kinda stuff. I had also seen a few video thumbnails about the show that looked really interesting (like, there was this one called understanding utena or smth similar that used the art from the dvd covers, and I remember thinking how beautiful and visually distinct it looked) so it was on my radar and I planned to check it out at some point. BUT THEN.... I was watching some unrelated video and they brought up rgu in it... but the way they described the show was completely fucking misleading. Like, they basically described the show as "a slice-of-life high school fantasy yuri anime that has incest in it" WHICH IS A COMPLETE LIE BUT WHATEVER, but yeah since that description sounded so boring and generic it pretty much killed my interest in the show for a good while.

I only ended up getting into the show like a year or two ago. I saw a clip of the swords of hatred scene completely out of context and something about it was just so striking. Like, the black silhouettes against the stark red background, the way you can see the pain of each sword impact in the way she writhes and flinches, the lack of sound silencing her screams, the haunting, mournful music. You can feel her pain so viscerally. It left a really profound impact on me. I searched up and listened to the translyrics for missing link afterwards and that was equally as upsetting, hearing this girl wonder why she was even born if she only exists to suffer. So yeah, that was what finally convinced me to watch the show! Because I needed to find out what the fuck all that was about, and if that poor girl was okay.

So yeah, I probably wouldve watched it a lot earlier if it wasnt for some guy literally just lying about what the show was about.........

12. favorite black rose duelist

This is a complicated one because do I choose the black rose duelist who I enjoy the most overall as a character (which would be kozue, underrated icon and one of the most fascinating characters in the show in terms of her parallels with other characters and the ideas she embodies within the narrative, such as the sunlit garden), or do I choose the black rose duelist who I enjoy the most specifically as a black rose duelist (which would be wakaba, who has one of the most emotionally charged and violent duels in the entire series, literally breaks the duel format, and probably comes the closest to actually killing anthy). The answer is that its my blog and I can do what I want, so im choosing both!

11. favorite and/or most interesting relationship (doesn't have to be romantic)

Answered this one fully here, but Anthy and Utena's relationship is so so special to me and is one of my favourite aspects of the show. Bonus answer is the hypothetical kozue and nanami relationship that exists almost entirely in my head!

[witchycornerr]

Haze Design Process

The 4th of 5 main characters, Haze. She is part of the red school. My goal with her was to read as an "approachable prodigy".

My 1st sketch ideation on what the red school's uniform would look like ended up being pretty far from what the final would turn out to be. Pretty much none of this initial idea survived, especially once I figured out what character personality I wanted. This uniform was just too uptight, and the browns in it made it too dull for what I was going for.

My next ideation round focused more on the uniform design than the character. It was important to me that the 3 school uniforms of blue, yellow, and red, all looked good in a set and had distinct silhouettes. I really liked the idea of broader shoulders in this one since it contrasted well with the other uniforms.

I played around with several different hairstyles and colors in this next phase. I did end up picking one I liked, but the more I sat on it, the more I had to come to terms with the fact it didn't meet my design goals of "approachable prodigy", she just felt a little too subdued for that intent.

I had a real breakthrough when I took in Utena from the Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie as a big design inspiration. This character had a similar energy to what I wanted to convey with my own, and how she stands out among the other students. The contrast between sharp and round shapes in her hair down outfit on the left was also something that in my opinion helped convey her personality visually and helped me figure out where I needed to make changes in my own design.

For one, it made me realize that the uniform I designed had to be changed. I really did like its silhouette, but the more formal looking long skirt was fighting against the character I wanted and it was lacking in sharper shapes. 

I tried my hand at a 1st pass on redesigning her face. This felt like I was getting closer compared to my previous designs, but she now felt a little too sharp and not welcoming enough.

After this I continued exploring face designs. I took inspiration from Utena and other 90's shojo anime faces. The gentle curvy shapes added an element of elegance that I thought fit the character well.

After the faces I made a quick full body sketch that I felt was pushing in the right direction. I was very happy with the skirt, both in the inviting round shape and how prominent and bold it looked in the silhouette. I also was quite happy with her hair and the sharper edges of her blazer, but felt I needed to do more iteration on the blazer's buttons.

I picked the blazers I liked from the last round and polished them a bit more. Honestly, I could have gone for a few of these as the final, but decided on the 5th one for its balance of simplicity with detailing in the pockets and neck. It felt like the right level of for that.

The final aspect I did iterations on was her eyes. Initially, I wanted to try out prominent triangular eyelashes like in the 1st set of eyes. The idea of having her eyes take on the shape of a star felt very fitting for the idea of prodigy, but because her hair was already pretty complex compared to everyone else, the eye silhouette just felt too noisy and overwhelming. I actually ended up really liking the simple circular shapes for her eyes. They balanced well with the more complex hair, and made her feel approachable and friendly. The final version I ended up going with was the green interior with a white rectangle inside. It added just the right level of interior complexity to make her stand out from the rest of the cast. 

After a fair amount of changes, here's where I ended up with her final design. I'm pretty happy with this iteration of her, she fits well visually with the character I had in mind!

[diaphin93]

My Thoughts on Dawntrail

So, Dawntrail has been out alot, but still spoilerwarning for the MSQ up until 7.0. This is not an indepth analysis of Dawntrail by any means, but more of my personal thoughts on how I felt about the story and contrasting it with how I feel about The War Within, which I think managed to deliver the first storytelling W for World of Warcraft since both games are running simultaneously.

For context, I do play both Games and I'm both positive and negative about certain aspects of both. For example, I feel strongly about Modern World of Warcraft just offering more than FF14 in terms of content, even if FF14 has alot of content that can be well replayed after it isn't current anymore. I enjoy general healer gameplay and tanking in WoW more, but also feel like FF14 being well able to compete through its great visuals and occassional innovative class design choices. I feel like World of Warcraft entered a golden age of class design since DF, while FF14 is currently in the midst of a very grim dark age.

And I have to admit, I started off kinda lukewarm on Dawntrail. I was on a prolonged hiatus and played more World of Warcraft or Singleplayer Games through most of Endwalker, but got hooked right back into the game a few months prior to Dawntrail release, slowly catching up with the story. I wasn't really hot about the initial premise, Endwalkers initial MSQ being an emotionally invested rolercoaster ride following Shadowbringers, concluding the entirety of the story so far and the entire Zero Chapter and the 13th being kind of more interesting for me personally, but wrapped up rather fast. In retrospect, I kinda felt sad about how many year long engaging plotlines, the war against the garleans, the ascians and the primals, where just concluded in one sweeping go, especially the end of the Garlean Empire being bitter to me, as it was my favorite plotline, adding alot of the narratives nuances, world building and depth into it.

Though I was still happy to play the story, really excited about the new classes and I was open about playing through it all. I kinda liked the idea of a succession contest and I actually liked Wuk Lamat well enough. I think Sena Bryer is not the best voice actress, but she has an endearing and authentic quality to how she voices Wuk, my biggest issue being her performance really crashing apart badly whenever she has to raise her voice. Though, as opposed to many, I don't really dislike Wuk. I think her story does not deliver in the slightest on her potential and that she remains overly static, but my bigger issue really was the inclusion of Alphinaud and Alisaie, who just well mandatorily shoved in because of Fan Demand. I guess there is a problem of both of their character arcs being concluded and them not feeling that distinct anymore, more like a package. Without the narrative being centered on their growth and maturing as people, they also feel a bit bland to me, compared to the other scions. I generally feel like Raha should have been included into the story instead, maybe a bit more Estinien as well, to let the newcomers have an adventure without the stakes being at an all time high for once. Rahas presence also would have helped Krile alot I think, because they just play off each other very well.

Going into the story, I just feel large portions of it were just really boring. The trials felt alot like side quests and I think the slowburn combined with the lack of voice acting and real battle content really made me mentally numb through alot of it. The cultures were encounter felt less interesting to me than in the past, especially since their presentation just came off as dry. And really, this made the lack of battle content and actual gameplay inside the quests very noticable. I personally also think the truth about the blessed siblings really fell apart for me, because while it was horrible how the Mamool Ja deliberately tried to breed two-headed ones, in their obsession with reclaiming their former glory, I just don't understand what the conclusion to it is supposed to tell us, as it turns out that they're simply the result of the different mamool ja tribes intermixing and the offspring having a high mortality rate, so it kinda feels like the conclusion is anti-miscegenation. I think that part of the story would have come together better if there was some more sinister method behind their creation.

But until then, yeah, it was well servicable. Us stopping right at our tracks after finding the Golden City was annoying, but what really broke the camels back to me was how we are forced through Shaaloani for some wild west side adventure afterwards, basically killing any excitement for the story up to this point. I personally also just don't like the whole wild west setting of Shaaloani, as it just felt just too far off from the rest of Yok Tural. So we are off to a very bad start for part 2 of the MSQ, which only gets worse when the real actual starts. I hate that the entire section of the alexandrian invasion on Tuliyollal is not playable and just cutscene after cutscene, way to keep us distant from the drama and action happening there. I also really dislike the aesthetics, but more on that later. We are off to even more fetch quests until we can finally board the train to attack the dome and...yeah. The story really falls apart here for me.

I really, really hate the entirety of Alexandrias aesthetics. First off...they are not Alexandria. They bear no semblance to the aethetics of FF9 Alexandria outside of the ruins of the oldtown and just don't really feel fitting for FF14 in the slightest. Modern Aspects worked well with Garlemald and Amauroth, because they still had a fantastical edge to it and looked unique, something that I will always immediately associate with this game. Alexandria on the other hand does just look like any generic cyberpunk city. And we are in the midst of enemy territory but just nothing happens. Its all peace and sunshine after they caused massive slaughter in the country we were supposed to feel attached to at this point and instead its basically just one sightseeing tour, where it feels like the game actively forces us to be in awe and wonder about how great it is there. Then there is Sphene who was really unlikable to me. I don't understand why so many people hate Wuk Lamat and sing praises to Sphene. I think what gets me is how the story forces itself to forget the elephant of the room, that she is the queen of the nation that just attacked us, and just sings praises about how kind and nice she is. I don't use the term Mary Sue lightly on female characters, I love to use it much more on men, lol, but she feels this way in how the narrative seems to try to bend over backwards in framing, which I just didn't find endearing at any moment and probably made me feel indifferent to her entire story.

I also feel like Alexandrias practices of turning souls into a currency, harvesting them and feeding them into the populace to creat a decadent faux immortality to everyone able to afford them, was never treated with the necessary gravitas and disgust. They invaded a world that never did them the slightest harm and slaughtered its people to rip out their souls, for gods sake. In every other story, this would be a nightmarish moral event horizon, while Dawntrails heavy handing and parody-like theme of understanding basically just treated it like a quirk of them we might not like, but have to respect. It feels like a parody of how the narrative treated the ascians, where we saw their humanity, saw the desperation and reasons behind what they do finally, but still could firmly stand in opposition to them, because the idea of us having to die so that they can restore their idealistic world was inheritly unfair. Dawntrail lacked this. And Dawntrail over and over displayed a near insistance of killing every sense of tension and stakes build by its own narrative, because right after Sphene decides to become the second coming of Endsinger, we go through a theme park sightseeing tour. It doesn't help that in a setting in which souls are a real physical thing we have already seeing and interacted with, killing AI Engrams just does not have any gravity to me. It works in traditional Cyberpunk Settings, where the soul is a much more abstract concepts.

So yeah, what I really disliked the most was DT killing every bit of tension the second it build up. Meanwile, I think the TWW Storyline not only had a better antagonist, but also just a better story experience where the action of the gameplay, even if its fairly simple, was combined well with the narrative at hand, with it making the great choice of relegating most of the zone lore to side content that can be used as alternative level routes for alts while keeping the main story focussed on the characters and the conflict at hand. I also think that the Azj-Kahet quests kinda handled the seeing the humanity in the people invading us better. Its more interesting firstly, because the people of Azj-Kahet are literally beastlike spider-people we so far only faced as an invading swarm and touring the city is a much less lingering endeavor and happens while connecting political players planning a rebellion and recovering a lost ally who had been kidnapped.

I think I will still regularily look into FF14 and resubscribe with new content patched, but currently its crazy to say, but World of Warcraft has the story that got me more hooked this time around. The zones are also really much more fun to explore, I love World of Warcrafts Zone Design and how the game gives you ample reason to be in the open world. There is also the current state of Dark Knight, my favorite class, which is just not fun in the slightest, I'm still hoping for an emergency class revamp in one of the 7.x patches, but otherwise my only hopium is Dark Knight getting a full on revamp with 8.0.