#for intentional artistic storytelling purpose

[yamelblr]

my kids are watching pocoyo, and yours should too.

note: i don't have kids; the headline is merely an expression.

so, as someone who is very passionate about art, i try to hold back from critiquing artworks solely based on personal preference...

that being said, i really like minimalism; the concept of achieving something grand with minimal resources captivates me, and pocoyo, in its ambitious yet lighthearted approach, successfully embraces this artistic philosophy in a way that is both interesting and groundbreaking.

in contrast to the prevalent corporate memphis seen in various enterprises' branding, pocoyo distinguishes itself by avoiding the trappings of a simplifying obsession meant to dumb down iconography.

this contemporary minimalist art style is not inherently bad—i personally find it relatively pleasant when used right— but its proliferation often acts as a visually unobtrusive background for corporate spaces. this is like the muzak of visual arts.

for those who don't know, is what we often call elevator music—fabricated to create a facade of a calm work environment for low-income workers, masking the exploitation they endure.

pocoyo utilizes minimalism with another purpose. it invites viewers to immerse themselves in the simplicity of its visuals, employing limited objects that encourage the mind to actively participate by "filling in the blanks."

the cartoon unfolds on an all-white canvas with only certain characters and key items strategically placed, creating ample negative space.

the intentional use of negative space allows the viewer to focus on the characters and the story without unnecessary distractions. the storytelling approach in pocoyo resonates with performative theatre, where negative space is abundant, engaging the audience by encouraging them to fill it with their interpretations; it keeps the viewer at the edge of their seat trying to fill that negative space, if not with items, with an ambientation and abstract elements.

in an era saturated with mindless maximalism and visual oversaturation in media targeted to children, pocoyo stands out by embracing responsible minimalism.

this approach contrasts sharply with the likes of youtube content-farms and cocomelon, a cartoon exemplifying this aggressive maximalism i'm talking about.

cocomelon's rapid scene cuts every 2 to 4 seconds contribute to overstimulation and potential addiction in young viewers.

they're putting our children on crack.

in contrast, pocoyo's deliberate pacing, occasionally featuring tracking shots and long takes, challenges and improves attention spans.

furthermore, pocoyo employs a narrating language akin to normal adult conversation, fostering a healthy communication style. this stands in stark contrast to cocomelon's patronizing approach and zombie ass nursery rhymes, which oversimplifies language and undermines the development of critical thinking and abstract appreciation in young minds.

so, in conclusion, pocoyo's nuanced approach to minimalism and storytelling not only sets it apart in the world of animated content nowadays, but also challenges the prevailing trends that prioritize overstimulation over depth. it stands as a testament to the potential of thoughtful, intentional design in captivating and educating audiences of all ages.

i love it so much.

[blackbacchus999]

*** Name: Karneios

***Age: Soul is as Ancient as the Mysteries.

***Nationality: Black/Italian

***Zodiac: ♌️ 🌞, ♈️ 🌙, ♎️ Rising.

***Profession: Author/Dionysian Poet

***Religion: Dionysian Pagan

***Life's Purpose: My purpose is to dance on the edge of chaos, to revel in the ecstasy of existence, and to shatter the mundane. I am here to remind people of the beauty in the wild, the sacred in the uninhibited, and the divine in every moment of abandon. To live is to celebrate, to laugh, to drink deeply of life’s nectar, and to find the sacred madness that awakens the soul.

"Salutations, fellow revelers of the digital vineyard! I am Karneios, a Dionysian Poet navigating the labyrinthine realms of words and wisdom. With 🍷 in hand and spirit ablaze, I pay homage to the ancient gods, with Dionysus reigning primary amidst my pantheon. Join me in the pursuit of ecstatic beauty and the unruly dance of existence, where joy and reverence intertwine under the starlit canopy of the cosmos. Let us embrace the revelry of life and the divine art of storytelling together!"

** My Thoughts On AI-GENERATED Art **

* I am not here to argue, only gave my thoughts on the subject so please keep the disrespect to yourself!!!

I hope this message finds you well and inspired. As we continue to embrace the many forms of art and creativity within our community, I want to address the growing debate surrounding AI-generated art. It's a topic that stirs strong emotions, but I believe it deserves a thoughtful and nuanced discussion, especially given our rich tradition of honoring the Muses and the gods of creativity and innovation. Firstly, let us remember Hephaestus, the god of blacksmiths and craftsmen. Hephaestus created some of the most advanced and intricate technologies in mythology, including the bronze automaton Talos and the golden mechanical handmaidens. These creations were not shunned but celebrated by the gods. Nor did the gods show any worry about how humans would react to such creations. Hephaestus’s work reminds us that technology and craftsmanship, no matter how advanced, are deeply intertwined with divine inspiration. Consider Daedalus, the master craftsman favored by Athena. His inventions, from the labyrinth to his winged escape with Icarus, were marvels of their time. Athena, the goddess of wisdom and crafts, supported Daedalus’s innovations. This myth shows that the gods value and respect human ingenuity and creativity, regardless of the medium. So what makes you think the gods of technology wouldn't honor the same ones who created the AI? Because you think they would be worried about it stealing art from others? They never showed worry about it then so why now? Because a couple of humans fear that their art will be stolen? Anyways we can also look to the story of Pygmalion and Galatea. Pygmalion’s devotion to his art moved Aphrodite to bring his statue to life. This myth beautifully illustrates that the divine is not limited by our human perceptions of art and creation. It is the devotion and intent behind the art that the gods honor, not just the method. Its best for every artist to remember that right there.

[creation-help]

Miscellaneous character design tips (that everyone could find useful)

- Feathers in hair, behind the ear, on the head, in some headress ect? Just don't. Unless you're indigenous I strongly, strongly advise against it, bc native people have criticized this design trope time and time again. Accessories and clothing like this can be very difficult to get right if you don't know what you're doing.

• Also! W*ndigos. Don't. If you wanna design a character that "looks like" (or is what you imagine when you think of a) W*ndigo, just. Design a character that looks like that and call it some other monster (Disclaimer: I'm mainly talking about things like those skull headed monsters with antlers ykno). These creatures have alot of deep meaning to the cultures they're from, and people are tired of them being appropriated and misrepresented. It will cost you nothing to just make a generic monster rather than butcher something from a marginalized culture. (Also, I've censored the word because in the past I've been told that using it's name is bad luck/harmful, so I'm doing this to be respectful)

(Natives/indigenous people are welcome to add on discussion about this if you feel like there's anything I could've said differently)

- Unless your character design is meant to be flexible, up to artist interpretation, or just messy, place patterns and decorative characteristics on distinct, memorable places. For example if your character has spots, put the most notable ones on places that're easy to remember and replicate, like on particular body parts. I'd also advise to make just a bit less of these patterns. Generally, if you're not aiming for a cluttered looking design, prioritize quality over quantity, when it comes to patterns.

- A character design's intent is just as important as the actual character design. You'll see me mentioning this on the previous point as well. Unless we're talking about offensive caricatures, there's teeechnically no such thing as a "bad" character design. Just rather a failed or unsuccessful one. What I mean by that, is that if your design is meant to look cliche, tacky, messy, or just plain unappealing, and it looks like such, that is a successful design! If you designed a character just to be something fun for you to draw, that's a successful design! I often see this point applied more professionally by other art advisors, to mean more like "You should be able to tell what kind of character it is based on the design", which is also true! But intent and purpose matters in storytelling. Obviously, not all aspects of a design need to be there for some very specific reason (looking at the people who ask "Why was this character made fat/gnc/black/poc?" and so on.) just keep in mind what this character is supposed to be. I think it's better to worry about if the character design does what it's supposed to, rather than if it's ""Good""

(And yeah, there are still things that just objectively don't look very good together, according to human perspective and color theory and whatnot, but again, if you're aiming for that, you go buddy!)

- Sorta coinciding with the previous point: Don't be afraid to use "ugly" traits when designing. I think the reason why is obvious (beauty standards can go suck a dick), but there's more to it than just radical acceptance! By giving more unique, weird, or "ugly" traits to your characters, you make them more memorable and distinct from one another. If there's a billion smooth faced perfect pretty characters who are the exact same kind of flavorless vanilla sexy, it gets boring, and they blend together! And please don't limit these traits to just villains or characters who are supposed to be disliked!! My other advice on this point, is, pllllease don't design villains "ugly" and heroes "pretty", I feel like that should be a given, but alot of people may be doing it without even realizing. And that's understandable, but I heartily recommend taking a second to think about it more deeply. Why is this visual trait "Bad", or "Evil"? I just feel like so many artists are deathly afraid of having their characters look the least bit unappealing or challenging. I could go on about this but I'll stop here to keep it concise. Don't beauty police your oc is all I'm sayin

- Reference! I don't necessarily mean take inspiration from other existing character designs, although that can also be helpful. I mean that look around you, think broadly! If you have a certain theme for your design, try to round up all the little things (items, concepts, colors, animals, traits) that could be associated with it! And try to reflect that in your character design. You can get a little wacky and experimental. You can literally just broaden your inspiration to things like everyday objects, a specific fabric texture, an element, or a fungi that lives in moldy houses. Anything! My main point is to try to think outside the box and consider more unconventional things to reference for your character design, you'll never know what might work and look really interesting. Often, a bland design is worse than a weird one. (Disclaimer: Unless you're aiming for bland ofc, per my prev points, but ykno). You can also just go by "Hmm, I'm making a character who is X, what does that remind me of?" or, what I also recommend "Hmm, so X kinds of characters remind me of these things. Let's ditch that and think what one usually wouldn't associate with X kinds of characters!". Ykno, defy convention, think about things you might not usually do. I know it can be easier said than done but once you get into a habit of trying to think more broadly, it'll come to you easier. Don't be afraid to get odd and unusual

- While I don't condemn designing a character in a way that just, is that way, because you designed it like that, I also recommend thinking about how and why the character is like that in-story. Might seem like an obvious tip, but I'll elaborate. I for example, have a pair of bug demon characters who grew up on the streets and didn't have the normal amount of nourishment for their age, so, due to that their mouth pincers and other buggy parts were left much smaller and more "plain" looking than others of their species. They never developed to their appropriate adult size. Things like this will reflect on a character design! And that's just one example. If your character has a habit of nervous picking, or sensory problems, or live in an area where certain resources for clothing aren't available, all of this will reflect on the design! Of course, you can also work backwards from a design and think "Hmm, what justification will I think of for the character having these traits (especially if they're uncommon for their story setting)?"

I may do a part 2 sometime later, I just had some thoughts I wanted to compile for now! Obviously you can have your own design principles but these are ones I consistently use (also the first one being as specific as it is, is just something I particularly wanted to say).

[thenamesblurrito]

To bring some positivity to TFOne coming out, what stuff did you like about the trailer? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

oh man im still digesting it a lil bit but whoof lets go-

ECOLOGY

WE HAVE ROBOT ANIMALS!!! FLORA AND FAUNA!! WE SEE MORE THAN JUST CITIES WE SEE LANDSCAPES AND GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES AND A BLEND OF CIVILIZATION AND WILD SPACES AND A PROPER ALIEN PLANET!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANIMALS!!!!!

like don't get me wrong the cities themselves rock and are gorgeous, but we only ever see like... just a bunch of grey metal and blocky greebled buildings and rust. Cyberverse was probably my favorite properly alien planet as a whole instead of just a really big sci fi city named Cybertron and i'm so excited to see what they do with it in One, ESPECIALLY with how it seems to be heavily technoorganic and hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Quintessonsssssssssssss eeeheheheheh give me the SQUIDS

actually for that matter the aesthetics?? this is such a fascinating artistic direction that i'm really appreciating like the vaporwave sunsets, the fractal moving mountains and aurora horizon, those busy neon city scenes and the upside down underground towers and... whoof it's all so incredible?? and it manages to be visually stunning WITHOUT just being a bunch of, yknow, greebled nonsense. it looks designed, it looks like it has Culture and Life and Intent behind it instead of being a mess of vaguely robotic detail slapped on. i keep wondering what the significance of the tower on the poster will be. the train things are fascinating. the little hints and implications of society and oh how interesting that could be expanded on. the mecha themselves too are like, halfway in between uncanny valley and stylized tin soldier toys for me in a way that took a bit of getting used to but i'm appreciating more and more how it's visibly and joyfully animated instead of trying (and failing) to be 'live action' like the Lion King

the SCALE. THE SCALE!!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW RARE IT IS WE GET SO MANY NAMED KNOWN CHARACTERS PACKED INTO SCENES LIKE THIS. tf canons usually have core casts of characters both for storytelling and budget reasons and yet here we've got so many shown off in just the trailer, it makes it feel like a real populated planet instead of a handful of robots and some set dressing like Aligned feels like to me.

i've got some insane questions like why does D-16 already have a Decepticon brand on him??? why is Alpha Trion alone and sad and did he rip those tcogs out of the corpses of other primes to give to them and why is he some kinda mossy gorgonopsid unicorn?? why is Sentinel getting tentacled and will we see him be ripped limb from limb (positive)?? what are Vehicons here and how do they differ from regular bots and what is their purpose???

the only real issue i have is Hasbro being predictable and shoving Bee in when someone else would really better fit this movie as he's typically not meant to be in this time period/role but eh. disappointed but not surprised and willing to let go and laugh at him being comic relief anyway. there's literally not enough information on anything else for me to say if i don't like it or not yet bc i have no idea how they're gonna execute it, but what is there has me eager and hopeful it'll be good

i guess the biggest thing is. it looks fun. it looks FUN!!! the world looks fun, the characters look like they're having fun, it just seems like a movie that wants me to ENJOY it!! i'm ready for a fun movie in a franchise i love!!

[pheenixbabe]

account intro

shifting relationship

got into shifting a few years ago, it mustve been around late middle school or so…ive had little real progress (in part because im a bit lazy…) but a few mini-shifts randomly.

i found out about shifting through tiktok, but left because i haaatee tiktok in general, and shiftok has a very rigid view of morality when shifting which i thought was annoying and silly. i left shiftok about 5 months ago…been lurking since then.

i know about loa and loass and have since i started my shifting journey, but im a bit…wonky…when it comes to putting the information in practice. though i do want to improve since it could be really helpful.

the main purpose of this blog is to hear about other peoples drs, yap about my own and get shifting information

about me

im a teenager & a minor. i was born & raised in nyc and my parents are afro-jamaican. my pronouns are she/her. im cis gender and identify as heterosexual. my interests include history, global culture, worldbuilding, storytelling and music. i loooveee music. ill listen to pretty much anything (but mostly pre 2010s…). my favorite artists are aerosmith, vybz kartel, nicki minaj, aoa, mariah carey, janet jackson, britney spears and shakira.

dni & controversial opinion(s)

i dont really care who interacts with my blog, just as long as it isnt a hateful person, or someone with malicious intent. any anti shifters or those who do not believe in shifting *dont* ask me any questions on the practice or include my content in any media without getting my full permission.

i dont care about changing any part of identity when shifting or doing anything taboo / immoral in a desired reality. though i can understand why such things would seem uncomfortable to other shifters, i cannot be bothered to police anybody on their dr. strong believer of not my dr not my business, if you disagree block me & move on.

my drs

kpop idol dr, fantasy princess dr, one piece dr, genshin dr, mha dr, atla dr, mcu dr, spider verse dr

[lokisis]

hii loki popping in 2 say once again your storytelling is So Awesome. can never get over the way you craft a narrative & slip in carefully placed details just waiting for ppl to pick up on them.. you know these characters & you know their motives & you write them with so much care & it Shows

if i were ever to make an arg or some kind of big project that needed a lot of careful planning in terms of things like story & foreshadowing id hire you In A Heartbeat‼️its like you write with intention, for s4m particularly, every scene is meant to convey Something; give the audience smth to work with, foreshadowing plot elements, pieces of character information, & theyre picking up what youre putting down!!

im not good with words or analysis but im rlly enjoying what youre giving us ^^ imagine being a skilled artist And writer smhh

Ehehe!!! Thank you! While a lot of my "plan" is loose concepts (so asks have some wiggle room) I've had the ending in my head since the beginning! Making these characters feel alive, and also making the audience care about them is an interesting challenge. And also, I'm totally flying by the seat of my pants here. So much foreshadowing happens by Accident, mostly because I know how I want these characters to function within this story.

Like. The nose touch for example. Just a fun little fact, something cute to chew on. And then the Perfect opportunity to add it was presented to me, and I just COULDN'T pass it up.

I love making connections and stringing together everything. Every fact, every odd detail, every bit of dialogue has a purpose. And it's to lead you to the ending.

And of course, as a reminder for those unaware, this story does have a Happy ending. Even if it doesn't make sense yet. It will. I promise, it will.

[druidposting]

Normally im really not one to pick apart every single microscopic detail of a piece of media to try and connect arrant dots and theorize about every single little thing. Its impossible for an author or artist to account for every single detail of everything ever. But man... something about Midst...

There is something about Midst, about the mastercraft storytelling, about how purposeful and intentional and important every single detail is... About how perfectly tellegraphed yet satisfyingly surprising every twist and turn in the story is... I truly do think that nearly every speck of detail in that show, from the music to the art to the words used, is purposeful and carries meaning. Everything there is meant to be absorbed, disected, and pieced back together.

[tasticbastard]

i’m thinking about past debates and discourse between fob and mcr fans over which band has the better lyrics and every time it comes up it makes me want to bash my own head in out of frustration.

the lyrics in fob and mcr serve different purposes and are born from different wells of influence so it just feels wild to try to say that one is objectively better than the other. it’s like comparing apples and oranges.

pete wentz is a poet first and foremost so he approaches lyric writing the same way with very intentional word choice and turning of phrases. this has lead to Many Fights between him and patrick bc the rhythm doesn’t always translate satisfyingly which gives fob their signature slightly off-kilter and irregular rhythms as patrick figures out a way to make it work with the music. he’s also very introspective and confessional, something he derived from his livejournal blogging (you can often find many lyrics are recycled from his blog posts) a lot of his writing is based on real life experiences and his perspective of the world.

gerard way comes from a more visual narrative perspective. they have said that comic books and movies and theater have influenced them tremendously as an artist and that’s definitely something he brought to mcr. this is not at all to say that gerard is impersonal in his writing approach, they just more often filter it through a pulpy genre narrative and cloak it in literary metaphor that makes it rewarding to engage with. this is also not to say that gerard’s writing process is entirely hinged upon overall storytelling, as i believe they’ve mentioned before in passing that the overall concept narrative only comes together at the end and isn’t premeditated (kind of like a breaking bad approach to writing, where you follow the organic line of decisions and consequences rather than relying on an outline)

all this to say, fob and mcr work in different mediums of writing and you may resonate with one more than the other based on your personal taste rather than objective quality. it’s an exhaustive waste of time to try to argue which is better when they are simply created and engaged with differently.

[burr-ell]

Here's the thing: I get why people are frustrated by the fandom response to Essek's appearance. I too am tired of C2 announcements/reveals/cameos overshadowing everything as a sheer popularity contest. I'm tired of "Well C1 is good but C2 is GREAT/sure we've only had a couple arcs of C1 animated but WHAT ABOUT THE MIGHTY NEEEEEIIIIIIN". I'm sure C3 fans have seen a lot of C3 criticism that just amounts to "This isn't like C2, which was perfect and inimitable and godlike in every way, which is why this sucks and is for plebs", and they're sick of it. Like, I GET it.

But that doesn't change the fact that C2 is in fact a good story and the Nein are good characters! The cast clearly loves it the same way they love C1 and 3, and they love Essek in particular.

I am by no means a "well the cast likes it so be happy and eat your broccoli" type—I have criticized choices they've made before and will continue to do so—but I think it's worth noting that a lot of people I've seen getting disproportionately mad about this have also used the cast's enjoyment of things they like as a shield against any criticism. This has been a problem in this fandom for a long time, but it bears repeating: things you like are "well the cast likes it and did it intentionally!" and things you don't like are "I can't believe this thing just sort of happened and now we all have to deal with it!".

For many of those who dislike Essek's presence, it's not being treated as an intentional choice Matt made that the cast was really excited about. Instead, the anger has, for all intents and purposes, manifested as if this was impressed upon the narrative by an unseen external force, the same way people get mad about writing decisions in a book or TV show. I can appreciate people at least being honest about what they don't like, but the sheer vitriol here is something I tend to associate with the treatment of executive producers or corporate suits, rather than original artists who are intimately involved with the storytelling...and the agency of those original artists in making this choice seems to be quietly ignored.

The cast of Critical Role have repeatedly said that they're like family to each other, and we know they talk with Matt about their characters' directions outside the game. If they thought things were moving too fast for their characters to talk to each other, or they didn't like all the past campaigns being brought in, I think they'd be comfortable enough to say something about it. You're free to dislike Essek, or to like him but dislike the fandom response to him—but I think it's important to acknowledge who, in the real world, made and enjoyed this choice first and foremost, and ask yourself whether or not that's something you can live with as part of the narrative or if maybe this just isn't for you.

[nyktomorphia]

Trying to explain the Frecosystem coherently feels like having to tie conspiracy string all over my own artwork

Monster design in psychological and survival horror is driven by fear and trying to making them scary on a different or more personal level than big predator sharp teeth, and frequently that means starting with an approximate human figure and then making it repulsive, whether that's literally in the text like zombie apocalypses and other plague stories, or just implicit in designing a monster that looks like a crawling human with deformed features

Isn't it interesting how that contrasts with animals whose bestial traits are replaced with human ones until they are acceptably anthropomorphised?

Homo homini lupus est, sed lupus homini homo

And sure, those are basically opposite narrative purposes but they're both depicting the same idea, artistic representations of the point where the fallen human meets the rising ape, and that point is considered transitory

Isn't this just how visual storytelling works though, the audience can only come to understand something new by comparison to what they already know and fill in the gaps with what they expect? Isn't the purpose of such a design to suggest to the viewer how to relate what they see to categories they are already familiar with? Is the human viewer not expected to perceive art made for humans through a human lens? I guess

But you just still end up with fascinating monster designs that are unique to horror, because the way they trigger human fears is the artistic intent, and then by virtue of their genre they proceed to validate that fight-or-flight is the correct response

A monster becomes sympathetic only by losing its monstrosity, until either its "humanity" or its "inhumanity" overwhelms the other, safely neutralising its ambiguity to become a sort of charismatic bogeyfauna

Apathy towards humans is an unimaginable insult; they have no existence independent of their symbolism, the only thing they are is how they are understood

What is a spider in the absence of an arachnophobe?

What is a nightmare in the absence of a dreamer?

They are neither man nor woman, they are neither brute nor human, they are FREAKS

[gregrulzok]

Part of me knows that Worldbuilding should, for the most part, take a backseat to Storytelling, especially in a tightly packed series like Arcane.

The other part of me wants DESPERATELY to know more about the Firelights and their culture.

Brainworms under cut.

I say *culture* specifically, because for all intents and purposes they are not a gang - they're a society. These people have children, presumably partners and siblings, families of their own.

I wonder if it's a "It Takes A Village" sort of situation - all the kids being raised by all the adults simultaneously. I think that would make the most sense, given how some of the kids are definitely rescued orphans. Given that Ekko himself was adopted by Benzo, I think he'd definitely give priority to ensuring that they're saving kids and that those kids are treated well and taken care of.

And it's clear that even the kids respect him as a leader, but to what extent? Do they know him as a king that they have to obey, or is he more of an older brother figure? I'm inclined to say the latter - we see a bunch of kids together looking up at Ekko and Vi, and they greet each-other in a very friendly and relaxed manner.

I mean there's clearly respect for Ekko in kids and adults alike - they all do as he says, with even a slight head tilt being interpreted as a command, no questions asked - but I feel this is more of a faith in his intellect and leadership, rather than any kind of intimidation. Friendship seems to be at the heart of the dynamic, given how Ekko reacts to one of the Firelights dying, as well as the interactions we see between him and Scar (what with the hand clasping, and Scar immediately taking Ekko's weight when he sees his busted leg).

And Scar in general is an interesting case. In the scene with the kids, we see that Scar is seemingly looking after them, and one of the kids is presumably his own. This either lends some credibility to the "everyone takes care of all the kids" idea, or suggests that Scar is just going around adopting a bunch of kids personally, Vander-style. We can assume these kids aren't just his own kid's friends, since his is just a baby.

Now, it's very clear that one of the most important parts of their culture is art - there's paintings everywhere, the most important one being the big mural, but also their coats have drawn-on designs and even their masks are presumably hand-crafted. I have to wonder what sort of significance *artists* themselves have, and by extension how jobs are distributed.

(A small tangent: I love the mural and all it represents, and I absolutely LOVE that despite Vander being a more prominent figure in the undercity's history (and the viewer's mind), it's actually Benzo who is at the center of it. It's a tribute to the individuals they lost, not a documentation of History. Of course the leader's own father would take the biggest spot (though Vander is also a big presence in it)

We only really see a few Firelights on patrol, which makes sense - some are children, some would presumably be too old or sick or injured to fight. This leads me to think that while everyone probably has some fighting experience, not everyone is expected to be out on the field. Art is likely a recreational activity as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if those that can't or don't want to fight are instead busy building, sewing clothes, making masks, painting - I'd imagine there's a designated medic as well. Everyone plays their part to the extent that they can. (Of course the notion of any monetary compensation being given or expected is absurd - there is absolutely no way Ekko would let anyone go without necessities. Capitalism would only bring them closer to the classic mindset he clearly hates.)

So then I wonder - what about the food? I'm sure some is stolen, and I have to imagine they buy some too (along with medicine), but how about the money? Again, stealing from the rich (both Zaunities and Pilties) is definitely on the table, but I wonder if any of the Firelights have jobs in the undercity, bringing in profit that can then be used to buy essentials from the smaller establishments without hurting them.

And then, is any food actually grown? They're occupying one of the few places in the undercity that seems to have fertile soil, and while we aren't really shown this, I can't imagine they wouldn't at least try to grow some fruit or vegetables. I wonder if there's little gardens, if not outright farms, to help support themselves.

This is more of a loose one, but given that the city was founded by a late teens/young adult (however old Ekko may have been he's clearly still very young), I imagine they - especially the kids born and raised there - are probably developing their own unique slang and gestures. There's even a suggestion of this, with the kids greeting Vi and Ekko by holding up their hands in a specific gesture (kind of like the Star Trek Vulcan Salute Thingie). I mean if this had been one of them, I'd brush it off, but if memory serves at least two kids are shown doing this.

I, I dunno. I'm not really getting at anything, here. I just find the idea of an organized, moneyless, society-centric culture run by young adults and kids that will stop at nothing to change the world - but are STILL KIDS that value fun and freedom - absolutely fascinating.

I fuckin love Ekko.

[megidoreyn]

Heyyy it's about the art questions

I would like to know your answer in 18 (the purpose) and 22 (artspiration).

I would also ask 3 but I'd completely understand if you prefer not to answer

The rest are already answered

Hope you have a great month. ;D

Hey there! Thanks for the questions!

⭐️3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand

→ It was a real trip down memory lane to look back on some of these, but here's a sample of some old things from 2021-early 2022! (Prior to posting on social media in Aug 2022) Back then, I didn't have any real incentive to improve my art outside of drawing quick sketches like the pictures above. I had issues being cleanly (due to lack of motivation), committing to learning character details, and more LOL. →Fun fact, I drew on a very tiny 11 inch screen 4GB RAM laptop with horrible color calibration for about 3 years until finally getting something better in early 2022 too LOL. It might be noticeable in some of the above pictures with the color choices being a little too light or too saturated, LOL.

→As also seen at the bottom of this post, It might come as a surprise that I also draw fanart for my favorite assorted fandoms outside of megaten too, LOL. I just never post it in public since they're meant as warm-up doodles!

To be honest, 2020 thru late 2022 was a very low point in my life. I had given up on all creative endeavors at the time due to: My career, being diagnosed with a bodily issue of which the effects I still deal with even today, and other personal issues.

It truly wasn't until late 2022 (when I started posting online) that I truly felt confident picking up my tablet pen again and view art in a more positive light…!

NGL I had written out my entire life story here but ended up deleting it--it would have made this post terribly long regardless LOL💦 Perhaps it'll be a story for another time, though!!🙏 And it absolutely has to do with why the Samurai husbands mean lot to me!

⭐️18. What is your purpose for drawing?

→ That's a good question! For me, (especially due to my visual agnosia) it'd have to be the ability to draw whatever comes to mind with skill and precision. To not hold back and draw whatever comes into your mind's eye without fear or hesitation from others (or your own critical inner voice)… And to be able to properly convey the meaningful themes of your work as clearly as they come into your mind... That, to me, is true freedom.

➡️As for BL content: Despite not posting much of it in public (yet), my purpose in drawing BL (or OTP content in general) is to transmit feelings of love + warmth in my art! To depict tenderness, warmth, and love with affectionate, natural-looking body language to make it as believable + realistic as possible...That's always been my goal! →The world is a scary place out there. Though, if my OTP content can make someone feel a slight glimmer of peace, tranquility, or even hope to keep moving forward...then I'll be incredibly happy!🙏💕 It's always my intention to convey nothing but sweet wholesome vibes and warmth with my pictures, and I truly hope that feeling comes across too. ➡️I'll be super candid and say I actually really enjoy angst and raunchy content as much as everyone else! But drawing wholesome + sweet characters in love just comes much sooo much easier and naturally as breathing to me, LOL. Just because I don't post angst or raunchy things, doesn't mean I dislike it! ☝️

⭐️22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

→ I tend to gravitate towards professional artists with thick painting (厚塗り) coloring styles, dynamic illustrations, and artists that have a strong grasp of anatomy, character design and storytelling! It's hard to pick just one, so here's a brief selection of ones that come up at the top of my head right now!

Thanks again for the questions! Have a wonderful January and rest of your 2024 as well!✨🌟

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

the thing about ai is that it Literally cannot replace human artists. it cannot do things with intention, it cannot have consistency and know characters, plots, and storylines. it doesn’t understand proper language and doesn’t actually have any idea on how to modify what it creates outside of remaking it again with basic prompts. it can’t understand what’s very simple visual language or prompting a lot of the time. and if it could do all that? then it’d be like. a Person. at that point we'd have way bigger worries than art we’d have created fully sentient and sapient life.

but people still Try bc of capitalism bc they’re fucking desperate to save money. so like. they try and use a shovel to mine a mountain and fire their entire team with proper equipment. the crew is unemployed and suffers, and you can’t actually do the shit you want to properly. like you could try but you’ll get a weird ass inefficient mine. ai cannot be used for consistent storytelling, as it doesn’t have the ability to keep characters even slightly on model. it doesn’t know visual language and it doesn’t know how to convey tone. you’re gonna get pretty looking pieces that mean nothing, maybe suitable for like a free phone background but for anything official it’ll be blatantly awful, just to save a few bucks.

and imo that’s what’s fucked about ai. people are using a tool that’s Not an art tool to steal art and destroy careers solely to save money. it’s not about it being real art, it’s not about it looking good. an ai just can’t do stuff human artists can, no matter what, because it requires conscious thought and the ai isn’t sentient it’s just a pattern recognition machine. it’s just naked greed.

and that’s the big difference between when everyone had fun with image generators and the wave of ai hate. because it went from “let’s use a tool for an unintended purpose because it’s funny” (good and fine- if ai stayed like this in the realms of art no one would have any issues, and honestly if people are just generating shit for fun it’s basically harmless) to “let’s use a tool for an unintended purpose to save money, no matter how many people it hurts or how low quality the outcome is.” (incredibly fucked in every way)

[okanra]

⚠️ Note: This post is about Dragon Ball Super, and is written mostly for recap and research purposes, but it involves a few real-life related topics and will be pretty long so you should treat this like a blog post. If you’re comfortable with this and still curious to see what this is all about, keep your mind open and let’s go! 🤓

MY THOUGHTS/CONTROVERSIAL TAKE ON THE CURRENT STATE OF DRAGON BALL SUPER and DRAGON BALL FRANCHISE AS A WHOLE, AND THOUGHTS OF THE FUTURE OF THE BRAND

- PART 1: INTRODUCTION OF THE COMICS and TIMELINES -

1. INTRODUCTION:

Hello everyone, if this is your first time seeing me on your dashboard, my name is Kah and I’m an artist who have been working on a Dragon Ball webcomic named “Trunks and Goten in High school AU”, starring Goten and Trunks since 2021 and is still ongoing.

It’s used to appear on Google a lot until the current arc of Super happened, and Elon Musk’s decision to deleted the Moment feature on Twitter (that was the main link that mostly appeared on Google about my comic). It’s an art project that I’ve been letting it sleep inside my head for ~20 years and finally decided to manifest it into existence while infusing my style in it, until it got unexpectedly “canonized” by the Dragon Ball Super creators in late 2022 while the project is still in the beginning stage, in a way that I couldn’t predict it.

It changed everything afterwards of course. For both myself and the fandom, and maybe, the impact of this will be bigger than we think it will be 🤔

I know there’s nothing for you to believe in what I’m about to say, and I won’t force you to believe them too, of course, you have no obligation to do that. That’s exactly why you should try and read this and decide of what to think yourself, it can be something quite worthwhile.

The time this blog post is written is in January the 3rd, 2023. The incident was in December 2022, I will include timelines and many other articles down below, as well as images for you to see things more clearly. For the current me, this post is a recap for research purposes, and since I’ll be using myself and my work as an example, there’ll be some unwanted personal feelings unconsciously mixed in, but I’ll try to keep my mind as most neutral as possible.

You’re about to read my real thoughts on the current arc of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero since chapter 88, the similarity of my webcomic in it and many other deeper things, as well as my theory/glimpse at future of Dragon Ball franchise as a whole. I hope this read would be entertaining to you.

2. THE TIMELINE:

Before we get into the main topic, here’re some of my character designs and background visuals for my webcomic. If you can, read through some chapters as well, it’s not much but it will give you an idea of what to come next.

Ok so the first question to ask is, when did my webcomic project start? I say it’s around May 2021, in the midst of the Covid-era, when mostly everyone was quarantined at their homes. This webcomic art project is drawn so I can practice my drawing, storytelling and creative writing skills. It’s an indie project through and through, that takes a lot of time, effort and love. I don’t profit much from it tho, I mean my patreon is even opened in August last year and I didn’t even promote it much on any social media platform other than Twitter sometimes. So yes, the main purposes of it were mostly what I wrote above.

When did the current arc of Super start? Since 20th, December 2022. After the Granolah arc of the Dragon Ball Super manga ended, this is the arc that is currently running: the Super Hero arc. In appearances, there’re a bit of similar vibes from the manga and my webcomic in 2021, and while it may sound farfetched and like false accusation for everyone else, my intention is not exactly aiming towards that, it aims for something lying deeper. This is just the tip of the iceberg, that I would analyze and share a bit of it with you. Like I said, I would try my best to write it out as neutrally as possible.

From here on out, I’ll begin to list the entire timeline that leads to the current state:

- The last time Goten and Trunks appeared as main characters in canon was almost 30 years ago, I was talking about the Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT versions. Goten and present Trunks were not favored characters by fans, even when they have a small fanbase and have some fanworks throughout the years, they were still mostly listed as a funny dumb duo and unmarketable by the franchise. This leads to these two characters not being developed and touched upon by their creators for many years, because Toriyama is the type of artist that would draw because he likes it, yes, but he would cater to the masses of fans more (for example, a lot of his decision in the writing of Dragon Ball was suggested to alter into something else that fit the general audience more and he would mostly agreed, like his desire for Gohan to be the main character after the Cell arc, but Goku was brought back into the picture due to his iconic popularity and flat-character type, and that’s how we got 30 years of Goku’s journey). (what is a flat character: here)

This personality of his would later have a hand in him selling his ownership and license of Dragon Ball to Shueisha (main license holder), Toei (animation license holder) and Bandai (merchandise license holder). Akira Toriyama is the creator in name only, but big decisions are not depended on him. He’s pretty much like Stan Lee - the creator of Spider Man, but all the copyrights and licenses are hold by Marvel.

- In late 2019, I decided to re-picked up the Dragon Ball manga due to nostalgia. While remembering about my love for Goten and Trunks and seeing the lacked of content for them. Being forgotten by their own creators for unjustified reasons, I decided to write and draw my own story for Goten and Trunks, and published it to the internet since May 2021 on many social media platforms, but Twitter is where I’m the most active. And Twitter is the main international platform for many official account of Japanese brands, including manga, anime and of course, Dragon Ball.

- Any loyal Dragon Ball fans in the fandom community will know they mostly love the Toriyama style, and most will try to make their fan works in his style to honor him and the show itself (and will get more attention from other fans). And even though my webcomic is not as favorable as other Toriyama style fan arts and fanseries/fancomic due to the personal unique art style (I have my own drawing style) and differences in tone and storytelling (while the show mostly veers in the humor/gag/action direction, mine is more towards the dramatic/angsty/introspective side), it did raise the awareness to other fans in the community about the potential of the “forgotten half Saiyans”. Especially when two of my good friends that I usually talked and hyped with on Twitter are a Dragon Ball fanartist (@/amartbee) and a Dragon Ball content creator/YouTuber (@SLOplays) that always share official news of the show on his page, I included their handle names in here just for a few examples, in no way do I want to pull them in this whole mess of course. But anyway, both have a big following on Twitter, have big influences and love Dragon Ball.

- And they love my webcomic. The fanartist shared my webcomics a lot to her page and her community (blessed her), and while the content creator didn’t share it (except for a few times), he felt the love I have for Goten and Trunks that I put in my fan comics, and love them more and shared that feeling to his fans as well. So through my and their influences, the fans during the covid-era began to see the light on these characters, and want to see more of their potential as well as love them more. During this time, the Dragon Ball Super manga was in the Moro and Granolah arc, still focused on the journey of Goku and Vegeta defeating opponents in space, because they’re the fan-favorite, the icon of the brand for many years and Toei/Shueisha felt right to continue milking them for content and marketable purposes. Until the midst of 2021...

- After my webcomic started in summer of 2021 for a few months, the official account/website of Dragon Ball began to dropped the news of “DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO” movie (in production) in late 2021. And everyone was curious over what’s this all about.

- Then in February 2022, we had the full key visual for DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO movie like this. “That’s something we have never seen before right?”. Yes, indeed it was. It was. But everyone was ecstatic, including me.

- During the time of the movie being in the production stage, several visuals and interviews from the animation staff member as well as Toriyama himself were published online, twitter was always the fastest of course. Toriyama said he wanted to make Piccolo as the main character for this movie only, but Toei wanted to include Gohan as the co-protagonist to lure in the Saiyan fans, which held the more dominant side of the fanbase. Hence why the movie had two protagonists that were Piccolo and Gohan. But the weird thing is, they decided to finally include the Super’s teenager version of Goten and Trunks this time. They were drawn by Toriyama, but I can tell based on how good he was as a character designer, Toriyama himself didn’t think much about their designs due to how simple they were. This made me feel like they were not at the forefront of his mind, and more like he was “told to do”.

- When the movie was finally released across the globe from June 2022 until the rest of the year, we found out about the scene with Goten/Trunks was only about 2 minutes, and they did nothing major in the movie. This would later confirmed my theory of this movie being an experiment and a very clever survey from Toei to know the taste of the international fans at the time with characters other than Goku and Vegeta (because they had been milking them for almost 30 years and even when these two are still the icon, the taste of ithe fans have changed).

Despite that, their 2 minutes on-screen was enough for me, my friends, our friends and followers/fans to expressed our love for these two through likes, shares, fanarts and everything else.

- During this time, I still worked on my passion project aka the Goten and Trunks webcomic series, and with a few fan arts mixed in along the way. Still hyped with my friends and followers as a fan on many social media platforms. Love them, the hype in this fandom is real.

- After the movie was aired for a few months, in August 2022 chapter 87 ended with a note from the editorial staff that said the manga would go on hiatus to prepared for the next arc. This would later confirm my theory of “this break” being the time when the whole franchise and “Dragon Ball” brand’s marketing/research department to check on the stats from the movie (that acted as a survey for international fans) to know which direction to go next.

- Until August 2022, the official account/website of Dragon Ball dropped the visuals of the next arc, which included Goten and Trunks as super heroes, and this arc would be the arc before the Super Hero movie with them as the protagonists.

This is when I began to feel a queasy feeling that whispered something like “that was... Odd. Good but... Odd”. Because from the beginning of Dragon Ball Super until now, it has always been a Goku and Vegeta’s journey to space, there was no build up, no anything to lead to Goten and Trunks being protagonists at this point. Below are some examples from the Moro arc, they still remained in kid’s forms like what they have been for so many years like this.

- In November 2022, there’re leaks about the next arc of Dragon Ball Super aka chapter 88, and we found out this arc will focus on Trunks and Goten’s high school life, with Trunks as a protagonist and learn how to be a superhero.

This was when everything came crashing down on my head, shattered my rose colored glasses and connected all the dots. I decided to wait a bit longer to confirm my theory by reading chapter 88 and see the content in it. While most of the fans were ecstatic, because they finally got what they wanted: Goten and Trunks finally got their spotlight in canon; I was feeling nervous more.

- In 20th December 2022, chapter 88 got released and while it caught the eye of many fans from both Japan and the international, the first chapter of the arc got mixed reviews due to it focuses too much on Trunks’s crush on Mai to the point of forcing readers to accept it. I wrote this thread right after reading chapter 88, giving out my prediction. And later today, it got confirmed by Toyotaro himself in an interview: he did intend to put in lots of romance in this arc.

- But after all of this, I mostly saw the weird and lots of lots of “coincidence” in my theme and the Super manga theme. They are both alike, and TOTAL POLAR OPPOSITE. Imagine two similar (or same) products, but they are being produced under two different brands (in this case, it’s from a company vs a homemade one), with opposite directions and purposes.

We’ll continue the next part after this, it’ll dive deeper into the real life topics to emphasize my points and researchers. The theme of the next post aka part 2 will be:

THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE DRAGON BALL SUPER, THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE MANGA WITH FANS AND FANWORKS, AND THE FUTURE OF THE DRAGON BALL FRANCHISE AS A WHOLE

- end part 1 -

[nerdynikki94]

There are too many reasons for why Hannibal is such a captivating series: the artistic visuals, sound design, phenomenal acting, dialogue, character development, beautifully executed split season arcs, etc.

I could literally spend like 3 hours just praising the storytelling of the cinematography and sound design in Hannibal S3b (don't even get me started on the painfully purposeful dialogue - word choice is so thorough and deliberate, especially regarding Will). This arc is truly masterful in the way it conveys intention, intimacy, and barriers, not just in relation to Hannibal with Will, but all the characters.

In S3E8, we are instantly introduced to the way Hannibal exists within his memory palace. We first see him interact with Alana, sitting with a glass of wine in his old office. It's important to note that she's first shown there, before we transition to reality, the transparent partition separating the space between them. He brings people into that room in his memory palace to retain that old sense of composure and control.

Also, notice the way we see Hannibal interact with Frederick. There is no place in his memory palace for Chilton. In this entire arc, these two are always shown in cuts of untouched reality. Hannibal doesn't respect or hold any esteem for him. He talks to Chilton without investment, and thus, he is not worthy of the honor of Hannibal's confidence. His control in this instance is cold and completely removed.

That shifts entirely in the last scene of that episode when Will goes to see him. The music changes, a haunting few notes, incredibly reminiscent to some opening notes blended in Love Crime. We see him strut straight into Hannibal's foyer, the Norman Chapel in Palermo; Will knows where to find Hannibal; it's just as much his memory palace, as it is Hannibal's.

Will is the only one to do this throughout S3b. All other characters shown in Hannibal's memory palace, are simply there at the start of the scene, they never walk into it. Hannibal has to be the one to extend the invitation, but not with Will. For him, Hannibal has an open door policy.

In S3E9, we continue their meeting. Hannibal & Will's angles are so specific in this scene, but also, throughout this setting. When they talk between the partition, you are often seeing the other's reflection in each one shot. They are equals, both of them caged and free in their own personal ways. Their presences are fused together, fractured reflections of one another. The distance isn't absolute, because they are still so close, as if no time has passed.

Then, later, we see Alana going through Hannibal's cell. It's intentional that the camera shows her milling about in a way where we can see the holes in the glass between them, at first. We are meant to be aware of the wall ever between them, until Alana steps closer. In threatening him, showing Hannibal the true power of her position, she gets to safely encroach on his space. Suddenly, the glass wall is gone. And then, when she steps away, the angle changes so we can yet again be reminded that the wall is still there, it always was, but the threat was real. It's the closest thing we see to Hannibal being rattled by his captivity.

Then, we see Jack visit Hannibal. Hannibal's reflection is seen in most of Jack's one shots, but his face is always obscured. He's a dark looming shadow, always lingering over Jack's shoulder like a threat. (Hannibal will manifest as a reflection in this way for Alana and Frederick as well throughout this arc; just like her and Will say, as if everybody feels like he walks out with them.)

Jack's reflection is shown only once in Hannibal's shots during this meeting. When Hannibal is telling Jack that Bella once said his face was all scars, if you knew how to look, we can just barely make out a reflection of half of Jack's face beside Hannibal. I find this brief moment to be really interesting in re-watches, once you ruminate on the notion that is introduced later in S3E12.

In this story, Hannibal is the Devil, and Jack is God. So, we see God's gnarled half-reflection beside the smug devil, a reminder that in more than one way, Jack too, is responsible for Hannibal's actions. More than once in this series, we see God's lapse of judgment allow the devil to get away. Hannibal is Jack's greatest regret, proof of just how blind he can be.

Briefly, jumping ahead on that point. (The God, Devil, the Lamb & the Great Red Dragon speech is also so important as well. A scene where we see Jack's reflection in Hannibal's shots, a forced distance, expression removed, saying with certainty that he'll be standing at the end. Then, Hannibal approaches, asking him if his conscience is clear, and his reflection lands on Jack, but doesn't meld. Jack's face is not overtaken, instead it overtakes what we see, as Jack says his conscience is as clear as Hannibal's. God has made his own choices. He may be blinded, but he's never truly influenced.) AAAGGGHH! Visual Poetry!

Even in S3E10, when Dolarhyde calls Hannibal. We see Dolarhyde physically enter his old office. There's a sense of counterfeit there, Dolarhyde's desperation to be seen by Hannibal. Yet, Hannibal allows him into that room of his memory palace, not as an equal, but as a patient.

Later in that episode, we get one of the best shots in the season, which occurs when we see Hannibal & Will talking about TGRD and the question of his sanity, Will takes a step forward and this is where we see his reflection meld into Hannibal. The contrast is there, but so is the connection. Just like Jack says to Chiyoh in S3E7: Hannibal & Will are identically different. They have changed each other.

I could keep going. This show is fucking ridiculous. It's so incredibly well-made, thoughtful and fucking efficient. Yes, there's loads of flowery language and overcomplicated arguments, but that all really falls into Bryan's stylistic choices: Pretentious Art Film. But in the same vein, that is how it's able to convey so much, even when doing so little; it's efficient because, even in silence, there is so much storytelling being done.

[whyeverr]

Thanks for your response! Having builds already made is a smart idea.

From the traditional rules, I don’t particularly like or strive for legacy gameplay or waiting for lots to be unlocked until after so much gameplay has happened. In my mind it makes more sense that a lot is unlocked to facilitate gameplay. For example: needing an art center or gallery or museum to open the Artist career. Whereas the traditional rules have it the other way around. I think because there’s so much I haven’t played with in the game yet and I don’t like sims staying home to do everything so in order to explore gameplay (skills and careers and activities), they need to have community lots to do them on. Idk if this makes sense haha but yeah I am trying to rethink the rules because I would rather have more community lots than households in my game and typically BACC rules and variations I’ve seen focusing on adding more households

Definitely get where you're coming from, anon! The beginning is super grind-y, and there's almost no reason to ever really leave your lot unless you're super intentional about getting creative with it—which, speaking from experience, only extends the duration of the grind!

(And honestly, while we're on the subject of bending BACC rules... Controversial take, but if you're starting in a neighborhood or world with streets and stoplights and shell houses and things imo it doesn't make sense to have to start anything off-grid in TS4... 🤷🏼‍♀️ Use max handiness to unlock building additions or new lots or something instead, idk! But I digress.)

One thing it took me way too long to realize (because it isn't in the spreadsheet for some reason) is that the Community Space lot type is unlocked by default when you start the challenge. So if you mostly want to stick to the rules but want to jump in with more spaces available right away for your sims to use for skill-building, you could set up a Community Space (or more?) and just have your sims vote to make them a Maker Space for handiness and painting, Community Garden for gardening, etc. I don't think you'd be gaining any unfair advantage doing it this way, and if it helps you for storytelling or immersion purposes... Why not? 😌 That Community Space building could even be renovated the Arts Center or whatever when you get to the point of unlocking that.