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grad604-haydenmiddleton · 1 year ago

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20 OBJECTS WRITING VER.2

(VERSION 2, CUT DOWN + GRAMMAR CHECKED)

seraph of the end

I watched the Seraph of the End anime for the first time when I was around 13, and ironically, I nearly didn’t finish it, but I’m really glad I stuck with it because now it’s one of my favourite pieces of media of all time. Here I’ve decided to showcase the 21st manga in the series, and you know that must mean I have manga 1 all the way through to 21. The characters are said to be born in the same year as I am so as a kid, it made me happy to think I was growing up alongside them.

burts bees

Lip balm might be a weird inclusion, but hear me out. I used to not take good care of my body at all. I’m not sure when it happened exactly, but at some point I realised I needed to make changes. I set up a routine for my life, including a wake-up and going-to-sleep routine. I was still depressed, which sucked but I think learning to have a routine and self-awareness about what my body and mind needed is a hugely important skill that I still have today. Lip balm is just a representation of the changes and routine I made.

washi tape

Washi tape is a staple at a lot of stationary shops, and I used to go a lot with my sister to check them out. She has always been a lot more careful with her money than me. I can't handle the temptation and usually leave a stationary shop with something. I have a stupid amount of washi tape and other kinds of stationary. I just like the aesthetics and patterns of washi tape that inspire some of my brightly coloured art, and sometimes I even digitally draw washi tape to emulate physical craft style.

tamagotchi

I bought myself a Sanrio edition tamagotchi, which only ever came out in Japanese. So with the help of a translation guide online, I take care of my little creature. You can probably tell by now that I like Sanrio characters. My sister and I both had tamagotchis around 2010 and back then they were in black and white, while the one I have now is in full colour! I watch videos about the timeline and all about the different versions of tamagotchis that were made. It's a nostalgia thing and reminds me to put a childish 2000s flair into my work.

stickers

I’m a bit of a collector, and my stack of sticker sheets is further proof. I have tons of stickers that I’ve collected over the years from a range of places. Although I get really nervous about using them. I want to keep all of them nice forever. I’m a bad hoarder and need to get better at using some of these things up. Since a lot of the stickers are made by artists, they inspire me a lot, and often they’re made as merchandise for a show or cartoon I watch. It's been my dream to sell things like stickers myself.

water cup

I have a love for water and hydrating, like all normal living things do. I genuinely believe drinking a lot more water and staying hydrated throughout the day has made me a happier, healthier person. This water cup was a Christmas gift from my sister one year ago. Everything just tastes better when drunk with a straw. It also features an animal crossing pattern, which I play with my sister. Being in a good mindset is really important for my creative process, so drinking water helps me feel good enough to work hard on creative projects.

pokemon cards

Despite actually finding a lot of the games boring, I have spent a crazy amount of money on my Pokémon card collection. But for me, it isn’t about pulling the crazy rare and expensive cards, it’s all about collecting the pretty cards or cards I find visually appealing. There are hundreds of different artists working for Pokémon, so each card is personalised and has its own style. I think collecting them now as an adult is a way to appease my child self because I was told they were a waste of money, and they are, but I just can't help myself from collecting things.

ticket stubs

Here are some of the ticket stubs or receipts I’ve collected from going to shows. I keep these to preserve the memory of going out with friends or family to watch something. My favourites are plays, and then also animated films. Some may think it’s childish for me to still be so invested in colourful movies typically catered towards kids or teens, but I really enjoy taking in the art and beauty of animation as inspiration for my own bright and bold creative style, which also in turn influences my graphic design practice.

keroppi figure

Keroppi is a frog from Sanrio, and I got this specific figure from a blind box, which means you’re not sure which design or character you’re going to get when you buy the box. My best friend Cat got me this box to open, and when I did, we both thought it was really cute that I got the one that is shown to be drawing. He has the same profession as me, so he sits on a shelf above my bed and can watch me do my own design work.

sonny angel

At first, I used to think Sonny Angels were creepy. I didn’t like the idea of having a smiling, naked baby on my shelf as a collectable, but the more I learned about them, the more I was swayed. Sonny Angels are cherubs made as a companion for working women in their mid-20s dealing with the stress of adulthood. Cherubs are also a sign of good luck, so they’re almost a charm of sorts to bring happiness and luck. Of course, they are also just a piece of expensive plastic that we buy and collect, but sometimes it’s about the simple pleasures in life.

wacom

I got my first Wacom tablet when I was around 12 after borrowing my sister's far too much. Weirdly enough, I wasn’t a fan of physically sketching before this and was much more drawn to digital art and the effects and style of this medium. Even now, I’m actually a horrible physical artist, despite all my time spent drawing digitally. Being part of these digital art and design communities helped me improve and be inspired. This was the first step in taking me down the path of graphic design and helped me realise what I wanted to do for work later in life.

testosterone

This is my medical prescription for testosterone. I go in every 3 weeks for an injection of this stuff. It took a lot of time to get to this point in my life, but I can confidently say it has made me a happier, more confident person to finally feel like I’m comfortable in my own skin. My gender is an extremely important part of me, as it is for anyone, cis or not. It’s important for us as people to express ourselves authentically to be perceived as how we want to be, and when someone misunderstands you, it can be uncomfortable.

fuggler box

This box once housed a fuggler, a funny, ugly creature. I wasn’t sure that it really stood for this at first since I’ve heard a more rude version of that saying. These toys are meant to be, well, ugly to an extent. They have interestingly shaped bodies, small beady eyeballs, and visible, semi-realistic-looking teeth! Despite the intent of them being made ugly, I find them quite endearing. I like this idea of finding the beautiful behind the ugly. I also like the mix of horror with cuteness. It mirrors some of my own work, where I draw something scary but do it with bright, bold colours.

grape fanta

This can is another probably weird thing to add to a list of my favourite objects, but my love for artificial grape flavouring knows no bounds. It’s ironic because I don’t even like actual grapes! Fizzy drinks, soda, pop, whatever you want to call it, is one of my favourite things to drink as a treat. When I’m feeling down or I’m working on homework and I’m losing motivation, I treat myself to full strength, full sugar, definitely bad for me, soda.

splatoon amiibo

Splatoon is a game where you play as a 'squid kid’ (a kid who can also turn into a squid) and hang out in Inkopolis Square, shop for colourful streetwear fashion with unique abilities, and play games of turf war where you and 3 other players go up against a team of 4 and try to paint the majority of the map in your team colour. It’s one of my favourite Nintendo games, and I’ve been playing since the second game. There’s a third game in the series now which I played every single day. Now I don’t have as much time to play it, but I still love the general aesthetics and gameplay.

dsi

The DSi was my first ever gaming console. I got it for Christmas one year from my nana when I was around 7. This began my love for Nintendo and video games. I played a lot of Zelda: Four Swords and Animal Crossing: Wild World, as well as others. But it is whenever I play with my sister that I remember most and hold closest to my heart. Video games are such a creatively stunning work of love, from the graphics to the music to the story they tell, and in a way, they go hand in hand with graphic design as they communicate a story visually and through a specific creative style.

tote bag

Tote bags are another thing I started using after witnessing my sister style them. When she went to university with one, I also decided that a tote bag for university would be cool and convenient. In actuality, it really hurt my left shoulder and was really inconvenient to rummage around to find what I was looking for. I still have a considerable collection of them, though, because I do think they add to an outfit in a way that is more stylish than just a basic bag. It’s also perhaps cliche, but you’ll typically see a tote bag as a creative bag of choice, so I guess I’m just doing my duty as a designer.

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thefvrious · 1 year ago

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@ghostsxagain sent -> rafael & maksym

☀️ » what was your character’s first impression of their partner ? honestly, maks was confused by how kind and outgoing and smiley rafael was. but he was quickly intrigued. 🍯 » what trait does your character admire the most about their partner ? he thinks that rafael's capacity to feel such a beautiful range of emotions is beautiful. he understands that it's conflicting for raf, hard for him, even, but how can someone be so beautiful when they cry? ⚡ » who spends more time on the phone ? probably raf, honestly. maks doesn't spend a lot of time on his phone. ✏️ » who takes longer to text back ? Maksym. When he's working, his phone is often taken away from him, so that makes it difficult to respond promptly. 💡 » what’s the first movie / tv show your pairing saw ? maksym showed rafael a russian cartoon he used to watch as a child, he found the clips on youtube. 🐣 » who has the best style ? maksym cares a lot about what he looks like, so i'ma have to go with maks, sorry rafi baby. 🔑 » who is the better driver ? i question if maksym even knows how to drive tbh. ⭐ » what are three things that your pairing have in common ? murder, an insatiable appetite for one another, and a tenderness that people around them can neither understand nor explain.

🌩 » how does your character calm their partner when they are angry ? maksym doesn't try to calm rafael with words, he just strokes his head -- lets him feel his anger. he'd follow rafael through with any stupid, manic idea. 🌼 » who was the first to say i love you ? oh for sure it was rafael. 🧀 » who is the better cook ? probably rafael. maksym knows how to take care of himself, but he honestly eats to survive not to enjoy it, so he's not a good cook by any means. 🌻 » who is the better listener ? they're both equally good listeners. i think rafael might be better at it just because he has a better capacity for understanding, but maks could listen to raf ramble all day -- and has before. ✨ » what is your pairing’s favourite thing to do together ? i think, at this point, they simply enjoy being around one another. it'd be nice to like explore chicago together or something but alas... ⚠️ » who has the crazier family ? i wouldn't call maksym's family crazy, just awful. rafael's family, though? definitely a bunch of whackadoos, i love 'em tho.

🌙 » what are your character’s love languages –– gifts , affection , words ? he's not good with words, or at least feels like he's not, so definitely gifts [usually stolen] and affection. 🌤 » how long has your pairing been together ? a relatively short time, but they're burning hot. 💛 » who says i love you more often ? rafael, the sweet little love bug. but maksym always enthusiastically returns the affection. he's never been loved like this <3 😭 » who is most likely to forget an anniversary ? probably maksym. he doesn't have a great concept of the passing of time, or he didn't really care that much at least before he met rafael. i don't think he's ever considered any particular dates as important, so it'd be a learning curve for him. 🍌 » what is your pairing’s favourite place ? right now? has to be maksym's apartment. that's the only place they really have.

#maksym kovalenko ~ about #maksym x rafael #ghostsxagain #ship tag tbd

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sehnsuchts-trunken · 2 years ago

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Hello, call me Aerith can I have a male matchup for Merlin? (I rewrote my info to make it neat and match me with two characters if you want:))

𝗦𝗘𝗫𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬/𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗦: Biromantic Pansexual and Genderfluid; He/They (though I'm biologically woman irl)

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘: 20 years old, 5'1", Southeast Asian. Chubby with brunette bob cut hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a small beauty mark on my forehead. My style is in between soft grunge and soft punk (not a big fan of dress except for occasions) but loves to wear Korean makeup style

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬: Muggleborn Ravenclaw with a patronous spirit of Hummingbird, an INFJ (last time I checked at MBTI test), my enneagram is 4w5 and my moral alignment is Neutral Good. I may have a slight introverted tendencies and awkward nature, I describe myself as fiery, swears like a sailor, confident, jokester, and, passionate. Religious, super talkative, sometimes hyper (because of excitement), giggly (I always laugh/snort for stupid reasons), nerdy, actually sweet and nice though I can be aloof, intimidating, and scary when I get so angry. I tend to become really fiesty, stands boldly on what I believe (claiming myself as a realist though some of my views doesn't makes sense), and unbothered to be true to myself, clumsy, stubborn, young-at-heart, unfortunate and inattentive. Would have "no bs" or don't give af towards the people that I hate, sarcasam and savagery is my main language. But on the other side, I overthink a lot and cry over small things many times, small mistakes leads me to provoke me even more that sounds like a drama queen, yet recognizes a soft spot for dumb jokes, cheesy pickup lines and prefer people with a good sense of humour who see myself as equal. Chill in academics, but very competitive that manages to the top even for my dreams---I'm very dedicated on what I want for my life, and I display modesty and gracefulness towards some people that deserves respect. One notable feature about her is her multi-potentiality due to being naturally gifted in artistic fields (this includes singing).

𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦: Arts, choir, poetry, karaoke, literature, history, makeup, beauty pageants, fun/deep/dumb conversations, expanding my knowledge in Christianity, documentaries (about saints), reading interesting stuffs, talking about social issues, and creative writing, chilling both indoors and outdoors.

𝗛𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗜𝗘𝗦: Drawing, singing, dancing when nobody's around (I'm very bad at it), sharing nerdy or opinionated thoughts, walking like a model (if I ever feel so confident), sleeping, listening to music (from rock to kpop), chatting or browsing on social media, watching videos on YouTube, making terrible jokes/puns, watching cartoons, writing, reading interesting things, and conceptualizing my artworks. I also used to study Italian language a bit

hello hun, ofc you can have a matchup! two for merlin, to go

I ship you with...

Gwaine!

- He’s definitely the most hilarious person you’ve ever met and he loves how you can almost match him with your humour. He’s always there for you and always does his best to distract you when you’re down, especially because he knows you cry easily. I’d say you swear even more than him, which isn’t easy, but every time you’re on one of your “cursing streaks” he’s just ridiculously enamoured by it.

- Even though he likes having something to do, somehow you can put him at ease no problem and make him relax. Which isn’t to say that he won’t go batshit crazy whenever you sing and dance (he’ll always join in - he doesn’t care if you’re good or bad at dancing, but if you’d like him to, I’m sure he’d teach you). The first time he heard you sing, he was just completely starstruck, and I imagine every time he hears you he still has the biggest grin on his face.

- He’ll steal your drawings or writing right from under your nose, holding it up high and reading it or looking at it only to compliment how great you are at it. Yeah, he likes to tease you, but he’d never miss an opportunity to tell you how much he loves you and what you do. Also, he’s pretty small in comparison to the other knights, so that you’re even smaller than him he would absolutely take advantage of. He can’t usually keep someone from reaching something just by holding it up high, but he certainly can for you. He knows his limits though.

- Last but not least he’d definitely let you do his makeup. Like. If you want to try anything, he’ll sit there and let you try it on him.

also,

I ship you with...

Lancelot!

- Lancelot is literally the sweetest, most caring guy there is. I believe that despite being someone who’s travelled and lived through a lot and doesn’t mind doing the work, he really does enjoy just relaxing with you and doing something like reading. I just have this mental image of simply the two of you cuddling, maybe him kissing your head, as he reads a book and you read yours or you write or you draw...

- You could also talk about anything and everything with him. First of all, he always is there for you if you need a shoulder to cry on, if you’re getting emotional or just need to vent. But in general, he just loves talking to you! He loves hearing about what interests and excites you and he’ll gladly reciprocate. He’s fascinated by how much knowledge you have, how you have no problem accurately discussing things, no matter if they’re silly hypothetical things or actual important issues.

- Honestly, I feel like Lancelot would really be surprised every time again and just as enamoured by how confident and bold and fierce you are. When you stand up for yourself, when you fight back, he’ll just raise his eyebrows and smile and keep silent while you annihilate whatever person dared to treat you wrong. Like, he’d do it for you because he’s certainly just as angry, he’s fuming inside, but he knows that you’re well able to do it yourself and that you really like to, so he watches you quietly and simply acts as moral support.

- He, too, would absolutely love to teach you how to dance though. Personally I believe he has had Gwaine teach him before too, because there’s no way this man knew how to dance before he became a knight. But like, now that he can, he’d really like dancing with you as well.

#matchups #merlin #merlin matchups #bbc merlin #x reader #lancelot #gwaine #sir lancelot #sir gwaine

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 3 years ago

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Michael in the Mainstream: Space Jam/Space Jam: A New Legacy

I am genuinely confused, guys. Space Jam: A New Legacy has come out, and it is just getting a critical thrashing on all fronts. It is being derided as being a retread of Ready Player One, it’s being mocked as a shameless commercial, it’s being called the ‘definition of corporate’… And all of this is just baffling because this is literally no different than the original film, which was based on a commercial and just made to cash in on 90s culture. The original is a cult classic now and something of a meme in its own right, but it is undoubtedly a big fat commercial made to cash in on the times and boy did it ever because we still remember it fondly to this very day.

But I think there’s plenty of value in this new film, and I think a lot of it might be fondly remembered by younger generations down the line like the original is by people like me. What helps is that, in a lot of ways, this movie does things way better than the original… though I certainly won’t say this new film is perfect by any means. You’ve gotta go in with the mindset that this is just a dumb, silly commercial that you’re watching for cartoon antics and shameless product placement, first and foremost. Do that, and you might be able to handle all the stuff I’m about to talk about.

The obvious starting comparison for the films is the leads. Michael Jordan in the original is, to put it lightly, not an actor. He puts in a very corny performance by even the nicest definitions. But still, I think that lends him a charm all his own, and he’s not detrimental to the film at all. In fact, his lack of acting talent is easily smoothed over by the general charisma Jordan brings to his role. In comparison, LeBron James is a much better actor (though let’s not pretend he’ll be winning an Oscar any time soon), but he lacks a lot of the charisma Jordan brought to his role. That’s not to say James is weak, though; he acts just enough to bring the awkward, dorky charm of someone not an actor by trade trying their best to the role. It’s hard not to like him, at least a little bit, and he does have some decent interactions with the Tunes, though I think Jordan definitely has him beat there.

Speaking of the Tunes, they are a clear improvement over how they were in the original film. A common criticism of Space Jam is that, as fun as the Tunes were, a lot of the time they were a bit out of character, and the one newcomer (Lola) was nothing but oversexualized furry bait who existed to be a love interest and whose personality began and ended with ‘girl.’ The new movie fixes this by giving the Tunes a lot of fun, cartoonish antics that feel far more in line with how they are usually portrayed. Bugs is back to being a tricky rascal, Daffy is an egomanical jackass, and so on. Much like a lot of modern portrayals, the movie fixes Lola by amping up her badass qualities while still staying true to her original appearance by having her be good at basketball, but not to the point she overshadows everyone. There are some issues with the Tunes, such as the weird stunt casting of Zendaya as Lola and Gabriel Iglesias as Speedy instead of using their more modern voice actors, as well as using a voice for Bugs that makes him sound really off at times, but overall the Tunes are treated far more respectfully and with far greater dignity than the original afforded them (except my man Marvin, they really did him dirty in this one).

When it comes to the main villain, there is absolutely no contest here. Swackhammer is a bland, horribly forgettable corrupt corporate executive archetype with little to no interesting twists to him, and he commits cardinal sin of cinema by wasting Danny DeVito. A New Legacy, on the other hand, gives the Oscar-nominated superstar Don Cheadle a hell of a lot to do in the movie. Al-G Rhythm is a sentient computer virus who wants to capture LeBron James and use him to churn out lazy, soulless cashgrab films, and he does it all while hamming things up to the high heavens. Cheadle looks like he’s having an absolute blast, and he’s definitely one of the most fun villains in a kid’s movie in a long while (especially since Disney doesn’t seem to be able to make good villains anymore). Unfortunately, this does come at a price it seems. In the original, the opposing team is comprised of the Nerdlucks/Monstars, who all build themselves up throughout the movie as an actual intimidating threat. The opposing team here gets no buildup, being conjured up solely for the big game at the end, and while they’re not awful, they really aren’t particularly memorable either.

Speaking of the big game, I’m just gonna say it: A New Legacy blows the original completely out of the water in this regard. The cartoonish antics are through the roof and are mixed in with video game antics, Don Cheadle hams it up to the high heavens, and there are cameos from the most ridiculous array of Warner Bros. Properties you could imagine. This has become a prominent source of derision, but if you feel no joy at seeing Arnold Schwarzengger’s Mr. Freeze, the Droogs, Pennywise, and one of the nuns from The Devils doing idle animations and losing their shit over a Looney Tunes basketball game, I’m not particularly sure I care about your opinion. This is the exact sort of stupid fun I’d want from a movie like this. I’ll certainly take it over Bill Murray showing up out of nowhere for no good reason, that’s for sure.

The humor of A New Legacy far outshines the original for the reasons I mentioned with talking about the portrayal of the Tunes, but there are some issues. The montage where Bugs and LeBron recruit all the Tunes is a bit rushed, and the concept (the Tunes have migrated to other Warner properties) is really glossed over save for Daffy and Porky in the DCAU and Lola training to become an Amazon in a comic book-style take on Wonder Woman (complete with the now-iconic theme!) that really goes to show she should replace Gal Gadot. Other than them, we get Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner in Fury Road, Sylvester and Elmer in The Spy Who Shagged Me, Granny and Speedy in The Matrix, and Yosemite Sam in Casablanca, and while all of these gags are great and funny, they’re over far too quickly and could have been expanded into a whole sequence of their own rather than just a montage. I don’t know about you, but I really am far more interested in seeing what the hell Game of Thrones is like with Foghorn Leghorn as Daenerys than I am most other things in movies. It’s just a whole lot of missed opportunities. I’m less forgiving to the out-of-nowhere rap battle in the middle of the basketball game, but is it really worse than the out-of-nowhere Pulp Fiction reference in the original or, again, Bill Murray just showing up at the end?

Look, I’m not trying to say either film is some masterpiece of emotion or storytelling or anything like that, but both films have their place. The original is a fun, corny piece of 90s nostalgia that manages to be fun almost in spite of itself, while the new film is a fun, goofy spectacle that takes everything good about the first film and makes it better while still hosting problems of its own. They’re fun, flawed, amusing, and stupid commercials, and they absolutely deliver on what you want them to be. The Looney Tunes play basketball with a superstar against a bunch of crazy opponents while a cavalcade of cameos watches from the sideline… If you’re expecting anything more, you’re watching the wrong movie.

#Michael in the Mainstream #review #movie review #Space Jam #Space Jam: A New Legacy #Michael Jordan #LeBron James #Don Cheadle #Looney Tunes #Bugs Bunny #Lola Bunny #basketball #comedy #animation #family film

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spongebob-connoisseur · 3 years ago

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What are your overall thoughts on Kamp Koral and the Patrick Star show?

In my opinion,

Kamp Koral has cute kid designs but, the animation is just.... eh.... not great like even the animation from Jimmy Neutron looks better than that and that came out decades before this.

Patrick Star show looks promising but, I've heard it's good so, I might give it a chance since it looks better than Kamp Koral. I dunno, what do you think? Please, respond whenever you can!

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I've already talked about Kamp Koral in my previous post so I'll leave this to talk about The Patrick Star Show.

I actually like it!!! I think we all know since everytime there's a new Patrick Star Show episode I'm usually the first to post on it. Mainly because of S L A P P Y but I genuinely like the show and get excited when there's a new episode. Even if my boy doesn't show up 👀

I definitely have to say the first 2 episodes was kinda lackluster. I feel kinda sad how quick cartoon reviewers judged the show based on the first 2 episodes which is technically one episode since SB episodes air in pairs. They were so eager to talk about how it's an unholy abomination and that your stupid for liking the show. Even though it's natural for shows to have a rocky start before it finds its footing. It was clear the first episode especially that they were still figuring out the show and it didn't deserved to be so hated.

I really think The Patrick Star Show is better than Kamp Koral because it feels like it's own thing and it's done a good job to do that (unlike KK)

Anyways they said PSS was inspired by shows from the 60s-80s and yeah I see it. I got BIG PeeWee's Playhouse vibes if you ever seen that show. Especially from how his house is designed and how it functions.

One of my favorite things about it is the frequent art style changes. It's so experimental and does something new with the animation in each episode. People were going crazy over the stop motion short for the halloween episode. But they always had stop motion shorts. Every so often it changes its art style.

The Captain Doug Quasar shorts are the UPA style (the art style that was frequently used during the 50s and 60s cartoons). Or Bunny the Barbarian which kinda reminds me of 1980s barbarian games/movies. I made a post about the art style changes.

Also it has fake commercials in between which kinda reminds me of Ren and Stimpy which I think is neat.

But more I have to mention is that I kinda love how absurdist this show is. I know a loooot of people hate that nowadays because everything has to be meaningful™ and deep™ and real™ but I've always found the unusual and obscure appealing. Probably the reason why I also liked PeeWee's playhouse and shows adjacent to that so much xD

After all, Spongebob was always intended to be absurdist too. He's a sea sponge living in a pineapple under the sea, in a 1950s bubble of a town of sentient fish underneath a real life nuclear testing site. Having it be obscure isn't a crime. Sometimes it's easier to let go and have fun and that's why I like it.

The show def has some weak points. A lot of the characters aren't fleshed out enough. When super random obscure stuff isn't happening, it tends to fall a bit flat. Or have weird gaps that just don't work. There's definitely potential to develop it further but I don't think they'll do it?

Idk it just needs more planning on how characters interact with each other and why they do the things they do and having more to them then the surface level set up the show's already got. It helps for plot ideas and pushing it further while also makes things interesting.

There's also the issue of it being too fast paced. I loooove the episode Pat-a-thon but first time watching it had be absolutely confused. It's too much yet nothing much? It's so unusual. I love the episode because Slappy content™ but aside from that it's near insanity. I guess they just wanted a bit of a fanservicey episode showing SB and other familiar characters. Also confirms this show is a tie in with Kamp Koral.

But aside from that. Ehhh.. Its frustrating that the telethon goes no where and how incompetent Patrick is in his own show. He is stupid but when he's the lead, you have to give him more then that in order for the show to stand on it's own.

Every random thing feels like buzzing flies all over you. Sometimes it's fun. But here it feels like it's filling in for nothingness. Nothing is happening. And I def relate to slappy's glare as he gets frustrated with Patrick. It's annoying.

If Slappy wasn't there/ dr plankenstein short wasn't there then I'd absolutely despise this episode😭

Anyways Slappy! They brought back my boy! He's cuter than ever!! I know people haaaate him xD some even refusing showing his picture in reviews of the episode because he's that bad? He's a creepy little lad but that's the charm!! My reason for living *sniffle* jk jk but he's so cuuute. And he fits right in considering how often Peter Lorre is parodied. Especially riiiight after death (1964) which fits riiiight in with what era of television the show is inspired by.

I wouldn't be surprised if Slappy says a random quote like "RICK!! YOU'VE GOT TO HIDE MEE!!" or something akin to that.

Oh also the background art! I like it. It has nice texture and looks spongebob while also looks distinct enough to be it's own thing. Makes sense since it was designed by the same background artist who was working on the show since BEFORE the show was even picked up by executives. This guy knows his stuff. The warmer color palette reminds me of vintage cartoons. Also I like how it's has a distinct water color painted background.

OG SB looked very messily painted. Probably oil painted? But you could see the brush strokes in the background. In the patrick star show you can see the colors bleeding and all how water color works. Its such eye candy to me. Idk high textured backgrounds are *chefs kiss* good.

There's also characterization. Say what you will about Patrick having a sister but it gives him some kind of responsibility and a side to his character he usually wouldn't have. He's a stupid older sibling (like me lol) but he cares about his sister and wouldn't stand for anyone making her upset. He can also be stubborn and finicky but never going too far as to being mean spirited.

Spongebob himself has the most improvement. He's a lot quieter and more timid. It's sooo cute. I was expecting him to be my favorite part of the show but that went to slappy. SB makes a few episode appearances but the show's focus is on Patrick hence why sponge feels toned down. But I don't mind. He kinda reminds me of his first season counterpart. Not quite but there's something very charming about this young adult version spongebob and does a lot more than kamp koral to make their versions of SB different from the OG.

And uhh yeah! I should mention the shows strengths but I'm not suited. My thoughts boil down to "more slappy!" But really I think episodes where they have multiple characters instead of 1 or 2 is better because at the moment the main characters aren't developed enough to carry an episode unless they have careful planning (or you utilize a lot of Patrick's lost characterization/add more development to him) lost in couch is a good example of Patrick carrying an episode by himself but it's a rare case.

It def boils down to work on the characters more. Squidina and Bunny have potentional of being better if you just worm away from their bases. I can see Bunny having a secret past where she was apart of a biker gang or something (she's got all those tattoos and defeated a barbarian and other monsters) but they lean waaaaaay too heavy on her just being a mom™ who likes doing mom™ things.

Squidina is great! I like her. But give her more motivations and interests outside of the patrick show. I'd def want to know more about her.

Grandpa star is actually a great character. There's nothing really to improve on him surprisingly.

But Cecil needs the most work. As dry as cardboard. You can give his lines to Patrick and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. He needs the most development because at the moment he's just a clone of Patrick with a more dad™ demeanor.

And yeah! Those are my thoughts! Hope ya like 👍

#submission #Squeaky-boots-blog #spongebob #spongebob squarepants #the spongebob connoisseur #sb #spongebon squarepants #spongebob meme #the patrick star show #the patrick show

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ayoalex · 4 years ago

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Why is Team RWBY since the beginning present as a dangerous team?

Ok, before I begin this post I have to warn that:

1- I'm not an expert, this is based on my basic knowledge as someone that used to do martial arts as a kid, play a lot of video games and watch a bunch of anime/cartoon or read manga

2- This is going to be a long post, sorry 😞

3- You are always welcome to discuss in the replies or to correct in whatever I could get wrong, again I'm not an expert so don't be shy to call me out. Btw, English is not my first language so it's possible I could have some grammar mistakes.

4- Do not want to see any type of hate for any character 🤨

5- And last, decided to post this here because I prefer RWBY Tumblr community than Reddit one 💀

Let's begin!

When they present RWBY at the beginning of the project we got a glimpse of what they can do individually in the short films know as Red, White, Black and Yellow as well as some aspects of their character, backstory, etc.

As RWBY continued their journey we could see they seem as a force to be reckoned with when together but seem to be lacking in some aspects when they were alone.

The ones that didn't do better alone was mostly Ruby and Weiss while Blake and Yang seems to be able to hold their own alone (tho Blake seems to be in her flop era in the last volumes 💀).

So, let's talk about them as individual first.

Ruby: we all know her, leader of the team and the youngest of them all.

Ruby do pretty well alone when she's fighting Grimms, specially those that aren't that hard to go against. She's basically a prodigy and for that she got into Beacon earlier (and the fact she has silver eyes 😬).

She's the few people in Remnant that use a scythe as a weapon and she's pretty damn good with it; as told by a lot of character using that weapon is hard af so probs for her to be able to be so fucking smooth and amazing with Crescent Rose.

As told by Ruby herself in V1 while talking with Jaune, she did her weapon and here comes her first problem.

Not practical. Crescent Rose is a bad ass weapon and I absolutely love it but it's heavy and takes a lot to use it. It's a rifle as well so Ruby basically has to be a sniper to be able to go well with it.

It's a weapon that doesn't goes well with a team as can get in the way unless the user becomes a support for the team instead of being at front.

This is basically a metaphor of how Ruby is kinda a lone wolf at the beginning and awkward af with people.

But! She later gives some upgrades to Crescent Rose that helps her change the direction of scythe which give her adaptability! Which is completely important!

Now, if I take Crescent Rose away of Ruby what happens?

She's dead bro

Ruby is useless in close range combat, specifically physically one. We can see that in a lot of moments through the volumes.

She usually use her semblance as an advantage, which with her weapon works perfectly but without it is... Meh. It only helps her to speed up.

In Volume 5 Ozpin calls her out for that and then trains her, we then see Ruby being able to actually block and evade attacks without the use of her semblance... Until Ozpin took control of Oscar 💀

She knows basic stuffs, mostly with her defense but she lacks attack.

We don't actively see an improvement of this part in the future as she's seen to struggle keeping up with Harriet. Tho I'm going to give Ruby the fact that Harriet was being emotional and "aaahhh go crazy go stupid" In there.

Tho, Ruby lacks in this she make up by being a quick thinker and strategic.

She's the one that comes up with the plans and she's fast on her feet as well, she knows how to use her teammates perfectly to the point on coming up with duo attacks for them. She use her creativity to be able to defeat enemies as we can see at the end of V6 against the crazy old lady.

In general Ruby lacks close range fighting skills as well hand to hand combat + she can be really reckless and not actually think stuffs through it at first which can lead to disaster (she's getting better tho!)

Weiss: so... Oh boy, the ice queen comes next.

Her first actual win in a solo combat was Marrow if I remember correctly.

So here's the thing, as a solo fighter Weiss is the weakest link because she relies heavily in her semblance, get her someone that can break her aura fast and that's it, she loses.

But her semblance is really REALLY good.

Like she could stand in one place, do her thing and that's it but there's a thing... Weiss is too logical and sometimes narrow minded, her winning against Marrow was amazing and made me proud because she used EVERYTHING in that damn room to her favor. She was creative!

For her type of semblance that's important!

At the beginning she was too STIFF with her semblance but it got to the point where she has learned to be fast on her feet. Use her semblance in a better, creative way AND be a support in the team.

But now, without her semblance Weiss is a good fighter, being a mix of ballet with fencing/swordplay. Really pretty to see and then take off the damn weapon and she's pretty useless.

See a pattern here? Team Whiterose are completely useless without their weapons and semblance, mmmm

Overall Weiss is a freaking monster thanks to her semblance. She has gotten better to it, to control it and stuff, became more creative and less stiff as well as quick thinker but she needs to get better in hand to hand combat... Please, I'm begging.

Blake: ah yeah, our favorite emo cat girl.

So, Blake is crazy. That's it, that's everything I'm going to say about her.

Ok no, but seriously her fighting style is chef kiss

Blake use of her semblance is amazing, like this girl knows what she's doing when fighting.

Her weapons are great as well, like they are sword, a gun, then that freaking ribbon where she goes all Spiderman with everyone. Amazing!

Tho, she comes with an advantage that no other in her team has.

As explained by different characters in the series, Faunus has physical advantage over humans, not only some of them can see in the dark, but they seem to get some characteristics of the animal they are based off.

A good example is how agile Velvet is thanks to the fact she's a rabbit faunus or the way Sun jumps because of being a monkey faunus.

Blake being a cat faunus gives her ton of advantage, she's stealthy, agile, fast, listen better than the average human, etc

Combine that with her semblance, weapon and fighting style and you have an amazing fighter.

But Blake is reckless and that have cost her in the past. Not only that but while she seems to know only basic stuff in hand to hand combat, relies a lot in her semblance and lately she use her ribbon way too much.

That gives an opportunity to the enemy to take her out easily as we saw in her fight against Vine.

I'm going to say that Blake is generally a good fighter and probably one of the best in Team RWBY in general words but lately she seems to focus a lot in her ribbon which makes her an easy target, idk if this on purpose because Blake have always dislike her semblance or it just they don't know how to make Blake fighting style anymore but it kinda annoys me how she has been reduced to a damsel in distress in some fighting scenes.

Overall Blake is a top notch fighter and her weakness are small details that she slowly overcoming.

Yang: ah yeah, here comes my girl (stupid Tumblr mobile isn't letting me putting her name in yellow 😡)

As you guys know I'm a hoe for this girl so I will try to be objective here.

Yang is the strongest member of the team, not only physically but mentally as well.

So, by far she has my favorite fighting style of all the damn characters, I just love watching Yang fight. I think is because I did martial arts as a kid and then some kick boxing in college so idk.

Listen, this girl is so damn practical, her weapons are absolutely genius.

She's probably the few (maybe only one?) Character that actually took an existing fighting style and did her weapon around it + uses her semblance around it which is practical and smart af

Which comes to one of my favorite things of Yang, how tactical she is. Like Yang is what Ruby could be if it wasn't because of the damn weapon.

Like you guys don't get, Ruby weakness is Yang strength.

Yang since the very beginning showed us how of an amazing fighter she is. You thought Ruby is a prodigy? That Weiss is a monster? Blake is out of this world? Well Yang is fucking God.

I know I KNOW, I said I was going to be objective but it just MISS YANG XIAO LONG IS WHAT CINDER WISH SHE COULD BE, I SWEAR TO GOD, THIS GIRL IS BETTER THAN SOME OF THE ADULTS IN THE SHOW.

Ok ok ok

Yang is emotional tho, which cost her a lot (like A LOT, she lost her arm), in the past she was angry 24/7 (still is but baby got it under control 🥰). People are going to say "well not in v1, 2 and 3!".

I'm sorry but that girl has angry issues and the only moment she gets to be angry is when fighting so yeah, she would angry fight everyone and you know what? She still was an amazing fighter while doing so cuz she would kick everyone ass, being tactical about it, find her opponent weakness and absolutely looking hot while doing so.

Anyway, Yang doesn't have like a huge weakness like Ruby or Weiss, literally are small details. She's pretty much versatile as Ember Celica give her the option of shooting at her opponent. Since the beginning she was pretty much one of the best fighters of all the kids, probably coming second after Phyrra.

Her semblance use is pretty good as well, she seems to have a better grasp of it than some of the other kids and know how to manipulate it without overusing it.

Which btw is what made me have like a huge problem with V4 with the whole Taiyang stuff cuz Yang already knew how to fight like he was telling her, so idk I feel that was an insult to Yang as a character because the reason she lost her arm was because of stress, tired, being in battlefield and hello her partner is in danger.

RWBY

Now that I finished with them individually we can see that RWBY has 2 support fighters, 1 versatile and the other one a basically upfront fighter. Which comes in handy a lot of fights.

But it isn't this what makes them a formidable team but it's their chemistry.

Since the very beginning we see they do the most important thing in any type of relationship, communication.

As Weiss has her problem with Ruby at the beginning she end up talking with an adult about it and then getting call out for her poor behavior, that makes her change her approach to Ruby but before all that she did communicate Ruby what her problem was with her which made Ruby to talk with Ozpin and change her approach to study and her team as well.

We see that Yang and Blake goes well since the beginning as well, and they communicate a lot better than Ruby and Weiss at the beginning. To the point that we can see it in their teamwork.

When it comes to Weiss racism the rest of the team communicate her to stop it and then you have Blake and Weiss discussion about it where we got a glimpse of Weiss life in Atlas as well the revelation of Blake being a faunus and an ex member of the White Fang. This makes Blake run away which later Weiss criticized while telling her that they should talk first and communicate better.

The priority of RWBY as a team is communication. Ruby communicate her plans to the rest of the teams, Weiss her feelings, Blake her knowledge and Yang... Ok maybe Yang needs to work in this department.

This makes their teamwork really strong and their bond just continues getting deeper.

Add to this the fact they learn to use each other in a better way, as having both Weiss and Ruby as support helps a ton, Blake to distract their opponents and Yang to finish them off.

A good example of this is probably the train part in V6, where Yang fights all of the Grimms closely, Blake tends to fight them at some distance while helping out and Ruby with Weiss combination of support make the job hard for the Grimms.

This is exactly why JOYR had such a problem with a new Grimm, Yang needs someone to catch her back while she finds a way to destroy the Grimm which is usually provided by her teammates meanwhile RWB didn't had the boost of strength that Yang gives them in battle to be able to finish off the Hound.

Even in duos RWBY are a hard opponent to go against, probably the duo that would have a hard time is Freezerburn as we see in V3 and still I think if you put them fight together currently they would be a duo you wouldn't want to cross lol

They shouldn't have a problem with trios either but usually Yang is the strength of the group and basically the tank so is understandable that RWB had a hard time adapting without her there.

There's a part in the book Before the Dawn where Coco talks about RWBY and how they are a really strong team and even say that while JNPR aren't bad, they were basically carrying on with Phyrra since Jaune wasn't the fighter he is today. (Plus other problems that Renora have as fighters but this is something for other day).

RWBY in general has a great communication between the members, a great leadership, strong bonds and amazing fighters. They know how to adapt to each other styles and some members even complement each other (Yang and Blake).

Other thing that should be talk about its how basically Ruby and Weiss are too similar and too different at the same time to the point that they should clash a lot (which they used to do) but thanks to the fact they communicate their teamwork is amazing and in their own way they make it work.

It really helps that Ruby with Weiss can have the luxury to go upfront against an enemy while having Weiss to back her up which is something she can't do with Yang or Blake.

That's mostly because their teamwork is a metaphor of their own relationship as well as Yang and Blake teamwork is a metaphor of their own relationship.

Usually Weiss is the main support of her team since she's a large range fighter thanks to her semblance which is basically what she gives to her teammates outside of the battle.

RWBY basically fight is how they are with each other outside of the battle as we can see in multiple instances.

Yang being the tank and strength in their fighting style is exactly what Yang is to RWB, she's basically the heart and soul of the team and without her a lot of their attacks doesn't have the strength necessary for it to work as well as we can in V8 how long it took to RWB to know what to do while Yang already knew what she had to do with JOYR. She's the action.

While Ruby is the leader and sometimes call the shoot, she guide the girls through battle and help both with support and action. She usually starts the fight as a sniper until she sees an opening to fight up close which is a thing she actually do with her team. She takes a step back before talking with any of them and helps them navigate through situation in their lifes like promising Weiss to being on her side at Atlas to sometimes intervening between Weiss and her family.

Blake in the other hand is more of a wild card, she's usually Yang personal support as their styles complement each other but in most situations she does it on her own, unlike Ruby, Blake usually is more of an upfront fighter and only being support when Yang needs her which is a thing outside of battle. She usually does her own way, and while she support both Weiss and Ruby is with Yang where we see a more intimate support.

This is what makes RWBY dangerous, their bond and chemistry is something they worked hard to have as they started with difficulties, is a thing the 4 of them appreciate and love, it really helps they know how to communicate and do so to be able to have a healthy relationship between each other.

Right now we are finally seeing a lack of communication between RWBY, specially between Yang and Ruby.

As we all know RWBY is a direct parallel of STRQ which means this miscommunication between Yang and Ruby is important for their future as a team. Is implied that they still have each other back but it's necessary for Yang to open up to Ruby about what's going since this could create a breach if not treated.

Conclusion: stan RWBY and stan LOONA 😌

#rwby #team rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #whiterose #bumbleby

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franki-lew-yo · 4 years ago

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I really hate 2d purists. No, not 2d animation. Not 2d animators.

2d purists.

The sad thing is it’s gotten to the point that I really cringe hearing any pro-2D sentiment at all. I hate the arguments I agree with because how often they're misused and weaponized by idiots.

Let me make my stance here clear - 2d is NOT appreciated and 3d is used for everything! The layman Karen-mom who doesn’t have an artistic bone in her body looks at stupidsmooth 3D Grubhub ads and assumes quality cause it “looks more real” (aka ‘rendered’). I know as much is true because I literally have a member of my family who told my sister and I that she thinks 3d is better (and also that she “tolerated THOSE movies for us kids”. Touching words. My sister was taking an animation course by the way). Combined that with the studios either using 2D for cheap stuff or finding good 2d animation too “costly”, I get it and I’m not even any animator. I'm just a worm an illustrator.

but holy HELL -

There’s a backlash from the artistic community that's it's own kind of insufferable and deserve to be addressed.

“(insert2Danimatedfilm) is better BECAUSE it's 2D!”

followed by: "Animation is a visual medium and the quality of the art affects how much the story means !!!!”

Yes. Totally. Animation is a visual medium and the look and style is important. Sadly, people use this excuse to really obnoxious ends, insisting that design being pretty is '' everything ''. When you treat a movie more as a special effects demo I get why you talk about the artistry at hand; but I’m sorry, visuals are not the only thing important and it’s why I’m also getting sick of the sameElsafacesyndrome rants too! There’s this attitude that's reads as "but it LOOKS better fromaproductionimage/teasertrailerwhichapparentlyisindicativeof all themovieactuallyis so it MUST BE better".

-“3D should only be used to make things look realistic!”

I think I know the logic this criticism is made in response to, and that’s the Sony + Illumination films which look just as good in 2D as they do in three dimensions. I know it feels like people are twisting this medium to try and make it like a classic cartoon when by all means people can and would love a classic cartoon being a classic cartoon. That I get- From the unsung 2D animator’s perspective, that’s more than valid !

But it’s a huuuuuuge slap in the face to 3d in saying it should only be used for "realistic animation" because

1: It’s not like realistic animation could age badly or look uncanny in the next few years. It's almost like technology is constantly improving, which I guess 2d animation never did and it was always the same technique and quality as every film that came after it.

2: The industry does treat 3d as a magic-moneymaker for this reason. Just listen to these people call the 2019 LION KING “live action” as if they’re embarrassed to call it animation. It IS animation! It would be impressive if you acknowledged that what it is, but like the CATS, you basically are treating it as just a neato tool to better your live action and not it's own artform - which it is!

3: By this “three-deeonly gud when real liek in da toystories” non-logic I guess 2d should ONLY be for flowyflowy SPACE JAM cartoons and maybe some Disney*. Just that though. You can’t do anything more with 2d. It’s never supposed to be realistic I guess. Good thing Richard Williams only did 'toons' and just toons that’s why we need 3d in the world I guess.

Wait no - that’s stupid.

"I HAVE to see the “Land Before Time 14″ when it comes out! I mean it’s a 2D animated film!"

Lost in the aether that is Youtube comment chains removed from kid's videos is a stream of this very VERY stupid argument supporting the buying of the 14th LAND BEFORE TIME film because it’s supporting 2D. My sister and I can be found on that chain arguing against this stupidity. All you have is my word, but trust me: it really did happen.

I’m sorry but...no.

Unless you have a friend or a family member who worked on these movies there’s no reason to see this and ESPECIALLY no reason to insist it’s a win for the 2D community if you buy up this crap - and I'm not judging if you do like it, but come on! LAND BEFORE TIME 14 isn't where your money should go if you really like this medium.

What’s so infuriating about this argument is you can tell it’s made by nonanimators. Real animators will tell you to support their movies cause they want some respect for their artform which is why there’s such a push from the PRINCESS AND THE FROGcrowd that you SEE and LOVE every 2d thing out there, regardless of how good it is because any recognition for it is k i n d o f what they're after!

Kiddy sequel schlock isn’t even in the same ballpark as KLAUS or WOLFWALKERS; these films DID have very limited theatrical runs (Klaus so it could be nominated; Wolfwalkers in places where theaters opened up after Covid) and should have been supported because they were labors of love made by people who love animation.

As other people have already pointed out, one of the reasons for the lack of interest in 2000sera2D animation is that the only films released alongside critical+financial 3D hits were cheaper 2D films that either coincided with daytime tv shows or should have been just direct-to-video. It’s not to say art couldn’t come out of these flicks, but dayum if it wasn’t abused as much as the texture software that era's CG used... Point being, should the world ever go back to normal: If you hear about an out-of-town showing an acclaimed 2D animated film, make time to trek out and see THAT!

Don’t give your money to see yet another made-for-tv movie on the big screen because all that tells the studio is: “yeah 2d IS cheap and only good for cheap stuff let’s just keep it cheap. Only 3d is important 8D 8D 8D !!!"

“I don’t understand how it works. So it sucks.”

This text is from an ANIMATOR btw.

“I don’t understand how it works” and “it’s just some computer rendering” is the exact same wave of logic the people who prefer cgi use.

The plebian Karen I mentioned earlier? She understands the basics of 2D animation as much as you did from one of those cruddy flash classes you took in middle-school. She 'understands' the basics cuz she watched how it was made on the DVD features or maybe back on the WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY. To her, the illusion is broken and she’s not impressed by 'just some drawings on paper'. You, an animator, know the process is more complicated and is intrigued by knowing how it’s made - not bored or disinterested -

Neither you nor Aunt Karen have really good cg-animation software at your house and unless you ARE a 3D animator you probably DON’T know all the ins-and-outs of how these movies are modeled, rendered, and animated.

Aunt Karen is bedazzled by them cause she doesn’t know how it works and the technical aspect makes her brain hurt so it might as well be magic and she can feel like a cool kid sharing Minion-memes. Aunt Karen is the nonartistic type who just wants to feel safe. You're not. You want to feel challenged.

I get it: you’re pissed off cause you’re in a field no one, including Aunt Karen, appreciates; told to work in cg which it's an artform you didn’t devote your life to and told to learn it cause THIS style sells! 3D is everywhere and is starting to look like 'garbage' even if you don’t animate 3D models yourself you just KNOW, I guess. Besides, you know all there is to know about 2d!! You know all there is to possibly know about this artform and have to fight this 'war' against "r e a l" animation! And I mean even when 3d software is there to use, it's not like you can actually make anything worth while in it, especially not anything that transcends the medium. Right Worthikids?

TL;DR: This argument is basically just " BWAAAAH I’M NOT GONNA USE IT I HAVE STANDARDS (a chip on my shoulder cuz art should be what I deem it to be) "

“PRINCESS AND THE FROG is-”

There’s a reason I can’t say I truly like PRINCESS AND THE FROG even though it's not even a bad movie! Like, stop reading this and watch PATF if you haven't it's good. It's my 'FROZEN', in that; I see a lot of potential in it I just think it needs some serious rewriting and that bugs me. Always have felt that way, tbh.

I dislike this movie because the response from the animation community seems to be it was perfect and the Academy was just Pixar-crazy with UP ((ftr, the Academy IS Pixar’s bitch and I personally advocate a sequel be made to WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY about Mike Eisner’s sabotage of the 2D department at Disney which is still in place now!- but that’s a story for another day)). I’m sorry but UP was just a better story. So was CORALINE. So was FANTASTIC MR. FOX. Honest to god it feels like poor PATF is brought up as just a talking point and never for it's own worth as a labor of love - which it was! I'd like to honestly know: had PRINCESS AND THE FROG come out now and been cg if it would have even half the defenders for it because now it doesn't "look" like how a Disney movie "should" look...

If you like PatF more than the currant Disney lineup because of it's culture, it's music, it's feminism, it's black representation? Awesome. Great. Those things should be appreciated and I never want that taken away from you. But if you seriously think PatF is better just for how it was animated and looks - I lowkey may hate you.

“ALL OF DISNEY’S LATEST MOVIES SHOULD HAVE BEEN 2D! THEY ALL LOOK AWFUL IN 3D!! ALL OF THEM!”

TANGLED, FROZEN, and MOANA? Yeah. Sure. But um, e x c u s e y o u- WRECK IT RALPH sooooo doesn’t work in 2d! It could have used different between the various worlds but it’s about hopping through different video games. I’m also of the opinion that ZOOTOPIA and BIG HERO 6 are fine the way they are. Their 3d is awesome.

The latest fairy tale Disney films are really big on their place alongside the 2D canon esp in marketing. They keep trying to mimic 2D to varying results though I don't think it works as well as the movie's I'd previously mentioned. Me personally, I would love a mix of 3D and 2D technology, like if the backgrounds in FROZEN still got to be 3D but the characters were handdrawn and shaded ala KLAUS ((sweet sigh)). But even then are they truly unwatchable just based on how they're animated to you?

MOANA would have been incredible in 2D but for the record - I don't think it feels out of place in it's style. It reminds me more of a Pixar movie with the heart of a Disney classic which is it's own just as good.

“2D is the oldest form of animation and it’s being replaced.”

Actually, if we’re talking animation in film, stop motion is the earliest form of animation. The stop motion animated THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED and TALE OF THE FOX predate Disney’s SNOW WHITE. And yes: stop-motion IS still a form of animation even if it’s a serious of pictures taken of real life things and not drawings, so don’t you dare come at me with the "but that's not animated"/"Technically it’s LIVE ACTION" crap or I’ll envoke the spirit of Sandman to get you at night.

“Every animated film would look better in 2D! Even PIXAR would look better in 2D!”

Again, Stop Motion.

No, I mean it.

Lemme ask: Would ISLE OF DOGS or FANTASTIC MR. FOX carry any of the same effect if they were generic 90s toons? I know NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS wouldn’t. Christ, don’t even get me started on Svankmajer!

Sometimes the problem is that a movie is envisioned with a specific artform in mind. Pixar started out with toys and bugs for a reason and that’s cuz they were always gonna be a 3d studio and they needed to first overcome the placisity of the models. Over the years they’ve gotten really good at effects and blending unrealistic proportions with real textures (and also not so much- ONWARD and THE GOOD DINOSAUR really needed some different character designs and yeah, I do think would have looked better with a 2d artstyle, but not the ones they had in their films. THE GOOD DINOSAUR needed more realistic-speculative looking dinos and ONWARD needed a grittier HEAVY METAL/BLACK CAULDRON appeal to its designs.) My point being that the problems with these movies aren’t even inherently the animation as much as it is a problem of style. As someone who runs a group speculating different styles and designs for movies and tv shows I’m all for envisioning a 2D ZOOTOPIA or Bluth-inspired FNAF. That’s amazing!

But that’s also the talk of fan artists and nerds and not the professional artists working on visualizing their stories!!

Since I ate, slept, and breathed NIGHTMARE in my youth I’ll use it as an example: All the concept art ever done for TNBC was on paper and 2D was used in the final film. However, even when Tim Burton was thinking of making it just a tv special it was always going to be stop-motion. NIGHTMARE’s puppet cast do work very well in two dimensions, believe me, but the film was made as a love letter to Rankin/Bass and the art form of stop-motion. Skipping to another Henry Selick-helmed project (haha), JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH was also always envisioned as a multimedia film to give it a truly dream-like atmosphere. If you know anything about Henry Selick you’ll know he’s 1) a perfectionist, and 2) loves mixed media and different types of animation and puppetry at once. That’s why he was the perfect pick to direct TNBC at the time, why JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and CORALINE are so beautiful and why MOONGIRL, his only fully 3d film, doesn’t have the same appeal.

As for what films I couldn’t imagine NOT being 3D? Probably; 9, Padak, Next Gen, Soul, Finding Nemo, the Toy Story films, Wreck-it-Ralph (as previously mentioned), Wall.E, Waltz with Bashir, Robots, Inside Out, Arthur Christmas, The Painting, Happy Feet, Shrek, Enter the Spiderverse, Megamind… just naming a few here.

“I want a traditionally animated film [and by that I mean a 90s-Disney/Don Bluth looking movie] of ‘x'-popular live action/stage thing!”

Okay I’m cheating a bit but it’s my blog and so I’m gonna stick this one in because it’s related.

When I see musings about wanting live-action or CGI shiz to be in 2d again a lot of the time this argument actually boils down to " I want this to look like a 90s Didney movie ". Or, if it’s about animals - " I want it to look like a Don Bluth film! "

Like...there ARE other styles of animation out there...you know that right?

Frack, Disney themselves tried different styles throughout the 90s it’s just that the peak of the Disney renaissance films (LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN, THE LION KING) and the many imitators that followed tended to have the same look to them where only film/animation nerds kept watching into the era that was TARZAN, HERCULES, and ATLANTIS along with the kids. Aunt Karen wasn't singing Part of your World in the carride with you every day.

The Don Bluth argument is especially irritating because...what exact feeling do you WANT from a movie if it looked Bluthish? Each of the four ‘quintessential’ Bluth movies (NIMH, AMERICAN TAIL, LBT, and ALL DOGS) have such a different feel to them that’s complimented by that style; SECRET OF NIMH is a drama about wild animals trying to understand humans; LAND BEFORE TIME is even more squarely about an animal’s perspective as there’s literally no humans around; AMERICAN TAIL uses animals stowing away on the ship to tell a story about refugees; and ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN is ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN.

What the frack are you even asking for with that because I think there’s a certain flavor to the Bluth-styled oeuvre as well as the 90s Disney catalogue that would clash too much stylistically with some films.

Also come on! Like some Bluthian-style 2d would really fix THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS or SCOOB!, bite me.

I think this fixation solely on these two hand drawn styles and nothing else is based on nostalgia goggles, refusing to step outside the norm and discover different films and feelings than Disney and Bluth, and just preference. Goin back to NIGHTMARE there will always be a special place in my heart for Henry Selick’s stop motion, but I couldn’t imagine CHICKEN RUN or ANOMALISA in it's unique style.

Also I’m tired of every time there’s a "lets make an animatic to ‘x’ musical theater song" it’s reliably just Disneyesque or realistic. WHY envision an animated version of the show at all if it doesn’t have A STYLE to it??!?! I’m sorry but 90s-Disney does NOT fit CABARET!

“3D is so CHEAP now! Why can’t they just do 2D again?”

I think - on the cusp of the 2020s and the Grubhub hatedom, there ARE changing times ahead for 3d and 2d. The general public are starting to get tired of the same looking 3d films and wanting some 2d back, but they don’t have the best resources or opinions on animation to know what it is they want. Meanwhile, the animation community + industry is trying to figure out what to do and you have a lot of turmoil between the monopoly that is the industry, the high standards of the artists, and the mixed wants of the animation fanbase deciding what art needs to be.

It’s a tough business. And in the spirit of that tough business - maybe DON’T act like the means of a film’s production is solely your control, that you know best, and know definitively what the artists should have done....cuz you don't. Sorry my fellow criticalfanomanalysist-folks we DON'T and in an age of standom where fans and critics think it's okay to hackle indie animation studios about not getting their pitched cartoon out fast enough - we need to reserve these discussions to our circles and not treat them as gospel.

3d animation and 2d animation have to share this world. Stop acting like they’re either interchangeable in terms of budget, means of production, or artistry or that one has to be superior to the other.

The industry already says one art form is better (spoiler: it’s always live-action), we don’t need anymore of this purist garbage. Just stick to what you like while trying new things on the side. Be critical while also being compassionate. And remember:

youtube

#animation #animation on tumblr #2d animation #3d animation #traditional animation #hand drawn animation #Franki's Features

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ajaxsbeloved · 4 years ago

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six of eleven 🍶

order for: scaramouche

flavor: comedy

order summary: general non x reader hcs

warnings: none

[this isn’t my usual content but i had fun writing these none the less so i hope you guys enjoy this type of content :)]

this man is like a cartoon character, you know the ones with like closets of the same clothes. yeah that’s him and his hat 💀

he’s a very sensitive person (physically) and can’t stand when people touch him, he doesn’t flinch but it feels like that cold, sensitive, painful feeling i hope you understand what i’m talking about and i don’t look stupid lmao

because of that he also doesn’t like the cold, he wouldn’t mind it if it weren’t for his sensitive body but considering how his hairs stand up and goosebumps rise he would be uncomfortable with it

this is a good excuse for him to avoid scnezhaya, especially because childe has probably asked at least once or twice for scaramouche to visit him and his family

speaking of family; scaramouche is EXTREMELY touchy about that topic and anyone who dares bring it up isn’t going to live very long

i have two headcanons for this subject, the first is that his parents spoiled him to the point where he was always in the right. it got so bad that he had almost total control over them which resulted in his superiority complex, he’d always been in charge his entire life so he can’t stand because talked down too and has crazy anger issues because no one has ever stood up to him and lived to tell about it.

the other possibility is the complete opposite; he could’ve been neglected his entire life without an once of power and being told what to do his whole life which would stem an insane obsession for power once he finally got his hands on it. then he would be paranoid all the time about having it taken away from him which causes the anger and superiority complex.

he’s also definitely an only child, doesn’t matter whether he was the center of attention or completely neglected he’s still a loner and always has been even when he was a child.

i think he also knows that his outfit is ugly as hell but genuinely couldn’t care less, it’s an outfit and it’s grown on him so it doesn’t matter. plus if you’re fighting a harbinger i’m sure critizing their outfit is the least of your worries...

he hates cereal, i’m not sure why but i have this aching feeling that he just doesn’t like it. he especially doesn’t like children’s cereal, it just makes him really mad for some reason lmao

he genuinely doesn’t understand the concept of a decent hairstyle or styling your hair at all, that kinda thing just goes right over his head. like he doesn’t care about it so why does everyone else? it just makes him confused so he doesn’t really find any issues with his hair

he gets easily frustrated with doing his red eyeliner so when he’s really feeling upset he’ll make one of his subordinates do it for him

he loves water, he’s basically never dehydrated and he loves being in water too. take him to a beach and he’s beaming, something about the calm of it just makes him so much less irritated and mad at everything

he has a horrible time understanding any emotions, including his own. for the most part you can’t drop any hint or any emotion because he never picks up on that kind of stuff. he’s even worse when it comes to his own emotions, mfer once thought he was horny when he had a headache 💀

#[🍧 𝐥𝐞𝐞’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬]#genshin impact #genshin #scaramouche #genshin scaramouche #genshin impact scaramouche #scaramouche genshin #scaramouche genshin impact

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thatgirlwritingficsatnight · 4 years ago

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Odi et Amo II

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requiris? nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior

Catullus, 85

After a few years of working in the USA for Disney and playing the role of The White Fox in Marvel Cinematic Universe you came back to your motherland - Korea only to be greeted with hatred and contempt. To make things harder for you the universe sends you the most irritating neighbour ™. Will you be able to find your happiness and accomplish your dream of becoming loved actress in Korea without complying with standards of patriarchal society?

pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader

genre: actor au

warnings: angst, foul language (please don’t read it if you’re not old enough)

words: 5764

A/N: It was supposed to be published last week, but I was unhappy with it and ended up rewriting it/adding some things. Sorry! (*_ _)人 P.S Sorry for my grammatical errors! Enjoy!

Chapter I

***

Currently sitting in front of your manager you eyed him. He seemed tired and you felt a pang of conscience it was probably because of your tweets last night and you wouldn’t even think of meeting him if you weren’t in dire need of getaway from the uncomfortable conversation with your neighbor. You didn’t meet in your agency’s building since both of you despised the place even though it was a new and flashy building made out of something that looked like a white marble. Both of you agreed on meeting outside it, so you were sitting in the café nearby while wondering how did your shitty boss manage to rent it. Last time you’ve been here, it was a few rooms in shabby, old building. You shivered while imagining going in, that place had an evil aura even from across the street.

"Where did you get all that money to rent it?" you asked.

"We actually bought it."

"Well, business goes well then."

"Actually we are only able thanks to your movies. Don’t tell Kim Pd-nim I told you, he thinks you'll become arrogant."

"I already am." You smiled coldly.

"That's what I told him."

Your manager had a sarcastic smirk on. Both of you and hated your CEO and even mentioning him would bring up unpleasant memories. Kim Sanghoon was one of those bosses who wouldn't even think about trying to help idols and stars that were bringing him money. No matter what it was — crazy fans destroying your life, death threats, your collapsing mental health he didn’t care. Once you were attacked by media and netizens you were on your own and if it was too much for the company your contract was terminated. You often wondered when would you become too much for them to handle.

"How do you feel?" Your manager caught you off guard, even though you had known each other for a long time there was an unspoken rule between you not to talk about other things than work.

"Honesty..I'm fine I don't understand why everyone asks me that." You huffed a bit irritated and run fingers through your hair.

"Well it's just.. I know it was important to you and you worked hard to earn the hearts of your Korean fa..."

"I'm fine." you didn't manage to hide irritation in your voice. You were not used to talking about it and you didn't like it one bit. Besides what were you supposed to say anyway? No one else was as hated as you. Of course there were idols and stars that were occasionally criticized but not one of them was constantly a target of such hatred. Even when you left there were still death threats send from your motherland to you, nothing changed. Not to mention no one else got such welcoming on the day of return to their home. It was unfair, stupid, infuriating and saddening. And yet you couldn’t understand what people were expecting of you? Both Mark and your manager knew you, or so you thought. What were you supposed to do? Cry? You wouldn't cry, that was what weak people do, that would show you actually care about what those assholes think about you. You were just fine. Ok. Neither sad nor happy. You'd endure whatever you had to but you won't conform to their image of idol and woman nor will you show any sign of weakness. You'd rather stay hated than do that. Your manager sighed and it pulled you out of your thoughts.

"Well then. If you're okay then I'm glad. So just as I told you I have this drama for you if you're interested." You weren't the slightest bit. Frankly you'd rather stay in bed for the next three months jobless than play some crazy villain or villainous second female lead. Then again you felt bad about the amount of work he probably had because of you. You looked him in the eyes and answered with a sigh.

"I can't promise anything but I can at least listen what it’s about.." Your manager seemed surprised, but he didn't wait long, perhaps in case you'd change your mind. He took out some papers and handed them to you. You cringed on the sole title "Love is your destiny" — it sounded sappy.

"So it's a love story between fallen angel and this human..." he started.

"Angels...so who do they want me to play? Satan? Devil? Succubus?" You browsed through pages to find the villain.

"You'd know if you'd let me finish." You sent him a small apologetic smile. "They want you to play the main role." You stared at him confused before you burst with laughter.

"They want me to play cute girl in love with the angel?" The idea of you playing the sweet female lead was absurd, not that you weren’t able to do it, you were a good actress it wouldn’t be a problem for you, if anything it would most likely be a challenge for the audience.

"No, no! You'd play the angel. See this is drama with strong female lead. The origin of your character is fascinating. You had to watch the mistreatment of a woman extremely devoted to god. The lady prayed, but she still got beaten, almost killed even. Moreover, you had to be the guardian angel of her torturer — the aggressive husband. You pleaded to god, you asked him to let you guard her instead, but he didn’t agree and forbade you from intervening. One night when the husband got drunk, he beat her unconscious and you were sure he’d kill her. You decided to save her, you kill her husband and this is the moment when you fell. That's when you became deviant and promised yourself you'd help those who were denied it. You’d protect them and avenge them. Fast-forward a thousand years, and we are in Seoul and you meet a man, a painter..." He was so excited you almost didn't understand some words because of the speed. He was waiting for your response but you were too occupied with reading what he handed you. Once you finished it you looked at him with a mix of surprise and excitement.

"It's like it was made for me.." you said with bewildered tone.

"That's because it was made for you. The screenwriter wrote it with you in mind." You looked like a cartoon character, eyes wide, mouth in a shape of letter "o", once you heard him.

"Me?"

"Yes. She is apparently a big fan."

"And tvN is ok with that?" You furrowed your brows confused.

"Perhaps they aren't. But it is co-production with Netflix, and they pushed for you since you’re popular worldwide."

Your heart fluttered and the tips of your fingers tingled from excitement as you rummaged through the pages once again, not only it would be showed in TV during the prime-time but also streamed on Netflix weekly.

"The screenwriter and producer kept calling me since yesterday as soon as it was known you came back. They almost cast someone else. They were sure you're staying in the USA. Isn't it amazing?" He was as excited as you were and you felt some remorse for being so rude to him before. You gave him your warmest smile, one you usually used only around Mark and your family.

"It really is. Thank you and I'm sorry for being rude earlier." He was clearly uncomfortable with your apology, red spreading on his cheeks as he waved his hand dismissively.

"Ah don't mention it. Does that mean I can call them and say you are interested." You looked at the pages in front of you once again and smiled broadly before simply saying.

"Yes!"

Jinyoung was still amused you threatened him in his own café. He couldn't focus on the book he had in his hands anymore as he chuckled replying your angered and irritated expressions in his head. It was fun to tease you because you reacted so well. He could tell you could be great friends if you'd let him. He smiled to himself mouthing your own words "bloody Y/N". He was truly shocked that he met you here of all places and found it rather amusing when you yelled in English and caught his attention. He felt some disappointment upon seeing a half naked man talking to you from the screen of your phone but the feeling disappeared as quickly as it came up once your friend ended the call. Jinyoung wouldn't call himself a noisy person, but he found you interesting, and he wanted to know who it was and what kind of relationship you had although he rarely cared for stuff like this... His thoughts were interrupted by his ring-tone, BamBam's face illuminated the screen. He sighed but answered it anyway.

"Skrrrt, skrrt!"

"Ah yes, good morning to you to Bam." Jinyoung said in amused tone.

"Oh, hyung you seem in good mood. What you're up to?"

"Reading, thinking."

"Sounds boring wanna hang out?"

"Actually I wanted to ask you about something." Jinyoung ignored his question once he remembered how obsessed with celebrities and their styles Bam was.

"Shoot."

"Do you know any celebrities under the name Y/N." BamBam laughed wholeheartedly.

"That's very funny hyung."

"What do you mean?"

"OMG you're not joking! Are you living under a rock, hyung? Y/N is like the hottest actress ever. Her style is chic and comfy and artsy it's really cool, and she actually doesn't have a stylist, she does it on her ow..."

"She is an actress?"

"She is the actress! She played the White Fox in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Lol, you call yourself an actor and you don't know the most popular Korean actress abroad."

"You know I don't like those superheroes movies. Besides why didn't I hear about her Korean career if she's so good?"

"You are so old it scares me sometimes. Well you should know her from internet. I think it's national sport to hate her or something. She just came back, and they're already frying her online not to mention the media and dating rumors."

"Dating rumors?"

"Yeah she dated few actors. I think Seojoon hyung dated her and Changwook hyung even almost proposed. The media made her to look like heartless vixen though. I mean they never liked her but her last ex gave a very unfavorable interview to dispatch and after that she became villain number one. She left shortly after."

"Mmmm... I see." Jinyoung only started his career four years ago so it shouldn't be weird you've never met before. He was also the type of person who couldn't care less about internet gossip and gutter press or dispatch. He sighed. Suddenly your angry reaction made much more sense and Jinyoung didn't feel as good about it as he did before. He scolded himself for being too frivolous and selfish. He just wanted to see your reactions - it was cute and funny...

"Why did you ask? OMG you've met her didn't you. I'm so jealous. What was she wearing? Was it Gucci? I heard she likes it."

"Ok Bam. I have to go. Thanks for the talk."

"Wait, so you wanna hang out?"

"Last time when you asked me to hang out I had to shop for 4 hours with you."

"Well... I am your stylist. Besides, it was fun, come on."

"I think we have different definitions of "fun""

You woke up to no noise pleasantly surprised. It seems that Sunday's were free from renovation and thanks to that you could sleep in. You stretched out and grabbed the phone to check the time. It was already past eleven. You smiled to yourself and fell to bed lazily. Soon you wouldn't have time for lazy days like this as the production team was supposed to finish up casting for the drama by the end of the next week. You thought about picking some groceries, maybe cooking yourself some food and enjoying the day with a book or perhaps some video games. You took shower and put on some comfortable clothes — beige cardigan you stole from Mark clearly too big for you and some black trousers pairing it up with brown coat. You left the apartment and as soon as you did the irritating voice in your head reminded you about your debt. Hesitant at first you shook off the feeling quickly and knocked on the door. This time you were prepared for teasing, you were expecting it even so you wouldn't be caught off guard. At least that's what you were telling yourself. Your neighbor, however, didn't act the way you expected him to. Instead of smirking at you and teasing you or straight up mocking you, he seemed nervous. He had deep purple bags under his usually sparkling eyes. Perhaps he didn’t feel well... you wondered whether you should ask him if he needed some help. You decided it would be extremely awkward and so you cleared your throat and spoke up — softness now somewhere in your voice.

"Is that bad time? I can come later I just wanted to give you back your money.."

"N-No." He started nervously "I mean no. It's fine. I'm actually glad you're here. Would you come in?"

You didn't want to come in and it must have shown on your face since he continued.

"Come on. I don't bite." He smiled warmly and it seemed much more normal than the timid self he showed you seconds ago. And so you came in curiously looking around his own apartment. It was a mirror image of your own in terms of room placements — a hallway leading to living room with opened kitchen. You came into the living room and Jinyoung rushed after you quickly turning the TV off. You didn't pay it any mind since you were looking around and taking in how different was his home compared to yours. It was very modern and yet it kept the homey feeling. Yours on the other hand, well it was raw yet full of stuff? Mark would probably call it unfinished and cluttered. Your neighbor sat on the other side of the couch leaving quite a lot of space between the two of you and run a hand through his hair. He wore a cardigan very similar to yours both in color and style in fact it could be the very same brand and style it’s just neither of you noticed it.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize." He responded quickly and gained a surprised look from you.

"Apologize?"

"Yes about yesterday…I shouldn't have said those things in public I could say I just didn't know about your situation but it’s no excuse. I’m truly sorry." he paused. "You don't have to be stressed about press or rumors though. It is my café and my staff, so they won't talk about it with anyone I took care of it." You took back everything you said, you weren’t prepared for meeting him, especially not getting apologies from him. On top of that he was the owner of your favorite café...

"I… it's fine." You said confused and tried to act as normal as possible while being very aware of your palms spread on your thighs. They were unnaturally clammy. It was a surprise to you, you rarely got any apologies and you were expecting some more teasing not something like that. Your eyes were everywhere except on him and you were screaming at yourself internally to say something, anything, but nothing was coming to your mind. Once again you lost your ability for forming witty sentences around him or in that case any sentences. There was awkward silence between you and you immensely regretted coming to see him today. You weren’t used to this. Somewhere in your belly you could feel as if butterflies - or rather moths — yes, moths of anxiety were fluttering their wings desperately trying to get into your chest. You never felt like this before. You tried to avoid looking at him but your own eyes betrayed you and fell on Jinyoung only to find out he was enjoying your anguish. His brown eyes were glimmering and his lips formed half smirk that he tried to cover with his left hand in a gesture of propping his head up. Immediately irritation came to you burning all the fluttering wings in the pits of your stomach. A frown formed on your face and you send him a glare. Wondering how could you be so stupid and fall for his act.

"You're really cute when you're shy or embarrassed." He chuckled now mocking you openly.

"I can't believe I took your apologies as sincere." He chuckled again clearly pleased with how you responded.

"They were sincere. I just enjoy teasing you."

"Could you stop? That's inappropriate you don't even know me."

"What do you mean we are neighbors and soon to be friends." He smiled broadly and for a second your mind travelled somewhere else simply admiring his beauty. You cursed his handsome face it could blind and charm everyone really. You wanted to leave, no you needed to leave. It was stuffy in here.

"I'm here for a reason." You reminded him, he was watching you with amusement. It felt almost as if a cat was observing you.

"Ah right... money." his tone seemed inattentive somehow. "I don't need it. Let's say it was a part of my apology."

"Just give me your account number and take the money."

"I don't remember it." You were getting more irritated every minute you talked to him.

"You don't remember your account number?" This man was unbelievable. He shrugged.

"You can send it to me through KakaoTalk if you really want." He smiled and took out the phone from the pocket of his pants.

"Fine. Just give it." Not wanting to spend any second longer here with him, you scanned his qr to add him quickly and transferred the money.

"Done. Now if you excuse me."

"Of course." He smiled again and you felt mocked by the sole action of his lips shooting upwards. He walked you to the door and watched as you slipped on your shoes. You tried to look as cold and dignified as possible but still tripped over the doorstep. He caught your arm firmly and straightened you. Your heart was beating so fast and hard all you could hear was blood pumping in your ears in fact you were sure he could hear it as well. On the other hand whose heart wouldn't when you almost fell face first, right…? Right? It surely wasn't because of his warm breath now tickling the crown of your head, nor the dangerously beautiful eyes... you absolutely regretted coming here today. It was foolish of you to think your cursed neighbor wouldn't shake you up today. And he was still holding you — how awkward is that; and you felt fine with being hold like that — what on earth was wrong with you? You started to think that maybe it would be better if you'd actually fell and hit that stupid head of yours.

Jinyoung was having very dangerous thoughts. The kind he didn't have in a very long time. He wasn't prepared for this kind of proximity. He was already shaken up yesterday by your touch and closeness he only held your hand for a second or two. Maybe he didn't show it but he was. Honestly he wasn't even into PDA or flirting with someone or even thinking of flirting with someone. Yes, he liked teasing, and he teased you but it was in a FRIENDLY manner. Well it was safe to say he didn't have friendshippy type of thoughts right now. Jinyoung reacted automatically upon seeing you fall he just grabbed your arm and pulled you his way. He was still holding your now tensed muscles, but he couldn't let go of you. He was in trance. Your warmth radiating onto him, the way the smell of your shampoo was tingling his nose, your huge doe-like shocked eyes, parted lips, soft pink on the apples of your cheeks. He was wondering how badly would you kill him if he asked to kiss you right now. He was seriously considering it worthy asking even if you were to pull out his tongue like you threatened yesterday. He didn't ask though, the rational part of his brain finally letting go of you. His own feeling were mess, but he did what he knew best — he masked his emotional disarray with some more teasing hoping you wouldn’t notice.

"Falling for me already?" He smirked even though internally he was screaming and already thinking of confiding in Jackson to get himself calmed. He was clearly the one falling and he was panicked. You rolled your eyes on him seemingly gaining the composure while he was getting stunned even by such simple gesture like this.

"You're way below my standards." You seemed annoyed. He smiled again although he wanted you to leave quickly and leave him alone with his feelings, so he can sort this out. Your eyes narrowed at him even more.

"I need to go now."

"Well, have a great day."

"Right, you too." You were so cold Jinyoung almost chuckled at it because it almost wounded him, and yet he liked it. He enjoyed teasing you too much. You were already walking to the elevator, but he couldn't help himself.

"Oh, and try not to fall when I'm not around to catch you, Y/N." He laughed and you were already frowning at him absolutely mad which made his heart skip a beat, you were really too cute when you frowned. Jinyoung closed the door before you could say anything or worse before he did. He realized he was in deep shit. He tried to think reasonably. He probably just had a crush because he spent a whole night watching movies and dramas you were starring in, he might have also accidentally watched all of your interviews and went to sleep at 6 still smiling to himself from that interview where you had to answer questions about your body in preparation for your role in that Marvel movie. The reporter wouldn't stop asking about your body and making comments on it even though you were clearly uninterested in the topic which you finally cut with your own questions. "Are you looking for some weight loss tips? You look great. Seriously what is it about? Are you trying to fit in my suit?" The last question was asked with whole whisper theatrics and Jinyoung laughed at loud at five am hoping he didn't wake you up through the wall. The suit in question was extremely fitting white leather catsuit. It wasn't the only interview in which you showed off your wits, eloquence and badassness, or how Bam would call it "swag". You were also the most attractive actress he had seen. Of course, you were also attractive when you weren't acting but on the screen... you were amazing. So Jinyoung tried to calm himself down rationalizing his earlier thoughts as simply being starstrucked. That’s what fans felt towards their idols, he was simply charmed by his own new idol. Yes that was it — that’s exactly the type of thoughts some fanboys or fangirls would have. He called Jackson anyway, he knew the designer was the right person to talk to in situations like this.

Twenty minutes later Jinyoung regretted ever calling his best friend.

"OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO IN LOVE WITH HER!" Jackson basically yelled to the phone. Jinyoung groaned and massaged the space between his brows.

"Were you even listening? I'm just a big fan."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night man. I’m a big fan of Christian Dior and all I can think of is making out with him."

"Don’t compare it, he is dead!" Jinyoung yelled and his friend filled his ear in response.

You were regretting not taking the car for shopping. The walk did help with your racing heart, and helped ease off your mind but it turned out the supermarket isn't that close any more when you have to drag home ten bags of food and products. Thankfully a convenience store was on your way so you could make a stop there maybe you'd be lucky enough to see Seoyun, buy her coffee and have a chat. You knew it was stupid, because she could've just feel obliged to say she is your fan but you still wanted to tell her about your new upcoming role. Sadly she wasn't there and so you just made a stop and sat on one of nearby benches. Massaging your palms that had those harsh red lines imprinted in them now thanks to the bags. You could swear you heard the sound of released shutter and so now alarmed you looked around but it seemed you were the only person here. You sighed, how paranoid have you become that you started hearing the cameras when there was none. Then again you were extremely lucky dispatch and paparazzi haven't found you yet. Just before you left to the USA, your ex gave this interview and your life became hell. You didn't have a day without paparazzi running after you or spying on you. The memories came to you not without acrimony and hurt. Your ex, an actor just like you, used you to create scandal and gain some popularity. You could remember how enraged and morose it made you. You didn't date anyone since then even when Mark tried to introduce you to some people. You intended on staying that way. You didn't need anyone, you had Mark, and he was enough for you. Just you and your best friend. You weren't sure how long you stayed like this, deep in your thoughts. You moved only after you fingers became stiff from cold. Somehow you managed to carry the groceries back home. You were so tired that you just counted it as your training today. You checked the time and it was one PM, perfect time to call your bestie.

"Markiee!!" You whined as soon as his face appeared on your screen.

"Y/N-ah. I miss you." He was wearing some blue hoodie this time.

"That's my line. Do you have time to talk?"

"Bruh, for you? Always. What's up?"

"I am going to star in a drama!"

"What? I thought you hate those." He was genuinely shocked.

"I know, I do. But this one is different. I'm not playing the villain I got female lead, and she isn't some damsel in distress she is a badass character!" You almost screamed and he chuckled.

"Woah. Someone's excited. I'm so proud of you. So who is getting the privilege to be cast with you?"

"I don't know yet. I'm supposed to meet the cast next week." He nodded his head and smiled. "Anyway what are you up to?"

"I was actually thinking of playing Among Us and streaming wanna join?" He grinned.

"Absolutely, prepare to get wrecked Tuan." You used to play together at least once a week when you were in the USA, his fans loved you and shipped you even though you both told them you were just friends — it is some rule in the internet though, to ship close friends.

Few hours later you were once again killed as the first person, this time by Mark.

"YOU GONNA REGRET IT WHEN WE’LL MEET TUAN. I SWEAR I’M GONNA WHOOP YO ASS..." You screamed on top of your lungs and Mark laughed wholeheartedly, while his chat filled up with hundreds of LOL’s and LUL’s.

"You guys she threatens me. Someone make a clip and send it to the police once they find my dead body." He kept laughing and you couldn’t help but laugh as well. His smile and laugh were just too contagious.

"You really put our friendship to test lately Tuan, here I was foolishly trusting you when you killed me in cold blood. " You stretched and your stomach rumbled reminding you that you haven’t eaten yet and it was already around four pm.

" Hey don’t hate the player, hate the game. " He shrugged and winked, while you rolled your eyes.

"Okay Mark, I gotta go and eat. It’s already afternoon here."

"Sure, chat say bye to Y/N." They did as he asked and it was soon filled with many hearts and goodbyes. "Love you Y/N! Call me soon." He grinned and you smiled warmly.

"Love you too Mark. Bye guys!" With that you logged off the discord, and switched off his stream. You make your way to the kitchen and took out the ingredients for kimchi jjigae you bought before. You carefully read the recipe opened on your phone and began cooking. You had to make anchovy stock first so you grabbed some dried anchovies, kelp and slashed the daikon in cubicles — it looked quite awkward as each cubicle was different size but hey it was you eating it not some kind of culinary critic. You added water and left it to boil deciding to take care of the rest of ingredients. You cut some kimchi and ate some as a snack and reward for not ordering food today, sliced some green onions, cut the pork and the tofu as well. By the time you were done it was time to strain the broth and add the rest of ingredients. It had to cook so you decided to watch some TV in the meantime. You turned it on, it was some kind of reality show where idols were supposed to camp in the wild for a few days. The idols clearly didn’t feel like being there and the fact you knew neither of them didn’t help. You dozed off before you noticed, your eyelids getting as heavy as iron. The smell of burning woke you up. You shot upwards from your couch and rushed to the kitchen, bumping into a coffee table on your way there.

"FFFFFF-UUCK." you hissed, when your shin pulsed with pain. You quickly grabbed the pot with stew to get it off the fire, forgetting it would be hot as well. You hissed in pain and let id drop on your marble floor which was now covered in burned kimchi and some other things. "Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fucking shit." You cursed as you tried to navigate to the sink to ease off the burn with some cold water. The cold water did help and you sighed with relief only to later follow it with a sigh of resignation. You had to clean up this mess. It was when your phone barked — a new message. You checked it.

From Unknown number: Are you trying to burn down the whole building?

You furrowed your brows confused, wondering if it was one of those jokes or spam messages you heard about.

To Unknown number: Who’s this?

From Unknown number: Guess.

You huffed in disbelief.

To Unknown number: Ok, enjoy being blocked.

From Unknown number: Wait!

From Unknown number: It’s Jinyoung.

To Unknown number: How did you get my number? Never mind I’m blocking you I’m too busy to deal with you.

With that you put the phone back in your pocket and began cleaning up. You finished in no time now tired out by scrubbing. You sat on the floor and took out your phone to check it out. From Unknown number: Don’t block me what if you need my help one day.

To Unknown number: With what exactly?

From Unknown number: What if you get stuck in your bathroom and need someone to let you out?

You rolled your eyes and saved his contact

To Devil: There is at least 7 billion more people I’d rather ask to help me

From Devil: Ok then what if I get stuck in the bathroom and need your help.

To Devil: I’d leave you there

From Devil: Heartless

To Devil: Better tell me how did you get my phone number

From Devil: You gave it to me when you scanned my kakao code

You were bewildered, was that his plan from the very beginning or were you just paranoid? You were either prejudiced or he was in fact the devil with angel's face.

To Devil: Did you lie about not remembering your account number?

From Devil: Maybe

You couldn’t believe it, the audacity, the smugness. You could feel irritation building inside you but you decide to let it go when your stomach rumbled at you aggressively. After eating you took shower, read a few chapters of The Vegetarian and fell asleep.

Next week passed quickly but in the feeling of anticipation as you were supposed to meet the rest of the cast as well as the scriptwriter and director at the meeting on Friday. You kept calling your manager throughout the week trying to find out who could they be, but he didn’t know anything or didn’t want to tell you. And so you spent the week on training, running, reading and occasionally calling Mark to express your impatience and excitement. You didn’t meet your irritating neighbor even once this week — something you counted as blessing or perhaps a sign that the universe finally turned your karma around. It was finally Friday and you were already sitting in the meeting room waiting for everyone to come in. You smiled at the young man sitting next to you, he was really cute and had this mole under his right eye it added to his charm. He was about to introduce himself, when someone came through the door and greeted everyone cheerfully. You couldn’t believe it. You were cursed, actually cursed.

"YOU?!" was all that left your mouth upon seeing him entering the room.

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