#i remember looking at a preview illustration from this book about the girls going to a blue island and saw a thing of them at dinner

[e-adlirez]

Hot take, but I feel like the star / supersister artstyle has a much better taste in fashion compare to the rest. Idk something about the way they style the clothes for the sisters just hit right to me and I even dare to say it is a bit better compare to the older artstyles (including the 1 - 4 comics artstyle). Like, don't get me wrong the old artsyles has good fashion, but for me personally, the star artstyle fashion choice for the girls felt like something they would actually wear u know?

It is a hot take in the fandom, but I do agree with said take :D

You can hate on the snouts and the lips, sure

But the girls’ fashion sense?

Let’s be real the girls’ fashion sense in the previous artstyle was very general white person fashion sense, enough so that you can swap the color palettes of one of their outfits and you’d think it was for one of the other girls. Which isn’t a good thing when you think about it :D

Like seriously their fashion sense can be summarized thusly:

For all of them in general: if they’re not in a tropical climate, they can and will have sleeves. Usually long sleeves.

Colette: roll a d20. If the result is under 15, then she wears a skirt or a dress. Ironically she’s the one with the most hit-or-miss outfits of the five, either through color palette or just skirts being used when they shouldn’t be.

Nicky: if it doesn’t fulfill any of the given conditions: a variant of her old standard outfit, has a collar, is a green shirt paired with brown pants/shorts, is a jacket, is a jacket/coat with upturned collars, has green in it somewhere or everywhere, has orange in a strange spot meant to emulate the old outfit; then who the hell are you talking to that’s not Nicky

Pam: either it’s a shadow of her original red and olive palette, or it has the most heinous shade of lime green paired with her usual red or just have green where it legally shouldn’t be. If it can sweater, it will sweater. She’s been gaining drip lately in the Italian books tho I’ll give her that—

Paulina: she does go for a bit of cozy retro vibes in her fashion style, but I think 60% of them at least have some sort of scarf variant. I dunno, she’s doing fine but her fashion sense is nothing to write home about. If it can sweater, it will sweater.

Violet: Violet, I love you, you’re my blorbo but I’m sorry, you wear so much purple that sometimes I think your wardrobe just looks like Robin’s wardrobe in Teen Titans with the hundred copies of the exact same color palette. Bit classy, fluctuates from sweater child to absolute queen on a dime /pos. If she’s in a temperamental climate, roll a d20; any score below 15 means she wears long sleeves. Flip a coin; if you win, skirt, and if you lose, no skirt. IF IT CAN SWEATER, IT WILL SWEATER. Tho I will say I don’t think I’ve seen a single wardrobe L from Vi that wasn’t out of pure personal taste or the artstyle being weird (i.e. frills and/or lace), so that’s a dub for her :D also in-character but also good on Vi’s sense of judgment because apparently according to some extra Italian content, Vi’s the most experimental with her wardrobe. Minus the purple. God woman has so much purple—

With the newer style, at least the girls have more drip :D drip that actually looks like something they’d wear as opposed to being restrained to color palettes :D

THEY GAVE PAULINA GLASSES AND NICKY MULTIPLE EAR PIERCINGS LIKE WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN WHY IS IT SO THEM AND HOW CAN I GET MO—

[sinagrace]

This summer marks the tenth anniversary since the announcement of The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint at Image Comics, and today is eight years since I left the company as its Editorial Director. I had no intention of waxing nostalgic or posting about this fun and weird chapter of my life, but I’ve been cooped up in an apartment watching my dog as he recovers from surgery… so I’ve got nothing better to do than look at old pictures and post on social media. Being a comic book editor is not an easy job at all. Most folks think it just means emailing people about deadlines and checking for spelling errors, but there’s so much more that goes into the job, especially when you’re working in the field of creator-owned comics. The list of responsibilities is absolutely boring to recount, but I’ll just say that for as mind numbing or menial the tasks may seem, the consequences of going on autopilot and not double checking everyone’s work can lead to catastrophic printing errors with all the blame set on who??? The editor. What’s funny is that I didn’t necessarily want the job. I was really content working part-time on Rodeo Drive and growing my illustration portfolio (I’d been doing the Li’l Depressed Boy with Mx Struble and had finished illustrating a Middle Grade book for Amber Benson at Simon and Schuster). The opportunity to work full-time in comics and learn under a guy as respected as Robert appealed to me. Of his books, I was a fan of Invincible, and more to the point: I really appreciated his brazen defense of creator-owned comics in a Big Two market. Politically, I felt okay giving so much of my life to his journey. At one point in the interview process, Robert asked me if I was familiar with him and his work. My answer was sincere: “I’ve read some of your stuff. I respect you, but I’d never wait in line to meet you.” When I got the job offer, I was still on the fence. My friend Tyler always reminds me that he basically told me to just take the job and decide whether I liked it after I was there. He pointed out that the first ninety days are a mutual trial period for employee and employer. It would totally be fair for me to say in the first three months that the job wasn’t right for me. I’m glad that I listened to his advice, because being present for The Walking Dead’s ascension from beloved bestselling comic book to actual factual international phenomenon was an experience that I deeply treasure and will never have access to for the rest of my life. Even though my main duties were about the comics, I found myself getting tipsy at award show after parties, handling business affairs in talk show green rooms, sitting in development meetings with video game creators, picking up props from creature design workshops, and- the most bizarre scenario of them all- driving my tiny car around big rigs to drop off a pallet of merch at a shipping yard in the South Bay. My first year at Skybound was absolutely crazy, and getting my friend Shawn in the position of Director of Business Development was all too necessary at that point. Between the show’s success and the launch of a handful of original comics, my responsibilities grew to include foreign licensing, copyright filing, convention planning, editing the collected editions, liaising with collaborative partners, and the occasional bit of merchandise design. It was a lot to handle, and I look back fondly on the late nights when Shawn and I would walk down to Pinches for dinner, devouring burritos and chips before putting more hours at the office. We formed intense bonds with the production folks at Image Comics who were putting in the same hours at the Berkeley office. The stress and hard work was always worth it when you’d pull off a miracle like shipping Walking Dead every three weeks on time for a 100th issue to come out at Comic-Con with a smattering of variant covers- including a chromium cover that required multiple printers and so much advance planning. (As I’m typing this, I also am remembering that I was still drawing The Li’l Depressed Boy and working on my graphic novel Not My Bag on the side. Considering I hadn’t done any drugs at that point, I have no clue how I did all of that and still found time to sleep.) Being an editor is a pretty intense grind, and if you’re not a career editor, then the eventual burnout will hit super hard. I loved my job, and I loved the artists Robert chose to work with… for the most part, they were all kind and hardworking folks dedicated to the craft. I met one of my best friends on the job, and I was able to bring in my favorite people along for conventions across the continent. There were extraordinary highs, but the gig was taking a toll on me. I was answering work emails in Texas on Mx. Struble’s wedding day. I worked six out of the seven days I was in France for my sister’s wedding, and still got yelled at for something going wrong. How do you delegate instincts to someone? “Double check the file size because sometimes so-and-so will scan things wonky,” or “zoom in at 300% because the clipping path will look fine in the preview image but the sword is actually creeping into the logo.” I was starting to mess up, and after a point, it became clear that I needed to transition as a full-time writer and illustrator. It’s eight years later, and I’m still so very happy that I took the job. I may have pulled a lot of hair out, but I learned so much about storytelling and the business of making comics from one of the most iconic guys in the business. I always let my editors know how much compassion I have for the work they have to do, and try to never add problems to their already busy days. Some production designers may still hate me, because I learned all the tricks in terms of how late you can push something at the printer… but I’m getting better, I promise!! I know how valuable it is to connect with local retailers and with readers, because they’re all coming from a place of just loving comic books so darn much, and they’re the ones doing the major work in helping build successful titles. Skybound is now a decade old and has a staff of over fifty or sixty individuals pushing the brand to new and exciting places. Robert is still someone I admire for how hard he tries to inject vitality into the direct market. I *still* get people coming up to me saying that they thought I was a girl because of my name in the Walking Dead letters column. For as crazy as the freelance creator lifestyle has been the last eight years, I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s been scary, and sometimes hand-to-mouth, but I’d never have had the bandwidth to take on all the opportunities that started coming in recent years if I was still an editor, and I wouldn’t have been as great an advocate for myself in business dealings if i hadn’t learned from Robert. HBD Skybound. X.

[artemis-entreri]

[[ Following up on the title and summary announce, Gizmodo has released the cover for the next Drizzt book, “Relentless”, the conclusion to the Generations Trilogy. Furthermore, the preview teased features not Drizzt, Zaknafein, nor any other drow. Instead, a certain human assassin apparently takes the spotlight, despite the character illustrated on the cover of the book. ]]

[[ Who is this mysterious elf? Presumably, it’s a drow, although the coloring scheme makes that uncertain. I’m guessing it’s Zaknafein, as Drizzt and Jarlaxle have both been featured already, but it’s honestly hard to tell. Zaknafein is described as having short hair earlier in the Generations Trilogy and this character appears to have long hair, but that could just be due to the vague shape definitions in the artwork. It appears that this mysterious figure also has facial hair in the form of a goatee. His armor doesn’t look like anything we’ve seen before, so I’m hoping it is indeed Zaknafein and not something silly like Artemis Entreri turned into a drow. 

Without further ado, the excerpt from “Relentless”: ]] 

Artemis Entreri stood at the edge of the chasm that held the primordial of fire, his jeweled dagger laying loosely atop his open and up-facing palm. He stared at the weapon, hatred in his eyes, but only because that dagger was a reflection on him. He understood that now. He realized now, after his stint in the cocoon of conscience, that his worst crimes were those when he had put this evil weapon to use.

Entreri had killed many foes, both in battle and in secret. He had lived as a hired assassin. Always had he justified his work by telling himself that he had never killed anyone who hadn’t deserved it – the world was a brutal place, after all. He still believed that to some extent, except for this particular weapon. He hadn’t just killed people with this weapon, he had obliterated their souls and stolen whatever afterlife might have awaited them.

How many of his victims had deserved that?

He couldn’t justify it, not ever.

He stood there staring, contemplating, and the biggest question twisting his thoughts in that dark moment was whether he should simply toss the weapon to its destruction or jump in beside it.

A fall, a flash of intense pain, and it would be over.

The man winced. Nay, it was not a fear of death that kept him on that ledge, but the fear now of what awaited him when he crossed that final river.

Perhaps that was the true torture of Sharon, he considered. She had shown him what awaited him, making him fear death more than he hated life.

“Damn it all,” the broken man whispered, his words disappearing under the continual hiss of the dripping water falling to the heat below. “Damn that I was ever born.”

“Once I might have agreed with you,” came an unexpected response, and the assassin spun about to see Catti-brie and Yvonnel walking up behind him.

“There was an Artemis Entreri I thought worthless,” Catti-brie continued. “That is not the man standing before me now.”

“We have already had this discussion,” Yvonnel reminded the man. “You have been given a great gift.”

“A gift,” Entreri echoed with a snort.

“A message, then, and, clearly, a powerful one,” the drow restated, staring at his open hand and the dagger. “You wish to destroy that weapon?”

“Perhaps I’ll drop it in and it will eat the primordial,” Entreri mused.

“Not hardly,” said Yvonnel.

“If you wish, I’ll bring it down for you,” Catti-brie offered. She paused and smiled. “Didn’t you try to do the same with the sword you still carry?” It was a rhetorical question, of course, for Entreri had indeed thrown Charon’s Claw into the chasm, only to have it retrieved by this very same Catti-brie.

Entreri laughed at the reminder. “It would seem that I have been long cursed with evil weapons.”

“Weapons are merely tools,” Yvonnel said. “The intent is in the heart of the wielder, not the blade.”

“One could argue that the dirk Regis carries is equally vile,” Catti-brie reminded. “Or the sword I once carried.”

“The sword that nearly drove you insane, if I recall,” Entreri said dryly.

“Because I was not nearly experienced enough and skilled enough to control the base instincts it teased,” Catti-brie said. “Such is not the case now, as with you and your sword.”

“Is death at the hands of simple iron any less death than that with your dagger?” Yvonnel asked.

“Yes, that is the point,” said Entreri.

Yvonnel looked at him doubtfully.

“The dagger eats the souls of its victims, so they say,” Catti-brie explained.

“And gives to me their physical health,” Entreri added.

“Yes, yes,” Yvonnel said. “This is why Zhindia Melarn was so outraged at the loss of her daughter to your dagger. I remember now. The girl could not be resurrected because of the manner of her death.”

“Because the magic of this dagger obliterated her soul,” Entreri said, and he thought then of simply letting it fall into the pit.

“That cannot be,” Yvonnel replied, giving him pause. He looked at her curiously.

“One cannot ‘obliterate’ a soul,” Yvonnel explained. “Such energy is eternal, beyond the gods, even, and surely beyond the power of a simple dagger.”

“You just said that Zhindia was outraged because…”

“Because her daughter could not be brought back from the afterlife,” said Yvonnel.

“Because she had no afterlife,” Entreri reasoned.

Catti-brie looked to Yvonnel, who was shaking her head.

“If the souls are not destroyed, then is it possible that they have instead, been absorbed and trapped in the dagger?” Catti-brie said. “Is it a phylactery of sorts?”

“That is possible,” said Yvonnel, who looked from Catti-brie to Entreri. “Or perhaps they reside in another person now.”

“In me?”

“You just said that the dagger grants you your victim’s physical health. Perhaps there is more to it.”

Entreri blanched at the thought, and then thought once more that he should accompany the dagger to the fiery maw of the primordial!

“If that is true, either case, then they can be exorcised,” Catti-brie put in. “Set free.”

“Then I should throw the damned thing into the pit,” said Entreri, but Catti-brie was shaking her head.

“I know a better way.” She smiled and nodded, clearly considering a course.

“Do you intend to share?” Entreri asked after a few moments.

“Patience,” Catti-brie said. “Make no final decisions until I have considered our course, I beg. For now, though, I have something else I must see to.” She stepped up past Entreri, pulling him back from the ledge and replacing him on the lip of the chasm.

“I still do not agree,” Yvonnel said. “There must be a safer choice.”

“Maybe, but what time do we have?” Catti-brie replied.

“Then give to me your ring and let me do this.”

Catti-brie shook her head. “You said you would help me. I welcome your enchantments.”

“Do what?” Entreri asked, but they didn’t seem to be listening.

“You risk your child,” Yvonnel said.

“How much do we risk if I do not do this?”

“You don’t even know if the primordial will hear you. nor can you predict its response if it does! It is a creature of long-past millennia. Its way in the world is not ours, is not known to us, more foreign even than the beings we name as gods. Please, child, my experience is vast in such matters. Lend me your ring that I might go and speak with the creature.”

Catti-brie seemed to be considering it, even put the thumb and finger of her other hand upon the ring, as if to pull it off.

“It knows me,” she said at length, speaking as much to herself as to her companions, bolstering herself, obviously, for this task ahead.

“It cares nothing for you or any of us,” Yvonnel countered. “We cannot even know what brings it pleasure, what dreams or desires…”

“It knows me, and I know it,” Catti-brie said with finality, holding up her hand to ward the woman, who was leaning toward her, back. “I’ve been down there before in communion with the creature.”

Yvonnel considered the words, then finally surrendered with a nod. She held up a finger, bidding Catti-brie to pause, then cast a powerful dweomer over Catti-brie, one that the pregnant woman had to accept and allow to take hold upon her. Then Yvonnel began casting more mundane enchantments, throwing wards against heat and flame over Catti-brie, creating magical enhancements upon the woman to bolster her in the face of such a beast as awaited her in the pit.

“Promise me that when this is done, that when we have won the day, you will grant me that ring that I, too, might experience a communion with this most magnificent creature.”

“It’s a damned volcano!” Entreri reminded, but the two women just replied with smiles.

On a sudden thought, Catti-brie took out the onyx figurine of Guenhwyvar and held it out toward Yvonnel. She pulled it back, though, and couldn’t help but shake her head at her instinct. She intended to protect the panther by handing the figurine off, while still going down into the chasm with her child in her womb?

Catti-brie laughed aloud at the seeming absurdity and shook her head, and for a moment, the woman was unsure of…everything!

What was this madness? Why wasn’t she just forcing her friends to teleport to safety, or at least, taking her unborn child to safety, instead of trying to parlay with a god-like being that was more a volcano than anything sentient to which she could relate?

After another moment, though, she sorted it all out. She was doing this because it was what she and her friends, particularly her husband, has always done. She wouldn’t shy in the face of danger, even in the face of danger to her child. No, because the cost was too high. They had to win here, for all the goodly folk of the region, including the child in her womb.

They had to win.

They all needed her to be a part of that.

Catti-brie started to extend her arm once more, but then changed her mind and instead called Guenhwyvar to her side. The grey mist formed into the great panther, and Catti-brie bent low and whispered instructions into the panther’s ear.

Guen leaped away, darting out of the room.

Catti-brie tossed the figurine to Artemis Entreri, not Yvonnel. “If I don’t return, give it to Zaknafein,” she instructed.

The stunned man looked at her.

“Yes,” she said. “I trust you in this. “Do not betray that trust, and do not insult us all in this moment of need by worrying about yourself above others.”

That brought a scowl from Entreri, but one that only lasted a moment, replaced by a helpless laugh and a nod.

“Drizzt believed in you,” Catti-brie told him.

Catti-brie cast her own warding spell, then, and stepped off the cliff.

[[ Ho boy, there’s a lot potentially going on here, and, in my opinion, things don’t look great. 

Rather than easing up on the forced redemption arc that Artemis Entreri is pushed down, Salvatore seems to have elected to charge full speed ahead. As suspected, the "cocoon of conscience" is yet another lazy plot device to introduce "character development" in such a way that makes Idalia's Flute look like a masterpiece idea. For one like Entreri, being entrapped in a device that shows him the horrors of what awaits him in the afterlife wouldn't and shouldn't automatically translate into the development of a conscience about what he's wrought onto others, and the same would apply to any value judgments that would be made in conjunction with that development.

It's heartbreaking to me, because Entreri doesn't even sound like himself anymore. Instead, he's like a wanna-be talking the talk but hardly walking the walk, a Drizzt-clone who has killed the character I fell in love with, put on his skin, and performs a sad mimicry of the assassin. Entreri's being shoved into this mold where he's yet another accessory to the Companions of the Hall.

The one decent thing that this passage does do is suggest that the source of Entreri's longevity is the jeweled dagger rather than Charon's Claw. The tie-in to Claw always felt rather made up on the spot, added in as a cheap source of quick tension-building.

As far as position in the book is concerned, I would guess that this passage takes place in the first third, with enough drama occurring such that everyone would learn of Drizzt's disappearing act, and think him dead (hence Catti-brie's usage of the past tense of "trust" when talking to Entreri). It's very unlikely that Drizzt is indeed dead, but I suppose the chance exists that he is. More and more people are favoring Artemis Entreri over Drizzt, so it might be Salvatore shifting focus to a new protagonist, as he did with Drizzt over Wulfgar in the beginning. Salvatore did hint to a fan that he was far from done with Entreri, however, in my opinion, this is far from a good thing. Boundless was bad enough that some of Salvatore’s most loyal fans questioned if he had indeed written the book, thinking that there’s no way that their beloved author could pen something so horrendous. I feel that this really goes to show how low the quality of Drizzt and his fellows have sank, and perhaps this is the impetus for Salvatore needing to shift gears. As such, I find myself ironically wishing that Drizzt is indeed alive and well and continues to be the focus of these books so that Entreri is spared Salvatore's decaying touch, for that seems to be all he is capable of these days. 

Yet, I will still continue to foolishly hold out hope that it’ll change. ]]

[chaoticluxraydesign]

Planning

Our group initially planned on creating a guide about dating for Millennials in Singapore. We first came up with the overall content and sketched the layouts of our assigned pages. I was tasked with the Cover, a Comic as the Premise and Content Page. 

I first came up with 2 comic strip drafts and explained the story to the group to get feedback. They liked the story on the left, which depicts a main character finding a date through a dating app. This established the art style that we were going to use as a cute, cartoon-ish style. Then, I proceeded to draw out the more concrete draft, with a proper layout and text:

Next, I worked with my group to come up with a general colour scheme. We knew we wanted to use soft colours, and the initial palette was based on pastel pink, purple and blue.

After Feedback 1:

The first feedback was that the comic may be too time-consuming to do. Hence, I decided to scrap it for a much shorter premise for the book. I felt that was enough to introduce our main character, as well as convey our idea of a said main character wanting to find a date. 

Our e-book underwent some restructuring in terms of content and flow of pages. We brainstormed and researched for content together to determine the final content flow. We decided to combine the content page with the “comic” so that pages 5-6 could remain a spread of a map. Hence, I came up with a second draft of the content page:

I next worked on character designs. I got inspiration from Pinterest for the stylistic direction of our e-book. I especially liked the style that utilises minimal colours, with cute, hand-drawn, cartoon-ish characters and objects.

My initial idea was to make the main character androgynous, as seen in the first comic sketch. However, I noticed that classmates were more likely to see the character as a girl and suggest adding a male character as a counterpart in their initial feedback. With these references and feedback, I proposed the main character (coloured):

Whilst creating the cover page, I felt that the colour of the girl’s hoodie did not stand out because the cover had a lot of pink and white elements. So I chose a darker shade of blue instead. I also did up the graphics for the content page:

Art Direction and Graphics

With my pages settled, I begin my role of maintaining the art direction of the e-book. I compiled a list of graphics of the girl that my members needed for their pages so that I may start to draw them. I also devised a way to keep the style of icons as similar as possible. Because there are many people working on the design, having everyone submit their own completed graphics would have been rather disastrous for the art style. Since most of the group enjoyed creating flat icons, I proposed that they sent me the vectors of their icons and I would add colour to them.

I did this by importing the vectors (without fill) from Illustrator to Photoshop and colouring on a layer beneath the vector outlines. We decided to standardise a basic black stroke for our icons. By standardising the colour palette to just 3 colours and applying colours in a stylised manner, I managed to achieve a style that worked coherently despite different people handling the outlines. The colours chosen were analogous colours that complemented each other and of different tonal values to ensure that the coloured icons did not look too flat. 

We encountered the problem of different art styles when one particular line work stood out more than the others. It did not really follow the cutesy style we had going. To solve this, I worked with the groupmate to select some references from Google and redid the graphic in a more suitable style:

Compiling the e-book

Whilst the rest of the group were working on their pages, I set up the InDesign document to be used and inserted completed graphics first. I created a border made of red-pink lines and a ribbon and included page numbers and a Snow background in the Master page. I also set up character and paragraph styles to standardise the text in the e-book.

After my group members transferred their Illustrator files to me, I coloured and exported the icons in .PNG as it preserves transparency. Most of the graphics were done in 72ppi as the e-book was not meant to be printed, and that resolution was good enough for web-browsing. However, I found that some icons lose a lot of quality when exported and recoloured them in 300ppi instead. (It is a bit difficult to tell from the image below, try this link instead)

Our group met up on Zoom to work on the e-book together. Since only one person could work on the file at a time, I shared my screen with the group and started compiling all the content. Everyone chipped in by giving feedback on where edits should be made to improve the design. For example, the content on page 3 was divided into 2 sections but did not have a clear-cut distinction between the sections. Some groupmates pointed this out and I added a pink divider to solve it. This was a team effort.

I utilised the text wrap function of InDesign to subtly give text boxes a more interesting look. Since the initial idea was to have a lightbulb overlap a text box, I decided to wrap the text around the lightbulb’s bounding box.

After exporting the e-book to .pdf, I opened it on my macbook preview and found that the colour had changed slightly. I did a bit of research and learnt that different software rendered colours differently. I then tried to open it on the Google Chrome browser and the colours looked correct. Remembering that our e-book was to be viewed on both laptops and mobile, I opened the file on the Google Chrome browser on my iPhone, and it seems the colour looked different as well. The page was more yellowish and the pink was duller. This could be due to the settings for my device’s screen. Therefore, I concluded that the e-book should be viewed on the browser of a laptop or desktop.

After Feedback 2:

One main feedback we got concerned the map page. The outline of the map appeared to be too light and difficult to notice, and the legend looked too much like the bubbles accompanying the geotags. To fix this, I worked with my groupmate to come up with a few edits to the design of the map. We removed the waiter graphic and shifted the legend down. We also added more content to explain the 3 different categories we had. Finally, we changed the colours of the corresponding geotags on the map to further emphasize that they belonged to their respective categories. 

Another feedback we got was the inconsistent spacing between the heart-shaped bullet points and the text beside it, which I promptly fixed. 

Challenges

One of the biggest challenges I faced was collaborating on the style for the e-book. Up until now, most of my design works have been solo projects which gave me full control over the design. However, with groupmates, we have to adapt to each other’s styles and sometimes that involves sacrificing our own preferences.

To make things easier, I proposed the workflow and a simple style that I felt was both appealing and easy enough to work with given our project constraints (deadline, inability to have physical meetings, lack of software for some members). I was lucky to be in a very helpful and accommodating group, though keeping the style consistent was a rather persistent problem we faced. Since I was in charge of compiling most of the pages and graphics, it was extremely time-consuming. 

Another problem we faced was broken links when passing the InDesign documents around. We did minimal transferring of files. When we did, we found that links sometimes got broken. To fix this, I suggested using InDesign’s package function and explained to the group why links broke and how to fix them. We zipped the packaged folders before sending them to other groupmates. Since I am working on an earlier version of Indesign, I learnt that I should use the .idml files to open the document instead.

Design Document 

I helped out with the Design and Layout, Production, and Reflection sections of the design document. Since I handled most of the InDesign and compiled graphics, I helped to add the more technical parts of the design document. I also explained the design principles our group used in our e-book. 

Workspaces

Better quality gifs can be found here: ID | PSD

[loopy777]

‘Team Avatar Tales‘ Hoedown

This isn’t a review. I’m not sophisticated to do Reviews with a number score at the end and some kind of pronouncement about whether or not every single person, regardless of their personal tastes/circumstances/finances, should buy this book. So, instead, I’ll be dancing through the each of the short stories in this book.

(It was on sale at NYCC at the Dark Horse booth. So I guess this is super-exclusive NYCC coverage! Woo! I am sophisticate and journalism!)

1. “Rebound” (Script: Gene Luen Yang / Art: Ryan Hill) Yes, this is the same comic that came out for Free Comic Book Day six years ago, still serving as an epilogue for The Promise and a prologue for Smoke & Shadow even though it isn’t collected with any version of either of those stories. Mai is still awesome, we still don’t have that ‘Lone Wolf & Cub’-inspired anime about her and Tom-Tom, and this story is one of TWO in this collection using a main Fire Nation character and the other one is ALSO a FCBD-reprint and also doesn’t feature Zuko despite him being on the cover. Sorry, Zuko fans!

2. “The Substitute” (Script: Dave Scheidt / Art: Little Corvus) Hey, remember the comic ‘Private Fire’ about Sokka going out while wearing fake facial-hair and getting hauled into a comedic misadventure due to mistaken identity? Apparently, Dave Scheidt does, and he loved it so much he used the exact same idea -- substituting a preschool for a military camp -- and compressed it down to 8 pages filled with standard “kids are monsters” jokes. It also has a framing that makes no sense because the gAang is already in their Fire Nation outfits but they still need to stay out of sight or wear disguises and also Toph is missing for some reason. Maybe the artist didn’t get the note and this is supposed to take place in Book Water in the colonies.

3. “Shells” (Script: Gene Luen Yang / Art: Faith Erin Hicks) Another FCBD reprint, this is the story of how Suki hates stock misogynists who promote the Fake Geek Girls thing and also reveals that Kyoshi started the Kyoshi Warriors in order to give women the means to defend themselves. This comic is still heavy-handed and still perfectly adequate and still the second-best thing Gene Yang has ever written after Rebound.

4. “Sokka’s Poem” (Script: Ron Koertge / Art: Gene Luen Yang) This is a two-page little love-letter to Sokka’s character that is exactly like all those “We need to talk about Sokka...” tumblr posts that I like and reblog except this one is illustrated by Gene Yang for some reason. Also, both pages were in the official previews, so you can just read it there. This story features Zuko’s only appearance (outside of Mai’s memories) in the collection, showing him sleeping in a sleeping bag with the rest of the gAang. (I mean they’re all sleeping in sleeping bags, not all in his sleeping bag. Missed opportunities.)

5.Toph & The Boulder (Sara Goetter) One of two pieces in this collection to be written and drawn by the same person, and so it turns out to be the only comedy thing in here that completely nails it. This story was previewed last year at NYCC, and is about Toph helping the Boulder with his cat. It’s silly and funny and ridiculous and impossible to take seriously and full of energy. Like I said: nails it. I think Sara Goetter should take over the main Avatar comic line and turn the post-cartoon series into a sitcom. I’m being completely serious.

6. Origami (Kiku Hughes) The other of two pieces in this collection to be written and drawn by the same person, and also the other of two pieces in this collection about a member of Team Avatar giving a confidence boost to a girl with self-esteem issues. Instead of being about Fake Geek Girls, this is about a girl who can’t fight and feels like she’s not special compared to warriors. It’s a cute little tale that shows some insight into the fact that being the Hope Girl of the group can’t be easy for Katara, but unfortunately it just leaves this revelation as a pep-talk in some dialogue rather than actually doing anything with it. Still, it’s a nice little tale and gets Katara’s character and almost manages to be pleasant enough to numb the pain coming with the next story in the collection.

7. Sisters (Script: Gene Luen Yang / Art: Carla Speed McNeil) Yes, another FCBD reprint. And I figured it out! Ty Lee’s sisters are all gaslighting her, and none of what they say about her or their childhood is true. One of the reasons Ty Lee ran away is because she couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore back at home, and Mai told her to get the flameo out of Dodge. This is still the absolute worst thing to ever come from the Avatar franchise, and Ty Lee still needs help to beat a random thug working for a random guy running a random extortion racket against random circuses. I still think Sara Goetter should take over the entire Avatar comic line and do it all as  a sitcom.

8. Scarecrow (Script: Dave Scheidt / Art: Coni Yovaniniz) For some reason, Dave Scheidt got to do two stories in this collection about abusing Sokka. This one is the more ridiculous of the two, and doesn’t bother trying to be nice with its treatment of Sokka, and so this one is actually funny. It’s probably because the art is much more cartoony, so it makes physical abuse look fun and amusing. It’s like the Chibi Shorts in that respect, but this one actually has a sense of style that wasn’t stolen from anime and so is inherently superior.

[mrmonkhimself]

December 4th, 2019

Here is a look and the new series being released on December 4th, 2019. Some are mini-series and some are ongoing. I’ll usually leave out one-shots and annuals since they are typically related to an ongoing series. Descriptions are directly from the Previews Catalog. If you see something interesting, click the link to order. New Series Favorites – December 4th, 2019 There are a few interesting looking #1’s out this week. By far my favorite is probably the Power Rangers/TMNT #1 that is coming. I grew up on TMNT and my son loves the Power Rangers so that's going to be fun to read together. James Bond #1 has also caught my attention. Remember if you didn't get your LCS to pull a series you can always click on the link and order online.

20XX #1 - OCT190019 (W) Lauren Keely, Jonathan Luna (A/CA) Jonathan Luna From JONATHAN LUNA (ALEX + ADA, GIRLS, THE SWORD) and LAUREN KEELY, in her writing debut, comes an all-new ongoing series! This sci-fi thriller for mature readers imagines a not-so-distant future-a world of norms and syms, divided by fear. Syms, a small percentage of the population with telekinetic abilities, form gangs to survive. But division only breeds more division, and Mer and Nuon experience this firsthand as they become entangled in the often dramatic, sometimes violent, but always complex social landscape of sym gang rivalries in Anchorage, Alaska.

Butchers of Paris #1 - OCT190298 (W) Stephanie Phillips (A) Dean Kotz (CA) Dave Johnson In 1944, as Swastikas flew over Paris, one of the most notorious and prolific serial killers in history turned the occupied city into his personal hunting ground. Under the guise of opportunity and freedom, a killer preys on those desperate to flee . . . until a gruesome discovery alerts the police. In a city on the brink of war, the hunt for a serial killer begins as a French detective races to catch the villain before the Nazis beat him to it. Written by Stephanie Phillips (Descendent, Devil Within) with art by Dean Kotz (Mars Attacks), The Butcher of Paris is a historical, true crime thriller about a killer wanted by both the Nazis and allied forces for the death of nearly two hundred victims.

Kill Whitey Donovan #1 (of 5) - OCT190296 (W) Duncan Sydney (A) Natalie Barahona (CA) Jason Pearson After Anna Hoyt's sister commits suicide, she sets off for Atlanta to kill the man responsible for destroying her family-her fiancé, Jim "Whitey" Donovan. But Anna, a spirited though pampered daughter of a prominent doctor, can't do it alone. To get through the hell that lies between her Alabama home and Atlanta, she makes a deal with one of the Donovan slaves, Hattie Virgil, who has an agenda of her own. In exchange for a chance at freedom, Hattie, a survivor, will lead this unlikely pair on a quest that will change them both forever. o The comic-book debut of writer Sydney Duncan, author of the critically acclaimed fantasy trilogy The Revelation Saga, and artist Natalie Barahona!

Deathbringer #1 - OCT190479 (W) Zoe Quinn (A) Brent Peeples (CA) Viktor Bogdanovic Donna Troy is a hero. She fought alongside friends, led the Titans into battle, and buried more friends in the line of duty than she cares to remember. She's strong, she's brave, she's one of the fiercest warriors on the planet...and she's the Batman Who Laughs' next target for infection! Spinning out of the events of The Batman Who Laughs and Batman/Superman comes the story of a hero who is done with bringing peace to a world that cannot be trusted with it. A woman who's past has been her greatest adversary, and whose newly awakened dark side is ready to burn it all down and forge a new destiny. No more peace. Only...Deathbringer!

Conan: Serpent War #1 (of 4) - OCT190892 (W) Jim Zub (A) Scot Eaton (CA) Carlos Pacheco THE WRATH OF THE SERPENT GOD! WARRIORS ACROSS TIME DEFY THE ELDER GODS! JAMES ALLISON will soon die. But it's not his first death. He's lived many lives, in many places - lives he can recall in vivid detail. But when an Elder God called the WYRM reaches across time to James, an ages-spanning quest begins! The serpent god SET plans to usher in an eternity of darkness, and only the chosen warriors across time and space have a hope of stopping him: CONAN THE BARBARIAN, SOLOMON KANE, DARK AGNES, and the man known as MOON KNIGHT! In an unprecedented comics event, Robert E. Howard's characters join forces along with Marvel's Moon Knight, in an all-new saga built on REH and Marvel lore from across the ages! PARENTAL ADVISORY

James Bond #1 - OCT191221 (W) Vita Ayala, Danny Lore (A) Eric Gapstur (CA) Jim Cheung New series, new team, new missions! VITA AYALA (Morbius, Age Of X-Man), DANNY LORE (Queen Of Bad Dreams) and ERIC GAPSTUR (James Bond 007) present a fresh take on the world's greatest secret agent. When a priceless piece of art is found to be fake, investigations lead down a rabbit hole of international crime and corruption. But what the hell does James Bond know about the world of art forgery? Featuring a cover by superstar JIM CHEUNG (Justice League, Young Avengers), that will be revealed as an interlocking image over the first three issues!

Power Rangers/TMNT #1 - OCT191380 (W) Ryan Parrott (A) Simone Di Meo (CA) Dan Mora * THE MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS AND THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME! * The Power Rangers arrive in New York City to find Tommy Oliver (a.k.a. The Mighty Morphin Green Ranger) but soon discover he's joined forces with the villainous Shredder and the Foot Clan! * As the Rangers are sent reeling by this betrayal, they 're confronted by another (fr)enemy... the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Can these heroes find a way to work together to defeat the bad guys and save the world from total destruction?! * Written by Ryan Parrott (Power Rangers: Necessary Evil) and illustrated by Simone di Meo (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Venom Annual), the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fight - and maybe team up with - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the first time. Read the full article

[ramajmedia]

Teen Harley Quinn Gets New (& Better) Origin in BREAKING GLASS

Harley Quinn may have been created as the Joker's girlfriend, but she's built a legacy and role in the DC Universe all by herself. It's about time Harleen got an origin story that focused on the young woman she always was, and the battles the forged her - as opposed to the man who 'broke' her. Which is exactly what Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is here to deliver.

The new graphic novel for young adults is traveling back to Harley's own days in that demographic, as a fifteen year old kid from Gotham poorest neighborhood. Eisner Award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki (Supergirl: Being Super) and Eisner Award-nominated artist Steve Pugh (The Flintstones) are telling the tale, re-imagining the circumstances that led Harleen to become the Harley Quinn. Only this time, it's based on family, fairness, and what one girl can prove capable of when her friends are put in harm's way. And any fan who reads Breaking Glass is likely to wonder how her origin was ever any different.

RELATED: Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy Begin Their New Team-Up Series!

Screen Rant had the chance to speak with Tamaki and Pugh about creating this new graphic novel, the new drag club origin for Harley Quinn, their brand new incarnation of The Joker, and more. Read on for our full interview, along with preview pages showing Pugh's work, and the official trailer for Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass.

I'll start by asking how you were approached for not just a young adult graphic novel from DC, but one giving Harley Quinn a new, teenage origin story. Was it easy for you to sign on?

MT: For me this is kind of a follow up to Supergirl: Being Super, in that I was in a conference room with a bunch of DC people talking about what I might do next. A similar project was offered up as something that I might do, and then when they asked me I had two very obvious questions. The first was who is the character I wanted to do, and I immediately wanted to do Harley. I get the first pick of everybody so I got Harley right away. Then when we talked about illustrators I was like, 'Steve Pugh, it has to be Steve.' Part of it is because I had just read The Flintstones series. I just thought that kind of physicality that he had in those comics I thought was something that would keep it in a style that felt real. Which was really important to me. It was ridiculous. It took a year to get approved but in terms of selection process, it was very simple.

Was Steve hard to convince?

MT: Steve was about to do something else when he agreed to do this!

SP: Yeah! I was lined up to go on rotation on one of the big DC monthlies, but Marie Javins, the editor showed me the script and I very ungraciously backed out. And DC were lovely about it, they totally supported me but they were surprised. I utterly loved the script, utterly loved the characters. And I wanted to be involved immediately. So it was a no-brainer for me.

You both got the chance to answer a question that most Harley fans have never even though to ask, which is: 'Who was Harley Quinn in high school?' Or even, 'What if her origin story had started while she was still in high school?' How did you land on this version of the story?

MT: To me it seems like a standard teenage story, and high school is part of that. I think it was a natural place to start to think about, in terms of the origin of someone's hero story, in terms of deciding to be a hero. And I think that school seemed like a great place to put her to encounter a bunch of different influences. She has multiple influences in this book. She has the drag queens that she lives with. She has this girl, Ivy, who she goes to school with who is incredibly smart and knows a lot about history and things that Harley is not very interested in. Then she has this other influence of the Joker. I think the thing about high school is it's a nice melting pot to put people in where they naturally encounter certain things. And especially because I wanted there to be a history of activism and a place for her to learn and talk about that stuff. That seemed like a natural setting for it.

In terms of this style of Harley and the rest of the characters, was that something you two took a lot of time to sort out. It's a different version of a lot of things readers will both recognize from DC Comics, and their real world high schools. Was that also a natural process?

SP: I really took my cues from what Mariko had put on the page. My planning stage is quite poor. I read the script and I imagine how it looks, I see it as a movie. But when I'm doing sketches and things, it never really works. Everything that I find works for me gets kind of designed on the page as the characters are moving about. I'm very much a sequential artist, I'm not very good at coming up with pin-ups or covers or things like that. I kind of find the characters as they're performing, and saying the lines, and emoting. That's how it worked, so it was very much script first and then I kind of ran with it and checked in to make sure I was on beat and in the right area of what everybody wanted.

It feels like these graphic novels are different from the regular ongoing comics, where you go in knowing that you're following someone, and will likely pass to someone else. Here, you get to design from the ground up, both in story and artwork. Do you start by asking what the version of Harley is that YOU want to make, or something you want to see in the character that you maybe haven't before?

MT: Yeah. Yeah! It's funny because I do feel like it's a narrative process: the first thing that I pictured was Harley Quinn on the bus on her way to Gotham. And what that character looks like, and really imagining a past and present and future for this character. I think the way she's designed is in terms of what she would have. She has this kind of knapsack type thing, jeans and a sweater, and her cap. It's what she would have on her. But at the same time, it's also us trying to get her to that place of the iconic Harley Quinn. What are all the things that she's narratively going to encounter that will take her to the place where she looks like the superhero that we know?

It was a matter of finding those things, and when I first saw Steve's character sketches for these concepts that we were looking at, it was really helpful. Because I could imagine this very excited and excitable kid, and what she would be like. It really helped because it gives you a personality, and a visual to go on that then feeds you for the rest of the story. Also we had the scripts but then we were editing in little chunks, so I could see her becoming more of a person on the page.

I imagine it all has to be in service of that core question of who Harley is, no matter what else you change. Was that something you each had in mind when entering this project, or something that you had to discuss to arrive at together?

MT: I think Steve and I mostly worked--like these last two days are the only times that Steve and I have ever spoken!

SP: [Laughs]

MT: We work through our editor Marie Javins, and I will say, she was a really good rudder for keeping us on track. That's a really amazing part of the DC Comics Editors, because they are so well acquainted with who these characters are, and the vast histories of them. They kind of keep you on track. They're the guards in the bowling alley, when you're playing in the little kids' bowling alley... Just making sure that you don't go so far out of what's legible as this character. But I feel like at the same time, Harley is such an iconic personality. That kind of playful strangeness of her is so pungent, that it was really easy to stay within who that person was. Or who she is. For me.

SP: Yeah, she's just endless charisma, enormous potential, looking for something to aim herself at. That quest for a purpose for family and for someone to care about her, and someone for her to care about. I feel like that's the common thread that's always been in Harley's journey. Falling in with the wrong sort, and falling in with the right sort, and which side grabs her destiny.

MT: Yeah. Yeah.

It seems a unique challenge, to decide who is this Harley and what is this story about.... now what does she look like? Because you know there is a whole army of cosplayers just waiting to show their love by bringing these looks and personality to life. I am so eager to hear any insight you can offer about developing that wardrobe--I imagine it starts with the natural progression you spoke about, but where do you go from there?

MT: Did you just read a lot of teen magazines Steve, what was the process there?

SP: [Laughs] Just observation, I suppose. I just remember people from college and how they carried themselves, and how they kind of experimented with looks. Harley is just exactly at the age when you're trying to find yourself, and the costumes were about--as Mariko said--she starts with what she's got. A gym bag that she's hooping her arms through and using it like a haversack, and the woolly hat. Then she picks up things along the way and creates looks. The drag queens help her out and widen her horizons. It moves organically and in many ways, a lot of this stuff is made up on the page. There is an enormous amount to be said for planning ahead. But what I tend to find is if I do character sketches and work it all out beforehand, the things that work in the character sketches almost never translate to the sequential panels. Because you don't see the character from that front-on, side-on view, you see them doing things. And things that work in a design in those kind of character sketches don't really flow when the character's leaping onto a ladder, up the side of a building, or something. It's really just kind of instinct.

Well you touched on what has to be one of the best changes you make in this origin story, which is to give Harley Quinn a drag mother. And I will now not be able to to ever see it any other way...

MT: Yayyyy!

SP: [Laughs]

So where did the idea of MAMA and her crew come from, and what was that like, bringing this drag paradise to life?

MT: I am an obnoxious fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, and drag. Certainly for me, my introduction to--my own personal style really evolved when I was a teen going to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Meeting a group of people who are incredibly theatrical, and playing with gender, was definitely something that was very fundamental to me. I wanted to have a figure that was a caring, loving figure for her. The head of an atypical family. I don't know, sometimes I think Mama looks like... relatives that I have? [Laughs]

We really wanted to surround her with people who were very comfortable outside of the status quo, so to join her there and give her a group of people to fight for, was really important for the story. Then coming up with drag names is one of my favorite things to do for this book. One of the drag names is--my friend Billeh Knickerson, who is a poet, Mia Culpa is the drag name that he came up with--and then I asked him if I could use that. Then for me it's also my history with queer theater, having them really embrace Maxima Impact. This really big, over the top drag. Which I think is the perfect place to put somebody who is figuring out their superhero persona.

 SP: It was just so great. It was so great to be doing a book where the characters were emoting, and acting, and not just kind of doing the "grrr" face for 22 pages. Designing them was a challenge, but it was also a lovely experience, you know? I always work out from the yes. Like on The Flintstones, with Fred, I wanted a big slab of a man. But the eyes had to be like super, super kind.

MT: Yeahhhhhh.

SP: That's where I started with Mama as well. Working out from the eyes and then just seeing a face that you could trust. You would put your life in her hands. And at the same time, wanted to make sure that the world looked after her. The other drag queens had their own personalities in and out of drag, and Mariko wrote very specific bios for each of them. I worked that into their designs, their facial structure, and the style of cheekbone or how hooded the eyes were. There is a certain Scottish character in there, and I've got a lot of Scottish friends, I made sure... There is a very specific look around the eyes and the cheekbones of a Scottish man, and I worked all that in. Just a fantastic cast to work with, I love these characters. And I've been them quite often in the mirror! [Laughs]

MT: [Laughs]

SP: To work out how each of them look. They've each got a specific body language, a specific way of moving around the scene.

MT: I was saying to Steve later, one of my favorites scenes is when you see the drag queens out of drag, and you can see their physicality our of drag, and connecting that to them in drag. I think that's really fascinating in the comic.

When you're taking this story into that community, is there an added sense of responsibility to portray those people, that style, that culture, in a respectful way?

MT: I think there is a responsibility when you're representing people to be accurate. I definitely have a lot of amazing people who helped me and gave me advice and answered questions that I had, so I wasn't just going on the fact that I watch RuPaul's Drag Race every day [Laughs]. I don't think that makes me an expert in anything. I certainly felt a responsibility to make sure that people were being well-represented, or that I was considering what was going into their presentation in this. I mean the point is not just to make the story diverse, but to make the story interesting. I think that multiple perspectives in this story is what makes it interesting. It is very much a Harley Quinn story, and I hope Harley Quinn fans enjoy it, but I also think there is a story that is about all of these influences on her, that make her a more interesting character as a result.

SP: Yeah. I definitely felt the weight of responsibility. Because you know that when communities don't see themselves in particular media very often... you've got a responsibility to do it right. But at the same time you've got to put that responsibility to one side so you can do the work, and make the characters people, and not worry about making them too perfect, or too this, or too that. They've got to be allowed to breathe, and be empathetic, and live, and... You know, I took it seriously. I took it very seriously.

We all know that it is historic moment when a new version of the Joker in introduced. Without spoiling anything, what can you tease readers with for this new Joker? I don't even know where you would start in conceiving a new version, but from his first appearance, this is a Joker a lot of people will never be able to forget.

MT: I mean I don't know where Steve came up with the actual design of the Joker, but I was visually taken aback when I first saw it. Just, 'Oh my God!' It's so weirdly terrifying when you first see the Joker in this book. And again it really fits in with the story, it's not about taking an iconic character and putting him into the story, but this is the story of Harley Quinn, and who the Joker ends up being in this version of her life. It was kind of the x factor for me, because I had no preconceived visual of what the Joker would look like. And now I'm totally obsessed with this version of the Joker.

SP: Oh wow! That's very cool [Laughs]. Again, he was designed on the page. The Joker has a silhouette, we know what the Joker is supposed to look like, but I was trying to create this... it's a weird thing to say, but he's supposed to be a ransom note. You know when you cut out letters from a newspaper and paste them on a page? He's supposed to be a little bit like that. Just like Harley, he's finding himself and he's moving forward. He develops, over the story, and gets a little bit odder and little bit weirder, and his t-shirts get a bit more sinister each time. That was the thought process really. I won't describe what he looks like fully, but it's just a shopping bag full of ideas.

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is available now at most major book retailers. Head to DC's official page to order your own copy today, and read on below for the official cover and full plot synopsis:

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is a coming-of-age story about choices, consequences, justice, fairness, and progress and how a weird kid from Gotham's poorest part of town goes about defining her world for herself. From Eisner Award and Caldecott Honor-winning author Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer, Supergirl: Being Super).

Harleen is a tough, outspoken, rebellious kid who lives in a ramshackle apartment above a karaoke cabaret owned by a drag queen named MAMA. Ever since Harleen's parents split, MAMA has been her only family. When the cabaret becomes the next victim in the wave of gentrification that's taking over the neighborhood, Harleen gets mad.

When Harleen decides to turn her anger into action, she is faced with two choices: join Ivy, who's campaigning to make the neighborhood a better place to live, or join The Joker, who plans to take down Gotham one corporation at a time.

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is at once a tale of the classic Harley readers know and love, and a heartfelt story about the choices teenagers make and how they can define--or destroy--their lives.

MORE: Harley Quinn is PREGNANT in Batman: Curse of The White Knight

source https://screenrant.com/harley-quinn-breaking-glass-book-novel/

[dimples-of-discontent]

Love, Necromancy, Cocks, and the Reanimated Corpse of Compulsory Heterosexuality: Watching Notes for 14x06

Oh my goodness this episode was pure fucking delight!! Is there a member of the NextGen writers’ room who isn’t binging wall-to-wall fanfic as inspiration? I mean, this even began as a library AU for crying out loud! I love these people and I love what they’re doing and they managed to do something I thought was impossible...not mind that this is our third episode in a row without Cas. We even got a nice lil’ shoutout to meta writers as Sam illustrated for Charlie why she was like the flyman and she gently insisted that, although Sam did have a point, she was not, to be clear, actually the same as flyman. (This will not stop me from proceeding with my flyman-type readings though. But thanks, Yockey!)

So obviously this was an episode about love and....love as we could tell from the tagline, “the things we do for love” and the title, “Optimism.” I’m sorry to say, though, that I ended up feeling that both those things were a setup for some very dark times indeed that are a-comin’! *rocks chair* *sips moonshine* We just learned from the PR that 14x08 will be an episode in which Cas makes an “enormous sacrifice.” And, well, there are only a few options for that at this point. I’ll talk more about it in a sec, but I think “the things we do for love” is pretty clear foreshadowing of not precisely what he’ll do but why he’ll do it. 

So anyway, here are some bullet-point-type rambles about things I noticed immediately post-episode. If I have time I might get to expand on them but, the way my time has been lately, it’s a lot more likely that they’ll stay rambly and informal. Still, feel free to pick up and toss around/expand on whatever appeals!

Necromancers - it’s not real love if it’s dead: I reblogged the lovely @mittensmorgul already being smart as usual about the connection between this and last season’s Yockey treat “Various and Sundry Villains” but I thought of it the moment I saw Harper because she looked so very much like the Plum sisters--you remember, the codependent ladies who put a love spell on Dean to steal a book and then tried to raise their mom from the dead only to have it lead to their demise at each other’s hands. Harper mentions that she’s from a long line of necromancers and, well, seems pretty plausible to me. Where the Plum sisters brought back their mom, though, Harper is looking to bring back her man (or men, if Jack is her next target) to stay with her forever. 

Just as the Plum sisters showed an unhealthy model of parent-child and sibling-sibling relationships that was allegorically appropriate to the Winchesters, Harper shows an unhealthy model of what a relationship is or could be. The Plums were unwilling to let their dead mother (or each other) go, clinging with slavish devotion to the idea of getting her, and their normal life, back. Instead of having real relationships, they cast love spells and sacrificed men (read: any possibility of a non-familial partner) to sustain it. Harper may have had a good enough relationship with Vance to start, who knows?, but she was unwilling to let him go in much the same way the Plums couldn’t let their mother die. He wanted to leave the town that she was tied to because of her family and her family business (necromancy). And instead of adhering to the idea that if you love something you should let it go she killed him and brought him back to participate in a kind of love that literally fed on other people to keep it going. Harper kept him against his will, forcing him to fit into her life in a way that required sacrificing innocent lives and kept her from being able to move on.

In both cases? It’s not love if it’s dead. Let it go.

My boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be in trouble: Anyone else remember that uber-terrible 90s movie where a girl’s boyfriend came back as a zombie? No? I didn’t see it, but I recall seeing the preview in a theater and that it had a scene where they were making out and his ear fell off and it HORRIFIED me since I’d barely even heard of making out at that point. Anyway, I bet you anything Steve Yockey saw that movie which was called “my boyfriend’s back.” Harper has too many interested men, actually, which is the source of her “terrible luck” and being “perpetually single.” So, just to be clear, someone who says she’s “perpetually single” (and ready to mingle?) and has “terrible luck” with relationships is actually in a secret long-term relationship with her first love who she killed (all relationships have their issues!) and brought back from the dead as a supernatural creature who is terribly possessive of her. She wasn’t just single with terrible luck she actually had her boyfriend back!

Now, it’s not a 1-to-1 Destiel parallel and I’m not saying it is. This isn’t a flyman situation. But it’s suggestive of it anyway because all Harper’s “bad luck” with romance actually has a pretty simple explanation. She’s already in a relationship. So, uh, Dean you having some trouble there? Not finding any relationships that will stick? People you show affection for maybe keep dying? Try this explanation on for size. 

Like a romance novel: Again, I’m not suggesting this is all 1-to-1. But following up on these other two points I’d like to point out how Harper and Vance are stereotypical of a certain kind of “first love”. They met in high school. He was a football player she was the prom queen everything was going great. Then he wanted to leave and expand their lives and she wanted to keep everything the same. So she killed him. To keep everything the same. To combat change and the unfamiliar. So that instead what she got was the familiar, reanimated and always consuming everyone around her, living when it manifestly shouldn’t. They’re a romance novel gone wrong. A heterosexual romance novel gone wrong. Because Vance, “Archie,” is a certain kind of all-American guy. 

And if you think there wasn’t some kind of symbolic resonance to the reanimated corpse of All-American masculinity beating Dean up after he got clobbered with a shelf full or romance novels, well, think again. And then Vance just...decided Dean wasn’t a threat. He just walks off and leaves him and we’re left going ??? until we learn that he’s after Jack and that, because he sees Jack as a more viable romantic threat than Dean, he needs to pursue him. Dean was judged by the specter of toxic masculinity (or compulsory heterosexuality) and found wanting. That’s kind of big, guys.

Dick’s diner (love them, uh, Roosters): You guys, the monster knew that even sweet lil’ cinnamon roll Jack is more heterosexual than Dean is right now. Jack’s the one asking (repeatedly) about sex and Dean’s the one (repeatedly) not talking about it. He’s all business with the waitress, even when she tells Jack that “sometimes you just have the sex,” and even though he’s spouting a lot of wisdom about love (as someone who has obviously read one billion romance novels for “research purposes”) he’s not saying anything about what women want in the bedroom (or wherever else they want it). Even the diner, canonically the site of all Dean’s hookups with a no-bullshit waitress who explicitly mentions sex is filled with cocks. Just...cocks everywhere. And, yeah, Dean’s going to touch some of those cocks. He can’t really help it when they’re just everywhere. And he’s NOT going to make any time for a classic diner hookup. He’s just...gonna keep staring at those cocks. (I know they are about Richard Speight directing--and certainly the diner name is a reference to that--but there is no way it’s not also about cocks. And also I make no apologies for my sense of humor here. Cocks are funny and they’ll always be funny. The end.)

Let’s give ‘em something to talk about....how about love? Whew! You know who wants to talk about love? Dean Winchester. Kudos to Jensen because I felt that any conversation that had the L-word going on was heavy with Things Unsaid. Dean distracting Zombie Archie by trying to talk to him about what love really is but stopping short just after saying “that’s not what love is...c’mon, think about it” but before saying what it was instead? Dean saying that people do a lot crazier things for love (see my long crack rant about just what those kind of things might be DEAN)? I was legitimately kind of prepared for Jack to ask Dean a question about love and Dean to give a revealing answer that allowed Jack to serve as a GA proxy and go “Holy shit! You love Castiel!”. 

But hey, next week they’re apparently going to road trip to Vegas and Jack is going to drive the Impala (BEFORE CAS??? BLASPHEMY!!) so maybe there’s still going to be some time to callback to Sam’s Vegas wedding and how you know you want to marry someone. 

My apologies to Sam and Charlie, whose plotline I did very much enjoy, but I’ve tired myself out. This was pure joy and I feel happy and well fed and, well, optimistic...which can only mean dark times to come because nothing good ever happens on SPN. Take care, lovelies, and stay away from necromancy!

[dmcrossroads-blog]

War of the Spark, a novel review

As a child, I aspired to become an author. There was something alluring about crafting characters and entwining their lives together through circumstances. It is also one of the reasons I was an avid reader as a child. I still remember the release of the fifth Harry Potter novel and a friend loaned me their copy. I returned it to them the next day at school and they were confused as to why I didn’t want to finish it. But I had! The fifth book came in at 766 pages, for context.

The entire point to going over these little details it to outline how much I truly enjoy a story. Combine that with the fact that, as many will guess, I am obsessed with Magic: the Gathering and you would imagine that the War of the Spark novel was a dream-come-true for me. It has been ages since the last Magic novel, and this was the finale of a decade-long spiderweb of stories and there was much speculation and tension riding on this book. I had high hopes for it, especially as the cards were previewed ahead of its release. And, I’m sad to announce, I was ultimately disappointed. 

There is a lot to unpack here. There was always going to be a laundry list of challenges for anyone who wrote this story, so I want to put this out as a disclaimer: my comments here are not direct criticism toward Greg Weisman and some of these comments aren’t even directly critical of Wizards of the Coast themselves. Some of it happens to just be a collection of unfortunate circumstances. So, let’s dive into this.

Before we get too deep into the review of the story, I do want to make sure to give a SPOILER WARNING. Some of this will reveal plot points or character points of the novel. If you don’t want to know these things before reading it and coming to your own conclusions, please bookmark the page and come back after you’ve read the novel.

The Kiddie Character Pool

When I say “kiddie character pool”, I’m not referring that the characters are children, or even that the writing is geared toward children. Rather, I’m referencing the lack of depth in the characters that were presented. Vraska and Jace specifically did not live up to the deeper characters we had become accustomed to after their foray and frolicking in Ixalan. Jace lost some of his self-confidence and regained much of his brooding nature. Vraska’s confidence and determination to aid her friends and end the threat of Bolas seems to have flown the coop in favor of something of a self-pity party.

While these are the top two examples of lack of character depth, there are a few throughout the story as well. Domri Rade seems to exist solely to illustrate a person fed up with the status quo of Ravnica and what happens to those who are loyal to Bolas when he’s done with them. Aside from that, he offers little to the plot. The character Rat basically exists to reveal information to newer players or readers who are unfamiliar to Ravnica and some of the other Planeswalkers, going so far to even embody this “newness” in Teyo, one of the main perspectives and a newly ignited Planeswalker. While the plan does the job to inform the reader, it does come across as a cheap, almost “cheating” trope.

We got Quantity, not Quality

This also comes into play with another big criticism. When it comes to the supporting cast, we were buried under name after name after name, but given very little else. Characters like Kiora, Tamiyo and others were named and even briefly seen in the story but had virtually no lines. Even characters like Nissa had very little important “screen time” throughout the novel, despite having quite a bit of exposition available to them.  

This problem even extended down past the Planeswalkers of the story, but to a greater degree. Characters that lined up with the Planeswalkers’ interest, like Aurelia and Tomik and even Emmara Tandris and Trostani were able to get some dialogue throughout the story, but there was a gaping hole where so many important Ravnica-native characters were left out. Normally, this is easily excusable for the sake of the story, but when you remember that the entire set of cards was previewed just before the release of the novel, this created and awkward mix of expectations versus what we received. People were excited to see long-beloved characters like Fblthp and Feather finally receive cards, along with the Vorthos phantom Massacre Girl. Then characters like Krenko were never mentioned and even exciting new character Roaleks was briefly mentioned, but then never seen or heard. By the end of the novel, I very much felt like this was the second book in a series and I had missed the first book. There can be a point made that the cards do not always have to be drawn into the story, but given that the cards were not only previewed in story order but also even highlighted by what “Act” they appeared in, it feels very strange to see these Acts feel like they’re missing parts.

The Endgame

My final main criticism of the novel was the endgame of the plot. The whole idea is that Nicol Bolas is attempting to gain godhood by drawing Planeswalkers to Ravnica with the beacon that Ral Zarek was manipulated into making to try to assemble Magic’s version of the Avengers, then trap them on the plane with the Immortal Sun that Tezzeret and Vraska stole from Azor on Ixalan. Finally, the Dreadhorde of Amonkhet lazotep-covered zombies were the mindless drones, led by Liliana, to draw out the sparks of Planeswalkers to send them back to Nicol Bolas as a godhood battery. In terms of evil plots, it is not terrible and the lamenting of the characters like Ral Zarek did a decent job at setting Nicol Bolas up as the omnipotent thinker who was always one step ahead. But in the end, it seemed as though the bad guy went down with… Well, very little fight.

The simple moral of the story was that Bolas’ own hubris cost him his own victory. Imbuing Hazoret’s weapon with his own essence, treating Liliana like a soulless drone and overall underestimating how dangerous an army of Planeswalkers could be were the big points that get made in the last chapter by Ugin. Which begs the question: for a creature that thinks so far ahead to make his enemies think they’re stopping him but really are just playing into his plans, these seem like relatively obvious things to overlook. The conclusion feels less like the heroes banded together to thwart a God-powered Elder Dragon and pre-Mending Planeswalker and more like Bolas was a childish whelp with a touch of power that finally got what was coming to him. It came across very unsatisfying, given that this was supposed to be the conclusion of a decade-long set of stories all coming together and the ending of this phase of the story and the last of Bolas’ arc(s).

In Conclusion

Sadly, I think this was poor expectation management combined with some other limitations… Time, page count, etc. can all be attributing factors that may be outside of many people’s control. For what it is worth, the novel did the job of showing us how the arc has ended, and the plot points do follow what we expected from the preview season of the card set. The only unfortunate conclusion I can come to is that the novel is almost like a SparkNotes version of what we wanted. If War of the Spark had been a trilogy, I think we could have gotten something much more epic-feeling and satisfying. Overall, despite understanding those other factors and the limitations, I wouldn’t rate the novel above a 4/10, though I think it falls as a 3 in my personal preferences. Too many of the characters I was excited to see were not even mentioned and again; Expectation management dictated that they would at least have a line in the story, even if it was just a third-party mention of what they were doing during the conflict.

If this is the beginning of Magic: the Gathering novels coming back as a regular occurrence, I believe Wizards needs to look at their previous attempts and learn from what made (some) of those stories great. They need to look at what we, the fans, are saying about War of the Spark and learn from what we’re telling them we didn’t enjoy about the experience. There may not be a perfect answer where everyone is happy and the company has the team, funding and people to provide it to us, but I have to believe there is a way to obtain a better experience and a higher success rate than what we got in this instance.

Here’s to hoping for a better future, Wizards. Thanks for reading.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Shield Hero 20 - 22 | Sarazanmai 7 - 9 | BSD 32 - 34 | Fruits Basket 8 - 9 | Demon Slayer 8 - 10 | OPM 20 - 21

Shield Hero 20

Motoyasu getting dragged by Filo was funny…not enough to get a proper laugh though. Just a smirk or two.

Stop narrating and just get on with it, Naofumi and friends…!

“I was saying we should fight together all along.” (from Itsuki) – Were you, now…? (skeptical)

Ass-pull! I call “ass-pull” at the power to swallow the phoenix flame! Seriously, when did the dragon get the opportunity to teach Naofumi how to do that???

How did Naofumi not die after losing so much blood…?

What does the Q even stand for in the queen’s name…?

Sarazanmai 7

The seagulls…so fluffy…

For some reason, I expect a fakeout, but then it never arrives…these boys are really connecting…

I found some kappa croquette thingy online, but it referred to a “Shiki City” which probably isn’t in Asakusa…

The shirt…Kazuki’s shirt says “frog” but I get the feeling it also means “return”.

Shirohasu water. It’s Irohasu in Japan.

Was the lyric to Kawausoiya (the otter song) “gonna take ‘em”…?

Nice ET reference, Sara.

Balls…not just sport entendre, but…y’know. The sort of humour I don’t like as much.

Ooh…Keppi is shaping up to be the bad guy. But what plans does he have? Am I speculating too much and is he being framed? Hard to know until next time…

BSD 32

When Kyouka is eating the sundae, she looks like the Tofu Kyouka from Mayoi…hmm.

Can I confess something? Before I saw the illustrations for s2, I thought Louisa’s hair was much darker than what it is in the anime…hmmm, indeed.

I don’t think we were ever told (in the manga or the anime) what Louisa’s wish was…

This bit with Fyodor…I don’t think it was in the manga.

Subarashi-sou is a pun on “it seems wonderful”. That wasn’t in the manga, but it’s a great pun (because it’s right up my alley).

Fitz laughing at the neighbour’s TV wasn’t in the manga either, but that’s just the anime director’s humour peeking through.

“Blalack Daniel’s”, LOL.

Ohh…a quick Google reveals TJ Eckleberg is from the Great Gatsby. In there, he’s an eye doctor, but here, he’s an engineer.

George B Wilson is also from the Great Gatsby…Here be spoilers, but…George dies in his original work too.

Manhasset is a place in New York…I assume it’s connected to the Great Gatsby as well…

Oh yeah! Random Poe moment. That’s in the manga, so Igarashi (or whoever’s responsible for the terrible humour) doesn’t have to fake that bit.

Cue “Objection!” by Fitz, lemme guess. Even if I know the outcome and how it was done, I’d like to have my memory refreshed (by stabbing in the dark…and making an Ace Attorney joke in the process).

I already know, without googling, that Tom Buchanan is part of Great Gatsby as well…

Bank of Amerigo…LOL.

Fruits Basket 8

“If you show up for the banquet now…”

“The banquet sounds just like the folk tale!” Honestly, subbers, proofread…

Haa-kun and Haa-san. No distinguishing between them (aside from honorifics), even though they’re two completely different people.

Hatori’s squinty face was…hilarious, to put it simply.

Oh…I forgot the dance seems to be something the animal of the year does. So if Yuki was 3 years ago, it makes sense Momiji is doing it this year.

Best seat in the house for a sunrise, huh?

Kimetsu no Yaiba 8

I’ve seen Muzan being described as “Demon Michael Jackson” and now I can’t get that out of my head when I see him…sorry.

Tsukihiko, huh? It translates to “moon’s radiance” or something like that. That name is appropriate for a bad guy, isn’t it?

This is the first time I’ve really listened to the OST (aside from the OP and ED), so it’s…really something.

Ooh, I didn’t realise until now, but Ufotable even imitated the paper Jump is printed on with the next-ep previews…

OPM 2 8 (OPM 20)

Er…I haven’t mentioned it for the past few episodes, but Suiryu is hotttttttt. (No? I said that? Okay, next step.) That’s basically the only reason why I’m watching anymore…I can’t seem to find anyone who thinks positively of this tournament arc enough to do reviews of it that I can read, which has made my own opinion of this beloved series go down the drain…Also, if you weren’t aware, my taste lies not in Suiryu’s huge bulk, but rather in the fact he’s got long hair.

Didn’t Suiryu get pierced in the abs??? Where’s the blood coming from his injuries??? Update: He does have injuries there, they’re just not bloody…that’s all.

The main criticism for OPM 2 is the fact that it keeps cutting between different events, so it’s hard to follow. Well, I’ve had worse (see Concrete Revolutio) so that’s why I’m still here.

People say that clothing changes you – say if you put on a new outfit, you feel like a new person. (Of course, that’s all glamorising and praising consumption, but that’s beside the point here.) I think that’s what’s up with Max and Snek.

Shield Hero 21

“…the Shield Hero is worshipped.”

Really? Boob jiggle, at a time like this??? (Context: Malty is getting th slave crest painted on her.)

Wait, was there ever a Shield Church???

Okay, that felt like a real seasonal ending. What the heck is going to happen in the last few episodes, I wonder…?

Sarazanmai 8

Chikai knows the real meaning of YOLO…heh. I’m only kidding…

To be honest, I think I like Toi best out of the main trio. I tend to like the boys in blue…and no, I don’t mean the otter police.

Kazuki’s service provider is “Kappa Phone”, LOL.

When Reo held up the gun, I was yelling, “Enta! Get it for him!” (i.e. take the bullet) I didn’t expect him to actually do it…

…and here I thought tragic yuri was common enough and we don’t have enough Tragic Yaoi Dudes…

Notably, Toi was registered on Enta’s phone as “Kuji”, while Kazuki is registered as “Kazuki” (katakana) on Toi’s.

Shots fired…!

Update: I didn’t notice this, but the evil dude with kamome written behind him (I think it’s in this episode, but it might have been in the last one instead) must be based on a seagull…because that’s what kamome means.

Bungou Stray Dogs 33 (BSD S3 Ep 8)

I think it was around here I stopped reading the scans, because the series was picked up legally anyway…but I can see the death flags for a certain Port Mafia man…one who stands at the top.

As expected…butt shot. Igarashi (or whoever’s responsible for that shot) likes butts, so between this and Sarazanmai…*imagines image of kappa!Kazuki holding a shirikodama* There’s absolutely no buts about it (LOL), there’s no shortage of butts this season.

“To think that the rabbit being hunted would show its face…” – I think it’s hard for you to say that, Akutagawa, when you yourself have no face in that frame…

Why are both Akutagawa and Fyodor Naruto running today???

“So you’re doing this for that woman.”

What is “Mukurotoride”? I don’t seem to remember…maybe I never learnt what it was. Update: Apparently a tower in Dead Apple is called Mukurotoride.

Conspiracy time! This book sounds like Kunikida’s Ability…so imagine if it were under Dazai’s nose the entire time…

Fruits Basket 9

I love how the synopsis for this episode goes, “Kyo fights Yuki, Yuki fights a cold…”

Hatsuharu’s wearing such an ostentatious fluffy jacket…LOL, I love it.

Holy cow (LOL), I forgot how old Hatsuharu is…so that means he’s 15-ish, right?

Come to think of it…I see Fruits Basket characters in Ro Te O, which I started writing at about this time in 2013. The Azrael of that time was a hybrid of Hatsuharu, Ritsu and Ayame, Tetsuya is basically Yuki and Ryou is Kyou…hmm.

Apparently, Shigure had in the 2001 anime a song that went like, “High school girls, high school girls, cute high school girls for me.” So that’s where it was??? (Context: I haven’t seen Fruits Basket 2001, but read the entire manga.)

Kimetsu no Yaiba 9

Recap time, recap time…so the lady’s in the back room and Tanjiro conveniently forgets the man is in the basement…? Wuh?

Moya was complaining about how repetitive this show can get when it comes to the script (i.e. it repeats itself because it doesn’t trust its audience, but I think that’s because this is originally serialised on TV week by week that people may forget if they’re not bingeing, taking notes or following the manga). I’ll talk more about that in my KnY collab post, I guess…

When Yushiro said “watch your back”…he really meant it, huh?

Temari are the balls, but kemari is when you kick the balls.

“…the eyeballs on his hands are creepy.” – LOL.

Shield Hero 22

The ep title just says “Hero Council”…not specifically that there are 4 of them.

My stream’s been buffering more than usual, so I went “like mother, like daughter” before Naofumi did…

It would’ve ben massively funny to hear Melty call Malty either “Trash” or “B****”…especially the last one, because that’s always a fun way to end a sentence (especially for a girl as young as her). Update: She does, but the way she does it isn’t as funny as I thought it would be (and she doesn’t end her sentence with her sister’s new name).

Wait, I thought they got rid of her slave pact??? I thought it was only for the duration of her trial that she needed it for.

L’Arc and that lady seem like they’re foreshadowing for later…hmm. Update: The next-episode synopsis says “yes”. So does that new visual.

Sarazanmai 9

I can’t believe this show’s almost over…That means I gotta get a move on with RobiHachi, but to be honest? Non-anime things are probably going to kep me busy until…a few days from now. So I’ll get RobiHachi watched then.

Characetrs are dying en masse in this episode, aren’t they??? I saw a spoiler that (well, SPOILER) Chikai’s gonna die, but I don’t know about Enta or Keppi…Update: To be honest, I thought Chikai was going to become the next monster – a gun monster, perhaps. Maybe now that I’ve finished the episode, he’ll become a real zombie. (Hey, see what I did there with the bolding…? How’s that for hiding spoilers, eh???)

Oh yeah…I forgot Enta’s sister was Kazuki’s teacher…

There was a sign behind Masa that said”Hinode Asakusa” – “hi no de” meaning roughly “under the sun” or “leaving the sun”.

Tokarev…? The gun? Gun monster, maybe? Is this a critique of the American gun…(exaggerated voice) Nah, can’t be…this is Japanese.

Lionel…Lionel…for some reason, that name in relation to soccer seems familiar...I just can’t put my finger on who it reminds me of, though. Update: Is it, perhaps, Messi…? Yes, I think that’s the guy I was thinking of…!

Aw…I’m not crying, you are…But these words were running through my head before Toi chucked the bag of money away and yelled, “F***!”: “Everything I do, I do it for you.” Isn’t that cute…?

Bungou Stray Dogs 34

“…one by one?” Junban means “sequentially”, so I don’t see why you have to use the phrase “one by one”. Or “one at a time” would also work.

Hardbank…to contrast Softbank (a phone company in Japan).

Face-stealing aliens strike again…(re: Atsushi)

Oh flip. This reminds me of my Kunikida fic…yeah, I bet you don’t remember it.

Hey, this dude! Apparently he’s from one of Kunikida’s stories. I really am approaching the end of what I know of canon…*gulp* Update: Oops, we already passed that part…

I wonder if the real Fyodor could play cello…? Or is this just a thing to make him ominous and villanous…?

The cross on the wall behind Kunikida…makes this show more like Eva than Kekkai Sensen…exquisite. Absolutely exquisite, isn’t it?

Another cool cross, behind Tanizaki!

What’s a tatamigatana? Also, I didn’t know other people could be synchronised using Doppo Poet and Ranpo’s deduction…

Does Kouyou mean (by “the one I most despise”)…Chuuya? Or herself? It’s definitely not Ace.

Kimetsu no Yaiba 10

Headpats for Yushiro as well! Headpats for everyone!

There’s a lot of Tanjiro being terrified in this episode…

Wait…Kizuki? I thought they were the 12 Moons? (Well, “tsuki” means “moon”, but then what’s the “ki”?) Update: The “ki” means “demon”, so the Kizuki are the 12 Demon Moons.

Being alone with the body…that’s always a scary thought in murder mysteries…for the people who dissect them to determine the cause of death, that is.

Considering the name of the episode is “Together Forever”…nup, I don’t see Nezuko and Tanjiro separating anytime soon…

The Kasugai crow is what happens when you can’t turn off your Google Assistant…or GPS…or Siri.

If Tanjiro knows the name of his crow, how do the crows get their names? Do their trainers (is that the right term for a crow breeder in this case…?) give them names?

OPM S2 Ep 9 (Ep 21)

LOL, that one shot of the ants…JC Staff really don’t care about this series, do they…?

I kinda forgot about Genos after a bit more than a week…sorry, I was watching other anime in between. (More than usual, at least. I started playing Chibi Tamago – a forum game for AniList where you collect badges for watching anime - that’s why.)

Did he (Pri-Pri Prisoner)…store his phone in his butt…?

[comicsbeat]

Continuing with our wide-ranging survey of creators from every end of the business on what happened and what’s coming. A lot of people who responded e this year talked about the development of a new distribution system or channel for comics as being a big story for 2019. It seem there is a lot of dissatisfaction with how comics are sold these days, no duh. What do you think?  Is there a savior on the horizon? You can check out the other parts of the survey here.

Kwanza Osajyefo, writer

2019 Projects: H1 Comics from Humanoids and WHITE, the sequel to BLACK

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The growth of the graphic novels among titles that don’t perform as well in the direct market.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Comic distribution becoming more multi-channel along with the direct market

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Figuring out what is going on in Paper Girls

Who inspired you in 2018? Everyone, I think so many of our peers have been operating on ten this year. I think the flood of comics content into the mainstream has really gotten us fired up, not to get our work into other mediums but to imagine on a larger scale.

  Tony Shenton. Sales rep and consultant

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The death of Stan Lee

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? The ongoing legal battle Cody Pikrodt has started vs. small presses and creators

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Not a guilty pleasure at all: RUN from Abrams.

Gary Tyrrell, Blogger

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Spike Trotman. She’s tearing up the industry with Iron Circus, and she’ll be launching a YA imprint — she’s making it so a lot of future superstars have a place to start their careers.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Raina Telgemeier’s next book will have an initial print run of one million. That’s mindbending.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Perp walks of high federal officials and Trump family members. So many perp walks.

Who inspired you in 2018? Pat Race — he and his team have put together something extraordinarily special in the Alaska Robotics Comics Camp, and it’s creating new relationships and creative networks among comics creators at all stages of their careers. The future will remember it as equivalent to the Algonquin Round Table.

Mariah McCourt, Creator

2019 Projects: STITCHED #3 and a new series for AHOY! comics

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That comics are for everyone, stories matter, and so does representation.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Hopefully more focus on amazing creators, the diversity of content, and the continuing impact and relevancy of the medium.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? No guilty pleasures here, I’m looking forward to seeing all the new books in the works!

Joe Field, Retailer

2019 Projects: A new space to expand Flying Colors for events and sales

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? There was no one biggest story in comics. It was a thousand shards of glass rather than just one big picture window.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Cruise to the Edge, a prog rock themed cruise in February. No cell phones, no worries, just some great people having a peace party at sea.

Who inspired you in 2018? My wife Libby continues to be my inspiration. We celebrate our 40th anniversary in late February (so good then, even better now). The non-profit work she does in helping women with crisis pregnancies while also managing Flying Colors’ back office and reveling in her role as a grandmother is so inspiring to me.

Amy Chu, writer

2019 Projects: Summit (Lion Forge), Sea Sirens with Janet Lee (Viking Press), Pros & Cons (Dark Horse)

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Kid’s graphic novels are $$$ – Dave Pilkey 3 million print run for his fifth Dog Man book; Raina Telgemeier 1 million for Guts

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Kid’s graphic novels

Glenn Hauman, publisher at ComicMix, designated victim of “They Keep Killing Glenn”

2019 Projects: What 2019 projects am I working on that I can talk about? More omnibus editions for GrimJack, Soulsearchers & Company, and Deadbeats, and new… oh, dammit, I can’t talk about that yet. Arrgh.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The passing of Stan Lee. We all knew it was going to happen someday, and yet… we all thought we might get a pass on this one, you know?

And speaking of Marvel greats leaving: Bendis at DC.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? The All-New, All-Different Stan Lee 2.0!

And the bankruptcy of projects intended to get money from C*****gate people.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? The resolution of certain legal proceedings.

Thomas Ragon, Publisher

2019 Projects:

Roman Muradov’s next book “The Adventures of Munich in Marcel Duchamp”.

Thierry Smolderen & Alexandre Clérisse’s (whose “Atom Empire” & “Diabolik Summer” are translated or about to be by IDW) next graphic Novel : “Une année sans Cthulhu” (A year without Cthulhu).

After Glenn Gould, Sandrine Revel’s book about Canadian painter Tom Thomson Two major sets of exhibitions, in chronological order : Blutch has several exhibitions throughout 2019 in Strasbourg, and we’re working on a monograph to be released early March. Joann Sfar will be exhibited at the Basel Cartoon Museum and Lucerne festival “Fumetto”.

Ron Wimberly’s “Prince of Cats” French edition.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Ron Wimberly’s LAAB #0 ; The French authors collective movement to obtain better social and economic conditions from both publishers and government.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Borja Gonzalez having a worldwide success with his THE BLACK HOLES.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Discovering new excellent restaurants thanks to my job. Discovering new great bookstores thanks to my job.

Who inspired you in 2018? Blutch and Joann Sfar are always inspiring me, in many ways.

Nat Gertler, writer/publisher

2019 Projects: While my 2019 writing projects are for other people to announce, my first publishing project of the new year reflects on the 90th anniversary of the Great Depression by reprinting a book of cartoons by the great Otto Soglow, done during the depression.

Preview pages below.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? The triumph of diversity against anti-diversity forces.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Good comics. It’s always good comics, and there are always good comics for the story to be about. All the industry games mean nothing without that.

Christian Beranek, Writer

2019 projects: Kelci Crawford and I will be wrapping up Validation and then moving forward with Tiny Unicorn. (See below) Also writing loads of prose stories.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? Black Panther. I wish its box office success translated into more sales, however. We have to find a way to turn film audiences onto the source material.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? A massive wave of quality comics bringing in new readers.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? Any time taken away from writing. I want to work as much as possible but know you need breaks. I plan on reading more books in the Foundation series. Looking forward to that show.

Who inspired you in 2018? Tony DiGerolamo. The guy is a writing machine and really understands the mechanics of storytelling. More companies should consider hiring him.

Sanika Phawde, Cartoonist

2019 Projects: My biggest project scheduled to be completed in 2019 is my newest graphic novel. The project is still untitled but it presents an autofiction story about the journey of learning to love myself, and learning to accept my body and sexuality, as a freshly adult immigrant in New York city .

The story communicates through mix-media drawings on location, memoir comics, sketchbook pages, illustrated poetry, and even a few instances of fold-out paper architecture.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? I am really looking forward to going back home to Mumbai after a year, and eating a Nescafe flavoured ice cream sandwich in the winter heat with my best friend, while sitting on the wall that keeps the Arabian sea out of the city.

Who inspired you in 2018? Julian Glander, Jaron Braxton, Veronica Lawlor, Nora Krug, Robert Sikoryak, Brian Rea, Alex Norris, Lizzo, Melissa Guerrero (practices activism through food), Janelle Monae

Christopher Butcher, TCAF Artistic Director & VIZ Media Editorial Consultant

2019 Projects: TCAF 2019 is gearing up and it’s going to have one of the strongest and most diverse guest lists in our history. It’s going to be a pretty amazing year to be there, whether you love kids comics, YA comics, Adult comics, North American or International Comics. We’re pretty hyped!

On the VIZ side of things, though there’s a ton still to be announced, several of the series I’ve had a hand in are starting or continuing into 2019. Look out for the YA LGBTQ series “That Blue Sky Feeling” to get its 2nd and 3rd and final volume next year, the amazing/disturbing BEASTARS will start next year (like if Zootopia were a little more food-chain accurate?), and the recently-debuted gorgeous SF title Ran and The Grey World will start to turn some heads.

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That’s tough. The industry is so fragmented at this point, that stories that were huge in one area barely made a ripple in others. Straddling graphic novel publishing, manga publishing, and with a toe still in superhero publishing, it’s amazing the times people would pull me aside and ask “So what was that about, exactly? All I saw was the hashtag…”

So… yeah I dunno. I think the biggest ‘story’ probably wasn’t written, but it was about the continued evolution of this industry as it happened. The house-cleaning and secret-revealing that needed to happen, some of the editorial attitudes around projects looking pretty terrible when exposed to the light of day, the continued vertical integration in licensed properties, all of it points to a maturing industry, which is both good and bad. More professionalism, but less room for the sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants stuff that made comics very, very exciting about 10 years ago.

I think most folks involved will take ‘professionalism’ any day of the week though!

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? Pogs, baby! POGS!

No but seriously, I have no idea. There’s so much up in the air right now, 2019 is going to be bumpy for sure.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? If it’s not hurting anyone, then there’s no point in feeling guilty about pleasure. Enjoy yourselves, it’s tough out there. 🙂

Who inspired you in 2018? My husband, Andrew Woodrow-Butcher, who was enormously patient and supportive while I took risks and traveled around the world, all while working 60 hours a week making sure Canadian schools and libraries have the best comic collections in the world, re-opening the world’s first kids comic book store (Little Island Comics!), sending Canadians to comic festivals around the world, and of course, programming a big part of TCAF. He’s a constant inspiration to me, I’m lucky to have him.

Ben Towle, Cartoonist

2019 Projects: The main project I’ve been working on in 2018 is a non-fiction graphic novel for the new imprint Dead Reckoning, which specializes in comics about things historical and/or military-related.

The book’s called Four Fisted Tales and it’s a collection of real-life stories about animals used in combat.

Here’s a sample page:

And here’s an in-progress rough:

I’m also continuing to work on–albeit a lot more slowly–my book In the Weeds about cooking and playing rock music in the 1990’s. It’s my first foray into the great comics tradition of “funny animals” characters. Here’s an in-progress rough from that:

It probably seems like I’ve disappeared since Oyster War came out a few years back, but I’ve been hard at work on TWO books, I promise!

What was the biggest story in comics in 2018? That’s gotta be the announcement of not one, but TWO, forthcoming books from Raina Telgemeier. When the most highly-read and most popular cartoonist in North America announces a book, it’s a big flippin’ deal. TWO books in the same year is bonkers news.

What will be the biggest story in comics in 2019? OK…Well, it’s only a big story for ME, but I’m really excited about the upcoming D&Q Little Lulu reprint series. These are some of the best comics ever made and it’s going to be great to see them get the D&Q treatment starting in 2019.

What guilty pleasure (of any kind) are you looking forward to in 2019? I’m a huge Star Trek nerd and so I’m super-excited about whatever’s brewing with this new Picard show. Supposedly starting in 2019!

The Beat's Annual Creator Survey Part 4: with art from new projects by Amy Chu, Janet Lee, Roman Muradov, Otto Soglow, Ben Towle and more Continuing with our wide-ranging survey of creators from every end of the business on what happened and what's coming.

[jarrettfuller]

Put a bird on it

Prologue The most challenging design projects, they say, are the ones you do for yourself. Without parameters and constraints, timelines and clients, you miss the checks and balances that can often guide the process. The markers that tell you you're on the right track, moving in the right direction, are absent. When I was an undergraduate, I had a class where we had to design personal logos we could use on letterhead, stationery, and business cards in preparation for our impending job searches. It was honestly the hardest project of my college years.

Part 1: A Love Story On January 8, 2017, I proposed to my girlfriend, Eurry. It was three years to the day since our first date. We had met over a video conference when we both were working at Facebook; I was in San Francisco and she was in New York. I was a designer and she was a data researcher. One day in the middle of December, my team's project manager asked if I had some time to work on a small data visualization project for someone on the data team in New York. I reluctantly agreed. 'Small projects' always seemed to turn into 'big projects' and this was a team we hadn't worked with before. But a meeting was scheduled and I walked in knowing nothing. I was caught off guard when a cute girl wearing a black and white striped sweater from the New York office popped up on the video screen. I vaguely remember saying something to my project manager when we left the meeting about how cool Eurry seemed. I immediately sent her a Facebook friend request.

A few weeks later she was in the California office and we met in person to go over updates on the project. The meeting quickly turned into friendly conversation about our lives, discovering all sorts of shared interests. I didn't want the meeting to end. The next time she was in town, we went out for drinks and we have talked every day since, beginning what became a multi-year, bicoastal long distance relationship. We became best friends and fell in love.

We both eventually left Facebook — I went to graduate school and she went to work on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. We traveled, tried countless new restaurants, met each other's families, watched a lot of movies, and laughed a lot. We started talking about marriage, about moving in together, about our future. And then on a freezing, snowy morning last January after I pulled a ring from my pocket, I asked her to marry me. Through tears she said 'duh'.

But the story I'm writing here is not one of our relationship or of planning a wedding or even our wedding day. That's a story we want to save for our friends and family. Our married friends told us how all-consuming wedding planning can be so we decided early on that we'd share the planning responsibilities and take ownership over the parts we respectively cared more about. Eurry has stronger opinions about drinks, for example, so she'd handle the bar menu while I cared more about music and was tasked with choosing songs for our first dance and processional. You probably see where this is going: I was in charge of the visual design. And the visual design, it turned out, would be a special kind of challenge. This is a story about that process.

Part 2: Location, Location, Location Designing for our wedding became the hardest design project I've ever completed; certainly more challenging than those personal logos I did in college. It wasn't just about how I could represent our wedding visually but how to represent our entire relationship visually. We knew we wanted it to feel different — we wanted something casual and fun, informal and nontraditional. And we both desperately wanted to avoid the cliche calligraphy so dominant in wedding design these days. Almost immediately after we got engaged, I created a massive Illustrator file where I began setting our names in nearly every typeface I own in search of an interesting lockup or style that might emerge (perhaps something interesting with the double R's in both our names? Nope, too obvious), but for a long time it felt like I was going in circles, unable to figure out what our wedding should look like.

The biggest decision we had to make, however, was where we wanted to get married. One weekend last spring, we were sitting on the couch with our laptops looking at potential venues when Eurry found the John James Audubon House, located right outside Philadelphia and just forty-five minutes from where I grew up. We immediately knew this was where we wanted to get married. Audubon was a naturalist and a painter, most known for his paintings of birds. In an ambitious quest, he set out to paint every bird in North America, discovering at least twenty-five new species in the process. These paintings are collected in his famous book, The Birds of North America, which is considered the best ornithological work ever completed. This was Audubon's first home in North America and has since been converted to a public park, bird conservatory, and museum in his honor. We scheduled a visit a few weeks later and fell in love with the property — there was a beautiful apple orchard where we planned to hold the ceremony and an old barn perfect for a party. We picked a date and booked it.

It feels like cheating, but the venue helped clarify the visual design. The Audubon Society has made most of Audubon's paintings available in the public domain and offers high resolution reproductions as free downloads. I could use these images in the design! We both have love of birds and have a secret ambitions to get into birding. In fact, very early in our relationship, we laughed in amazement at how both of us had similar framed images of birds hanging in our apartments. Add the owl references from our favorite show and our love of Portlandia, a bird-themed wedding seemed perfect.

Part 3: Put a Bird On It With the venue booked and a library of high-resolution bird paintings on my hard drive, the design started to take shape. I went through countless typefaces — some were too formal and others too playful. I settled on ITC Serif Gothic for the logotype and Pitch for the accent typography. Serif Gothic is a typeface I've always admired but had yet to find an appropriate use for and Pitch has become a favorite monospace. Paired together, they immediately gave the design something that felt unique — blending the classic with the casual, the fun with the traditional.

I knew this would have to be treated like a brand — as it would be applied to everything from save the dates to name tags, invitations to menus — and needed to be flexible enough to work across mediums and scales. I decided we could allow design system to slowly reveal itself — using the incremental mailings, save the dates, invites, and RSVPs, to allow the entire aesthetic to unfold, each piece to increase in complexity and vibrancy as we got closer to the wedding day. The Save the Date cards that went out to our guests six months before the wedding were a simple black and white card, printed on a crisp white 130lb paper. A small vector bird perched atop an 'r' in Eurry's name hinted at the larger theme, the forest green envelopes previewed the color palette.

We directed guests to visit our website — eurryandjarrett.com — for travel and hotel details, links to our gift registry, and more information about the day itself. We used the website to introduce the venue and Audubon's paintings. The colors — forest green, a silvery-blue, and light pink — were pulled from a few of our favorite birds.

Three months later, the official invitations went out. Packaged in light blue envelopes, the invitations first appear to be black and white: the nameplate we introduced on the Save the Dates is on the front and opens for more information and RSVP details. But the invitation folds out one more time to reveal a large poster featuring a collage of Audubon's paintings, including the birds from which we pulled our colors as well as the state birds of California (where Eurry was born and where we met), Indiana (where I was born), New York (where we live now), and Pennsylvania (where I grew up and where we were getting married). We wanted something memorable — something that might not just be hung up on the refrigerator or thrown away after the wedding, but a piece of art our guests could remember our wedding by.

Part 4: The Day The design came together in a 20-page booklet I designed in place of a traditional program that included not only details about the day but also family photographs, a few of our favorite recipes, fun facts, and thank yous. Again, we wanted something people would want to keep — a scrapbook of sorts that our guests would feel invested in as they found photos of themselves and learn more about us and our story. The cover of the book expanded the collage from the invitation to include images of some of our favorite things and memorable moments in our relationship: the flowers from Eurry's bouquet, Twin Peaks and Portlandia, doughnuts, succulents, the Facebook sign, gummy bears, and ice cream.

Collage has become a go-to visual style of mine and is central to my own design process. For our wedding, I realized it could once again allow me to include everything we love instead of trying to find a color or style that somehow represented all of us. A key in the back of the book gave descriptions of everything hidden in the collage. This gave us variety in the design system while retaining a clear, distinct style; at once simple and diverse.

The venue offered their own signage, menus, and table numbers but we swapped them out for custom designs to match our design system. For dinner, three dishes were offered — chicken, fish, and vegetarian — and we asked our guests to select their preference on the RSVP cards. Their selections were noted on the name tags with small iconography to help the servers. (One of my favorite details: one couple brought their young child, who was served chicken fingers, and we noted his selection with a baby chick!). The florist decorated the tables forest green table clothes, navy napkins, and natural arrangements of ferns, succulents, and monstera. I designed table numbers that had Audubon's birds wrapped around each number, set in Serif Gothic that were placed in each arrangement. A small box with custom labels of black cherry gummy bears were set at each guest's plate as a small gift of thanks.

Beverages were offered before the ceremony started and were labeled with matching signage and drinks menus were displayed at the bar giving details on the wine and beer offerings. For the visitors who came in from out of town, a small gift bag was left in their hotel room with a few of our favorite things and a small postcard detailing the event (including the school bus that brought guests from the hotel to the venue!) and thanking them for coming into town. As if designing a brand system, every interaction our guests had at the wedding had been customized to match our design, from arriving at the hotel to the thank you notes sent out after. Each piece was fully branded and could stay on its own yet when brought together, created a narrative of our relationship.

It was fun to see it all come together and I enjoyed watching people read the booklets before the ceremony began. We couldn't have done it without the amazing team at Audubon and Jeffrey Miller Catering, who put it all together exactly like we wanted it. You can see more images of the design here.

Epilogue At the beginning of the summer, we got married in a barn in front of the people we love the most just as it began to rain. As we were pronounced husband and wife, Carly Rae Jepson's I Really Like You started playing. We moved to the pavilion where speeches brought us to tears; we ate and drank and thanked every guest for being there and being a part of our lives; we danced into the night as the rain poured outside.

The entire day feels like a blur to me. It was hard to take it all in. All the planning, all the designing, all the celebrating felt like a whirlwind. You know you've been to a good party, I think, when you have no pictures to remember it by. You were so in the moment you forgot to stop and document it. When we talked to our families the next day, none of us had any photos. So when we got our wedding photos back last week, we poured through every single one, reliving the day as spectators, piecing together the memories we had made. The same is true of the design. Designing for my own wedding was easily the hardest design project of my life because this wasn't another design or branding project but a scrapbook of our lives so far and a commemoration of our new life together. This was how we'd remember the day. Working on these pieces consumed our lives for the few months leading up the wedding and though it was just a small part of a day filled with friends and family and laughing and dancing and eating and drinking and birds and love. They serve as markers in time, totems for ourselves and our family and friends. Another way to remember a perfect day. It was the best day of my life. The next day, my face hurt from smiling so much.

[jamsportland]

READING HAS BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN OF ALL AGES

The Beaverton School District, like school districts nationwide, began March by celebrating Read Across America. It made me remember how much I loved reading as a child, and it made me wonder if children are still reading books these days.

I am old enough to remember a time without screens. Side note: Don’t get me wrong. This is not another blog about limiting your child’s screen time, although I truly believe that is important. If you’d like to learn more about why you SHOULD limit screen time in your home, check out my other blogs about the harmful effects that scientists have discovered when children spend too much time on devices:

This, however, is a blog about the importance of reading books. Why is reading important for children? The gift of knowledge is the best gift you can give your children. Books are the keys that unlock a vast world of knowledge.

So says Ben Okri, a Nigerian poet and novelist: “Reading is an act of civilization; it’s one of the greatest acts of civilization because it takes the free raw material of the mind and builds castles of possibilities”

The Importance of Reading

The benefits of reading are many, especially in children. Reading enhances brain function. It improves cognitive thinking, logical reasoning, and critical thinking.

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body,” says Joseph Addison, an English author and politician.

Your brain’s health improves drastically when you read, which of paramount importance in this fast-paced world.

Reading provides a break from the real world (or the virtual world) and rejuvenates the brain. Reading also:

Improves vocabulary

Improves written skills

Improves verbal communication

Enhances concentration

Develops self-confidence

Imparts life lessons like empathy, kindness, anger management, and stress management

This blog shares other benefits you might be interested in.

Developing The Reading Habit

You are your child’s first role model, so start reading as much as possible in front of them. Be it the newspaper or a novel, just read. They will follow your lead.

Read with them. Set up a cozy reading spot and help them organize their books.

Give them access to new books. Book clubs, lending libraries, and book swapping clubs are great options for access to a wide variety of books. Provide your children with the opportunities and resources to become voracious readers.

Start Early

The brain of a baby is like a sponge. You can start reading to your baby from the first moment of life. Read to the baby daily; any kind of book will do.

Choose books that stimulate the developing senses of your baby. Board books with bold black and white images are very attractive to a newborn’s eyes. As the baby grows, you can go for colorful books with varied touch-and-feel features.

Be “present” when you read to the baby. Your voice is what they look forward to hearing. Use different modulations, animal sounds, and a sing-song voice when you read to your little one.

Reading To Your Kindergartner

Don’t make reading with your kindergartner only a night-time affair. Find time during the day to sneak in short reading sessions.

Look for books with feel-good endings that teach moral values such as being kind, showing empathy, being inclusive, and sharing. There are plenty like this that are fun but avoid being preachy. You can also use your reading sessions to introduce numbers, alphabets, colors, and shapes. Choose picture books with big, bold letters and colorful photos or illustrations. Keep your child’s attention span in mind and don’t overwhelm with too many things to learn. Reading should be fun at this age!

They love being involved and choosing their own books, so plan regular trips to the library or bookstore.

Reading On Their Own

Kids who have just started reading are fascinated when the letters they know form words that start making sense to them. Continue reading with them; it’s your job to help them with some of those tougher words!

Kids generally start reading on their own between ages 5 and 6. Like any other milestone, each child reaches this milestone at their own pace. Don’t pressure an unwilling reader too much. Find the reading material that appeals to them. Comic books count, and Dr. Seuss books are fun at any age!

Reading For The Pre-teen

Pre-teens are at the stage where they can enjoy the best of childhood and teenage years. They love adventure, fantasy, series with recurring characters, and novels set in historical times.

Now is the best time to introduce them to the world of non-fiction, autobiographies, and book adaptations of their favorite movies.

Books For Teenagers

Teenagers have plenty of options: Dystopian fiction, humor, fantasy, horror, romance, poetry, and science fiction. Sensitive topics like LGBTQ issues, mental health, and other life lessons are best dealt with in books.

You can find out more about encouraging your child to read here.

Book Recommendations

The best way to turn your child into a book lover is to direct them to books that are lovable. This list of age-appropriate recommendations will help you get you started.

Infants

Farm Babies: A touch and feel book by Rod Campbell

The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

I Love You Through and Through by Caroline Jayne Church

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox

Kindergartners

All are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

Chu’s First Day of School by Neil Gaiman

by Natasha Wing

Elementary Students

Dr. Seuss Collection by Dr. Seuss

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena

Thumbelina by Xanthe Gresham

Middle School Students

Moon Within by Aida Salazar

Wonder by R.J.Palacio

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Teenagers

The Hunger Game series by Suzanne Collins

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Celebrate Reading

Read Across America Day, an initiative by the National Education Association to foster reading habits among students, was March 2 this year.

Schools, libraries, and community centers across the nation will hold celebrations all month long to celebrate reading and encourage children to experience the magic of books.

Make it a holiday in your family, too!

Nothing fuels the fire for math than discovering you can be a math genius! If you’re not sure Abacus will help your child, sign up for a free preview of our online Abacus Classes – there’s no obligation to register! Come meet with us, watch some kids in action, calculating at the speed of light! We guarantee you will have fun watching these little geniuses.

ABOUT JAMS & ONLINE ABACUS CLASSES

JAMS is proud to be the only Abacus math school in Portland and in the State of Oregon certified by the League of Soroban of Americas. Since 2001, we have dedicated to Abacus & Anzan instruction and to building a strong foundation of Mental Mathematics along with lifelong skills. JAMS empowers children to achieve academic success, so they will grow in areas that go well beyond the classroom. JAMS parents can expect their child to improve in 5 different areas: concentration, discipline, problem-solving, time management, and confidence. This is the teaching approach at JAMS since opening its doors.

[howaminotinthestrokesyet]

90’s Rap: Random Quarantine Thoughts

1. Vanilla Ice...I remember he was absolutely killed in the media when he tried to say that he wasn’t using the sample from Queen and David Bowie, “Under Pressure.” I have no idea why he tried to lie about it in the first place. Every rapper back then was using samples of previous songs. This was before rock, pop, and every other artist got wise to the fact that they should be making money from these rappers using their samples. Take a look at “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer, which uses a Rick James sample. I mean Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys came out right around the same time as well. That album was essentially the equivalent of a Girl Talk mashup album. One of the members of the Beastie Boys has even said that album could never be done today because it would cost $1 billion. Vanilla Ice should have told the truth in the first place, then perhaps people would not be looked upon as such a moron. The irony is that such honesty would have helped when he did that stupid Amish reality show.

2. Coolio... His career goes to show you the power of simply having a couple of hit songs. I have noticed that he continues to tour almost 25 years after “Fantastic Voyage” and “Gangster’s Paradise.” People are still paying money to see him and venues are still booking him, even though he only has one strand of hair remaining on his head.

3. MC Hammer...I was watching the video for “U Can’t Touch This” when a lightning bolt of an idea hit me that is pure genius. Hospitals should do away with the gown. Everyone hates them as they feel a huge dread of embarrassment when they have to put one on. What do we replace the gown with? MC Hammer jackets and MC Hammer pants because they will allow enough room to do anything with tubes, IV’s, needles. This is a gold mine that I need to look into after this pandemic calms down.

4. Puff Daddy... There are so many things that I could talk about when it comes to Puff Daddy. I could go on and on about the fact that people appear in his videos that really do not need to be there. Case in point, take a look at Biggie Smalls in the “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” video. He does not rap, but instead argues with a cop in various portions of the video. His presence really does not serve any purpose. Yet, that goes along with my primary point...What the hell is going on in his videos? Take “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down.” There are so many damn things going on in this video that make no sense whatsoever. Why are they in the desert, why does their car blow up, are these concerts that they are rapping at, where are they going, did they ever meet up with Biggie, and so on.

5. 2Pac...One of the things that completely blows my mind in the annals of 90’s rap is the fact that 2Pac Shakur was a member of Digital Underground. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when they were recording the “Humpty Dance.” I may have to research his feelings about that song as it went completely main stream. As I watch him in some videos, it becomes twilight zone surreal just to see him walking next to Humpty. I am not sure if he ever talked about that in an interview, but I sure would like to find out.

6. “Regulate...” Something people either do not know or tend to forget about in this song,but it was recorded for the movie Above the Rim starring 2Pac. That is why in the music video you see scenes that perhaps one is not familiar with. I have actually seen the movie which is a cult classic now simply because 2Pac was in it. The film is pretty terrible, and probably should have gone straight to DVD upon its release. I am not sure if this has happened too much, but the hit song was 100 times more popular than the movie. Unfortunately, not even the song could save a film about a troubled janitor who used to be a basketball phenom.

7. Naughty By Nature... There are two things that I will always remember about this group. The first is their hit song “OPP,” which whenever I hear it I am immediately transported back to my freshman year of high school. Certain songs bring up certain times in your life. The other thing that I think of whenever I see or hear this group is that long ass knife Treach had in the videos. What was the deal with that knife? In later videos, they always made a point to include at least one shot of him holding that absurd knife. I wonder if he is going to be buried with that knife. There probably is a story behind it, but I am not sure I want to know that particular story. You do not want to get the reputation of actually knowing why Treach from Naughty By Nature has a knife.

8. West Coast Rap All Stars... This was an all star track comprising of West Coast rappers in an effort to raise awareness about gang violence. I think this was a reaction to the East Coast song that did the same thing with artists like Queen Latifah, “Self-Destruction.” I remember owning this cassette single when I was younger. The hook in this song is very catchy, which is probably the reason why I liked this song so much. Yet, this song also brings out a surreal feeling when listening to it or watching the music video years later. Surreal in the fact that so many diverse rappers are in this song. I always found it strange to see Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, MC Ren walking along side MC Hammer and Humpty from Digital Underground. I think Young MC is even in this video at some point. You would expect the Compton rappers to be in this video, but even as a kid, I was surprised to see those rappers that end up on Pepsi commercials like Hammer to be there. The other strange thing about this song and music video was a couple of other things. First, Humpty actually goes into his character within the song. I guess that illustrates just how big that guy was back in the early 90’s. The other thing was MC Hammer took about five seconds to do some sort of ridiculous dance because that is what he was identified as with the public.

9. NWA... One of the more underrated rap albums of the 90’s was 100 Miles and Running from NWA. This EP was better than the full length album that followed it a year later. This might be because Dre knew that it was only going to be a preview of the forthcoming album, so it had to be leaner than normal. The full length album is iconic and well done, but it is just a little bloated, especially with all of the commercials and sketches.

10. LL Cool J... I saw LL last year at Lallapalooza. I did not know what to expect thinking I would probably have a good laugh if nothing else. In fact, Todd turned out to be quite good. I think people tend to forget how many really good songs that he had over the years. His performance was excellent because I went in thinking that he might struggle possibly remembering some of the lyrics. Yet, then again, the dude has been an actor for about 20 years. Near the end of the show, I made a comment to one of the security guys there. “I bet f’ing Chris O’Donnell could not do that.” He laughed, which gave me the assurance that he had seen NCIS LA.

[mikanrulz]

I know you have answered a similar question, but it is paramount for my soul to confirm this! Are Azazel and Lucifer related as brothers? Not only do they resemble each other, plus Lucifer caring quite a bit more about Azazel than he should compared to the other demons, but the official Bahamut fandom wiki has been stating they are brothers for a long time, long before the skit they recently performed at the end of the latest episode. So is the wiki wrong? Just want to straighten my ship out! :o

Keep in mind that wiki is written and edited by fans; no wiki is ‘official’, so to speak. Also, try to double check the source if it’s possible. I looked up Lucifer’s page in snb:g wiki one day and once I read that azazel’s brother part, I just… never went back there.

Also, since I’m answering your question, I might as well make this since it pretty much covers all the bases (I think).

Behold:

LUCIFER/AZAZELSHIP MANIFESTO: GENESIS EDITION

(aka no, really, they’re not actually brothers.)

I’ll be separating the source into two: the actual ep, and the extra contents.

1. THE ACTUAL EPISODES

The actual episodes include, well, the actual episodes content; as in, canon things that really happen in the actual eps.

Firstly, they have ZERO canon interaction in the anime.

Nothing

Nada

No talking, no looking, not even a glance.

In fact, they have never even been in the same frame together.

No, seriously.

But never fear, even if they never interact in canon, they at least know each other! And other ppl know they know each other!

Cerberus keeps reminding Azazel of their ‘order’ and implies that said person who has given their order may not satisfied with the result (ep5)

Bacchus describes Azazel as Lucifer’s right hand man (ep5)

Martinet confirms that Lucifer’s Azazel’s superior (ep6)

Gabriel and Michael talking about Azazel in relation to Lucifer (ep8)

Azazel mentioning Lucifer in canon:

Lucifer’s the only person in the entire series who he calls with honorific: Lucifer-sama (ep6, ep8)

For Azazel who looks down on humans and demons alike, this is a big thing, bcs it means Lucifer’s the only person he respects.

In ep8, when Belzeebub attacks him, he thinks of Lucifer first and foremost: “What are you scheming, betraying Lucifer-sama like this?!”

Not why are betraying *me*, but why are you betraying Lucifer-sama.

It just shows how loyal he is to Lucifer.

Meanwhile, Lucifer… lmao

The only time Azazel gets mentioned to him is in ep8:Lucifer: It’s been a long time, Beelzebub.Beelzebub: Azazel has failed miserably. We can afford no more blundering, Lucifer.Lucifer: A pity. I’ll just send someone else, then.

All the while, Lucifer never looks up from his book.

Looking at that conversation, it looks like Lucifer doesn’t actually care about Azazel.

(But then in the commentary he’s described as worried. So it’s possible he just doesn’t show his worry in front of Beelzebub.)

Aaaand that’s it; that’s all the canon mention of Lucifer/azazel.

2. EXTRA CONTENTS

Extra content includes everything official that are separate from the actual episodes, such as episode previews, character commentary from BD bonus, official site description, official twitter content, as well as the official artbook.

2.1. Episode 10 preview

English translation:Lucifer: I’m Lucifer.Azazel: I’m Azazel.Lucifer and Azazel: We’re the Fallen Angel Brothers.Lucifer: Hold on. You’re my subordinate, aren’t you?Azazel: Your white feathers are beautiful.Lucifer: Yours are beautiful, too.

This is the original Fallen Angel Brothers skit. It can be seen here that Lucifer both 1) reminds Azazel they’re not actually brothers, and 2) emphasizes his and Azazel’s relationship: “you’re my subordinate.”

So no, Lucifer and Azazel are not brothers at all.

(Also, this skit was such an oasis for Azazel’s fans at the time bcs when this aired, it was still unknown whether he lived or died, since the last time he was seen, he was being burnt by Beelzebub and losing consciousness in ep8. Him sounding so fine and energetic in this skit gave fans hope that he might still be alive after all.)

…and that he and Lucifer’s relationship might not be as one-sided as one might assume from watching the eps, bcs, wow, weren’t you two quite friendly??? Doing a skit together! Praising each other’s wings! Lucifer’s gentle voice at the end! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

Ahem.

2.2. Character commentary

There are two character commentary eps that touched a bit on Lucy/Azazel’s relationship:Ep05, commentary by Favaro and Azazel

Even though Favaro never even mentions or asks anything about Lucifer, Azazel still manages to bring up Lucifer’s name without being prompted. “What, did you feel Lucifer-sama’s male presence?”

(also him asking favaro that means *he* himself actually *notices* Lucifer’s *male* presence.)

Which is just awwww

Azazel (to Favaro): “About your relationship with that hammer head (kaisar). Are you guys brothers? Aren’t you thinking it’s okay to die for his sake?”Azazel: “I’m a bullet (鉄砲玉). If it’s for the sake of my brothers, then I shall die anytime.”

Also, he calls himself a teppoudama (鉄砲玉), which literally means bullet. In yakuza term, this is similar to that of a messenger who goes out and never returns; as in, his role is to be the bullet, be the sacrifice, the pawn, the messenger who executes and never returns.

(pls note that yakuza members often call each brothers even though they’re not related by blood. Brothers here is meant as comrades.)

Similarly, when he asks if Fava/Kai are brothers, he doesn’t mean by blood; he was the one who indirectly caused the death of both of their fathers, after all. He knows very well they’re not related. He’s asking if they’re ‘comrades’ or ‘nakama’.

It seems to him, the term brothers (comrades) refer to ppl who are considered to be important, enough that one would offer own life for them.

Adding that Fallen angel brothers skit he does with Lucifer (where they’re ‘brothers’), and how dutiful and loyal he’s to Lucifer, it is assumed he’s indirectly talking about Lucifer here.

Ep12, commentary by Favaro and Kaisar

For the parts that mention azazel, pls take a look at my translation post here. But to summarize:

According to Cerberus, Lucifer tells her to go save Azazel.

Not only that, but Lucifer himself even comes bcs he’s actually *that* worried about Azazel who goes missing a while.

Favaro describes them as: “And after that, [Azazel] and Lucifer *intimately* go away together.”

I’m just… Favaro, is it really necessary to describe them as *intimate*?

What did Favaro see that made him use such an adjective to describe the way Azazel and Lucifer go away together?

Favaroooo I need details dammit

2.3. Official site description

Azazel’s page: http://shingekinobahamut-genesis.jp/character/character_08.php

“Following fellow fallen angel Lucifer’s command, using moving castle Gregor. he’s looking for the girl who stole the God’s key from the Land of the Gods.”

Lucifer’s page: http://shingekinobahamut-genesis.jp/character/character_18.php

“He commands Azazel & co. to investigate the God’s Key that’s missing and stolen from the Land of he Gods.”

Based on that official description above, it’s made clear that while they both are “fellow fallen angels”, considering Lucifer gives “command” to Azazel, their relationship is either superior/subordinate, or master/servant.

2.4. Official twitter content

Firstly, please look at both Valentine and White day illustration from snb:Gofficial twitter. Each illustration shows couples (Fava/Mira, Kai/Rita) but then in the Valentine’s part we also have a broken heart looking azazel being alone, only to be paired up with Lucifer and smiling so brightly in White Day.

Conclusion: Lucifer/Azazel is also a couple now.

Or, more accurately, they’re treated as a set somehow.

Valentine illustration: https://twitter.com/bahamut_genesis/status/566166402801750016

White day illustration: https://twitter.com/bahamut_genesis/status/576322764233056257

2.5. Official Artbook

The character profile description is more or less the same with the ones written in official site, just more detailed. This book also includes commentary by character designer Onda and director Satou. Notable comments include:

2.5.1. Lucifer“I remember the director instructing me to ‘please don’t make his under nose long’.” Onda Nobuyuki (chara designer)

(Notes: basically, he’s saying the director’s telling him to make Lucifer beautiful, since the part from under nose to upper lip is believed to decide whether one’s face is beautiful or not. )

They made Lucifer sits and never moves bcs it’s troublesome to animate his enormous six wings.

He’s drawn as a beautiful demon.

His horns have two different colors.

Onda already designed Lucifer’s giant ass sword just in case, and even compared to his whole body proportion and this giant sword, his wings are just so, so enormous.

2.5.2. Azazel“’He has that delinquent feel about him,’ is what the director instructed me, so his facial expression’s range is expanded.” Onda Nobuyuki (chara designer)

Azazel was supposed to die early (around ep8 possibly), except the staff loved him, so they changed things a little and included him in later eps.

The main reason Azazel’s lower horns got cut was bcs they were a pain to animate.

Similarly, his wings are made to be smaller compared to the illustration on his cards to make it easier on the animators.

Just like Lucifer’s horns, Azazel’s lower horns have two color tones.

Also according to the artbook, Azazel’s around 190cm, Cerberus 170cm, and Pazuzu 250cm.

2.5.3. MartinetMartinet’s original design is supposed to resemble Grigori, except then his look would overlap with Lucifer and Azazel, who are supposed to look exceptionally beautiful and are in a league on their own; so they scrap Martinet’s prototype design and make him uglier.

Comment: Looking at the chara design’s comments, it’s pretty evident that design wise, while both Lucifer and Azazel are supposed to be beautiful look wise, expression wise, Lucifer’s ‘just’ beautiful, while Azazel’s delinquent and very expressive.

It’s probably meant to show that unlike Azazel, Lucifer’s much, much, MUCH calmer. Since his expression is very limited, Lucifer’s also probably hard to read in general.

CONCLUSION

The thing about Lucifer/Azazel’s relationship is that, in genesis, if you only watched the actual eps, then yes, their relationship is quite one sided.

Despite Azazel showing loyalty and respect toward him, Lucifer doesn’t seem to care one bit about Azazel in return, even though Azazel’s supposed to be his right hand man.

This is esp when confronted with Azazel’s failure, Lucifer’s only reaction is, “A pity. I’ll just send someone else, then.”

No worry about why azazel hasn’t come back, no nothing. He acts like azazel’s dispensable.

But if you look at the extra content, then…

…it’s pretty much still one sided lmao

No, hear me out here.

The thing about Lucifer/Azazel in the extra content is that, Azazel pretty much thinks his feelings are one sided, when in truth he just never notices.

In ep5 commentary, about the “I’m a bullet” comment; Azazel thinks his life is dispensable, that none would actually stop him from dying or that none would ever worry about him.

But from ep12 commentary, we know Lucifer cares; Lucifer worries; Lucifer actually goes out himself to save him, after he also commands Cerberus to go save Azazel.

I’m starting to think the real reason Cerberus complains so loudly is not bcs she’s told to save Azazel, but more bcs Lucifer makes her involved in his and Azazel’s affair lmao

No, srsly, favaro, I really, really need details on how and why and what part exactly about Azazel and Lucifer going away together that makes you described them as ‘intimate.’

Also, I’ll be repeating this once more: nowhere in the official materials state that Lucifer/azazel are actually brothers related by blood. srsly.

//////////

*i’ll be editing this post to tidy up the links and pics and whatnot. But for now pls bear with this.*in my ep12 translation post I wrote nakama, but a much better headphone later, it turns out it’s actually nakamutsumajii (中睦まじい), literally means harmonious or intimate.

*lmao I thought describing them as nakama is already pushing it since they’re officially just superior/underling, but turns out the real one is even more outrageous.

“Intimately” favaro says. I mean. well.

[lia-nikiforov]

Spring Amiami Haul: YOI goodies and other stuff!

Remember how I keep saying that I’m unemployed and poor as dirt? Well, I still am both things, but money’s not gonna save anyone when the Orange Overlord kills us all so I’ll have my YOI merch with extra avocado pls. Thought it would be cute and funny to let you in on my road to financial self-destruction and maybe convince you to buy some of these things and throw money at Yuri on Ice becuse it might be officially and irrevocably the best selling anime of 2016 but this is Sayokan and she needs ALL THE MONEYZ to make that movie this isn’t quite how anime is made but i believe in principle the more money that gets thrown into any series’s products in any capacity, the more money will get thrown into its production see Attack on Titan. In this post we’ll look at my March and April purchases and cry over how beautiful these things are and how poor I am.

Starting with the March set, which is comparatively smaller

First we have the Yuri!!! on Ice school calendar which I bought basically because I wanted a calendar and the MAPPA one was too costly with shipping charges and I thought I couldn’t make that expense (how innocent I was). It’s a cute lil’ thing, with a few funny things in it and also a bit of design laziness which is a bit sad. To get the bad stuff out of the way first, as you can see, the cover illustration is completely original and our boys are looking very smart in those suits, nothing wrong with that...

except half of the calendar pages are just the same illustration, just individually. So we have Victor alone for one page (June-July), Yurio alone for another and Yuuri alone in the last one. I would’ve rather they used other official illustrations instead of recycling the cover thrice over ):. THe remaining three illustrations are cute, I particularly like the one for December-January, Yuuri looks so pure :3

What’s weird and funny about this calendar is they decided, for some inexplicable reason, to have it all in Russian. The names of the days and months are ALL in Russian, and cyrillic to boot. Idk what they were going for but it’s quirky and unique, so I like it. It’s not like I actively use calendars anyway, I just use them to tear them apart and stick the illustrations on my walls. The calendar is available on amiami

On to the next item

A relatively simple phone cleaner strap, nothing much to say about it. It’s punipuni like Yuuri’s off-season chub (still can’t believe this is a canon thing) and works good for a quick clean of your screen if you’re not home. This one is currently sold out on Amiami, but they might restock eventually (wow that cost more than I remember, I was so liberal with my money when I had job lol)

The last item from the March haul is this acrylic accessory stand that depicts Yuuri at the end of his free skate in China. I don’t even own or wear any jewelry or accessories, but I just had to have it, it’s so beautiful ;----; Cup of China Yuuri is very important to me, ok? You can see I’m using it to hold my kanzashi and an ear-pick lol. Ngl I thought it would be big enough to hold my smartphone, but it isn’t and I don’t care, he’s beautiful. He’s still available on Amiami, and there are other designs to choose from too. If a girl like me who wears no jewelry could find room for it, I’m sure you can too!

Now, onto the April stuff

Firstly there’s these two cleaning cloths depicting Victor and Yuuri from the first Key visual which I love. I’ve also tested them and they’re really effective, even without cleaning liquid. They’re a bit more plastic-y than the one I had before so they don’t leave any fuzz on the screen, which is gr9. These were kind of a spur of the moment purchase half of my YOI stuff has been spur of the moment purchases because I thought amiami would flat-rate EMS and since I expected the box to be big given how it came with two figures and a coin case and a keychain, I thought SAL would be like 1800ish (what I paid the last time I had a figma and Nendoroid shipped together) and EMS 2000 and figured 200 yen would be worth not having to wait three months for the items to arrive, so I could have the luxury of making it a true huge haul. Turns out 1) There isn’t a flat rate on EMS 2) SAL was only 1300, so I went for SAL and it arrived so fast it was like a Golden Week miracle.

Aaaanyway, these are still available on Amiami, as well as a Yurio variant and they’re also pretty big –you can see they cover the figure boxes-, I recommend them if you’re looking for a new cleaning cloth or smth.

Next we have this adorable Victor keychain which is waaay bigger than I thought it would be I really need to start paying attention to sizes (for reference, from skate to skate he’s about  1 cm shorter than a Nendoroid). I don’t particularly understand the buzz for “Pinched” character goods, but this one I bought at a time in which I was restless because I wanted to throw money at Sayokan but the BDs weren’t affordable at all –even now, counting ALL the YOI shit I’ve preordered, and I’ve shit PO’ed up til August, I don’t even come close to what buying all the BDs would’ve cost- and these keychains came out for preorder and I loved how Victor had his legs so dramatically extended, so I impulse pre-ordered him lol. Of course, I’m not actually gonna use it as a keychain because I’m afraid his legs would break given what a rough treatment my keys go through, but I’ll hang him from a shelf and he’ll look cute :3

He’s still available at Amiami along with Yurio, Yuuri and Makkachin and I’m fairly certain there are also cellphone strap versions if that’s what you prefer.

And last but not least (since I forgot to take individual pics of the figures and I haven’t even unboxed them yet, I’ll do those in a separate post) we have this beautiful beautiful beautiful coin case!

Like I just don’t have any words, it’s just so beautiful, it completely surpassed all my expectations. It has so many little details I want to cry.

The synthetic leather is so soft and the baby blue color is adorable and the print looks even better in person than in the prototype, it’s such a lovely pattern too.

What made it a deal-breaker for me was this little depiction of the hair-poke, literally end my life

I’ll admit this isn’t my favorite type of coin case because I feel it’s prone for dropping money, especially if you’re carrying a lot of coins (not a problem for me since I don’t have money at all :’D), but I literally couldn’t care less, it’s so beautiful and perfect I will treasure it forever. I can’t possibly overstate how in love I am with this thing.

Playful Mind company has a variety of designs of different items such as phone cases, card cases, ticket holders etc, with this and other cute patterns, so I totally recommend you check them out, most of them seem to still be available on Amiami :D A+++ recommend, I honestly feel tempted to buy another one with a different design just because they’re so pretty.

 BONUS

Yes, if you thought I wouldn’t take this opportunity to once again flaunt my beloved calendar, light of my life, my everything, you were WRONG. Like I said before, I originally didn’t intend to buy it because the shipping costs were so insane at CDJapan, but I succumbed when preview pictures started flooding in and turned out to be way more beautiful than I ever expected orz.  Barely scraped in the last few days of preorders, and now it’s sold out af.

Also, I originally planned to get the Yuri on Life guidebook and take it to be autographed to the convention –in case you missed it, see my report of this most momentous occasion here- but the guidebook was delayed (and has been delayed three times as of this writing, still have it PO’ed though) so this beautiful calendar became The Chosen One. I love it so much, literally bury me with it when I die.

That’s all for this season, next one probably won’t be until late August when I’ve gotten both Nendos cos there’s no point in separating them. I’d hoped this would be longer and include the Animestyle, Yuri on Life and Go Yuri Go books but since the latter two got delayed yet again and I’m too poor to afford separate shipments, it’ll all have to wait til late fucking June *sobs* But hey, the summer haul is gonna be monstrous *my YOI wallet sobs*

Like I said, who’s gonna need money when the Orange Overlord kills us all. I just hope he holds off until I get my Yuuri and Victor Nendoroids though

It’s four am I’m sorry I’m in highkey idiot mood.